Summary: Gordon Bombay had told Wolf Stansson that they'd see each other again. Little did either of them know how soon that would come to pass. One year after MD2. Established Julie/Gunnar. Julie's POV. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Even on the ninth installment in this Series, I still own nothing. All belong to Disney.

Author's Note: Here we are, at the start of another Sympathetic adventure! Many thanks to the reviewers from "Christmas Surprises" who encouraged me to move ahead with this continuation. Just a quick little Prologue for now, but it'll be enough to get the ball rolling. Enjoy!

Sympathy for the Icelanders Part IX: Rematch

Prologue

"I'll bet he wants to talk about summer practice schedules," Goldberg grumbled to no one in particular.

"Yeah, okay, but what about those of us who don't live in Minneapolis, genius?" retorted Luis.

"A summer practice regimen then," the Ducks' newest star defenseman amended.

I just chuckled and shook my head, observing my friends' usual antics. We were a month away from school at Eden Hall concluding for the summer, meaning that hockey season was well behind us. However, it wasn't a huge surprise for anyone when we heard that Coach Orion wanted to see our team in the locker room that day after classes. With any luck, maybe he'd have something that would distract us from the ever-looming threat of approaching finals.

Orion was already there waiting for us when we arrived. But he wasn't alone.

"Coach!" Charlie and Connie exclaimed in unison from the front of our group as they enthusiastically rushed forward to greet none other than Gordon Bombay himself. We were all equally surprised and happy to see him, and when it was finally my turn to embrace him, I had to admit our former coach looked very well. Apparently, life with the Goodwill Games had been good to him so far.

"So what brings you back to Minnesota?" Banks asked him, grinning from ear to ear.

Averman added, "Yeah, we thought for sure Coach Orion was about to put us to work for next year already."

"Well, we are here to talk about hockey over the summer," cautioned Orion. "But I'm going to let your old coach explain what's actually going on, since he's much more involved in the whole affair than I am."

I exchanged curious glances with a few of my teammates before Bombay started filling us in on some details.

"Guys, school gets out in about a month, and I'm sure you're already looking forward to getting out of here for a while. But I'm afraid you'll all be staying on campus for another two weeks after everyone else goes home."

"WHAT?!" The uproar was instantaneous and unanimous.

Coach continued, "I had a meeting with the Committee for the Jr. Goodwill Games a couple of days ago, and after such a close competition last summer, they've decided to set up a rematch. Between you and Iceland."

What had begun as an uproar now exploded into chaos – for everyone except me. I just sat speechless and frozen in my seat.

Russ Tyler's voice finally rose above the din. "This has gotta be Coach Stansson's idea! How can the Committee let him boss them around like that?"

"Actually, Russ, he didn't have anything to do with this. He has agreed to it, though, even if there's nothing but pride at stake this time. His team, like ours, might have lost a player or two since last year, but we'll all make do. No new players can be added at this point."

"So we're stuck here after school gets out for the summer so that we can practice?" Ken deduced.

"Partly, but also because the game itself will be held here. The match will still be televised, but the Committee wanted a smaller, more private venue this time. They also wanted to follow up on how well you Ducks were doing on your scholarships here at Eden Hall."

"In other words, the school gets a nice shot of publicity," Guy grimly concluded. At this point, he was fully recovered from the injuries he'd received during the JV/Varsity showdown. Much to Connie's relief.

Gordon nodded. "That's about how it works. Now, Coach Orion will work on getting you guys back into hockey shape over the next month, and he'll be your coach for the match as well. I'm sure you Ducks will all make me proud."

"Will the Varsity be stickin' around for this, too?" Dwayne asked.

"No," Orion answered firmly. "I'm sure they'll hear about it, so those who live locally may be in and out on occasion during those two weeks; but by now, they should know better than to cause any trouble. I couldn't blame them for wanting to see Wolf Stansson's protégé's in action, though. I'm even looking forward to it."

Fulton spoke up, "If they really want a fair rematch, they should have Varsity and Iceland duke it out for second place. I mean, we already beat both of them."

"Hey, yeah, that's a good idea, Bro," Dean Portman concurred from beside him, giving his Bash Brother an approving fist-bump.

Our old coach ignored them, then elaborated, "I'll come back here shortly after the school year ends to start getting things organized on behalf of the Games, and you'll all have a week or so to practice more intensely as a team once the other students go home. Then the Iceland team will arrive, and both sides will have about another week to get ready before the big game."

A week? Did he really just say that Stansson and his players would be here for a full week? As in here, on campus, with all of us? My smile started slowly, but soon enough it threatened to pull my face apart.

Bombay stopped in the middle of whatever he was saying and stared at me. A few seconds ticked by, and now I could feel that the eyes of everyone in the room were on me.

"Julie?" Coach asked carefully. "Are you all right?"

Portman answered for me, although certainly not in the same tone I would have used. "Oh, she's way better than 'all right.' Cat, you mean you didn't know anything about this little rematch?"

Bombay shook his head. "Why should she know anything about it? It was only decided two days ago."

"She's got inside connections," argued the Ducks' best enforcer. "Didn't you tell him, Jules?"

"No…I thought for sure Charlie or someone else would have told him long ago."

"Told me what?" Coach stood with his hands on his hips, looking exasperated.

"Julie's dating Enemy Number One," Portman answered succinctly before I could say anything. "And not just a one-time ice cream date like you did, Coach, which was bad enough. We're talking full-out, hard-core dating. She even went up there for a whole week over Christmas break."

Bombay just blinked, his eyes darting back and forth between Dean and me. "Julie…would you care to explain what he's talking about?"

Finally, I could speak for myself! I did so proudly. "Coach, I've been pretty much long-distance dating Gunnar Stahl ever since the Games ended last summer."

He was back to staring at me again, looking like he couldn't believe his ears. "And did you really go all the way to Iceland to see him?"

I answered him with a sure nod, and through it all, my smile never wavered.

Author's End Note: Never fear, Chapter 1 will backtrack a little to give us a glimpse of what Julie's life has been like since she got back from Iceland. I wish I could say everything was nice and rosy for her, but if it was, we wouldn't have a story. See you there, and thanks for reading!