Sasha and Ana had fallen into peaceful companionship both on and off the gym floor. At first, when she first arrived, their relationship was a bit bumpy. Sasha was the coach and Ana, as all little sisters do, seemed to undermine him constantly. This angered Sasha at first, until he realized that these instances of undermining were actually very planned and normally had purpose. After that, they only had words off the mat. That did not stop Sasha from literally dragging his sister to the office, it just made them more peaceful.

She had been there for two weeks when Lauren decided to try to ice her out. Ana, like Sasha, saw a lot of talent in Payson and was subconsciously favoring the girl. Lauren, being a spoiled and depraved only child, sought attention. "So, I hear that you actually quit Gymnastics because you got pregnant and it caused a huge scandal."

Ana scoffed, annoyed. If she wasn't still a virgin, she probably wouldn't care as much. She was, however, still a virgin and the girl in front of her obviously was not. Part of her pitied the girl. More, she had heard all the rumors, but this was the first time pregnancy was thrown out as a possible reason. Ana slowly answered Lauren, as if she was talking to a small child, "No, maimuţă, and you really shouldn't listen to gossip. It is bad for the soul."

Lauren reacted strangely to the name, looking around to see if anyone had recognition on their face to tell her what it meant. Of course, only Sasha did. "So, are you trying to tell me that you and Sasha did not commit practical incest?"

Ana's mouth dropped. The funny thing was, she had just defended herself to Summer a few days ago. Now the diavolului copil was claiming the same things. These Americans were absolutely insane! "Why would you even think that?" Ana said the words a little bit more harshly than she had anticipated. She flinched at her own voice. So did the girl in front of her. "Now go do your vault. I want to see it immediately. I want to see if we can upgrade it or add something to it." Ana was trying to be kind, but her voice still sounded deadly.

After telling Lauren "again, again" for the fourth time, Ana felt Sasha as he noiselessly skirted up next to her, watching Lauren intently. "What was that all about, dulce sora?" Ana let out a deep, long sigh.

"Lauren made an insinuation about you and I being a little less than moral and questioned my drop out in the sport." Ana said, quietly. She was still upset, but she was a better person than this sixteen year old. Sasha sighed.

"Why did you call her a maimuţă?" He tried to lighten the mood.

"Because, Alexandru, I figured that maimuţă was better than diavolului copil, căţea, or perra estúpida. Am fost un pic supărat, ştii. Aş vrea să pot controla temperamentul meu, uneori, al naibii." Ana's voice sounded small, sad. Then her face brightened, "I had a team building idea, frate, it is perfect. Perfect." Her voice was a little bit too cheerful and the thought made Sasha nervous.

"Da?" Sasha asked, cautiously. He knew that Ana must be plotting some sort of mischief for her mood to shift so quickly. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Payson watching them as she pretended to get a drink of water. Kaylie and Emily were also not working. Normally he would yell at them, but it was almost lunch and his sister had an evil gleam in her eyes.

"Well, you know, I am a mycologist and a botanist, right?" Her voice sounded smug. Lauren had stopped practicing and was watching the exchange while inching as quickly as possible toward Kaylie and Emily for cover against the crazy Romanian girl.

"Yes, of course I know that. What does your profession have anything to do with the girls though?" Sasha asked, paling as Ana's face got brighter.

"Vreau să le ia într-o excursie în munţi peste noapte. Fără alimente. Numai produse alimentare pot găsi va fi acolo masa. Sunt sigur că va face aceste fete mici cred că de două ori înainte de a traversa mine." Ana almost shouted in excitement. She was literally bouncing with happiness. Then she demanded, "What do you think? It will do them good to have to trust me."

Sasha was still calculating the dangers he would have to face by even mentioning such a plan to the four elite's parents. He didn't particularly want to be tarred and feathered. "I will think about it. I do agree though, some sort of trust building is important. Don't you think this is a bit extreme?"

"Oh, look at the time! Lunch time everyone." Ana shouted as she almost ran away from Sasha. He looked at her quizzical as he turned toward the office. For most of his gymnasts, that announcement had them running for the door faster than Ana. They were tired and hungry. All of them, except one.

"Yes, Payson, what can I do for you, iubită?" Sasha asked, still trying to figure out his sister's strange behavior while weighing the benefits and risks of her crazy plan.

"I think you should tell Ana yes. " Payson stated in a rather matter-of-fact sort of way, shrugging her shoulders. Sasha paused. He looked very apprehensively at Payson. How did she know?

"Exactly what are you talking about, little miss?" Sasha almost demanded, he looked very worried.

"The camping trip. I think it is a good idea. You should say yes." Payson came up and put her arms around Sasha's waist, biting her lip and looking very hopeful. Instinctively, Sasha pulled her closer and placed his chin on her head.

"Exactly how much Romanian do you know, Payson?" Sasha asked, quietly.

"Hardly any, but I will understand you soon enough. Trust me. " She laughed as she untangled herself from Sasha and walked toward the door.

How did she know?


"What happened with your husband, Ana?" Payson asked, softly. She knew that Ana still needed to talk to Sasha about what happened with her husband. She wasn't sure if this was the best time, but Ana had been there for two weeks.

To be honest, Payson couldn't believe that Sasha and Ana hadn't talked about it yet. Ana was staying in the Airstream until further notice. Instead, it seemed like they were both avoiding the subject, instead using their time to scheme against the wills of the Elite Gymnasts, who both loved and hated Ana's presence.

Sasha, Ana, and Kim were sipping the wine that Ana had bought on Thursday last week in the office. It was now Friday evening and Ana had had her first interview of three with the Research hub this morning and they were celebrating. Ana was also celebrating the fact that Sasha had said 'yes' to the scheme she brought up to him yesterday morning. Payson had really scared him and it had taken them twenty minutes to convince Sasha that they had discussed it before hand.

Ana and Payson had really hit it off, Payson deeply respected the Gymnast, Ph.D. as Emily called her. Each of the girls had already been hoping and praying that she'd move to Boulder for good, even if they wouldn't admit it. Her coaching style was uncannily similar to Sasha's, but she was gentler in her tonal structure which made the "again, again" less annoying. She also could always offer a different perspective on failures and triumphs.

Payson was drinking the hot teat that Sasha had made for himself before learning of the wine. Summer had just left for the day and they were planning on watching the footage on the training cam, analyzing the floor routines. Ana wanted to have the opportunity to learn this aspect of coaching because, before this, she was simply regarded as a trainer or a judge, never as a coach.

Hearing the simply posed question, Ana sighed softly. She looked as if she was debating answering the question before she cringed saying, "He died in an accident. He was hit by a bus." Ana said, shivering at the memory. Kim and Sasha gasped, while Payson paled.

"I'm so sorry, dragă! I would have been more sympathic to you if I had known. Is that why you decided to move here, is Spain and Romania just too painful?" Sasha was kind, but the question stung. Payson was beginning to feel sick, Ana had not told the story yet and no one really wanted to know. Yet, like when watching a horror film, they didn't not want to hear it either.

"No, I wanted to come a long time ago, I just needed permission and a reason to transfer. I wanted to live closer to my only family, you know? Because, since Dmitri and Nicholai refuse to talk to me because I sided with you and then got married to that…that…" She paused, her features getting dangerously cold, angry, and sad.

Payson wondered why the strong, beautiful scientist looked so angry at the death of her obviously beloved husband. She had heard her talk to Sasha about the past, when they were all teenagers. She even shared her engagement story with the elite girls. Ana had been completely smitten with the man her maternal grandmother chose for her. She had nothing but fond memories from her childhood and early adulthood.

Then it dawned on her, the happy stories ended when Ana was a mere twenty years old. She didn't tell any stories of being married or of the marriage. This beloved husband was not as beloved as she had believed.

Then Ana was crying, hot and angry tears, "He jumped in front of the bus, Sasha. He loved his drink more than me. He chose death over me! He never touched me or talked to me sweetly. He used me and my money, and then when I asked that he stopped, that he go to Mass with me for the first time in years, that he treat me like the wife he loved and not a maid, he jumped in front of a bus and killed himself. Am I so awful that someone would choose that over me?"

Instantly Sasha's arms were around his sister, holding her. His lips whispered sweet and loving things to her in Romanian, English, and a language that neither Payson nor Kim knew. Payson was sitting in front of her holding Ana's hands with tears in her eyes. Kim was patting her back lovingly, not sure what to do.

After a while, when Ana was calmer, Sasha asked, "Was this all along, or recently?" He knew she needed to talk about it.

Ana sucked in a shuddering breath, "We were a happy couple while we were engaged. Then daddy told me that he had started drinking and daddy warned me not to marry him." Ana meant Nicholai when referring to daddy. She was always very formal when speaking of Dmitri. "I didn't want to listen. I knew he was right, but I chose to ignore the warnings. He never treated me the same after I became well, but I ignored what I knew. I was so happy at the wedding, beaming."

"I remember, dragă, you were the prettiest bride in the world." Sasha smiled as he kissed her forehead. Kim was stoking the girl's arms, absentmindedly remembering her joy at her own wedding. Payson knew that Kim was thinking of her own marriage, comparing it to the story of the girl. She'd call Mark tonight and tell him how much she loves him. Payson wanted to have a happy marriage someday, like her parents, but this story terrified her.

"Yes, well, my happiness lasted until my wedding night. He didn't even touch me! He wouldn't look at me. He drank himself to sleep. The next five years were the same. I didn't divorce him because I took a vow, he didn't divorce me because he needed my money. I never thought I would be a virgin after five years of marriage, but here I am. A virgin widow. Life is so odd at times." Ana barked out an ironic laugh, then began to cry large tears.

"Was the man blind?" Sasha asked, angered. He smiled at his beautiful sister and then added, "you've always been the apple of my eye. You will always be special to me. Maybe, after all, you were called to that crazy idea you had as a gymnast. At the time I thought that perpetual virginity was insane…"

Ana laughed at Sasha's attempt to make her feel better. "You and I both know that I wanted that so I could do gymnastic for the rest of my life. I think my body decided differently."

Kim and Payson gently patted the girl on her back, amazed at how hard her life at been. Sasha was thinking it too. She had worked her entire life and other than right now, she was a strong and happy girl in spite of her life.

Kim and Payson excused themselves as soon as they were able to politely, leaving the brother and sister as they cried together and remembered the past.