Later that night, Nikolai stood once again in the middle of the ice rink, this time waiting by himself. He practiced the motion that his otousan had shown him earlier that day, nervously keeping himself busy as he waited.

He was mid-action when he heard the door to the rink clatter shut, and he spun around to see Aliya standing there, holding a duffel bag. When their eyes met, she smiled, and Nikolai's heart skipped a beat. He smiled back, his nerves surging in an uncontrollable arc. He managed to push them down enough to call to her, "Hey, you made it!"

She laughed. "Of course I did! You invited me here." She sat down on a bench and began to change her shoes.

He skated over to the fence to wait for her. He didn't realize he had been watching her until she looked up and giggled at him. "Kolya, they won't go on any faster if you stand there and monitor me."

Nikolai blushed, and turned away. "Ah, sorry. I'll just go wait over there, then."

Her laugh surrounded him. "Hold on, I was kidding. I'm done." She stood and came over to him, opening the gate. "Let's get going, shall we?"

Nikolai took a deep, steadying breath, and reached out to grab Aliya's hand. She looked up at him, startled, with a tinge of a rose on her cheeks. The color was so pretty on her skin, that Nikolai lost himself in studying it for a second. He managed to shake himself out of it, though, and gave her an unsteady smile. "Follow me today," he said, and took off, pulling her gently along with him.

Aliya chuckled softly at his side. "Of course, Kolya," she replied simply. The statement made a shiver run down his spine. The openness between them felt palpable to him. He reveled in it, and decided that now was the moment to execute his plan.

He reversed their direction around the curve of the rink, gathering speed. When they were pulling out of the curve, he directed her, "Aliyen'ka, give me a single Lutz."

She looked up at him, nodded, and executed the jump. In that moment, he felt her raw trust like a tangible object. As she jumped, he placed a hand under her upper arm, and, using the height of her takeoff, placed his other hand beneath her thigh, lifting her over his head.

Seemingly out of reflex, Aliya arched her body in the position for a Lutz lift, staring down at him in shock. He smiled back, counted out three seconds in his head, and gently set her down. Again, she executed the landing perfectly, raising one leg behind her delicately and extending her body out from his hand. Then she ground to a halt, almost causing the two of them to run into each other. She stood there for a few moments, staring up at him, her mouth hanging open slightly. Nikolai shifted in place nervously, sliding one skate back and forth on the ice in what would have been a shuffle with regular shoes.

The tension grew too much to bear. He blurted out, "Come on, Aliya, say something!"

Her mouth worked fruitlessly for a couple syllables, then she stuttered, "That…that was…awesome!"

Joy tingled cautiously at the tips of his fingers. "Yeah? I didn't mess it up too bad?"

She clapped her hands together in delight, bouncing in place a little bit on the ice. "Are you kidding? Kolya, that was wonderful! It was almost perfect! Where in the world did you learn how to do a lift?"

Nikolai raked a hand through his blond hair sheepishly. "I asked Otousan to help teach me some lifts earlier today. He said he'd only teach me one at a time, though, so that's the only one I know." He looked into her face earnestly. "But I'd be willing to learn more. I want to be able to help you. You know, while you look for a partner."

He'd thought about it yesterday, and decided that, while it hurt to be used, it was worth it to be with Aliya. Every time he had watched her in competition being lifted and touched by Mischa, he had burned with jealousy. This way, if he learned some lifts and could be useful to her, he could be the one touching her. Even if it was only temporary, until she found someone who would actually suit her, then so be it. Although his pride was injured, when it really came down to it, there wasn't any injury, emotional or otherwise, that he wouldn't go through for Aliya.

And so, when he'd been alone with his otousan earlier, they had practiced the Lutz lift, rehearsing the motion over and over, trying to make it perfect for Aliya. He had practiced with a focused desperation. He had been given a chance to be close to her again after two long years, and he'd be damned if he let the chance get away.

Judging by the look on Aliya's face, his work and determination had paid off. She positively glowed as she reached up and touched his cheek gently.

Was this girl trying to kill him?

"Kolya, I don't know what to say. You did this for me, even though you hate skating. Are you sure you're ok being my partner? At least for a little while," she added hastily.

That nipped at his hurt emotions a bit, but he ignored it. He had already decided to sacrifice his feelings, and he wouldn't look back now. "Yeah," he responded softly, looking down at her. He was fairly sure her eyes were the prettiest things in the world.

She stepped back from him and grinned, breaking the magic of the moment. "Ok, then, let's get started!"

He blinked dumbly at the sudden change in mood. "What?" he asked groggily.

Aliya grabbed his hand. "Well, we can't practice with just one lift, can we? We have to get started on teaching you some other ones." She smiled happily up at him. He'd been wrong. Her smile was the prettiest thing in the world. "Come on, Kolya," she laughed, tugging him back out onto the frozen surface.

And, like the lovesick idiot he was, he followed obediently.

A couple hours later, Aliya announced that they had done enough for one night. They both plopped heavily onto a bench together, breathing hard. By now, Nikolai felt his exhaustion in his very bones, but then Aliya gave him a look of pure adoration and whispered, "Thank you."

His heart fluttered rapidly. He allowed himself a moment of open honesty, and gazed back into her face with a tender look of his own. "No problem, Aliyen'ka. Would you like to practice tomorrow night too, then?"

She blinked at him. No, he'd been wrong again. Her eyelashes were the prettiest things in the world. A slow smile kindled on her face. "Sure, Kolya."

Over the next week, Nikolai's days fell into a comfortable pattern. He went to hocky practice during the day, and at night, he met Aliya quietly at the rink and practiced lift after lift. Despite his constant state of muddled exhaustion, he felt like he was floating around through the air. He had barely seen Aliya for the past two years, and had been simply pining for her from a distance. Now, he was seeing her every night, alone, and the difference felt like he had been drowning, but had finally managed to break through the surface to gasp gulp after gulp of sweet air. He even told himself that he stopped caring about being used by his friend as a stand-in. He simply basked in the reality of being with her.

The only dark spot in his happiness was Evgeny. They'd both returned to practice the day after their fight, and the other boy had been giving Nikolai dirty looks everywhere they went. Coach Kravetz, however, had been keeping a close eye on their little squad of forwards, so nothing had really come of his behavior. By the end of the week, Nikolai had dismissed the whole situation, choosing to focus on his time with Aliya instead of worrying about whether or not Evgeny still had a stick up his ass.

In the end, that was what proved to be his undoing.