A/N: I am not a gymnastics expert, though I have tried to do some research. For instance, my scoring for competitions is closely related to the scores from the actual 2011 Worlds competition that I found on wikipedia. In this chapter, I talk about Payson's special named vault (which is mentioned in 1x1 Pilot but never shown on-screen), which I have made a triple twisting yurchenko. I've read that some female gymnasts have practiced this vault, though it isn't yet named since it hasn't been landed in competition yet. The gymnastics moves I talk about and mention in this chapter were found online, via youtube videos, the official code of points for 2009-2012, and a variety of internet articles. If anybody has corrections about the gymnastics elements that I'm using, please let me know, because I do want to be as accurate as possible!
Chapter 2
"This is so humiliating," Lauren groaned. "You don't see Payson throwing candy!"
"Well, she is the National Champion," Emily pointed out.
"These hats are kind of stylish," said Kaylie.
"Ick, no. There's no such thing as firefighter chic," Lauren declared, rolling her eyes.
As the parade came to a close, the trio of girls in the back of the fire truck looked over to the leading car, which Payson was riding in with Nicky Russo. They seemed to be bent rather closely together, and Nicky was saying something in her ear.
"Do you think there's something between Nicky and Payson?" Lauren said speculatively.
Payson bent over to open the door on her side of the car, and visibly winced, straightening up again. Kaylie frowned in worry, but Sasha was already there, hurrying to pull open the door and offer his hand to Payson. Lauren noticed that Nicky looked slightly upset that he'd missed an opportunity to help Payson. She had already stepped out of the car, leaning against Sasha's side as he wrapped a protective arm about her waist and murmured something to her.
"Pain level," Sasha asked quietly as he walked with Payson towards the stage. He'd noticed her strained smile during the parade, and had hated that he couldn't get to her side until now.
"Six," Payson hissed.
Sasha shook his head, angry with himself for letting it get this bad – it had only been four days since her last cortisone shot. "It shouldn't have worn off so fast. We need to move up the surgery."
Payson nodded, startling him. He knew she would have protested if she wasn't in bad pain. Sasha drew back as reporters approached, though he lingered by her side in case she needed him.
"How are you feeling, Payson?"
"I'm glad to be here," she answered, then led the way up to the stage.
Thankfully, the ceremony soon began.
"Congratulations to Coach Sasha Belov, for leading five of The Rock's gymnasts to the National Team!"
Sasha managed a smile and a wave for the audience before looking back over to Payson, whose stance was stiff, though she was smiling like a champion.
"And to silver medalist Nicky Russo, and especially to gold-medal-winning National Champion, Payson Keeler!" Mayor Nielsen smiled proudly at the young gymnasts. "Payson, on behalf of the city of Boulder, I'd like to present you with the Key to the City. I hereby declare today, Payson Keeler Day!"
"Thank you very much," Payson said as she accepted the microphone. "I wouldn't be here today without the help of my family, my friends, and my amazing coach."
She looked over at Sasha, and he offered her a wan smile in thanks.
"I'm very proud of my teammates Kaylie Cruz, Lauren Tanner, and Emily Kmetko, who did fantastically at Nationals and are now on the National Team with me. Thank you all for this honor. I promise to do my best to bring home more gold medals to Boulder when we compete at the World Championships in November."
Several people cheered as she stepped back. Lauren, Kaylie and Emily were pleased that someone had finally mentioned their names.
When they were finally able to escape, Payson dropped her voice and murmured to her friends, "I'm so glad that's over."
"I wish I was training instead," Nicky sighed.
"Me too," Payson said, grinning at him.
Lauren rolled her eyes while smirking with amusement. "You two are peas in a pod."
"Never change, Payson," Emily laughed.
"It's too bad you have to get surgery," Nicky told Payson compassionately. "I think I'd go crazy if I couldn't train for weeks…"
Seeing Payson's face fall, Sasha stepped up to intervene. "Having to live with excruciating back pain is unacceptable. Payson, taking a little time off won't hurt, you'll be back to top form in no time." He assured her, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. Payson wanted to believe him, but Nicky's words had made her uneasy about the prospect of several weeks without gymnastics.
"At least you get some time off," Kaylie said cheerfully. "I'm kind of jealous."
"Really?" Payson shot her a look of disbelief. "I'd trade spots with you in a heartbeat. I won't be allowed to do anything after the surgery. Like Nicky said, I might go crazy!"
"Payson, we're on a schedule," MJ chided as she stepped up to them, twirling one of those creepy sticks with Payson's head pasted on the end. "We're going to the autograph signing, then to an interview with the local paper, and you have a few phone interviews tomorrow morning."
Payson's face fell dramatically. Right now, she was regretting convincing her parents to let her get a manager. Sasha had helped by explaining to the Keelers that since Payson was now the National Champion, she would need someone to help her manage the publicity. Payson knew that the larger struggle, getting her parents to accept endorsements, was going to be another battle with them, one she didn't look forward to.
"Tomorrow she'll be getting the surgery," Sasha told MJ firmly. "You'll have to push the phone interviews until the next day."
"You told me that was happening on Friday!"
"I'm moving it up," Sasha declared. "The sooner the better…"
"But I have a photoshoot scheduled for Thursday," MJ said, clearly irritated.
"You'll push that two weeks," he told her.
"Payson," her manager began.
"I need the surgery," Payson said frankly. "Unless you want photos of me in pain."
MJ sighed, hearing the point. "Alright, but you'll have to do phone interviews while you're resting."
"That's fine," Sasha allowed.
"I wasn't expecting you to be so heavily involved, Sasha," MJ said, rather annoyed.
Her ex raised an eyebrow. "Deal with it. I won't let you push Payson too hard."
Payson smiled up at him fondly, basking in the protective glance he sent her way, and for a moment, forgot all about her back pain.
"Wow, they really don't like each other." Lauren whistled softly.
"You know the story, right?" Emily murmured, glad to know something Lauren didn't. "They used to date, back before the Sydney Olympics, when she was his manager. Then Sasha caught her sleeping with Marty!"
"Seriously?" Kaylie growled. "Whose relationship hasn't Marty ruined?"
She stomped off angrily, leaving Emily and Lauren to watch her go, Emily sighing as she realized that she'd just brought up a very sore topic.
Sasha came over to the Keeler house as soon as training was done the next day, anxious to see how Payson was doing after the surgery. She was lying in her bed, tucked under the covers, reading a gymnastics magazine.
"Sasha," she greeted happily, setting down the magazine as he walked in.
"How do you feel?" Sasha asked urgently as he hurried over to her.
"Well, my back is pretty numb right now, the anesthesia hasn't worn off yet," Payson told him. "The doctors said I'll be a little sore for a week, but that the pain should go away after that."
"It had better," Sasha said darkly, pulling her desk chair over to her bed and sitting down.
"Or what, you'll beat up my doctors?" Payson teased, though she enjoyed his protective attitude.
"Hmm." Sasha's lips twitched up in amusement. "I wouldn't rule it out."
Payson laughed, and he smiled back at her, glad that she was in a good mood. He wished he could have been at the hospital when she had the procedure done, but it had been Monday morning and everyone was back for training after Nationals. Since the laser surgery was minimally invasive, Payson had been able to return home that very afternoon, though she was confined to bed rest for the next day to be safe.
"How's everything at The Rock?" Payson managed to convey excitement, worry, and impatience in those five words.
"It's not the same without you," Sasha told her warmly, before actually trying to answer her question. "I have the elites polishing up their routines for the first National Team Practice in a couple weeks."
Payson nodded, her face falling as she remembered that she would be missing that practice. Sasha saw this, and hurried to make her feel better.
"I've been thinking about your new routines for Worlds."
Her entire face lit up with excitement. "Tell me, please?"
"They're not done yet," Sasha cautioned her. "But on bars, I want you to upgrade your pak salto by adding a full twist. I also want you to learn a Comaneci release, and a Krasnyansha, a pike circle backwards to inverted pike support. We both know that your double layout dismount is superb, so I think you're ready to learn to add a full twist. Having a higher difficulty score will give you an edge in international competitions."
Payson's eyes closed as she visualized herself performing the moves he talked about. Sasha watched her fondly – he enjoyed this habit of hers. When she finished, Sasha continued.
"As for balance beam, you'll mount with a forward aerial walkover off the board."
Payson nodded and closed her eyes to imagine it. "Can I make my dismount a triple twist?"
"No," Sasha said firmly, surprising her enough that she opened her eyes to stare at him.
"But my two and a half won't cut it at Worlds! I know I can add an extra half twist, I'll need the F skill -"
"Actually, you won't, because you'll be doing a Double Arabian instead."
"That's a G level skill!" Payson realized excitedly.
"You have the height and power for it," Sasha assured her. "I'm still designing the rest of your beam routine, but I know what vaults I want you doing. When your back is better, I'll consider letting you do your triple twist again."
"Really?" Payson said hopefully. "No more making me hold back and do the Amanar?"
"I hope you realize that no gymnast has ever had to say that to her coach before." Sasha told her drily.
Payson blushed prettily. Her ability to twist incredibly quickly and smoothly had led Marty Walsh to help her develop a yurchenko triple twist, an insanely hard vault for most gymnasts that if she landed in an international competition, would be named after her. She had landed it consistently in practice before Sasha had arrived, but after her back troubles, Sasha had insisted that she only perform the two and a half twist, the Amanar, at Nationals.
"As for your second vault, I think you can improve your half-on to a Cheng."
"Really?" Payson beamed. "Then I'd have…"
"Two of the highest scoring vaults in the world, including one named after you."
"I think I'm dreaming," she murmured, and he chuckled and pinched her arm, making her yelp and swat at him. "Actually, in that case, you'd probably have said I could learn to vault the Produnova."
"That's never happening," Sasha said resolutely. In his first week as her coach, Payson had come to him and asked if he would teach her the Produnova. Sasha had given her the same answer Marty had done for years – hell no. It was an exceptionally dangerous vault, and Sasha would never let any of his gymnasts attempt it.
"Then this is real life," Payson smirked, having expected his answer. "I can't wait to do my signature vault again. I hope nobody else wants to debut it at Worlds, I'd love to have my name on it!"
"I don't think anyone's near your level at vaulting," Sasha said reassuringly.
Payson looked pleased to hear it. "It's so good to think about going to Worlds… The last five days have been so strange since I won Nationals. There's so much publicity, and all the interviews…"
"Publicity is a necessary evil, especially if you want to get sponsorships."
"I know, I know, but MJ is driving me up the wall!" Payson sighed. "Sasha... are those old stories about you two true?"
"If you mean stories about my poor life choices as a young man, then yes, they're all true," Sasha said with a rueful shrug.
"I meant that you and MJ were dating until she cheated on you with Marty and you broke up."
"Ah," Sasha said wryly. "That's succinct and completely accurate. But it did drive me to be my best in Sydney, where I paid Marty back in full by beating him for the all-around and won four gold medals."
"I remember watching you compete on television," Payson grinned as she thought about the Athens Olympics. "My babysitter had the biggest crush on Marty, and I made so much fun of her when he lost. I'd been telling her from the beginning that you were going to win."
Sasha chuckled fondly. "The first time I saw you compete in the Junior National Championship in '08, I knew you'd be winning gold in 2012."
"Really?"
"You've always been a champion, Payson," Sasha said seriously, reaching out on impulse to take her hand in his. Their eyes met and held for a long moment. Sasha's intense faith in her left her momentarily speechless.
"Now, for floor," he said, finally ending the charged silence. "We're going to completely reinvent your routine. Since you can't do high impact training for three weeks, you'll be going to ballet classes instead."
"Ballet?" Payson looked horrified. "But I'm a gymnast, not a dancer!"
"Why can't you be both?"
"I'm just… I'm not like that," Payson pulled a face. "I'm not built for artistic dance stuff. I'm not skinny or long-legged or beautiful like a ballerina!"
"Didn't we already do this dance?" Sasha sighed. "I thought you knew you were beautiful by now, Payson."
She flushed as he looked at her seriously. Sasha was still holding her hand, and she wondered if he realized that. She wasn't going to point it out and have him pull away – she felt cared for and protected with her hand slipped into his larger one.
"Alright, I'm pretty enough, I guess," Payson rolled her eyes. "But I'm a good gymnast because I'm strong, Sasha, not because I'm graceful."
"You are strong, but you also have a natural grace, Payson. That's why you won Nationals," Sasha said, unable to keep a trace of impatience from his voice. "Your final two routines are what cinched your win for you. You had a 9.7 execution score on beam, do you even know how rare that is?"
Before she could reply, he pushed on.
"Very," Sasha said ardently. "Whatever you were thinking or feeling, Payson, you tapped into something inside you. I'd never seen you like that before – all your fear vanished, and you flew and danced across that beam. That grace, it's part of you. I want you to learn to tap into it all the time."
"Payson!" Kim called from the hallway. "Are you hungry?"
Sasha sat up, startled into dropping her hand. Payson felt the loss keenly, but said nothing as her mother entered the room and smiled at them.
"Sasha, would you like to stay for soup and sandwiches? We'd appreciate the company… Mark's already back in Minnesota, and Becca's still at her friend Avery's house."
"That sounds delicious, thank you, Kim," Sasha said warmly.
The grilled cheese and tomato soup made for a simple but delicious dinner. Kim had made the tomato soup from scratch, and Sasha was able to tell her honestly that it was the best meal he'd had since coming to Boulder. The two Keeler women exchanged astonished glances, both realizing that Sasha Belov clearly needed their help in feeding himself.
"Kim, there's something I'd like Payson to work on over the next few weeks, before she's able to get back into serious training."
"What's that?"
"I think she could benefit from attending a ballet class. I've already found one nearby…"
"I won't go," Payson said defiantly.
"Payson!" Kim admonished.
"I'm not a dancer, mom," Payson said fiercely.
Sasha quietly excused himself, hoping that Kim might be able to convince Payson where he couldn't. After a quick trip to the bathroom, he returned to Payson's room, pausing in the hallway to listen to their conversation.
"You've always been an amazing athlete…"
"Exactly! I'm an athlete, not a princess." Payson said, her voice full of both impatience and sadness. "When I was seven, I wanted to be in the Great River Mall Ice-capade show because I really, really wanted to be the princess."
"I don't remember that." Kim said with a frown.
"Yeah, because I got cast as the prince!"
Sasha winced in sympathy.
"Oh, that I remember. I made you that great costume, with the blue velvet…"
"That's exactly the point, mom."
"What?"
"I got cast as the prince because the director said I was built more like a boy." Payson looked miserable, and Sasha wanted badly to knock that director over the head for harming Payson's self-esteem. Even if it was true then, it certainly wasn't now – how didn't she see that?
"And then later I heard all the girls laughing at me for even thinking I was graceful enough or pretty enough to ever, ever be a princess!"
"Oh, Pay, why didn't you tell me?" Kim sighed.
"Because I knew you'd just tell me that the prince was the cooler part, instead of what I really wanted to hear."
"Which was?"
"That they were all wrong, and I would have been the most beautiful princess in the world."
"And that's why you don't want to try ballet? You don't think you're graceful enough to be a more artistic gymnast?"
"I'm scared, mom."
"It's okay! It's okay to be scared of trying something new. But if you don't try at all, you can become scared of your entire life. And one more thing. I think you would have made the most beautiful princess in the world. And I still do."
Sasha smiled as Payson embraced her mother. He walked back into the room, making sure to step on the annoying creaky board he'd discovered earlier, so that they knew he was coming. Hearing his footsteps, Payson carefully pulled back from her mother, surreptitiously wiping away a tear.
Kim suddenly scooped up the dishes, smiled at Sasha, and headed to the kitchen. Sasha sat down beside Payson.
"About that ballet class," Sasha began.
"Sasha," she sighed. "I know what ballerinas look like, slim and pretty. I'm just… not that type of girl."
"So you're not a princess, Payson."
She looked at him, startled and somewhat hurt.
"You're a queen," Sasha continued, capturing her eyes in his intense gaze. "And I know that you can be an incredible dancer." She looked down in embarrassment or self-doubt, so he grasped her chin and tilted it up until she looked at him, blue eyes wide and full of uncertainty.
"Payson, do you trust me?"
"Yes, of course." With her life. With everything.
"Then trust me when I tell you that you are a graceful and beautiful young woman. If you are willing to try it, I know you will master ballet just as you mastered gymnastics."
She was still stuck on beautiful, but she nodded, her cheeks quite pink. "I'll try, Sasha."
His thrilled smile sent shivers through her. "You won't regret it. But don't just try. Say, I will succeed."
"I will succeed," Payson said, grinning despite her inner fears of failing at it.
"Good," Sasha grinned back. "In return for sticking with it, I promise to come to every one of your dance performances."
Her eyes widened at the very thought. "With flowers?"
"You drive a hard bargain," Sasha laughed. "It's a deal. What's your favorite kind of flower?"
"I'm not sure... Maybe irises, or carnations, or snapdragons, though I do love roses too." Payson listed thoughtfully.
"With luck, I'll remember at least one of those when your first recital rolls around," Sasha remarked with a wink. "Thank you for giving me a few options."
Payson beamed at him. The promise of Sasha coming to her recitals made dancing much more appealing. She really hoped he was right, and she would be good at it.
