And…the usual disclaimer: Disney owns the Mighty Ducks. The name, the characters, Orion, the Varsity players, and Linda are not mine. However, I do own any characters you don't recognize…i.e. Ken's parents, Ken's grandfather, Elaine, Brian, Sky, Tony, Sonja, etc.
That's to all you guys/girls who reviewed! Yay for y'all! And yeah…school sucks. O-chem lab is gonna kick my ass…it's not gonna be pretty. But at least I have the Ducks to make me feel better…
Mwahahahahaha!!! This is my favorite chapter so far! So I hope you guys like it! I did some major writing after my crappy first days at school, so I feel better now. But I'll feel even more better if you hit the little review button…you know you want to! And yeah, I know "even more better" is terrible English, but eh…don't care right now!
And since it seems like the same people reading this read "All I'm Losing Is Me", I'm gonna put a tiny note in here for now: thanks for the great reviews! I'd like to continue it, but it may not be that easy. I can only write angsty stuff when I'm in my I-hate-the-world-and-my-life-sucks mood, which I'm not in too often. But, seeing as I'm going to fail my organic chemistry lab, I may be in that mood soon, so if I am, I promise I'll work on it. Ok…
And I'm always interested in hearing what you guys think of this. If you like it, tell me! If you hate, great!, tell me why! And if you don't care either way, tell me your favorite cookie! Mine's butterscotch chip…mmm….ok, moving on.
From the moment twelve-year-old Kenny Wu walked into the Olympic Amphitheatre in Hamar, Norway, he was in awe of everything. The arena only sat 6,000 spectators, but it seemed much, much bigger. The overhead lights were blinding white, setting off the glare of the ice. Everything seemed so much bigger and brighter here than back home, even than in Joe Louis Arena in Detroit when the 1994 U.S. National Championships had been held.
Kenny coach, Sonja Olsen, placed a hand on his shoulder and guided him away from the ice, out the doors and into the practice rink next door, Storhamar Ice Rink. Kenny's feelings of astonishment and trepidation intensified as he drew closer to the ice, watching the skaters.
"That's Elvis Stojko." Sonja pointed out. "And Alexei Urmanov, and Viktor Petrenko." Kenny nodded, but he didn't need them pointed out; he had seen them all many times.
"You stay here." Sonja told him. "I'll find out when your practice ice starts." She left him and headed in the direction of a table labeled "Information" and Kenny's mother took her place.
"How are you feeling?" she asked him. "Okay?"
Kenny nodded, though at the moment he was feeling anything but okay.
He couldn't take his eyes off the skaters on the ice. He watched Viktor Petrenko lift into a triple Axel – triple toe-loop combination; the very combination that had helped him win the last Olympics. Seconds later, Elvis Stojko attempted a quadruple toe-loop jump…and landed it. All the skaters out there looked so polished and professional and so…old.
Kenny forced himself to tear his eyes away from the rink and caught a glimpse of his reflection a window. He grimaced at what he saw; a 5 foot nothing, skinny Asian kid who looked like he had wandered in to get an autograph. He didn't look like he belonged out there. He breathed deeply to fight off the feeling of nausea as Sonja walked toward him.
"Your practice ice starts in half an hour. Let's go warm up." She told him in her brusque, businesslike manner. Kenny's mother gave him a quick hug and walked in the direction of the stands to watch. His bag with his skates in it still over his shoulder, Kenny followed his coach to an empty spot in the corner of the rink, when he began a series of stretches and warm-ups. He quickly progressed to jumping off ice, starting with single revolutions, then doubles, and then triples, all under the watchful eyes of his coach.
As he pulled his skates on, Ken couldn't decide whether warming up had made him feel better or worse. The nausea had abated slightly, but facing the prospect of skating on the same ice as the older skaters made Ken's legs feel like Jell-o.
He stood at the edge of the rink, watching the Zamboni make its final lap around the rink. As it exited the ice, a rink monitor opened the door in the boards to the ice and Kenny, followed by five other skaters, stepped onto the ice. He hesitated for a moment by the boards, watching four other skaters race around the rink and begin working on individual elements of their programs.
A shadow fell over Kenny and he looked up to see the other U.S. skater, Brian Boitano. "Remember to breathe, buddy." He said, clapping a hand on Kenny's shoulder. "You'll be fine." With that, he took off around the rink.
Kenny nodded, mostly to himself, and began to circle the perimeter of the rink, slowly building speed. At the opposite end, he turned and began to skate backwards down the ice. Taking a few deep breaths, Kenny readied himself to work and began jumping as he had off the ice, starting with singles and working his way through doubles and triples. He quickly ran through some spins and footwork elements and skated over to the barrier where Sonja was watching.
"Excellent." Sonja told him. "Everything looks really solid, but make sure you take your time. You're rushing just a bit." Kenny nodded and took a sip from his water bottle.
"Now I've turned your music in to be played; you'll be up after Brian finishes his program. We're just going to concentrate on your short program today, since you'll be performing it in three days. Your freeskate is fine, we'll run through it a couple times later in the week and make sure everything is polished." Sonja continued.
Kenny nodded and after Brian Boitano's music ended, took his place at the far end of the rink and waited for his music to begin. Music from the soundtrack to "The Natural" quickly filled the small arena; Sonja had chosen the music after a skating critic had dubbed Kenny "a natural" at last year's National Championships. Kenny pushed off and began to complete the eight required elements for the short program; a triple Lutz – triple toe-loop jump combination, a sit-change-sit spin, a footwork sequence, footwork into a triple flip, a spin combination, a double Axel, another footwork sequence, and finally a death-drop spin.
As he finished his program, Kenny heard cheering from the bleachers and turned to see his mother, who had now been joined by Kenny's father and grandfather, cheering and waving wildly at him. Kenny smiled and waved back and returned to where Sonja was standing.
"Very good." She said, handing him his water bottle. "Jumps were excellent, as usual, spins were very good, but you lost a bit of speed on the last footwork sequence. Try it again from the Axel."
Kenny nodded and skated around the rink, avoiding Steven Cousins who was now running through his program. After building up speed, Kenny hit the double Axel and began the footwork sequence again, reminding himself to push all the way through it to maintain his speed.
"Much better." Sonja approved. Ken smiled and then frowned as he noticed the other skaters getting off the ice. "Don't worry," Sonja told him as she saw his face. "Starting tomorrow, we'll have more practice time." Kenny nodded and followed the other skaters off the ice.
"Just remember to breathe, and you'll be fine. Skate like you did two nights again and in practice and you'll be great." Sonja told him as he left the ice from his six-minute warm-up. Kenny could barely hear her, with the roar of the crowd in the arena and his emotions reeling.
Two nights ago Kenny had skated the best short program of his life. To top that off, his scores had put him in forth place, in serious contention for a medal. His face had been plastered all over the news since then, calling him the USA's only hope for a medal in the event; Brian Boitano had placed eighth in the short program.
Standing in the tunnel that lead from the backstage area to the ice, Kenny noticed it was getting harder and harder for him to breathe properly. He felt like the cameras and the crowed were watching him already, though he had yet to take the ice. He had tried to ignore everything going on around him, especially how the other skaters were doing, but it was growing increasingly difficult as murmurs and speculation ran through the workers backstage, as well as those who had already skated. Kenny knew that Viktor Petrenko, who had placed ninth in the short program, had skated a great program and was leading in the standings now. Brian Boitano had also skated well and was in third place so far, behind Kurt Browning.
Now the top six competitors had finished their warm-up and the first skater, Oleg Tataurov, who was in fifth after the short, was skating his long program. Philippe Candeloro, who was in third, would skate second followed by Elvis Stojko. Kenny was to skate fourth, followed by Alexei Urmanov, and Eric Millot would skate last. Kenny wasn't thrilled with having to skate after Elvis, who was in second; it was bad enough being in the top six skaters without a triple Axel, but Elvis had been nailing quadruple jumps in practice. Kenny tried not to watch the other skaters, but after the short program, he couldn't help it. But now, he wished he hadn't. Most of the top skaters were consistently landing triple Axels; which Kenny had only tried on the harness back home. He tried to convince Sonja that he should work on them here and put on in his long program, but Sonja had vetoed the idea immediately. Still, that hadn't stopped Kenny from trying them in his hotel room. He had landed several pretty well, but three and a half rotations was not an easy thing to do.
The reaction from the crowd told him that Oleg hadn't skated his best. Kenny's heart lifted a bit; it sounded as if he was out of medal contention. One down, four to go, Kenny thought to himself and began pacing to keep his legs from getting stiff. The noise from the crowed startled him as Philippe completed his program; Philippe was always a crowd favorite so it was difficult to tell if he skated well or if the crowd just loved him.
Kenny's heart began to race as he heard the music for Elvis's program start. "Come on, it's time." Sonja told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. They walked out from the tunnel into the main part of the Olympic Amphitheatre and Kenny was once again in awe. 6,000 seemed like a lot more seats when there were people sitting in them. And there was press everywhere, with cameras and tape recorders and notebooks and tripods. And all eyes were on the skater on the ice.
Kenny turned away to keep from watching but it didn't help. The crowd started to applaud as Elvis brought his program to an end and the roar filled the entire arena. The cheering continued as Elvis stepped off the ice and sat down with his coach to receive his marks.
Kenny stepped onto the ice and skated around a bit in a vain effort to keep his legs and hands from shaking. He took some deep breaths and tried to calm himself down. You've waited years for this, Kenny told himself. This is everything you've worked for. And you've done this program flawlessly a hundred times. There's no reason why you can't do it now.
But a nagging feeling inside him told Kenny that wasn't enough. As much as he tried to ignore it, he knew it was true. He could skate the program of his life and still someone else would win, because they had a triple Axel or a quad. It seemed so unfair.
"And now," A voice echoed through the arena and Kenny readied himself, knowing what he had to do. "Representing the United States of America, please welcome Kenny Wu!"
A huge roar swept through the crowd as Kenny skated to center ice and took his opening pose. Strains from a piece by Shostakovich filled the building, opening his four and a half minute program.