Day 22: Ice Skating

"Come on, Haruhime, it's easy!" exclaimed Mikoto, dragging her girlfriend out onto the ice. "Just focus on me and move your hips."

Haruhime slowly followed, sliding out after Mikoto while being as stiff as aboard. She could feel the way her brain was telling her to panic and tense up.

"Deep breaths," said Mikoto. "Just keep following me and try doing what I do."

Haruhime tried that. She tried gliding across the ice and just ended up slipping and falling. Usually, that would be fine for Haruhime. She fell down all the time, all over the place. Unfortunately, this time she felt horrible since she ended up dragging Mikoto down with her. She closed her eyes, ready for the beratement she was used to from her past.

All she heard, though, was the sound of laughter. She opened her eyes to find Mikoto laughing above her. The ravenette pulled herself back up to her feet before doing the same for Haruhime. She was still laughing, with a smile like a sun on her face. Haruhime felt her heart start stuttering and her brain short-circuiting. This was a problem because the people around her were getting impatient at the couple just standing around on the rink.

"Come on," said Mikoto. "I think this is too much for."

She led Haruhime off the ice and sat her down on a bench.

"How about you just take a break, ok?" said Mikoto. "Try to relax and take some deep breaths. I'm going to keep skating, is that alright?"

Haruhime nodded. She did enjoy watching Mikoto skate, after all. Her girlfriend had a dancer's grace and the balance of a gymnast. Not to mention that Mikoto was incredibly in shape. As she skated around the rink, gliding around passersby, Haruhime's eyes were drawn to the outline of Mikoto's thighs under the dark leggings she wore. Haruhime became mesmerized by how the muscles contracted and relaxed with each turn around the rink. She wasn't alone either. Haruhime watched people slowly stop and start looking at her girlfriend. Thankfully, Mikoto was too caught up in her routine to grow self-conscious. She moved through the motions, unaware.

That only enhanced the beauty and grace of the performance, though. Which gave Haruhime a certain sense of pride in that Mikoto was HER girlfriend and no one else's. The blonde sat there smugly, looking at the audience.

'They don't know that that amazing, wonderful goofball is already mine,' she thought.

When Mikoto finally finished whatever music was playing in her head, she stopped skating. There was a smattering of applause around the rink when she did, which threw her off her balance. Haruhime watched Mikoto suddenly jump at the applause, blushing from all the attention. Which caused her to lose her balance and fall on her butt.

The audience laughed, as that was the way of people, before politely dispersing. Mikoto got back up again and skated over to where she had left Haurhime. The blonde stood up and walked over in her uncomfortable skates. Thankfully, there was no glass divider, just a low wall, so the two of them could talk easily.

"I think I'm almost done," said Mikoto. "After that, and all those people, I don't think I have much left in me. Do you want to grab lunch somewhere?"

When she said that part, Mikoto almost seemed kind of nervous as if she was afraid Haruhime would say no. The blonde rolled her eyes before kissing Mikoto on the cheek.

"Of course, I want lunch; that's what's supposed to happen on a date, right?" said Haruhime.

Mikoto smiled, and then she was back out on the ice. She was twirling and spinning with grace from years of practice. Haruhime knew that it wasn't on professional rinks, though. Mikoto grew up poor and skating on frozen lakes and ponds. That hadn't stopped Mikoto's love for the sport.

After a bit more skating, Mikoto hopped off the ice. She returned her and Haruhime's skates and then dragged the blonde off to her favourite vegetarian restaurant. Haruhime could only watch the energy in Mikoto's steps and smiled fondly after her.

Just as they were about to go into the restaurant, Mikoto paused. She frowned.

"I forgot to ask…are you ok with vegetarian food?" she asked.

Haruhime giggled. "Yes, it's fine. Besides, if I ate meat, you'd refuse to kiss me until I washed my mouth."

Mikoto blushed but still held onto Haruhime's hand. The two took a table and took a look at their menus.

"Mikoto," said Haruhime. Mikoto hummed in response. "I've been meaning to ask. Why haven't you ever tried to be serious with your ice skating?"

Mikoto shrugged. "Because right now, it's fun. I don't want to turn something fun into something that I hate by spending too much time at it." Mikoto sat there silently before freaking out. "Wait! That came out wrong! I mean, I don't just do things because they are fun. I take our relationship very seriously! You aren't just fun!"

Haruhime leaned over the table, stopping Mikoto with a kiss. The ravenette sighed when Haruhime finished, sitting there quietly. The two ended their lunch, and after that, Haruhime suggested that they try and go back out on the ice. The blonde was most likely going to continue falling on her butt, but she didn't really mind. For today, if Mikoto was happy, then Haruhime would be even happier.

The End

Hestia finished the quilted square, looking down at the image of two women deeply in love on the ice. The Goddess had a sad smile on her face. Not because of the people themselves, but because they had each other and had the company to enjoy it. Hestia looked up at the empty room and then the clock on the wall ticking away. She sat there, alone, as time marched forward toward Christmas. The little Goddess sighed, but then she shrugged and got back to work.