Rose's Point of View

I looked at Kat who seemed a little nervous walking with me, but then again, I could understand why. We did just meet, I know nothing about her and she knows nothing about me. She was leading me to the dance room which was of adequate size and it had mirrors all around to check for bad posture. I thought about different things to lighten the mood. "Where are you from Kats?" I looked at her walking beside me. "It's Kat and I was originally from Wales, except after my incident I moved here with my father." She looked into my eyes. I never realized she was the same height as me, it must have been the skates that made me seem like I was taller. "I was born in New York City in America. I moved here with my brother after I failed to make it into Juilliard, which is a really great dance school. I came here to find myself again," still looking into Kat's eyes that were brown and they are really pretty. I turned to look around the room because I was blushing really hard. "Then I suppose we are in the same boat? Trying to find ourselves, after such a great loss," she responded not breaking eye contact with me. "I suppose we are then huh? This is great, we have a lot in common. I guess we should start. What kind of prosthetic do you have?"

I looked at her again as I sat down and began to stretch which she also did the same. I took off my sweater to reveal the namaste shirt I was wearing. "I just have this basic transfemoral prosthetic," she replied rolling up her legging, revealing the leg to show me. I nodded at it and said, "this won't do, we'll have to get you a newer model one. They just started making some new designs at my brother's base. Let me see what I can do, okay? But for now, let's start with the basic five positions." She nodded as we both got up and walked over to the bar. "Now, I understand that you probably already know what these are, but learning to do them again will help with conditioning you to use your left leg more. Do you understand?" I looked at her hoping for a response because I felt like I was doing way too much talking. "Of course, I will listen to every word you have to say," she smirked, "besides you're the coach."

"These five positions are usually the first things that are taught to any beginner in ballet class, however, they are essential to the technique of every performance. The first position is this," I showed her the position. The heels are together with the toes of each foot pointed out toward either side, with legs straight and turned out, following the position of the feet. "Now, I realize that the turnout position of the feet will be harder on you, but it will get easier the more you practice it," she looked at me with hopeful eyes as she tried to mimic my stance. Her back wasn't straight so knew that her turnout was too much. "Here, just turn your leg naturally and if it feels uncomfortable, turn your feet inward more." She nodded yes to me. "For the second position, it is basically the same as the first position," I showed her the second position. The legs are straight and the feet are turned out to each side like in first position, but the difference is that the heels do not touch and are instead about hip-width apart. "This one is easier." I heard Kat say as she had the biggest smile ever. I smiled back at her because she seemed like what she needed was encouragement. "That's good." I said as she began to form the position perfectly. "Okay, third position is this. Now this position is rarely used since it can be mistaken for a sloppy first or fifth position." I said as I moved into the position. You begin in first position, and then slide the heel of one foot so it lines up with the middle of the other foot, keeping both feet pointing out in opposite directions. Kat looked at me happily as she stumbled to move into the position. "This will be difficult for you, I hope you plan on giving your all." I looked at her and spoke with a stern voice. "Oh no, I plan on it," she seemed worried as if I was going to leave her. That is when I felt bad for being so stern but I am her coach, I need to be in order to get her to where she wants to be. "This is position four," I said then. It is basically the same as position three except you stand with one foot about a foot's length in front of your other foot. Each foot should be pointing in an opposite direction, and the toes of the back foot should line up with the heel of the front foot. She stumbled again and I looked at her and said, "If you keep messing up, I will beat you with your leg. Stand up straight." She looked at me and started laughing super hard. I knew it would help her get out of her comfort zone. She did the position right and I smiled thinking to myself that just yesterday, she had no hope. "The fifth position is this and it is most difficult one to hold. It is just like the fourth position but there is no gap between your feet." The toes of each foot should be directly in front of the heel of the other foot, and make sure your legs are turned out and straight.

"Now that is all the positions, you should practice them for a bit," I looked at her and smiled. "So, now I can get on the ice?" She grew super excited and jumped for joy but that is where she is wrong. I looked at her and said, "Actually no. You have much to learn before you can get back on the ice. You have to practice these positions for the next hour." She looked at me with a really sad face, "But but, wouldn't it make more sense for me to learn it on the ice?" She grabbed my arm and looked me straight in the eyes, begging me to let her get back out there. I had to admit though, she did have a point. "No, do this for an hour and then you can get on the ice," I said then. Her face lit up as she began to practice with a new found enthusiasm. The idea of getting to skate some more that day, motivated her to work harder and soon she was doing each position perfectly.

It was about 30 minutes later when I realized that she had been doing the positions perfectly for the past 10 minutes. Maybe I could show her the adagio exercises. They are a series of fluid and focused exercises that are performed slowly in order to improve a dancer's' balance, strength and lines. However, if she knows the term, she might think that I am referring to the opening sequence of a two-person dance that includes one partner lifting the other up. "Hey, let's try some adagio exercises?" I said as I looked at her with hopeful eyes that she would know what I was talking about. She looked at me confused and said, "Oh, okay. Will I be lifting you because I feel that the smaller one should be lifted?" I let out a sigh of exhaustion, I knew she wouldn't know the right version. "Oh no, sweetheart. Let me show you, it is to help you learn how to balance better," I said as I looked at her, she started to blush. "Please don't call me sweetheart," she looked kind of embarrassed. "Okay, I won't unless you mess up. Got it?" I laughed at her as she began to follow my motions. She began to wobble with the motions and she faltered a bit. "Come on, you got this. If you get this soon, I'll let you skate." I gave her some more encouragement. She looked up at me and smiled a bit. She had hope and I thought it was adorable. I knew she would get the hang of this soon. She had the drive to do so. After an hour, she finally got the hang of the motions and could balance better on her right leg than before. Well, her prosthetic leg. Sometimes, watching her move, I forget that she has that prosthetic. I still have to talk to my brother about getting her a better one but that will be later. Right now, it is time for her to get out on the ice, if she has any more stamina to do so.

Katsumi's Point of View

Rose looked at me and said with a smile, "are you ready to get on the ice?" My heart skipped a beat, at the thought of skating with my improved balance. "I'm more than ready, because I know I'll nail that triple axel. Hell I could even go for a quad," I chuckled. I raced after my coach towards the rink, to my surprise I couldn't find Yuuko but Yuuri was there. I rushed to lace on my ice skates since Yuuri hadn't noticed I was there, although he couldn't remove his eyes from Rose. "Is this your friend?" She glanced down at where I stood, to find I was no longer there. "Yuuri!" I shouted. I ran out onto the ice and tackled the anxious boy in a hug, "oh hello Kat, what are you doing here?" He sighed, trying to maintain his balance. "I was actually practicing with my new coach and now I can skate with you and Yuuko," she giggled. It surprised the boy, I suppose he was use to the girl who lacked confidence.

With Rosalina, I found a new sense of aptitude and courage, where I had faith that I belonged in the rink. "I'm glad." Yuuri grinned, "want some help with your jumps?" My excitement grew as I looked at his grin and said, "I would love to." We moved the middle of the rink where there would be more room. "What would like to begin with today?" The brunette glanced at me, "maybe we should start slow." I grabbed Yuuri's wrist and pulled him close, "Yuuri you know what I really want to do and I've been practicing dance all morning." The brunette laughed at my persistence, "alright then we'll start with a triple axel." He started to pick up speed and leapt, with the correct rotations and a flawless stance as he landed. Yuuri's skating was phenomenal, his body seemed to flow with the music like it came natural to him. Now it was my turn and my heart began to beat furiously, I can't mess up now. Not in front of Rose or Yuuri but every possibility of my jump going wrong popped into my mind. 'Did I take my anxiety medicine today?' I thought just then. It didn't matter now, because I was here now and I had people to support me.

I started to speed up across the ice and then I leapt, reaching the rotations I came down on my right leg with ease. "Way to go Kat," Yuuri cheered, skating up to me and pulling me into a hug. I was quite ecstatic, tears began to brim at my eyes and I squeezed Yuuri even tighter. "Are you alright Kat?" he asked while I released my grasp on him. "Of course I'm okay, I'm better than okay. Now let's tackle quads," I smiled at Yuuri while all he did was stare in disbelief, "wait Kat are you sure? You just now landed a triple axel." He tried to calm me down but nothing could stop me now. "Please Yuuri," I pouted. I knew he couldn't resist my puppy eyes and it's difficult to say no to me. "Alright but watch carefully." He went to the other side of the rink and began to skate across, he increased his speed and started back towards me.

He dug into a plie and lept, it seemed similar to a triple with an additional rotation and as he landed swung out his left leg. It was beautiful I almost couldn't remove my eyes from him. "Did you watch Kat?" he asked with anticipation. "Of course I did Yuuri, I'm glad to have a talented skater like you helping me." His face immediately flushed bright red, "yeah no problem." He mentioned, scratching the back of his neck. I began skating around the rink to build up speed, then I started propelling backwards and jumped into the air. I spun enough for an axle and added an extra to make a quad flip, in which I shocked myself and landed mimicking Yuuri. My heart pounded from my chest and tried to break free from my ribcage, I couldn't believe it I just did and landed my first quad. I rushed to Yuuri and threw my arms around his neck. "I did it Yuuri! Can you believe it?" I gushed enthusiastically. While I continued to hug Yuuri his body went limp and his spirit seemed to escape his body, "Yuuri I am glad I have you to support me."

Then I heard the sound of another pair of skates. "That was great Kat," Rose squealed pulling me into a tight hug, "Rose I can't breathe." Yuuri just watched as Rose squeezed the life from me. "Who's this?" Yuuri asked awkwardly. That's right I never introduced Rose. "Yuuri this is my new coach Rosalina Phelps," I said catching my breath, which Yuuri then looked stunned. "Aren't you the famous ballerina from America who won the World Ballet Competition?" The words escaped Yuuri as he looked at her. "Why yes. That is me. I won that like what, two years ago now? I didn't think anyone still knew about that," Rose spoke with confidence and she had a huge smile on her face. Almost like she was super happy at least one person knew about her. "Well it looks like it's getting dark, we should probably go home," Yuuri chimed. I glanced back at Rose and gave her a hug, while Yuuri bowed. "It was a pleasure to meet you," he squeaked his face dusted pink.

Yuuri and I walked home and I continued to talk his ear off, "when did you and Rose start working together?" Yuuri asked, the blush never left his face. "I bet you'd like to know," I smirked, making Yuuri's entire face turn tomato red. Parting ways I turned back to Yuuri, "Don't worry I won't say a thing." I shouted back as I ran on the sidewalk that winded to my house.