"Alright guys that was a great practice!" Coach Bombay yelled out from center ice. The rest of the team dropped to a knee as Gordon sized them all up, "Things are different this year. For the first two weeks we share a game with each opponent here. Our performance determines the match-ups for the first round. Our first game is tomorrow against Russia. I won't lie they are a big tough team, better than last year, but so are we. I want Charlie, Adam, Fulton, and Julie with me to review the tapes. Yes, that means Cat is getting the first start."

Goldberg nodded respectfully towards her and she sent him a returning smile. Charlie then spoke up, "Are the tapes from last year coach? Or do we have new material to go over?"

"Good question Charlie and unfortunately most of the tapes are from last year's tournament games. We do know that they bulked up on offense which brings me to the next topic," Bombay eyed his defensemen, "Guys, we all know Cat is one heck of a goalie, but it's up to you guys to back her up. Reed, Portman, you two are known as the Bash Brothers for a reason, make sure no one takes advantage of our girls."

"You got it Coach," Fulton reached out and playfully punched Connie in the shoulder.

Dean confidently told them all, "No one touches the babes."

Connie and Julie shared an annoyed glance with one another. If they ever accused those Icelanders of being sexist pigs then they really had nothing on their own teammate. And of course his comment didn't sit well with the rest of the boys. Naturally Adam was the first to speak up, "For the last time they have names."

"And for the last time I'm telling you to keep your mouth shut Banks!"

"Enough!" Coach Bombay blew his whistle, "You guys are teammates of the USA Ducks, show each other a little respect."

Other than the tension that seemed to always be there between Adam and Dean the rest of the team felt good about their practice. Everyone felt pretty happy with the results and the announcement of the starting line-up. Goldberg had pulled his fellow goaltender aside after practice and told her he was glad she was the one starting and even congratulated her. It was a known fact that Goldberg was still re-conditioning himself and Julie hardly took a day off in the past year.

Afterwards Julie joined up with Connie, Guy, Robertson, and Mendoza to a late lunch at the familiar café near the hotel. It was Guy who mentioned how aggravated he was with Dean and his leering looks and ill comments towards his girlfriend and Julie. Robertson tried to defend him at first and say that it was just the way Portman was, similar to how they all ribbed on him for talking the way he did. But Mendoza pointed out that Dean acts like he is a gift to all women and it isn't right that he treats them like they are below him. It was a pretty serious conversation and they wondered briefly if they should further address their concerns with the coach. While the girls had no doubt that Dean would protect them, they also wished he could respect them a little more. After all, they had earned their spots on the team just like the rest of them.

They noticed how late it was getting and quickly headed to change back at the hotel and go to the park where they would have their first class under Miss McKay. The tournament was expected to last a good two months with the new system being put into place. First all the teams would go up against each other, and depending on how they performed would be matched up together for the first series. The rounds would be playoff style, the team that wins best of three moves on to the quarter-finals, so on and so on. So it was good that Miss McKay was there since they would be missing a good chunk of their education this year.

This time they started out with math, much to the chagrin of the majority of the team. Though, for Julie math was something she always liked. She enjoyed the challenge it could present and loved it when she had it figured out. It was hard work, but she liked the satisfaction in knowing she conquered a problem.

It was dinnertime when the lessons were over with and as a team it was decided to order pizza and hang out in the pool area to get some downtime and relax their muscles.

After the sun had set Julie joined Adam in the hot tub and savored the heat that soothed her muscles after a thorough workout that morning then practice. Most of the others were in the pool now goofing off and having a good time. Averman and Goldberg were still eating and keeping to themselves. Who knew where Connie and Guy had gone off to, they were always sneaking off. Portman had left also for a private meeting with the coach, though that was not before obvious ogling of his female teammates and more sarcastic comments regarding their sex. This was all mainly directed at Julie since Connie had already left. It took Fulton ten minutes to finally get his bash brother to get going. To say everyone was getting pretty peeved with their number one enforcer was an understatement. Even Reed was getting tired of the comments and the two were best friends. Fulton made to apologize for the goon to Julie on his behalf but the goalie just waved him away.

It wasn't long afterwards when the already uncomfortable silence was further derailed with the arrival with several members of team Iceland. They weren't set to play each other until late in the second week of the trials, which was probably a good thing. The tension was definitely awkward as team USA faced off against team Iceland.

It was Charlie who finally pulled himself out of the pool and walked up to Iceland's captain Gunnar Stahl. Fulton came to stand beside him and watched as they nodded and shook hands. It seemed like the tension just melted away, after all, things seemed friendly at the end of the championship game a year prior so maybe things could be different this year in the tournament. A few words were spoken and soon enough the Iceland players were mingling with the Ducks. Surprisingly Fulton and Olaf seemed to hit it off as they took turns wrestling each other in good fun.

Julie and Adam shared a glance and started laughing, they watched from their spot in the hot tub as the two rival teams got on like they were old friends. She giggled and told him she needed to cool off in the pool. He followed after her and ended up pushing her into the deep end. Revenge was hers though when Goldberg and Averman finally decided to put the pizza down and roughly shove their star forward in for her benefit.

The four of them were soon sucked into a game of water-ball with an invisible net somewhere in the center. Everyone was pretty surprised at how much fun they were having together. It was just all so…weird. After a while, Julie decided to start drying off and sat on the ledge for a good while as she watched the two teams continue to interact. The stars and moon were brilliant tonight and Julie found herself gazing up at the night skies with reverence.

She could sense his eyes on her and sure enough she watched as Gunnar made his way towards her. He pulled himself up to sit beside her and she could feel the coolness of his wet skin. It took a long moment for her to glance over at him. The slight smirk pulling at his lips was becoming a familiar sight to her.

"Julie."

She couldn't stop the smile even if she tried, "Hey Gunnar," there was just something about the way her name sounded coming from his lips. Her eyes quickly moved back to look over the dwindling players from the two countries still in the water. By this point a lot of them had already called it a night and headed back to their rooms. The silence was beginning to stretch between them and she searched for something to say, "So it appears our teams are getting along just fine, wouldn't you say?"

He raised a brow at her question and eyed her carefully, "So you believe me now, that is good. Look over there," he leaned closer to her, his arm brushing against her shoulder as he pointed towards the hot tub. There she could clearly see Olaf, Fulton, and Adam talking together amicably. His arm retracted and he placed it just behind her back and remained close, "Olaf already apologized to your boyfriend for that wrist injury, so you can see for yourself that people can change."

"He's not my boyfriend," she told him quickly, feeling a sudden flush on her face as his eyes seemed to darken and hold her gaze, "I don't-I don't have one." She wasn't sure it was a smart idea to suddenly blurt something like that out into the open. God, she was border-line flirting with him, making him know that she was available!

He pulled himself even closer, his lips were next to her ear as he whispered, "Thank you for clearing that up."

Julie felt a shudder run down her spine and couldn't help but get caught up in his hypnotizing voice. She watched as a lazy smile pulled at his lips and one of his hands reached up to touch her still drying hair. Something was definitely happening here, and at the moment she just didn't want to fight it. She had only spent an entire year thinking about him, being haunted by that lost look in his eyes when he realized she stopped his shot. She had been surprised by the way his expressive eyes openly admired and respected her as they shook hands afterwards. And staring at him now, it was like being pulled into something that was far to promising to be real. Gunnar Stahl was dangerous, but she kind of liked that about him. And the more time she spent with him the more things she found to like. But she shouldn't…he was the enemy…wasn't he?

Just as she felt the barest touch of his hand on her lower back she stood abruptly, officially having thought way too much and got herself worked up. He stood and cautiously grabbed her shoulder and moved her to face him. Julie's eyes were cast downwards to her feet but she could see him ducking his head to catch her gaze. When she finally gave in and looked up at him she could see the concern for her.

"Are you alright, Julie?"

"I'm sorry," why was she apologizing, "I'm just," confused, so very confused, "getting hot," she mentally groaned at the double meaning of her own words, "think I'm just going to get back in the water."

The sudden playful grin on his incredibly handsome face should have warned her for what was coming next. Because before she knew it Gunnar Stahl had her in his arms. She laughed joyfully as he ran towards the deep end, her arms winding tightly around his neck as he jumped them off the ledge. She could feel his body wrap around hers from behind almost protectively as they curled mid-air before hitting the water. While still under she felt a slight pressure on her neck and found a thrill in knowing he'd just kissed her…again.