A/N: Song in parenthesis by the lovely Sara Bareilles. I'd like to thank all of you for keeping up with the story. It's reached 24 follows, 25 favorites, and 55 reviews - which isn't what I was expected from a story about the ice dancers. If you really enjoy it, I recommend you follow my tumblr account joseeapologist for more ice dancer related content :)

Chapter 15- Reluctant Reconciliation (Gravity)

Josée and Jacques are left with a critical decision to make. It was May of 2011, and they were staring at the letter from the producers of the reality tv show competition titled The Ridonculous Race, saying that they had been selected for the chance to win one million dollars, in which competitors traveled around the world and completed tasks that were timed in a race to the finish line.

It was perfect, Josée and Jacques thought. Everyone would see them as winners after they won. Ever since she and Jacques ended up as partners again, they couldn't exactly shake off the image others had of them; that they were known as the team that placed second at the olympics because of Josée being dropped face first into the ice.

They had been staring at the contract for several minutes in their apartment. Jacques cleared his throat and turned to Josée. "Are we doing this?"

Josée nodded, smiling a little in his direction. "Oui."

In June of 2011, Josée and Jacques already told the latter's parents that they were going to compete on the reality show. The contract stated that they could only tell a few family members, and no one else. Josée had tried to call her mother - despite Jacques telling her not to - regarding the show, but she did not pick up. It seemed as though her mother was still giving her the silent treatment. She didn't even bother to wish her daughter a happy twentieth birthday. When Josée tried to go back to her house, her mother didn't answer - she made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with her daughter anymore. So Josée requested Jacques' parents to let her mother know about the competition.

"I don't understand," Josée had remarked sadly.

Jacques had shaken his head. "I don't either, chouchou." Despite him trying to get through to her regarding her mother, Josée didn't want to hear it. Even after nearly half a year of living together, she wanted nothing to do with it and avoided any conversation about her mother.

In other news, there was a second person that Josée realized she could tell.

"Isaac counts," Josée told Jacques. "Isaac always counted." Jacques translated that as in other than his father - Isaac was the closest male figure in Josée's life that she had.

Jacques nodded in agreement. "Oui."

Josée bit her lower lip. "Do you think he'll be okay with it?"

"Why wouldn't he be?" Jacques asked.

"We won't be in anymore ice shows," Josée replied, a bit nervously. "And we're stopping that for a game show."

"It will be fine," Jacques reassured, smiling at her. "You worry too much."

They arranged a meeting with Isaac in his office. Everyone was settled in their seats, with Josée and Jacques sitting across from him. He stared back at the two that hadn't spoken for the first few minutes with an eyebrow raised. Josée nudged Jacques with her elbow, glaring at him while he winced. Now he was nervous, even though he claimed there was nothing to be nervous about. What a hypocrite. He was an idiot sometimes.

Jacques cleared his throat, avoiding his eyes. "Allo, Isaac."

"Allo. Is everything alright?" Isaac asked concernedly.

"Yes," Josée and Jacques said at the same time.

Isaac eyed both of them. "Hm... try again."

Beat.

Josée blinked. "Maybe?"

"Have another guess."

"...Sort of?" Jacques added.

"Nope." Josée and Jacques exchanged a look of shock, then looked at Isaac who wasn't phased in the slightest. "It's not like I have known you two since you were eight or anything. Seriously, we can do this all day. Is everything okay?"

"We were told not to talk about it except for family members," Jacques started off. "But..." He looked to his partner, who's eyes were downcast. "...both of us figured that you counted and had the right to know." Isaac noticeably sat up straighter, paying more attention now. "We're not going to compete in anymore ice dancing shows for the summer."

It was quiet, then: "And why?" Isaac asked, no judgment in his tone, only curiosity.

"We're going to compete in a reality TV game show," Jacques said. He ignored the confusion in his coach's eyes, and went on. "It's a race around the world. The winner gets a million dollars. And we'll prove to everyone that we're still champions by taking this-"

Isaac was about to interject, until Josée cut him off. "It was all his idea!" she shrieked, pointing at him. Jacques let out a high-pitched gasp in protest. She scoffed and crossed her arms. "I told him it was a stupide idea."

"Josée-"

"Obviously it has nothing to do ice dancing!" Josée went on frustratedly, "But he insisted-"

"Go for it."

"I swear I know it sounds... wait... what?" Josée had processed the rest of her coach's statement. "Did you just say to go for it?"

"I'll support whatever the two of you decide to do," said Isaac. He took a breath when he saw their shocked expressions. "If the both of you think that this will help your publicity, then I think it's a good idea. I'm sure you'll get a lot of attention especially outside of figure skating." Jacques and Josée's eyes lit up and grinned. "However," he began forcefully, causing Josée and Jacques' grins to drop. "You have to remember that this isn't ice dancing. This is entirely new territory with different things in a competition. Also, though you have been on cameras before, this is reality television. It's very different and very cutthroat."

"We can do it, we can win!" Josée proclaimed, fire in her eyes. "For the gold, we'll do anything." Jacques hadn't seen her this determined in a while; it scared him a little.

Isaac nodded once. "In that case," he said, "I trust you both. Like I've always told you, stay in your own lane. Focus on your performance; which is this competition. Also..." he smiled at the two. "I'm flattered that I count."

Josée and Jacques smiled gratefully as the former said, "You've always counted."

Jacques nodded. "Merci, Isaac." That being said, Josée and Jacques rose from their seats and exited Isaac's office, feeling refreshed and happy that Isaac took the news well. Josée was right; Isaac always counted. It sucked that she couldn't tell her maman in person about the competition - something Jacques didn't really see as a loss - but she was glad that Isaac was one she could tell. He was trustworthy and wouldn't blab about it to anyone else.

"So a reality TV competition, huh?"

Josée and Jacques froze.

While Isaac would keep his mouth shut, it was likely Leo and Liv would not.

"No, it's nothing like that," Josée said coldly at an instant to Leo. "In fact, it's none of your business."

"Do you know anything about the reality TV world?" Liv asked them, giggling at their naivety. "You are aware that people are very cutthroat even outside of skating, right?"

"They said it was for a million dollars too!" Leo chimed in, smirking. "Oh, I just know people are going to kill each other. You'll probably have to cheat to win."

"We won't need to do that," Jacques spat at the pair. "We aren't you two, you know." He nudged Josée, who had zoned out. "Right Josée?"

Josée blinked a bit out of her thoughts, before nodding determinedly with a cocky grin. "That's right. Unlike you, we care about sportsmanship."

Liv made a gagging noise. "Vomit. Do you remember how that went last time? Your spectacular fall..." She smirked in Jacques' direction. "Thank you again for that! Goodness, even after a year I can't help but thank you every time and remind you of that event." Jacques nervously looked over to his partner to see her nostrils flaring at him. He felt his stomach drop; even after a year, she still hasn't quite forgiven him.

He shot Liv a look. "Oui, you remind us every time, it's annoying."

"It's funny," Leo chimed in.

"It's not," Jacques countered.

"Anyway, something you should know Josée," Liv started, "The producers of these shows... are the scummiest pieces of shit to ever exist."

Josée, who had been glaring at Jacques, broke apart to focus that on Liv. "Okay? We know that. What does that have to do with me?"

"Well..." Liv began, "I wouldn't be surprised if the producers tried something, you know... You hear about it all the time-"

"Are you suggesting someone is going to try... to take advantage of her?" Jacques accused angrily.

"Precisely."

"How dare you-"

"Am I wrong Josée?"

Josée's eyes widened for a second; before restoring to it's natural state. Liv didn't sound like she'd lie about something like this, and she was right in a twisted sense. Josée immediately thought of Alice, who she hadn't seen in years and would tell her how awful the reality TV industry was - hell, the entertainment industry in general.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," Josée said quietly.

It was silent for a bit, until Liv spoke up again. "Just be careful, alright?" she advised. From the looks of it, Liv almost appeared genuine. "Don't do anything stupid."

Josée glared at her. "I don't need you to tell me that."

"Take it as big sisterly advice," Liv said cheekily.

"You are... the furthest thing from sisterly." She turned to Jacques. "Come on, we have to go."

"Where are we - ah!" Josée interrupted Jacques' train of thought and dragged him away from the rink. "Josée! Slow down!"

"I. Am. So. Sick. Of. Them," Josée articulated bitterly. They made it out of the rink and were now outside. "That will be the best part of this show. We won't have to deal with them for the entire month of July." She let go of him and crossed her arms. "I can't wait."

"Ah, it's still a month away, chouchou."

"Maybe," Josée began hopefully, smiling widely with hope, "...maybe we'll be able to tell maman in time!"

Jacques' heart sank. "Josée, you haven't seen your maman in months, and... my parents told your maman. If she cared, she would've tried to contact you."

Josée never liked this; the way she had to continuously choose back and forth between Jacques and her mother, even long after her mother made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with Josée. It's not like Josée wanted to choose Jacques over her mother, because she still did love her dearly but... she needed the space! And although she wouldn't admit it aloud - at least, not yet - things were a lot better this way.

"I think she'll call before the competition starts," Josée said, still hopeful. "Maybe she'll realize that it's fine, or... or..." she trailed off, unsure of what the 'or' consisted of.

Jacques longed to tell Josée that getting in-contact with her mother was a bad idea - he had brought it up a few times, resulting in Josée getting frustrated and not talking to him for days - but he remembered what his sisters told him; let her make her own decisions. The last person Josée needed to live with was with someone as controlling as her mother. It was the reason she had left in the first place.

"...Okay," is what Jacques said instead. "So ah, what are we doing now?"

"Back to your apartment," Josée said. "We-" She stopped talking as a worn out and exhausted Rachel showed up. "Allo, Rachel."

Rachel weakly smiled and held a hand up in greeting. "Hi." She saw their concerned expressions. "What's going on? Is this about the documentary?" Josée and Jacques had told her a little white lie, that they would be gone for a month to film a documentary and they were selected to participate. When asked what it was about, they had spouted different answers - ranging from ice dancing to ballet. Rachel had furrowed her brows confusedly, but Josée settled with saying it was about ballet.

"Non," Josée answered curtly. She was taken aback by the girl's appearance, she looked sick. "You just look like you haven't slept in days."

Rachel shrugged. "Mm, oui." She gave them a mischievous smirk. "I was with someone."

"Oh. That's... nice," Josée said. She didn't know what else to say. Once conversations around relationships started up, Josée didn't particularly care - she gave up anything related to romance years ago; if it happened again, then... well, she wouldn't know what she would do.

Rachel's smirk was still up. "Oui. It's much different from Viktor." Josée felt her stomach churn. Something was up with Rachel that had nothing to do with romance. Josée knew what it was, she was just in total denial of the issue. But Rachel was going to be twenty soon, and Josée had already told her not to be stupid - there was not much she could do.

"You came to practice?" Jacques asked her.

"Oui. Speaking of... I should get going," Rachel said, giving them another weak smile. "Au revoir." She headed into the building. Once she was out of earshot, Josée spoke.

"Jacques, I don't like this."

Jacques hummed to himself thoughtfully. "Well, there's nothing else you could do," he said honestly. "You've told her a lot of times to stop."

"I want to go back to the apartment," Josée said, almost desperately. She couldn't get the image of Rachel out of her mind; it hurt her more than she liked to admit. Suddenly she felt her hand being squeezed once, and turned to see that Jacques had done that in an effort to comfort her. He hadn't a clue of how thankful she was for that.

"Of course, chouchou."

Today was the last full day before they were to depart on the train first thing tomorrow morning for the competition. Since then, Josée's mother had still not bothered to call her daughter - which greatly upset Josée.

Jacques was happy about this; not because Josée was sad, but that she would finally realize that her mother was not the best person. After all, Gabrielle did tell him long ago that he couldn't always protect Josée, and that she would have to learn things the hard way in life. After being smothered by her maman, she deserved independence.

The producers had mailed them costumes they were expected to wear during the show for each episode. They claimed it was to reflect their personalities, which was from the interviews they had in person for a callback after submitting their applications a long time ago.

"Purple?" Josée remarked surprisingly. She tried the costume on and she was immediately displeased. "Why is the skirt so short?" Even in ice dancing they were expected to wear modest costumes. This was especially prominent for Josée since most senior competitions she was underage.

Jacques snorted in anger. "Alice was right. They're pigs. But you look beautiful, chouchou."

Josée let out a little smile; she felt a little better. "Merci, Jacjac. You look nice too." When they changed back into their old clothes, they sat on the sofa and flipped through television channels.

Josée snuck a glance at Jacques; he was surprisingly decent to live with. He always let her know ahead of time when he would be out with a partner, and rarely did he bring partners over to their apartment. On the very few nights that he did, Josée would stay over at Rachel's - she would lie to Jacques and say she was at his parent's house, because had he found out that she walked in that neighborhood alone, he would have absolutely lost it.

He was a neat-freak, thankfully - well, he was always a neat freak but she really didn't acknowledge it until she moved in with him. He was also great at cooking; which was likely because his mother taught him because of his obsession with labeled food that he still had trouble with shaking off. On the days where his obsession was especially bad, Jacques would ask Josée to go food shopping so when she bought items she would cross out the nutrition facts so he wouldn't obsess over it. On those days were both of them struggled with issues surrounding food, they would cook together.

Josée hoped she was a good roommate. She knew she could be a little fussy, but... it wasn't intentional. She was grateful that Jacques let her live with him, especially after all the drama regarding her mother - whom she started to realize that maybe, just maybe, that she wasn't the best person. Of course it was a ludicrous thought, but... she had been happier here than she had been in a long time. Her mother was trying to prevent that, wasn't she?

Little did Josée know, her feelings of bliss she had right now would ultimately be shattered.

"Jacques! Josée! Are you there?"

Josée was about to rise from her position on the sofa before Jacques held his hand out to stop her. "I'll get it." He got up and answered the door to see his maman looking concerned and frantic, her eyes were wide and nervous. It didn't take a brain surgeon for Jacques to realize that something was very, very wrong. "Maman?"

"Where's Josée?" Fleur asked, barging into the room without greeting. "Sweetheart, you need to see your mother."

Jacques gasped at even the thought. "What!?" He looked over to see Josée completely frozen over, and then back to his maman. "There better be a good reason you want her to go back to that madwoman!"

Fleur kept her eyes on Josée. "Something's happened. I don't... I don't..." Josée's eyes grew wider with worry as Jacques' mother stammered on her words. She cleared her throat nervously and wrung her hands together. "She wanted to tell you, and she wanted to tell you in-person. It's serious."

Josée slowly rose from the sofa. "Wait..." she started off, a little confused. "What could possibly be so serious? We haven't talked in months." What she was really thinking was, she doesn't love me anymore.

"Did she put you up to something?" Jacques accused.

Fleur shook her head. "Oh would you be quiet!" She turned back to Josée and spoke in a softer tone: "I think it's something you should know. She really wants to see you."

Jacques looked over and saw Josée's resigned look in her eyes and resisted the urge to sigh; she had won her over. Jacques couldn't completely blame Josée, he supposed - that woman was one of the worst people Jacques had ever met, but he couldn't be surprised that Josée longed for her approval. Josée had spoken about wanting to see her again.

He slowly felt a smaller hand slip into his bigger one in surprise and squeezed it tightly. He looked down to see that Josée was standing side-by-side with him, apprehension dawning on her face. "I have one condition," Josée stated, then she looked up at her best friend. "I want Jacques to be with me."

...Like it has been said, it was moments like these where Jacques was very, very confused about himself.

Fleur looked between the ice dancing pair and nodded once. "I'll start the car."

As Fleur pulled into the front of Josée's mother's house, Josée felt a wave of nausea. She hadn't been here in a long time; other than when she tried to visit her mother once after she refused to answer her calls. Josée hadn't even come back to get her things; Jacques and Gabrielle had done that for her.

"Josée? Josée we're here now."

Josée couldn't hear anything except the sound of her heart beating faster and faster. Her breathing began to get erratic as she saw her mother stand outside the house waiting for them to get out of the car. She felt her body tremble at the sight of her; her mother looked awful - thinner especially, but she still had that look of betrayal in her eyes that was reserved for her daughter and her alone.

Josée's hands were suddenly held in a pair of warm, larger ones. She looked up, startled, to see that Jacques was holding them with a concerned look in his eyes. "Josée, it's okay! I'll be right there with you." Jacques watched as Josée's eyes grew wider with panic, and she started to hyperventilate. "Non! Non, Josée it's going to be okay." Fleur tried to interject, but Jacques shot her a look that said he could handle this.

Staring back at Josée, he asked her: "Who was the first female skater to perform a triple axel in competition?" Josée shook her head roughly at the question and hiccuped. In return, Jacques started to rub circles on her hands with his thumbs. "You know this. Who was the first female skater to perform a triple axel in competition? Can you tell me?"

Josée nodded quickly. She didn't need to think about it; she knew the answer. But it was hard to get her breathing under control. "M-Midori Ito..." she managed to stammer out.

Jacques smiled reassuringly. "Good! What year did she win the world championship?"

It took a while for Josée to answer, but at least she wasn't hyperventilating anymore. However, her breathing was still uneven. "1989."

"Oui. Try taking a breath." Josée did so, and thankfully she was able to a lot easier than before. "Where did the 1989 championships take place?"

Josée's answer was a lot faster than last time, and took a breath. "In France."

"Where in France?" Jacques pressed gently.

"Paris." She took a breath, which didn't get caught between her teeth. "Paris, France." Jacques could tell she was starting to calm down, her eyes were less panicked and wide. She started to breathe a little better, taking two bigger breaths. "Can we... can we go now? Just to... get this over with?"

"Are you sure?" Jacques asked, continuing the motion of rubbing his thumbs on her hands. "We can wait a little bit."

Josée shook her head roughly again. "I want to get this over with." Jacques looked over at his maman, who shrugged. Josée got out of the car and slammed the door, Jacques did the same for the other side. He watched worriedly as Josée marched over to her mother; he was surprised she hadn't frozen on the spot.

"Josée," her mother greeted. Then, she turned to Jacques with disdain. "You." He rolled his eyes at her. She looked back at her daughter. "I didn't think you'd show."

Josée felt herself tense up again, but she felt Jacques squeeze her hand in support. She cleared her throat. "Allo, m-maman." She hated herself from stammering. She really looked at her mother; she looked... ill. Something was very, very off. "You said it was important?"

Her mother nodded once. "Come inside."

"I'm coming inside with her," Jacques said at once.

"...Fine," Josée's mother reluctantly agreed. That being said, she along with Josée and Jacques walked inside. Josée couldn't help but notice her walk was a little weaker; it wasn't as strong as it used to be. She felt chills go down her spine; she hadn't been inside this house for eight months, it felt so unfamiliar yet everything remained the same. Again, Jacques must've felt that she was nervous, because he squeezed her hand again. She never failed to be impressed on how he could read her so well despite knowing her for fourteen years. They took their seats in the living room. "How um... how have you been?"

Josée frowned. It was not like her mother to look so uneasy. It was so awkward, it was so... god, something was wrong. "Good," was her short reply.

Her mother turned to Jacques, with piercing eyes. "Living together has been fine?"

Though Jacques used to be afraid of that look, he stood his ground. "Oui. It's wonderful."

Josée's mother snorted. "Well isn't that nice."

The tension could be cut with a knife.

"Your parents told me you would be competing in a reality TV competition a while back," her mother went on to Jacques, "You said it was to redeem your failures."

"Oui," Jacques said firmly, not backing down. "It is a shame you didn't say anything to us about it." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Josée shrink in her seat - he knew that this was a sign that Josée wanted him to stop egging her on, making things worse.

But her mother did not even acknowledge the snide comment. "Let's hope you get gold to make up for your mistakes."

Josée didn't know where she was going with this. "Maman, what have you called us here for? To wish us luck?"

There were many things Josée's mother could have said that would've surprised them. Josée and Jacques were well-aware of Josée's mother's unpredictable rage, as well as her coldness, and her words that had the marvelous ability to cut through glass and even affect the strongest of people in a negative manner. Although these things were true, and she was certainly unpredictable, there were things one would expect to never expect about someone, especially someone as strong-willed as Josée's mother.

Many things could've been said, but nothing would ever compare to something as surprising as the following: "I have cancer."

Then she took a sip of water.

It was so nonchalant that it frightened both Josée and Jacques.

Josée's first reaction wasn't to scream, nor was it to cry. Her first reaction was to burst in hysterical laughter. Jacques looked on with fright at the terrifying news she received; he knew that it hadn't sunk in yet. "Maman you're lying," she stated, in-between giggles. Meanwhile, Jacques couldn't keep his hand off of his mouth, as if to keep the gasp inside that wanted to come out.

"I assure you, I'm not."

Josée's giggling died down just a little bit. "But maman! You don't get cancer. You wouldn't allow such a thing to happen! How..." She turned to Jacques for confirmation, who looked deeply disturbed which told her that he believed her maman. "She wouldn't get it, would she? Maman just..." She turned back to her mother, who looked serious as ever. Josée's smile faded away. "...This isn't a joke?" Now she felt tears welling up in her eyes. "How long have you known? Why didn't you tell me?"

Her mother shrugged. "Well, I didn't think you loved your maman anymore." Jacques felt himself grow very hot; he knew where this was going.

"Of course I love you maman!" Josée shrieked, tears streaming down her face. She hiccuped and sniffled; the news had finally sunk in. Jacques sighed into his hand; he didn't want to sound like a horrible person, but he found it fishy that Josée's mother would do this right before the competition if she had known earlier. But he just knew that if he said anything with Josée being here, she would scream at him about how awful he was for thinking such a thing.

Just when he was sure that she was going to admit that her mother wasn't a good person, the current news undid everything.

...Jacques was aware of how awful he sounded, that this was the first thing he thought of instead of Josée's mother having cancer, but... there was so much damage done.

"What kind is it?" Jacques dared to ask.

Josée's mother took another sip of water, clearly unbothered. "Pancreatic. Apparently they call it the silent killer." At the mention of the name, Josée let out a wail and cried into her hands. Jacques from beside her gently rubbed her back. "Oh Josée, stop crying," she grumbled.

"But... but..." Josée stammered, her eyes wide and sad. "You have cancer."

"Oui. And there are many treatments that I can have that will hopefully make this go away," her mother replied curtly. Jacques couldn't help but notice a certain look in her eyes that he hadn't seen before; it looked much like doubt. This lead Jacques to believe there was something else she wasn't mentioning.

"And I'll be with you every step of the way," Josée told her earnestly, reaching to hold her hand. Her mother begrudgingly let her take it and ignored her daughter's tears. "I'll come with you to every doctor's appointment, every-"

"No you won't," her mother interrupted. "You have a competition to win."

Josée blinked quickly. "Wh-what? Non! Maman, you're sick. We can quit the competition, we..." she turned to Jacques. "Right Jacques?" He nodded once, yet he kept his eyes on Josée's mother - yes, she was definitely hiding something. Josée turned back to her maman. "See! We can quit."

"I'm sorry, Josée, but did I raise you to disobey me?" her mother said sternly. "Non. Do me this favor, you know, after months of betraying me." Josée let more tears slide down her cheeks. "I expect you to win this competition and redeem yourselves." She yanked her hand out of her daughter's. "For the love of gold, stop crying. God, you're such a baby I swear! I will be fine."

For some reason, Jacques wasn't so sure of that.

Josée sniffled and rose from her seat. "I... I need to be alone."

"You can go in your old room if you'd like," her mother allowed.

"I'd like that," Josée admitted softly. She was about to walk away, until Jacques rose from his seat as well.

"Chouchou, do you need me to-"

Josée turned around, revealing her blotchy face and tear tracks. "Please, Jacques. I want to be alone." That being said, she retreated her to room.

Once Jacques heard the light sound of the bedroom door closing, he knew she was out of earshot. Jacques looked back at Josée's mother, who continued to sip her water as if she hadn't dropped a huge bombshell minutes ago. "So it's cancer, huh?"

Josée's mother rolled her eyes. "Oui. Pancreatic. I've said that already. You ought to listen when people talk."

"I heard my papa talk about it once," Jacques pointed out. He noticed Josée's mother's face faltered just a bit, if he looked closely enough. "It's very hard to treat, he said."

It was painfully quiet for a moment before she answered. "Oui. That's very true."

Jacques had a sinking feeling in his stomach. He looked in the direction of where Josée left, and looked back at her mother. "She's gone. What aren't you telling her?"

"Do you know why they call pancreatic cancer the silent killer?" Jacques didn't answer her, and she went on anyway before he could have the chance to interrupt: "They call it that because it's usually diagnosed in later stages. You don't notice it until it's far too advanced."

Jacques fiddled with his fingers uncomfortably. "Which means..."

"My chances of beating this are less than two percent," Josée's mother answered precisely.

Beat.

"Oh..." Jacques said. "But... there is still that two percent! You can afford treatment options, you-"

"I'm not getting treatment."

Wait.

What?

"Excuse-moi?" Jacques asked incredulously, nearly shrieking. "Why aren't... what?!"

"Would you get ahold of yourself?" Josée's mother scowled at him. "The both of you have a flair for drama, it's nauseating."

"This is a big deal! Why aren't... what?!" Jacques still couldn't believe his ears. "What happened to saying winners never quit?! You're being a hypocrite!"

Josée's mother shrugged. "I've lived a long life. I decided that I can stop it."

"A long life? You call forty-six years a long life?"

She glared at him. "I'm expecting you to keep this from Josée."

"And why would I do that?" Jacques challenged, but then eased up when he saw a glimmer of something in Josée's mother's eyes, some would call it sentiment, but this was Josée's mother - so it was difficult to understand.

"I don't want her to see me get worse," she admitted quietly, avoiding Jacques' eyes. But then, she returned to her usual cold state in a flash: "That's why I want you to take her to win this race. Redeem yourselves. Do not let gold slip from your fingers again, Jacques, or else my ghost will haunt you."

It was too good to be true, Jacques thought. For a millisecond he really thought this would be about Josée, but it wasn't. This always centered back to gold. Jacques didn't answer her request right away, instead he asked: "How long do you have?"

"Well without any treatment," began Josée's mother, "...and with the way it's progressing quickly, give or take a month. Maybe two."

Jacques felt a dawn of realization wash over him. "Which means..."

"I'm probably going to be dead before you two get back," her mother finished for him.

Josée's mother... dead? The concept baffled Jacques. In a way, he thought similar to Josée; that her mother was unstoppable, that she was a strong force that could beat anything, she wouldn't get something like this.

"I'm sorry," Jacques said earnestly.

"Oh shut up," Josée's mother stated, waving it off. "Don't act like you're not happy."

"Why would I be happy over something like this?" Jacques replied in disbelief.

"You said so yourself, all those years ago..." Josée's mother chuckled a bit at the memory. "You said I would get what's coming to me, at your house. Remember?"

He did, very vividly. "No one deserves this," he said honestly. Then there was a noticeable hesitance, before Jacques added: "...not even you."

Josée's mother didn't appear hurt by this. In fact, she almost looked a little impressed by his bluntness. "Touché."

"I'm more concerned with how Josée is going to take it," Jacques told her. "She'll be heartbroken. She'll be destroyed."

"Oui, well..." Josée's mother trailed off, with a shrug. "C'est la vie. She... she has you, I guess."

"Always."

"Even if you're an idiot, you still... care about her."

"More than anything."

Josée's mother sent him a knowing look. "Okay then." Suddenly, she was interrupted with a hysterical Josée running over to hug her tightly, like she was afraid to let go. "Josée! Stop this foolishness, what..." she was appalled seeing her daughter cling to her like she was a small child. "Josée!"

"Maman, we'll see you when we get back!" Josée wailed, gripping onto her mother as if she was a lifeline. "We're going to win for you! I promise!" She burst into more sobs. "I'm sorry that I abandoned you! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Josée's mother shot Jacques a warning look, before reluctantly deciding to rub her daughter's back.

"That's alright, Josée... we all make mistakes." Her usual smirk returned. "I'm sure you learned your lesson, and-"

"Can I come home when we win?" Josée begged, tears streaming down her face. "You were right! You're always right. I'm... I'm sorry!" Jacques couldn't even look at Josée's mother, who continued to pet her hair.

"Of course, Josée. Of course." She pulled her daughter away from her and motioned Jacques to take her. "Win the gold. That's all I could ask for."

Jacques put an arm around Josée's shaking shoulders and nodded once. "Oui. For the gold." As they said their goodbyes, Jacques guided her out of the house while trying to murmur comforting words in her ear to get her to calm down.

"What did... what did maman say to you?" Josée stammered out, wiping her tears.

...Fuck.

Jacques yearned to tell her. He wanted to tell her everything about what her mother said, that she wasn't going to take any treatments for her cancer that was too far advanced, that she was planning on letting herself die and that she probably was going to be dead before they both returned from the race. They had many conversations about keeping secrets from each other was harmful, and a secret such as this would be especially harmful if he had kept it from her. He knew that any other person would've told her the truth.

But Jacques wasn't just any other person.

"She just wants us to win the race."

It wasn't a total lie, he supposed.

He was just conveniently leaving out key pieces of information.

Sure, it would hurt much later - but Jacques couldn't bring himself to tell her, at least not now.

Little did he know, this would come back to him much, much later.

They were supposed to leave with a producer. They had a four hour train ride to get through and would be thrown into the show they moment they arrived at their destination.

Toronto.

Josée was still shaken from the events of yesterday, and rightfully so. Jacques was concerned on how she was going to get through this competition regarding the sudden news of her mother, and she was told that she would 'eat the pain and smile,' which was a common quote her mother used.

Before they could leave their house and get to the train station, Rachel had met them at their apartment and hugged both of them. "Have fun with your documentary!" she squealed happily. "I'll miss you guys, I'll have to deal with bitchy ice skaters. You guys are the only nice ones."

Josée smiled weakly at her friend. A strong sensation was felt in her gut, not necessarily a good one. Maybe it was because they woke up pretty early, but Rachel had looked far worse than ever - much too skinny and pale. She wanted to drop everything to tell her that she looked sick and that she should get help.

But she did not. Instead, she hugged her just as tight. "I'll miss you too. I'll see you when we get back." She could feel her ribs...

Once they said goodbye to Rachel, they met up with a producer at the train station where they were to depart. Jacques' parents and Isaac showed up with them as well to say one final goodbye before the competition.

"Bernadette would be proud of you," Gabrielle whispered in Jacques' ear as she hugged her brother. "Very, very proud." Jacques smiled weakly and let go and moved onto hugging his parents who had finished hugging Josée.

In a rare display of affection, Isaac hugged Josée. "Jacques' parents and I will take care of her. We'll try to call and let the producers know about your mother's condition in case anything comes up."

"...if they allow it."

"Hey, look at me." Josée did. "Everything will be okay. You and Jacques just have to remember; stay in your own lane - focus on the performance. And most importantly, smile."

Smile.

Just like that, Josée broke into a huge smile reserved for the cameras. "Of course." Once they were all finished saying goodbye, their train arrived. The producer guided Josée and Jacques into the train and the doors slammed shut. It would be another four hours before they would be on TV, yet their hearts beat out of their chests.

"I have a question," Josée asked the producer after a few minutes. "Why is my skirt so short?"

"...Well, you've been in the spotlight before," the producer answered. "You have a lot of fans, yes?" Josée and Jacques nodded. "They get to see you outside of ice skating."

"Ice dancing," Josée corrected.

"Tomato, tomato."

Ignoring the fact that the producer insulted their sport, Josée raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I still don't understand what that has to do with my skirt."

The producer snorted. "Think of it as fan-service."

Josée blinked while Jacques looked appalled. "Fan-service?" she echoed in annoyance. She scoffed and crossed her arms. "I thought this would be for children to watch as well?"

"Words of advice," the producer started stealthily, "The producers of this show are the last people you should be picking a fight with."

...Oh.

"Fine," Josée huffed, crossing her legs in her seat beside Jacques. They talked among one another for the next three hours, and eventually when they got closer to the destination the producer told them what was to be expected. The moment they would get off the train, there would be a set of cameras on them for their entrance and that they had to find them. After that, they would most likely be asked to do a short interview, also known as a confessional to capture the 'reality-tv experience.'

"We should be arriving in five minutes," the producer warned them. "Get ready."

Josée and Jacques felt butterflies swarm in their stomachs; this was far different from anything they had to do before, and it finally hit them now.

"We're performers," Josée remarked, matter-of-factly. "We're always ready."

Of course they didn't know what was in store for them behind those train doors. How could Josée possibly know that because of this race she would experience a wave of emotions she had never felt before; both good and bad? How could Jacques possibly know that he would feel similarly? How could either of them know that their friendship was going to be tested, or that perhaps it would turn into something more? Josée did not know she and Jacques would endure an unexpected tragedy in the middle of the race. She had no way of knowing that one huge emotional devastating blow that would contribute to a spiral into madness, wearing black for a special occasion, being betrayed not once but twice, and would somehow end up in the same bed together.

Josée and Jacques got up from their seats as the train settled in the station. "Hey," whispered Josée. Jacques turned to her with a smile, which she matched victoriously and determined, "We're going to win."

Knowing none of what was to come, Josée and Jacques gracefully leapt off the train.

A/N: And now, we have finally finished the first arc of the ice dancers story and are going into the second arc - which is the RR arc!