Chapter 13: Visit From The Ice Princess Things were definitely improving. Ever since they began holding late-night triple axel practices, Yume had noticed a change in the way Mikhail interacted with her. He still wasn’t what she would call overly friendly toward her, but at least he now actually greeted her when she arrived for practice and seemed more patient and willing to help when she was having trouble with an unfamiliar pairs move. He seemed really enthused about the idea of performing side-by-side triple axels in the show -- well, as much as he could seem excited about anything. Mikhail still kept most of his emotions hidden behind the icy mask he usually wore when they were together, but Yume thought she saw signs the mask might be melting, just a little. It was during those late practices that Yume felt Mikhail thawed out the most, in a manner of speaking. Away from May and the other skaters, he actually looked like he enjoyed skating on occasion. Of course, whenever Yume caught him in a rare smile -- usually at her expense, as Mikhail seemed to find her constant falls on the axel a source of amusement -- he was quick to make it disappear, but it was a start, at least. In fact, Yume was beginning to feel like they could become actual partners, after all, which made Tatiana Pekrovskaya’s surprise visit to Kaleido Stage a couple of weeks later all the more shocking. It had started out as a regular, ordinary day. As it was a Tuesday, Yume and Mikhail had a private afternoon practice with May at the rink. Things were going well until Mikhail popped his triple toe loop and suddenly stopped skating. Mikhail never popped such easy jumps. Triple toe loops came as naturally to him as breathing. On occasion, he did fall on the triple loop, resulting in Yume learning some rather colorful Russian vocabulary, but for him to miss a simple jump like the toe loop was as rare a phenomenon as a blue moon. Confused, Yume stopped skating as well and followed his icy gaze to the entranceway of the rink, where a blonde woman stood standing, hands on slender hips as crystal blue eyes peered over a pair of expensive-looking sunglasses. The woman was absolutely stunning. Though petite -- she couldn’t have been more than five feet, at the most -- she carried herself with the poise and confidence of a model, making her seem much taller than she actually was. It didn’t hurt that she was almost all legs, a fact made all the more evident by the short skirt and knee-high boots she wore. Her platinum blonde hair was pulled up in a bun, and her face was perfectly made-up. Needless to say, in her practice sweats and messy ponytail, Yume felt like an absolute slob in comparison. “Tania.” Mikhail said her name so softly, Yume almost couldn’t hear him. By that time, May had become aware of their unexpected visitor’s presence and turned off the music. “Tatiana, I don’t know why you are here,” May said, appearing none too pleased to see her former pupil, “but, in case you haven’t noticed, we’re in the middle of a private lesson. I am going to have to ask you to lea--” Mikhail held up his hand, cutting the coach off. “I wish to speak with her.” “What?” May looked at Mikhail as if he was insane. “Mikhail, we don’t have much time to train before the show opens, and you and Yume are still getting used to each other‘s skating. This is hardly the time nor place for you to have a little chat with your former partner.” Mikhail, ignoring her, grabbed his skate guards from off the boards and skated off the ice. “Hey, where do you think you’re going?” May demanded to know. “I did not give you permission to leave the ice. Come back here! Mikhail? Mikhail?” Pretending not to hear May, Mikhail walked over to Tatiana. The two exchanged a few words in Russian before leaving the rink. May rolled her eyes in exasperation, then turned her attention back to Yume. “Well, even without him, there’s no point in wasting precious practice time,” she said. “Let’s work on the triple axel. Mikhail tells me he’s been trying to teach you, so let’s see what you’ve got.” “Um, may I take a bathroom break first?” Yume asked, her eyes on the retreating backs of Mikhail and Tatiana. Sighing, May waved her hand dismissively. “Fine, go ahead, but I expect you to be back on this ice in ten minutes. You hear me, Yume? Ten minutes.” For extra emphasis, she tapped the face of her wristwatch. Yume nodded, despite having no intention of doing so. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt this sudden urge to know what Mikhail and Tatiana were doing. Sneaking out of the rink when May’s back was turned, Yume began walking the halls of Kaleido Stage’s expansive practice facilities, wondering where Mikhail and his former partner had gone. Unfortunately, she had lost track of them while waiting for the opportunity to sneak away, although Yume thought she had seen them heading in the direction of the dance studios before losing sight of them. Just when Yume was about to give up her search and head back to the rink, she heard what sounded like Mikhail’s voice coming from behind a slightly open door. He was speaking an unfamiliar language. Yume sighed. “Of course they would be speaking Russian,” she muttered to herself. “Did you really expect them to be so courteous as to talk in English so you would be able to understand?” “Yume, what are you doing here?” a female voice asked from behind her, nearly giving Yume a heart attack. “And why are you wearing your skates? Shouldn’t you be at practice?” Yume quickly turned around and brought a finger to her lips, shushing Elizaveta, who must have just finished her private ballet practice. “Shh!” She checked to make sure Mikhail hadn’t heard them, then whispered, “Good, they didn’t hear you.” Taking her cue, Elizaveta‘s voice lowered to a whisper as well. “Why are we whispering?” Yume pointed to the door. “Mikhail and Tatiana are in there, talking.” “Tatiana? Tatiana Pekrovskaya? You mean his former partner?” She nodded. “She showed up unexpectedly during our private ice time, and the two of them ran off to talk,” Yume explained, frowning. “For some reason, I felt like I had to follow them and see what she wanted, but I can’t understand a word they’re saying.” She sighed again. “If only I spoke Russian…” Suddenly, Yume’s eyes widened, and she turned to Elizaveta like a beacon of hope. “Hey, wait a minute! You speak Russian, don’t you, Liza?” She occasionally heard Elizaveta and her partner Dmitri speaking in a language that sounded a lot like the language Mikhail used when speaking to Sergei and Dmitri. “Some,” Elizaveta said. “My grandmother was Russian, so I learned a little. I’m not completely fluent, but I understand it well enough. Why?” She began shaking her head before Yume even had the chance to tell her the plan, realizing right away what Yume wanted her to do. “Oh, no. Yume, I am *not* going to eavesdrop on them for you.” “But I really want to know what they’re saying in there!” “It isn’t polite to listen in on other people’s private conversations. Besides, I’m supposed to be meeting Dmitri in the gym for weight training.” “Please, Liza,” Yume begged, taking Elizaveta’s hand. “You know I wouldn’t ask you if it wasn’t really important to me. Please?” Elizaveta still didn’t quite approve, but she finally relented. “Okay, if it’s that important to you…” “Thanks.” The two girls, after making sure nobody else was around, huddled around the crack in the door, Yume pushing it open a little wider so that she was able to see inside. They were inside one of the smaller private dance studios. Mikhail had taken off his skates and was standing with his back to the door. Tatiana, who was even more beautiful up close, had her arms wrapped around his waist -- as she was too short to reach his neck -- but Mikhail’s hands remained limp at his sides. Yume felt an unexpected flare of jealousy rising up within her for some reason she couldn’t quite explain, but she did her best to push it down, remembering the real reason why she was there. “What is she saying, Liza?” “She talking about how wonderful it was when they were still together, and how she made a huge mistake when she left him for Ilia, whoever that is.” “That must be the guy she cheated on Mikhail with,” Yume guessed, and Elizaveta’s eyebrows arched up. “Wow, so that’s why they broke up?” Yume steered Elizaveta’s attention back to the task at hand, not wanting to miss anything important. “What else is she saying?” “Um… She’s telling Mikhail how much she missed him, and…uh…” “What? What‘s wrong?” “You don’t want to know.” Of course, that just made Yume want to know even more. “Come on, tell me. It can‘t be that bad.” Elizaveta, who was normally as pale as a ghost, suddenly turned a deep, dark pink. “She says that Mikhail was an incredible lover, and that Ilia was never able to satisfy her the way that he could.” Yume began blushing as well, wishing she had taken Elizaveta’s advice after all. “You’re right. I didn’t really need to know that.” “I really don’t think we should listen to any more of this…” “Just a couple more minutes, Liza. I just want to know the real reason Tatiana is here.” Finally, Mikhail reached for Tatiana’s hands, pulled them away from his waist, and brought them down to her sides. He spoke for the first time since Elizaveta appeared, and Elizaveta started translating without being prompted. “He’s telling her that she has no right to come here and expect that he will take her back after everything that has happened between them. He’s moved on with his life, and she should, too. He’s also reminding her that his is under contract at Kaleido Stage, so even if he wanted to partner with her again, they would not be able to return to eligible competition. However, she claims that since he hasn’t given a professional performance yet, he can still reinstate.” “Is that true?” Yume asked, frowning. Now that she and Mikhail were beginning to get along, she hated the thought of him possibly leaving Kaleido Stage. “I think so.” “What else?” “Uh… He says he’s not interested in going back to eligible ranks,” Elizaveta said, much to Yume’s relief. “He’s telling her that he has a new partner, and he’s very interested in seeing how things progress between you two, so she should just give up on him and go back to Russia.” Yume blushed. “H-He really said that? He’s actually invested in our partnership?” Before Elizaveta could reply, Mikhail abruptly turned around and began walking toward the door, Tatiana calling after him. Yume didn’t need Elizaveta’s translation to understand that Tatiana was probably begging him to give her a second chance. Quickly, Yume grabbed Elizaveta’s arm and yanked her away from the door, trying to act casual. “So, anyway, Pilar says that Sergei has a *huge* crush on --” “Yume!” Mikhail exited the room, Tatiana right behind him, looking none too happy to see her. “What are you doing here?” he asked, arms crossed over his chest. “Why aren’t you at the rink?” “Oh, Mikhail!” Yume said, pretending to be surprised. “There you are! You were taking too long, so Coach Wong sent me to come find you. Elizaveta was helping me, right, Liza?” Silently, she pleaded with Elizaveta to play along with her story. “R-Right! That’s exactly what we were doing,” Elizaveta stuttered, not sounding very convincing. “Um, I guess since we found you, I’ll go meet up with Dmitri now. See you later, Yume.” “Yeah, bye, and thanks.” After Elizaveta left, an awkward silence fell over the three of them, made even more unnerving for Yume by the way Tatiana was staring -- or, more correctly, glaring -- at her with eyes far more frosty than Mikhail‘s ever were. She didn’t know what she had done to make Tatiana hate her already, but Yume tried her best to put on a friendly face. “So, Misha,” Tatiana finally said, “is this the new partner you are so determined to pair with?” Mikhail nodded and began the formal introduction. “Yes, this is Yume Naegino, and, Yume, I’d like you to meet my former partner, Tatiana Pekrovskaya.” “Um, it’s very nice to meet you, Miss Pekrovskaya. I watched you two skate together at the Olympics. You were amazing,” Yume said, hoping flattery would help smooth over whatever offense she had unknowingly done to the Russian beauty. It didn’t work. “Yes.” As if Yume wasn’t even there, Tatiana turned to Mikhail and asked, “You want to pair with a Japanese girl? If she was Chinese, I could almost see the appeal, but Japan is only known for its singles skaters. Has she even qualified for a world championship?” “As a matter of fact, I placed fifth in Warsaw,” Yume declared, feeling the need to stick up for herself. Tatiana arched a perfectly plucked eyebrow. “Is that so? Unless my memory is failing me, which I don’t believe it is, I seem to recall the American pair of Bachman and Sims placing fifth at those world championships. Who was your partner?” “Um, it was in the ladies’ competition,” she reluctantly admitted. “I only started pairs skating a few months ago. Mikhail is my first official partner.” As Yume expected, her confession was met with a peal of boisterous laughter. “You have got to be kidding me! Misha, you would rather skate with this…amateur, instead of me?” “As a matter of fact…” Mikhail said, taking Yume’s arm, “…I would. Goodbye, Tania. Yume and I have a practice to return to.” Leaving a dumbfounded Tatiana behind, Mikhail and Yume began heading back to the rink, where no doubt May would be furious with both of them for wasting so much of their private ice time. Yume didn’t care, though, now that she finally knew that Mikhail truly accepted her as his partner. “Um, thank you for sticking up for me back there, Mikhail,” Yume said, pushing a strand of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail back behind her ear. “I really appreciated it.” Mikhail shrugged, brushing it off as nothing. “Tania was being rude.” “Still, she’s right, you know. Even though I turned professional, I am still an amateur when it comes to pairs skating. I wouldn’t have really blamed you if you had decided to leave Kaleido Stage and gone back to skating with Tatiana, especially considering your history together.” Mikhail suddenly stopped in his tracks. “How did you know that’s what she wanted me to do?” he asked suspiciously, Yume realizing too late she had said too much. “Uh, lucky guess?” Mikhail gave her a doubtful look, and Yume sighed, deciding it best to tell him the truth. “Okay, I confess. Elizaveta and I eavesdropped on your conversation. That’s why we were outside the room.” “You don’t speak Russian.” “But Liza does; I had her translate,” Yume said. “I’m sorry. I know it wasn’t any of my business, but -- Mikhail?” Instead of being angry with her, as she expected, Mikhail began laughing. Actually laughing. He took her by the hand and pulled her back in the direction of the rink. “Come on, Yume. Coach Wong is probably ready to kill us both.” ***** “So, is it true?” Pilar demanded to know later that afternoon, grabbing a pair of five pound weights and sitting down on the bench beside Yume, who was in the middle of doing a set of curls. The two of them were the only ones using the gym. “Is what true?” “About Tatiana Pekrovskaya visiting Kaleido Stage, of course. I heard you and Liza were spying on her and Mikhail earlier.” “We weren’t spying!” Yume declared, pausing a moment to switch her weight to the other arm. “Okay, well, maybe we were,” she admitted. “Just a little.” Pilar laughed. “Hey, you don’t have to justify yourself with me. I would do the same thing if I was in your position. So what did the Ice Princess want?” “Elizaveta didn’t tell you?” “Oh, you know Liza. She doesn’t think it’s any of my business. It was only by accident that she even let your little spy game slip,” she said. “So? Spill.” “You know, Pilar, Liza’s right,” Yume pointed out. “It’s not really any of your business.” “It wasn’t any of your business either, what those two were talking about, but that didn’t stop you from eavesdropping on them, did it?” As much as Yume hated to admit it, Pilar had a point. “Tatiana just came to ask Mikhail to give her a second chance, that’s all. She wants to be partners with him again.” “And is he? Going back to her?” “No. He made it perfectly clear to her that he wants to stay here at Kaleido Stage and continue skating with me.” Feeling her cheeks start to warm again at the memory of Mikhail standing up for her in front of Tatiana, Yume rose to her feet and put her weight away, careful not to let Pilar see her blush. “Well, that’s good. It would suck if he suddenly decided to drop out of the show.” “Yeah.” “I bet you’re glad, too.” “Of course I am. He’s my partner. Without him, I would probably be out of a job here at Kaleido Stage.” “I’m not talking about your career, Yume.” Pilar joined her over by the weights and lowered her voice, despite the fact that nobody else was around to overhear. “Come on, you can tell me, just between us girls. There’s something going on between you and Mikhail, isn’t there?” “What?” Yume almost dropped the weight she had picked up, caught off-guard by Pilar’s question. “Oh, don’t act so surprised! My room is right next to yours. I know you’ve been going out every night for the past couple of weeks, sneaking back in just before curfew.” Yume rolled her eyes. “Oh, that? Mikhail and I have been holding late-night practices at the rink. He’s teaching me how to consistently land the triple axel.” “Is that all?” Pilar sighed, obviously not finding the truth juicy enough for her standards. “How boring.” “I don’t think so. He’s…different during our private practices.” Pilar‘s interest was piqued again. “Oh? How so?” “He’s…more open, I guess,” Yume said, absent-mindedly twirling a loose strand of hair around her finger. “Not quite as cold and stand-offish as he usually is.” “I knew it!” Pilar declared, pointing a finger in Yume’s direction. “You totally have a crush on the Ice Prince, don’t you?” “No, I don’t.” “Yes, you do.” “No, I don’t.” “Yes, you do.” “No, I --” Yume stopped mid-protest, realizing how childish they sounded. “Look, Pilar, the only feelings I have for Mikhail are as his pairs partner and maybe a friend. That‘s it.” “If you say so, but I think you’re living in denial,” Pilar said in a sing- song voice. “You so have a thing for him.” Yume grabbed her duffel bag and started heading to the door, having had enough of the conversation. “I’m going back to my room to take a shower before dinner.” “Denial!” ***** Pilar has way too active an imagination, Yume thought later that night as she prepared for yet another late practice with Mikhail. All through dinner, she had to put up with Pilar mouthing the word “denial” whenever the rest of the girls weren’t paying attention to them. At least she had the decency to keep her unfounded suspicions to herself, though. “I *don’t* have a crush on him,” she muttered as she styled her hair into a bun, unaware that she had voiced the thought aloud until Fool responded. “On who?” “None of your business.” “Come on, you can tell me, Yume,” he said. “Who am I going to tell? You and Sora are the only ones who can see me.” “It’s none of your business,” she repeated, securing the bun into place. Fool turned his back to her in a snit. “Fine, be that way. Like I care about who you *don’t* have a crush on.” “Does that mean you care about -- Oh, no, I’m late!” Noticing the time, Yume grabbed her skates and headed down to the rink. She expected Mikhail to be already on the ice and waiting for her when she arrived, but the rink was empty despite the fact she was nearly ten minutes late for their practice. Yume put on her skates and began warming up, wondering what was keeping him. He hadn’t said anything about starting at a later time or canceling the practice to her recollection. “So where is that partner of yours?” Fool asked, startling Yume and causing her to trip on a simple crossover. “Fool!” She got back to her feet and glared at the Spirit of the Stage. “I thought I told you not to bother me when I’m practicing.” “No, I believe you told me not to bother you when other people were around.” “Well, Mikhail is going to be here any moment, so shoo!” she said, waving him away. “How many times do I have to tell you I don‘t appreciate being treated like a dog?” “Fine, Fool, just go. Please? I don’t want Mikhail to come in here and think I’m crazy for talking to myself.” “If he is even coming. Wasn’t your practice supposed to start at nine?” “Yeah.” Yume glanced down at her watch, frowning when she saw it was almost forty after. “He is running a bit late tonight.” “It looks to me like you were stood up.” “No, I’m sure he’ll be here soon,” she said. “Just give him a few more minutes.” But a few more minutes passed by with no sign of Mikhail. At five minutes before ten, Yume gave up on waiting for him. She stepped off the ice and began taking off her skates. “See, I told you,” Fool said, having kept her company while she waited. “He stood you up.” “I’m sure he has a good explanation,” Yume said. “Maybe he’s sick or something.” “And he couldn’t call or send somebody to let you know?” Yume had the same thought, but she wanted to give Mikhail the benefit of a doubt. After what he had said earlier to Tatiana about their partnership, she didn’t think he would blow off their practice for no reason. “I’m going to see if he’s home,” she decided. She headed towards the men’s dormitory, annoyed when she discovered Fool still following her. “Fool, go away,” she muttered out of the side of her mouth in case anybody was around. “There’s no need for you to come with me.” “I’m curious.” “About what?” “If Mikhail can see me.” “You already tested him, remember? He couldn’t see you at all.” “That was then; this is now,” Fool said. “Things may have changed in the meantime.” She sighed. “Fine, you can come along if you want, but don’t talk to me unless it’s clear that Mikhail can see you, too.” Yume wasn’t certain what room he lived in, but she happened to run into Dmitri in the lobby, who was happy to give her directions. She went up to the second floor and knocked on the first door she came across. “Mikhail, it’s me. Can we talk?” It took a few moments before the door opened, but the one who answered was not Mikhail, as she expected. Instead, it was a petite blonde woman, dressed only in an over-sized T-shirt that Yume suspected belonged to Mikhail. Fool immediately began salivating over her, but Yume couldn‘t berate him without looking foolish. “Oh, it’s you, that Japanese girl,” Tatiana said, leaning against the doorway. “What do you want with Misha at this hour?” “Um, Mikhail and I were supposed to meet for practice about an hour ago,” Yume said once she got over her immediate shock. “I was worried when he didn’t show up, so I wanted to check and make sure he was okay.” “He’s fine. Now, if you will excuse us…” Tatiana reached for the doorknob to close the door, but Yume held it back, wanting some answers. Though it seemed pretty obvious what had kept Mikhail from practice, there may have been another explanation for why Tatiana was in his room. “Wait, can I at least talk to him, just for a minute?” “He’s in the shower right now.” “Oh.” She frowned, debating whether or not she should wait for him to come out. She wanted to hear what Mikhail had to say, but on the other hand, she didn’t want to come off as if she was some kind of jealous girlfriend. “Well, will you tell him I stopped by?” she finally decided, pausing for a moment before shaking her head. “No, on second thought, don’t bother. It’s not important.” Tatiana shrugged. “Whatever,” she said before closing the door on Yume’s face. Fool let out a moan the second she disappeared from sight. “Oh, why couldn’t I have appeared to somebody like her?” he mooned, staring forlornly at the door. “First Zoe, now Tatiana?” Yume groused, grabbing the perverted Spirit of the Stage around his middle as she turned to leave and head back to her own dorm room. “If I’m not sexy enough for you, then why don’t you go find somebody else to leer at, you lech?” “Wow, you’re suddenly in a foul mood.”’ “I am not.” “Really?” Fool managed to squirm his way out of Yume’s hold on him and flew up in front of her face “You could have fooled me.” “Oh, shut up. Do you want somebody to hear you?” “You’re the one who should be worried about being overheard -- or have you forgotten that you’re the only one who can see or hear me?” Yume immediately slapped a hand over her mouth, realizing that she’d been talking at normal volume without being aware of it. Fortunately, she didn’t see anybody else around. She let out a sigh of relief. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she hissed. “What if somebody saw?” “I did tell you, just now,” he pointed out. “Yeah, well…” Unable to come up with a clever retort, Yume shut her mouth and kept quiet until the two of them returned to her room. “So, what has you in such a bad mood, anyway?” Fool asked while Yume prepared herself a cup of tea. “Nothing, I told you. I‘m fine.” He scoffed. “And I’m the King of England.” Yume rolled her eyes. “It’s just… If he had a date with Tatiana, he should have at least told me instead of standing me up at practice,” she said. “I mean, what if I wanted to go out on a date tonight, too?” Fool snorted, trying unsuccessfully to hide his laughter behind one of his hands. Yume arched an eyebrow in his direction, none too amused, and began pouring hot water into her tea bowl. “What? You don’t think I could get a date if I wanted one?” He muttered something under his breath that sounded like, “Well, that would be a good start,” which Yume thought was a rather strange thing to say. Assuming she must have just heard him wrong, she ignored him. “I could, you know,” she continued. “Sure, I’ve never had a boyfriend, and I’ve never even been kissed… And I’m not beautiful like Tatiana or incredibly flexible like Zoe or as sexy as Pilar or as smart as Becca…“ “Uh, Yume?” “And I wish I had pretty hair like Clarissa’s… “Yume?” “Or gorgeous blue eyes like Liza’s…” “Yume?” “But I have my good points, too!” “I take it paying attention isn’t one of them,” Fool said, pointing down at Yume’s tea bowl. “Eek!” She had forgotten what she was doing, causing her tea bowl to overflow, water covering almost the entire counter and dripping onto the floor. “Tell me these things sooner!” she shouted at Fool, grabbing some paper towels from the cabinet to soak up the liquid. “I tried to, but you wouldn’t listen.” “Argh! Just help me clean this up.” Once the mess had been mopped up, Yume dumped the rest of the tea in the sink, having lost her thirst for it, and headed to her bedroom to go to bed, leaving Fool to stare into her unwashed cup. DISCLAIMER: Kaleido Star doesn’t belong to me. AUTHOR’S NOTES: Any comments and criticisms can be sent to me at ElysionDream@aol.com.