Page 2 of Chasing Gold, Catching Her

They had to show the coach that they were ready to go further, ready to follow the dream of the Olympics.

I

Part I

SEASON 2024–2025

Chapter 1

Four days until Nordic Ice Trophy competition

After a stretching session and a warm-up with quick squats and exercises for their legs, shoulders and back, they took their skates and stepped onto the ice, which seemed to have been waiting for them for a long time. The coach stood nearby, impatiently watching their every move, and her sharp gaze made Alisa feel tense. Fortunately, after a few minutes, the coach left on business that required confirmation with documentation and disappeared into another wing of the building.

Alisa sat down on the bench and began tying her skates, row after row, lacing each eyelet carefully so that they were secure but not too tight. She wanted to feel comfortable and relaxed, especially since this was her first time on this ice.

Lev sat beside her, but he tied his skates much faster. He stood up from the bench and walked toward the edge of the rink, near the boards of the hockey box, although for this championship the barriers had been removed. For now, they were not necessary until the official tournament began.

Alisa finished tying the last knot on her left skate and stood up, glancing at Lev. He was staring somewhere intently, clearly watching someone, probably assessing their rivals, she thought. She followed his gaze toward the rink.

Several figure skaters were already on the ice. Two pairs were practicing basic lifts and steps, simply gliding and getting used to the surface, while most of the others were singles. Apparently, it was a general trial day for all categories.

Then her attention was caught by a blonde skater whose curls moved beautifully during her pirouettes. She spun with such lightness that she seemed almost weightless, as if she were nothing more than a feather floating in the air. That effect could only be achieved through years of exhausting training, when something that required thousands of hours of practice appeared effortless to an ordinary observer. Years spent trying to look like a piece of fluff, like a feather falling softly from the sky.

The blonde executed a triple salchow with such ease that Alisa’s mouth fell open in surprise. As soon as the girl landed, their gazes met for a brief second. Those blue eyes locked onto Alisa’s brown ones, and for a moment it felt as if the ocean itself had surged forward and covered the earth with cold, overwhelming waves. Goosebumps ran down Alisa’s back.

Another skater had just entered the ice from the opposite side of the rink and began clapping for the blonde. The blonde grinned slightly, and Alisa frowned.

Showing off? she wondered.

A second later, the blonde skated past her and rushed toward the one who had applauded. They met in the middle of the rink, laughing, embracing, and spinning together in visible excitement.

Maybe it meant something to her. Maybe it was her first successful quadruple. Or maybe they simply had that kind of atmosphere between them, the kind where every pirouette, every jump, every clean landing felt like a shared victory.

Alisa could no longer watch the pair hugging so sweetly. Something in her chest shrank alarmingly at the sight, and she turned her gaze toward her partner.

Lev was obviously just as shocked by what he had seen. His face reflected the same stunned emotion. His mouth hung slightly open, as if he had almost gasped, but only a quiet breath escaped his lips, which had frozen in a small O of surprise.

Suddenly, they both felt sharp slaps on the backs of their heads and, out of the corners of their eyes, noticed how the coach had crept up behind them.

The Pike looked at them menacingly and practically barked, “Go skate. You’re wasting precious time standing here with your mouths open at your rivals.”

“Yes, Coach,” they answered calmly, nodding in unison, and stepped onto the ice, first Lev and then Alisa.

They began their warm-up with something simple: half circles with a mohawk, then half circles with forward crossovers. As they skated in wide, sweeping movements, they did not take their eyes off each other, as if they were holding onto one another not only with their gaze but with invisible hands and teeth. Each movement had to look perfectly honed, even though it was only a warm-up to feel the ice.

Left, right, left, right, left, right.

Alisa repeated the rhythm loudly in her mind, gritting her teeth. She had never warmed up this intensely before, but today, in front of her rivals, she felt she had to be perfect, even during the very first glide across the ice.

The blades scraped against the surface, the familiar sharp sound making her heart beat faster. Her blood seemed to boil with the intensity of movement, and her cheeks turned pink from the rush of circulation. She was incredibly nervous. She had been preparing for competitions for years, yet for some reason this first appearance on the ice here felt overwhelming. It made sense, she told herself. This was her first international competition outside her home country. Everything was different, even if it was technically the same ice. The judges were foreign. The rivals were foreign. Everything felt elevated to a higher level than she was used to, and that thought alone tightened something inside her.

Lev called out to her, “Let’s try the split lift?”

He skated ahead and winked playfully, his black blades cutting across the ice with effortless elegance, scattering fine grains of frost with every stroke. It was a forbidden element in championships, a lifted partner in an upside-down split pose, but it had always been one of their favorite elements when no one was watching.

Alisa glanced around. Not seeing the coach nearby, she accelerated toward him.

He extended his hand, and she took it without hesitation.