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The seats at the Kiss & Cry were colder and harder than Himmel ever remembered. Himmel can still feel the disappointment; he can't believe he messed up in such an important performance. It's the Olympics, not any competition, but the Olympics. The score for their short program currently puts them in fourth place. Once Himmel left the Kiss & Cry with Frieren walking before him, the last couple to skate, Fern and Stark, who are fellow teammates of Frieren and Himmel, came on the ice.
"Frieren!" Himmel called as they were walking up to the greenroom, "I am so sorry for the error on the lift. I promise it won't happen again for free skating!"
"Himmel, do you remember what you told me ten years ago when you asked me to be your skating partner?"
"Yes, of course."
Ten years ago, Frieren was a single skater who only appeared in ice shows, despite having the skills to compete in international competitions with a good chance of medaling. However, Frieren believes it will be a hassle to compete, so she would rather train on her own and only does ice shows. One day in the off-season, Himmel, the World Junior Figure Skating Champion, who has a promising senior debut waiting for him, came to Frieren's ice rink asking her hand as his partner for pair skating.
"Why? Aren't you staying in men's singles next season for your senior debut?"
"If you rejected me, then I will."
"Why me? I don't have a reason to start competing either."
"Frieren, let me be the reason you started this journey," Himmel said as he reached out his hand to Frieren, who surprisingly took it.
The scene still paints vividly in both Frieren and Himmel's minds. Due to their experience in basic pair skating moves from ice shows, they managed the switch in discipline very well. Obviously, they weren't selected to compete in the Olympics that took place two years after the partnership was formed. Four years later, they were selected to compete in the Olympics, where they got fourth. The frustration of missing the podium transforms into the power to skate clean at the World Championships one month later, earning them the silver medal. It was the competition that marked the start of Frieren and Himmel's medal streak, where they have never gotten any placement lower than second. Every time Himmel recalls this memory, it fills his heart with warmth. However, the memories now haunt Himmel like a demon, making him unable to forgive himself for the error he just made.
"Himmel, you are the hero who took me to this world. Without you, I will never stand here. You gave me the courage to start my journey as a competitive skater and showed me how enjoyable it could be. I promise you it will be fine. Do you still remember I made an error during the free skate of our first Worlds title? You were comforting me, telling me it's alright. Now it's my turn to tell you that everything will be all right. Okay?" Frieren asked, and Himmel nodded.
Once Fern and Stark finished their program, the reigning world champion, the Frimmel couple, went into the free skates in fifth place. The media was shocked by the crucial error made by Himmel on the axel lasso lift, as he had not made a single error since the start of the Olympic season. When Himmel returned to his hotel room, he reviewed their short program to analyze and reflect on what he had done wrong. Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door, and as he opened the door, he saw Frieren standing outside.
"Frieren? Is there anything wrong?"
"I'm just here to remind you not to stay up late since the free skate is tomorrow and we have morning practice, so don't oversleep."
"Oh, yes, I'll go to sleep once I finish this rewatch. Thank you."
"Don't think too much about what happened on the lift today. We are still in a good position for the gold medal. Come on, this isn't like the Himmel we all know. The Himmel we know is always confident and brags about his good looks. Now, good night."
As Himmel watched Frieren walk back to her room, a faint smile appeared on his face.
"To think that Frieren is telling me not to oversleep," Himmel said as he closed the door and headed straight to bed.
During the next day's morning practice, both Frieren and Himmel didn't make any mistakes. But both Frieren and their coach, Flamme, know Himmel is afraid of making any mistakes.
"Himmel, playing it safe won't help you win the Olympics," Flamme said from the rinkside.
"Yes, coach," Himmel replied, but it doesn't seem like he understood what their coach was referring to.
The situation continued till the six minutes of warm-up for every group during the free skate. When Frieren took off her jacket and revealed her new dress made specially for the Olympics, Himmel felt like a groom laying eyes on his bride walking up the aisle. The light purple dress has a sweetheart neckline with frill sleeves, decorated with soft white floral and sparkle patterns resembling snowflakes. The handkerchief flare skirt is layered with gradient coloring that shifts from a soft lavender-purple at the waist down to a light ice blue at the hemline. Frieren wears a fingerless wrist gauntlet in silver with a snowflake pattern. Her hair is done in ponytail style, tied with a lavender-purple ribbon to match her dress. It wasn't the first time Himmel saw Frieren in this dress, but seeing it on Olympic ice and boards feels different. The thought makes Himmel realize one thing.
"Right, we made a new outfit for the Olympics! Yes, this is the Olympics, the event that happens once every four years. What have I been doing? Playing it safe doesn't do the trick. Right! I need to fight!" Himmel thought as he looked at his own outfit, where he was wearing a white dress shirt that had the shade of ice blue at the sleeves with a lavender purple vest with a snowflake pattern to match Frieren’s color palette.
Frieren saw the change in Himmel's glaze and realized everything would be fine as Himmel the Hero had returned.
Once the six-minute warm-up ended and the skaters got off the ice for the first couple to perform, Frieren decided to tell Himmel about what she felt about him.
"Himmel, I have never told you this. But the reason I accepted your offer to be your partner was that you are my biggest supporter. Every time I learn a new skating trick that is considered useless or not meaningful, you were the only one who has always been excited to watch it and encourage me. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't even find skating fun, which is why I took your hand that day." Frieren reached out her hand as Himmel did ten years ago that day, "This time, let me be your reason to stand on the Olympic ice."
In response, Himmel took her hand with his iconic smile, which is known for stealing the hearts of many girls as they took the ice and waved to the audience when the announcer introduced them. As they got into the starting position of their program, Himmel put his right arm at his waist like a hero taking out his sword, while Frieren put her hands on his. It was the ending pose for their free skate during their first Olympics, where they skated with the theme of a hero and mage. It was the program where they got the nicknames of Himmel the Hero and Frieren the Mage.
"Don't worry, you, Himmel the Hero, have already proved that a mistake like this is no match for you. Can you move at all?" Frieren asked as a way of teasing.
"Who do you think I am?"
"Then we can be the first couple to skate clean tonight?"
"Yeah, you can count on me. I can fight now."
Once the Waltz of the Snowflakes from The Nutcracker started to play, Frieren and Himmel raised their arms like dancers in a ballet as they started to skate. They performed an arabesque spiral after a few glides, then transformed into a Waltz dip pose.
"When Frieren and Himmel are on, their twists are sensational. We can always tell if they are on or not by their first move. Opening here with a triple twist... they are on!" the Olympic channel's commentator said when Frieren and Himmel finished the opening twist with ease without breaking the flow of the program.
As the transition to the next element, Frieren and Himmel performed the half-rotation falling leaf jump before doing crossovers to gain speed for the jump sequence.
"Now into their first jumping passes, using a spread eagle as the entry... here they go, triple toe loop, double axel, double axel sequence... oh my goodness with a twizzle step into an Ina Bauer move as exit! We have never seen anyone in pair skating doing such a transition!"
"These kids, did they decide on adding these transitions during the six-minute warm-up?" Flamme questioned with astonishment.
"The next element is the axel lasso lift; the element they had trouble with yesterday. However, there is no sense of fear in their eyes today," the commentator said as Himmel lifted Frieren, "This time, the lift is smooth," added when Himmel put Frieren down on the ice.
"Now for the triple lutz jump... massive height and distance. Majestic! Right into a death spiral."
Once Frieren and Himmel finished performing the death spiral, they stopped and did the Port de Bras pose when the section of Waltz of the Snowflakes from the program came to an end. As the music changed into the Waltz of the Flowers, Frieren and Himmel began the combination spin. As the spin reached the end, Himmel lifted Frieren as a difficult exit.
"Next up, their last side-by-side jump, the triple salchow... they changed it to the triple flip! That was amazing! Now, the reverse lasso lift, with one hand, there is no trouble this time."
When Himmel put Frieren back down from the lift, Frieren gave him a soft smile as if telling him not to hold back on the final jump.
"Final throw, the triple loop, and she has it with style! Blowing a kiss before the throw was iconic! Here is the last lift! They are going for every point; they are fighting for every single positive point they can get!"
"This girl sure remembers what I taught her!" Flamme said to herself thinking how she jokingly taught Frieren the seduction technique of blowing a kiss, "Good thing Himmel didn’t pass out like the time she tested it on him."
As the music reached the climax, Frieren and Himmel finished the final lift and entered the choreography sequence.
"This is one of the most complex choreography sequences; it's almost a step sequence. They look like a couple performing a waltz dance!"
For the final pose, Himmel lifted Frieren so she could pose the arabesque spiral in the air. Once the music stopped, the audience's cheer blew up the entire arena with flowers and stuffed animals thrown on the ice as Frieren and Himmel embraced each other.
"Thank you, Frieren!" Himmel said as he pulled back a bit to meet Frieren's eyes.
"Thank you, too, Himmel! Thank you for taking me on this journey."
"This is one of the best recovery skates this sport has ever seen!" Flamme said as she hugged her students as they got off the ice.
"Frieren-sama, Himmel-sama! That was amazing!" Fern congratulated the couple as she hugged Frieren.
"I have never seen anything like that before, wow, just wow!" Stark added as he hugged Himmel as well.
"Thank you, you two! Good luck!"
The seats at the Kiss & Cry that felt cold and hard yesterday are now warm and comfy for the couple.
"Free skate score 158.50! That's a new world record for the free program! With a total score of 231.89 points heading into first place! This score will be difficult to beat with two couples left to skate."
Himmel felt a sense of relief as he saw the scores, while Frieren only had a smile as if she already knew the outcome.
Fern and Stark performed nicely with only one mistake on the triple salchow jump, in which they had a step-out. However, the score is enough for them to finish second.
"You did awesome out there!" Frieren said as Fern came to hug her.
"The two of you did way better than we did during our first Olympics. You should be proud!" Himmel added while giving Stark a fist bump.
The last couple to skate was Übel and Land, who finished first in the short program. Unfortunately, they popped the triple salchow into a single, which cost them the silver medal and left them settling for bronze.
With that, Frieren and Himmel won their first Olympic gold medal after skating together for ten years.
"Himmel, thank you for asking me to be your partner that day. I really appreciate you. Everyone calls you the hero because of the program, but to me, you are a hero who kept on fighting no matter what situation we are put in."
"Frieren, I must thank you too! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be skating in the first place. The night when my mother passed away, I walked to the ice rink myself and saw you skating because it was my mother's favorite sport. That day, you were using the Waltz of the Flowers as the music, and the way you held the flower during the skate was phenomenal. I thought it was beautiful. It was the first time I realized how beautiful skating could be, which made me want to do it myself."
"So that's why you suggested Waltz of the Flowers for our free skate!"
"Yes! Frieren, to me, you are the mage who brought miracles, making my skating journey magical. I appreciate you from the bottom of my heart, my mage on the ice."
