Eyes on Ice [EDITING]

EYES ON ICE - 10

X. A Triple-Triple Combination (On-Ice Training Part IV)

France woke up earlier than everyone else. Because he cried last night, it is only to assume that he'd be the last to get up in the morning but that didn't apply to him. After taking a little jog at five in the morning, he stayed outside to exercise, wearing jogging pants and a black shirt, paired with a gray hoodie. He started stretching his arms and legs, and tried to do push-ups. Although it was a bit cold, he was already sweating.

"Didn't like sleeping with the boys?" A voice startled him.

He turned around only to see Mason, who was not wearing his eyeglasses, approaching him. "Uhmm, no. I just happened to wake up early.. and I couldn't bear Yuki's snore," he answered.

Mason laughed, one that France had never heard before. He took off his jacket and did a stationary jogging in order to talk to his student. "Can't say I disagree. That kid is really loud whether he's sleeping or not," he said and paused for a second. "But Yuki's.. a really good man. I can't say he's my favorite but I enjoy training with him. If he became able to meet Ken, I'm sure they would have gotten a pretty good friendship."

France went silent for a moment. Now he's seeing how Rob and Mason were alike. He walked to a bench and sat on it while watching his coach jog at his side. "Mason," he called, still guilty of not formally addressing him. "My... friend from the Philippines played a music for my free skate program. I've listened to it countless times and I've come to like it. I would like to skate to that music in the free skate and.. I was thinking of having the music of my short program be a little connected to it. Will you consider it?"

His trainer's silent reply only made him nervous. France wasn't sure if Mason's thinking, disregarding or didn't hear what he said. Maybe he's a bit straightforward or insensitive. What if Mason didn't like how he spoke of what he felt?

"I'm uh.. also thinking of replacing the layback with a flying camel and changing the whole choreography in the short program. But if it's better if I stay with the current one, then it's okay for me. Other than that, I don't have any oppositions. I'm willing to learn the jump combination and improve my solo jumps," France added.

"You've figured it out, huh," Mason commented and smiled at him. It was the first time he did that and it felt good. "Filipinos are somewhat alike. When Ken first got here at California, I've given him the same elements and compulsory figures as yours. It was a test and I've done that to all the skaters I've trained. At first, he agreed just like what you did and I'm surprised he kept it up for months. But when he performed in a competition, he replaced the difficult jumps and spins which he practiced at training. All of it. He executed easier jumps but eventually flubbed half of it because he was unprepared."

France didn't know what to say. First of all, he didn't know if he'd be relieved or what, with the fact that the jumps and compulsory figures assigned to him was just his coach testing him. Another thing is that it's hard for him to react on Ken's past memories. He never knew if he'd be happy or sad. Either way, hearing it alone is making him a bit uncomfortable.

"When we got at the kiss and cry, he wasn't crying or anything. Of course, I got mad at him and was confused why he did that. He got a 56.78 score at the short program but he smiled at me and said he was glad that he's able to skate at the program he wanted and not what's he's assigned," Mason added and smiled. "I only got even mad, though. Because if he really wanted to skate at the program he wanted, he could've realized it sooner. But he told me instead that he have known about it long before the event. He just didn't tell me because he wanted to know what I'd do. And that was the first time I've realized I was at fault."

"Would you also let me do the program you assigned if I haven't tell you what I wanted?" France asked.

"No, because I knew you would figure it out," Mason answered and walked in front of him, staring deep into his eyes. "France, what was the theme you wanted?"