Growing up, Maya always knew two things.

Skating and dancing.

Oh she loved skating. When she was two years old, she watched it on television and nearly had a canary at the beautiful jumps and spins. Her mom later told her that she used to jump up and down in front of the television and shout 'I wanna do dat!'

Her mom made her wait until she was five and a little bit sturdier in the walking department before she took her to her first skating lesson. There she met Riley Matthews, another young skater who would become her best friend. Riley had a boy who kept sticking to her like glue. A nerdy boy with glasses named Farkle Minkus. Maya remembers teasing him about his name as she skated alongside him, waggling her arms back and forth as she passed him.

Then she fell right on her rump.

Farkle held out a hand and pulled her to her feet. Maya remembers being so stunned by his sudden kindness and she never teased him again.

The three of them became inseparable. Their teacher liked what she saw with Riley and Farkle and paired them together.

Maya continued on alone. Dance classes took up the other half of her time and her school work was average at best. Her mom had made a deal with her, maintain a B average or her lessons would be taken away. Maya could deal with that.

The years that followed were some of the busiest but the best years of her life. Her dance instructor informed Maya that she could probably have a career in choreography.

That flipped a switch in Maya's head. From then on she found herself studying Riley and Farkle's skating, telling them ways that they could make their moves better until Riley got so annoyed that she threw her out and wouldn't let her train with them anymore. Not that Maya could blame her too much, she did get irritating as shit there.

Things are...good. They are really good.

When she turns seventeen, Maya takes her senior test and passes with flying colors. She's ready to head to her first Grand Prix event with Riley and Farkle and to have the best time.

Then her mother dies.

Life stops.

She withdraws from the event and watches them from the sidelines as Riley and Farkle grab their first pair skating medal, placing second in the finals and earning an assignment to go to the Cup of China and to the Four Continents Competition.

She's asked if she will return to complete her own Cup of China assignment, a word slips out from her lips that Maya never thought she would say.

"No."

-;

"Miss Maya?"

Maya's eyes dart down to the small child beside her. "Yeah Kait?"

The little girl blinks owlish blue eyes her way and Maya is pretty sure she is going to melt. "Can you help me again with that one step? I cannot get it."

"Of course."

As she eases the little girl over to the barre by the mirror, she sees a person standing in the doorway.

Riley.

She hadn't seen Riley in person in at least eighteen months, what was she doing here?

Riley gives her a tiny wave. Maya returns it half heartedly, returning to her students for the remainder of the class while pretending her old friend is not standing there. Once the first mother shows up to collect her child, she busies herself with cleaning up the room and throwing sweaty towels into the hamper by the window, still pretending Riley is not standing there.

"So this is your life now, huh?"

With a heavy sigh, Maya looks up towards the brunette. Riley is crossing the hard wood floor, her boots clanking on the boards as she glances at herself in the floor to the ceiling mirror.

"Yep," Maya answers dryly.

"I talked to someone downstairs, a, uh Grace?" Riley asks. "She was your teacher when we were kids, right?" Maya nods. "She said that you are the best teacher here. That all the kids love you."

Maya settles back in the lone chair in the corner of the room, folding her arms in front of her chest. "What's up, Riley?"

"Am I that obvious?"

Chuckling, she nods. "Yep."

Riley takes a perch by the window but moves almost instantly, her nose wrinkling at the smell of the sweaty towels in the hamper. "I may need your help. Uh, a few of us need your help."

"With what?"

"Uh, there's another skater beginning his training at my dad's rink and he's really struggling with his choreography. His coach can't find the right one to work with him, he's kind of chased away each one. And Farkle and me -"

"You and Farkle? I just watched you guys at the Cup! You came in third!"

"But ever since we made the change over to ice dance, we've been struggling too. We've got Skate Canada coming up. Please, Maya, we could really use your help."

"What makes you think that I can help you? I don't skate anymore, Riles."

"But you do this," Riley waves a slender hand. "Your boss says you are one of the best dancers they have seen and -"

"And I don't do that anymore," Maya reminds her gently. "It's been three years. I doubt I can do much."

"But you can try," Riley says, her voice dropping just a bit. "Please, Maya."

Maya sighs again. Damn, she's been doing that a lot lately. "What do you need help with?"

A moment passes before her words settle in and Riley's pretty face lights up with joy. Crossing the dance floor, she pulls Maya into her arms in a tight hug that Maya clumsily returns. "Thank you," she breathes before releasing her.

"You're welcome."

-;

Three years had passed since her mother's death and eighteen months had gone by without Maya taking a step onto the ice. She wondered if she could even stand up straight on the ice without falling on her ass.

Since walking away, she had gone to work full time at the dance school that had become her home. Her teacher Grace had given her a place to stay until she could get her own apartment and helped her finish her high school diploma. Maya was taking night classes at the moment to get the credits but her whole life was the dance studio.

Isn't that sad?

An old ache had flared up when she saw Riley again. Her heart had split when she walked away from her old life, Riley included, but the pain was too much.

Too much.

Riley's parents were former Olympians. Her mother Topanga was a downhill skier, having grabbed three medals in three events in the 2003 Olympics. Her father Cory was a retired hockey champion, having led his team to the silver medal in the previous Olympics and had just missed the silver at the championships the following month.

Farkle wasn't the child of athletes, he was the child of money. Maya honestly believed that ice skating was something his mother Jennifer had wanted him to try and the only reason he had stayed was because of Riley.

Maya arrives at the skating club the following day. The rink is just like she remembered it, big and almost homey. Yeah that sounds stupid but it's the truth. She spent twelve years of her life here, so sue her. Riley and Farkle are just the way she remembers them. They flow like water as they move together on the ice but once that stops, neither one of them shut the hell up.

It's perfect and oh god it hurts to watch.

As Maya laces up a pair of rental skates, she's taking in several deep breaths. She can do this. Just pretend this is the dance studio. No ice around, she's not wearing a pair of boots with blades attached. She can do this.

One wobbly step onto the ice and of course it all comes rushing back. Riley and Farkle stop in their warm up, both watching her warily like she's a timebomb about to explode.

"I'm fine, guys," she says. "Show me what you're struggling with."

Twin looks of relief cross their faces. Farkle takes Riley's hand, leading her out onto the center of the ice. They begin their backward strokes, blades slashing the cleaned ice evenly before Riley begins to lose footing. Farkle follows and the lead into the lift quickly ends, Farkle grabbing Riley before she stumbles to the ice.

Maya skates out to the center of the ice to join them, her ankles wobbling just slightly. She takes another breath before replacing Riley at Farkle's side. "Okay so here's the issue. Follow my feet."

She pushes off on her toepick, taking the steps very slowly. More for her benefit than for theirs, she's still pretty rusty at this.

Farkle eases back, allowing her to work the step sequence for a second before taking her hand and completing the last steps with her. "Is that it?" he asks once they hit the last beat. "That seems so simple."

"It is," Maya says. "Sort of. You are losing the flow of the movements when you get a few seconds into it. Riley, what I think it is is that you are looking at your feet. Don't do that. Keep your eyes trained ahead because if you keep looking at your feet then your concentration will be on the steps alone and not how to ease into your spin."

"So we're keeping it as two separate movements, instead of trying to pull them together?" Riley asks.

"Exactly."

Maya takes a seat as the two of them attempt the steps again. This time they complete the sequence and go into the spin. They continue to work for the next thirty minutes, Maya throwing in her two cents here and there. Another step sequence didn't flow with a lift. To go straight into a dangerous lift after a spin was dumb, there was no time to recover. She goes back to being her bossy self as she shouts herself hoarse to be heard over the irritating music that plays over the loudspeakers and the new skaters that have joined them on the ice.

Sweat's pouring off of the two of them when they call for a break and slump into seats beside Maya in the stands.

"Say, who is this other guy you were telling me about?" Maya wonders, passing them their water.

Farkle looks at his phone. "He should be here in about ten minutes. His name is Lucas Friar and his grandfather just hired on Shawn Hunter as his coach."

"Shawn Hunter?" Maya repeats, staring at them open mouthed. "The Shawn Hunter? The one who won the silver medal at the 2003 Olympics after narrowly beating out his brother Jack for the spot on the team? That Shawn Hunter?"

"Yep, that Shawn Hunter," comes another voice.

Maya nearly throws her own water in the air, whirling around to see a very familiar man standing on the side of the boards. Holy shit, it's -

"Maya, this is Shawn," Riley introduces. "He's a friend of my dad's. They roomed together at the Olympics in '03. Shawn, this is Maya Hart. She's helping us with our short dance while Harper's away."

Okay, so she's ready to become a blathering idiot as the other man shakes her hand. "Huh-hi -"

Farkle begins to laugh. "He doesn't bite, Maya."

Shawn laughs too. "It's nice to meet you, Maya."

"Y-you too." Oh god she is such a moron.

Riley nudges her arm, smiling. "Maya said she'd take a look at what Lucas has got for his Skate Canada appearance."

"I did?"

"She did?"

"Yes she did. Maya used to skate before she went into dancing full time. She's been doing some great stuff for us," Riley brags.

"Oh really?" Shawn surveys the red faced Maya with raised eyebrows. "Did Riley drag you here unwillingly?"

With a smirk, Maya nods. "Yep."

"Maya!"

Shawn just laughs.

The mysterious Lucas arrives there not long after. And what Maya is expecting is not what Maya gets.

The boy is about two inches shorter than Farkle, with messy dark blond hair and blue eyes. Shoulders that belong on a linebacker and legs that reach his neck.

Wowza.

When he opens his mouth, Maya is not expecting a southern drawl to tumble over his lips.

She stifles a giggle while shaking his hand. "Howya doin'?"

Lucas's eyes narrow. "Gonna make fun of my accent?"

"I've never heard of a figure skater from the South so yeah, I am."

Maya half expects Lucas to snap at her but to her surprise, he grins.

She likes this guy. He skates well despite the horrid lack of artistry. He's smiley, polite, makes jokes with Farkle, listens intently to the advice that Shawn gives him, and calls Riley 'ma'am', much to Riley's chargin.

When Lucas falls for the third time out of a jump that should be really simple, Maya's mouth flies open and words tumble out before she can control them.

"The way you are easing into the jump - your right knee is buckling. If you changed it from a double-double combination and made the jump itself a triple, maybe you wouldn't lose your balance as you go into it."

Riley's smiling triumphantly and Lucas and Shawn are staring at her like she had just grown another head. Shawn turns back to Lucas and nods. "Go ahead, Lucas."

Returning the nod, Lucas retakes his position at the side of the rink, pushing off on his toepick and easing backwards. He picks up speed as he moves and suddenly he's up, turning one, two, three, another half rotation and he lands the triple cleanly.

"That jump is worth an extra point over the double combo," Shawn says. "We can replace the double somewhere else."

"Maybe at the end?" Maya offers. "You've got a camel spin there that could be accentuated by the jump first." Riley's smirking but Maya ignores her.

Shawn walks slowly to where Maya is sitting, leaning against the rail. "What else do you suggest?"

"You mean that?" Maya asks, her ears flushing red.

"Yeah, I do."

-;

Lucas catches her on the way out to the parking lot.

Maya stops, her hand on her car door as the long legged blond jogs across the icy crosswalk. "Hey Huckleberry."

He skids to a stop, raising a brow before grinning. "I just wanted to thank you."

"For what?"

Lucas shuffled on his sneaker clad feet, bowing his head. "For everything you did in there."

Maya smiles. "Not a problem. I enjoyed it."

"Will you come back?" Lucas asks. "Riley doesn't shut up about you and -"

"I don't know, Huckleberry. Do you want me to come back?" Maya hates that she finds Lucas's bashful grin adorable but she will die before she admits that to anyone.

"Yeah. Yeah I would."

-;

In the weeks that follow in preparation for the Skate Canada appearance, Maya's ready to tear her hair out.

She's never 'officially' hired on as Lucas's choreographer but after the first week, a check for seven hundred dollars shows up in her mailbox, signed by Joe Friar.

"I could get used to this," she mutters, stuffing the check into her wallet to deposit when she got the chance.

Lucas's artistry has improved greatly in the last weeks. He lands that jump with ease now and Maya was already thinking about music for his short program. A few days before Shawn had to register the skaters for the 4C, Maya was scanning through her playlist on her phone, landing on one song that surprised even her.

"Newsies?!" Lucas barked, staring at her in surprise as she played the song. "You've got to be joking."

"Never been more serious, Huckleberry," Maya says. "Give it a shot."

Lucas takes to the ice again and slides into some easy compulsary figures, finding the beat of the music. Shawn and Maya watch as he moves backwards along the ice, picking up and off into a single axel and landing it smoothly.

"I think we found his short program."

Designing the short was harder than Maya thought possible though. This program was what was supposed to get Lucas his standing in the competition and she sweated over it as much as he did.

While designing this program and beginning the pieces for his free skate, Maya returned to the dance studio.

Her seven year old student, Kait found her in the studio early one morning before her class was supposed to start, nearly startling her out of her wits when she glimpsed the small girl in the mirror.

"Kait!" she gasps, slapping a hand on her chest. "You're early!"

"My mommy had to go to work early," Kait says. "So she dropped me off when Grace said you were here."

Maya raises a brow but doesn't say anything to that. "Do you want to warm up a bit with me?"

Kait nods excitedly and goes to unzip her coat. As she works with the fumbly zipper, the little girl looks back at her. "Miss Maya?"

"Hmm?"

"What was that you were doing when I walked in?"

"What I was doing? Oh! It was a step sequence that I was working on for my other student, Lucas."

"The ice skater?"

"Yep."

"Is he going to do that while he skates?"

Maya nods. "Maybe. If I can get it developed properly." She returns to the floor while Kait prepares.

"Will you skate too?"

The question catches Maya off guard and she stares at the little girl. "Why do you ask that?"

"Did you skate before you became a dancer?" Kait asks.

Nodding again, Maya turns back to the mirror in front of her. "Yeah, I did."

"Why did you stop?"

Hitching on a grin, Maya scuffs a hand gently along the top of Kait's head. "Because I got you!"

Kait laughs. "No I'm serious, Miss Maya."

Sighing, Maya leans down so she is squatting in front of Kait. "All right kid, you're searching for my life story, aren't you?" Kait smiles, nodding too. "Honey, I started skating when I was about your age, a little bit younger. And I loved it. I still do. It was something I shared with my mom. And then...my mom died."

Understanding fills Kait's brown eyes. "You didn't want to do it without your mommy?"

"That's right. It was our thing."

"But don't you think that your mommy would want you to keep skating? For her?"

Maya's feet slide out from underneath her and she sits upon the wooden floor, staring at the little girl.

That night she perfects the step sequence.

-;

The Skate Canada event is held in Vancouver. Maya flies out with the rest of their strange little group, she, Shawn, and Harper Burgess being bustled off to register their athletes and themselves for the event.

The men's short program comes first after the Juniors compete and Maya is more nervous than Lucas is.

"You're not the one out there in front of four thousand people, Hart. Take it easy," Lucas commands her backstage as they wait for Lucas to get the ten minute warning.

"Sorry Friar," she says, taking the bottle of water Shawn offers her. "If you fail, it's all on me and Shawn since we are the ones -" She's cut off with Shawn slapping her shoulder. "Everything's peachy."

A woman with a clipboard and a microphone headset suddenly appears. "Mr. Friar? Start getting ready." She's gone when Maya blinks.

Lucas disappears for three minutes, coming back to where they are sitting wearing his costume of grey pants, a tan button up shirt and grey vest with suspenders. "I am never going to forgive you for choosing this music for my short."

Maya looks him up and down, grinning. "You look cute, Bucky McBoing Boing."

Lucas rolls his eyes, lightly slapping her knee to get her out of the chair so he can sit and put his skates on. Maya leaves him and Shawn alone to head down to the ice. The skater competing now is having a tough time, falling on an easy double lutz before hitting the last beat of his music, clapping his hands together in disappointment.

Lucas and Shawn are suddenly at her elbow, Lucas looking a little green around the gills. "Ready cowboy?"

He doesn't answer. Shawn shakes his head slightly and Maya clams up. Another man with a headset signals Lucas to take the ice.

"Next to skate, Lucas Friar."

"Do you think he can do that step sequence?" Shawn mutters in her ear.

Maya breathes out. "Hopefully."

The music begins. Maya had chosen 'Seize the Day' from Newsies. She had initially chosen it to be a pain the ass but she really liked the beats and how each could bring out a good component for Lucas on the ice. The step sequence she had developed was set for the last thirty seconds of the two minute program.

Five jumps were planned, three triples and two doubles. The doubles were both axels for the highest points. Two spins and the footwork combined with the step sequence, all done cleanly should get Lucas into the top ten to advance on to the free skate.

Oh god the free skate. She was terrified to see that. What if -

"Maya, pay attention!"

Lucas is moving into his first triple. A triple lutz, one that he had managed to perfect only a week ago.

Maya slaps a hand over her eyes, wincing. "I can't watch!"

Shawn wrenches her hand down. "Oh yes you can!"

Lucas lands the jump, bowing forward too far for it to be clean. The second jump follows right after, a triple toe loop. Simple as long as he could complete the rotations and - he lands it.

A camel spin goes without a hitch with the first double axel. His blades claw into the ice as he works into her sequence, taking his last triple on with an expression of ferocity that Maya had only seen on the face of the man next to her during his Olympic long program.

"He's got it," Shawn murmurs lowly.

The last beat of the music hits and Lucas quickly raises his hands in the air for the final pose. Except for the bobble in the first triple, Maya cannot see him being out of the top ten.

He leaves the ice and she is the first person he grabs as he slides off, bringing her in tightly. "Thank you," he whispers in her ear before releasing her, wrapping an arm around Shawn and allowing Shawn to lead him to the Kiss and Cry area for his scores.

Maya watches the large screen at the ceiling of the arena, her heart hammering in her chest. The applause was still thundering even two minutes after he had left the ice and the young girls that collected the stuffed toys and flowers were still gathering up things that scattered the pond.

First the technical scores. Thank god for the 6.0 system or she would be lost.

The scores begin at 5.5, deducted for the low landing on the triple and go to 5.7. The presentation comes after and - holy shit, all 5.8's and 5.9's. Right now with five skaters to go, Lucas is in the lead.

-;

"You okay?"

Just three hours ago, Maya had watched Lucas earn fifth place and a spot at Skate America. Riley and Farkle had skated their short dance and were in first, ready to claim a medal if they had a clean free dance.

An ache had settled in the center of Maya's gut.

Lucas's long program had had a few mistakes but the artistry - her choreography had been enough to keep him in medal contention until the last two men skated and pushed him down to fifth.

He had thanked her again after the long program was over, hugging her and asking her if she would be with him in the following weeks to go to the next event. He beamed down at her like a cheshire cat and for some reason it hurt to look at him.

He loved doing what he did. In the last weeks, a light had settled in his eyes, a joy for the sport had enveloped him and he was so happy.

Maya missed that. Oh god, she missed that.

Turning to Shawn, she swallows a sigh. "My mom died three years ago, just after I had taken my senior test," she says. "I was all signed up to start at Grand Prix and then she was just...gone."

Shawn eases down into the plastic seat beside her. The arena is so quiet, completely empty of people. Maya's voice echoes in the stillness, heavy and broken. Frosty clouds of breath form in front of the both of them.

"I withdrew and I kept skating though, trying to keep myself fit while they allowed me to defer to get my head screwed back on straight." Maya shifts in her seat, uncrossing her denim clad legs. "And I just didn't go back. Riley and Farkle raced off to conquer like the rulers they are but I stayed behind. It didn't...it didn't feel right. This was something that my mom and I did together, ya know?"

"Yeah...I know." Maya misses the shadow that crosses Shawn's face.

"But now...watching everything over the last couple of days. Watching Lucas put so much effort into what we put together for him - I caught myself thinking about what I could do for me." She sighs. "I never realized how much I missed it until Riley dragged me to the skating club."

"So what do you want to do?" Shawn asks.

She sucks in a deep breath, holding it in her cheeks before letting it out slowly. "It's funny when a seven year old is smarter than you are," she mumbles.

"Maya."

"I want to come back."

Shawn fixes her with a pointed look, his eyes searching her face. He takes in a deep breath of his own before exhaling, the air puffing out of his nose.

"Okay."

-;

dedicated with love to Debbie.

Okay so here's the new upload! Maya is going to get her eligibility back as a competitive skater since she's been inactive for eighteen months. I am fudging quite a bit with this story because then it would just become a fic full of technical terms. I hope that doesn't bug anybody too much.

Reviews are appreciated. Would love to know your thoughts. Thanks babes.