//------------------------------// // VIII. Ice Princess // Story: 22 Short Stories About SonTavia // by TheOneAJ //------------------------------// “This seems like a terrible idea,” Octavia said nervously.  She was happy to see Sonata still wanting to hang out with her at the park on Fridays, even in colder weather. Although Sonata had been particularly insistent for this Friday. She soon found out why when Sonata led her to the parks lake, now frozen over, with a pair of skating shoes in her bag. “Oh it’s a wonderful idea!” Sonata insisted. “Relax, I did the research, and even checked the ice out before hand.” Octavia raised an eyebrow. “You, doing research?” Sonata blushed. “Hey I learned my lesson when we tried fishing. Plus,” she pointed to a few other people out on the lake, “they seem fine if you were worried the ice wasn’t thick enough.” “No, it’s not that,” Octavia insisted, running a hand through her hair. “It’s, um,” she nervously looked around. “Where did you even get these?” she asked, poking at the worn down skates. “Lost and found at Taco hut,” Sonata shrugged. “You’d be surprised what’s back there.” “I’m sure,” Octavia mumbled. Having tied her own pair up, Sonata stood up, looked at Octavia and sighed. “What’s really the matter?” “What? No! Nothing, I just,” Octavia shallowed, let out a breath, and said, “Fine! I, never skated before. Alright!” “That’s all?” Sonata bursted out laughing, but caught herself at Octavia’s dismay. “Hey! Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.” “It’s fine,” Octavia waved off. “Just… Well it has been something I wanted to do, but, guess it’s just something I never had time to try before.” “No time like the present then,” Sonata said, stepping out onto the ice. “Come on! Please.” Octavia tried to resist, but the power of Sonata’s puppy dog face proved to be too powerful. “Fine.” Sonata cheered as Octavia sat down to put her skates on. The former siren doing so figure eights as she waited. “Actually,” Octavia called out, “I surprised you know how to. Er, you know… Seapony and all. Honestly wouldn’t have thought ice would mix with you.” “Huh,” Sonata thought, coming to a stop. “Never thought of that. Well in this human body always.” She ran her hands down her sides to demonstrate, to which Octavia turned her head while blushing. “To answer your question, it looked fun, and I wanted to try it one winter. Adagio and Aria hesitated, but we— Sonata paused, not thinking it would be a good idea to bring up how crowded ice rinks were fabulous places to draw on negative energies. What with people falling down, running into one another, and on a few instances when domes hands… “So you about ready!” Sonata perked up. Eager to change the topic, and wanting to make sure Octavia had a good time. “I guess,” Octavia said, shakily rising to her feet, slowly stepping onto the ice. Not even getting both feet out before slipping. “Whoa there!” Sonata cried out, having skated right besides Octavia to catch her. “Hey don't worry. If it helps, you should have seen me when I first came to this world and learned I had to spend the rest of my days walking on two legs.” Octavia let out a weak smile, holding on tightly to Sonata as her friend helped her up. “Here, stick close to me until you get your balance,” Sonata instructed, wrapping an arm around Octavia’s shoulder. “Sur… Sure,” Octavia chattered, more than from the cold.  “Great! Now,” Sonata gave them a little push, never letting go of Octavia for serval minutes until she thought she was ready. To which Sonata let her go, and started to skate in circles while Octavia slowly slide forward. “You got it!” Sonata encouraged. “Now see if you can’t do this!” She loud a ‘weee!’, lifting her left leg into the air. Octavia watched in horror, and lost her blanching. Falling, ungraciously, onto her rear. “Ow!” “Octavia!” Sonata cried, lowering her leg, sliding over, careful of Octavia’s fingers. “Are you okay? She asked, pulling her friend up. “I’m fine, I’m fine!” Octavia huffed, brushing herself off. Biting her lip, Sonata asked, “You sure? Like I said, no one gets its right the first time.” Octavia nearly protested to that, her instinct to always be the best nearly taking over. But the way Sonata had said that, made her relax. She knew Sonata wasn’t wrong. How long had it taken her to start sounding decent with her cello? No mater how her mother insisted she got it right the first time. Giving a genuine laugh, Octavia said, “Yeah. No, I’m having fun. Er, maybe you could stick closer to me for a little bit longer.” “Of course,” Sonata took Octavia’s hand, and this time, they stayed locked for several more minutes.  Falling more than once, the two girls would laugh, and pick themselves up, and try again. Eventually, while Octavia never got to a point where she could skate on one leg like Sonata, she quickly got comfortable enough to pick up her speed. Even challenging Sonata to few races. Now of which Octavia won. Now that she cared, truth be told.