To Dream or Not to Dream

Small Boy, Big Dreams

Author's Note: Hope you are enjoying the story so far. Please vote and/or comment. It is super motivating... and I love it 😍.

________

Toronto

When Isabella entered the doors to the Cricket Club that morning, she felt like a guilty child who had disappointed her parents.

Logically, she understood that missing one practice session wasn't the end of the world.

However, watching Yuzuru practically bolt from her apartment that morning, as if it was ablaze, made her ponder the potential costs of their choices. And, if the sinking feeling in her stomach was any indication, Isabella knew there were going to be repercussions.

When she walked into the rink, she half expected for every head to turn towards her, their gaze laden with criticism. She braced for Coach Brian and Tracy to assail her with looks of disappointment.

But, that is not what happened.

Instead, she was greeted by a calm Brian Orser, who simply asked her to follow him into his office.

For a few moments, they sat in silence as he fumbled around on his Ipad, Isabella waiting in anticipatory confusion. After a few more awkward shifts in her seat, the recording of a very familiar voice echoed in the small room.

When Brian turned his Ipad towards her, the face of the voice became visible.

Isabella's chest tightened as her eyes focused on the small screen.  On it was a small boy with mushroom shaped hair who spoke to a news reporter about his figure skating.  He was no more than ten years old, but it only took a few seconds for Isabella to understand how his childlike features were in complete contrast to his very adult-like goals.

Yuzuru Hanyu was young, so young, in this interview, but he already knew exactly what he had wanted.

He was a small boy with big dreams.

The video clip then merged into a teenage version of the man she deeply cared for and she watched in earnest as he talked about how the tsunami had changed his life irrevocably. When the look of heartbreak in the eyes morphed into one of determination, Isabella couldn't help but recognize how differently she had reacted to adversity.

Upon her sister's passing, she had crumbled, retreating from her dreams. Yet, this boy, he traded his sorrows for strength. He was made to grow up and do great things.

"Isabella," Brian began to speak. "I think you know why I am showing you this video."

Isabella was silent.

Because yes, she did know.  

And somewhere, deep down, she had always known that her dreams were different from Yuzuru's. 

Yet, it was easy to forget when she was curled up next to him and he was just Yuzu- her Yuzu- and not someone that had a much larger calling, someone that was cut from a different cloth than her.

However, as Yuzuru rushed out of her apartment this morning, the realization was impossible to ignore.  Because, for as mortified as she had been that they had been so irresponsible, a large part of her still wanted to pull him back into her arms and forget the Cricket Club existed for a day- to hide away in their own little world just for a little bit longer.

Isabella would have been okay with that.

There was no way Yuzuru would have been.

Brian broke through her thoughts as he continued, "You are both adults and I care for you very much."