If I Can Learn To Do It (Open)

[Anastasia]

He was right. That was annoying. But also good because it meant that she wasn’t falling off, the Bike did seem to balance itself out, she couldn’t help but look down at the wheels though, making sure they weren’t wobbling like they had been before. And she had been about to turn round and remind him not to let go when he quickly squashed that thought. He was actually helping and he was actually helping well, she would have never of thought it. They were actually…working this quite well together.

She looked up from the wheel and said, “ok…I think I’m ready…let go…”

(Short post is short.)

[Dimitri]

There was a softness about her that he remembered from their initial journey to Paris. She was so much like the Anya he had first met, with her quick wit, sharp tongue and underlying vulnerability. It was the Anya he had first fallen for before he had walked away and everything had gotten so messy. When they’d reunited first at Avalon, gone was the easy banter and half-hearted jibes, instead replaced with the cruelest words they could find, designed so each barb cut deeper than the last.

Eventually things had gotten better, once Dimitri had finally come clean and they had decided to give their relationship a try, social classes be damned, and he had loved her more than ever but it had rarely been easy. There always seemed to be something or someone trying to tear them apart.

Apparently whatever it was had finally succeeded.

”ok...I think I’m ready...let go...”

But Dimitri wasn’t ready, he wasn’t ready to let go. Not without knowing, not without fighting.

”...let go...”

This wasn’t his Anya, though. No matter how similar, no matter how easy it would be to give in to the shades of the past, to go back in time to when it was easier he simply couldn’t.

So at her request, he let her go.

[Anastasia]

He didn’t let go at first. Perhaps he didn’t think she was ready, after all he did say he would let go when he thought she was ready, but then if anyone knew she was ready it was her. Still it did plant a little seed of doubt in her brain, but soon enough he had let go and she was on her own, still peddling…and…not falling to the ground. She laughed and said, “Look! LOOK! I’M DOING IT!”

Before she could crash into anything she turned the handle bars and even though she was turning she was still able to keep the bike upright, she kept peddling and looked up at Dimitri, grinning. The bike shook a little but she still managed to keep her balance, “HA! Am I a quick learner or what?! It's like I've done this before! Like it's all coming back to me!”

She started cycling around him, still grinning and still laughing.

[Dimitri]

She looked so happy. That smile, that laughter... it had been far too long since he’d heard it. Was it his imagination or did it sound lighter, easier than ever before? Despite the pain of memories, despite the ache in his chest as he watched her, he still couldn’t help but smile as she started to circle him. She was just so... free. Free of responsibilities and expectations, of worry and pain. She seemed genuinely happy... and it caused a new feeling to rise up in him: a harsh, gnawing guilt.

She knew so little about her life, about herself... and he knew everything. He knew about her family, where she was from, her full name. He knew about her childhood, how she used to love to dance... hell, he even knew what he favourite foods used to be. He knew everything... and he was keeping it from her.

“Maybe I’m just a good teacher,” he replied, keeping his smile in place as he turned round on the spot, never taking his eyes off of her. He could tell her everything, he could give her her life back, but how could he explain it?

And more importantly... he didn’t want to.

[Anastasia]

She stuck her tongue out at him playfully and said, “all you did was hold on to my seat, I did the rest.”

Anya continued to cycle around him, smiling and laughing, daring to take one of her hands off the bar at one point. It nearly caused her to fall over again but she quickly got her balance and speeded off around the area they were in again. She did a lap of the pitch before she came back to Dimitri and pulling on the brakes stopped right in front of him, grinning proudly.

“Ha! And I didn’t fall off once!” she said standing up and swinging her leg over the bike…which got caught in the bars, tripped her up and caused her to go tumbling to the ground once more.

[Dimitri]

“Yes, and my holding on your seat kept you from crashing every five seconds like you were doing before, so I think I deserve a little credit,” Dimitri replied, chucking a little. Swallowing down his guilt he found it tasted bitter, but now wasn’t the time to deal with that. Just another thing to add to the list of many.

Just as he couldn’t help but smile at Anya’s pure joy, he also couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She was absolutely radiant. In times like these, in a place with so many rich and royal people who valued material items above all else, to see anyone take such pure, simple pleasure from something so basic and natural was uplifting. Even all his inner turmoil wasn’t enough to ruin this moment.

Impressively, she even managed to stop without his instructions. “I’m impressed,” Dimitri admitted. “I have to say, you did...” unfortunately he didn’t get to finish his praise when she suddenly went tumbling to the ground again in a tangle with her bike. Rushing to her side, he crouched down and reached to help her. “You alright?”

[Anastasia]

How the dynamic had changed. Whereas before he was quite content to sit and laugh at her as she fell countless times to the ground, now he was rushing to her side making sure that everything was alright. It was…nice. Not that she was going to tell him that, and in actual fact it was probably his fault, he was the teacher, he should have helped her out, this was his responsibility. Oh…that was probably why he had been so concerned…worried that his teaching skills weren’t all that…yeah…that had to be it. Damn.

“I’m fine,” she said and despite the slight annoyance she was feeling took his offer of help to stand up.

However as she got to her feet her right knee immediately buckled and she cried out, “ow!”

Reaching down to hold it she felt something wet oozing through the leggings she was wearing. Oh, that wasn’t good. “Am I?” she said looking down, “Am I bleeding?…aw hell, they were brand new!”

[Dimitri]

Helping Anya to her feet, Dimitri was already in position to catch her when her knee suddenly buckled. Instinctively slipping an arm around her waist to hold her weight, he looked down at the torn and dirty leggings to what appeared to be blood on her hand. Of course he was concerned, even if it was probably just a scrape, but her exclamation caught him off guard and he couldn’t help but laugh.

“You wore new clothes to attempt cycling for the first time?” he chuckled, raising his eyebrows and giving her an amused look. At least he still had the presence of mind to know that laughing at this was not a good idea, even if he’d not had the power to stop himself. Quickly wiping the smile off his face as best he could, he pressed on before she could answer. “Let’s get you over to that bench.”