Epilogue
One year later
The crickets were already singing at full volume beyond the open doors of Tora’s parents’ country cottage, while Alisa danced to Michael Jackson with Tora’s mother, Maja.
Together, they cooked and set the table while Tora and her father grilled barbecue out on the summer porch by the lake. And now they were preparing the same family recipe for bruschetta with Norwegian salmon, which, as it turned out, had actually been made by Tora’s father all along.
“Oh, so that was the whole secret! The way the fish itself was salted and here I was thinking it was all about the sauce on the bread!” Alisa giggled, carefully placing the finished salmon on top, almost the final touch before serving.
“Of course. And now you know the secret too — you’re our second daughter now! I always dreamed of having two daughters, you know? But you see how strangely fate rewards our wishes. She gave my daughter a daughter-in-law like you, and now I really do have two daughters.”
Maja lightly nudged Alisa with her hip, and Alisa suddenly felt like crying from those words. She felt so warm and happy here, as if she had finally found a family of her own… She pressed her lips together, trying to contain her emotions, but tears still slipped down her cheeks.
Maja brushed one away gently with her thumb. “Don’t cry, my dear… it’s for the best.”
She pulled Alisa into a hug, and Alisa exhaled shakily. Looking through the huge windows, she noticed Tora watching them with a soft smile, as if she was close to crying too. Tora nodded at her before turning back to cooking grilling meat with her father.
“Thank you… I feel like I’m truly home here.”
“You are home, my lovely daughter.”
At that point, Alisa was ready to cry like a whale, but the touch of Maja’s hand against her back seemed to take away every piece of sadness left in her soul.
And so they returned to cooking — all that remained was to prepare the vegetable salad and the meat with one of Mother Tora’s signature sauces.
And then Thriller started playing, the wolves howling through the speakers, and the mood immediately became lighter. The two of them began singing along and dancing together in the kitchen.
After the song ended, they returned to cooking in a much better mood.
Maja started asking about how things were going with the new group of girls in figure skating.
Alisa and Tora had both become coaches while continuing to train themselves.
It brought them joy to work with children and pass on their knowledge even after the Olympics, and many young skaters wanted to train with them.
Alisa had transferred to a Norwegian university and continued her studies, but now she also coached children, where she was able to apply her knowledge of dietetics, nutrition, and, of course, figure skating.
“Yes, everything’s going well. The girls are already doing their first single jumps!”
“Oh, how wonderful! They’re such babies!
I remember the first time we brought Tora to practice — she was so tiny, only four years old.
She could barely stand on those skates, but then she started skating like a little prodigy!
Everyone was shocked. After only a few classes, she was already the best in the group.
I still remember how much her first coach praised her. ”
Maja smiled softly, slipping into nostalgia as she remembered her daughter’s childhood.
Alisa simply listened and nodded. She had always loved hearing stories about Tora from her parents; it almost felt sacred.
“Well, what about you two? Are you preparing for the competitions and the Olympics in 2030?”
“Yes. We were officially allowed to compete as a woman-and-woman pair in pair figure skating.” Alisa nodded proudly and smiled as she sliced a tomato.
“I’m glad everything is going well for you. You see? You were meant to be here with us. It’s fate… maybe even the work of higher powers. Everything happens for the best, darling.”
Maja gently patted Alisa’s hand, and Alisa nodded, finally understanding the meaning of everything that had happened to her over the past years.
Everything truly had happened the way it was supposed to.
Now she knew for certain that she was in the right place, with the right people, at the right time.
Divine timing indeed.
* * *
Alisa watched with a smile as her five-year-old girls were already attempting their first single jumps, crossing their arms over their chests and skating after the traces they left on the ice.
She skated over to blonde Amalie, who was sitting on the ice crying, and Alisa gently held out her hand.
“Need some help, baby?”
Amalie looked at her with big blue eyes and seemed ready to cry even harder, but Alisa’s face was full of sympathy. The little girl nodded and Alisa carefully pulled her up with both hands.
“Well, it’s okay. The landing wasn’t that scary, was it?”
Amalie had landed on the wrong edge and fallen slightly onto her butt, but the tears came more from fear than pain. The Axel was one of the hardest jumps to learn.
Alisa brushed the ice particles off her clothes and gently stroked her head. Amalie wiped away her tears and sniffled, preparing to try again. Before jumping, she looked at Alisa and Alisa nodded back at her with an encouraging smile.
Amalie jumped and landed her single Axel successfully with a bright smile, then bounced awkwardly across the ice and fell again, but this time she was laughing. She immediately skated back to Alisa and high-fived her with both hands.
“You did so well! See? You’re doing amazing!”
The girl only smiled before skating away again.
“Alisa!” a familiar and beloved voice called from the stands.
Tora stood there in a blue dress, already prepared to go out onto the ice. They had a joint practice session after the girls’ training ended.
Alisa called out to the girls to finish up and practice their step sequences around the entire rink before leaving the ice, while she herself skated toward her beloved woman waiting behind the protective glass of the arena.
“Your Norwegian is getting better and better!” Tora praised Alisa, and she smiled shyly, pressing both hands against the glass so that her breath fogged it around her face.
“Thank you, I’m trying.”
Alisa smiled, though out of the corner of her eye she still watched her girls finishing their final run-throughs across the rink. She worried about every step they took.
“So, how is single Axel training going today?”
Tora looked around the rink, watching the girls skate across the ice with bright smiles, first performing swallows with their arms stretched out and one leg lifted high behind them, then transitioning into Biellmann positions with trembling knees and nervous laughter.
It was scary — one wrong movement forward and they could hit the ice hard.
Tora pursed her lips for a moment, worried for the girls too, but they already knew how to fall and they had done it many times before.
Her attention returned to Alisa, who had already tensed up again while watching her students closely. Tora noticed it and smiled. She loved working with children too, although her own group trained later than Alisa’s today.
“They’re trying, and that’s what matters. Not without falls, of course, but thankfully there are no quitters and have protective cases on their bodies.”
Alisa waved to the girls as they circled around her before bowing at the end of practice, hugging Alisa one by one and saying goodbye until tomorrow. Then they skated off toward the exit, where their parents were already waiting for them.
Alisa was finally left alone on the ice. She exhaled softly and returned all her attention to Tora.
“You’re doing great. You’re a really good coach,” Tora praised her again.
Alisa smiled immediately, her cheeks turning pink from the compliment. “Thanks, baby. I’m glad you think that about me.”
The Zamboni had already come out onto the ice to prepare it before the next practice session.
Alisa was just about to leave when Tora suddenly stepped closer to the glass, immediately pulling all of Alisa’s attention back to her.
Tora placed her hand against the glass as high as possible, then stuck out her tongue and licked the glass with an exaggeratedly serious expression.
Alisa laughed and jokingly kissed the glass back, and both of them burst into laughter.
“Are you going out onto the ice or are you just going to stand there fooling around?” Alisa raised her eyebrows and nodded toward the gate where they usually entered the rink, where the senior skaters had already gathered on the benches.
“What, you want the Zamboni driver to run us over before the World Championship? Have you already given up?”
Tora only giggled and headed in the right direction, while Alisa skated toward the gate, following her parallel movements from the other side of the glass.
“Yeah, come on, walk that mesmerizing gait, my girl!” Alisa shouted after Tora, while watching her hips sway from side to side. It was mesmerizing! Alisa only had a couple of seconds left to get off the ice before the driver started yelling at her to move so he could do his job.
Alisa accelerated at full speed around the rink and suddenly launched into a quadruple Axel, and applause and excited shouts immediately erupted from the benches.
“Yes! Keep it up, girlie!” the figure skaters from the Norwegian national team shouted in support.
Alisa broke into a smile, warmth spreading through her heart at the recognition. She was home.
Alisa stepped off the ice, waiting for the Zamboni to finish preparing the rink. Tora immediately wrapped her arms around her and kissed her on the cheek.
“So, are you ready to work hard today? You’re not tired?” Tora asked excitedly, sitting down beside her on the cold wooden bench, which immediately made Alisa shiver.
Tora draped her warm sweatshirt over Alisa’s shoulders, keeping her warm during the break.
Alisa immediately turned pink and it clearly was not from the warmth, but from Tora’s presence beside her. It was unbearably cute how easily she still blushed around her, whether other people were there or not.
“Yeah, I still have strength left,” Alisa admitted, resting her head on Tora’s shoulder and taking her hand in her own, feeling the warmth even through the blue gloves.
“Are we going to put together our Olympic program today?”
“I hope so. Did I dress up beautifully for nothing?” Alisa replied with a quiet snort.
“Dressed up as always! I’ve never seen so many rhinestones on your skates before. When did you even manage to decorate them? Did you stay up all night?”
Alisa burst out laughing. She really had not slept much because she had spent the entire night bedazzling her skates.
She wanted a riot of color, especially before presenting their first program as a pair in figure skating: a woman-and-woman duo.
It was something unprecedented on the international stage, and they had been allowed to become pioneers after the Olympics.
Now they were planning to tour the World Championships with their new program and conquer the world with their love on the ice.
“I knew you weren’t sleeping!” Tora playfully pinched Alisa’s thigh as she laughed harder. She lifted her skates so the arena lights reflected off the Swarovski crystals, forcing Tora to close her eyes.
“I think you overdid it a little…” Tora murmured with a laugh.
Alisa just smiled and looked toward the Zamboni, which was already rolling back through the gate. The ice sparkled like something fresh and newly born under the spotlights.
“Well… shall we go choreograph our program?”
“Let’s go…” Tora smiled as she watched Alisa practically jump off the bench. She tossed Tora’s jacket back into her lap and flew onto the ice like a bullet.
Alisa accelerated immediately, completely in love with skating on freshly resurfaced ice since the glide was perfect, the edge control effortless, it was intoxicating to step on a newly polished ice every time.
Tora skated after her, holding out her hand as she circled around Alisa. She as like a planet orbiting its sun in endless space.
“Is this a wedding dance?” Alisa giggled as she noticed how Tora kept spinning around her.
“Keep dreaming!” Tora grabbed her hand and they began tracing step sequences together in a warm-up. “Besides, I won’t reveal any secrets before the wedding.”
Tora grinned and Alisa immediately turned pink, imagining what kind of wedding night surprises Tora might be thinking about. The thought alone made her cheeks burn even hotter. Alisa shook her head in embarrassment, and Tora smoothly changed the subject.
“By the way, have you invited any maids of honor yet?”
Alisa pressed her lips together to stop herself from smiling. The situation felt like a stalemate.
“Yes — Anfisa and Hermann.”
Tora giggled. “Anfisa still doesn’t know how lucky she is to witness her most hated hockey player in the entire universe on her friend’s wedding.”
Alisa laughed harder with Tora.
“I just hope they behave appropriately.”
“I think our wedding will only strengthen their relationship… or ruin it completely.”
They both laughed and skated on together, building their new choreography and moving toward whatever came next.