We aren't as strong as we thought we could be

[gabriel sean knight]

Lift me up and lift my eyes

[/color]
Far above these falling skies[/center][/color]

G[/font]abe slid his finger guards on and sprayed his hands, then splayed them out flat in the bowl of chalk. He flicked the excess off his fingers, then stepped up onto the mat in front of the lower of two uneven bars. Slowly, he lifted one hand, then the other, to place on the bar, the lean muscles in his arm rippling slightly. His eyes narrowed and he coiled his muscles, ready to push himself up over the bar. At the very last moment, he dropped his hands, stepping away from the bars with a stream of low oaths.

H[/font]e ran his hand through his hair roughtly, slamming his hand down on the nearby balance beam in anger. Immediately, he sighed, knowing he was lucky he was the only one in the gym this early in the morning. He took a deep breath, then headed towards the rings, to calm himself down.[/color]

[GRACE ALEXIA ZARIAN]

Gracie hesitated briefly before walking into the gym. It was Tuesday, the day she and Gabe had agreed to meet there so that he could try the parallel bars again - something she knew he'd been struggling with since his injury. He was great at gymnastics, truly artistic; but he'd been unable to get over his fear of them as of yet, and so the parallel bars had been the biggest thing in between him and full recovery. She was there to provide moral support, having known him since she'd first come to Italy. Gabe was several years older than her and in a lot of ways they were virtual opposites, but that didn't stop that they were pretty good friends.

She entered just in time to see him slam his fist against the bars and visibly flinched, biting her lip. She quietly walked up behind him, getting onto her tip-toes to tap him on the shoulder. "Hey," she offered, her statement almost a question. "Are you okay?"

[gabriel sean knight]

Lift me up and lift my eyes

[/color]
Far above these falling skies[/center][/color]

H[/size]e groaned and turned towards her. "No. I can't get back on the damn bars. I tell myself that there's no reason to be afraid, that it's all in my head. But when it comes to it, I just can't do it. I don't know why it's so difficult."

H[/size]e paced against the mat, his hand clenching and unclenching at his side, before he spun back to her. "Watch." He walked over to the vault, stepping onto the edge of the mat. He stood stock-still for a moment, before narrowing his eyes and running the 25-meter mat. Right before he got to the vault, he bent into a handspring, into a round-off to a back handspring onto the vault, pushing himself off again, doing a 360-twist before landing on the mat solidly on his feet.

"S[/size]ee that? It's a Yurchenko. The hardest vault there is. And I don't even flinch. Why can't I get on those bars?"[/color]

[GRACE ALEXIA ZARIAN]

Gracie frowned in response, biting her lip as she debated what to do or say. "Because," she finally decided, "the vault has nothing stopping you from doing it. You have the physical ability to do both, but the mental ability to do only one." She walked around until she stood beside him rather than behind him and ran a hand along the metal of the bars, a line forming between her brows as she attempted to figure out what she could to do help. "You have to do it, you know," she finally murmured. "You can stop yourself over and over, but you'll never actually get back on them until you force yourself."

She sighed, disliking the fact that she had given such a lame answer but unable to come up with anything better. Grace, herself, faced similar problems on a daily basis - and as of yet, had been unable to overcome a single one. She still couldn't squish a spider or even eat foods that resembled one, still couldn't swim in the ocean, still couldn't do all sorts of things that any other nineteen year old girl would enjoy, but that her own phobias and anxieties prevented her from joining in on. So, as such a hypocrite, how could she expect him to follow her advice?

[gabriel sean knight]

Lift me up and lift my eyes

[/color]
Far above these falling skies[/center][/color]

"I[/size] know that. And I tell myself that every time I get on. And I know that I'm a joke, too, to all these kids I teach. Because if I can't do it, how can I expect them to do it?" He took a deep breath, then smiled at her slightly. "Okay, I'm going to do it. Have your cell phone ready, in case you need to call an ambulence."

H[/size]e re-chalked his guards, then walked over to the parallel bars, ducking to stand between the two. He took another deep breath, then placed a hand on each bar. Slowly, he lifted himself up, arm muscles flexing, so that he held himself a foot off the mat. After holding the position for a moment, he slowly swung his legs back and forth, gaining momentum. As he hit the base of his third swing, he let his momentum carry his legs up until they were straight above his held, holding the position for a moment, before swinging back down, letting go of the bar and landing on the mat, knees bent and arms straight out. Slowly, a grin grew on his face as he looked at her.[/color]