Skating by Moonlight
Rating: PG
Pairing: Sydney/Weiss
Spoilers: I’ve seen up to Season 3 Episode 3, so up till then only.
Notes: For the LiveJournal Multifandom1000 “Moonlight” challenge
I’m pretty sure that Sydney doesn’t know that I followed her here, although, for a seasoned spy, I’ve gotta say, that surprises me. If she does know though, she gives no signs of it, has never given any signs of knowing it, not any of the times I’ve done this.
Not that I care. I’m perfectly happy like this.
Well, as happy as I can be, sitting up here in the bleachers around the only outdoor skating rink in town, looking at her among the sparse crowd of skaters on the ice. It’s easy to spot her – that long ponytail would be a dead giveaway, even if I didn’t know the exact way that she moves, would recognise her in a crowd of people ten times this size.
She’s a pretty good skater, moves easily on the ice, jumping, spinning, even just going around from one end of the rink to the other. She doesn’t so much skate as float out there; maybe it’s the moonlight that makes it seem that way.
Then again, maybe it’s just her.
She comes here once or twice a week, every week, and it’s always around the same time, and it’s always when the moon is out. She’ll spin and she’ll smile and she’ll laugh, and she won’t talk to anyone, will just be lost in her own little world.
I found out about this by accident, by calling over a couple of nights when she wasn’t there. I got curious about it, though I knew it was none of my business. After all, we’d been spending close to every night together, to the point where I spent more time in her place than I did at my own, so it was only natural that I’d wonder what she was up to, right? Following her the first time was an accident, but I was getting ready to pull in just as she was pulling out, and I swear, it was like my car developed a mind of its own.
Then I saw her skating, the moonlight casting shadowy patterns around her, and I was entranced.
Well, look at her. Who wouldn’t be?
I don’t know why she comes here, but I think I can guess. I know she likes skating, has done ever since she was a kid. I also know that she used to go skating with Vaughn, but that was ice hockey, not skating like this, and maybe that’s part of the appeal for her. A way of remembering things they used to do without actually doing the things they used to do. And I wonder sometimes, when she’s skating, when she’s smiling, is there a part of her that’s pretending that he’s there beside her? Is she really smiling at him?
Not that it matters if she is, really. I’ve spent enough time over the last few months trying to get her to smile, to laugh. Seeing her like this, pure happiness just bubbling out of her… well, let’s just say I’m not going to do anything to get in the way of that.
Which is why I just sit here and look at her.
Every so often, she looks up into the stands, and I’m waiting for the day that she looks up and sees me. It’s come close a couple of times, but she’s never seen me.
I don’t think she ever really has.
But if she ever looks up here, sees the way that I look at her, the game will be well and truly up.
Maybe when that day comes, she’ll look up at me and she’ll smile, smile at me the way she does when she’s skating, the way she once used to smile at Vaughn. Maybe we’ll even end up skating together, though I’ll probably end up embarrassing myself, or her.
Somehow though, that doesn’t seem too bad.
Until that day though, I’ll just sit here and watch her skating in the moonlight.
And I’ll make believe that that’s enough.