Fire Emblem: High School Years (High School AU) - Junior Year

Chapter 19: Teaching and Tumbling

Chrom

"I still think this is a bad idea."

"Nonsense! Have a little faith in your girlfriend's teaching skills!"

"It's not that I don't, I just don't want you to, I don't know, break your neck trying to do a backflip?"

Lissa stuck her tongue out at me, helping Anna lay down the last exercise mat; our entire basement floor was covered in them. Was this over the top? Yes. Was it absolutely necessary? Yes. 

Although cheer try-outs were months away, Lissa wanted to brush up on her tumbling skills. She took a few classes on it when she was younger, but that was a very long time ago; in fact, she was mostly put in acro groups during those days. She could still do a straight down split with little to no preparation. My thighs hurt whenever I see it. 

Luckily, Anna just so happened to be an experienced tumbler. She apparently took gymnastics for over five years when she was younger; now that she was taking a few dance classes with Olivia, those forgotten skills sprung up like they were never gone.

Anna brushed off her hands, unconsciously going to pull her hair into a ponytail but stopping once she felt her now short hair. The change was certainly sudden, but adorable nonetheless. She shook her head and flashed a smile at my little sister. "Before we begin, let's do some basic stretches."

Lissa groaned at that. "Can't we just go right into it? I wanna learn flips and stuff!" she complained. I leaned against the wall, amused, as I watched their exchange.

Anna was already on the ground, one leg outstretched while the other was tucked towards her center. "And then you'll pull a hamstring, rendering you unable to practice for weeks and you'll fall behind as such." She smiled the most self-satisfying smirk ever and I really wanted to kiss it off her face.

My sister groaned once more, joining Anna on the ground. "Why does he have to be here?"

"Mom and Dad wanted me to supervise," I replied. Also watching my girlfriend do a bunch of standing back tucks is amazing.

The girls stretched for about ten minutes, going from basic stretches to more complex and bendy ones. I didn't know what was more impressive: Anna being able to touch her head with her foot while in a simple arch, or Lissa's ability to lean towards the ground in an oversplit. Once that was over, Anna led Lissa through a few basics: cartwheels, round-offs, summersaults, you name it.

After about an hour, they were thoroughly exhausted. I stood over a collapsed Lissa, eyebrow raised. "You good?"

"Sh-shut up...barf faaace..." she panted, breaths coming out rushed and desperate. Anna was doing slightly better (for an asthmatic) which gave me a bit of peace of mind. It seemed different forms of physical activity gave her varied reactions.

I handed my sister a bottle of water, which she gulped down without hesitation. "How...the hell...do you do...all of this..." Lissa gasped, taking another swig of water.

Anna rolled her shoulders, wiping away the sweat on her forehead. "Practice. Lot's of it." She tried to loosen her joints a bit. "I love tumbling, but thank the gods I don't have to do it for Guard."

"That's not true. You do some stuff," I added. Lissa perked up at that, showing a sudden interest.

My girlfriend shook her head. "Not for actual routines. The tricks I do are simply to be a show-off."

"Yeah, but it's badass."

"What do you mean?" Lissa asked, her breath suddenly returning.

Anna crawled over to the couch where she deposited her phone, rejoining our little circle and pulling up a video. "I learned how to do a cartwheel whilst holding a flag. Check it out."

Lissa and I crowded around her as she played the video. I've seen it hundreds of times already, but it never ceased to amaze me. Now only was she able to twirl the flag around her body without hitting herself (or others) but she could perform a well-executed cartwheel beneath it.

"Whooooa!" Lissa's eyes were as wide as saucers, gaze refusing to tear away from the screen.

Anna smiled at that. "It took about a month for me to learn but gods, it was so worth it," she giggled. "I'm going to flex on sooooo many people during my senior solo."

Goddammit, we're going to be seniors. 

My girlfriend put away her phone, much to Lis and mine's dismay. I wanted to see more of her tricks (even though I've seen them multiple times); however, my sister needed more practice. "Let's get back to work! If we keep going, you'll have your one-handed-cartwheel in no time!"

My sister nodded, springing up. "Let's do this!"

I gotta say, it's nice to see her so excited over this. It's been a while since she's practiced acro and it would be a shame if she let those talents go to waste. Gods, Anna and Olivia are seriously starting to rub off on me. Well, hopefully, these skills give her a one-up at cheer try-outs. But the way she looked at Anna's flag trick made me think she might want to switch goals...

Huh, Lissa in marching band...now isn't that a thought...

*****
Fun fact about me!Anna: I took gymnastics for five years. I was actually pretty good at it, and I can still do a few of my tricks to this day, but I had to quit once I started doing more activities. I was much better at tumbling than acro (I'm not the most bendy person in the world. Thanks unaligned hips) which ah. I have my left-split down but that's about it. I don't really know how much tumbling is involved in cheerleading, but in my experience (FUN FACT AGAIN: I WAS A CHEERLEADER FOR THREE YEARS. XD I ONLY DID IT FOR THE FREE HOTDOG YOU GOT AT THE END OF GAMES) there was quite a bit. ...I did a lot as a kid. XD Yee yee. Happy Superbowl to anyone who cares. I really don't. My plans are to make onion rings and play Minecraft with my girlfriend. Thank you so much for reading and look forward to reading more!

PS: This is the trick Anna did. Once it gets warmer, I'm gonna teach myself this trick.