Title: With the Strength of the Willow Tree
Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF
Pairings: Hope Solo/Kelley O'Hara
Characters: Hope Solo, Kelley O'Hara
Rating: G
Length: 500 words
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 44: Games and Challenge 46: Comfort at fan_flashworks, and fills the "Rescue/Recovery" square of my 2023 Story Sparks + Drabble Fest Bingo Card. Also inspired by the Tree card in the Lenormand card deck.
Summary: Winning this tournament means everything to Hope and Kelley.


The final whistle blows, and the stadium is engulfed in celebration. Fans cheer and scream for their favorite players. The United States Women's National team laugh merrily with each other, matching grins spread wide across their faces. The other team stands silently in despair. Amidst the chaos, one player stands alone.

Hope Solo stands apart from the rest of her team, staring at the field. She doesn't hear the loud cries around her, too caught up in her thoughts. They did it. They won the tournament. She proved the critics wrong.

After a bad collision with an opposing forward, many thought her career was over. She had already been injured with a shoulder injury that she refused to get fixed. Then she suffered a wrist injury with the potential for nerve damage. Not many people expected her to be able to continue to play at the same level, if at all. It was time for someone else to be the number one goalkeeper for the United States Women's National team.

After two surgeries, her recovery may have been a rollercoaster, but she didn't go through it alone. Hope rode through the highs and lows with Kelley O'Hara by her side. Despite the negativity spouted by the critics, and even her own doubts, she made it back on the national team in time for this tournament. And they won. She is overjoyed.

Kelley, reading Hope's mind like always, runs over eager to celebrate with her. Hope returns the embrace and buries her face in Kelley's hair. Kelley, sensing Hope needs a moment to gather her emotions, tightens her grip around the older player.

Kelley knows how Hope feels. She was there for every physical therapy session in which Hope's body didn't respond the way she wanted it to. For the days when Hope didn't want to get out of bed because she couldn't do daily tasks normally. She was by her side for all of it.

And, she had been injured at the same time. Last year, a rough tackle took Kelley out of a game with an ankle injury. Her recovery took longer than initially expected. Her ankle wasn't healing, and it was determined she needed surgery.

Neither of them enjoyed lying around missing time on the field, but they supported each other. They encouraged each other to listen to their doctors and to keep trying in physical therapy. Over time, they made slow progress, but it brought them here to this moment. Hope and Kelley made it back on the national team in time for this tournament, and they played every minute of it.

When Kelley feels Hope take a deep, steadying breath, she pulls back from the hug. Keeping close, she runs her hands over Hope's biceps.

"You played an excellent game, Keep."

"We both did."

"Come on. Let's go get our gold medals."

Grinning at each other, Hope and Kelley walk towards the stands with the rest of their team, their clasped hands swinging effortlessly between them.