A Crack in the Ice

Chapter 18

(This is back in Yurio's POV, by the way.)

I sighed as I watched Sarah take the ice for her Free Skate. Since she had gone first for the Short Program, she was going last for the Free Skate.
"...she seems a lot different than when she skated in Skate America," Lilith mumbled.
I nodded. "I can actually agree with you on that. She's been practicing a lot, and I think she's come a long way."
"I see," she said with a nod.
Not long after that, Sarah's song began, and she started her routine.
I wasn't exactly sure where she was in her routine, but my mind started to wander back to when Sarah introduced me to On Top of the World, back on February 22nd.

===

It was a cool winter day, and I was at the rink, practicing with Sarah. At the time, she didn't know much about her theme for the skating season. In fact, she currently had a blank slate. I was really hoping that she'd figure it out within a week or so, as we needed to bring her ideas to Lilith and Yakov to approve of them.

"Hey Yurio, can you come here for a minute?" Sarah asked from the side of the rink.
"Of course," I said before skating over to where she was. "What do you need?"
She sighed and unplugged the headphones from her phone. "I think I know what I want my theme to be this year."
"That's great," I said with a smile. "What do you have in mind?"
"Well," she slightly mumbled, "I was thinking about doing recovery."
"Why recovery?" I asked, slightly confused. "There hasn't been anything you've really recovered from."
"I know that," she said with an annoyed sigh. "But that's beside the point. I think I'll be able to pull this off. I already know what I want my Free Skate to be, and I think we can work In Regards to Love: Agape as my Short Program."
"I can see that working," I said, nodding. "In that case, why don't you show me the song you have in mind?"
"That's exactly what I was going to do," said Sarah.
She then did a few things, and a song I didn't recognize began to play, but it seemed pretty upbeat and happy. Not only that, but the lyrics were pretty catchy."
"This sounds like a pretty good song," I said while the song was playing.
Sarah nodded in agreement. "I know. It's a song I loved to listen to as a kid. It's called On Top of the World by a group known as Imagine Dragons."
"Imagine Dragons? That doesn't sound like a music group to me," I mumbled.
Sarah sighed. "Well, it's one of my favorites."
"I get that. I'm just making a comment," I said, putting my hands in the air.
Sarah slightly giggled. "No need to get offended, Yurio. In fact, I already have some ideas in mind for jump sequences," she said as she got on the ice.
"What exactly do you have in mind?" I asked.
"Let me show you," she said with a smile.

===

"Yurio," Lilith said as she poked me, snapping me from my trance.
"Hm? What is it?" I asked.
Lilith sighed. "You weren't paying any attention to her performance, were you?
I sighed. "You caught me."
Lilith chuckled. "In that case, you better make your way over to the Kiss and Cry before you piss her off."
Without another comment to her, I went over and sat next to Sarah.
"...is something wrong?" she asked.
I sighed. "Honestly, I didn't really pay attention to your performance..."
"Why's that?"
"I...I was remembering the day that you first showed me-"
Before I could finish my sentence, I was cut off as a voice came on over the intercom. "And the score for Sarah Calian's Free Skate is 125.31, bringing her total score up to 192.80. That also gives her enough points to pull up to first place."
Sarah smiled. "Yes! I did it!"
I gently patted her back as we got up. "You did well, my little princess."
"Well, you don't know what I did to do well."
I sighed. "Point taken. Care to enlighten me on what I missed?"
Sarah nodded. "Of course. So, everything was pretty darn good at the beginning, but it all kinda, well, fell apart when I went to my Quad Toe Loop."
"What happened this time?" I asked.
Sarah slightly chuckled. "It's actually kinda funny. You see, my take-off was really flawless. That's where things get interesting. You see, I was thinking ahead of myself, and at the time, I was thinking of my upcoming Salchow, so somehow I managed to do a Quad Salchow instead of a Quad Toe Loop."
I raised an eyebrow. "...you really expect me to think that you landed a Quad Salchow instead of a Quad Toe Loop?"
Sarah nodded. "Of course I do. I swear that it's the truth."
"I need someone to confirm this for me," I mumbled.
"Confirm what?" Viktor asked as he walked over to us.
"Without any proof, I can't just accept the fact that Sarah somehow managed to pull off a Quad Salchow instead of a Quad Toe Loop, which was all an accident."
"...how did you not see that?" Viktor asked, a bit confused.
I sighed. "I was actually lost in a trance during her performance."
"I see," he said with a slight nod. "Well, I can assure you. Sarah did exactly as she said she did. Though I don't quite understand how she was able to do it, just keep in mind that it was, in fact, a very possible thing and that it did happen."
"I know, I know," I mumbled under my breath. "I just can't believe that it happen, that's all."
"Well you better believe it," Sarah said slightly nudging me. "Well anyways, let's not go too far away. After all, the award ceremony is soon."
I nodded. "Sounds like a plan."