Yuri stood alone, head down, heart pounding. Everything ran through his head. Viktor, his contract, the promise he made to the dying old man. The family Viktor had. They were cold, unfeeling, barely talked to each other. Yuri had never known a colder place than that house.
Now he stood on the ice. The skates hugging his feet perfectly. He drew in a deep breath. Letting it out slowly, he raised his head as the air escaped him. His hands came up, one touching the opposite shoulder, while the other reached toward heaven. There was silence for another heartbeat or two. Yuri cleared his mind, his eyes closing.
He saw him, Viktor. The way the silver haired man skated was like... a dream. He made the music come alive! He was a picture of perfection on ice. Something, Yuri felt, he could never be. He saw himself as a poor alternative to the smooth easy way Viktor controlled the ice.
Yet today was more important than anything. Not only was Viktor out there watching, his grandfather sat at his side. As did Yurio's. The entire group Viktor skated with under Yakov was out there. Yuri shoved the thought away, as the music began. His skate pushed against the frozen water. In his mind, only Viktor lead him through the moves he needed to complete.
He followed where the silver haired skater led him. Twisting his body to mimic that of the taller, more toned skater. Yuri reached the heights he needed, forcing his tired, aching body into the spins in the air. He landed, spreading his feet out so as not to fall, he glided over his beloved ice. He flowed like the water beneath his feet, once had.
He didn't hear the cheers. He didn't hear the gasps. He didn't even hear the snide little comments Yurio tossed out at him. He only saw the brilliant smile of the silver skater. He saw the beckoning eyes of the man he had fallen in love with. This was where his happiness begins. He smiled, as he swung about.
Viktor loved leaving a few difficult moves for the end. When normal skaters were exhausted, when they were down to the last ounce of their energy, Viktor thrilled the audience with one last power move, he would always end his shows with bang. Yuri flipped about. He picked up speed as he smiled into the lights. He dipped, placing one foot behind the other.
Using his toe pick, he kicked up off of the ice. Damn it! He swore. His body wobbled as it reached the arch of his jump. He wasn't going to be able to land right! If he did the quad, he was sure to fall. If he shortened it to a triple, then he didn't complete the task. He gritted his teeth. Tightening his body, he spun around.
Once, twice, he felt the tiredness washing over him. He knew he was going to fail in front of them all. They would laugh! Ridicule him for even believing he could be in Viktor's league.
"YOU CAN DO IT YURI!" Viktor's voice floated into Yuri's mind.
The seeds of doubt, trying to find the perfect soil to grow within, began to wilt. Yuri clung to those words. He tightened his control. He was in control! Not the ice! Not the music! Not all of those who laughed at him before. Yuri Katsuki was the one doing this! He could do it.
He forced the fourth and final turn. There was only one way to come out of this without falling. He opened his body up early. Separating his feet, so the back one took the brunt of the landing, Yuri offset himself on purpose. He leaned forward. No one here would miss the mistake. He didn't care.
There was the fact that Viktor believed in him. The fact that Yuri just landed a quad toe loop, at the end of his program. There was the fact that he hadn't done this in years! There was the fact, that he knew, this may be the last performance Viktor's grandfather saw. He wasn't going to fail.
Yuri, spun about. He finished off the skate with the elaborate dance step sequence, then, he came upright. Spinning as he landed back at the starting point. Arms hugging his heaving torso, Yuri bowed his head. He stood like that. The light clicking off. The music fading away. His heart pounding in his chest, while his breathing was out of control.
He slowed himself down, the adrenalin still pumping through his veins. He didn't hear anything else. He waited. His breathing slowing down as his heart slammed lesser against his ribs.
There was silence. Not a sound! He couldn't hear clothing rippling. He didn't hear feet stomping. He didn't hear applause, or cries of delight. For that matter he didn't hear the boos of hatred either. He stood, dripping sweat onto the ice, listening to the song of silence being sung around him.
Then, arms grabbed him. The golden skates appeared in his vision. Viktor was there. Viktor was lifting him up. Viktor's lips were warm on his. He kissed Yuri with a passion, only Viktor could muster. The tall, toned skater swirled them around.
"You did it, Yuri! You did it all!" Viktor cried in Yuri's ear.
Yuri clung to the thin, black shirt the skater wore. He buried his head into the sweat smelling shoulder. Holding on to Viktor as if the skater was his only line for life. He whispered.
"Did he like it?"
"Posh! Yakov will let you...." But Yuri was shaking his head. He wiped the sweat from his brow on to Viktor's shirt.
"No!" He cried in Viktor's ear.
The silver haired man drew back. He wiped a thumb under Yuri's eye to catch the tear. Yuri closed his eyes, allowing the comfort of, the man in his arms, to wash over him. The smell of Viktor calmed him.
"No, not Yakov." Yuri said in a more normal tone.
"Your grandfather, did he like it?" Yuri asked.
When no, immediate, response came, Yuri lifted his head. Viktor was smiling at him. His icy blew eyes sparkling in the light, flashed up from the ice. Viktor smiled deeply. He leaned down to kiss Yuri's nose.
"I never saw him more engrossed in anything." Viktor stated.
"Of course." He waved a hand about, managing to toss his hair a little. Yuri smiled.
"I have never seen how he saw one of my live performances." Viktor added. His grin widened, if that was even possible, hearing the little giggle Yuri let out.
"I'm sure I was nothing like you!" Yuri smiled, happy it was just the two of them.
Suddenly, it wasn't. Yuri felt a kick to his backside. He was thrust into Viktor's tight embrace. The skater was quick, strong on his feet, he caught Yuri. They only slid half a foot back, before Viktor was able to stabilize them. But that didn't stop Yurio's rant.
"You fat little piggy! You said you were washed up! Done with skating! You stupid idiot! How can you quit when you can still do that!" Yurio waved about the rink in his anger.
"I will beat you! You will skate again! We will go to the gran prix and see which one of us deserves to keep our name! You will be Yurio! I will win! I will get better than both of you! Stupid fat piggy!" Yurio continually to rant, even after Otabek, who was in town for a few days, began to drag him away.
"That was really amazing Yuri. Glad you kept up your training." He smiled.
"I know, I would love to compete against you, one day!" He added, half throwing, half shoving, Yurio to the practice ice.
Yakov was walking out to them. Hands behind his back. When Yuri saw the coach, he pushed away from Viktor. Skating forward, it looked like he was going to meet the coach, so the older man didn't have to walk as far. Instead, Yuri skated past the man. His skates clomped on the boards, as he left the ice. He moved to Viktor's grandfather. Pulling the warm woolen blanket back up over the thin, bony shoulder.
"You were amazing." The rough, gnarled hand patted his own.
Those dark eyes were starring into Yuri's soul. Burning themselves into his heart. The older man smiled.
"He did it, My Vicky." The old man nodded.
"Did what?" Yuri asked.
The old man chuckled. "Found what he was looking for. It was the only rea..." The man began to cough.
His nurse was there to assist him. After some water, a few deep breaths, he looked back at Yuri.
"I was always going to give him money. It didn't matter what I told him, or her..." The old man rolled his eyes.
"I just wanted Viktor to see it!" The man smiled.
"See what?" Yuri pressed.
He had to wait for the old man's coughing fit to end, once more. The nurse tsked.
"Sir, you need to rest!" The nurse insisted.
The old man tossed the nurses hand off of him. "I will rest soon enough! When I'm dead!" The old man insisted.
He took both Yuri's hand, and Viktor's as the skater had reached them by this point. He held them together, Viktor's on top of Yuri's, between his old wrinkled hands. He smiled at his grandson.
"I wished for him to know, that no matter how one is born, they deserve love." The old man stated.
"Mr. NI..." Yuri was cut off with a wave of the man's hand.
"Son, call me Vincent." The man said. Then shook his head.
"Or better yet, call me grandpa! I will live to see you two get married! My last wedding! On my estate!" He declared.
"But sir!" Yuri cried, eyes bulging out of his head.
Vincent laughed, which turned into him doubled over, coughing harder this time. Yuri knelt before him. He held the glass of water, allowing the older man to sip at it.
"Thank you." Vincent offered.
"You are a wily one, Vincent!" Yuri insisted.
"Throw away whatever contract you two sighed. I can see the truth before me, even if neither of you wish to admit it! You will be wedded..."
"No." Yuri whispered.
"What?" Both Viktor and Vincent cried together.
"I will not marry, anyone on your estate, sir." Yuri stated. He stood tall before the bent man.
"My family owns a hot springs spa in Japan. I grew up there. It has always, and will remain, the only place I take a spouse. With the Cherry trees in full bloom, of course. So, you're going to have to live a few more months." Yuri declared.
The old man looked up at him. He snickered. It rattled his chest, but he didn't cough again.
"You are something else, Yuri Katsuki!" He decided.
"If I recall, they bloom in Spring? Isn't that nearly a year away?" The man arched a brow.
"Guess you're going to have to hang in there, now aren't you?" Yuri smiled.
"I guess so! Dimitri!" He cried. The nurse was back at his side, not that he had gone far.
"Find this boy's spa! Book it all for the second week in April. Yakov!" He called to the coach.
The older man walked up to the boards. "I wish to sponsor Yuri Katsuki. Find him the right coach." He demanded.
"You never sponsored me!" Viktor cried. The old man was being wheeled away. He turned back.
"Because, you never needed it, Bhyk." The old man smiled and winked at the two lovers.
"You might want to start planning your proposal, Mishaka." The old man laughed as he was pushed out.
Viktor and Yuri looked at each other. "I will see you in my office, once you change!" Yakov insisted. He had waited for Yuri to do the performance a the end of practice. Yuri nodded, still feeling stunned.