Full Summary: After finishing last in his first ever Olympics, Yuri Katsuki sends his mount, Vicchan, back home to his family's stables in Japan to rest. When he returns to Yu-topia after the banquet, he learns that Vicchan has died in the night. He unofficially retires after this, resigning himself to a calm life of working at the stables. A few weeks later, his world is flipped upside down when he returns from an early morning ride on Katsudon to find a strangely familiar horse in Vicchan's old stall, and an even more familiar face with him.

Chapter One

Yuri should have been happy. He was home after over five years of being away, attending and finally graduating college, and competing in his first Olympics. Which he'd failed at, barely scraping by the first few rounds, and then coming in dead last in the final 20. He'd been so mentally and physically unstable, growing progressively worse near the end of the competition, he was unable to even come close to placing on the podium as he'd hoped. He'd always wanted to ride in the same ring as his longtime idol, Victor Nikiforov, but when he'd gotten the chance, he'd utterly failed. Disappointed and doubtful, Yuri had sent his mount, Vicchan, back home to Hasetsu, only for the gelding to unexpectedly pass away just days before Yuri got back.

He didn't want to look out his bedroom window to the pasture where Vicchan always grazed, only to see the other horses there, the beautiful bay coat not anywhere among the other colors. It would be unusual to be in the stable every day without hearing Vicchan nickering at his old friend Niki, the grey barn cat that held the second half of his namesake. The gold nameplate that remained on the front of his stall would only be a reminder of his failures, to be there for Vicchan, and to do well in the Olympics. He didn't even want to see his old horse, Katsudon, who his family had kept solely because she had been Yuri's.

He should have been happy, but he was absolutely devastated. Even the katsudon his mother made for dinner or the small gathering of people welcoming him back didn't help to lift his spirits any. It took several tries for his mother to get his attention back.

"Yuri," She continued once she was sure he was finally paying attention, "You look tired. Why don't you go to bed? You can visit the horses tomorrow."

"Okay," Yuri mumbled, glad to have an excuse to leave the table he'd been sitting at for the past hour or more. He knew by 'horses' she meant Vicchan as well as the horses in the stable. But when he finally laid down under the sheets in his old bed, he found he couldn't sleep. Frustrated, he sat up, threw the covers back, and grabbed his phone. He needed to talk to someone, anyone.

Phichit, maybe? Finger hovering over the call button to his best friend's contact, Yuri glanced at the clock. The glaring red numbers read 8:13, which meant it was about 6 in the afternoon in Thailand. Phichit was probably just finishing up at the stables with his own horse, and getting ready to go home by now.

Before he could convince himself otherwise, he pressed the call button and held his phone up. It only took a few moments for the other man to pick up.

Phichit was apparently still at the stable if the familiar gelding in the stall behind him was any indication.

"Yuri!" His old friend said excitedly. "How are you? I haven't talked to you in forever! Wait, is that your old bedroom? That looks like one of the many Victor Nikiforov posters I know you have on the walls."

Yuri looked away from his phone screen and over his shoulder. Sure enough, one of the many posters he possessed of the legendary rider and his gelding, Makkachin, was hung up on the wall by his window, just in the shot of the camera.

He couldn't help but let out a laugh before turning back to Phichit. He felt better already.

"Yeah, it is. I'm actually back home in Hasetsu."

"Oh, I thought I heard someone saying you were taking Vicchan back to Japan. How is it there? Different?"

Yuri's heart dropped right back down into his stomach.

"Actually Phi.. um.. Vicchan's dead…"

"Yuri… oh, my god. I'm so sorry. I didn't know, I swear!"

"It's okay, I know. He wasn't even sick or anything, it was so unexpected…" Yuri made a strangled sound in his throat, vision blurring with unwanted tears.

"...Yuri?"

"Yes?"

"You aren't going to give up competing, are you?"

Yuri paused. He didn't want to, but he didn't really know if he could continue, either. Out in the ring on another horse… it almost felt like a betrayal. Just the thought of it made him feel slightly sick to his stomach. Maybe he could just stay here and work at Yu-topia, at least for now.

"I think… I think maybe in a few years, I might be able to compete again but right now… It would take a miracle to get me back out in the ring so soon."

"I understand." Phichit's accepting tone of voice brought his gaze back up from where it had fallen to the bedsheets, unable to meet his friend's eyes. "I think if Dez died tomorrow… I wouldn't be able to keep going right away, either."

At the sound of his nickname, the Hanoverian poked his head over the stall door and nickered at Phichit, who absentmindedly stroked his cheek. Yuri stared at the duo, not really seeing them.

"How's Katsu?"

"I don't know… I haven't been able to go to the stable yet."

"Oh. Take her for a ride tomorrow, maybe? And call me, too, if you can."

"I will. Thank you, Phichit."

"Anytime. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Yuri."

"Bye…"

Yuri pressed the button to end their call and flopped backward onto the bed with a sigh. He stared up at one of the bigger posters on his ceiling, an older one if the length of Victor's hair was any implication. It looked to be just after a competition, as Makkachin was still fully tacked, and Victor hadn't even taken his helmet off or let his hair down out of the ponytail it was in. He was smiling widely for the camera, eyes closed, holding up one of the many gold medals he'd earned in one gloved hand, while the other was holding Makka's reins. Yuri slowly closed his eyes, and the picture faded into blackness, one question echoing in his mind.

Why me?

XXX

The next morning, Yuri was in the stables before anyone else was even awake. That's the way it always had been from the day he was allowed in the building alone. He stood just inside the doors for a second, just looking around and letting the nostalgia wash over him. Everything looked mostly the same, if not a little more worn. The familiar smells of sweat and hay soothed him, and he found the courage to continue forward until he found himself in front of Katsudon's stall.

The mare was turned away from him, munching on the hay in her feeder, but flicked an ear back at him in acknowledgment. She looked just the same as Yuri remembered her, with the palomino coloring and white splotches that had led him to name her after his favorite food. As Yuri had grown, he'd nicknamed the mare Katsu, which translated to Victory. He'd always wanted to compete on her, and she would have loved to, but she had suffered a leg injury and competition had become impossible for her. Now, she was simply too old.

Yuri stiffened, slowly turning around to face the empty stall across the way from Katsu's. The stall looked too big without the body of the bay gelding it was supposed to hold in it. Just as Yuri knew it would, the gold nameplate remained on the stall door, a glaring reminder that there was supposed to be a horse on the other side.

'Victor' It read in bold letters. And underneath that, his show name, 'Gold Chaser'

Yuri was almost pushed over by a sudden shove between his shoulder blades, followed by an excited whinny. When he turned back around to face her, Katsu pressed her face into his front and sighed in content.

"I missed you too." He murmured, scratching gently behind each of her ears. Her head eventually lowered so she could nibble at his pants pocket, trying to reach the peppermint inside it. With a laugh, Yuri pulled out the treat and unwrapped it before giving it to her. He let the mare munch on the treat while he made his way into the tack room to retrieve his grooming bag and some tack.

He was greeted by the barn dog, Ao, who had been shut in the tack room for the night. The German Shepherd jumped onto Yuri, nearly knocking him over in an attempt to lick his face.

"Woah! Sit down!" Yuri said.

Ao obeyed, sitting down on the wooden floor, but looking as if he was about to jump up again at any second. The last time Yuri has seen the dog, he had been just a puppy and still tripping over his own paws. Now he was fully grown and trained, like a completely different animal.

"Mrow?"

Yuri and Ao both turned towards the sound of one of the cats meowing, only to see both of them curled up on the table in the center of the room. Sushi was obviously unhappy with having been woken up so abruptly, but Niki looked excited. She stood and stretched while her black-and-white friend curled back up and went back to sleep. Ao stood up and went over to greet the grey tabby when she jumped off the table and onto the ground while Yuri turned his attention to the gear in the room.

Someone must have brought his tack and grooming bag into the stable yesterday after he'd gone to his room because he found them neatly put away near his trunk. He looped the handles of the black and blue bag over one arm and picked up the bridle so the crown and reins were resting on top of his opposite shoulder and supporting the bridle so he could use both hands to carry the saddle and pad back to Katsu's stall. Ao noisily followed him, with Niki probably not too far behind.

Katsu greeted him with a nicker, letting him rest the tack on her stall door and drop the grooming bag to the floor before she thrust her head forward again. Yuri laughed at the mare and patted her nose before pulling a currycomb out of the bag and setting to work on grooming her. She stood patiently, not protesting when he lifted her hoof so he could pick it. She only got distracted when Niki meowed loudly from somewhere nearby.

Yuri set Katsu's hoof down and looked up to find they grey molly sitting expectantly on the stall door opposite the one he was standing behind. She meowed again, standing up with a tilt of her head.

"I'm sorry Niki… Vicchan won't be coming back."

Niki meowed again, dropping gracefully down to the dirt floor before looking back up at him. Yuri sighed, and Katsu nudged his shoulder as if to reassure him. He ignored both of them, picking the saddle and pad up off the stall door and setting them on the mare's back. Katsu didn't try to pull any of the old tricks he remembered her doing whenever he tried to put a saddle on her, and just sighed as he tightened the girth.

"Too old now, hm?" He murmured. "Let's hope you don't spook as easily as you used to."

The mare snorted when he turned back to her, bridle in hand.

"We'll see." Yuri murmured.

Katsu lowered her head so he could easily pull on the bridle. The mare refused to open her mouth for the bit at first, but relented when Yuri pushed his fingers into the back of her mouth.

"She never did care for bridles much, did she?"

"Minako-sensei! Why are you here so early?"

His past trainer just shrugged, holding the stall door open for Yuri as he led Katsu out. "Someone's supposed to be bringing in a horse soon."

"Oh. Do you want me to stay and help?" He asked, even as he took the helmet Minako offered him and put it on.

"No, no, Yuri, we'll manage. I think Katsu wants to go for a ride anyway."

The mare stomped a hoof on the floor with a snort, as if agreeing.

"Take Ao with you though, will you? He can get rather annoying."

Yuri laughed. Minako had always held a slight grudge against the German Shepard, and he'd never quite figured out why.

"Sure." He led Katsu past Minako and down the rows of stalls and outside to the mounting block, whistling to the dog along the way. Ao came trotting around a corner of the barn and stopped and sat next to the wood square Yuri was standing on. He hardly even noticed, too occupied staring at the back of the mare in front of him. The dark tack that was usually paired with a darker coat… it looked almost wrong against Katsudon's bright coloring. The last time he'd mounted a horse… Vicchan… he'd failed.

It's just a trail ride. He told himself, ignoring the nagging voice that reminded him he was going to visit Vicchan's grave as well. He put his foot in the stirrup closest to him and swung the opposite leg over the mare's back before he had a chance to think about what he was doing. Katsudon shifted underneath him, adjusting to the added weight as Yuri settled in the seat of the saddle, and he released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He directed his gaze between the mare's ears and urged her into a walk towards the woods in the back of the property. Ao followed alongside them, happy to be going somewhere.

Even though the sun had begun to rise since Yuri had first entered the stable in the early morning, it was still considerably darker in the woods, the shadows cast by the tall trees sheltering the trails from light. Katsu settled into a slow trot, and Yuri let her go at her own pace, hoping to draw out the inevitable. Eventually, they reached the short trail that would lead to the clearing where his mother had told him the gelding had been buried.

Sure enough, a rather large section of the ground was devoid of grass, the dirt upturned and loose under Yuri's feet. Katsu was content to stand nearby, not bothering to attempt to graze with her bit in while her rider kneeled before the fresh grave. Ao was somewhere among the bushes, probably smelling out something or other.

"Hello, Vicchan…" Yuri whispered, taking fistfuls of grass into his palms, just so he could have something to hold on to. "God, I don't even know where to start."

Yuri tore his gaze away from his knees and looked up at the tree directly opposite him.

"Oh."

Nailed into the trunk was a framed picture of him and Vicchan, Yuri laying on his stomach atop the gelding, arms wrapped loosely around his neck. The Arabian looked half-asleep, content and relaxed in the pasture with Yuri on his back.

"I'm so, so sorry, Vicchan. This is all my fault. I wasn't there for you when you needed me, and now you're gone. I never even got to say goodbye. If I'd had known you were going to… I would have taken the next flight home.

"I don't know what to do now. What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to keep competing without you? How could you leave me? I wanted to compete against Victor with you… I wanted to win gold with you!"

Yuri didn't even realize he was crying until Katsudon gently nuzzled his cheek, whiskers tickling against his skin. He accepted her lowered head, hugging the mare close while he tried to collect himself.

The ride back to Yu-topia was slow and just as quiet, although the woods had been lightened by the rising sun. Even Ao, who was usually bouncing between the brush and the trail was unusually somber. That was until he suddenly took off at a run, heading for the barn. There were an unfamiliar truck and trailer outside the stable, so Yuri assumed whoever Minako-sensei had been talking about this morning was still there.

He dismounted outside the building and ignored the voices that he could hear from inside the tack room as they pass by it, taking Katsudon back to her stall and untacking her there. Yuri's picking out her hooves again when the familiar sound of a horse being led down the way made the mare shift as she tried to poke her head over the stall door.

"Stand," Yuri commanded without looking up, adjusting his grip on her hoof before continuing.

But the mare didn't listen, forcing her foreleg down and yanking her hoof out of Yuri's grasp.

"Katsudon!" He admonished her with a swat to her shoulder, but she continued to ignore him in favor of whinnying to someone, probably the other horse. Yuri turned around to figure out what or who was distracting her so much, and his slight irritation turned into full-fledged anger at what he found across the way.

There was another horse in Vicchan's stall.

A Thoroughbred, by the looks of it, roughly sixteen hands high. The horse had a beautiful liver chestnut coat and was obviously well taken care of. The white star between his eyes was partially covered by his forelock as he tossed his head and returned Katsu's greeting.

Yuri opened his mouth to say something to the man standing outside of the stall, but his anger turned to complete shock when he turned around.

The hoof pick in his hand fell to the ground, landing harmlessly among the straw covering the stall floor. Yuri's mouth stayed open, emitting no sound.

"Hello!" The man greeted with a wide smile, bright azure eyes sparkling.

"V-Victor!?"

A/N: So, this chapter has been in my files, completed, since sometime around November, but I only finished chapter two yesterday. Writer's block, eh?

Since it's (finally) summer, I should be able to write more, and therefore, upload more, but no promises. I'll try my best, though.

~Uni