A/N: I went skating today…the first time in years! Well I wanted to skate since last winter…and then I wanted to go this winter…and today was the last day for the public skating near my place so I had to go or else wait for next winter. Talk about procrastinating! Well…I guess I haven't updated my other chapter stories for years either so….what does that say hahaha. Anyways, after skating I got this idea. And you know, the Vancouver Olympics. =D I really enjoyed the figure skating and dancing, so pretty. ;_; Ah…I can't wait for Sochi. ^^ Onwards to the story!

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With the wind increasing against his face, Toris dashed to the other end of the skating rink. He loved the feeling of the cool breeze against his skin as he skated around the area he was most familiar with. He had been training at this rink for the past few years, ever since he wanted to be a professional figure skater. Well, he thought that having a partner would be nice, but he didn't want to partner with just anyone. There was always one person on his mind but he knew it was impossible to begin with so he stopped thinking about it. Well, at least he tried to.

Nevertheless, he couldn't help but feel a bit jealous at the athletes that had really good partnerships. He was envious of how well they worked together on the ice, and how they always had someone to skate with during practice. He also noticed that many of them were childhood friends and even lovers.

He slowed down before turning onto the side of his skates, just gliding along. He started skating around slowly, trying to catch his breath. His coach said his stamina was good, but if he improved it more, then it would be even better.

Toris shook his head, 'I'm thinking about those things again…I should just concentrate on my training.'

Actually, he had tried getting a partner before, but he didn't work well with her at all. He just wanted to try skating with a partner even if it wasn't the person he had in mind so he tried his best. In the end, she was the one that quit first, leaving him slightly frustrated. After that incident, he just gave up and focused on the singles competitions.

He sighed, feeling dejected as he was every time he thought about those issues. He leaned on the rail, pausing a bit before doing his stretches.

"Practicing so early in the morning, da?"

Toris froze, recognizing that familiar voice. He turned slowly, not wanting to face him today as he didn't feel good. "G-good morning Ivan. Are you practicing as well?"

"Da." He chimed, smiling that icy smile of his.

Toris forced a laugh, feeling really uneasy. "Well then, I'm gonna continue…"

"Why don't we skate together for a bit?" He laughed his signature childish laugh, the one that Toris disliked. Every time Ivan did that laugh towards him he was up to no good. But there wasn't much Toris could do; he was used to being bullied by him since they were kids.

'I can't believe he's still around to bully me even to this day…' Toris thought gloomily, before responding to the taller man, "Uh, sure…"

They started skating around the rink, Toris slightly dragging behind the tall Russian skater. Ivan looked back at him once in awhile, smiling and trying to start small talk. Toris responded as best as he could, but he was really feeling out of it and dealing with Ivan always took so much energy out of him.

Just when Toris was thinking up an excuse that would get himself away from Ivan even for just a moment, he heard some growling behind him. The sound of skates slamming on the ice was getting closer and closer as well, and the next thing he knew was that a force smashed into his back. He staggered forward and fell on the ice, using his hands to somewhat break the fall.

"Oucch…" Toris groaned, his face merely millimeters away from the ice. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, his hands feeling slightly sore. As he looked up to see who his attacker was, he said, "What was tha-" He stopped as soon as he recognized who it was.

A beautiful young girl was standing beside Ivan, clinging onto his arm. "Brother I did not know you were coming so early in the morning to practice. Why didn't you tell me?" She smiled at him sweetly.

At least, in Toris' and her own perspective it was a sweet smile. Ivan looked horrified, "Na-Natalia…what are you doing here?"

"Hehe, that's a silly question brother. Of course I'm here to practice."

Ivan laughed uneasily, "Da, of course…um, I have to go practice now." He started to inch away slowly.

Natalia tightened her grip on his arm, saying eagerly, "I'll come with you."

Ivan shook his head furiously, "No, no need!"

"But brother-"

Before Natalia said anything more, Ivan pushed her away and sped off, escaping to the door of the rink and then rushing off to another. Natalia was trying to find her balance but ended up falling on her behind anyways. Toris got up quickly from where he was sitting and went over to her, worry in his voice, "Natalia are you okay?"

She glared up at him in response, as usual. Toris offered his hand to her, but she didn't take it and got up, dusting ice off her pants. She faced him and practically spat out, "Stay away from brother!"

"Um…I'm trying." Toris weakly replied, to some extent his answer was true. Why would he want to be near Ivan in the first place? He was the one that enjoyed bothering him. Aside from that, getting away from him seemed almost impossible as they both had similar time tables.

After one last glare, Natalia stalked away and proceeded to follow her beloved brother. Toris sighed as he watched her go away. Seeing as how things were like this since forever, he knew Natalia would never ever agree to be his long term skating partner. He also knew the only partner she wanted was Ivan, but at the same time he couldn't just give up hope that maybe…just maybe she would change her mind.

A/N: Ohhh and that's it for the first chapter/prologue. For some reason I'm really excited about writing this. o_o Um, but still, I might never update this again. Orz

Also, I know that usually in fanfics Liet calls Russia and Belarus as Mr. Braginsky/Russia-san and Miss Belarus or something along those lines, but since the setting is AU here, it wouldn't fit for him to call them that (although it sounds ooc even to me xD). Here they're more like…colleagues. So yeah.

I really don't know anything about figure skating and their practice routines and whatever, so please forgive any inaccuracies or atrocities that I may commit. Tips would be nice. ^^ Thanks for reading! Review please? =D

And I mean, who doesn't want to read more about Plushenko!Ivan.