The day the sky was covered with dark and heavy clouds, prelude of a storm. The endless raindrops ended up soaking his body completely whereas he could feel how, one by one, they were burning him like acid as soon as they touched his skin. Even though it was so painful to be outdoors, he stayed still. He had so much on his mind that he forgot about the dangers from the outside, confining himself from staring staring at a random spot in the horizon while he was fighting a battle royale against his own demons.
In spite of everything, he had a lot of things to thank the universe or, maybe, himself: he had become one of the best figure skaters worldwide, he had pretty nice friends he could lean on and, on top of that, he had found love in the person he never expected to find it. However, being in the zenith of his life wouldn't prevent him from what would happen next nor allow him to realize that, in fact, the rain threatening him with drowning him once again into the pit where he could only find the impervious grills that represent his insecurities weren't anything but an invention of his sickened mind.
Although Yuuri was the most affected by it, the entire world was infected by a sudden chaos. The reason? Viktor Nikiforov has passed away due to a cardiac disease whose only symptom is death. There was no newspaper not forum that didn't have a similar headline.
Into the bargain, those who were close to the deceased gathered in the apartment he used to share with his partner, including his parents, who had flown all the way from Hasetsu to check on his son and make sure he was doing fine after what happened. Yuri, Pitchit and the ones formerly mentioned as well as everyone concerned about how was the Japanese handling things would make sporadic and short visits during the following months. Yuuri kept a positive attitude, as if all the resilience he had lacked during his entire life just came from nowhere, as if the sun had stopped shinning and the moon had learned how to survive on its own. Because, it was true, the silver haired Russian had been his sun since childhood; neither the biggest or brightest star but the only one he could see as majestic.
Competition season arrive and everyone was in the lookout, willing to know what will happen from now on, though it was a matter of time for the media to freak out once again. This time with Yuuri in the spotlight.
Yuuri Katsuki quits after his fiancé's death.
Overthinking leaded him to that conclusion. He tried to move on, but it was impossible without Viktor, with that sun preventing the earth from freezing and turning obsolete, so he had no choice.
An afternoon, a few months away from the Grand Prix Finals, Yuuri received a call in which he was being notified about the posthumous tribute to the five times winner, he was also asked if he was interested in performing in the afterwards exhibition. He, who was in the middle of the uncertainty due to that unexpected petition, agreed to do so even though he hadn't been training since long ago. The lady in the phone apologized and thanked him for saying yes to what she thought was an impossible task for the widower. She was nervous and it was making Yuuri more anxious than he already was. Nonetheless, as soon as he hung up, he found himself lost in his own thoughts.
Was he really going to do it? The calm was slowly draining from his insides and, as he was running out of it, he was being filled with doubt, just like rainy clouds ruining the summer landscape. Once he was no longer sailing in the sea of thinking, the former skater knew his last performance had to be outstanding, forcing himself to find the perfect song, something he hadn't been able to do during all those years, knowing it'd quite hard.
Maybe he had been searching so vehemently that, without even noticing it, he remained sleepless for several nights, digging in the ground of his memory, all in vain, along with an enormous nostalgia that invaded him since day one of his journey. Nevertheless, it was during his third day of musical searching that he thought he'd found the perfect song. Just by reading the title, Yuuri had to fight against the temptation of letting his tears overflow, thinking he wouldn't be able to skate the entire melody without breaking. Despite that, he knew it was the chosen one: You said you'd grow old with me.
"Indeed, Viktor". For some reason, he was smiling while talking to himself, hopping his words would reach his beloved. "You said we'd grow old together".
Then, the Grand Prix Final arrived. Sitting in front of the mighty ice rink, everything seems so faint and far. The cries and applauses of the public are almost imperceptible. Familiar faces approaching to greet him were all blurry. The only thing he could think about right now was his performance. Even if he knew he could have had have more time to practice, now he wanted time to stop forever, so he wouldn't have to show the nudity of his emotions in front of thousands of people.
Hours passed in the blink of an eye. A young boy with an extremely kind tone of voice told him he was next, so the Japanese proceeded to take off the blade covers from his skates. It was hard to breath.
The presenter announced him. Yuuri, who would have rather kept it as a secret, could feel the surprised gazes of his friends stabbing him like millions of knives. Once his foot touched the ice, he got goosebumps, and it was a matter of time for the music to start playing. Unexpectedly, he seemed to be moving naturally, as if his body had been possessed by the mellifluous song containing all his emotions towards his loved one. Meanwhile, a screen in the back of the stage was showing videos and images of the deceased. Some of them with his lover, during competitions and even some childhood ones.
"You tend to fail your jumps when you have something on your mind" He remembered suddenly.
But no, he wasn't intending to fail this time, he wasn't going to let Viktor down although he wasn't there to see it. He was grateful for the short period of time he got to spend along with him, even if he couldn't help feeling it was unfair the fact that he wasn't there anymore, leaving him here, frozen in time and getting colder thanks to a temperature that just exists inside of him.
Everyone remained silent for a few seconds, as if the public hadn't finished processing what they just saw. Yuuri got out of the ice and, immediately, he ran into Yuri and Otabek. The first was wiping his tears while both were staring at him with melancholy. He approached and didn't hesitate to hug the younger Russian.
"Don't cry, Yurio. You're a winner, you must be strong." he murmured into the other's ear, resulting in the opposite of what he planned to happen.
After that he left the place as both teenagers saw how his silhouette disappear due to the remoteness. That was when he knew what he wanted to do from now on: he'd return to Hasetsu and move on. He could work at the Ice Castle so he'll always be in touch with skating and with Viktor because that sport was the bond that joins them together, the one they loved so much.
N/A: Hey :)
This is a translation. The original(in Spanish) can be found here: s/12677019/1/You-said-you-d-grow-old-with-me
The song is You said you'd grow old with me by Michael Schulte.
Hope you enjoy.
