*Flashback*

"Mamochka! Papa! Wait for me!" Young Yurio desperately tried to catch up to his parents as they vaulted away. The small family was enjoying a peaceful quiet sunday afternoon vaulting through the skies. His parents had vaulted away from him, because his short 3 year old legs could not vault yet. But, they only got further away and didn't hear his cries.

The young parents were enjoying their time in the skies. They figured their son was not far behind, not hearing him call for them. As they advanced towards the centre of the sky, the distance beneath their feet grew greater. Without realising, they vaulted right into the deadly troposphere. Yurio screamed in terror.

"Mamochka! Papa! Look out for that deadly troposphere!" the child cried, but his efforts were fruitless. Too late the young adults realised the air was beginning to thin right under their noses. They tried to turn and vault back towards him, but it was too late. The poles gave way, sending them both spiralling upwards into the freezing cold abyss.

Yurio watched in horror as his parents were fatally enveloped by the unforgiving air.

*End flashback*

Yurio sat up with a start. "Mamochka!" he cried out. He lay back down, heaving and sweating.

"Yurotchka? Is everything alright?" His grandfather cautiously entered his room. "Another nightmare?"

Yurio sighed and rolled over to face his grandfather. Nikolai had raised him ever since that fatal accident, and he couldn't be more grateful. Even though he was truly happy with his grandfather, the night mares never stopped plaguing his slumber.

"Grandfather, I simply cannot explain… I… I miss my parents everyday, but if it werent for that fateful day, I never would've become a pole vaulter. I started vaulting because I wanted to make sure nothing like this would ever happen again. I want to protect people. Somehow… they inspired me to be what I am today."

Yurio's grandfather smiled and patted him on the head. "You finally understand what it means to be a man. I'm so proud of you, son.."

Yurios eyes widened in shock at those amazing words "grandfather.. Thank you!" the two found themselves in a loving embrace.

*At the field*

It was a normal day at the field. Even after winning the Olympics, Yurio still went to the field every day to practice with his fieldmates. He had just finished his morning practice, and was going into the locker room to get ready for lunch. Georgi and Mila were in the middle of a conversation, which he overheard while removing his sneakers. Georgi was lamenting about how he saw Anya at the mall the other day with a new boy hanging off her arm. Just as Yurio stood up to leave, Mila noticed him and called out.

"Oi, Yuri! Georgi and I were planning on going out to the woods to practice in some natural air with a couple other people this weekend. Do you want to join us? It'll be super fun!"

Yurio sweat dropped. He hadn't been pole vaulting in the woods, in a natural sky, since that day so long ago. His breathing quickened and he began to pant. Yurio paled and began to quiver.

"Hey, Yuri, are you okay?" Mila was looking concerned at him.

"I- I- " Yurio stuttered. He knew then that his only option was to leave the building. He turned and sprinted out the doors and kept running until his legs gave out. He sat against an unfamiliar building and cried. The bitter cold nipped at his cheeks and his tears quickly froze. He sat there for hours wailing at the merciless wind. It was then he knew what he had to do.

*Later that night*

Yurio was lying on his bed when he heard his phone begin to ring. He picked up his phone to see the caller ID show Mila's face. Sighing, he reluctantly answered it.

"Yuri! We were so worried about you earlier! Why did you just run off like that? Yakov was mad that you didn't show up to practice this afternoon. Where did you go?"

"Shut up hag. I just had to go… figure some stuff out."

"Well I'm glad to hear you're back to your usual self! So will you be joining us this weekend?"

Yurio took a deep breath. This is what he had been thinking about all day. He knew what he had to do. He needed to follow what he decided to do when he was a small boy, watching as his parents rose above the troposphere. He had vowed to protect others from that very fate. This was his chance to protect them.

"I'll be there." he hung up the phone.

*In the woods*

A couple days later, Yurio had piled into a car with Mila, Georgi, and a couple others. When they arrived at the field in the middle of the woods, Yurio took a few deep breaths to calm himself. People were vaulting all over in the sky. Some he recognized, others he didn't.

He sat off to the side at first, wary of jumping into the air. Christophe whizzed by, waving at him. After several minutes Yurio stood and proceeded to cautiously vault himself into the sky. The air was cool beneath his jump, which encouraged him to start vaulting around with the others. It was terrifying, vaulting in the same environment which had taken his parents away from him all those years ago. He felt a tear begin to fall, and quickly wiped it away. He wasn't here to be sad about his parents. He came to protect them all. To complete his mission. This is why he became a pole vaulter, afterall, and he couldn't let them down now.

Jump by jump, he got more and more comfortable in his surroundings. He even began to practice a couple turns. Just as he was starting to enjoy himself, he noticed out of the corner of his eye, a pair of vaulters casually leaving the group. They were headed towards the centre of the sky, where the air was the thinnest.

Yurio called out to them, but just like before, they didn't hear. He stood in horror as he realised they were vaulting straight for the deadly pit.

No, this wasn't going to happen again! He could save them this time.

He frantically vaulted towards them at full speed, with more energy than he'd ever used before. The couple slowed, and seemed to realise at the same time that the cool air was thin. They couldn't stop in time, however, and the sky began to thunder.

Luckily, this was what Yurio was training and preparing for his entire life. He swooped in and grabbed each vaulter by their waists, before gracefully arcing in a circle and zooming back towards the edge as the sky roared behind them.

When they reached the edge, he looked up at them for the first time. He was shocked to look into the faces of Victor Nikiforov and Katsuki Yuuri. They both seemed equally surprised to see him. Yurio hadn't even recognized them, because Victor had his signature hair hidden beneath a swim cap, and it seemed as though Yuuri had gained a few pounds during the off season.

Chris, who had been witness to the whole ordeal along with the rest of the pole vaulters called out. "Looks like super Yurio saves the day!" he exclaimed, with this, the other swimmers cheered.

"Yurio.. That was amazing! You saved our lives!" Victor cried out. "Yurio, we are forever in your debt. But, where did you learn to do that?" Yuri questioned, everyone's eyes were on him, waiting expectantly for his response. He knew it was now or never.

He came clean to everyone. He told them about the trauma in the skies, the sleepless nights, the unbearable days, and the gruelling night mares that would haunt him even in his waking moments.

"And so, since then, I vowed on the good Plisetsky name to never allow the harsh sky to take away another innocent soul. Another… member of my family." he looked down as he uttered those words, embarrassed. Victor and Yuuri wrapped him in an embrace between them as he yelled for them to get off.

"This was the first time I've been able to save people from a catastrophic water incident. But it won't be the last. I'm going to swim harder than ever so no one will ever again fall victim to the water's cold grasp."

They all enjoyed the rest of the day frolicking in the water. Yurio would never forget how he saved his two new parents from the same fate his old ones suffered.