The Moment of Truth

Chapter 1: New Beginnings

It's the day of the Grand Prix final once more. Yuri Plisetski was the last skater to go, and everyone was anxiously awaiting his final score. So far Yuri Katsuki was in first place with Victor Nikiforov close behind in second. Victor wondered if Yurio would either score above both him and Yuri and take first place, or if his score would be high enough to beat his own, pushing Plisetski to second, and putting Victor in third. The final score pops up and the crowd cheered.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there you have it! Yuri Plisetski's final score putting him in third place! That means our top three skaters are Yuri Katsuki in first place, Victor Nikiforov in second and Yuri Plisetski in third!" an announcer stated

Yuri cupped his hands over his mouth trying to contain his emotion, not sure if he wanted to cry, scream, or some combination of both. Victor was ecstatic and immediately threw himself at Yuri in a warm, tight embrace. Yuri, was speechless, he couldn't actually believe what was happening, that he finally earned his gold metal, and even beat Victor. The whole world seemed to stop for him, before reality finally set in. The other skaters that sat around him were all congratulating him.

"Yuri! You did it!" Victor said overjoyed.

"I… I did it!" Yuri says as tears begin to roll down his face.

As the competition concluded, Yuri and Victor headed down to the award ceremony. On their way back down to the ice, they ran into Yurio. They told him that he did a great job, and he congratulated them both, sullenly. The three of them proceed together, with cameras and reporters trying to swarm them. When the three of them arrive back out on the ice, they were greeted with more cheering, and bouquets of flowers. Yuri Katsuki was handed a large bouquet and his gold medal was draped over his neck. He felt his heart flutter and he stepped up to the first place spot on the podium. Next was Victor, who received a decent sized bouquet and the silver medal. He promptly took his place next to Yuri on the stand. Yurio did the same and stood on the third place platform. The three of them smiled and waved to the cameras and adoring fans as camera shutters went off and fans screamed for their favorite skaters.

The ceremony wrapped up and spectators began to leave the ice rink. The top three skaters stuck around for photos and quick interviews. Yurio didn't stick around very long though. Many reporters kept asking Yuri how it felt to be in first place after being at the bottom, then in second in previous years. Others questioned Victor about being beaten by his partner and trainee. Victor couldn't be happier for Yuri. He's worked so hard and improved so much that he deserved this win. Something began resonating in Victor the moment Yuri's win was announced, and he couldn't quite figure out what it was until now. It was ringing loud and clear for him. As crowds began to die down around them, Victor had more of a chance to talk to Yuri. Yuri held up his shiny gold medal with a smile stretched across his face.

"So are you going to kiss it now?" Yuri asked.

Victor took the piece of metal and pressed his lips against it.
"You did fantastic Yuri. I'm so proud of you." He replied, "And now that you've won gold you know what that means?"
Yuri knew immediately what it meant before Victor even got down on one knee.

"What do you say, let's finally get married?" Victor asked holding Yuri's hands and looking up into his glimmering brown eyes.

Yuri was made speechless yet again, but he nodded his head feverishly as tears of joy began to roll down his cheeks. Victor stood up and the two emphatically embraced. The few photographers and reporters that were still sticking around began snapping pictures of the tender moment all at once while trying not to disturb the pair and ruin the moment. While the two wore matching rings and everyone considered them engaged already, this moment made it official. What few reporters remained ran up to them and bombarded them with an array of questions. Yuri started to become overwhelmed after everything that just happened in such a short amount of time. Victor could sense this and opted to not do anymore interviews for the rest of the day. He only answered yes to one question, that being "Was that what we all here think it was". And with that, Victor and Yuri made their way back to the locker room, to get changed and head back to their hotel room.

Once back at their hotel room, Victor requested a bottle of champagne and two flutes for the two to celebrate with. Yuri had calmed down quite a bit now that all the sounds and people had dissipated. He was still happy about everything that had happened today, but more able to focus on them without a ton of people throwing questions at him all at once. As Yuri lay on his back on the bed letting everything sink in, he got a phone call. It was his mother congratulating him, and telling him how proud she was. As Yuri was on the phone with his mother, room service knocked on the door with the champagne Victor asked for. He proceeded to go through the process of removing the cork as Yuri told his mom about his soon to be marriage. As much as Yuri would love to stay on the phone with his mother, he wanted nothing more than to relax for the rest of the day. After letting his mother shower him with praise for just a bit longer, he began to wrap things up over the phone. Yuri said his goodbyes, and with that, Victor handed him a glass of champagne.

"To us!" Victor said cheerfully.
"To us." Yuri repeated, as the two toasted their glasses and took a sip.

"Also to your first place win!"
"And achieving my goals!" Yuri added.

The two of them finished off their glasses then poured a second round.

"I'm so excited, we're finally getting married!" Victor exclaimed.

"Yeah, it feels great that this is finally happening. That we can make this official."

"Now we have to start planning for a wedding. We need to pick a date, a venue, a theme, suits, guests, flowers…" Victor continued rambling off things to plan for.

"Uhh, don't you think it's a little bit early to start planning all of this wedding stuff now?"
"Well, nothing has to be set in stone. We could at least pick a date sometime soon though. Come on Yuri, at least have a little fun with this before we have to get serious about it."

"Well, I was thinking, maybe we could get married back in Japan, during cherry blossom season" Yuri suggested.
"Yuri! That sounds like a marvelous idea!"

Victor went on rambling about wedding ideas while Yuri listened, suggesting ideas here and there. He mostly just listened and admired Victor's excitement. As Victor was talking, Yuri began to think about his life thus far. He wondered how had he gotten to this point. So much has changed for him in such short of time. If anything, he was just glad to spend this moment with Victor. The more he thought, however, the more he couldn't shake this one thing now invading his thoughts.

"Hey, Victor, can I ask you something?"

"Of course,"
"Why me?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Why me, why did you choose me? Of all the people who love and admire you, who would kill to have you as their coach and create short programs for them, you chose me. Why? You've been my idol for as long as I can remember, how did I become so lucky as to have you as my coach, and now soon my husband?"

Victor paused for a moment to collect his thoughts.

"Well, Yuri. There was just, something about you that I admired. Here was this guy that came in dead last, and yet... You had this passion in you that sparked something in me, and I wanted to unleash that. I wanted to see its full potential. You latched onto me, drunkenly, but with a sincere desire. You only asked that I come to your parent's hot spring, but then you asked me to be your coach. You didn't want fame, you didn't even want to beat me, you wanted to become a better skater, a better you. And then that video of you recreating my routine. I saw that passion again, but I couldn't figure out why you didn't show that on the ice. And then I found myself giving you critiques and thinking of how you could make it better, and that's when I realized I could be your coach. I could release your inner Eros. I found myself wanting to know more about you and wanting to see your full potential, and you showed me that tonight."

Victors cheeks were slightly red and he couldn't contain the grin that swept across his face as he thought of all the reasons why he loved Yuri. Yuri was also blushing and placed his hand over Victor's while staring at him in astonishment and complete adoration.

"Now I have a question for you" Victor said, looking up into Yuri's eyes, breaking his daze. "Do you honestly not remember anything from the night of the gala?"

"Ahh. Uhh. Well, you see…" Yuri said nervously stumbling over words. Victors eyes narrowed.
"Truth is, I do remember more than I thought. I guess I was just hoping that it was all a dream, and tried to forget about it all…"

Yuri sighed as he prepared himself to finally face, and come to terms with what happened that night.

"I remember taking on people during the dance battle. Then I remember you challenging me, and thinking to myself, 'wow, this can't be happening'. I mean I could barely look you in the eye after the finals were over, and then there I was, dancing and laughing with you. I felt happy for the first time that entire night. I guess I kind of fed off of that energy and kept going with it… I don't really remember much else. All I remember is waking up the next day having had the weirdest dream. Turns out a lot of that was real though…"

The two of them remained silent for a while. Victor processing what Yuri said while remembering that night, and Yuri, trying not to let the embarrassment get to him. Yuri couldn't help but feel something. He felt guilty almost. This was the night that helped spark the beginning of their relationship, and he could barely remember any of it. Yuri could only imagine how Victor felt and what he was thinking right now.

"So, then you don't remember asking me to be your coach?" Victor asked breaking the silence

"…No, not really. I'm so sorry, Victor!"

"What? There's no need to apologize, you didn't do anything wrong" Victor replied reassuringly.

"I know, it's just that, I feel bad for not remembering the entire night."
"You shouldn't feel bad either. Come on, it's not like it was our wedding night" Victor said as he gently jabbed Yuri with his elbow.

"Oh god, I promise I won't get that drunk. I actually want to remember the second best day of my life."
"Second best? What was the first?"

"Getting first place at the Grand Prix final today!" Yuri says rubbing it in Victor's face.

"Oh ha, ha. Live it up now because just you wait, I'll take my spot back next year."

Victor leaned in close to Yuri, and Yuri went in for a kiss. The pair laughed and continued to revel in the joy of today's events while finishing off the bottle of champagne. They switched between sharing memories they had together and things they wanted for the future, to wedding ideas. Yuri, exhausted, lay back in bed and Victor cuddled next to him. Victor went on talking with Yuri agreeing here and there. After a while, Victor asked Yuri a question and didn't get a response. He looked down to see his fiancé soundly sleeping. Victor carefully removed Yuri's glasses, placed the on the bedside table, and proceed to sleep beside him.

The next morning Yuri woke snuggled next to Victor. He hadn't even realized that he had fallen asleep. He looked around for his glasses and found them on the nightstand. Victor was still fast asleep as Yuri made his way to the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day. After a nice warm shower, Yuri entered the room to find Victor awake going through his phone. Victor looked up to see Yuri in just a towel.

"Good morning beautiful" Victor said.

"Morning, Victor" Yuri replied.

"Ready for the Gala tonight?" Victor asked excitedly.
"As ready as I'll ever be. And this year I won't be embarrassing myself."

While Victor was on his phone scrolling through social media he noticed that he and Yuri were trending. Everyone was talking about the proposal and Yuri's win. There would definitely be a lot of chatter at the gala tonight. Victor and Yuri decided it would be best to announce their engagement when everyone was together at the gala. The two spent the rest of the morning packing their bags so that they could leave tomorrow, and the remainder of their time preparing for tonight's event.

After hours of deciding which color tie to wear, and if they should wear matching pocket squares, the two finally had their suits on. They took one last look in the mirror straightening ties and making sure everything is in place. Yuri wanted to put a little more effort into his look this year since there would be a ton of pictures taken with the gold medal champion. Not only that, but people would be excited about his and Victor's engagement.

"How do I look?" Victor asked as he turned to Yuri.

"Gorgeous as always" Yuri said looking at him while fumbling with his own tie.

"Yeah? You're not so bad yourself."

Victor took Yuri's tie out of his hands and fixed for him and with that the two headed down to the ballroom. Once they entered the room, there was immediate applause and cheering. People were congratulating Yuri on his win and also on his engagement. Guests were also commending Victor the engagement as well, while also giving mention to coaching a gold medal skater. The couple grabbed two champagne flutes and proceeded to make their announcement. While most everyone in the room already knew, this would be their official statement. Victor called for everyone's attention and thus let everyone know that their marriage was underway.

"Attention everyone!" Victor said clinking the side of his glass with a fork. He placed his arm around Yuri and commenced.

"As many of you may already know, Yuri and I are engaged. Now, I know what you're all thinking. Yes, we exchanged rings sometime last year but mostly as "good luck charms", however I did promise to marry this cutie right here only after he won a gold medal at the Grand Prix final. And last night he did just that!"

Yuri was blushing, but only faintly after Victor had called him cute. He looked up at Victor and smiled as he prepared to say a few words also

"We just want to say thank you to everyone who has supported us and followed along the ride that is our relationship, and that we hope to see most of you at the wedding. Last night marked the start of new beginnings, so we should all celebrate tonight!" Yuri added briefly.

A toast was made and the night's events continued. As the pair casually chatted among the people around them. Phichit found his way to the lovely couple.

"Congrats you two!" Phichit said excitedly.

"Thanks!" Both Yuri and Victor said at the same time.

"So, when's the wedding?" The Thai skater asked eagerly.

"Well, we haven't picked an exact date yet, but definitely sometime in the spring" Victor mentioned.

"Hey, speaking of the wedding," Yuri buts in, "Phichit, I was wondering if you would be my best man."

"Of course I will!" Phichit said immediately as he wrapped his arm around Yuri to grab a quick selfie.

Phichit uploaded the pic to his social media with a caption about him being Yuri's best man. He conversed with Victor and Yuri for just a little while longer before going off to interact with the rest of the guest. Yuri went off with Phichit, while Victor went off to find Christophe. He was alone, with other guest, at the bar ordering a mixed drink. Victor approached him and sat in a stool next to him.

"Well, look who we have here" Chris said.

"The one and only" Victor said with a wink.

"Where's your fiancé?" Chris asked. "I was hoping to give you both my best wishes together."
"He's somewhere with Phichit, I'm sure you'll run into him at some point tonight."
"In any case, I wish you two happiness."
"Thanks!" Victor said.

The two of them raised their glasses and drank to Victor's happiness.

"By the way, Chris, how would you like to be my best man?" Victor asked

"I'd be honored to stand by you on your big day" Chris replied delighted.

The night carried forward, and Yuri and Victor spent the rest of their time drinking and dancing to celebrate skating achievements and new milestones with friends and each other. Yuri was glad to be at this point in his life and even happier to have spent those moments with Victor. Victor was equally as happy and couldn't wait for what the future held for them.