A/N: This fic was inspired by a discussion about what (female) canon characters Georgi could be shipped with. I... think I might ship it now?
Written for the holiday-prompts New Years table prompt 'sparkle'. I'm writing a New Years-themed YoI ficlet for each of the fifteen prompts, one a day, to count down to the New Year, each with a different pairing. So for those who are subscribed to me, you're going to get a lot of emails in the next couple of weeks. Sorry about that. (Not all of them will be posted to ffnet, though, due to ratings. If you want to know where they will be, see my profile.)
Georgi had offered to fly out, but it was Sara who flew into Saint Petersburg to visit for New Year's, instead. She wanted some time away from Mickey, time to figure out what she was doing and what she wanted and time to spend with Georgi without constantly trying to mollify Mickey.
Both Mila and Georgi picked her up, and it was great to see both of them. Great to exchange congratulations about everyone's success at their own Nationals. Great to have Georgi hand her a tiny bouquet of flowers, a head of hydrangea, her favorite, though she couldn't have mentioned that more than once. Great to sit in the taxi and chatter with Mila and smile at her jokes, while holding hands with Georgi and exchanging little kisses. Mila stuck with them long enough to help haul Sara's suitcase up to Georgi's apartment – to both of their protests – and hang out with them for a bit before rushing off on her own plans.
There would be time to see her again in the next few days. Now was their time.
"I missed you," Sara said when Mila was gone, wrapping her arms around Georgi and leaning into him. It was true; she had underestimated how hard this long distance thing was going to be. They texted all the time, Skyped and everything, but it still wasn't the same. It didn't help that Mickey had grumbled about it for almost two weeks before Sara showed him a few of Georgi's texts and pointed out that almost half his Twitter timeline was dedicated to her in some capacity.
Even Mickey couldn't argue that Georgi wasn't devoted and, under some of the weirdness, sweet. But the weirdness was fine. Sara lived with weirdness. Turning a bad breakup into a pair of angsty programs was hardly any worse than Mickey's routines built on an over-devoted sibling relationship.
For tonight, they could have gone out to a party, navigating the snowy streets to find a place with a good beat, but Georgi had apparently made reservations. Reservations at a place that turned out to be really nice, with dim lighting and fancy carvings everywhere and more flowers at each table. "You didn't have to," Sara said as she shrugged off her brand-new coat (which had turned out to be inadequate to face a Russian winter, but oh well – at least it was stylish). "I would have been happy staying at your place."
"I wanted to do something special to welcome you here," Georgi said, and his smile was so sweet and earnest that Sara had to smile back.
"I feel very welcomed," she told him, leaning over to peck his cheek. Something in her did itch to dance and move after hours on the plane, but they could deal with that after dinner. "When we get back, let's put on some music at your place," she suggested. "Whatever you have. And then we can dance together."
Georgi's eyes lit up at the idea, and the strange lighting of this place put a little sparkle in them. "That sounds wonderful," he said, in that tone he used when he was being romantic, and God, it was nice to hear that in real life.
She glanced at the menu. "But first," she said, "help me figure out what to order?" They'd given her an English version, but she didn't know what most of the foods were.
They'd only been able to eat together a few times before, but Georgi remembered what she liked and helped her pick something out. They held hands and talked about music and Italy, and really, it was wonderful.
It wasn't until much, much later, laying in bed next to her boyfriend – her boyfriend! She still hadn't gotten over being able to say that – that Sara remembered that she'd meant to text Mickey. Her phone was still turned off from the flight. Whatever, he could keep for a night and imagine whatever scandalous things he wanted to in order to work himself up. (In fact, they were both fully-clothed in their pajamas, and they hadn't done anything more exciting than dance up a storm around the apartment and make out for a while.)
Sara snuggled up closer to Georgi and decided that she liked cuddling. Georgi's arm was warm around her shoulders; he touched her hair when she put her head on his chest. He was so gentle with her. So sweet and kind. If this lasted, even Mickey would have to end up liking him. She didn't know if it would, but so far it had been a lot of fun.