The Free Skate of Yukine

*I got inspired after watching Yuri on Ice, this takes place about a year after the series.

*The main character of my story is Yukine Mayung, a girl who wants to be a professional ice skater, but didn't have anyone to support her when she was down. Then Yuri and Victor come into the picture and help her find her inner strength.

Prologue:

Grand Prix Final in Barcelona:

No matter how much water I drink to make up for the tears I have shed, I'm still dehydrated. I was disqualified for being late to perform my Free Skate Program. It's not like I didn't want to perform the Free Skate after a disastrous short skate yesterday, but my coach locked me in a storage closet, because she practically given up on me winning at all. I got out thanks to Sara Crispino finding me in there and having her twin brother Michele aka Mickey breaking down the door, but it was too late.

I broke down after the news, and right now Sara and Mickey were trying to cheer me up. Sara insisted that Mickey bring an ice pack for my swollen right ankle and a whole case water for me to drink to keep me hydrated, but no luck. We're sitting in the stands watching the Men's Free Skate Program, but I was too depress to watch and hugged my knees to my chest like a little kid. I haven't felt this way since my family died ten years ago.

Then suddenly I heard the announcer Hirashi Morooka, announce the name of someone I haven't seen in years, Yuri Katsuki. His family were old friends of mine, and he was eight years older than me. I heard he's completing after a bad final last season and he's been getting a lot of praise while being coached by the Russian figure skating legend, Victor Nikiforov, though he didn't do too well in his short program 'On Love Eros' yesterday. Then again, he probably did much better than me. I looked up and saw him in the center of the rink, ready to skate his free program, 'Yuri on Ice', curious but still unmotivated.

Then as if there was a warm rush of heat thawing a frozen body in an instant, the music cut though my depressed mood. The music was very uplifting, and when Yuri started to skate to it, I lifted my head and straighten up to look at the routine better. The way he moved was so grateful, like he and the music were in perfect sync to each other, it was impossible to look away. It was so beautiful, so free.

I've heard that his theme this season was love and how this piece was a representative of his skating career and how he found the true meaning of love through it, but this was amazing. His skating showed how he thought he was alone in his skating careers and how he found the strength to skate again thank to the loved ones in his life. And in the end, he overcame his obstacles and inner struggles and became stronger. The beginning part of the program was like me.

Since my parents and older sister, Mine, died in a car crash that winter ten years ago, leaving me the only one who survived the crash and no other relatives, I have been on my own being passed from foster family to foster family in San Francisco, my Mom's hometown. Ice skating was our family's favorite pastime back at Hasetsu, and were big fans of Victor, so it always bring back my spirits when I'm down. It may seem weird, but the music seems to tell me what move to do next, and I do it without thinking. So naturally, I wanted to become a professional skater since I was little. So I worked hard to afford lessons, and get a great coach, so I could compete in the Professional leagues one day. I even read whatever material I could use to help figure out how improve my technique, and stayed on my strict diet, with Saturday being my cheat day. I even learned how to compose music to make my own programs, and how design my own costumes.

I also watch the careers of all the major skaters, on television and in public. Once the Grand Prix final was in San Francisco when I was thirteen, and naturally he won. He noticed me after I called out to him and almost fell over the railings. Realizing that I was working towards a skating career, he gave me his most heartfelt support and that made me even more motivated to work harder.

And all my efforts came to pay off, because the former Russian Legend, Natasha Petrov, scouted me during my final junior competition. And just when things seem to look up, they actually got worst. It turned out that Natasha was a severe control freak. She got mad whenever I tried to give her my ideas, she controlled everything; the costumes, the music, what I eat to the calorie, the schedule, the theme, which was absolute victory, the routine, even what I say to the press. If that weren't enough, she even changed my name to Natasha as well, because she thought Yukine was too weird. If I didn't know better, she was probably trying to turn me into mini Natasha Petrov. Yeah, I definitely think she was. I did the routines and placed first in every one of the prelims, but I felt like I was dead in inside. But Natasha was a professional and she knows what she's doing, so I just left it to her, believing I will win with her.

As if the timing couldn't be worst, the days of the Grand Prix Finals was the anniversary of the death of my family. I always get depressed at this time, so I was emotionally unstable. But Natasha didn't pay any mind to my uneasiness and pushed me to skate. And as to stab a knife into my heart, she said some words that only shocked me to the core. "If you mess this up, you'll not just let me and the audience down, you'll let your family down!" she said.

Still contemplating the severity of her words, I started my routine in a daze. When the music started, I moved myself in stumbling manner, as if I was a newborn baby on skates. I kept missing my jumps, falling out of my spins, slipping out of my step sequences. Then at the finish, I step my right foot on the side and fell like a broken doll. Needless to say, I got the lowest score of all. Natasha didn't even talk to me for the rest of the day.

This morning, my foot was feeling better, but I couldn't find Natasha anywhere. So I went to the rink by myself, but I met with a displeased Natasha. "What are you doing here?" she demanded. "Going to perform my Free Skate?" I answered in a wary tone, scared of hers. "No you won't!" she sneered. "What do you mean?" I asked, perplexed. "You fail at the short program, what makes you think you will win all the way from last place?" she interrogated. "Bu I was just off my game, and my foot's better, I promise I will do better today!" I pleaded. "Not on your life!" she snapped, "If you can't get first place in the short program, then there's no way you can win!"

Shaking my head, I tried to run to the rink, but when I was about to pass Natasha on her right, she stomped her heel into the foot I stepped wrong yesterday, making the pain return. As soon as I collapse on the ground, she dragged me into a storage and left me there. And you know the rest.

But as I watch Yuri perform the flawless tale of overcoming his obstacles, I stood up in awe, despite my tender ankle. The music and the performance it was if there were no limitations no restrictions, as if his spirit has been set free as the obstacles become the past, freeing himself from the past all together. And during the final part of the song, I had the urge to jump, which was slobby due to my ankle. But I had an overwhelming desire to skate again and to this particular song.

And when the song ended, the audience cheered in a deafening roar, clearly moved by the perfect performance. I too thought that the routine couldn't be any better. And the judges must have thought so too, because with that breathtaking performance, Yuri had beaten Victor Nikiforov's Free Skating Record!

Even as Yuri only got second place, I couldn't get his routine out of my mind. Despite the failure from last season, he managed to make it from rock bottom to the top of the Free Skate Program. For as long as I can remember, Victor has always surprised me with whatever he did, but today it was Yuri who surprised me, more than anything I had seen in my life.