What's up, my lovelies? Here's chapter 2 of my latest multi-chapter idea. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 2

Before they knew it, The Russian nationals were upon them. Victor still hadn't skated perfectly, but at least he was landing the jumps more consistently. The day of the competition was far more than stressful with Yakov consistently yelling at Victor, claiming he was right about Victor taking a break. "You stupid man. You never should have taken that break. I told you multiple times that it was a bad idea, but you just had to do it anyways, didn't you? Stupid, just plain stupid."

Finally Victor got sick of listening to his coach nag him constantly, and walked away, knowing he had made the right choice, even if no one else believed it. "Where are you going, Victor?" The Russian turned back around to face his coach.

"To warm up, alone." He turned back around and left Yakov and Yurio staring at his back as he walked away. He found Yuri sitting by his bag where he left his skates, and sat down next to him.

"Is everything okay, Victor?" Yuri looked at his fiancé with worry evident in his eyes.

Victor looked over to see warm, brown eyes looking directly into his own cool blue ones. "Yakov won't stop nagging me, telling me I never should have left to be a coach." He paused for a minute and looked back down at the ground in front of him, leaning his elbows on his knees and putting his chin in his hands. "I made the right choice, right? I mean, I'm happier than I've ever been after becoming your coach and fiancé. Isn't that reason enough for me to have done what I did? I've had my chance…" he let his sentence trail and drifted off into wordless thought.

Yuri watched him quietly for a minute. Victor's eyes were distant, and he knew that the other man was thinking back on all of their time together, from the moment he showed up in Hasetsu up until now. They had laughed, cried, and everything in between in their time together. Recently they had cried more than anything with all of the stress, but all in all, they had a great relationship. If Victor hadn't taken a break when he did they never would have come together the way they did, if ever.

"I think it was the right choice. There isn't really any arguing that. You might not be exactly what you used to be, but isn't that the point?" Victor looked back at him from the corner of his eye, raising his eyebrows. "You shouldn't be able to be the same person after making a change like that. I think you have changed, but it's good. You've learned to love something other than skating, unless you don't love me?"

The Russian sat up again and lightly grabbed Yuri by the chin, making the younger man look him in the eyes. "Of course I love you, Yuri. How could I not after all we've been through?"

There it was. "Exactly. You're not the same person, because you're in love. Love has changed both of us." That's when Victor truly understood just how good his decision had been.

"I love you, Yuri. Thank you." He leaned in and pecked his lover lightly on the lips before standing back up to start warming up.

Within minutes he was called to the edge of the rink where he shed his jacket, and mentally prepared himself for his first competition since worlds the year before. Just before taking the ice, he turned to Yuri and clasped the hand of his future husband and the best thing that ever happened to him, displaying their matching rings for the entire world to see. He leaned in, putting their foreheads close together. "No matter what happens out there, you are the most important thing to me." Yuri smiled back, and Victor took to the ice, basically ignoring Yakov's ranting.

Victor ended up skating a perfect short program, beating his personal best, though still not enough to break the world record set by Yurio in the Grand Prix Final. Yurio skated soon after, and ended up in second behind Victor. They went home that night with Yurio pissed off that Victor had done so well under the pressure, and Victor beaming at his new personal best. Yuri just hoped that he could keep the good attitude until after the free skate the next day.

The next day, as Victor took the ice his stomach flipped. He still hadn't skated this program perfectly, and was suddenly very nervous. He shook his head, pushing the feeling away, and lost himself in the program, not thinking about what he was doing, only about who he wanted to do it for. Images of Yuri came to mind. He thought about the day Yuri won the Hot Springs on Ice, and how happy he had been, their journey through the grand prix, Yuri giving him the beautiful ring he now wore every day, and how happy it had made him to look down and be reminded of his fiancé every time he looked at his own hands. Love had changed him. He knew he wasn't the same any more, and would never go back. Even if he could, he knew he wouldn't. He had found love, something he had neglected for so many years. He had found it, and wouldn't let it go. He wouldn't let Yuri go. Yuri skated for Victor, so he wanted to skate for Yuri.

He had lost himself, and when the program finished, he couldn't even remember doing it. He was breathing hard, and everything seemed so quiet. He knew the audience was cheering, but he couldn't hear them. He could only see, and what he saw from his final stance was the man that changed him. Tears ran down both faces as they held each other's gaze for a moment before everything came to him. He could suddenly hear the cheering, and had to look away to take a bow, not knowing how he really did.

When he left the ice, Yuri embraced him, and Yakov was beaming, so he must have done okay. The three made their way to the kiss and cry, and Victor beheld his score. At seeing it he realized he had skated perfectly again. He beamed as Yurio took the ice angrily, and ended up taking silver overall. Victor won the gold.

After the nationals, Victor went back to focusing on Yuri's programs, and helping him modify them how he saw fit. He peaked at the grand prix final, so Victor wanted him to relax his programs a little so that he could take them even higher for worlds. And that's just what they did. Before they knew it they were back in Japan. They were at the large rink in Tokyo, and 5 skaters would be performing, Kenjiro Minami included. Yuri wasn't too worried about this competition. It was considered small compared to the grand prix events.

He performed smoothly and easily, not letting pressure get to him like it used to. Minami watched his every move with wide eyes, and a big smile. He took gold with ease, even with his tuned-down programs, and Minami placed just below him at silver level.

As Yuri and Victor flew back to Russia Yuri looked to his lover who was sleeping on his shoulder. He couldn't help but remember what Yurio had said a few weeks earlier: "What happens when you have to compete against each other?" The easy part was over and it was only getting harder with every passing day as the time ticked on, bringing them closer to the world championship.

Just like Yuri thinks, this was the easy part. These first two chapters were pretty short, but the next ones could potentially be a lot longer, so hold onto your seats! Until next time, happy reading! -HeartQueenVivaldi