Un-Beta-ed

Might have to clean up the ending of this chapter a bit.

Soul Mates

Chapter 3

My mother knocked on my bedroom door after the third day in a row of avoiding Ice Castle. I told her that I wasn't feeling well, which wasn't really a lie, but it wasn't a full truth either. I didn't want to practice anymore. I had come to realize that the only reason why I was skating, was because Yuko, who had became my first friend, idolized someone and me being foolish enough thought i could turn her eyes on me if i became that person.

I would always just agree with her whenever she said that I really liked Viktor, and I did try to believe that I really did like him and was practicing because I wanted to be like him but the truth came out once I had learned about Yuki and Takeshi's Soul Marks.

"Yuri" my mother knocked on my door again. I didn't answer. I heard her sigh. It was silent for a few minutes that it almost lead me to believe that my mother had actually leave but i knew better than that. "I don't understand what's gotten into you," she continued. "You were so in love with skating! What's changed in you now? You go to school and then you lock yourself in your room for the rest of the day! Don't make me call Yuko and Takeshi!"

I got out of my bed and sprinted to the door opening it wide.

"Don't!" I shouted at her. She stared at me with a knowing look. "Don't call them… either of them!" My mother reached her hand out to cup the side of my face, her thumb tracing the underside of my eye wiping away at unfelt tears.

"Soul Mates can be tricky things, Yuri." my mother told me. "They can make or break a person. They can bring about new friendships but they can also break long lasting friendships in a quick moment leaving you to wonder how you were surviving as friends beforehand." She leaned forward and wrapped both of her arms around me, pulling me in for a hug.

I knew she was speaking from experience, and that pained me ever more.

"There isn't a point in me skating anymore. My whole reason for skating was to try and impress someone but now that someone is occupied by somebody else, what's the point of continuing?" I said mumbling into her shoulder. She pulled me back and looked at me with a stern expression.

"Do you not remember the times we use to skate together?"

"I do but-"

"Were they not fun times? If i recall, they were just you and me time. I don't know about you, Yuri, but I always had an amazing time watching you skate. And this was before you had ever met Yuko or Takeshi. Why not just skate for the fun of it again?"

I couldn't respond. It was true that I use to have fun skating but Ice Castle was the only skating rink in Hasetsu. It wasn't like i could just travel to another skating rink since there were none nearby.

"Oh, just go back to skating, Yuri." a voice said from behind my mother. I pulled away to see my sister glaring at me from behind her. "You've done something good your whole life, it would be such a waste to suddenly give it up."

"But-"

"I mean, it's not like mom wasn't the one paying for your ice time, money that she could have spent in advertising for the Inn or gotten something nice for herself, or-"

"Mari" my mother said in an icy tone that she rarely used.

"What? I'm only saying the truth." Mari said as she walked away back towards the entrance of the inn. My mother looked back at me.

"Just go to the rink and skate again, try it one more time and see if you really don't like it anymore. If you don't, then I won't force you to go again. Sound fair?" She asked me.

I nodded my head and went back to my room to go grab my skates.


By the time I had gotten to Ice Castle, it was 15 minutes before the rink was to close. I walked past the doors and approached the skate rental.

"Sorry, we're about to close up." A voice called out from behind the rows of skates. A head peered out from behind them after a moment. "Oh, it's just you, Yuri." Takeshi's father said with a smile on his face. "I was wondering where you were. Did you want to skate? I won't be leaving here until another hour or so after closing up. I have some paper work I need to get through with the new seasons skaters registrations. You're welcome to stay until I finish."

"I can always just come back another day." I told him getting ready to turn my back and walk towards the door.

"Nonsense! You've been skating at this rink for years, this place is just as much your home as it is mine. Go ahead. I'll call you when I'm done." He said before walking away.

I walked over to one of the benches and got my skates tied up before making my way over to the rink. It was silent and empty, the ice freshly cleaned after a long day of skaters. It was calling out to be skated on. I shook my head at the thought and took off my skate guards before entering onto the ice. After shuffling on the spot side to side for a moment, I took off down the rink at full speed. Once the end of the rink appeared, I crossed my skate over skate to turn and continued back down to the other end of the rink.

After a few laps of this, I switched to skating backwards and backwards crossovers down the rink. I worked my way around the rink once, twice, three times before moving to the centre of the rink.

I glided into a semi circle before pausing and placing one foot on point behind me. I waited there for a few moments before taking a deep breath and starting the routine i knew best.

I looked up towards the roof of Ice Castle lifting up one arm towards the roof before bringing it back down again. I pushed off of my back leg to spin out of my starting position before I started gliding across the ice. The moves were so familiar to me after years of studying and practicing them.

I was gearing myself up for my first jump, a triple Lutz. I did a few simple crossovers before pushing off of my back foot and spinning in the opposite direction before landing and extending my leg to glide out back onto the ice, just as I had seen Viktor do hundreds of times.

"Why try to mimmic someone who you will never be?"

A voice stopped me in my tracks. I turned to see an older gentleman with his hair pulled back into a ponytail sitting in the stands.

I wiped some of the sweat off of my face before saying "Excuse me?".

"Why are you trying to be another Viktor?" the man said to me.

"Viktor is the one who's style i grew up learning." I said staring back at the man.

"Again."

"Excuse me?" I repeated.

"I said for you to start it again. From the beginning."

This guy is a grouchy old man. Still, I went back to the middle of the rink again, glided into a semi circle before extending out my back leg again. I looked up towards the roof with my arm raising up before coming back down again and pushed off my back leg.

"Again."

I stared up at the man. What was his problem? For some reason though, I complied and went back again and started from the beginning.

"You're too fragile and scared. Become Viktor. Become the performer if you really want to be like Viktor. Again."

This continued for another twenty minutes.

"Agai-"

"ENOUGH!" I shouted at the man. "Look, I don't know who you are, but I don't understand why you are getting me to repeat the same sequence over and over again and not even letting me finish the rest of the routine." I stopped and put my hands on my knees panting slightly.

"How are you expecting to be another Viktor if you can't even master the way he starts his performances? Viktor captures the audiences attention before the music even begins. His entrance to his routine only further captivates those who were too scared to look at first. All I see, is a wanna be skater trying to copy something that he will never be."

"WELL MAYBE I DON'T WANT TO BE THE NEXT VIKTOR." I shouted at the man, annoyed at all of his degrading comments. "Why can't I be the first Yuri Katsuki? Why can't I just take Viktor's skating style and make it my own? Is that not what I was trying to show you? You just never let me finish my routine." A smile played across the mans face.

"You can have similar styles but still create your own style, Yuri. You don't have to be a perfect copy to win the hearts of the audience. Your footwork is much faster, sharper and cleaner than what Viktor can do. Your turn sequences have so much potential in them. You need to focus on your own talents instead of hiding them by trying to become a copy of something you can never be. Let me help you. Let me coach you and train you," The older man said. He got up from his spot in the stands and walked down towards the gate entrance to the rink. I skated towards his extended had.

"My name is Celestino Cialdini. I'm a friend of Takeshi's father." I hesitated for a few moments before deciding to accept his extended hand.

This was the first time I was actually happy that my Soul Mate mark had caused me heartache, for without having any feelings for Yuko, I would have never pursued skating like how I do now. I would have never skated as intensely as I do now, and would never have lead me to be one of Japans top figure skaters.