"Yuri!"
Ten year old Yuri almost fell on his face when he was startled by Yakov's loud yell across the ice rink. He stumbled a little but was able to keep himself from falling.
"What do you want you old fart!?" Yuri called out to the man who was at the entrance of the rink.
Yakov gritted his teeth but motioned the boy over.
"What is it?"
The coach cleared his throat, "Yuri, you're one of the most talented of my students. The techniques I'm teaching you are above the others in your age group."
Yuri smirked and puffed his chest in pride.
"However, you need to expanded your surroundings as a skater."
The boy raised an eyebrow.
"That is why I'm giving you a skating partner," Yakov declared, he had a small thrill seeing the boys jaw drop.
"What?!" Yuri exclaimed," I don't need a partner! I can skate well on my own!"
"The decision is final! Don't worry, its only temporary. It will help you in the future."
Yuri gritted his teeth and crossed his arms, he didn't need a partner. He wondered if Yakov was going senile in making him do this. Victor never had a partner and he was the best skater Yakov had.
"Trust me Yuri, she's not at all thrilled about this either."
"You're pairing me with a girl?!"
"Now, now. You'll like her, she's from Moscow like you," Yakov turned his head and called out to a figure putting on skates at a bench that was further away from the two, "Katrina! Come here."
The girl looked his way and laced up her skates before getting up and walking to them. Yuri could see that the girl had black hair that reached her small shoulders, her eyes were an amethyst color which was rare in Russia. She wore emerald green sweater and black pants that made her bright white skates glow.
"Yes, uncle Yakov?"
Yuri's eyes bulged out and his jaw dropped even further.
"This guy?!" He pointed at Yakov who was glaring at him, "Is your uncle?! you don't even look like him!"
The girl giggled, "of course he's my uncle. But I'm not from his immediate family, I would be too ugly."
Never had Yuri laughed so hard in his entire life. This was the first time someone has ever insulted Yakov out in the open. But best of all, it was done in front of the old man himself.
His first impression of the laughing girl: He liked her.
"Katrina!" Yakov swatted the back of the girl's head.
It didn't hurt it only make her laugh harder.
They spent half an hour skating around the half empty rink to see how they both work. Yuri was too fast with his footwork, he needed to go at a steady pace. Katrina was a bit wobbly on the ice but she didn't fall, she needed to work on her balance. A perfect match.
"Is that old geezer really your uncle?" Yuri gave Katrina a water bottle while they took their break outside the rink.
The girl nodded, "Thanks. Yea he is because my aunt is married to him. But not for long of course."
It was no secret that Yakov was getting a divorce.
Yakov's divorce was finalized weeks later but Katrina still called him uncle because she was the only one in her family that liked him.
Yuri and Katrina become best friends.
At eleven it was time to debut as pair skaters.
Yakov was astonished that the temporary partnership became solid. But he knew that when they make their junior debut, they might want to go solo to show their individual skills.
Yuri was a risk taker, he was told not to do quads but he does them anyway in secret or when Katrina would watch him and applaud him.
Katrina was a hyper child, she loved doing jumps even if they were above her skill level but she does them anyway in front of Yakov.
As a pair, they did difficult lifts without permission. Yakov as worried for his little niece during the times he would catch them doing twist lifts. Yuri isn't used to lifts and stumbled every now and then when catching Katrina.
He banned them from doing said lifts during local competitions for their own safety.
But they never listen to him.
At twelve it was time to start training for the juniors but Katrina was too devastated to even think that right now.
All Yuri could do that night was hold her in his arms as she cried and cried in the hotel room they were staying at.
They didn't listen to Yakov again the next day and Yuri dropped Katrina on her head. Good thing Yuri's hand cushioned the fall.
At thirteen people change, mentally and physically.
Yuri grew taller and his voice started to change. He was more aggressive outside the ice because of raging hormones. But he still treated Katrina nicely off the ice. Even more nicely than before which was something she didn't understand.
Katrina's height stopped at five-foot one and because of her strict diet and workout regimen, she had the stereotypical 'skating body'. Her only other growth was her hair that now fell down her back, Yuri told her once that she looked pretty with it long hair so she grew it out. She would blush whenever he would play with a strand during break.
They make their junior debuts separately.
Yuri won the gold in the men's division. He was dubbed The Russian Fairy.
Katrina won the gold in the woman's division. She was dubbed The Jumping Bean.
They shared their first kiss after the awards ceremony, using the hustle and bustle of reporters to hide as they did. It wasn't as romantic as they had heard from the older skaters. Yuri bumped his forehead against Katrina's when some asshole on his phone decided to shove the boy just as his lips touched the girls. It hurt, a lot. But seeing Katrina's smiling and blushing face made it all worthwhile for Yuri.
Yakov was not pleased. He felt that they were too young for a relationship.
At fourteen they wanted to pair skate seriously. They were already making plans to announce it for the upcoming season.
Yuri got better at lifts and could catch his jumping bean without dropping her.
Katrina's balance improved and she would playfully lead her fairy in a game of ice tag.
The media called them the next Sergei and Ekaterina because of the sweet affection they had on the ice.
Sadly, the sweet romance would reach a bitter speed bump, Yuri was seen yelling at Katrina for something that sounded stupid. It ended with him making her cry and him walking away.
Yuri became obsessed with winning, he ignored Katrina.
Katrina was becoming sadder recently and no one knew why.
By the time Yuri found out why, it was too late.
Katrina participated in a local competition and turned away from Yuri. She also withdrew from the season, never to skate again.
"Katrina!" He called out to her but she ignored him and unlaced her skates.
Yuri ran to her, reaching his hand out to her retreating figure as she got up and walked away.
"Katya!"
Just as his hand barely grazed her, his jumping bean disappeared and everything went black.
"Katya!"
"Katya!"
*Woof!*
Yuri jerked awake and sat up abruptly. His breathing was erratic and he was sweating cold sweat. He ran his fingers though his damp blonde locks and began to survey his surroundings.
All he saw were black eyes, a furry muzzle and a wet nose.
"Makkachin?!"
What was Victor's poodle doing with him? Yuri looked around the room he was in and recognized that he was in a bed. And there was only one person in this inn aside from the piggy that had an actual bed.
"Victor!"
He bolted out of the room with Makkachin following him.
Victor was in the main eating room that was located near the entrance reading a Japanese to Russian dictionary when the yells of the younger boy shook the building. Literally.
He looked up and saw Yuri standing there with clenched fist and a rather pissed off expression.
"Доброе утро Yurio!" Victor smiled as he put the book down, "You sleep well?"
"Shut up! What the hell was I doing in YOUR bed?!"
The other guests at the inn were luckily used to the outburst of the boy.
Victor still smiled and drank his hot water, "Last night when Yuuri and I came back. We found you two sleeping in the dining room. You looked so cute hugging little Katya."
Yurio blushed when he remembered that he did hold Katrina last night.
"But this inn has a policy on unmarried teens so Yuuri took her to the storage room while you bunked with me."
That made the boy growl a bit at the mention of the Japanese Yuuri.
Speaking of which, "Where is the fatso?"
Victor finished his water and went back to reading the dictionary and jotting down some notes.
"He and Katrina went on a run after breakfast. Katrina needs to get back into shape before I introduce the programs."
Hearing that Yuri ran back to Victor's room and dug through his suitcase that was sitting on the small sofa.
"What are you doing?" He heard victor behind him.
"What does it look like? I'm going after them!"
Yurio turned to see Victor looking at him with a serious look on his face and his arms crossed.
"Yurio, I may have said that your program will be a pair but I'm not going to let you be alone with Katrina most of the time you're here."
"What?!"
The teen glared at Victor who sighed and massaged his temple.
"It's not healthy for a boy to constantly be around his ex if there's still unresolved issues."
"There are no issues between us!" Yurio declared.
That did not sway Victor at all, "Right and Katya does not come to me whenever she has problems concerning you."
"Tch…"
"And I don't blame her, you act like you two never broke up."
"Because we didn't!"
"Says you. And you're acting as if I wasn't there when you called her a 'шлюха'."
Yurio gripped the shirt he was wearing when Victor brought up that incident. His trembling hands threatened to rip the poor fabric in half.
"I've known Katya longer than I've known you. She's like a sister to me and it broke my heart to see how you treated her that day," With that, Victor made his leave but not before saying, "be thankful that I'm even making you a program. I could have just ignored you all over again."
And he left to enjoy his reading.
Yuuri and Katrina made it to the small park were Victor took that picture of himself.
"I win Yuuri!" She declared with her arms raised.
She wore a red sweatshirt that had the word Russia printed on her back in white bold letters on the back, black legging and a pair of running shoe that have seen better days.
Yuuri chuckled when the girl jumped around the area and fixed his glasses.
"It wasn't a race Katrina."
"Was to me!"
After her victory jumps Katrina began to do her flexibility training while Yuuri did leg ups on the bench.
"So how long have you been crushing on Vitya?"
"Eh?!" That made Yuuri fall off the bench and land on his bottom, "What are you talking about?!"
Katrina was now on her stomach, propped herself up with her arms and kicked her legs up and down.
"You blush when he talks to you," She said with a cat's smirk on her face, "And I doubt it was cold air."
Yuuri's face flushed when she mentioned that. He only met her yesterday and she already suspected something? Katrina was waiting for answer when she began to do the Dhanurasana yoga pose.
"W-W-Well…." He needed to change the subject now, "Uh…. Victor told me about you!"
"Really?!" Katrina rolled onto her knee and looked at him with sparkling eyes, "What he say? Something nice?"
"Um… Well… he talked about you and Yuri..."
The sparkle in Katrina's eyes died down and she tucked her knees under her chin.
"How much has he told you?"
"That you and he were dating and then you broke up six months ago, but that's all he told me."
Katrina smiled softly, "Gotta love Vitya. Says very little but very informational."
Yuuri could tell that she had some issues about it.
"Talking about it help but you don't have if you don't want to."
"…Yuri used to be so nice to me. My first love and first kiss."
Katrina wrapped her arms around her legs and sighed sadly, "And then it all when Victor took picture of me sleeping."
"Took a picture of you sleeping?"
She nodded and took out her phone.
"I follow uncle Yakov to competitions sometimes and this one was for Vitya. After competition was over, I fell asleep in car."
Katrina opened her Instagram and found the picture she was talking about, she hands the phone to Yuri.
It was a selfie victor took while in the backseat of what appeared to be an old-fashioned car. Snuggled against him was a sleeping Katrina with her arm around him. He had his finger over his lips in a shushing position with the captions, 'Shhh, little Katya is sleeping…'
"Normal person would think that it is cute but when Yuri saw it…."
Katrina stopped talking and curled into a tight ball.
"it's ok you can stop," Yuuri copied Victors gesture of rubbing Katrina's hair.
It made her blush red, "Thanks!"
And then she shot up and dusted herself off.
"Want to race back to inn?"
Yuuri chuckled and stood up, "Sure."
And at the count of three, they ran.
It was a tie.
Yuuri and Katrina became best friends that day.
Yurio just watched as he read the dictionary.