Chapter 7: Opening Blossom

Yuri Plisetsky swept across the open ice, building up speed, then he threw his slim body into the air, rotating skillfully and came down into a solid landing. He moved into another, sharper turn and spotted Victor entering the preparation area alongside his silver-haired daughter, with Yuuri on his other side. His eyes narrowed and his lips scowled as he noticed Yuuri's deflated look, the partially healed cut on his left cheek and his blackened left eye. He headed towards the three and stepped off the ice, stopping in front of Yuuri and still scowling.

"What the hell happened to you, pork cutlet bowl?" he asked, "You look like the Russian mafia got hold of you or something."

"Heh, it's not as bad as it looks," Yuuri answered, averting his eyes as he spoke, and just catching the look of guilt that touched Tora's face, "And it wasn't mafia, just a misunderstanding."

"Huh, well it must have been one heck of a misunderstanding to mess you up like that."

"Tora," Victor interrupted, "go on over and sit at the table. You can start your next lesson."

Tora's unhappy look intensified.

"I want to watch Yuuri skate," she pouted.

"Yuuri has to warm up anyway, so you'll work on that lesson until he's finished."

Tora looked ready to complain, but instead rolled her eyes and turned away, heading for the table. Victor turned his attention back to Yurio and Yuuri.

"So, what happened?" Yurio asked, "I know you've missed two practice sessions, pork cutlet bowl. But Yakov isn't talking."

"I asked him not to," Victor said, nodding to Yuuri, who wordlessly headed toward a bench to put on his skates, "My daughter made a poor decision to be defiant to Yuuri while they were on their way here, day before yesterday, and happened to do so in front of a police officer. The officer misunderstood the situation and arrested Yuuri."

"What the hell?" Yurio mused.

"While in lockup, a few of the other men in the cell gave Yuuri a hard time. Luckily, he was moved before they could do worse than beat him up a little."

"He's not good at standing up for himself," Yurio complained, "Even a peacock like you knows how to fight better than him."

"Yuuri hates fighting," Victor said quietly, "even more than I do. I suppose both he and Tora should learn at least basic self defense, but we've been preoccupied."

"With the death threat?" Yurio inquired, "Yuuri told us about that the other day. They still don't know who sent that?"

"No," Victor said, shaking his head and turning his eyes to watch as Yuuri stepped onto the ice, "Take it slowly, Yuuri. Do a long warm up."

Yuuri nodded and set off across the ice, moving in slow, careful strokes, then gradually lengthening into longer, graceful sweeping motions.

"Good," Victor said approvingly.

He turned his attention back to Yurio.

"We had another incident yesterday, this one in our house."

"Shit. What happened?" Yurio demanded.

"It is looking like someone avoided the eyes of our bodyguards and slipped into the master bathroom. They put a heat sensitive dye into the tub, so when Yuuri filled it and started it up, it turned red, like blood."

Yurio's eyes rounded.

"That's crazy!"

"Marat took Yuuri to a hotel, and a short time after their arrival, someone called the room, masking their voice and reciting a poem about an athlete who dies young."

"Man, that is twisted!" Yurio exclaimed, "No wonder he looks so trashed. Beat up like that and threatened too. I'm surprised you let him come here today. You know he'll be crap on the ice with his head and body messed up that way."

"Well, we have two weeks to his first competition. What are we going to do? Give up already? Yuuri is better off getting out there and practicing. It will take his mind off of things and focus his attention elsewhere."

"Yeah, while that asshole stalker bides his time and plans something else."

"We have two detectives now who are working on it," Victor informed him, "We have three bodyguards, and they've finished installing the cameras, so we can go home today. We're doing what we can."

"Huh, good luck with that," Yurio huffed, turning to go.

He paused as step later and glanced back at Victor.

"Hey Victor."

Victor gave the younger Russian a curious look.

"Don't let him skate unless he's going to be serious. I'm not going to put up with him doing anything less than his best. I won't waste my time."

Victor gave Yurio a little smirk and nodded.

"Oh, don't worry," he said, watching as Yuuri moved into a stunning spin, "When you meet later this season, he will be in top form."

"You'd better be too," Yurio warned him, "I'm beating both of you idiots this year!"

"I look forward to seeing you try," Victor laughed.

Victor glanced over at Tora, who had abandoned her lesson and was standing at the edge of the ice rink, leaning on the wall and watching as Yuuri practiced the step sequence for his short program. He sat down and removed his own skates from his pack, then put them on and laced them up. He stepped onto the ice to begin his own warm up. He sensed his daughter's eyes turn to watch him and felt a little warmth touch his heart as he realized there was a tentative smile on her face. Victor turned his focus to his warm up and missed the moment when Tora's expression changed to a determined frown, and she turned and walked to the rental desk.

Could I rent a pair of figure skates?" she asked, giving the attendant her size.

"Sure thing," the young man at the desk answered.

She kept her eyes on Yuuri and her father as she sat down on a bench and put the skates on, lacing them up swiftly.

Even though he asked me if I skate, I didn't tell him. I didn't want him to know. It's like skating was something that Mom and I did. I didn't even know that my dad was a skater too. When I asked about my dad, Mom only said that it was complicated, but that my dad was a good person. She promised that she would tell me more when I was older, only she died before then.

I really miss her.

I cry every time I even think about that day.

I haven't worn skates since that day. I don't even know what happened to my skates or any of my things. That woman just showed up and told me to pack a bag. She said she was taking me to my dad, but that I had to just leave everything. It's like Mom didn't just die, everything else disappeared when she died. I just have a few pictures. That's all I have left of my home…my family.

But, she thought, looking at Victor, I have a dad now.

She stepped onto the ice, watching as Victor finished his warm up and landed a graceful triple flip. He turned and started to gain speed, then spotted Tora at the edge of the ice, and gave her a startled look. On the other side of the rink, Yuuri slowed and stopped, watching for a frozen moment as Victor halted, and father and daughter stood, looking quietly at each other.

Then Victor extended an opened hand in Tora's direction.

Tora skated forward, accepting his offered hand and moving into a graceful dance across the ice as the music from Victor's new long program began to play.

"I asked you if you skated," Victor mused, looking down at his daughter's slightly blushing face, "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I don't know," Tora answered, releasing her hold and spinning in a circle, then recapturing his hands, "I just didn't want to tell you."

"Hmm, but you want me to know now?"

"Yes."

Victor nodded.

"I'm glad you told me. Your mother was a beautiful skater. It makes me happy to know that she shared that with you. I wish that I could have been there with the two of you."

Tora frowned and gave Yuuri a furtive glance.

"But, I thought that…"

"Tora, things are a little more complicated than that," Victor confessed, "Your mother and I liked each other. We knew each other for a very short time, and we did enjoy that time. I do wish that she had told me about you. It wouldn't have changed the fact that we decided not to be together, but I also wouldn't have missed seeing you as a baby and watching you grow."

Tora gave him a noncommittal look.

"Mom said it was complicated too. When you read the letter, I thought that she meant that it was because of Yuuri that she didn't even try to tell you."

Victor shook his head gently.

"We were not going to be together," he said firmly, but not unkindly, "There were reasons for that, which had nothing at all to do with me falling in love with Yuuri Katsuki. Some things are meant to be, and others, as much as we may desire them, are just not meant to happen."

Tora tilted her head and gave him a slightly piqued look.

"Mom said that too. She didn't tell me about Yuuri, but she did say that you were just in different places, and even caring about each other wasn't enough to make two people love each other if it wasn't meant to happen."

"I'm sorry if that disappoints you," Victor said solemnly.

"Does that make me a mistake?" Tora asked, "I had a friend in my skating class who said his dad got drunk and called him a mistake. You didn't mean to make me…so…"

Victor stared back at her silently for a moment, then leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

"You were a little, unexpected miracle," he answered, watching the beautiful smile that lit up her face, then holding on with one hand and turning her so that she began to gain speed, "Now, why don't you show me what you can do?"

He let go with his remaining hand and skated backward, watching closely, as he and Yuuri met at the center of the ice and joined hands.

Tora began with a quick warm up, then shifted her weight, jumping into a flying sit spin. She rose up again and moved into an obviously very well practiced display of graceful steps, then launched herself into a combination spin. She exited the spin and gained speed, then threw her body into the air, completing a double axel, then a pretty toe loop.

At Victor's side, Yuuri watched with sparkling eyes, noting with his peripheral vision the expression his husband wore.

I've never seen Victor's face look like that, Yuuri thought wonderingly, It's beautiful, seeing how like him she is without ever having known him. I think that even though they weren't meant to be, Victor and Tora's mother really loved each other. And it gives me a little peace inside to know that their choices were made before I ever met Victor in person. There's no question that what happened was meant to happen. They were meant to meet and to make Victoria. Victor and I were meant to take care of her when her mother's life ended so suddenly.

We are slowly moving towards becoming a family…

He paused in his thinking, feeling a little twinge of pain inside.

But there are still obstacles.

He felt Victor let go of his hand and watched as his husband skated to Tora and looped an arm around her, hugging her.

"That was lovely!" he gushed, "You must have learned a few things from your mother. She was a brilliant skater. She didn't really want to compete, but she liked skating performances. Still, I noticed that a few of your jumps had a familiar flair to them. Did she teach you those too?"

"Mom wasn't my coach," Tora said, blushing and panting softly from the exertion, "But she would show me videos of professional skaters. I didn't know why, but she showed me some of you, and told me my jumps should be confident like yours."

"I see you took her advice," Victor said approvingly, "You're talented. Have you decided whether you want to pursue competitive skating, of are you more interested in skating performance, like your mom was?"

"I don't know," Tora said, her blush increasing, "Right now, I just love to skate, so before I moved here, I skated a lot. I was thinking about competing, and my coach was helping me prepare."

Victor nodded.

"Then, if skating is what you love, you will skate here also. If you want coaching…"

"Will you coach me?"

Victor smiled.

"I don't think I would be the right coach for you," he chuckled, "I'm much more experienced as a competitive skater than in coaching."

"You coach Yuuri," Tora said skeptically.

Victor looked back at his husband, who had returned to practicing the step sequence for his short program. He didn't miss the slightly lost look in Yuuri's brown eyes as he entered a flying sit spin.

"Yuuri really doesn't so much require training as support," Victor explained, "When we met, he was already competing at my level. He just needed help learning to skate with more confidence, and with composing his programs. You need someone who will help you prepare for competition. I will be happy to find a good coach to help you with that. But, if you are going to do that, it should be because skating is something that you really want to do. It's a serious commitment you have to make. You should take some time to think it over and…"

"I don't need to think," Tora exclaimed, smiling, "I love skating."

Victor observed curiously as she paused and her smile faded slightly.

"No, it's not just that anymore," she corrected herself, "Now, when I skate, it's like I feel my mom is with me. I can hear her voice in my head and I remember things she said to me. Mom is gone and so is almost everything from before. But, when I'm here skating? I feel close to her. It stops feeling like everything is gone."

"Your world has changed," Victor acknowledged, reaching out to squeeze her hand, "but you are still Tora Maxfield."

Tora's smile faded even more, and she looked down at her skates, then up at her father again.

"No," she whispered barely audibly, "I don't know how to say it, but it feels more like the person I was with Mom is mostly gone. I used to be Tora Maxfield, but now I am Tora Nikiforova."

"The person you were with your mother is not lost," Victor said, brushing a hand against her cheek, then ruffling her wavy silver hair, "You just need to find yourself again. Yuuri and I want to help you do that."

"Hmm," Tora sighed, watching as Yuuri stepped and turned gracefully, but wore an expression that left her with a powerful ache inside, "Maybe you do, but Daddy, it doesn't seem like Yuuri likes me anymore. He says that he isn't mad, but he doesn't look happy at all around me."

Victor let out a little sigh.

"Yuuri isn't angry with you," he said with certainty, "and he doesn't dislike you. He was hurt by what you did, and he is having to do something like what you are having to do."

"Huh?" Tora queried, giving him a confused look.

"You are trying to figure out who you are in this new place, and Yuuri is trying to figure out who he will be to you. Just be patient and be kind to him. He is trying to make his own connection with you, but he doesn't want you to think that he is trying to take your mother's place. He would never try to do that. What Yuuri wants most is to make his own place in your life."

"But he barely even talks to me now!" Tora objected, "and he always looks sad."

Victor shrugged.

"You hurt him," he said pointedly, "It will take time for the hurt to fade and for the two of you to reconnect. Just don't give up on him. Yuuri is a good friend. If you think back to what he was like when you arrived here…"

"He was really nice," Tora said sadly, "I wish I never heard that stupid letter!"

"I wish I hadn't read it in front of you," Victor said apologetically, "But I can't take it back and I have to live with the consequences. There are consequences for what you did too. Still, I think that if you are patient with Yuuri and continue to be good to him, he will be able to move past the hurt, and the two of you can be…"

He turned his head to look at Yuuri, as his husband launched into a triple axel, but over-rotated and crashed down onto the ice.

"Yuuri!" Victor shouted, "What are you doing? I told you to start slow!"

He started to skate towards Yuuri, but Tora accelerated past him and skated to Yuuri's side. She grabbed his hand and helped him to his feet, then she watched him brush the stray ice bits from his clothing.

"Thank you, Tora-chan," Yuuri said solemnly.

Tora smiled and shrugged.

"That's what friends are for, right?"

She skated away before he could answer, leaving him gazing questioningly after her.

Are we friends now?