Born for the Ice

The Story! of The Life

The hotel room was filled with a sounds of sobbing. Yura was finally coaxed into talking about her past life. And it was awfully terrible. At first, Victor doubted that it would be an wise decision to let Yuuri hear her talk when the Free Skate was only a day away. Yuuri had insisted on hearing it. And she had answered all the questions that they asked her.

What Victor could understand from her jumbled sentences was that the 'sir' personality was probably her father or her mother's romantic partner. He did not like Yura. She was treated badly in the absence of her mother and was made to cover her injuries. It was not understandable whether her mother knew or did not know about the abuse part of her life. Whoever this 'sir' was, he wasn't a sane person, Victor concluded. Or he wouldn't try to touch such an innocent girl as Yura. But the real shock came when Yura mentioned the next part.

"Did he hurt you anywhere else?" Yuuri asked. Yura was sitting on his lap now, her head against his chest.

And what she managed to say with her broken speech and gestures devastated them. "He hit me her and here and here and he take me in my room and-" Victor's eyebrows went up in alarm at where her speech was going. "- He take my-" She held her skirt and tugged at it. "-And he did- mama say I not talk about before I grow up - he took my-" She pointed to her clothes again "-he pulled and - his hand- I hurt- in me - something big-" And as she was about to try saying something more, Victor suddenly burst in with, "Yura, it is bedtime now. No more stories." He tried to keep a fake smile plastered on his face, though his eyes were brimming with tears. Taking Yura in his arms, he put her on one side of the bed and tucked her inside the bedding. It took her tired mind a couple of minutes to fall asleep. And then Victor turned to Yuuri.

Oh no! Yuuri was staring off into the space. His eyes were fixated on the wall in front of him. And the look? Victor never wished to see it again. The look was pure horror. In a fraction of second, tears appeared as well. Victor felt giddy. Now what?

"Yuuri, love, calm down." He wrapped his arms around the other boy in a comforting way. He, himself, was feeling wrecked. "We don't have to talk about it now if you don't want. We'll talk later. We'll find a way out. Besides, Yura is with us now. No one can harm her now. I won't ever let anyone do anything bad to her. Yuuri, let's get some sleep now."

Yuuri's sobs quietened. "You promise that nothing will happen to her, right?" He asked; his eyes showing a desperate need to be assured. Victor felt his heart tear into shreds, seeing that look on Yuuri's face. He never wanted to see Yuuri this way anymore, thus he reached out to him, stroking his jet black hair, reassuringly. "Sure, Yuuri, I promise, I will do everything to keep her safe, just trust me..."

...

[Some hours later]

Both the Yuris were finally asleep, peacefully. Victor crept out of the bed. Sleep was far away from him. A strong dose of caffeine was needed. So that he could think everything out clearly and then rest.

He got out the coffee-maker. When he finally got the coffee done, he sat on the love-seat beside the window. The moonlight was streaming in through the glass, giving the room an unearthly atmosphere.

Victor sipped from the glass. Warm coffee refreshed his mind, letting him think clearly. All of a sudden, he felt something. His entire life of twenty eight years, floated around in his mind clearly. The prettiest lady of all times, his mother. She looked as if she was the Goddess of Ice. She had been a good mother. She had taught him to skate. Even through their poverty, she had gotten him skates and all the necessities to skate. He had had a happy childhood up till the age of eight. Then she left this world. He didn't understand anything about his mother's death then. He thought that she must have gone somewhere. When he came back from the rink that fateful day, all the neighbours were there in the house. They didn't answer his questions but asked him to pack up his belongings. At night, when all the people started leaving, his mother was nowhere. He felt lonely and hungry, when one of the people from the many unknown ones, gave him food. It was Yakov! He didn't know him back then as one of the best skating coaches in Russia. Then the rest happened like a dream, not a good one, not a bad one. Yakov took him to his house and let him stay with him and Lilia. He never came to question anything. He was just hopeful that he would see his mother again, until, he was fifteen and Yakov told him the happenings of that fateful night. His mother was no more! At first, he had refused to believe it. He felt totally heartbroken.

With time, the pain grew dull. He hadn't seen his mother for so long that it was no more a gripping pain; just a sore acceptance.

The thing that had helped him to actually bear it was skating. He had started working harder to numb the pain. Contrary to all the thrilling stories that he had told the press, his life was empty. It was just - skate, eat, sleep and again get back to skating. He had kept that up for many years. The only things that had been good were Maccachin, the first few medals and the few personal friends like Chris. He couldn't count how many times Yakov had asked him to take care his personal life. (More on the lines of screaming these out - "JUST WHY WON'T YOU STOP FOOLING AROUND AND SPEND YOUR FREE TIME WITH SOMEONE OTHER THAN GIACOMETTI AND THAT DOG OF YOURS?") Victor had more often than not thrown his advice in the drain.

Everything had changed when he saw Yuuri skate to Stammi Vicino. Nothing could stop him from flying straight to Japan. And from then on, his life had changed to a very exciting one. He had been gladly welcomed into a loving family. Yuuri had indeed gotten a stand at the podium with his help. He hadn't come to Japan to start a relationship, even though they was what the fans thought. He had come to help and fallen in love, just like any other normal person. Alas! Had he ever been considered normal? It was only Yuuri who accepted him for what he was - only Yuuri who told him to just be himself. And it was obviously normal to have feelings for someone so cute and accepting. Yuuri had also returned him to skating which he had welcomed back with a gold in the Nationals. Yuuri had himself won gold at the Japanese Nationals. Victor was so proud.

And then came Yura. Victor was really unsure what to make of the situation. An abandoned child, molested at a very fragile age, came into his life. Victor has seen many dramas but real life was really not that good, was it? Yura came just out of nowhere. He had to be the one to find her!? And she had to call him and Yuuri papa and dad!? He was having mixed feelings about that. It was almost like starting a family with Yuuri, which he had greatly looked forward to to happen in the future when they retired from skating. Not this soon. There was really no other option than taking care of her and sending her off to some orphanage to lead a lonely life. The second one, Victor wanted to make sure, should never be even considered. But what to do with the present situation? Yakov would take care of the paperwork to get her under their care. That was just how much he trusted his guardian and coach. And Yuuri? He would have to do something to make sure he wouldn't worry about the things of the past and do the free skate well. He would talk to Yuuri in the morning. Yura? Well, she would be staying with them and would lead a comfortable life. He; no, they would take care of Yura.

As Victor finished sorting out his thoughts, he felt the power of caffeine to keep him awake was declining. The sleep part was taking over. He glanced over at his watch. Three o'clock in the morning. He kept down his cup and walked over to the bed. He laid down quietly beside Yuuri and cuddled up to him. And sleep took him to the land of dreams...