Chapter 29: Russia's Prince
(Two weeks later in Moscow)
As Yurio entered the Moscow ice arena, he spotted Yuuri Katsuki standing alone at the side of the rink, watching Victor warm up for the competition. He moved to join the Japanese skater, giving him a nudge with one elbow to get his attention.
"Hey pork cutlet bowl, where are the kids?" he asked, looking around briefly.
"Oh, hi Yurio. Artur's bringing them over later. Tora and Nico went out with Raya and Vaska to visit some tourist sites. They're trying to get Vaska's spirits up after what happened in Japan."
"Are you sure that's a good idea with that psycho still out there, stalking all of you?" the younger skater asked, frowning.
"I wasn't sure," Yuuri admitted, "but Victor said that there is motivation for the police to protect us…enough that it makes him comfortable letting them go out, as long as it's with a bodyguard. He says that our own guards aren't the only one watching."
"That's not ominous at all," Yurio said, smirking and shaking his head.
The two watched silently as Victor turned and jumped into a spin.
"You know, Yakov had a heart attack, an aneurysm and a massive stroke when Victor didn't come back to Russia to train after Hiroshima," Yurio commented, "I think he yelled at the idiot for ten minutes without stopping."
"Victor told me that he wanted absolute privacy for us and for Raya and Vaska while he was recovering and getting back on his feet. He knew everyone in Hasetsu would be supportive of that. Also, Yuko and Takeshi pulled out all the stops to give him as much private ice time as they could without closing the rink the whole time we were there. He's really determined."
"Huh," Yurio huffed, "He's determined, but he's coming off an injury and he's doing an extra free skate before we even get to the Rostelecom Cup competition. He's dreaming if he thinks that he can win both events. Even if, by some miracle, he does win the NHK Trophy, I'm not going to lose the Rostelecom Cup."
"I guess we'll see," Yuuri said, watching closely as Victor turned again and skated backwards, gathering speed, then executing a beautiful quad lutz, "Like I said, he's really determined."
"He's an old geezer, injured and he has no stamina," Yurio scoffed, "He's going to lose."
"Yeah? Well, I wouldn't count him out."
"I would," Yurio sneered, stepping onto the ice as Victor finished his practice and returned to where Yakov waited for him.
Yuuri chuckled softly as the old Russian coach began to give Victor a long-winded scolding. But as he stepped toward them, he saw Victor's lips move to say something and Yakov went quiet for a moment. Then, one hand rose and rested on Victor's shoulder for a moment, before Yakov gave him a last few stern words and let him go.
"What was that all about?" Yuuri asked as Victor grabbed a towel and wiped the heavy sweat from his face and throat, "He's still that mad about you not going back to Saint Petersburg to train?"
"Eh, that and he doesn't like my attitude in general, my jumps are shaky, my transitions are sloppy and he thinks I've got no business coming back so soon after being in intensive care."
Victor sighed and sat down on a bench to remove his skates. His blue-green eyes looked down at the golden blades as he untied the laces.
"Do you think he's right?"
Yuuri sat down on the bench at his husband's side.
"I think he's worried about you," he answered quietly, "We all are. I know the doctors cleared you to compete, but I also know you had to talk them into it. Victor…"
"You think I should drop out?" Victor asked stridently, still looking down at his skates, "That was what I thought too, but you know why I didn't."
"Yeah, I know. What Raya said got to you. You don't just feel determined for yourself, you want to do this for Kiriyak."
"The man saved my life, Yuuri," Victor said in a tensed voice that left no room for argument, "And I am the reason that we were both endangered. I'll do this if it kills me."
"I know you're determined," Yuuri acknowledged softly, putting a hand on Victor's sweaty arm, "You've worked really hard to get ready. I'm just wondering if this is the best thing for any of us."
Victor sighed and closed his eyes for a moment.
"I don't know either, but it would seem like an insult to Kiriyak if I didn't at least finish the NHK Trophy event. And if I do that, what sense does it make not to compete in the Rostelecom Cup? I'm already here. I've got this, Yuuri. It's going to be fine. Trust me."
"I do trust you," Yuuri assured him, sitting down beside him and pulling him into a firm embrace.
"Don't do that, Yuuri!" Victor complained, "I'm all sweaty and smelly. At least, wait until we get back to the hotel and I shower."
"Oh, you think you're showering alone?" Yuuri said, smirking.
His levity made his Russian lover pause and relax slightly.
"Are you trying to seduce me, so I'll be too tired to compete?" Victor laughed, "You want that badly for me not to?"
"Victor, you told me that my insistence on not having alcohol, raw seafood or sex before competitions was just a lot of nonsense. You never hold off on any of those things."
"You know, you're right," Victor snickered, standing and throwing his pack over his shoulder, "Let's go to the hotel, have sex in the shower, then have raw seafood and a glass of wine for dinner."
"Whatever makes you happy," Yuuri said, smiling and shaking his head, "Here, let me get that pack for you."
"What? Do I look that old to you too?" Victor complained, holding the pack away from him.
"No, but you look that tired from the extra training," Yuuri insisted, "Let me help you."
"I don't think it'll make that much of a difference, but thank you."
The two left the ice rink and walked slowly back to the hotel.
"Have you heard from the kids?" Victor asked.
"Yeah, Artur checked in and said they'll come back after dinner. Raya's taking them to a place that's kind of special to their family."
"Good, that gives us some private time," Victor sighed as they reached the hotel, "We've barely been alone together since before we even went to Japan."
The two men took the elevator to the top floor and headed to the end of the hall, where they entered the penthouse suite and found it empty except for them. They entered the master bedroom and closed the door, then quickly shed their clothing and headed into the bathroom. Yuuri warmed the water in the shower, then the two stepped in under the multiple shower heads, taking a moment to adjust their aim.
"Oh my god, this feels good," Victor sighed, "I'm so tired."
Yuuri's arms curled around him from behind and Victor relaxed into his lover's embrace, closing his eyes and breathing more slowly.
"It's not fair," Victor yawned, sagging in Yuuri's arms, "I want to make love to you, but…"
"Shh, be quiet and rest, okay?"
"I am an old geezer, like Yurio says," the Russian skater complained, "I'm all worn out."
"You're not old," Yuuri said firmly, "You've been training really hard, that's all. You're amazing, coming back like you have after what happened in Japan. Give yourself a break."
Victor sighed more contentedly as Yuuri's soft lips made a trail of wet kisses along the side of his neck and along the back of one pale shoulder. He went silent then, relaxing even more as Yuuri's caring hands bathed him. He was barely on his feet as they finished their shower and stepped out to dry off. Yuuri stole the towel from Victor's clumsy hands and dried him off, then he nudged his weary partner out into the bedroom. By the time Yuuri dried himself off and left the bathroom to dress, Victor was naked and collapsed on the bed, already asleep. Smiling, Yuuri tucked him in, under the covers, then he left Victor sleeping as he dressed and left the master bedroom to wait for the others to return. Victor was still in a deep sleep when Tora and Nico entered the hotel suite, followed by their bodyguard.
"Hey guys," Yuuri greeted them, "Did you have fun?"
"We sure did," Tora said, smiling and looking around, "Where's Daddy?"
"Oh, Victor's really tired from his last practice before the competition. He's resting right now. I'm sure he'll be up for dinner later."
But as the hours passed, there was no sound from the master bedroom, and when Yuuri went to check on his sleeping husband, he found Victor still curled up and snoring softly. He adjusted the covers and kissed him on the top of the head, then left the bedroom and returned to where the others were waiting.
"He's still sleeping?" Tora asked, giving Yuuri a worried look, "Are you sure he's okay? Should we call the doctor?"
"Victor's fine," Yuuri said reassuringly, although his own doubts nagged at him even as he said the words, "He's just really, really tired, and he has a major competition all this weekend. We'll just let him rest while we have dinner. We'll put some away for when he wakes up later."
But Victor remained asleep until early the next morning, when he slipped out of bed and dressed, then he left a note for his slumbering husband.
Yuuri,
Thank you for taking care of me yesterday. I'm sorry that I wasn't up to making love or anything else. I'm just very focused on the competition. I promise that I'll make it up to you when we get home. Please give Tora a kiss for me and tell her I'll be looking for her this afternoon. I'm going to be doing some extra training, then I have some things I have to do before tonight. Sava will be with me, so just stay close to Artur. Be safe.
Love,
Vitya
He left the bedroom and started towards the door, only to be stopped short by Tora's soft, scolding voice.
"Where do you think you're going, mister?"
Victor turned his head and smiled warmly at her in response.
"I forgot you are also an early riser," he chuckled, "I have some things to do before the final practice session. I will see you and the others at the arena later."
"Hmm," the girl said, crossing her arms, "I don't think you're leaving without eating something first."
"Oh, I'm not hungry," Victor said, shaking his head.
"Coffee and a bagel at least," Tora said sternly, "You're not stepping one foot outside that door until you've eaten something."
She made a sound of surprise at the mingled look of curiosity, affection and slight sadness he gave her.
"Daddy, are you okay?" Tora asked quickly.
"I'm fine," Victor assured her, grabbing her into a tight hug, "It's just that sometimes you really remind me of her, of Sage. Come, we'll have a quick bite together before I leave."
Tora followed him to the kitchen, watching as he opened the refrigerator and looked inside.
"You did love Mommy a lot, didn't you?" the girl asked quietly.
Victor turned to look down at her, his eyes soft and affectionate.
"I did love her, even if we weren't in love. Love doesn't have to be romantic for it to mean something. If things had been different, if Sage's father hadn't been so dangerous, I think we would have stayed in touch. I think she would have told me about you. I don't know what we would have decided about custody or anything else, but we wouldn't have fought over you. She wasn't that kind of person. Sage would have let me be a part of your life, and I think that she would have welcomed Yuuri also. She had a heart that big, you know?"
"Yeah," Tora agreed, her eyes misting, "I know.
The two turned their attention to making breakfast that they quietly shared at the table while Yuuri and Nico remained asleep. When they had finished, Tora washed their dishes and Victor dried them and put them away, then Tora walked her father to the door. Victor bent and kissed her on the top of the head, then patted her cheek in parting.
"Good luck in the competition, Daddy," Tora said, hugging Victor tightly, "I know you're going to win."
Victor looked down at her silently for a moment, then dropped onto one knee in front of her, making her look back at him quizzically.
"Tora, I want you to remember I said this, all right?"
"Okay, Daddy," Tora agreed, "What?"
Victor let out an uneasy breath, then took her face in his hands.
"Remember that I told you…sometimes there are things that are more important that winning."
"You don't think you're going to win?" Tora asked, frowning.
"I didn't say that," Victor said, smiling tiredly, "I will always do my best and try to win. I just mean that when you do anything, skating or anything else, you should always listen to your heart and do what it tells you to do, even if it's not an easy thing to do. Just remember that I told you that."
"Okay," Tora promised, "I'll remember, Daddy."
"Good girl," Victor said, kissing her cheek.
Tora frowned as she noticed a bit of dark purple fabric sticking out from under one of the cuffs of her father's runner jacket.
"Daddy, is that…?" she began.
Victor smiled sadly and stood.
"I have to go. I'll see you at the competition."
"See you there," the little girl said, grabbing him and hugging him again, "I love you, Daddy."
"I love you too, Victoria," Victor said, petting her hair.
Tora watched silently as he left, then she walked to the master bedroom door and tapped on it gently.
"Yuuri-san?"
"Come in, Tora-chan," Yuuri called back in a sleepy voice.
Tora scampered into the bedroom and crawled onto the bed, dropping onto Victor's pillow and smiling at Yuuri.
"Did Victor leave already?" Yuuri asked, squinting at the clock, "It's pretty early."
"I made sure he ate breakfast before he left," Tora reported, "He said he had some things to do before tonight and he'd meet us there."
"Hmm…"
"Yuuri-san, I'm worried," the little girl confessed.
"About what? Did it seem like something was wrong?" asked Yuuri, sitting up beside her.
"Daddy said he was okay," Tora explained, "but…"
She paused, her frown deepening.
"You don't think he was okay?"
"W-well, he said something kind of strange when I said that he was going to win the competition."
Yuuri's head tilted and he looked at the girl curiously.
"What did Victor say?"
"He said he wanted me to remember that…sometimes winning isn't the most important thing. I thought he was just nervous that he would disappoint me if he didn't win, for some reason, but then I saw…Yuuri-san, he wasn't wearing his free skate costume."
Yuuri considered for a moment, then he climbed out of the bed and walked to the closet, where he found his husband's free skate costume still on the hanger. Tora's eyes widened.
"Yuuri-san, what does it mean?" she asked.
Yuuri looked down at Tora and ruffled her silvery hair with one hand.
"Victor was sending us a message," he said reassuringly, "He didn't want us to worry. He has something special planned for tonight."
"How do you know?" asked Tora, giving him a mystified look.
"Because, if Victor didn't want us to know what he was doing, he would have taken it with him. That he left it here means that he wanted us to know that whatever happens tonight is just what he meant to happen all along."
"Yuuri-san, what is Daddy going to do?"
XXXXXXXXXX
(hours later at the ice arena…)
"The last skater to take the ice is going to be Victor Nikforov," Morooka reported, "but we've been informed that Victor will not be performing his planned program. Instead, in honor of his fallen Russian teammate, Kiriyak Kasaty, Victor will be wearing Kasaty's costume and skating his teammate's program, Love is Never Lost."
"And you can see and hear the reaction of the crowd as Victor is removing his jacket and everyone sees," a second reporter added.
"The sound is just deafening," Morooka said in an awed voice, "They're cheering and many in the audience are in tears as Nikiforov moves into position. Kasaty's wife and son are at rinkside, alongside Victor and Kiriyak's coach, Yakov Feltsman."
"Kiriyak's routine, of course, is not at the same level of difficulty as Victor's. It will be interesting to see how he will address that."
The crowd quieted and watched breathlessly as the music began and Victor began to skate.
"His execution of the opening and the first combination spin are just beautiful," Morooka reported, "He's moving into the first jump and I wonder if he's going to stick with Kasaty's move, the quad toe loop combination, or if we'll see something more difficult."
"And…no!" the second reporter said, staring and shaking his head, "Although it's obvious that Victor could have changed the program to raise the difficulty, as the program advances, he is performing it exactly as his late teammate would have."
"I don't know what to say," Morooka breathed in a choked voice, "I just…I'm at a loss to describe what's happening. The crowd is just mesmerized."
"Everyone in this arena knows what's happening here. Although he has the lead, and he could clearly have adjusted the program to go for a win, instead, Nikiforov is basically handing the win to J.J. LeRoy and even with the wide margin he has after the free skate, the best he can probably earn is second or third…and that's if there are no mistakes."
"Yes," Morooka agreed, "Even with this, so far, flawless performance, "J.J.'s program has a much higher level of difficulty. Even with the highest grade of execution, it would be nail-bitingly close."
"Well, Victor is delivering as close to a perfect performance as I've ever seen. Look at the seamless transition here, and he is performing Kasaty's trademark spin move as though it was one of his own."
"The effort it must have taken to master another program this late in the season," Morooka mused, "I'm amazed at the beauty of the moves I'm seeing here. This really is a lovely and touching tribute to Kasaty. You can see on the faces of Kasaty's wife and son that they agree."
"Look! Look at that triple axel combination. It's textbook, from start to finish."
"He's following with a triple flip, another stunning jump. As he starts the final set of moves, the crowd is already on their feet. People are crying and wiping their eyes. I don't think anyone was expecting something like this."
"Even Kasaty's family looks spellbound, and as the music falls away, the roar of the crowd is deafening. At center ice, Nikiforov has dropped onto his knees and tears are streaming down his face."
"I don't think I have ever seen such an emotional performance. It's a shocking conclusion to an already dramatic competition. Nikiforov is climbing to his feet and skating to the kiss and cry, but the crowd is still reacting. Kiriyak's wife and son have joined Victor and his coach in the kiss and cry, and…and all of them are wiping away tears. This is a truly breathless, spine tingling moment as we wait for Victor's scores."
"And…they are impressively high!"
"Did he do it?"
"No, no, he came about as close as statistically possible, but his score puts him just behind J.J. LeRoy and earns him the silver medal for the NHK Trophy competition."
"This does mean that Victor can still qualify for the Grand Prix Finals," Morooka concluded, "but I have a feeling that nothing we see in the Rostelecom Cup is going to hold a candle to what we've witnessed here, tonight. Take my word for it, folks, this one has been nothing short of amazing!"
In the kiss and cry, Victor leaned wearily against Yakov, his heart still pounding and his body shaking softly with the dregs of emotion and exertion. The old coach held an arm around him, helping him to his feet, then he led the exhausted skater out of the kiss and cry.
"I th-think I need to sit down," Victor said, holding a hand to his midsection, "I'm dizzy, Yakov."
"You were training too hard, trying to learn Kiriyak's program quickly, weren't you?" Yakov concluded, "You weren't fully recovered from your injury and you've exhausted yourself. Just a few steps more to the medical station."
He helped Victor to lie down on a cot as Yuuri, Tora and Nico ran to join them, and a medic rushed to Victor's side.
"Daddy?" Tora called out in a scared voice.
"I'm all right," Victor assured her, taking her hand as she reached his side, "I'm just very tired."
He looked up wearily into Tora's scared eyes and smiled.
"I'm sorry," he apologized, "I did do my best."
"It's okay," Tora assured him, "Like you said, sometimes there are things that are more important that winning."
