"Yurio," Victor sang out the name, instantly irritating the teen. "If you insist on retiring, shouldn't you focus on making your final performance one worthy of the history books? We don't want another breakdown like you had in the short program."
"I didn't have a break down," insisted Yurio, not sure what to call what had happened to him a few days back.
"So defensive!" Victor teased, .
"I am not being defensive !" Loudly yelled Yurio, causing a number of passersbys to quicken their pace.
It was a cold November day as the small group walked to the competitions rink, which was only a few blocks away. The frigid air that wafted over St Petersburg from the Malaya river would have caused even the most seasoned travelers to waddle up in their warmest clothes. But for Victor, Yurio and their coaches the air felt refreshing, it's cold bite heightening their senses. A thick layer of light grey clouds loomed overhead, obscuring the sun from the city. The early morning traffic snailed past them amidst agitated honking and frustrated yells.
It felt strange to be back in St Petersburg, walking the streets they had known most of their lives, following routes and paths without a second thought. There was a comfort in this feeling, and yet the word home eluded them when Victor tried to describe this city to himself.
"You keep checking your phone". Observed Victor. "A little trouble in paradise with Ms Kane?"
"Shouldn't you care a little more about your own relationship, Victor?"
"Ah! So there is a relationship between you and Ms Kane?`` Victor exclaimed excitedly, pleased at having cought Yurio in his own words.
Like always, Victor always seemed to hit the hammer on the nail with affairs concerning Thalia. Since coming to St Petersburg he hadn't seen her once, it's true they'd messaged a few times since then, but Thalia's answers were uncharacteristically short, as if she were too busy to give him a straight answer . Yurio half wondered if it was because he'd messed up in the short skate, placing him in 5th. Had she lost faith in him as a skater already? Not that he cared or anything.
"Do not waste time with relationships." Explained Lilia cooley, deciding to input her own words of advice."Drink, eat, make love- simply live the life that satisfies you. Don't waste it on a relationship trying to satisfy the insatiable."
"Is that the appropriate thing to say with your ex-husband around?" Wondered Victor, eyeing Yakov who had wisely chosen to stay quiet.
"There is a reason why he is my ex-husband." Lilia said cooly,
Thalia was secretly wondering what she had gotten herself into when she had agreed to Victor's plan. Her parents had supported her all the way though now she was regretting refusing their offer of staying with her at the train station. She had somewhat hoped that Nadia would have offered to stay with her, but she had made it very obvious she didn't want anything to do with Yuiro, why Nadia hated him so, Thalia had no idea. Her parents seemed to find it quite amusing that their daughter had become the butt of gossip tabloid news, especially since the short program where people had finally snapped a decent enough photo of her to be recognised.
The train should be arriving soon. A message from Victor informed her, Thalia would never have thought a few days ago that she would be messaging Victor Nikiforov, but this was his plan after all and they had agreed that Thalia would leave him a live location so he could keep track of her progress.
She looked up at the arrival sign as a number of names in russian illuminated the black screen, each one indicating an arrival time. Thalia looked down at the cheat sheet Victor had neatly prepared for her, each little slip of paper with a common phrase she would most likely need in this endeavour. One had the name of Mosocw translated, and that was the train she was looking for.
There were a long list of arrivals, a few had flickering green lights indicating the ones that had arrived at the station. She scanned the names a few more times, of course the one she was looking for would be the one running late. However she practically jumped off the bench when a new green light flickered into life near the name she had been looking for.
From her backpack she pulled out a large, neatly folded piece of paper with a lot of writing in russian on it. It was meant to indicate to the new arrival that she was the one meant to take him to the ice rink but, for all she knew, it could say that she was a poop-head, but she'd have to take Victor on his word that that wasn't what was written.
Within a few minutes a mass of people began to file out of the express bullet train from Moscow into the main station, most in suits and briefcases as they stormed past Thalia without a glance and dared brave the frigid weekday morning outside. Thalia felt beyond stupid, standing beside her bench holding up her little sign, like a taxi driver waiting to pick up a client, but she had not taxi and the person looking for her wasn't a client.
"Nathalia Kane?" Thalia jumped, almost dropping her sign as a deep, heavily accented voice called her name from the opposite side she was looking. A tall main, well into his seventies was cautiously waiting for her as she turned to face him. He was a tall man, though it was hard to tell due to an obvious hunch in his stance. A web of wrinkles covered the little face she could see past his beret and beard.
"Nikolai Plisetsky?" Thalia sheepishly asked, putting down her sign as the man carefully put down the carrier bag he had been holding, from the looks of it, his only piece of luggage.
The man nodded his head with a warm smile and some words in russian Thalia couldn't understand but he extended his hand, a gesture the girl did understand and she shook it in greeting. Thalia quickly flicked through her cheat sheets and presented him with one.
I'm sorry, I don't speak russian.
Nikolai nodded his head, Victor had already warned him of this, the language barrier was going to be a problem as the old man didn't know any english. But the two were determined to make it work if it meant helping out Yurio. The man simply nodded his head, showing her he understood. She then picked out another card and allowed him to read it as she went to pick up his carrier. Thalia's eyes bugged as she realised what was in the bag but with no cheat prepared for this particular question she decided to ask later.
Nikolai nodded his head, obviously thanking her as she carefully lugged the carrier bag and led him to where the taxi that Victor had booked for them was patiently waiting, with another sign, this in english, with her name on it. The pair got into a taxi and the driver said some words in russian, Nikolai answered, nodding his head, most likely confirming the location they had to go.
On the Taxi with Nikolai." She texted back to Victor who sent her a thumbs up. The ice rink was about an hour's walk away from the station, something, even without a bad back, was not something Thalia would have liked to try as she looked out at the sky choked with clouds. The taxi should get them there within 20 minutes, allowing them to arrive with plenty of time before the men's free skate even began. Thalia had even questioned Victor why he needed her for his plan but he mysteriously answered. "You're plan B."
Which honestly did not make sense to her until she'd realised, since leaving the station's parking area 10 minutes had passed and the station was still in view behind them. A chorus of car honks filled the taxi as she opened her window and tried to see what was hindering their travels. She could see flashing lights in the distance and the wail of sirens. Nikolai asked the taxi driver something and the man answered, "There has been a crash." The driver said in english for her sake, "It may take us a while to get there."
"Any chance of us getting there before 10?" Thalia asked, hopefully.
The driver shook his head solumnely.
Damn, so that's what Victor meant that she was plan B.
"Okay, Okay…" Thalia brought out her phone and quickly typed in the address, allowing the maps to calculate the shortest route there, crossing out busses as another means of transport which seemed to be the only way to get to the rink. Thalia zoomed into the map, looking at the area around the rink for other possibilities. She saw one.
"Please, can you let us out here?"
"You sure?" The taxi driver asked, he wasn't particularly worried about any loss, he had been paid in full prior to the pick up. "It looks like it may snow."
"Thank you! But we'll manage." And Thalia quickly unbuckled her seat belt and opened the door. "Would you mind telling the man with me that we will be getting out here, please?"
The taxi driver did so with ease, and, although Nikolai looked very confused he also got out of the car and marched to the pavement as Thalia began lifting her phone and turning around in circles, Yurio's grandfather most likely thought she was crazy.
"This way!" She yelled excitedly, understanding which way to go. She excitedly pointed up the street for Nikolai to understand. The two walked a few paces, her eyes barely ever leaving the screen.
"Gah!" She spat, spinning back in the opposite direction, almost crashing into the old man and almost dropping the bag. She apologised loudly and began leading the old man in the other direction, Nikolai shaking his head as he carefully carried the bag in both hands,
"Kids these days…" He mumbled in russain as he followed Thalia. She led Nikolai through the winding streets of St Petersburg, the air getting colder by the second, it was almost numbing when they'd finally entered the metro station she had been looking for. Quickly, she marched towards the nearest metro map, her eyes jumping from her phone for the name of the closest metro station to the ice rink, they'd need to change twice it seemed, but it was doable.
She turned toward Nikolai, her mind already racing as she tried to figure out where to buy tickets from. Nikolai was looking around in interest, back in Moscow he'd had his own car so he never really had to catch the underground before. The bullet train here had already been something quite interesting.
The girl went to a ticket machine which thankfully could be converted to english and she began the process of purchasing the two tickets they needed. But, as she fumbled with her backpack to retrieve her purse, Nikolai pushed her hand away, feeding money to the machine before she could refuse.
"Thank you!" She said, shoving her backpack back over her shoulders. Nikolai nodded his head with a smile, understanding that much. The underground of St Petersburg was like any other metro Thalia had ever caught- hot and stuffy and with way too many people. Thankfully it appeared they had missed the morning rush hour for the most part, at least there was enough space on the metro for Nikolai to sit, Thalia would have felt too guilty dragging the old man though this maze with the bad back Victor had warned her so much about.
Thalia where are you going? At some point Victor asked when, according to the metro map, they had gone slightly off route in hopes of changing at the next station
Plan B. She quickly replied, making Victor burst out into laughter on the other end, much to Yurio annoyance.
"And we are finally out!" Thalia cheered, punching the air as she waited for Nikolai to near the exit of their final stop. He gave her a thumbs up taking a deep breath as the fresh river air bit at their faces finally emerging into the open air. In the time they had been buried in the underbelly of st petersbourg a flurry of snow had begun, slowly coating the pavement in a soft icing. Thalia ran her hand through her hair as she looked between the snow and Nikolai, should she wait for a taxi to take them to the rink? But the app told her that their wait for the taxi would take longer than walking the last distance they had to reach the rink. But she also had to remember she was leading Yurio's grandfather, who had a bad back, what would she do if she got careless and he got hurt?
Nikolai looked at the girl's perplexed face, getting the gist of her issue. He placed a firm hand on her shoulder to catch her attention and with his other hand made the universal gesture of walking with his fingers.
Thalia wanted to ask if he was certain but couldn't. She nodded her head, the two coming to a silent agreement. She would just make sure they wouldn't have to resort to plan C, because they had no plan C.
"Vitya!" Growled Yakov, surprising Victor into almost dropping his phone. "You cannot sit on your laurels!"
"I'm not!" Promised Victor, sparing the screen of his another glance. The little circle that indicated Thalia's location had stopped moving some distance away and, when he'd tried to contact her she hadn't answered.
Yakov sighed, massaging his brow. "I know what you are doing is for Yuri but he will never be satisfied if he won and you hadn't performed your best because of this…"
"Yakov! I'm hurt!" Victor gasped with a fake offence. "Do you have so little faith in me?"
"I wouldn't have followed you around the world if I did." Yakov muttered, making Victor smile fondly at his coach.
"What are you two whispering about in the shadows like shady bastards?" Yurio roared, striding towards them, his hands in his pockets, his glare more irritated than usual.
"Yurio! If Lilia heard you say such words." Victor tutted as he shook his head. Victor wondered if he was grumpier at this being his last performance or that Thalia hadn't answered his messages most of the morning.
Yurio made an irritated face. "Why are your two waiting in here? The free skate is about to begin."
"Well…." Victor stumbled on an excuse as he looked at his phone once again. Thalia's marker still hadn't moved.
"Yurochka?" A deep voice echoed through the passageway, catching the attention of the small group.
"Dedushka?!" Yurio gasped, blinking, certain he was seeing wrong.
"Hello Yurochka." The old grandfather greeted warmly, hobbling slightly towards them, his coat and hat seemed wet and flakes of snow were still trapped in his beard. A small carrier clutched in his hand.
"What are you doing here?" Yurio yelled, running towards his grandfather, he looked so tired, how had he gotten here?
"I felt… I should show you this… in person." Explained Nikolai, carefully putting down his bag and rummaging through the pockets of his large coat to bring out an old, wrinkled piece of paper.
Yurio took it, unsure what he would find.
"I don't understand…" He began, trying to read the paper but unsure of what it said, it seemed rather complicated although he recognized the signinutes of his parents and grandfather at the bottom of the paper.
"They are papers of guardianship." Victor explained, having already heard the explanation when he'd informed Nikolai of his grandson's situation, it seemed Yurio had decided no to tell the old man of the agreement he'd made with his parents.
"Guardianship?" Yurio looked at his grandfather, muddled and confused.
"It gives your grandfather legal custody of you from when you first started living with him." Victor tried to explain.
"I still don't understand...:"
"Since you are still a minor it gives him power over your health and education…" Began Yakov.
"Simply put, your parents gave up their right to stop you from skating when they signed this little paper." Concluded Victor, proud of himself for such a flawless plan.
Yurio was speechless as he tried to read the paper that held so much power over his own life. "But my parents' money…" He began, his grandfather lived off a pension, without his parents' support they'd barely be able to support each other, let alone figure skating.
"We do not need it." Nikolai siad, sternly. "You are a good boy Yurochka. Every time you won, you gave me most of your prize money."
Yurio nodded his head, it was the least he could do, after everything his grandfather did for him.
"It would have hurt my pride as your grandfather if I'd taken money from a child but, although I knew not of your deal with your parents, I knew their money was a fickle thing so I saved it all." Nikolai explained.
"You did what?!" Gasped Yurio, this was too much information for him to take in, especially before a competition. "I gave it to you! You should have used it!"
"And I am, at last." His grandfather said knowingly. "Yurochka I am happy as long as you are happy. For years you've given me money and I have finally chosen how to use it- to support you and your dream."
Yurio was speechless.
"So I take it that this will not be your last competition?" Clarified Victor, his mischievous grin back on his face.
Yurio carefully gave the paper back to his grandfather. "Not by a long shot." He agreed, a new fire in his eyes.
"But Nikolai…" Victor turned to the old man, "What happened to Thalia?"
"Thalia?" Yurio turned to Victor, these last few minutes had had too many surprises for his liking.
"She was in charge of getting you grandfather here. It was my plan, but it was thanks to her that he got here on time."
"The guards wouldn't let her through." Nikolai explained sadly. "They only let me through because Victor warned them that a family member of Yurochka would be visiting."
"That's not right!" Victor mumbled, marching to the closest guard to set things right.
"You've got good friends, Yurochka." Nikolai said, planting a strong hand on the boy's shoulder.
Yurio nodded his head. He'd never asked for them but it seemed he did.
"You didn't need to get me back stage…." Thalia said, tugging at her hair as she tried to make her appearance somewhat presentable. The snow had melted leaving her a damp mess as the guard led her to where the small group was waiting for her.
"What kind of gratitude is that!" Victor gave an exaggerated gasp. "It's thanks to you Nikolai got her in one piece."
"Could have gone south, my phone died on the way here but thankfully the stadium was in view by the time that happened." She gave a nervous laugh. It would be putting it lightly if that morning hadn't been stressful and that her phone dying was the only thing that could have gone wrong.
"Now tell her thank you, Yurochka." His grandfather ordered, gently shoving the boy in her direction.
"And give her a hug." Added Victor in russian.
"I don't hug!" He growled unintentionally, saying that in english, causing his face to turn even redder as Thalia laughed.
"You don't look like the hugging type." She agreed, extending a closed fist towards him.
Yurio did the same, allowing their fists to bump. "Thanks for that, by the way." He mumbled, looking away as he said so, causing Victor to roll his eyes at the kid's entics.
"No problem." Thalia beamed, lowering her fist, "If you were going to retire from skating, it should be your choice." It seemed Yurio's situation had hit a little close to home for Thalia, but, if that was the reason why she'd helped Yurio she gave no hints. Instead she continued to say, "Now I have to know, why's there a cat in that bag?"
"Cat?!" Yurio turned, looking at the carrier bag beside his grandfather's feet. Realising the subject of the conversation, and with a look of having suddenly remembered he was carrying said bag, he carefully knelt down and unzipped the meshwork flap of the bag, pulling out a very ruffled and very fluffy cat.
"Potya!?" Yurio gasped, he hadn't seen the cat since he'd moved to japan, he'd missed the cat but that was the last thing he'd expected to meet before his competition.
"Security is selectively lax." Commented Yakov, as Nikolai handed Yuiro the cat, who looked extremely grumpy at having been dragged across the country and being particularly careful its nails didn't damage his costume under his jacket.
"Omg!" Thalia squealed, covering what remained of the distance between Yurio and herself in one swift jump, her face coming very close to his as she tried to stop herself from petting the cat. "It's so fluffy….gah! Of course I'm out of charge. I'd love to take a few pictures of this little floof. "
"Of course, meeting a grand champion winner doesn't earn a photo but meeting a cat does." Yurio complained loudly.
"That's because the cat is actually cute." Thalia teased, causing the coaches to burst out laughing.