prompt: "at last I see the light" (vesperass-anuna)

rating: K+

genre: modern/non-magical au, ice skating au

summary: After years of searching for the right pairs figure skating partner, Aleksander has finally found her.

a/n: this is what came to me with that prompt. it's probably not what you imagined. (also, i had to fix the russian surnames because of reasons.)

this is my first time writing in this fandom. i hope it's okay!

BORN FOR THIS

"You'll break her," his mother warns him, "just like the rest of them."

The corners of Aleksander's mouth tip up as he watches the viral video of a self-taught pairs skater flawlessly landing a triple Axel while her companion barely manages a double. She's the one. After years of searching, years of holding himself back because his partners have been perpetually—frustratingly—several steps behind him, he's found her.

"She's not fragile," he says, not caring that awe leaks in his tone. "She's perfect."

Baghra is unconvinced. "We shall see."

The young woman is all wide-eyed innocence and anxiety when she arrives at the estate a week later, and his mother takes in the frail, half-fed thing with a snort. She cants a brow at Aleksander in an unspoken "told you so," but he's right about the girl. The skating world will know the name of Alina Starkova. They will worship her, and it won't be grudging like the respect they offer him.

Practice is grueling. It's less than three months until Nationals, where they will prove to be the only pair worthy of representing their small, war torn country at the World Figure Skating Championships. Alina fights it at first. She swears through tears after her tenth fall that this only works with that second-rate hockey player—that she doesn't have any real talent of her own. That won't do at all.

Aleksander pulls her up from the ice, grips her by the arms, and waits for her to look up at him. "Do you think I brought you here to make a fool of you? To make a fool of myself?" he asks.

She blinks up at him and quietly shakes her head. He releases her, glides over to first position as Braghra yells, "Again!"

"She pines for that boy," his mother says later. "She'll never be fully in sync with you."

Aleksander hasn't missed the thread of longing quivering in Alina's voice when she speaks of her childhood friend. It bothers him. Why should she yearn for her old, insignificant life when she could be so much more, when she could do so much more for their people? He'll have to do a better job of showing her what she can have through him.

He takes her to his private garden, bares his soul to her—only a sliver as this is, after all, about skating better. He seeks her out when they're not practicing, initiates conversations about nothing and everything, and it works. She lets her guard down inch by inch until she's laughing at their stumbles on the ice, sticking out her tongue behind Baghra's back. Until she places her hand over his late one night when the unrelenting pressure is snapping its ugly, familiar teeth at him.

"We're in this together, right?" she murmurs, and for the first time in his life, he wants something more than a gold medal.

Nationals are upon them, and he finds her outside of his hotel room the night before the competition. She paces the corridor, picking at the scar on her hand—"from grabbing a pair of old skates by the blades" she told him once.

"Don't be nervous," he says, stepping into her path. "You were born for this."

She breathes a sigh. "I think I believe you." She gives him a wisp of a smile. "Thank you for…everything. I get it now—why it's so important." Her gaze dips, and she looks up at him through her lashes. "I like being a part of this."

His pulse thrums in his chest. He has her—finally. And when she rises up on her toes and brushes her lips over his in a kiss too brief, he knows he has her entirely.

They skate as if they share a single heart, executing each jump, each spin with breathtaking transcendence. The arena erupts in thunderous applause when they finish, and he basks in the glow that radiates off of her.

"It won't last," Baghra says that evening, and Aleksander fully sees his mother for what she is—a bitter hag who can't handle that her son has far surpassed her. That he dared to chase a dream bigger than she ever imagined for herself.

"You're wrong," he returns coolly, chin lifted in disdain. "Long after our skates sit collecting dust, the world will remember Morosov and Starkova. They may not love me, but they will love her. She is all that matters."

He doesn't wait for Baghra's reply before turning on his heel toward his hotel room—where Alina waits for him.

They are going to change everything. Together.

~FIN~

a/n: thank you so much for reading! if you have the inclination, i'd love to hear your thoughts.