CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
-Coming full circle! Skating your Aria took you off the ice, and with it, I now bring you back!-
The crowd was still screaming in disbelief. The SkateHusbands spun around each other quickly; Yuri gently stroked his idol's face, and Victor reached out to touch his beloved's waist. They quickly broke off with their hands held together between them to continue the program, skating backwards as the cheers carried them onward.
Yuri spun around to let Victor's hands get onto his waist from behind, and as the song's next verse was heard overhead, the Russian lifted him into the air.
Stammi vicino...
A woman's voice joined the song, creating a perfect harmony with the original vocalist.
As Yuri's skates were lowered back towards the ice, Victor helped turn him around to land backwards. Victor's right hand under his partner's back as his left held to the man's shoulder. They spun around one another freely and with grace.
Fully upright again, Yuri could feel his fiancé's fingers touch lightly under his chin, and he returned the gesture, deftly placing his left hand on the man's cheek.
Non te ne andare
Victor leaned into it, closing his eyes briefly to savor the moment of that touch with all the lights and cameras on them together. They moved around one another gracefully, and Yuri again leaned his back to Victor's chest, feeling the man's hands around his waist.
Ho paura di perderti
He felt himself be lifted off the ground a second time, this time spun around twice before coming back down again. They quickly unraveled from the maneuver, and parted from one another, skating in a wide arc with their right legs straight out behind them, left hands reaching out ahead. As the arc waned, they brought their free leg down again, almost dragging their hands down the front of their necks and chests before reaching both hands up desperately towards the heavens, and flipped back around with a single reverse jump.
They came back around, this time with Victor's back to Yuri's chest. He dipped a bit in front of him, feeling the man's hands along his forearms, turning his head to only-just-nearly kiss him right there before pulling away again.
(Male) Le tue mani,
(Female) Le tue gambe,
They took each others' right hand and skated away facing each other, twisting around each other until Yuri was behind again.
(Male) Le mie mani,
(Female) Le mie gambe,
They kicked out one leg each, skates scratching along the ice with intricate, delicate footwork, rotating around one another so closely that the audience thought they'd tangle on one another; it made their hearts race.
E i battiti del cuore,
Si fondono tra loro
They had skated apart, out into arcs at opposite ends of the rink, each completing a triple Toe-loop, triple Lutz combination before quick-stepping their way back towards the middle. As they spun their way around one another, they entered into a wide outside-spread eagle, swirled, spun back towards their opposite corners, and then headed back to the center again. Gaining speed, they flung themselves into the air, beautifully passing one another with a quadruple Salchow before they landed again to skate backwards and away from one another, arms extended in longing as they parted.
As they returned to their opposite corners, they slowed down into a combination spin. When they rose up, they reached out again to one another, skating in wide circles around one another; they vaulted into a triple Axel, single Toe-loop, triple Flip jump sequence before they glided out again.
In a risky maneuver, they skated blindly backwards towards the center of the arena, spinning around to pass only a second before they might've collided. A quick burst of energy brought them back around to the sides of the arena, and their paths converged again. Yuri took Victor's hand, and was spun closer to him for a moment before they started to drift again. But this tim,e they didn't let go...their eyes locked, and Victor slowed them down. Yuri's skates went out ahead of him as his body started to tilt backward, and Victor slowly started to lower himself into a wide rotation. Yuri felt himself tilting so far back that he could feel his hair skimming the surface of the ice.
They spun three times before Victor pulled him back up to his feet again so they could skate off into the final part of the program.
Partiamo insieme
They held to each other's hands for a few simple kicks and twists, until Yuri pulled Victor closer and lowered him in turn. The Russian balanced on one skate, the other propped up on top, as Yuri leaned over him until he was nearly horizontal, holding the man up with one arm under his back, the other arm displayed out behind him. He lowered his face enough that he could practically touch his nose to the open part of Victor's shirt. Yuri held there for a moment, then lifted his partner back up again, and they spun away from one another to once again return to opposite ends of the rink.
Ora sono pronto
The music was coming to its end, and so too was their Exhibition skate. They pushed off from their corners to slide slowly forward, nudging their advance with the toe of their rear boot. When they were finally within reach of each other, they held out their left hands to lace their fingers together, and slowly circled their way closer together. When they finally stopped, and the music was over, they faced one another, their eyes lowered, left hands grasped tightly, right hands up by the other's face, but not quite touching.
For a moment, all they could hear was the heaving of their own breaths.
That's when the pair noted the low rumblings of a chant.
...Victuri...
...Victuri...
...Victuri...
...VICTURI...
...VICTURI...
...VICTURI...
...VICTURI...!
The roar of the stadium's chant was enough to make the very ice vibrate with energy.
When the duo finally broke out of the stance to acknowledge their fans, they kept hold of each other's hands between them. At least, until Victor spun Yuri around to pin his back against his partner's chest, leaning over from behind Yuri's shoulder to nuzzle his cheek. They looked ahead together into the pitch darkness, the black velvet sea coming to life with the flash of a thousand shimmering stars.
"This is even better than winning the Gold." Yuri said, still catching his breath. He turned his head to the right so he could see Victor there, "You made one of my craziest wishes come true. You don't know how much this means to me...!"
"The feeling is mutual." Victor pointed out, smiling brightly.
Yuri started to tear up again, and Victor did his best to corral his young fiancé towards the exit; despite their euphoria, their performance was done and the show had to go on. The audience was entertained by it though, seeing Victor skating off with Yuri clinging to his back. The crowd cheered for them with one last big wave of applause before they slipped out of the light, and through the curtain to the brighter rink-side staging area.
Phichit and Celestino were there waiting, clapping enthusiastically for the pair, and handed them their blade guards as they came through. Victor dipped back out to quickly grab his coat before he could forget, fitted his blade-guards, and slung his arm over Yuri's shoulder as he met the growing crowd of skaters.
Congratulations, applause, fanfare, gratitude, jealousy, envy...all of it was there, like a soup bubbling over. Even a swarm of sports reporters was there to greet them with eager questions. A few were particularly excited about the prospect of new Pair skates.
"This could be a whole new artistic approach!" One called, "No one's ever really seen a Pair skate between two men before...at least, nothing like that! Please tell us you'll do more!?"
"This was just the tip of the iceberg." Victor happily explained, "Though we may compete as individuals, after the great reaction we got from the crowd - and now you as well - I imagine that we'll have a lot of Pair programs for Galas in the future."
"Do you already have your Worlds program put together, Victor!?"
"I've had my programs ready since before I became Yuri's coach. I'm just a little sad that I'll only get to use them in one competition before the season's over!" He shrugged casually at the group, looking a little despondent, "But...while I am excited about coming back to competition...this is supposed to be Yuri's celebration. He's our Men's Gold medalist this weekend! Let's hear it for my fiancé!"
The crowd cheered excitedly again, and Yuri's face went bright red as they all - friends, coaches, reporters - all clapped for him. Victor pulled off his back to join the clamor, and stood dutifully by as the real questions started coming. The interview lasted straight through the Silver medalist Exhibitions, with each group coming and going through the curtain to skate and then go do their own interviews. Yuri was surprised at how many things could've been asked of him.
Has your training regiment changed since the Final? What does figure skating mean to you, now that you're engaged to someone you only knew as a competitor or rival before? How do you manage the coaching-student relationship now that you know Victor is coming back? Do you think he'll go easy on you? Do you think you can beat him for the Gold? What do you think you'd do if you won?
It went on for ages, but Yuri started to feel more at ease about it all the longer it went on. It still made his heart stutter when he had to consider beating Victor at a competition they were both skating at though. In the end, all he could do was nod, smile, and rankle his brow nervously, "Honestly, I'm not even entirely sure what I'd do if I somehow beat him. Victor will always be the best skater of our time. If I score higher, it's only because he helped me do it. These are our victories, not just mine. I feel like he's actually out there on the ice with me when I skate now, guiding my movements in real time. It's probably the closest thing to cheating I can think of without actually doing something wrong." He mused anxiously, and slid his arm behind the man's back to pull him closer into the half-hug Victor had started, "It's been the honor of my life to have Victor be my coach. I've just...always looked up to him, wishing I could skate even half as well as he did. Coach Celestino did his best with me, but there was just that little something extra that I needed that a conventional coach couldn't give me."
"Oh? What's that?"
"Loooooove~!" Victor sang in answer, and squished their cheeks together for emphasis as he sway-hugged his beloved, "The more I could show my love to Yuri, the better he skated! Now that we're together, he's absolutely amazing on the ice! I can only wonder how much better he'll be when we've said our vows!"
"Where are you going to go for the wedding? Somewhere new or known?"
"Oh, we hadn't thought about that yet." Victor stammered, acting a bit more normal again as he stood steady, "I think Yuri imagines it on top of the hill at Hasetsu Castle. Yuri?"
He blanched slightly, "I've only gotten as far as imagining it on a hill somewhere, but not any specific hill. I think I'm still recovering from the idea that we're getting married. I have no clue about how to plan weddings though!"
"It's bound to be one of the biggest events in skating, outside the rink!" Another one of the reporters pointed out, "Be sure to let everyone know when you pick a date! We'll be glad to come and chronicle it! Fans love knowing about what their idols get up to in the off-season!"
"Absolutely~!" Victor cheered; Yuri nodded beside him.
They stayed and watched the other Exhibition skates for a while, and then changed back into their normal clothes. It would only be another hour or so before the Four Continents Banquet, and they were eager to get back to the hotel room to get ready for it.
.
Sitting all-but-naked on his knees on the red hardwood - freshly showered - Yuri held up the tattered remains of his button-down shirt with a worried look on his face, "...Oh no, I forgot..."
"Just wear the button-down shirt from your 'Duetto' outfit." Victor suggested, texting someone as he slipped behind the man. His free hand touched softly to the small of his beloved's back, "I promise not to rip that one off of you later."
"You promised you'd only let me have one glass at dinner the other night, too." Yuri pleaded, "That worked out real well!"
"Oh, I'd say it did." Victor winked at him as he disappeared around the corner to look at himself in the bathroom mirror, and made a few final adjustments before they were ready to leave again, "In any case, there's nothing for you to worry about being late for tomorrow morning if you want to sleep a hangover off. I also bought something special for us while I was wandering around town on arrival day." He set his phone on the vanity and checked the lapels of his shirt.
Yuri pulled off his sweater and rummaged back through his costume bag, and pulled the silky black shirt out to hold it up, "...It's so revealing though...it doesn't even button up the front all the way..."
"I don't see a problem here." Victor teased, leaning out again just enough to give a sultry smile.
"I almost feel like you planned it this way." Yuri balked at him.
"It was the back-up plan in case you forgot to buy a new shirt." The Russian pointed out, "But you really should show off a little more, you know? The competition arena isn't the only place where you can look sexy."
I've never been one to show-off in my normal life...now he says I should try to look more sexy outside the rink... Yuri thought - and blushed - and looked at the shirt in his hands again, then slipped it over his arms and shoulders. He buttoned it up as high as it could go, and pulled at the dark lapels where it parted to show skin, from the bottom of his pecs and on up, "I don't know... This is weird!"
"How is it any weirder than being naked in the onsen or topless at the beach?"
"I dunno! Why is it weird to wear under-shorts outside but not swim trunks?"
Victor paused in his reflection, eyes narrowed as the conundrum struck, "...Why is that weird? They both cover the exact same parts." He asked aloud. He spotted his fiancé come around the edge of the bathroom door to join him, though at that same moment, his phone buzzed again and drew his eyes down to the vanity where he'd put it. His expression changed as he lifted the device and read the Cyrillic text on his screen; his smile faded to nothing, and his whole affect seemed heavier.
Yuri could feel the air around his partner change, and he moved closer to press a hand to the man's back as he stepped alongside, "...Everything okay?"
"It'll be fine." He answered, and clicked his screen off.
"It will be fine?" Yuri echoed and cocked a brow, "...You don't have to tell me what's wrong if something's happened, but please don't lie to me if something has."
The Russian looked a bit perplexed, but then looked down at his phone when it vibrated yet again. He wasn't sure what good it would do to read what else had come through, and just swiped the message away to make the screen go dark again. He then flipped it to make it face down on the counter, and turned his back to his partner ominously. For a moment, there was nothing but silence, but then he lifted his head to peer at that worried face in the reflection in the mirror, only one eye visible to him.
"...Victor..?"
"I'm not sure if anything is wrong." He answered, "I don't know if I should be sad or happy or...indifferent."
"I don't get it."
"Have you ever wondered..." Victor started, though his words trailed slightly as he tried to find the right way to continue. He had to shake his head a little to return to the moment, "...Have you ever wondered, truly, how would you feel if someone you were supposed to care about, but hadn't even seen in years, suddenly came crashing back into your life?"
A pit grew in Yuri's stomach, "...I don't know, I've never really been that close to someone that I'm not still close to now. Small town problem, I guess."
"Mh..." Victor nodded, lowering his gaze a little, "It's hard to describe."
"I want to know..."
The Russian realized a tear had dripped down his face, falling between his feet on the tile floor, but he refused to acknowledge it. He turned his head a little to look away from his reflection, "I've been texting Yakov."
"...Okay?"
"Someone with the ISU had given his phone number to someone I used to know. Years ago. Someone related to a person I once cared for deeply, but had a falling out with." He explained, his fingers touching the blue 'Duetto' caricature on his phone-case, "The thought of this person was so far removed from my mind by all these years that have passed. I haven't talked to her in years. I wasn't even totally sure she was...even still out there at this point."
Her? Yuri's gut-pit grew even deeper, Is this an old lover of his?
"My skating career has always been important to me." Victor continued, "To the point that I put off everything else. Heh...at one point, when we were in Barcelona, I even thought about how much my skating had caused me to neglect the 'life and love' in my existence. I had no life, I had no love...I just had the ice. And I was always such a hypocrite, skating to the themes of these ideas when I had no idea what I was talking about anyway." He finally lifted his head and turned around, and reached out to lightly put his fingers on Yuri's chin. He gently touched his index and middle fingers to that nervous lip, "Being with you these past ten months has made me realize how much I missed having those things, and how much I wanted to have them back. I can't even imagine myself without you by my side anymore. Every image that passes through my head has you there with me, even when we're both so old that we can't walk on our own anymore, never mind skate."
"Victor..."
"I don't know how to even...tell you about what's been said to me just now." He said, his voice quieter, "I'd let you read it yourself, but it's all in Russian, so I...guess I have to say it out loud."
"Whatever it is, we'll be okay." Yuri reassured, "I want to know."
Victor nodded warily, and stepped closer to slide into a hug, holding his beloved close with arms over the younger man's shoulders. He breathed in the damp smell of freshly conditioned hair and clean skin, and exhaled a long breath against his partner's neck, "...I'm not going to be able to go with you to visit Hasetsu after all." He said sadly, "You'll have to go on alone while I deal with this situation back in St. Petersburg."
"What? No, you can't-"
"This is a mess I don't want you to get wrapped-up in. It's better that you don't have to go through it." The silver rephrased, and pulled back a bit to look into those worried eyes with a serious look, "This isn't a pleasant thing that's come up. It'll hurt you if you go through it. It might hurt us."
"Victor, please, you've got to tell me what's going on. I'll start imagining all the worst possible things and you know it'll mess me up, especially if none of them are even real..."
"I...can't..." Victor tried, though his resolve was fading fast, "I've been avoiding the topic for so long that I'd thought I could finally get away with never dealing with it."
Realization struck, and Yuri's panicked face changed slightly, "Is it...your family?"
With no further recourse, Victor nodded and lowered his eyes to stare at his toes, "My mother is dead." He said abruptly, his fingers tightening on Yuri's shoulder where he held it. He stayed there in that uncomfortable silence for a moment, but then moved to pull Yuri to his chest to hold him close, retreating to that familiar smell of his fiancé's body.
"...I'm so sorry..." Yuri attempted, returning the hug easily, but it did nothing to assuage his worry, "I don't...even know what I'd do if I lost my mom."
"That's just it..." Victor said, a sad laugh on his lips, "I just found out my mother was killed this weekend, and...I feel worse about the fact that I don't care, than I do about the fact that she's gone." He squeezed his beloved tighter, burying his face against the crook of the man's neck, "Forgive me...I'm a horrible person."
"W-...No you're not!" Yuri insisted, "Don't say that!"
"Let's just go to the Banquet." The emotionally-distant Russian said abruptly, and pulled up from that safe spot, "I don't want to think about this anymore."