CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

-Late nights and cider! We're going WHERE!?-

Yuri had quickly pulled his skates on and headed out onto the ice, joining Victor and Yurio in a casual freestyle skate. Yurio was clearly exhausted, but after watching their practice for the previous few hours, Yuri understood all too well how that felt.

"So you're not going to do that new Short Program after all?" Victor asked.

"Nah..." Yurio confirmed, hands stuffed in his track-suit coat pockets, "Since I skipped it at Euros, there's not much point. I'll just skate 'Agape' at Worlds and save the new SP for next season."

"That's good. Skating new material inevitably gets you lower scores. Best to just stick with what you know."

"Mh..."

Yuri felt a buzz in his back pocket, and moved to reach for his phone, "Huh, wonder who it is? Yu-chan? Nishigori...?" He wondered quietly. When he clicked on the screen and saw that wasn't the case, he felt like his soul had just escaped his body from the panic.

Victor noticed and looked back at him, "What's the matter?"

"N-nothing!" Yuri insisted, "Everything's okay! It's good!"

[Victor?]

I must've hit the Send button when Yurio scared me! Yuri thought in a panic, What should I do!? "I need to sit for a second, I think there's a rock in my skate." He lied, and broke-off to head back to the rink exit.

The other two just continued on without him, waiting for him to come back in his own time.

Yuri sat on the bench near where he'd left his shoes, and motioned to take off the offending skate. But his eyes stayed on the message he'd received. He sighed and moved to reply, slouching in resignation to fate, [No, this is Yuri.]

The reply came faster than he'd expected, not even able to shake out the empty boot before he felt the vibration on the bench where he'd set the phone down.

[Oh! Hey! Did Victor tell you to message me? I'm still in the city but I'm at the train station, about to leave.]

[Yakov gave me your information. Victor doesn't know I reached out.]

[Ah, I see.] There was a pause, [Can I do something for you?]

Yuri realized he hadn't planned this far in advance, and wasn't really sure what to say in response. He watched Victor and Yurio pass by as a group of kids and their minders took to the ice on the other side of the rink. He could hear the group of youths calling out greetings to their nation's skating champions.

[Yuri?]

He sighed and shook his head, No sense backing out now, [Can you stay in St. Petersburg for one more day?]

[Sure. What do you need?]

[I want to meet with you. Victor practices alone late in the evenings so I can get away without him noticing.]

[Where do you want to meet?]

.

There was a café within walking distance of home, and Yuri left to head there with Makkachin. He sat outside with a hot cup of cider and waited, butterflies in his stomach the whole time. The big poodle licked at a cup of whipped cream where he lay on the concrete patio, slowly wagging his tail contentedly.

"Yuri?"

He lifted his head to look, and sure enough, there he was; tall, thin but not skinny, flat-cap over a long black overcoat, and wisps of silver-grey hair framing two jade-green eyes. The taxi that brought the man there started to pull away, and Mikhail held his one small carry-bag in his left hand. Yuri huffed to himself and stood up, bowed in greeting before he looked up again, and reached out his ringed hand, "Mikhail-san..." He bowed his head again when the elder took his hand to shake it, and they both took a seat at the same table. Yuri pulled his chair in close to the edge, and reached down to ruffle Makkachin's head. When he looked across again, he took a moment to really look the man over carefully, "...Your resemblance to Victor is unreal. If I didn't know better, I'd have easily thought you were his dad rather than Kon."

"Yeah... That's been said before." The elder nodded warily, "When I saw Victor at the funeral, I thought I was looking at my younger doppelganger. He really takes to our side of the family, more so than the Nikiforov side."

"What's your family name again?"

"Rozovsky."

"How did your families meet?" Yuri wondered, and took a sip from his cider.

"Older generations of both families settled in the same little town; it grew up into a pretty big industrial hub, but then waned to scattered hamlets again after everything fell apart in the 90s. We all grew up together. Victor escaped at a pretty early age."

"I can only wonder. He won't really tell me anything; a few bits and bobs, but nothing substantial. The most I've gotten out of him is that he really doesn't want to talk about it."

Mikhail nodded, "Unfortunately, I don't know the whole story myself... I had left prior to it all taking place. My sister...as much as I try to remember, anyway...said that Victor had been found by some coach from the big city while in the area on other business. Tatiyana had taken Victor to a bigger town with a proper skating rink, and the rest was just fortunate timing."

"Yakov said that Victor looked up to you as a kid," Yuri revealed, "How long were you there for?"

"Oh... Victor was really young. Five or six, tops. ...How is he, anyway?"

Yuri hesitated a moment, but then leaned back in his seat with his cup, "It was pretty hard for a while. He was really tender for the first week after, but it's better now. He just has some residual yellow spots. They should be gone by the time he skates at Worlds."

Mikhail nodded as he listened, "And you?"

"And me?" Yuri repeated, "...Why would...?"

"Well, you're his fiancé, right?" The elder gestured to the ring he knew was hidden within those velvet-leather gloves, "I'd have been out of my mind if something like that happened to someone I loved."

"Oh..." He sank a bit where he sat, and lowered his eyes to the mouthpiece. His brow furrowed under his beanie, "...Victor tried to assure me that it wasn't my fault. I may not have been the one who hit him, but Victor would've never been there to get hit if it hadn't been for me."

"...What do you mean?"

Yuri drew a pained breath, "Yakov told us what happened when we were still in PyeongChang for my last competition." He started, "Victor even told me that he struggled to react to the news; he was more worried about what it said about him that he didn't care, than the fact of it. He said he didn't want to deal with it...and that we should've gone to Hasetsu like we'd planned, and forget about the whole thing."

Mikhail watched carefully.

"I thought that, maybe he could get closure on that part of his life if he went anyway. I asked him to think it over. He decided to go at the last possible second... After Konstantin made us meet him first, I should've stopped Victor from going to the funeral. I should've tried harder... I should've..." Yuri stammered, and his voice cracked. There were tears in his eyes, but they hung on his lashes, "He got so badly hurt... I've been so scared ever since. I can't go to the rink anymore without worrying that Konstantin's gonna show up again; he knows where we train! He could follow us back home and try to kill Victor like he threatened he would! What do I do!? He's so much bigger than both of us! I can't protect him!"

The elder reached across the table and curled his hand over a forearm, "Kon's not that ambitious. He's huge and scary but...he takes the path of least resistance."

Yuri just gave an incredulous look behind his terror, "I'll...keep that in mind...I guess...?"

"Sorry..." Mikhail backed up again, "I'm still trying to reconcile what I saw with what I knew of the man growing up. Kon never put his hands on anyone."

Yuri's brow furrowed tightly, "He nearly crippled Victor. I've had nightmares every night since I saw him all bloodied and broken, and you're just surprised?"

"...My apologies are going to get pretty meaningless if I keep giving them, so I'll save them." Mikhail said stiffly, and leaned back in his chair, "I put myself between Kon and Victor when I saw what was going on. I can't undo what was done. I want to make up for it though...for not getting there fast enough, for being gone all these years." He explained, and watched that tortured look on Yuri's face soften a little bit, "Since you came out here on your own, and Victor doesn't know about it, I'm guessing that you're trying to vet me."

"...Sort of." Yuri acknowledged, and snuffled slightly, "Victor basically refuses to talk about his roots; he gave me a one-line summary about his parents and then asked me not to ask for more. I don't intend for this to be a dialogue where you spill all the family secrets, but..."

"They'd largely be secret from Victor, too, anyway." Mikhail explained, smiling, "But you want him to have the same kind of experience of family as you've had."

Yuri nodded again, "Victor lived with us in Japan for a few months while he was coaching me last year; my family considered him family even before we got together. I came with him to St. Petersburg about three months ago to continue training."

"That's what I read." The elder man leaned forward against the table again, and set his forearms against it, fingers laced together, "Russia's Hero coaching Japan's underdog."

"Underdog?" Yuri echoed in confusion, and shook his head, "I mean...so you've been researching?"

"You already knew that."

"Yeah..."

"I spent a whole day after Tatiyana's funeral trying to find out more about Victor. I had no idea how skilled or famous he'd become since leaving home. I don't think anyone in the family knows what kind of a gem he is. I'm kind of glad they don't care though; the way Victor feels right now, he'd probably flee the city."

"He's used to attention from fans...family not so much. I don't think he knows what to do with the idea."

"Has he ever told you about me?"

Yuri leaned his head back, but then shook it, "He came close to saying he had an uncle once, but that was the end of it. All I know is what he said when you came to the rink."

"...I see. That's unfortunate."

"The thing is..." Yuri started again, and pulled his cider cup close, "I made a huge mistake before, suggesting that Victor go to that funeral. I don't think I'll ever forgive myself, despite what Victor says. I don't want him to get hurt ever again. I'd like to get to a point where I can tell him that I'm talking to you, and maybe help put you guys back together...but I need to do it slowly."

"It sounds like you come from a good family." Mikhail surmised, "The way that Victor's been treated by his must be pretty foreign to you."

"It ahh...it's been different." He confirmed, scrunching his shoulders up a little, "Yeah."

"Then I'll keep my distance for now," Mikhail continued, "The last thing I need is for Victor to think I'm creeping on him."

.

Yuri settled on the couch with Makkachin as the night wore on, watching some meaningless thing or another on the television while he waited for Victor to return home. He was half asleep when he finally heard the sound of the garage door. The poodle awoke as well at the noise, and hurried off to the doorway to greet his human excitedly.

When Victor finally got in through, Yuri had sat upright and rubbed his eyes, and quickly realized it was after 3am, "Wow...you had a late night." He said blearily.

Victor dropped all his gear in the hallway and pressed on past the dog, practically lunging at where Yuri sat, "Sorry, but I had to keep working!"

"Something big?"

The Russian latched onto him affectionately, "You'll see at Worlds. I'm so excited!"

"You're freezing!" Yuri protested, nothing but a t-shirt separating him from the frozen cold of Victor's winter coat.

Victor had no issue with shrugging it off, and let it thump to the floor in a heavy pile. Other clothing quickly went with it, until he was not but pants and socks. He eagerly laid passion onto his fiancé, hardly able to slow down.

Yuri could feel his eagerness, and his own interest slowly rose in kind, "You must've pulled off something crazy to be this excited, Victor." He said, and lifted his arms as those ice-cold hands pulled his shirt off, "But I bet you won't tell me what you did."

"I can't!" Victor said cheerfully, "I really want to though!"

"Tell me."

"I can't!"

"Tell me!"

"NOOOOO!" The man wrapped both arms around Yuri's torso and hugged him tightly.

"Victor!"

"Fine!" He finally relented, and moved to pull his beloved's legs around his waist so he could get closer and whisper into his ear.

When he heard the words, Yuri shook his head in disbelief, "You...what? That's impossible. No one can do that."

Victor's eyes told the truth though.

Yuri still couldn't believe it. He shook his head a little, and reached up with one hand to cup his partner's face. He felt the lean into it, and Victor put his own hand over it before turning to kiss his palm. The energy changed after that, and Victor leaned over him, "Let's just go. We'll book the first flight to Spain. Never mind the huge wedding plans that'll take forever to arrange...never mind inviting a bunch of guests. Let's just go, you and me..."

"You want to elope?"

"We'll make it an adventure. We'll go straight from Barcelona to Helsinki for the competition...and we can take our honeymoon in Hasetsu after that." Victor's gaze was determined now, "Come with me, Yuri!"

"We..." He stammered, the whole thing like a blur in his mind, "...Yes, yes absolutely!" He called out. He saw a few tears of joy fall from Victor's eyes, and the man pushed in to kiss him again...and again...

.

The next flight out of St. Petersburg to Barcelona was soon on the horizon. It was a whirlwind of preparation, but they were sure everything was accounted for. They packed their belongings for the competition with the things they'd need for the next two weeks in Spain, and even brought Makkachin with them this time. When it was all finally done and arranged, Victor was practically pulling Yuri through the streets to the Barcelona Town Hall. They heaved to catch their breath when they finally got inside. Mercifully, several of the people who worked inside spoke a smattering of English, so they were able to proceed without much difficulty.

Victor had booked the appointment, and it wasn't long before they were called to enter the antechamber where the little ceremony would take place.

And so...the moment finally came.

The city Mayor took a breath, and looked to the first of the pair, "Do you, Victor Nikiforov, take this man to be your husband?"

The silver legend nodded, holding both of Yuri's hands in his own, "Yuri Katsuki...I take you to be my husband, from this time onward, to join with you and to share in all that is to come. To be your faithful spouse, to give and to receive, to speak and to listen, to inspire and respond; a commitment made in love, kept in faith, and eternally made new. Whatever lies ahead, good or bad, we will face together. Distance may test us for a time, and time may try us. But if we look to each other first, we will always see a friend. Yuri...look to me for all the days to come...today, I take my place as your husband."

Yuri was practically crying already, but Victor squeezed his hands.

The Mayor continued, "And do you, Yuri Katsuki, take this man to be your husband?"

Brown eyes rose back up to meet blue, "Victor Nikiforov..." His voice quaked a little, and he took a deep breath before he could continue, "I take you to be my husband. To share the good times and hard times, side by side. I humbly give you my hand and my heart, as a sanctuary of warmth and peace, and pledge my faith and love to you. Just as this circle is without end," He said, and gently thumbed at the gold band around his fiancé's finger, "...My love for you is eternal. Just as it is made of incorruptible substance, my commitment to you will never fail. Today...I take my place as your husband."

The Mayor nodded, and looked out past them to the 'official witnesses' that had gathered to watch, "We are gathered here today to celebrate one of life's greatest moments. To cherish the words which have united Victor and Yuri in marriage. Marriage is the promise between two people who love each other, and who trust in each other, who honor each other as individuals, and who choose to spend the rest of their lives together. This ceremony will not create a relationship that does not already exist between you. It is a symbol of how far you have come. It is a symbol of the promises you will make to each other, to continue growing stronger as individuals and as partners. No matter what challenges you face, you now face them together, and no matter how much you succeed, you now do so together. The love between you joins you now as One. And so...it is with great honor that I pronounce you...Husband and Husband."

They both stepped towards each other, and kissed each other warmly. The officials that had gathered all started to clap and cheer for them. When Yuri pulled back to look up at his newly-made spouse, his eyes were heavy with tears. Victor just smiled down at him, tears in his own eyes, and Yuri broke down entirely. He threw both arms over Victor's shoulders and sobbed against his neck.

This is the happiest moment of my life...