CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FIFTY NINE
Preparing for the Free Skate was suddenly the most important thing. Yuri felt the adrenaline rushing already, and was practically having to run laps around the long end of the arena just to burn the extra energy, lest it start to drive him crazy as he waited. Waiting the 15 or so minutes for Seung-gil Lee and Leo de la Iglasia to do their Free Programs and get their scores almost felt like torture though.
The time finally came though. Yuri felt the hand on the back of his shoulders, and he pulled the buds out of his ears as he turned, seeing his coach and husband there.
"It's time."
"Yosh."
"You're even more fired up about this than you were a minute ago." Viktor pointed out affectionately, taking his partner's hand in both of his and raising it up to kiss the ring thereupon, "You're really ready to fight for this."
"I've scored around 225 before. I know I can do it again. I have the best program and the best coach in the entire ISU." Yuri answered back, a fire burning in his eyes.
Slate orbits blinked at him, but then met hazel with the same determination. Viktor nodded, patting the back of his partner's hand where he held it and giving it a gentle squeeze, "Yes you do. Let's go."
Picking up the poodle-plush tissue-box, they moved on towards the curtain to rink-side, and stepped out just as Leo was leaving the kiss and cry, fans cheering and hollering at his new Personal Best score. Viktor pulled the curtain aside and Yuri stepped through, drawing in a deep breath as he closed his eyes, a strange sense of calm falling over him.
My heart is racing...I feel like every muscle in my body is primed and ready to spring...
He opened his eyes and looked around. Suddenly, the entire arena seemed to explode with cheering. It was difficult even to hear the announcer telling him to get onto the frozen stage.
"Next to take the ice, representing Japan..."
The screaming was like a tidal wave; Yuri thought he'd be bowled over by it if it was any stronger. He felt his husband's hand on his lower back, and moved over towards the entrance in the rink wall.
"...Yuri...Nikiforov!"
That's when the signs started coming out.
Japanese flags, banners with Yuri's name on them, some even with 'Viktuuri,' others still with blown-up images from his and Viktor's wedding photobook. They were all there and accounted for.
The young skater reached down and pulled his blade-guards off, handing them over to his coach one at a time before shrugging out of his team jacket. His heart was pounding even harder then. Just when it seemed like the adulation couldn't get more intense, Yuri set one blade onto the ice and pushed off...and the tidal wave became the biggest tsunami he'd ever heard.
Wow...! He thought, looking around at all the people who were up out of their seats cheering, screaming, ready to throw their plush sushi and nigiri out onto the ice alongside the plush boodles and bouquets of flowers, even though he hadn't skated yet. The incoherent waves of cheering started to merge into something more stable...people were stamping their feet on the ground in every aisle, at every level. Soon, the stomping became a chorus of thunderous beats, even rivaling the war-drums of Otabek's Free Skate. The chanting of Yuri's name came after that.
"YURI! YURI! YURI! YURI! YURI! YURI! YURI! YURI! YURI!"
That's when he spotted the new signs. They weren't flags, banners with his name, or photos from the picture book. They were carrying messages.
OVERCOME THE SHORT PROGRAM
The skater turned around then, looking to find his coach like he needed a second set of eyes to confirm what he was seeing, but the Russian was just as mystified. In fact, the closer Yuri slid over towards the rink-wall for his last pep-talk, the more he realized...Viktor was starting to cry.
Blue eyes were open towards the stands, paralyzed, seeing OVERCOME in numerous places. He couldn't even manage the strength to blink anymore; tears ran freely down his cheeks, falling off his chin to land on the lapels of his jacket.
"Viktor...!"
"Huh?"
Yuri set his hands on the top of the wall, then reached one forward towards his husband, sliding it inside the front of the man's coat to curl around his waist and pull him closer. Stepping up onto his toe-picks, Yuri was even taller than his coach for once, and he tilted his face down a little to see his partner evenly, "You're crying again. Are you going to make it?" He asked, his words flavored with a slight laugh as he spoke them.
"I'm what?" Viktor asked, reaching up to rub the droplets off his face, realizing it was true, "...I'm..."
"Do you remember now?" The skater wondered.
Hazy images were flashing before the Russian's eyes, the echoes of words spoken and forgotten, tears shed and thrown into the wind. Even in spite of having seen the videos, Viktor suddenly knew, in entirety, what he'd done...the things he'd said and how upset he'd been. Tears fell even more heavily than before, and both arms went up over Yuri's shoulders as he took the last step forward to bury his face against his husband's neck. The poodle-plus tissue box in his left hand suddenly fell from his grasp, bouncing off Yuri's back and landing a few feet behind him on the ice.
No words needed to be spoken; Yuri understood perfectly well why his husband was sobbing as heavily as he was in that moment. He moved his other hand into the man's coat and hugged him close, still standing slightly over him on the tips of his toe-picks, leaning forward against the rink-wall. He could feel all ten fingers where they clenched desperately to the back of his shoulders, not wanting to let go...but Yuri knew he had to. He pulled his head back, and gently lifted both hands to the Russian's face, setting their foreheads together as he closed his eyes, "There's no place else I'd rather be than by your side, Viktor. Even on the ice, I carry a part of you with me always." Hazel eyes half-opened after that, seeing azure looking right back at him the same way.
"Y-Yuri..." The silver Russian spoke with barely a whisper of a voice, feeling one hand move up and away to come down on his shoulder, the other doing the same, then slipping a finger under his chin to lift his face. Even with all the time they'd already been together, Viktor had never once felt so vulnerable as he did in that moment, looking up into his partner's eyes. He felt nervous, excited, warm, anxious, protected...terrified...but above all else, loved. He knew in that moment, the man he called his husband would never leave him. His fingers still held tight to Yuri's back, but gentled a little when he felt those lips on his own. Blue eyes closed, and the maelstrom of cheering surrounded them again.
Time was running out; Yuri pulled away a little, nosing his husband affectionately before starting to slide back down onto his blades. He smiled confidently, hands coming down over the silver man's arms until they were only touching by their fingertips, "I'm off. I'm looking forward to having you kiss my new gold medal."
Viktor's cheeks went pink to hear the words, and through his lingering tears, he nodded and smiled, "I can't wait."
After quickly tossing the Makkachin plush back into waiting hands, golden blades scratched at the ice as the younger skater took off, finally presenting himself properly to the judges and audience as he made his way quickly to center. With one last deep breath and a kiss on his ring, he took his position, head tilted down as his hands came palm-up at his sides, right leg crossed behind the left. Eyes closed, Yuri slowly exhaled...and the music began.
The bass slowly rose into the rafters of the stadium, rattling the roof on each boom.
Yuri nudged himself gracefully forward with a push on his toe-pick, gliding ahead with his eyes still closed. He felt relaxed, calm...even if every fiber of muscle in him was itching to burst. Staying relatively close to where he began, he wove his skates intricately over one another, arms up and delicately vibrant, moving like still, clear water over smooth stones.
I can hear the lost crying,
He dug his left toe-pick in ahead of him, stopping on the boom in the lyrics. His right hand was out high behind him as the left was low in front, head tilted down to look at his upturned palm.
I can hear the truth hiding, hiding.
He rotated his arms, bringing the right up in front instead, setting it close to his ear as the left went out to the side. His legs twisted under him, rotating him in place, slowly sliding him away from center in reverse.
Yeah the shadows are calling us out,
Hydroblading backwards, Yuri sank low on his right leg, the left carefully extended out from under him, left hand gliding along the ice by a single finger.
I see the fear rising.
He went back up to his full height, twizzling three times on a forward inside trajectory before extending his arm out on the next boom.
Yeah when hope is burning, the shadows are calling us out.
Pushing through a 3-turn, Yuri flipped himself back into reverse and built up speed, moving backwards along the short edge of the rink with his arms extended to the sides, waiting for the next boom in the music.
It's feeling like the sun's hiding,
The thrum of the bass launched him into the air, sliding back on the inside edge of his left skate, then digging his right toe-pick in to push him up; he spun four times with both hands above his head, and landed the right blade cleanly.
Viktor had a hand over his mouth in awe, Yuri, you really will manage to get that 3+ GOE quad Flip you wanted so badly last year... You can't ever doubt yourself again after this...
But we're gonna keep moving, surviving...
Yuri launched again with the boom, entering the first combo jump; triple Lutz, triple Toe-loop.
Judging the height and speed of each jump had become second nature by then, unlike the previous year when he was still applying what he'd only just learned from his idol. Now, he could draw the audience further into the program by leaping and landing with the beats of the song. They were on the edges of their seats as the music gained power and intensity, and the performance met it head on, getting more and more difficult as it progressed.
I bet Minami-kun would like this sort of thing... Yuri thought randomly, recalling how quickly the teen had caught the crowd's attention solely on the merit that he danced in time with his Boogie.
No we won't go quiet tonight, stand up and shout louder.
Serpentine step-sequence; twisting and weaving along an S-shaped pattern on the ice.
Oh no, no, we won't be silent, the shadows are calling us out...
He ended on a double-twizzle, extending both of his arms out as he slid towards the middle of the short end of the rink, almost paralyzed during the brief interlude, but for the end where he swung his arms back and...
We are heroes
...Death-drop into a camel spin.
Heroes in the darkest times, when there is no light, Oooh...
Arms behind his back at first, then with them out to the side. He curled into himself just long enough to throw himself upward, leaping into a foot-change to start another camel spin. Yuri grabbed his left blade and pulled into a horizontal doughnut spin, rotated several times before pulling that same blade behind his back. Not letting go, he pulled the skate up behind his shoulders, reaching back with his free hand to grasp just below the knee and continued to spin.
He let go abruptly, kicking that leg out to flow backwards along the ice with the momentum.
We are heroes, heroes in the darkest times, but we'll rise above, Oooh...
Second step-sequence, this time diagonally across the ice. Yuri drifted from one corner to the next, skates a blur as his arms conducted the orchestra.
We are heroes...
Yuri threw himself into a flying sit-spin, becoming a black and sparkling blur on the ice. He lowered his left leg from being straight out in front, to crossing in front of the right, and raised his left arm straight up above himself.
When the night is starless,
The dark-colored blur morphed with the boom, and both hands came in to grab the left leg where it was already just above the ice.
Only we can spark it...
He pulled out of the spin and dug his left toe-pick down hard into the ice, then immediately raised both hands up towards the ceiling. He spread his hands out wide as his arms moved them out in an arc away and then down.
Light it up in the darkness, Oooh...
His body flowed with an unusual sensuality, hands coming up along his thighs and sides as he started gaining speed around the short end of the rink.
When the night is starless,
Three-turn on the boom into a quad Lutz, triple Loop combo. Bonus points for being just inside the second half of the program.
Only we can spark it...
He rotated slowly, bringing his arms up and out in front of him as he went backwards towards one corner of the arena. He spun and crossed his legs, wheeling around to each beat of the song.
Light it up in the darkness, Oooh...
Yuri twisted and vaulted, throwing his body as hard as he could into a quad Loop, lifting off and landing on the right skate in a flurry of frost. Skipping from reverse to forward-face again, the skater delivered himself across the ice gracefully.
We are heroes... Heroes in the darkest times
He threw himself into the air again for a triple-jump combo; triple Axel, half Loop, triple Flip.
...When there is no light, Oooh...
Twisting from front-face to backwards, Yuri pushed on, leaning back as far as he could into an Ina Bauer from one side of the long-end of the rink to the other. He threw himself around, crossing one skate over the other as he turned to avoid the wall with ease.
We are heroes...
He dipped low on one knee, bringing both hands in front, and rotating them towards himself twice over as he raised them up in time with the lyrics.
Heroes in the darkest times,
Another quad, this time a Salchow, sweeping his legs low before landing deep and moving on.
...But we'll rise above, Oooh...
Viktor was grabbing hard to the rink-wall, That's already his fourth quad and he's still got time...Yuri, what are you planning for the very end? You're running out of options...you won't get points if you repeat some of those jumps again...
We are heroes...
Butterfly jump, illusion spin, rising into a scratch spin, descending into a sit-spin with a twist variation...the young Asian skater was a blur on the ice. He hopped into the foot-change and kept going, scratch-spinning away.
We are heroes...
There was a brief pause; then the song cut into the most intense crescendo of the entire piece. Yuri pulled out of the spin with flair, rushing backwards along the rink wall and heading towards center. The drums were beating like thunder, and adrenaline was pumping wildly.
This part reminds me of the end of Eros... Yuri thought, intense footwork pushing him through the deafening beat of the climax. He twisted around and set himself to skating forward again, and then the silence came.
Yuri, you're not... Viktor was wide-eyed and breathless as he watched, You are!
The skater threw himself with every ounce of energy he had left, rising from the forward-facing stance, spinning four and a half times...landing hard and falling, but immediately getting back up again and moving on as though he'd planned it that way all along.
Oooooh...
He pushed into his final move; the combination-spin. He entered as a back scratch-spin, arms close to himself, but raising them up high and gaining speed. Arms came back down again as Yuri lowered himself into the leg-out sit-spin.
We are heroes...
He raised his hand up towards the rafters and leaned out over his extended leg, toe-pick hovering just above the ice as the right blade carved a circle beneath him. Rising back up again, he spread his arms out wide, crossing one leg over the other and then bringing his arms back in to speed up one last time...
The final thunderous drum-beat of the song signaled a toe-pick into the ice, and the end of the program. Breathlessly, Yuri extended his right arm out ahead of himself, and brought it back down with fingers splayed in front of his face, clenching it into a fist as he looked out towards his coach overtop of it, panting heavily. The song faded out, and all Yuri could hear was the thrum of his heart beating like a machine in his chest, blood rushing through his ears. It was hard to tell where that sound ended and the screaming of the audience began, but at some point, the cheering and applause overtook the pounding in the young skater's head.
I feel so light... I don't know if I'm over-tired or if I still have energy left in me... I'm sure I'll feel this later.
"THAT WAS INCREDIBLE!" Morooka yelled into his mic, "SKATER YURI REALLY BROUGHT IT HOME! Now we wait for the judges to tell us whether he's going be able to OVERCOME HIS SHORT PROGRAM!"
Yurio and Otabek were speechless where they stood near the curtain to the prep area. They weren't sure if they really saw Yuri out there on the ice anymore, or if it was some monster that just happened to look like him.
"...Five total quads...and...a quad Axel at the end...?" Yurio said stiffly to himself, not-quite clapping, but trying to, "When did he...?"
"Maybe we shouldn't have encouraged him so much yesterday." The Kazakh offered, clapping where he could despite the three Ted plushes still in his arms taking up most of the space around him, "He just turned into a 10,000 calorie katsudon out there."
"No kidding."
Viktor was practically jumping out of his skin as Yuri came back to the rink-wall, grabbing for the skater's water-bottle and squirting some of its contents on the hapless athlete's head. Rubbing it back through the dark raven hair to help cool Yuri down, the Russian was overjoyed.
"I don't even know what to say!" He started, kissing him several times and everywhere, "That was incredible!"
Yuri was still panting though, rubbing the water over his face where it dribbled out from the messy black mop on top of his head, "I have...to score... Score over...222...to win..."
"Let's get to the kiss and cry! This is so nerve-wracking!"
They sat anxiously; Yuri had finally managed to get his wind back as he put his skate-guards and jacket loosely back on, leaning exhaustedly onto his coach. His lungs were ripe and burning by then, but at least he wasn't breathing so hard, so it didn't hurt as much. His right thigh was really throbbing though, and he pressed his hand hard against it, not that it helped any.
Viktor stroked his partner's hair a little bit, whispering quietly as they waited, "You really outdid yourself. I'm sure you'll get a perfect score. Though...I'm a little shocked you attempted the Axel at all, never mind at the end of the program... I've never seen you practice it."
The younger figure drew in a hissed breath as he pushed off the massive bruise on his hip, "The triple Axel is one of my favorite moves, so...I...I wanted to try the quad... I never expected to land it, but if I could at least get all the rotations in, even losing a point for the fall still gets me 14.0 for the base value alone... It's still higher than a perfect quad Lutz..." He explained, "I don't... I don't think I'll try it again, that was really hard... I just...want...to win..." He heaved, gritting his teeth against the pain in his leg, "I need ice..."
"The score for Yuri Nikiforov..."
They both looked up, their hearts in their throats.