Disclaimer: I do not own YOI. Just this fanfic.
The last chapter seemed to be well received. So from now on, I shall continue writing the backstory in that style. With parts of the chapter in the past timeline, and parts of it in the present. (I hope I won't confuse you guys with the constant date switchings! Please tell me if I am..)
Also, just a heads up that I'm writing a new fanfic that is based on a Korean-derived Chinese comedy reality game tv show (RUNNING MAN: CHINA). I'm just inserting characters from Yuri On Ice into it. Basically, this fanfic is based on one of its episodes, and there are several games in it that the skaters have to do to finish the big task in the end.
The events of the games are meant to be ridiculous so that the skaters will have a hard time completing them, giving their viewers a good laugh. Please visit my page and check it out if you can! It's called: Hurry Up, Skaters! Episode: Find the Code.
I was thinking of maybe making it into a series of fanfics, with each fanfic based on a different episode of RUNNING MAN: CHINA. But I'd like to know how well received it's going to be before getting in over my head. So please take out some available time and leave a REVIEW or something so I'd know what to do! And FAV and FOLLOW if you actually enjoyed.
Alright, enough talk about that fanfic, time to switch focus back to this one! This chapter was difficult for me to write since I had to seriously summarize the events of the 2014 Russian Championships while squeezing in some Victuri parts too! (In the end, I had to cut some events out and leave only the ones you'll read in this chapter.)
But I hope it's still enjoyable!
Please REVIEW, FAVOURITE, and FOLLOW! :D
Ch. 15: 2014 Russian Championships
Wed. Dec. 28, 2016. Victor's apartment.
Yuri sat by himself at the kitchen island with a plastic cup of water. It was early morning, and he felt too anxious to go back to sleep. To be honest, he barely slept at all last night! Being in another person's home, even though it was Victor's, made him feel a bit uneasy inside.
The warm air from the automatic heater filled the entire apartment. Despite that, Yuri still wore the fluffy bathrobe Victor gave to him. It made him feel comfortable and safe, and it smelled nice too. The quietness of the early winter morning made Yuri feel peaceful, which is a feeling he hadn't experienced in a long time.
He closed his eyes to take it all in. His dulled senses caused him to be unable to hear or feel the presence of somebody coming up from behind him. A pair of cotton covered arms wrapped around Yuri's neck and shoulders, a pile of silver hair buried itself next to his head.
Victor leaned in close to his significant other's ear. "Morning, Katsudon. Sleep well?"
Yuri felt at ease now with Victor here. This place didn't feel completely foreign anymore. "I guess if I don't count your thunderous snoring as a factor that kept me up nearly half the night."
Victor playfully hit Yuri on the temple with his hand. "You liar! If anyone was snoring, it was you! I had to come into your room twice to turn you towards around to minimize that horrid sound from your nose!"
"Wait, you actually came into my room last night?" Yuri repeated again.
"No, I was just kidding. And you didn't snore either, even if you did, I wouldn't mind it at all." Victor placed a gentle kiss on the side of Yuri's forehead. "You already washed up, right? What do you want for breakfast? Homemade or would you rather we go down to the local cafe?"
"Homemade. I'd like to help out this time, too." Yuri replied as he stood up from the island seat.
Victor smiled at him as he opened a cabinet to take out a container of coffee powder. "Ok, you can be in charge of the cucumbers. They should be in the bottom of the fridge."
Yuri began helping out however he can in the kitchen. Victor boiled the water and prepared the coffee while Yuri chopped up some cucumbers and whipped out a few spoons of mayonnaise, upon Victor's request.
Things went more smooth than Yuri anticipated. They worked so well and efficiently together, almost like a married couple—Yuri abruptly stopped his brain from going in that direction. This wild imagination needs to stop!
Finally, everything was set and ready. The two men sat down at the island with their collaborated breakfast in front of them, nicely placed in dishes and bowls. Small cups of boiling coffee were left to cool as Victor grabbed some white bread for him to spread the mayonnaise onto. Yuri took a few cucumbers.
Eating breakfast here at Victor's apartment almost felt like eating at a hotel, except that the breakfast is free and not delivered by an orderly. And it felt familiar to him. All in all, Yuri loved every second of this time being spent with Victor. He made the right choice coming here to Russia.
Now, it's time for him to get on track and learn more about Victor's backstory. "Victor," Yuri said after finishing his coffee. "Are you ok with continuing from where we left off last night?"
Victor paused midway eating his sandwich. He smirked at Yuri. "Whoa, feisty aren't you Yuri? Always so eager."
Yuri knew what Victor was implying and shook his head, his cheeks growing red. "No, not that kind of 'where we left off last night!' I meant your backstory!"
Victor shook his head chuckling. "I know what you meant the first time, just wanted to have some fun. But anyways...where did we leave off exactly?"
"You were preparing Liv for the 2014 Nationals that was coming in two weeks," Yuri reminded.
Victor snapped his fingers. "That's it! Wow, Yuri...I didn't think you'd be so into this story."
"The more I know about you, the better we can heal our relationship."
"To be honest, I think it's already starting to heal. But if you want to hear this—"
"And I do!" Yuri cried fiercely. Victor sighed.
"Well then, during those two weeks, I saw that Liv managed to improve the height and distance of her double axel and triple salchow jumps, but the rest of her jumps didn't move up that much. It was alright though, I was glad to see some improvement. She also tweaked her short program a bit to make it more difficult and also finished her free skate." He explained slowly.
Yuri rested the side of his head on his arm that is propped up on the island's surface. "Uh huh, what about Angela? Was she discharged from the hospital?"
Victor shook his head. "No, she wasn't feeling well enough to go into remission. So Yakov signed up as Liv's coach for the Russian Championships, which honestly surprised me. I guess he also saw something in Liv the way I did. But of course, I was glad he kept his word and stood in as her substitute coach."
"Yakov had to look after a lot of students, didn't he? I mean, he had you, Mila, Max, Constantine, Laurel…" Yuri lost track of the names and went blank.
"Yeah, he did. Those were one of the few times when I truly looked up to him again. It amazed me how sane and critical he could be when he is forced to be in charge of so many different students. I guess that's just a coach's life." Victor shrugged.
Yuri was curious as to what happened at the 2014 Russian Championships. "So...what exactly happened there? I didn't exactly watch it that year, so I don't remember too much. But I think I do remember your short and long programs, just not everyone else's, and definitely not the ladies' portion of the competition."
Victor picked up the leftover dishes, bowls, and plates and gently placed them down into the sink before rinsing them with the tap water. He scrubbed and dried them before putting them onto the racks.
"Then how about we watch the events of the 2014 Nationals on my laptop? It should be available on Youtube. Come on."
Victor pulled Yuri by the sleeve to his bedroom, where disorganized comforters and pillows filled the queen sized bed in the middle of the room. A messy Makkachin was sleeping sound asleep in the basket in one corner and Victor's laptop was left charging on the ground next to a power outlet in another corner.
He pushed Yuri onto his disheveled bed before unplugging his laptop and jumping onto the mattress next to him. Victor gave Yuri a large cylinder pillow to support himself with before typing into the search bar of Youtube, 'Russian figure skating championships 2014 full event.'
"I found it. I think this is it...yes, here it is!"
Tues. Dec. 24, 2013. Iceberg Skating Palace.
The events for the Men's, Pairs, and Ice dance short program were being held today. The first event out of all of them was the men's singles short program. All of them were nervous, all of them were warming up like their life depended on it both off ice and the second they stepped on ice.
The order of the skaters was completely chosen at random. And it just so happened that Victor was picked to go first. It was a blessing and a curse. A blessing because that spared any nerve-struck skater the fear of being the first to go up. A curse because it's Victor Nikiforov, and knowing him, well the bar's about to be set very, very high.
"What do you want me to say, Victor?" Yakov asked as Victor prepared to leave the boards.
"I don't know, how about just a simple 'good luck?'" Victor suggested.
"Right…" Yakov rolled his eyes. Victor smiled at his coach's behavior before skating away into the roar of the cheering crowd.
Pan's Labyrinth began playing over the speakers of the very large and modern ice rink. Victor performed it just as he would in any other practice, except this time, with more emotion, more emphasis, and more power in all of his strokes and elements.
It was a dark and melancholy piece, and he wanted to audience to feel that too. The sad yet creepy aura that should send chills down their spines. Victor lands all of his jumps successfully, which comes as no big surprise. The surprise is this new program, and that's all Victor wants to deliver.
He scores a 98.01 on his short program, which causes several of the skaters behind him to pale, with the exceptions of a few older or more confident and skilled skaters. No matter that, a 98.01 on a short program is still a high score that will be hard to beat.
After Victor's strong short program, the only programs that really caught his attention were those of his rink mates. Georgi skates a powerful program to an orchestral version of Revolutionary Étude.
Constantine puts the entire arena into a trance with his heartfelt program to Love's Dream. It was something that even brought tears to Victor's eyes. And then, of course, there was Max's program. A technically brilliant one with Winter's Wind playing behind him.
The results of the men's short program for Victor and his rink mates were as follows: Victor in the lead with 98.01 points. Georgi following him with 93.88 points. Constantine placed fourth behind a skater from Moscow with 88.52 points. And finally, Max placed fifth with 88.40 points.
The rest of the day was filled with the short programs of the pair skaters and the ice dancers. Victor wasn't too worried about his own placement, for now, he was pretty confident that he'll gain a spot on the Olympic team.
What really got him anxious was the ladies' short program scheduled for tomorrow. "Liv got this. I know she does, she needs to make those judges score her. Like actually score her…"
Yakov suddenly puts a hand on Victor's back. "You're more scared for her than she probably is for herself! Why don't you go pay her visit, to calm your own nerves down."
"She's working on some kind of 'new song' right now for a friend of hers back in Detroit. Holly, I think her name was. You have no idea how focused musicians must be when composing!" Victor explained.
Yakov shrugged his shoulders. "Well, suit yourself. I'll see you tomorrow, it may be the ladies' short program but it's also your free skate, so don't get too anxious. Oh! And don't forget the 'surprise' for tomorrow."
Present time.
"I remember your free skate. It was to Children by Escala, am I right?" Yuri asked.
Victor touched him on the tip of his nose to confirm his answer. "You are absolutely right. And do you know how I came to select that song for my free skate?"
"Liv helped you pick it out?" Yuri guessed.
"No!" Victor cried. "I used a random song generator online."
"What?!" Yuri was in shock. That's the least professional way of choosing a song to skate to. How on Earth was Victor able to get away with this from Yakov?
Victor smiled at Yuri's expression. "Shocked?"
Yuri nodded weakly. "I was expecting that someone like you would have chosen your music in a...less random way." He fumbled for the proper words.
"It doesn't matter how I choose my music. The way we find something we like every day is actually very random." Victor explained. "I mean, what were the chances that you found a new favorite candy? Or movie? Or outfit? All of these things happen by chance, it's up to us to decide whether we like it or not. And in my case, I felt that Children was the right song for my free skate."
Wow...Yuri was astonished. That was actually a very clever way of interpreting life. He did not expect something like that to come directly from Victor's head. But it did, which made him look up to him even more.
Victor removed some strands of his hair away from his eyes. "I loved skating to that song that season. I wanted to skate to it again, but then the ISU changed a rule and allowed for songs with lyrics to be in programs. I had a couple of other songs in mind after hearing that."
"Yeah, I remembered that. In the 2015 season, you skated to Stay Close to Me for your free skate," Yuri replied.
Victor reached over took Yuri's right hand, the one with the ring on it. "And that was the free skate you tried to imitate, which led to us being together. I'm not regretful of anything. Though I wonder...if I was allowed to skate to Children again, would you have imitated it too?"
Yuri scooched closer next to Victor, his pillow held in the other arm and he put his head on his shoulder. "The same events would've probably happened, so yeah, I would've tried to skate your free skate even if it was to Children. Personally, that was my favorite performance from you."
Victor stroked the head of his student gently. "Well, we're going to see it again. Right after the ladies' short program."
Suddenly something came up in Yuri's mind. It was almost like a memory, or more like something that Victor said that he thinks he may have heard of before or seen before somewhere. As Victor searched for the right video on YouTube, Yuri asked him the question.
"Hey, Victor?"
"Yeah?"
"You said that Liv was working on a 'new song' during that time with a friend of hers back in Detroit, right?" Yuri confirmed.
"Yeah. I wanted to visit her during those days but apparently, when musicians are at work, they cannot be disturbed." Victor shivered. "I learned that the hard way."
"Yeah, ok. But this friend of hers in Detroit, you said that her name was 'Holly?' Right?"
Victor was getting confused. "At least that's what I heard Liv say. Why? Did you know Holly back when you were in Detroit?"
Yuri wracked his brain for more information. Holly...Holly...Holly...where have I heard this name before? And then it came to him.
"Yeah! Well, sort of. Holly was the name of the music student whom Phichit asked to help create our program music. And I think she was the same person I called when we were looking for my new free skate music back then." Yuri explained.
Victor's eyes opened wide with interest. Yuri felt his own eyes open as well. "Is it a coincidence maybe?"
"I don't know. But this is definitely interesting, I do remember Liv saying that Holly was a music student attending a college in Detroit, but I don't know if that's the Holly you and Phichit knew." Victor brought his thumb to his chin.
"The song that Holly made, my free skate song, Yuri On Ice, had a piano, violin, and drums in it. I don't know how Holly made it, but if Liv was helping her—"
Victor snapped his fingers. "I do remember that Liv plays piano! But I still don't know if this is related at all!"
"How about we drop this topic?" Yuri suggested. Maybe this is all just a coincidence, and they were just overthinking it.
Victor agreed. "Let's continue watching."
Wed. Dec. 25, 2013. Iceberg Skating Palace.
The first group of ladies warmed up on the ice. All dressed in their short program outfits and focused on the first jumping pass of their program. Victor watched from the spectator's seat up high.
Liv wasn't going until some time later in the second last group. He got plenty of time to just relax and enjoy the performances that are about to come.
The first skater takes the ice, it wasn't one of Victor's rink mates but he watched nonetheless, the first performance is usually the most interesting and anticipated ones. This skater was small and petite and skated to Fragile Dream.
The next one had a slightly more powerful theme and skated to Pirates of the Caribbean. Each skater one after the other had a unique way of approaching their elements, connecting with the audience, and costume choice.
Victor often likes to keep his selections and themes different from everyone else's. But to be honest, most of his programs were inspired by programs he enjoyed watching from other skaters. This is his main source of inspiration. Whether it be men's or ladies' singles, pairs skating, or ice dancing, if he liked something, he'll use it.
Eventually, some of his female rink mates' short programs came up. Laurel Kopeykin went with something that was very unusual but sensational with her program. Her music was a Native American drum circle rhythm. It was amazing, Laurel never failed to turn Victor's head around. After that, more skaters from Moscow and Rostov came up, and Victor decided to go look for Liv.
"She should be in the back areas warming up. I wonder if Yakov is with her."
Walking past the crowd of spectators, skaters, coaches, and reporters, Victor made his way to the back of the arena, where it was much quieter and less filled up. The anticipating skaters were stretching doing off ice jumps and a few were even trying to meditate!
Victor made sure the package he was holding in his arms was still intact and not damaged. Eventually, he found Liv by herself practicing her landing positions while wearing earbuds and listening to her program music. He decided to give her a little scare.
Which did not go too well? Liv was not in the mood for any humor, which he immediately picked up on shortly after. "Hey, sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood. Anyways, remember the surprise I told you I was going to bring to your short program last week?"
"Yeah, you told me not to get any sort of costume for my short program, just my free skate. So I didn't bring anything. What's the surprise?" Liv asked.
Victor took out the package hidden behind his back and underneath his jacket. Liv carefully untied it, revealing a folded white outfit. She took it out and silently gasped. It was simple and flowy, not too flashy, just the way she liked it.
"Yakov had it made a few days ago. I just wanted to see the look on your face when you receive it. What do think? I thought it went well with the Theme of Angel Beats, you know, kind of like...Kanade maybe?"
Liv carefully put it back into the box. "I love it. Thank you. Thanks for everything."
"No problem. I'll see you soon at the main rink. You got this, ok?"
Several minutes later…
Victor stood at the top of the viewing area, watching the defending National Champion and fellow rink mate, Annie Vasin, skate an upbeat and sassy program to Riverdance. It was a clean program and she is currently in the lead, with Laurel close behind her. Right after Annie was a new junior skater who's just moved up to the senior circuit, and then it was Liv's turn.
He looked down at the side boards of the rink near the kiss-and-cry, Yakov was standing there with Liv, who tied her hair in a half up style and was wearing the outfit they got for her. Victor felt his hands grow clammy from clinging onto the metal bars. The young senior skater finishes an almost clean program and leaves the ice for Liv to enter.
Victor's pulse increased exponentially. To place in the top three, she'll need to be able to score somewhat close to what Annie and Laurel were given. Which were 72.45 and 70.89. Yakov said some inaudible words of encouragement before sending Liv off.
Liv's music came on and she began her program, immediately erasing her tension and goes into character. As usual, she was light and quiet on the ice, the only sound being when she performs a jump. She changed her opening combination to a triple lutz/triple toe! From the looks of it, it seemed clean.
All of her jumps seemed clean. But what Victor looked forward to were her spins in the second half of the program when the fast violin part comes in. Her final footwork sequence was also very entrancing to watch, leading in the final combination spin, which finally puts his nerves at ease.
Skating off the ice, Liv and Yakov wait for the score, which was a 69.70, placing her in third for the time being. Victor checked the time and went back downstairs, about an hour later, the ladies' short program would end and the men's free skate will start.
He had to start preparing for his own performance too!
Present time.
"So she placed third in the short program? That's good." Yuri remarked.
"I was happy for her. Before, she used to place fourth and fifth in the short programs. It's only during the free skates that she was able to climb back up in the ranks. That was an improvement, I couldn't believe that we actually made a difference."
Yuri smiled. "You think so little of yourself sometimes. You're a very impactful person, look at what you did to me in just a few months. I was the last place finisher at the 2014-15 Grand Prix Final, then with you as my coach, I became the silver medalist at the same competition in 2015!"
"Hmm. I guess I really am something, aren't I?" Victor praised himself, earning a slap on the forehead from Yuri.
"Don't you start sticking your nose up in the air, you still have a lot of explaining to do." Yuri scolded.
"I guess." Victor rubbed his forehead. "But what else do you want to see from the 2014 Nationals? I thought you already saw the men's free skate."
"I'd like to see it again. I really liked your performance to Children." Yuri pressed.
"I'll let you see my performance to Children if you promise me that when we get back to Japan, you'll perform a copy of it!" Victor requested.
Yuri sighed. "Sure, I'll do it. Just find the event already!"
Wed. Dec. 25, 2013. Iceberg Skating Palace. Men's free skate.
The audience had been going wild for all the performances by the men's free skates today, it was absolutely phenomenal. They're sure in the spirit of the upcoming Olympic Games. Victor applauded from the sidelines as Max finishes a nearly clean program with a fast backspin, raising his arms over his head. The James Bond Medley ends as Max stops his spin.
Victor gives him a thumbs up which Max returns as he skates off the ice to see his score. A 160.58 was earned by Max, placing him in second for the time being, only behind Georgi Popovich who is currently in the lead with 162.97.
It wasn't until after several more skaters, that were all good in their own way, that Victor's turn finally came up. He felt his usual wave of anxiety pass through him as he stepped onto the ice after giving Yakov his traditional thumbs up.
Children played from the speakers. Victor began the program nice and slow, it wasn't until the pizzicato part when he begins to slowly up his beat. Gradually becoming more and more energetic. The pre-climax of the song comes up as he enters a high flying sitspin and then into a change foot camel spin.
The powerful main chorus comes up and the audience claps along in time as Victor lands another one of his jumps. He controls his own power as the song tones down just a bit and entered his intricate footwork sequence.
That toned down part built up once again to the powerful chorus and Victor forgot about the competition for awhile. It was just him and the ice, nothing else mattered. All of it ended with a fast scratch spin and Victor embraced the thunderous applause from the audience.
Even Yakov seemed impressed when he skated over to the boards and they viewed his score together. He had earned a 194.01, and a total combined score of 292.02, placing him in first overall.
Looks like he would successfully defend his National title for the fourth year in a row! Though he doesn't know if the same could be said for Annie Vasin…
There were still many more skaters to go after Victor, and none of them failed to disappoint, but none of them were able to beat the veteran's high score. Victor caught sight of Liv watching the free skate from a slightly empty spot in the reserved area of the viewing benches.
He approached her from the side, and she turned around to smile at him. "Hey, phenomenal job out there! Got me jumping too!"
"If you liked it so much, why didn't you throw any gifts down?" Victor pouted.
"Nah, I think you have enough dog sweaters by now." Liv turned around to continue watching the free skate.
Victor internally laughed at the dog sweaters remark. Was he buying too much clothing for Makkachin? He hoped he wasn't spoiling him, to be honest! Maybe he should cut down on the number of dog sweaters he orders per month.
"Well then, you can offer me an outstanding free skate tomorrow to make up for my lack of 'thank you' presents!" Victor decided.
Liv looked at him in fake shock. "Lack of presents? I'm going to be paying you for your coaching fees soon, isn't that enough of a 'thank you' present?"
Victor shook his head. "Money will never be enough. In fact, I don't think your free skate will be enough either!"
Liv gapped in amusement. "Then what do you want, spoiled brat?"
"How about going out to dinner after the medal ceremony?" Victor asked directly.
"Sure, I guess, if you let me pay for my own bill afterward," Liv answered, keeping her emotions to a minimum.
"I can go with that."
Present time.
"You took her to dinner!?" Yuri exclaimed.
Victor held up his hands. "Now, now, Yuri! It was back then, not now! I promise I haven't been with anyone else since we've been together!"
Yuri was about to continue on complaining when he remembered his own former crush on Yuko Nishigori, who's now married and is a mother to three girls. What can he say? A heart wants what it wants. They're all living breathing people after all.
"Well, I guess I'm glad that you've been with no one but me since we started this relationship. But still, I want to get a confirmation on these feelings that you harbored for Liv." Yuri looked at Victor directly in the eyes. "You obviously felt more towards her than just a usual coach and student thing."
Victor scratched the back of his head, there are no more excuses. "I can't control my own feelings, Yuri. A person feels what he/she feels, you can't make them feel a certain way no matter how hard you try."
"Yeah? And how did you feel towards Liv during that time?"
"I was strongly attached to her, maybe even infatuated with her for some time in the beginning. But it was mostly attachment from all the time we've spent together." Victor confessed in a straightforward manner.
Yuri felt slight relief wash over him. At least that's done and over with. Now he won't be guessing at Victor's feelings for too long. Unless something else similar to this came up…
Victor pulled Yuri close in a warm hug. Yuri felt the gentleness of the hug this time, it wasn't as rushed or tight, it was sincere and relaxing. Yuri felt his own arms slowly wrap around Victor and began to return the embrace. Victor's voice was quiet.
"I've been hiding too much from you, Yuri. You have more than enough reasons to leave me right now, and that's why I'm why I'm amazed that you're still here."
"Of course I am. I want you back Victor, I want to know more about you, Victor. Even if I wasn't your first, I still want to be yours."
This was the closest Victor felt Yuri confess his feelings towards him. All the time back then, it was Victor who was trying to break Yuri out of his shell and become more open, confident. Now, Yuri is finally starting to do just exactly that. He must harbor really strong feelings towards him.
Victor felt tears come to his eyes from sheer happiness. Yuri sighed. Was Victor able to get the message? That he lov~wants to stay with him forever? He hoped he did.
"You're still not done your story, Victor. What happened at the ladies' free skate?" Yuri asked.
"Well, basically this is what happened…"
Thurs. Dec. 26, 2013. Iceberg Skating Palace. Ladies' Free Skate
Mila Babicheva was the first skater to perform her free skate. Skating to Malaguena, Mila was fast and in time with the energetic music. She may be one of the younger senior skaters under Yakov's tutelage, but she has a lot of potential.
This free skate was very well attention-grabbing and well done overall, no falls, just a few step outs in the last jumping passes. Victor kept a careful eye on the clock, knowing exactly what time it is currently, so he would know when Liv's turn is coming up.
This is the last event for the ladies' single competition, after this, the top three National placements will be determined and the Skating Union will begin deciding which skaters will represent this country at the Olympics, and which ones will not.
Victor felt a little more at ease during this event than the events before, probably due to his own free skate being done and over with, and of course, him claiming the National title once again! Now, a new group of skaters enters the ice for warm ups and then the first skater of that group begins her program.
Performance after performance, the probability of certain skaters being selected either increases or decreases. It was hard to watch whenever normally consistent skaters suddenly fall, or when already anxious skaters perform worse than normal.
But the majority of them seem to be doing rather well. A few even scoring their season's and personal bests here! But then, the entire atmosphere changes as the skater many people were waiting for steps on the ice.
Even Victor was ready to know how she will do here. Favorite to win, Annie Vasin, performs her free skate to Star Wars Medley. She begins the entire program speedy and confident, the first two jumping passes were successful, but then, she pops the triple loop right before her first combination spin.
The rest of the program felt a bit rushed, it was as if Annie's nerves had gotten the best of her after the popped triple loop, causing her to nearly step out or pop every single one of her remaining jumps. She fell on her last combination and finishes the program with a forced smile.
The audience, including Victor, supported her with their applause as she skates off the ice with tears in her eyes. She had scored a 131.92, earning a total combined score of 204.37 and placing her in second.
A few skaters later, Laurel Kopeykin comes on. Her program was gentle and sweet, skating to Canon in D. Laurel was much more consistent than Annie tonight, she also brought on a sense of maturity and elegance that not many skaters had during this event. It made her seem like a skating genius.
Laurel scored 140.58, earning a total combined score of 210.67, placing her in first for the time being. Victor wasn't too surprised, he always saw Laurel as a strong skater and competitor. Though, he was surprised to see a new skater from Kaluga beat Annie's score with a clean free skate and combined score of 210.49!
All of these intense performances caused Victor to lose track of time and before he knew it, Liv's group was up. He felt his hands grow clammy once again upon seeing Liv warm up on the ice below, dressed in a simple light-grey dress and hair tied up in a curly bun.
She was the first skater of the group to go. A quick flashback memory of when Liv told Victor her song choice for her free skate passed through his mind. Victor took out the earbuds connected to Liv's cell phone after hearing an excerpt from her free skate music.
"Where did you find this?" Victor asked.
"I recorded it myself. I inserted in the rainy background, what do you think? It's kind of depressing, isn't it?"
"Representing your pain and struggles here, right? Where is this song from?"
"The video game, Heavy Rain. It's the piano suite. 'How far would you go to save someone you love?' The lengths people go to for other people, it's amazing how attached we're all to each other. That's what I want to show. The four main characters, and what they had to go through..."
The sound of rainwater began the program, followed by the sound of the piano gently starting the entire song. Liv enters her first jump which she lands successfully before going into her triple lutz/triple toe combination, which was another success.
The performance was...indescribable. It was hard to make out any clear thoughts or feelings, the entire program was clean and deep. The only sound the audience made was the applause after every landed jump. Liv was not skating anymore, she was painting, with 'knife shoes,' just like she said a long time ago.
The program ends with an alternating rotation combination spin. That's when the real applause began, Victor was speechless. Yakov was speechless, Liv was antsy while waiting for her score to display in the screen above.
Victor's nerves wake up again after seeing the numbers appear. She had scored a 141.31, and a combined total of 211.01! This places her in...unbelievably, first for the time being. Liv jumps up in shock and joy, her face brightly lit. Yakov was awestruck as well and pats her in congratulations.
Running down the stairs towards the back hallways of the complex, Victor made his way through the large crowd towards Yakov and Liv. Finally, he found them walking down the passage to the change rooms.
"Liv!" Victor cried.
She turned around joyously and ran up to him, still in her skates with guards on. He pulled her into a tight hug. Yakov smiled as they celebrated over her current score and placement. This was just...amazing! Simply amazing!
Liv was still in disbelief of it all. "I can't believe it!"
"Believe it!" Victor pressed.
"No, I really can't! This is...my first time placing this high in the Nationals! What on Earth did I do?"
Yakov walked over. "You improved the right way. That's what you did. Anyways, wait until the end of the event, then we'll know the results. Don't celebrate too early." With that, Yakov walked down the passage.
Victor placed an arm around Liv, walking her down to the change rooms. "I told you didn't I? Back in July, I told you that you'll pay me for my coaching fees after you win gold here. And you did!"
Liv sighed. "I guess you're right. How much are your usual rates?"
"Hey, focus on the important things! You have a high chance of getting gold right now! We'll be matching for the medal ceremony tomorrow!"
"Mmhmm."
"And don't forget to keep an empty stomach for evening afterward! I got places at Ryegatt's Star!" Victor reminded.
"And I'll be paying my own bill at the end."
Constructive criticism is welcome (complaints only over private message, ok?). Thanks for reading guys! Please REVIEW, FAVOURITE, and FOLLOW, if you haven't already!
PS. Don't forget to check out my other fanfic - Hurry Up, Skaters! Episode: Find the Code, when you have time! :D