HELLO! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEWS, PATIENCE, AND SUPPORT!
Me: And here we are, the bonding we've been waiting for-
Victor: FINALLY!
Me: HEY! Drama must be included to be perfect!
Mari: Calm down you two *turns to audience* Midnight really hopes you enjoy this chapter, make sure to remember that she does not own any of us or the anime except for the OC children
...
Vicchan was nowhere to be found!
Yusha a frantically digging through every inch of sand he stumbled upon but he couldn't find any signs of Vicchan anywhere. The triplets were nice enough to bring him here where his big sister was waiting with Minami and now here they are searching for Vicchan. He should be somewhat grateful that daddy wasn't here to see what they were doing, he already knew he was trouble but he can't imagine how daddy would feel if he found out that he lost Vicchan.
"We'll find Vicchan, it's going to be okay," Hana reassured him when she pulled him into an embrace. "Just think back, are you sure you last saw him here."
He did, he really did think back and all he can recall was believing that he had Vicchan in his hand before he went in the water. Wait...The water... Of course! He got up, pointing to the ocean, "Vicchan's in the water! I fell in and lost him in the water."
"We'll go look, you just stay by the shore with Lutz!" Minami instructed as he, Axel, and Loop made their way to check the water for Yusha's sake.
Hana, on the other hand, was a little more than surprised to hear that Yusha almost drowned! "Yusha, you can't swim!" She scolded, honestly, she can't keep her eyes off her brother without taking the risk of losing him. "Why would you go in the ocean like that? Didn't I tell you how dangerous it was to go in the water without me or any adult around?"
"But I was looking for him," Yusha mumbled. He couldn't make up a good lie to cover the true reason behind his actions so he had to come clean now. "And I saw him so I tried to reach him."
"For who?" Hana questioned nervously. "Daddy?"
Yusha shook his head, making sure he held in any urge to cry. "The nice man."
"Who is this nice man you're talking about Yusha?" Lutz gently asked. "Were you looking for Minami? Maybe one of your uncles or your ojiisan? You did mention that they had to go away for a while."
"No, not them. The nice man," Yusha shook his head again at their guesses as he explained. "He has dark hair, and brown eyes and he wears blue glasses. He was very nice to me in this one dream I would have of all of us on the beach." He didn't notice the shocked expressions in Lutz's or his big sister's faces. "Neechan was there but she was tiny and playing with daddy on the sand. He said he was a monster or something and the nice man was holding me close to the water. He said that I shouldn't be afraid and he makes a nice smiley face at me. "
He pointed to the shore again. "I wanted to meet him here and ask him about papa. He was right there, I thought I saw him for sure but he was gone when I got there and then I was in the water."
Neither Lutz or Hana knew how to respond to Yusha's explanation. It sounded so bizarre but it couldn't be since he just described their papa and a fond memory she had of their first and last beach trip in Hasetsu. She remembered that day so clearly, her daddy being the sand monster with her while papa had baby Yusha to watch the waves come in. She remembered that it was during their visits, everyone was at the beach with them while Uncle Phichit was aking videos and pictures throughout the experience. It was their first as a family after Yusha was born but it was months before the tragedy. Could it be that Yusha's dream was a memory he was able to hold onto after all these years?
"Sorry Yusha, we couldn't find Vicchan anywhere in the water," Axel reported with disappointment as she wrapped his hair around to get the water out with Minami and Loop trailing behind her. "I'm not sure where he could have swum off to."
"B-But Vicchan has to be there," Yusha whimpered, refusing to lose hope. "He's my special friend. We have to find him, he's one of the only presents I got. If we can't find him now he'll be gone forever, then daddy would be sad."
"We can still look in the sand," Loop suggested in hopes that it would calm Yusha down. But she couldn't help but wonder why Yusha referred to a stuffed toy as a present. She doesn't remember anyone mentioning that Yuuri left a stuffed poodle for them. I know of a music box but not a poodle. I thought Victor's mother got him that poodle. She couldn't put more thought into the matter and she was quick to reassure the little boy. "The waves could have brought him back here, we can dig some more. Okay?"
On cue, Yusha was down and using his hands to furiously dig up the sand again. He wanted to find Vicchan as soon as he could, no matter how long it would take but he can't let daddy know that he's lost. "I'll find you Vicchan, no matter what."
...
Walking to the beach while the sun was starting to set was bringing his nerves up as Victor took deep breathes to calm down. I didn't think that I would truly understand what Yuuri goes through with his anxiety until now...I hope I can make things right this time.
"Right there," Takeshi pointed down and when Victor turned to that direction, he could see Yusha digging through the sand in search for something while ignoring the others who were standing by awkwardly while making sure he wasn't close to the water. They could hear their voices trying to convince him to stop his search but the only one who was still helping him search was Hana, no one realized that Victor and Takeshi were only a few feet away.
"Yusha, maybe you should stop," Axel suggested softly.
"We can always buy you another one that looks exactly like Vicchan," Loop offered. "We can go to the store and find one right now."
"No!" Yusha protested, his voice growing quiet as he clung to a fist full of sand. "I can't...Vicchan is special...He's very important because he's the only one." He then released the sand so his hands to hold onto the cloth of his shirt. "He's the one daddy choose for me."
Victor tried to hold it in but he couldn't help but gasp which was loud enough to grab their attention. His chest ached at how Yusha just flinched when he saw him and how Hana only stiffened. He slowly approached them, on his knees in the sand in front of his kids as they stared anxiously as he did towards them until he finally uttered, "Y-You knew?"
Yusha was hesitant until he nodded and then whispered. "You chose Vicchan for me and Yuu-chan for nee-chan, but she keeps her safe in her room...Daddy chose and bought them just for us when he was happy. But now...But now I-I lost him forever, I can't get him back."
"Yusha, you didn't lose him forever, he's right here," Victor gently assured as his son looked down, unconvinced. He then sighed before bringing Vicchan up on his hands, presenting the stuffed poodle in front of his son. He watched those disappointed brown eyes become full of relief as Yusha gasped and took Vicchan into a tight embrace, whispering to the toy:
"I'll never lose you again Vicchan...I'm so happy you came back to me, I promise I won't let you go again."
It was a little adorable to see a child be attached to their favorite toy but Victor took notice of the stronger attachment that was between his son and Vicchan. He was sure that Yusha hated his guts for not being brave enough to tell their story. So why care about Vicchan if Yusha knew that he was the one who bought him? "Vicchan is that important, huh?"
Yusha was looking up at Victor with wide eyes that were watering with innocence. "Vicchan was daddy's first gift to me before he went away." He quietly explained while holding Vicchan closer to his chest. "Before daddy became sad and everyone else feels sad too."
Victor's eyes widened.
"You were lonely Yusha, weren't you?" Yusha timidly nodded, a loud enough answer to know the full extent of it. Victor then turned to Hana, her eyes trying to avert from his gaze until he asked, "Were you sad and lonely too?"
Her shoulders shook, her fingers twiddling together when she muttered, "You were gone daddy because you were sad and you had to get better. I couldn't talk about papa without making anyone sad, especially you. I wanted to be brave and strong for you, Yusha, and everybody else. But I miss Papa." Her eyes watered while she was forcing herself to hold it in. "I miss my daddy. I miss our happy days. I-I miss our big happy family. I-I don't want to feel sad anymore, I don't want to make you or Yusha feel sad because of me, I want our family back."
"I-I want our family back too," Yusha followed, embracing his older sister while looking back at Victor. "I wanna know what a big happy family is. We want to be happy again with our daddy like before. I wanna know my real daddy, I wanna know you."
"You both want me to be with you?" Victor repeated in question. "If I were to ask you two, right now, to come live with me in our new home here so we could start over and be happy again...You'd say yes, even if you're with a big balding sad old meanie like me?"
Tears were beginning to leak from his children's eyes as they nodded and whimpered. "W-We want you, daddy. Just you."
"I-I can change to be someone you'd like me to be," Victor offered, unable to believe that they'd really want him as himself around. "I can be anyone. I-I can be like your favorite uncle, maybe a movie star, the perfect daddy, the daddy that gives you everything you want, anything you want me to be."
They shook their heads, Hana whining as her arms tried to clean her tears. "We only want you to be to who you are, daddy. No one else but you."
"No one else," Yusha repeated. "Just you."
Victor listened, he heard them. He was seeing them, hearing them tell him this until he could suddenly hear those same words being said to him but they were Yuuri's words. His words to him back when they first started their relationship as student and coach. He could remember hearing them again.
"All I want is for you to be who you are Victor."
"Yusha. Hana." Seeing his kids struggling not to cry made his heart ache and throb into twisted figures he couldn't describe. After calling their names, he opened his arms wide as his lips trembled and eyes ready to allow his tears to burst. "I-It's okay now...If you need to cry, then it's okay to cry. You can cry in daddy's arms if you want to, I know that-Oof!"
Victor tumbled down into the sand by two extra weights jumping into his arms, their small arms wrapping up tightly around his neck as they began to heavily sob out loud while tears cascaded down like waterfalls. He could only return the embrace, holding them close and safe from the world as he allowed his own tears to fall as he cried along with them.
"I-I'm sorry," He whimpered, not sure if they could hear him over their sobbing but he kept going anyway. "I'm so sorry for everything. I-I'm sorry Yusha, I-I'm sorry Hana. I am so sorry to both of you, zolotse moya. I-I promise that we're going to try our best to be a happy family again. I won't leave you two all alone again to be sad, we'll be sad together. Okay?...I-I'm sorry, I'm so sorry...My precious Hana, my precious Yusha...I am so sorry."
"D-Daddy! Da-Daddy!" Hana and Yusha were able to cry out in the midst of their cries. They only wanted to be held by their daddy alone on the beach as the seagulls followed the setting sun with their chirps providing the comfort they needed.
...
"Do you think they noticed us leaving?" Minami asked while he sniffled into a tissue.
"No, I think Victor was too busy talking to his kids to notice," Takeshi confirmed with a firm nod and arm covering his eyes. "It's good, that means he's really bonding with his kids and bringing the pieces back together."
The triplets sighed in relief while their mother was confirming something over her phone in a low voice, "Yes Minako-sensei, you can tell everyone that their plan worked. Victor and his kids are going to be okay now." Yuuko looked over, seeing how the small family did not move from their spot. "More than okay." Releasing a breath of relief, she ushered the group to follow her back to the rink. "Alright guys, we have to go back to the rink."
"Eh?!" Everyone gasped.
"We gotta give them some privacy, they'll come to visit soon," Yuuko was dragging Takeshi and Minami along as the triplets followed. "That goes for you two as well, Victor needs this time alone with his kids without us spying on everything."
...
Victor, Yusha, and Hana didn't know when they started to walk down the shore of the beach with their poodles but it had to be at least an hour or two of crying onto each other's shoulders to have bloodshot eyes. Yusha and Hana did know that they were holding onto their daddy's hand real tight, just to make sure he didn't try to go away again but they were quiet until they stopped at a certain point of the beach.
"Let's sit down here," Victor suggested, leading them to sit down on the stone edge of the sidewalk with the sand underneath their shoes.
They were suddenly in silence again but it wasn't the awkward kind that they had. It was more like a silence of relief and peace while staring out at the ocean with their red puffy eyes that has a few stray tears at the corners.
He wasn't sure if it was seawater scent or the sound of waves coming in, maybe the sense of assurance he suddenly felt just sitting there. Without realizing, he sighed softly and whispered, "This was our favorite spot."
Hana and Yusha glanced up, confused with that comment since this was their first time sitting in this part of the beach so he couldn't be talking about them. However, she suddenly remembered one time when she was little and listening to one of the bits and pieces of her dads love story, one of them included a moment shared between them at the beach. But she couldn't remember all the details, she wasn't able to hear it again after their papa's death and she knew how daddy would feel if that was brought up. The incident at the park was proof enough to convince her of her conclusions.
So why was daddy suddenly mentioning this?
Yusha held onto Vicchan tight, glancing up then back down from Victor's gaze. "D-Daddy..." Victor and Hana glanced over to Yusha, seeing how he was hesitant as he asked. "Did you...Did you really forget papa?"
She could have scolded him but she didn't. She wanted to hear her daddy's answer but she wouldn't keep her hopes up.
Victor's voice was caught up in his throat, looking down at his hands where he could envision the crimson stains of his beloved's blood all over them with the sound of a gunshot fired in the distant winds that only disappeared within seconds. The haunting siren of the heart monitor at its flatline that left several weeks of sleepless nights in the past. If he was asked this five years ago, he would break and cause harm to not only his family and friends but to himself. Looking up at the ocean, he could suddenly hear Yuuri's voice echoing in the distance with the waves.
Live.
His lips trembled as his voice cracked, "F-Forget the one who showed me, even everyone else, the meaning of life and love?" He shook his head. "How could I ever forget my Yuuri?" Looking down at Hana and Yusha, he made a small assuring smile. " I could never forget papa no matter what and I'm not planning to do so."
Yusha pouted at that answer, "But you told us that you forget him."
"I know I did but I didn't mean it," Victor apologized as he pulled his children into a tight embrace, caressing their hair. "Daddy was being too silly for his own good, I guess I was too afraid to remember your papa...We had so many fun memories together you know. L-Like that time we held two big parties when we brought you home for the first time." He made a soft chuckle at that memory. "Papa wouldn't let me and uncle Yurio compete on who was the best dad but we still did and papa won in the end."
Yusha and Hana giggled at that competition's conclusion as Victor continued much to their surprise.
"You know, papa was always the voice of reason but he can worry too much. Back then, when I first met your papa, he'd always worry too much that he didn't believe in himself and he'd get scared and cry sometimes."
The free skate during the Cup of China, Victor said some regrettable things that broke Yuuri's fragile skater's heart and apologizing was meaningless as he watched his student break down very, very badly.
"I fail a lot so I've gotten used to it over the years," Yuuri whimpered, heavy tears cascading down. "But it's different now because I'm worried about my mistakes reflecting on you!"
Man, he really messed up.
"But he would always find a way to stay calm by remembering his precious poodle, Vicchan, later Makkachin, and his goals. He'd always try his best to stay brave and believe himself while I made sure to give him all the support he needed."
"Okay Yuuri, repeat after me," Victor began.
"Is this necessary-"
"Yes! It'll build up your confidence," Victor assured Yuuri as his arms crossed with confidence. "Now say it with me: 'I will win the gold medal'"
"Vic-"
"What's that? I don't hear 'I will win the gold medal'."
Yuuri sighed in defeat and muttered. "I will win the gold medal."
"Louder."
"I will win the gold medal."
"A little more please."
"I will win the gold medal!"
"No matter how sad he felt, he'd always pull through and be brave for himself and for those he loved."
"I want to stay in competition with you for one more year! And this time I'll win gold!"
"And that's another thing about him, he was-" His voice hitched from the return of the lump in his throat, trying to disguise it with forced chuckles. "U-Um well, your papa...Papa was-Pa-Papa was-" Tears were cascading down his cheeks, his mind was reliving every precious moment he spent with Yuuri. He used his hand to cover his face but it didn't help hide the tears that fell as he cried, "...Yuuri..." There was just so many memories, so much.
From that drunken dance at the Sochi Banquet.
Their first kiss in front of the audience.
The engagement in front of the cathedral.
Winning silver at the Grand Prix Finals.
Their pair skating.
Their competitive skating seasons.
Yuuri winning gold.
Their wedding (at long last).
Retiring to settle in their new lives.
Adopting and bringing Hana home.
Bringing Yusha home.
Until their last pair skate, their last day together.
"You still look as beautiful as ever," Victor whispered as he guided Yuuri through the ice, their suits glimmering under the different coloring of lights. "My beautiful Yuuri, right here with me. I don't ever want to let you go, without you, our world will be nothing but cold bitter darkness."
"You're still as beautiful and dramatic as ever," Yuuri answered back, planting a small kiss on Victor's cheek. "And I'll always stay with you, Hana, and Yusha, always."
...
Sunlight, moonlight shines so brightly
Forever mine to keep to love
Sweet golden flower blossom
Little silver hero flourish
Dancing home, dancing home
My Precious-
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP
...
"...Yu-Yuuri..."
Suddenly he felt two gentle hands reach for his arm as he looked up to see Hana and Yusha teary-eyed with concern for their daddy's wellbeing. They didn't need to say anything, their expression screams 'Daddy, are you okay? Will you be alright?'. He blinked before wiping the tears from the corner and assured them with a shaky voice, "Hey, what's with those faces?" He wiped their tears and embraced them once more. "It's okay, daddy's okay. I was just thinking about papa that's all."
"You really miss Papa?" Yusha sniffled but before Victor could answer, the little boy held his precious Vicchan up to him face to face. "Papa got happy when he remembers Vicchan, right? Vicchan wants to make daddy feel happy now too."
Hana giggled softly at how her little brother was unaware that daddy was referring to the real Vicchan she only seen in pictures and heard the mention of, but she couldn't help but go along with his antics. "Yes, Yusha. We'll help Vicchan help daddy feel all better again."
"Vicchan can kiss it all better!" Yusha assured Victor with a teary smile. "He can make you feel better like neechan said."
Victor stared in awe at his children, such innocence shining from their small figures that it made the lump in his throat flattened. And for the first time in five years, the heaviness of the pain suddenly lifted itself from his chest. It just quad-triple flipped from his shoulders to fly away with the wind as peace slipped in to replace it.
He could finally breathe.
Laughter finally left his throat, his hold on his precious golds tightened as he planted a small kiss on the tip of Vicchan's plastic nose, then on Yusha's and Hana's foreheads. "Thank you."
Thank you so much for this chance...Yuuri, can you see us? Can you see how we're bonding? You don't have to worry about us anymore. I'm right here with Hana and Yusha at long last, just like you wanted. I'm going to take care of them from now on. Just you watch, we'll be okay.
Releasing them, he took a deep breath that let loose as he asked. "Have you ever heard the story behind Vicchan?" When Yusha and Hana shook their heads, Victor made a heart smile. "Well then, you're in for one of the best stories. You see, a long time ago, Vicchan used to be a real poodle."
While attentive to his daddy's tales of Vicchan, Yusha looked away to see the ocean for one moment only to see a transparent figure standing over the water. A figure who oddly looks like the man from the beach who held his finger close to his wide smile in means to tell him to stay calm and quiet. When Yusha blinked, the figure was gone.
...
Meanwhile, still standing in the same spot of the ocean but just invisible to the naked eye, Yuuri wiped some tears of joy and whispered to himself, "I'm so glad they're going to be okay." He then crossed his ghostly arms and pouted, "But that doesn't mean I'll stop worrying so I'm still going to watch over them no matter what."
Looking back at the healing family, Yuuri decided that for now, they could have this night to themselves as he embraced himself so that he go return to the afterlife. "I'll come back to visit. Just keeping living with love my golds. That includes you too Vitya."
And with that, all that was left was the family of three at the beach under the light of the moon.
...
...
Victor: *crying waterfalls that are flooding my room*
Me: YUURI STOP YOUR HUSBAND, WE'RE DROWNING HERE!
Yuuri: He's far gone Midnight -_-
Yurio: Tch, what a sappy idiot *turns to audience* Midnight hopes you enjoyed this chapter, make sure to review and follow to see what will happen next, this was a pretty long chapter.
