Yuuri was always surprised at how tired she could feel after resting for so long. Granted, her seat wasn't exactly comfortable and she had been sitting for hours, but she felt utterly exhausted. It probably was because the sleep she had managed to get was fitful at best. She had felt drowsy, but the noise of the engine combined with randomly screaming babies had meant that she had only napped in 15-minute bursts. She would wake up feeling disoriented and somehow more tired than she had before. Yuuri was not a big fan of airplanes. Her lack of sleep make her feel very cranky indeed while she waited for the plane to unload. The line at passport control stretched on, even though she had a Japanese passport. She didn't envy the throngs of people assembled in the international lines.

She waited for her luggage to appear on the baggage carousel before going out front and getting a cab to take her to the train station. She decided that she should give her family a call to tell them that she landed safely, but nobody picked up the phone. Yuuri left a message for them anyways; she knew that her mother might start to worry otherwise. The gentle rumble of the train on the tracks was familiar, and Yuuri was easily pulled back into her dreams. She slept almost all the way back home, which was saying something, because the ride to Kyushu wasn't a short one by any stretch of the imagination. Yuuri lost track of what time it was supposed to be here in Japan and gave into her body's instinct to sleep.

She startled awake as the train began to slow.

Her reunion with her parents had been bittersweet. She couldn't help but cry when she finally hugged her mom and dad. It really had been too long since she last came home. The conversation about what she had been up to lately became a little strained as Yuuri wasn't quite sure how to hide her skating. She settled for saying that she had joined the skating club at school, and then went on about some of the classes she was taking as part of her dance major. It was hard to avoid talking about things that could give her game away; Phichit, for example. If her parents learned that she was rooming with a boy, they might find out that Yuuri Katsuki was known as a male dancer and skater at school. And that certainly wouldn't help anyone.

Her tears of happiness had turned to tears of sadness when she learned of what had happened to her beloved Vicchan. A large part of her excitement had been reserved for being reunited with her dog again, and she felt awful that she had missed the event. Her parents said that they had tried to call her, but couldn't reach her. It had been during the Grand Prix Finals, she realized. Yuuri's guilt intensified.

Falling back on her old habits, Yuuri went to go hide in her room and unpacked as fast as she could, groaning a little when she saw the wealth of posters of Victor that plastered her walls. Her shrine to Victor served to remind her of her poor skating performance and also her embarrassing (and impromptu) dancing. Face flushed, Yuuri grabbed her skates and made the trip down to Ice Castle Hasetsu.

She walked up to the desk, not particularly surprised to see her old friend Yuuko behind it. Her friend had married Takeshi a few years ago, and Takeshi's family had passed more responsibilities with the rink on to the pair of them. Yuuri smiled warmly and greeted her.

"Yuuko! It's me, Yuuri!"

Her friend looked up and gasped before leaving the counter behind to embrace her friend. Yuuri was thrown off-balance by her friend's energy. She didn't let go of her friend for a while; it had been hard for her to leave behind her first friends, and Yuuri had missed Yuuko endlessly during the first month of school. When they pulled apart, Yuuri held up the bag that held her skates.

"Would you mind if I skate a little bit? For old time's sake? I have something that I want to show you."

Yuuko didn't seem to mind at all, and followed behind Yuuri as she entered the rink. Yuuri laced up her skates before stepping onto the ice. She felt a little embarrassed as Yuuko watched her warm up, but she soon went over to her friend and handed over her phone.

"Play Stammi Vicino?" she asked, and Yuuko clapped her hands. Both friends clearly were not quite yet over their obsession with Victor. Privately, Yuuri wasn't really sure if she ever would be.

Yuuri glided over to the center of the ice and assumed her starting position. The familiar melody of Victor's free skate for this season started to play, but this version was a little bit different. Yuuri had come across a duet version when she was searching for the song online, and had bought it on an impulse. Something about it made the program seem more real to her- it was absolutely gorgeous. She let the beautiful melody flow through her body, putting all of her focus onto her steps and spins. Yuuri took the jumps as they came but didn't try to push anything- she was absolutely shocked when she landed one of the quads, not cleanly, but with enough skill to continue the routine. The routine passed in a blur, one that Yuuri snapped out of when Yuuko started to clap, filling the sudden silence.

"Yuuri, that was beautiful! I didn't realize that you were still skating! That was absolutely amazing."

The two friends hugged again, but Yuuri pulled away when she was startled by the appearance of three identical and widely smiling faces.

"Hey, I've heard about you guys, but I haven't seen pictures since you were born. Axel, Lutz, and Loop, right?"

The three girls nodded in unison. Yuuri returned to her conversation with Yuuko, the two adults totally missing the frenzied activity happening behind them.

Back at the inn, Yuuri relaxed in the onsen for the first time in years, enjoying the relief that it brought to her aching muscles. She had missed this all so much; why had it taken her so long to come back? She got dressed and came back into the kitchen, excited when she recognized what dish her mother was preparing; katsudon, her favorite! Yuuri wasn't sure how long she could wait to eat, but a few minutes later her father and Mari materialized and the pork was finally cooked. They sat down and Yuuri joyfully dug into her bowl.

She felt her eyes getting a little watery (to her embarrassment), but her family didn't say anything about it, which she was grateful for. The sheer love she felt in this moment made her feel whole again. Yuuri smiled; she was right to have come back home. This might be just what she needed to get her ready to return. Because coming home had reminded her of something: she was a Katsuki, and Katsukis didn't just give up.