A/N: *fireworks going off, glitter's going all over the place, carried in by beautiful, well-oiled men* Yes, friends. 'Tis I. I have returned. After two weeks of being away, I have, indeed, returned. As a slight warning, there is going to be a little bit of Victor being adorable. So…Kbye.

This was going to suck. I knew there was going to be a million reporters in the lobby of our hotel. God knows Victor doesn't hide from them. He doesn't invite them, but he doesn't shoo them away either. There was no way they'd leave me alone. And neither Yuri or Yurio needed that. They were just little kids. Not to mention, I'd rather not relive my darker times in Japan.

"Here, Violet," Victor covered me with his hoody, "Keep the hood up and put these on."

He gave me his sunglasses, too. They were perfect. Dark enough to where they won't see my eyes, "Thank you. I hate that it's come to this."

"I know, sweetheart," he kissed the top of my head, "Take Yurio and get to the airport. We'll meet you there."

"Ok," I threw the hood up, getting one last kiss, "I love you."

"I love you, too," Victor hugged me tight. Like he was afraid something was going to happen. I'd be ok. I'm in his hoody, his sunglasses, my leggings, my flats, and I had no makeup on. They'd never know it's me.

"Come on, Yurio," I sat him on my hip and covered him with a blanket.

"Mama," Yurio whined, "Why do I have to be under here? It's dark and it's too hot."

"It's only for a little bit," I cradled him, "If the reporters don't see my face, they'll just think I'm carrying a baby because of how small you are. They won't think it's you."

"Why can't we tell them off?"

"That'll be their permission to paint us in a bad light," I explained, "They'd make sure it'd overshadow your skating career and it'd ruin the both of us."

"I don't like that," Yurio laid his head on my shoulder.

"I don't either, baby," I agreed, "But it'll all be over soon. Ready?"

"Da."

As incognito as possible, I carried Yurio through the lobby past all of the reporters. A few of them shot me some looks, curious as to who I was. Fortunately, they passed me off as a single mother with her baby and no one of great importance to them. They couldn't waste their time with me when they're looking for Victor and Violet Nikiforov to hound them for an interview. We weren't going to give them the satisfaction of getting the both of us and I knew damn well that if they would even mention me to Victor, he'd shut them down ASAP.

That's just the way he was. Always my protector. Even when I first started skating, when Victor, Chris, and I were practicing in secret and the press wrote it off as them skating for fun in their off time. My first time on the ice professionally was with Victor. He'd never let go of my hand unless he was certain I was ready. When I was in the hospital, according to Chris, Victor never left my side. The last time I was sick, he yelled at me to get back in bed out of fear that I'd only make myself worse. He was my protector then and he's my protector now.

Yurio and I got to the airport and boarded our flight. I'm pretty sure I saw Victor and Yuri a few spots back in line behind us. Fingers crossed that none of those reporters from the hotel were smart enough to corner me on the plane. Once I got Yurio all settled in, a true gentleman stopped in the middle of the aisle.

"Excuse me, young lady," he hummed, pointing at the empty seats next to us, "Are these two seats taken?"

"Only by you," I smiled, "Hi."

"Careful with talk like that," Victor teased, "We wouldn't want my wife to catch wind of this. She can be a vicious killer."

"But Daddy," Yuri chimed in, "She is your wife. And Mama wouldn't kill somebody, would you, Mama?"

"No, sweetheart," I wrapped my arms around my other son, who was so lucky that he was cute, "It was a joke."

"Glupaya svin'ya," Yurio murmured in Russian, chuckling to himself.

"Yurio," Victor scolded, "Apologize to him. That wasn't nice."

"What?" Yurio squeaked, "I didn't say anything."

"Yes, you did," he put his foot down, "Apologize."

"Sorry, Yuri," Yurio pouted in his seat.

"Hey, Victor," I diffused the situation, "We're going to Barcelona."

"Yes, we are," a smile lit up his face, "Do you know long it's been since you and I have been in Barcelona?"

"A while," I melted at my memory.

"What's so special about Barcelona?" Yurio wondered.

What wasn't so special about Barcelona? Barcelona was the beginning of an era in itself. Barcelona wasn't only just a beautiful city, but the mere thought of it was enough to put a smile on my face. Barcelona was home to worried coaches and the best snap decision of my life.

"I know that look," Victor smiled, taking my hand, "Yurio, I think Mama's about to have a flashback."

I was.

Victor and I stood at the front of a courthouse with sweating palms and shaking bodies, shooting glances at the door. We had been secretly engaged for a few months at this point. Nobody in the whole world knew. Only Victor, Chris, and me. And it was going to stay that way until now.

Ring, ring!

"Who is that?" Victor asked, looking down at my bag.

"Celestino," I sent my coach to voicemail. We hadn't seen each other since the night before. But in his defense, I'd be a bit nervous, too, if my top skater had gone missing after she snuck out of her hotel room at the insistence of her skating partner, "Are you sure you want to do this, Victor?"

"Positive," he took my hands, doing his best to steady them, "You know, Violet...We'll never be able to repay you for this."

"No," I stopped him, "This is you repaying me. You love me, right?"

"Of course I do," Victor assured, "But not like I do Chris."

"What do you want most with him?" I sat on the cement steps.

"You know what I want," he joined me, letting out a heavy sigh, "I want a family, but that's not what our relationship is about."

"I know you love me differently," I rested my head on his shoulder, "But you do love me. What you and I have transcends the physicality of the relationship you have with Chris. And I'm ok with that. What we'd be doing may not be exactly the most conventional way of family, but we can make it work. When you proposed to me, you asked me if I would give you that much and I said yes. You're not having second thoughts, are you?"

"No," Victor wrapped his arms around me, kissing my forehead, "Because you just gave me all the reassurance I needed."

"This is still insane," I chuckled under my breath, "Now or never?"

"Let's do it," he pulled me onto my feet and the two of us started walking into the courthouse, "Violet..."

"What?"

"After this season," Victor smiled, "I want you to live with me in Russia. I know it's asking a lot and I've already asked you so much. But you're my best friend in the whole world."

"I'm about to be your wife," I pointed out, "Of course I'm going to live with you, silly."

If I didn't know any better, I'd think those were tears in my best friend's sparkling eyes, "I love you, Violet."

"I love you, too, Victor," I had such a warm feeling from head to toe. Although, while I was riding on cloud nine, a brick wall popped up, "And you're one hundred percent sure that Chris would be cool with this?"

"Yes," he nodded.

"Ok."

I wish I could say I remembered our fifteen minutes in the courthouse, but after we walked through the doors, everything became such a blur. I couldn't believe we were actually doing this. But when in Rome, I guess. When Victor proposed, I didn't expect us to get married so quickly. We would be laying in our hotel, talking about the wedding. Victor wanted a spectacle, but I wasn't about that. No, no, no.

I wanted something simple. I didn't think it'd be going to the courthouse in Barcelona simple, but it was. When I finally came to again, I was walking into the locker room in full costume at the rink we were skating at. I snapped out of it when Celestino made it very clear that he wasn't happy with me. But Celestino loved me, so it wasn't going to last long.

"Violet!" he shouted at me.

"Sorry," I shook my high off, "What?"

"Were you listening to me?" Celestino scolded, "I've been trying to get a hold of you all day! Where the hell have you been?"

"Oh," I bit my lip, "The courthouse."

"The courthouse?" he gasped, "For what? What did you do? How much damage control am I going to have to do for the press?"

"Nothing," I assured, "I'm not in any sort of legal trouble. I promise."

"Dio mio, Violet," Celestino shook his head, "I'm going to end up having a heart attack because of you. What would you be doing at the courthouse?"

"Violet?" a soft, sweet, Russian accent filled the air, immediately setting me at ease, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah," I nodded, completely blowing off my coach's tirade, "I'm ready."

"You!" Celestino snapped at him, "I'm sure Yakov wasn't going easy on you either!"

"No need to worry, Celestino," Victor promised, "Everything's fine."

"Our top skaters go missing," Celestino ranted, "Only to find out one of them ended up at the courthouse? How is that fine?"

"By the way," Victor pulled me up, "You look positively ravishing, Mrs. Nikiforov."

"Victor..." I blushed, "Not the time."

Celestino clutched his chest, "WHAT DID HE JUST CALL YOU?!"

"You know," Victor cradled my face in his hand. His right hand. The light catching his wedding ring just right, "Your costume really brings out the shine in your ring. Or maybe that's just you."

"Victor..."

"Violet!" Celestino freaked, "What did you do?!"

"Thanks, asshole," I giggled, glaring a hole through my new husband.

"Violet," Victor nudged me out of my flashback, "We're landing."

"Oh," I shook off the nostalgia, "Ok."

"Where was your head right now?" he wondered, knowing exactly what was going through my head.

"At the courthouse," I curled into his shoulder.

"Getting nostalgic, are we?" Victor teased.

"A little bit," I nodded. I missed those days. I missed those days so much.

And to make matters even more melancholy, I heard a voice that I had not heard in person for years calling my name right at the gate, "Violet! Mia dolce bambina!"

"Celestino!" I squealed, jumping into my coach's arms, "Mi sei mancata!"

"I missed you, too, tesoro," he hugged me tight, "You didn't think I'd miss your first time coaching, did you?"

"No way," I swallowed the swelling lump in my throat.

"I thought you could use the support," Celestino wiped the tears from my eyes.

"We were just talking about you, Celestino," Victor chimed in, "And the last time the three of us were in Barcelona together."

"I could've beaten you senseless then, Victor," Celestino made Yurio giggle, immediately drawing his attention, "And dio mio, piccola tigre. It's been quite some time since I saw you."

"What did you just call me?" Yurio got defensive.

"He called you a tiger, sweetheart," I settled him, "And right now, you're proving him right."

"I'd say it's fitting," Celestino insisted, "I've been watching you, Yurio, and you must make your mama very proud."

"I do," Yurio nodded, "Right, Mama?"

"Always," I sat him on my hip, "Both my boys do."

"Forgive him," Victor held onto Yuri, who stood behind him, "He's playing shy today."

"It's alright, Yuri," Celestino got down to his level, "I coached your mama for quite a while. And I wish she'd come back already."

"Celestino," I shut him up.

Slowly, but surely, Yuri warmed up to my former coach. And then, all at once, he remembered who was here, "Ciao Ciao!"

"Hi, Yuri!" Celestino peeled him off his leg and took him into his arms.

"Hey, Celestino," a lightbulb lit up in Victor's head, "Could you watch Yuri and Yurio tonight?"

"Sure," he agreed, "That's fine."

"As for you, young lady," Victor wrapped his arm around my waist, "You wouldn't happen to have plans for later, would you?"

"Considering we don't have competition until tomorrow," I caught my breath, "No. Why? Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

It always worried me when those two little words came out of my husband's mouth.

A/N: Hi! It's true. Victor making spontaneous plans is always a recipe for disaster. However, this whole flashback was such a beautiful thing. I couldn't stop smiling today while I was working on this. It brought me so much joy. Speaking of things that bring me joy, we have Celestino! As far as minor characters go, Celestino is probably a favorite. I love him so much (even though he withheld Victuri…Think about it…). And I love him in relation to Violet. He adores her like she was his own.

Now, we need to have a bit of a sit down here. Because it's been rather difficult, me getting back to doing this after being away for so long, so if you can be patient with me, I'd really appreciate it and I'll love you forever. Also, bomb week has been rescheduled. TO JULY! Yay! *fanfare* But from the 17th to the 21st of July, nothing but YOI updates. So, I'm going to go over here and do another thing. See you next chapter! xx