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“Yuri.”
The man tilts his head up, confused but still smiling.
Viktor lends out his hand, and gives a hearty laugh.
“Please, skate with me.”
Yuri says nothing, but nods regardless.
He clasps his hand onto Viktor, and Viktor pulls him into a tight, warm embrace. He lets out a small yelp.
The ice rink is empty; it has barely been touched for years. But tonight, Viktor will dance with his love, and bring back the magic of skating.
“Yuri, when was the last time you exercised?” Viktor asks as they begin their first step sequence.
Yuri arches an eyebrow.
“Your stamina seems to have grown weaker over the years.”
Yuri grows shocked at his bluntness and turns his lips into a pout. Viktor simply laughs, and kisses his pout away.
“Don’t be like that, love. I was just joking.”
Yuri doesn’t respond, but a small smile replaces his pout, and Viktor’s heart coos at the sight.
Viktor pulls them apart, linked by only the tight grasp of their hands, as they spin.
Yuri’s smile has turned into a full blown grin, and Viktor nearly melts.
But he is a professional, after all, so he lets Yuri go to do a toe loop.
Yuri does a salchow, and finds his way back into Viktor’s arms, as the song coming from their radio continues to blare its notes.
“Love, would you like it if we traveled the world together?”
Yuri doesn’t reply, his lips thin, but his eyes shone with excitement.
“Somewhere outside Russia and Nippon.” Viktor muses, twirling Yuri around. “Maybe attend other international competitions, or more specifically, couple skating?”
Yuri turns beet red, flaring his arms and splattering.
From the corner of his eye, Viktor spots the ring still safely worn by his husband.
He smiles to himself, and catches Yuri as he loses his balance.
“Careful, darling.” Viktor laughs, twirling Yuri, again, and again, until Yuri starts to lose even more balance.
The song picks up its speed as Viktor separates them again. He does a triple toe loop, followed by some jumps the world would pay money to see.
But, in this abandoned ice rink, only Yuri－ oh, Yuri, his love, his light－ could see him like this. So loving and gentle, only for his darling.
He turns to see Yuri, his grin returning and now turning into a chuckle. One laugh becomes two, and now he laughs in delight as he finishes a quadruple axel with ease.
He leaps, and twirls, and laughs, and Viktor finds his heart thumping dangerously in his chest, eyes brimming with tears.
The song reaches its climax, but all Viktor can hear is Yuri’s laughter, his smile, his eyes shining with happiness.
Oh, what a beautiful wingless angel.
Perhaps someone like Yuri doesn’t even need wings to fly. His enthusiasm and beauty is unmatched by all the skaters in this world.
And this world seems to agree, as Viktor recalls the countless medals laid piling up in Yuri’s closet.
The song starts to come to a close, and Viktor wants it to replay, again and again, so he can see Yuri like this again.
“My love…” He whispers, voice hoarse with holding back tears.
“You’re just as beautiful as the day you left me all those years ago.”
Viktor reaches out to nothing in particular, and his gentle hand curls into a tight fist.
“You wouldn’t want to see me like this.” He mutters, tears finally rolling down his cheeks.
Yuri doesn’t reply. He doesn’t skate over to Viktor, he doesn’t put his head on his shoulders and wrap his arms around him, because Yuri isn’t here to.
Viktor raises his head to the blinding lights of the ceiling, and falls back with a loud thud.
A sob escapes his throat, echoing in the ice rink, empty and abandoned－ akin to his heart.
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“Takeshi, should we…?”
“No, Yuuko. Let’s… let’s leave him be.”
“But the ice rink is supposed to be under maintenance…”
“… It’s been decades, and he still hasn’t gotten over Yuri.”
“Poor thing…”
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