Lost and out of sight

VI

VI

Skate America was starting. The men's group had just finished and now it was time for the ladies to skate.

To say Mikaela was nervous was a total underestimation. She was almost suffering a mental breakdown. So many good skaters. And Skate America was the first event of the Grand Prix Series! Probably every skater would be watching this.

And the fact that Mikaela didn't even have a coach who'd stand by her side or someone else was even worse. Nobody would be there for her. She'd have to get through this herself.

"Ah, Miss Lewis, could we have a short interview before the short programs start?" The voice of a reporter brought Mikaela back to reality and out of her thoughts. She looked towards a group of reporters and then smiled "Sure thing."

She headed over to them and brushed a strand of her blonde hair out of her face, smiling at the reporter crowd in front of her. "Is it true that you and Yuri Plisetsky of Russia skate to the same song in your short programs?" One of them quickly asked before anyone else could.

Since she and Yuri weren't in the same division and he was also in the men's section, they were allowed to skate to the same song. Mikaela smiled warmly and nodded "Yes, that is correct." "How similar are your choreographies?" Another then asked the blonde woman.

"I won't tell you too much yet, but I believe, or at least hope that you will see a different story in my choreography than in Yuri's. Of course, the theme is the same to the song, but everyone is capable of telling their own story." She said, the smile on her lips never faltering, not once. She was used to being in the spotlight like this.

"What are you looking forward to in this Grand Prix Series?" She then was asked. Mikaela thought a little, before she then said "Jumping over my own shadow and set a new record. Now, if you'd excuse me, the short programs should be starting in a minute." Out of mere habit, she bowed slightly in sign of excusing herself, before she then headed to the rink.

"Well look who we have here." A thick, Russian accent appeared behind her and Mikaela didn't have to turn to find out who was following her inside. "Will you ever stop pestering me, Aleksandrina?" Mikaela simply asked with a sigh, not bothering to look back at the tall, dark haired, figure skating goddess. "Maybe. When you'd win gold. Maybe then I'll shut up."

The brown haired Russian behind her snickered at her own words. "Be prepared to be crushed Mikaela. Not even Viktor can help you." "He's not my coach so why would he help me? You're not making any sense Aleksandrina — as usual." The shorter female rolled her eyes. "Oh now you're just hurting me konfetka."

"I don't know any Russian. What's telling me that you're not insulting me, huh?" The blonde raised an eyebrow and the brunette chuckled "You could also curse me in German or Japanese the whole you want. I won't care though. I'm going to win anyways."

Rolling her eyes, Mikaela stepped away from Aleksandrina, kind of fed up with that woman. She hated her but on the other hand she tried to remain calm and not flip out. But that small dispute did its share to her anxiety. She was now completely calm. After all, she was the first to step onto the ice now.

"Representing Japan, please welcome, Mikaela Lewis." "ITS STARTING!" The triplets yelled to wake everyone up in the room, if they weren't awake already. "She's skating to In regards of Love: Agape." "Isn't that what Yurio skated to?" Yuko asked confused, looking over to a just as puzzled Viktor. "I thought she's skating to Lose It by Oh Wonder..."

Mikaela stood in the middle. Her costume looked somehow like Viktors in the last Grand Prix Finals. Only a little more feminine, as in with a skirt. The rest was nearly the same. Her hair wasn't styled. It was like it always was. Soft curls were already beginning to form — curls through which Viktor wanted to run his fingers so badly.

Mikaela stood still in the middle, looking down, her arms hanging normally by her side. Then the music began to play. She pushed herself backwards from her spot and seemed to reach out forward with one hand, a desperate look on her face.

Her choreography went on. Everything was beautiful and seemed flawless. And Mikaela hadn't lied when she had said that her and Yuri's choreographies were different. The theme of the song indeed was unconditional love, but Mikaelas story showed them something different to it. A woman loving the man of her dreams. She has the perfect life with him, until he suddenly leaves for another woman. That's what Viktor saw.

Now they were nearing her signature spin at the end — opened by a quad Salchow.

"The end of her short program is nearing and everyone is awaiting her signature spin, opened by her favorite — a quad Salchow!" They watched in awe. The quad Salchow was indeed her favorite but she didn't always land it perfectly. But she didn't do the Salchow. Instead, Mikaela performed a quad flip before going into her signature spin.

"She did a quadruple flip! Is it just me or is she having any similarities with Viktor Nikiforov?" The first commentator said, to which the second replied "I thought it was just me! I mean, look at her costume. And that quad flip isn't like her. She's never done that. And with that amount of grace she used to perform it, I think we all know who she's had some help from."

Viktor smiled at the screen like a proud father. After she had asked him to teach her a few moves of his, he gladly did and this is what she made of it. Within a few weeks she completely changed her short and free program. But nothing less was to be expected from such a creative woman like her.

Mikaela ended her routine with an arm stretched out to the side, the other hand on her chest and her eyes almost closed. Perfectly on time with the music. The crowd began to cheer. Mikaela in return began to smile and waved at her fans, before then heading off to the side to go to the kiss and cry.

Mikaela was handed a water bottle and her jacket, which she took gratefully. She slipped the skate guards on before she then sat down, draping her jacket over her shoulders. She just smiled at the cameras, although she felt unbelievably lonely on the inside. She had thought of getting a coach, but she and coaches didn't harmonize all too good.

Christophe would've come, but he's busy with his own skating to prepare for the Cup of China. Marie couldn't come as well, because finals season was starting for her so she couldn't miss those or she'd have to go through another year of college.

"And now, the results for Mikaela Lewis from Japan." Again, everyone was staring at the screen. Viktor looked past Mikaelas smile. He knew she felt lonely. He didn't want her to. Especially not at big competitions like those. She may be 20 years old but without a coach or even a friend there to support you it can be unbelievably hard.

He didn't even notice how the scores had been given already, but when he saw her smile growing even brighter and heard her cheer, he couldn't help but smile along. 102.01. First place, seasonal best, personal best. Viktor felt even prouder of her success. Because he had helped her and she had managed to do the quad flip in such a short amount of time, she had now scored this high.

"Yuuri, we're going to America." Viktor then suddenly said, interrupting the cheers of the others. "Huh? But Viktor, don't I have to prepare for the Cup of China?" Yuuri asked with a frown, to which the silver headed Russian quietly replied "She's lonely. I should've noticed this earlier."

-

Many hours of sleep later, Mikaela awoke to a knocking on her hotel room door. The blonde hoisted herself up and headed to the door, running a hand through her messy curls.

When she opened the door, she found herself staring at Viktor and Yuuri. Yuuri smiled awkwardly and Viktor also had a soft smile on his lips, but Mikaela knew something was up. "Why are you here?" She asked with a frown, to which Viktor said "We want to accompany you. So you don't have to feel lonely tonight at the free program like you did yesterday."

Mikaela tilted her head before sighing "Come in." She yawned and turned away, heading to the small living area and plopping down on her bed, motioning for the two surprise guests to sit on the couch.

"Mikaela, I've got to ask you something." Viktor said as soon as he sat down. "Shoot." Mikaela said, again hiding a yawn behind her hand.

"Did you...or rather, do you suffer from depression?"