Butterfly Kisses

Chapter 1 - Sochi Grand Prix: Victory for Russia

"We call everything on the ice Love"

I heard those words often

but it made no sense to me

until my life on the ice changed

forever

-"Next up! we have Tatyana Ivanov of Russia age 17, she will be skating to a different arrangement of the first song she did in her days as a junior skater, Swan Lake originally by Tchaikovsky. Her theme for this season has been 'happiness'-

-"You can definitely see that smile all the way from here, she says skating is one of her hobbies inside and outside of competing-

-"So far she is currently in 2nd place, if she manages to do a clean skate and land all of her jumps she can possibly solidify her spot in first place."-

I was nearing to the end of my free skate, there was one jump left. My coach Yakov warned me not to put a quad as my last jump but to win I needed my signature jump, a quadruple Lutz which would increase my overall base score. It wasn't the easiest jump in my roster but I loved the excitement of it. I could sense Yakov's anger since I only made the jump perfectly once in this routine but I needed to take a risk. Winning gold was the one thing that would keep me happy this season since my idol, Nadania Lidsmar was no longer competing. Ever since I started skating I had hoped to be alongside her at the Grand Prix Final one day. A lot of people were saddened by her suddenly leaving at only 22 years old without any type of explanation.

The jump was approaching I took a deep breath and went for it.

-"A quadruple Lutz!...and she nailed it!"-

I heard the crowd going crazy and I could just cry. I did it, I had a chance of taking the gold and I did just that.

Afterwards I greeted my friend Victor Nikiforov who had won gold for the Men's single skate.

"Big Brother Victor~ Congratulations!" I said running to hug him.

"Thank You little butterfly you did great too, that quad at the end had everyone on the edge of their seats. Congratulations."

Suddenly I felt a presence behind me.

"You're not going to congratulate me little girl? I won too you know."

"Oh hey Yuri...Congratulations."

"You too...anyway did you see that pathetic skater...I can't believe we share the same name, he better retire before my senior debut...that fat pig."

"Yuri..." Victor said looking at him disapprovingly.

"What? He'll ruin my good name it pisses me off."

"You have to earn that for yourself Yuri, don't get cocky little boy." I said.

"I am not, I won the junior world's and Grand Prix and I'm taking gold with my senior debut, you'll see."

"Okay~ but remember you'll be competing with the top skaters of the world."

"I know that! I'm not stupid."

I laughed. Yuri was always the best male skater of his age but I was afraid his over confidence would be his downfall if he didn't realize and fix his attitude soon.

Yuri and Victor headed off to find Yakov while I checked the news and I saw the rankings. I looked down at my gold medal and smiled. I couldn't wait to go home and show my mother and grandmother in person. Dad was coming home too and I couldn't wait to see him. It's been two years since he came home since he was in and out of the service. I joined them and we all headed back to the hotel. I began thinking of what I wanted to do for the upcoming season.