About eight months from the last chapter (early March), 2020
This time when Yuri mounts the ice, he isn't scared. Though this is technically the most important competition of the year, with an Olympic gold under his belt Yuri could never win again and he'd be set for life. Once you go to the Olympics, your career is made, so to speak, so, in a way, the pressure's off. Yuri being Yuri though, while not terrified the way he was before Pyeongchang, is still in his competition mode, and, after all, Worlds is nothing to joke about.
After Yakov's customary pep talk goes ignored (as it always does) and the even-more traditional "Davai," is said, Yuri takes to the ice, greeting the judges and waving at the audience. He takes his usual lap around the rink, taking turns gliding from one foot to the next, arms raised and smiling brightly. When, at last, he takes center ice and freezes, waiting for the music, everything is normal-- going well, even.
When the music starts and Yuri springs to life, he finds himself totally immersed in the choreography-- every move he makes seeming to spur him even further into the story he tells. The first half goes perfectly, and the audience releases a collective sigh every time Yuri lands another jump, seamlessly transitioning into step sequences and intricate spins.
Yuri's about halfway through the second half of the Free Program, as he's gearing up for his quad Lutz, when he sees it. He's glancing over his left shoulder -- as skaters do before they jam their toepicks into the ice and take off, starting rotation for the jump-- when he catches sight of a face. A face he hasn't seen in a very long time.
With his body on autopilot, Yuri soars into the air, his mind vacant and body sloppy. It takes only seconds though for his mind to snap back into the present and he becomes acutely aware of his screw up.
Fuck.
He's going to fall, he knows this-- countless failed dry runs and practices having acquired within him a sixth sense-- one that often saves the lives of figure skaters so they can pull out of their jumps and land on their hips and not their heads. As he flies through the air though, Yuri knows he won't win if he doesn't land this jump-- and it's too late to pull out early.
If I can just hang on-- just stay steady as I land!
Yuri prays, and, like clockwork, unfolds his body, his blade making contact with the ice.
Relief floods through him-- I did it! The Lutz was fine! Fully rotated and everything!
And then his blade scrapes, and slides.
Yuri falls hard onto his side, the momentum from his jump increasing the weight of his landing by eight. He hisses in pain but pulls himself to his feet almost immediately, decidedly ignoring the pain in his right hip, forcing his face back into character.
As he runs through his footwork, his acting is on point but his mind is doing rapid calculations, numbers flying through his head urgently-- doing totals in the middle of a routine the way only figure skaters can.
The missed quad Lutz will cost me a negative GOE which, since I fell, will be -3. The base value for the jump is 11.8 so that'll be a huge loss in points, plus a deduction of 1 since I hit the ice. Already, even if everything else is perfect, I'm in second....... But--
And then Yuri has it, and instead of the Ina Bouer he was supposed to use as an entrance to a Camel spin, he changes it from an inside to an outside edge, and, praying he has enough momentum, jumps.
The crowd gasps and the commentator alike, his words about how Yuri hasn't missed his Lutz all season dying on his lips as he frantically tries to cover Yuri's motions on the ice. Now, he watches in awe with the rest of the stadium as Yuri lands his triple Axel, and, seriously risking suicide, throws his left foot back into a triple Toe.
The entire stadium holds their breath, frozen in suspense as he revolves in the air-- both arms raised.
And then things go back to normal speed; the commentator lets out a bark of laughter as Yuri lands perfectly,
"Now that's Plisetsky!" He roars over the crowd's thunderous applause, "Always a surprise on the ice! And raising his arms on such a dangerous combination too-- if he's changing his choreography he's certainly going all the way!"
Yuri internally smirks at the man's reaction-- imagining Yakov's face as he landed the combination. It had been a draft from one of the earlier versions of this program-- Victor's impossible choreography, of course-- and after running the entire thing through Yakov had gotten rid of the element, deeming it too taxing on Yuri's (admittedly excellent) stamina. Now though, Yuri knows that it's the only way to make up for the lost Lutz and he'll just have to power through it-- he's nineteen years old, his stamina will never be better than it is now and Yuri can do it. He knows he can. And he does, thank god.
Still though, with another thirty seconds left in the program, he feels his composure slipping, his movements lagging slightly as his muscles ache and his lungs burn.
Come on, keep going, you can do this!
Yuri, still following the older version of the program, flings himself into a combination spin, twisting up and letting his leg fan out behind him as his upper body falls back. He holds the position out for six rotations before moving again, grabbing his outstretched right leg with both hands and pulling it over his head, bending his back into a 'u' shape so he transitions into a Biellman spin.
His lungs ache and he's entirely sure he's not breathing, but, after butterflying into a back sit spin, his leg sweeping along the ice in an almost horizontal, broken leg position, he only has 5, 4, 3, 2, he pulls up, 1, until the program is done.
Yuri pulls himself out of his finishing scratch spin and pushes out into his ending position-- his left toe pick digging into the ice as he lunges forward on his right blade, lifting his arms and face to the heavens.
The audience explodes and Yuri collapses. He kneels on the ice, panting, desperate to get air to his lungs, all while the commentator roars over the bedlam and the same image flashes over and over in Yuri's head.
He pulls himself to his feet and skates to the wall where Yakov hands him his guards,
"Yuri, what were you--" Blades covered, Yuri walks straight past both him and Otabek who follows him with a very concerned gaze, never having seen him act like this.
Yuri bypasses the Kiss and Cry completely, moving around the stands to the back left of the stadium, searching, searching for-- and then there she is. The reason he fell and went through all that hell on the ice.
He stops, rigid.
"Hello, Mother,"
**A/N!**
Hey! Sorry, this was really heavy with figure skating jargon, I tried to put brief explanations in there with the movements but I don't know how effective it was. I normally don't like to do skating scenes for that long (read: the entire damn chapter) but it was a means to an end. So.... the end! I've been wanting to introduce Mama Plisetskaya for so long and I'm really excited for the next chapter. I'll see you then! Bye!
Links to the figure skating moves mentioned:
Lutz (quad): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCe2pnL-up0
Biellman spin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDqyipDB-nc
Triple Axel triple Toe (loop) combination: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADEpuFVy0ok
Butterflying: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFWhowwQ1Z0
Back broken leg sit spin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbCqp5cEXkA
Scratch spin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2VuosSk9zU
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