did my heart love till now
Title: did my heart love till now
Pairing: Yuzuru Hanyu/Javier Fernandez
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1779
A/N: i blame this person.
It all came back with a single phone call. Three-thirty in the afternoon, moments after she finished watching Yuzu’s record-breaking short program for the fiftieth time (and no tears this time around), Nanami Abe answered the unfamiliar number.
“Sensei?”
He still sounded the same after these past two years, a little bit of trepidation mixed with a burst of excitement. Still a young boy with huge dreams for the world. Still Yuzuru.
“Yuzu-kun,” Nanami replied. She coughed, wiping away the memories that flowed down her face. “How are you?”
-----
Toronto was very different from Tokyo. It wasn’t so much the language or foreign symbols that crawled across the buildings or billboards but the air, the soul, of the city that felt unfamiliar. There was a sharp freshness to the air that permeated her lungs, willing her to breathe faster as she stepped out of the airport and looked for one face in the crowd. Ruffled black hair and a toothy grin greeted her a few feet away.
“Sensei!”
Nanami gave a short laugh, sighing deeply as she tugged Yuzuru into her arms. “You’ve gotten taller, Yuzu.”
“Of course! And I’m still growing.”
“Where is that little boy who stumbled into my rink years ago?” she teased, reaching out to tousle his hair. “Did he get lost in Toronto?”
“I’m still the same Yuzu, sensei.” He dodged away from her hand and grabbed her luggage instead. “Come on, we need to leave quickly.”
“Where are we going?” she asked, following him through the throngs of taxis and luggage piles.
Yuzuru gave her an incredulous look, as if the answer were obvious. “To practice, of course!”
Nanami sighed, shaking her head with a fond smile. Still the same Yuzu.
-----
The rink in Toronto was bigger than the one in Tokyo. There was more stuff- more equipment, computers, pulleys- that cluttered the area but Nanami felt at ease when she heard the slick slide of ice against metal. She relished the feeling of cold in her bones, the familiar posture of leaning against the wall as she watched Yuzuru skate.
“I see Yuzu managed to convince you to come.”
Brian leaned next to her, offering her a cordial nod as he eyed his students on the ice.
“I can hardly say no to my best student,” she grinned. Nanami raised an eyebrow when Yuzuru sped across the ice, building into what would be a quad salchow.
“I taught him that,” Brian spoke up. There was no bite in his voice, only a wistful tilt to his tone as he beamed when Yuzuru landed the jump. The boy continued across the rink into another quad.
“And I taught him that,” Nanami replied with a sentimental gaze.
Brian winced as Yuzuru crashed onto the ice, side slamming into the cold ground before he slid into the rink wall. “You taught him to fall like that?”
“No,” Nanami said. She pointed to where Yuzuru pounded his feet in frustration before slowly skating away. “I taught him to get up again.”
-----
Nanami hadn’t questioned why Yuzuru asked her to come to Toronto. She had just heard his voice, remembered that confident yet sheepish smile, and looked up the earliest flight out of Tokyo. Perhaps it was the desire to see the progress of an old student; the opportunity to see how much he had grown. Maybe it was to confirm with her own eyes that Yuzuru Hanyu, the little boy who had skated after his sister once upon a time, was actually an Olympic Champion. Regardless, Nanami knew she wouldn’t have to wait long before Yuzuru would explain himself- he had always been a straightforward person like that.
“I want to do Romeo and Juliet again,” Yuzuru said during dinner. He fiddled with his napkin. “For my last exhibition this season.”
Nanami carefully poked at her food. It was too creamy, too much cheese in the thick pasta that left a sour taste in her mouth. “White legend is a beautiful piece.”
“It is,” Yuzuru conceded. “But...” He became silent, only muttering a quiet ‘thanks’ when the waiter took away his half-full plate. Nanami looked at her pasta once more before passing it to the waiter as well.
“Do you even remember the choreography?” she asked.
“I could never forget it.”
“There are other options. Notre-Dame de Paris is more recent than Romeo and Juliet.” Yuzuru twisted his napkin, clutching the fabric so hard veins stood out prominently against his pale skin. Noticing his discomfort, Nanami paused to stare at him carefully. “Are you sure it must be this piece?”
“Yes. I’m sure.”
If there was one thing Nanami knew about Yuzuru, it was that the boy could rival anyone with his determination. Once he had a set goal in his mind, there was rarely anything, if anything, that would stop him. She had seen it years ago, when an eleven-year-old Yuzuru shuffled into her ice center, hair bobbing furiously as he dashed across the ice with the intent to land a triple axel that he had never even known existed until that day when he saw her students practice. And she knew this time would be no different.
“Well then, I guess that’s why I’m here.” Nanami sipped her water, offering Yuzuru a small smile. “We have a lot to practice if you want to do that old piece again.”
-----
The first run-through of the gala piece was astounding. Granted there were moments when Yuzuru had paused, face scrunched in concentration as he attempted to glide through forgotten moves, but there was an entirely new feeling to his every motion.
“Is Orser sensei a better teacher than me?” Nanami joked during break. “You look entirely different from back then. What changed?”
Yuzuru bit his lips, knees knocking together as he clutched Pooh-san in his hands. Nanami waited, watching his fingers flutter nervously across the plushie’s head.
“You said that one day I would know,” he hesitantly began. “That I would understand what they were feeling.”
“One cannot skate to a story as tragic as Romeo and Juliet without feeling,” she had said to a sixteen year old Yuzuru. She had skated beside him for months, tugging him along to the music as they ran through the choreography. “What were they feeling, Yuzu? How must have it hurt to be so in love?”
“It must have been so painful,” Yuzuru said. There was a tired line across his forehead, creasing almost as deeply as the frown of his mouth. He looked across the ice, a softness to his eyes when he spoke again. “But how beautiful must have been that pain if it meant they could be together even just for a moment?”
“You will know of their love one day,” Nanami had said. She rubbed his sore shoulders after the long practices when his skating had been too stiff, too cold. Patting his head, she gave him a reassuring grin. “One day you’ll find your beloved person.”
Yuzuru closed his eyes, breathing slowly when he opened them again. “How fortunate were they to meet.”
It was astonishing. Two years. Was that all that had been needed? Two years for Yuzuru to blossom into this young man who could match emotions to his movements. Two years for her beloved student to become capable of each and every one of the feats he had dreamed about from the beginning.
“You’ve grown, Yuzuru.” Nanami patted his back. “I’m honored to work with you again.”
He blinked before bowing. “Thank you, sensei.”
-----
“Enjoying Toronto?” Brian walked up beside Nanami to watch Yuzuru practice his exhibition piece.
“It suits me well enough,” she replied, smiling when Yuzuru performed twirls in time to the music. That part had always been her favorite. “Fortunately, some things are familiar.”
“He’s still the same boy,” Brian chuckled. Thinking further, he frowned. “Especially his English.”
“Yes,” Nanami laughed. “Some things just don’t change.”
She blinked when an unfamiliar man skated into the rink to join Yuzuru. They clasped hands tightly, Yuzuru’s eyes squinting into crescents as he laughed at something the man whispered into his ear.
“Well… except him. He’s new.”
Brian laughed- so hard that Yuzuru looked up, startled, before breaking into his own grin.
-----
Moments before Yuzuru stepped onto the ice for the gala; seconds before Savchenko and Szolkowy finished re-skating their winning performance; breaths before Yuzuru closed his eyes in a silent prayer for a good skate, Nanami reached out to grab his hand.
“Your last performance of the season,” she said. “How do you feel?”
“Nervous,” he admitted, giggling a little. “But grateful. I want to thank everyone who got me this far. That’s why I chose this piece, sensei. It’s a reminder of where I came from, where I started.”
Tears were already beginning to well up in her eyes, but Nanami forced them back, focusing instead on the glowing boy before her.
“Through these years,” he continued, grip tightening around her hand. “I’ve learned so much, met new people, and-”
She felt his gaze travel over her shoulder, his eyes widening as his mouth parted into an affectionate smile. Turning, Nanami saw the strange man from the rink again. He looked absolutely ridiculous, donned in a bright yellow-red gym suit that was too short and too tight; but the man did not seem to care, too busy frantically waving in their direction. When she looked back to Yuzuru, there was a faint blush to his cheeks, a subtle hitch to his breath that had nothing to do with his asthma. He looked back at Nanami.
“Sensei,” Yuzuru whispered. He dazzled underneath the lights, the sequins on his costume sparkling almost as brightly as the pure joy that blazed from his eyes. “I think I’ve finally found my Romeo.”
-----
Brian joined them for one last practice in Saitama before he and Yuzuru headed back to Toronto.
Nanami watched from the sidelines as Yuzuru engaged a few others skaters to a quad battle, a competition she knew would mean bruised hips and burning aches on a long plane ride home. But she remained quiet, a thin smile on her lips as Yuzuru laughed gleefully. His fingers were loosely intertwined with the man from before- Javier, as Yuzuru had introduced him last night after the gala- as they skated around the rink in lazy circles.
“I did that,” Brian smugly said. He nodded at the pair, where Javier was currently trying to suffocate Yuzuru in a hug. The latter squealed, smacking the Hispanic skater with Pooh-san, before embracing him again.
Nanami laughed- so hard that Yuzuru looked up, startled, before breaking into his own grin.
an/n: someone told me figure skating would be fun. no one told me i would cry. also, coach nanami and yuzuru are the cutest and they make me sob. but hey, orser is pretty cool too.
Pairing: Yuzuru Hanyu/Javier Fernandez
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1779
A/N: i blame this person.
It all came back with a single phone call. Three-thirty in the afternoon, moments after she finished watching Yuzu’s record-breaking short program for the fiftieth time (and no tears this time around), Nanami Abe answered the unfamiliar number.
“Sensei?”
He still sounded the same after these past two years, a little bit of trepidation mixed with a burst of excitement. Still a young boy with huge dreams for the world. Still Yuzuru.
“Yuzu-kun,” Nanami replied. She coughed, wiping away the memories that flowed down her face. “How are you?”
-----
Toronto was very different from Tokyo. It wasn’t so much the language or foreign symbols that crawled across the buildings or billboards but the air, the soul, of the city that felt unfamiliar. There was a sharp freshness to the air that permeated her lungs, willing her to breathe faster as she stepped out of the airport and looked for one face in the crowd. Ruffled black hair and a toothy grin greeted her a few feet away.
“Sensei!”
Nanami gave a short laugh, sighing deeply as she tugged Yuzuru into her arms. “You’ve gotten taller, Yuzu.”
“Of course! And I’m still growing.”
“Where is that little boy who stumbled into my rink years ago?” she teased, reaching out to tousle his hair. “Did he get lost in Toronto?”
“I’m still the same Yuzu, sensei.” He dodged away from her hand and grabbed her luggage instead. “Come on, we need to leave quickly.”
“Where are we going?” she asked, following him through the throngs of taxis and luggage piles.
Yuzuru gave her an incredulous look, as if the answer were obvious. “To practice, of course!”
Nanami sighed, shaking her head with a fond smile. Still the same Yuzu.
-----
The rink in Toronto was bigger than the one in Tokyo. There was more stuff- more equipment, computers, pulleys- that cluttered the area but Nanami felt at ease when she heard the slick slide of ice against metal. She relished the feeling of cold in her bones, the familiar posture of leaning against the wall as she watched Yuzuru skate.
“I see Yuzu managed to convince you to come.”
Brian leaned next to her, offering her a cordial nod as he eyed his students on the ice.
“I can hardly say no to my best student,” she grinned. Nanami raised an eyebrow when Yuzuru sped across the ice, building into what would be a quad salchow.
“I taught him that,” Brian spoke up. There was no bite in his voice, only a wistful tilt to his tone as he beamed when Yuzuru landed the jump. The boy continued across the rink into another quad.
“And I taught him that,” Nanami replied with a sentimental gaze.
Brian winced as Yuzuru crashed onto the ice, side slamming into the cold ground before he slid into the rink wall. “You taught him to fall like that?”
“No,” Nanami said. She pointed to where Yuzuru pounded his feet in frustration before slowly skating away. “I taught him to get up again.”
-----
Nanami hadn’t questioned why Yuzuru asked her to come to Toronto. She had just heard his voice, remembered that confident yet sheepish smile, and looked up the earliest flight out of Tokyo. Perhaps it was the desire to see the progress of an old student; the opportunity to see how much he had grown. Maybe it was to confirm with her own eyes that Yuzuru Hanyu, the little boy who had skated after his sister once upon a time, was actually an Olympic Champion. Regardless, Nanami knew she wouldn’t have to wait long before Yuzuru would explain himself- he had always been a straightforward person like that.
“I want to do Romeo and Juliet again,” Yuzuru said during dinner. He fiddled with his napkin. “For my last exhibition this season.”
Nanami carefully poked at her food. It was too creamy, too much cheese in the thick pasta that left a sour taste in her mouth. “White legend is a beautiful piece.”
“It is,” Yuzuru conceded. “But...” He became silent, only muttering a quiet ‘thanks’ when the waiter took away his half-full plate. Nanami looked at her pasta once more before passing it to the waiter as well.
“Do you even remember the choreography?” she asked.
“I could never forget it.”
“There are other options. Notre-Dame de Paris is more recent than Romeo and Juliet.” Yuzuru twisted his napkin, clutching the fabric so hard veins stood out prominently against his pale skin. Noticing his discomfort, Nanami paused to stare at him carefully. “Are you sure it must be this piece?”
“Yes. I’m sure.”
If there was one thing Nanami knew about Yuzuru, it was that the boy could rival anyone with his determination. Once he had a set goal in his mind, there was rarely anything, if anything, that would stop him. She had seen it years ago, when an eleven-year-old Yuzuru shuffled into her ice center, hair bobbing furiously as he dashed across the ice with the intent to land a triple axel that he had never even known existed until that day when he saw her students practice. And she knew this time would be no different.
“Well then, I guess that’s why I’m here.” Nanami sipped her water, offering Yuzuru a small smile. “We have a lot to practice if you want to do that old piece again.”
-----
The first run-through of the gala piece was astounding. Granted there were moments when Yuzuru had paused, face scrunched in concentration as he attempted to glide through forgotten moves, but there was an entirely new feeling to his every motion.
“Is Orser sensei a better teacher than me?” Nanami joked during break. “You look entirely different from back then. What changed?”
Yuzuru bit his lips, knees knocking together as he clutched Pooh-san in his hands. Nanami waited, watching his fingers flutter nervously across the plushie’s head.
“You said that one day I would know,” he hesitantly began. “That I would understand what they were feeling.”
“One cannot skate to a story as tragic as Romeo and Juliet without feeling,” she had said to a sixteen year old Yuzuru. She had skated beside him for months, tugging him along to the music as they ran through the choreography. “What were they feeling, Yuzu? How must have it hurt to be so in love?”
“It must have been so painful,” Yuzuru said. There was a tired line across his forehead, creasing almost as deeply as the frown of his mouth. He looked across the ice, a softness to his eyes when he spoke again. “But how beautiful must have been that pain if it meant they could be together even just for a moment?”
“You will know of their love one day,” Nanami had said. She rubbed his sore shoulders after the long practices when his skating had been too stiff, too cold. Patting his head, she gave him a reassuring grin. “One day you’ll find your beloved person.”
Yuzuru closed his eyes, breathing slowly when he opened them again. “How fortunate were they to meet.”
It was astonishing. Two years. Was that all that had been needed? Two years for Yuzuru to blossom into this young man who could match emotions to his movements. Two years for her beloved student to become capable of each and every one of the feats he had dreamed about from the beginning.
“You’ve grown, Yuzuru.” Nanami patted his back. “I’m honored to work with you again.”
He blinked before bowing. “Thank you, sensei.”
-----
“Enjoying Toronto?” Brian walked up beside Nanami to watch Yuzuru practice his exhibition piece.
“It suits me well enough,” she replied, smiling when Yuzuru performed twirls in time to the music. That part had always been her favorite. “Fortunately, some things are familiar.”
“He’s still the same boy,” Brian chuckled. Thinking further, he frowned. “Especially his English.”
“Yes,” Nanami laughed. “Some things just don’t change.”
She blinked when an unfamiliar man skated into the rink to join Yuzuru. They clasped hands tightly, Yuzuru’s eyes squinting into crescents as he laughed at something the man whispered into his ear.
“Well… except him. He’s new.”
Brian laughed- so hard that Yuzuru looked up, startled, before breaking into his own grin.
-----
Moments before Yuzuru stepped onto the ice for the gala; seconds before Savchenko and Szolkowy finished re-skating their winning performance; breaths before Yuzuru closed his eyes in a silent prayer for a good skate, Nanami reached out to grab his hand.
“Your last performance of the season,” she said. “How do you feel?”
“Nervous,” he admitted, giggling a little. “But grateful. I want to thank everyone who got me this far. That’s why I chose this piece, sensei. It’s a reminder of where I came from, where I started.”
Tears were already beginning to well up in her eyes, but Nanami forced them back, focusing instead on the glowing boy before her.
“Through these years,” he continued, grip tightening around her hand. “I’ve learned so much, met new people, and-”
She felt his gaze travel over her shoulder, his eyes widening as his mouth parted into an affectionate smile. Turning, Nanami saw the strange man from the rink again. He looked absolutely ridiculous, donned in a bright yellow-red gym suit that was too short and too tight; but the man did not seem to care, too busy frantically waving in their direction. When she looked back to Yuzuru, there was a faint blush to his cheeks, a subtle hitch to his breath that had nothing to do with his asthma. He looked back at Nanami.
“Sensei,” Yuzuru whispered. He dazzled underneath the lights, the sequins on his costume sparkling almost as brightly as the pure joy that blazed from his eyes. “I think I’ve finally found my Romeo.”
-----
Brian joined them for one last practice in Saitama before he and Yuzuru headed back to Toronto.
Nanami watched from the sidelines as Yuzuru engaged a few others skaters to a quad battle, a competition she knew would mean bruised hips and burning aches on a long plane ride home. But she remained quiet, a thin smile on her lips as Yuzuru laughed gleefully. His fingers were loosely intertwined with the man from before- Javier, as Yuzuru had introduced him last night after the gala- as they skated around the rink in lazy circles.
“I did that,” Brian smugly said. He nodded at the pair, where Javier was currently trying to suffocate Yuzuru in a hug. The latter squealed, smacking the Hispanic skater with Pooh-san, before embracing him again.
Nanami laughed- so hard that Yuzuru looked up, startled, before breaking into his own grin.
an/n: someone told me figure skating would be fun. no one told me i would cry. also, coach nanami and yuzuru are the cutest and they make me sob. but hey, orser is pretty cool too.
