The room is dark, so dark. The curtains drawn tight against the insistent light of the bright day. A lone figure sat in the middle of the dark room. Head hung low, dark hair covering his eyes.

"Yuuri," a soft voice coos.

The dark-haired man's head jerks up, and his eyes glisten with the unshed tears.

"Oh Yuuri."

Viktor rushes forward and draws the dark-haired man tightly into his arms, hugging him as if he were the only thing keeping him tethered to earth.

"Just let it all out," Viktor says softly.

With those words, the dam burts and Yuuri lets out a wretched sob, clinging on to Viktor's shirt as the tear flowed heavily.

The two remained like that, with Viktor softly petting Yuuri's hair while the smaller man cried, until finally all the tears ran dry and he was left sniffling softly into his husbands now damp shirt.

"I'm sorry about your shirt," Yuuri says, voice husky from the sobbing.

"Don't be," Viktor croons, hand keeping a steady pace on the dark hair, "I'm more worried about you than my clothes right now." Pulling away slightly, Viktor ducked to look into Yuuri's red-rimmed eyes, "What happened Love? Please tell me what's wrong."

Yuuri let another sniffle, tears pooling in his eyes again, but he takes a deep breath before saying in a defeated tone, "I just don't know if I can do this anymore."

A silence filled the room while Viktor waits for Yuuri to collect his thoughts.

"I just- I miss being normal," Yuuri finally admits. "I miss being independent, and being able to walk, I miss going on runs with you. The beach, I miss going to the beach and being able to stick my toes in the water," The words begin pouring faster and faster out of Yuuri, each becoming more panicked than the last, "I miss playing fetch with Makachin and running around with her. I miss being able to just run to the store on my own, without anyone being worried for me. I miss not having anyone stare at me, eyes searching for what exactly is wrong with me and why I am in a wheel chair. I miss being able to move my legs, to stretch them, to feel my toes shifting. I miss being normal Viktor! I just- I just want to be normal again!"

Ragged breaths are being drawn from Yuuri's lungs as his eyes wildly search his husband's.

"Oh Yuuri," Viktor repeats, hands reaching to cup Yuuri's face gently. "You have never been normal Yuuri, and that's what makes you so amazing. You're a world champion figure skater, you are my husband, and we will find a way to make things okay again… together. Because we are both better together, and can achieve anything together, right? … Right, Yuuri?"

Viktor waits and watches until his husband nods his head in agreement before continuing.

"I'm sorry if I've been hovering, I'm sorry if I made you feel like you can't be independent. I just don't want you to injure yourself further. But from now on, I am going to do everything in my power to make you feel like how you want to feel. While I may not be able to make you feel normal again, I want you to feel independent, and proud, and strong. Because that's what you are Yuuri, all of those things, and so so much more."

The two men continue sitting in the darkness, both clinging to the other as tightly as they can. But no longer is the darkness stifling and heavy, it's simply a light presence needed to make the light days to come so much brighter.

I want to just start off with saying, I'm sorry.
I never intended to take almost two years to update this again, and honestly I don't know where the time has gone.
I can't even count on both my hands the number of times I've tried to sit down over the past year and a half that I've sat down and tried to write out this chapter, except this is never what I had intended it to do from the beginning.
When I first started this story, the most investment I had in it was the anime itself, I had no prior knowledge of what it means to lose the ability to use ones legs, and honestly I am now appalled by my previous chapters with how horribly they portray the real emotions that go through yourself as you experience these life changing moments.

Two months ago, my baby brother was found to have a tumor in his pelvic region. Thankfully it was noncancerous, but the nerves that control the majority of the legs were wrapped around it. After an intensive surgery, the tumor was successfully removed, but the damage was still done. His left leg is now partially paralyzed, absolutely no feeling below the knee, and to see this active energetic boy who loves to run around and jump and ride his bike go to being stuck in a wheelchair all day, it's hard. I have learned so much with what it really means to struggle with nerve damage, and to be strong and to be weak. That there are definitely some days that are better than others, and with that knowledge in mind, and upon looking back on how horribly I have attempted to portray this pain and heartache that comes with this, I am ending the story here. Maybe some day I will go back and retell the story in a better light. But for now, this is me, signing off.
-DL