It had been a rough week since Viktor had told Yuuri about the competition. With Viktor only being able to skate during the early mornings and late evenings and Yuuri practicing well into the night every day, time together was a luxury they couldn't afford. Viktor would be lying if he said that it didn't bother him at all. It was on this particular night when it started to bother him more.

Viktor was tossing and turning in bed, missing the warmth Yuuri provided when they used to sleep together. Instead of trying to fall back asleep, Viktor decided to get up and get a glass of water. He was halfway to the kitchen in Yuuri's family inn when he noticed the light streaming into the darkness of the rest of the building. Curiously, he peeked his head around the corner and noticed that the light was coming from Yuuri's practice room. As if on cue, a frustrated groan emerged from the room before the soft sound of the piano started up again. It was nice to sit there listening to it for a moment. And then it was cut off abruptly. Viktor could imagine Yuuri pulling at his hair in irritation as he had seem him do before.

Viktor abandoned the idea of grabbing a water and instead walked in the direction of the practice room. Yuuri was so in-tune to what he was doing that he didn't even notice Viktor's presence. Viktor slid the door open quietly, unsurprised to find just how stressed out Yuuri really was. Before Yuuri could move his fingers back to the keys, Viktor moved to sit down next to him on the piano bench. That was when Yuuri finally looked up.

"Viktor. I'm sorry I didn't mean to wake you up. I guess I just-"

Viktor lifted his right hand up to the keys, letting them hang over the keys briefly. He then pressed his fingers down onto the keys, the melody of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" ringing throughout the room. The sound of his playing stopped Yuuri from speaking further.

"I bet you thought I couldn't play at all. Not that this is a skill to brag about." Viktor chuckled as he ended the song he was playing. "I'm sure you could play some fancier version of it anyway."

Yuuri refused to speak, letting Viktor's words hang in the air.

"My mother used to play all the time for me. Whenever I came back from the rink in a bad mood over new choreography or not being able to land a jump, she would sit me down next to her just like this and start playing that song. There was one time when it didn't do anything for me, and instead I asked her harshly why she kept doing that. She responded with, 'Let your smile change the world, but don't let the world change your smile.' Because I was a brash kid without a thought in my head, I had no idea what that meant or understood its relevance. When I asked her why she said it, she told me that no matter what hardships I face in life, I should never regret the decisions I make no matter the outcomes."

Yuuri opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

"I, of course, ignored the advice and stomped away like the child I was." Viktor laughed and took his hands away from the keys. "It only occurred to me a few years later what she meant, but even so I carried around her words like a lifeline."

"Thank you, Viktor." Yuuri smiled at him, a smile Viktor missed seeing. "She sounds like an amazing woman."

"She was. Deathly ill, but kind and loving all the same." Viktor remembered the day she died. It was expected, but it still hurt nonetheless. He was closest to his mother. After that day, his father became distant, avoiding Viktor at all costs. By the time it would no longer matter, Viktor moved out and started working towards his career harder than ever before.

"I'm sorry." Yuuri's smile faded.

Viktor's platinum hair swung as he shook his head. "Don't be. It was a while ago. Anyway," Viktor stood up from the piano, "the moral of my story was don't beat yourself up over this. Play the best you can, and leave everything out there. If you do that, then I know I'll be able to at my competition as well."

Yuuri looked up at him and sighed contently. "Sounds like a deal. I'll do my best, and you'll do yours. No slacking off."

"None." Viktor leaned down and planted a kiss on Yuuri's forehead. "Don't stay up too much later. You need to rest." He padded off to the kitchen to do what he originally got up for.

"I won't." Yuuri watched him leave before turning back to his instrument, in a better mood than the one he was in before.

.

. . .

.

"Look who finally showed up." Yurio stood with his arms crossed in the middle of the rink, the heel of his left skate dug into the surface of the ice.

"How are even still in Japan? Yakov must want to kill you by now." Viktor sat down on one the benches lining the rink, pulling his skates out from the bag he carried them in. He stared at them before unlacing them and slipping his feet in.

Yurio snorted and pushed himself to the rink wall. "Who cares what he thinks? He won't care anyway when I come home with gold around my neck from Worlds."

"Oh?" Viktor grinned and focused blue eyes on Yurio once he finished tying his skates off. "You'll have to pry that medal away from me first." He stood to his full height and made his way to the opening of the ice. "I plan on winning a sixth gold."

"Get off your high horse, old man. I'm now competing against you. My silver medal from the GPF will be the last silver I get." Yurio jabbed a finger at him before pushing away to start working on his routines.

"They grow up so fast." Viktor wiped a fake tear away and joined Yurio.

They spent the next two hours pushing themselves as hard as possible before Yuuko walked in to kick them out. They were settling down from their practice as Yuuri walked in.

"You can't be serious- Oh, the pig is here." Yurio gazed up from his conversation with Viktor to pointedly look at Yuuri.

Viktor whipped his head up to see Yuuri nervously waving, bundled up in his navy button-up jacket and blue-grey scarf. Hurriedly, he tossed his skates off, jammed them into the bag they were in, and ran to Yuuri. Viktor almost knocked him down with the force he pulled Yuuri into a hug with.

"Hi, Yuuri! Are you taking a break today?" Viktor held him at arm's length.

"Yeah, I thought I'd come down to see you practice, but I guess I'm late." He released a small laugh, glancing down at his feet.

"It's alright. I don't want you to see my program yet anyway." Viktor let him go, holding Yuuri's left hand in his own right hand.

"Why not?" Confused, Yuuri rose an eyebrow at the Russian.

"He wouldn't stop going on about how he wants you to see it at Worlds." Yurio shouldered his own back and walked passed the duo, making his way to the exit.

Yuuri's eyes fall again at the sound of Viktor's competition. Viktor really wished Yurio didn't say anything about that.

"I've been thinking," Viktor tugged on his hand, pulling them both in the direction Yurio walked away in, "what time does the drawing of lots start at, and how many competitors are going to be there?"

Yuuri pondered the question, lifting his right hand to his chin. "Since it's his hometown, I assume Jean-Jacques Leroy will be there. Seung-gil Lee might be there, too. He does like that competition. I'm not sure how many total, though. If I remember currently, then it should start around six in the morning. They like starting then to get it over with early."

"Perfect! You can make it to Helsinki no problem then!"

"What?!" Yuuri deadpanned, gawking at Viktor.

"Well, the Men's Free program starts at one p.m. and ends at six. Depending on how I do, I might be last to go up. I'll definitely be in the last group, though. The flight alone should be around nine hours. Let's say you're thing is over by eight. If you leave immediately for the airport, you should arrive in Helsinki by five. You could even leave your event as soon as you hear your name, so that way you'd get there earlier. What do you think?"

Yuuri was speechless as he stared on at a grinning Viktor. "That's... you're crazy, Viktor."

"I know, I know. I'm asking a lot of you. I want nothing more than for you to see me skate, especially with what I have planned for programs. Would it also be selfish to ask you to come see my Short Program the Thursday before?"

"Viktor... What if the flight gets delayed? What if I don't show up on time?" Yuuri ran his right hand through his hair, thinking of all the possibilities that it could go wrong.

"Then watch the livestream on the plane. I won't be upset if the reason you're held up is because of a delayed flight. Now because the first round of your competition is tomorrow, we'll fly to Montreal together that night. We'll be there for each other's competitions!"

"Viktor, isn't there a banquet for everyone after? What about the exhibition gala? You have to be there for both." Yuuri worriedly bit down on his lip, gnawing on it painfully.

Viktor shrugged. "I've been to plenty. They know that if I miss one, there's a valid reason for it. I'll have someone back me up. Don't worry. That should be the last thing on your mind. Is that a yes to my crazy idea?"

Yuuri sat on the idea, thinking it through a few more times. "I... I suppose so, but-"

"Thank you, Yuuri!" Viktor crushed him in a hug. "I won't ask anything of you this big again!"

Yuuri sighed and returned the bone-crushing hug. "You're welcome. But," He pulled back on the hug, "we do have to start planning that whole week now then. You want me to take a lot of flights in a short time, Viktor. These competitions are next week. We don't even know what'll be available."

"Oh, I'll make sure it's all set. Trust me. I'll set everything up for you." Viktor put the hand that isn't in Yuuri's on his own hip, proudly walking out the exit alongside Yuuri. "I'm paying for everything after all. No ifs, ands, or buts."

"But Viktor, that's a lot of-"

"I don't care. Being a five time consecutive World champion gets you the money to pay for things like that, Yuuri. I also said no buts." Viktor wagged a finger in Yuuri's face.

"Okay. If you say it's alright, then I'll believe you. Can we go work this out now? We only have four days before we should leave for Finland."

"Sure thing! Let's get to it!"

The duo walked down to a small coffee shop in downtown Hasetsu, sitting down and going over their plans for the next week extensively. Yuuri tapped a pen against the notepad in frustration. He was on the phone with the event coordinators for his competition, while Viktor was speaking Russian into his own phone, most likely talking to his travel agency.

Yuuri ended the call with the coordinators, a little less stressed out now that they've agreed to what they have planned. He scribbled a new note onto the notepad before him, anxiously waiting for Viktor's call to end. Probably sensing his anxiety in full run, Viktor winked at him gaining pink cheeks and more tapping of a pen in response. Eventually, Viktor ended his own call with a smile on his face.

"We're a go. We'll be flying in together Monday morning to Helsinki. You'll stay until Friday, where you'll get on a flight at one p.m. to Montreal, Canada. The next day after you've found what position you are, you'll take the first flight out to Helsinki at eight-fifteen a.m. They said there's another flight at seven-thirty that they can stick you on if you get to the airport early enough."

Yuuri nodded his head at every word, jotting down the times and dates of the flights as they were spoken.

"Saturday night at eight forty-five is our flight back to Canada. From there, we'll take a flight to get back here April 14th at two fifty-five p.m. Sounds good?" Viktor picked up his coffee, taking a long sip of it as Yuuri sighed at the amount of flights scheduled before him.

"I think I'll be lucky if I remember any of my pieces through all this. There's no time for me to practice, Viktor." Frustrated again, Yuuri set his head against right hand, which is propped up on the table.

"I've got it covered. In the main lobby of the hotel we'll be staying at, there's a grand piano waiting for you. Now, before you say anything," because Yuuri was sure his expression spoke volumes about the new development, "I did not buy a grand piano and have it sent there."

"You promise?"

"I promise." Viktor held up his hand. "I've stayed at the hotel before, so all I have to do is call them up directly and ask for access to it for you."

Yuuri glanced down at the notepad again. "Okay. That makes me feel a bit better. Five flights, though. That's... stressful. Tiring."

"Make sure you sleep, even if that means once we get to Helsinki that's all you day all day. I have a practices Tuesday and Wednesday morning and night as well as Thursday morning before the competition starts for me. I want you to rest and practice on those days."

Yuuri nodded and smiled back, strained but a smile all the same. "This might work."

"Of course it'll work. We planned it after all." Viktor sipped from his coffee, sliding the notepad out of Yuuri's deathgrip. "Relax. This will work out for the best."

"I hope you're right."

.

. . .

.

Within no time at all, Monday came around. Yuuri glanced one last time around his bedroom, making sure he had everything he needed. Meanwhile, Viktor was hanging out at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for Yuuri to finish. "Yuuri! We have to go! Are you all set?"

Yuuri nodded and grabbed his rolling suitcase, sucking in a deep breath. "Ready!" He carefully navigated his way down the stairs, lugging his suitcase behind him as he went.

"This'll be fun. Just you wait." Viktor wrapped the arm not holding his own suitcase around Yuuri, who still looked very hesitant about everything. "Please try to enjoy yourself a little?"

"Okay, okay. I just don't want anything to happen. I'm worried something will happen and then-"

"Yuuri, you're doing it again."

"Doing what?" Yuuri turned his brown eyes up to Viktor.

"Worrying. Yuuri Katsuki, you are not allowed to worry about anything as soon as we step passed the door. Got it?"

"But Viktor-"

"Nope. You have to agree."

Yuuri rolled his eyes. "Yes, I got it."

"Good! Now, we have a flight to catch!" Viktor dragged him forward, elated for the next week's activities.