Yuri Plisetsky had gone to bed content. Snuggled beside his wife after a hard day's work alongside his friend, the losses of his fathers and best friend only twinging his heartstrings, not breaking it entirely. It had been a good day, insofar as he could have one. Mind you, our dear Yuratchka had wished to know what would have changed. At thirty five, he wanted to know what could have changed. A ridiculous yet understandable question, yeah?

What is perhaps not so understandable is being flung back in time by over two decades, across a continent and waking in an entirely different yet still familiar room.

Where he should have been in the bedroom he shared with Axel at Yu-Topia Hot Springs, a full grown man grumbling at the alarm, he was now thirteen year old Yuri Plisetsky who would one day go on to believe he was the Ice Tiger of Russia. Ridiculous nickname, that. He thinks with a scowl.

The circumstances actually register, after he's checked the date and time and looked at himself, while he's showering. Yuri immediately blames it on Axel's pampering. The damn woman had made it a habit to chivvy him through the house while he thought, so he was on autopilot, usually up until she joined him in the shower.

With a disgusted sigh, Yuri mentally gathers his strength to face Vitya. No, not Vitya. Not yet. He hadn't called Victor 'Vitya' until he was nearly sixteen, spending the off season at the onsen because Yuuri had made it a point to invite him to train with them, Victor's face lighting up as he babbled eagerly. That was around the time… Katsudon had become Aniki. Not simply 'an older brother' to Yuri, but his older brother.

That… People had thought he'd married Axel because of her closeness to Yuuri, when he'd been part of her coaching team (him, Yuuri, and Victor), as the only Nishigori to go into Singles- Lutz had gone on to win pairs with a cousin of the Crispino's, many times over, and Loop had performed as an ice dancer alongside and under Phichit Chulanont before retiring to get married to a Giacometti protege.

The truth was, he hadn't actually seen Axel as an eligible woman until Yuuri, Victor and Otabek had died in a car crash caused by a drunk driver in New York, who'd t-boned their cab. It had flipped and rolled the vehicle, killing all three passengers and the driver. Yuri himself had been the reason they were in a cab in New York. After fainting due to exhaustion while working with Axel and a few junior skaters, he'd woken up from sedation to the horrible news, Axel clenching his hand and a drained Minami sitting at the foot of his bed. He was not ashamed to say that he had, in fact, somehow ended up sobbing all over Axel's boobs.

After that, when Axel and Minami had dragged him home to his Katsuki grandparents and Mari-baa-chan, it had been Axel who hadn't budged from his side. It had changed the way he saw her, for sure. And Axel hadn't exactly been shy, either.

Yuri leaned against the shower wall with a groan. If he was thirteen, and stuck in the past, then no matter if she did remember him, his darling Axel was only four.

The people he wanted to see- Vitya, Dedushka, Aniki, Axel- probably didn't remember. Biting back the urge to wail loudly, Yuri sped through his morning preparations, tying his shoes as his door burst open, the silver hair of Victor Nikiforov all he saw before he was swallowed in a hug, the man cheering

"Yurio! You made it!" Swallowing a snappy retort, Yurio looked Vitya in the eyes, freezing when he realized what he was seeing. Vitya hadn't aged much, before the accident. But Yuri could see the flickering lines that had carved themselves there before his death, only to be replaced with smooth skin, before returning and disappearing, seemingly in random intervals.

"You remember!" Yuri blurted, before tensing. Victor nodded, pulling Yuri closer when he took in a shaky breath and whined in Japanese

"I want Aniki. And Beka. And Axel and Minami." Victor raised a brow while Yuri cursed the hormones already surging within his body.

"I just woke up today, Yurio. But what say we send a message?" yurio takes his turn to raise a brow, perking up when Victor explains

"We have to be careful, but I think we can do it if we post a video on Instagram, with certain music in the background." Yuri nods, contemplating, before he suggests

"Let's play ice tag while we listen to Born to Make History. That's Aniki's favourite." Victor nods his agreement before stipulating

"Use movements from the routines that were significant to you and Otabek, or you and Yuuri." Nodding, Yuri heads off to find his camera. This needs to be high quality after all, if it's going to reach everyone. And there is an irrational part of Yuri that hopes Axel will see what he does and know he's thinking of her- if she remembers.

AEVITAS

Though Yuri and Victor did not know it, there were three people who saw the video, and realized it's meaning.

In Hasetsu, Yuuko showed the clip to her daughters, laughing delightedly when Axel reached for the screen, declaring

"Pretty." and mine, once. She thought resolutely, gazing at the boy who'd been her husband in another life.

And in Kazakhstan, a teenaged boy gaped at the ridiculous grin Yuratchka was wearing, chasing the elder-but-more-irresponsible of his father figures around the ice, inserting arm movements and footwork that sparked many memories. Memories of an older Yuri Plisetsky, filming a skating tutorial because the Nishigori triplets were over a continent away, and still wanted his advice.

In Detroit, twenty-one year old Yuuri Katsuki (or, should I say Katsuki Yuuri) trembled as he watched the rest of his immediate family frolic on the ice, both turning to someone who wasn't there, expressions dropping for a minute before teasing each other again.

Soon, baby. Soon, Vitenka. We'll be together again.

AEVITAS

In an onsen (conveniently also in Hasetsu) a toy poodle roused from a nap in time for a helping of Katsudon, yawning and curling up on his masters' bed before giving in to sleep.

The aging thing- in this time travel au, when someone remembers, the marks of age acquired in their previous run through flicker in and out, so you know they remember, but only you and people like you can see them.

Axel/Yurio- so much of a head canon. I swear, the accident didn't happen until Yurio was 33, putting Axel at a well travelled 24. So NO, not Lolicon or underage. Just a bit of an age difference between people who've known each other for a while.