To Dream or Not to Dream

A World of Their Own

Authors Note: Written on my phone and unedited. Extremeeelly fluffy... so ugh, yeah. I also think I may need to change the rating, so that will likely be happening soon. 😆

_________

Toronto

How it went from spending one evening together, to spending every evening together was beyond Yuzuru.

Each day for the past few weeks had followed a repetitive routine: Practice at the TCC, stealthy stealing moments together, and then back to practice. Pretending not to exchange texts, anticipating the end of the day so they could be together, and then, more practice.  All of which, of course,  was followed by returning to the safe haven of Isabella's apartment.

Yuzuru had grown to love laying on the couch in her small living room, arms wrapped tight around her.

Which was where he found himself now.

They had just finished up a small dinner and watched the latest episode of Isabella's current anime obsession. Now it was late, and he should be heading home.  He should be making the responsible choice by bidding Isabella goodbye, in order to focus on the week ahead. However, that didn't seem to be his priority at the moment.

As they laid there, limbs entwined, and their surface level conversations melded into something deeper, as it often did, neither of them wanted to part.

Time felt non-existent.

With his hands delicately gripping her sides and her face nestled into the crook of his neck, he made no move to leave.  Instead, he shared with her pieces of his past, of his childhood and family, and his homeland.  He spoke to her about why he preferred mild foods over spicy, the type of bees found outside the Cricket Club, and why pineapple should not be considered a flavor.  He spoke of everything and nothing at all.

In the back of his mind he wondered if he had ever been this candid with another human being before. He had always exercised caution in revealing personal details, being inherently private. Yet, lying there with her head on his chest, he willingly embraced vulnerability. The walls that had once seemed insurmountable now appeared nonexistent.

A gentle hum escaped Isabella's lips as she absentmindedly picked at a piece of lint on his t-shirt. "Tell me more.  I want to know more."

Yuzuru smiled, something warm building in his chest. 

And just like that, another hour went by unnoticed to the two of them as he shared his deepest thoughts with her, legs intertwined, laying side by side with the sound of anime echoing unnoticed in the background.

As the night lingered on, Yuzuru whispered to her, his hands gently threading through her hair, "Tell me more about you, Izzy."

The way he peered into her eyes, as if she were a mystery waiting to be discovered, made her breath hitch. An overwhelming desire to kiss him, for what felt like the hundredth time that day, enveloped her. She surrendered to the intoxicating emotion, allowing herself to be carried away by the moment.

"Let me kiss you," Isabella mustered breathlessly.

Yuzuru's hand came to cup the back of her head, the gesture coming completely naturally to him now. Despite pulling her closer, he spoke playfully, "Are you trying to get out of telling me more about yourself?"

Isabella responded with a soft laugh, planting a tender peck on his lips. "I'll tell you anything you want to know."

There were so many mysteries about Isabella Lawson that Yuzuru yearned to unravel- important pieces that were integral to her very essence.  Crucial details, such as why she seldom spoke of her family. Or, what her ultimate aspirations in Canada were. And the question, just how serious was she about skating?

Despite having these questions, Yuzuru couldn't deny that the enigma of Isabella had been meticulously revealed before his eyes.

He knew her.

She had let him in such an intimate way.

Even without specifics about her family, he observed how she cared for those around her. Despite not understanding the intricacies of her goals in Canada, he recognized her pursuit of joy.  And, although he didn't know exactly how serious she was about skating, she had told him that she cared about him as more than a skater. That, regardless of his skating, his medals, competition results - she cared for him.

Like that, she had defined herself and then redefined his own existence.

She painted him in a way that made him more than just the skates on his feet.

"What would you like to know, Yuzu?" Her voice was soft.

Instead of asking one of those burning questions that often lingered in his mind, his heart blurted out what it deemed a more important question, "Tell me how you feel right now."

She bit her lip.  "Right now?"

Beneath the intensity of her gaze, his breath caught.

"Hmm, right now... I feel..." She pressed her hand flat to his chest, feeling his heart beat underneath her palm. "Like I could lay here with you all night."

Isabella wasn't someone who was open with her feelings. Typically shy, she found it challenging to express her emotions, a trait evident in both her skating and personal life. Everything about this situation should have made her shy away and hide- but she didn't.

Instead, Yuzuru watched in silent wonder as she moved closer to him again, close enough for him to discern the freckles in her irises. She became an open book, her pupils dilating, as she regarded him in a manner he had never encountered from anyone else. It was a foreign look he had a hard time putting a name to, but it made him feel so very complete.

"How I feel right now..." she whispered, words trembling with a touch of wonder. "I've never felt this way before. I've never been with anyone like this."

He didn't immediately respond to her sentiment, but her words resonated deep within him. Gently lifting her head to align with his own, he sighed into the sensation of her hands entwining in his hair. Then, guided by an instinct only his heart understood, he did the most reasonable thing he could imagine- kissed her.

He took his time with it. His lips slowly glided over hers, savoring the taste, feeling the weight of her words on his own lips. Drawing sighs from her mouth, he relished the sensation of her reactions. It was a dance of give and take, and he desired nothing more than to reciprocate the emotions she had shared.

He pulled away just slightly, only enough for them to recover the breath that had been taken from their lungs.  Forehead pressed to her's, he spoke, softly, "I have never felt this way before either."

The words opened him up to a whole new sense of vulnerability. Everything about this situation was foreign.  For a person whose life revolved around his sport and the meticulous plan to succeed in it, this was an entirely new world.

However, he didn't have time to even think about that.

His eyes clamped closed at the feeling of her hot mouth adoring the sensitive skin of his neck, gently sucking, while her fingers entwined in his hair.  As her warm tongue swept over a pressure point, he shivered as goosebumps formed over his skin, despite his body feeling like it was on fire.

When they both naturally sought to be closer, their cores lining up intimately, her name spilled out of his mouth.

In that moment, he forgot everything else besides her.

The outside world and his responsibilities no longer existed.  His sport no longer existed.  None of that mattered as he lied here with her.  After all, Isabella wasn't here because he was Yuzuru Hanyu of Team Japan or because he was world renowned athlete.  No, it was deeper than that. 

She was here because she longed to just be with him- just Yuzuru, the person. 

Nothing else.

As her hands gripped the seams of his shirt and began to move the material up his body and over his head, he was sure he never felt more alive. When her lips trailed across the skin that no one had ever dared to path before, all he could do was hold onto her in a desperate attempt to ground himself in reality, to anchor himself to her.