Chapter Text
"Alright, I need to go in and tell them now. Need to get this done. If they come out here, I don't know, stay with them? But if it's me then we'll..."
"Of course Yuratchka," Mila said as her colleague trailed off. She motioned to herself and Georgi, "We're here for you, regardless." Yuri went in.
Georgi seemed less concerned. "Is this really a big deal? Does it change all that much?"
"And I still don't know why Yuri thought you were someone to speak to first," Mila replied with a chuckle. "Before Viktor and Yuuri even! I don't even know whether Nikolai has been told yet, and from everything I've heard about him, he's one of the most loving people ever."
~~~
'Well, this goes either really well or really poorly. No way to tell now' Yuri was thinking as Yakov and Lilia sat down. Lilia was looking stoic as ever while Yakov wore his usual expression of mild frustration.
"Well, Yuri Plisetsky, you called us here. What is it you need to tell us now?" Lilia was no-nonsense.
"I, ah," Yuri was nervous. Now they were right there, it seemed even more daunting. How do you begin this kind of conversation, with two people so much senior? Who had such a strict view of who you are? "A few days after the Grand Prix Final, I think I, um, let down my guard? Maybe I was pushing myself so hard to win there, have been working so hard to get myself to this level, for years now, that..."
"Yuri!" Yakov this time. "You're babbling! Slow down." Lilia nodded to that.
"Um... yeah. I haven't had time to just sit down and think about myself, who I am, outside of skating. And..." Yuri breathed deep, again trying to get thoughts into line. "I've been angrily declaring how I'm not a boy. But... maybe? I'm not a man? Am I... could I be. I'm a woman? I'm a woman."
And there it was. Yuri closed her eyes, not daring to look at their faces, waiting for the fall-out. If anything, that had come out even worse than she had rehearsed in her head, babbling, talking around the point. Georgi had somehow been simple, a straightforward declaration? Then with Mila, more tentative, but an immediate response of love and caring. For some time there was silence.
Then the sound of a chair being pushed back, she glanced up, Yakov had stood and was moving towards the front door. "I need to walk."
"Leave your phone!" Lilia suddenly barked out. "Any discussions need to happen first here." She was still looking straight at Yuri, the same stern gaze she used during training. Yakov grumbled, fished his phone from his coat pocket, and left it on the coffee table.
"Yuri." Lilia began, then suddenly halted. "Is that name acceptable? Is there another name you will use now?"
This... perhaps wasn't what Yuri had expected? The same tone of voice as when Lilia expected perfection, but in such a different context. "Um. Yuri for now? I haven't really thought about names yet"
"Well, should that change, let me know immediately, Yuri Plisestskaya. Yura, please look at me" Yuri let her hands fall, and was amazed by the naked affection on her choreographer's face. The same as had only ever been seen at the Final after breaking Viktor's record. And the feminine last name.Yuri hadn't realised what a simple change like that would mean to hear, a blessed relief.
Lilia continued. "Yura you are a beauty. I helped you find that on one level, but now you have shown another. And beauty must be protected. I have seen enough around the world to know that."
This was... amazing. Yuri hadn't known whether she would be kicked out, or have to spend the next forever explaining what different things meant. Being immediately unconditionally accepted by Lilia had never even occurred to her. "Have you told any others?"
"Mila and Georgi, they were waiting outside in case..."
"Ah. Yes, of course. You had no idea what reception you would get here. And I am sure Yakov has found them by now. Yura, if Yakov is a problem, then I will speak to him. If he needs to leave this house then he will. But I suspect he is mostly angry with himself for not seeing this coming, and found a way to have got you into the female Junior competitions. For all he thinks he knows his skaters, you all constantly find ways of surprising him.
"I should find him now. Bring everyone in." She got up, and moved towards the door, then stopped. Looking over her shoulder, "Yuri, I will not insult you by lying to you. Russia is not safe for many right now, for anyone outside of what is decreed 'normal'. And the international sporting spotlight is harsh and often unforgiving. I do not know how you wish to proceed, or what the International Skating Union's position on trans skaters is." She looked concerned, an expression unfamiliar on her face. "I want the best for you. Never forget that."
On that note she went out the door, and Yuri could hear raised voices, suddenly quieted by Lilia's barked shout. She finally sat back, released a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding, and smiled for the first time since winning gold.