"Hey!" Wei Ying skated towards him and sported a warm smile. He had a pair of skates in his hand that was customised for Jun and was quick to kneel.

"Lift."

At Wei Ying's command, Jun complied and his heart fluttered at the sight in front. A man who bore the weight of this world on his shoulders, a future NHL player, currently was kneeling and helping him; a retired player.

Jun intently observed Wei Ying tying his laces diligently and it just made his heart painfully aware of what could have been their future had they met under better circumstances.

Years ago it was he who was tying a juvenile's lace; and today it was the same soul who reciprocated the act.

But one thing was sure, Jun did not feel an ounce of embarrassment when Wei Ying saw his prosthetic leg. It felt so natural. Could be because Wei Ying hadn't flinched the first time he saw Jun's leg.

"You're quiet. What's the matter?" Wei Ying stood just a few feet apart but yet Jun could see the specks of his irises as clear as day.

"Just remembered someone."

"Oh! Who?" The curiosity got better and Jun smiled at Wei Ying's mischief.

"Just someone. Come one. Let's go. Don't slack off. You have a game to play tomorrow."

"Aye! Aye! Captain!"

Skating to the middle, Jun waited for Wei Ying to take his spot in front of the goal post. The puck was steady, ready to be used the way a player wanted. And just as years ago, the calmness serenaded him once again and Jun smiled inwardly. This was what he missed sorely. A chance to play on the home pitch. He was born to play. He was born for this.

As Jun's gaze met Wei Ying's over the helmet covered face, his heart knew, the man in front of him had to make it until the very end. Xian had to. His Wei Ying had to.

A voice was heard over the headpiece he wore; "What are you waiting for?"

That was all it took for Jun to skate forward. Steady breathing, the puck glided smoothly alongside and it was then he saw Wei Ying's stance change.

'He's too rigid. If I twist my body to the right, bend down and turn the other way; Ice will be too busy to attack agressively and would not be ready to defend.' With that thought in mind, Jun smirked and as predicted he scored his first goal in mere seconds.

Just as the sound of the buzzer resonated against the empty arena, it shook Wei Ying's core. His surprise gaze met Jun's as he commented, "I am not ready for tomorrow's game Azure. I thought we had ample time to learn the technique of Hybrid; but now-"

Gliding to a stop in front of Wei Ying; Jun took a step closer and said, "We might not be ready for Hybrid; but for now we can practice Passive."

"Passive?"

"Yes. I have seen a few videos of yours from before and can confidently say that your old technique, might not work tomorrow, the reason being that the opponents will be expecting the same. I'm not just talking about your aggressiveness; but your technique from even before."

"So what should I do?"

"As I said, let's try Passive Technique. This way the opponents would not be able to guess your moves since you've never been a passive player. You can defend without being agressive. You can move and block the deke/puck as you wish."

"But there is a big con in all this. My movements will be restrictive. I can't move beyond my limits. I need to purely rely on my defence tactics." Wei Ying bit his lower lips in contemplation.

"Let's try. We have the rink for next two hours. Let's try and then leave it to how you feel like performing at the Semi-finals."

With a deep breath and sigh Wei Ying nodded and moved back to his spot. Jun knew Wei Ying just needed a bit of a boost to let go of all inhibitions. He just needed to believe in himself.

"Let's try 1-1 combination. Predict my moves Wei Wuxian. Concentrate on the puck and my eyes."

With everything in place for next two hours they gave it their all. At one point Jun started to feel numbness setting in his leg and knew it was just matter of seconds when it would be difficult to take even a step forward. Perhaps, Wei Ying was observing him too closely, because he gently lowered the stick and whispered over the ear piece, "How about we call it a night Captain? I think we've played for far too long and they need to close the rink too."

Walking into the lockers; he ploped himself onto the bench and unlatched the prosthetic. Giving out a sigh, Jun closed his eyes and revealed over the fact that it had been far too long since he felt this full.

It was a sudden feeling of warm fingers pressing the depths of his muscles that made Jun's eyes pop up and he glanced at Wei Ying kneeling in front of him and massaging his nerves. That one spot he dug deep, Jun could not stop an involuntary moan that left his lips and even though he was embarrassed, watching a small smile grace Wei Ying's lips made it all worth it.

"There are several knots here." At Wei Ying's comment, Jun nodded, his eyes were still on the younger man. "If you weren't a player, I'd have assumed you were a masseuse."

"You like this?"

With another moan Jun nodded.

"You might want to keep your voice down. Someone would think I am blowing you."

"You are." Jun grinned, "Blowing my mind with that amazing hand of yours."

The innuendo was so cringeworthy for his own ears, Jun wasn't shocked when Wei Ying burst out laughing. "The fuck-"

"Language..." He moaned again when Wei Ying dug into the depths of his aching muscles.

The magic of Wei Ying's fingers were heavenly and soon Jun started regaining sensation in his leg and that was when he placed a warm hand over Wei Ying's and whispered, "Thank you. I'm feeling a lot better."

"Does it often pain?" Wei Ying's eyes emoted the sadness he felt. It wasn't sympathy, but that of genuineness when one couldn't bear the other to feel this much pain.

"It's alright. At times when I overdo my workouts, it hurts. I'll be fine Wei Wuxian."

"Val, the man from before called me Wei Wuxian."

Oh! This was a surprise for Jun. "And what did you say?"

Wei Ying's eyes were still trained on his knees as he said, "I informed him that people call me Xian."

A small smile played at Jun's lips. "But I call you Wei Wuxian."

Taking a step back and without meeting his gaze, Wei Ying whispered, "Only you."

With that he walked into one of the shower stalls and a serene smile continued playing on Jun's lips. 'Only you.'

It wasn't long when Jun walked out of his own shower stall and his entire world came to a standstill. Probably he wasn't quick enough to stop the gasp that came out of his mouth which caused his Wei Ying to drop the towel from his hand and shy away, hiding his back from the plain view against the locker. But, Jun did see it; and it simply tore his heart apart.

Wei Ying's beautiful skin; his back; were marred with unspeakable scars. Each step he took, Jun could see a visible effect it had on Wei Ying. Finally foot to foot they stood and Jun enquired painfully, "Wei Ying?"

The other man had shrunk in front of him and all Jun could hear were his Wei Ying's laboured breaths; but finally the younger man mustered his courage and revealed, "It wasn't from that night."

What?

"They're old scars Azure. It was from a lifetime ago."

(A/n: Please note this is a trigger warning. Skip to the end if you do not wish to read further.)

"Wei Ying?" Jun yearned to read the emotions in his Wei Ying's eyes, but the latter had cast them down.

"Azure... I have a dark past which JC nor anyone is aware of." Taking a deep breath Wei Ying revealed, "I once told you how I often ran away from the orphanage."

'Yes, you did.'

"There was a reason Azure." Wei Ying's sudden burst of small laughter was filled with immeasurable pain. "I don't even remember what my age was but I do remember one night the chief warden summoned me into his room and..."

Jun closed his eyes. He could figure out this story was going to be heart wrenching.

"He made me s**k him off. I loathed every second of it. I knew my only way to stay sane was to run. But I had JC to protect. Thankfully Ki and he by then had bonded and were protected by Ki's parents." Wei Ying continued.

"Wei Ying -"

"I needed money Azure... We needed money. No one was going to sponsor us. When I ran; the world by then had taught me only to rely on myself. Our clothes and other materials were so expensive and for a kid who was probably eleven with no formal education, who was going to give me a job?"

Wei Ying...

"I met my first client..."

Jun was flabbergasted. 'Don't tell me...'

"And he offered me money to get him off." With a shrug Wei Ying smiled sadly, "That was the best opportunity I had. Don't think I didn't try other means, I did, but no one was ready to offer me any job. In the end... alleys and dark places became my comfort.
From then on I just did what people wanted from me.

"I hadn't had any physical intimacy, but then... anyway; there was one client who wanted something more. A kink now that I recall. He wanted to brand my skin with an iron rod. Said he'll pay me 80$ for each strike."

"Wei Ying -" Jun's concern went unheard and it seemed Wei Ying was elsewhere, drowned in his memories.

"He took me to his house, hit me as much as I could take which wasn't more than four strikes. He took care of me afterwards, gave me food and shelter. Probably that was also one reason after money I kept going back to him.

"When he found my back horrendous, he put a stop to our sessions and asked me not to come back. That was alright, thanks to him I had already saved enough money for our gears. But by then I started feeling lonely and wanted some human contact.

"So the next best thing was to visit a bar and trust me those guys don't check any IDs if they want something from you. I met Mark there. He was a college student and quite lovely. First guy to treat me well. He was sweet and taught me that a touch need not be bad. He was my first."

Jun had to control his gasp. He wasn't sure if all this was right. Afterall, Wei Ying was just a child and all the adults failed to protect him.

"With Mark I grew confident with my own se*uality. I liked exploring and from then on I met many wonderful partners. I never allowed anyone to take advantage of me. Men, women, transgenders... many have been my partners, Azure. Some for pleasure while some paid me..."

Wei Ying became quiet and yet hadn't met Jun's eyes.

"Wei Ying -"

"Maybe I come off as an wh**e. Could that be a reason why Miron-" Jun placed his thumb and index finger under Wei Ying's chin and made the younger man face him. "No one had the right to treat you wrongly. Your past does not define you, Wei Ying. Don't you dare call yourself by any names which your soul knows is not true."

"I have never had anyone who liked me genuinely."

"Not true."

"What?"

Taking a deep breath Jun whispered, "I like you. Give me a chance."

Wei Ying's eyes widened as he asked, "What?"

"Give me a chance Wei Ying. To make you feel wanted."

"Azure, you don't even love me. Why are you saying all these things?"

"Agreed, I don't love you. But I do like you, Wei Ying. Why don't I show you there are good people who won't take any advantage of you?"

It was then Wei Ying gazed into Jun's soul and smiled, "You love to fix a broken heart, don't you Azure?"

Before Jun could speak, Wei Ying placed a soft palm on his cheeks and said, "Thank you Azure for being so considerate, but I am happy with what we have now. I cannot fathom if we were to drift apart."

"Wei Ying -" placing a finger on Jun's lips, Wei Ying shook his head and pleaded, "Please hear me out. I am not in the right place to accept anyone. Physically and mentally I'm not there. I don't think I'll ever be there.

"Azure, even if I win tomorrow's game and reach the finals, win and get drafted into the NHL; we'll be apart for three years. I won't be allowed to come back and you can't leave everything close to your heart and shift your base there.

"I can't let you wait for me when we both know liking someone and loving someone are two different things. Knowing you, Azure, just because you promised your time and heart to me, you'll never love someone who is meant for you. Just because of this promise, we'll be in some kind of limbo where you'll waste your life for someone who can't reciprocate your love."

Taking a deep breath, Wei Ying placed his hand on Jun's beating heart, "This is precious Azure. You need someone to love you. You need to have physical contact with someone who will love you unconditionally. I don't know if ever I can share my body with another soul. It won't be fair to you nor me."

All Jun could do was feel every single words of Wei Ying. All he said were true and honest. It was then Wei Ying tipped Jun's face down and kissed his forehead gently. It was chaste.

"You're my bestfriend Azure and I have never had that. It's with you I can smile, cry and be myself. With you, I need not hide. I have never had that and this is what I am asking of you. Be my bestfriend. Be someone with whom I can share my everything and anything. And I want to be by your side when you tell me that your heart has found true love."

Cupping Wei Ying's face, Jun placed a kiss on his cheeks and smiled, "I'll be there for you. Now and always. And if in future I'm in love with you, I will let you know."

That brought a sweet smile on Wei Ying's face. "I'll be glad to own this heart. But even if you don't love me and someone else captures this treasure, you need to tell me. I want to know them too."

"I promise." Jun opened his arms and Wei Ying fit right in.

The day was finally here. Xian knew the moment he stepped into the rink, the game had to be won. There was no choice. But, before entering the rink, he had few words to share with his teammates.

Opening the door, as expected each and every pair of anxious eyes were on him. Taking a deep breath Xian entered the room. He had donned his gear and jersey.

01.

"You may not like me being here, but today consider me as one amongst you. We all have donned our jerseys with just one hope to win. So let's do that. Let me count on you all. Let me know that when I stand there alone in front of the net, you all have my back as I have yours. Worry about scoring and leave the defence to us."

Glancing at Victor who was one of the best defence men; Xian asked, "You with me?"

A few seconds later Victor stood and walked to where Xian was and raised his fist for a fistbump. "I'm with you. I'll always be with you. The only thing that matters to me is our love for the game. You're born to be here and so am I."

Soon the team one by one bumped their fist against Xian's and few patted his back. Their loud cheers resonated around the room and were beckoned to the rink.

Xian saw each and every member skate to the middle and he was the final one to be called. The moment he stepped onto the ice, the stadium went absolutely silent and Xian could hear his own heart hammer. He was ready for people to condemn, but what surprised him was a mammoth rainbow colour flag unfurling in front of him. It was faint at first but he heard as the chorus reached its crescendo.

Wei Wuxian!

Wei Wuxian!

Wei Wuxian!

Millions cheered his name as colours changed around. Placards bearing his name popped up and soon a dicker showcasing his number on the jersey; 01 was the only image his eyes could take in. The arena chanted his name, they showed him their support and at this moment, though his face was covered with gear, his eyes had happy tears in them. He knew his fans loved him and no matter what happened, they'll continue to support him.

Standing before the net, Xian looked around and raised his stick in the air as a devotion and love to the game and commemoration towards his fans. Together his fans cheered loudly and their voices were symphony with his own heartbeats.

He belonged here. Wei Wuxian is here to make history. He knew it. Jun knew it.

Crease:

The crease is a special area of the ice in front of each goal that is designed to allow the goaltender to perform without interference.

(A/n: So let me know how you felt about this chapter? There could have been a few surprises; but then that is what I strive to achieve.)