Chapter One

The Star Wars theme blared from Siberia's phone, jolting her awake. She blindly rummaged her side table for the small device, grumbling as she did so. After a long minute, she found it and pressed it to her ear.

"Hello?" she mumbled.

"Siberia! You're awake!" Jersey's high voice poured out of the cell phone. "I have awesome news!"

"Hmmf." Siberia groaned, " You woke me up, Jer. This better be good, da?"

"It is, you git!" Jersey laughed, "I'm taking you to the beach!"

"No." Siberia said abruptly, "Too much sun."

"Please? I bought extra sunscreen." Jersey begged in her strange, half British, half French accent.

"I don't have a bathing suit."

"You can borrow one. Be at my house at noon, okay? Bye!"

Siberia sighed and ran her fingers through her messy black hair. This would be a long day. She got up and put on a maroon sweater and black slacks with her gray boots. Her crimson earrings glistened as she trotted down the stairs. Latvia sat in the living room, trembling as usual.

"Morning, Latvia." she said half-cheerfully. "Where's Lithuania?"

"I...I don't know." he stammered.

"Okay." She sat next to him, "You are nervous again, da?"

"Russia showed me his new coat." he replied simply.

"He's not going to do anything. Relax, okay?" She got up and headed to the kitchen.

Her mouth full of granola bar, Siberia flopped into a chair. It was 11:30, soon she would have to face the sand and sun of the shoreline. Jersey greeted her at the door of England's house, and proceeded to drag the Russian girl to her room.

"I found you the cutest bathing suit!" Jersey gushed, "Come put it on!"

She ran to her closet and pulled out a bikini. It has the typical top, but the bottoms had a half-skirt attached to them. She shoved them at Siberia with an exited squeak, and pushed her into the bathroom.

Siberia emerged, tugging on the miniskirt. "It's so small." she complained.

"Stop being a baby. It looks adorable on you." Jersey grinned.

Jersey was right. The bikini was dark gray all over, with a light gray rose on both the left of the top and on the skirt-thing. It accented Siberia's stormy eyes perfectly.

"Let's go!" Jersey yelled, dragging Siberia along once more.

The waves crashed against the shore as Siberia watched in awe. The sea was so wild here, unlike the frozen beaches that were near her. Jersey set up their umbrella, and the two girls waded into the Ocean. Cold water crept along Siberia's skin, but it was warm to her. Water was much colder where she came from.

"It's so beautiful here." she breathed.

"Ah, mon ami, isnt it?" a heavy French accent wafted into Siberia's ears.

A hand touched her shoulder gently, and a warm breath danced across her neck. A shiver went down her spine, faster than lightning.

"Dammit, France!" she spun around, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Same as you, mon ami." he shrugged innocently.

"Whatever." Siberia rolled her eyes, and hurried away from the Frenchman. "Damn pervert." Jersey stared at her former uncle.

Siberia and Jersey played around a bit, but after a while they returned to their umbrella to rest. Siberia listened to her friend ramble on, letting the noise lull her.

An all too familiar "Kolkolkol." drifted by on the breeze, and Siberia jerked up. "Dammit."

"What?" Jersey asked.

"Russia's here." Siberia said, "Damn Latvia. He must have told him I was coming here." she buried her head in her hands. "Dammit. I'm in this tiny outfit, and the sun is too bright, and Russia's here. This is terrible, da?"

"Don't you get it, you git?" Jersey grinned, her blonde hair plastered to her face, "You look hot. Russia is here. Can't you put it together?"

Siberia's face turned redder than one of Spain's tomatoes. "I...I...I don't like Russia that way!" she nearly yelled, "Stop being such a France!"

"Whatever you say." Jersey smiled, and lay on her towel.

Siberia glanced around. There was France, and Italy, and Germany, but no Russia. "I hope I was just hallucinating." she thought.

"Kolkolkol." an all-too-familiar voice came from behind her, "I found you, da?"

Siberia looked up. Russia stood over her, grinning. He was only wearing his scarf and swim trunks, making Siberia flush again.

"You stalker." She stuck her tongue out, "Why are you following me?"

Russia frowned, "I wasn't following you. I've been here for hours."

Siberia blushed even more, "Oh."

"Walk with me?" Russia asked, his face revealing nothing.

"Okay." There was really no room for her to protest.

"Good."

He led her in silence until they reached a lonely outcropping of stones. They stood there for a while, simply staring at the ocean. After some long minutes, however, Russia broke the silence.

"The sun suits you."

"Sometimes."

"Clouds suit you better."

"Yes."

"You would be beautiful in a storm."

Silence. She turned and looked into his violet eyes, a soft smile forming on her lips. She said nothing, but slowly took his hand in her own. Suddenly, he jerked away.

"Your hands are freezing!" he yelped.

Siberia blushed profusely, making Russia smile sadly.

"Sorry. They are cold though, da?" he apologized.

"Yeah."

He wrapped her into a hug, causing her pulse to speed up. She blushed, but did not struggle. The sun shone on them, and the sea, and the stones. Siberia looked up, and he leaned in closer.

Just as the gap between their mouths was about to be filled, Siberia heard a muffled giggle. She whirled around, and tackled France. Her aura was darker than the night sky as she glared at him.

"You asshole. If you breathe a word of this to a single soul, I will scoop out those pretty little eyes of yours and feed them to the wolves." she snarled, keeping the Frenchman in a choke hold.

With a final "Stupid asshole.", she released France and got up. She turned around, but Russia had gone. With a long sigh, she headed back to where Jersey sat.