REVISED: 13 January 2019

1. Nothingness

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"There's an invisible red string that is tied on the finger of two people since they were born. No matter how far they are from each other it will bind them together. The cord can be stretched or tangled, but it will never break."

He slammed the book closed after reading the nonsense passage printed on plain white paper and black text. It was an East Asian mythology which he received from his ally on his 26th birthday. All his life, he never really believes in the concept of 'destiny' or 'twin souls'. Because if it really exists, he might be spending his time somewhere else with a lover's company, but what's happening right now is… quite the opposite.

Placing the book on the bedside table, he saw an old photograph caged inside a thick wooden frame. It contains an image of two people facing each other under a wedding arch. The woman in the photograph was really beautiful. She was very tall, her black hair styled in two large braids and she wore a long white dress that matched her ivory skin. She was laughing and her emerald eyes bored on the man's lips.

On the other hand, the man was three inches taller, his hands touching her waist and his bluish violet eyes were only staring at hers. He was smiling as well, although it was not enthusiastic as hers.

They have been together for a very long time, but like any other relationships; their marriage failed. She never understood his ideals as a conquering country until she had enough and decided to break away from him.

Many countries labelled him as 'crude', a made-up term for cold and rude. Why shouldn't they? He can still remember how his ex-wife, Georgia told him with tears in her eyes, "I can't believe that I actually loved the most insensitive man like you!"

The bitter memory made him suddenly think about every person he had ever known, from his ex-wife to his allies, to his acquaintances, to his siblings - he suddenly came to the conclusion that no one really cares about him at all. His ex-wife doesn't love him anymore, his allies just want something from him, his acquaintances find him fearsome to befriend with and his siblings cannot really stand him. There is only nothingness and he was destined to be alone, he was sure of it. Glancing at the East Asian book and his old wedding photograph, the thought of 'twin souls' made him sick.

Oddly, as it seems, he never tried to burn the photograph. Does he still love her? That question was very hard to answer. He will still look at the photograph with admiration and will keep it until his last breath - because it was the symbol of a preserved moment that was only shared by two of them and Russia was certain that it was his happiest memory.

He placed it back on the bedside table and walked out the bedroom. He went to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of vodka. Drinking was his only escape in this endless loneliness; the bitter taste from the liquid numbed his pain.

Ring, ring

The sound of the telephone broke the silence across the hallway. Annoyed, he stood and walked to reach for the damn thing. As soon as it touched his left ear, a familiar voice greets him…

"Ivan, why did you ditch the previous meeting held in Belgium?" Wang Yao, the human name form of China said. He was the same ally who gave him the book he was reading earlier. "Everyone was waiting for your decision to join the European Union, but it turns out you still do not fancy to be with them, hmmm?" he added. From the phone, Russia could picture him smirking.

"I'm not really interested and they all know it." He replied. "And I don't want to hear another sugar coated convincing words…"

"Well, are you interested to meet our new ally instead?" China asked in a serious tone, "I have an Asian neighbour I would like you to meet; I know you will love to hear her burning rage against the USA."

'Her? So a girl then?' he thought.

"Who is it anyway?" Russia replied, demanding. He was not really interested about her, but there is an ancient proverb he always believe, 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'. Gaining a new ally with the same hatred was not a bad idea after all.

"It will be better if you will meet her in person!" China laughed. "She is really friendly and very courteous and…"

"Well, I'll just tell you when I could meet her." He replied, cutting China's sentence as he thought about the job for the day. "I have some important matters to address here. I'll call you next time." Russia answered and hung up, disconnecting. He slammed the phone back into its case.

He sighed and realised the local matters that must solve within this month. Taking a deep breath, he went back to drink the remaining liquid left on his glass of vodka. 'There is no time to lose…' he thought. Ivan Braginsky, a.k.a. Russia is the largest country in the world and there are other things to concern about than a weak emotion we called 'love'.

End of Chapter

Author's Note: Hi everyone, this is my first Hetalia fanfic. Russia is one of my favourite countries so far. In case you are wondering why Georgia (the country) was his ex-wife, well, it has been a part of Russia until the country broke away after the collapse of the Soviet Union. I hope you will like this fanfic. I'm not very good in English and criticisms are welcome here. I would also love to accept beta help.