"I don't care."

Natalia shivered at the thought of those words, the ones that rung through her head just about everyday. Her brother's cold, deep voice would always penetrate her mind, keeping her from living.

"You don't care, huh?" she muttered under her breath. She scoffed. "Iddyet."

Ever since that day, she had figured out that she hated him. Natalia didn't even remember why she had "loved" him so, for he was a psychotic maniac who could not appreciate the people around him, she thought. She got up and started walking forward, the snow crunching beneath her boots. She could remember the moment clearly, as if it were yesterday. Although it seemed as if a dagger had pierced her chest, she felt triumphant that she was able to let it go. Her mind wandered back to that day. That day…

It was just another normal day for Natalia. She had gotten dressed and ready for the day, prepared to ask her dear brother to marry her once again. Natalia had walked down to his room, only to find his brother splayed across his desk, bottles of vodka surrounding the room.

Ivan looked over at her. "You're Belarus, daaa…?" he slurred. Obviously, he was drunk, and it wasn't safe. Natalia did not care though, even if he had forgotten her actual name. He's just had a bit too much vodka, she thought. She was not scared, for she had approached him this way many times. The Belarusian would not give up until her brother said yes to her proposal.

"Brother, I was just going to ask you—"

"If we could get married?"

"Y-yes…"

Ivan stood up, walking towards his sister, his eyes icy. "No. Never. Forget it. You are too crazy, nobody loves you." Natalia was taken aback, he had never said any of this to her before. For once, she was scared, and it suddenly occurred to her that she could die.

He glared down at her, getting ready to strike with whatever and whenever possible. "You know what I think?"

She didn't utter a word.

The large Russian grabbed the pipe on his desk, holding it up in the air. "Nothing. Because you are a worthless being that has no meaning in this world. I don't care." With that he swung and began to do it over, and over, and over again. Natalia felt the pain with every swing, she cried out in fear, but would not let herself cry.

There was much blood shed. As her brother left, she lay there, bloody and beaten, comprehending what had happened. Yes, he had beaten her before, but this was different. He had claimed that she was nothing in this world, and she didn't matter. And she believed it. Every single word of it.

She brought her knees to her chest and curled up into a ball. Natalia started to whimper, feeling something wet fall down her cheeks. She could not tell if it had been her blood or her tears, but either way, she felt worthless and unwanted with no meaning.

Natalia chuckled, in spite of herself. She had been so stupid, to think that her brother, her insignificant, manic, brother could ever love anyone, or feel anything at all. Although, it was also that very day that she had been saved. As if God decided to give her a second chance, he had sent an angel down to lift her up and help her.

She tightened her purple scarf then smiled warmly. The angel had changed her, been kind to her, loved her…

Natalia felt she didn't deserve him, either.

She blinked, coming back to consciousness. As she gained her vision back, she found herself in a small bedroom. The Belarusian sat up slowly, feeling the pain in her back. She suddenly realized there were bandages covering her battered body as the dark green blanket slid off of her petite figure.

Natalia examined the room; it was generally very dark, calming even. The walls were the same forest green as her blanket, and black curtains covered the windows to keep the light out. There was a wooden dresser, and a nightstand that stood right beside her bed. She looked down at it, noticing that there was a tray of food: herbal tea and buttered toast.

She picked up the little cup, taking a sip from it. It was bitter, just the way she liked it. The tea just started from deep in her chest and warmed her up to the very tip of her toes. She smiled in spite of herself, and continued drinking the tea.

"Ah! So you're awake, Miss Belarus!"

Natalia looked at where the voice came from, the door. There stood a young man with shoulder length brown hair and bright green eyes. They sparkled with happiness and a hint of relief, and he looked at her as if she were the world's greatest treasure, and he was the one who obtained it.

Although she couldn't remember at first, Natalia realized this was Lithuania, or rather, Toris Lorinaitis. He was the boy that her brother had favorite so, but Toris was rather afraid of him, and seemed to only have eyes for her.

"Um… yes." Was all she could manage to say. He simply grinned more and walked towards her with a pot of tea. She felt the corner of her mouth twitch; she was positive it was the very tea that she had drank only a few minutes earlier, and she wanted more.

"Well, I'm glad to here that, Miss Belarus." Toris sat down on a stool on her bed side, then put the pot of tea on the empty space on the nightstand. He then began replacing her bandages and tending to her wounds. Natalia noticed how odd it seemed to be addressed as "Miss Belarus." It was too formal, and she disliked it.

"Call me Natalia."

He blinked in confusion, puzzled by the fact that she seemed so much more gentle than she usually was, and even asked him to call her by her actual name. Toris' smile came back to his face. "Alright then… Natalia."

She noticed that the way Toris said her name had a certain ring to it. The way Toris said it made it sound magical, and his voice was just like a gentle breeze in the midst of summer. She felt herself smiling, actually smiling, and his face reddened as he tried to occupy himself with replacing her bandages. Suddenly, out of no where, she noticed that she wasn't breaking the boy's limbs like she usually would. Her smile faded, as her face saddened. For some reason, she felt rather guilty for the fact that Toris was actually there all along, but she didn't appreciate one bit of him.

The Lithuanian looked at her worriedly. "N-Natalia, what's wrong? You look distressed."

She simply stared at him, taking in his very appearance. Natalia remembered that she would do the same thing with her brother; take in every bit of him and lock it in her memory for keepsakes to remind her that he was the reason she kept going and he was the greatest treasure in the world. She now found herself looking at the boy the same way, noticing things she hadn't noticed before.

The Belarusian continued walking. She stared up at the sky, recalling how she actually saw Toris for the first time. She beamed, thinking of how wonderful it was to really have Toris. Natalia stopped and looked down at her feet, absentmindedly wandering her memory again to find that very image of him.

Toris was actually a rather beautiful man. She had observed his features earlier, but this was different. His hair seemed to shine silkily and frame his face perfectly. His skin simply glowed in brilliance. But his eyes were what kept Natalia so occupied.

Like before, they were a quite attractive shade of green. They were pretty much the exact opposite of her brother's icy violet ones. Toris had warm, inviting eyes that made you want to smile for some odd reason. Although you could see they were aged with worry and sadness, a kind of feeling that made you want to just hug him and tell him everything's going to be all right. His eyes were enchanting, and Natalia didn't want to look away.

"N-N-Natalia, um…" he stuttered nervously, wondering why she was staring so intently at him. "A-are you a-a-alright?"

"Hm?" It took her a second to realize she had been ogling at the sight of him, and she quickly looked away. Toris became baffled but this sudden reaction. Although he didn't usually mind it, he would think that Natalia would be strangling him by now. But instead, she seemed to want to stay and talk with him.

"Is something wrong? Really, because you can tell me."

Natalia pondered that. She debated whether or not she should speak to him at all. But unexpectedly, without thought, she blurted out, "Thank you."

Toris was utterly shocked. "Y-y-y-you're very welcome… I would do this anytime, I don't mind it at all… I'm just… just…" he stuttered with just about every word in his sentence. Then he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I'm just glad you're okay."

If Natalia were to have spoken right there and then, she might've broke down crying. Instead she composed herself and looked down at her hands. She extended one hand, barely touching Toris' shoulder. He gulped.

"Oh, just shut up and hug me."

He sat there struck dumb for a moment. Then he burst out laughing.

"What?" she demanded as her face reddened in embarrassment.

He continued to laugh. "It's nothing, Natalia," he embraced her as she had ordered before, and he continued to chuckle softly into her ear. "Absolutely nothing."

Natalia found herself returning the hug. She was delighted that she did, because she had never felt that blissful in her entire life, and she merely took in his scent and his whole being, deciding that she really could be happy.

Natalia stopped in front of the building that was all too familiar to her now. She knocked on the door, pleased to see the smiling man in front of her. He embraced her and sighed.

"Hey."

"Hey," she replied candidly.

He kissed her forehead tenderly. "So what do you want to do today?"

Natalia mused over this question. She then looked up at him fondly.

"How about we just have some tea today, Toris?"

Toris smiled affectionately. "Sounds good to me."

OKAY. That took me a while… I enjoyed it, though! :D LietBela needs more love, and I hope this was decent enough for other fans out there. This is the first ever fanfiction I've posted, and I think it came out pretty well. Constructive criticism is welcome, (I would highly appreciate it) and please read and review!

[Quick translation:

Iddyet- Belarusian for Idiot]

I don't own Hetalia, the genius Hidekaz Himaruya does. X)