Author Note:

If you spot any grammatical and/or spelling (disregarding the factor I do NOT use American grammar and spelling) please point them out. The same applies to translation errors as I only have the unreliable Google translate.

The translations used are:

Privet = Russian for Hi/Hello

Kolya = Diminutive for Nikolai

Sestra = Russian for Sister

Da = Russian for yes

I do not (As you probably know) own Hetalia, Belarus, or Russia.

~Liz

As Ivana Braginskaya stepped out of the meeting room, she heard running footsteps thump across the floor behind her, then someone grabbed her hand tightly from behind.

She sighed. "Privet, Kolya..." She mumbled in the direction of her Belarusian brother, without actually turning around. She had got to the point when she didn't need to look to know it was Nikolai.

Because he never let her out of his sight. He was always there, holding her hand just a little too tightly, or staring at her intensely, waiting for an answer. The answer that it should be obvious she couldn't ever give him, to the 'question' that was more like a demand.

He began to speak then, as though on cue, leaning in close, his voice low and hissing. That neverending, demanding chant that she wished would just...

"Go away."

"Marry me, Big Sis-" There was a stunned silence. Ivana bit her lip, faltering. She had thought that thought countless times when her Little Brother got too insistent. But she'd never meant to say it out loud. Even in her head, it had been too cruel.

She couldn't look at him now, but he glanced at her, catching the look of doubt. "You don't mean that, Sestra." He said firmly. But there was an underlying tremble in his voice.

That rare sound of vulnerability and sadness in her Brother's voice hurt the Russian woman more than she had expected, more than it should have really if she truly didn't care for him like that. But he scared her sometimes and when she got scared, she'd convince herself that he was some kind of nightmare, rather than her Dear Little Brother.

It was an embarrassing and silly way to behave and her pride kicked in to mask the shame she felt deep inside now. "Da, I did. Go away, Nikolai." She growled harshly, yanking her hand away.

"Fine...I hope you'll be happy then, Sister." The Belarusian hissed, angry and hurt, as he marched past her. She watched her Little Brother Belarus, the only person who had never left her properly, who had always come back, walk away.

And it hit her like a tidal wave. How stupid she'd been, how foolish, how dumb! Granted, she had never had anyone love her the way he did and so it scared her and she didn't know how to handle it. Granted, he was her sibling and everyone would say horrible things about both of them if they were 'too close'.

But he was the one. The one who cared about her. The one who wasn't scared, who'd never run away. Who actually understood how that kind of reaction made her feel.

And now she'd done it to him. She could have sworn she felt her heart break, but that couldn't be true. Firstly, she wasn't even sure where her heart was at the moment since it kept falling out of her chest. Secondly, her heart would only truly break if she was in love with Nikolai and as she had told herself earlier, it was obvious that she could never love him the way he wanted her to.

...Wasn't it?

Panic spread through her. She was wrong, all these years thinking she couldn't ever say yes and she had been wrong. How blind did you have to be not to see? He understood her like nobody else. He made her smile sincerely, rather than fixedly when she was masking her darkest thoughts...

And now he was gone. She missed him already. She even missed the grip on her hand, squeezing her fingers as though trying to find some ghost of him to hold. The random PDAs when she was just trying to get home after a long and tedious or plain irritating meeting weren't appropriate. It was never the right time or place. But now she longed to lock her fingers around his and damn all the work that still needed doing or all the Nations watching...

The Russian broke into a run, chasing after her Brother, a strange change from him chasing her. She ran after him, all the way to his house. It was beautifully sunny when the two Slavic siblings burst through the meeting venue's doors, but by the time she was on his doorstep, it was beginning to snow heavily.

She didn't care about the bitter cold and falling flakes. She just pulled her coat around her and shuddered. Not because of the weather but because Belarus had just slammed the door in her face.

She felt sick. The only person who had never ever pushed her away and she'd treated him like this. Perhaps her haters were right. Perhaps she was cruel and heartless. She sank down on the doorstep in the snow, blinking back her tears and making up her mind, determined not to budge. She'd wait all year and longer if she had to, rain, shine or snowstorms, until he calmed down, came around and realised that she truly loved him.

The door creaked open behind her and she looked up eagerly into Nikolai's eyes. His usually indigo eyes were red and she hated herself all over again for making him cry.

"Well? What are you doing here? Making sure I've gone away?" His tone was cold, sharp and sarcastic, a tone she never expected to here directed at her. Maybe she deserved it, but he'd always loved her before, even when she hadn't deserved anything.

You went too far this time, Ivana, she reminded herself, biting her lower lip. She didn't know how to make this up to him. Well, swallowing the stupid pride that had made her say such horrid things in the first place would be a start. And she had heard that the word 'Sorry' was quite useful in these situations...

Russia stood up and brushed the snow off her coat, turning to face her Little Brother properly for the first time since she had snapped at him. It hurt to meet his gaze, but somehow it felt right too, in her heart, wherever it was.

"I'm sorry, Nikolai. I was dumb. I didn't realise."

His lips twitched into a small smile. "That's all I needed, Big Sister. You know I can't stay cross with you." There was a pause as she nervously smiled too, but before she could speak, he butted in again, "Wait, realised what?"

Ivana hesitated, blushing softly and looking down again. What if she had got it all wrong, in her panicked state? But her heart fluttered inanely and she knew two things. Her heart was still in her chest...And also in Nikolai's hands, because she hadn't been wrong.

She stepped closer and hugged him tightly, murmuring in his ear, "That you're the one. That I...I love you!"

The Belarusian man stood in his Sister's arms in a state of emotional confusion her a moment, then his smile slowly began to grow, until he was grinning inanely. He wrapped his arms tightly around Ivana's waist and held her close too.

Leaning in closer, his head bent next to her ear, he whispered the familiar words, "Marry me, Big Sister..."

And now, it really was obvious what she had to say.