A/N: Hello! So I've really wanted to write this AU for a while, and now here we are. Seriously, I drew up a map and everything. I wasn't going to post this until I wrote a little bit more of my ameripan, True Love Is Always Complicated, but I had this chapter done so I thought why not. I'm going to focus more on finishing TLIAC though, so there might be a little bit of a wait in between chapters.

I couldn't fit the ships into the description, but the main ones are RoChu, BelaLeich, Gerkraine, LeitPol, and HongIce.

Just so you know who everybody is, Irina is Ukraine, Mei is Taiwan, and Lien is Vietnam. More characters will be introduced in later chapters :)

Reviewers are blessed~

It was a cool spring morning when it all started. Spring mornings in the Soviet Kingdom tended to be rather on the cold side, like all weather in the Kingdom, but nonetheless it was beautiful. It was especially beautiful in the gardens of the castle Kremlin, in the heart of the city of Moscow. The gardens were filled with crocus flowers, azaleas, orchids, roses, and lilies. The petals of these flowers were speckled with dewdrops that slowly rolled and dripped off each time a cold wind blew through them. King Ivan was gazing out his window at the beauty of these gardens.

King Ivan was the ruler of the Soviet Kingdom. He liked to think he did a good job of it, but in reality the Kingdom was crumbling. It had been on a steep decline for centuries, and the Kings through the generations were of no help at all, preferring to indulge their own pleasures than ensure the safety of the people. Ivan was no different.

Not that he didn't want to help the people, he simply didn't know how. Himself and his two sisters grew up in a world where everything was handed to them on a silver platter, and it was hard to break that mentality when he took the throne. So he settled for a rule of mediocrity, hoping that his heir - if he had one - would be a better ruler than him.

It was that mentality that his father, the previous King, probably had, but Ivan hardly let that thought bother him. King Zima had always been distant to him as a child. He always helped him when he needed it, but mostly his parental figure was his older sister, Princess Irina.

Since Ivan had no friends or lovers, his two sisters were the people he loved the most in the world. The three were all very close, having no one else but each other to spend time with. However, at that moment Ivan didn't know where his sisters were. He supposed Natalya might have been sleeping still, as it was early, but Irina usually got up much earlier than he.

Putting aside thoughts of his sisters, Ivan continued looking out the window at the beauty of the morning. Early morning was his favourite time of day. The world seemed to be waking up at this time, but not like it was in a rush to get things done. In the early morning, the world woke up sweetly and slowly, starting with the sun. After the sun would be the flowers, petals opening and stems perking up. Then the bugs and birds would start to move, and soon all of nature would be in perfect harmony.

Until the people woke up, that is.

People were loud and noisy, they yelled and they laughed and they disturbed the serene beauty of nature in all its glory. Ivan had nothing against the people in the city, but when they started to wake up, he would usually go back to sleep for another hour.

Ivan yawned, running a hand through his messy platinum locks. He was still in his sleep clothes, and his eyes felt tired from staring out the window for so long. It was time he got ready for the day.

He drew the curtains again and walked over to the washbasin in the corner of his room. He blinked a few times, getting used to the dark again, and splashed some cold water onto his face from the basin. He washed his face, shaved, got dressed, and tamed his hair. The last step was his old scarf, which he wrapped tightly around his neck.

Ivan was opening the curtains again when he heard a knock on his bedroom door. "Come in!" He called, not turning around.

He heard the door opening, and a footstep inside. "Vanya, I think you need to see this." Irina said from behind him.

"Good morning, Irunya." He smiled at his sister. She did not smile back.

Irina's bright blue eyes were full of worry as she looked at her younger brother. Her pink lips were pressed together in a frown, though however worried or anxious she was, she looked stunning. She was wearing a casual green dress with a white fur trim, and she picked up her skirt to take a step forward, revealing the white underskirt patterned with yellow flowers. On her collarbone rested a heavy gold necklace, and her blonde hair was in its usual braided updo, a piece of semi-transparent fabric half concealing it. Ivan noticed she was holding a letter.

"What's that?" He asked, nodding to it. Irina sighed.

"Sit down." She said, handing it to him.

Ivan sat on the end of his bed and looked at the letter. The seal was broken, but when he put the two sides of the envelope together he still couldn't recognize it. He looked at Irina in confusion, who shook her head. He pulled out the letter and unfolded it, stopping when he saw it was written in Lord Toris' hand. Which was strange, because Toris usually sealed his letters with the Soviet seal.

Ivan gulped, then began to read the letter.

Dear King Ivan,

I am writing to inform you that I, Toris Laurinaitis, and my fellow Lords, Eduard von Bock and Raivis Galante, have split from the Soviet Kingdom. The territory we had control over as Lords is now our own Kingdom, the Baltic Kingdom. The Eastern Mountain range all down to the border of the Asian Kingdom is now our border. Do not attempt to start warfare, as our new allies, the Nordic Kingdom, will help us drive you back into your own Kingdom. We are no longer a part of the Soviet Kingdom. We are our own Kingdom.

Sincerely,

Toris Laurinaitis.

Ivan lowered the letter slowly, his hand shaking. "They can't do this." He whispered.

"They can." Irina said sadly. "The Nordic Kingdom is too strong for us. Their army is double the size of ours."

"Does Natalya know?" Ivan asked his older sister.

"She does. She doesn't care." Irina told him. "She said something like, 'Toris was annoying anyway.'"

Ivan groaned, putting his head in his hands. "What do we do?"

Irina sat down beside him, putting an arm around his shoulders like she did when they were children. "We have to get it back." She murmured softly.

"You're right." Ivan agreed. "But we need allies."

"Who doesn't like the Nordic Kingdom?" Irina mused, clasping her hands over Ivan's shoulder and pulling him in closer. It didn't matter that he was a grown man, almost six feet tall. Ivan's cheek was being poked by her shoulder, but this was far preferential to being suffocated in her bust, as happened when they were younger.

"The Germanic Kingdom." Ivan responded immediately. "I don't know if they would be our allies, though. They're a good fighting Kingdom, but they wouldn't join a war just because we asked them nicely. There must be something we can give them."

The siblings were silent for a moment. Each of them was thinking the same thing, but neither said it. Finally, Ivan voiced the thought.

"King Ludwig might want a wife..."

Irina nodded, loosening her grip on her younger brother. Ivan straightened up and looked her in the eye.

"If you, um, don't mind, I guess..." Ivan stumbled over his words, unsure if he was asking too much of his sister. On the one hand, it was a way to get their territory back, and Ivan had heard King Ludwig was very nice. On the other, it was marriage. A lifelong commitment.

"For the Kingdom." Irina said.

Ivan felt tears pricking the corners of his eyes, and he embraced his older sister. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Irina kissed the top of his head and smiled. "Go write that letter. We need our land back."

Ivan stood up and went to his desk. He pulled out a sheaf of paper and a pen. He dipped the pen in dark purple ink and began to write.

Dear King Ludwig,

As you may or may not have heard, I recently lost quite a bit of territory, due to three of my Lords declaring their own Kingdom. With the Nordic Kingdom as their allies, we cannot hope to reclaim our land. I propose that we become allies, by way of a marriage between yourself and my sister, Princess Irina. If this interests you, write me back, and castle Kremlin shall be ready for your arrival in four days.

Sincerely,

King Ivan Braginsky.

Toris sat at the big wooden table at castle Kaunas, twiddling his thumbs nervously. Beside him sat Eduard and Raivis, each looking more nervous than he. Eduard's blond hair was mussed and his sea-green eyes reflected anxiety. Raivis was fiddling with his dark red tunic, his blue eyes focused on the stone floor. This was certainly reassuring. He looked at the people across from him.

King Tino and King Berwald sat across from him. King Tino was a cheerful man with short blond hair and twinkling violet eyes. He wore a light blue tunic embroidered with silver thread and a matching hat with a tassel. He was cast into shadow by King Berwald, his husband, who towered over everyone at the table. His attire consisted of a dark blue tunic decorated with gold thread and buttons.

Toris felt very small and insignificant next to these two.

"So, until you can gather your own army, we'll lend you half of ours." Tino said pleasantly.

"Thank you so much." Toris replied gratefully. "Really, we can't thank you enough."

"Of course you can." Tino smiled brightly. "Your gold mines are invaluable."

Raivis chuckled awkwardly, and everyone at the table looked at him. He stopped laughing abruptly.

"I can see you're nervous," Tino continued. "But don't worry. The Soviet Kingdom won't dare attack you with us on your side. Even if they do make allies, it will take a while, so relax and set up your own government."

"Don't g't too r'laxed." Berwald muttered loudly. Berwald seemed to be in a permanent state of muttering. "Th' Soviet Kingd'm won't hes'tate to make allies. You sh'ld make m're yours'lf."

"Right." Toris said rhetorically. He ruffled his chin-length brown hair and gave them a half-smile.

After some awkward farewells, King Tino and King Berwald took their leave.

"Well." Eduard sighed, removing his spectacles. "Do you think we'll be okay?"

"I hope so." Toris said.

King Yao tapped his fingers on the table irritably. His family was loud. And hard to deal with. He wondered how they ever got anything done.

"Alright, everybody calm down." He said. When it appeared nobody heard him, he yelled it.

Everyone fell silent, freezing in their positions. Yong Soo froze with his hands reaching towards Kiku's chest, Kiku froze trying to swat Yong Soo's hands away. Leon froze in the act of scratching his initials into the mahogany table. Mei and Lien froze in the act of yelling at Yong Soo.

"Thank you." Yao said tiredly. "Now, I just want to make it clear that we are not going to get involved with this ridiculous war."

"I agree." Kiku dipped his head. Kiku, Yao's younger brother, was a small, quiet man with jet black hair. He tended to observe the antics of the rest of his family before coming to a decision, but now he agreed right away.

"Why not?" Yong Soo asked, cocking his head to the side childishly. Yong Soo was Yao's cousin, and because of this Yao reluctantly let him control a small peninsula off the northeast coast of the Asian Kingdom. Yong Soo was hyper and immature, but underneath that he could be a great leader.

"Because whichever side we end up on, it won't have anything to offer us." Lien, also Yao's cousin, said practically. She flipped her long ponytail over her shoulder and smoothed down the front of her green áo dài. "The Soviet Kingdom wants their territory back, so they won't give us anything. And the Baltic Kingdom, being as small as they are, can't afford to give us any land."

"The North European Kingdom is small too, though." Countered her wife Mei. She looked uncharacteristically serious, and even the flyaway curl on the right side of her head drooped a little bit. "But then again, they have a long history of conquering. After all, they once did own the entire American Kingdom."

"I say we let them fight until this has all blown over." Yao informed the table.

"Yeah," Leon spoke up, "It would be too much, like, trouble to fight for something when we don't get anything in return."

"So it's settled then?" Kiku asked everyone. After a general nod, Kiku stood up and walked quickly away.

"I wonder where he's in a rush to..." Mei murmured, looking after him thoughtfully.

Kiku walked down the long hallways of Summer Palace, making his way to his own room. For some strange reason, the area he had control over, Japan Island, was extremely far away from his actual home. He wondered why Yao wanted to keep him close.

He reached his bedroom and turned the handle, quietly slipping in. Earlier this morning, he had received a letter, and he needed privacy to read it. His husband, Heracles, was napping in the garden with their pet cat, so that took care of him. He retrieved the letter from its hiding spot and sat down on the bed to read it.

He smiled when he saw the American seal held the letter closed. He broke the wax image of a maple tree in front of red and white stripes, and pulled out the letter.

My love,

It has been far too long since we've seen each other. Writing letters is a good way to pass the time, but nothing compares to seeing you in person. I would write some poetic declaration of love, but I've never been good at that, so I'll tell it to you plainly. I love you with all my heart. Perhaps I can visit you someday. I would love to see the exquisite gardens you talk about, and I would love to meet your family. We could arrange diplomatic meeting between myself, my brother, and King Yao. I'm certain I have some resources to offer him. Think it over. I hope to see you soon.

Love, Alfred.

Kiku lowered the letter, his smile plastered onto his face. However, it quickly faded when he heard the doorknob rattling. Kiku stood up in a panic, then tossed the letter, envelope and all, into the fire just as Heracles entered the room, their cat on his head.

"Kiku, what were you doing?" Heracles asked through a yawn, trying to run a hand through his hair, but only petting their cat, Liakáda. She was an orange tabby, and while Kiku didn't know what the name meant, it sounded pretty.

"Oh, nothing." Kiku lied casually.

"I as well." Heracles smiled lazily, stepping forward. He wrapped a hand around Kiku's waist and pulled him in for a kiss. Heracles pulled away first, stroking Kiku's cheek with his thumb. Liakáda purred contentedly.

"Are you alright?" He asked his husband.

"Yes." Kiku replied. "Everything is just wonderful."

A/N: Translations:

Zima: Winter in Russian

Liakáda: Sunshine in Greek