Is it stupid of me to start another multiple chapter fanfic even though I have two already that aren't finished? Yes, it is really stupid of me to do this. But this plot won't leave my mind and I feel the urge to write it.

Warning, this is an alternate universe fanfic, which means that it won't be in the setting of Hetalia and it won't be referring to them as countries. In fact, there will be a lot of name changes in order to fit this idea that I have. Name changes will be in the author's notes before the chapter begins.

NAME CHANGES

1. Belarus' last name will also be Braginski.
2. Latvia's last name will be the same as Estonia's because in this fanfic they are brothers.
3. To my knowledge, there is no official name for Ukraine so I will call her Katyusha.

Chapter 1

"Sister! Please! You have to keep going!"

The pale blonde little boy kept tugging at his older sister's arm, but the teenage girl was still on her hands and knees. The boy, only six years old, kept pulling, desperately trying to make his elder sister continue to walk. The snow around them was heavy as lead and soft as silk. Its pure white reflected the bright sunlight to mask its evil, for it was a trap that would lead the tired girl to her death.

"Vanya, a little rest wouldn't hurt. Please, my chest is making my back sore." she said. Her knees were growing cold and were buckling. The snow seemed to be threatening to consume his sister in front of his eyes. He sobbed, tears rushing down his cheeks like a flooding river.

"Katyusha! You cannot rest! A town is supposed to be near!" His cries were faint echoes in the young woman's ears. She started coughing violently, the coughs led to blood splattering over the pure white in front of her. Her eyes bulged, finally understanding what was happening to her. The soft snow that seemed to friendly and comforting to her stress, fatigue, and sorrow, was now betraying her and quickly turned to her younger brother to hold him while she stayed on her knees. The little boy had tears streaming down his round face, anticipating the news she was going to give to him.

"Ivan, I won't make it to the next town, but I," she paused a moment to cough. More blood came from her throat, "I know you can. Please, stay with me in these last moments."

Ivan understood what she was saying and hugged her tighter. The cold winds howled around them, and the young girl could feel her brother shivering. She also noticed that she wasn't which meant she was closer to death. With her life emptying out of her, Katyusha knew it was useless to keep her warm clothes. She discarded her gloves, the large winter coat, and the soft beige scarf that she made herself from their mother's old coat. Katyusha layered the gloves over Ivan's already gloved hands for more protection, her light brown coat over his own, and the beige scarf over his light pink one. The extra clothing did worry her into thinking it might slow the young boy down, but she knew that the extra warmth would greatly help.

The girl was so cold and numb that she didn't notice her nose as bleeding. The little boy could feel her grip loosening.

"Sister... big sister..." he whispered in her ear. A few tears escaped from Ivan as he pleaded "Please, don't leave..."

"I am sorry Vanya, please forgive me."

"Sister... oh big sister I will..." He tried to hold her up longer but her larger body still continued to slump. He gave her a kiss on the forehead before gently laying her in the snow, head down so that he didn't see the blood. Several more warm tears were shed for his sister, but he knew he had to make it into town for the both of them now and continued his journey.

They had come from a far away prison camp. It was from the Cold War era, but it was in an area that was slow to news about the government. While communism had ended ten years before the prison camp was closed, because of the harsh environment that the camp was in, it took the news that long to finally spread to that area. When the prison guards and the warden were informed that the communist rule had ended and the prison was no longer to be operating, they left, leaving the gates wide open for the prisoners, but they never announced the closing of the prison. Ivan, at four years old was very confused at what was going on, but he wasn't the only one. Many of the prisoners stayed in the prison, assured that the guards would come back and chase after those who escaped.

As time past though, their fears of the guards returning slowed. After the first year a handful of people left. They were mostly young men, who had no family to worry about and so they didn't have anyone to worry about but themselves. There were prisoners slowly leaving, taking their warmest clothing and braving the winds. Both of the siblings were waiting because Katyusha wanted to knit two scarves to protect their neck and ears from their old coats that were still scattered about the camp. It was about two years exactly after the guards left that they finally left and yet the prison still contained over half of its occupants when they had left. The other prisoners were either to afraid of the guards still or uncertain of their survival against the weather outside to escape.

"Maybe we should have stayed longer," Ivan said to himself.

The blizzard bombarded him with stinging pellets, but he breathed in the smell of his sister's scarf and was able to push on. The snowy background was almost blinding for the poor little boy, but he could smell the smoke that was what he pictured in his mind the smell of a functioning town. Ivan followed his nose, and walked in the direction of the smell. The deep snow held onto his feet as if it were a powerful quicksand, but the Russian boy trudged as best as he could and followed the smell. The smoke's aroma grew stronger with every step and he soon began to run.

"I will make it sister!" he declared and ran as fast as he could through the snow. Soon it was as if there was no longer snow under his feet, but an empty grassy field that was trying to propel him to his destination. The little boy could no longer feel the grip of the evil snow, the stings of the wind, or the pounding of the hail and blown snow. In his mind, he was finally being able to complete their dreams of escaping the prison camp. Ivan had a huge grin became wider when he could see puffs of white and grayish smoke to prove his hypothesis on the smell.

As he sped faster, he could hear water and saw that a couple meters from his was a small, clean river. He laughed and ran faster. The buildings grew larger as he ran faster. Ivan was running so hard to the point he couldn't even feel his legs moving anymore.

After a while, he noticed something odd about the snow under his feet and realized it was a plowed dirt road. He abruptly halted his feet to bend down and feel the soft earth that he didn't think was possible to be underneath the snow. The loose grains of minerals and soft soil made his fingertips tingle. The young boy pressed his whole hand against the dirt, happy to leave his hand print in something other than white frost. He giggled happily, but in a couple of seconds frowned. The boy wished to be able to cherish this memory with his older sister Katyusha, but no memories in the future could have her in it. Ivan's last memory that he got to have with her was at the age of six years old, he was clinging to her desperately as she was dying from the cold.

He kicked the hand print away, and walked slowly toward the town. Ivan shifted his hat so that he could walk while facing the earthy road.

The soft crunching under his feet sounded different than the muffled impacts that his feet made against the snow. It was another world to Ivan, for his feet have only made contact to two things, the concrete of the prison floors and the snow in the prison yard. The sounds didn't echo harshly as they did in the concrete, but they were much louder than pure snow. This world was different from Ivan's, it had a freedom from the limitations that he had lived with for a long time and weren't possible to break. Now, it was as if there was more sounds that your feet could make something he never thought was possible.

A voice called out to him.

Ivan turned away from the dirt, readjusting his puffy black hat, and followed the sound of the voice. It was a older man, though he didn't appear to be that much older than Katyusha, his eyes were much different than hers. His eyes were that of a father and a worker. His hair was blonde but it wasn't similar to Ivan's, more it was a golden color, and it was short and disheveled. The mysterious man grinned at him and dropped his shovel to walk up to the young boy.

"Hello, you are certainly new here. Who are you little boy?"

"My name is Ivan," Ivan replied honestly. He was scared to be so open with such a new person, but he knew he needed to if he were to survive.

The man smiled until he looked closely at Ivan's clothing. Katyusha's light brown coat had blood soaked in some places and Ivan without noticing, the little boy had some of his sister's blood on his cheek.

"Little boy, how did you acquire that coat?" the stranger asked.

Ivan frowned, "I took it from my sister while she was dying because she didn't need it."

The response only made the man tense and he slowly backed away from the little boy. He tried to not show fear, but he couldn't stop his twitching. Ivan didn't understand the stranger's gestures and walked towards him.

"Stay back! Stay away from me!" Ivan abruptly stopped and stared at the stranger. The little boy could see the older man's quivering and the fear in his eyes. It was the same as a prisoner who had done something to anger a guard. He had shown that kind of look to the older and more powerful men several times, but Ivan never thought someone would actually react that way towards him.

"Please don't hate me sir-"

"Just go away!" the man yelled. Ivan halted, and backed up until he was on the road again. The pale blonde boy walked down the dirt road again but this time with his head down and his hat pulled down so tightly that he couldn't hear. It was for the better, when he strolled into the quiet village, he knew they were scared of him. It wasn't hard to guess, for if a man much older than his sister and he, than the others would be scared as well.

As best as he could, he couldn't help but look up once in a while to see if anyone would show him kindness. Ivan wasn't surprised that there wasn't anyone to take him in, but that didn't mean that it didn't made him feel horrible.

Soon he was at the other edge of the village and there was only one family living in this part. There was an elder man, who looked to be about forty years old. The man had light brown hair and dark blue eyes that shined in the sun that was similar to a precious sapphire. He was almost six feet tall, but it was mostly due to his long, muscular torso. The older woman looked to be much younger than him, for she only looked to be in her early twenties. Her hair was down to her knees and a pale blonde that was exactly like Ivan's, but her skin was a ghost white that made the snow outside a cream color in comparison. Even with a dress that went down to her ankles, Ivan could tell that she had very long legs. The only child in this family that he could see was a little girl who was just a little younger than Ivan and looked very much like her mother except she had her father's eyes. Her eyes wandered to Ivan, but he tried to keep his head down and pull his hat tighter to his head.

"Daddy, mommy, look over there! There's a boy walking by himself!" the young girl shouted to them. Both parents turned their attention to Ivan and the father of the family walked to get closer to Ivan. Ivan stood still, expecting to see the fear of another person up close again.

"Are you hungry little boy? When was the last time you have eaten?" he asked. Ivan stayed silent, knowing the seemingly nice older man would find something scary about him soon enough.

"Why don't you come in? Come on, we have too much food anyways," and offered his hand out to the young boy. Ivan rubbed his eyes and looked again, to see the man's hand still out for him. He smiled and took the older man's hand, happy to finally find a home.

They walked to the house that once just held three people and the man opened the door. The older man immediately could smell that the food was nearly done and went inside first to check on it.

The house was a small wooden one that still kept the texture of the rough bark. Ivan stopped before the entrance of the house just to feel the peeling timber brush against his fingers. When he peeled this dark layer away, a few bugs scattered in all directions, moving in any way as to not get squished by the larger organism's hand. The young boy retracted his hand back fast at the sight of the bugs. Once he got comfortable, he touched the bark again, but this time it had a smooth texture. The surface was so clear of blemishes that Ivan could feel his calluses scratching at the wood.

"You are a strange one little boy. You seem so amused by my house, and you haven't even been inside it yet. Tell me, what is your name strange little one?"

Ivan blushed. "Well, my name is Ivan. I don't really have a last name. My sister and I didn't have a last name."

"Ivan seems like such a normal boy's name for someone so strange. Oh well, if you do not have a last name, then you will adopt mine. The wife and I always wanted a son and who can resist you?" the man grinned, picking Ivan up by wrapping his arms around his waist and hoisting him into the air.

"It's weird; my sister seemed to be the only one to think I was cute."

"Where is your sister little one?"

Ivan gulped. "She... she..." he couldn't stop the tears from escaping and the man immediately felt guilty.

"Don't cry Ivan, I am very sorry. You must already think I am such a lousy father. I promise that I'll be a better one for you. I'm sorry," he said, hugging the little boy. Ivan nodded. He really didn't feel it was the man's fault, but it was nice to be held. It was not as gentle or soft as Katyusha's arms, but they felt just as loving. It was so unusual to experience such instant love from someone. Ivan had thought that such things couldn't exist outside of family.

"Why don't you come in? My wife and Natalya are still probably going to stay outside and play. Why don't you look around and try to get comfortable here?"

Ivan sniffled. "So, I am really staying here."

"Ivan, you silly boy, of course you are. Would I offer to be your parent and my last name if I didn't want you to stay?"

"I guess not. Um... sir, you know my name so what is yours?"

"Oh, my name is Androv Braginski. My wife is Myrka, and my daughter's name is Natalya. But you won't have to learn my wife's name or my own, for you will call us mother and father."

"Okay." The man smiled at Ivan's willing to accept them so easily and set him down on the ground, but this time inside the house. Ivan took off his layers of clothing and removed his boots and socks so that they could dry and returned to the food.

Ivan took a step onto the dark wooden floor under him. It was just as smooth as the wood that was just underneath the rough exterior of the walls on the outside of the house. He took another step, hearing the wood creak and adjust to his weight. The wood, although a hard surface, seemed much more comforting than the cement floors he was used to in prison. He continued his tour of the warm house, noticing all the wooden furniture and the fireplace. The rust color of the bricks seemed to compliment the tan wood. All these different smells and textures were so different to him. He only knew of cement, metal fence, and snow when it came to buildings and nature.

"Why don't I show you to your room? You will share a room with my daughter Natalya. I am afraid that I didn't expect your arrival, so I couldn't build an addition to the house." The man laughed, now standing behind Ivan.

"You built this house all by yourself?"

"No, I had my brothers. I have five of them. You'll probably meet them sooner or later. Now, why don't I escort you to your room?"

Both of them held hands so that Androv could lead Ivan the way. It was the first door on the left down the only hallway in the house, where the only furnishings in the room was a large bed, three small pillows, and a blanket. The pillows were a beige color, and were deflated a little bit on the sides as if all the stuffing was in the middle while the blanket was a dark red that was faded from use. It was a large bed, enough to hold two adults.

Ivan had never seen a bed so vast. He walked to the side of it, inspecting it with a hard stare. The young boy approached it with small steps, his eyes still glued to it, as he poked it with a curiosity. He retracted his hand quickly, as it the soft furniture was going to turn into a monstrous creature and hurt him. When it didn't, the Russian boy pressed his hand into the thick blanket instead of just poking it. Ivan's mouth curled in a smile, and then he grew daring and pressed his face into the sheets. It was amazing, this soft cloth that he would have the privilege to sleep in every night.

"Why don't I leave you to enjoy your new bed? I hope it is to your liking, little one," and then Ivan's new father went back to the kitchen to attend to the food.

The Russian boy jumped onto the bed, inhaling its clean scent and rubbing his back into it with a heavy sigh. He twisted his body to roll, squirm, and tumble around over the bed, messy up his hair and clothes. Ivan was about to laugh when he saw flecks of dried blood fall down into the blanket and he started to think of his sister Katyusha. Her smiling face even as she was dying...

"I've never seen someone have so much fun with a bed before..." a quiet voice spoke from the door.

Ivan turned his attention to the entrance of the room to see the little girl that noticed him outside and led to this strange situation. She had a soft smile on her face, which made her seem even more beautiful than when he first saw her. The action seemed to make her eyes brighter in a room with little light and the small dimples at the corners made her even more appealing. When he continued to stare at her, the little girl blushed and backed away slowly.

"No, you don't have to leave. I am just not used to anyone that isn't my sister... Katyusha..."

"Oh, well I am Natalya,"

"I know, your father told me." There was an awkward pause. They were mere strangers just a couple of minutes ago, and now they were to live in this room together.

"Why don't you join me and tell me about yourself." Ivan said, patting the spot on the bed to his left. Natalya nodded and swiftly got to the spot that Ivan gestured.

"What do you wish to know?"

"Tell me anything."

Natalya paused. She rested her chin in her right hand and started to think of something to say to her new brother.

"I was born on August 25th, 1999, which means I am four years old. I have lived here all my life with my mother and father. My mother is home most of the time, while my father is a carpenter and is gone for most of the day. I mostly spend my time outside making snow angels and making stuff, for I don't really have any friends, except for this one boy named Toris that keeps bothering me. Other than that, life is pretty... ordinary here. I'm sorry, I don't really know what to say, my life is kind of boring." She blushed, not wanting to appear silly in Ivan's eyes. Although Natalya wasn't old enough to understand her feelings, she could still feel the knots in her stomach that she felt when she talked to him. The young girl looked into his lavender eyes and felt her blush now burn her face. She knew that some day, he wouldn't just be cute, but an incredibly handsome man.

"I think that is a fine life, and I can't wait for it to feel... ordinary to me too. Although you don't have friends... you have an older brother now."

They smiled at each other. Natalya suddenly noticed the dried blood on his face and clothes, and gestured to the door. "Why don't you wash yourself off in the bathroom? It's a little down the hall and it's the first door on the right. You can't miss it."

Ivan nodded and got up to wash himself...

Ten years have passed, and life in the house did grow ordinary to Ivan.

He attended school and became friends with some of the boys, such as Toris, Raivis, and Edward. Toris was a lovely young man with shoulder length brunette hair and green eyes. His parents were from the country of Lithuania, but he had lived in the country of Russia all his life. The young man's skin was a cream color during the winter, but when he worked with his father in the fields his skin would tan from the weather. As with his skin, his attire changed as well. In school, the brunette wore a white dress shirt with some decorative blue embroidery at the edge of his sleeves and the front of his shirt. On top of the dress shirt was a light brown vest, that felt as if it were made of a suede material because of it's texture. His pants though were the same color as his dark hair, a fashion choice that made the boy more memorable in Ivan's mind than the others who matched their jacket and pants.

But it was hard to forget Raivis. The boy was the youngest out of the group; he was only thirteen years old. There wasn't much known about him personally, other than that apparently he was adopted from a small Baltic country when he was seven years old. Nobody really knew anything about the young boy and his family other than what they looked like. If it were not for the eye color and his curly hair, he could be mistaken for Ivan's little brother. His hair was the same color as Ivan's but instead of his eyes having a purple hue to them, they were the same color as the sky. He wore a dark brown jacket that was slightly worn at the sleeve, with matching pants that were also a bit tattered at the edges.

Raivis' appearance though wasn't the thing about him that stood out though, it was his constant shivering.

Edward, Raivis' older brother, was the biological son of Raivis' adopted parents. He was an intelligent young man, who seemed calm most of the time. The only time his emotion seemed change was when his younger brother was in trouble or when Ivan threatened him. His blonde hair was a bright yellow that reminded the Russian of the sun. Edward, unlike Raivis, wore a dark green jacket and pants, similar to what Ivan thought what the military might wear, but his skinny body deflated the image.

The day would start out with when Ivan left the door after getting dressed, eating his breakfast that his mother prepared him, and brushing his teeth. He made sure to leave the house early, much earlier than his sister Natalya.

Natalya truly wasn't his sister by blood and she was very beautiful. Her hair wasn't as long as her mother's, but it framed her face so perfectly as if she were a porcelain doll. Her bright eyes were still the same after ten years and her figure transformed from a little girl to a lovely lady. The problem with that was that she had developed romantic feelings for Ivan, and Ivan didn't desire that kind of relationship from her. He had accepted her as his sister, and the idea of being husband and wife disturbed him. Perhaps the young girl would recognize Toris' feelings toward her and leave Ivan alone.

After he walked out the door, Ivan would walk down the road to go to the Lithuanian's house. He would knock on the door, and be greeted by the teenager who was fully dressed but also had an apron on over his clothes. Even though Ivan followed this routine every day, Toris always had a surprised or shocked look on his face whenever he saw the taller boy.

"Ah, hello... Braginski... Um... how are you today? Would you like to come in?"

"I am fine Toris, but it is rather cold out today. I wouldn't mind coming inside."

The both of them entered inside. Toris would then remember his cooking and hastily return to it, making sure the breakfast for his mother and father wasn't burnt. It made Ivan smile; the shorter teen had the biggest heart and it was no wonder why Ivan liked him the most out of his friends.

"Phew, as least their breakfast isn't burnt. I turned off everything, shall we go?"

Ivan nodded and they would continue the morning schedule by going to Edward and Raivis' house. Toris would knock on the door this time, and would be greeted by Edward. Edward would reply back to both of them with a simple hello, while young Raivis shivered and hid behind him. Ivan thought it was always funny that the little boy was so scared of him, but that was probably due to the years of bullying that he had experienced. Though Ivan hadn't physically harmed Raivis for two years, it was hard for the body to forget.

All of them would walk to school together. Toris would ask him about Natalya, and Ivan would just shrug. With that simple gesture, the Lithuanian knew not to ask anymore.

Much to the tall Russian's dislike, he never really talked to his sister much anymore. He felt awful about it because he did love the young girl and she was an interesting individual, but ever since she loved him as a wife would love her husband, he hadn't been able to talk to her for a while. For four years, it had mostly been a relationship of avoidance and awkward situations. Ivan wouldn't even know what to say to Toris if he were to answer his question honestly.

Something broke the routine that day.

"Big brother, wait for me!" They didn't need to turn to see who it was.

Natalya decided to wake up early in order to spend time in the morning with Ivan. If she didn't know that her brother loved her, she would have suspected that he was doing this to ignore her.

"Ah, good morning to you, Natalya. It is nice to see you out this morning." Toris said with a small smile. He wasn't delusional. He knew the girl he loved and admired was in love with her big brother, but that didn't mean he would show her any disrespect.

The teenage girl didn't pay any attention to the brunette as she jumped and wrapped her arms around Ivan's neck. Instinctively, the Russian boy held her by wrapping his arms around her waist so that she didn't choke him to death, and turned his face to the side so her kiss would land on his cheek instead of his face.

"... good morning Natalya..." He gently let her down and pulled her arms away from him. Natalya frowned slightly but thought it was just her brother being shy as usual.

"Would you like to walk to school with us today, Natalya?" Toris asked. She nodded and gave her book bag to the brunette. Toris just smiled, happy to get some sort of acknowledgement from the pretty girl.

As they continued to walk, Natalya continued to cling onto Ivan. It was getting uncomfortable for the young man, before he thought up an idea.

"I will use the restroom. Please, go on without me." Ivan said, and ran off to the wooden area near the road. Natalya frowned at the sudden action, but did as her brother told her and walked with his friends.

He ran to the wooden area and continued to run even faster into it, making sure Natalya wouldn't find him. Ivan searched for a safe place to think, try to find new ways to avoid his sister. The tall teenager stopped running once he saw a steep hill in his path and sat on the cold ground to think.

Ordinary life in the prison camp was certainly a thousand times worse than ordinary life in the town. In fact, there were only two things in his life that troubled him, which were his sister's extreme feelings toward him and his parents urging him to find a bride.

Sixteen to him was too young to search for a bride, but it wasn't in their small town. If a person was twenty and still single, they were almost seen as an outcast. It was probably why his parents didn't shun Natalya's advances toward him. After all, they wouldn't have to pay a dowry for Natalya because she would be marrying Ivan and Ivan wasn't really their biological son so the marriage wouldn't be incestuous. Logically from that view it made sense to him, but his feelings said otherwise. Ivan could never love Natalya the way she loved him. He only saw her as the little sister who loved to make snow angels and helped their mother with the cooking around the house. The girl who was shy but once she did love something; she was devoted to it, such as her drawing, her love for her family, and her school friends.

There was nothing really flawed about Natalya. She was actually sweet, despite the way she treated Toris. There really wasn't anyone she acted rude to other than the brunette, but that was probably because she didn't appreciate his feelings toward her. Natalya was not only a good person, she was extremely lovely. Her hair was straight and silky to the touch. Her skin, even paler than Ivan's, showcased her best features which were her good bone structure and her big, bright eyes.

It was easy to see all the positives about Natalya and why his parents didn't see any problems for him.

"Perhaps I should just go back now. It is not like I can change this life," and he got up from the ground. His feet though, from the sudden movement lost their balance and he tumbled down the steep hill. Ivan braced himself from the impact, but he still hurt his right wrist and ankle.

"Ow... ah, why did that happen?" He asked himself.

Ivan looked at the hill that he just accidentally fallen from. The incline was too steep for him to climb with his injuries, and it didn't appear there was any other way to get back up. He surveyed the area, and noticed there was a cave only a few feet away from him. The Russian looked down at his ankle, seeing the slight swelling and sighed. Although it would be painful, he knew that he needed to seek the shelter of the cave.

"This is definitely not one of my better days"...

End of Chapter 1

Well, I hope you like this first chapter. It's going to be a very slow moving fanfic, and it's going to be a rated T for quite a while. Please read and review!