"I-Iva-an s-sir…"

I didn't need to turn around to see Raivis shaking. I held back a sigh and look at him over my shoulder, ignoring the tears brimming in the corners of his eyes. This was perfectly normal. "Da?"

"Y-you, umm, g-g-g-ot a le-letter fr-rom M-Miss Ukr-rai-Ukraine a-a-and—"

"Look, I can't understand you." I knelt down to meet his eyes, violet to blue. This seemed to terrify him, but at least he spoke normally then.

"Miss Ukraine sent a letter to you!" he averted his eyes and thrust a small white envelope into my hands. "Here! I have to go help Eduard do something and umm Toris' car broke down or I'll be going now I'm sorry!"

"… Wait a moment!" I grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. Raivis looked like he was really going to cry now. I smiled. "Can you ask Toris to take a message to Ukraine for me?"

"B-but his car i-is b-b-broken…" Raivis whimpered.

I tightened my grip slightly. He had lied about that, it was obvious. "Oh, I'm sure he can find a way. Ask for me."

The second my fingers relaxed, Raivis was gone. I stared at the spot he had been standing in and let go of the breath I'd been holding for some reason. What was with him lately, anyways? More terrified than usual. Weeeeirdo.

I pushed that out of my mind and looked down at Ukraine's letter. Her handwriting was so tiny… but a lot neater than mine. At least it was legible. I opened the envelope and slid a thin piece of paper into my hand.

Dear Brother,

How have you been lately? Raivis was in tears when I asked him, so I'm not really sure what to think! Anyways, my boss said it might be good if we… reconciled. I would really like it if you could come to visit for a while. I still miss you all, you know! Natalia is also here, and she's hoping you would be able to make it. We could finally have everyone together again, if even for a little while.

Oh, and I have a dog now! His name is Chaka. He's HUGE.

Love,

Ukraine

I folded the letter and shoved it in my pocket, smiling. Ukraine loved animals, especially the furry ones. I'd never really gotten along with them, but that was okay. Maybe Chaka would like me, even.

Of course I wanted to see my sisters again—so maybe Natalia was terrifying, but still—it'd been years since all three of us were in the same place. If Raivis had remembered to ask him, and as long as he hadn't died of fright or something, Toris would be able to take a reply to the post office for me. I found a random pen hiding in the fold of my scarf (wait, when did I put that there?) and tore a sheet of paper from the nearest notepad.

Dearest Syestra,

I got your letter. Raivis was almost crying then, too. I wouldn't worry about it much. Of course I would like to visit you! It's been too long, and perhaps we could become comrades again if our bosses allow it. I miss you both.

I stopped for a second, pen held halfway off the paper. Well, I didn't exactly miss Natalia's carving knife, but that didn't matter.

If it's convenient, I'll try and get out sometime within the week. Give Nata my love.

VsegO nailUchshego,

Ivan

Okay, good enough. Hopefully she could read that… or most of it…

"Toris!" I turned halfway to shout out the window, sealing an envelope at the same time. "Are you out there?"

"Over here, Mr. Russia!" he waved, brown hair blowing in his eyes from the wind outside. "Raivis told me you needed something."

"Da! Can you take this to the post office? I have some other things to do, and I want to get it to Ukraine quickly." I leaned over the windowsill and passed the envelope to him.

"Sure! Oh, that's right. Miss Ukraine talked to me about asking you to visit. I must have forgotten… ha…" Toris took a small step back.

I stared at him, smiling slightly. "No, that's what she wrote to me about. Don't worry. I'll probably leave in a few days, at least. Things to take care of first…"

A flicker of fear passed Toris' eyes, or maybe I imagined it. No. Definitely not.

"S-should I just take this down, then?" he grinned halfheartedly.

"Please do. Did you want to come visit Natalia and Syestra, too?"

"N-no, that's alright! I should watch Raivis, he gets in so much trouble lately…" Toris was obviously tempted to grab at any chance to see Natalia, but he definitely didn't want to be stuck with me when there was another choice. "You should go alone, I'm sure you want a vacation from us!" More like you need a break from me, Toris.

I blew a strand of beige-ish hair from my face. Believe me, I would love a vacation from myself as well. But we can't all get what we want, can we? "Of course. Thank you." I ducked under the window again and watched him run to his car. The old thing ran better than Raivis tried to make it for a secondhand car… unfortunately for Raivis. He didn't have as many excuses since I could always rule "helping with Toris' car" out of his list. It was a pretty good list, too. At least it would be if I didn't already know he had nothing to do. Except for maybe steal my vodka.

But that was definitely worse than nothing, for both him and the vodka.

I sighed and tugged on the ends of my scarf. They were frayed slightly from age… how long had I worn this, anyways? Forever. At least, a very, very long time.

I heard Eduard shouting something outside, his voice rising in pitch considerably. I wondered with amusement if Raivis had stuck a "kick me" sign to his back again. That had been fun, walking through the market waiting for someone to kick him… I'd been about to do it myself when Poland—we called him Feliks—walked up and took care of the task. After than I would have felt like it wouldn't be fun anymore since someone else had taken a boot to him. Some day…

"No, it's not the same! That one said "slap!" Yes, there was Raivis explaining this version of the sign. Sometimes I liked the kid, other times…

I let my eyes pass over a small photograph of my sisters unconsciously, picking it up with one gloved hand. Natalia rarely smiled, but this was one of those times. Ukraine had a crown of flowers in her hair, dainty violets contrasting brightly with her short blond bangs.

I set it back down again gently. I would be seeing both of them soon again, maybe even within a few days. That was exciting. I missed being able to talk to Ukraine more than I could say since our bosses started to hate each other. And now I had the chance!

I realized that for the first time in a long time, I was actually, really happy about something.

Without having to kill someone.

Alrighty! My first... Russia's Family thing! Woohoo! Anyways, I own none of these characters. However, the story is mine and I'm kind of enjoying this. For once. Oh, and expect much historical inaccuracy. I am not going to learn Russian, travel to Ukraine, or take some nice history lessons any time soon, unfortunately. Though it would be awesome if I could. So some setting and events will have no relation to anything, and I apologize in advance to people who actually know what these places look like. D:

I didn't give Ukraine a "real" name because as far as I know, there isn't an official one. I'll try and do my best to keep everybody remotely in-character, and almost all of my information I get from the Hetalia archives. That place is like Candyland, seriously.

Um.

Okay, I live off of comments, critique, flames, and trolling. But especially the first two, and sometimes the third. So please, feel free to leave any of them! I love getting feedback on my hard-written everything! Anyways, please do enjoy reading Matryoshka, as it is my current baby~