Axis Powers Hetalia

Axis Powers Hetalia AU: |White|

Setting: Europe/Russia, the dead of winter

As soon as he stepped outside, the bitter cold of the snow storm chilled him to the bone. He could feel the wind attempting to steal his warmth away. The young man cursed himself for forgetting his mittens at the house. He shuttered and buried his chin in his large woolen scarf that was tucked into his white down snow jacket. Tino pulled his knitted beanie over his ears, attempting to hold onto the heat he had collected inside the restaurant, before braving the walk back to his and his husband's house. He peered around the building, not wanting to step off the landing into that icy stream of wind whipping down the street. He could only see about 10 feet in front of him, and feared it would turn into a white-out as the night went on.

The Fin reluctantly set off down the street, holding his collar together up to his face to catch his warm breath. As he walked along, making crunching sounds in the snow with each step, he noticed that a second crunching pair of footsteps started up behind him. Tino glanced behind him and saw the outline of a tall man following him down the street. He sped up, attempting to lose him. He took a detour down a different street and looked back to see if he was still there. The man wasn't, so he relaxed and proceeded to wind his way back to the street he originally was on. The blonde rounded a corner and ran straight into what he thought was a wall, falling backwards toward the snow blanketed ground. A strong arm wrapped around his waist and caught the smaller man. Tino looked up to find his husband staring down at him.

"Berwald!" Tino gasped, surprised at seeing the Swede before he reached their house. The towering man looked down on him with piercing and intense blue eyes that seemed to bore into his own. Sometimes they seemed intimidating and looked like they were glaring at you but that was just Berwald. It took a while for Tino to get used to it but he knew behind that glare was a loving man that would do anything for him.

"What are you doing here? Not that I don't want you here of course," The shorter blonde cuddled into his husband's chest and Berwald immediately wrapped his strong arms around Tino, who instantly felt warmer despite the worsening weather.

"Watin' fer yoo." The Swede's accent was very thick, but Tino found it cute so he didn't really mind. He had gotten used to it so it was not hard to understand the man. "I f'llowed yoo, but yoo started to run n' I h'd to catch up."

"Oh I'm sorry! I couldn't see you through the snow." The shorter blonde hugged him tighter, feeling bad for thinking that Berwald was some kind of creep. Berwald loosened his grip and gently pulled the smaller man's face up to look at him. Light violet met icy blue. The Swede leaned down and kissed him lightly, his hot breath warm against Tino's frozen lips. The Fin melted into the kiss, moving his frozen hands to rest on the dark blue lapels of the woolen jacket he was snuggled up so close to. Berwald glanced down at Tino's hands on his chest between kisses and paused when he noticed that his love had nothing covering his hands. His brows knitted together and he glared at them making Tino look away in guilt.

"Tino! Why dn't yoo have yoor mitt'ns on? Yoo 'ill get fr'stbite!" He lectured, exasperated at the smaller man. The thin hands shrunk back down toward the large pockets in Tino's white coat. Before they could reach their destination, Berwald grabbed them and held them tightly in their grasp. His gloved hands warmed up the frigid skin and made Tino visibly sigh in relief with his warm breath perfectly captured in the cold air.

"Thank you," Tino said warmly. He placed a small kiss on the taller man's cheek and smiled brightly. Berwald couldn't help but smile too. He moved behind the shorter man and wrapped his long arms around his husband's body, pulling off his own gloves and placing them on Tino's icy hands.

The Fin started to protest but the taller man leaned down and whispered against his husband's ear softly, " 'll be fine." Tino shivered at the slight tickle of the other's breath against his ear and gave up his protest, much the Swede's delight. The two exchanged one last kiss before they set off with their arms wrapped around each other down the icy street back to their house.

Tino's apprehension about the weather worsening became a reality. The storm had turned into a whiteout. Visibility became zero on top of the fact it was the middle of the night. The wind whipped the snow so fast; it stung when it came in contact with skin. Tino couldn't raise his head to see his husband next to him much less look to see if they were close to the house. As he trudged through the snow, he could feel his toes and nose becoming numb but chose not to say anything. He attempted to pick up his slowing pace to cover it up. Suddenly, Berwald's grip on his hand tightened and he pulled the shorter man into the opening of a small alleyway, out of the stream of bitter wind. Tino looked up at him inquisitively and saw the worry etched into the taller man's sharp features.

"Sve?" the Fin asked gently, using a nickname he had given his husband when they first met to lighten the heavy atmosphere.

The Swede looked Tino over carefully. The smaller man was shivering and his face was pale and drawn. Though Berwald was not perfect shape either. His gloveless hands were becoming numb and the cold was starting to settle deep in him as well. His glasses were frosted over so it was difficult to see. He looked around for some sign of how close they were to the safe warmth of their house. Tino watched him carefully and when the bright blue eyes returned their gaze to his, the taller man spoke softly.

"The h'se sh'ld be ov'r the bridge th're," he pointed down the alley at a stone bridge that covered a wide frozen river. It was barely visible in the storm but it was close.

The couple lived across the river on the Swedish side of the border in Berwald's large house. It was a one story brick house that housed the small family. Their adopted son, Peter, seemed to bring the whole house together. It was always warm and had delicious smells coming from the kitchen since Tino had a thing for cooking. During the Christmas season, their house was the epitome of the holiday spirit. Their house was decorated from wall to wall and Tino would dress up as Santa for their son. It was the Finn's favourite time of the year and it was coming up in about a month. These warm thoughts made Tino's freezing spirit warm and he felt better. He smiled gently and took Berwald's hand, pulling him with him, and they set off toward the bridge.

They were currently on the Finnish side of the border in the middle of crossing the old bridge. Tino noticed that the familiar city lights that usually greeted them over the bridge were not there. It was just a dark road with flickering streetlights placed sparsely along the edge. They reached the other side and then slowly came to a stop. Tino looked up to Berwald who was looking into the darkness with a puzzled look on his face. The shorter man searched in the darkness for some indication of where they were, and then suddenly gasped in horror.

"Berwald! Look!" Tino yelled and pointed franticly at a pole near one of the streetlights. A red flag with a gold hammer and sickle violently shook in the icy wind. They were on the Russian side of the border.

The Swede's eyes widened and he took a step back in shock. He looked at Tino and just as they were about to bolt back over the bridge, a gunshot pierced through the night near them. The couple turned back to see silhouettes of a half a dozen soldiers approach them, all armed with large guns. Tino screamed when a large hand gripped his arm and pulled him backwards, away from Berwald. The Swede felt his husband's hand leave his and turned to see him being drug away by a very tall and large man who did not look like the rest of the soldiers. Tino screamed and tried to fight off his captor but he was weak from walking in the snow and the other man had picked him up over his shoulder. He was over powered by the large man. He could not free himself. Berwald started after him but gunshots sounded again and this time, a bullet had lodged itself in his side, just under his ribcage. He cried out in pain and his legs gave out. He fell to his knees in the snow, reaching out after his husband. Tino heard the shot and Berwald's pained voice in the distance. He feared the worst and could feel the unconsciousness he was fighting before creeping up on him. He tried to free himself one last time and desperately cried out as he was being taken away, tears forming in his eyes.

"BERWALD!"