Russia's breathing became rapid as he sat in the chair at his desk.
He was sitting in his home office, halfway through reading some document about trade changes with England, when everything suddenly went black. He froze in place and his mind went blank, he wasn't sure what was going on, maybe the power had gone out? Impossible, he had generators, it would have been on again by now. Did the light break? No, he hadn't heard the bulb shatter, and he was sure he had just replaced that light. Wait wasn't it still light outside? Even if the light did go out he still would have been able to see. So… What was this?
He hears a knock on the door before it opens, he looks up in the direction of the sound but still can't see a thing. Perhaps the generators weren't working? Maybe he had lost track of the time and it really was night.
"Da?" Russia wanted to know who was in the room with him and what had happened but he didn't want to sound scared. The Russian Federation was never scared.
"Mr. Russia, I was informed by your boss that you will not be attending the world meeting in France tomorrow afternoon." It was Estonia, but why wasn't he mentioning the power outage?
"Da, you will still be going?" He inquired.
"Yes, you are the only one not attending." He still wasn't talking about the power.
"Estonia, when did we have the generators checked last?" It would appear Russia would have to force the information out of him.
"Last month, why?" Estonia asked, he sounded confused.
It was at that moment that Russia realized that whatever was happening was only happening to him. He wasn't sure if he wanted to hit something or cry at the realisation.
"Da, good. Winter storm season is coming up soon and I want to be sure that we are prepared… In fact…" Russia straightened in his chair and set his hands in his lap, still looking in the direction of Estonia's voice. He couldn't let anyone else know. "I would like you, Latvia and Lithuania to stay in western Europe this winter. Think of it as a vacation." He smiled and closed his eyes like he always did when he wanted people to know that he was not asking. He heard a small gasp and an audible swallow.
"R-Really?! A vacation! Thank you Mr. Russia, I'll go tell them now!" He heard Estonia turn around and the door creak back open. Russia opened his eyes and looked towards the smaller nation once again.
"Estonia." He said with a firm voice.
"Y-Yes?" Russia could practically hear the man shiver.
"Be sure you are all out of the house by tonight." Russia's voice was stern and there was no room for argument.
"Y-Yes Sir." The door shuts and Russia is alone once again. He buries his face in his hands and closes his eyes, opens them, and closes them again. Russia felt sick, he didn't know what to do, so he sat, and he cried.
Russia had gone blind.

-

Canada sighed as he walked through the airport, his bear clinging to his back. The meetings had been normal and exhausting as always, America shouting about aliens and talking with his mouth full, Germany's face turning red in irritation before he shouted for everyone to be quiet. It didn't work. France and England fighting the entire time and not a single person noticed him. The only thing different seemed to be the lack of an intimidating purple aura that is usually caused by a certain large Russian nation. He had not been there for any of the three days even though the baltics had been, Canada wondered where his fellow northern nation had been.
A crowd of people suddenly flock around him, nearly trampling him in the process. His flight is announced over the loudspeaker in a muffled French voice that he could barely understand, he rushes through the flight gate to avoid getting crushed by the crowd of people and takes his seat. Normally he would have to show his identification as the personification of Canada in place of his flight ticket, nations were allowed to fly for free anywhere, but no one seemed to notice him anyway so he simply stepped onto the plane.
He slouched in his seat with Kumajiro on his lap, staring at the ceiling of the plane, it wasn't long before he fell asleep.

Canada opened his eyes to the sound of angry voices, no not angry, it was a different language. He looked around and saw that people were getting off the plain, did he really sleep for ten hours? He stands up and picks up Kumajiro, quickly turning to leave the plain, but as soon as he exits the terminal a gust of frozen air hits him in the face. Kumajiro buries his face into Canada's coat as the Canadian man grabs his bag. This wasn't right, the air in his home smelled like damp leaves and fresh water even in the dead of winter, this air smelt stale, as if it had been frozen for a long time.
Canada listened in on a conversation across the aisle from him, the voices sounded deep and growly with words that hitch and change pitch in strange places and the phrases sounded painful to try and pronounce. He listens for any words he may recognize but soon realizes that the language is completely foreign to him, the tone sounded familiar though… It sounded Russian. Was he in Russia?!
Canada leaves the airport building and steps outside into the cold air, how had he gotten on the wrong plain?! God he felt like an idiot! True the voice over the speaker had been hard to hear but still! How the hell is he gonna get home? He can't just get back on the plain, he can't tell them who he is, and they probably don't speak or read English of French. Damnit.
"What are we gonna do Kumanemo?" Canada sighed, hugging his bear tight to his chest and burying his face in the soft white fur. He perks up suddenly, remembering his thoughts from just before he got on the plain back in Paris, "I know! I can just go see Russia, he can help me!" Canada looks around and realizes that he recognizes this area, he remembers coming here for the Summit Series back in 1972, that was back when Russia was still the USSR but Moscow hadn't changed much.
Canada slowly made his way to Russia's house, bear in one arm and bag in the other. As night began to fall it got colder, Canada was used to cooler climates but when his breath started to freeze in his lungs and his exposed skin burned from the wind he knew he needed to hurry, he would rather not be found in the ice.

"Russia!" Canada shouted after the third time he knocked on the giant oak doors, what was taking him so long? He waited only a few moments more before simply pulling on the handle, both pleased and worried to find it unlocked.
He squeezed his way through the heavy doors before quickly closing them again, sighing happily at the warm air around him. He puts his bag down and places Kumajiro on the floor before walking up to the great staircase.
"Russia? Are you here?" He shouted up, already feeling bad that he had come in without permission and slightly scared that if he startled the large Russian man that he might end up speared with that pipe of his.
A crash suddenly sounds from the living room area along with the sound of glass breaking. Canada rushes into the room to see the oversized man in a startled heap on the floor next to the couch, the coffee table was crushed underneath of his large frame and there was a shattered bottle pouring its contents on the hardwood floor making the whole room smell like alcohol, Canada looked to Russia again and was shocked. The man looked as if he hadn't shaved in days, his normally pale skin looked ashy instead of its usually pink hue and his eyes, always bright and attentive, were blown wide and dull, distant. The man looked terrible.
Canada carefully steps over the growing puddle of alcohol and drops to his knees next to Russia, carefully helping the larger male sit back up.
"Russia are you ok? What happened?" Canada asks softly.
Russia lets out a groan before answering, holding his head and frowning, "I was sitting… and then I… was on the floor."
Canada blinked, in any other situation he would have found Russia's response funny but seeing this normally strong and graceful nation in the condition he was in, it saddened him.
"Russia… are you ok?" Canada was scared, he was usually never worried about other nations but Russia was different, he was supposed to be one of the strongest nations in the world, he was supposed to be intimidating and unphasable, he was supposed to show no weakness or regret and yet here he was looking helpless. It was scary.
Russia did not answer right away, he frowned and twiddled his thumbs, he hadn't looked directly at Canada yet and he bit his lip.
"Who… Who are you?" He finally asks, Canada sighs in frustration. Of course Russia didn't remember him.
"I'm Canada, America's brother."
"...Canada?" Russia's face twists in confusion, "I'm sorry, I do not remember you."
"I know, it's okay." Canada stands up and holds his hand out to help Russia up but Russia just continues to sit and stare forward. "Russia?" Canada's brow furrows and he watches the other man closely.
"Da?" Russia asks but remains still, something clicks suddenly in Canada's mind.
"Can… Are you blind?" As soon as the question left his mouth Canada wanted to snatch the words out of the air and crush them under his boot, the silence that hung in the air felt like ice and Canada swore he felt the room's temperature drop as he watched the Russian man stiffen in place and stop breathing.
"Da." The answer was short and the tone was cold but it held a sadness and regret that Canada hadn't seen since the end of WWII. Russia didn't speak after that though and he seemed to be waiting for Canada to say something, Canada had no idea what.
"Uh… Does anyone else know?" The question sounded stupid to Canada and when Russia let out a humorless chuckle he knew the answer was obvious.
"Nyet, I would not have told you if you had not figured it out. It happened a few days ago and I have been… incapable to leave my house or speak with my boss." The words came out forced, as if it physically pained Russia to admit he couldn't do something. Canada could understand that, after all Russia and his brother had been trying to best each other since before the atomic bomb, If America had found out about this he would never let Russia or anyone else hear the end of it.
Canada didn't know what to say, he didn't know what to do, Russia was blind. Just the idea of the powerful nation being so helpless in his own home, stumbling around for days and disoriented, it was both horrifying and saddening. Canada places a hand over Russia's lightly until the frozen nation takes it and stands, but when Canada tries to let go Russia grips tighter.
"Russia… Do you, uh… Do you want me to help?" The silence continued for a moment before Russia gives a slight nod, still frowning. He tilts his head down and turns it just slightly to hear Canada better.
"I would like to go to bed." His voice was quiet and he sounded exhausted, Canada nodded to himself and tried to remember where Russia's room was.
After walking up the stairs and searching a bit they finally arrived at the large room. Canada gawked at the size of it, he hadn't remembered how big everything in Russia's house was. The room was bigger than Canada's kitchen and dining rooms combined and not only held the huge four post bed but a white couch and loveseat that sat across from each other in front of a brick fireplace, the carpet was a lush red colour and the bed sheets were white like the couch. Hanging on the walls were paintings of, not his previous bosses or a portrait of himself as Canada had expected, but of fields of flowers and stunning sunsets.
Once Russia felt the bed against his leg he let go of Canada's hand and started removing his wrinkled coat, carefully placing it at the end of the bed before sitting to take off his boots. Canada watched him quietly, wondering what to do next.
"Do you want anything else?" Canada asks with a nervous chuckle.
"Nyet… Will you be staying here?" Russia sounded hopeful but Canada brushed it off as his imagination.
"Um, yeah, if you want."
"...Da, you will wake me at 7 o'clock?" Canada knew it was a request and not a demand but his tone made it hard to want to argue. Even if Canada wanted to sleep a little more than that.
"Alright…" He walks towards the door before turning back to look at the Russian man laying in his bed, looking so small all of a sudden. "Good night Russia."
"...Dobroy nochi, Canada." He had paused before saying the name but he had remembered, Canada knew he had no idea who he was talking to but still. Canada smiled.