Winter's Child
Summary: Poland is winter's child, brought to life when most find it too cold to function. But he walks the snowy streets now, wondering why he's even here and if he'll ever be warm.
Author's note: In Australia, July is the middle of winter where as its not in Poland. For the sake of the story, it's winter. Thank you. BTW Zima is Polis for winter according to Google.
Disclaimer: Hetalia is not mine; the idea came to me after finishing the Book Thief where I cried for a while.
Poland is winter's child. He was brought to life, created by God or whatever great being lives up in the sky on July the 22nd. He wasn't born to anyone nor was he created by science, he just appeared. A little blonde boy standing on a snow covered road where only seconds before, empty space had been. The little boy was confused especially when he felt as though the land beneath him was a part of him.
And so he walked. He left behind little footprints that soon filled in with snow. His simple but drooping clothes trailed in the snow and his blonde hair blew in the gale that comes with winter. People ran to their windows to see the child walking; pointing and naming him but never leaving home to help him.
Winter's Child, they called him. A fool who dared walk around in snow when everyone else bundled up and locked their doors. Yet no one ever helped the 'fool' and it would remain that way for a long time.
No one knew that he had no parents and no one knew that he had no name to call himself. So when he heard the whispers about being Winter's Child one day, he decided to call himself Zima. It seemed right, the language seemed to fit and so he would practice meeting people and what he would say if anyone decided to talk to him.
"Hello young boy, what's your name?"
"My name is Zima; it's nice to meet you."
"And you too child."
But his fantasy meetings where just that, a fantasy that would not come true, never in his entire life time. At least it wouldn't come true when he went by the name Zima. It would come true when he went by 2 names, names that meant he had to push Zima aside.
He understands now, who he is and why he's here.
He remembered walking the cold roads alone, never being warm no matter how hot the sun was and wondering why he hurt when the place he called home hurt. A man sought him out, he had no face and no physical impression to leave and he said to the boy;
"You are Poland. You are the living and breathing embodiment of the ground on which your feet rest. When your land hurts, you will too. When your land dies, yo will vanish like snow in he sun."
"I don't understand,"
"You will eventually child."
"My name is Zima sir."
"No I'm afraid it's not, it's Poland."
That was a long time ago and things have changed. He has friends; he has a role in the world. He has been hurt, he has been ripped apart and almost vanished on the breath on wind but he's always come back.
He's had to choose a name; he's had to pretend Zima never existed.
And sometimes it's easy. When he jokes around with people who care about him or feels brave that he can stand up to Russia, well that's when it's easy.
But when he walks the streets alone and parents tell their children the story of Winter's Child, the boy who wanders through the snow, well that's when it's hard. He's a legend to his people. An immortal child who will forever walk alone.
He remembers September the 1st, 1939 when Russia and Germany invaded. He remembered he was walking alone, taking a break from it all and remembering a time when he was Zima.
The 2 came out of nowhere and before he knew it, Winter's Child roamed the streets no more. Not for a long time anyway. He was locked away, hidden from sight and from all the other nations. It was like he didn't exist at all.
And he was cold, always cold. He truly was Winter's Child in those moments spent locked away in a dark room with no windows. He couldn't see the stars or the moon. All he could do was feel the pain that his country felt. The pain that was going on inside him, the pain that stretched him to his breaking point.
He longed for the days of Zima, of being trapped in a state of ignorant bliss and fantasies that would never be. But longing wouldn't get him anywhere. Longing would keep him trapped in a room he would never call his own, surviving on little to no food at all. Longing would make him depressed; make him believe that he would be all right when he wouldn't.
Longing would just make him colder.
After all, he is Winter's Child. Being cold is in the name, he was born in the cold and in the cold he shall die. But not right now, right now he will stay frozen bye his wishes and his fears. He will be the fabled Winter's Child. He will roam the streets and provide stories for children. He will pretend that he's fine and he'll accept the apologies that he will never receive.
It's stupid to hope the 2 nations that invaded will apologise, war changes everyone but still he wants one of them to one day realise what they did to him.
They destroyed Zima. He could always escape back to Zima when times were tough, the boy who knew nothing and accepted everything. The boy who survived the cold on dreams and wishes alone.
But the pain he went through when they invaded and split him in two killed everything, even the little boy who walked through the snow and hoped for a friend.
Zima still remains but he's smarter now. He knows he'll be nothing but a myth and he knows that no one will never ask him his name, his true name.
Is this what it's like to be a nation? To live alone despite the illusion that you're surrounded by people like you. To just appear one day, knowing that you'll disappear another. To know that your very existence is determined by the country or land you are tied to. Is this what it's like to truly be alone?
Of course it is; he knows that know. Zima doesn't t but Poland does. And Poland is happy so that the other nations will be happy. He'll give them someone to tease and bully to make themselves feel better. Because in a way, their acknowledging him and he's not alone. He's not just a stupid legend.
He thinks about that a lot, being nothing but a legend to his country. Zima believed in legends and myths. Poland doesn't but that's what he is. So does that mean he doesn't exist at all? Is the myth of Winter's Child really just that, a myth?
Maybe he's insane, maybe he lost the plot the moment he realised he'll always be alone. Or maybe it's the fate of a nation to never have a happy life. He shouldn't be feeling sorry for himself, surely there are people out there in more pain then he is. He's just being selfish and letting the past run away with him. Yet whenever he sees America smile or Russia giggle, it feels genuine, something he can never be.
Or at least he thinks he can never be it.
But Zima was genuine, maybe Zima can come back. Maybe he can connect with a life that seems so different now that it's like it isn't even his.
People say Poland is the phoenix right? Always rising out of the ashes to form a new life and become strong again, to recreate a world in the ashes left from the attack.
But he thinks that's wrong.
Poland is Winter's Child, brought to life when most find it too cold to function. But he walks the snowy streets now, wondering why he's even here and if he'll ever be warm.
But that's impossible right.
Poland thinks so.
Zima hopes it isn't.
Winter's Child just walks alone.
That just poured out, reading emotional stories will do that to you.
Please review or favourite, I worked very hard capturing the emotions in this piece.