AN: So, this is a story for LetThemHaveGermanRumCake, who requested that I write Liechtenstein and Latvia. I love the pairing, but alas, I can't do that pairing in Strength and Survival, so I promised them this. Enjoy, loves!

The first day of school wasn't usually too hard to deal with. Usually. This year, for some reason, was different.

Toris was frowning down at Raivis, who was clinging to his pants leg while he spoke with the teacher. "He's not normally like this, I promise."he said softly, trying to coax the Latvian boy to release him.

The teacher gave a kind smile. "This isn't the first time today,"she promised.

Toris gave her a thankful look and kneeled down when Raivis finally let him go. "Listen to me, Raiv."he said softly.

Raivis met his eyes, his own wide. Toris hated seeing him like this, shaking and frightened.

"I swear to you, Eduard and me will be back to pick you up as soon as our school lets out. Three twenty, okay?"Toris said, pointing at the clock. "Try to have a bit of fun, okay?"

Raivis nodded in understanding and wrapped the elder male in a tight hug.

Toris gave a faint smile and hugged him back gently. "Good, now..I have to go before Ed and me get in trouble for being late,"

Raivis nodded and let him go. He stared at the door for a while after Toris left before the teacher directed him to a seat.

The chatter that filled the room echoed in Raivis's head. It was odd, being around people who were being so kind with one another. Sure, Toris and Eduard and him always did that. But this was different. There were so many kids. He shrunk further down in his seat, trembles still going through him. They were supposed to be talking with one another, getting to know each other. But he couldn't bring himself to speak up. He hadn't spoken since he'd gotten out of the car.

The girl that was sitting in front of him turned away from someone and looked at him. "Hallo!"she greeted brightly.

Raivis jumped, looking up at her, eyes wide and portraying his surprise. "H-hello."he said in return, his voice soft, hardly audible.

A soft giggle sounded, setting him at ease. "I'm Lili. Who're you?"
Raivis gave a shaky smile. "My na-name is R-raivis."he said politely.

Lili tilted her head before she smiled softly.

Their conversation halted there, mostly because Raivis couldn't bring himself to speak again. He'd always hated it. He'd never really gotten past his stutter after Toris had taken him in. The fear was constant in his mind, and it always made his voice faulter quite a bit when he spoke.

By the time their lunch came around, he wasn't shaking as much. But the fourth grade class was still much louder than he was used to. He didn't speak to anyone, and he sat off to himself at lunch.

Lili frowned at him worriedly from her seat with the rest of the class, but made no move to get up. She didn't want to be rude, but she was trying to avoid trouble.

And so, as they left the cafeteria for recess, Lili caught up with Raivis. "Hi!"she greeted.

Raivis started a bit, looking over at her. He gave her a faint smile. "Hi."he said in return. The trembles that had been shaking his frame so far that day had disappeared, leaving his speech clear for a change. He wasn't used to it.

Lili smiled. "First day nerves?"she asked.

Raivis shrugged. "People thing."he responded.

Lili nodded in understanding, looking at the crowd on the playground before noticing that nobody was near the swings. She grabbed ahold of one of Raivis's hands, pulling him along to the swings.

As soon as they were there, she released her grip and sat down.

Raivis sat beside her, gathering his thoughts again after being so suddenly drug along.

Lili grinned over at him happily. "So, who was with you earlier?"

Raivis smiled slightly. "...one of my brothers."he said softly.

Lili tilted her head. "What about your parents?"she asked. "Do you live with them?"

Raivis looked down and drug his shoe on the dirt, creating a little design there. "N-no. I-I used to."he mumbled.

Lili frowned, but didn't press on. "Me too. I live with my big brother now, as well."she admitted.

Raivis bet her gaze, noticing the slight sadness in her eyes. He steeled his nerves, getting control over his speech again before he spoke. "I'm sorry for your loss, Lili."

The sincerity in his tone made her smile. "Thank you."

Nothing more was said on the topic. In fact, Lili moved on and started throwing questions out at random. Favorite color, movie, food, stuff like that.

Once they started discussing movies, they got into a bit more depth of how things were at home.

Turns out, both of them had movie nights with their brothers once a week, usually on Fridays.

When recess ended, Lili walked with Raivis back to the class, still talking and laughing lightly with him.

That evening, their siblings showed up around the same time to get them to see them sitting on a bench out front, talking happily about something.

Toris was shocked to see that Raivis wasn't shaking or stuttering, and so he stopped Vash before he interupted. "Hold on."he said quietly.

Vash looked at him in confusion, but could see the amazement in his eyes, so he turned to take a closer look at the boy, who he had only frowned at before. He smiled faintly when he recognised him and saw the effect his sister had had on him.

Lili looked over then and grinned brightly, shooting up and running to give Vash a hug. "Big Bruder!"she exclaimed.

Raivis got up and walked over to Toris, hiding slightly when Lili pulled Vash over to introduce him.

"This is Raivis!"she said softly, motioning at the hiding boy.

Raivis gave a shaky smile. "H-hello, sir."he said politely, but hid further.

Vash looked at Toris before he kneeled down. "C'mere."he said, motioning for Raivis to come over to him.

Raivis did so, but shot Lili a worried look about it. She continued smiling, so he figured it was safe.

Vash placed a hand on his shoulder, making him squirm a bit. "Don't call me sir, okay, Raivis? I'm Vash, Lili's brother. You do not need to be so formal."

Raivis nodded and went back to his own brother and hid again.

Vash looked at Toris. "Well, Tor..I gotta say, you were right about him. Such a sweetheart."he said, picking Lili up as he stood.

Toris nodded and shrugged before looking down at Raivis. "Let's get home so we can get started on dinner, yeah?"he said softly to the boy, who nodded in agreement, allowing Toris to help him into the car. He waved goodbye to Vash and Lili, who returned the gesture of farewell.

That night over dinner, Toris and Eduard questioned Raivis on how his day had been.

Turns out, it hadn't been as bad as they feared it would be for him.

Yep. Chapter one done.