Snow

"To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake, it is necessary to stand out in the cold."

The boy's lithe frame shook violently as he trudged through the thick blanket of snow, his arms wrapped tightly around himself. "Help!" He cried hoarsely as he continued to wander aimlessly in the barren, icy wasteland. "Anyone! Please! Is anyone out there!"

He stumbled on a rock and fell onto his knee, scraping his knees and palms in the process. He bit his chapped lips and blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall. After all, heroes do not cry and he was the hero! He pulled his knees close to himself and blew gently at the wounds, "Ow…" he whimpered before he raised his voice and shouted desperately, "Please, help!" He wanted to go home! His 'adventure' out of town was not fun anymore!

"Are you alright?" The boy turned around to face the person behind him. He was quite sure there was no one near him! His eyes widened when he saw the man… or was he a giant? He shrank back and hugged his knees even closer. "Are you lost, ребенок (1)?"

He nodded speechlessly. The man, no… giant, had the fairest complexion and hair ever, almost like snow, and the most violet coloured eyes he has ever seen. The giant unravelled the scarf around his neck and threw one end of the beige scarf towards the boy while gripping the other end tightly. "I'll bring you back to town."

The boy gaped at the stranger. Tears of relief and gratitude prickled the back of his eyes and, with a sudden burst of energy; he threw himself towards the giant with the intention of hugging the life out of the giant.

Snow. The boy spluttered as he pushed himself off the ground where he had fell, face down, when the giant had dodged his 'attack'. "Why did you do thatttttt..." He whined pitifully, pouting adorably.

"I'm sorry, are you a human child? If a human touches me, I'll disappear." The boy scrunched his nose and tilted his head to a side in confusion. Disappear? The giant sighed at the boy's bewildered expression, "To disappear means to be destroyed… to no longer be around."

"Mister… you're not human?"

"Da." The boy covered his mouth in surprise. He almost made the one who was going to help him dis-disappear! He mumbled an apology and looked at the ground. But why would the man disappear? "Grab the scarf, ребенок, since I can't touch you. You're lost, da?"

The question quickly flew out of his mind. "Thank you!" The boy lunged at the giant again only to hit the ground again.

"Hey! Don't do that!"

"S-sorry…" He hurriedly grabbed the end of the scarf near him and flinched at how cold the scarf was. A gentle tug from the prompted him to stand up and stumble after the giant.

Walking slightly behind the way taller man, the boy looked around him curiously, taking in the sights that he could not enjoy earlier. The snowflakes floated around him delicately, like dancers performing an exquisite dance for his eyes only. He never realised how beautiful the snowflakes were, for all he had noticed about winter was the biting wind and icy weather. He wanted to reach out and touch the snow but he held back, as the snowflakes would definitely melt due to the heat of his body.

"Aren't you afraid?"

He looked at the man, "What?"

"Never mind." The man dismissed with a wave of his hand. He pointed straight ahead, "Just keep on walking straight here and you'll reach town."

The boy ran forward excitedly before he sudden stopped and turn around to face the man, his breath forming white clouds as he panted, "Will you always be here? Can I meet you again if I come back?"

"You do know of the dangers of winter, da? You are young, ребенок, the minute you are lost during winter, you would never return home for all that remains of you will be your cold, hard body da."

"I'm not afraid, because I'm a hero!" The man looked surprised before he chuckled. "Hey, don't laugh! By the way, my name is Alfred… what's yours?" The man stopped laughing and did not reply the boy's question. He stared at the boy unblinkingly and kept his mouth firmly shut.

"W-well, its alright if you don't want to tell me… um, I'll come back tomorrow with a gift to thank you so you better be here! Bye!" He turned around and ran as fast as he could, squeezing his eyes shut and biting his lips.

"It's Ivan, da." The boy opened his eyes in surprise before he whipped around but the man was no longer around. Where? He stared at the spot where the man had stood just seconds ago in bewilderment.

"Alfred!" He looked up at a familiar figure running towards him, and waved gleefully, his confusion flying out of his mind at the sight of his older brother. The newcomer glared at the boy and smacked him, "You idiot, running out of town like that! What if you died from the cold!"

"Sorry…" The boy whimpered and rubbed the area where he was hit before he grasped the out reached hand. "Iggy, do monsters and spirits really exist?"

The man raised a thick eyebrow, "Why the sudden interest? You have never believed in their existence… did you see something during your little adventure?" The boy shrugged. "They are creatures of legend… when I was younger, I often went on little adventures with my friends to find them. Of course we did not see anything though there was this one time…"

The boy stared at his elder brother with wide eyes and whined, "Well, don't stop, continue on Iggy!" The elder chortled at his brother's excitement.

"Every winter, you would be able to see faint glowing blobs of light, like will-o'-the-wisps, in the distance out of town and there was once when we secretly participated in a winter festival…" The man looked at the boy, "but it was only after the celebration that we realised that it was impossible for the people to hold a celebration out of town and we all had thought we participated in a monster's festival…" The older man gave the boy a secretive smile.

The boy just looked at the man with wide eyes and thought with amazement, 'So, Ivan really is not human after all…'

TBC

1: Child

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia and Hotarubi no mori e

A/N: This story is inspired from the manga, hotarubi no mori e. It's a great manga, I strongly recommend it the story this fic is based off is the second story as the manga is made up of 4 oneshots. I was also inspired by a naruto fic – natsu no mori, between naruto and kyuubi. The idea just popped up into my mind after I read natsu no mori…

Hope you would enjoy this fic and thanks vicadin-tea for this idea!