"Miss. Katyusha please lay down, you're sick." An elderly woman known as Svetlana said as a series of violent coughs racked Katyusha's body. The Ukrainian gave a polite smile to Lana, who dubbed herself caretaker to her neighbor as thanks for helping out her husband in the fields.
"It may be best…thank you." Katyusha said before moving towards her room as the silver haired woman went to kitchen.
"I'll cook you up something warm." She said, earning a smile in thanks from the personified Ukraine before she entered her room. More coughs escaped her and went into her elbow, her other hand holding onto her stomach as it burned.
So many of her children were sick and dieing from the H1N1 virus, and it didn't look like things were going to improve any time soon. Her bright blue eyes were now glossed over with tears at that thought. She didn't want anyone to get sick from this, and it always broke her heart to see anyone's children sick or any nation sick, whether it be from bad economy or a pandemic sweeping across their lands.
Just as the platinum blond slipped into a state of half sleep she swore she heard someone knocking at her front door. But, who would visit her now? Natalya hadn't visited in years and Ivan hadn't either. A sharp pain entered Katyusha's heart at that thought, the thought of how distant her family had gotten.
Yao had to admit that this short, silver haired Ukrainian woman was quite terrifying. Svetlana stared up at the Chinese man with great suspicion. She pointed her wooden spoon at him, glaring now.
"Who are you and what do you want?" The elderly woman asked bluntly. Yao glanced past the woman into the house, only to have Svetlana shove the spoon at his nose angrily.
"I'm here to see Katyusha, aru." He said with a polite bow. "I'm Wang Yao and I-"
"What do you want with Miss. Katyusha? She's not well at the moment and if you think I'll let you take advantage of-" Svetlana paused and looked back at something in the kitchen over her shoulder. "I'll get back to you in a moment." With that the Ukrainian went back inside, slamming the door shut and leaving a confused Yao on the other side.
"Aru?"
"Miss. Katyusha?" Svetlana asked as she entered the nation's room. The elderly woman smiled warmly at seeing the platinum blond blink awake from her short rest. "There's a cute Chinese man outside wanting to see you." Svetlana nearly sang as she handed a warm bowl of hot borscht to the 'younger' woman.
"Yao?" Katyusha asked before getting a spoonful of borscht into her mouth, smiling at the taste. A mischief light entered the old woman's dark eyes.
"So you do know him. Are you feeling well enough to see him?" The personified nation of Ukraine looked at her daughter, confused at the tone she spoke in.
"Yes. Could you please get him for me? If it's not too much trouble, you've already done so much for me." Katyusha said, feeling guilty that her child was taking care of her."
"Nonsense dear. I'll go get him right away." Svetlana said, patting Katyusha's head in a motherly fashion before leaving the room to fetch Yao. She grinned as she opened the front door to see the Chinese man still standing there. He opened his mouth to speak, but the Ukrainian grabbed his loose, bright red sleeve and tugged him into the house.
Yao went to protest against this behavior but Svetlana was already pushing him into a room, shutting the door once he was fully shove inside it. He glanced back at the door, confused, before looking at the room. His dark eyes landed on Katyusha immediately. The personified nation of China took a moment to gather himself before walking towards the sickly looking woman, bowing politely once he was closer to her.
"Katyusha, I'm here, both as a friend and a representative from China." He said, only to have a small frown form on his lips as a series of violent coughs left the fellow nation's lips into her elbow. Once the fit passed, she shyly looked up at Yao.
"I'm sorry." She whispered. The Chinese man shook his head and softly sat himself on her bed.
"Don't be, aru. I have come here to give you some news. My government has agreed to send over three and a half million yuan for you people to receive aid. They-" Yao was cut off as Katyusha took one of his hands in both of hers.
"Thank you, thank you so much Yao. This means so much to me and my children." She said as tears raced down her smooth cheeks. The nation of China used his free hand to pull himself and Katyusha closer and to guide her head to rest on his shoulder as she cried. He softly petted her platinum hair as she clung to him, weeping over the fact her children now had hope to recover.
