Pre-note: This is the first one-shot I've ever written and too be honest; I'm not real fond of writing them. I hope you like it!
(I planned on posting this earlier but the site was acting up.)
Saviour
By Stonefang
The rain was imprinted on her memory right alongside his face. She would never forget his face.
Liechtenstein sat up in her bed on a rather loud, rainy morning. She got out of bed to peek out between the pink curtains that shielded her bedroom window. Outside was a dreary, gray world. Rain came down in wicked sheets and the furious wind pushed it at an angle making it hit Switzerland's house rather hard. The rain was coming down so fast it blurred the exterior world so that Liechtenstein could only make out faint shapes and nearly invisible outlines.
Switzerland…brother…
The rain reminded her of the day she met him. The day he saved her from falling. She could still hear his words in her mind; she could still hear his kind voice.
***
Liechtenstein stumbled down an alley, rain pelting her weak body. Her clothes were tattered and dirty, representing the state of her country, her people. She leaned against the alley wall and closed her eyes. She wanted the rain to wash away everything that had gone wrong.
"If only…" she murmured.
Her power was diminishing slowly, ebbing away like the tide.
"Are you okay?" A voice in the midst of her mental chaos.
Before her stood a young man with blond hair whose green eyes shone even brighter amidst the somber rain. His bright eyes contrasted his tattered clothes. They seemed to resemble hope.
If Switzerland hadn't found me, I wonder what would have happened.
"I-"Liechtenstein opened her mouth and began to speak. Everything went dark.
She remembered waking up the next day in a strange place, her heart racing with fear. Then she saw the man who had discovered her in the alleyway and she sighed in relief.
I could've died back then, but he saved me.
"Good, you're awake."
Liechtenstein sat up and nodded her acknowledgement. She glanced around at the room she was in and listed details in her mind. Pink curtains, pink bed sheets, striped wallpaper, an old-looking bronze dresser and a copper chest at the edge of the bed nearest the window…
The blond man sat on a chair which he must have brought in as it didn't match the room at all. His clothes were in even worse disrepair than she had thought. His green eyes watched her patiently and she could almost see him thinking, judging, guessing.
What was he going to do to her? Judging by the state of his clothes and his lack of vigor, she guessed he was rather poor or at least not in the proper state to take care of someone else. He could hardly take care of himself. Would he throw her out like her previous master had done? She didn't think she could survive for much longer on her own.
He could hardly save himself and yet he found space in his heart to save me from falling.
"Liechtenstein?"
She must have been spacing out when he said her name because at first she didn't hear him. When he repeated what he said she started.
"Yes?" Liechtenstein didn't remember telling him who she was. Perhaps he was another country and it was just common knowledge? It was possible.
"Umm…WH-who are you?" She asked timidly.
"Hmm? Oh, I should introduce myself. I am the country of Switzerland."
That was when everything began. My feelings are going in circles.
"You're a country too?" She asked the question even though she already knew the answer.
"Yes. I'll take care of you from now on."
"Like a guardian?"
He just nodded to her question.
***
Days passed and so did weeks and then months. Each day Liechtenstein stood beside Switzerland, her guardian… her brother? He was like a brother to her but that's not the way her heart felt. It was different.
There were times when she wanted to say something important or even act in defiance to her protector but she didn't. She couldn't. The most defiant act she ever made was cutting her hair to the same length as Switzerland's. She knew she could never hurt him so she didn't dare take risks or speak against him.
'He had saved me when I thought it was over. I owe him my life,' she thought.
Thank you, Switzerland. Thank you, brother.
***
Liechtenstein found her "brother" in the garden behind the house sitting on a marble bench. He seemed so peaceful there but she decided against leaving him alone.
"Brother!" She called out.
He turned and their eyes met. Liechtenstein smiled broadly.
"Liechtenstein."
She sat next to him on the bench and gazed out at the garden. The rain had just stopped because everything, minus the bench, was still slick with silvery rain-water.
I'm glad the rain is gone. It always reminds me of that day.
She didn't want to reminisce on the past, just look towards the future. That was all.
"Thank you."
"F-for what?" His face was tinged reddish-pink.
"For everything."
Author's Note: Please review! It's encouraging.