Chapter 1

Almost everyone knows what it's like to sit through a blizzard near a fire, cocoa in one hand, with all the troubles of the worlds pushed away. The feeling of safety from the storm, the calm stillness that drifts through the atmosphere. The feeling of sweet boredom relaxes all that has been tense. Moments like that, everyone wants to hold on to. The feeling of having all the time in the world, perhaps even forming a story in one's imagination. Some even enjoy dozing off into their dreams.

Ivan reached his feet out to the fire and sighed. He looked out the window into the snow as he took a sip from his mug. The day had been long for him, and being snowed in during his evening gave him time to relax. He was missing a UN meeting, but didn't mind at all. He apologized over the phone to Britain and mocked regret. But inside he was rejoicing with all his heart. He felt like the snow was his one chance to lock himself away, throw the world's problems into the blazing fire he was warming himself with. He smiled at his thoughts of setting the world ablaze. Secretly, he wished he could do exactly that.

Being bored out of his mind, Ivan looked over his hand. The great contraption everyone possessed. All the bones, every muscle, exactly in place. They all worked together in unity. He thought to himself how it would be on Earth if everyone worked that way. Everyone with a purpose, no one lounging around with nothing to do, as he was at the moment. Then he thought about his whole body. What if everyone in the world was like a body part? He knew that he was being lazy, and not doing his part of the body's struggles. But he also knew that everyone had to rest every now and again, otherwise the whole body would be worn out and unable to finish the rest of humanity's chores.

Light and careful knocking arose from the door. "Who is it?" Russia called out sleepily.

"Ukraine." His sister croaked.

"Come in, it's open." He mumbled, practically to himself. The door banged open, a knife in the recent silence, with a gust of wind. The fire flickered, and then went out. Grumbling, he struck another match and thrust it into the ashen wood. The room lit up again, with the friendly warmth, and Russia embraced his sister. He made his way into his little kitchen and poured another cup of hot cocoa for his beloved sister. He watched the snow white marshmallows melt in the hot drink and smiled. He handed the drink to Ukraine, and hoped that she liked it.

"Take a seat, sister, I missed you." He gestured to the large chair beside his own. With the mug in her hands, she sat down and smiled through the steam. Her dull blue eyes were older than his, wiser and larger. Though she was pretty young, she had slight wrinkles next to her eyes from smiling so often. She and Russia had gone through tough childhoods together, along with their younger sister, Belarus. But both with proud smiles.

Through her cocoa, Ukraine sighed. "It's nice to relax like this. You do it often?"

He chuckled, lightly. "Not at all. I never get a break from meetings and all…"

"Well, I assume that we should take in this moment for ourselves, da?"

The siblings sat and discussed absolutely nothing, taking occasional sips from their mugs. The fire burned on, and soon everything that Russia had thought about earlier was pushed into the past. He was occupied with his sister. The storm passed on outside the small cabin, without notice, without an issue. More and more snow piled onto the ground as the time passed, Ukraine and Russia safely tucked away, as if all time had stopped. They were in their own time capsule, with nothing in the world threatening to sneak up on them. Those meaningless, settle moments, were the ones they treasured most.

In the storm stood a man. He was not locked away with time. Rambling to himself, he held tightly to the rope that kept the raging huskies by his side. The smaller one was howling off into the clouded sky, and the larger one was jumping and snapping its teeth at absolutely nothing. Each time they jerked away from him, he would tug them back to his side. They yelped for some time; they did not enjoy being choked, then resumed misbehaving. The dogs' fur was lined with frost, as was the man's hair and eyelashes. He stood still, not shivering even if his black trench coat did not hold back the cold. No matter how hard the wind blew, it was unable to knock the white sailor cap off of his sandy brown hair. "I'm late, oh dear, oh so very late…" He was mumbling to himself, staring at the cabin with intensity. He had a wolfish grin spread across his face from ear to ear. "Oh, how late…"

Russia sat with Ukraine and knew in his head that he was never going to be alone. She was always going to be with him, no matter what. For some reason, sitting in the cabin with her reminded them of how terrible their past had been. It was not often they could sit together and talk over their memories. Sometimes all they needed was a little push, a little snow storm to bring them together. Russia's mind was absorbing Ukraine's stories intently. He listened and thought about how much they had gone through together. Her voice was drawing his attention very cleverly. He had heard those stories many times before, he lived through them and by them, but each time Ukraine would bring up the subject, he felt like a child again, reliving it all.

As Ukraine's voice dragged on, Russia wished he could be a child again. He wished that there was some way to remake his childhood. To recreate it into something happier. He wondered what he would have made it into. He would've liked to make more friends, he would've liked to say good-bye to his deceased mother, and he would've liked to do a lot more things. He wished he could tell everyone that he loved them. He really did. He loved everyone so much, and that was why he was so violent towards them. He wished he could just hug the whole world.

"I'm going to get some more cocoa, brother." His sisters hand pressed down on his head playfully as she walked past him.