Irina Jelavić just slept like a doll on her table, while the other students just looked to her. They felt strange with this…
"Nagisa, why don't you check for a while?"
"Why don't you do this first, Karma?"
While they were looking on Irina's sleeping face, Irina was…
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#####
1994
Balkans
A boy, named Željko Jelavić, tall, brown-haired and had a hot face, just came back home. He put up a knife, an American-made Cherookee Mississippi knife style, yelling something… in front of a little blonde girl…
"ИЗАЂИ ОДАВДЕ, ИРИНА!" (GET OUT OF HERE, IRINA!)
Soon, he discovered that, there was a ton of man wearing checkered shirt, came with knifes, guns, axes… and shouted:
"SRBE NA VRBE! SRBE NA VRBE!"
Both Željko and Irina are of ethnic Serbs and both attended local Orthodox Church before the war. Željko is older brother, an assassin while at that day, Irina was a little girl. However, there was a conflict in deep between their family and another family, the Darenka family which belong to Catholic Church and ethnic Croats.
It turned into turmoil after a member of Jelavić family, Jovan, was murdered after a skirmish, which was blamed to the Darenkas. Later, Željko killed Darijo, the man who identified to have killed Jovan. The murder of Darijo, following by a mass ethnic cleansing in the Croatian village, cause a total revenge. But Željko not just killed Darijo only, he also killed Darijo's Albanian friend, Beshim.
And now, his village was about to be attacked…
But Irina was too small to understand, so Željko, by the order from his father, must carry Irina away. And so their journey started…
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"SRBE NA VRBE!" (HANG THE SERBS!)
His village was totally burned by the mad Croatian fighters. Their lovely village had become a battlefield between the Croats and Serbs. Many massacres were occurred and many dead bodies were found. The Jelavić family continued to hold, while Željko continued to carry Irina out, entering to the forest. But something…
…
"Dvoje su Srbi ovđe! Iskoristi ih sve!" (Two Serbs are here! Seize them all!)
There were three Croatian assassins! They saw Irina and Željko. They were now running as well. Željko realized that if they could not run faster, all of them would be slaughtered. While running away, those Croatian assassins chanted cursing words in hoping for capture of both…
"AJMO USTAŠE!"
"ZA DOM, SPREMNI!"
"SRBE NA VRBE!"
"UBI SRBINA!"
Cursed words! Irina, because she was too little and didn't know anything, she started to cry. She missed her mother, she missed her father. Željko had to cheer up: "Верујте ми, Ирина. Ми ћемо изаћи ове збрке!" (Trust me, Irina. We will get out of this mess!)
Then, he soon made a cut to all three Croatian assassins, however, one of them had found this trick and he followed as well. Željko, meanwhile, was too tired. He fell down, and looked into Irina, still crying a lot. As a brother, Željko must help Irina calm down, because once she continued to cry, they would be threatened.
However, he soon faced…
"Huh?"
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"ARRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"BLAM!"
A man, who followed them from hours, had fallen down. Željko, with his assassin smells, had heard the run and quickly he put his pistol, a Swedish-made, and shot down. Realizing that it wasn't safe anymore, he continued to bring Irina away…
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Meanwhile, the two Croatian assassins discovered their comrade's body, they screamed…
"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH…"
Meanwhile, the children had escaped…
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#####
Dubrovnik, Croatia
The two kids had to sit in a collapsed street, with a ton of bullet and fire. No one was here at the time they got in. Now, they looked hungry…
But looking for a food, it was a very hard job. Because of this, Željko had to share most of his food and water for his little sister.
"Ево, жу ово. Надам се да ће бити у реду." (Here, got this. I hope you will be okay.)
Some few soldiers, of both Croatian and Serbian Army, left back some breads. They had to steal everyday like thieves. It was a violence time…
As well as the situation, he could only hear about 1994 FIFA World Cup through radio. It was the United States' first ever World Cup. Željko Jelavić himself is a devout World Cup fan and also, he dreamed one day he would get a passport to settle in the U.S.A. at the future.
However he must survive with Irina first…
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But their lucks weren't last long. The bombardment started again, caused by both side, forcing them to leave.
At that day, they only thought about running as far as possible…
…and they kept running…
…running…
…running…
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Yeah, they left the town, in their craziest way. They thought it was over. However, something had waited them…
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"UZMI IH! PRLJAVI SRBI!" (GET THEM! FILTHY SERBS!)
Željko found that, again, those Croats found him. This time, they seemed to have linked with the Darenka family. So he soon discovered that, they would follow them till death!
He carried little Irina and ran away. The boy promised he would not let Irina fall into the hand of them. And he ran out…
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On their track, they were crossing even through a river, some small streams and they even killed some birds to eat. Their running track was not over. Those Croatian hunters continued to hunt them…
And as their running way continued, it took over 2 hours. At the time they ran out, they saw many burned cities, village. Also, they saw so many people got executed…
They couldn't take it longer…
Also, they faced some Bulgarians who wanted their lives as well…
"Гнусни сърби, мъртви сърбин е добър сърбин!" (Disgusting Serbs, a dead Serb is a good Serb!)
Those Bulgarians were hired as mercenary for a Russian-Croatian businessman, who expressed his vengeance on Serbian people. As those Bulgarians also developed deep hatreds toward the Serbs due to the past, they accepted the invitation.
Irina now started crying again. Realizing the problem, he had to calm her: "Не плачи, Ирина! Ти си моја сестра, ја сам твој брат! Нико не може да нас хватање!" (Don't cry, Irina! You are my sister, I am your brother! No one can capture us!)
This time, he saw that, there was a box which had carried carrots, tomatoes and potatoes. The box was large enough to put Irina in. Realizing that the Bulgarians and Croats were conquering and killing every Serbs, Željko decided, he would challenge those Bulgarians and Croats. The Serbian boy had put down, and also, he put the photo he kept for a long time – the photo of Timok River – and wrote inside something.
Then, he kissed his Orthodox cross, praying to Saint Sava, before he kissed on Irina's head, with a wish…
"Један дан, ми ћемо ујединити, у име Светога Саве!" (One day, we shall reunite, in the name of Saint Sava!)
He put Irina in, and then, he left away. He left everything for Irina, except his knife and his gun. From now, his journey had to continue without his little sister. The time he put Irina into the box and prayed, the Bulgarians and Croats had destroyed much of the forest and killed many Serbs they saw.
And then, he yelled:
"Дођи и узми ме! Ја сам српски желите!" (Come and get me! I am the Serbian you want!)
"Налице е сръбски! Вземи ги! Клане ги всичките!" (There is a Serb! Get them! Slaughter them all!)
"Idemo ponovno ubiti onih Srbe!" (Let's kill those Serbs again!)
Those Croats and Bulgarians ran into Željko's place, and Željko also ran away. From now, Irina had started to forget what just happened next, except seeing mad Croatian and Bulgarian soldiers finding her brother…
Until someone found her later…
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#####
"Pavel, is she looked too young? She was just like 4 or 5 years old."
"How do you know? We have to wait…"
"Well, we gathered here in order to assist Serbian people from being slaughtered. You know that surely."
"So why don't you tell that to Lovro?"
"You Polish people need to understand more about we Bulgarians. Not all Bulgarians are anti-Serbian. The gang we faced before, are some Bulgarians who hate Serbia. We aren't."
"Don't laugh on me…"
"Okay, talk about the little girl, can we bring it to Lovro? He is our captain…"
It was a group of mysterious assassins that supported Serbia. They then carried the box, which had little Irina, now sleeping peacefully. Little girl, and huge dream, would have a new path…
The only thing she kept, was the souvenir from her brother, the Orthodox Cross. The photo was hidden inside, and it might be only revealed when she discovered it…
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From then, Irina and Željko Jelavić had lost contact…
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#####
Now…
Japan
Class 3-E…
Nagisa soon found a photo from the hand of Irina. He noticed that, his teacher still kept this. And he didn't understand the meaning. Surprisingly, Irina woke up…
"Ehhh… am I just sleeping?"
"Teacher, you just missed Koro-sensei."
"Huh?" Irina woke up, quickly grabbed the photo and told Nagisa to go back. At that moment, she suddenly remembered that, she had to deal with Koro-sensei, as soon as possible. So she just looked inside her bag, with…
…a cross. Plus, it did appear in her memory while sleeping…
"Brother…"
She missed him. She still remembered his warm hug, and how he treated good with her. A true brother of her family, which now she only saw herself as the survivor, while her brother hadn't contacted to her for long.
She still looked into the sky…
"One day, I will unite with you, brother."
Yeah…
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#####
Belgrade, Serbia
The flag of Serbia flying… yup, this is Serbia. But the sky today looked rainy…
In a deep street of Serbia's Belgrade, there was a man, unemployed and walking alone.
Under the rains…
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Soon, he quickly realized that, he had to continue his journey. Staying in Belgrade too long might affect a lot of his plan. He would go back to the Middle East, in order to fight. He did fight in Syria, now, he would do again to gain money.
Even he had to do that, he still held something on his hand…
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…a cross. He remembered the past, and then…
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"Irina is still alive! But somewhere around! Not here, not in Serbia! Somewhere further, and might be…"
He just looked on it, under the rain. At that moment, he soon looked into the TV outside. At 12 P.M. in Serbia, it always plays "Bože pravde" – the national anthem of Serbia. Each time he listened it, he remembered to Timok Region of Serbia, where he grew up and also, where Irina was born before moving to Dubrovnik.
He just stood in front of the Orthodox Church of Saint Sava… there, he received his first Orthodox Cross. He didn't think much, he quickly entered inside the Church. He ran into it…
…and…
"Творац, молим, желим да знам када могу сједини са моје сестре!" (Father, please, I want to know when I can reunite with my sister!)
In here, he still kept a memory, which was kept by his sister later…
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У Тимока, ми ћемо један опет постати.
In the Timok River, we will become one again.