Story: Heart Strings

Word Count: 3,984

Pairing: RussiaxAmerica main

Warning: Fluff and a ting of angst

Hope you all enjoy

Alfred rubbed his eyes tiredly at the meeting. Maybe he shouldn't have stayed up all night, but it wasn't his fault if it felt like he was being haunted by a ghost so soon after watching a ghost movie! Kiku wasn't talking to him for a while now, upset about being 'dragged into it'. Whatever that meant. Alfred had totally been a hero throughout all of it! Comforting Kiku with many hugs just to make sure he knew he was safe. And that was it. Laying his head down on the paper, not caring if graphite stains would cover his forehead again, Alfred easily tuned out the drowning noise of some other country talking in the background, "America, pay attention!" England hissed next to him. Alfred didn't even dignify that with a grunt, what time was it? Surely past ten already. God, when would this be over? Couldn't they go to their hotels now?

Shutting his eyes, he let thoughts of a warm bed and the presence of others fill his mind until he lost the thoughts and fell into sleep quite quickly in the awkward position.

Of course, it didn't go unnoticed for long, some people suggested trying to wake him up. Japan said that if America was sleeping, it was best just to leave him alone. Considering that not even England's poking and yelling fazed Alfred, they did give up and ended the meeting a while later. People started to pack up to go.

England waited until everybody was gone, huffing as he looked down at his former colony. How the younger sleep like this so often he didn't know. Still, it didn't seem right to just leave him there, though the git deserved it to say the least, "Mon cher!" A voice exclaimed as arms wrapped around his waist from behind, causing England to jump before promptly smacking the frog across the face. France backed off, holding his cheek and looking hurt, "Always so cruel."

"Shut up! It's your own fault for being so undignified! Now why the bloody hell did you grope me?" Arthur demanded.

"I did not grope, allow me to demonstrate." Francis said, perverted look returning as he stepped forward. England pushed the chair between them over to separate them, shoving it into the advancing blond, who stumbled backwards and pouted once again. Forget it, Alfred could fend for himself! Arthur huffed and stormed out of the room. Unfortunately he was followed, "But all joking aside, I may have one small favor to ask of you?"

"Whatever it is, go ask somebody else."

"Oh, but it must be you!" Well that couldn't be anything good. Arthur scowled at him and continued walking, "It is nothing that you are thinking, I was just wondering if you could do that one spell?" Stopping in his tracks, he rolled his eyes, or yes 'that one' like he would know which one Francis was talking about. What an idiot. But, Arthur did know, because Francis didn't really believe in magic as much as him, except for one spell.

"Why? The country of love having problems or something?"

"Now I am insulted." Francis tisked, "It is not for me, I barely ever ask you, the last time was centuries ago." Even though they were fighting in a war, Francis had still asked, "It does good, you know it. And it is thanks to me that you perfected it."

"That doesn't mean I should do a spell whenever you feel like it, they have repercussions, so no!" Arthur growled, continuing to walk.

"In the name of love!" Francis persisted.

"Oh for heavens sakes! Fine, but you cannot ask me for another couple centuries at the least!" Francis nodded eagerly, tempted to hug the smaller blond, but deciding not to push his luck. England huffed and pulled out his wand he always carried with him. It was true that it was one of the only spells he could preform, though it was only when Francis asked for it. It seemed that the spell could only be done at certain time points, and Francis knew institutionally when it was. Arthur couldn't really explain it, but it was the reason he always gave in so easily. It almost seemed that some other force worked to make it happen when it thought best. Higher powers and their arrogance. Swishing the wand and muttering a few words, he put it back, "Happy?" He grumbled.

"Oui, merci mon ami!" Francis said, smiling as he stopped following the grouchy blond. Chuckling a bit as the island country went out of sight, he looked down, just to be sure. Yes, they were visible to countries. Now, to see what happened next. Pulling the broken red string tied to his finger, he walked back the way he came. He was sure the other nations would notice, and all of them should know what it meant, they were all old enough. Except maybe Alfred and Matthew, but he was asleep.

Ivan was looking out the balcony window at the dark sky or at the citizens, he just got into his room, which was a hotel room in the same meeting building. Sitting down at the desk chair, he sighed a bit at being out of the meeting room, pulling his arms up over his head and yawning a bit. He blinked his eyes open and nearly fell out of the chair in surprise. Outside the world was covered in what looked to be red string. It took him a moment to remember where he recognized it. It had happened before, a while ago. Looking down, none of the citizens took notice of course. They couldn't see it. It had taken a couple times and asking some other nations that Ivan had learned it was something called 'heart strings' or some such. Strings tied to people connecting them to the one that is suppose to be your soul mate or some such thing.

It seemed like something right out of a cheesy romance novel, but it was also a nice idea. Of course a country could be attached to a human. That had happened to France, Ivan had heard anyway. But he hated all this string business whenever it happened, as rare as it was. The last two times it had happened, the two times he had been around for it, he hadn't had any. Though part of him wondered if he would have in different time periods, but it wasn't like he got to choose when. It just happened, no explanation as far as he knew.

Biting his lip a bit, and cursing his foolish hope, he glanced down at his hand. Nothing. Sighing, he shook his head, he knew it, he should stop getting his hopes up. Standing up, he went to go to bed. A tug to his left hand stopped him, he looked back to see a red string snagged on the chair. Ivan stared at it for a long moment, trailing it to his left hand. Holding it up and examining the string, Ivan felt happiness fill him. But now a new questioned remained, should he follow it? Twirling the string in between his thumb and forefinger, he thought about that. Then again, he'd always wanted to find the string on his finger. He felt the string pulsing slightly. Taking a breath he took a firm grip on it and followed it out the hotel door. It wouldn't stay forever.

Walking through the halls, Ivan walked into the conference room, empty except for America still sleeping. Ivan followed the string that went around the table and then back towards the hotel rooms. He worried that it was just going to lead him back to his room. That would be almost to cruel, to lead him back to his room after he had gotten hopefully. He stopped, but then he felt it give a tug and realized that there was something moving on the other end. So...was it a country? Following it, he passed some doors, Arthur standing by the door, but he didn't pay much mind as he continued to the stairs. Humming, he followed them down. He could have sworn he heard a clatter of foot steps near the bottom. Seeing at there was an elevator in the building, Ivan speed up his decent downwards in hopes to catch them.

When he got to the ground floor of the hotel and looked around as if to see them, "Ah Russia." He looked to see France standing close by.

"Ah...hello." Ivan said, not giving much mind as he looked to the red thread.

"The pulsing you feel gets weaker the further you are." Ivan looked up, surprised, "You just missed them. But I don't think you'll catch them if you don't hurry." The other said, giving a secret smile.

"Y-you know who it is?"

"Oui, of course I do. Ran out the door a minute or so ago."

"Ah, thank you France." Ivan said, not sure if he actually meant it if he thought about it, but he went towards the door, pace picking up as he ran outside, dodging the humans that couldn't see the strings attaching them. He hoped that it wasn't a human, it was the only logical explanation he could think of to explain why he'd never had one before. That would make things more difficult, but he decided that it was definitely worth it. Running through the rain, the red string the only thing that guided him.

He was gaining on them though, then he saw them, the string suspended and leading right towards a hand in their pocket as they waited for the crosswalk light to turn. Not slowing down at the distance he was at. The figure was still a distance away, just barely noticeable, the hood of a dark jacket up to keep out the rain. But then they turned, seeming to spot him and jump a bit, startled even at the distance it was clear that Ivan was watching them. Ivan slowed down a bit as they looked back at the traffic light nervously before tacking off around the corner instead. He hadn't meant to scare them. Still, he ran after them.

They were quick. He narrowed his eyes at the retreating back. Wait...was that? No, that was impossible. And yet, he was sure of it. The person almost ran into another human, and after they did a back in forth where Ivan came within a few feet of reaching them, they gave up and ran into the alley nearby. Ivan growled, slowing down before he ran into the stunned human and went into the alley himself, once again giving chase. The fleeing figure grabbed a dumpster and threw it in the way, probably a feeble attempt at blocking the alley. However, Ivan swerved around it and chased the other, smirking a bit when he saw the alley was fenced off and some sort of company materials behind it.

It wouldn't hold the other long probably, but it would give him the second he needed to clear the distance, but they were still going for it. Slamming into it ungracefully and gripping the metal links, one of his feet coming up right before Ivan slammed into the person a bit, though he had slowed down a lot apparently not enough fast or soon enough to prevent a collision. The metal rattled and Ivan put his hands on each side of the others hands. They both stood there for a moment, panting heavily, an unspoken temporary truce to catch their breath occurring.

A minute or so passed before the other hands slipped away from the metal before turning to him him in the side of the ribs. Ivan grunted, pinning the other hand that hadn't yet struck him back. That did nothing to stop the struggling of the smaller person, quite the opposite. He brought his other hand up to the hood, slipping into the darkness of it and gripping the back of the neck there, stepping closer. The other froze when his breath, clear in the cold rain for a moment, touched the hidden skin, "Alfred, don't." Ivan muttered before he pulled the head closer to him and connected their lips together.

The blond stiffened, and Ivan made no move to do anything else, in the mean time savoring the feeling of the warm lips against his and the small wave of heat that surrounded him. Alfred pushed back softly, body relaxing a bit. Ivan pulled away though, moving the hood to look past the glasses into the blue eyes underneath, "Why did you run away?"

"Ha, I have no idea what you man, I was just heading somewhere I remembered I needed to be was all." Alfred bullshitted, trying to smile to hide it. Ivan knew better.

"Ah yes, needed to be somewhere," Ivan looked behind them, "An English storage unit for...oh what was the sign outside? Some sort of child doll I'm sure." Alfred blinked a couple times, as if lost.

"Really? England even has toy factories?"

"Alfred." Ivan tried again, "Why did you run?" Alfred pouted, blush barely visible in the dark light.

"Cause." He said, pushing Ivan away and moving a bit so he could leave if he wanted, but his posture wasn't one that said he was going to be leaving soon, "Maybe I saw you were chasing me and took off."

"When have you ever run from me?" He said, crossing his arms and looking at Alfred pointingly, who opened his mouth but then close it, hand coming up to his chin.

"Never." Not that he would admit to doing it, though it wasn't exactly the truth. The blond moved his hand, the string swirling between them before straightening out again and tightening more as if trying to pull them closer itself without being forceful, "It's funny. It won't come off."

"You tried?" Ivan asked, furrowing his eyebrows, "But why?" The other hadn't when he'd seen him at first. Alfred didn't answer, "I always thought you were a bleeding heart under everything." He muttered, looking down a bit. He had heard that anyway, and considering how he had once heard Alfred squeak, truly squeak when he once read a book at a meeting. Which Ivan had later figured out was a very cute and fluffy romance book about star crossed lovers against the world and of course some heroism in it. Of course here Alfred just snorted and rolled his eyes.

"As if, dude those things are for like chicks to think about that sort of stuff."

"You started running before you knew it was me." What with France saying that Alfred had been running. Then again, if France knew the strings connected then Alfred would know. Wait, how did Alfred know about them? He would have been too young, undiscovered the last time and nobody really spoke of it. So...had France explained everything to Alfred and that Ivan had been the one tied to him? Is that why he had ran, "Right?"

"Yeah basically. I hate this stupid thing. In fact, it doesn't exist." Alfred dubbed, starting to walk away, but Ivan grabbed his arm rapidly, not moving when Alfred tried to yank the arm away.

"Why would you say that?" Ivan demanded, "Why do you act like it is such an offensive thing? It is just a string!"

"Then why are you making such a big deal of it?" They both stood there, Alfred looking up at him, seeming to honestly be searching for answers. But Ivan wanted them too, still something had to give and Alfred was more likely to walk away at this point.

"B-because...you know what they are, don't you?" Alfred looked away, nodding a bit, "Everybody else has them...they always have. But I've never-" Ivan stopped, pulling Alfred's limp hand to his own cheek, holding it there, "I didn't think I'd ever get one. That nobody could ever love me so deeply, that it wasn't possible. And here it is, being you." Ivan gave a small laugh at that, small and sad.

"Expecting somebody else."

"Mostly after seeing you asleep in the conference room still."

"Disappointed then?" Alfred asked, who was smiling that big smile of his, but there was a certain edge to his voice.

"No." Ivan muttered, kissing the palm of Alfred's hand, "I am happy it is you." He smiled fondly into the palm so Alfred couldn't see it, though it was hard to see much in this darkness now that they were not so close their knees were brushing. It fell slightly though, eyes becoming distant, "But you do not care for it do you?" Either for Ivan's reasoning or the red, unspoken hint of the thread. He let the hand drop, his falling like it did, "I will leave you alone then." He said, starting to walk away and feeling strong misery filling up inside him.

"I didn't know." Ivan paused for a moment, looking back to see Alfred holding his hands together, close to his chest and looking at the ground.

"Know what?"

"That it was you...when I ran...you asked, remember?"

"Da, that I did." He waited for the blond to continue, and he wasn't disappointed.

"I can't be with anybody Ivan. It's against...well everything I know. Tied down, entangling alliances. To complicated to think of anything...but i-if I had to choose somebody for this stupid thing to be attached to...well, I'm glad it choose you at least." Alfred muttered, looking away. Ivan wasn't sure if Alfred was still rejecting him or if he was returning the affections. It sounded like both.

"You know Alfred, the strings are always there."

"Huh? No their not."

"They are though, we may not be able to see them all the time, but they are always there. France once told me he always saw them you know." Alfred didn't move, quite an amazing feat really, "As for alliances...I'm not asking for anything like that Alfred. You can still be friends with Canada and Britain...and Japan, can you not?"

"That's different."

"No, it really isn't." There was a moment of silence as thunder rolled overhead, but no lightning to be seen. Then something came to Ivan, once a long time back when Alfred had been working on something, a brilliant scheme to help to save the world, which he always did, but this one was making sense and seemed to be starting good when suddenly Alfred ripped up the paper he had been planning it on and burned it in a cigarette tray on the table. Ivan had only seen because he had been reading it secretly over the others shoulder.

He had asked why Alfred had done that if it was a good idea, and Alfred had smiled at him, waved him off and said, 'because then people will expect me to come up with brilliant ideas, which I already do. Who knows what they'd be expecting from me? Maybe something to later be used against others or myself. And sense I'm a hero, I wouldn't be able to say no'. It had been an odd conversation, but talks with the blond were never normal. Alfred had always had the strangest mix of loyalty and wanting to be a hero and commitment issues and wanting to stay out of it. Like all countries, conflicted.

Maybe it was the same as that paper. Brilliant plan on paper, but not knowing what Ivan would expect of him and knowing it would probably hurt him, "I see." Ivan muttered, shaking his head, "That is foolish reasoning."

"I didn't say anything!" Alfred protested, but it didn't sound as strong as it usually did.

"I'm not asking for anything of you Alfred." Ivan said, "Other then perhaps to try. But I will wait around for very long, and I will keep trying to just be close to you. No alliances or secrets. I'm sure eventually you'll learn I can be trustworthy." Alfred looked up, smiling in disbelief.

"I bet you won't be able to stand being around me for more then a week."

"You are stubborn I admit." Ivan said, walking back over and grabbing Alfred's hand, the one with the string and walking back towards the exit of the alley. The blond didn't pull away or struggle, instead walking along beside him, "And I am sure we will get on each others nerves." They were mostly human after all, "But I am going to wait. Besides, I remember once we agreed to trust each other." Alfred tilted his head in a curious manner for a moment before a light bulb seemed to go off.

"Ah yes, I remember." Alfred laughed, "When we agreed that we could always trust each other to distrust each other." Ivan nodded. It had been something they had been talking about, back before they were enemies even, which made it ironic in a way. Alfred didn't remember what it was anymore, and neither did Ivan for that matter, but the blond had snorted. The Russian had pouted and complained that Alfred never seemed to believe his word. The younger had said that he always done the same thing. Ivan had said that they should trust each other more, and that they would always trust each other. Of course, Alfred had nodded, but thought about how untrue that was until Ivan had added the last bit. Alfred had laughed the same way just then.

"I do mean it Alfred."

"We'll see." Alfred muttered, "Oh by the way, that was Mattie in the conference room, not me. He was tired too." Though it wasn't his fault he had called Mattie to protect him all night before the conference.

"Ah, and how did you know about the strings?"

"Well when I woke up, I walked to my hotel, the string thing happened, which was weird, so I asked Arthur, he explained it. And how the person was very close if the pulsing was faster. Kind of booked it after hearing that." Ivan nodded, tilting his head.

"But I don't feel it." Alfred looked confused, concentrating.

"Me neither. Oh well." He shrugged and it was dropped for lack of an explanation, not knowing their hearts were beating in the same exact rhythm. Meanwhile Alfred secretly thinking that maybe, just maybe Ivan would stick around. And if he did as he said, tried for so long until there would no longer be any other point but to honestly want to spend time with Alfred. Then...well, he would go out with Ivan. Never marry, that was an alliance. But lovers, maybe. If somebody stuck around so much...well, Ivan had been right people couldn't stand living with each other unless there was love connecting them. Still, no matter what sort of relationship they got into, it would be a very long time from now.

And that day came nearly twenty seven years later.

Yeah for one-shots! Pretty much done with this. I'm sure you guys have seen the fanart with the red strings. It's so amazing~ One that sticks with me is a youtube video of HRE/GermanyxChibi!Italy/Italy and it was so sweet~

And so I made a RusAme because I do kind of like the idea of the heart strings.

Hope you all enjoyed~