Hello Everyone! I just wanted to post this little one-shot in honor of Valentine's Day. I am working on Cold War Wedlock as fast as I can, but to prove that I am not dead, here is a small snippet about Andrei trying to overcome politics and international borders during the Cold War.
This is set in the same universe as CWWL, a little after Andrei finds out his dad is the Soviet Union. For those who are new to my fics, Fem!America's name is Emily, Alaska is Andrei, and Hawaii is Hana. I understand the fan name for America is Amelia, but Emily is my preference, so I hope you guys don't mind.
I am not the best at one-shots but please enjoy. Read and Review.
My Cold War Valentine
February 13, 1963
The room was filled with the scent of dozens of roses, piled neatly in the corner of the room by the living room's large bay window. Sitting down on the ground and working diligently at the coffee table were America and her youngest children, Alaska and Hawaii. The woman had a telephone placed beside her, the phone tucked between her shoulder and ear as she conversed with one of her other states on the line. Her youngest son and daughter remained silent by her side, the sounds of their crayons flying across the array of pink, red, and white paper on the table by her list of this year's Valentine gift-givers she planned to thank at a later date.
"So you got some too, did ya? That lousy son of a gun; he can hate my guts all he wants, but he can't even ignore Valentine's Day." Emily chuckled to her child, "Yep, a dozen roses, from your good old French Papa. Wrote some indecencies in French on the card so I knew it was from him."
Andrei Ivanovich Juneau Jones glanced up from his work and leaned over to look at his sister's colored card. He could barely see the Valentine through the young girl's wave of straight black hair, squinting to get a better look. Catching him, Hana Honda Honolulu Jones (try saying this five times fast) quickly pulled her art piece away with a pout, "Stop it, Andrei! Don't peek!"
Narrowing his blue eyes through his silver bangs, the boy, who appeared no older than four whined at his sister of the same age, appearance-wise, retorted, "I was just curious. I wanna know who you making a Valentine for." Alaska pushed himself up onto his knees and tried to lean over again to look over Hawaii's shoulder.
Emily laughed loudly, "He sends flowers to everyone this time of year. This is the reason why your father never paid child support. Make sure you thank him though, send him a little something to show that you mean it, you hear?"
"No! No! It's a surprise! Stop ruining it!" The little girl whined, covering her card with two small hands and barely hiding the drawing underneath.
"Is it for me?" Andrei asked.
"No."
"Then why can't I see?" Like the annoying brother that he was, Andrei once again pushed at Hana's buttons, this time reaching down to try to grab at Hana's work.
She hissed and pulled away, "Andrei! Stop!"
Overlooking them, their mother continued to chat, giggling like a teenage girl and rolling her eyes, "Oh pu-leez, Katherine. What in the world would make you think I'd consider spending 'intimate' time with any one of them? I've sent them all gifts too, but I don't pick favorites, hun. Which reminds me, I better put aside some time to get those chocolates for Kiku sent. Didya know that the Japanese expect only the girls send gifts, very uncool.*"
Pushing further, Alaska persisted and finally grabbed the card, giving it a tug despite the cries from his little sister.
"Hell no! Don't you even joke that way, Kansas. Don't even talk about that Commie bastard." Their mother's voice became cold as she referred to the Soviet Union, the anger clearly underneath. The sound of tearing paper was next to fill the room, but Andrei's attention was elsewhere, listening to his mother's sudden negative reaction.
"That man doesn't even celebrate Valentine's Day. Besides, who in their right mind would send him one? Come off it, I don't want to talk about him right now. I ain't at work."
Alaska's attention returned to the task at hand and found one half of his sibling's Valentine in his hand, a crayon-drawn picture of Hana's father, Japan crumpled in his fist. There was an ear-shattering scream from below him and a hard hit to the head. "OW!"
"Look what you did! Dumby-head, Alaska! Look at what you did! Mommy! Mommy!" Tears glistened in the small girl's eyes as she turned to her mother and showed the nation her ruined Valentine. "Look at what Andrei did. He messed up my card!"
Taken aback the boy responded, "But Mom, mom, I just wanted to see it! And she hit me!" Andrei pulled Hana back by the shoulder and in an instant, the island state threw herself onto her Northern brother in a flurry of punches.
"Mommy!"
"OW!"
Finally turning her attention to the pair of squabbling kids, America patiently said good-bye to Kansas without much more than a glance at her younger children. The woman was used to breaking up fights, taking her time watching the two tire each other out. After a good kick in the stomach from Hana, Andrei felt himself being dragged away by the shirt and watched as his sister was pulled away from him as well by their mother's inhuman strength. "Break it up. What's going on here?"
"Andrei ripped my card." Hana confessed.
"She wouldn't let me see it, and she hit me." Andrei pouted in response.
With a sigh, Emily glanced at the pair with amusement. "Oh, is that it? I thought we were fighting over who made the best Valentine's Day card for the best mom in the world, but I'm thinking too optimistically, aren't I?"
"I was making you one." Alaska added proudly, Hana glared at him.
"I was finishing up Oto-san's and then I was going to work on yours." His sister returned.
"No you weren't."
"Oh yes, I was."
"You liar."
"You're a liar!"
Shaking her head, America dealt her punishment, "Alright, enough or that. Valentine's Day ain't a time to bite each other's heads off. Andrei, you know it isn't awesome if you try grabbing stuff from people's hands. Tell your sister sorry for ruining her card. She has to make a new one now, see?"
With another pout, inherited from his mother, Andrei spoke, without much resistance, "Sorry, Hana." His sibling looked on triumphantly.
"And you." Emily turned on the baby of the family. "You ain't supposed to be hitting people when you get upset, hear me? You come straight to me when something's wrong; I will not let you go fighting off on your own even if it is your brother."
Hawaii showed just a little bit of feminine resistance, but gave in nevertheless, "Yes, Mommy."
Once the conflict was resolved, Emily got to her feet. "Come on Hana, I'll help you make another super, special, awesome card for your dad while I get my Valentine's day package to him set up. Andrei, you work here quietly now, ok baby? I'll be right with you."
Hana walked in stride with their parent nation, smiling now, her eyes dry as if she hadn't been crying, happy that she got to spend some alone time with Mama America. She held the torn pieces of her first Valentine, "Mommy, is Oto-san your special Valentine too?"
There came a chuckle from the blonde woman who replied, "Oh no. Your Mama ain't one to have special Valentines. She likes giving Valentines to everyone so that everybody can be happy on Valentine's day."
Watching his mother and sister walk into the next room, Andrei looked down sadly at his card, which he was decorating, addressed to his mother. The argument had made him aware just how ordinary his Valentine was compared to all the gifts of chocolate and flowers and cards his mother had gotten from all the other countries that were her friends. Frowning, the boy sat at his card and thought to himself. All his brothers and sisters were writing Valentines to their Mom and Dads, and he knew that a lot of moms and dads were getting together to do special things for the holiday. He didn't want his mom to be all alone with just cards and chocolate. Besides, his own dad wasn't going to have a Valentine either.
A small metaphorical light bulb quickly flashed over his head, the state's face lighting up in a bright smile. Grabbing the nearest crayon and several pieces of pink and red paper, he began to write.
Emily tiptoed down the stairs from the guest bedroom, having tucked in her baby states for their afternoon nap. The two had tuckered themselves out attempting to kill each other, which was quite normal for the mother of 50. She placed her hands on her hips and gazed at the mess in the living room her children had made working on their cards. Her own mess was in the growing pile in the corner; the cards, flowers, and the several boxes of chocolate taking up a large portion of the room. The superpower leaned down to pick up the sheets of paper when a knock on the door drew her attention away.
The postman politely grinned at her when she opened the door with a curious look on her face. "May I help you, Rick?"
"I'm sorry for disturbing you, Ms. Jones." Richard Zimmerman had been working his job for nearly 20 years, he by now knew the circumstances of his patron's identity. "But I found this in your mailbox. I'm not sure if you want me to send this, it doesn't have the right postage and I'm not sure if we'll be able to get it to the location it provides."
He handed over a pink, red, and white card, heavily decorated with lace and glitter, with HaPpY vALEnTinEs dAy scrawled on its front in crayon. Silently, Emily opened the card and read its contents.
dEAr Mr sOvYEt YunEOn,**
i WiLL LikE u tOdAY bCuZ it is vALenTinEs dAy EvEn dO im nOt suPpOsEd tO.
i HoPE u R nOt lOnELY. tHAt WOuLd be sAd.
be HaPpY instEAD. OK? i WiLL giVE u A PrEsEnt.
HaPpY vALEnTinEs dAy
siNsEErLi,
USA
Ps: Alaska sAYs Hi!
Emily looked sadly into the card and exhaled deeply. She grinned and thanked the postman before returning inside, holding the card to her chest, her eyes glancing up where her son slept with a melancholy expression.
Epilogue
February 14, 2012
The United States strolled towards the hulking form of the Russian Federation and gave him one of her trademark smiles. "Wuzzup, big guy?" She playfully teased, winking at him as she did so.
Ivan turned to her and did not return the expression, "If you are here to talk about Syria*** again, Amerika, I really don't think-"
"Here ya go!" Interrupting the man by thrusting what looked like an old, sloppily hand-made card in his face, the woman chuckled, "Found this in storage. Thought it would be nice to give it to the one it was originally addressed to all those years ago. Sorry for the delay."
Looking at the card, the Russian snorted, "Is this a joke?"
"Nope. It's a Valentine. I didn't write it though so it's not exactly from me."
"Then who-"
"Your son did. Back when he was really, really, really small."
Eyes open to a new perspective, Ivan reread the uneven lines written by Alaska less than a decade after his birth. A small smile graced his lips, coming in terms with the idea that even when the boy was so young, the state was thinking about him. He didn't hear the faint chuckle from the blonde woman. Finally, Andrei's father looked up, his face slightly pinker, "Wow… thank you… Amerika."
"Don't mention it… seriously don't… Andrei has no idea something this embarrassing left the country. I mean feel free to contact him about it. It'll make him squirm." America laughed again. Her eyes widening she added, "Oh yeah, one more thing. Come here, I got that present he's been wanting me to give you since like forever."
Approaching his fellow superpower, Ivan abruptly felt himself tugged down, her lips meeting his for a second or two. She released him, licking her lips and leaving the Russian red in the face and rather stunned by the action.
And without another word, Emily turned and left the man where he stood, glancing over her shoulder to add:
"You're welcome, hun. Happy Valentine's Day."
The End. I hope you liked it. I just wanted to write something short for everyone, with a tiny bit of RussiaxAmerica. It isn't the best, but I tried.
Valentine's Day vs White Day*: In Japan two holidays are celebrated between people expressing their attraction to each other. In the 1930s Valentine's day was introduced and is now the holiday in which women are allowed to show their affection to the guys they like. In the 1970s, White Day was founded, March 14, a sort of reply to the gifts from the girls, in which the guys were the gift senders.
Alaska doesn't know how to write very well at this time so here's a translation to the Valentine **: Dear Mr. Soviet Union,
I will like you today because it is Valentine's Day even though I am not supposed to. I hope you are not lonely. That would be sad. Be happy instead. Ok? I will give you a present.
Sincerely,
USA
PS: Alaska says hi!
***: If you haven't been following the news, China and Russia are the only two members of the Security Council that refuse to support legal UN action against the Syrian regime and its human rights violations. Now, lets not get angry at Ivan for this, there are many factors that tie into this event.
Hawaii's background story is complicated. I gave her two fathers, the Hawaiian Kingdom and Japan. However, the Hawaiian Kingdom is her biologically father, who no longer exists today, while Japan, out of amends for Pearl Harbor acts as Hawaii's adoptive father. Hawaii has never met her biological father, so she considers Japan pretty much her real dad. If you want more backstory feel free to comment.
Thanks for reading. Please Review. Stay safe and enjoy the day with your loved ones.
