Title – Three Hopeless Loves
Started – 2-10-11, Fri
Finished – 2-13-11, Sun (6PM)
Characters – The Trembling Trio: Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania
Genre – General/Angst (It's a nothing-story)
Rating – K+
Upfront Summary [the summary that shows up with all the other information before you click on to read the story] = The Baltics' impressions of Valentine's Day. A fic of implications.
A/N – Ah~ Had to write something for Valentine's Day~ Sorry to disappoint, but there are no pairings in this one (although it's obviously implied). Just some LatviaxEstonia if you squint. XD
Just in case, here's a small key:
~(SceneChange/EndScene)~
"Dialogue"
Thoughts/Emphasis/Whispering/Non-English/Songlyrics
EMPHASIS/LOUD
Narration
'So-called'
Disclaimer = I do not own Axis Powers: Hetalia/APH. Hidekaz Himaruya does. If I did, I'd have someone check eBay, Amazon, EVERYWHERE for Hetalia stuff EVERY DAY and get'em. Like, a UKUS body pillow. *drool* Yeah… (I bought one. :D)
~~~(Three Hopeless Loves_START)~~~
It rained on Valentine's Day in Warsaw. Those Baltics - a blissful Lithuania, a neutral Estonia, and a slightly sick Latvia - were supposed to meet each other. Because, they made it a habit to see each other during these certain holidays (except for Estonia's weird ones because the other two were often estranged by them, and he'd prefer to spend them with Finland anyway), and Lithuania was running a little late, so the younger Baltics decided to go to him.
Latvia and Estonia went to the gym Lithuania often visited, passing the bulky athletes and the wimps just beginning on their fitness programs and Latvia was mistaken by an instructor at some point and was almost carried off and… They made it to the other side of the gym where blue mats were laid out along with a large ring.
SMACK! SMACK! WHAP!
"AH!"
A thud resonated throughout the room, followed by applause. Lithuania smiled appreciatively towards the audience and then to his opponent as he helped him on his feet. The man took it gladly. When he'd finished cleaning up, he'd met with his so-called brothers.
"Sorry you had to come for me! Did I keep you waiting?"
"Not at all," Estonia replied curtly, but not with the venom one might expect.
"Whew, that's good."
"We're just glad we can all get together today," Latvia said, a tint of sadness in his voice.
"Huh? Why do you say that?" Lithuania looked at them strangely, and Latvia sent him a scowl. Or a pout.
"You have a date, don't you, with Natalia?"
"Um, no, I don't."
Estonia didn't look surprised. "With Feliks then?"
"I-I don't roll that way, guys!" Some muscle-bound men glanced his way, about to snicker, but saw the black belt still tied around the Lithuanian's waist and thought twice.
Estonia grinned; "I never meant it that way," and adjusted his glasses. "We just thought you'd rather spend the day with Feliks than with us."
Lithuania looked absolutely appalled. "I would never-!"
"You have," Latvia deadpanned.
They were out and about in the street now, adorned with pink every which way.
"A-Anyway, I don't even have the guts to ask her."
"Natalia?"
"Yeah."
The other two kept quiet. In America's movies, it would have been the time to tell him to go for it, that he'll never know if he didn't try. Well, perhaps they just figured he preferred to keep all his bones in one piece for the day.
And that was when Latvia looked up from his feet to the sky. Well, to the decorations. Pink and red and hearts and star-struck lovers. If only the world was really these colors. The paint would come off eventually, and all they'd be left with were memories they'd rather forget.
"You hate Valentine's Day?" Estonia asked, and he didn't know quite how loud he did until previously mentioned star-struck lovers glared at the group, along with several street-stand workers that were making a quick buck off the holiday; Lithuania glared back but with his face it didn't amount to much.
"How did you know?"
"Your face gave it away, dear." Latvia snorted in response.
"Well, how come?"
"Why don't you tell me why you hate it first?" Estonia didn't look surprised by that either.
"Valentine's Day," he began, pushing his glasses up with his forefinger, "is simply a celebration for capitalists who make money by exploiting love."
"Especially in America," he added shortly after.
Lithuania whistled low and said, "That was a lovely summary…"
"And that was lovely sarcasm, brother." He rolled his eyes, still smiling.
"And what of you, Raivis? What are your reasons?"
Latvia sighed and closed his eyes, as if he was about to repeat something long and troublesome one more time. "I think Valentine's Day is overrated. It is just a day to embrace all the ways big companies think love can be expressed, and then to use the word ten billion times a day, thinking that we really know what it is and what it means." He paused to look down onto the frilled-up street, at the feet of a couple probably as close as humanly possible and nationally legal in public. "Most of all, I think it's a day for the lonely. It's when you realize who doesn't have someone to openly care about, rather than someone who does."
Latvia could feel his eldest brother rolling his eyes at him and Estonia was about to let out a low whistle of his own only to be interrupted by Latvia's tiny sick cough; he rubbed his back.
"That's my belief anyway."
But Lithuania was a little more than bothered by that. Did pessimism really equal realism in the dictionary? It was so discouraging. He knew that he would be rejected from the start by Belarus. He wished they wouldn't poke fun of him for it; he already knew. He knew. But there was part of him that just hoped she would say yes, or even a half yes, or even a 99.9% part of her saying no but the .1% finding the idea lovely.
So…
"This coming from someone who has had what experience with love?" he ended up saying, and he surprised himself by the distaste in it. Estonia however, and even Latvia, had seen it coming.
"We know, Toris." They looked at him with such a sad, knowing smile, one that usually adorned his face, and he found himself extremely bothered. He couldn't find the word for it.
Estonia laid a hand on his shoulder, shaking him from his daze just by the touch. "It's getting late," he hadn't even glanced at his watch, "so we'll see you at Feliks's house after we get the gifts. Till then." Estonia turned and walked away down the sidewalk without any notice towards the smaller boy.
Lithuania looked at the only brother remaining, that same questioning countenance crossing his face.
Latvia studied the ground, distraught, mouth open but no words able to escape. He finally gathered the courage to look up into the other's eyes and say what he needed say.
"If you believe in love, then ask her."
Lithuania could only nod with determination.
Latvia bid the brunet goodbye and hurried off towards Estonia.
"Then, I'll ask her."
~()~
Estonia's pace seemed to speed up as Latvia drew nearer, but eventually he realized how childish he was being and slowed down for him. When he coughed in exhaustion and not by illness, Estonia offered to buy him a cup of coffee from the 'Heart'bucks down the block. He smirked, not wanting it, but ended up agreeing to it anyway.
For a while, they walked in silence, staring everywhere but each other. Important thoughts were obviously racing through their minds as well as a handful of emotions, one of those coating their faces so thickly that couples sensed the need to avoid them, and that was Regret.
"So," there was a rasp to his voice so he cleared his throat to fix it, to a certain success, "what did you tell him?"
Latvia replied slowly, biding his time. "That if he believed in love…he should ask her."
Estonia tilted his head to the sky.
"Heh."
He grinned widely.
"So basically you told him to ask her."
Latvia scowled. "With what you're implying, yes. I suppose I did."
Estonia took in a shallow breath; "Do you really…Did you really think…What compels you so?"
And that was when Latvia stopped in his tracks before the red light to clench his hands hard until they turned white.
But something moved in him that caused him to stop, to stop these foolish games of sarcasm and wry looks. He re-realized, then, that they were all experienced. They all knew what 'compelled them so'. They all had hopeless loves. So he didn't snap back at him.
And that was what surprised Estonia.
Instead, he murmured quietly, but enough so that the other could hear, "To love…"
"…or not to love…"
Suddenly, Estonia knew as soon as he had finished the other half of Latvia's sentence. That's what the boy meant.
Lithuania had to find out for himself what was better.
With the public roofing ending at that corner, Estonia took out the umbrella he had carried the entire time and opened it up to shield them both.
They exchanged a smile. It was small, but they managed to convince each other not to worry.
He has a big heart, one seemed to say.
He can endure, the other one seemed to add.
With that, the light turned green and the two, newly converted optimists walked out into the rain together.
~~~(Three Hopeless Loves_END)~~~
A/N – Oh, wow, what a turn out! XD It ended up better than I expected! :D Well, Mango said it was unoriginal, but not bad. ^^; I got really depressed after hearing that… I try to keep in mind that she'll give me the opinion of an ABSOLUTE pessimist for any of my Hetalia stories (you know, that ISN'T "The Soviet Union's New House"…) because she isn't a fan and doesn't do fanfiction, and that this site has low standards (it's true =.= ), but…it still makes me very sad. =(
Anyway, enough of that, back to being excited!
To be frank, the three hopeless loves probably only exist in MY headcanon, except for LitBel. XP I won't tell you who Latvia and Estonia are referring to though; you can only find out by reading the story that centers around them specifically. The only one uploaded as of now is Latvia's outline story called "Silent Night" though. XP (Ah, shameless advertizing…)
Oh! One more thing, only slightly important, ummm…Do you guys think that this is a drabble or a one-shot? A drabble is the equivalent of a sketch in…artist-dom. One-shot is a single thought, single chapter, usually more serious or more…awesome. Like my "Out of His Mind", "Silent Night", "The London Tea Party", "When First Love Ends", *shot for excessive shameless advertizing*
Um, yeah, review please. :D
With love~
~TMRomance
PS – I'm also planning on writing ANOTHER Valentine's Day story, a happier one, to compensate for this angst-angst-angst-headbang one. XP I'm hoping to get it updated today, but realistically/pessimistically speaking, it'll probably get on here within the week. XP