1973

His arms wrapped securely around the man's smaller figure. Kiku's cheeks were stained red and he shivered violently from the cold, limply lying in the man's strong arms weakly. He had not worn the proper clothes for such cold weather and such careless preparation was unusual for him. His body was burning and his fever high. Unconscious and found lying on the snow covered ground. It made Ivan, the man who held him, wonder how he had gotten here and why. His mind was puzzled and no one gave them much attention spare for the occasional glance. Most kept to their own business.

Even on a freezing night like this, there were still people bustling around. The chill of midnight was settling in the great bones of the city, creaking and stretching silently. Ivan's ushanka easily shielded his ears from the blistering wind that came with flakes of cold and snow. The snow had come early this year and the cold was severe, but not the worst they had experienced. Certainly not for the nation.

Whispers and voices surrounded them as the tall, broad man made his way through the crowds. The lights were bright, but Red Square was a bit dim and at times he would have to pause at the site's edges before moving across it to head to his apartment. Many a times he was filled with a reminiscent, almost nostalgic feelings as thin memories slide across his mind like a painfully slow slideshow that parents might have whipped up over the years to embarrass their children.

Breathing deeply, he began to move after a moment. He didn't want the other man to freeze to death because of him and his memories. Funny how Red Square really wasn't red nor a square, and it always irked him on how it was so, but he had seen so many changes to the square since Ivan the third (Ivan the Great). Catherine the Great also did her share of changes to the square. Oh, and of course that famous Stalin quote. "Lazar! Put it back!"

Of course, he hated the thought of any of his oldest buildings being destroyed. Some of his rulers told him he was childish and he didn't deny it, but Ivan so did get attached to things. It was hard for him to let go of something. He would wreck havoc if it were to keep close those who meant much to him. A reason why many didn't get close to him. St. Basil's Cathedral was something he didn't want to let go. It was almost like a gift to him. A precious childhood toy or dwelling. Its design had always astounded him.

Ah, and what lie beside the square as well. The Kremlin and its Kremlin Wall Necropolis. Shaking his head, Ivan hurried across. He didn't want to get caught up in old times again. That always did put a slight wrinkle in his mood. Especially since Leonid Brezhnev had been in power.

What was that sound? Ah, he was so warm. Yes. So very comfortably warm, yet so restless were his legs feeling, but he moved not. Had he been asleep long? What day was it? Ugh, he would have to get back at Feliciano once he had gotten out from this…bed? What was he doing on a bed? Wasn't he..

Racking his brain as to where he was last going, Kiku found himself fruitless and the only way to know was to wake up and open his eyes from this state of consciousness and unconsciousness. He felt his mind resurface slowly, sluggishly from the depths of his sleepy mind. Misty and nebulous.

What was that sound? This time he paid attention to it. He had heard it earlier, but this time it was growing louder the more his mind cleared. Kiku felt a bit too warm now. He must be having a small fever. The man was prone to such sicknesses and it was quite a silly idea. That a nation could catch a cold or get sick. But, it was possible. Just as Scotland was deathly sickly after the Darien Scheme and was forced to sign the Treaty of Union with England, thus creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain.

The sound was a faint buzzing; no. It now sounded familiar. Sharp and contained. Almost like a- yes, of course. A tea kettle. When he listened closer, he could hear the sound of talking. Wait, once again he realized he was wrong. If he focused and forgot about any other sound or feeling he could hear it was singing. A light and melancholy voice. The language it was sang in sounded familiar. Definitely not Kiku's own, but a language that sounded a bit rough and slurred.

Russian.

Russian. Kiku had fought Russians. Had wars with them. He slowly began to feel panicked. Russian? Why was someone singing Russian? Now the song sounded repeated. Recorded and replayed over and over. It wasn't unpleasant. It was just, disquieting. Kiku knew Russian, but he was rusty on the language. He himself was not very fluent in it, but he did understand words spoken. And the words sung were more so strange.

Something sounding like an accordion played in the background and the man sang of birthdays and a magician in a blue helicopter. Somehow, it was nostalgic. Lifting his head weakly with a soft groan, Kiku coughed and slowly opened his eyes. The blankets that surrounded him were light and fluffy, but irritated his hot skin. He was feeling too warm for comfort now and as the blinding light slowly dimmed and came into focus, Kiku could see the figure of a large man seated beside him.

His face was darkened with the shadows that light casted upon him. It took him several seconds for his eyes to slowly widen when that face came to clear in his sight.

"R-r-rus-" Kiku stuttered, mind blank from the thought of one of the strongest nations sitting beside him as he slept, peeling an apple. A nation he had hostilities with. The man's face rose and the shadows disappeared slightly as his placid expression was shone to the light of the room. He had been concentrated on the apple and the paring knife in his hand, his head tilted down. From the sound of Kiku's voice, all concentration was lost and he had the large man's rapt attention.

"Japan." He smiled lightly at him. This alarmed Kiku slightly and he shrank back slightly into the blankets. "Good evening." Ivan greeted in Russian, returning to his apple. He cut it into slices and placed them on a plain white plate set on top of the nightstand beside Kiku's head. Kiku was speechless. What was he to say? To react to this strange scene before him?

"I hope you're feeling better. You were collapsed out in the snow so I brought you back here." The man spoke almost slowly so Kiku could pick up the man's language and understand him. Brows furrowing, Kiku sat up slowly. He didn't reply, but that didn't keep Ivan from speaking. "You were quite light. Have you been eating well? Maybe I should fatten you up." Ivan smiled, cutting one last slice away from that apple's core. "Just like that story about the witch and the kids." Kiku knew what he spoke of. It was a little western story. It was faint and not very well remembered in his mind. Like something to reference back to only to not remember where you had read or heard it from.

A witch who tempts children and fattens them up to eat them. Shaking his head, Kiku frowned at Ivan who chuckled softly. "What did you come here for?" He asked, a small twinkle in his unusual violet eyes as his smile stayed calmly on his lips. Kiku pursed his lips and did not speak. He didn't want to lie, but he didn't want to tell the man anything. "Maybe to catch up on old times like Manchukuo?" The large nation inquired.

"Spying?" Ivan asked, amused. "Did America send you?" His finger slide across the blade of the knife absentmindedly. Kiku steeled himself for anything to come. The man's smile grew wider. "Perhaps your old ally Germany?" Leaning back in his chair, Ivan watched Kiku. Some quiet anger lit inside Kiku, but his mien was calm and collected. He tried best not to let anyone's words get to him.

"I am here on my own accord." Was all he said in Japanese then looked away from the man. He knew the Russian man did not speak Japanese, but he knew that he could understand his words. Ivan laughed, the sound trained and almost mocking, but it bubbled deep in his chest then his throat. Kiku couldn't tell if it was an earnest laugh or a fake one, but he'd put his money on the latter.

"You're a horrible liar." Ivan smiled again, this time a little softer. Almost as if he was relieved. "But, I believe you." He rose from his chair and placed that knife on the nightstand before turning his back on Kiku. "I'll make us something to drink. The water's just been boiled."

Lifting his gaze, Kiku saw the tea kettle sitting on the stove silently across the room. Steam still lifted out from the snout, but it was weak and almost invisible. The kitchen was close and he realized how small this apartment was. Why was a nation as big as Russia living in an ordinary apartment like this? There were two other doors which Kiku guessed one to be the bathroom and the other the bedroom. The bed he lay on was set in the living room which confused Kiku slightly. Why a bed here if there was a bedroom to use? Maybe this one was for guests.

Didn't he live with other nations in a house? Or had his info been wrong?

"Do you not live with others?" He asked cautiously as Ivan easily made his way into the small kitchen. It looked like he was preparing some hot cocoa. "I do." The man replied simply. Another puzzle.

Just before Kiku could inquire deeper, Ivan spoke again. "I just can't stand being in there during this day."

This day?

"…as the sky lashes out in a storm.."

Ivan came over again, handing the man his cup of cocoa. It tasted hot and sweet against his tongue, a slight burning. The song was still playing. Kiku had learned it came from a tape recorder that rested on a wooden table by the kitchen. It had began to repeat again.

"…And they look, and they wonder in this rain, in this thunder…"

"What song is this? You've been playing it for quite some time." Kiku glanced up at Ivan who looked away to set his gaze on the tape recorder. "Let the pedestrians run clumsily over puddles…" He murmured softly, almost too quiet for Kiku to hear.

"Hm?" Kiku urged him slightly to repeat himself for him again. Ivan shook his head and looked back at him with a smile. "A popular song from a film. I can't help but play it at this time. I think it fitting." He sat in his chair again beside the bed.

This time? What was today that made it so special to this Ivan?

"...And I'm playing my garmoshka loud for everyone to hear..."

They sat in silence and drank from their cups. Kiku wondered what the film was like. Ivan must have enjoyed it. So much that he would play this song over and over. His eyes wandered to the window, maroon curtains not closed yet. The clock that hung on the bare walls of this apartment said it was close to twelve.

"…There will come a magician in a blue helicopter.."

Ivan's eyes were closed and his large figure slouched slightly in that chair. He almost looked like a defeated man. Kiku had never noticed the dark circles under the tall man's eyes until now. It looked like he hadn't slept.

"What day is it?" Kiku asked suddenly as the song came to a closing. Ivan opened his eyes, lashes fluttering. He smiled at the shorter, but older nation. A warm smile, but it didn't seem to be directed at Kiku at all. As if to a memory of the distant past.

"December 30."

It seemed as if the hot cocoa he drank was warming up his whole being and melting the ice within him. He seemed warmer all of a sudden, more human. So innocently happy Ivan looked.

It made Kiku grow quiet. He looked down into his cup, away from the strange scene and into the dark liquid. He was late in preparing for New Years. He needed to get back soon.

"It's a pity, that a birthday comes just once a year."

"It's my birthday."

Kiku's head snapped up and his gaze met with Ivan's.

Garmoshka - Russian folk Squeezebox "Garmoshka" (or garmon) is a Russian folk button accordion. Garmoshka is a free-reed wind instrument. The garmon' is also known by the names "Tusl'skaya" (after town of Tula in Russia, where there is a famous Garmoshka factory), garmoshka, garmonika, "25 na 25", Hromka, bayan and accordion.

Ushanka - a Russian fur cap with ear flaps that can be tied up to the crown of the cap. It's also known as a trooper or trapper's cap. Very cozy.

The song in the story -"Let The Pedestrians Run Clumsily Over Puddles...", or "Let Them Run Climsily" is a song that Gena the Crocodile sings on his birthday in the 19 minute film Cheburashka. There are many different translations for the song, but most follow the same lines and are very similar to each other. The song was written by Vladimir Shainsky. Sometimes it's also know as simply, "Gena the Crocodile's song".

1973 - To tell you the truth, I wanted a year near the time the film "Cheburashka" was released. It was released a couple or so years after "Gena the Crocodile". So I picked 1973 just to be safe. It's very cute. You guys should check it out. Gena's song was the thing that drove me to write this. It was kind of an impulse to write it, but it was nice.

Red Square - Red Square lies in the heart of Moscow and on its four sides stand the Kremlin, GUM Department Store, State Historical Museum and St. Basil's Cathedral - centres of government, commerce, history and religion. It's not red or a square, but the Russian word for red can also mean beautiful.

Russia and Japan - Conflict and hostilities between these two over land and territory. Russia mention's Manchukuo. He means to remind Japan about the Soviet-Japanese war (1945) which began on August 9, 1945 with the Soviet invasion of Manchukuo, a puppet state of the Japanese. Also terminating Japanese control over Mengjiang, northern Korea, southern Sakhalin, and Kuril Islands.

"Lazar! Put it back!" - Lazar Kaganovich, a close associate of Stalin's and director of Moscow reconstruction, was said to have presented a model of the Square to Stalin; he was attempting to demonstrate how demolishing the cathedral would clear the way for parades and traffic but when he jerked the model cathedral out, Stalin objected with his famous quote: "Lazar! Put it back!"

A second plan to destroy the cathedral was foiled by the courage of Russian architect Petr Baranovsky. When asked to prepare for its demolition, he refused and sent a telegram to Stalin himself threatening to slit his throat on the steps of the cathedral. The decision was reversed for unknown reasons and Baranovsky was rewarded for his efforts with five years in prison.

The story Japan remembered: You know it. Hansel and Gretel. That German fairy tale.

Darien Scheme - There's too much for me to say here so I'll try to keep it short. An expedition of five ships was sent on 14 July 1698 to create a Scots colony on the Isthmus of Panama. It was hoped that the colony of 'New Caledonia' would generate trade with the Far East. It was a giant failure and lead Scotland's economy. Like, half of it's economy was just gone and along with the failure of the scheme. There was no trade, and environmental conditions and the English colonies' instructions to withhold aid (so that Spain would not be offended) conspired to make the Scots' efforts tragically futile. A giant financial disaster. ;n;

Author's note-

You have no clue how I love copy and paste. xD There's a lot of things I've read in the night I wrote this, so focusing on the important facts were a bit hard. It's been such a long while since I've last written, and it's one of my first times writing something that had some historical reference and I've been waiting for this moment. It feels good. It feels real good.

Oh, and another thing, I think I might continue this story. I've been thinking about it and was wondering what I should write next. If you have any ideas or information that you think I should have, then that would very much be appreciated. :/3

To be continued?