Years had gone and faded from time. Times he wished he could've kept forever with a few of them but it was not a possibility. Well, that was until the truth of the capitals.

One by one, nations gained capitals and as of recent, Trine had joined their happy group with Kitty. The two had almost become an inseparable pair, where one was, the other wasn't far. Along with it, both boys had fallen for the two of them, right to the point they called Trine mama. But the news that came across the table at the meeting gave his heart a leap he didn't realize it needed.

"You mean Reykjavik, Helsinki, and-"

"You mean Copenhagen is out there?" Mathias interrupted him, "Where?"

He didn't care that the man cut him off. Helsinki was out there, his capital and god did he just want to burst.

After Mathias's bursts and learning where the new capitals where, he made his way to Iryna, wondering what awaited him with his capital.

"Is it really real?" he heard Emil say beside him.

"I really think so." he replied, feeling the giddiness rise in him, "Oh, I wonder what they'll be like?"

"Haven't you realized?"

"Realized what?"

Emil stopped in front of him, eyes strict and serious, "Each capital that has come before everyone has had issues. Something we either know or don't, doesn't that make you worry?"

Tino was puzzled with Emil, "Are you afraid of what may be wrong with Reykjavik?"

The light blush upon his cheeks and ears gave him away just as a shout caught their attention.

"What the hell was that for?" Mathias shouted at Brie and Juliet as they tried to explain something to him.

"Nah, don't worry your heads off." Logan came up to them, "Can tell you now that Olivia is a bit of a firecracker but a good-hearted person. No need to fret."

"Tak." Iryna joined them, her belly getting even bigger, "And you have no worries either for Valeriya."

Her name sounded like a winter hymn as Iryna said it and with it, he was full of questions, "Tell me about her, Iryna."

The woman smiled at him, nodding her head to a separate room, "Let us talk in private."

Heading to the room, he ushered her in just to move and fix her chair, "You're truly a gentleman, Tino. No doubt about it."

"I do my best." He replied as he sat down.

Iryna sighed as she adjusted herself, "I thought one would be challenging. Three is the Olympics now."

Tino chuckled at her, "Yet you are blessed. Speaking of Olympics, did Davi place in the men's solo?"

"He did, he's ranked next to Russia and Japan at the moment so he's quite happy."

"That's very good then." he replied, knowing the man had practiced his skating routine for months beforehand, "Anyway, to Valeriya."

Iryna slid a folder to him, the grin never leaving her face, "What if I told you that you saw her before?"

"What? When?" he almost came out of his seat.

Iryna waved her hand at him as she tried to hold back a chuckle, "Read the file in front of you."

Picking up the file, Tino dove headfirst into it. Nuclear power and plants along with regional maps gave way to what she dealt with, or so he thought as the news article came to him.

"She's trying to end the use of nuclear power."

"Yes. Her reason is her own, I've never pushed to know."

He was awed as he saw her on the podium in the photo, pure determination was written on her as she pointed to the charts and graphs. Her short bobbed hair hid part of her face as her glasses shined her fierceness at that moment. What made him wonder of her was the gloves upon her hands.

"I do remember this day." he stated, remembering his seat and how fierce she was to end the use of the plants.

"Told you." Iryna said, "I can tell you now, she's excited and seems to know about you yet isn't fully sure."

"So she knows?"

"Not fully." Iryna bobbed her head, "But why not let her know. Would you like to come with me to be introduced?"

Happiness burst through him as he leaped from his seat, "Would I!"

After a two hour nonstop flight, he found himself in her government building, watching as people pushed their way to her, demanding papers to be looked at or how she would go about something happening within her lands. This he was not used to. His government had strict moments with leaders and such but hers seemed to have no boundary at that moment. But being at war with a terrorist group that threatened the very line of humanity, he understood some of the rush.

With a wave of her hand and a snap of fingers, the commotion abruptly ended, "If there are concerns that are not yet on my desk, then leave them there. I have other pressing matters to deal with as I stand here. Go, all of you."

That was a new side of the friendly woman he had never seen. In truth, he and Iryna were very alike, even when Ivan had him in his power years ago. She was the one that made sure he was taken care of and knew it was the same when Gilbert was taken over to Russia. Maybe she just hid it well.

"Sorry about that. It gets a little rough in here." she gave a weak smile as they pressed on to her office.

Following behind her, he watched as her people spoke deeply with one another about everything that seemed to be pressed on her, yet Iryna seemed to pay no mind. A sharp order of Ukranian left her as another woman gave a small bow, darting off into another location of the building.

"I have her coming here." she said as they entered her office,"It won't take Valeriya long."

Tino couldn't help but grin as he saw the new photos donning the wall and desk. From her husband on the ice, competing against multiple nations, to her niece and nephew with the rest of the families.

"They've gotten so big since I last saw them." he picked up the picture of Alexei holding Viktorija, "Must be giving Ivan and Natalia troubles."

"That they are and Davi and I when they visit. I already told Natalia to be patient, Viktorija can't escape her crib yet, unlike Alexei."

"Oh, I bet. How is Tavin handling now? I haven't seen much of him since his change."

"Pretty good actually, he limps around here and there, uses the same crutch that Trine does to aid him. Very rarely will you see his fingers twitch and stiffen unlike before. Let it be known that the change does fix somethings."

"Yet not one hundred percent."

"True, but some it seems that they don't want to venture far from that life. I still see Delilah signing and hear Kitty click her tongue to find Lukas."

"They do say old habits die hard." he smiled at her, "I think we all will see it."

"I agree." she nodded, "So tell me, what do you think she is like from what you remember?"

His mind flashed to the UN meeting where she slammed her fist down at the men and women, giving them proof of what was going on outside in the world and the damage it was causing or what it would cost.

"She seems fierce, determined to get her point to everyone no matter how many times she has to show them." he stated, "Yet I think deep within here there is a deeper reasoning to her actions, and to what it is I do not know. But I wish to find out."

He watched as Iryna nodded to him, "Not bad, pretty much what you saw is what she give to people. In reality, she's very much like you. Shy, friendly, big-hearted with being a little hyper once she open to you."

"Yet it seems you want to say something else. What is it, Iryna?"

She gave a small sigh, her eyes fixed to the desk, "I will only give you one piece of her, you have to find out the rest of it yourself. That piece is the reason why she is so determined of her nuclear research."

"And that would be?"

Her large blue eyes looked at him, melancholy and heartache lying within them of memories that seemed she wanted to forget, "Chernobyl."

"Wonder what Iryna has for me?" Valeriya thought to herself.

It wasn't like her to pull her from such deep research and investigations, so maybe it was bigger than it seemed. She pondered the thoughts as she maneuvered the halls, focusing between her work and her dreams. Ever since she spoke with Iryna that day, they had come to her more and more, showing little details she never saw before, almost as if the women in those dreams wanted her to go to Finland and see him.

"Impossible." she shook her head, "He's not there, no man like it is. He'd have to be hundreds of years old to be truthful and that isn't likely."

As she made her way, a few of her comrades congratulated her on the UN work and the studies she had proven. She was glad about that, most people looked down at her, knowing the truth of why she knew so much and the result of it.

"Seems you'll be leaving us soon." someone said to her.

Wiping around she saw some of the women from before glare at her, the very ones that tried to remove her and make her life tougher than it already was.

"And if I say yes?" she gave back, feeling one of her only friends come to her side.

"Then it would be a good thing, no more disease." they laughed.

"Didn't see your stuff make it to Iryna's desk or the president's for that matter." the woman defended her, "So mind your business."

The group left them in peace, knowing the cost if a scene was made, "You didn't have to protect me, Daria."

"Least I could do. You've gotten me out of a lot of issues before, plus I crashed on your couch before."

"I told you that guy was a douche, but you didn't listen."

"But he was cute." she whined at her, "Besides, speaking of men, what about this one you dream of?"

And she would go there, "Seriously, now?"

"Um, yes. I need details. You don't leave friends hanging on hotties that you dream of."

"I never said he was hot, I said cute, from what I gathered."

"Hot, cute, handsome, sexy, all amount to the same thing. So talk."

What could she say, she couldn't help but fan over him, "Alright. For his voice, it's not deep or calloused like how you like them, it's soft and gentle. A hint of nervousness in it yet you can tell he has seen things that he wishes no others to bear. Once in a while, I will feel his touch, calm and sweet, never forceful or rough with a strange hint of cocoa and mallow to him."

"What, does he bathe in hot chocolate?" Daria joked.

"I have no idea, and quit interrupting." Valeriya stated as she pressed on, "And what I have seen of him are bits and pieces. Short blond hair covers his head, sometimes hidden under a cap. There are times I can see his eyes yet I cannot tell if they are a violet color or if they are brown. His features are warm and inviting, the smile that graces him is just one you want to have around all the time. Not fit but in my mind just right, a little tummy hurts no one. And he is a little taller than me, about-"

"One hundred seventy centimeters?" Daria cut her off, yet it shocked her.

"I swear you were in my head a moment ago."

"I say I was if it wasn't the fact a man in that whole description you gave was seen walking with Iryna just a little bit ago."

There was no way, "Are you kidding? You have to be."

"I saw him with my own eyes, everything you said was on him."

Could it be? Nodding to Daria, Valeriya took off, near a dead sprint as her heels clicked heavily on the floor. There was no way that it was possible, not even in the greatest chances that he was real. Tino. She remembered Iryna saying Tino to her. That whole time she struggled to believe that it was true, that he really did exist. And now, maybe it was real.

Turning the corner, her eyes stayed to the ground, only to slam into someone as she made her way. Oh, not good. She was half afraid to look up at whom she ran into and of its consequences.

"Meni duzhe shkoda!" she exclaimed, gathering her papers, "I really am sorry. I was lost in papers and thoughts and I didn't see you. I am really sorry."

"It's alright, no real harm done." they replied, picking up her papers.

That voice, she knew that voice. Hear it enough in her dreams to point it out in a huge crowd. Looking up she was sure her jaw was hanging open. It was him. From his soft, gentle face, to the blond tresses floating around his head, even his sweet scent, it was him. He really was real.

"You alright there?" he asked finally looking at her, "Wait a minute, are you...?"

He trailed off as they seemed to be both staring at one another in awe, shocked that they were smack in front of each other. She couldn't move, there was no way she could. All her dreams and questions and worries were all gone, for he was before her and she was sitting there like an idiot staring at him.

"Oh Tino, there you are." she heard Iryna come up to them, finally breaking their trances, "It looks like you met Valeriya. Valeriya, this is Tino Väinämöinen."

Dear god, she wanted to jump for joy. Stunned that he was really there and that she fully ran into him too. She felt Iryna's hand lay on her shoulder as the woman gestured to her, "Tino, Valeriya Bakaj. Your-"

"My capital." the smile on him was priceless, like a child winning a prize out of the coin slots.

The talks with Iryna came back as she spoke to her about capitals and nations, speaking about them and the war that was going plus the fact that she was a nation as well and for herself to be a capital. And now, here she was before the nation of Finland, literally and now to not only further her work but gain a new title as well.

"It's all real." she got out as the smile on her grew, "I really am going to be Helsinki."