p class="MsoNormal"Natalia walked into the cozy home, past the butler whom had opened the door. The butler cheerfully greeted Alfred and Natalia before slinking away into the kitchen to prepare some refreshments. The wooden floors creaked under the weight of Natalia's high heeled boots as she turned around, admiring Alfred's home./p
p class="MsoNormal""Natalia," Alfred called as he hung up his aviator coat, revealing his pewter button-down shirt that Natalia couldn't help but admire./p
p class="MsoNormal""Hmm?" Natalia asked, shuttering her gaze up to his face and a slight blush crept onto her face. "I was going to ask if you were hungry, but…I guess I should tell you my face is up here." Alfred laughed as he teased her, enjoying the hue of red across her soft cheeks. He had hoped that her crying fit earlier had made her feel better./p
p class="MsoNormal""I'm famished." Natalia says curtly, rolling her eyes at the assumption of her checking him out./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Great. Me too." Alfred grabbed her hand and pulled her closer, away from the door, attempting to give her a tour of his home while his butler prepared lunch for them. "It'll be a little bit before lunch, so how bout a tour?" Alfred offered, but his mind was already focused on it. Natalia nodded as she returned the grip she had felt./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span'His hand is so…warm.' Natalia thought as she looked at the back of Alfred's head, his words flittering in one ear and out the other./p
p class="MsoNormal""Nat?" Alfred waved his hand in front of her face, noticing she had spaced out. "Nat?" He called once more, confused at why she was so spacy. He placed his hand on her cheek and leaned in, hoping to tease her a little bit. Natalia was lost in thought, her gaze was glossy as Alfred approached her, they were only inches away. Natalia quickly snapped back to her senses when Alfred slowly blew on her, she quickly noticed her distance with him and put up her hand, looking down./p
p class="MsoNormal""Alfred…may I ask something?" She quietly mumbled, almost as if she were shyer than Alfred originally believed. "Shoot." Alfred said as he turned on his heel and opened the glass door, which opened out into a massive sunroom. "Why do you like me as much as you do?" Natalia followed Alfred into the sunroom, blocking the entrance so he couldn't avoid answering the question. She wanted to know if he had an actual "reason" to like her or not, since he was obviously deeply devoted to her./p
p class="MsoNormal""Ah-so you don't remember?" He softly laughs as he looks out one of the many crystal-clear windows. He frowns as he looks at her, her blonde bangs hiding her soft face. "Natalia, I've loved you for a very long time. When I was fighting with your brother…I was pretty banged up, I didn't think I would survive from the wounds he left. Somehow, I managed to crawl out to a snow-covered meadow, and there was this gorgeous blonde girl, singing softly as she picked flowers. She turned around and quickly noticed me, dropping the flowers she rushed over towards me, dropping to her knees and helping heal my wounds." Alfred softly smiled and walked over to her, caressing her cheek. "It was during a time I hadn't officially met you and surprisingly wouldn't until we met at the first world's conference, but when I saw you, I knew it was you. I fell in love with you the moment you saved me. You didn't know who I was or why I was covered in blood, you just helped me. Your heart was so kind, so pure…I just…I couldn't help but falling for you. And my feelings haven't wavered since that day. In fact,…you had torn off a piece of your dress and used it as a tourniquet to stop the heavier bleeding. I've kept it with me since that day, I use it as a good luck charm." Alfred softly giggled, feeling embarrassed at his confession. Natalia looked at him, slightly confused because she hadn't remembered the fateful day Alfred had just mentioned, but then again, she hadn't remembered much during the times of the soviet war. All she could honestly remember from those times was her brother was hurting and she couldn't help it. Natalia looked down at the floor, feeling slightly moved as she recalled how passionately Alfred had shared it./p
p class="MsoNormal""You've never stopped loving me because of what I did? That's all? I…I thought there would be more, I thought for someone to fall in love you must do something extraordinary…" Natalia confession, not knowing Alfred would be slightly hurt by her words. Alfred grabbed her hands and looked deeply into her eyes./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Natalia, you saved my life. I am here BECAUSE OF YOU. Why wouldn't I love you after that? I was a total stranger to you and you still helped me and…gah!" Alfred leaned in and kissed her passionately on the lips, pinning her towards the glass door. He grabbed her hips and pulled her into him, causing her to moan loudly. Natalia lost herself in the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck, placing her weight in him because her knees were weaker than an old lady's./p
p class="MsoNormal""A-Alfred…" She mumbled between his lips, breaking the kiss in order to catch her breath. "You're quite passionate." She whispered, wiping her bottom lip on her blue sleeve./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Only for you." He winked as his gaze went towards the window./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"I…don't remember this encounter, but…the way you describe it…" Natalia sighed, leaning against the door and scooting down towards the floor./p
p class="MsoNormal""Alfred, I don't know if I am the same girl, but…perhaps…we could try…..but after I feel more at ease. Ivan just got engaged, after all…and that wound still hurts. Would you wait for me to heal?" Natalia picked at her fingertips, running her long-curved fingernails over the soft skin./p
p class="MsoNormal""Nat…I've waited this long, what's a little longer?" He said with a gleaming smile as he grabbed her hand firmly and yanked her up into his arms. "Just promise me, when you're healed, you'll come to me." Alfred whispered before gently kissing her nose. The action was so sweet and nothing Natalia had ever felt before. Even when her and Ivan were closer, he never treated her with this soft and loving kindness, it made Natalia's heart race. She craved this feeling, this feeling she could only compare with love./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"If I was in a meadow, I must have been searching for water lilies, they're my favorite..." She blushed as she pushed Alfred gently back, wanting some space so she would be able to restrain herself around the warm and compassionate composure of the man in front of her./p
p class="MsoNormal""No, actually…I think you were picking sunflowers, but I don't remember clearly since I was bleeding to death. They could have been freaking dandelions for all I cared." Alfred laughed loudly before looking out the glass door and noticing his butler was approaching them./p
p class="MsoNormal""Ah-lunch must be ready." Alfred shuffled past her, ignoring the slight frown she expressed as he walked towards his butler./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Wonderful…" Natalia whispered softly to herself, looking at Alfred's back, feeling her heart tugging as if there was guilt winding itself around her heart. She followed them into the dining room and sat down across from Alfred, who was beaming with happiness at dining with the girl he was madly in love with./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"*****/p
p class="MsoNormal"After lunch, the pair decided to split and Natalia walked down the cobblestone path, alone and searching her memories, attempting to locate the memory Alfred talked about with such love and passion. She searched and searched, but nothing came to mind, which made her heart feel ten times heavier than it was. Natalia walked in through her front door, slamming the door harshly as she kicked off her shoes./p
p class="MsoNormal""Ivan…you stupid bastard!" She punched the wall, causing her skin to tear and knuckles to bleed. "How could you hurt me so?! Why did you not tell me anything?! Did I truly mean nothing to you?" She shook as she slid down to the floor and curled up into a ball, tears streaming down her face as she finally released the pent-up emotion she hadn't dealt with. She cried deep into the night, eventually falling asleep on the floor, tears staining her face as she dove into her dreams. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"***br /It was morning and the door burst open, smacking Natalia's ankle firmly. "Ugh, what the hell?" Natalia muttered as pain radiated throughout her leg. "Ah-sorry. Hey, whatcha doing on the floor?" Alfred asked as he poked his head around the corner, noticing Natalia was sprawled out./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Leave me be." Natalia muttered coldly as she rolled, trying to get up without causing more pain to her ankle. "You hit me pretty hard, you know. You should feel ashamed." Natalia wanted to spew her pain onto someone else, and unfortunately the only one around was Alfred./p
p class="MsoNormal""Ah-yeah, I do feel bad. Let me help." Alfred bent down and swept her up into his arms as he smirked happily. "Where are you planning on going?" He wanted to know where to take her, hoping to be of some help since he had injured her./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"I'd like to shower, but…you can put me down…" She muttered, she could feel her heart racing against his chest./p
p class="MsoNormal""Ah-no, no can do, Nat. I need to make sure your ankle isn't broken first and that requires looking at it, which I can't do right now." He winked as he played her and began walking up the wood stairs to his left. Natalia tried to squirm, but Alfred's tight grip prevented that./p
p class="MsoNormal""Hey, I like that you'll save me from certain death, but I don't think you can heal a broken neck, so stop it." He was firm with her as he walked up the stairs. Natalia could feel his defined muscles, his pecks and even an ab or two. 'He must actually work out…' Natalia thought to herself as she wrapped her arm around his neck./p
p class="MsoNormal""Which way is your bedroom?" Alfred smirked as devious thoughts came to his mind, causing a deep blush to creep upon his face. Natalia scoffed and wiggled out of his arms, placing as little weight as she could until she noticed her ankle was not in any pain upon the full weight of her leg baring down on it. "You should never enter a lady's bedroom, where do your manners come from, honestly…" She whispered to herself./p
p class="MsoNormal""A real man never enters a bedroom until they're married." She scoffed, pushing her overly conservative traditions on him./p
p class="MsoNormal""Well, any time you're over Ivan and want to get hitched…I'm all for it." He patted the small of her back teasingly before following her to her bedroom. He saw her walk across the bedroom floor, into the bathroom which was attached with a small corridor./p
p class="MsoNormal""No peaking." Natalia rolled her eyes as she locked the door and went to take a shower. Alfred looked around her room, noticing the wood paneling around the walls and walked over to her closet. He looked at all her navy gowns and came across a deep crimson gown in the very back. It looked as though it hadn't been worn in many years. He pulled it out and smiled brightly as he brought it to his face. "Natalia, this is the dress you wore." He whispered as he took in the scent of her clothing. A light white lily fragrance filled his nostrils as he held the dress to his chest and sat down on her bed./p
p class="MsoNormal""Natalia," Alfred called as he hung up his aviator coat, revealing his pewter button-down shirt that Natalia couldn't help but admire./p
p class="MsoNormal""Hmm?" Natalia asked, shuttering her gaze up to his face and a slight blush crept onto her face. "I was going to ask if you were hungry, but…I guess I should tell you my face is up here." Alfred laughed as he teased her, enjoying the hue of red across her soft cheeks. He had hoped that her crying fit earlier had made her feel better./p
p class="MsoNormal""I'm famished." Natalia says curtly, rolling her eyes at the assumption of her checking him out./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Great. Me too." Alfred grabbed her hand and pulled her closer, away from the door, attempting to give her a tour of his home while his butler prepared lunch for them. "It'll be a little bit before lunch, so how bout a tour?" Alfred offered, but his mind was already focused on it. Natalia nodded as she returned the grip she had felt./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span'His hand is so…warm.' Natalia thought as she looked at the back of Alfred's head, his words flittering in one ear and out the other./p
p class="MsoNormal""Nat?" Alfred waved his hand in front of her face, noticing she had spaced out. "Nat?" He called once more, confused at why she was so spacy. He placed his hand on her cheek and leaned in, hoping to tease her a little bit. Natalia was lost in thought, her gaze was glossy as Alfred approached her, they were only inches away. Natalia quickly snapped back to her senses when Alfred slowly blew on her, she quickly noticed her distance with him and put up her hand, looking down./p
p class="MsoNormal""Alfred…may I ask something?" She quietly mumbled, almost as if she were shyer than Alfred originally believed. "Shoot." Alfred said as he turned on his heel and opened the glass door, which opened out into a massive sunroom. "Why do you like me as much as you do?" Natalia followed Alfred into the sunroom, blocking the entrance so he couldn't avoid answering the question. She wanted to know if he had an actual "reason" to like her or not, since he was obviously deeply devoted to her./p
p class="MsoNormal""Ah-so you don't remember?" He softly laughs as he looks out one of the many crystal-clear windows. He frowns as he looks at her, her blonde bangs hiding her soft face. "Natalia, I've loved you for a very long time. When I was fighting with your brother…I was pretty banged up, I didn't think I would survive from the wounds he left. Somehow, I managed to crawl out to a snow-covered meadow, and there was this gorgeous blonde girl, singing softly as she picked flowers. She turned around and quickly noticed me, dropping the flowers she rushed over towards me, dropping to her knees and helping heal my wounds." Alfred softly smiled and walked over to her, caressing her cheek. "It was during a time I hadn't officially met you and surprisingly wouldn't until we met at the first world's conference, but when I saw you, I knew it was you. I fell in love with you the moment you saved me. You didn't know who I was or why I was covered in blood, you just helped me. Your heart was so kind, so pure…I just…I couldn't help but falling for you. And my feelings haven't wavered since that day. In fact,…you had torn off a piece of your dress and used it as a tourniquet to stop the heavier bleeding. I've kept it with me since that day, I use it as a good luck charm." Alfred softly giggled, feeling embarrassed at his confession. Natalia looked at him, slightly confused because she hadn't remembered the fateful day Alfred had just mentioned, but then again, she hadn't remembered much during the times of the soviet war. All she could honestly remember from those times was her brother was hurting and she couldn't help it. Natalia looked down at the floor, feeling slightly moved as she recalled how passionately Alfred had shared it./p
p class="MsoNormal""You've never stopped loving me because of what I did? That's all? I…I thought there would be more, I thought for someone to fall in love you must do something extraordinary…" Natalia confession, not knowing Alfred would be slightly hurt by her words. Alfred grabbed her hands and looked deeply into her eyes./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Natalia, you saved my life. I am here BECAUSE OF YOU. Why wouldn't I love you after that? I was a total stranger to you and you still helped me and…gah!" Alfred leaned in and kissed her passionately on the lips, pinning her towards the glass door. He grabbed her hips and pulled her into him, causing her to moan loudly. Natalia lost herself in the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck, placing her weight in him because her knees were weaker than an old lady's./p
p class="MsoNormal""A-Alfred…" She mumbled between his lips, breaking the kiss in order to catch her breath. "You're quite passionate." She whispered, wiping her bottom lip on her blue sleeve./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Only for you." He winked as his gaze went towards the window./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"I…don't remember this encounter, but…the way you describe it…" Natalia sighed, leaning against the door and scooting down towards the floor./p
p class="MsoNormal""Alfred, I don't know if I am the same girl, but…perhaps…we could try…..but after I feel more at ease. Ivan just got engaged, after all…and that wound still hurts. Would you wait for me to heal?" Natalia picked at her fingertips, running her long-curved fingernails over the soft skin./p
p class="MsoNormal""Nat…I've waited this long, what's a little longer?" He said with a gleaming smile as he grabbed her hand firmly and yanked her up into his arms. "Just promise me, when you're healed, you'll come to me." Alfred whispered before gently kissing her nose. The action was so sweet and nothing Natalia had ever felt before. Even when her and Ivan were closer, he never treated her with this soft and loving kindness, it made Natalia's heart race. She craved this feeling, this feeling she could only compare with love./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"If I was in a meadow, I must have been searching for water lilies, they're my favorite..." She blushed as she pushed Alfred gently back, wanting some space so she would be able to restrain herself around the warm and compassionate composure of the man in front of her./p
p class="MsoNormal""No, actually…I think you were picking sunflowers, but I don't remember clearly since I was bleeding to death. They could have been freaking dandelions for all I cared." Alfred laughed loudly before looking out the glass door and noticing his butler was approaching them./p
p class="MsoNormal""Ah-lunch must be ready." Alfred shuffled past her, ignoring the slight frown she expressed as he walked towards his butler./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Wonderful…" Natalia whispered softly to herself, looking at Alfred's back, feeling her heart tugging as if there was guilt winding itself around her heart. She followed them into the dining room and sat down across from Alfred, who was beaming with happiness at dining with the girl he was madly in love with./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"*****/p
p class="MsoNormal"After lunch, the pair decided to split and Natalia walked down the cobblestone path, alone and searching her memories, attempting to locate the memory Alfred talked about with such love and passion. She searched and searched, but nothing came to mind, which made her heart feel ten times heavier than it was. Natalia walked in through her front door, slamming the door harshly as she kicked off her shoes./p
p class="MsoNormal""Ivan…you stupid bastard!" She punched the wall, causing her skin to tear and knuckles to bleed. "How could you hurt me so?! Why did you not tell me anything?! Did I truly mean nothing to you?" She shook as she slid down to the floor and curled up into a ball, tears streaming down her face as she finally released the pent-up emotion she hadn't dealt with. She cried deep into the night, eventually falling asleep on the floor, tears staining her face as she dove into her dreams. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"***br /It was morning and the door burst open, smacking Natalia's ankle firmly. "Ugh, what the hell?" Natalia muttered as pain radiated throughout her leg. "Ah-sorry. Hey, whatcha doing on the floor?" Alfred asked as he poked his head around the corner, noticing Natalia was sprawled out./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Leave me be." Natalia muttered coldly as she rolled, trying to get up without causing more pain to her ankle. "You hit me pretty hard, you know. You should feel ashamed." Natalia wanted to spew her pain onto someone else, and unfortunately the only one around was Alfred./p
p class="MsoNormal""Ah-yeah, I do feel bad. Let me help." Alfred bent down and swept her up into his arms as he smirked happily. "Where are you planning on going?" He wanted to know where to take her, hoping to be of some help since he had injured her./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"I'd like to shower, but…you can put me down…" She muttered, she could feel her heart racing against his chest./p
p class="MsoNormal""Ah-no, no can do, Nat. I need to make sure your ankle isn't broken first and that requires looking at it, which I can't do right now." He winked as he played her and began walking up the wood stairs to his left. Natalia tried to squirm, but Alfred's tight grip prevented that./p
p class="MsoNormal""Hey, I like that you'll save me from certain death, but I don't think you can heal a broken neck, so stop it." He was firm with her as he walked up the stairs. Natalia could feel his defined muscles, his pecks and even an ab or two. 'He must actually work out…' Natalia thought to herself as she wrapped her arm around his neck./p
p class="MsoNormal""Which way is your bedroom?" Alfred smirked as devious thoughts came to his mind, causing a deep blush to creep upon his face. Natalia scoffed and wiggled out of his arms, placing as little weight as she could until she noticed her ankle was not in any pain upon the full weight of her leg baring down on it. "You should never enter a lady's bedroom, where do your manners come from, honestly…" She whispered to herself./p
p class="MsoNormal""A real man never enters a bedroom until they're married." She scoffed, pushing her overly conservative traditions on him./p
p class="MsoNormal""Well, any time you're over Ivan and want to get hitched…I'm all for it." He patted the small of her back teasingly before following her to her bedroom. He saw her walk across the bedroom floor, into the bathroom which was attached with a small corridor./p
p class="MsoNormal""No peaking." Natalia rolled her eyes as she locked the door and went to take a shower. Alfred looked around her room, noticing the wood paneling around the walls and walked over to her closet. He looked at all her navy gowns and came across a deep crimson gown in the very back. It looked as though it hadn't been worn in many years. He pulled it out and smiled brightly as he brought it to his face. "Natalia, this is the dress you wore." He whispered as he took in the scent of her clothing. A light white lily fragrance filled his nostrils as he held the dress to his chest and sat down on her bed./p