Part One: The Siege

Chapter One

June 22, 1941

Tatiana Metanova did not want to open her eyes, and she most certainly did not want to get out of bed. The warmth of her home knit afghan, and the soft goose feather mattress embraced her body. Tatiana felt like she was in heaven, a heaven made of warmth, Dostoevsky, ice cream, and Tolstoy. Tatiana lived for her youth, and gave a sly smile towards the fact that she was the youngest of the four Metanov children. Although her eyes were sealed shut, she could still see the red hue bleeding into the room. The constant hue of sunshine. Tatiana normally loved the sun, practically spending every hour in it. That's why she loved summer so much, because there was sunshine for eighteen hours. But right now, Tatiana wanted it to be winter. Tatiana despised the sun at the moment, simply because it was waking her up. Every other day Tania would have to be up by seven to help Mama with the errands and chores, but today was Sunday, and on Sundays Tatiana could sleep until nine.

Tatiana loved the feeling of the bright sun warming her tanned cheeks. Besides Papa, she was the only one in the family that could absorb a slight amount of color during the summer months. In the winter, her skin would turn back to the stark white complexion that was so common in northern Russia. She heard the quiet, faint noise of the squeaky floor bloods. And then she felt someone playing with her feet, tickling her covered toes while whispering her name over and over. "Tatiana… Tania… come on Tanechka you must wake up, it's past noon." It was the perky voice of her older sister, Dasha.

Dasha was absolutely flawless, not to mention one of Tania's best friends. Dasha was everything that Tatiana wanted to be. She received top grades throughout her education, obtained a top-notch job as a nurse at the Grechesky children's hospital, she had soft ringlets of mahogany hair, and soft white skin that felt like a childs. It wasn't that Tatiana wasn't successful in any of these regions, she just didn't compare to Dasha. Even their parents considered Dasha to be the better-bred child, and Tatiana knew that.

Tatiana groaned and rolled over on to her stomach. "Go away Dasha," Tania mumbled. She heard her sister giggle and suddenly the thick afghan was ripped off of Tatiana's body. Tatiana shot up, reluctantly opening her eyes, and gave her sister the death glare.

"What are you doing Tanechka? Papa will be home soon, and if sees you still sleeping he'll take out the belt." She hated it when Dasha called her Tanechka. Tania grimaced as she remembered the last time her Father had belted her. She winced as she thought of the thick leather lashing against her bare skin. On the rare occasion that Papa would lash out on her, thick red welts would caress her body for days making it look like she was a victim of scarlet fever. "Okay Dasha, I'm coming. Just give me a minute." Dasha huffed and left her alone.

Tatiana slowly got out of bed, her muscles were tight from a long night of sleep. She looked through her few outfits and decided on her white eyelet summer dress. Besides the green dress from France, it was probably her favorite item. The hem fell right above her knees, the bodice attached itself to her frame and the short sleeves were loose around her arms. She brushed out her straight dark blonde hair, and pinned it back with babushkas clips from Moscow. She looked in the obscured mirror and wished for hair like her sisters. Tatiana didn't have the pretty white-blonde hair like many Russians, she had a deep golden hair color that reminded her of caramel. Dasha used to poke fun at Tatiana, claiming that she looked more Italian rather than Russian. She was looking into her hopeful green eyes and was playing with the ends of her hair when she saw her older brother, Isaak, peek his head around the doorframe and motioned for her to follow him.

Tatiana was taken aback to see Isaak. He hadn't stopped by their home in weeks. He lived with his American wife, Eileen, over thirty minutes away. Isaak was seven years older than Tania, and protected her like she was his most prized possession. When they were little and Pashas friends would make a sly move on her, Isaak would be the first one to step in and distract Tania with something else. Isaak saw her as his own daughter, he wanted the best for her and he hated when Papa and Pasha were spiteful towards her. Because of this, Papa and Isaak didn't get along very well. Papa didn't like that Isaak was pursuing a career in Medicine rather than taking on the family tradition at the waterworks plant.

"Isaak? What are you doing her?" Tania asked as she trailed behind him into the main room. "Apparently comrade Stalin is announcing something very important at 12:30." He whispered. "So you came all the way here? Why didn't you just listen to the radio at home? Not that I'm not happy to see you… but our radio is broken. I'm confused." Tatiana rambled, turning her back to look at her other two siblings. Isaak quickly grabbed her wrist and twirled her around. Tatianas eyes widened as she noted the cold, serious look on his face. "Tania. Apparently it's very important. They're out buying a new radio, they'll be back any minute." "Lets hope so," Tatiana mumbled as she noted the clock, it was 12:11 the announcement was going to start soon.

"So we don't know what it's about?" She asked her siblings, as she sat down in between Pasha and Dasha. They all ignored her and continued to talk amongst themselves.

"It must be pretty important considering we never get special announcements from the government." Isaak silently acknowledged what he said by giving her a sad smile. It was a very weird morning for the Metanov children.

The four children: Dasha, Isaak, Pasha and Tania all waited patiently for their parents to return. Tatiana challenged Pasha to an arm wrestling match, but he declined. "Quit your foolishness, Tanechka, this is serious." Pasha hissed at his twin sister. "What's serious?" Tatiana asked, "We don't even know what's happening!" Pasha rolled his eyes at her and returned to twiddling his thumbs. Tatiana sighed and slouched back into the sofa, wishing she could go back to sleep. She tried toread some Dostoevsky, but was unable to concentrate on the big words.

Finally Mama returned with Papa trailing behind her. Dasha was the first to jump off the sofa and rush to her Mothers side. "Mamochka, what is it? What's wrong? Were you able to find a radio? What happened?" Dasha asked. Mama lowered her eyes and then turned to Papa who was holding a heavy looking radio. "Children, sit down. Isaak hurry up and help me set this thing up. We've only got a few minutes," Papa said. After a few moments they assembled the radio turned it up to peak volume. "Irina sit down! Tania go shut the door, I can hear Mariska crying all the way from in here. Tatiana reluctantly got up to shut the door, blocking out the sound of the little girl down the hall.

It was exactly 12:30 when the music stopped playing and Vyacheslav Molotov, assistant chairman of the council of the people's commissars of the USSR, and the people's commissar for foreign affairs began:

Citizens of the Soviet Union! The Soviet Government and its head, Comrade Stalin, have instructed me to make the following announcement:

Today, at 4:00 a.m., without presenting any claims against the Soviet Union or issuing a declaration of war, German troops have attacked our country, assaulting our borders in many places and subjecting our cities of Zhitomir, Kiev, Sevastopol, Kaunas, and other of our towns to bombing by their aircraft. Air raids by enemy planes and artillery bombardment were also made from bases in Rumania and Finland. This perfidious aggression against our country is a treachery without precedent in the histroy of civilized nations. The attack on our country has been made despite the fact of the Non-Aggression Pact between the U.S.S.R. and Germany, and despite the conscientious fulfillment by the Soviet Government of all the terms of this Pact. The attack on our country has been made despite the fact that the German Government had not submitted a single claim against the U.S.S.R. regarding observance of the Pact during ht entire time it has been in force. The full responsibility for this robber attack on the Soviet Union falls entirely on the German fascist rulers. At 5:30 a.m., after the attack had already taken place, the German Ambassador in Moscow, von Shulenburg, handed me in my capacity as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs a statement to the effect that the German Government had decided to declare war on the U.S.S.R. because of the concentration of Red Army troops at the eastern German border. I replied on behalf of the Soviet Government that up to the last minute the German Government had not submitted any claims against the Soviet Government, that Germany had attacked the U.S.S.R. in spite of the peaceful posture of the Soviet Union, and that therefore fascist Germany indisputably is the aggressor in this affair… Now, however that the attack against the Soviet Union has issued an order to our troops to repulse the robber attack and to drive the German troops from our Motherland. This war has not been imposed on s by the German people, nor by the German workers, peasants, or intellectuals whose suffering we can well understand, but by the clique of bloodthirsty German leaders who have enslaved the French, the Czechs, the Poles, the Serbs, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Greece, and other nations. The Government of the Soviet Union expresses its unshakable conviction that our valiant Army and Navy and the daring hawks of the Soviet Air Force will discharge with honor their duties towards the Motherland and the Soviet people and will deal a crushing blow to the aggressor. This is not the first time that our nation has had to deal with an arrogant, aggressive enemy. In its time our nation has risen to the challenge of Napolean's campaign into Russian in the Patriotic War, and Napolean suffered defeat and came to his undoing. The same fate will befall the arrogant Hitler, who has proclaimed a new campaign of aggression against our country. The Red Army and our entire nation will ocne against conduct a victorious Patriotic War for the Motherland, for honor, for freedom. The Government of the Soviet Union expresses its firm conviction that the entire population of our country, the workers, the peasants and the intelligentsia, every individual man and woman, will regard their obligations adnt their work with full awareness. The whole country must now be joined and united as never before. Each one of us must demand from himself or herself and from each other the discipline, the organization, and the selflessness worthy of a real Soviet patriot in order to supply the Red Army, the Red Fleet, and the Air Force with the means nenecessary to assure % victory over the enemy. The Government appeals to you, citizens of the Soviet Union, to rally your ranks ever closer around our glorious Bolshevik Party and our Soviet Government. Our cause is just. The Enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours.

"Fuck." Papa mumbled under his breath.

"That's impossible. We signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact two years ago!" Pasha exclaimed. "Well, did you not hear the man? Unfortunately that didn't stop them from coming," Papa paused, "We have a lot to accomplish, things are going to be changing drastically around here," he then turned to Dasha, "Go with Mama to the bank, we need all our money out of there… quickly. Isaak, I'm putting you in charge of going down to Avtovo to meet Babushka Anna. She'll be there in two hours, so you must get going. I know you and Eileen have dinner plans tonight, but could you please do this for the family?" Isaak nodded, kissed Tatiana's forehead and head out the door. Babushka was coming to live with them? Tatiana wanted to clap; she loved her Babushka Anna. She never got to spend much time with her, but her Babushka always told her the most fascinating stories about the revolution and about how she and Deda met back in 1884.

"I am going to go register us for ration cards, oh, and Pasha, you're to come with me." All of them started to flock out of the small space, while Tatiana was silently cheering because she assumed that she had gotten away without any chores. An afternoon where she could lay in bed and re-read Tolstoy's War and Peace for the hundredth time. Such bliss! A sly smile started to spread across Tania's mouth until Papa poked his head back in the room. "Oh Tania, I almost forgot," Papa started. Tatiana's sly smile quickly vanished as Papa fished his hands into his trouser pockets and pulled out two hundred rubles, Tatiana stared wide-eyed at the colossal amount of money. "Go buy as much food as possible. Nothing perishable. You can do that, right?" Without waiting for an answer, he turned on his heel and headed out of the small apartment. Well, Tatiana thought to herself, at least I don't have to go with Pasha or Mama.

Tatiana didn't know what to do at first. She considered waiting an hour or two so she could read more Tolstoy, but she didn't want to risk being caught. She had no idea on how to gage how long they would be gone. She knew that if she were to be caught she would be in heaps of trouble. Plus she wanted to do something right, she did not want to mess this one thing up. How hard could it be to find food? She smoothed out her bone white dress and weaved her hair into a single braid. Tatiana did not want to leave the apartment; it was Sunday, her only day off. She thought about stopping by at Marina's, but she knew that would take too long also. There was no such thing as a quick encounter with Marina; the two girls were attached to each other like glue.

Marina Sjogren was Tatiana's best friend. They met when they were still in secondary school, and have been inseparable for the past eight years. They instantly became friends when Marina told Tatiana that she had sticks in her hair during recreational period. Tatiana laughed and peeled out the sticks from the previous nights encounter when Pasha and her played war in tauride park. No other classmate would have the guts to tell Tania that she had dirt and sticks sorted throughout her hair, and Tania thought it was amusing that someone three years older than her did. Maybe that's what attracted them towards eachother. Maybe it was their vast age difference. One would think it would be Dasha and Marina who were best friends since Dasha was only two years older than Mina, but she and Dasha competed for boys, which turned them off to each other. Occasionally, Dasha and Marina would travel to Sadko together, but they always ended up arguing or ditching one another. Tatiana hated it when they went to Sadko. Sadko was practically a brothel expect the women were doing it willingly instead of being compensated. It sickened Tatiana to know that the two closest people in her life would participate in something so vulgar. Most of the time Marina would come home heartbroken because her hookups never wanted to meet up for a second time. Tatiana was always the one who would have to hold Marinas head in her lap and tell her how beautiful she was.

Marina practically lived with the Metanovs, even though her apartment was on 2nd Soviet instead of 5th. Marina's mother had passed away the previous year from typhoid fever, and her Father was always away on business, so Marina often found herself at the Metanov's. Marina hated being alone in her apartment more than anything. Tatiana and Marina got along so well because they were so opposite. Moving from Sweden when she was three, Marina lived such a foreign life. Their apartment was decorated in Scandinavian bliss, and her family had a decent amount of money. Marina had the stark white blonde hair that Tatiana longed for, and mesmerizing ice blue eyes. Marina was twenty while Tatiana wasn't even seventeen, but their age didn't matter to each other. Tatiana often found Marina telling her exotic stories about Sweden and other places that she would frequently go to. Tatiana dreamed of living the life that Marina had. Marina considered Tatiana to be her charity case. She saw Tania as someone that she could dump her problems onto, but she also considered her to be a breath of fresh air that enabled her to get away from the scandalous adult activities that she partook in. Marina could never tell Tatiana about the many suitors that she met up with, or the countless times that she went and danced at the local men's club. She was already mortified over the fact that she went to Sadko with Dasha. Marina lived off the fact that Tatiana adored her; it made her feel empowered and strong. Marina loved Tania, but she just didn't tell her everything that she did.

Tatiana sat around for another five minutes, and then decided it was time to go. She slipped on her only pair nice shoes; they were crimson red strappy sandals that Babushka Maya had bought her when she and Deda went down to Moscow a few years back. Babushka Maya had bought Tatiana an immense amount of items when she went to Moscow. Tatiana stood for another few moments before she head out, thinking about Tolstoy and memories of Luga.

The thought of their small dacha in Luga made Tatiana's heart sink. They hadn't been to Luga in over a year, and they had no plans to go down this summer. Tatiana missed Luga so much. She missed swimming with Pasha, Isaak and Pashas friends. She missed seeing her cousins, Yana and Sonia, and playing with their small pony, Belya. Tatiana thought about her cousins while she walked down 5th Soviet and onto Grechesky Prospekt until she made it onto Nevskiy Prospekt. Nevskiy Prospekt had the best markets.

The people she passed made her feel extremely uncomfortable. Most of them had a look of terror in their faces. To Tatiana, it certainly did not feel like a war was going on. It was just another typical sunny day during the Leningrad summer. Some of the people were hysterically crying, some were screaming like they were mentally ill. Tatiana had to frequently move aside for people pushing their way through the packed street. She noticed an elderly couple holding hands, they looked at Tatiana with her red sandals and they both gave her hopeful smiles. Tatiana's cheeks turned pink and she returned the smile, embarrassed that she was so dressed up on what was supposed to be a day of disaster. Being completely honest with herself, Tatiana had totally forgotten about the war. She thought the whole thing was some sort of sick joke to make the people of Leningrad go insane.

It certainly did not feel like war, thought Tatiana as she made her way to the market on Nevskiy Prospekt and Grechesky. Once in clear view, Tatiana paused. There was no way this line was for the market, she thought. Tatiana blinked multiple times, astonished that there even was a line. She went up to a woman who was carrying a wicker basket, and holding a small childs hand. The woman glanced at Tatiana and at her cheerful Sunday outfit.

"Is this the line for the market?" Tatiana asked her, still examining the vast amount of people. The woman stared at Tatiana for a few moments before giving her a snarky remark, "What do you think missy? Go wait in the back," She said, pointing her hand towards the end of the line. Tatiana remorsefully went and stood at the back of the line, but after a few minutes she left. Her impatience was kicking in. Tatiana did not want to wait on line for an hour. Now where am I going to find food? She thought, cursing herself for giving up her spot in line. Papa was going to be so angry with her for not waiting in line. The Nevskiy market was the best market in all of Leningrad, there was no way she was going to find somewhere nearly as good.

Tatiana continued to walk down Nevskiy Prospekt until she found the next market at the intersection of Mayakovskogo. She nearly let out a cry of agony because the line at Mayakovskogo was nearly twice as long as the line at Grechesky. She contemplated on what to do next. Papa would be furious if she showed up with no food. She had no clue where to find the next market so she continued to walk down Nevskiy. In this distance she saw a familiar white-blonde head bobbing in and out of the busy crowds.

"Mina!" Tatiana screamed. Marina turned around and smiled a set of pearly whites. Tatiana ran up to her, wincing at the ache in her feet.

"Tania! What are you doing out? I thought Sunday was your reading day." Marina laughed as she embraced the small Tatiana in her arms.

"Normally… but Papa made me go get food. Do you know where I can get any?"
"Silly Tania. At the market," Marina chortled at her own sarcasm.

"Funny Mina, I wasn't aware. But seriously, the market on Nevskiy is packed full. There's a line!"

"Did you go to the one of Mayakovskogo? That market is pretty descent, nothing compared to Nevskiy though. You could try the black market."

"No way! That's how you get assaulted. And the one on Mayakovskogo is full also. There is absolutely no way that I am waiting in line for an hour."

"Gosh Tania, you are so impatient," Tatiana grinned.

"By the way, I have good news." Whenever Marina said that, Tatiana knew that it had to do with a boy, and that it would later lead to Marinas head in her lap.

"Let me guess. You met someone?" Tatiana asked as they sat down on the sidewalk bench.

"Is it really that easy to tell?" Marina smiled a casual stunning smile.

"Who is he?"

"He's a soldier, Tania. You have no idea. We went out for a second time last night. I think I might be in love." Tatiana wanted to giggle at how silly Marina sounded. She was supposed to be the mature one and she thought that she was in love after two dates.

"What's he like?" Tatiana asked after a few moments, she knew that it was her obligation to seem remotely interested. After a thousand times of having the same conversations about her new "love," Tatiana had progressively become uninterested. Its not like she wasn't happy for Marina, its just that she knew that Marina would come home "heartbroken" within the next day, and within a week she would be off meeting a new boy.

"He is the most handsome man, ever. I don't think I've ever seen someone so handsome. But he is also so mysterious, he wont tell me anything about his personal life or about himself. So intriguing! Tania you must meet him so you can see for yourself. I think he is a keeper. I really do. I really think he's the one." Marina swayed to the side of the bench and put her palm on her forehead.

"Don't be a drama queen," Tatiana laughed.

"Oh shut up, you."

"He sounds… interesting, though," said Tatiana as she stood up.

"Where are you going? I have so much to tell you! I didn't even get to the scandalous parts yet." Marina screeched, causing meandering pedestrians to stare.

"I have to go and find food, otherwise Papa will kill me. How about you come over for dinner tonight and we can talk more about it?" Tatiana kissed her cheek and continued to head down Nevskiy.

She was about to turn down vladmimirskiy prospekt when she saw Papa and Pasha waiting in a long line for something. Pasha was carrying a large travelling bag and Papa had looked frazzled. Tatiana quickly turned on her heel and headed the other way; she was in no mood to be lectured by her Father about finding food.

She had to stop once she had reached the Fontanka Canal. The balls of her feet were aching and blisters were starting to form where the leather was chaffing against her skin. What now? She tried asking a few more pedestrians where the nearest market place was, but they all looked at her like she was a German. Finally she sat on the side of the bridge and tried to hold back tears. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she do one thing right? Everyone was being so unpleasant towards her this morning. Even Isaak had distaste in his voice, and he was always kind to Tania. She looked around and noted the beautiful statues of men taming wild horses, she gave a small smile because Tatiana had a large appreciation for old things and horses. She sat and basked in her youth, looking around, trying to smile, sitting in her inevitable innocence.

While wiping away a single fallen tear, Tatiana looked up from her eyelashes and noticed a soldier staring at her from across the street. Tatiana's cheeks instantly flushed a deep red and she averted her eyes elsewhere. She hated making uncomfortable eye contact, especially with strangers. Once a few moments had passed she looked back up to see if the soldier was still there. He was. She felt as if she were moving in slow motion and as if all her actions were being heavily assessed. She was quickly drawn to how tall he was, and how built he was. He didn't look like a scrawny little Russian boy or like the boys that Pasha would force her to play with. He looked like a man. Tatiana noticed she had been staring at him for too long and she turned her eyes down to her blistering toes. She tried to distract herself in anyway possible. She wiggled her toys, played with her fingernails, twirled a piece of hair around her fingers. She even considered getting up to walk away, but her feet hurt to much to start walking again. Nothing she did was able to sidetrack her from the fact that there was a man, not just a man, a soldier, standing across the street, staring at her.

When she looked back up, the soldier was crossing the road… walking towards her. Tatiana almost got up to ran away. He's probably coming over here to tell you that staring is rude, Tatiana scolded herself. She looked around to see if there was anyone else that he could possibly be walking towards but they were the only two people on the cement bridge. She stared at him quizzically, noticing his unruly deep brown hair. As he got closer to Tatiana, she found it was easier to notice details; like the shiny silver metal pinned to his left breast pocket, or his strong jaw bone. He was wearing his beige dress uniform with a matching beige cap. The cap was tilted to the side with a shining red star on the front. His metallic shoulder boards seemed impressive. Maybe he was general. Tatiana didn't know if she should smile, or if she should just continue to do nothing. She continued to do nothing.

The situation was completely uncomfortable and Tatiana tried to find something to distract herself with again. The best thing she could think of was fiddling with her dark blonde hair, and eyeing her shoes. I wish I didn't wear these stupid sandals, she thought angrily to herself.

The wind blew aimlessly, causing her hair to whirl in loose tendrils. Tatiana's skin broke out into goose bumps with the sudden chill of the juniper June wind. Her heart was racing, and her cheeks were still a bright red when he sat next to her against the cool cement bridge. He sat about a foot away from her small frame. He was very confident.

"Are you alright?" He asked. His voice was masculine and intriguing. Tatiana was infatuated that he had crossed the street to see if she was alright. She got a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach. It took her a few moments to respond.

"Yes." She squeaked.

"You're crying. Is it because of the news?" He said, taking out a cigarette. He silently offered her one but she shook her head no. What news? She had no clue to what he was even talking about.

"News?" She asked him, weakly. She looked at him, melting into his warm brown eyes. Tatiana thought she had never seen anyone quite so handsome. He smiled at her and let out a small laugh.

"About the Germans. What? You haven't heard?" He said, taking a long drag of his cigarette. He smiled at her, showing off his pearly white teeth. Tatiana gulped.

"You don't mind do you?" He asked, indicating to his cigarette. Again, she shook her head no nervously.

"Oh that news. And no, that's not why I'm upset," she finally replied. She felt calmer. Her heart wasn't racing like a ticking time bomb anymore.

"Then why are you upset?" She looked at him. Why was a stranger asking her why she was upset? It seemed so peculiar, yet it softened her to know that someone in this city cared about something besides the war.

"It's honestly nothing. I'm just feeling sorry for myself." Tatiana certainly did not want to reveal her absurd problem. It embarrassed her to even think of saying why she was crying. She was crying over groceries. How would that look? He would probably get up to leave and think to himself "Why did I even sit down?"

"Well, is it something I could offer my help for?" He said, his right hand clutching his heavy rifle. Her eyes expanded as she noticed how large his rifle was. Why was a soldier asking weak little Tatiana Metanova for help? It made absolutely no sense. She didn't bring any cards to the table. She was weak, slender, hipless. She didn't have Marinas white blonde hair, or Dasha's pretty chestnut ringlets. Nor did she have Dasha's feminine body. Tatiana thought that she resembled a child. Her light green eyes seemed sad, and her white eyelet dress was practically pathetic on the hostile June day. Why would a handsome soldier in the red army be talking to her? To Tatiana, it made absolutely no sense.

"I don't think so. Look, I don't want to keep you from your soldiering… whatever it is you do." She said, stopping herself before she said something else completely idiotic.

"I have city patrol today. It's my duty to help civilians in need. You were crying, so I'm doing my job by trying to help you." He looked at her seriously, and she laughed. "What? Is something funny?" He asked her, faintly nudging her in the side. Faint, but it was enough for her to feel an electric shock coarse throughout her body.

"Look, your honestly better off helping some homeless woman with her shopping bags. I'm just a charity case. You wouldn't want to help me." Tatiana said.

"You think I would rather help some old homeless woman than a pretty young girl in a white dress?" He said. Tatiana blushed a darker crimson red, and laughed it off nervously. Had she heard him correctly? Did he just say pretty? Tatiana couldn't even believe the situation; she was talking to a Red Army soldier. What was happening?

"If you really want to, I wont stop you. But I'm warning you, your going to think I'm pathetic."

"I highly doubt that. But, you could start off by telling me your name." He stated. She couldn't believe herself. Dasha and Marina would die once they heard that a soldier had willingly helped Tatiana. She couldn't wait to rub it into their faces. She was no longer the weak, child-like Tanechka that they always poked fun at. Maybe they would start asking her for womanly advice.

"I'm Tatiana." She said, offering him her hand. He grasped it, encompassing her small hand in his. His hand was warm and soft, she had to pull it back after a few moments.

"I'm Alexander. It's nice to meet you."