Hey, guys! I'm back again! And, thank you all for the lovely reviews! Seven on the first chapter... *is in shock*
As I said, updates are going to be a little bit farther apart than usual, but they will come, never fear!
Also, I've started another story, which I'll be working on as well as this one. It's called "Written in Blood", and, personally, I like the idea a bit better than I like this series just at present. So...um... Yeah. It feels weird advertising my own story. Anyways, it's a crossover with "The Hunger Games", and it's a little hard to explain, so... Yeah.
Back on the topic of this story. I'm not really very happy with the title, but I cannot for the life of me think of a better one (and my possible titles file is failing me in my time of need). If you have any suggestions, please tell me! :)
Guest (first that reviewed): I'm glad you like the story so far! :)
Guest (the long reviewing one): Thanks for your review! It's totally okay that you reviewed a little late. :) It was a nice surprise to get another review!
Yup, you were right! Lithuania really can't stop himself from helping others...
Heehee, I'm glad you liked it! (I sort of ship EstKraine myself at the moment, so there may end up being some of that along with the LietBel...)
Latvia needs to build snowmen forever and be happy! :)
Chapter One:
Every sensible part of Lithuania's mind was currently informing him that he was an idiot. Anyone with sense could have seen that his plan would probably never work, that he barely had a chance. Even he knew how ridiculous it was to even hope that something like this would work…
"And yet I am going through with it," Lithuania thought, "I have to."
He was just outside Russia's bedroom door, and he felt himself questioning his actions. What if this didn't work? What if, because he had made this decision, everything got worse?
It didn't matter. Russia was all alone, and that was the thing the large nation feared the most. So Lithuania would try once again to be his friend, although he knew from experience that it would probably not end well.
"If ends with torture, so be it. I can bear it. I have before. No matter what happens, I will be strong. And I will try not to hate Russia. I will try…to be his friend."
Standing outside Russia's room, he realized that none of the others would understand what he was about to do. No doubt they would worry.
"But this is my choice. I have a right to choose what I do with my life. And this is what I choose."
Acting before he lost his nerve, Lithuania knocked on the door.
There was no answer. The brunet nation knocked again, feeling his resolve starting to waver.
"Mr. R-Russia? It's me… Lithuania. Can I talk to you?"
Suddenly, the door opened, and a hand shot out, yanking Lithuania inside. The Baltic nation ended up on the floor, gasping as his legs made impact with the hard wood.
"What are you doing here?" Russia asked, staring down at him in evident confusion.
"I… I wanted to talk to you," Lithuania said.
"Why didn't you all leave?" Russia asked, "I thought you would…you would all be leaving…now…"
"We can't think of anywhere to go yet," Lithuania said, "The other are outside, playing in the snow."
"But you have been coming in here…" Russia said, puzzled, "For what purpose?"
"I don't want you to be alone," Lithuania said, "You don't like being alone, do you?"
For a long moment, Russia stared at him.
"I am not understanding," he said, "You were wanting me to let you all leave… And yet you have been coming here."
"I've been alone, too," Lithuania said, "Those nights in the basement, alone… Those were some of the most terrifying experiences I've ever had. And you… You're always alone, Mr. Russia. I…I feel sorry for you."
Russia was staring at him again, his violet eyes wide and confused.
"Being alone hurts," Lithuania continued, "I know…perhaps better than anyone… I know that being hurt only makes you more likely to hurt other people. So, Mr. Russia, if you'll let me… I would like to be your friend. A long time ago, you said we could be friends someday. Hasn't someday… Hasn't someday come yet?"
Russia was silent for a very long time. Then, the large nation walked over and sat down on the edge of his bed. Lithuania watched, slightly unnerved and more than a bit confused by the Russian's behavior.
"Come sit, Litva," Russia said, patting the spot next to him, "I cannot be talking to you if you are all the way down there."
Cautiously, Lithuania got up and went to sit next to Russia, although he refrained from sitting too close.
"Why have you been changing your mind?" Russia asked.
"W-what do you mean?" Lithuania asked.
"Some time ago, you were begging me to stop these things and let you leave," Russia said, "Now you come here to stay with me."
"I n-never said I wanted to leave," Lithuania said, "You see, Russia… I really do think we could be friends. But friends don't hurt each other. It's hard to be your friend when you hurt me, so I wanted it to stop. But I don't… I don't want to leave you all alone. I don't want you to be alone, if being alone makes you sad."
"Then…you won't leave me?" Russia asked.
"No," Lithuania said, "Not unless you want me to."
"I am not sure I can be believing you," Russia said, "You left me before."
"Then I'll stay until you believe it," Lithuania said, "Please, believe me, Russia. Would I lie to you?"
"I am not knowing that," Russia said, "But I do know that you would defy me."
"To try and save someone," Lithuania said, "Yes."
"Why?" Russia asked, "Estonia… Estonia tried to kill you, and me as well. Why would you still help him?"
"I can't stop myself," Lithuania said, "I can't stop myself from trying to help people."
He gazed out the window, down into the snowy yard, where Estonia, Belarus, Latvia, and Ukraine were still building their snowman.
"I could be down there now," he said, "Instead of up here in the dark. But I hate being alone. I thought maybe you could use some company, and once I thought of it, I couldn't stay away."
He paused, trying to form his thoughts into words.
"Go on," Russia said quietly.
"I saw how sad you looked," Lithuania said softly, "When we all… When we all decided we'd had enough. You looked angry… But you were sad too, and hurt that we would do that to you. In your mind… You probably think we betrayed you, right?"
"Da," Russia said, "It felt like betraying, and hurting, and… Why, Litva? Why do they all hate me?"
"I don't think they hate you," Lithuania said, "I just think… They don't understand why you act this way. To them, it's easy to act like normal people should, because they've seen normalcy. But… Russia… You really were hurt, once. I don't know how, or why, or what happened, but after seeing what happened to Estonia… I know that someone hurt you. And I've been hurt so much that I can't bear to see anyone else in pain."
"So… You don't hate me?" Russia asked, "But you still are not understanding…?"
"I know you're trying to help," Lithuania said, "You're just… Mr. Russia, you never really got to be a child, did you? Did you ever get to play in the snow?"
Russia shivered.
"I… I am not much liking the snow," he said slowly, sounding rather disturbed at the thought of playing in such a substance.
"Then, wouldn't you like to play in a field full of sunflowers?" Lithuania asked.
To his relief, Russia's face brightened.
"Da!" Russia declared emphatically, "I would like that very much!"
"See?" Lithuania said, "That's a good, normal emotion."
"A normal emotion for a child, but… It is a start, I suppose."
"Litva?" Russia asked, sounding puzzled, "Do you mean to be saying that I do not have the normalness?"
Lithuania laughed.
"I never said that…"
"I am thinking you thought it," Russia said, "But that will be all right for now. Do you like sunflowers? I think I may have been asking you before, but I don't really remember…"
Estonia was starting to get worried. The others had finally noticed that Lithuania was gone, and they were trying to decide what to do.
"Why are we panicking?" Ukraine said at last, "He probably went back to the house to get warm."
"Without telling us?" Belarus asked, "He's not like that, Ukraine. If he was just going in because he was cold, he would have said something so that we wouldn't worry."
The girl's expression was grim.
"He's gone to do something stupid," she said, "I can feel it."
"There's only one thing he could be doing in that house," Estonia said, "We all know that."
"Where did Lithuania go?" Latvia asked. The adult conversation appeared to literally be going over the small nation's head, to Estonia's relief.
"Probably nowhere," Estonia said, glancing at Ukraine and Belarus and hoping they wouldn't argue, "I'll go see what he's up to."
"No, I will," Belarus said, "It's too cold out here, anyways."
Estonia had no chance to protest, as the girl had already turned away.
"You think he's gone to try and reason with Russia?" Ukraine whispered to Estonia.
"I don't know," Estonia replied. His head was starting to hurt again, and that worried him.
"You'd better not have done something stupid, Lithuania. Do you think my mind can handle that kind of stress? I don't think so."
"Estonia," Latvia said from behind them, "This is another one of those kinds of things where if there's something wrong, you won't tell me, right? And then someone else will tell me, and then bad things will happen."
"What happened earlier was onetime deal, Latvia," Estonia said, "Never again will you see me lose my cool like that."
"What have you done?" Ukraine asked.
"Estonia tried to cut his arm off!" Latvia chirped.
"I was not…" Estonia protested. Then, he sighed.
"I was not trying to cut my arm off," he repeated, adjusting his glasses, "I was merely experimenting."
Ukraine looked surprisingly sympathetic.
"You don't have to say that," she said, "I live with Russia too, remember? I know you weren't okay then."
"Well, I'm fine now," Estonia retorted, "So, you don't need to worry."
"Hey, you two," Latvia said, "Belarus is coming back, and she doesn't look very happy…"
Belarus was indeed coming back, and she looked as if she were about to strangle someone.
"Estonia!" the girl called as she approached, "I want to talk to you, and only you!"
"Belarus, are you…?" Ukraine started. However, Belarus fixed her with a glare that frightened even Estonia, and she instantly shut up.
Hoping that he didn't look as frightened as he felt, Estonia left Latvia and Ukraine and joined Belarus a short ways off.
"Lithuania is nowhere in the house," Belarus said, "I looked everywhere, and he's gone."
"There's one place no one would look," Estonia said, "Even you."
"If he's gone there," Belarus said, "Then he's a greater fool than I thought."
"He might just be hiding out somewhere," Estonia said, "If he doesn't show back up by tonight… Then we can start to worry."
"And if he doesn't?" Belarus asked, "If he's really gone back to Russia?"
"If he's gone to Russia…" Estonia said, "Then we have to hope he'll make it back in one piece."
"No," Belarus said, "We will not leave him with my brother. If Lithuania does not return, I will confront Russia."
"You can do that, then," Estonia said quietly. He looked away, aware that Belarus was staring at him.
"I can't fight him again. I'm too scared of what will happen to me if I get hurt again. I don't want to get hurt again, and I don't want to hurt anyone else. Damn Lithuania! Why did you have to ruin everything, just when things were starting to take a turn for the better?"
Night had fallen on the world, but Lithuania was still where he had been earlier that afternoon. Russia's room.
"M-Mr. Russia?" Lithuania asked, aware that he sounded more nervous than even Latvia usually did, "Would it b-be all right if I w-went to my room now? It's g-getting l-late…"
"You want to leave, Litva?" Russia asked. The larger nation sounded rather hurt by Lithuania's question.
"J-just for the night," Lithuania said, "I'll come back in the morning, if you want…"
"But if I let you leave," Russia said, "I am not knowing if you will come back."
"I promise I'll come back," Lithuania said, "I'll come every day, if you want me to."
Russia shook his head.
"I am thinking that it would be less of the walking for you, if you would be staying here," he said.
Lithuania sighed.
"He picks the worst times to make a rational point…"
"But the others will worry about me," he said, "It…it might make them sad if I just…disappeared."
"They can be sad," Russia said, "But you are not leaving."
"Russia…" Lithuania said, "Please… I promised I would come back."
"I am not trusting your promises," Russia said, "Earlier this day, you were saying you wanted to stay with me and be my friend. Now you want to leave."
"Friends don't keep each other prisoner," Lithuania said quietly. He instantly regretted it, as Russia's voice started to take on a sinister tone.
"Litva!" Russia snapped, "You are staying here! Discussion ended!"
If it hadn't been for the fact that Russia would probably have tied him up to prevent him from hurting himself, Lithuania would have kicked himself for his stupidity.
"Did I really overestimate him again?" the brunet Baltic thought, "How do I get in these situations…?"
After a moment, he thought of one thing that might be able to get him out of Russia's room and safely into his own bed.
"Russia," he said, "Where am I supposed to sleep?"
The larger nation appeared to be deep in thought for several minutes. Then, he smiled.
"My bed is very big, so you can sleep with me!"
"I should have seen that coming…" Lithuania reflected, "How can I convince him that that's not happening…?"
"But, Mr. Russia, I really don't think…"
"You can call me Ivan, da?" Russia asked, "After all, we are friends, so that is okay, right?"
"I g-guess so, Mr. Russia," Lithuania said automatically.
"Not Mr. Russia," Russia said, coming over to stand in front of the Baltic nation, "Ivan. Can you say that?"
"I-Ivan," Lithuania said, "Your name is Ivan."
Russia smiled.
"Very good! Now, come on, Litva. It is time for sleeping."
Lithuania sighed. It was going to be a very long night.
Russia was feeling extremely confused. One moment, Lithuania wanted to stay with him. The next, the silly, confusing little nation was trying to get away.
And he wasn't going to let him leave. All the others had deserted him. Even his own sisters had left him behind and gone off somewhere. He only had Lithuania, and he wasn't going to lose him.
Russia glanced over at the other nation, who was curled up on the other side of the bed. Lithuania appeared to be asleep, but, every once in a while, he started shivering for a few moments, then calmed down again.
"Are you cold, Litva?" Russia whispered. There was no answer from Lithuania.
Quietly, Russia got out of bed and, walking over to the closet, rummaged around until he found a spare blanket. The large nation returned to the bed, but before he got in, he tucked the blanket around Lithuania.
"It is very cold here," he said, "So you need to keep warm while you are sleeping. Don't worry, Litva. I will be protecting you."