Anastasia awoke earlier than usual the next morning, as the sun wasn't fully risen, and the sky still showed some stars here and there.
She'd had a terrible dream, mostly about the mysterious man Rasputin her mother had spoken so fondly of.
Apparently he helped cure her brothers' illness and was a magician of sorts, but even though she'd only seen him once, he'd left a terrible impression on her.
She shivered as she remembered the feelings of his eyes as he looked directly at her, as if looking into her soul.
Sitting upright, she wrapped her blankets around her and bulled her knees to her chest, trying to forget the dream. Eventually, she got up and dressed and was ready before a servant came in to wake her.
Russia had had trouble sleeping last night, and woke with a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He really hoped the Tsar would do something, otherwise he feared the people would take matters into their own hands.
He could almost hear the angry shouting already. But as he sat up and got himself dressed, all he could hear was a lone bird chirping somewhere near his window.
No one ever came to wake him in a morning- he was allowed to do as he pleased, mostly. He only ever has to be present for important events such as international visits and the like. He stretched and yawned, opening his door and going to get breakfast.
He hoped the Tsar had forgiven him from last night. He scared Russia sometimes. He didn't usually eat breakfast with the Romanovs, and that morning he just went to the kitchen where one of the servants already had something prepared for him.
Anastasia made her way downstairs into the kitchen, where Russia was already having breakfast. "Good morning." She greeted him sleepily, and joined him for some breakfast. As she ate, she noticed he seemed a little worried. "Are you ok?" she asked.
Russia smiled at Anastasia. "Yes I'm fine~" he said. "I just had trouble sleeping last night, that's all." As he looked down at the young girl, he suddenly felt very protective of her, and slightly worried too. But he pushed it to the back of his mind and enjoyed the food. "Breakfast's unusually nice today, isn't it?" he said. He decided he was going to go and walk around the city again that day. He felt like he ought to, for some reason.
"hmmhmm" she mumbled between mouthfuls. "It looks nice out, too!" she smiled. She noticed the look he had given her earlier, but chose to ignore it. She understood he had many problems to deal with as a country, he was probably just thinking about one of them. "Hey, Russia, what are the other countries like? Do you get along?"
Russia was quite taken aback by her question. "Yes, most of them are very nice~" he said. "But I don't really know any of them that well, except my sisters of course." he smiled at Anastasia.
He waited for her to finish eating before standing up. "I'm going out." he said, staring to walk away. "I'll see you later~! Take care of Alexi for me!" he headed to the side door and got his coat on, stepping out into the bright morning.
"Goodbye!" she called after him and headed back to her room. On the way, she stopped by Alexei's room, where a maid was stood outside.
"Is he ok?" she asked worriedly. The maid nodded. "May I?" she nodded towards the door, and the old woman opened the door for her. There her brother sat on his bed, looking quite glum.
"Good morning" she smiled, but he turned to her with a sullen face and looked quite pale. "Russia was here earlier...he's gone now, but he'll be back soon." Alexei made a little half-smile and nodded slowly and turned back to looking at the floor. Anastasia stood there awkwardly for a while, not sure what to do. "Well, when he comes back, we'll play together, ok?" she tried to be cheerful, knowing his current mood. After getting no response from him, she slowly backed out and returned to her room.
Russia didn't notice the cold much that day, as he was too preoccupied thinking about other, more important matters. He sat on a bench for a while- he wasn't sure how long- and watched the people going by.
He noticed many of them had clothes that were much to thin and bare for this time of year, and he watched sullenly as two children fought over a piece of bread. He remembered it wasn't always like this. He also noticed a few passers-by stealing jealous glances at his warm, thick coat and luxurious scarf, and felt guilty.
He would have given his coat away (he could easily get a replacement) but what would be the use in that? It would only help one person. He sighed and looked up at the sky, which was beginning to snow gently. He noticed that the sun had moved a considerable distance in the sky, and wondered exactly how much time he had spent thinking. He stood up and made his way back to the palace.
As he made his was back, the young princess was gazing out of her window, admiring the clouds when she saw Russia walking towards the palace.
At first she was filled with excitement at his return, but noticed his slumped posture and sat expression. Getting up, she headed down to greet him anyway, opening the door before he even had a chance to place his hand on the handle. "Welcome back!"
Russia instantly perked up when he saw Anastasia, for her sake at the very least. "Hello Ana~" he said, smiling. He brushed the snow off his coat before hanging it back up. "Sorry I was so long, I lost track of time." he said, as they walked up into the main part of the palace. "Hey Ana~" he said. "I think we should go and visit Alexei. He's probably getting lonely, up in his room all alone."
The girl nodded eagerly "I told him we would play together when you got back." and she grabbed the tall nation by the wrist and brought him up to Alexei's bedroom. He was just as she left him: sitting on the edge of his bed looking at the floor.
He looked up when they entered, and smiled a little when he saw Russia. "Hello" he tried to sound perky, but he was still weak after having lost so much blood.
Russia smiled at the young boy, although he was worried for him. "Hello Alexei~" he said, sitting on the end of his bed with Ana. He was glad to see the boy's eyes light up slightly. "Well, I think it would be best if you stayed in bed." he said. "But~" Russia looked at them both in turn. "Do you two want to hear some stories? I can tell you about the Snowgirl, or adventures of the great Tsars many years ago, or about magical creatures that live in the great forests." He smiled. "You can choose~"
Alexei leant back on his pillows and thought for a while. "I want to hear about the magical forest creatures" he smiled weakly. His sister lay next to him in his bed "Yes that sounds good!"
Russia sat back and made himself more comfortable, and recounted tale after tale to the two children. They were there for a good while, both the Romanovs listening intently. Suddenly though, as Russia was halfway through a story about an old bird woman from Siberia, a servant came into the room. "The prince needs rest, sir. I'm sorry to interrupt, but it's doctors orders." Russia sighed and stood up. "I'll tell you the rest tomorrow Alexei~" he said, smiling as he and Ana left the room.
Anastasia looked up at Russia sullenly once the door was safely shut behind them. "I suppose it would be unfair of you to finish the story without him, wouldn't it?" she sighed. After moment of awkward silence she looked back to him again, this time smiling "Let's play a game, then!"
Russia smiled down at the girl. She always made him happy, even when things were tough. He bent down slightly- he always felt awkward being nearly twice her height. "Like what Ana~?" he asked. He knew that dinner wouldn't be too long, so he hoped she didn't choose hide and seek again.
She looked around for inspiration before deciding "How about cards?" It wouldn't take too long, and she knew she could always beat him at pretty much any game even if a little cheating was required.
Russia racked his memory for a moment. "I think so, yes." he said. He dealt the cards out fairly quickly, although his fingers were still stiff from cold which caused a bit of trouble. He breathed on them to warm them up a bit before looking at Anastasia across the table. "Ok then, let's start~".
As the game began, Russia found that he soon remembered the rules, and it was fairly even for a long while- towards the end, he began to think he might win- until Anastasia suddenly gained the upper hand by what seemed like an uncanny stroke of luck. He accepted defeat, and put the cards back into the box, smiling. "You really are good at card games, Anastasia." he said. "We'd better get going for dinner though~" he smiled.
"Of course" the girl smiled and packed the cards away and handed them back to Russia. This time, they were early for dinner, and it was Maria and Tatiana who where late. Another notable difference was the presence of Alexei, who had a bit more colour in his cheeks. He still looked quite sad, but his health had clearly improved after a good rest.
Russia felt a tide of relief wash over him as he saw Alexei sat at the table. He didn't say a single word to the Tsar that day, but he did chat briefly with the Tsarina and the children. He felt like something was slightly off, although he couldn't think what. He found himself continually glancing out of the window where the snow was slowly falling, and couldn't help but think of the people out there, in the cold. He wondered if they were staring to run out of firewood yet. But he snapped back to reality when he caught Anastasia watching him, and smiled at her warmly.
A few weeks went by, and the Tsar was present at the dining table less and less, always busy with his work. Anastasia had also noticed that Russia was spending more time than usual at the palace. Not that she complained, she loved his company and was like her ideal big brother. Which is why the news came to the family, she was distraught. The state of the war was growing worse, and the Tsarina told her children that they where not to leave the house because it was too dangerous. "However" she went on "It also restricts the amount of time Russia gets to be with us." "Will we see him much?" the princess asked. "No." her mother replied. It seemed that she also didn't like the idea of not having his presence around. It always made the palace seem warmer, safer even in these dark times.