A/N: Part two of two. With a weird, bad ending. Which is how I roll.

For the next month or so, they fell into a simple routine. He would write in the morning after waking up next to her, help her sometimes with the restaurant, and in the afternoon, he would begin drinking and talking loudly with the other patrons. By night, he would stumble into her bed and they would make love. It was more than Yao had ever hoped for: someone to be with, to love.

Of course, it was all too good to be true. And one early afternoon, things exploded. There was no better way to put it. Two young men entered the restaurant and sat down hesitantly. One of them, with shoulder length mousy brown hair stood up as he saw Ivan and went hesitantly over to him. "Ivan… Ivan Braginski, right?"

Ivan looked up from is writing and began to nod before falling silent and gaping. "How… When did you get here? How?"

"Katya told me the name of your new girlfriend. We managed to find her restaurant. It's…"

"A very nice place, da," Ivan interrupted, standing up and glancing at Yao desperately.

"Can I help you two?" Yao asked, going to the table.

The other man, this one blonde and glaringly effeminate replied, "Yeah. Like… Dumplings. Whatever it is that you make here."

"We make a lot of things. We're a restaurant," Yao replied flatly. "I can make you dumplings if you want. Pork or chicken?"

"What's, like, better?"

"Well," Yao sighed deeply, "What meat do you like better?"

"Pork," the man with brown hair said quickly. "Thank you. I…" he frowned and then tried to smile, extending his hand to Yao. "I should introduce myself. I'm Toris Lorinaitis. This is Feliks."

The blonde man grinned stupidly, "Totally great to meet you."

"What do you want, Toris?" Ivan asked quietly, looking at the man with something like fear. "Why are you in America?"

"Feliks-"

"I got, this, like, totally awesome freelance job during the fashion season. Like, you know, picking up designs and stuff. And showing some of my own. I design, like, awesomely."

"That's great," Ivan snapped, emotion finally apparent in his voice. "I saw some of your work in Moscow. It wasn't tremendously impressive."

Feliks whirled and stomped over to Ivan instantly, his face becoming strangely dark and his tone sharp. "You, like, write stupid stories. They aren't even, like, that good. So shut your fat face. You know nothing, jerk-ass."

"Feliks!" Toris cried, grabbing his arm and yanking him back. "I'm s-sorry, Ivan. Feliks, go wait outside."

"Fine. But if he touches you, I'm going to get him re-arrested," Feliks said with a shrug and a smile before glaring at Ivan and snarling, "You, like, totally suck at description, by the way. And nobody in the world talks like people in your stuff."

Ivan was dead silent as Feliks left, and then sighed deeply, trying to smile. "Toris. Do you need something?"

"I just…" Toris sat down and frowned. "I wanted to see how you were doing. When I heard you had moved to the states with your sisters…."

"Did you come to flirt with Natalia again?" Ivan grinned wickedly, and Yao felt a quick flash of fear for a reason she couldn't identify.

Toris shook his head quickly and frowned, "I'm with Feliks. You know that. You… We had a discussion about that."

"You mean he beat you up about that," Yao said, annoyed. "Just speak the truth."

Ivan nodded, still smiling his twisted smile. "Da. Speak the truth, Toris. Yao knows what she's doing. I don't believe you've come to America without some kind of ulterior motive."

Toris was silent for a moment, and then sighed deeply. "Ivan. Can't you trust me just once in your life? I swear I didn't come to America to make you miserable. I just came to see how you were doing."

"Oh, really? And how am I doing?"

"Why do you do this to me?" Toris asked, his voice full of frustration. "Can I… Can't I just see you and find out how you're doing? I can't just say hello?"

"You broke up with me," Ivan snapped, his voice oddly deep. "I didn't ever want to see you again, much less talk to you, or try to pretend that your brothers didn't run me out of the country, or try to be friends again, or try to say that I like your stupid boyfriend." By the end of his rant, Ivan was shouting, holding the edge of the chair in a death grip, his knuckles white, sweat beating on his forehead.

Toris began to visibly shake, his eyes wide. "I… I just wanted to see how you were doing. That's all. I- I'm sorry. I'll go."

"Thank you," Ivan sighed deeply, sitting down again and taking a few long breaths. "Just go."

"I'll show you out," Yao said quickly, taking Toris's hand and leading him to the back door, looking over her shoulder at Ivan, who had slumped on the table. "What were you thinking?" she asked, taking Toris into the alley.

Toris shook his head. "I… I really did just want to see how he was doing."

"I'm sure you did," Yao looked at Toris with pity and curiosity. "I… I have a question or two for you."

"What do you mean?"

"Him. What's going on with him? It's just…" Yao sighed and shook her head, running her fingers through her hair. "I'll admit. I don't really know that much about him. He writes, he's sweet… But he's got weird sisters and his stories are all… kind of dark. I have yet to read one with a happy ending."

Toris laughed nervously. "That's Russian literature for you."

"That's a lie. I've read Crime and Punishment. It has a happy ending."

"That's… That's different." Toris sighed deeply and looked down the alley, probably looking for Feliks. "Ivan is sweet, yes, but… He's sick. That's all. He gets angry, and he gets violent. Don't… Just don't make him angry."

"How long were you two together?"

"Three or four years. I was a servant for his father for a while. And then his father fell out of favor with the new government and… Things just went badly, but…" Toris's face changed dramatically when he trailed off and smiled genuinely for the first time while talking about Ivan. "When he's good, he's very good, isn't he?"

"Yeah," Yao leaned against the wall, "He is."

"I wish you happiness," Toris said quietly, reaching out to shake Yao's hand. "And… Take care of him. He needs help that his sisters just won't give him."

"Obviously," Yao said quietly, "Sure. And good luck with your friend. He seems like a handful."

"Feliks? He's alright. He's rich, and artistic, and… disorganized. So I still have a job. And everything will turn out alright, I guess."

"Isn't it nice to think so?" Yao sighed, shaking her head again and going back into the restaurant where she found Ivan, sitting perfectly still, staring at the dirty window, crying soundlessly. Yao wrapped her arms around him and they stood silent together for a while before she poured him a shot of vodka, and they pretended that nothing had happened for a while.

Of course, playing pretend could only last for so long.

"Are you alright?" Yao asked one morning, about three days later. It was the early morning, and Ivan was crying again. Over the time that Toris had shown up and left, Ivan's disposition had changed dramatically: he no longer wrote, and he was drunk nearly every hour he was awake. Knowing that this one man had had such an effect on her lover both fascinated and annoyed (mostly annoyed) Yao.

Ivan nodded weakly. "It's nothing."

"Don't lie to me," Yao sighed. "You're upset about Toris. Let's just talk about this."

"I don't want to talk about this."

"Why not?"

"Because I just don't," Ivan snapped, rolling over and putting a pillow over his head. "I just don't."

"That's not an excuse."

"It's the truth."

"Well, I don't like the truth. Talk to me about him."

"What hell do you want to know about him?"

"The hell, Ivan, if you're going to ask me..." Yao sighed deeply, "Never mind. Just… You said he meant nothing and now you're moping around like a schoolgirl who just got dumped by a boy she'd been dating for a week."

"Shut up," Ivan snarling, sitting up and glaring now, his lips curled like an animal. "Don't insult me."

Yao glared back, crossing her arms. "I'm sorry, but it's true."

"I thought you didn't like the truth."

"When it's useful to me, I do."

"Bitch."

"What?"

Ivan shrugged, smiling slightly in the way children did when they knew they were being disobedient. "That's what I said, da. I'm going back to bed now."

"Don't you dare," Yao sprang over to him and grabbed his shirt sleeve, frowning deeply. "We're going to talk about him, because you clearly have issues."

When the back of Ivan's hand connected with Yao's face, she wasn't initially aware of what had happened, only that her head had snapped to the side, and everything was hot and tingling.

"I said don't insult me," Ivan said quietly, laying back down against the pillows and closing his eyes, his face strangely handsome again, as though he had never been angry.

"What…" Yao finally managed, touching her face. "What was that?"

"I told you not to insult me. You were touching me. I was angry." He opened his eyes and looked at her pathetically, "I didn't mean to."

"What about…."

"Let's not talk about him again, okay?" Ivan sat up and wrapped Yao in a tight hug, dragging her closer to him and into the bed. "Let's just not." He kissed her on her cheek, and the tingling grew worse. It would stay with her, at least in memory, for a long time. Or, rather, until the next week, when Ivan didn't show up once, but the bad news did.

There had been some speculation amongst the workers about Ivan's strange disappearance. Perhaps he'd been hit by a car? Fallen down a manhole? Been kidnapped into white slavery? Joined AA? The most popular theory was that he was secretly an ex-KBG agent who had finally been terminated. None of these theories settled well with Yao, of course, and on a Tuesday, a week and two days after Ivan had vanished entirely, bad news came in the form of the knowledge of alcohol poisoning and romantic complications, via Toris Lorinaitis.

"What do you mean you're back together with him?" Yao asked incredulously, slamming her tea cup down. "How is that possible?"

Toris shrugged slightly, "I don't know why nobody told you he was in the hospital, but… That's when we got back together. Feliks is pissed at me, but I thought you should know. That's why he's not coming back…"

Yao forced herself not to scream and nodded. "Alright. Fine. Can you tell him that he's an asshole who deserved to almost die in a ditch?"

"Um… I can pass the message along, sure."

"Great. And one more thing."

"Yes?"

Yao stood up, taking the plates. "He's never allowed to come in here and keep us open past hours ever again. Tell him that."

Toris nodded, standing up and going to the door, "Alright."

When he let, Yao dropped the dishes and let them break, hanging her head and letting herself get teary, though she didn't know why. It had just occurred to her that she still had his folder of English stories.

TWO MONTHS LATER

Winter descended quickly and heavily on the city like an unwanted blanket. The windows frosted up, the streets turned hazardously icy, and oversized coats came quickly back into fashion. Yao hated winter. She hated feeling trapped and exhausted, not having the sun, and not having the sidewalk look any different than the lawns.

Business continued like usual. Better, perhaps. Customers were created out of people walking home from work, avoiding the cold, and from people wanting a stiff drink on a frozen day. It didn't help Yao feel any better about the miserable weather, or the inevitable reunion that she hadn't been expecting.

Her back was turned when Ivan walked into the restaurant. It was Kiku who spoke first, "Can I help you, sir? Perhaps re-escort you to the door?"

"If I wanted to find the door, I'd turn around. Are you implying that if I was to do that, I wouldn't find a door? Is you escorting me to the door a need?"

"Necessity," Yao corrected without thinking, taking a deep breath and turning around to face Ivan with a grim smile that instantly melted into an expression of surprise.

Ivan was thinner, his hair shorter, his eyes clearer, and his scarf finally washed. "Well, Yao? Will the door go away?"

"No. It'll still be there," Yao mumbled stupidly. "Hi."

"Hi. It's been a long time." Ivan unwrapped his scarf and smiled. "How are you? Can I get a table?"

"Kiku," Yao said quietly, "I'm taking a thirty minute break. You and the rest of them… watch the fort. Keep people happy." She followed Ivan to a table and Kiku brought them water. For a long while, there was an uncomfortable silence for a moment before Yao asked quietly, "How are you and Toris?"

"Not together."

Yao's eyes widened, "What? Really?"

"Da. Really. We went back to Moscow for a while and…I came back to see how you were. I'm staying in America. For truth, this time."

"For real. That's how you say it."

"I'm staying in America for real," Ivan laughed quietly, taking a drink of water and sighed slightly. "Yao… Am I still banned from your restaurant?"

"No. But it looks like it's done you good… You lost weight."

Ivan laughed again, shaking his head. "I hate the food back home. I just don't eat. It's not healthy. So I'd rather be here and be fat and eat something that I like."

Yao laughed slightly and nodded. "Fine. You're back in the restaurant under one condition."

"What's that?"

"Tell me what happened between you two, and promise me you'll never think dating me is a good idea ever again."

Ivan nodded slowly, taking a long drink of water. "I was upset after what I did to you. Somehow, I ended up in the hospital, I think my sisters took me. Toris found me outside of my house. They say I had been shouting his name and destroying flower pots… Either way, he came to me in the hospital, and we went back home together. It didn't work. Please don't ask why but… He's with Feliks again, which is fine. Feliks is good to him. I came back, because here is where I need to be. With you."

Yao stared at him. He didn't appear to be making a joke, though it could have been a good elaborate one. "Ivan. I said don't ever date me again."

"I know. But even… without you as a romance, I wanted to be with you. Here." He looked around the restaurant and smiled. "Someplace familiar. Warm. All it needs is sunflowers."

"You know?" Yao looked at the walls and smiled slightly, "Alright. I think that can be done."

And as the snow fell gently outside, Yao took a deep breath. Someone found her restaurant familiar, and had returned to it. As she looked at Ivan, she knew that he was all she wanted. Not as a lover, but as a customer. Someone so loyal they came back from across the world. That, Yao realized as she exhaled, was what made this city so worthwhile: the loyalty she found in the people that lived in it. That was how she managed.

A/N: Up next... the Adventures of France and FemEngland and an Obnoxious Minor Character/Plot Device Named America.