Snow

"The snow itself is lonely or, if you prefer, self-sufficient. There is no other time when the whole world seems composed of one thing and one thing only."

Alfred ran towards the outskirts of town with a bag gripped firmly in his hands. A huge grin spread across his face when he saw the familiar towering figure of Ivan in the distance. He could not believe it. He thought that the man – well, not really a human but who cares – would not come! "You came!"

"I didn't think you would really come back…" Ivan admitted as he stood like a statue.

Alfred's sky blue eyes widen, "You were waiting for me?" before a burst of joy shot through him and he attempted to pounce on Ivan… only to meet the ground again.

"You never learn, da?" Ivan asked, amused by the boy's bull headedness and forgetfulness.

Alfred just pouted before he gasped and quickly opened his bag. Rummaging through his bag, he fished out a bag of black and charred looking cookies, presenting it proudly to Ivan. "Here! I made these yesterday after I got home!" Ivan looked at the contents of the bag sceptically. He was no expert on human food but were cookies supposed to look that black? If he did not know they were cookies, he would have thought they were charcoal… "Oh! I forgot! Can you eat human food?"

Ivan nodded hesitantly and accepted the offered cookies. Holding it in his hand, he gulped before taking a bite and blanched. Looking at Alfred's expectant face, he had to force himself not to reveal how utterly horrible the cookies tasted (1). It probably really tasted like the charcoal it looks like. Choking back the 'cookie', he shoved the rest of the cookies into his pocket, "It's nice, da. I'll keep the rest for later." But the smile from Alfred after his comment was worth his torture… after all, how long had it been since someone smiled at him? People always shy away from him… "I bring you to somewhere fun, da. No worries, I'll bring you back to town later."

"Okay!"

Alfred hopped cheerfully behind Ivan as they headed to an unknown destination. Looking at Ivan's back, he wondered whether he would ever reach Ivan's height. The man/spirit/non-human practically looms over him when they stand facing each other!

A sudden chill ran down his spine and out of a corner of his eyes, he caught a glimpse of a shadow flitting pass him. Out of curiously, he turned to look, only to freeze in shock.

"Vanya, isn't that a human child?" The monstrous looking creature rasped as it stared unblinkingly at Alfred. "Can I eat it?" A wide vicious grin spread across its mouth, revealing huge gleaming, white teeth.

Ivan stepped in between Alfred and the monster, hiding Alfred behind his huge frame, "No. He's a friend of mine." Alfred stood quietly behind Ivan, careful not to touch Ivan as he resisted the urge to peek at the monster now that he felt safer with Ivan protecting him.

"Is that so… human child, do not touch Vanya, I'll eat you of you do!" It threatened Alfred menacingly. Alfred gulped and he stood slightly further from Ivan. He did not want to be eaten!

A sudden sneeze from Ivan rang loudly in the silence and the monster burst unexpectedly into a puff of smoke, leaving a beautiful lady with long platinum tresses and a fair complexion behind. The lady stared at Alfred and Ivan with wide eyes before she covered her face with a shriek and vanished into the snow. "A… woman?" Alfred looked up at Ivan confusedly, "What is she?"

"She is an ice maiden, da. They have the ability to transform and do so to lure in unsuspecting men." Looking at Alfred's horrified expression, he quickly added "But they are actually good creatures, da."

Alfred goggled at Ivan before squealing, "That's so cool! It's my first time meeting a monster!"

Ivan raised a brow at Alfred's quick and sudden swings in mood as well as his words, "Then what did you take me for, da?"

Alfred shrugged and stuck his hands into his pocket, not answering the question, as he really did not know how he viewed Ivan, "Are the two of you close? She seems to care a lot for you."

Ivan gestured Alfred to follow him. "Her name is Natalia, da. She sees herself as my younger sister."

"Oh… What kind of monster are you anyway, Ivan?" Alfred wondered aloud, looking at Ivan for an answer. "Oh yeah! Can I call you Vanya? That ice maiden, Natalia? She called you Vanya, right? Why?"

"You have a very short attention span, Alfred." Ivan noted. "Is it important to know what sort of monster I am? Yes you may use Vanya and Vanya is a diminutive form of Ivan, like a nickname."

"Cool! Vanya!" Ivan looked at Alfred, as if waiting for the reason why Alfred called him. "I just wanted to test your name out, you know? Vanya, Vanya, Vannnyaaaa~"

Ivan shook his head then quickly changed the topic, "Enough about me, tell me more about yourself, da."

Alfred was taken aback by the question before asking, "Are you interested?" not really expecting a heartening reply.

Keeping his gaze steadily ahead, Ivan only said, "I'm here because I'm interested, da?"

A huge grin spread across Alfred's face and a blush crept up his cheeks, "Well… I like the colour blue, being a hero, going on adventures, hamburgers…" and beneath his breath, he mumbled, "I like you as well… V-Vanya."

Alfred sneaked out from under the watchful eyes of Arthur and met up with Ivan daily. In those days, ice-skating in the pond, making snow angels, building snowmen and even the boring things made him immensely happy.

But in a blink of an eye, without both Alfred and Ivan noticing it, winter had come and gone.

"Alfred, spring is coming, da?" Ivan noted idly when he saw the blooming buds that had pushed pass the snow.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I would not be able to meet you for a while…" Ivan touched the shoots gently and frowned when they shrivelled and froze under his touch.

"Why?"

"I can only be around during winter, and as spring is coming… I don't think I would be able meet you after today."

Alfred look pensive for a moment before he shrugged, "Okay then." Ivan looked surprised at Alfred's nonchalant reply and slumped slightly, barely visible to the eye.

"Will I be able to see you again next year?"

The question was so soft and Ivan almost did not hear it but was glad that he did. A wide smile, rather uncharacteristic of him, spread across his face and he nodded, "Da. Let's meet when the first snow falls."

Alfred grinned at him, "Yeah, let's."

TBC

1: I won't be surprised if Alfred can't cook. Since (in canon) Alfred was raised by Arthur and in this fic, Arthur is Alfred's older brother and we all know that Arthur is the kind who can burn water.

A/N: To those who have read this fic, I'll like to thank you all so much! Especially DreamALltHopeALlt! You're my first reviewer!