A/N: Woopsies~! I forgot to put an authors note in the last chapter . SORRY ABOUT THAT! XD, well, the idea for this story has been floating around in my head for a few months, and since I had a lot of time recently, I decided to put it onto paper, and then finally onto the computer! This, I believe, is the first time I've ever actually gone over a story more than twice. I tried really hard to pack the emotion into this story ^.^' Anyway, it'd be great if you reviewed, as long as it's not down right rude. Constructive Criticism is great, and compliments are even better!
Well, enough of my blabbering on, here goes chapter 2~! Enjoy!
"I...just-I mean...I-" he stumbled through his words, completely caught off guard by the other's question. Truth be told, he had never thought of it that way, he always set out trying to help. He guessed now that he thought about it, he did sometimes end up telling everyone what to do. He wondered why he'd never noticed that before, and if he didn't notice that, he wondered if there were other things he did that he wasn't aware of.
He slumped back in his chair, deep in thought, and looking completely deflated of energy. Russia, who had yet to speak of his past, took the current silence as a sign that it was his turn. He leaned forward a bit, resting his chin on his gloved hand,
"Hmmm...well, I found it quite...disturbing, Amerika, when you refused to help fight Germany on my front, and instead formulated a whole plan to attack from Italy, even though we had already lost many soldiers after the German invasion," he said. Alfred looked over at him, his face looking tired, but attentive,
"And then," Russia continued, "I offered my help to you, and you bluntly moved forward, even though you had accepted it," he said simply,
"That was rather rude, da?" he asked. America looked hesitant for a moment, as if still processing what the bigger nation had said, before he slowly nodded,
"Y-yeah, I never really looked at it that way before..." he admitted, looking down at his feet. But then he got that certain fire in his eyes again,
"But I don't think that justified the way you treated me after the war!" he said suddenly, as if just realizing he could use this as a comeback,
"You tried to use fear and manipulation to force nations into becoming communist," he said, moving his body forward again to meet the challenge of the larger man,
"And then, you threatened to drop atomic bombs on me!" Alfred said, his voice cracking a bit. He'd never admit out loud how scared he was during that time. He couldn't, but he was certain that Ivan could tell that he had been scared, and he had used that against Alfred during that time,
"Da, but you threatened me right back," he said, somehow managing to look calmly hostile. Alfred frowned,
"It's not the same," he hissed, and Ivan hitched up his eyebrows,
"Da, you are right, it's not the same," he began, his eyes darkening, "When Stalin came to power, and all my people began to die, it was like I was killing my self, slowly, piece by piece I was dying on the inside, becoming nothing more than the shell of a country," he said, looking at nothing in particular, as if recollecting his past, "I hated myself for letting it happen, for not being able to do a thing to protect my people," he said, venom in his voice directed right back to himself, "I did not blame everyone for thinking I was a murderer, it was true," he said, looking down at the table as he toyed with his scarf absentmindedly. Alfred stared on in surprise. He knew what had happened, but never did he think Ivan had actually taken the blame upon himself,
"But...it wasn't your fault," Alfred said, and Arthur nodded, looking perplexed. Sure, Ivan was a creep, and he was kind of crazy, but he wasn't the one that killed people, Stalin killed people,
"You never killed anyone," Arthur said, obviously thinking the same thing as Alfred. Alfred nodded,
"He was your boss, there was nothing you could do about it, there was nothing anyone could do about it," Alfred added, and Ivan looked at the two skeptically, as if wondering whether they were lying or not. He finally nodded slightly in agreement, but the darkness continued to cloud his eyes, like a storm.