Sorry I haven't updated, I've been super busy! Thank you for reading 3
"So, how did you get here in the first place?" Alfred poked Natalya in the shoulder. Emma narrowed her eyes a little. They seemed to know each other well, but neither of them seemed very fond of the other.
"It's not your concern, idiot country." Natalya mumbled. She was wearing a navy blue dress that was soaked through with cold snow and ice.
"How do you guys know each other?" Emma asked quietly. Still skeptical of her sudden appearance.
"We've occasionally talked to each other at World Meetings. I am the personification of Belarus," Natalya said with a bored expression, "though, we've never gotten along very well."
"We would but your obsession with your brother and the fact that you think that me and him were in a 'romantic relationship' kinda creeped me out." Alfred snapped at her.
"Don't you even start." Natalya growled.
"I got the point." Emma said quickly,
"Ugh." Alfred sighed and wiped his forehead of the nonexistent sweat with the back of one hand. "Well…" They had moved out of the bathroom(Natalya had outright rejected the thought) and were now sitting in one of the aisles. Emma was bandaging Alfred's back.
"Hold still, this might hurt. Or not, actually, because you can't feel it anyways." Emma soaked a corner of her bandana in hydrogen peroxide(how it didn't catch on fire during the heat, she didn't know) and wiped it around the edges of his wounds. Her head was fuzzy and aching, but it was a little clearer now.
Natalya watched in silence as Emma poured a good amount in the cuts themselves and the telltale white foam of bacteria and infection bubbled up, shrouding Alfred's upper back in white and making him let out a low hiss.
"Damn, son," Emma said jokingly, earning a short laugh from Alfred. Natalya didn't even smile.
"I felt that,"
"Sorry, I'm trying to be gentle, but I poured a hell of a lot of this stuff on there, so you probably won't feel much else-"
"He needs stitches." Natalya spoke up in a flat tone.
"We don't have anything for that," Emma said quietly.
"I know."
"Uh, okay. Anything else you suggest?"
"Here." Natalya removed Alfred's shirt completely and picked up a box of small barbie band-aids. Emma moved out of the way to let her work.
Natalya arranged the band-aids so that the sticky parts brung the edges of one of the cuts together, but it wasn't strong enough, so she put another few until it stayed.
"Most of the other ones are melted together. I'm sorry." Emma said as Natalya searched for another one.
"It's fine. We can use the gauze for the rest." Natalya took the roll of gauze and winded it around Alfred's chest several times until it covered the other two wounds.
"T-Thanks." Alfred coughed uncomfortably. He wasn't used to having girls touching him, if even for serious reasons. "What now?"
"We should stay in here…" Emma murmured.
"Until what? Until we die?" Natalya snapped. "No, we have to get out. I need to find my family. I'm only helping you guys because I needed a place to stay."
"'A place to stay,'" Alfred snorted, pulling his shirt back on. "This hardly counts."
"It's better than out there."
"Facts, Natalya." Alfred said in a monotone.
"Don't ridicule me with your slang." Natalya spat viciously.
Emma stared at the two. It was funny, but they were completely serious at the same time. She grabbed a bag of Chex Mix which hadn't expired yet(the glory of processed food, Emma thought to herself) and tore it open. It tasted a little stale, but not bad.
"Try." Emma muttered to Alfred, not wanting to see the two nations start fighting. She was ignored. Emma's curiosity got the best of her as she continued to watch the two bicker.
Natalya was a fairly attractive woman, about 160 cm or 5'3", but it was Her eyes that had entranced Emma. Natalya's eyes were a beautiful shade of violet, but behind the layer of irritation from Alfred's talking, she could see pain and sorrow.
Being the idiot that he is, Alfred narrowed his eyes and his lips parted for a second before he asked with a hint of worry in his voice, "Hey, are Ivan and Katyusha alive?"
The question made Natalya cringe and glare at him. "Of course! What are you talking about?"
"Then where are they?"
"I…" Natalya paused, her gaze lowering to the ground. "I just…haven't found them yet."
"Oh," Alfred said, feeling like an idiot and like he should have known at the same time. "I'm sorry."
"I don't want your sympathy, idiot country." Natalya said as she turned away, not wanting them to see her pained expression.
"He didn't know-" Emma started to speak, but got cut off.
"Shut up, fighter girl." Natalya growled angrily.
Emma looked at her, a little offended but wanted to laugh at the new name.
"Sorry." Alfred repeated. "Like Emma said, I didn't know…"
"Whatever." Natalya mumbled. Her eyes were starting to sting with the threat of tears, and she felt it as they started to well up in the corners of her eyes. She took a shuttering breath, inhaling slowly, dealing with it like she could everything else.
Emma and Alfred watched in silence. Sadness and grief had become such common emotions, and there wasn't anything that could be done about it. Alfred longed to tell her that things were going to be okay, that her family was safe and sound, that things were perfect. But they could only assume the worst.
"I-I'm sorry." Natalya's sight blurred, and she squeezed her eyes shut. Her arms shook as tears started to roll down her pale face like raindrops on a leaf.
Emma took the emergency blanket and wrapped it around Natalya's shoulders gently. Seeing such a strong-willed and stubborn person made both Emma and Alfred feel a little hollow inside. Like something was off, missing, gone.
"There's...you don't need to apologize for anything." Alfred murmured softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. Normally Natalya would have slapped him and told him not to touch her, but she didn't even notice.
A few hours later, Natalya had fallen asleep, Emma at her side. Alfred had stayed awake to keep watch. He didn't want to admit it, but he was scared, scared that they were the only 'sane' people left in his own and his brother's countries.
His brother, Matthew, Canada.
Alfred could only wish and wish and wish for him until he had a headache from imagining what would happen when he found Matthew. One thing was certain, though; If he was still alive, Francis was going to pay for what he had done.
"Alfred? Hey, snap out of it." Natalya said from the floor. She had woken up only a few minutes ago, only to see him on the verge of crying. "What do you think would happen if your little fighter girl had seen you? She puts a brave face, but she's just as scared as us, maybe even more, since she's only human."
"Pah." Alfred's face hardened slightly again and he turned away from her. "Don't tell me what to do."
"I'm suggesting, idiot country. And you might want to take other people's opinions for once." Natalya hadn't taken long to return to her regular attitude. "I'm not going to be sympathetic for your family, because sympathy between us countries is dead. Insane, missing- your family is in quite a struggle, mm?"
"S-Shut up. I'm fine. Canada's going to be fine. England...er, I'm sure he'll go back to normal."
"And France?"
"France." Alfred said the name of the country with a high level of disgust. "Francis is going to die."
Natalya raised an eyebrow and flipped her hair out of her face with one hand, sitting up a little, seemingly impressed. "And why might that be, idiot country?"
"Because France is the one who has taken over Canada. He's the reason Matthew is missing. I will kill him."
"That's reasonable, I guess." Natalya sighed and closed her eyes a little. "I'm still not sure what we do next. I…" Her eyebrows scrunched together, forming a line. "I need to find my family."
"R-Right...and I need to find my brother." Alfred said.
"What about Emma?" Natalya asked. "Have you asked her what she wants to do?"
"No," Alfred admitted.
"Why not? She seems like she's not expecting to find anyone." She said.
"Well, if she was, she probably would've spoken up by now," Alfred retorted defensively.
"Well, maybe. But it's possible she just hasn't gotten a chance." Natalya argued. She looked down as Emma began to stir.
"Hmm? W-What's going o-on?" Her eyes opened, and she rolled over onto her back with a shiver. "It's still cold."
"Yes, I know." Natalya said irritably. "Do you have any family?"
Emma sighed and tilted her head down. "My family is dead. The whole town they come from got destroyed from one of the flares."
"Oh,"
"Don't fret it guys, I've gotten over it." Emma told them. She could tell that they didn't believe her, but didn't care. She didn't want to remember - remember the voices of her family. The screaming and crying. Them telling her that she had to survive, that she had to live for them. It wasn't a painful memory anymore, not when she didn't have to remember it. It was just a gap. No revenge, no anger. Just a need to survive.
"Alright. Well, we've all taken losses from this…this war to survive. But I'm the hero, so we'll definitely be fine!" Alfred said enthusiastically.
"No, I haven't lost anything. I just need to find my family." Natalya replied firmly.
"Whatever. I decided that I'm heading to Europe. It's no use staying here, and Matthew is most likely not in his country anymore. I want to see how Arthur is and I need to kill Francis. It's your decision on whether you come or not, Natalya. And even you, Emma. You don't have to come with me. You can stay here."
"I'm...I'm coming with you, sir. There's nothing here for me. I'm honored to be helping a nation." Emma said.
"I'm joining the party. I need to go back to that area of the world anyways, to find my family." Natalya said with a flip of her hair.
"Alright. We'll leave tomorrow…" Alfred looked out the glass doors, where the sky was getting darker. "If there are any days anymore."