Final chapter of the WW2 arc! Yay! Don't own Hetalia, never will, sadly. D:

xXx

"Too many times
Seeing the violence
It's feeding my mind
No one is saving you
How can you find
A heaven in this hell?"

-"Demon's Fate" by Within Temptation

xXx

The Year is 1944

The Battle of Stalingrad, despite its horrific results, has been won by the USSR. The winter is filled with loss and longing, but with an undertone of disturbed glee. The Germans are losing ground quickly to the Soviets, on the verge of surrender after the fuehrer's suicide. Somehow through all of this the Italians have begun their surrender, leaving only the Germans, hanging by a thread, and the Japanese to fight under the Axis.

"Another Allies' meeting," Naktis groaned. She had had a disturbing lack of sleep the previous night, for reasons unknown. The "nice" doctors that had cared for her after her uncalled for plane crash had said she'd probably hurt like hell for the next several weeks, but this was something else. It's strange because there have been no terrible massacres like Stalingrad lately. Anything else I should be able to handle stoically enough, but this has left me half-ruined. Naktis' morning ritual of bandaging her arms and ribcage began slowly. Her hand had healed itself fairly well in the past year or so. While not as dexterous as she would have liked, Naktis could still do everything she used to be able to without any wincing. Her ribs had cracked in the plane crash, but those were healing well enough. Even though, she noted with a grimace, they were taking forever. She guessed it had to do with the copious amounts of blood she hacked up across her pillows at night.

I just suppose I'm lucky to have a bed to go home to nearly each night, she thought. Many of her men, cold and hungry and dreaming of being home with their families, still sat in trenches and astride tanks even in the frigid winter. Spring was coming, though, she thought happily. Maybe with the zephyr a change will come about. General Winter is on our side- may as well hope for the help of another force of nature. Albeit a more peaceable one.

Finally, she snapped her locket into place, the bronze bauble falling between her collarbones. Smiling, she fingered the clasp, debating opening it to remind herself of the treasures hidden within there, but changed her mind and instead buttoned a stiff white blouse over it. Kicking the heels of her cold-stiff boots, she walked out of the room, whistling her dogs to either flank.

"Ivan! Are you awake?" Naktis called, rapping twice on the door to his room. No response. Naktis sighed. She'd try again in a while. After breakfast or something. Coughing quietly, Naktis made her way through the perpetually cold house with her usual silent gait. Stopping at the portraits on the walls lining the hallway leading to the parlor, Naktis felt a grin curl her face. Ivan had never had the heart to take down the Romanov family's pictures, and each time she saw them, Naktis was struck with how goddamn funny the whole thing was. She had helped stab and kill those people and yet Ivan couldn't let go of them. It was just too funny. So funny she began giggling uncontrollably behind her hand. Ah, those morons. She really hated aristocrats. But they were so amusing. Still chuckling quietly she paced over to the fireplace to attempt warming herself before catching the plane (she almost started crying when she heard that) to England.

She stood before the stone fireplace, contemplating the war. The flames licked along the edge of the fireplace, mesmerizing. Naktis looked into the heart of the nest, eyes reflecting the flames eerily. Her pale face lit with the red-gold of the flame, the silver hair slicing across her cheeks stained cherry. Naktis heaved a soft sigh, eyes still locked forward and slightly downward. Meditative, she turned to the window. Frost curled like smoke. Smiling, she thought of how poetic it all was. The flames and the ice held apart by a bit of stone. Should she open the door, Naktis knew the fight would begin and would have an amazing result. Who would the victor be here? Who would be the victor in the war?

Now, that was a loaded question. Her nature sent her to toying with it immediately.

A creak at the top of the stairs shook her gently from the reverie and she turned her eyes to the figure at the top step. "Good morning, Ivan," she said glibly. "Sleep well?"

"No better than you," he retorted, as cool as she had been. "Why so interested all of a sudden?"

Naktis shrugged, eyes wandering back to the flames. "It was a terribly quiet night, was it not?"

"Sad how we can no longer function on a normal sleeping pattern when things get 'quiet'," Ivan sighed. "Stalingrad is over and we're bored."

"I see nothing wrong with that." Naktis said simply. "It means we're unstoppable. There is no problem with a fighting spirit."

"Unless you let it run wild," Ivan replied darkly. "Watch yourself, understand?"

"I don't see what I'm doing wrong here," Naktis snapped, seething. "I don't recall asking your opinion, anyway." She turned away from him, pettily ignoring the whole issue. Confused and slightly hurt by his behavior, a behavior so long in being brought up she had forgotten it, she went to this default and waited for Ivan to give up and leave. The cold shoulder always worked in her favor with him, but it seemed today he was not giving up considering he refused to move. Burya and Zvezda slowly backed under the table, sensing the sparks and electric currents running through the air in the room and trying to get out of the way before they got in trouble, too.

Silence deafened the pair, so much pent-up energy and history between them that it was painful to even attempt to find a place to start. However if the silence continued, they were bound to suffocate.

"What is it, sobrat?" Naktis finally asked, the first to give in. "What brought this around?"

Ivan snorted in response. "You know exactly what brought it around. You think I don't see the way you scoff at my history? You think I don't see how you turn a blind eye to the pain you cause?"

"The pain I cause? What about you?" Naktis snapped.

"At least I don't charge straight into a war ground! You complain about Stalingrad but you brought it on yourself by accepting the challenge blindly. You were so angry at Germany that you leapt on that like a lifeboat. Any excuse to fight!"

"If I remember correctly, you began the war with me back in 1917. And how is a fighting nature my fault? You made me this way because you didn't have the patience to raise me to have some semblance of normalcy. No, instead my 'caring hand' was a rifle." This seemed to hit a nerve. Naktis continued milking it, wanting a blowout. "And when you finally accepted that I existed, you went out of your way to kill me."

"Self-defense," he responded, voice taut with the force it took not to begin shouting and scare the rest of the house into waking.

"That's all it was, I'm certain," Naktis snapped, voice rising slightly. "Or were you scared? Scared that I retaliated in self-defense?"

"Retaliation," Ivan scoffed. "Of course." Naktis glowered from the first floor, eyes dancing with rage and glowing from the fire. "I look forward to when you stop 'retaliating' and start 'fighting'. I look forward to the realization of the monster you are."

"Why did you bring it up now, if you've hated me so much for so long?"

"…I prefer to watch the fall of an empire than get involved. Especially when I don't have to." Ivan grinned sadistically. "I'll remember your screams as well, darling sestra."

Naktis returned the look. "Remember the saying you taught me, 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer?' Watch your back."

X

The Year is 1945

The Westmost edge of Eastern Prussia

"Ukraine," Naktis called softly from across the trench the pair had been sitting in all night. The elder looked over to her companion, eyes wide and sincere as they always were, even around her. "Have you seen anything?"

"Not yet," she sighed in response. "I think we'll be able to continue westward. The Prussian forces don't seem to be willing to continue against us." Katyusha shrugged, causing her impressive bosom to bounce, attracting attention from two other soldiers crouched beside them. Naktis narrowed her eyes and jammed the butt end of her gun into the nearest man's ribs.

"Don't be rude!" she hissed. The soldier scowled but nodded, rubbing his now-sore side. "You might be right, Ukraine. Keep an eye out anyway, if you would."

"Of course." The chill of January crept through their bones, and Naktis shifted slightly to fend off the frost threatening to grow in her bones and alleviate her sore bottom. The moon hung low, almost but not quite full, over their watchful eyes. The lull of the night pulled at Naktis again, but she valiantly forced her eyes open- if she was forcing Ukraine to stay up with her, she could at the very least pretend she wasn't tired. Oh, but how hard it was… "Soviet," Katyusha pushed the other's leg with her boot toe. "Soviet," she repeated. The younger finally pulled her eyes from the sky. "You can go rest. It's alright, really. I'm used to this by now."

"That's not fair," Naktis replied. "That," she lowered her voice, "and I don't want these imbeciles to do anything imprudent to you."

Katyusha laughed. "Thank you, but I can take care of myself." She pushed her foot against Naktis' leg again. "Go on, get some rest."

There was no way Naktis could argue anymore. Her lack of sleep had not only put her in a state of seeming to be perpetually high but also lowered her resolve to argue her point. Unable to find anything to put against Katyusha's deep motherly instincts, and too tired to care, Naktis nodded and stood reluctantly, muttering her thanks and waving another solider over to help keep lookout. She crawled in beside Natalia, who had joined her sisters in favor of keeping her brother from harm, and soon fell into her usual fitful sleep.

Katyusha, meanwhile, leaned backward in the trench to relax her guard for a while. Naktis really is a good kid, she thought. Unorthodox, yes, and a little sadistic, but she has a good heart. It's no wonder she and Vanya don't get along much. They're too much alike.

X

The Year is 1945

January's chill has melted into the spring, bringing upon the zephyr winds the beginning of a battle, bloodier even than Stalingrad, between the Red Army and the Nazis. Berlin is under attack, and it certainly looks as though the war will never end, until one side of the feud cripples.

"Is there a plan of action?" Natalia asked, sitting beside her two sisters as they pored over a map of Berlin from across the Oder River. "I hope you did not simply assume we were going to leap into battle, guns blazing. The Nazis may be weakened by not by that much."

Naktis shot her an exasperated look. "Yes, there is a plan. The plan thus far is that the first Belorussian front will head in with shells and take the city's center, after which the first Ukrainian front will head in from the north to take the Army Group Center. After which… well, by then we're hoping to be able force our way to take the Reichstag."

"So the plan is basically 'leap in, guns blazing'."

Katyusha hid a giggle behind her hand. Naktis blushed and nodded stiffly. "If you want to be vulgar, then yes. That is indeed the plan."

Natalia shrugged. "It's your funeral. My front knows what we're doing."

"You're awfully annoying for such a tiny person."

"It's how sisters are, Soviet," Katyusha replied, still giggling. "You may not always like them, but you'll always love them."

Naktis blushed again, this time from holding down the giddiness she felt when Katyusha said that. While the rest of the 'family' seemed to hate her guts for a multitude of reasons, and most of the world had a bone to pick with her or were trying to find one, Katyusha had always been kind to her. Even though she tried incredibly hard to leave the Soviet Union on a frequent basis. "Remind me on the last one lest I forget."

Finally, Feliks, who had joined the group a little later, coughed. "I, like, hate to break up this totally golden family moment, but can we get back to matter at hand?"

Katyusha laughed again, and even Natalia's usual scowl lifted long enough to smile half-heartedly. "I'll prepare the troops."

X

The Year is 1945

Natalia scowled from her spot on the edge of the Oder River. The many Soviet troops hadn't counted on the Germans changing the flow of the spring melt water from the river. The trenches that had been dug by the Germans filled with water and became a swamp before the eyes of the crouched Belarusians. "Radio to the commander that the Seelow Heights area has become a swamp. We will continue to fight, however." The man she had motioned to nodded and crawled from the trench to get the radio located just out of reach.

Still scouting the forces of Seelow, Natalia caught a glimpse of the silver hair and ruby eyes that belonged to Prussia. He stood just behind where the anti-tank gun emplacements ended, his binoculars raking the trenches the Belarusians hid in. She crouched lower, avoiding the gaze. It was obvious he felt her presence- she had felt his long before she had found him. And obviously, considering he had only just come into view, her force was so well hidden he had to come out of his hiding spot to make sure he wasn't going insane. That at least lifted spirits.

"On my signal, we take them." Natalia stated. "Go."

X

The Year is 1945

Neisse and Oder have been taken, Prussia has surrendered, and the Soviets have broken through the barrier into Berlin. Circling the city in preparation to take the Reichstag, the Soviets seem unstoppable, despite their already hefty losses.

Naktis threw a grenade, this one landing like several others before into a crowd of soldiers, feeling sick as she reminded herself again that most of these people were merely boys from Hitler Youth. Still, she continued her fight, as she was currently taking up the rear. Katyusha, Feliks, and Natalia had all gone farther ahead than she had managed to pull herself. While it was a constantly milked excuse for being slow, Naktis had claimed she needed to regroup after the losses.

However, more and more she was wishing she hadn't stopped. Perhaps, if she hadn't, she wouldn't be the one left to murder hundreds of boy soldiers.

She vaulted from the tank she had been riding along as her men prepared the multiple "Katyusha" missiles. Naktis hoped she wasn't the only one in her family that continually grinned when she thought of her Katyusha and the "Stalin Pipe Organs". Ah, the irony, the irony. Sweet Katyusha- a devastating missile. She stopped reminiscing over her silly joke when a grenade launched not a meter away from her. The explosion send debris hurtling into her body, tripping her up and causing her rifle to get run over by the tank she had previously been riding on. Better that than my arm, she thought.

Rolling into a crouch to simultaneously jackknife to her feet and pull the pin from another grenade, Naktis continued her offensive attack, running in the direction her senses told her Ludwig was. It seemed, from the dulled sense of presence, that he was hiding among other soldiers. Not a bad idea, but it would change nothing.

Through the dust from blown-to-pieces buildings, Naktis caught sight of the soldier she knew was also Germany. The temptation to give a battle cry was barely suppressed as she leapt over a hole in the street to roundhouse kick her enemy.

"Privet, Germany!" She cackled as he hoisted his torso off the ground. She had caught him by surprise, unfortunately, or he wouldn't have fallen. Naktis knew that, but still delighted in the fact that she could lay a finger on him. Formidable, that was her opponent.

"I see you're well," Ludwig responded curtly, swinging his leg into her ankles. The girl gasped as she came inches from smashing her skull into the concrete of the streets, landing on her back and rolling onto her feet. She barely had the time to block the punch he sent at her, his fist colliding with her arm instead of her face. She swore softly as her arm recoiled painfully. Retaliating with a kick to the stomach, Naktis managed to pry a gun that appeared it may still function from the hands of a dead soldier.

Her mind recoiled as she realized that had it been a year ago, she would have rather taken a clip of bullets in the chest than dishonor the dead in such a way. But things had changed. Drastically.

She fired twice, one bullet ripping across Ludwig's shoulder and the other lodging itself nicely above his knee. However, even as he dropped, he managed to fire, the bullet landing in her side. She gasped and fell to his height, hand sticky with the metallic life-liquid. She growled darkly, a sick grin spread across her face. Lifting her gun, Naktis pressed the muzzle to Ludwig's forehead. "One wrong move," she said coldly.

Just then, a cry of joy ripped over the wreckage of Berlin from the Soviet troops. Distracted, Naktis looked away to see what the commotion was from. This, of course, created an opening, and Ludwig gladly took it. Grabbing a concealed knife from his boot, he lunged, aiming for her throat. Naktis noticed a second before she'd have been killed and dodged, the knife's blade instead slicing along her cheek and up her temple. On reflex, her finger tightened on the trigger and another bullet lodged higher up his leg. Cursing, Ludwig finally dropped the knife, his hand stained red. Naktis stood weakly, the blood loss clouding her brain.

"That was a stupid move," she said, as if they were discussing the weather. Hand shaking as she aimed the gun, she pointed it back at her fallen enemy. "Surrender."

Gritting his teeth, it seemed a moment Ludwig might argue. However, as his troops were taken hostage by hers, he could only nod. "That's a good boy," she crooned. She threw her knife in front of him, the blade dancing with the light from the obscured sun. "Unless you want to have a bullet part of your anatomy and die of heavy metal toxicity, I'd recommend you use that."

Blood still dripped down her face, quickly healing over to add to Naktis' elated mood, curling over the smirk that stayed on her face as she walked away. Again, she had won. Now, onto the Reichstag.

X

The Year is 1945

Mussolini of Italy has been captured by the Italian partisans, creating a force-surrender after his execution. Hitler, fearing the same fate, committed suicide in his bunker, along with his wife of only a few hours, and reportedly his dog as well, leaving Goebbels as Chancellor of Germany and Dönitz as the new President of Germany. However, not two days later and Goebbels had committed suicide as well, leading to end of the Battle of Berlin and leaving Dönitz as the single leader of Germany. Finally, a week later, Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Soviets, leading to the end of World War Two in Europe. However, the Japanese have not given up on their cause. Erstwhile, the Americans have been working with a multitude of radioactive materials to create the ultimate weapon that will ultimately end World War Two, for better or worse.

X

The Year is 1945

"I still don't get it," Naktis stated simply, brow furrowed in confusion. "Please enlighten me."

"It's simple enough," Alfred argued. "If you and Ivan can continue to keep Germany under surrender, the rest of us can work our way into forcing Japan to surrender as well. My government has been working on a plan for a long while now, and we're certain it's going to work. All of our tests have succeeded, so we just need to do the real thing."

"Tests for what, exactly?"

"A firearm, sort of. It's actually a bomb, a really big one that will literally force submission and end this war!"

While the end of the war sounded good, Naktis had a bad feeling. The pit in her stomach worsened as she tried to make sense of what Alfred had been explaining. She knew his government and scientists had access to incredible material and had been doing all sorts of tests with radioactive and nuclear material. She just hadn't known how far it had gone. "I- are you certain this won't go awry?"

Alfred looked shocked a moment and opened his mouth to argue until dawning realization crossed his face. "We've done all the necessary tests…"

"How destructive is this thing? I've had some limited access to certain records of radioactive materials, and what I've seen is… devastating. But I believe you, I suppose, you are the expert here." She sighed and fidgeted with her gloves. "How certain are you this will not bring grievous results?"

"If.. if you get caught in the blast you'll get hurt, but it's okay, right? We need this surrender. A few cases of radioactive poisoning will be worth the peace. And we're only hitting one place, theoretically, so it's really okay. Everything will be fine."

Reluctant at first, Naktis nodded. "If you're certain. I'll terminate the neutrality pact between Japan and I." With a salute, she took her leave. Alfred still stood in the meeting room, going over everything that had taken place after hours. As much as he hated to agree with the communist bastards, perhaps she was onto something. What she lacked in age Naktis made up for in perceptiveness. He ran a hand through his hair with a soft sigh. But despite all of that, he did know what this thing would do. And he knew it would work. It was planned out, and had been studied. Everything was fine. Right?

X

The Year is 1945

"Ah, Ivan?" Naktis called, holding a clip of papers as she trotted down the hall to catch her brother. "How much do you know about nuclear testing and radioactive materials?"

"Very little. Why do you ask?"

Naktis faltered slightly. Ivan's voice was still taut when he spoke to her. Obviously the two had rewoken the rift between them. "Amerika being Amerika. He spoke to me of a bomb his government has been testing to end the war. I did some research, but our archives don't exactly say much."

"Your own fault, again. If you hadn't ordered so much of those things into storage so no one could get a hold of them, you'd have better access."

"I hate it when you bring those things to light. Anyway- you ought to go speak with Amerika to get the full details, I don't understand much. However, I understand that he's been planning to hit Japan with this bomb, so we've had to sever the neutrality pact. We won this time," she added. The foothold the Soviet Union had made in Manchukou had sent a barrage of troops against the Japanese and successfully taken the point as victor. While this added to their reputation as an unstoppable force, the Japanese had been furious about this and it was obvious they would take action as soon as they could remove the Soviet stronghold. "Of course, this probably only means that we've made yet another enemy."

"You," he corrected absently. She shot a glare before continuing.

"Anyway," venom seeped into her tone, lost on her brother. "What I've gathered is that this weapon has the magnitude to potentially destroy entire countries, should it be large enough. If not utterly destroy, it would bring such a reckoning and have such results that the country would be dealing with the results for decades. The pictures I've seen are incredible. I've never dreamt of such destruction. And even more incredible are the results simply of the radiation! The scientists used soldier volunteers to test how badly they'd react to the nuclear residue. Look at these," she thrust the papers in his unsuspecting hands.

"For all your 'concern', you certainly sound enthralled." Ivan noted. But it was interesting.

"It's just… fascinating. Humans should never be able to harness this sort of power. Yet we have, and do, each day. My only concern is that we'll overstep a line and end up…" she searched for a word. "I'm not certain there has been a word thought up for this sort of result yet. And if there is, I don't know it."

"We have been working on something akin to this, da?"

"Admittedly. But not of this magnitude, yet. Should we?"

"We might want to observe for now. But yes, eventually, if this experiment succeeds, we will work to perfect the technology." He paged through the packet of pages. "This is truly incredible."

Naktis grinned. "The show has only begun, you know." She paused a moment, thinking of how Amerika had been earlier. "I do wonder though, if Amerika has seen any of these things. He seemed awfully oblivious to these horrid results."

"That is simply how Amerika runs. He does the 'out of sight, out of mind' thing often. As do you," he flicked his eyes to his sister long enough to give her The Look.

So much for bridging the rift. "Oh, thank you!" she snapped after his retreating form.

X

The Year is 1945

Sitting in her chair at home, Naktis listened absently to the radio. While she'd never admit openly, she had been waiting for news of Japan. Earlier that day, according the phone call she had gotten from Ivan, Amerika had dropped their atomic bomb on Hiroshima. She had wanted to be there, until she had gone deeper into the records of the tests and unearthed some seriously bad information. Things Amerika's government would kill her for if they found out.

She had- yet again- blown up in the face of one of her allies, and as such had been sent home forcibly.

She could still hear her voice shriek above the dull chatter in the meeting room as she burst in, waving the papers she had stolen.

"What the hell have you done!" Naktis slammed the papers on the table, face flushed with fury. "Do you think this is a joke? Do you think this is okay? Answer me, Alfred Jones!"

He looked utterly startled when he saw the papers. "You aren't supposed to have those."

"I'm certain of that much! What do you think you're playing at, huh? Do you have any idea of what you could do with this… monstrosity?"

"It's a necessary move."

"Why not demonstrate its power instead? Call a hearing with Japan instead of hitting him like that. I'm certain that a simple test would convince him to surrender!"

"You're too late, and you shouldn't have those." Alfred took the papers from her, gently pushing her back from the table. "There's no choice, you know. The bombers are already on their way. And, besides, didn't you say that I was the expert on this matter? We had an agreement."

"I didn't agree to this," she said darkly. "I didn't think you actually wanted to destroy an entire country."

"You certainly didn't have an issue with that when it was Germany."

"That was different! I wasn't trying to destroy him!"

"Have you not seen him since the surrender? The Soviets aren't all good either! This is for the better!" Despite his resolve, Alfred wondered if it wasn't more to convince himself than to convince her. Either way, he was no longer able to dwell as her fist connected painfully with his nose, Texas flying halfway across the room.

"You're an idiot! You're a monster!" The words echoed through the meeting hall even as Naktis was forcibly dragged out the door by her brother, who dealt with her outburst in the normal fashion.

The radio crackled again. It wasn't a very good radio, so that was normal, but it came at such a time that Naktis was shocked from her reverie. She tapped the newly acquired scar on her face gently, humming lightly. "Oh, Amerika. You're a monster, just like me."

xXx

Thank you (as always) to MapleCrazyCanuck for beta-ing and putting up with me~ Lots of love and, really, you guys check out her stories if you have not! And a new thank-you: to Emrys, thank you so much for your reviews. You make me sound like I know what I'm doing or something!

Sorry my updates are so infrequent… I've been horridly hit by a something-or-other than had made it impossible for me to do anything by homework and sleeping. Thank goodness breathing isn't a manual operation or I would be six feet under.

Ah, anyway. This chapter was really inspired by the movie "The King's Speech". I saw it recently and it instilled in me a need to write. I don't know why really. Another inspiration: Naktis is basically my excuse to scream at the American government. Don't get me wrong, I love democracy- but ours could be way better. Anyway, keeping my political views to myself. Point being, my standpoint on Hiroshima is that we could've very easily worked a surrender without the slaughter of thousands of people and the lasting impression of the nuclear residue. But as per usual we did the "Ready, Fire, Aim" thing. Grarh.

Thank you infinitely and do svidaniya!