Iryna awoke on the morning after her date to the sounds of raised voices from downstairs. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, wondering what on Earth was going on now. With a sigh, she slipped out of bed, grabbed her blue fluffy dressing gown off the back of the down, slung it on and hurried down to find out.

Her Little Sister Natalya was standing in the hall, in front of the front door, her arms folded, glaring out at someone Iryna couldn't quite make out. "And why should I listen to you?" She heard the Belarusian ask, her tone full of scorn.

Then she heard Francis's voice over her sister's, answering her as calmly as possible, "Because I have some important things to say, Madame. If I can't speak to your sister, can you tell her I need to, please?"

Iryna sighed and hurried towards the door. It would be easier, she realised, if she removed her protective sister from the equation for now. Though she knew Natalya meant well, she was oddly over-zealous in matchmaking attempts and overly protective of her sister's heart, which wouldn't make her an easy person for Francis to have to deal with, given the circumstances.

"Francis, wait, I'm here!" She interrupted as she hurried into the hallway. Then she cleared her throat a little nervously under the weight the withering scorn and suspicion in the look her sister subjecting Francis to. She felt a little sorry for him and quickly thought of an excuse. "Natasha, maybe you should go and look after Nastasya? You know if we leave her alone with Vanya for too long she tries to get her hands on the Vodka..."

The Ukrainian trailed off as her sister turned to stare icily at her. Natalya could be very unnerving, even if you knew she didn't mean any harm. She wasn't naturally a cheerful person and seeing her sister's prospective love interest had clearly put the possessive Belarusian in an even worse mood.

Just as Iryna was beginning to think it might be best to back away quickly and quietly, Natalya blinked away the cold glare of suspicion and disapproval, offering her eldest sibling a smile instead. "Good idea, Big Sister. I will be back shortly. Have fun!" She replied, before strolling away innocently, leaving the other two Nations gazing after her in silent, slightly nervous astonishment for a few seconds.

It was France who finally broke the silence, turning to Ukraine with his usual charming smile, having bounced back from Belarus's attempts at interrogation remarkably fast. "Well hello again, Ma Chérie. How are you this morning?" He greeted her casually.

The Ukrainian woman smiled slightly in return. "I'm alright, thank you. I hope you are too..." She told him politely, before adding a little bashfully, "And, uh, I'm sorry if Natalya was a little...hard to talk to just then." Iryna tried to sound reassuring. "She means well."

Thankfully, Francis didn't seem too freaked out. Although unbeknownst to Iryna, this may merely be because, after the night before, he was beginning to get used to the slightly confusing and intimidating Belarusian's attitude. "Ah, I'm well, merci. All the better for seeing you." He told her with a little wink, before adding, "Don't worry about it! It's nice that she's so...dedicated to her family."

Well, he wasn't wrong...dedicated was definitely a good word for Natalya, Iryna reflected, beginning to relax again with that weight off her mind. "Anyway, what was it you wanted to see me about?" She asked, steering the conversation away from her siblings now that the 'issues' there had been dealt with before any more could arise.

"Hm? I just wanted to say that I enjoyed last night, and I hope you did too. Also, that if you did..." The Frenchman smiled and drew a big bunch of roses out from behind his back, presenting them to her, "There should be some kind of follow-up, non?"

In spite of herself, Iryna blushed as she felt her heart fluttering. It had been a very long time since someone had brought her flowers, not counting birthday and 'Mother's' Day gifts from her little siblings. Truth be told, though she had attracted her fair share of arranged 'marriages' as a Nation and flirtatious, perverted remarks as a Female one, especially considering her 'most notable traits', actual attempts at romantic courting wasn't something Ukraine had a lot of experience with.

Flustered, she snapped herself out of those confused thoughts and stopped staring long enough to accept the bouquet, carefully taking it from Francis's hands. "Thank you!" She beamed happily, "I did have fun too...You're right, we should do something together again..." She nodded in agreement, holding her flowers and wracking her brains for date ideas.

Her thought process was interrupted by Francis's ringtone, and he rather sheepishly drew his phone out of his back pocket. "Ah...Excuse me one second, Ma Chérie." He mumbled, frowning at the incoming call notification. He looked concerned, and Iryna later told herself that she wouldn't have listened in if she hadn't been worried because of that.

"Bonjour, Mon Chér!" She heard Francis greet as he wandered a little way away from the door and stood, talking casually but still frowning in evident concern. There was a pause, presumably as the caller spoke.

"Hm? Oh oui, that was a gift. No need to thank me." He smiled. Ukraine listened intently, though the other side of the conversation was beyond her hearing for the time being.

Then she heard Francis laugh, his sky blue eyes anything but jovial as they flickered back to where she was standing. "Well, it's to prepare for our wedding, of course!"

This time the answer was loud enough for her to hear, although, in her state of shock, she wasn't sure if the shriek of "WHAT?" came from the other end of the phone or from her own lips.

As it turned out, Iryna's instincts took over from her bewildered senses, and she whirled around quickly enough to realise that the yelling hadn't been her or whoever Francis was talking to. It had been Natalya, who had never seen why she shouldn't listen behind closed doors. She should have known it was foolish to assume her stubborn sister would just leave when asked to.

Now, the Belarusian was brandishing a knife in her hand menacingly and it was probably a good job that Iryna was between her and Francis. Although in a momentary blur of shock and anger, the Ukrainian was tempted to step aside and let Little Sestra do her worst to the unsuspecting Frenchmen, she hadn't got along as a Nation and parental figure of a family often branded as complete lunatics for this many years without some sense of responsibility even when murder seemed tempting.

Besides, her mind was slowly recovering from the shock and it occurred to her that she couldn't let Natalya run at someone with a knife based on half a phone call and no explanation. History had been full of misunderstandings that had led to dangerous situations, but if she could prevent another one, she would. Especially when things were going so well up until very recently.

In any case, Francis had now hastily ended his call and was very tentatively approaching the Ukrainian woman in the doorway, though he was warily watching the Belarusian behind her. If she needed an explanation, now was probably a good time to ask, she decided. "What was that about?" She questioned, bluntly but a lot more calmly than even she had expected, considering the circumstances.

The Frenchman looked wretched. "I'm sorry, Mademoiselle, I should have mentioned it sooner. I have been trying to put it from my mind," He sighed and pulled a face, clearly annoyance and upset by the whole topic, "But my boss is trying to have me marry that stupid Angleterre again. So I had to send him...My special 'Calendar'. Well, I rose to the occasion, mostly because he gets so amusingly angry about it," Even in the current situation, Francis risked a little grin, "But rest assured, I do not want this, and I did not mean to make you feel betrayed."

Perhaps Iryna was 'too' quick to forgive, as her sister later claimed, but something about the way he described the all too familiar concepts of politicians getting in the way of what Nations wanting and 'disputes' between France and England, with various people trying this farcical method of resolution with little long-term success, certainly seemed believable.

Nonetheless, while she didn't think the romance-obsessed Nation would cheat and lie, she didn't think that they should continue to be involved. At least, not until all other pressing obligations were taken care of. So, though they were able to put hard feelings aside, the two Nations agreed to part ways platonically.

As Iryna bade Francis goodbye and shut the door, she sighed sadly, looking down at the bouquet in her arms. "You should have moved out the way and let me 'deal' with him, Big Sister." She heard Natalya growl behind her.

"No, Sestra, no stabbing people, please." She muttered in response. Dating seemed to be difficult enough, without her past dates being attacked and her prospective lovers living in fear of her well-meaning but violently protective relatives.

Fortunately, before Belarus could argue back, Ivan poked his head around the living room door behind the two women. "What's going on now?" He questioned in a tone so innocent that it made the Ukrainian momentarily suspicious. But then, she doubted that Vanya had also been eavesdropping. After all, someone had to look after Nastasya, and Ivan didn't look at all tempted to chase after France and assault him, so he probably was actually innocent, this time.

While Iryna was curiously questioning her brother's thought process internally, she heard Natalya offering the Russian man an answer. "We need to find Siastra a new date. One that isn't an asshole." Belarus muttered darkly, still twirling the knife in her hand in a worrying manner.