Ch. 9

They arrived back home, each equally tired and sleepy. Raivis swaying as he walked, his mind still asleep and his body continues to crave rest. They all headed back to their own rooms, Ludwig following silently behind Ivan to their room. Ivan flicked on the light and turned towards the blond, his face a deeper blush and a pleading look in his eyes.

"You would want to go back to your own room now, da?" his eyes shifted towards his feet, even though he could barely see them under his coat and stomach. "I'll help take your stuff to--"

"It's alright...it's warmer sleeping with you." Ludwig answered with a rough manly pat on the shoulder as he sleepily strolled towards the bed. He let out a yawn when he sat on the edge and began to remove his boots. Truth was, he was too tired to change rooms, if he really wanted to, he would just change them the next morning when he wasn't falling asleep. Before he knew it, he was tackled onto the bed receiving a swarm of kisses and "thank you for staying"s from the Russian. Ivan then speed stripped and crawled under the covers, grinning childishly from under the blanket at Ludwig, who didn't know what was more disturbing; that Ivan can act so much like a small child or the fact that a man his size can be so nimble. And where does he get his energy anyhow? He just brushed it all off and blamed it on his drowsiness as he slipped under the covers, receiving a crushing hug before falling asleep.

The next morning, Ludwig woke up colder than he usually was. He scanned the room to see that Ivan was gone and nowhere in sight. The musical sound of clinking dishes alerted him of his location. Feeling his usual agitation (usually from something Feliciano and Gilbert have done), he grabbed the first pair of pants he saw, slipped them on and damned the fact that no one woke him up and Ivan's complete lack of a clock in his room as he headed in the direction of the aroma of freshly cooked food.

The three Baltic brothers and Ivan were seated at the table and eating, sharing past events at the hospital and at the house. Ludwig sat in the empty chair beside Ivan and glanced around at the odd stares he was getting from the brothers. Ivan smiled and pushed a plate with small dumplings on it towards Ludwig.

"Dobroe utra," Ivan greeted.

"Dobroe utra. Why didn't you wake me?" Ludwig groaned as his stared at Ivan, ignoring the plate of food in front of him.

"You looked so peaceful sleeping, I didn't want to wake you. I thought you would get all cranky if I woke you up anyways."

"He looks cranky now.." Raivis muttered to his brothers who choked back a laugh. Ivan and Ludwig ignored them and continued their conversation.

"Eat it." Ivan gestured to the plate. "I got up early to make it." Ludwig stared down at it, silently questioning it's ingredients. "It's pirozhki, my favourite." Ludwig took a bite and found himself in shock on how flavourful it was compared to all the other foods he ate while staying with them. "Toris found really good, fresh ingredients while we were gone, so I made it. It's not often that I get something that good."

Ludwig agreed and they spoke about different foods that they enjoyed. Once Ludwig was finished, the two left to go pack their bags, Ludwig holding up his pants to keep them from falling. Once they were out of earshot, Edward stared into the doorway and muttered, "W-wasn't those..."

"...Ivan's pants?" Toris finished.

Raivis nodded. "Are they...?"

"I don't know..."

Ivan had his bag packed and set it by the door and smiled back at Ludwig. "We are leaving today. I managed to get a plane to fly us to Kiev, but from there we have to take a car to her kolkhoz." Ludwig nodded. Ivan opened the door and screamed.

"Natasha!" he cried taking a few steps back. A woman a few years younger than Ivan with long blond hair pulled back by a dark ribbon gave Ivan a cold stare before a creepy smile spread across her face.

"Hello brother. I missed you." Natasha spoke as she slowly stepped into the house. "It's been too long since we last saw each other." She turned towards Ludwig and set him an ice cold glare. "Kto vas?"

Ludwig shifted in his spot uncomfortably. "I'm Ludwig. Nice to meet you, Natasha, was it?"

Natasha only glared harder. "What is your relationship with my brother?"

"Relationship? We are just friends. I'm only here on business so--"

"Yeah! That's why I'm taking him back to the airport to go back to Germany. There's no need to take out the knives..."

"Knives?!" Ludwig sputtered out, feeling his life was suddenly on the line.

Natasha stepped towards Ludwig and stood on her tip toes to have their faces at even with each other. She slipped a knife out from beneath her bow on her dress and held to Ludwig's throat. "And you better keep it that way. If I ever hear that you two are together...I'll kill you and bury you in PIECES!"

"Natasha...please be nice. He didn't do anything to you!" Ivan whined as he inched closer to pry her away from the German. The moment he placed a cautious hand on her shoulder, she slipped her arms around him and under his coat.

"You belong to me, brother. And we'll get married and have a big family like you always talked about wanting." Natasha spoke in a sweet tone that contradicted her tightening arms. "And I will be beside you everyday to love you, hug you and hurt anyone who threatens to take you away from me."

"N-Natasha... I can't breath..." Ivan choked out. Not wanting to get involved, Ludwig backed away and kept his distance. The Belorussian continued to smother her brother in suffocating hugs and claims of marriage and her unfathomable love. Ivan choked out cries of help to the retreating German. "Ludwig! Ludwig! Help! She's scaring me and she won't let go!"

"Sorry, I'll stay out of your affairs if you stay out of mine." Ludwig spoke as he picked up all the bags and balanced them as he headed out the door. "I'll just take these out to the car."

Ludwig sat in the car reading through some papers and telegrams he had received and began conjuring up plans and strategies that would assist in the German victory, whilst silently ignoring the rising voices inside. He looked up to see Ivan bolting for the car and Natasha smiling from the doorway. Now that Ludwig had a good look at her smile, it gave him chills down his spine. He was glad he didn't stick around for long. Ivan slammed the door shut and recklessly sped the car off in the direction of the airport, attempting to wipe off pale smudges of lipstick. There was nothing to be said until they were on the plane.

Ivan broke their silence with a hurt child's voice, clenching Ludwig's hand in a menacing grip. "Why didn't you go and help me?"

Ludwig didn't think about Ivan enquiring about his leaving and abandonment and found himself in a complicated position. "I figured that if I did something to help you or get in her way, she would uh..." 'Kill me for one or get in my way later on...' "... She would... Never leave us alone?" The last sentence came out in a insecure whisper.

Ivan gave Ludwig a intense look and tightened his grip before lightening up. "You're right. Thanks for doing that." He leaned over and planted a kiss on Ludwig's lips.

After a few more minutes of silence, a thought floated into Ludwig's mind that bothered him. He turned towards Ivan and gave him a light tap on the shoulder to get his attention. "Wouldn't your sister notice when you are gone or know where you are?"

"Nope. She's used to me running away for a few weeks. I always go stay with Katyusha and she never bothered me before so we should still be fine."

Ludwig muttered a silent "oh" before enquiring about if she ever carries out her threats.

"Of course she does. That's what scares me about her; if she says she's going to kill someone or hurt them she really does. She caught me with Toris once and she said, 'I'll break your fingers if I hear you touch my brother again.' She caught me giving him a hug and when I left to get something and came back, all his fingers were broken! And she kept breaking them for two weeks until he avoided me." Ludwig's face had the expression of utmost horror, because he knew that it could be him someday if he stays with Ivan. "She's really creepy but she wasn't that bad when we were little. Well, then we were all too cold to do anything but huddle together to keep warm."

Ludwig saw the opportunity to learn more about Ivan's childhood but was also curious on how they were caught together. He'd hate to be in the same position as Toris. "Two questions: First one, how did she catch you two together?"

Ivan chuckled and had that same distant look in his eyes when he remembered his meeting Gilbert. "Well everyone was out and it was just us. He was running around cleaning and watching him clean everything was so entertaining that I just had to scare him. The look on his face then was... Well, you know." Ivan flashed Ludwig a smile. "I couldn't help myself, I had to have him right then and there. Sadly, my sister shown up on the middle of it because we never locked the door. We'll talk later, we're here."

They got off the plane and headed for an old truck. Ludwig stood silently observing Ivan as he talked to the driver in Ukrainian and offering him vodka. After a few mild jokes that Ludwig probably would never understand even if he knew the language, they got in and were driven a few miles out before getting picked up in another car. There, the same transaction occurred, a few smiles, a bottle of vodka and and a silent ride further from the capital. After an hour or so, since no one was really keeping track of the time, they arrived at the kolkhoz. Ivan pulled yet another person aside and spoke to them, gesturing in the direction of a rather old and weathered house. The man nodded and took their bags from them and walked away, his face plastered with sweat and dirt in a fixed look of focus.

Ivan, seeming to have completely forgotten Ludwig's existence walked past him and onto the field where a a small group of people where taking a short break and mending a broken tool.

"Sestra!" Ivan called out cheerily, waving his arm in the air to draw attention to himself. The group turned in their direction. A relatively tall woman with short hair the same colour as Ivan smiled and waved, her overalls and shirt was only mildly dirty from the dirt in the field. Ivan sprinted towards her and gave her one of his patented crushing hugs, lifting her a good quarter metre off the ground. She spoke in Ukrainian, her voice sweet but her body's build spoke something not of gentleness but toughness, like she could handle herself in a fight. Seeing how Ivan and his other sister is, it wouldn't surprise him if the last member of the Russian's family was just as violent if not the slightest of intimidating. She glanced over at Ludwig who stood silent a good 10 metres away. She sent a smile towards Ludwig and then enquired about him to Ivan before going over to introduce herself.

"I suppose Ivan mentioned me at some point, right?" She asked as she approached the German. She expressed no fear or confinement of kindness as she reached out a dirtied hand. Ludwig hesitated. She glanced at her dirtied hands and apologised as she wiped her hand on her pants. "I'm Yekaterina Braginskaya, but you can call me Katyusha, nearly everyone does."

Ludwig took her hand and gave it a firm squeeze. "I'm Ludwig. I suppose Ivan mentioned me to you as well."

She nodded and glanced over her shoulder and asked something in Ukrainian. Baffled, Ludwig watched as Ivan nodded and headed towards the house where their bags were taken to; Yekaterina linking arms with Ludwig and leading him away to an area of the field where no one was currently working on. Once they were out of earshot of all the other kolkhozniks, the Ukrainian woman rested her head on Ludwig's shoulder. "So how long have you been with my brother?" She whispered. Ludwig's heart jumped and he pulled away from her and sent her an intimidating, questioning look. "Was I wrong? It's just that, the last person that he brought with him out here was Toris, and he had that same look in his eyes." She glanced back to the weathered old house. "And he's so energetic, I haven't seen him like that in a long time." She paused and looked down. "Last time I saw him with that look and energy, was when he visited me for New Years and Christmas back in 1905." The same look of depression and sadness that Ivan has when he's alone reflected in her eyes. She knew what had happened when Ivan got back to Russia, and why he was always prone to heavy drinking and outbursts afterwards.

"What happened?" Ludwig asked, knowing that she knew the answer.

Yekaterina just smiled and shook her head. "It's better if he told you himself. I'm just glad he's back to his old cheerful self." She pause and shifted in her spot. "I'm sorry if I mistook you for his lover. It's just that, last time he looked like that was when he told me that he was in love with Toris. Are they still doing well?"

"I think so," Ludwig lied.

"Well, if you were, it's alright, you can tell me. Any friend of Ivan's is like family." She gave him a warm sisterly smile that made Ludwig wish that he had a sister instead of an irritating brother who mooches off of him and invades all personal space. "And I never tell Natasha about who he sees. I learnt that the hard way." She let out a nervous laugh. Her easiness made him relax and want to tell her but wanted it to just be something that only he and Ivan knew. He didn't want to risk anyone knowing. There was a long silence before Yekaterina suggested that they head to her house.

"Is that..." Ludwig struggled to find a word that wouldn't insult her.

"Tak. That's my house. We've been through a lot." Ludwig sent a curious look in her direction as they headed back. "We used to live there, my siblings and I that is, and it was so small and shabby. Once Ivan got upset and cried saying that he didn't want to live in a small hut like a poor boy in Siberia, and ran away. In the end, a storm came and he came home and didn't complain anymore. I've had to fix it up so many times over the centuries I can be an architect if I want." She let out a laugh. As they approached closer, Ludwig spotted a slight lean due to a poor foundation and wanted to criticise her building skills but remembered he had to be polite, and kept quiet. "It's not much but it's home. Ivan moved away once the Winter Palace was built but he still visited me from time to time."

"He has an ushanka." Ludwig muttered, hoping it'll spark a new conversation. "Said he had it since he was little."

Yekaterina broke out laughing. "He still has it? He used to wear it during winter. I made it for him when we were little, just like his scarf, but by now that hat should be too small for him, it still fits?"

Ludwig shrugged and looked away blushing. "It fits me."

Yekaterina just smiled and patted him on the back. "I always make things too big. Come, I'll start dinner. It's not everyday I meet new people."


Author's Note: Ok, like I'm sure I said before, I read that Ukraine's name was Yekaterina Katyusha Braginskaya, but I figured that Katyusha would be more of a nickname (and one of my favourite names and songs) so I refer to her as that when talking to her but keep her first name so that it feels like it's just a nickname. Just my own odd spin on things. Once again, my Russian is not the best so if there are any errors let me know. I try to keep it to small phrases so that I don't screw it up but you never know with Eastern languages. Pirozhki is something I've been wanting to try to eat but have no idea how to make it and since I don't know what it tastes like, I couldn't go into detail on it like I wanted, and I couldn't find any good information on life on a kolkhoz so I will end up improvising and if you know it or something in later chapters is historically incorrect let me know and I'll fix it. Thank you!

Доброе утро (Dobroe utra): good morning (Russian) [NOTE: I'm not the best at transliteration]

Кто вас? (Kto vas?): Who are you? (Russian)

Сестра (Sestra): Sister (Russian)

Так (Tak): Yes (Ukrainian)

I just have to point this out: Tak is also Polish for 'yes' so it makes me laugh. And for those who don't know, which I'm sure you do, Kolkhoznik is a person who works on a kolkhoz.