Irunya stared at herself in the mirror, trying to understand what had been discussed last night. It was never really bothersome the first couple of days after she thought about it…but now it was surely annoying her. Unlike the other girls (at least as far as she knew), she had someone she was in love with. She always loved him, ever since she saw him grow up into the man that he was now. But there was one problem…

"Don't you try to win his affection, you bitch."

One major problem.

"I love him, and he loves me, and we will be married and stay together forever. You can just burn in hell."

That made her unable to sleep properly that night. Irunya stared at the wall next to her bed as she thought of him. The only thing that was even close to giving her hope was the fact that he still wore her scarf every day, refusing to take it off for any occasion. It gave her the hope that perhaps, maybe, he still cared about her. Or maybe he just liked wearing scarves and completely forgot the reason why he started wearing one. Men were like that.

Irunya looked up into the ceiling and tried to close her eyes, deciding to bask in the image of him instead of trying to push it away. He was the most innocent thing that she had ever laid eyes upon, forced to grow too soon and to form too quickly. If anything, he just wants the attention again…

Like a little child. She laughed. Just like I remember him.

She had never been hugged before, not in the adult form that she was now in. She had never felt the love that could come out of two arms from one person reaching out and holding the body of another being, purely for the sake of being there, and just so that they could feel better. Many normal guys want her just for her boobs, and it pains her to think that it's always physical being over real emotions that win someone's heart.

She will always love him, no matter what everyone else says about it. If everyone is scared of him, she would stay by his side. If her sister kills her just to have him all for her own, then it's all worth it. Irunya knew it would happen soon. But it didn't matter.

Ivan was worth it.

/=+=/

During the meeting, she was watching everyone go into what she liked to call insanity mode. Charice had thrown Francis out of the window and it sounded like Roderich was trying to shoo people away. Irunya minded her own business and watched as Ivan and Natalya left the room, watching her brother try to leave her and failing to do so. She turned her head and realized that there was a pink scarf on the chair.

Brother Ivan left his scarf? "He never let it go before."

"Hey, Irunya~ like, what are you doing?"

"Oh, Feliks." She lifted up the scarf. "Ivan left his scarf in the meeting."

"Well, I guess that's a totally good thing!" Feliks chuckled. "That thing was like, really old on him! He should get a new one, I swear!"

Irunya knew that was true; he was wearing this old scarf for god knows how long. Maybe she should give him a new one. Or maybe she should teach Natalya how to sew. God knows that she would do anything to get Ivan's attention. But then again, maybe he didn't want the scarf anymore…

"I'm just going to hold onto it then." She stated. "Until he comes back."

"Sure honey. Whatever floats your boat."

She nodded silently as she turned to wander down the hallway, holding the old scarf in her hand. It was fraying at some places, and she noticed that there were some failed attempts to try and sew them back up together. Irunya couldn't help but smile at that: thinking of Ivan trying to fix his scarf that she gave him.

Maybe he still remembers me… She held it to his face. Smells like sunflowers…

But how could she tell him how she felt? They were brother and sister…that would be weird. Not to mention that any type of affection shown on him would be instantly rejected because it might end up being another Natalya on the run. If anything, the only thing that was giving her hope was the fact that he wanted to "become one with everyone". If he ever asked her, she would say yes in a heartbeat, even if it does mean torture for the rest of her life.

"Let me make something clear."

Irunya turned her head to see that Natalya was standing in front of the boy's bathroom, talking to Toris and sounding rather mad.

"I love my brother, and he is mine. So back off."

She didn't want to admit it, but she was terrified of her sister. She didn't want to be, but she was. Now that she thought of it, Natalya was the only reason why she couldn't admit what she really felt. If anything, she was terrified that Ivan might take her affections as turning into another Belarus. And she didn't want him to think that. Not about her…

She heard a rattling next to her, startling her for a minute and realizing that one of the air vents was starting to shake. Irunya took a quick peek inside, hearing someone crawling for a minute, and quickly started panicking. Was it an assassin trying to kill one of them? Was it a terrorist? Who was it…?

"Eh? Is that you, Irunya?"

"…eh?" She blinked. "Brother?"

"I-Is Natalya around?"

"No. She's still waiting for you in the bathroom."

"Oh…thank goodness. I just wanted to be away from her for a while. You understand, da?"

"Tak." She nodded. "Oh, right. You left your scarf at the meeting hall."

At the mention of this, Ivan's eyes quickly lit up as it fell upon the scarf in her hands. Without even thinking he quickly took the scarf from her and wrapped it around his neck, taking delicate care when he knotted the back. He smiled softly and chuckled.

"I thought I lost this…" He rubbed the scarf softly.

"You like it, don't you?" She asked.

"Of course…it's the only I have to remember you by."

"Eh?"

"Remember, sister? When we became separate countries, your bosses wouldn't allow us to speak with each other. I had so much family back then, but somehow I was still alone…"

Oh Ivan…

"Even when you joined the Soviet Union, I still felt oddly alone. I had duties to attend, another sister to handle…everything was adding up for me. It didn't feel like a family…I felt like I was in a prison."

You're not alone anymore.

"When I hold onto this scarf, I remember you telling me that everything was going to be alright. You were there to help me when I felt alone. You were the voice in my mind; it helped me live through these days."

She blushed.

"I'm…I'm glad that you're here, talking to me." He stated. "It makes me happy to think that you're not trying to run away."

"…you're welcome."

"…so." He smiled, a strange aura coming up around him. "Do you want to become one with me?"

"…yes."

He paused. She paused. After a few minutes, he was staring at her with a blank look on his face and then decided to tilt his head. He looked so innocent when he was trying to figure out what was going on.

"Yes?"

"Yes." She chuckled. "I want to be one with you, brother Russia…"

"No…Irunya."

"Eh?"

"Call me Ivan…my human name."

"…Ivan."

"…so…"

"Eh?"

"What do you do once you become one with them?"

"You don't know?"

"…no…no one ever agreed to be one with me."

"Maybe you give them a hug?"

"Oh! That's true, da~?"

Ivan chuckled as he gave her a hug, tight to his chest and making her squeak in surprise. She looked down and felt the Russian holding onto her like his life depended on her to exist faithfully. Irunya stood there for a few minutes before lifting up her arms to hug him back, feeling the warmth underneath her fingertips.

"I missed you, sister."

"…Ivan…"

/= [10 DAYS LATER] =/

"Heeey! Brother Ivan!"

He turned his head and saw Irunya waving at him, a basket in her hands. The Russian quietly spread out a blanket on the grass as she plopped down next to him, fixing up the basket so that the food could easily be accessible by both of them.

"I'm guessing you brought vodka, did you Ivan?"

"…yes…but I only brought one!"

"Ivan."

"…two…but I need five to get buzzed!"

"Good enough." She smiled. "Because I made you my favorite!"

"Yay!"

The two of them quickly went into the basket and started to eat all of the food inside, chirping away and catching up on old times. After a few minutes, they heard a screech of tires and someone screaming. They looked at each other in shock before turning and running down the hill to investigate.