DEAR READER:

I slightly altered this, mainly adding more details about Russia. Other than that, it's the same. Thanks again for all the reviews, advice, and quotes!

The pioneer with a heart for people and a thousand stories to tell ~+~

Chapter 9

Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit.

~Peter Ustinov

To find someone who will love you for no reason, and to shower that person with reasons, that is the ultimate happiness.

~Robert Brault

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Lithuania departed from Belarus somberly. As he trudged through the forest, his head ached fiercely, and his heart echoed the pain. The further he went, the greater the horrible pain became, which made him realize all the more how much Belarus had injured him. Plodding onwards, Lithuania wondered how long it would take for his head to heal while also considering what Belarus had screeched at him. Indeed, he left Belarus in a very sorrowful state.

As he plodded along, he began to question why he loved Belarus for the first time in his life.

Why love her? Something within him questioned. All she has ever done is hurt you, time and time again! She broke your leg, all of your fingers and gave you a nosebleed! Not only that, but she repeatedly insulted, cursed, abused, ignored and mistreated you, FOR CENTURIES! Why do you love her? If you were a human, your mother would tell you to avoid such a woman! A wise person would never want to marry such a hurtful woman. Why… why do you love her? She has given you utterly no reason to love her. She never once said she cared for you, or even liked you, much less loved you. What is the point of loving her? Poland is right-she's going to kill you one day! Just look at the bloody gash on your head—if you were human, you would probably be dead by now! Why, why do you love her?

At this point, he stumbled and fell to the ground, hitting the frigid snow abruptly. He pushed himself up, and noticed that he was in a graveyard, which seemed to be abandoned. He lounged on the snow, wishing his head would stop hurting. He began to weep as he lay there. He wept from various pain. Inside, his heart was aching with the realization that Belarus may never love him while his head and body groaned from the beating he received from Belarus, and so he quietly cried. Again, he questioned why he loved that shrew of a woman.

He slowly pulled himself into a sitting position, and hugged his legs as he sobbed harder. He began to think more as he cradled himself.

You know… I really don't have a reason to love her…. He thought. I've tried everything I know to win her heart… I have given her gifts, been gentle to her, forgiven her, taken her out to eat… nothing works, does it? I feel… emotionally drained… so… exhausted from trying and failing. Maybe… Maybe Poland is right… maybe I… I am crazy for loving her… Maybe… I shouldn't love her… I don't have a reason to love her anymore… all she ever does is hurt me… I feel like I've been blind for so long, and now I can finally see what she is really like… I shouldn't love her anymore… I really shouldn't… if she doesn't want me, then I can't force her. Besides, she's been so harmful to me… I should love someone else, not her.

Never before had Lithuania considered loving anyone besides Belarus, but after days of living with her harshness, he was emotionally drained, and felt that it was pointless to continue loving her. As he sat there, he realized that he didn't want to love her anymore… what was the point?

While sitting there, he looked at a nearby headstone, and vaguely picked out, "He loved God… and people, 'till he died."

Unfortunately, the rest was too worn to read, but those words hit Lithuania. If he was human, he would die…. What would people put on his gravestone? Would they put, "He tried his best, but only loved 'till it got hard," or, "He endured much more than one could ask," or, as was on this tombstone, "He loved 'till he died"?

Lithuania didn't want to be remembered for a failure…. He didn't want to give up on loving Belarus, but it hurt him so much to love her… he didn't think he could bear it any longer. How could anyone love unconditionally? It was impossible. As a human, or rather a human nation, Lithuania had his breaking point, and he reached it. There was only so much he could endure by himself. His emotions couldn't handle this much rejection and hurt….

While he sat there, considering what to do, a small voice in the back of his head reminded him what he told Poland so many months ago: nothing would make him stop loving Belarus. Now, here he was, challenged once again to love her, and he was considering stopping? Although he didn't really want to stop loving her, he didn't want to keep loving her, either. It appeared pointless. He sat there, considering what to do for quite some time, ignoring the numbing cold biting at his fingers and face, and trying to forget the pounding in his head and the aching all over his body.

Again, he eyed the tombstone reflectively. How could this man love until he died? Did he ever want to stop loving? What made him love people? Lithuania leaned closer.

"He loved God…" That's what it said. Not much help, there…. Unfortunately, the stone didn't say all the struggles the man may have had in his life, nor what made him remembered for his love. In fact, the headstone was so worn that it didn't have the man's name on it anymore… much less when he died. However, it did say three things about him: he loved God, and people, until he died. If a mere mortal man could do that, why not Lithuania, a nation? Why couldn't he love someone until the end of time? Then again, why should he?

He sat there for a great length, feeling his hands go numb and his nose turn very cold as he sat there in the snow. He considered his life. For centuries, he had loved Belarus for no good reason. Regardless of her actions, he loved her. However, that had been from a distance, when he only saw her so often. Currently, he was living with her, and day and night he was forced to endure whatever she did to him. Of late, she had been getting along with him… until today, when she awoke from a nightmare and cursed and beat him. Lithuania recalled that she spoke of the past… their past…. Sadly, Lithuania couldn't change the past, or what his government did with Belarus, but it was clearly hurting her, which made her harm him, which is why he was here in the first place. He rubbed his hands while thinking about this, trying to warm his icy fingers as he sat there in the dead of winter.

He considered the tombstone again. Finally, he did something he had not done in a long time: he thought about God. Long ago… long, long, long… LONG ago, he had converted to Christianity. However, over the centuries, due to wars, rumors of wars, sickness, being hurt by Belarus, he had slowly ignored God, more or less. At the end of his rope, being emotionally drained and depressed, looking at a tombstone, he began to think about God again. If God could help a mortal man love someone, surely God could help a nation as well. Even though it was awkward for him, Lithuania prayed and told God everything that happened, and asked for the strength to love Belarus. For some reason, it was comforting merely talking about what happened, and when he was finished, he felt that he could love her… and he decided that he would. Remembering what he said to Poland, Lithuania determined to love Belarus no matter what she did to him, for true love always loved, no matter what.

Meanwhile, Belarus had sped to Russia's house, hoping to get out of the contract before her brother found out what she did to Lithuania. She was apprehensive as she approached, worried that somehow Russia would find out what she did to Lithuania and force her to stay with him. She knocked on his door, and stepped back while rubbing her cold arms. Inside, Russia approached his door, and looked out the window nearby to see who it was. When he saw his little sister, he gasped and hid behind the door, hoping that if he didn't answer she would go away. For the past months, Russia had enjoyed being away from Belarus, and was quite happy. Now, for some reason, his sister was back, which made him terrified to answer the door. Of course, she was smart enough to know that he was there.

"Big Brother, let me inside! I have something to ask concerning the contract!" Belarus fervently demanded as she slammed her fist on the door again.

"No, Belarus! I-I-I am busy , come back another day!" Russia answered, hoping to deter her.

"Big Brother, I am freezing out here! LET ME IN BEFORE I GET FROSTBITE!" Belarus shouted in frustration.

Being desperate to get out of the contract, Belarus was determined to get into the house, which made her temper rise.

"O-okay… what is it you want to talk about?" Russia asked while cracking open the door.

Belarus barged through the door and went straight to the nearest fireplace to warm up while she stated, "I have been married to him for long enough-I want to be released from the contract."

"Belarus, you agreed to one year, and it has only been about six months," Russia cautiously pointed out, hoping that she wouldn't try something harmful.

"But, Big Brother, I don't want to be married to him any longer! I have too many bad memories with him! Please, haven't I proved my love for you by now?" Belarus implored her brother frantically.

"Belarus, you agreed to one year, and it's not one year yet-if you really loved me, you would hold to your agreement, right?" Russia parried, staying far away from her as he spoke.

Since Belarus wasn't here to bother him about getting married to her, Russia began to calm down. Meanwhile, Belarus groaned. Her brother had made a valid point.

"Belarus, has Lithuania hurt you during your marriage?" Russia probed, wondering what made her so desperate to come here in the first place.

"No, but so many things have happened over the centuries! At one time, I was forced to live with him, and I don't want to go through that again! Another time, some of my land was forked over to him! Please, Brother, I have had enough of that nation!" Belarus pleaded with him, angrily recalling the past while she warmed herself by the wonderful fire.

"Well… Sister, we cannot be blamed for everything our bosses do… besides, that's not what I asked; what I asked is whether Lithuania did anything to harm you within the past six months," Russia steadily replied.

Even though he preferred to stay away from Belarus, she was still his little sister, and he was beginning to feel protective of her at the thought of somebody hurting her. As Russia wondered what happened, Belarus stared at the ceiling thoughtfully. Although she tried extremely hard to think of something he did wrong to her, she couldn't recall anything.

"Well…no…" She slowly admitted.

"And… have you done something wrong to him?" Russia continued, stepping a bit closer to her as he spoke.

If Lithuania wasn't hurting her, then surely she did something wrong to him, which would explain why she was deteremined to get out of the contract. Russia began to become more attentive as he listened to Belarus.

"Well… yes…" She divulged guiltily.

"Belarus, what did you do?" Russia asked slowly.

Now he was becoming less timid and more vindictive. After all these months, Russia thought that surely the law of relationships would work and that Belarus and Lithuania would get along, and the thought that they were fighting not only made him worried that he would be stuck with his sister forever, but also made him slightly angry. After all, he tried so hard to make the contract so that they would fall in love that the thought of them fighting was very irritating indeed.

"Uhm… nothing… okay… I… beat him…" She confessed, not willing to say exactly what she did to him.

"And… did he beat you?" Russia probed with a raised eyebrow.

"…no… never…lifted…one…finger…" Belarus answered timidly as she stared into the fire.

Of course, Lithuania didn't hurt her, he never would, yet she was hurting him. If she kept hurting him, Lithuania may not be interested in marrying her anymore, which would destroy the entire plan of keeping them married in the first place. Considering this, Russia quickly thought of an argument to make Belarus stay with her husband, in a nice way.

"Belarus… All you ever do to that man is hurt him, and all he ever does is be nice to you, right?" Russia pointed out.

"…yes…" Belarus agreed with a nod.

With those words, Russia was officially upset. Lithuania was one of the nicest people he knew, and his sister continually degraded and abused him. Russia finally snapped.

"Belarus, you keep asking for love, but you don't even know what it looks like!" Russia shouted while throwing his hands into the air, "For the past six months, you have been beating him-you yourself said so-and for the past six months he has been nothing but kind to you-you yourself said so-yet you still abhor him? WHY? Why do you hate him if all he ever does is be nice to you? Sister, the love you want I can never give you-it is not in me! Wherever you go, people fear and hate you because you are so hurtful to them, yet you want to be loved! I tell you, I cannot give you that love! I care for you, yes, but I can never love you like that, okay? I simply cannot do it! Besides, after years of hurting people, do you think anyone would ever love you like that? Do you? Do you think you deserve that kind of love after all the pain and fear you gave people?"

Shocked that her brother would yell at her, Belarus stepped back and eyed the floor. As she stood there, she realized that she didn't deserve any love for the way she had acted.

"…no… I… I don't," she answered sorrowfully.

After a few silent moments, Russia's eyes softened and his voice quieted. After all, this woman was still his sister, and she needed some gentleness, even if she wasn't gentle.

He replied, "Well, guess what? There is a man out there who desperately wants you, who will always be faithful to you, and has always loved you for no good reason: Lithuania. He has been giving you the kind of love you have been craving, but you keep turning him away harshly. Sister, I cannot love you the way you want to be loved, but he can, and is."

Belarus slowly shifted her gaze from the floor to her brother's purple eyes.

"He… He does, doesn't he?" She breathed, recognizing for the first time that Lithuania truly loved her.

"Yes, he does. Now, go to him and apologize for the way you've been acting!" Russia ordered her as he pointed to the front door.

Belarus silently nodded as she left. Although she had entered to get out of the contract, she left his house willing to stay. Russia smiled as she left, feeling that his plan would still work and his sister would finally fall in love with Lithuania, and leave him alone.

She pondered all that her brother said and all that she had done over the past six months while she walked home. Indeed, Lithuania had been nothing but wonderful to her, and she completely didn't deserve it. The more she considered it, the more it didn't make sense-why should Lithuania love her, especially after all the pain she put him through over the centuries? When he could have slapped her in the face, cursed her, or reported what she did to Russia, Lithuania simply forgave her, and continued to be gentle to her, which was completely illogical. Why? Why would he do such a thing? It was insane-him being kind to her when all she did was… tolerate him, at best. Now, today, just a few hours ago, she had beat him and made him bleed, yet all he did was kiss her and tell her that he loved her. As she remembered the kiss, Belarus blushed, and traced her lips with her icy fingertips. That was the first kiss he ever gave her… and the first romantic kiss she recalled ever having. She pondered all that happened over the past months, especially the kiss, as she entered Lithuania's house.

For another hour or two, Belarus sat by the fire, awaiting Lithuania's return fretfully. When Lithuania did stumble through the door, she rushed to his side and begged for forgiveness, and quickly bandaged his bleeding head. Lithuania reclined by the fireside silently while she attended him. For several minutes, he was silent as he warmed himself.

"Lithuania… when are you going to tell Big Brother about your head?" Belarus inquired solemnly.

"I'm not," Lithuania answered.

With an aghast look in her eyes, Belarus replied, "You're… not?"

"No…. I forgive you, Belarus," Lithuania answered as he locked eyes with her. His green eyes were filled with the love he still held for her, and the ache he had in his heart from all the past hardships he recalled. Gently, he held her hand, got off the couch he was seated on, and kneeled in front of Belarus and apologized, "Belarus, I am so sorry for everything my government, my people, and my ancestors did to you, your government, your ancestors and your people. I know how much you must have been hurt by it, and I want you to know that I never want to harm you, ever. Please, please forgive me."

At those words, Belarus finally couldn't bear it any longer, and she began to sob. She didn't deserve any kindness from him, but he was kind yet once again.

Instantly, she threw herself onto the floor beside him and embraced Lithuania as she sobbed, "I forgive you! I was wrong, I was wrong to blame you for everything! Please, forgive me!"

Lithuania gently put his arms around her and whispered, "I forgive you, Belarus."

"Natalia—my name is Natalia, or Natasha… Natalia Arlovskaya… Larinaitis. Please, call me Natasha," She corrected him between sobs.

Lithuania's breath caught in his throat when he heard her allow him to use her human name… and she willingly identified herself by his surname, acknowledging that they were married.

"My name is Toris Laurinaitis… please call me 'Toris', Natasha," He replied with a grateful whisper.

"Yes, Toris… I just want you to know that, I am a horrible woman and I don't deserve you," Belarus answered with tears chocking her voice.

Lithuania gently stroked Belarus' platinum blonde hair as he answered, "No… you are not horrible… we all have our flaws… and I suppose none of us deserve anything," Lithuania parried lovingly.

Belarus hugged him tighter and continued to cry. On that day, Lithuania departed somberly, on that day he returned willingly, even though he had every reason to leave, and on that day they began a new relationship.

DEAR READER:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and that it made you feel various emotions.

Please, leave me a review and let me know what you think without spoiling anything, okay?

Also, I wanted to show some things in this chapter:

1. Lithuania does have a breaking point.

2. Lithuania is a Christian nation.

3. People often find comfort in God.

4. Love is a daily choice.

5. True love is forgiveness.

6. Belarus is abusive, but not a complete psychopath.

Indeed, I try to show many of these things throughout the whole story.

I don't just write fluffy romances-I put in a moral... usually.

By the way, please keep leaving me reviews! I want to know if this story flows well, is in-character, and has excellent grammar, and if it makes you feel any emotions. Of course, I don't want you spoiling anything, either. Also, if you have any good quotes on love, please leave them in a review, or a PM! Thanks for everything, Everyone!

PioneeringAuthor, the pioneer with a heart for people and a thousand stories to tell {+}