Chapter 11

It was not as if he did not like Natalia that he locked the door of his study. He surely loved his little sister. It was just that the way she showed her love for him was unsettling if not downright terrifying at times. Saying that she would one day be her big brother's bride was cute when she was younger, but now the joke had gone too far. After securing the chain bolt at the top of the door, Ivan sat back down at his desk. Breakfast could wait a couple more hours.

xx

Ivan was older now, stronger. General Winter had been right. Now he had a reason to become strong- protecting the baby girl he named Natalia- and his strength did grow. Protecting the girl meant that her first lesson was to never cry in the presence of the General. Winter was not too fond of the idea of letting the infant nation stay, but eventually he brought a goat so that she would have milk to drink. They ate the goat once she was old enough to eat solid food. It was delicious.

One day, Ivan was stalking through the woods- hunting for dinner- when he found strange tracks along one of his patrol trails. They were human; too small to belong to a man, but too large to belong to a child. Ivan thought back to the toddler left alone at home in her makeshift play pen. The tracks were headed toward home making his stomach knot up in worry. He ran along the path carved by the stranger's prints with his rifle in both hands. Then he could spot the stranger. First, he caught sight of their fair blonde hair. As he charged forward and the stranger turned around to face him, the second thing he noticed was her calm blue eyes.

"Katyusha?" he yelled as he threw his weapon to the ground and wrapped his arms around the young woman. "I can't believe it. I'm not really dreaming, am I?"

"Ivan?"

"Da, Katyusha." Ivan smiled. "It's me, big sister."

Katyusha stared at him and gave him a head to toe glance. Ivan did the same, stopping at her swollen chest. With one index finger, he poked her left breast to convince himself of whether it was real or not.

"Ivan!" She punched him right in the center of his chest. "What are you doing?"

"It looks like you've finally grown," he said with a chuckle as he rubbed the spot that was hit. Straightening up, he smiled broadly. "I've grown too, da?"

Ivan was a whole head tall than his sister now. For the first time in his life, he was looking down into those clear blue eyes instead of up at them. He felt his laughter rising up in his chest a second time.

"You really have grown." Katyusha looked away. "Has it really been so long?"

Ivan took her hand in both of his. "It hasn't been so long. You still remember the way home, don't you? Then it hasn't been too long."

Katyusha smiled. "Maybe you're right."

Hand in hand, the two walked to the home they once shared. Ivan dominated most of the conversation, chattering happily about how much the house had changed since she was gone. His smile broadened with every passing minute. "And when it isn't cold enough to freeze the pipes, there is running water. It makes it a lot easier to give Natalia a bath when there is running water."

"Who is Natalia?"

Ivan stopped and stared at his rifle. "That's right… I haven't found anything for dinner yet… There should still be enough stew left over for one more meal. Come on! I'll introduce you to Natalia."

He let go of his sister's hand and dashed ahead. Katyusha was huffing and puffing misty pants when they finally arrived. Their home had drastically changed over the past years. No longer a shack with four plank walls, the house now had one bedroom, a small front room- a wooden dining table and two chairs occupied most of the space- and a closet sized wash room. Ivan poured countless hours into renovating the place during his free time to give Natalia a proper home. General Winter often told him that he was spoiling the child and that a dog house would be more than fitting, but he would not yield. The only thing remaining from the old residence was the door with a single bullet hole.

"Did you do all of this?"

"Da." He grinned as she admired his craftsmanship. "I could not get my hands on glass for the windows, so I had to use muscovite. That aside, it's pretty impressive, da?"

Katyusha traced the bullet hole with one finger. "You couldn't have changed the door?"

"Eh? You should be praising me now. I worked really hard on this, you know."

"I'm sorry," she smiled softly. "You did a great job, Ivan."

He placed one hand on the door and pushed it open. "I thought that since this was the door that you left through, this would be the door that you would one day return through." He walked through the doorway and offered her his hand. "Welcome home, big sister."

She blinked at him and sighed. "You are being far too kind to me, brother." Katyusha accepted his hand. "I'm back."

Ivan's smile stretched from one ear to the other. He pulled her through the entryway and over to the shared bedroom. "Natalia, look who I found out in the woods."

Natalia was waiting patiently for her beloved big brother to return with the biggest, cutest eyes she could muster and clingy hands ready to grab his arm and never let go. She was no longer and infant, but the toddler was hardly knee high to her tall brother who seemed to grow taller each day. Ivan lifted her up into his arms and as he cradled her, Natalia snuggled close to his chest.

"Natalia, this is my older sister Katyusha." He smiled down at the little girl. "Say hello."

She turned her head and stared unimpressed at the stranger.

"Hello, Natalia." Katyusha reached out to pat the girl on the head.

"No!" the child screeched as she gripped her brother's jacket tightly, drawing even close to Ivan. "My brother! Mine, mine!"

Ivan frowned. "Natalia, calm down."

Katyusha laughed nervously. "It would seem that she doesn't like me very much."

"She just isn't used to you." He stroked his little sister's head to calm her down. "She will grow to love you. I just know she will."

The three of them shared a lovely dinner of left over stew. Natalia put aside he distaste for the unexpected guest with the distraction of being allowed to sit on her brother's lap while they ate. Ivan smiled and made light conversation while avoiding some of the more burning questions that he really wanted to ask his sister. Katyusha mostly listened and quietly ate her dinner. It was nice… Until the sun began to set.

Ivan eyed the window nervously. "Natalia, it is time for bed." He looked to the other sister. "I think it would be best if you stayed in the bedroom too, Katyusha."

"Why is that?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"General Winter will be arriving soon," he answered with a sad shake of his head.

"Winter," the tiny nation echoed, shivering a little as if she caught a sudden chill.

Katyusha paled. "You still see General Winter? He is still with you?"

"Da…" Once again he made a sad face, but it lasted only a moment before the usual smile returned. "But you shouldn't be afraid. I'm strong enough to protect you now. I have protected Natalia all this time, so now I will protect you as well."

He led both of the girls into the bedroom. Tucking Natalia in, he kissed her gently on the forehead and promised that it would protect her from any bad dreams. She fell asleep within a few minutes leaving only Katyusha to worry about. Standing up from beside the bed, he stretched his arms.

"You can share the bed with Natalia. Usually I sleep there, but the bed isn't big enough for three, and at our age it would probably seem pretty odd." He placed a hand on each of her shoulders. "The General will probably only stay long enough for a drink or two, and then he will be on his way."

"You drink with him?" She did little to hide the disapproval in her voice. "Why on earth would you do that?"

Ivan sighed. "A lot has changed, Katyusha. We drink together every night now. It isn't that big of a deal. Just make sure that you stay in here. You know how he can be."

Katyusha bit her bottom lip. "I'm worried, Ivan. Why don't we just run away? All of us could just leave. We could leave Winter behind. Ivan, I've seen it; a place where the sky is blue. There are green field as far as the eye can see and song birds can be heard everywhere. It is warm there, Ivan. I even saw flowers that look like miniature suns. They grow in tall forests that look like a yellow ocean. Please, Ivan, let's go."

The front door groaned as it was pushed open. Ivan pressed a finger to his sister's lips. With sad eyes he shook his head and mouthed out the words, "I'm sorry."

"Ivan, please," his sister pleaded in a tearful whisper.

Ivan simply shook his head and walked out of the bedroom