Chapter 8

Early December 1946, Budapest, Hungary.

She ghosted her fingers over her gleaming pearl necklace. It sat tightly around her neck. Her eyes stared at the glass in front of her, judging her reflection. Her stomach was in knots; an assortment of emotions invading her body. Anxiety, excitement, happiness, exhaustion, the list could go on. Any other time she would go to a work function, she would not be suffering from those feelings; she was not so sure why she was befallen to such emotions this time. Her fretting hands moved towards her hair, brushing down her hair, fluffing her fringe, prodding at her tight bun, curling her side bangs. She was now standing before her ageing vanity. She turned around watching her reflection, her hands smoothing down her deep red dress. It was a tight-fitting dress that flowed out by the start of her calves. Even though she was completely ready for the night she still had some doubts about her appearance, like something was missing. A soft knock had echoed into the room. She did not answer to the rapping as she was too immersed in judging herself.

"Elizabeta… you look stunning…" Came Roderich's voice, his body now appearing in the reflection of Elizabeta's vanity mirror. He was dressed in his formal uniform. He placed a hand on the crevasse of her back. "You seem troubled." He said, noticing her furrowed brows.

"Is there something missing?" She pondered out loud. "Do I need more lipstick? Should I let my hair out instead? Maybe I should try on another dress…" Elizabeta mumbled.

"Stop fretting Elizabeta, you look exquisite." Roderich responded, he picked up her small white clutch purse and handed it to her. "The only thing missing right now is your partner for the night." She held her hands. Her stomach bubbled at the thought of her partner and her cheeks flushed. Maybe Ivan was the missing link to her current woes. She was so confused; did she have feelings for her Russian superior? Every time she thought of him her chest tightened and her body would heat up. That was not normal, was it?

She felt like a fool, a complete fool. She told herself she would not get close to her superior but now here she was harbouring feelings for him, like a total fool. She wanted to curse at herself, she wanted to curse at Ivan. She wanted to curse at anything and everything.

"Major Braginsky said he was picking you up at 6:45, right?" Roderich asked, as he fixed his medals in the reflection. "He should be arriving shortly then." He glanced at his pocket watch, which was hidden beneath his uniform. "Come, let us wait downstairs. I'm sure Ludwig would want to see how lovely you look." Roderich placed a hand on Elizabeta's waist and led the way to the bottom half of the house. Ludwig sat in the living room; his eyes intently focused on reading the newspaper in front of him. The clicking of heels and boots took his attention away from the paper and to the two people in front of him. He gave a soft smile as he looked at Elizabeta.

"You look wonderful." He said.

"Thank you, Ludwig." She returned the smile, though her eyes were downcast.

"Don't look so anxious, Eliza." Ludwig stood and walked over to the woman, placing his hands on her exposed shoulders. "You will have a good time, don't be too overwrought." There was a stern knock from the front door of the house.

"That's probably Major Braginsky," Roderich said, turning around towards the entrance of the house. "I'll answer it." He made his way to the door. Elizabeta looked back at Ludwig.

"Relax. Enjoy tonight." Ludwig leaned down and placed a chaste kiss upon Elizabeta's cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow." He smiled.

"Good night, see you tomorrow, Ludwig." She nodded, slowly making her way to where Ivan and Roderich would be. The two men had a serious look on their faces and were speaking in hushed voices, until Ivan had noticed Elizabeta. She assumed they were talking about work.

"Good evening, corporal." His eyes glanced over her, immediately drawn to the red fabric that hugged her body.

"Good evening…" She said meekly, she made eye contact with him for a brief moment before focusing her attention on putting on a white fluffy coat. Roderich stepped to the side when Elizabeta came to the door.

"All ready?" Ivan asked.

"Yes." She responded, nodding her head. Ivan held out a gloved hand for her to take. She looked back at Roderich. "Do you need a ride there, Roderich?" She asked.

"I'm fine, thank you though. There's a few things I need to do before I leave," The Austrian said. "Go on before me. I'll see you two later on in the night." He smiled at Elizabeta. She gave a quick smile back before taking Ivan's hand. They walked away from the house and towards the car that was lowly humming whilst it waited patiently in the cold night. Ivan opened the car door for Elizabeta and closed it once she was settled inside.

"You look beautiful by the way…" Ivan said as he got into the seat beside her. Elizabeta could feel her face flare up while her stomach felt light and fluttery. The chauffeur had started the car and began to drive towards the venue of the night.

"Thank you." Her voice quiet. "You look lovely too…" This time she spoke up. She had never seen him with slicked back hair before, it was definitely a surprise when she first saw him. His uniform for the night was also quite formal. More formal than usual. A deep teal coloured uniform with a bright white collared shirt beneath it, paired with a black tie. The gold coloured belt and the gold epaulette accented the teal colour even more. Elizabeta heard an amused sigh come from her partner. She looked at him.

"I've never been described as lovely before…" He said. "Thank you." Ivan grinned. The image of Ivan Braginsky smiling had been engraved into her brain. It was a beautiful visual. He looked much more handsome smiling, than scowling. Ivan had turned his gaze away from Elizabeta, but she was still staring at him- taking in his visuals once again. She could not stop concentrating on Ivan's lips. They were just so kissable. Elizabeta quickly turned away. She refused to have those thoughts; in fact, she had been thinking about Ivan so much lately she made it taboo to even do so. He was her superior, and they were meant to dislike each other. That is how their relationship worked. Strictly professional.

The car soon came to a stop. The door soon opened and Ivan slid out of the car before waiting beside the open door, he held his hand out. Elizabeta shuffled over to the exit and gently took Ivan's extended hand. The chauffeur closed the door behind them before entering the car and driving away. Elizabeta's eyes flickered up to the building that was a few metres away from them. The two stood before the stone staircase that led to the said building. It was the old town hall. Relief washed over her, she was happy that this building managed to survive its way through the war. She let out a small sigh.

"Are you okay?" Ivan's voice, it was soft. She glanced over to him. "Is something the matter?" She saw the concern on his face. Elizabeta shook her head before giving a weary smile.

"I'm okay. Let's go in." She moved her arm so now they were arm in arm. Ivan nodded before leading her along. They both started a medium stride up the staircase. For some reason Elizabeta's heart was going a mile a minute. She couldn't understand why she was so nervous. There were two men standing by the huge oak doors at the entrance. They opened the double door at the same time, ushering the couple in. It was much warmer inside than out, they must've had a few fireplaces going throughout the building to keep it warm in the winter. She shrugged her coat off before handing it to the man who was working the door on the inside. She snaked herself onto Ivan's arm once again before they walked deeper into the building. She swore she could've felt his hand ghost over her own. Her eyes met his. He gently smiled at her.

She looked away quickly after he smiled, her face turning a bright red. Elizabeta's heart racing and her stomach fluttering. This behaviour was not of a sane person, it was totally and utterly wrong. They had entered a large conference room which had been turned into half a ballroom just for tonight. A lot of men in the room were wearing the same uniform as Ivan, some more spiffed up than him. Some had more medals dangling from their breasts and some had a completely different shade of uniform on. Probably higher authorities Elizabeta guessed. Then her ears picked up the sound of beautiful music flowing through the room. A stringed quintet sat on the medium sized stage. She recognised this piece. It was Tchaikovsky's 'Waltz of the Flowers' from his famous 'The Nutcracker' ensemble. She was definitely nervous about coming to this large function but she couldn't care less now, the music was a calming drug for her. She didn't have a care in the world at this moment.

"There she is." Ivan spoke up, breaking Elizabeta out of her trance. "The usual Eliza I know. You've relaxed, no need to be nervous anymore. I'm here with you." He reassured her, giving her hand a squeeze. She nodded, softly smiling. He started leading her along to a group of men who seemed like they were having a good time as they were laughing and drinking.

"I'm going to drag you along for a little of your time just to chat with my superiors."

"After that, we can have some fun."

So many faces that Elizabeta had met, none of them she was going to remember or probably even interact with again. She had exchanged basic pleasantries with about half of the men Ivan had talked to. They didn't really try to converse with her, most likely because of the language barrier. She enjoyed listening to Ivan's deep voice, even if she couldn't understand a single word he was saying, his Russian was just so soothing.

Elizabeta tapped Ivan's arm. He instantly gave his attention to her.

"I'm just going to excuse myself." She whispered. He nodded and she unlatched herself from his arm. She needed to stretch her legs, it was tiring standing around idly and smiling. As she walked away from the group, a waiter was about to pass her with flutes of champagne on his polished silver tray. She quickly stopped him and grabbed a glass. This being her third one of the young night. As she sipped her new glass her eyes glanced around. Taking note of everyone interacting.

Men and women of all body types having a great time. No one gave a single thought about the war that had recently ravaged the globe. She spotted a door that seemed to lead to a terrace. Intrigued, she found herself outside in the cool air. She placed her empty flute on the wide marble railing. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she leaned on the railing. The thin line of snow, dressing the top of the railing, chilling her body for a split second. Her eyes looked at the once bustling city. Her city. Nighttime was once a beautiful sight but now it was almost pitch dark, only certain lights in the distance flickered. She wondered how long it would take for this city to rebuild itself. Many light hands sacrificed themselves to build a beautiful place, only for it to crumble so easily under the heavy boot of war.

She felt hands smoothly wrap around her shoulders, providing warmth. She sighed once again.

"Everything okay?" Came Ivan's voice ghosted her ear in a soft whisper. She shifted her body weight towards him, her hands moving to lay atop his.

"Just needed some air." Her eyes never leaving the dark skyline.

"Do you have enough air to be able to dance with me?" This time she looked at Ivan. A small laugh escaping her lips.

"Of course." Elizabeta held out a hand, inviting Ivan to take it. He followed her silent order and led them both back into the warm building. The quintet now playing a lovely rendition of 'Slavonic Dances' by Antonín Dvořák.

"This is one of my favourite pieces by Dvořák." Ivan contently sighed. They both continued to walk to the open section of the large conference room, which was designated as the dance floor. There were many couples already waltzing to the beautiful piece.

"Dvořák…" Elizabeta hummed quietly. She was fishing through all the knowledge in her brain to try and find if she knew 'Dvořák'. His name was certainly familiar to her. "He's the one who composed 'Into the New World', right?"

"Indeed." Ivan nodded, bringing the Hungarian's body to face his own. His right hand snaked around her waist and his left taking Elizabeta's right hand. The hand that was sitting on her waist pulled her closer to his body. There was no way for her to leave his grip, which she didn't mind at all. In fact she encouraged it, silently. "You certainly know your classical music, don't you?" He noted, they slowly began to waltz to the music. They started slowly to try and find the right rhythm and to get used to each other's own rhythm, considering they hadn't rehearsed a dance for tonight.

"Roderich loves classical music, so he showed me a lot of the pieces he enjoys." Elizabeta replied. "But I did find my own pieces that I equally enjoy. I quite like the works from Chopin and Liszt."

"Liszt? You're very patriotic." Ivan chuckled, she cracked a smile in return.

"Ivan, I bet you listen to Dmitri Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky."

"Every Russian listens to Tchaikovsky." Ivan replied, a smirk on his face. "But yes, you are correct. I do listen to other composers but those two are definitely my top composers."

"You're so easy to read Braginsky." Elizabeta giggled.

"Only for you, my dear." Ivan spun her around, unable to see the redness on her cheeks. Once she was finished spinning, she landed abruptly on his chest. Her eyes locking in with his as she looked up at him. She swore she could get lost in his mysterious eyes.

"Ivan…" Elizabeta said, slightly breathless. He was slowly leaning down towards her. Her heart began to race once she realised what was going to happen. Elizabeta also began to close the gap between the two by pushing herself up with her toes. She could feel his breath hot on her cheeks. Her eyelids fluttered close as she could practically feel his lips ghost against her own. The room interrupted into clapping, the sound reverberated throughout her chest. Her eyes opened with haste, wondering what the commotion was all about. They both looked at the stage as the quintet was bowing before the crowd, signalling that they finished their set for the time being. Staff soon hurriedly invaded the stage, taking away the music stand and chairs the musicians were using. The objects being replaced with a microphone. A man entered onto the stage and the lights dimmed. A screen, with a projection, behind the man now being the only light in the room. The crowd began to clap once again. Elizabeta withheld her applause, she hadn't a clue who this man was. He must have been of importance as Ivan was clapping for him.

Her eyes moved to the screen behind him, a map of Europe being shown. The screen then changed to a map of Germany. The country being almost split in half. She certainly didn't like the look of it. It was giving her the most intense uneasy feeling.

"Why is Germany split in half?" She questioned.

"One side the allies control and the other side is what we, the USSR, control." He replied. "We control East Germany as part of their reparation from the Second World War."

The map zoomed out, presenting the continent again. It showed a small clip of the colour red leaking from the Soviet Union and engulfing the east of Europe. Though, there was something odd about it she thought. The west side of Europe coloured blue and the east side now coloured red. Her own country part of the red paint. It was like a giant curtain had halved the continent. The screen changed to another map, it was focused on Hungary. It was grey but the slides continued to change and it was now fully coloured in red. She was confused but something about it terrified her. A sinking feeling was residing in her abdomen. The crowd cheered. She looked around. They were all happy. This was a good thing?

"What is going on?" She was so confused. She couldn't understand what the man on stage was saying as he was speaking his native tongue, Russian. She could only interpret by the projection and even that was confusing her.

"Hungary has become a satellite state." Ivan responded, slightly ire. He was trying to focus on the presentation.

"What?"

"A satellite state. Just like the others." He said looking at Elizabeta. He noticed an abundance of mixed emotions crawling across her face. "You know… Like Romania, Czechoslovakia… Uh… Bulgari-" Before Ivan could finish his sentence Elizabeta had stormed off.

"What the fuck?!" She screamed as soon as she stomped into the hallway. There was no way in hell that her country had just survived a war to become a satellite state. Being a satellite state did not mean any good could come. Anxiety began to fill her body. If another war broke out, would Hungary be the front line? Considering the Allied front was only a jump away. It was obvious that the USSR was using Eastern Europe as protection from the West. The sudden information of it all was hard for her to swallow. She reached the entrance of the hall and the doorman gave her coat back. The Hungarian didn't bother to wait for him to open the door for her, she heaved the doors open and hurried down the steps. She had no idea what to do. All she wanted to do was run and curse at the Soviets. Why couldn't they just leave other countries alone and stick to their own huge mass of land.

"Elizabeta!" Came Ivan's voice. Her body began to heat up. Not out of lust but out of anger and disgust.

"Leave me alone!" Elizabeta didn't even bother to look behind her, she didn't want to even look at Ivan.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

"I said leave me alone!" She turned around to face him. There he was, the soviet brute, right in front of her.

"I don't understand why-"

Her gloved hand made sharp contact with his pale face.

"You're all the fucking same. I can't believe I let myself get close to you. I had forgotten what you truly are." She growled. "A fucking scum Soviet." She raised her hand again.

"Elizabeta!" Another voice had entered the scene. Elizabeta froze, only her eyes moved. A figure came running from behind Ivan's broad body. "What in the hell do you think you are doing?!" Roderich screeched, he was trying to catch his breath once he caught up to the couple.

"Roderich.. I…" She stuttered, slowly lowering her hand.

"Major Braginsky, I truly apologise for her outburst." The Austrian grabbed Elizabeta by her wrist. "I saw everything. You need to apologise to Major Braginsky if you want to keep your job and not be thrown in jail, Elizabeta."

"It's fine." Ivan finally spoke, he removed a hand from his red cheek. "She's probably just intoxicated. Get her home safely." He looked at Roderich with a dark and sinister expression. Ivan also muttered something to Roderich that Elizabeta could hardly hear.

"Y-yes sir." Roderich almost yelped. "Elizabeta." He growled, he basically dragged her away from the Russian.

Elizabeta looked back as she continued to walk away, the emotion that was on Ivan's face was indescribable.

A/N; Hey! Sorry it's been so freaking long since my last update- Life just got in the way as well as writer's block. BUT! WE ARE BACK! Hopefully the next chapter will be out sooner than this one (RIP 2 years hiatus)

Reviews/feedback is always appreciated!