Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia. All rights go to its creators.
Part 2: Chapter 3: Sweet Sister
Elise was sitting at a table with her girlfriend Marianne Bonnefoy. Marianne had suggested they go out to get her mind off of worrying about Natalia.
Elise stirred the straw of her long island iced tea, eyes downcast. She'd taken about one sip of the drink and they'd been there for about an hour already.
"Lili." Marianne said to her, mouth turned into a pout.
Elise looked up at Marianne, eyes widened. "I'm sorry Madame-"
"Lili."
"I-I'm sorry Marianne. But you didn't see how distraught Natalia looked. She was so sad when I told her that Mister Kirkland wasn't coming to see her. She said she didn't care if she got out or not." Elise's mouth turned into a frown.
"Ah oui, the perils of amour. They make use say stupid things; I am sure she did not mean that."
Elise let out a sad sigh.
"Hey, you said you would find out how to clear her name. I am sure she would be appreciative of you if you manage to do that. If not,..." Marianne shrugged.
"But I'm not sure I can do it. Where would I even start?"
Marianne took a sip of her apple martini as the music changed to one of a faster tempo.
"Did you talk to Mister Laurinaitis? You said that he said he would help you."
Elise nodded, "He said that the detective had asked him about Natalia's brother, Mister Braginski. Which was kind of strange because he didn't think they interacted much. Also he asked about Mister Kirkland's book and would be coming by the bookstore to pick up a copy soon."
"Well then there you go, talk to Natalia's brother."
"But I don't know him that well. Would he even want to talk to me?"
"Only one way to find out." Marianne said, raising her eyebrows.
Elise swallowed before giving her a small smile.
"Ah there it is, a smile. I knew you could still make them." Marianne said before rising out of her seat, she held out her hand to the other woman. "Allez, dance with me, Lili."
Elise's cheeks were pastel pink with blush, she looked up at Marianne with her wide emerald eyes, before she took her hand.
Marianne grasped Elise's hand firmly and led her out to the middle of the dance floor with the rest of the bodies in the club in Srafbridge. There were alot of people at this club on this particular Friday night. Elise was not particularly one to go dancing at nightclubs but upon seeing her girlfriend so happy could not say that she did not enjoy being there tonight. Elise smiled along with Marianne and tried her best to keep up.
Just behind Marianne, two blonds were seated at the bar. One more familiar to Elise than the other. Elise almost yelled Arthur's name upon seeing him smiling and laughing with another blonde haired woman who was not Natalia.
"M-marianne." Elise said, her eyes wide and her jaw hard set. Marianne raised an eyebrow before looking behind herself briefly and seeing Arthur with the other blonde haired woman. Elise was shaking, and her fists were tightly balled up at her sides.
Marianne looked back at Elise before gripping her shoulders, mouth pressed into a hard line, "Go sit back down, and relax. I will handle this. I don't want you to cause a scene."
Elise gave her a nod, because if she went over there she would have done something irrational. Maybe she would have punched Arthur, or slapped him, there was no way to know for sure. Elise walked back over to the table they were sitting at and sipped her long island iced tea while trying to calm herself down.
Marianne approached the two blondes, plastering on a smile that could be considered fake.
"Bonjour! Arthur, I didn't expect to see you here of all places." Marianne said as Arthur looked in her direction.
He looked surprised, before he frowned, "It slipped my mind that you frequent places like this often Marianne." Arthur did not hide his discontent at seeing her there.
"Oh oui, I do, but I heard that your little girlfriend Natalia is in jail. I would have thought you'd be there visiting her."
Arthur rolled his eyes, "Always trying to find a scandal aren't you Marianne?" He then turned his attention to the woman next to him. "I was just telling Katyusha here about Natalia being accused of murder."
Katyusha Braginski turned to look at Marianne, "You've heard about my sweet sister being accused of murder? I'm worried about her. Arthur just told me, having caught me at the farmer's market. I hadn't heard anything from Ivan or Nat herself."
"Oh you are Natalia's sister. I should have known. As if a woman without obligation would spend time casually with this one here." Marianne nudged Arthur with her elbow, a bit forcefully in his ribs. It was a "don't screw around with Katyusha" signal.
Marianne nodded, "It happened a few days ago. Did Arthur take you to see her?" Katyusha did not notice Arthur wince from her action.
"No, we were going to go over there after we were finished here. I hope she's alright." Katyusha said, her voice full of worry.
"Actually we're finished now." Arthur said, getting up and slamming some money onto the counter, presumably to pay for their drinks.
"Oh, ok. Well it was nice meeting you Marianne." Katyusha smiled sweetly at her before Arthur pulled her away.
"As was you, mon chéri. And you too, mon petit lion." Marianne said, giving them a finger wiggle wave.
"Sod off Marianne." Arthur hissed before they left the night club.
Marianne frowned and shook her head. She then returned to her table with Elise.
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Ludwig and Alfred entered Tolys's bookstore. The bell above the door jingled and Tolys looked up from the receipt he was writing to smile at the two men. "Here you go, have a good day." He said sticking the receipt into an Atlas and handing it to a raven haired man. The man nodded and walked past Ludwig and Alfred, out of the shop. Tolys pulled out a bright red book from a stack of books on the shelf behind him and approached the two men.
"I'll take you two to the back, where Mathiew's workstation was." Tolys said, leading the two men to a small desk in the back of the store. It had a few sheets of paper and a few pens scattered on it.
"And Mattie always said, I never cleaned up my stuff." Alfred said with a roll of his eyes. Alfred pulled on a pair of latex rubber gloves.
"Oh and here is a copy of Mister Kirkland's book that you asked for." Tolys said, handing it to Ludwig, who took it with a nod.
"So what am I looking for exactly?" Alfred said, picking up the papers and skimming through their contents. The papers were just an inventory of the number of each book that were in the store.
"Anything that might suggest that there is something between Ivan and Mathiew."
"There you go with that again. We're not gonna find nothing because there isn't nothing to find."
"Did Mathiew keep a diary or something like it at home?"
"Dunno probably. I could check his room." Alfred said, opening the drawers of the desk only to find a book and a few polaroids.
The book was Drawing Blood by Poppy Z. Brite, which Alfred had never heard of nor had seen Mathiew read before. A book mark was stuck about midway through the 4th chapter. Alfred furrowed his eyebrows before putting the book down and looking through the polaroids.
Alfred smiled a small smile. Each of the pictures were taken by Mathiew himself, from the angle. One was of Alfred and Mathiew when they were about 10 years old. Alfred had his arm slung around Mathiew's neck and the two boys wore matching grins. Another was of just Mathiew, making a funny face into the camera. The last one was of the two of them when Alfred got accepted into the Cliffdover Police Academy. Alfred was holding up the acceptance letter.
Alfred dropped the photos down onto the desk, "Nope, nothing queer, like I said." He said to Ludwig, who had his nose in Arthur's book, skimming through it. Ludwig closed the book and glanced at the pictures.
Ludwig frowned, "Can't convict someone on fiction no matter how unsettling it is." Ludwig looked at Alfred then, "Although, still take a look at Mathiew's room."
"Yes sir!" Alfred shrugged, "Probably not gonna find anything though."
Ludwig thanked Tolys for the book and being able to see Mathiew's workspace and then the two officers left the bookstore.
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Alfred arrived at the station the next day with a box that contained 2 skirts, 3 womens blouses and 3 blonde wigs. A container of mascara, and concealer were also haphazardly thrown into the box. Alfred dropped the box onto Officer Janssens's desk. "This was all of the stuff I found. No sign of a diary." Ludwig walked over to Janssens's desk, apologizing for the box, and picked it up before taking it into Alfred's office. Ludwig told Alfred to shut the door behind himself.
Ludwig looked through the items as Alfred stood at the door watching him. "Did you find any lip balm, lip gloss or lip stick?"
Alfred raised an eyebrow, "I found chapstick but I didn't think I'd need to bring it."
"Hmm…" Ludwig said, having taken out the mascara and concealer. "Well this is all the evidence I have to give to the prosecutor. I suppose it is their call now on if they want to charge Miss Braginski."
"How didn't I know this about Mattie? We were so close, a-and he was into this shit."
Ludwig looked at the young officer whose mouth was curled into a frown. "You didn't know because he didn't want you to find out. Everyone has secrets Alfred."
Alfred took one last look at the box full of a few of Mathiew's things before letting out a sigh.
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The prosecutor came out the next day and decided not to press charges on Natalia. He said that the witness testimony was unreliable and that they couldn't do much without the murder weapon. Natalia wasn't in possession of it and the weapons she did have did not match the wounds on Mathiew.
Alfred opened up the young woman's cell, "You're free to go Braginski. You got someone to call?" Natalia glared at Alfred as the man handed her her items in a bag.
"I do." Natalia said, voice monotone.
Natalia dialed Tolys's number and called him to ask if he could pick her up from the station.
Tolys at this particular moment had excused himself from talking with Arthur about his book sales, to pick up the phone. So when Tolys hung up the blond haired man raised an eyebrow at seeing him rush to the counter. Tolys opened up a drawer, and pulled out the keys to the register. He then locked the register and pulled out a "be back soon" sign.
"What's going on mate?"
"Oh! Sorry to rush out of here so suddenly, but I'm going to go pick up Natalia from the police station." Tolys said leaving the counter, walking past Arthur and towards the door.
"What? Now?"
"Yes. Right now. If you don't mind Mister Kirkland, I'm going to lock up the shop."
"C-can I ride with you?" Arthur said following Tolys out the door.
Tolys raised an eyebrow. Just a few days ago, Arthur said he didn't want to visit Natalia. Tolys remembered the woman breaking down into tears upon hearing that information.
Tolys pursed his lips, furrowed his eyebrows and stood up a bit straighter .
"I don't think that would be best." He then locked the door to the bookstore.
The usually civil man, frowned, his lips twisted into an almost feral snarl. "Piss off then! I'll take the public transit. I don't need you to get me to the station." And with that he walked into the opposite direction towards the bus stop. Tolys blinked at the man's quick change in demeanor. He hurriedly walked to his car, set on getting there before him.
Tolys arrived at the station and Natalia was waiting in the hall for enveloped the woman in a hug. "Natalia! You're not going to prison!" He squeezed her tight. Natalia let out a groan.
"Alright, alright let me go." Natalia said and Tolys let her go, stepping back from her.
"I'm sorry. I'm just so happy!" Tolys smiled as Natalia frowned.
"Just take me home. I'm tired."
"Right, I'll take you home."
"I'm not even going to get my money back on my plane ticket." Natalia muttered.
"Are you still planning to move?"
Natalia nodded, "I'll have to schedule another flight. No murders happened while l was in jail."
"Natalia! You don't have to leave! The murders don't have anything to do with you!"
"You don't know that Tolys. I dreamt about killing Mathiew and now he is dead."
"B-but-."
Natalia shushed him and led the way out of the station.
Tolys drove Natalia home in silence. The conversation about her moving was ended at the station. His eyes widened upon noticing a figure on her porch.
"Natalia, I don't think you should get out. I-I could take you to Ivan's instead."
What are you talking about?" Natalia said, reaching for the door handle.
"U-uh- It's not safe!" Tolys said and Natalia already had the door open. Natalia stepped out of Tolys's car and saw Arthur waiting for her on her porch.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Natalia yelled, face scrunched in disdain. She slammed the car door shut, gripping the bag with her items in it tightly.
"Natalia, do you want me to stick around?" Tolys yelled, having rolled the window down.
"No, I'll be fine, Tolys." Natalia said, stalking up the stairs towards the blond.
"I heard you got out." He said, voice calm.
"You've got some nerve to show your face around here. How dare you not visit me in jail!" She yelled right in his face.
"I'm here now to welcome you home." He said, putting a hand on her shoulder and looking past her at Tolys in the car. Tolys's eyes had not left the porch and more specifically Arthur since they had arrived.
"Fuck off you bastard!" Natalia pulled out her knife, prepared to press it against his neck but he caught her wrist.
"Call off your guard dog, and we'll go inside for a chat." His voice was still gentle. Natalia's eyes widened. She couldn't move her arm to stab him if she wanted to.
Natalia turned to look at Tolys, "Go on Tolys. I'll be fine."
Tolys looked between the two blonds, "Ok. I'll be at the shop. Call me if you need me!" Tolys said before he rolled up the window and drove away.
Arthur let her go, and Natalia opened up the door to her home. She hadn't sold the house yet and hadn't moved all of her things. Most of them were in boxes. She was going to call the moving company when she'd gotten to Missouri.
"Didn't think I'd be back here. I paid the electric bill for this month so I could put on some tea or some shit." Natalia looked through a box to pull out a kettle and a box of tea. She unwrapped some cups and set them out on her table.
Arthur approached the counter as she turned around to fill up the kettle with water. She set the kettle on the stove.
"All I've got is green tea." She muttered as she turned on the eye of the stove. By then Arthur had wrapped his arms around her neck from behind. He leaned down by the shell of her right ear.
"Isn't there something else you'd like to say?"
"Like what? You're the one who went off and fucked Kat. Shouldn't you be saying sorry to me?"
"I didn't shag your sister. Why would you think that?" He took a step back from her.
"She's always sleeping around." Natalia said, turning around fully to face him. "Plus you decided not to visit me." Natalia said, an angry pout on her face.
"You're the one who wanted to push me away. So, I gave you your space." Arthur crossed his arms. "But I suppose that's off the table now, yeah?"
Natalia frowned, "Well I'm still leaving. So this visit has to be short."
"What?"
"You thought I wasn't serious? I'm still dangerous. I still have dreams about murdering people."
"But nothing happened and you were still in town."
"I had a dream about Mathiew and now he is dead. Clearly this is a warning sign. I have to get out of here before someone else dies."
"Did you see how quickly your family turned on you when they thought you killed Mathiew? Why do you want to save these wankers anyway?"
"I don't want to be seen as an apathetic freak anymore. I want them to see me as normal." Natalia looked up at him through her blonde eyelashes.
"Who cares what they think of you? It only matters what I think, and I think you're wonderful." He said, giving her a smile."If they get killed, so what? They probably have it coming anyway for being so mean to you." He said, squishing her cheeks together, and leaning down to be at eye level with her.
"I guess you are right."
"Of course I am."
"But what about my nightmares and trying to kill you in my sleep? I can't put your life at risk, I love you too much."
"Natalia, love is about facing adversity..." He let go of her face and gripped her hands gently. He leaned in close to her, nose to nose, "Together."
"Does this mean-" Natalia started.
"Yes, Natalia. Will you marry me?"
Natalia's gaze flickered to his lips, before flickering back to his eyes. "Yes."
Natalia tilted her chin upwards, eyelids fluttering closed, her lips just centimeters from his mouth before a ring sounded throughout the house.
Natalia blinked her eyes open and pulled back. Arthur did the same.
Arthur let go of her hands and she stalked over to the door.
"What do you want?" Natalia snapped, as she opened it to Alfred and Ludwig.
"Natalia, I'm sorry to have to deliver this news so suddenly but your sister Katyusha is dead." Ludwig said, "and we think it was a homicide."
Behind Arthur and Natalia the kettle whistled loudly.
A/N: Thank you for reading! Criticism Welcome.