That day soon came sooner than expected as Brook was trying to deal with her normal life as she wanted to be a part of this. She soon got her dress out that she purchased as she heard a knocking on her door wondering who it was. She soon knew she needed to give a response.
"It's open." Brook told whoever was knocking at the door to come in as she was done cleaning herself up. Katyusha entered the room with Nonna as they were going to take her where they were going to go.
"I sense you're still getting yourself ready, but I know you're waiting for us to help you with your legs as a problem." Nonna told her as Brook grabbed her crutches as she stood up. Nonna walked over as she grabbed the girl's dress. "Now rest your crutches to the side since I need you standing for this." Katyusha came forth as she grabbed the girl by her waist to further balance her. Nonna took the dress as she began to slip it onto her as Brook had her arms up so she could fit through the gaps as she continued to wait for her to be finished. Once the dress was on, Katyusha backed away as Nonna finished her up. Brook soon sat down once she was done as her legs couldn't bear that much of her weight at all. Nonna soon began decorating the girl's short hair with the ribbon she managed to buy that came along with the dress.
"Katyusha thinks you are pretty like the marshall of victory on victory day." Katyusha commented, smiling with glee. Nonna looked at Katyusha as she had a question for her.
"I thought I was your marshall of victory?" Nonna asked her as she was wondering about that. Katyusha looked at her as she wanted to rephrase herself.
"You are Nonna. I was just saying that the girl looked like one but I wasn't saying she was going to replace your position." Katyusha told Nonna. Nonna just smiled as she handed Brook her crutches.
"Come along now, we don't want to be late." Nonna told Brook to get going as Brook nodded. Gripping her crutches, she went first with the two of them following behind. Nonna had a black dress on while Katyusha's dress was white. They were going to have fun tonight.
The three of them were walking down the hallway as they wanted to get engaged into a conversation wondering what they were going to talk about. Nonna soon began the conversation.
"Hey Brook before you came to Japan, where did you live and how was your lifestyle there?" Nonna asked her as she was curious to find out what her life was like before she came here.
"I came from the rural south of the United States and it was pretty terrible. Terrible education system, lots of sheep I felt like me and my father weren't exactly free from my mother who pretty much ran the household with her two sisters. As far as the education went, they were trying to tell us about why these groups mattered and it was a mess, it got worse as the grades went by as I don't remember what was happening but as far as my dad was concerned, he didn't like the environment I was growing up in and what mother was making on a day to day basis as well as teaching me to shoot things for fun. I felt scared being where I was and things only got worse when I got to Saunders which I, according to my papers, was supposed to be nowhere near there or the sport of Tankery alone. I felt like I had gone nowhere in life and I was stuck at square one. It only wore me down along with all of the alcohol some of the students were making me drink. And then when the rebellion came and went and I was going to be sent back home, I lost the urge to live because of it." Brook told her as she didn't like the place she grew up in. Nonna looked at her as she began talking to her.
"I know you didn't grow up like us in the best country but I can see why you were upset. You never really got to move on from your past so you pretty much resorted to drinking to solve your problems. That only made it worse as alcohol and emotions don't really mix all that well like water and oil. And Kay based on our experience, me and Katyusha, can sometimes be a little bit wild and rowdy because of the energy, so you never really felt like you've found someone that is calm, serious and understanding such as myself. In the end, you and that school never got along due to how you view life and the way it was handed to you. Some things in life never go good or mix together." Nonna replied as even though her life was better, that wasn't always the case. There were times when things were going to be bad and times that were going to be good.
"You're lucky to have us since we're going to have fun tonight." Katyusha responded as they continued to walk along. It wasn't going to be long before they would reach the area where the students were gathering.
The grand Pravda room was huge. There were many tables and seats stationed along the sides as there would be food being served as well as the center being empty for people to dance. A brass band along with some traditional instrument players were playing at the very end of the room as they were getting the students in for the night. Brook, Nonna and Katyusha entered as they were greeted by two familiar faces.
"We're so glad you can make it." Nina greeted the two of them from her wheelchair. The three of them nodded as Katyusha ran her hand through her recently molted brown hair.
"I wish your hair was black again." Katyusha told her as Alina came forth as she was helping supervise the girl.
"She'll go through one last molt as her hair will be black. She's been going through these for her life and will probably stop." Alina told her as she looked up at the two students.
"Anyways want to sit down you three, we have a table waiting for you three. Come along." Nina asked as she was willing to guide them. Katyusha and Nonna nodded as they followed them. Brook hobbled along on her crutches as she didn't want to be left behind.
The five of them soon arrived at their table as a sliced up loaf of black bread was waiting. They soon sat down as there was butter as well as the loaf. Nonna grabbed a piece as she took her butter knife and took some of the decorative butter, putting some on the piece.
"Эй, Брук, есть черный хлеб." Nonna told her as Brook looked at what she was putting on. She soon passed the piece to the girl as she knew she needed to eat up to get her strength back. She soon turned to Brook as she had a question for her. "У вас был черный хлеб раньше?"
"Нет, не имею Сондерс просто кормит меня белым хлебом, и даже это не так хорошо." Brook responded as she didn't like the white bread all that much and was curious to see what this bread tasted like. She soon picked it up as she took a bite out of it. Nonna was happy that she was at least eating as she soon began speaking.
"Белое и черное не очень хорошо смешиваются." Nonna replied as she took some black bread for herself as she began buttering her slice up. Soon one of the workers came along as he was carrying a jug of red liquid that had ice at the top and fruit at the bottom, it definitely looked delicious. "Компот здесь." Nonna excitedly told them. She soon got Katyusha's glass as she poured her serving first. She soon took Nina's glass serving her next and then Brook afterward. Brook looked at the kompot as there was fruit at the bottom and she was thirsty but something was lingering on her mind.
"Нонна, что такое Компот?" Brook asked as she was wondering what this drink was. Nonna just giggled as she looked at her. She soon began speaking.
"Компот - это фруктовый напиток, состоящий из вещей, которые вы обычно найдете на своем заднем дворе Если в вашем саду есть яблоки, вы делаете яблочный компот, но если в вашем саду выращиваются только гопники, вместо этого вы идете в соседский сад и делаете яблочный компот. Плюс это вишневый компот, попробуй его и убедись, что ты ешь все фрукты." Nonna explained it to her as if she was encouraging her to drink it. Brook took the glass as she began drinking the fruit drink and surprisingly it was good.
"Лучше, чем то, что дал мне Сондерс, это точно, если бабушка сделает это, мне нужно поблагодарить ее." Brook commented as she really enjoyed this drink. She saw the pieces of cherry at the bottom as she soon took the fruit out and ate it.
"Ешьте все фрукты для силы." Nonna told her. Katyusha soon butted in as she wanted to tell them something.
"Nonna, Brook, speak Japanese." Katyusha reminded them to speak the language she was most comfortable with. Nonna turned to Katyusha as she smiled at her tiny friend.
"As promised I will." She told her as she patted her head. Soon the food began coming out as it was clear everyone was going to be served with various dishes from around their school's country but their table was getting Katyusha's favorite. The dish had egg noodles with beef, onions and some sour cream. Brook looked at it as she was at least happy that it wasn't a heart attack on a plate.
"Beef Stroganoff, my favorite!" Katyusha replied as the leader was given an extra helping of sour cream. She began to eat it as Brook looked at the food. She was mostly given vegetable dishes so it was miles from what she normally had but at least the portion was a reasonable size. She soon picked it up as she began to eat it. This definitely was very different as she continued eating it up. It was good.
"I sensed you've eaten all of your food there, don't know if I want to take you onto the floor to dance." Nonna told her as the music began playing. Brook didn't feel too comfortable with the tone of this song.
"Yeah this song reminded me of the rebellion." Brook told them as the band was playing on the hills. Nonna looked at her as if she was serious.
"You mean the Saunders rebellion? We never took sides as we thought it was dumb and trust me it was and we were celebrating our victory from Kuromorimine but I didn't know you were this upset because of this. Something that truly haunts you for the rest of your days and that's the melody of the song." Nonna told her as she was no stranger to how the girl felt. "Well Katyusha likes this song and Ilya Shatrov." Brook looked up as she seemed interested as Nonna looked at her.
"She does?" Brook asked. Nonna nodded yes as if she was saying she did. Soon the music changed as some of the students got up as Nonna walked over to Brook, helping the girl to her feet and slowly taking her out to the floor. She soon lined her up as she put her arm gently around the girl.
"Follow my lead as I promise I will take you slow, if your legs hurt, tell me when to stop." Nonna instructed her. Soon the soothing melody began filling as the students began slowly dancing to the soft melody of the music. This was much different than the music Saunders would do which was loud with heavy metal playing in the background, a dream come true for the most gentle of souls.
"I feel like I am getting my happiness back." Brook responded as this was calm and peaceful to her. Almost as if she was in a forest with trees around. The leaves were falling off as it was a fall afternoon if she was racing through to find the excitement of the whirlwind of the leaves. "Who composed this?" Nonna looked at her as she was slowly moving the girl through the dance.
"Вальс Берёзка Евгений Дрейзин." Nonna responded as she continued to guide her along despite her injuries. Brook's mind continued to flash more as she was skipping along with some of the sheep in a whirlwind of leaves in Autumn. Too beautiful if you ask her softly. Soon the last notes were played as Nonna and the others left back for their tables as they were drinking more of the Kompot. Nonna got out a piece of paper as she wrote down the song and the title as she was going to buy Brook a copy of it one day.
"You've made me feel jealous that I want working legs." Nina told Nonna as Alina turned to her friend.
"Just be patient Nina, your legs will heal and when they do, you'll be able to dance with everyone." Alina told her as Nina was hoping that was the case. Soon dessert would come as well as more Cherry Kompot as dessert was honey cake as the girls were given a slice of this stuff. Brook looked at the honey cake as it was delicious as she soon took her fork as she began to dig in.
"Honey cake's good. Might need a splitting axe to cut the pieces so I can have more." Brook told them as she really liked this cake. Nonna looked at her as she wanted to tell her.
"Do not overindulge yourself so no more plus the party is going to be over soon but you had fun right?" Nonna told her that this was all she was going to get for now. Brook nodded as she did have fun despite not getting more honey cake. Soon the music had stopped as everyone clapped for the final piece, after finishing up the second jug of Kompot, they soon decided to head back to their dorms as they knew they were going to rest up for the night.
Nonna and Brook decided to head back to her dorm so that Nonna could help the girl undress. Once entering, Brook moved to the bed as she leaned on Nonna to help her out seeing her legs and feet still couldn't bear that much weight at all. Once she changed her into her night clothing. Nonna looked at her.
"I'm glad you came out to enjoy the moment. I didn't know what you were going to be doing without me." Nonna told her as she began tucking her in.
"Will we be having more of these in the near future?" Brook asked curiously wondering would they be able to have more of these. Nonna looked at her as she was certain.
"Yes there will be more. I promise you. Sleep tight." Nonna soon turned out the lights as she left the room. Brook was happy and now she felt like she had made a friend she could trust.
[A/N]: Sorry this took so long but I got sidetracked with a few things and was busy but I got some news. And it is very good news.
I'm part of the GuP Hearts of Iron 4 group and we're making a GuP themed mod for HOI4. It's still in progress as I have tested it out a couple of times and now I'm waiting for the next major update where the focuses have been modified and more general like characters have been introduced. Overall I've been just testing the mod as well as suggesting ideas. And we're happily sitting at 1k views but we need to keep this going like last month so get reading to you all. That's it for now.