Renne here! I wrote this over a long period of time so sorry for any inconsistencies. Do not worry about things all will be explained in the Russia chappie! Oh one last thing Ballroom is just a hobby of mine I'm nowhere near pro. So sorry if I get a few things wrong. Also I sorry this is so long but it's one of my OTPs
Disclaimer: We still do not own hetalia
This is based on my head cannon that both Russia and Belarus are professional ballroom dancers
(This fic is brought to you by Antarctica and Atlantis)
"What?" Belarus spat.
"Your brother has requested to be reassigned to another partner." Antarctica said calmly.
"But we only have three weeks until the group competition!"
"I know and I already have another partner for you."
"Who?"
"Well, he was Anya's current partner."
It took her a few seconds to realize what Antarctica was saying.
" Wait, you mean brother's been paired up with that cow and I'm stuck with Nikolai."
"Yep."
"But you know Anya's slept with every one of her partners except her brother and she's only been here two months!"
"I know, but Anya is the only one willing to switch partners and your brother said if I didn't get him a new partner he'd withdraw from the competition." (A/N: Belarus is exaggerating a lot)
"But why?"
"I think he said something about not being able to dance a few of the Latin dances with you."
"Oh, that. I think brother is just trying to get rid of me." Belarus said quietly.
"Well, Bella it could be... Who am I kidding yeah, he's trying to get rid of you. But remember, if you love something you let it go."
" Antarctica, your a good friend, thanks. "
"Yeah, your welcome" Antarctica said as she released the knife that she had been holding behind her back, you never knew how this type of meeting with Natalya could go.
The Next Day...
Belarus walked into the dance room. She was suppose to meet her new partner, Nikolai, here so they could practice. There in the middle of the room was a boy with platinum blond hair. He looked up and frowned.
"I hope you're ready. I want to get started right away."
"Oh, I'm ready alright. What about you?" Natalya really didn't like this guy.
"I'm the one who has been waiting on you." He then turned on the music and walked over to Natalya. "OK, let's get started."
He seemed to be hating this as much as she was.
Dancing with him was hard, he lead where brother let her lead mostly, he carried himself differently, and that bond of "friendship" and trust that she had with her brother just wasn't there.
Dancing with her was so difficult. She was very light on her feet unlike Anya, she wasn't very flexible in his opinion, and it just felt strange dancing with her, the way she moved and felt, (A/N: get your mind out of the gutter) it just didn't feel the same as any of the other partners he had, had before.
They tried to dance a little longer but it just wasn't right, they weren't in sync, their movements were off, and it just didn't feel right. And the whole time Annie was watching them she saw their poor form, and their uncompromising attitudes. So, she figured the easiest way to solve this was to shove them both in a closet, leave them there for an hour, and then see what's left. So, she left a note in the break room, telling them to come to her office unarmed, aka no knives anywhere else she would skin them alive. Antarctica did not want to go in and find a bloody mess where her best friend and one of the top dancers were. They finally had just stopped for a break. They went into the break room that's when Natalya found the letter.
"Aww, shit"
"What?" he asked curiously
"We are both being summoned by her majesty."
"What does she want?"
"Well, it says something about dancing I think, but her writing is almost unreadable. But, if I'm reading this correctly we are suppose to meet her outside her office."
"Whatever." Nikolai said just hoping that maybe Annie had decided to give them their old partners back. Little did he know how mistaken he was.
(Time skip brought to you by the bad touch trio)
They arrived outside Annie's office. She was there of course, they both hoped that their old partners had decided to take them back.
"Hey, how are you guys?"
They sent her death glares.
"Great!" I knew I should have brought that knife...
"What do you want?" Asked Nikolai.
"Well, actually could you two come and stand over here for me please." She guided the two over to the wall to their right in front of a closet door with a huge plant right next to the door frame.
They both looked at her suspiciously.
"Ok, now will you tell us?" Natalya was getting impatient.
"Well... Um..." Suddenly the closet door behind them opened up and Annie managed to shove them both in there. "Have fun!" The door immediately closed and Antarctica locked it. Then, from behind the plant, France stepped out.
"Thanks for helping me, Francis."
"Why, of course. Those two have feelings for each other, I know it! They just need a little push." He then tried to snake an arm around Annie's waist but she quickly slapped his hands away.
"Hands to yourself, France you have a girlfriend!"
That's when they started to hear screaming and pounding coming from the closet. "OK, we should leave."
(POV change brought to you by Toni)
Nikolai and Natalya were shoved into the closet before they could process anything and the next thing they knew they were locked in.
"Why the hell would she do that!?" Exclaimed Nikolai.
"I'll worry about that after I get away from you!"
"Why did it have to be you?" He shook his head. He pounded his fist on the door. "Hey! let us out!" He went on for a few seconds.
"Shut up!" Natalya screamed. "You're giving me a headache!"
"Just being in this closet with you is giving me a headache!" He yelled back.
"This is the worst thing that could have ever happened to me! Why did Ivan have to get a new partner?" She rubbed her temples.
"Wait, you're saying that my sister is with that vodka addict!?" Apparently, Nikolai didn't know who his sister's new partner was.
"He's not a vodka addict! At least he doesn't sleep himself to the top like Anya!"
"How dare you say that about my sister!"
Natalya didn't say anything back.
Nikolai thought he heard crying.
He looked down to see Natalya sitting on the floor crying. "Oh, you're a crybaby too." He said disgusted.
"I don't understand. He always pushes me away!" Natalya continued crying ignoring Nikolai's previous comment.
He stopped. That sounded familiar. He felt like Anya was always trying to push him away too. "I thought you requested the new partner?"
Natalya shook her head.
"I have the same problem with Anya." He confessed. "I don't want to dance with you."
"I don't want to dance with you either. We have to find a way to get our old partners back." By then Natalya had stopped crying.
"Ivan and Anya have to ask for the partner change." She nodded at Nikolai's statement and they sat in silence thinking.
"We make them jealous. It may not seem like it but Ivan can be competitive. If we do better than them at our group practices then they'll have to take us back." Suggested Natalya.
"I was thinking the same thing." Nikolai nodded. "OK then, it's settled. We work extra hard to be better, then in the end they take us back." He held out his hand. "Do you want to do this?"
"Yes." She said and she shook his hand. "OK, now what do we do about Antarctica?"
"I say I chase her around with my set of knives. That woman should know better than to shove me into a closet with the one person I don't want to be with."
The word "knives" got Natalya's attention. "What kind?"
" Winchester and Booth" Nikolai replied. (A/N: Supernatural and Bones)
"Oh, those are crappy." She said disgusted.
"They are great!" He said irritated. "And since we're insulting each other again, you need to work on your flexibility!"
"My flexibility is just fine! You need to learn how to be clearer in your leading!"
"Maybe you should stop being a control freak!"
"I don't even think you know what you're doing!"
And they went on until the janitor came by and heard their yelling. Curious, he opened the door and the two instantly stopped their fighting and yelled at the poor janitor.
"Where's Annie!?" They both yelled.
He just stood there not sure what to do.
They pushed him out of the way and quickly left to go find Antarctica and get away from the other.
"I'm glad they weren't doing what I thought they were doing." The janitor said to himself. He then continued to clean.
(Another time skip this time brought to you by bubblegum pink)
They grabbed their knives and headed to Annie's office. (A/N: you know what happened; they didn't kill Annie just almost)
"Don't you ever do that again!" Natalya said in cold fury. Even though they had just beaten the crap out of her, she smiled and said.
"Nat, you know I can't promise anything."
"Whatever, just don't do that again."
"Okay!" Annie said in an abnormally cheerful voice for someone who had just been beaten up. Both Natalya and Nikolai looked as angry as was country-ly possible. So, Annie figured she had did her job well, they had stopped fighting long enough to try to kill her. This meant they had solved their problems to some extent. Therefore, she was happy as could be.
(Time skip to the future)
Natalya slowly got use to the way that Nikolai danced; they still had their fair share of fights over many things. However, none of that mattered, all that mattered was getting better so that they could beat Ivan and Anya. Then they'd have to take them back.
It was the night before the last group practice. Natalya was completely mortified, nothing scared her more than not being able to be with her brother, and if they didn't do well tomorrow he'd never take her back. She began to clean her house; it was a nervous habit of hers, not particularly bad habit, but still a habit. Cleaning wasn't something she did often so her house was kind of dirty. She naturally started in the front of the house and worked her way back to her room, the cleaning was rather uneventful until she reached her room. Her room was actually clean, except for her dresser. She hummed quietly to herself as she cleaned until she came upon an old piece of jewelry, a locket to be precise (A/N: the locket represents Minsk and the reason she doesn't where it anymore is because during WWII, Prussia stole it from her. Sorry if the facts aren't correct). She opened the locket and looked in it a picture had been shoved in there over the original picture.
"Ah, Vanya one of these days you will marry me."
She sighed and did something she rarely ever did. She took Ivan's picture out, to look at the picture that was originally there. She never could figure out who this person was he looked a lot like, Vanya. Except this person had a cowlick, he didn't wear a scarf, his jacket was different than Vanya's and he was smiling for real. Belarus couldn't remember the last time Ivan had smiled like that. She had tried so hard to figure out who this person in her heart was (A/N: yes, I am of the option that a nation's capital is their heart). A single fleeting thought occupied her mind for a few moments, that guy looked allot like Nikolai, but that was impossible her locket had held this picture ever since she could remember and Nikolai had only been born a decade or two ago, she assumed. Still wondering who this person was she closed the locket, put it around her neck, and left the room, the picture of Ivan still on her dresser, no longer in her heart.
(Time skip to the next morning brought to you by ze awesome Preußen)
Nikolai was nervous as all get out, Natalya still wasn't there, the competition started in ten minutes, and if she wasn't there they couldn't compete. Moreover, if they couldn't compete they couldn't get their old partners back. He would usually get angry but he was finding it very difficult, to get angry at her, he had no idea why. There was just a dull ache in his chest, it was painful and strange. He waited for her, the ache just got stronger as the minutes went by. Only three minutes left, he began to tap his foot, Ivan came in then Anya, a few others came in behind them, then finally Natalya came in, his heart soared. 'What the hell' he thought 'why am I having this type of reaction'.
"Natalya!" he called
"Oh, hello Nikolai."
"Are you ready to dance"
" Так, я вы?"
" Ды"
The competition had started, and everyone got to choose their dance and music. Natalya and Nikolai were last so they watched everyone else dance and observed the judges it was certainly interesting watching them react the judges were Annie, and two others Nikolai recognized but couldn't name and they seemed to be getting bored. Next was Ivan and Anya they had decided on a tango seemingly to spite their siblings, they danced well and the judges perked up a bit and actually paid attention to them. Next, it was Nikolai and Natalya's turn their chances of getting their old partners back rode on this. Yet strangely, Nikolai was having second thoughts about whether he actually wanted to do this. Yet they went out on the floor anyway Natalya choose to dance to a song called Human by Christian Perri Nikolai rather liked the song, surprisingly. He didn't think he could like anything from America. They were dancing a waltz (A/N: Idk if you can dance a waltz to that song but just go with it) as they danced you could feel the emotion that had been put into it and so could the judges apparently. At the end, Nikolai dipped Natalya and from Ivan and Anya's angle it looked like Nikolai had kissed Natalya. This did not please Ivan he wanted to distance his sister not having her completely gone, that could not happen he needed control. Afterward they finished and results were given (BTW, Nikolai and Natalya won) Ivan walked up to Nikolai as to give him a handshake.
"Stay away from my sister." Ivan growled.
For some reason this didn't sit right with Nikolai.
"No."
Ivan glared at him.
"Leave her alone or I'll make you with my lead pipe, Da."
"Make me, ha! do you really think you can make me, you're scared of your sister."
To this, Ivan had no response he simply glared and gave off a very dark aura. He then walked over to Natalya looked at her and said
"Natalya do you want to become my partner again?"
Ivan said this just to anger Nikolai, he really didn't want to take Natalya back, but making Nikolai angry was delightful. Natalya's initial reaction was joy though Anya didn't look to happy about Ivan's statement neither did Nikolai.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Natalya said.
With that Ivan and Nat left.
(Later that night)
Ivan had started drinking as soon as they got home. ( lots of vodka, like bottles full)
"Big brother will you marry me?" Nat said.
"go away."
"Vanya."
"I said go away!" he said. He slapped her across the cheek.
Nat looked at him shocked
"brother."
"leave me alone!"
"please."
"I said go away now, you ugly demon bitch, why won't you just leave me alone!" he slapped her again this time you could hear a resounding smack. She looked at him shocked and ran out of the house, she ran and ran and ran even though she had nowhere to go, she ran. She then realized she was only a few blocks away from the dance studio. Well she had the key, so she went in Annie was probably still there anyway. Perhaps she'd have some of America's whiskey that Nat could drown her sorrows in. She didn't see anyone in the main hall, she went into the first room nobody there, next room still nobody, there was one studio left she went in there and found Nikolai. He saw her, the bruises on her cheeks, the tears running down her face, her dress torn, and hair askew.
"What the heck happened to you?" he asked eyes wide.
She came over to him, put her head on his chest, and began to cry. He wrapped his arms around her
"What happened Natalya?" he whispered.
She still didn't answer."Did Ivan do this to you?"
She nodded.
"Did he hurt you?"
No answer, just more sobs.
"Natalya, what did he do to you?" By this point, Nikolai was ready to kill Ivan, that Russian bastard had hurt Natalya. Wait, why did he care?
Belarus temporarily stopped crying.
"Nikolai, am I...pretty" this question surprised Nikolai.
"No Natalya, you're not pretty, you're beautiful" he said softly (A/N: is the soft side of Nikolai finally showing?) She started crying again.
"Thank you," she said.
They sat there for a while like that.
" Наталля how about I take you home, okay"
She nodded.
"Nikolai um... Can I be your partner again?"
" Ды"
"Thank you."
(Like literally totally twenty minutes later about like 10'o clock at night, brought to you by Poland)
He took her home to her house, not that Russian bastard's. Even though it would be nice to beat him up. On the ride, he began to reflect on the night's events he had the opportunity to be back with Anya. Nevertheless, he didn't take it. Why? He had always wanted to be with her but when the opportunity presented itself, he didn't just turn it down, he almost felt sad that Natalya wouldn't be with him.
They had then reached her house and Nikolai led her to the door. "Are you going to be OK by yourself?"
She looked uncertain. So he offered,
"How about tonight I crash on your couch and I'll drive you to the dance studio tomorrow"
she nodded and opened the door to let him in, he walked into her house it was tastefully styled and extremely neat if fact it looked a lot like his house which was only a couple of miles away. Everything was either blue, white, grey or black; he really liked it. Natalya showed him around and gave him an extra pair of pjs that she kept in case Ivan ever came over. Therefore, they had never been worn, while Natalya made up the couch for him; he asked her questions
"Natalya, do have an other siblings than Ivan?"
"Yes"
"Older or younger?"
"Older"
"Boy or girl?"
"Girl"
"What is she like?"
"She's very crybaby-ish, very motherly she took care of Ivan and I for years. She is very kind and she loves us a lot but she can be very annoying sometimes. But she's a very good person... sometimes."
"I have an older brother who's kind of like that too, he's from Ukraine and is really annoying."
"Really?" her interest was peaked and she had finished making the couch up for him. He nodded,
"My sister is also from the Ukraine." after this they spent hours talking to each other about many aspects of their lives and found that they were extremely similar.
(About 1 am)
"And he laughed can you be...lieve that." Nikolai said and yawned. They were both getting tired. The couch wasn't helping matters either, about an hour or so earlier Natalya decided that the high-backed chair she was sitting in was getting rather uncomfortable and had gotten up and sat on the couch next to Nikolai. It was funny almost, the girl who wouldn't have come within ten meters of him was now falling asleep on his shoulder. Wait... no she had fallen asleep, well it would be rude to wake her. Therefore, he gently lifted her off the couch and deposited her in her room. He then went back to the couch and got under the covers. He fell asleep quickly. No guarantee he'd stay asleep though.
about an hour later
Nikolai was awakened by screaming, a girl, wait NATALYA. He bolted out of bed, and ran to her room. She was asleep, Nikolai breathed a sigh of relief, thank goodness she was okay. He proceeded to her bedside to try to wake her.
He grabbed her arm
"Natalya, прачнуцца, wake up!"
She stopped screaming, and her eyes fluttered open.
"It was just a dream," Nikolai said calmly.
She sat up slowly; taking a few deep breaths, looking around her room, making sure it was only a dream. He waited there for a second just too make sure she was alright.
"If you're okay, I'm going to head back to the living room"
Natalya bit her lip; well there was no harm in asking.
"Can you stay?"
Nikolai's eyes widened she couldn't mean like that but still, Mind out of the gutter he told himself.
"Well, I guess I can if you want" he shrugged.
She looked surprised, but pulled back the covers, all but the sheet.
"Try anything and I will eviscerate you, then skin you for whatever time you have left to live. Then bleed your body getting rid of any chance of you coming back as a zombie or vampire." (A/N: Someone been watch to many of America's shows)
He nodded, and slid in the bed next to her. They both fell asleep within twenty minutes.
The next morning
Nikolai awoke first. Someone had their arms around his waist. And Natalya said if he touched her she'd kill him. He laughed silently then gently tried to get her arms off him. Although, this caused her to wake up.
"Mmm, what-" Her eyes widened when she noticed their position. "Oh my god! I'm sorry!" She quickly hopped out of bed.
Nikolai frowned when she jumped off the bed. Apparently, she was the only thing keeping him warm this cold morning. "No no, it's fine... You're not going to skin me, are you?"
Natalia stopped and thought for a minute. "No, at least, not now. I still need you."
Her eyes widened again. "I don't mean-"
He laughed. "Don't worry, I get what you mean."
Silence.
"Umm, Nikolai."
"Yeah." He replied.
"Thank you, for staying with me." She said shyly.
"Oh, it was nothing." Surprisingly, he meant it. It really didn't bother him that he had to spend the night at her house. He had a feeling he would do it even if she hadn't come crying to him. "Just... don't go back to him. Please, Natalia."
She nodded. "Yeah, ok. "
He smiled.
"Alright! Well, we need to get ready for practice." She said quickly in an attempt to get out of the awkward situation.
Nikolai got up and swiftly exited the room. Hearing the front door open and close, Natalya frowned he was supposed to be taking her to practice a bit later. Had she said something wrong? she decided he had left because of something she either did or said. She paced in her room for a few seconds. Then decided a warm shower would be best for keeping her mind off of him. She didn't realize that the front door open and shut again until in her bedroom door was Nikolai where he had forgotten his house shoes in her room, he expected her to be fully clothed when he came in. But she wasn't, Natalya stood there like a deer in headlights wearing only her undergarments. Nikolai couldn't help but look she had an amazing body, but that was no surprise. A myriad of thoughts went through his head from the innocent she's so pretty to the not-so-innocent I want to ravish her. Natlaya after taking a few seconds to process grabbed the sheet off of her bed and wrapped it around herself. Her face was flushed, so was his.
"I thought you had left" she stuttered.
He shook his head "I just went out to my car to get the extra pair of clothes I keep in there."
"Oh.."
A very awkward silence ensued
"Um I think I'll go now" Nikolai mumbled
"Yeah that would be good"
Nikolai turned around and walked out. Natalia got in and out of the shower swiftly. Dressing in her usual style. She came out of her room to find a plate of breakfast waiting for her. It was nothing fancy just some sausage, kasha and coffee but it was more breakfast than she usually ate. Nikolai and her sat down opposite of each other and ate the majority of their food in silence. Natalya didn't know whether she could eat all of it or not *. It was her food but Nikolai had fixed it. But by the time she was half way done with it she was nearly full. Neither of them ate the entirety of their food. Natalia washed the dishes and put them away while Nikolai showered and dressed in the other room. Natalia finished before Nikolai and sat on the couch wondering if what had happened would change anything between them. What the heck, she made it sound like they had done something. Maybe she wanted to do something. She shooed that thought away but wondered. Nikolai was attractive, any girl with a pulse would think that. But they were partners they couldn't... She heard her room door open. That man took forever to shower. She turned towards him catching a glimpse of his stomach as he pulled down his shirt. It felt like the air was electrified. This was interesting. The feeling soon faded, he walked towards the door.
"Hey, Natalya I'm going to go get the car warmed up"
"Okay be careful it's supposed to be icy out today"
He shrugged on his coat and left, 20 minutes passed and Nikolai was still outside Natalya was getting a little worried. She put her coat on and went to check on him. Damn, it was cold outside, the freezing wind bit at her hands. Nikolai's car was still here and he was next to the opened hood. Swearing loudly in Russian. She walked up behind him
"What are you doing?"
He sighed and turned towards her "The stupid car won't start and any car that is this automated I have no idea how to fix."
He ran his hands through his hair.
"It's fine, we can practice here" she said
He cocked his head, "How? There isn't enough room"
"That you've seen" She said mysteriously.
She closed the hood took him by the hand and led him back inside then down a set of stairs. Into her basement.
It was huge with oaken floors and a blue silver paint on the walls. The room itself must have been at least twice as big as her house.
All Nikolai could say was "Wow"
"This is my haven, I come down here when I need to think or just bored." Nikolai surveyed the room. There was a small stereo in the corner, the back wall was covered in bookshelves and there were a few overstuffed chairs. It was all very quaint. He loved it. Natalya moved over to the stero looking up at the rack of CDs on the wall. She turned back to Nikolai, "What do you want to dance to?"
"How about swing?" he really wanted to do a slow waltz but that might prove to much.
She nodded and put a CD in the player then moved towards him neither of them had their dance shoes so this was just for fun. After about thirty minutes of dancing both kinds of swing; they were both ready for something else, something less energetic.
That's when she decided that they were doing a slow waltz, she walked over to the player and chose a Cd from the back of the rack, put it in and walked back to Nikolai. It was a simple tune from a little known Belorussian composer that she had been friends with. They moved slowly and the proximity was tantalizing. They were no longer doing professional dancing. This was a more common and simple box step with an occsional international step.
He wasn't sure what exactly to do, their faces were so close they almost touched, he wanted them to touch. However he didn't want to ruin a good friendship with a woman who understood him. He didn't feel like they could go back if it didn't work out. He needed to shut his brain off and let his heart do the work. But it was Natlaya who closed the gap. She kissed him gingerly, and he kissed back. They came to a dead stop. His hand came up to her neck, he bit her bottom lip asking for entrance which she gladly granted. Their kisses became more passionate, they stopped for a breath.
They made eye contact then that was it, he kissed her neck, teasing her, she moaned slightly. His hands moved down to her waist, and they started walking towards the door. Natalya slipped out out of his grip, ran to the top of the stairs, and smirked inviting her partner to chase her. He grinned, he'd gladly run after her. She made it to the living room before he caught her, tackling her onto the couch. They both smiled, he liked the way she thought, maybe he had finally found someone like him. He wanted her unlike anyone else he had ever screwed. Because most people he screwed were simply substitutes for the one he could not have. But this, this was real and genuine. They sat on the couch looking at each other as if to see who could go the longest without touching the other. Nikolai lost to say the least. They kissed, his hands in her beautiful Belorussian hair, her hands on his chest. She tugged at his shirt and he gladly helped her get it off, then he took care of hers. They found themselves laying on the couch now, with Nikolai right on top. They needed each others touch. It was crazy but that's what the others always said about them.
Dance practice was long forgotten by the end of the day.
They were mad, but they were mad together
прачнуцца - wake up
Так, я вы - Yes I am are you
Ды - Yes
Наталля - Natalia
Goggle translate
As for the food thing I learned that in Russia it is polite not to eat all of the food someone gives you. Because it means that they didn't give you enough. I figured after living with Russia all those years she would have picked up on some of his habits.