Hey again! Anyway, if you are fans of Legend of Zelda, fans of Twilight Princess, or role reversals, I'm currently working on a fan fic called Twilight Twists, if you want to see more of my works.

Yuuki no Yuki: SQUEE! :D I could see why she would remind him of his sunflowers. I think, in another world and under different circumstances, they would make a cute couple. I really love the potential crack ships Hetalia offers, because of that.

Chapter 5: Questions in the heart

"So..." Elise cocked her head as she and Lili went out of the house. "How was it?"

"It was better than I thought it would be." Lili began, but noticed that Elise looked curiously lost in a happy thought. "Uh, what's so amusing?"

"Huh?" Elise snapped out of it. "Oh- OH!" She realized she was in reality and not whatever kind of fantasy land she was in and shook her head. "Nothing Miss Lie-

"Just call me Lili. You don't need to be so formal with me."

"R-right." the woman let out a burst of a laugh that sounded forced. "It was nothing... nothing at all."

"Is it Mikhal?" Lili wondered. The two of them seemed have gotten quite friendly with each other, if looks were not deceiving. The Russian had been among those who wanted to do whatever they could, in return for getting help, and it wasn't long until he met Elise in the Red Cross. The two got off to a bit of a rocky start (the word was that there was a metal basin thrown at someone's head.) but they were able to find a common ground.

Elise stopped laughing. "Uh- no. Not really." She smiled once again. "But it's nice to think about him."

Lili returned the gesture: at least someone was able to be comfortable around with one who was stranded in her homeland. "Well, bye!" she waved and head back home.

-:)-

Another month quickly passed: June became July. Many people starting searching for the nearest lake or river to go for a swim by then.

"Ah, this feels nice!" Ivan relished being in the sun, but because he wasn't used to staying out in the lower western european sun for so long, he was forced to retreat to the shade before his skin would burn. Instead, he watched Lili and Elise swimming in the lake- that's when curiosity was starting to kick in.

"This is great!" Elise swam through the water like she was a mermaid. "The weather's always it's best around this time!"

"Mmm-hmm." Lili agreed before dunking into the water. She waited for a moment, while she was in the near-muted silence of the water, and could hear the splashing and movements of Elise as her eyes were closed. She popped right back out with a light splash, and breathed in the air once more.

"Oh, Mr. Braginsky!" Elise waved to the chibified Russian. "Why don't you join us? The water is nice?"

"In a second, da?!" The Russian almost singed as he darted behind a bush. In that moment, Lili blushed furiously as she remembered that she never made him any swimwear, so... was he just going to swim in his pants? A few moments later, a flesh colored flash leapt out of the bush and into the water with a large splash. As the girls looked on, Lili felt her face growing more and more red as the chibi swam through the water- head sticking out, with hair completely drenched... no wait... how did he get that log that he was holding onto so dearly like his life depended on it?

"Mr. Braginsky, if you can't swim, don't force yourself!" Lili frantically waved her arms over her head while splashing water in the process. "We aren't forcing you to do this!"

"It's ok!" Ivan assured her. "I once jumped out of a plane without a parachute."

"You WHAT?!"

"I only broke my back." He nonchalantly smiled as he approached them. He gave Lili an odd glance a moment later- he seemed to be considering something that made him seem untrustworthy.

Why is he looking at me like that? Lili wondered. It's like he's planning something.

Ivan casually lifted his arms in the air and sank into the water.

One frightened cry later, Lili dove back into the water and bolted towards the log. Elise watched in mute interest as Ivan rose back up out of the water like a floatie and bobbed in the water with that smile on his face still. He then rose further out of the water, like he was a river deity, but it was only because Lili had risen out of the water, directly from underneath and was found with the chibi clutched on top of her head.

"Not only am I buoyant, but you actually tried to save me." His laughter was light as Lili just looked like she had a heart attack. "I guess I'm lucky after all."

-LOL-

"So," Lili asked as they headed back to Elise's home. "Have you reached Mr. Kirkland yet?"

"I decided to just try to send a letter." Ivan answered. "I've sent one every week, in case they got lost, stolen, or taken by the enemy."

"... That... sounds pretty extreme."

"Yes, perhaps the mailmen have to be very skilled in going behind enemy lines nowadays. Perhaps they are experienced in the art of stealth, or their lives are at risk every time they must go deliver a letter, da? Ninja mailmen?"

Lili actually found herself laughing a little at this interesting insight, even if it felt like there had to be a shred of truth to it. She didn't think Ivan could have a more humane sense of humor, but surprisingly, he had his little unexpected moments, though sending so many letters to Arthur was an overkill. She noticed Elise having that weird smile on her face again when she was able to calm down.

-:)-

Some nights later, Ivan quietly snuck out of Elise's home, to head towards the very tavern where the negotiations were held.

He visited the tavern quite often, but because he didn't want to waste any of the money that was provided to him, he had to make do with watching the nightly activities within: the Russians, the Swiss, and Lili's people were having good times, while he was stuck without any vodka.

He missed drinking vodka: not this stuff, but the pure liquid gold from back home. That was one of the few things he was anxious to get back to.

"Ah, Mr. Braginsky!" Mikhal greeted the Nation from his barstool. "What brings you to the tavern this time?"

"Just felt like watching, as usual." Ivan noted that there was a large group of men huddled together, speaking in loud volumes and almost yelling- they were basically the main source of volume and excitement in the tavern. "What is going on there?" He pointed towards them.

"It seems that we have bounded very closely with our guardians." Mikhal answered. "You know the old drinking games: see who get's knocked out first, but without the extremities."

"...I see." Ivan started walking over to them.

"What are you going to do?" Mikhal asked, but Ivan didn't answer. He got up onto the nearest table to watch what was going on: yes, it seemed his men were putting up the locals to a drinking game. Already quite a few glasses were idly off to the side and quite empty, while two fellows were pitted against each other and both already looking red in the face. Everyone surrounding them were cheering on and hollering as they continued to get increasingly intoxicated in the game of pride. When it seemed neither of them were ready to give up, they got even more excited.

"What are you doing?!" Ivan bellowed out the demand as much as his currently tiny form could allow him to (which wasn't any much different than being full sized.).

The group looked to see who was loud enough to interrupt the game. Some of them recognized who spoke, and when the others laughed, they shushed them.

"Ah...we are just playing a game." One of his own spoke up. "You know...we just thought it would be fun."

"How much have you spent?" Ivan asked. "All together- how much have you spent on this... game?"

"We all contributed." One of Lili's men informed him. "We spent abou-

"Is that money yours?"

"Yes?"

"And how did you receive it? Who gave you that money?"

"We earned it!" Another one of the Russians growled in annoyance.

"He may have," Ivan pointed to the second speaker. "He gave your money to you." He then pointed back to the Russian. "so you didn't earn it. That money was for you to buy what you needed: not spend this on such luxuries as this. Not when this country was willing to make a place for you and gave you that money from her own pocket: you should all be ashamed of yourselves." He concluded with a dark glare. For the first time since it was made, he was breaking his promise NOT to scare off anyone, but it was not for his own benefit. "You all know the state this country is in, so don't make her kindness go to waste. Liechtenstein will grow ill if she grows too poor to care for everyone."

Those who knew who he was were paralyzed in fear and began to think he would start beating them over the head, while the more level headed realized he had a point and felt very regretful with what they just did.

Ivan didn't say a further word, but leapt off the table to join Mikhal, satisfied with the results of his actions.

"You truly care about this country, and it's citizens, don't you?" The soldier asked as Ivan sat next to him. "I never thought I would see something like that from my own Nation."

"No one should take advantage of what's given to them." Ivan almost pouted. "That's not fair to Liechtenstein... to Lili." He quietly added, but Mikhal overhead and he raised an eyebrow at this.

"Oh, Little Angel? So she's the embo-

"Shhh!" Ivan quickly raised a finger to his lips.

"-my mistake." Mikhal quickly corrected himself and finished off his beer. "I should have known better. It seems you REALLY care about this country then."

"She's a nice girl, da?" Ivan smiled. "I've seen what she's done for you all, inspite of the consequences. I admire her selflessness: it's an area I have no expertise in myself."

"I just hope you can convince our leader to let us go off easy, if we end up back in Russia." Mikhal frowned. "I want to stay myself: I think I found a reason not to go back, and it's a beautiful one." his eyes softened at the thought.

"Oh?" Ivan asked in interest. "By what you said, you have either fallen for this country, or someone special."

"Ah, Elise." Mikhal smiled at the thought of the woman. "She can be quite the pistol when she wants to, but I personally believe she could make all the women of Italy look like innocent school girls, after spending time with her."

Ivan was suddenly reminded of a curious song then. It was when he was with the other Allies, and they were going to ambush the Axis, but then this...person appeared and sang a song about hell and heaven. It wasn't too hard to remember, since it was poking fun at stereotypes...wasn't there something about how Italians would be... lovers in heaven? Ivan felt a little sick to his stomach. "You're not implying what I think your implying, are you comrade?"

"Oh God no!" Mikhal almost whipped out of his seat in horror as he turned white as the snow off the Alps. "No- I would never do such a thing! I mean that I didn't think she was the most beautiful woman alive when I first met her! But there was something about her that made outer beauty seem to be just an addition to one's soul, after I spent time with her. "

"Oh," Ivan's body relaxed: here he was, ready to break the man's skull off, if he touched the woman who was Lili's friend, and also his landlady. "That's better."

They both relaxed for a moment, but Mikhal broke the short silence.

"So what do you think of Little Angel? Other than that she is selfless?"

"She's sweet, da?" Ivan replied.

"...You've been spending a lot of time with her recently, in these past few months, and she's warmed up to being around you. Are you sure you don't have any... feelings towards her... or," Mikhal's face darkened. "Are you manipulating her so that you'll take her as your own? And I don't mean what you thought I was implying just a second ago: are you going to make her a part of the Soviet Union?"

Ivan's eyebrows arched up in surprise, but it made Mikhal concerned all the same. He then sighed and stared off into nothing.

"...I think... I've spent so long in this country that I haven't even thought of that. During this war, I've had my eye on many countries, and considered them as those that I think I want in my home, but I've actually forgotten about that as of now."

"That has me worried Mr. Braginsky." Mikhal scratched his chin. "When your situation is fixed, I'm worried about what happens when you must return to your place- and how it will affect Little Angel."

-break-

Little Angel, huh? Ivan thought as he headed towards the Zwigli estate. Was that how they ultimately saw Lili: an angel from the heavens, granting them aid?

He cautiously approached the house: the last thing he wanted was Vash to turn him into his prized cheese. (Russia cheese? It actually sounded humorous.) He made sure all the lights were off before carefully darting across the lawn towards the house, and he then scaled it like a pro. He took extra precaution in moving about and passing the windows- and checking in them to make sure he found the right one.

He identified Vash's room when he saw the blonde sleeping in a room filled with guns and two chocolate bars laying idly on a bed stand while surrounded by chocolate wrappers. Ivan almost wanted to laugh, but he pressed on.

Finally! There was Lili's room! He could see the simple vanity, the sewing machine, and the little form in the big bed. She seemed content in her sleep, and Ivan had no intention of disturbing her: he just wanted to watch her for a bit from outside. Even if he was a master of breaking in without detection and spying on Yao (fun times, fun times.) he wanted to respect her privacy... and not get shot by her brother.

It had been ages since he last saw her- but that was years and years ago, when she was a small child. He wondered how tall she would be, in comparison to him at his normal height? He estimated that her head would barely reach his chest- maybe even lower than that. And how heavy would she be if he picked her up? If Alfred could lift a truck, she may as well be a feather to Ivan.

He wondered why he even bothered to think on this.

Come to think of it, why did he even bother to risk his neck, just to check on the little Nation in the dead of the night in the very last place he should be?

He wanted to stay longer, but he was wanting an idea of what it was like living in Switzerland. Ivan quickly darted up the house (possibly by a drain pipe...or something. Meh, he was Russia, that's explanation enough.) and got on the roof top.

Actually, the view wasn't so bad- he was able to see the Swiss Alps, for one thing. He was dying to know if Vash had ever done any yodeling in those mountains, since that was supposed to be a famous image in general. He wondered if Vash had ever taken his little sister up there to climb the mountains: Ivan hoped Vash wasn't over protective to the point where he would of had a stroke at the very idea of Lili climbing up the mountains. It wasn't Mt. Everest.

He found himself wishing he could go to those mountains- without Vash noticing.

"-sick and tired of that Germany wishing for Italy to be more orderly and pay attention and then some! Do I look like I'm God?!"

"Hm?" Ivan glanced up as the sound of the voice increased in volume, only to see an unidentifiable object as it casted it's shadow under him. He got on his haunches, ready to jump out of the way, but the thing collided into his skull before that was possible.

Ivan stood still, only for a moment, before he fell over onto his side and blacked out: the tired out star was still sticking out of his head.

"I need a freaking vacation!" The star complained as annoyance marks surrounding it's head. "The sandman doesn't pay me enough for this job! I don't even have medical coverage! I should resign- maybe I'll be part of a video game where you have to collect one hundred and nineteen others of me, or something! I hated this stupid job to begin with!"

-the next day-

It was blindingly bright underneath his eyelids- why did Elise have to open the windows at this hour? Ivan groggily woke up, ready to tell her how much he didn't like it when people left the blinds drawn open when he woke up in the morning, when he noticed that he somehow got outside... on top of a roof.

He remembered: he got hit by something. (on instinct, he rubbed the sore spot on his head, where he got hit) Then he remembered something else- he was on top of Vash Zwigli's house.

"Oh no." He gulped as he sat up. "I hope I can still get out of here without him or the other Swiss noticing me. I knew I should have just stayed safe and high tailed it." He crossed his arms and pouted angrily- though, because he was still a chibi, it looked more than simply adorable. "I just got to be careful, da?"

Depending on how his mood was, in the morning, Vash was either a morning person, or vice versa- today, he was in between. He was already in his uniform and in the middle of sipping some morning coffee, when Ivan woke up. He was ready to start the day on a good note and head to the banks again- and NOTHING was going to get on his nerves again. Not any wars, Italians, annoying fangirls, or-

His ears perked at an obnoxious chirping sound approaching. He glanced up to the sky to see a fat white bird flying towards his house.

That chirping was getting on his nerves... his eyebrows were already twitching.

Ivan heard the chirping sound and recognized the bird. "Oh, that's Francis' bird!" He blinked. "What's he doing here?"

"CHEEP CHEEP CHEEP CHEEP CHEEP CHEEEP!" Pierre continued with the irritating cheeping as he nose dived towards Ivan.

"...That doesn't look good."

Pierre started to pecking the living daylights out of Ivan as the chibi tried to shield himself with his arms. "No stop! I'm not a worm!" He protested as he tried to swat away. "That hurts- stop it- ow!"

"I'm going to ****ing KILL that bird!" Vash got his gun out and ready. "Are you angry?! I'LL SHOW YOU ANGRY!" He snarled as he held the gun in the proper position. "****ING ANNOYING BIRD!"

"Ah! Stop it, that hurts! Please stop!" Ivan was now almost on the verge of tears- why were the animals bullying him too? He was up and frantically running around Vash's roof, while Pierre continued to follow and peck the poor Russian to death. Already he succeeded in making a bite mark on Ivan's left hand and skull and a bit of blood started coming out of the wounds.

Unfortunately, Pierre added one more concern to the list- for both Nations.

"Wait a second-" Vash's eyebrows arched up in surprise and lowered his gun. "That sounds like... no... please God, tell me I'm getting tennitis and not hearing-

"AAAAHH!" A star shaped figure leapt off the roof, eyes closed tightly- and landed on top of Vash's head, causing the Swiss man to yelp in confusion. Pierre flew after the figure, but Vash had enough: he fired a warning shot in the air.

Pierre backed off- flew off? Anyway, he took the hint; He turned around and high tailed it back to France.

"That... was close." Ivan heavily breathed. He let out a contained breath of visual air from his mouth.

Wait a minute- he realized he was on top of someone's head again. He waved his arms through their hair for a moment- the length felt like Lili's, but there was no ribbon... oh... crap. If it wasn't Lili then-

"... Hello Zwigli." He worriedly greeted the Swiss, just as Vash's blood pressure started to rise up.

Lili was just leaving the bathroom at this time and had no clue what had just happened outside. She was making her way down the stairs, when she heard something that worried her.

"ALRIGHT ASSHOLE- TELL ME WHY THE **** YOUR NOT IN PRISON LIKE YOUR SUPPOSED TO BE!"

When she first heard him yell, she thought it was one of his rants, but when she heard the full outburst, she almost knelt over in horror as her stomach dropped and her heart started pounding furiously in her chest- no- please don't tell her that Vash found out about Ivan! She ran down the stairs and headed towards the door as fast as she could, before Vash would do something irrational.

"TELL ME RIGHT NOW, OR I'LL BLOW YOUR HEAD OFF AND SHOVE MY ****ING FOOT UP YOUR ASS! I'll MAKE YOU REGRET EVER SETTING A FOOT IN-

"Brother wait!" Lili yelled as soon as she was out the door, in time to see a beyond furious Vash holding the chibi Ivan by the scarf in one hand, and a gun in his other- with the end of the barrel touching the Russian's skull.

Vash threw an angry look at Lili. "How did he get out of your prison?! I thought you had this under control!"

"I-" Her heart sank as she heard this. Her brother was upset with her- he was displeased with what he somehow had found out and was angry about it. "I- I-" Lili felt any shred of confidence in her waver and her outstretched arm fell to her side. Her head dropped as she was ready to confess and take the blame. "I- I'm-

"I got out for good behavior, da?"

Lili's head perked up at this.

"I haven't done anything bad in the first place, so I had no reason to stay in that jail anyway." Ivan cheerfully continued with the quick lie. "I don't have much of a criminal record on me right now, and we technically are immune to that. And I may as well be a refugee too. I was being chased by that bird last night and ended up here- I think he came back for revenge."

The small Nation glanced to her brother in worry: as much as she appreciated Ivan's cover-up, on her part, would Vash fall for it? No, he didn't seem to buy it.

"IF I CATCH YOU IN MY COUNTRY ONE MORE TIME, I'LL MAKE YOU INTO CHEESE!" Vash suddenly swung Ivan around, like he was a professional baseball pitcher. He turned to the Alps and- of all miracles- threw Ivan with an aim that actually sent him flying high into the sky until- yes, you guessed it- a twinkle was all that was left. Lili's jaw dropped: her brother THREW Ivan into the Alps?!

"...Wha- what...did you do?!" More stunned than dis-heartened, Lili turned to her brother.

"Getting rid of a pest." Vash snapped. "If he makes it past the borders, I can rest easy."

"But what if he get's hurt?!" Lili protested.

"He'll be fine." Vash strapped the gun around his shoulder as he assured her. "We can't die that easily."

"I know but-" Lili trailed off as she turned back to the Alps. What if he ended up someplace where he couldn't get out? And considering his current size, he would have a hard time traveling out of the Alps.

"I wont stop you, if you want to go after him and make sure he crosses the border." Vash told her. "But I don't want to see his face in my country ever again."

That 119 joke was a nod to Super Mario 64.

And the whole thing with Pierre was because I used to find him annoying. And yes- that was an intended Angry Bird joke, back when it used to be more popular.

It's kind of funny- I looked at that scene with the window and I think 'This wouldn't go well in real life.' I want to say that he was just checking on her... but then again, he's Russia.