[ XX XXX, 201X ]
Once again, Ukraine was crying, and once again, it was Belarus who had to comfort her.
Even with all the times she'd done this, it was still a complete and utter disaster. She was never any good with sad people, much less people in general. Belarus, she was always… different.
"Come on, Katyusha," she said, trying to move her hair to the side to look her in the eyes. "There is no need for crying, everything is fine!"
"No, no, no…" Ukraine muttered, shaking her head and crying even harder, "no, no it's not! It's not!"
"Please stop… you will at least tell me what's wrong, won't you?"
"I can't, I can't tell you! He won't allow me to!"
Okay, now it was officially concerning. What was stopping her from speaking? And who was "he?" Whoever did this to her better run now and don't stop running or else they'll be running from Belarus in hell!
"Whoever it is, I can help you, you know. I will always protect you, sister."
"No, not this time, you won't, I know you won't, not even if I told you. And… and it was my fault, anyway. Not his."
This was so strange. One moment, she was perfectly fine, and the next, she saw… something. Something that made her a sobbing mess, carrying on about some guy who apparently did something terrible enough to make this happen.
Unfortunately, there was absolutely nothing that Belarus could do about it.
"Oh, Katya…." She sighed, reaching out to pull her closer.
"No!" Ukraine shouted, swatting her hand away, starting to cry once again. She buried her face into her knees, curling up so as to appear smaller. "Don't touch me! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I won't say anything…."
For both sisters, it was completely and utterly terrifying.
[26 April, 1986]
Something was wrong, terribly wrong.
Ukraine didn't know what it was, but it was most definitely wrong.
It was a feeling of absolute dread in the pit of her stomach that had her waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. She saw the time - 1:23 a.m., but she had no intentions of sleep when something so horrible was happening… whatever it was.
She practically leaped out of bed, not even knowing what she was going to do, just that she had to do something.
After she nearly tripped and fell down an entire flight of stairs in her rushing, she was just about to put on her coat when she felt a sudden pain within her head. It obviously wasn't normal as the sheer intensity of it made her dizzy, to the point where she had to kneel on the floor for a moment to regain her surroundings.
Unfortunately, it didn't really help much, for as soon as she stood up, she even began to feel nauseous.
Ukraine was obviously not in any shape to be doing anything whatsoever, but if she didn't, who else was going to? And even if someone did, it would have been far too late by then, wouldn't it?
She decided to tough through it, and using the wall for balance, she grabbed her coat and put it around herself. And just when she thought that she was feeling a little bit better, she realised that it was already too late.
Sudden images of a catastrophic explosion played through her mind, which, oddly enough, calmed her in some way.
She at least knew what was going on now, and she knew who could help her with it.
That is, of course, if he was willing to do so.
Yet still, despite the pain and the sudden illness, she managed to arrive before sunrise, and, to her dismay, before anyone had woken up.
She pounded on the grand wooden door, the rising tsunami of adrenaline pumping throughout her veins only making each knock that much louder.
"Vanya!" She shouted, the lack of response amplifying her panic tenfold.
"Brother! Somebody, help me! Please!"
"Someone!" Nothing.
"Please…." Her voice trailed of, her knocking slowly growing quieter.
There were at least five people in this mansion, surely one of them would have answered by now.
She sighed in defeat and sat down against the door, burying her head in her hands. It was hopeless, and now, she just felt even more ill than before.
She almost didn't notice the door swinging open behind her.
"Miss Ukraine?" A surprised yet slightly tired voice spoke.
She stood up to find herself being stared at by familiar friendly eyes framed by long brown hair , their lips turned into a frown of concern.
"Oh, Lithuania!" She cried, instantly surrounding him with a nearly bone-crushing hug.
"Am I ever glad to see you! Please, where is Vanya, and is he awake? I need to see him now!"
"Y-yes, ma'am! Mr. Russia's in his study, but why are you-"
"There's no time for that. Thank you so much, Toris!" She raced through the house and up the stairs far too quickly to hear his reply.
Thankfully, this door was not locked.
"Vanya, I need to talk to you, now."
"Hmm?" The large man replied, looking up from his work. "Sestra? Why are you here?"
"Something has happened, and I'm afraid I don't know what to do. It may just be me panicking but… but I'm out of options! Please, you have to help me!"
"Calm down, Katya, just tell me what is wrong."
"I… I really don't know for sure, but I promise you, I saw it! I-it was a vision! A dream, something! I saw an explosion, and I felt it! I don't know what I'm supposed to do, I just… I-" Once again, she was beginning to cry.
"So, it was not real? You were merely dreaming?"
"…What?"
"You said it yourself." His words sounded calm, too calm.
"Yes, but that doesn't mean… Wait, you don't get those too?"
"Get what?"
"These… These visions! The feelings that come with them, the pain, the sickness… you do not have them?"
"Oh, yes, I do. Certainly. They are numerous, constant, and plenty agonizing. Sometimes I can even hear things… which is exactly why yours didn't happen." The way he talked about such a thing was far too casual to be normal. And what was he getting at…?
"What are you talking about? You say you know about this too, why do you not believe me?"
"Oh, no, I do! I do believe you. It's just that no one else can, you see."
"What?"
"I have my own issues to deal with. The government is slipping, atrocities are happening around every corner, we have little money to be throwing away, et cetera et cetera. I could go on, but we would be here for millennia at this rate. However, that is beside the point. The point is, I can not deal with your issues. I do not have the time, nor the money or patience or anything to help you. So, you are on your own."
"Well, then I'll just ask-"
"No, you will not." He stated firmly, standing up from his chair. "See, if I can not deal with your issues, then no one else can either. You will not be starting even more unrest within my states, do you understand, Katyusha?"
"No, I do not!" She turned on her heel and began to leave. "And frankly, I think-"
Russia crossed the room in only a few quick strides, closing the door behind him and locking it.
"I still do not think we are communicating properly." He said as he smiled and produced a faucet pipe from his coat. "I do not care about what you think. In this society, though you may think so, you are not equal to me. Everyone else, sure, but never me. Do not talk to me as if you are so sure of yourself, dear Katya."
Despite Ukraine's overwhelming fear, she still had the nerve to speak somehow. "I am still your sister! I h-have a right to-"
"Ah, you are stuttering." He chuckled darkly. "Just like them, I see. Face it, you know that I am right, just accept it and nothing bad will happen to you. Are you afraid of me? Intimidated? Like the others? Because, well, let me tell you, little girl..." He leaned in close and whispered sinisterly, "you certainly should be."
If there was any blood in her face at that one moment, it disappeared without a single trace.. In fact, she felt immensely afraid of her little brother right now. She never had any idea why people were always so wary around him, but now, she realised exactly why.
Say one wrong thing, and you might as well start writing your own will.
"Oh, suddenly so quiet, are you?" Russia mused as he looked her up and down, pacing in slow circles around her. "Something tells me that once you leave this place, you will not keep this silence."
"N-no, I will! I swear, I will!"
"I am deeply sorry, Katya, but I simply cannot believe you. You are just like that Estonia, you have become far too... independent for my liking. But do not worry, we will fix that right now, won't we?"
"No... no, no, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Vanya, please don't-"
She was cut off by something hard and metal hitting her in the face.
"Wh- what are you..."
"You will no longer tell me what to do, sestra." He said, the smile gone from his expression entirely. "You will only listen, you will not speak to me unless I have told you to. You will not ask questions, you will merely answer them. Is that clear?"
"Y-yes, Vanya..."
"Now, please, dear, would you mind telling me why this supposed catastrophe happened?"
"I-it was an accident! I don't-" She was hit once again.
"There will also be no lying. You do know. It was because your people were careless. It was because they do not pay attention, they are not observant. Now, answer me this - why is it that none of this actually happened?"
"It was because…." she thought about it for a moment, careful not to anger him further, "…because it does not matter. Wasting time on every little would not be productive." She ignored the splitting headache and the growing feeling of nausea.
"Good girl! You are learning faster than expected!" He praised, the childish grin quickly returning to his face. However, he then pushed her to the ground, keeping her down by firmly pressing his boot into her spine.
"Since you are such a clever little girl, you should know, then, that I am only doing this because I love you. You would not survive out there without me, and I am only trying to protect you, Katyusha. There is no one out there who cares about you more than I do. You understand, do you not?"
'Yes, Vanya."
"And because I love you, I will have to teach you this lesson. After all, we do not need those children who cannot play nicely, da?"
・・・
She woke up to the sound of a soft voice and a pleasantly warm feeling on her head.
"Oh, Miss Ukraine, you're awake!" The voice said. It sounded pleased with her. Did she say something good? She couldn't remember.
The owner of said voice leaned over her with a kind smile, nothing like the one she saw… yesterday? What day was it? Where was she? This wasn't the floor, it felt softer. All she could recognize was this face….
"Toris? What are you doing?"
"Just... cleaning you up. I… I presume you do not remember any of what happened before now?"
"No, I don't… I'm sorry."
"That's quite alright, miss." He said as he wrapped a final bandage around the wound on her head. She couldn't fully remember this person yet, but still, she already enjoyed their company greatly.
"Please, call me Katyusha. And… Toris, could you please tell me what happened before this?"
"I apologise, Katyusha, but I'm afraid that I can't do that. You are already unwell, this would only make it worse. You understand, don't you?"
For some reason, those last few words drove her to tears.
Then, as Lithuania hugged her and whispered soothing words of comfort to her, eventually, she cried herself to sleep in his arms. He didn't move, though, for fear of waking her up again.
Unconsciously, she wrapped her arms around the former even tighter.
"I wonder what such a kind-hearted person like you did to deserve something like this…." He mused aloud, running gentle fingers through her hair.
He did find out eventually, but he never truly understood.
But honestly, who could blame him?
[ XX XXX, 201X ]
Eventually, with enough coaxing, her crying died down to quiet little sniffles here and there.
"You… you are okay, now?"
Slowly, she nodded, still keeping her head down.
"You are sure?" Belarus asked sternly, forcing the other woman to look at her.
"Yes, I am fine."
Belarus could only sigh as she wiped the tears away from her sister's face. Then, she gave Ukraine a tight hug, much to her surprise.
"Oh, there is no need for that!" She claimed with a somewhat shaky laugh as she pushed her away.
"But Katyusha-"
"I promise you, I am okay."
Belarus merely crossed her arms, looking up at her sister with a deeply skeptical glare.
She only laughed again in response. "Seriously, I mean it, it's fine. Now, I am going to be making pastila. You are welcome to come inside to help if you would like, or you could just come in whenever it's ready. Either way, I don't mind."
"Katyusha, you can't just-"
"Come on, Bela, I know they're your favorite~."
"Do not test my intelligence. I'm not five years old, I'm not just gonna-"
"Please? For me?"
She huffed in defeat, allowing her hands to drop to her sides. At least, whoever this "he" person is, he can't hurt her anymore, can he?
No, he couldn't. He wouldn't dare! If he does, he should hope he lives near a hospital.
"Thank you very much, my dear Natalya." Ukraine said, smiling genuinely. "I really appreciate it."
"Yeah, sure, whatever."
「１９８６」
(pastila is some kinda Russian dessert that's coloured pastel or smth. idk but it looks good)
I don't know if this is historically accurate bc this was requested by Forever Prosperous and per usual I just skimmed over Wikipedia articles but uh I hope you like it and I hope I did your idea justice!
and yay for happy endings caused by blatant denial of the issue!
also Russia is hECKING SCARY! like dang Ivan back at it again w/ the emotional manipulation...
(also heyyy I got over 2,500 words it's a new record!)
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