St. Petersburg, Russia.
Dear Sestra,
Privjet sestra! Kak dela? Things have been going fine with me lately. Although it's been several years since I've been here in the house of the Romanovs, I clearly do in fact miss you. How is Natalia? Is she doing al right and staying out of trouble? I hope she hasn't been troubling you, sestra. Listen, I know that things are going tough right now with the whole economy, but please sestra try to hold on. Once I come back home, I promise there will be enough bread for us to feed. More than enough! Just please keep working hard just for a little bit da? Until then, ja teba lublu.
Your dear braht,
Ivan Braginski.
Folding the cream colored paper in to fours and giving a nice lick to the envelope, the young Russian male was soon interrupted by the tugging of his favorite tan scarf. "Ivan! Ivan! Look! Look!" Slightly jolting from such sudden interaction, the blond turned his head to the source of the tugging to find a young girl holding a piece of paper behind her back as a youthful expression shined out her years on her bright smiling face.
"Ah, Anya! Privjet dorogaya~!" Picking up the little girl with his firm strong hands, the male lifted up the little grand duchess as giggles began to erupt from her throat.
"Ivan~! Let me down!"
"Alright alright my little Anya." Setting the little girl back down to her feet, Ivan's brow slightly arched as he noticed the piece of paper behind Anastasia's back. "Vhat vhould that be Anya?"
"Hm? This? A gift for you!" Presenting the piece of paper before Ivan, his violet orbs began to slightly tear up.
"Ah, milaya it's so vhonderful." Lifting his hands up, the hand gently landed on top of the young brunette's head in the form of three light pats, followed by a big embrace. "Spasiba it is truly beautiful, just like our little Anastasia. The Grand Duchess of Russia~"
"Anastasia! Anastasia!" The voice of the Tsarina echoed throughout the hallways.
"Mama? I'm coming! I need to go Ivan, can we play later?" Giving a small nod followed by a kiss on the top of the head, the Russian male stood up, slinging his gun behind his back and marched out the Romanov's estate and out to the familiar city.
Today seemed somewhat nice, still not so well as there were still a number of starved and homeless bodies in the corner of the street, some begging. The again, it was the usual scene in Russia. Ever since the new Tsar Nicholas took over, Ivan would admit that he have made some silly decisions at one point during his regime. "I need to stop bringing other people's burdens to my back…" Ivan muttered. Then another thought began to enter his mind - his dear family back home. Closing his eyes for a moment or two, a nice feeling of warmth began to seep in to his body as he began to remember those summer and spring afternoons in that very sunflower field, laying down just with his two beloved sisters by his side.
Right now, he could even feel the warm gentle breeze that wove it's way in to their platinum hairs, which tickled their Slavic cheeks, their laughter and giggles echoing his very consciousness. Even the sweet gentle voice of his dear Yekaterina whispering words of comfort in to this Russian's ears gave a warmth and a heartache to his very own heart. Once again, opening his eyes once more – exposing his violet orbs to the reality, a smile went to a frown realizing where he was now. He wasn't in the sunflower fields with his dear sisters anymore; he wasn't at home baking bread with Yekaterina laughing while being bugged by Natalia's negativity. Rather, Ivan was here in Saint Petersburg alone all by himself with a tool of destruction sent from the bottom of hell right in his hands, always slinger on his back only to use that tool to shed blood to those who would harm the people he was protecting at the moment. Now, Ivan wasn't being protected, but rather protecting. Protecting the house of the Romanovs.
A/N: Translations ~
Sestra – 'Sister' in Russian
Privjet/Privyet – 'Hello' in Russian
Kak Dela – 'How are you?' in Russian
Da – 'Yes' in Russian
Ja Teba Lublu – 'I love you' in Russian
Braht – 'Little brother' – in Russian
Dorogaya – 'Dear' [to females] in Russian
Milaya – 'Honey' in Russian
Spasiba – 'Thank you' in Russian