I in no way claim any rights or profits to Axis Powers Hetalia. Those belong to Hidekaz Himaruya, and justly so. This was written purely for fun.
The OC Alaska is mine however, based off Himaruya's concept.
She drove them to Earthquake Park and they walked down the trails and then sat on a bench staring at the sea.
"It's a nice spring evening." said Alexandra. It was, the clouds of that afternoon had cleared off and now the air was warmer in the weak sunlight. But not enough to go without a coat; Alexandra had left hers in the car. He watched her rub her arms as a cool breeze covered them with goosebumps. Then he sat up, startled and grabbed her wrist.
"Hey!" she said and tried to pull out of his grasp.
"What are these from?" he asked tracing two scars, one on her right middle finger and the other on her right forearm near the wrist.
She looked down at the scars, gently rubbing them with her left forefinger. "Attu and Kiska, from World War II."
He nodded, tracing the scars again, "I could have killed him for that." He said quietly.
"Don't say that, Japan apologized, and I forgave him.
"You forgive others easily." Everyone but me.
"I knew he was sorry, we're pretty good friends now. We can talk about anything but whaling."
"YA proshu proshcheniya za eto." He murmured, then on an impulse raised her hand and kissed first Attu, then Kiska.
"Please don't." she whispered, pulling her arm gently out of his grasp and holding it to her chest. Then she looked up, "You have nothing to be sorry for."
"I am sorry that you had to be involved in that stupid affair in the first place." He said with a small trace of bitterness. They descended into silence again. He watched her as she stared out at the sea. Her eyes were distant and sad with memory. She had changed so much since he'd sold her and he had missed it.
"You have other scars too, don't you?" He reached up and brushed her hair behind her right ear. He could just see a pale line that disappeared into her hairline.
"Yes, but what nation, or state, can live without gaining a few?"
He thought of the large scar that ran up and down his chest, a souvenir left over from Mongolia's saber, a scar he had acquired before he had been fully grown. He thought about the slashes on his right wrist, Bloody Sunday. He nodded "It is in our nature to inflict and be inflicted upon."
Alexandra shivered and he took off his coat and offered it to her. She hesitated a moment then draped it around her shoulders. They sat for a bit longer before getting up and walking back to the car. When they reached it she returned his coat and then looked at him hesitantly before getting in. He followed her example, his mind not really thinking about what he was doing. When she did not immediately start the car he looked over at her, "What's wrong?"
"You don't have a hotel room do you?"
"No." He admitted.
"Alright, you can sleep on my couch tonight but tomorrow you should get a hotel room."
"Thank you."
They drove the rest of the way in silence. Alexandra lived in a nice house that was set back in such a way that gave it a good view of most of the city, while still making it possible to reach it easily. When they reached it a husky bounded out from the backyard and danced around them trying to lick at Alexandra's face and barking at Ivan.
"Make yourself at home." she said gesturing towards the living room when they had finally made it inside, "I'll be right back". He took off his coat and hung it up as she disappeared into what he guessed was her bedroom, taking her heels off as she did so. Then he walked around the living room pausing at the windows to take in the full effect of her mountain view. On the window sill were various sprouts and seedlings trying to make the most of the sinking sun, and one other plant. Sitting on a large table was a young sunflower plant that was beginning to bud under a sun lamp. Behind him came a soft padding of feet and Alexandra entered the room; her hair held back in a long ponytail, wearing jeans and a short pale blue kuspuk.
"You're growing a sunflower?" he asked.
"Yeah, I better water those", she left again but continued speaking, "Those are my seedlings for the summer, when it gets warm enough I'm going to plant them in my greenhouse and the garden."
She returned with a watering can and sprinkled water over all the plants before angling the sunflower better so it caught the last rays of the sun.
"You still love them, don't you, sunflowers?" she asked glancing at him.
"Yes."
"It's a pity we can't grow the big sunflowers here without sun lamps and greenhouses. But…" She paused for a moment thinking, then smiled. "We do have the next best thing. Come with me." They stopped at the door to collect shoes, then she led him outside and around the back of her house. She took him down a wooded footpath a short ways until they reached a small clearing.
"It's called a frigid Arnica but, personally, I like to think of it as an Alaskan Sunflower." she said smiling.
At their feet a small wildflower had pushed its way through the dead leaves and bloomed. Its petals were bright yellow and its center was a bright yellow-orange.
He smiled back, "Da, I remember seeing these. Holodnyĭ Arnica, a sunny flower that always blooms again with the spring, no matter what the odds, Alyaskinskiĭ podsolnechnika."
"Alyaskinskiĭ podsolnechnika." She repeated with barely an accent she stared at the flower without really seeing it, when she spoke again her voice and smile were little wistful. "I remember when you used to call me that."
He stared at her in the fading light, "Why do you hate me, Podsolnechnika?"
Haha, I love family fluff and angst. What will Alaska say? Tune in tomorrow!
Authoress Notes:
Earthquake Park is a real park in Anchorage. It overlooks where part of Anchorage sluffed off into the sea during the Good Friday Earthquake of 1964. There is a great view of the sea as well as interesting info about the quake.
Attu and Kiska are two islands in the Aleutian chain. During WWII the Japanese invaded Alaska through Attu and Kiska and bombed Dutch Harbor.
Japan and Alaska are on good diplomatic terms except where whaling is involved. Long story short: The Japanese want to whale commercially. But some Alaskan villages are almost completely dependent on whales for their food and other resources, it's part of their way of life. They see commercial whaling as a threat to that.
Scar on Alaska's head: Good Friday Earthquake
Russia's scars are head canon guesses of mine. The chest length scar is from waaay back in 1237 abouts when the Mongols burned Moscow to the ground and killed the inhabitants (Moscow was a very young city then, a little over 100 years old). Moscow didn't recover until about 1327. Source: Wikipedia. If you have anything to add or that you want me to change please leave it in a review.
A Kuspuk is a loose tunic worn by the Yupik Alaska Natives. It's loose, comfortable and generally everyday wear. They can be short (about the same length as a hooded sweatshirt) or long enough to be a dress. See pictures here: http:/ tundramedicinedreams. blogspot. com/2008/05/what-is-kuspuk. html. (just copy and paste the URL and remove spaces)
The Frigid Arnica is an Alaskan wildflower, but there are many varieties around the world. In my personal opinion, it's Alaska's Sunflower. See a picture of it here: www. ask. com/wiki/Arnica (just copy and paste and remove spaces)
1 Russian for, "I am sorry for this."
2 Russian for "Frigid Arnica"
3 Russian for "Alaskan Sunflower"
4 Russian for "Sunflower"
Thanks for reading, please review.