Yay! I have officially achieved my goal of updating on time! :D
I can't think of anything else to say here...
Except, EEEEEEEEK! This fanfiction. It has twenty-five reviews. It has, not counting this one, five chapters. Wow. YOU GUYS ARE THE MOST AWESOME PEOPLE EVER! Thank you! :D
Chapter Five:
Latvia was starting to get nervous.
"Hey, Belarus?" he said, trying to keep his voice from shaking, "Do you think something happened to Estonia? Ukraine's been gone for a really long time, and I thought she was going to find him…"
"Why do you care about him?" Belarus asked, "He tried to kill Lithuania and Russia."
"Yeah…" Latvia said, "But he did it because he's really scared. Estonia's hurt really bad, on the inside."
"I know that," Belarus said, "I heard what happened from Lithuania. I just don't understand why any of you still care about him, after the stupid stunt he pulled!"
"He's not a bad guy!" Latvia protested, his voice rising in pitch and volume, "He doesn't mean to hurt anybody, he's just scared and he hates it here! He hates Mr. Russia, and he just wants to go home… That doesn't make him evil!"
"It seems to me," said Belarus, "That he's just like Russia sometimes, and when he isn't acting like Russia, he's either endangering everyone, or acting like a coward."
"It's nice to know how you feel, Belarus. Thank you for your honesty."
Both Latvia and Belarus turned toward the doorway, and there, Latvia saw Estonia, who appeared to be badly injured and was being supported by Ukraine.
"Estonia!" Latvia squeaked, running over to the middle Baltic, "What happened?"
"Nothing, Lati," Estonia said tiredly, "I'm fine."
"It was Mr. Russia again, right?" Latvia asked, "Come on, Estonia… Please don't lie to me anymore."
"I'm sorry, Latvia…" Estonia whispered, "But if I can't protect you, then there's nothing I'm good for."
Ukraine had released her hold on Estonia, and, suddenly, the blonde Baltic swayed, and, to Latvia's horror, Estonia fell to his knees.
"Estonia!" Latvia yelped, "Ms. Ukraine, I think Estonia's really hurt!"
"I'm fine," Estonia mumbled, "Don't need help."
But, looking down at him, Latvia knew it wasn't true. Estonia's eyes were wide and full of pain, and he looked so tired…
"Est…Estonia…" Latvia whimpered, kneeling in front of the older boy, and trying to hold his friend up at the same time, "You gotta rest, okay?"
"Fine, Lati…" Estonia mumbled, "Whatever… Makes…you happy…"
And then, to Latvia's dismay, Estonia passed out.
Lithuania didn't remember blacking out. In fact, he couldn't remember anything since Russia had broken his rib.
Now, he was only half-conscious, lying curled up against the wall. But he knew that, at some point, he must have been completely unconscious, because the last thing he remembered, the sun had been shining in the window.
It was dark, now, and he couldn't tell if he was alone, or if Russia was there.
And although he didn't want to admit it, he was frightened.
"I… I told him… He could hurt me if he wanted to… But… I don't want to end up like Estonia…"
But if he didn't do this, wouldn't Russia just hurt the others? Unless he let Russia hurt him, the others would suffer. And he didn't want that. But he felt so, so alone…
"I want to go back. I want to go back to the times when I wasn't alone. At least then, I had Estonia and Latvia. They were there… I didn't wake up alone then. Is…is this how Russia feels?"
Silently, Lithuania began to cry. He had practiced the art of silent tears. In times past, he had had to cry very, very quietly in order to keep Latvia and Estonia from hearing him through the thin walls of their bedrooms. And now, he cried painful, silent tears, because he was afraid of Russia hearing him, and hurting him again.
"Belarus… Estonia… Latvia… Ukraine… Run away, far away, and don't come back. Please… If you are safely gone, then I can know… I can know that at least you are free. Don't try to save me… Please try to save me… I'm scared…"
And then, he remembered a conversation he had had with Estonia. It had been only a day or two before, but it felt like a lifetime.
"Once, I told you I wasn't a child. But really…we're all just children, aren't we…?"
"Yes…" Lithuania thought, "We're only scared, fragile little children…and children need… What do children need? I can't…remember… Can't remember that word…"
Latvia had decided that he was not going to leave Estonia alone ever again. However, it appeared that Belarus at least was doubtful that he would be able to accomplish his resolution.
"So you're not going to leave even if he dies?" Belarus asked, sounding almost bored.
"He's a nation, so he won't die," Latvia said.
"The naivety of children never ceases to annoy me," Belarus muttered.
"Belarus…" Ukraine said in a warning tone, "Why can't you be civil for once?"
"We're doing nothing at the moment, while we ought to be trying to save Lithuania!" Belarus snapped, "Why should I be civil to any of you?"
"We all want Lithuania to be okay," Latvia said, "But we can't do anything right now, 'cause Mr. Russia is really, really scary…"
Belarus made an extremely frustrated noise, and then, standing up, she marched out of the room.
"I didn't mean to make her mad…" Latvia whispered.
"She loves Lithuania, and she wants to help him, but she can't right now," Ukraine said, "She's just…frustrated. I'll talk to her. And when Estonia wakes up, we all need to talk."
"Okay," Latvia said. He waited until Ukraine had gone, and then, he went over to where Estonia lay on the sofa. The blonde Baltic still had not woken up, although night had now fallen.
"Iguanija…" Latvia murmured, kneeling next to the other boy, "You're going to be okay, right?"
There was no reply, but Latvia kept talking anyways.
"When you wake up, we're all gonna figure out what to do together. So you'd better wake up soon, since you're the smartest one, and we need you to help us plan. And we'll get outta here, and all be happy again… Even Lithuania will come with us. It'll be really fun! And you can come to my house anytime, if you get lonely. Or… If you want, we could stay together. Me and you and Lithuania, if he wants to come. All together in a nice house. Except it will be a little, cozy house, instead of a big, scary one. You'd like that, right? And nobody would ever hurt you again…"
Suddenly, it occurred to Latvia that they might not get out, that everything might not be okay. And then, he wondered what would happen if they didn't manage to escape.
"I'm gonna make sure nobody ever hurts you again…" Latvia whispered, "They shouldn't do those things to you… So I'll make it stop. I…I'll save you. I'll be strong, like Lithuania. Maybe…maybe I can… Maybe I can be the one that saves you guys now? Isn't it my turn to do something besides sit here uselessly? I don't want to let anyone hurt you again, Estonia. You're my friend, maybe my best friend, now… So I'll protect you, like you protected me. Okay?"
Latvia stood up, his expression determined.
"I'll try to fix things. Don't worry, Estonia. We'll all be okay soon… I hope."
Belarus had never been more angry or confused in her life. She was standing outside in the snow, staring at the snowman that she had helped the others build.
"We were united in an effort then, although it did not matter," the girl murmured, "So why cannot we work together when it matters most?"
"It's because we're all so frightened," said a quiet, sad voice.
Belarus turned, and saw Ukraine watching her. The older girl sighed.
"I don't want to risk being hurt, although I know we have to save Lithuania," Ukraine said, "Latvia… I think he's too little to understand what's really going on. And Estonia…"
Suddenly, Ukraine was crying, her body shaking as she sobbed uncontrollably. It almost frightened Belarus, seeing her normally cheerful sister in such a state.
"Estonia just doesn't want to hurt anybody!" Ukraine wailed to the snowy landscape, "He's just scared of getting hurt again because he doesn't want to lose his mind! He's just trying to protect himself and everyone, and… And…"
Ukraine broke off, sobbing.
"And he thinks that inaction will not hurt people?" Belarus asked, "Do you really think that there is no possibility of Lithuania losing his mind next?!"
Ukraine looked up at her, her eyes wide.
"L-Lithuania losing his m-mind?"
"He's not as strong as you think he is," Belarus said, a desperate note creeping into her voice, "He just pretends he's strong so that no one will worry about him. I have seen him in the depths of despair, and believe me, he cannot be left with Russia. I think… I think Russia is obsessing over him, not necessarily in a way that could be more dangerous to Lithuania than Russia's usual behavior, but as if he was a possession."
"T-then… Then we have to help him," Ukraine said, "We can't leave him behind, I knew that before… But how do we convince Russia to let Lithuania come with us?"
"Standing united against him worked once," Belarus said, "It could work again."
"We can try," Ukraine said, rubbing her eyes in an attempt to erase her tears, "So, let's go see if Estonia is awake yet, and we can make our plan!"
As Ukraine turned back toward the house, Belarus smiled.
"Finally, someone who's willing to act. Hold on, Lithuania… We're coming."
Latvia didn't regret his decision, but he did regret the fact that his shivering was an unconscious reaction to fear, and one he couldn't seem to stop.
"But even if I am scared, I can still help, right? I can be brave, even though I want to run away. As long as I don't run away, then I might be able to do something to help everyone…"
He was outside Russia's door, now, shivering with both fear and cold. Russia's house seemed to have gotten colder of late.
This was the first time that Latvia had ever gone knocking on Russia's door of his own volition, and the thought that this action had probably been the deciding factor in Estonia going over the edge of insanity frightened him.
"But Estonia did that to save me, because he thought I was in trouble. So I can do this now to save him and Lithuania."
Latvia took a deep breath, and knocked on Russia's door.
And this has been a chapter. A really short chapter full of uselessness. But it had to be written, and the action (or is it just insanity?) will pick back up next time!