Name used for Belgium: Laura Dumont

Name used for Netherlands: Tim Jansen

Name used for Luxembourg: Luca Bettel

(All unofficial country names are taken from popular names in said country or names of famous people from said country)

Belgium x Ukraine

January (Katyusha)

The middle of winter; Katyusha and her siblings were arguing again. Ivan finally confronted Natalia about her constant annoying attempts to marry him and she was being very stubborn. Naturally, they turned to Katyusha to solve the problem, but she had had enough. It didn't help that General Winter made multiple visits to Ivan that season, so everyone was unusually more upset.

She stepped outside, intending to stay for only a few minutes, but ended up wondering all the way to a nearby airport. Having excess money on her, she bought a direct flight plane ticket to the cheapest place she saw; France.

February (Laura)

Another year with no date for Valentine's day. Laura's siblings would not leave her alone about it and everything else under the sun to the point where she just got up and left. She packed her bags and decided to go off to her neighboring country and friend, France. Having no money to fly or ride a bus to France, she set off on foot. With a single suitcase the size of a microwave, she wrapped her scarf tight around her to escape the cold and made her way toward the south.

March (Katyusha)

She had received many worried calls and texts from her siblings, who had apparently made up, but she wanted to spend a little more time on the French countryside. Many people, both men and women, had tried to invite her to a club or to a bar, but she knew what they were up to and declined. The countryside and cities she passed on her way north were stunning, so she called her family to let them know of her plans. They agreed she needed a little time to herself and wished her good travels. She looked at her map in and figured it would be easiest to walk to rest of the way to Belgium.

April

After a few weeks of traveling, Laura found herself on the border of Belgium and France. In the distance, she spotted a woman walking toward the border from the direction of France. The amount of food she had was dwindling, so she called to the woman who seemed to have spotted her too.

"Excuse me! I am in need of aid!"

"What is it?" The woman was in speaking distance, so they could easily see each other's faces and there was no need for yelling.

"My food supply is low, do you know of a nearby market?"

"No, I am not from this country. I apologize."

The woman had a mildly thick accent, and as they walked closer Laura could see her features were not western European.

"What is your name?"

"My name is Katyusha Braginskaya. And you?"

"Laura Dumont. It's a pleasure to meet you." Laura smiled.

Neither of them saw the other do it, but they both took a minute of silence to check each other out.

Katyusha was the first to break the silence, although it was hardly silence, with the frogs croaking in the tall grass and the birds chirping. "Where are you from?"

"I'm from this country;" Laura gestured behind her, "Belgium."

"I am from Ukraine."

"My goodness, that's quite a long way from here. Why did you leave your home?"

"My siblings were arguing and being bothersome." Katyusha felt like she could trust this Laura Dumont, as she seemed nice enough, and was also very attractive.

Laura was visibly surprised. "Why, that's why I left my home also!"

"What a coincidence!" Katyusha laughed.

The two chatted for a while and didn't stop until it was nearly sunset. They only realized the hour was late when Laura checked her watch and found she could barely see it due to the quickly fading light. They had reached the status of friends by this moment, and felt it was appropriate to share a hotel room in the nearby town, although it may have been for cost purposes at that time.

They spent more and more time together over the next few weeks, until May arrived.

May

I guess you could call it dating, even though Katyusha and Laura wouldn't. They did spend all of April together, in Paris and other cities, towns, and villages. Ah, yes; Paris, the city of love.

A few hotel rooms later, Katyusha was becoming homesick.

"Laura, I miss my home." She said, one night out at a small 'Mom and Pop' restaurant. They had already ordered their dinners and were having a light discussion.

"So do I." Laura commented.

"But, it is so lovely here. I'd like to stay a few more weeks here with you." Katyusha blushed; it was barely noticeable in the candle's soft glow.

"I would too."

During their weeks spent together, they had grown more calm and accepting, less uptight and hot-headed. Maybe even to the point where they were in love… But neither would admit it, out loud or not.

But eventually, toward the end of May, they found that they had grown too close to live such a long distance apart and decided to separate.

The parting was sad, but they exchanged addresses and went their separate ways, not knowing when or if they would meet again. They certainly wouldn't realize how much they would miss each other's company.

June (Laura)

Laura tried so hard to forget about Katyusha on the journey home, how much more fun it would be to have her at home to take her mind off things. Darn; she was doing it again, thinking about her. Even when she was welcomed home warmly be her family, she couldn't help thinking how they would react to Katyusha.

She couldn't stand it anymore. She took out that little slip of paper with an address on it and wrote a letter;

Dear Katyusha,

I would greatly enjoy your company at my home here in Belgium and would love it if you took the time to visit me.

Sincerely, Laura

The letter was received with warmth, according to the reply on decorated stationary, and Laura eagerly awaited Katyusha's arrival.

Dear Laura,

I would love to visit you! I still have your address and will fly out to you as soon as possible!

-Katyusha

July (Katyusha)

The airport was crowded with noisy American tourists and the typical drunk man that no one knew how he got that much to drink in an airport. Katyusha stepped out of the plane and watched him cartwheel by, wondering what the heck she just saw. Despite whatever that was, she was very much looking forward to spending two weeks with Laura.

The cab pulled up at a lovely little brick apartment building in Brussels, Belgium and she was greeted at the door with much welcoming love. By some random guy. Who turned out to be Tim, Laura's brother.

"You must be Katyusha!" Another strange person said when Katyusha entered the actual apartment. "We've heard so much about you!"

Laura ran from the kitchen when she heard this, and quickly introduced her brothers, Tim and Luca. She appeared sort of flustered, but overall delighted to see Katyusha. They embraced and Laura offered Katyusha a drink.

Six happy days later, Katyusha returned to her home, leaving behind an open invitation for Laura to show up at her house.

October (Laura)

Nearly three months had passed since Katyusha's visit, and even though they had been keeping in touch, Laura missed Katyusha very much. But since she had been kept so busy with work, there had been no time to visit her dear friend in person. Near the end of October, Laura dug out all the letters she had received. There was quite a large stack of them, so she took an afternoon off to reread them.

She looked at every date on each paper and noted how lovely Katyusha's cursive was.

June 13. June 27. July 2. July 30. August 8. August 19. September 1. September 16. October 4. October 30… Wait. The most recent letter was missing, the one from the day before.

Laura scoured the room for it, and looked up at an 'ahem' to find Luca and Tim tanning in the doorway. Tim was holding a piece of decorated stationary, which happened to have lovely cursive written on it.

"Hey! Give that back!"

Tim laughed. "You're blushing."

"Tim Jansen! You return that letter!"

"I don't think so, Laura Braginskaya."

Laura's blush grew deeper. She sprang up and tried to snatch the letter.

Tim handed it to Luca, who handed it back to Tim when Laura lunged again. Due to the height difference between Laura and her brothers, she was unable to stop Tim as he read the letter out loud.

"Dearest Laura,

When do you think we will be able to see each other again? Please get back to me, as I am growing lonelier and lonelier with each passing day. I miss you very much and will patiently await your reply.

With love, Katyusha. You two were meant for each other. You best fly out there and see her."

"But what about my-" Laura began.

"We'll take care of that work." Luca said. "Go to the airport."

Tim nodded. "Besides, you've been lonely too."

November

The kiss was new and loving. They had just been sitting in front of the lit fireplace in Katyusha's house. It wasn't sudden, they were talking about their future and their love for one another, just a little unexpected. They finally got around to calling their relationship more than just friends and were happier doing so.

They finally tied to knot one sunny November afternoon, the eighteenth to be precise. And after buying a house near the spot they first met, Laura and Katyusha's lives were complete. So, when children came into question, they unanimously declined, but did spend a lot of time volunteering at local schools and children's libraries. They couldn't ask for a better, happier life.