I do not own Hetalia okay? I know I am a little slower updating this than some of my others but I will finish it. Anyway, enough of this A/N, on with the fic!
February 5th 1919
Dear Matthew,
I am sure you had written with the purest of intents and I have kept the letter to myself. I appreciate that you reached out to me. I thought that Ernest would. He was by my bedside in the hospital. That is when he wasn't chasing French girls. You were right, it is different what I went though than you did. Very much so. I was in charge of people's lives. I was also altruistic enough to take in the enemy. Those were common soldiers sent to die for a bunch of royals and their old grudges. This whole war was because some anarchist shot a Serbian archduke. It all crumbled because of the wrong turn! When it began, I know Fredka was worried you may be called in as Canada was a Dominion of Britain but I had felt safe knowing that this country was not getting involved. That my sisters could have a break from the strife we had fled in the first place. It was not easy. Nothing ever was. Do you know how much we had to do, to sell to get the most basic of tickets to come here? I had a fund for a house saved up but we had pretty much sold the Braginsky family holdings, I had nearly beat and robbed our step father because of what he was doing to us. For how he treated our mother. The man was so bloody by the time I had proposed he give us all the money he had so we could leave. That I felt no guilt on. Bastard deserved every drop of blood spilt.
However, the men moaning for their mothers, the ones begging to just die because they had their bodies littered with bullets, the ones who were fighting for some cause, they haunt me. They did not deserve this. I was also supposed to help him. And much like being told "It's war you did what you had to" I am also told, "You couldn't save them all. Don't worry about it, you saved some." Well it was my job to have those fathers, brothers, sons have all them get the medical treatment they needed to. While in the hospital I had frequent dreams, nightmares of Fredka and Nikolai crying because of the chance I could die. I held out but sometimes I feel like I let everyone down by not dying. Because while I did survive, yes I am making things much harder than you ever thought you could. At least you can walk. Nikolai shouldn't have to try to think of a game to play with me because I cannot. He's only 3, will be 4 in a few months, he doesn't deserve this. Also you had lived on North America your whole life. I had come from Europe in the first place. I knew about the ticking time bomb that that continent was. Belive me tensions were brewing since before I was born even. And god knows that in 20 years it will be Nikolai and little Ivan out fighting whatever man comes up with to because of that blasted continent. Besides, it's not like your coworkers are talking horrible things behind your back because of where you came from. At worst you're just Canadian. I hear what people are saying about Russians and I guess they think I am weak now because of my injury. I know I have heard a few things from Fredka about Natalya said and I assume Katyusha has had some vile comments her way as well, just she will never tell. Natalya would chop a man's head off for things like that, Fredka beat a man up but no. Just what did I give my legs for? For more innocent men to die because I couldn't help them? To be hated because of where I was born and events that happened there? To see my sisters mocked? I am supposed to stand up for them! Stand for them! I am happy Fredka is standing up for Natalya's honor when someone disgraces her nationality but I should as well! I come home a shell of the man I was and can do nothing to protect those I love and all I see is a nightmarish world for the boys to grow up into! I cannot do that! You cannot ask me to be happy when this world is so cold! When I can do nothing like I should! When I cannot express how I really feel! You cannot! I don't think you could ever fully understand, even if you are a fellow veteran!
Sincerely,
Ivan Braginsky.
So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I am sure you know of the Red Scare of the 1950s, but did you know in 1919 and 1920 there was one then as well? Yeah it had many of the same hallmarks as the one in the 1950s and yes J Edgar Hoover had a role in the first one as well as the one in the 1950s. And the fact the Braginsky family sounds like they would have been in about middle class, maybe a little better before they came in this story is reflective of the laws in place that put a literacy test in on Eastern European immigrants that they would have had to face. I would suggest you look into it. A lot of my research for the background was wikipedia on that honestly. History lesson aside, remember to read (well you just did) and review. Ciao for now,
otherrealmwriter
aka
Realm.
