That night, after a silent flight and car ride back, Natalya and Alfred had finally returned to his home. The second the car parked in front of the house, Natalya got out and ran into the house, not to be seen for the rest of the night.

For the next few days she refused to come out. No matter how much he tried, Alfred couldn't make her open up. He offered her food, candy, everything... but nothing seemed to cheer her up. He even did what he did back in the '90s and offered to be her big brother again, but that only made her close off even more.

And when the day finally came to pack up and leave for vacation, Alfred wasn't even sure if she would go. It wasn't until he was packing his luggage into a rented out RV did she finally come out, dragging a large suitcase she borrowed from him.

She took one long look at the RV, before handing him her luggage and leaving to enter the vehicle. No snarky comment? No, "why are we driving around in this trash can?"

For some reason he actually missed the normal Natalya, the one that mocked and ridiculed him all the time. In a weird way, he actually enjoyed it. It kept him sensible and reigned him in from whatever antics he got caught up in. He's noticed that he's acted more serious and logical while she's around, a part of him he rarely ever showed.

On top of that, he had actually become friends with her, something he hadn't been able to properly accomplish during their first time staying together. And it was nice. Despite their behaviors being polar opposites of one another, he actually saw a lot of himself in her.

Having been fighting against the Soviet Union for so long, he was required to learn about Slavic history, in which he learned all about her separation from her family during the times of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. And more devastatingly, during the Nazi invasion and occupation of Minsk.

He had the luxury of being separated from Europe, so he was able to dodge all of the atrocities of WWII until witnessing them during the liberations of the concentration camps. And at that point the war was all but over. He couldn't begin to imagine being ripped away from his brother and having his capital, his own heart, in the possession of nazis. Being subjugated to years of the torture and pain he had only seen briefly.

No wonder she clings to Russia so much, he was the only one that could feasibly protect her and keep her around. But now he was gone, leaving Alfred as the only one left to pick up the pieces and hold her together.

That just gave him more determination to help her. He'll be her hero no matter what, whether she wants it or not... he's always been good at that.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he finished packing and walked around to the front of the vehicle, finding Natalya sulking in the passenger seat. At least she was going near him now, that's some progress.

"So, you ready to go?" He asked cheerfully. Natalya didn't speak or move a muscle, blankly staring out the passenger window.

Alfred scratched the back of his head and awkwardly sat in the driver's seat, putting the RV into drive and pulling out of the driveway.

"Right, so our first stop is Florida. So get ready, this is gonna be a long drive," he said as he drove down the road.

About five hours into the drive, Natalya was beginning to grow extremely bored. Using her phone, she pulled up a world map and looked at the U.S. to see just how far Virginia was from Florida. Great, they were only about halfway to their destination. This was the same problem with her brother, these nations were just too large.

After messing around with her phone some more, she eventually came to the music app. Maybe she could use it to pass the time.

The only problem was that she didn't have any earbuds, and she didn't feel like playing her tunes with Alfred around, he would probably just judge her.

She could ask if he had some, but what are the chances of that? He would be the type of person to obnoxiously blare music in public. Though it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Hey, do you... have any earbuds I can use?" She asked very quietly. Alfred glanced at her and gave her a smile, happy she was finally talking.

"I do actually, here you go," he said as he fished them out of his pocket and handed them to her. She grabbed and plugged them into her phone, putting them in her ears as she played some rock music.

While listening to the music, she shifted slightly to point the screen away from him, then opened her photo gallery. You see, a while before the two of them left the house Natalya had snuck into the storage room and taken pictures of every page of Alfred's journal. If she was going to be on vacation for the next week or two, then she was going to use the time to finish the book.

And so as secretly as possible, she selected one of the pictures and began reading.

February 22, 1819

Spain has ceded Florida to the United States. Apparently it was becoming a pain to constantly send settlers and stuff there, so now it's mine again.

And now I finally understand why Spain wanted it in the first place. I was decent before but now I'm packing!

- Alfred F. Jones

Oh my God, Florida is his dick.

Natalya looked up at Alfred, who was smiling away as they drove down the highway. It wouldn't be too suspicious to ask a question or two about it.

"Alfred?"

He turned and looked at Natalya, who had taken an earbud out and was peering at him from behind her phone. "Yeah?"

"Where are we going in Florida?" She asked. Alfred smiled and looked back at the road. "The Everglades, a beautiful national park right at the southern tip."

Tip of Florida? Right, straight to the tip of his "Florida."

"I've been getting sick of being around cities and stuff, and so when I was constantly having to leave my house I decided that I needed a break. So this vacation is all about nature and seclusion. No people for as far as you can see... doesn't that sound nice?"

Natalya nodded. It could do her some good to avoid people for now.

As she was putting her earbud back in, Alfred suddenly interrupted her. "Oh, and I hope you packed light clothes, because a lot of the places we are going are humid and hot."

She rolled her eyes and put her earbud in. That's just perfect, not like she abhors hot climates or anything.

March 3, 1820

In order to keep the balance between free and slave states, Missouri and Maine have become states... well to be technical Maine is a "colony" of Massachusetts.

December 2, 1823

President Monroe has declared the further independence of not only the United States of America, but the American continents as well. In the Monroe Doctrine it echos Washington's views on the United States' need to remain both neutral and isolated. But goes even further as to state our authority over the continued freedom of the newly formed Latin American nations.

No longer shall any of the Europeans colonize this hemisphere, only by the nations that were born here.

And if any of those pesky nations even try to take over, they'll have to go through me. (I may not have an army to back up that claim but I'll do my best anyway.)

March 4, 1824

So the son of John Adams himself is now my boss... awesome!

July 4, 1826

Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson have passed away. In mere hours of each other. With how much they fought and hated each other, it's kind of poetic in a way.

July 4, 1828

Canals and railroads are springing up everywhere. This country is really coming together, and it hasn't even been fifty years.

March 4, 1829

Andrew Jackson has been sworn in as the next president. He's extremely popular among my people, but... I don't know, there's just something about him. It doesn't feel right, hmmm.

May 28, 1830

Jackson, Congress... you bastards! You can't do this, the Native Americans aren't even doing anything, why do they have to move?

... I'm going to go march up to the White House and give Jackson a piece of my mind.

May 29, 1830

I can't believe it, he kicked me out. He kicked me out of my own goddamn country?! Oh, because I'm "half-Native" I shouldn't be allowed east of the Mississippi?

Of course I'm part Native American, I am the country you racist fucking moron!!!

March 1, 1836

A little southeast from here a place called Texas has declared their independence from Mexico. They're calling themself the Republic of Texas.

June 14, 1838

The Native Americans, as well as myself, were once again being forced to move, all the way to some place in the Midwest.

About 3,200 people have died so far, either of starvation or disease. They are calling this event the "Trail of Tears." This wasn't a trail of tears, it was a trail of blood.

April 4, 1841

William Henry Harrison died exactly one month after being elected. That's just downright depressing.

March 1, 1845

The U.S. has annexed Texas as another state, and I have to say I've severely underestimated its size.

With how fast I'm expanding and growing in power, getting ever closer to the Pacific, it's like this was meant to be.

Almost like... it's my destiny.

Ps: the strangest thing happened today, I woke up with a pair of glasses on my face. I don't even need glasses. Maybe I should keep them though, they make me look older and more intelligent.

June 15, 1846

We've come to an agreement with England over the border between American-owned Oregon territory and British-owned territory, placing it on the 49th parallel. So now there's a perfect line from the Great Lakes to the Pacific.

May 13, 1846

Today begins my war with Mexico. I'll get California and all the other Southwest territories and I'd like to see him stop me.

February 2, 1848

The war has finally ended, and I've won everything. I got California, more land for Texas, and I'm already looking at a small piece of land between them. Could make for a nice transcontinental railroad.

January 24, 1848

In California it's been found that there is gold, absolutely everywhere! If this wasn't destiny why would there be this reward waiting for my arrival.

- Alfred F. Jones

Oh no, she's seen this before. Russia has had, and to a small extent still does, an unending need to gain more land. And this was exactly what Alfred was doing, he's become too confident and is now power hungry.

And in her experience, it never worked out. Russia's gotten like this on not one but two occasions, first during the Russian Empire days, and then in the USSR. And both times he got too big and eventually fell apart.

Not to mention what happened to every Empire before. Britain, Mongol, Roman, Greek, Egyptian. They all got too cocky and eventually payed for it.

But Alfred's country hasn't lost those places, so how he was going to learn his lesson was yet to be discovered.

July 8, 1853

Hellllooooo Japan!

Man this place looks cool.

Their personification is a little bit of a pushover, but I can tell we're gonna become great friends.

I also think I can break him out of his shell and get him to start trading with me. Maybe with him I can get a foothold in Asian trade.

He also gave me this cool cherry tree to bring back to my country. It looks sick.

December 30, 1853

What a chump, I just bought out Mexico of even more land. . . But why doesn't it feel satisfying anymore?

Maybe it just wasn't big enough... yeah, I just need more, right?

January 5, 1854

Oh my God, what have I done? I've taken over so much. I've stolen from Mexico, I displaced even more Native Americans. I've killed so many. . . I've murdered, so many. How would Mother look at me? I'm a disgrace.

I was supposed to protect everyone, and instead I took over and treated them like garbage. I'm just as bad as the Europeans. How can I call myself the land of freedom when I oppress so many people?

This isn't my destiny, this isn't what I was born to be. I need to make this right... somehow.

January 7, 1854

Maybe I should start with the slavery issue, it's caused a lot of divisions to the country, not to mention the suffering of millions of African Americans.

I want to support freeing them, but something keeps drawing me to support the other side, like my inner conscience or something.

November 6, 1860

After years of trying to get slavery abolished, we have finally elected a President that is going to do just that. A very tall man named Abraham Lincoln.

I really like him, something about him reminds me of Washington. Though the South really doesn't like him, because of the whole slavery deal.

South Carolina has been the most vocal about this, and I can't help but get the feeling that this isn't going to end well.

- Alfred F. Jones

Natalya turned off her phone and looked up at Alfred. "How much farther now?"

Alfred looked at her and smiled. "Don't worry, there's only about three hours left."

Finally, that weird time warp was working in her favor.

"Where else are we going?" She asked. Alfred waved a finger. "Ah ah ah, I'm not ruining the surprise."

Natalya glared at him and crossed her arms. Alfred smirked and continued looking forward. "Ok, ok. First we're going to Florida, then Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and finally Wyoming. But I'm not telling you what we'll be doing in those places."

"That seems like a lot of driving," she grimaced. "Hell yeah it is, we've only gone 800 miles so far. This whole trip is... 6000 miles give or take."

"Wow," she said, her eyebrows raising in surprise. That was even more than the length of Russia.

"Uh huh, and that's not even including whatever place you want to go. Speaking of which, have you decided on anywhere yet?"

She shook her head. "Don't worry about it, you got plenty of time to decide," he reassured.

The remainder of the car ride passed with Natalya quietly jamming out to her music. Alfred, however, didn't have that and was left in silence as hours went by. So when he finally parked and stepped out of the RV he felt like crying, any longer and he would've died of boredom... or his butt falling off.

Unlike Alfred's delighted attitude, Natalya took one step out of the door, frowned, then turned around and shut the door.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked as he opened the door to find her standing under the air conditioner. "Too hot."

"Aww come on, it's not that bad. 'Though when it's daytime it's gonna be a lot worse.' You just need to wear something light. But for now let's just go to bed, it's too late to be walking out into a swamp."

Natalya agreed and the two prepared for bed, Alfred extending the slide out rooms to make it more homey. He was also courteous and took the couch so Natalya could use the king bed in a separate room.

Early the next day, the two got up and prepared for the adventure, though Natalya had no clue what it would entail.

And so Alfred went to retrieve her suitcase, setting it on the ground in front of her and unzipping it, "No, no, definitely no, no... ah here we go!" He announced as he held up a light blue t-shirt and dark blue jeans.

As she took them in her hands, she showed a look of uncomfortable disgust. "Do I have to?" She asked, really not wanting to wear such constricting clothes.

"I can try to find something else, but this looks like the lightest thing you packed. If you didn't want to wear it why did you even pack it?" He questioned.

She simply responded with a shrug. Jeez, talkative much?

"Then I don't know what to tell you. At least it's blue like you like," he said as he started putting the scattered clothes back in the suitcase, leaving out a pair of brown boots for her to switch into. She's not going to go walking through a swamp in Mary Jane's.

Natalya angrily huffed and marched away to the bathroom to put it on. With some difficulty she hoisted up the jeans to her waist and buttoned and zipped them closed. Compared to her dress this was torture, there was almost no mobility, and hiding her knives suddenly became a lot harder to manage. And what was the point of these pockets? They were too small and tight to fit anything in.

She then followed by putting on the t-shirt and tucking it into the waist of her pants. It was comfortable enough, unlike these pants from hell. She held her arms out and spun in a circle as she looked at herself from the mirror. She looked like an American.

As she was turning backwards again, she suddenly stopped and looked down, gliding a hand across her thigh and butt.

'Jeez these things make my butt look fat.' Well of course they do, they're uncomfortably squeezing everything together.

She left the bathroom and looked out to where Alfred once was, now only finding a zipped up suitcase and some boots. As she tried squatting down to grab them, she found that the jeans only let her bend about halfway. 'Fucking death trap!'

So after struggling to swap out of the shoes, she got back to her feet and left the safety of the cool RV to go into the sweltering heat of the Floridian sun.

The instant the sunlight hit her face she already began to sweat, making her shield her eyes under the shade of her hand.

In front of her she could see Alfred, crouching on the ground and digging through a backpack. She silently walked over to him as he stood up and slung the bag over his shoulder, now with a machete sheath on his hip. "Yo, how's the clothes?"

"Tight and restricting," she responded flatly. Alfred quickly looked up and down at her. "Well you look great, now come on, let's go!"

"Where?" She asked as she stepped next to him. Everywhere except behind them was forest. "Anywhere, just pick the direction you want."

"Fine, then we go straight," she directed as she began walking. Alfred nodded and sped off to the left, before coming back behind her with a thick rope slung over his shoulder. He was dragging an entire boat behind him, he had to be prepared just in case they came up to a lake or river.

The two walked in calm silence, the only noises being the squishing of wet ground under their boots and the chirps and calls of animals off in the distance. It was so calming, this was just what Alfred and Natalya needed, distance from everyone... though it was for vastly different reasons.

But of course, there had to be something to disturb the peace.

'Now isn't dat a sight ta behold.'

'I know right? Nature sure is-' Alfred began to say, but stopped as his eyes trailed down, his face turning pale before becoming increasingly red.

Just in front of his face, he was presented with Natalya's curvaceous legs and butt. He never noticed it before with that loose dress that hid everything above her knees, but now in a tight pair of skinny jeans, he sees now that she has a really nice, very shapely ass.

He nervously tugged on his shirt collar as his face and chest began overheating. He couldn't tear his eyes away, they were completely transfixed on the hypnotic swaying of each cheek as they raised and creased against her thick thighs with each step she took.

'Man, I thought she was super skinny.'

'I'm glad ya were wrong.'

'I should look away.'

'Ya should.'

'But... she really fills those jeans doesn't she?'

'Dat she does... dat she does.'

The nation and his inner voice continued to thoroughly observe the swaying behind, until it suddenly stopped and squished to one side as she leaned on her favored leg.

As it slowly began turning away from him, he quickly whirled his head away to the side and looked anywhere but at her.

"Alfred?" She called. He turned his head back to her and stood up straight. "үᴱs?! *cough cough* Yes?" He corrected.

'Did... did your voice just crack? Are you twelve?'

'Yours would've too if you had to speak to her after knowing what you did.'

"Are you going to use that boat or not?" She asked, bringing him back to reality. He just now noticed that they were at the edge of a river. "Uh... yeah, yeah," he stammered as he dragged the boat into the water.

The two boarded the boat and began riding down the river. Unfortunately, or lucky according to the voice in his head, Alfred had to sit behind her so he could steer the boat's rudder.

They slowly road down the stream, passing all sorts of exotic birds and small creatures. At one point they floated right through the middle of a flamboyance of flamingos, which Natalya found amazing.

The second she started seeing animals Alfred has noticed the instant flip in her behavior. Completely fizzling away her depressed state, she was even more joyous than normal. Seems like she was also a nature buff.

She was practically bending off the boat, so far over the end that she could fall off at any second. As much as it was nice seeing her enjoying herself for once, Alfred couldn't ignore the reckless behavior she was displaying. "Nat, you don't want to get so close to the water."

"Is that a manatee?!" She yelled, her face mere inches away from the big, gray oval. "Yeah, it is. But you should seriously get away from the edge."

"Chill out, I'm fine," she waved him off. She was having too good of a time to listen to his stupid rules. As she watched the manatee swim with them, the boat suddenly passed over a large piece of driftwood. Or that's what Natalya thought. Suddenly a small pair of yellow eyes peered at her from the front of it, before they covered with a clear film as the whole thing dipped under the water.

It began following after the boat, scaring away the manatees and bumming out Natalya. Alfred couldn't see anything from his position, but he could feel something was wrong. "Nat, get away from the edge now!"

"Holy shit would you shut up?! I'm trying to enjoy-" she was interrupted as he grabbed her by the shoulders and yanked her into his chest, just as a large pair of jaws flew out of the water and clamped down where her head used to be.

"What the fuck is that?!" She asked while pointing at it as it swam away. "That would be an alligator. One of the two types of crocodilians here in the Everglades."

"There's another kind? Are you sure we aren't in Australia?" She asked, still laying on his chest.

Alfred laughed and let her get back up. "Nope... this is just Florida. Now maybe you'll take this as a lesson and listen to what I say."

Natalya nodded in agreement, not going anywhere near the edges as long as they were in the boat. After a little more floating, Natalya randomly pointed out to the side signifying that she wanted to get out now.

Eventually he made landfall, and after checking that there weren't any gators or crocs nearby, he instructed Natalya to get out and follow him. As they walked through the dense forest, with Alfred hacking away at vines and other obstacles, Natalya looked around at more animals they passed by.

There were tortoises, anole lizards, dragonflies, and all sorts of snakes. Some were as small as garden snakes, while others were whole pythons coiled around entire trees. She also saw a black bear wandering around, and very briefly a panther before it disappeared into the bushes. Hopefully it wasn't stalking them, (even though both were fully capable of taking down any animal that dared to fight them.)

She also saw more crocodiles and alligators, not that she could tell the difference. She made sure to stay extra close to Alfred when she spotted them. Not that she was scared, it was just not wanting to get death rolled by a prehistoric predator. She already saw that after one of them snatched up a poor wild boar just trying to drink water.

Alfred turned as he felt her latch on her arm, seeing her gaze off toward a bask of crocodiles warming up in the sun. "If you think they are mean then you definitely don't want to find the croc I saw last time I was here. I'm pretty sure it gives the world record holder a run for its money."

"How big was it? The world record one I mean," she asked, nervously glancing at one as it slithered into the water. "Umm, twenty feet I think?"

"I... don't know what that measures to."

"Oh, uh... then it's about six meters give or take," he answered. Natalya shuddered and huddled closer, making Alfred smirk and look down at her. "Don't tell me the big bad Belarus is actually scared of something."

She glared up at him but remained clinging to his arm. "I'm not scared, I just... wasn't expecting to be walking around with goddamn dinosaurs."

He wrapped an arm around her and held her close. "Don't worry Nat, I'll protect you from the dinosaurs. It'll be just like Jurassic Park."

"Get that gross, smelly armpit away from me!" She yelled as she struggled to get away from him. He agreed and let go, allowing her to get away and cover her nose.

"Couldn't you have put on some deodorant or something before we came out here?" She asked while waving at the air.

Alfred got embarrassed and tucked his arms close to himself. "I forgot, ok?"

"We wouldn't even have this problem if it wasn't a million degrees. God why is it so hot?!" She whined while wiping sweat off her face.

'Yeah, why is Florida so hot?'

Alfred frowned and clenched his fist. 'Because I'm stuck with your perverted ass.'

'First of all, we both looked. And second, ya know fer a fact I'm da bigger gentleman.'

'Whatever.'

He suddenly felt something hit against his chest, bringing his focus over to Natalya who was giving him an irritated scowl. "What's wrong with you? You've been distracted ever since we entered the forest."

Alfred's eyes widened in alarm before he gave her a warm smile. "I'm good, just thinking about nature and stuff."

"Well stop it, it's weird," she stated as she turned to continue walking. Alfred just sighed and walked alongside her.

For the next few hours they walked through the forest, finding new animals at every turn. That was the best part of the trip in Natalya's opinion, she couldn't help but follow or smile at any new creature she discovered. Having been to America only a handful of times, and being in cities for the entire duration of her visits, she never got a chance to see what his land truly had to offer.

The two eventually came up to a massive clearing of bright green grass, with small streams and puddles here and there full of lily pads and leopard frogs. They continued walking until they came up to a lone bald cypress, standing high on a dry hill. Alfred led Natalya to the tree and sat down in the shade, finally giving them a second to relax.

Natalya flopped on her back and looked up at the bright sky, her face bright red from heat, and possibly sunburn since she never put on sunscreen. "Ugggh it's so hot!" She whined. "What's the temperature?"

Alfred shrugged. "Last I checked it was 86F but that was this morning, so it's probably hotter."

"86?! How is that even possible?" She huffed and puffed, wondering how she wasn't melting right now.

"It's not that hot it's— wait you use Celsius don't you?" He asked. Natalya turned to him and scowled. "Of course I do, same as everyone else. You're the only one with the fucked unit of temperature."

"It's not "fucked," and the temperature is roughly 30C just so you know," he told her. Natalya just groaned and covered her head. She hated hot weather so much.

Alfred dug into his backpack and pulled out a lunch bag, unzipping that and taking out a cool water bottle. He handed it to Natalya, who nearly gasped at the sight as she unscrewed the lid and chugged most of it.

"Oh thank God, I thought I was going to die," she sighed in relief as she wiped water off her chin. Alfred grinned and drank some of his own water. "If you think that's good then check this out."

He then dumped out the rest of the bag, dropping two more water bottles and piles of bagged food. Natalya's mouth watered as she looked at all the options, having not had anything since last night.

"I didn't know what you wanted so I just got a little of everything: sandwiches, chips, fruits and veggies, cheese, crackers, soup, I think there's some pizza slices somewhere, and of course..." he trailed off as he held up a few bags of candy.

"Of course," she snickered while shaking her head. This American was going to make her fat, she was sure of it.

The two spent a good portion of the afternoon eating and chilling out in the shade, discussing and joking about random subjects, even talking shit about some of the other nations.

When they had finished eating they decided to just stay and relax. It was cool, calm, and provided the perfect vantage point for a view of the Everglades and all the beauty it had to offer.

Alfred put his arms behind his head and laid on the warm ground, staring up at the big fluffy clouds in the deep blue sky. He then looked further up, seeing Natalya leaning against the tree and looking back down at him. He was about to ask what was up, but paused and smiled when he saw something floating above her head.

He sat up and turned around toward her, putting his arms above her head and plucking something off the tree. Natalya raised her head in confusion and looked at whatever his hands were doing, seeing as he lowered a pretty white flower and attached it to a strand of hair near her ear.

"It's beautiful," she commented as she played with the decorated piece of hair. Alfred watched as she stared at the flower, a small smile gracing her lips.

"It's a ghost orchid, there's only about 2,000 left in the whole state," he informed her, causing her to look at the flower in shock. "And you just plucked one off a tree... to give to me?"

Alfred just laughed and sat back. "You worry way too much. I have a private plot of land filled with them, plus Cuba had a whole bunch as well."

Natalya looked back at the flower and touched its petals, imagining how he just put the entire plant species in jeopardy just for her. It was enough to make her blush, only a little bit though.

Alfred grinned again and stood up. "After this I'll stop at a store and get some stuff to preserve that. Speaking of which, are you ready to go?"

Natalya nodded but suddenly paused. "Actually I have to go to the bathroom, where... should I do that?"

"Oh... yeah just go behind the tree," Alfred instructed as he began packing everything back up. Natalya turned to the tree then back to him. "Seriously? But it's so close."

"It's better than going in the water and getting caught by an alligator. Besides, what am I gonna do? I'm not gonna watch you, that's gross."

He did have a point, maybe she was just overreacting. With that thought she walked to the other side of the tree to do her business. Now all she had to do was get off these stupid pants.

Alfred raised an eyebrow as he heard struggling. "Umm... are you alright back there?"

"I hate jeans!" She yelled back. Alfred made an "O" face before laughing. "Don't worry, you'll loosen them up eventually."

"I hope so, I don't know how much longer I can handle wearing these," she complained as she slowly shifted them off her hips.

"Once we get back to the RV you can switch into your dress again. Trust me, the best part of jeans is the relief of taking them off," he promised.

"Yeah, I know," she agreed as she relieved herself, with her torture pants down at her ankles.

As she continued to do her business, her attention was suddenly brought over to the water as a large ripple formed in the middle of the lake. She looked up at where it's source came from, seeing the very end of a reptilian tail disappear underwater.

She quickly finished up and put her clothes back on, going over and dragging Alfred by the arm. "Woah, what's with the rush?" He asked with a puzzled expression.

"Nothing, I just want to get back to the boat," she excused while continuing to pull him along. Alfred didn't really see any reason to argue so he just followed along.

And so after another few hours of walking, they finally made their way back to the boat. Honestly if Alfred didn't know the layout from previous visits then they would've most definitely gotten lost, which he said would be extremely bad. Apparently the Everglades is a horrible place to get lost in at night, but if you knew your way then it was extravagant? Natalya didn't really know what that meant but she was sure to find out soon enough.

In order to kill time, Alfred decided to take the river in the opposite direction then they came. It would still lead back to where the RV is, but would take much longer.

The two slowly floated down the river, watching as the diurnal animals swapped out for nocturnal ones like minks and bobcats, and adorable little otters floating on their backs as they went downstream. There was also some strange creature called a capybara, that was chilling out next to alligators?!

Suddenly there was a high-pitched screech, bringing Natalya's attention to some creepy gray rat-looking thing with a white head. "What the hell is that?" She asked as she looked back at Alfred.

He looked at the creature with a uneasy sidelong gaze. "An opossum," he shuddered. Natalya perked up in recognition. "Oh, you mean like the ones Australia has?"

"No. Those are possums, and they are small and adorable. These... are opossums, and they are directly satan's spawn. Australia and I are pretty sure something messed up and our animals swapped," he explained, still looking at the creature as it played dead in front of a big cat.

"I mean, you did get his crocodiles and stuff," she said while nervously rubbing her arm. Right on cue, a loud hissing sound alerted the two, just before a hard smack rocked the boat back and forth. Alfred gripped the sides of the boat and got it back under control, looking over the edges to see where the crocodilian went.

"Must've bumped into the boat on accident. I think it's gone now," he stated, but as he turned to Natalya he found her completely still and staring out ahead of them. Out in the distance, she watched as a massive greenish-brown head stared back at her, with a large pink scar over one of its eyes.

Before Alfred could see it, it lowered and vanished into the river. Natalya spun around and looked at Alfred. "How large was the biggest crocodile again?"

"Six meters," he restated. "Why?" Natalya looked back at the water with a dark look. "No reason."

More time passed, and now the sun had disappeared, shrouding the entire marsh in darkness. Alfred opened his backpack and took out a lantern and some bug spray. Mosquitoes are a bitch in swamps.

All around them Natalya could see the reflecting eyes of more crocodilians, but nowhere did she see the Big One.

A little further down the river, the hissing they heard earlier returned, and once again knocked into the boat. Natalya moved to the middle and looked in all directions, sensing the impending strike. Alfred felt it too, and began darting his eyes around and fidgeting with his machete.

Suddenly a large splash of water behind the boat alerted Alfred to turn around, sticking his arms out to his sides just before the jaws of a massive crocodile clamped down on him. It's head alone was nearly the entire size of Alfred, meaning one slip up and he was swallowed whole.

The Big One landed on the boat and began tipping it backwards, sliding Alfred and Natalya ever closer to its giant maw. Even with his super strength this beast was giving him trouble, so he quickly pushed out of its jaws and let them snap closed before grabbing and throwing it, sending it flying into the water where it once again disappeared.

Natalya put her hands on his shoulders and looked over his head, staring at the water along with him.

"I think we should hurry up and get back to the RV," he insisted. Natalya nodded. "Da."

After speeding up the boat, the two sat in tense silence, listening to the loud chirps of crickets and woos of owls, expecting to eventually hear the hissing of the Big One. The second they made it to land, with the RV only a little ways in the distance, they both got out and began running to it, even with Alfred dragging the boat behind him.

As they approached the RV, they heard the hissing for a third time, and when they turned around they saw the Big One now on land and running at them at full speed. Panicking, Alfred went on pure instinct and swung the boat above his head, crashing it down on top of the croc. It hissed loudly and sank its jaws into the metal with ease, trashing it around and tossing it to the side.

"Shit, that was a rental," Alfred cursed under his breath. Natalya scowled at him, this was not the time to worry about that sort of thing. "Uhh... sorry."

The crocodile suddenly slithered forward and caught Alfred by the ankle, swinging him around and throwing him away, and in one swift motion finished the turn by sweeping out Natalya's legs with its tail. It turned back to her and lunged forward with its mouth wide open. She closed her eyes and braced to have her head ripped clean off, but when she opened them she found that its jaws had snapped a centimeter away from her head as Alfred put it in a headlock and started dragging it back.

His dominance over the creature didn't last long as it rolled over and crushed him with its weight, forcing him to let go to stop his ribs from being shattered. It then got upright and bit the collar of his shirt, thrashing him around some more before going down for the kill.

Once again it was stopped as Natalya pounced on its back and yanked its head back, prompting it to begin running and twirling to throw her off.

"Get me off of this thing!!" Natalya screamed as she rode it like a bull. 'Holy shit, she's actually riding a crocodile!' Alfred thought as he stared in amazement. That amazement was short-lived as the Big One threw its head back, sending Natalya flying high into the air. It then held its mouth open as it waited for her to fall back down.

Alfred ran over as quick as he could, diving forward through its jaws and catching Natalya right before it bit down. He rolled on the ground and set her down, only to pick her up and jump out of the way as the crocodile snapped forward at them.

He let go of her again as the two prepared for the Big One's next move. It zigzagged around to throw them off before running at Natalya, who jumped back away from its mouth. Alfred then ran behind it and grabbed its tail, holding it back as it bit forward at Natalya again.

She punched it right in the snout, making Alfred's eyes light up. "Did you just punch a crocodile?! That's so badass!" He yelled in astonishment, only to be thrown by its tail onto the ground right in front of its mouth. It grabbed him by his midsection and whipped him around, shaking him up until he could pry open its jaws and slip out.

He got to his feet and held his head. That thrashing made him really dizzy. Him and Natalya stood once again in front of the crocodile as it starting hissing and circling them.

"Are you alright? You're bleeding," she asked while following the crocodile's movements. "Stings, but it will heal in no time," he assured.

The Big One lunged again, this time at Alfred thinking he was the weak link. He seemed to enjoy the challenge, because he bent down and uppercut the croc, before getting under it and tackling it to the ground. Natalya joined in and held the croc down, but both were thrown off easily.

It landed on Natalya and chomped on the arm she was blocking with, making her grunt in pain as she felt something crack. She put her other arm down to her mostly empty knife sheath and stabbed it in the side of the face with the one knife she did have, giving her time to wiggle out and kick it a couple times in the face. Alfred then came from behind and grabbed its tail, this time turning and swinging it in circles, before letting go and throwing it a good thirty feet.

It hissed at them one more time, but before it could advance Natalya sprinted over and kicked it upside the head, making it turn tail and begin crawling away. She attempted to run after it, but Alfred wrapped his arms around her waist and held her back. "Calm down hotshot, we won the fight," he said while trying to hold back a laugh.

She eventually calmed down and laid limp in his arms. "That bastard broke my arm," she mumbled. Alfred's laugh instantly disappeared and was replaced with concern. "Let's go check it out then."

With his hands still around her waist, he carried her back to the RV and opened the door, setting her on the couch inside then closing the door and turning on the car so he could see what he was doing.

Now with the light on, they could now see the true damage the Big One caused. Alfred's right leg was completely torn up, and there was a ring of bloody teeth marks across his entire chest, stomach, and back.

Natalya wasn't much better off, her left arm was shredded and slightly bent, and there were three long gashes across the side of her waist. She didn't even remember getting that.

They were also both completely covered in dirt and mud, but that was an afterthought when they were gushing blood.

Alfred ran off to grab bandages, quickly coming back and sitting down in front of her. He held her arm and wrapped it quickly, leaving it untouched since it would realign by itself. But then there was the damage to her waist, even through the shirt he could tell it was deep.

He reached out and grabbed her shirt as he began lifting it. Natalya freaked out and pushed it back down, glaring at him with her cheeks burning hot. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Trying to cover your wound?" He answered. What else would he be doing? Natalya certainly thought he was trying to pull something. "I can do that myself."

Alfred just raised an eyebrow before tossing the roll of bandages above her head. She reached up to grab it but winced and lowered her arms. She clutched her side with one of her arms and gritted her teeth in pain.

Alfred grabbed the bandages again and instructed her to lift her shirt, which she reluctantly did. He didn't understand why she was so against it, it wasn't like he was asking her to take it off, just raise it enough to show her stomach.

After wrapping it tightly, he finally tended to his own wounds. Afterwards, the two went back to the front to buckle up and leave.

As they drove down the long trail out of the swamp, Natalya leaned against her hand to look out the window at the bright and colorful Milky Way. There weren't many places where you could see it in its full beauty anymore.

That was a good way to sum up today. Everything she's seen was beautiful: the animals, the plants and trees, even the dinosaur that broke her arm was elegant in its own sort of strange way.

Speaking of dinosaur. "So, how was it seeing a real crocodile?" Alfred joked. Natalya smirked and lifted her broken arm. "Aww come on, it wasn't that bad."

"You're right, I did almost see you get bitten in half," she evilly giggled. "See, it was a great time," he agreed.

"So uhh... you wanna name him?" He suddenly asked. Natalya turned to him and gave him a confused laugh. "What?"

"What? You can't have a legendary animal like that and not give it a name," he explained. "I've seen him before but could never think of a good one."

"Wait how do you know it's a boy anyway?" She asked. Alfred laughed before his smile quickly dropped. "I got pinned under him during the fight, I know."

Natalya couldn't help but laugh, even if it was at Alfred's expense. "Fine, let me think of something."

For the next few minutes she went over multiple names in her head, until one popped into her head that was just too fitting.

"How about... Ivan?"

"Ivan? Like your brother Ivan?" He asked, perplexed why she would name a crocodile after a person and not something cool and reptile-like.

Natalya nodded. "Yes. They're both big, scary, and are hellbent on killing you."

". . . Damn, I hate how that fits," he grumbled.

Natalya smiled and turned her attention back to the window. So it was decided then, Ivan the Giant Crocodile would be its name.

A short while later, she began to doze off, exhausted from the fight and having to heal herself. And as she finally drifted to sleep, she dreamt about what experiences their next stop would bring.

For once, she was actually excited.