The Lonely Sunflower (Hetalia Russia Story)

The Unknown Word

Darkness surrounded the Russian. He felt nothing as if he was in oblivion. He saw nothing, heard nothing, just... nothing. He thought he was surely dead, however that was not true. Russia wasn't dead. He couldn't be. He is a country after all.

He opened his eyes. At first, there was silence. That sooned changed when his senses began waking up. A soft rustling could be heard by his side, along with the gentle splashing of water. Blinking, he glanced over towards the source of the sound. As his vision slowly began to return, he saw a young man with pulled back brown hair soaking a small hand towel in a bowl of water. Russia blinked a couple other times and realised the bareness of his upper body. His coat and under garments had been removed, only leaving him with his scarf, which remained wrapped loosely around his neck.

"Oh, you are awake." The young man beside him said in a happy tone. Russia tilted his head to the side, coming to realise the young man was Lithuania.

"Lithuania..." He mumbled almost inaudibly. His side was sore, making everytime he took a breath or spoke a pain. Lithuania smiled warmly and took a seat in a chair by Russia's bedside.

"I cleaned your wound, sir." He spoke relaxed and calm, still wearing his usual kind smile. "I hope you do not mind. The bullet had passed through and through, so it was not much of a hassle to treat you." Russia barely paid any attention to what the brunette nation said. He was too busy trying to stop the aching feeling in his chest. Despite the strong pain throughout his body, Russia pushed himself upwards so his back rested against his bedframe. Yes, it was not the most comfortable position to sit, but he couldn't stand lying down.

Lithuania watched him, worried that he would hurt himself even further from this simple act of moving. "You shouldn't move just yet, Mr. Russia. You're still in bad shape." Russia merely shook his head, face expressionless.

"I am fine.." He said in a scratchy voice.

Why does my chest hurt? I was not shot there, was I? Nyet, I was not... But why is it much of the hurting?

"What are you doing?" The Russian murmured while he hung his head. "The others have left, why not you?" Lithuania turned to the side table to ring out the water from the his cleaning rag. The corners of his mouth relaxed, causing his smile to fade from sight.

"Edua- I mean, Estonia shot you. I had to make sure you were okay." The brunette sighed and turned to face Russia. "I will leave, Mr. Russia. Not now, but soon. I will not stay here forever, however I will stay until you get better." His words soon blended in with the sound of splashing of water. The used to be pure, clear substance was now tainted with a hint of red. Russia watched Lithuania continuously wet the rag and ring out the excess water.

My chest hurts... Why does it hurt? It feels like something is breaking. What could be breaking? I don't want to be hurting... is there any way to heal my chest?

"Mr. Russia." Lithuania's voice broke through his thoughts. "Why do you hurt us?" The Russian lowered his head, for once not knowing what to say. Hurting was not something he thought he was doing. Not once has he ever wanted to hurt them. Hard to believe, but it was true. Russia never meant to bring pain or harm to anyone.

"I-I do not understand.." Russia answered for what seemed like the hundredth time. He experienced the past few days with ultimate confusion. No one had ever approached him on this subject nor had they caused him to recollect and think back at his all-time beliefs. "You are saying I hurt you, but I am not seeing hurt. What is hurting? How am I hurting you?"

Now, if it was Estonia instead of Lithuania, there would be raised voices and possibly another injury. But Lithuania was not like Estonia. Letting out a soft sigh, the brunette nation leaned forward, propping his elbows up on his knees.

"Mr. Russia, you hurt us. You may not see it, but you do. When we don't agree with you, you hit and give us pain until we agree. If we do something wrong, even if it's a mistake, you physically abuse us. Everyone fears you because they think if they do something to your dislike, you will harm them. And.. the only reason why I am just now saying these things, is because I know in your state, you can not hurt me."

Russia's eyes widened slightly at all he had heard. Him hurting? He was the one being bad? But... why did he believe he was doing good?

"I," Russia said in an unusual tone that sounded so unlike his own voice. This made Lithuania tense up in his seat, his old fear crawling back. However, his fear soon diminished as he saw tears well up in Russia's eyes. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." The Russian spoke in such a broken and delicate voice, Lithuania was surprised that this was indeed Russia. More tears began to stream down his face, shoulders giving slight shakes from a threatening sob that wished to come.

"M-Mr. Russia.." Lithuania said gently as he pitifully stared at the crying nation. "Why are you crying?"

"I-I've been bad." Russia's words slurred into his choked in sobs. "I have not been meaning to be of hurt. B-But... I don't know what I am doing wrong. This is all I know. I-I only know how to bring pain and suffering..." His words soon transitioned into weak cries, mixed in with a few whimpers due to his side. It was a sad sight for Lithuania. Not once has Russia ever apologised, yet let alone break down, like this.

The elder nation lifted his trembling hands to his face as if to hide his shame. A throbbing feeling grew in his chest, making more tears come to his eyes. Lithuania's lips tilted upwards in a small smile.

"You don't have to be mean, Mr. Russia." He said gently to the weeping man. "There are different ways to treat people. Have you ever tried showing others love?" Russia's sobs died down at the word. The special word.

Love... L-O-V-E? What is this word?

"L-Love?" Russia mumbled as he looked over at the Lithuanian with watery eyes. "I don't know what that is... What is 'love'?"

That word, it sounds... pretty. Love. I've never experienced this thing called 'love'. Is it a feeling? Is it an action? Is it an animal?

What is love?

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Author's Note:
Ah, so so sorry for the late update! I've been so busy with school and just life in general, aha! Anyways, I hope you liked it and thank you so much for 1.2k views! I never knew that many people would like this story!
^_^
I will do my best to update every week!
Oh! And by the way, I LOVE reading your guys' comments and reviews! It encourages me to keep writing, so thank you!