For Our Freedom (CountryHumans RusAme)

9

Canada looked left and right - nobody was in sight. He backed out of the camp and into the forest, leaving the dark place behind.

Canada couldn't sleep; he knew Estonia would keep things under control, but he couldn't help but think America would be the only one who could help.

"Where are you," Canada muttered, wrapping his arms around himself, "Why can't you just come back? You're out there, please.."

Without having a clear destination, Canada kept moving forth, an empty feeling inside of him. He didn't know how long he'd been walking for, or how far he went, but he stopped at a small pond encircled with small bushes and all sorts of rocks and boulders. Fireflies glided all around, illuminating the area.

However, the beautiful scene didn't catch Canada's attention.

There was a figure sitting at the edge of the pond, seemingly filling bottles with water. Canada stood and stared - they had the exact body frame of the country he'd seen the other day. The exact clothes, even the exact flower crown.

It was her.

Canada stepped forward, leaves crunched under his boots. The other country sprung to her feet, dropping the bottles, and backed up against a rock. She looked terrified, to say the least.

"I-it's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you!" Canada held his hands out, with a gentle grin over his face, "My name's Canada."

The country nodded slowly and pressed herself to the boulder.

"I need to stop going so close to the camps," She kept nodding, her voice was delicate; soft.

"Look, I don't have any weapons!" Canada threw up his hands, "Co-could we just have a chat? Y'know, if you wanna?"

The other country just blinked. She didn't move. Then, she lifted her head ever so slightly.

"I'm Ukraine," She managed to say, "I-I'm sorry, I'll leave, I'm not here to bother anyone-"

"No, stay," Canada, unknowingly, exclaimed desperately, "I mean, I'm not gonna keep you here, but I'd like it if you stayed..?"

"Oh, o-okay," She nodded, and looked to the ground. She sunk down one she heard Canada make his way to her side.

"I saw you the other day," Canada sighed, looking up to the night's sky, staring at the stars, "Where'd you come from?"

"I'm not saying anything," She shook her head, "For all I know, everyone's the bad guy."

"So you're not in the FA or the Restoration?" Canada tilted his head, "So you're just.. alone?"

"Y-yeah, I guess you could say that," She shrugged, "I have two 'siblings' who don't pay much attention to me. They aren't my biological siblings, but we see one another that way. We're all we have, after all."

"I get that," Canada's voice broke, "My brother, the last family on my side that I have, just went missing. I can't stress how much I'm worrying over him."

"Are you out here to find him?" The country asked, Canada shook his head.

"I can't sleep," Canada rubbed his eyes, "Everything's being real difficult at the moment. There's a traitor in my camp, who, I bet is gonna try killing everyone in my camp, and my brother's missing, and.. it's hard. It's hard to play as the leader."

"He was right," She muttered under her breath.

"What?" Canada didn't hear her.

"Nothing," She responded. Then, after a seconds' silence, she looked up to Canada, "I'm Ukraine."

"Ukraine," Canada seemed to marvel over her name, his eyes sparkled slightly, "It's nice to finally meet you."

Ukraine nodded, and smiled down. She couldn't but help saying back to Canada, "It's nice to meet you too."

"Y'know, I really wondered what you were doing when you ran past," Canada looked down to Ukraine, "At first, I panicked and thought you were running from the Restoration. But hey, guess you were running from the FA too."

Ukraine giggled, "I was chasing a boar for dinner. I didn't catch it, though, so we had to rely on my brother."

"Look, if you ever need food or help or something," Canada sat up, "Feel free to come to me. Even just for a chat, because, I mean, all I do all day is sort people out. It gets really lonely."

"Maybe," Ukraine nodded, "Probably only to have a conversation, I don't want to take food that's rightfully yours and the FA's."

"No, it's fine!" Canada threw up his hands, scaring Ukraine, "You're always welcome! I'm happy to have you in the camp!"

Ukraine grinned, loving how accepting Canada was. How inviting - he was too innocent to be part of a war, she'd decided.

"I come here most nights," Ukraine admitted, looking to the sky, "It gives me the break from my brother and sister I need. I can relax without them on my tail."

"I wish I could relax like that," Canada crossed his arms and huffed, "I might just need to join you."

Ukraine giggled, Canada's heart lurched for a reason he couldn't pin down. Nonetheless, he was happy he made Ukraine laugh.

"You're a cool person," Ukraine complimented Canada, smiling widely, "You've had me talk in ten minutes more than I've talked in weeks."

"Well, I know you're a pretty cool person too," Canada returned the smile, as a thick silence settled between them. Then, Ukraine looked up to Canada.

"I think I've got to go," Ukraine sighed, "If I'm gone for too long, my brother will find out, and he's scary when he wants to be, so I.. need to act all tough around my siblings, so my brother doesn't pick on me."

"That's fine," Canada said cheerfully, "Do you.. wanna meet here tomorrow?"

Ukraine looked up to him, and smiled.

"You can count on it, Canada."

Then, Ukraine got up and ran into the distance with her bottles in-hand, leaving Canada there. Canada hesitantly stood up and started back towards the way he came, lost in thought.

He met her.

He actually met her.

Ukraine.

What a beautiful name.

*

During the following day, Canada couldn't seem to stop thinking of Ukraine. Maybe because he wanted to know more about her, or ask questions about who she was - but, he didn't know what to ask her.

"Sir, you've been.. distracted today," Someone called to him from the doorway of his tiny building. He looked up, it was Poland. "Are you alright? Is something troubling you?"

"No, no," Canada reassured him, "I'm perfectly fine. Just worrying about America, is all."

Poland nodded, and ran off to Germany's side. He pulled Germany back to Canada's area, with a grin across his face.

"We can search for America today!" Poland exclaimed, "Me and Germany, surprisingly, work really well together!"

"Really? That's awesome news!" Canada exclaimed, happy for them, "And yeah, if you'd search around the river for America, that'd be great."

"Sure thing," Germany nodded to Canada, pushing his glasses up, "We'll get going now."

Canada bid them goodbye as he watched them leave. Canada was alone again - but, somehow, he was unbothered by that fact.

Secretly, he knew all he really wanted to do was think about Ukraine.