A WINTER'S MOURNING

They separated ways - Sweden back to his homeland while Finland headed to the war. Sweden's boss did not want to assist Finland against Russia, fearing for the safety of the people and its personification. Sweden cannot stop himself from embracing and kissing the small nation. Finland cannot blame him for such intimacy for deep within his heart; he knew that the tall nation wanted to protect him from the atrocities of the world but failed to do so. Finland held his tears, not wanting to show his weakness and dependency to the person hugging him right now. Finland kissed Sweden at his lips, gentle and sincere. Thousand memories played on his mind and his heart was overflowing with pure love to the Swede. Sweden reciprocated and his façade broke down as tears cascaded from his eyes. He failed to protect Finland and what was worse was that the little nation will be facing Russia, the strongest nation in the world. He loved the Finn so much that he even put his life at stake to shelter him from all harms. Gentle hands cupped his face and a serene smile from Finland greeted him promising that everything will be all right and they will be re-united once again. He kissed Sweden's forehead as a final gesture before he leaves for the war. With so much pain taking its toll on Finland's heart, he stepped out from the warmth embrace of Sweden. Sweden watched with a heavy heart as Finland walked away from him, armed with a sniper. He wanted to stop him and tell him he loves him but he was not eloquent. When Finland disappeared from his sight his heart cried as it remembered his life with Finland, his little wife – his Tino. With him out of his reach, Sweden cannot bear living in this world without him by his side. Both of them didn't know that this would be their last goodbye as fate finally concluded the ending to their story.

Finland lost counting the days of his fight with Russia. He began to feel hopeless of ending the Winter War and returning back to Sweden. He missed him so much that every time he reminisce him, tears fall down from his eyes. The only remembrance of him that he had was the locket with their picture inside of it and it was later destroyed by Russia. The pain of losing the locket was too much for Finland. Not only he was separated from the Swede and made him fight Russia all alone, the locket – the only living memory of the two of them was gone. With the locket gone he was utterly terrified that he started to lose his memories of Sweden. Loneliness tormented him as time stole the most precious person that he ever had – Sweden.

Two children were playing beside a clear lake, one has a blond hair with blue eyes and the other one has lighter-blond hair with violet eyes. The younger one with the violet eyes was busy making flower crowns while the boy with the blue eyes sat contently beside the boy. Time seemed to stood still for these two child nations as they were enveloped with the warmth and comfort of each other's company, oblivious to the happenings of the outside world. These nations were Tino Väinämöinen and Berwald Oxenstierna – the personifications of Finland and Sweden, respectively.

At the stillness of the night, Sweden barely had a decent sleep for all the worries and fears that he harbored when he found out that his country will be neutral against Russia, leaving Finland to defend itself against the Russians. The personification protested against the choice of his boss but the only replied that he could get was the same: We will not sacrifice the lives of our people for the war that it is not ours to fight. It has been months since he last saw Finland. The only memory that he have of him was the smile and kiss of the Finn before the little nation trudged the endless white canopy until he disappeared from his line of sight. There was no communication between the two of them since then. The last thing that he heard about Finland was when Denmark visited him a month ago: Russia surrounded Finland. He cut-off the entire army of Tino and anytime Finland might fall at the hands of Russia. There's nothing we can do but wait for the outcome of the Winter War. I'm sorry, Sweden. I am very sorry.

He was inside the house of the stoic nation. He could not repress his awe when he stepped inside Sweden's house for the first time. Compared to his, well… He does not have any place to call home. The forest was his home long before he met Sweden. The moment he opened his eyes, the forest was the first place that he saw and fell in love with. With the verdant surroundings that turn into red and gold foliage when autumn came; when winter arrive the forest was painted in white and spring would bring forth beautiful flowers that would envelop the whole forest with various floral scents and new saplings that would grow into majestic trees where he would take shelters from the heat of the sun and coldness of the rain until he was chanced upon by Sweden who was passing by his forest. The moment their eyes met, he feared for his life. He cannot imagine meeting a person with such cold demeanor like him. He never knew that those cold blue eyes of him could hold such tenderness and passion that was only reserved for him. He never knew that their once upon a time encounter would be the beginning of their long-time story. For the moment Sweden's eyes fell on the violet-eyed child, he was already drawn to the innocence radiating from the child – he fell in love with the personification of Finland.