NOTES (optional): The art wasn't sent as part of the gift because I did it recently as a present for bigblubunnygoat, but it correlates with the fic so I posted it.
SUMMARY: After the fall of the Soviet Empire, Ukraine's economy was terrible. She decides to visit Canada to try and forget about it. Although Ukraine used to love dancing, she had forgotten how by the time she visited Canada, so Canada reminds her.
Steps to Remember
Canada’s latest letter from Ukraine vividly stood out in his mind. Mixed thoughts passed behind his eyes like shadows as he remembered the words printed on the parchment. Messages of a country, once again free from the Soviet Empire should have caused celebration, but Canada knew the real reason for Ukraine’s visit. The recent recession that this event had caused on her economy was too much stress for Ukraine to handle, and on Canada’s offer, she had chosen to go on a vacation to try and escape reality.
The buzzing of the airport surrounded Canada as he sat waiting for Ukraine’s flight to land. Loud, noisy places had always made Canada uneasy, and it didn’t help that the airport had not allowed him to take animals inside. Kumajirou’s presence always comforted Canada, even if he could never remember the poor bear’s name.
The passing crowd snapped Canada to attention, as he realized that Ukraine’s flight must had landed. Canada’s eyes scanned the massive crowd, desperately searching for a familiar face. His eyes rested on a timid looking girl, who, despite looking as pretty and kind as he remembered, had clearly seen some better days. Examining her actions, Canada saw that she too was searching the crowd for a face suspended in yesterday. Canada had forgotten what a long time it had been since they had last seen each other, which was back when he was still a colony of England.
Clutching his hands nervously, Canada waited until the crowd had thinned out to go and approach his friend, who he noticed, seemed quite distressed at being unable to find him. Hovering behind Ukraine, Canada reached out his hand, and lightly tapped her on the arm.
“Ukraine?” Canada tried to sound as strong as he could when addressing her, but he knew that there must have been as least a slight quiver in his voice.
Ukraine spun around suddenly, surprised by the acknowledgement from the voice that she barely recognized.
“Is that you…Canada?” She sounded as nervous as she looked.
“Yes, it’s me. It’s been a long time, eh? How have you been?” asked Canada, who immediately regretted his words, remembering the state of Ukraine’s economy.
Ukraine seemed to sense this and gave him a weak smile. “Oh, it’s not too bad; I’ve seen worse. It has been a long time, hasn’t it? You’ve really grown since the last time I saw you. Back then, you were still a kid, always holding onto that little bear of yours. You really loved that bear, didn’t you?”
“Ah, yes. He still lives with me, actually,” replied Canada. He looked at his watch. “Oh no! It’s getting kind of late, u-um, I’ll help you get your baggage!”
Ukraine’s response came out quickly in surprise. “N-no, I can get it! Why don’t you wait by the car? Oh, it’s not that I don’t want you to help me, its not that at all, I just don’t want you getting out of your way, I mean, you came all this way to see me, and it’s horrible of me to suddenly visit like this-“
“No, it’s okay!” Canada’s confident statement shocked Ukraine, to the point where she ceased her rambling. “I’ll help you get your stuff, and then we can go back to my place, eh? I didn’t book you a hotel or anything because it was so sudden, but I was hoping you could stay in one of my guest rooms, if that’s okay with you?”
“Y-yeah, that’s fine. T-thank you, Canada,” answered Ukraine, as she attempted to smile. She followed Canada as he went to help her with her suitcases and led her to the car.
The drive home was rather uneventful. As Ukraine and Canada had not seen each other for a rather large period of time, Canada filled Ukraine in on all that had happened to his country. There was no exciting news to tell; Canada’s economy had been quite stable in that time and being the peaceful country that Canada was, there were no wars. Ukraine remained mostly quiet, adding an “Oh I see” or nodding in response to Canada’s storytelling.
Upon pulling into his driveway, Canada looked over at Ukraine to discover that she had fallen asleep. Maybe it was because times were so hard for her lately, but in comparison to the tired look she had been wearing lately, Canada thought that Ukraine’s sleeping face made her look like she was happily at peace.
“Hopefully she’s dreaming of a better time where her country’s doing well and there’s no war to cause unrest,” said Canada fondly. It suddenly occurred to Canada that darkness had coated the air around him, and the current hour of night was recalled in his mind. Canada quickly and carefully carried Ukraine to the one of the guest rooms and left her suitcases in the corner of the room for her to sort out in the morning.
Returning to his own room, Canada sat at the edge of his bed and recalled Ukraine’s sleeping face. All at once, Canada realized that her sleeping face reminded him of the photograph that he and Ukraine had taken together long ago. Digging into his drawers, Canada searched for an old photo album, now coated with a layer of dust. Canada carefully wiped the dust off and opened the album, flipping to the page where a picture of a child and a young woman were posing together, with their faces filled with brilliant laughter. Staring at the woman’s face, Canada remembered her as Ukraine, when she was still had a strong smile and eyes that glowed with joy.
Pain filled Canada’s heart when he compared this laughing picture of Ukraine to the worn out girl that he had just recovered from the airport. Canada wondered if it could be possible for him to change this; to do even the smallest thing to help restore Ukraine’s smile. Furrowing his brows, Canada thought hard to remember the activities and games they used to play that might bring back some of the light in Ukraine’s eyes. A single memory flew into Canada’s mind as he thought and suddenly, Canada realized. Dancing. Ukraine loved to dance, and Canada remembered the days where Ukraine would spend hours on end, teaching him step-by-step some of the traditional dances from her country. During those times, she had always looked so proud and beautiful, and Canada knew he had found his answer. If only asking her to dance wasn’t so… hard.
While many things in this world could leave Canada overcome with nervousness, few were as nerve-wrecking as asking a girl to dance. What would be the best place? When would he know it was the right moment to ask her? What if he seemed too upfront? What if he stepped on her feet, or missed a step and ruined the timing of the entire dance?
Sighing, Canada slumped onto his bed. ‘It probably won’t do me that much good to think about it now,’ he thought. ‘Perhaps something will pop up in the morning.’ Canada felt his eyelids growing heavy, and so he allowed himself to fall into the world of dreams.
Sunlight danced through the slits of the blinds; a message that it was time to rise. Canada rubbed his eyes, and reluctantly pulled himself from the warmth of the covers. The stiffness of his shirt reminded Canada that he had forgotten to change into pajamas before sleeping and his day clothes were now creased and in need of ironing. Canada decided to simply put off the ironing until later and changed into fresh clothes, remembering that he still needed to help Ukraine, who was likely still unpacking her belongings.
Canada walked down the hallway and lightly knocked on Ukraine’s door. When it was opened, Canada simply gaped at the room in shock. Clothes had somehow found themselves everywhere and Ukraine looked like she had just recently popped out of a pile herself, especially with a sock on her head and various articles of clothing overloading both her arms.
“S-sorry, Canada! I tripped over my suitcase this morning and then all these clothes popped out everywhere and I didn’t know how long I was going to stay so I packed a lot and now I’ve made a mess, I’m so sorry!” cried Ukraine, with tears forming the corners of her eyes.
“Oh no, it’s fine! I should have woken you up and showed you around your own room before leaving you, so it was partly my fault too. I’ll help you clean, so don’t cry, okay?” responded Canada in what he hoped was a comforting voice.
Ukraine nodded, and sniffed as she wiped the tears from her eyes. Immediately, she began organizing the clothes in her arms, and Canada reached down to help pick up some of the articles that had fallen on the floor. Out of the corner of his eye, Canada saw a small sheet of glazed paper. Upon picking it up, he realized that it was a photograph of one of the many afternoons that Ukraine had spent teaching him how to dance.
“Um, Ukraine?” asked Canada. “I didn’t mean to look at your things but I saw this picture and was wondering … um…” Canada’s voice trailed off as his nervousness took hold of him, causing him to duck under a large pile of clothing to hide his blushing face.
“Oh, that photograph,” said Ukraine fondly. “I always carry that with me because it reminds me of you.” (Canada’s blush deepened at this statement.) “Its one of those times where I would teach you how to dance, remember? You used to trip and fall a lot, but you weren’t really all that bad. Now that I think about it, it’s been a long time since I’ve last danced. I don’t think I remember how to, either.”
Her last sentence was almost a sad whisper, one that made Canada’s stomach sink. She had forgotten how to dance? How could Ukraine, his dance teacher, have forgotten how to dance?! All those times that America had bothered him, or that other countries had completely disregarded his presence had been solved by going home and dancing his stress away. If Ukraine was in a difficult time, he knew that dancing would definitely lighten up her spirits. It suddenly didn’t matter how nervous he was, or if he sometimes tripped over his own feet; if there was one thing he needed to do during Ukraine’s visit, it was remind her of how to dance.
Canada swallowed hard and reached deep inside himself for some sort of courage as he opened his mouth.
“Um…” began Canada. “If you want, I could teach you how to dance? I uh, still remember a bit from before so while you’re here I, uh, could…remind you?” The last of Canada’s words were shaky, and he hoped that Ukraine wouldn’t see the colour that had begun to fill his cheeks.
“Really?!” responded Ukraine eagerly. “I mean, I-I’d love to but, wouldn’t that be a bother? I mean, I’m sure you have work and then I’m already in your way by visiting and I can’t possibly ask for any more-”
“Um, Ukraine, it’s fine. I don’t mind and I took the week off so that I could make sure you were okay. Let’s enjoy our vacations, eh?” replied Canada cheerfully.
“O-Okay!” responded Ukraine brightly, and for the first time since she had arrived, she flashed a brilliant smile which filled her face with life. “Right after we finish cleaning, of course. I’m sorry, if I didn’t do this, we wouldn’t be-“
“Uh, its okay, we can finish cleaning together,” interjected Canada before Ukraine could worry herself back to tears. “Teamwork makes chores go by faster, right?”
“R-right.” Ukraine nodded and returned to organizing her clothing. Within the hour, all of Ukraine’s belongings had been neatly placed into the cabinets of the guest room.
“I, um, still remember the room where you used to teach me how to dance. We can go there if you want,” ventured Canada. “Unless you, uh, don’t want to ‘cause there’s other rooms, eh?”
“No, that room would be good. I-It would be nostalgic and everything, right?” replied Ukraine. “I kind of don’t remember the way though… could you show me?”
“Sure!” answered Canada, always happy to please. “Follow me, and careful on the stairs, because last week America tripped on them and hurt himself. You aren’t an idiot like him, but, um, I don’t want you to get injured.”
“T-Thank you, Canada, but I think I should be fine,” responded Ukraine, as she stepped onto the stairs. As they approached the bottom of the stairs, Ukraine turned to look at the hallway on the left, which consisted of several doors, but only one that had been painted red and white.
“Is that it, Canada?” asked Ukraine, remembering that Canada would often get lost trying to find the dance room. The problem had been solved by painting the dance room to stand out from all the other rooms.
“Um, yes, that’s it.” Canada lightly pushed open the door, revealing a simple dance studio. Ukraine’s heart soared as she looked around the room. Memories of many fun-filled afternoons came flooding back, and Ukraine realized how much she had missed this place.
Right after Canada had closed the door, a cute whining could be heard outside, followed by the noise of something scratching on the door.
“Oh no, I forgot to feed Kumajirou this morning!” realized Canada. “I’m sorry Ukraine, I’ll be right back!” Canada quickly left the room and a murmur of “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” could be heard before his footsteps faded away.
Ukraine didn’t mind, as she wanted to spend more time simply gazing at the wonder of this humble dance studio. She spotted a group of newspaper clippings in the corner of the room, taped to the wall. The oldest one read “Canadian National Ukrainian Festival to Be Held for the First Time Ever” and went on to describe the event, which consisted of Ukrainian choirs, dancers, orchestras and many other things. The rest of the clippings were similar, with different years, as the festival had been very successful.
Ukraine’s cheeks were red with both embarrassment and pride. She didn’t know that Canada had a festival dedicated to her culture and wondered why he didn’t mention it sooner. It explained why he still remembered and valued her time, or perhaps all Canadians were this nice. Either way, Ukraine was happy, happier than she had been a long time. Ukraine had to admit that she was nervous when writing to Canada. What if he had forgotten her, or didn’t want to hear from her? Instead, Canada had been a caring friend, never forgetting what she had done for him. A warm fuzzy feeling settled in Ukraine’s heart, and was only made warmer by Canada’s return.
“I’m back! Sorry about being so long, but I suddenly noticed how adorable Kumajirou was when he was eating, so I kept giving him more and more fish, but then I realized that you were waiting for me!” explained Canada. “I hope you didn’t get bored waiting for me.”
“No, i-it’s fine, I wasn’t bored. Do you have some music? W-We should start, shouldn’t we?” inquired Ukraine. “Hopefully I’ll remember all of it once you show me the first steps or so.”
“Yes, I have a CD right here. Um… sorry if I step on your feet or something, but I’m still kind of clumsy so…” Canada trailed off.
“It’s okay! L-Lets start, okay?” said Ukraine as the music began to play.
It was like Ukraine thought. At first, Canada was showing Ukraine how to move her feet and hands in time with the music, but soon Ukraine was dancing in great time to the beat. It was almost like another one of those wonderful afternoons where Ukraine would teach Canada how to dance, except this time was different. They weren’t teacher and student anymore; more like equals that were actually dancing.
Maybe it was because Canada wasn’t tripping at the more difficult steps, or because Canada had grown and now stood at Ukraine’s height, but this dance seemed more refined than when they had danced it in the past. Ukraine and Canada were dancing to the music with perfect timing, as if they were moving together as one instead of two people. Both Ukraine and Canada could feel the energy flowing from the dance and the music – it was uplifting, sensual yet innocent and completely captivating. It was a kind of beauty that could be seen when the dance seemed to have a natural flow to it that the dancers followed; some might call this love.
As wondrous as the dance was, the music soon faded away, and the dance was over. Perhaps it was because the dance had tired him out, but Canada had a look of disbelief on his face, partly from realizing that he had managed to finish the full dance without falling and partly from how natural the dance had felt. It was almost… magical. Heart pounding, Canada looked over at Ukraine, wondering if she had felt it too. Her cheeks were flushed, but seeing as they had just been dancing, that was probably normal. Canada sighed, realizing that he would probably have to ask Ukraine if he wanted to know, and that wasn’t something he would have the confidence to do.
“C-Canada? Can I ask you something?” Ukraine’s gentle voice broke Canada’s deep thoughts and his head snapped up in attention.
“Ah…yes?” Canada’s heart was still pounding. Could she be asking him what he hoped she would?
“I was wondering if you wanted to take a picture with me, y-you know, so I’ll remember when I go back,” said Ukraine nervously.
‘Oh, it’s just a photograph…’ thought Canada, who wasn’t too disappointed, because it wasn’t likely that Ukraine felt the same way towards him anyway… “Sure. That’ll be nice to frame and put up, eh?”
“Y-yeah, that’s what I was thinking too,” said Ukraine as she moved closer to Canada. She pulled a Polaroid camera out of her bag and placed her arm around Canada. “Smile~” Ukraine caught the picture as it flowed out of the camera and placed both the camera and the picture back into her bag.
“Canada, I-I’ve been meaning to ask you, I…” Asking Canada about the Ukrainian festival, along with what his thoughts of her were had been what Ukraine had intended to do, but it was currently slipping her mind. “Oh, it’s nothing. Thanks for taking this picture with me, Canada.”
Ukraine held one of Canada’s hands in both of hers, hoping that it would seem like a gesture of appreciation that wouldn’t fluster the normally easy-going Canadian. Thankfully, he didn’t flip out, or even move away; in fact it seemed like he might have been blushing, but it was probably her imagination.
“Its, um, not a problem Ukraine. If you ever want to stay over again, you’re welcome anytime,” replied Canada. “Well, you uh, still have the rest of the week so I could show you around some of the sites if you want? Canada might not have the history that other countries have, but there are still some nice places to go and lots of maple syrup products are found here.”
“That-That would be really nice Canada. Thanks. Why don’t we start today? Your country’s really big, so there would be a lot to see, right?” responded Ukraine excitedly.
“Um, okay! I’ll have to go look at my map and stuff to find out what’s around and then we can start exploring the area,” replied Canada cheerfully.
“That sounds really great. W-Why don’t you go on ahead, I want pack some stuff first, okay?” said Ukraine. “Y-You might want to pack some things too; we don’t want to run out of water halfway around the city.”
“Or maple syrup,” realized Canada. “That’s a good idea Ukraine. I’ll go do that!”
Back in her room, Ukraine took the picture she had taken with Canada and placed it on the table next to the other photograph. Looking at the two pictures together, Ukraine smiled. Dancing had brought back the best of the happy times and Ukraine knew that she could make it through this; she knew that she was strong enough to get through another depression so that good times would come again. And if the two pictures in front of Ukraine were a sign of anything, it would be that she would always have a friend that she could rely on, even in the most painful of times; a friend that could always give her strength and make her smile.
The End!
Here's the bonus line art. I'm not great a proportions or drawing hands, but I hope you enjoy it! =D
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hetaliasunshine
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AH LOVE EET <3
Date: 2009-10-18 01:19 am (UTC)This was a wonderful read. And of course, the picture is lovely. Thank you for the dedication! ^^
Re: AH LOVE EET <3
Date: 2009-10-18 06:02 pm (UTC)YOU STOLE MY COMMENT WALL VIRGINITY. xD
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Date: 2009-10-18 04:46 pm (UTC)AND OH MY GOD, WHY SO CUTE?? The idea of them dancing together, and all that is just sooo sooo adorable. I loved this ♥
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Date: 2009-10-18 06:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-18 08:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-19 01:50 am (UTC)Lovely drawing as well ♥ You're right, it fits the fic!
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Date: 2009-10-19 09:30 pm (UTC)