Work Text:
Motion
Poland puts on a cocky performance for Lithuania and his men, but all the while, his heart is pounding and his head is spinning.
Cool
At first, their every interaction is a masquerade, and it takes time for their carefully choreographed exchanges to ease into something more authentic.
Young
The Battle of Grunwald tests not only their youthful strength but also their fledgling trust in each other, and the thrill of success is overwhelming.
Last
From that day on, their bond is unbreakable.
Wrong
As Lithuania makes the sign of the cross, Poland elbows him and says, “You’re still saying the first part wrong.” [1]
Gentle
Poland wants to comfort Lithuania when he’s upset, but sometimes their insecurities feed off each other too much.
One
They will remember their agreement in Lublin—what one gave, and what the other took—very differently.
Thousand
“You know,” says Poland while practicing his sword-fighting, “I’m so strong, I could take down a thousand men on my own.”
King
Lithuania smiles awkwardly when his noble families speak to him in Polish.
Learn
A dull ache gnaws at Poland’s heart when he finds Lithuania reading a copy of his Statutes, those new laws that treat the Polish people as little more than foreigners.
Blur
Their years together go by like a beautiful, complex song that lingers in their ears long after its completion.
Wait
One day, out of the blue, Poland asks, “Do you ever wish you could stop time?”
Change
After some reflection, Lithuania realizes his answer is more complicated than a simple yes or no, because if he stopped time, he couldn’t fall in love with all the little ways his companion changed from day to day.
Command
The weary infantry burst into hymns and shouts of joy when Poland and Lithuania emerge from the forest, the sunlight glinting off their armor, and join the Battle of Vienna.
Hold
Poland is frightened by the sudden sharp pains in his body during the Great Northern War, and only an embrace from Lithuania can keep him from having an anxiety attack.
Need
When Lithuania recalls their ruse at Grunwald, his mind lingers on the trust that shone in Poland’s eyes when he let himself be captured—the blond wouldn’t think twice about risking death if his partner asked, and that unabashed vulnerability still made Lithuania’s heart skip a beat.
Vision
Although neither brings it up, they can see that their time together is nearing its end.
Attention
Lithuania has taken to sitting in the rye fields at dusk with his kanklės, grounding himself by focusing on the gently melancholic music and the polished wood beneath his fingertips.
Soul
Poland is far too spirited to die, but it still bothers him that since the first partition, he’s started to catch glimpses of the ghosts of former nations.
Picture
One day, after they get into an argument, Lithuania finds Poland kneeling in front of a painting of Our Lady, praying Rosaries for all he’s worth.
Fool
Written amid incredible turmoil, their constitution may seem to the encroaching foreign powers little more than one last desperate grasp at power, but it keeps the flame of independence burning in their hearts.
Mad
As if the past century hasn’t been crazy-making enough, Russia finally succeeds in taking Lithuania away, and Poland can do nothing but giggle nervously as he watches.
Child
Poland finds himself daydreaming about heaven and wondering if, in his smallness and fragility, he’s finally become enough like a child to enter the kingdom.
Now
The first lines of Anykščių šilelis—“Stump-littered hillocks, desolate and bare, / Can anyone believe you once were fair?”—leave Lithuania shattered.
Shadow
If he can’t be free, Poland decides, he won’t sink into the shadows and disappear; no, he’ll join his friends across the Continent in their fight for independence.
Goodbye
Instead of saying goodbye to his golden age, Lithuania creates beauty from loss, writing poetry and songs in his own language.
Hide
Poland can’t hide his joy when, on the verge of collapse, he manages to force Russia back across the Vistula River, and with him the biggest threat to his new independence.
Fortune
Poland and Lithuania’s meeting on the battlefield would have been a stroke of luck had they not, little by little, begun to fight each other.
Safe
After all, it’s hard to feel safe around someone, even an old friend, when you feel like an open wound.
Ghost
The trauma of the partitions makes Poland desperate to restore what he and Lithuania once had, even as he realizes deep down he’s seeking comfort in ghosts.
Book
Decades later, Lithuania will try to write down the tragedy that played out between him and Poland in the 20s and 30s, but every time he puts pen to paper, his memory freezes up.
Eye
If they can’t see eye to eye anymore, they won’t see each other at all.
Never
Perhaps if they hadn’t wounded each other so deeply, they could have changed the outcome of World War II, but now they’ll never know. [2]
Sing
In the darkest moments of the war, Lithuania murmurs one of his sutartinės to lift his spirits, but the song rings hollow without Poland to complete the harmony.
Sudden
One day, out of the blue, Poland writes a letter to Lithuania saying, “I prayed a Rosary for you.”
Stop
Poland will never stop fighting: not when the Allies abandon him, not when Warsaw turns to ash and rubble all round him, not even when he runs out of food and water will he back down from battle.
Time
The first time they see each other during the war, Lithuania is paralyzed by a deep feeling of inadequacy: he can neither mend the rift between them nor end the evil besieging his former partner.
Wash
So he settles on one small thing he can do: he washes Poland’s hair until all the blood and mud is gone.
Torn
After four years caught in a tug-of-war between Germany and Russia, Lithuania is forced to return to the latter’s house, and for the next several decades, he and Poland barely hear from each other.
History
Russia says to Lithuania, “I guess I don’t understand why you would want to be with Poland—your time together wasn’t that great, and besides, you have me now.”
Power
Centuries ago, Poland said he was strong enough to take down a thousand men on his own; now, he has proven that claim by helping end the long tragic night of communism.
Bother
The lack of communication during the Soviet era froze Poland and Lithuania’s relationship, and even as they try to thaw it out, they find themselves increasingly getting on each other’s nerves.
God
Forgiveness is divine, and they are painfully human.
Wall
Slowly, slowly, the walls they’ve built come down, and they begin to rebuild their trust in one another.
Naked
One night, Lithuania has a dream that Poland is gently touching the scars on his back, and the next morning, the ache in his chest is so heavy he can hardly get up.
Drive
Other countries have learned just how driven Poland can be when it comes to Lithuania: if he thinks anyone is shutting his friend out of any opportunities, he’ll go knocking on every door and using every trick in the book to make sure Lithuania gets what he deserves.
Harm
After all these years, they know one another better than anyone else: how to hurt each other, yes, but also how to heal.
Precious
It’s been said that history is a series of timeless moments, and Lithuania is starting to appreciate the truth of those words: the afternoons he and Poland spent in the rye fields were a foretaste of eternity.
Hunger
Shyly, Poland invites Lithuania to attend Mass with him, and when they receive Communion together, his heart finally feels at peace.
Believe
The strongest bonds are the most beautiful and the most painful, because betrayal is the flaw in intimacy—but maybe someday Poland and Lithuania can agree, without a doubt, that the possibility of pain isn’t too steep a price to pay for love.