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The fireplace crackled and roared with yellow and orange embers. Sitting next to it in a large rocking chair was an older blonde girl—the personification of the nation that would become Ukraine. She was knitting a scarf for herself, humming some sweet tune, when she heard the sound of the front door of the small cabin opening and closing. Figuring it was her younger brother (who'd gone outside to play not too long ago), she lifted her head up to see it was indeed him—though she was deeply disturbed to see him with his hand over his nose, sniffling and whimpering; he was clearly close to crying about something.
Ukraine immediately dropped what she was doing and rushed by Russia's side. "Honey, what's wrong?" she asked worriedly.
That was when Russia burst out into tears, gradually sliding his hand down from his nose. What was revealed made Ukraine gasp; his nose was bleeding, profusely. "Oh dear..." she sighed out. She removed his hand from his nose, swooped him up, and took him into the living room to get him cleaned up.
Once there, she sat him down and dabbed his nose with a rag for a little while, then told him to keep his head down as she held it against his nose. "What happened?" she asked, once everything was finally (a bit) situated.
Russia wiped at his reddened eyes and tried to speak, though his voice was a bit muffled by the rag.
"What was that?" Ukraine said gently. She removed the rag for a moment to let him speak properly.
He tried again, twiddling his fingers as he spoke. "Th-There were these two big kids and they..." He finished his sentence, though it was completely unintelligible due to the fact he was still blubbering as he spoke.
"What?" Ukraine asked again. Gently, she placed both hands on his cheeks. "Slow down a little and tell me." She wiped his tears away with her thumb.
Russia eventually calmed down enough to tell his older sister the complete story. Apparently, two older kids (she assumed human children since he didn't appear to know their names) had been bullying him, with one of them pushing him face-first into a rock, causing his nose to bleed.
Ukraine paused for a moment, hot rage beginning to simmer within her after he'd explained what those kids had done to him. However, she quickly calmed down enough to whisper, "Okay." His nose was starting to bleed again, so she put the rag back on it.
After a few minutes, his nose had stopped bleeding completely and she set the rag down to be cleaned later. "Okay, you're all good," Ukraine tried to say cheerily. "Do you want to do something inside now?" She didn't want him to go back outside, for a multitude of reasons.
Russia didn't answer and instead looked down at his toes; his little mind had just been racing with thoughts and emotions the moment he walked back into the door. Almost suddenly, his lower lip trembled and he slowly began to cry again. "Sis," he asked, "why does everybody hate me?"
Ukraine, horribly saddened by the sight of his tears and the question he asked, leaned forward to hug him again. He sunk his head into her lap and bawled louder. She began to stroke his ash-blond hair and shush him quietly. "Dear, not everybody hates you," she told him.
He lifted his head a little, staring at her with tear-stained purple eyes. "Then who doesn't?" he asked, wiping at his nose.
"Well," she began, "I don't. I love you more than anything. And Belarus does too."
Russia grew a tiny smile on his face. "You mean it?"
Ukraine grinned widely, rubbing his cheek. "Of course I do. And, guess what? I have a feeling that when you grow up, you'll be loved by many people."
He looked at her then with a sort of wonder in his eyes, which had mainly stopped flowing with tears. "You mean it?"
She hummed and nodded.
Slowly, his smile grew from ear to ear, and he leaped up to wrap his small arms around her sides. "I love you bunches and bunches, sis!"
She leaned back a bit at the force but chuckled as her brother went back to his happy-go-lucky attitude. "I love you bunches and bunches, too," she answered, kissing the top of his head after. "Do you feel better now?"
"Yeah!" Russia said, jumping happily. "I'm hungry now though," he added.
Ukraine chuckled again. "Well, how about we go bake some cookies?"
Her little brother gasped and immediately jumped from her lap. "Yay!" he exclaimed, already heading toward the kitchen.
Ukraine got up, picking up the pace in her step to catch up with him. I suppose he's back to his normal energetic self now, she thought happily. Eventually, she got to his side and held onto his small hand, and the two went into the kitchen to bake cookies.