She never truly was this way. When she was born, she had the look of a innocent, sweet little girl. As she started growing up, it turned out that this look was true, always cute, innocent, wanting to learn about everything. She wore dresses because she believed that they made her look even cuter.
Her elder sister is the one who started the bow effect, saying that it not only matched her dress, but it matched her personality as well. This continued for a while. As her hair grew out, she tried to pin it up, but it was no use, so she has just left it down.
While her and her sister were still with her brother is when it happened.
The great disaster that destroyed all that this sweet little sister and change her into what everyone thinks is a twisted, stalker of a sister.
The sad thing is that no one really understands what she's been through and is still going through. Then again, what everyone has seen has made them scared of her, so who exactly would be brave enough to try and know this ticking time bomb known as Natalia.
~The accident~
She was out picking a few flowers for her elder sister, who was busy at work, when a sudden pain struck her heart, making her drop the flowers she had picked and clutch her chest. She fell to the ground as the need to cough scratched her lungs till it was unbearable.
She coughed so violently, that her shoulders shook as if she were dying. Her eyes clenched in utter pain as she continued coughing, a warm liquid slowly rolling down her chin. Her mind tried to comprehend what exactly was happening. She used her will power to force her gaze up towards the sky.
She saw it.
The cloud which was covering her sisters country, and slowly taking over hers as well. What was happening? Was her sister alright? These questions filled her mind and urged her to stand up, even though her lungs screamed against her. She slowly took a shaky step forward, her body already beginning to shut down from what was happening.
It took forever for her to get there, but she made it. Her chin was caked with dry blood as the front of her dress was now a dark red because of her coughs. She squinted her eyes when she saw a blob within the clouded area. Curious and worried, the young girl pushed herself forward.
As she gained more and more ground, the blob morphed into her brother upon his knees, clutching their older sister while holding a gas mask onto her face. Tears streamed down his face as he lips moved silently. The youngest sibling looked down onto the elder one, only for tears to start filling her eyes.
Her sister looked worse than anything.
Her skin was pale as she shook softly. The white shirt she wore was replaced with a dark red one. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she coughed, much more violently than the smaller sister. Blood never seemed to stop flowing, if not from her mouth, than either her cuts or burns.
This is when Natalia finally heard what it is her brother's been saying.
"I'm sorry," he spoke, tears streaming down his face as he brought his elder sister closer, "I didn't mean for this to happen." Natalia's gaze went up, to find exactly where the cloud was coming from.
It was from the nuclear reactors their brother had put in.
The innocent girl started melting away as anger filled the long haired woman's heart. Her hands turned into fists as she felt her mentality twist and snap, turning her into something completely different than expected. She opened her mouth to yell at the older man but, instead, was pulled into him as he cried.
She couldn't help but turn into his shoulder as she felt tears roll down her own cheeks. She was scared, not just for herself or her people, but for her sister. Her anger never left as she thought of exactly who it was that was holding her.
"It's all your fault," she screamed into his shoulder, desperately wanting to break away but her body was to weak to do so, "You're going to pay for what you did to big sister! It's all YOUR FAULT!!"
~Now a-days~
That was one of the closet times they actually had. Ever since then, though, they just grew apart. Her and her sister's countries declared independence almost immediately after the incident. Her brother's country simply agreed, even though he had nothing in the say.
The hatred this young woman felt is still alive and burning her from the inside out. The effects of the disaster and being labeled a radioactive being so many years ago caused her personality to change. From the innocent sweet girl, she was morphed into a twisted, independent woman who wanted one thing.
Payment for the damaged that was done.
Most people when they saw her grueling pressing ways thought it was because she had a slight affection to her older brother. She couldn't help but shutter at that thought. He was her brother for crying out loud! He only ran away because he was scared, for he knew why she'd been acting the way she has.
Then again, it's not like any guy would ever tolerate a girl who was set on getting a payment for said disaster?
Her knees were wet from tears, her hair that got in the way matted to her soft skin. It was that time of year again, the year where everything ached as the memories replayed not only within her mind, but within her people. Her and her sister would normally spend the day together doing something, whether it would be crying all day or doing something fun, like going to the flower fields.
This year was different.
Natalia ended up all alone because her elder sister had found someone who she wanted to spend time with more than her. She never really remembered his name, but he was the representation of the Chez republic.
And he treated her nice.
Her brother locked himself in his room during this time, trying to drown himself in vodka and tears. She knows he regrets what happened all those years ago, but it wasn't enough. She sniffed slightly as she wiped away some tears. That issue would be worried about later, right now, she needed something to do.
She got up, using the heal of her hand to push her body upwards, and started walking a path still unknown to her. Her feet seemed to know the way as she passed building after building till it gave way to a beautiful blooming field of flowers.
But there was someone else there.
He had medium black hair, the ends sticking out randomly as he bends down to pick another flower. He had a slight beard poking out from his pale skin. He wore a black jacket which was held by a button upon the bottom. She was lucky not to jump to conclusions, or she might have missed how he looked.
"Oh, I'm sorry ma'am," he called, pulling her gaze up onto his, "I didn't mean to intrude, least of all pick your flowers."
"Oh, d-don't worry," she hesitated, "This isn't mine." She saw him smile as he showed her what he was working on. It was a flower crown.
"This originally was for my niece," he said softly, "But I'm going to be late for work. Do you mind holding it for me till tomorrow?" Natalia couldn't help but nod at the man's question, loving the feeling of something so cute and innocent being placed upon her head by a man.
He whispered something softly, but she didn't seem to catch it. Once it was perfectly laid upon her head, the man got up and turned to leave. "Wait," she cried, making him turn around and face her again, "I, um, don't know your name." The man smiled softly.
"I'm Vadim, Vadim Zaltur," he bowed softly, "And what's yours ma'am?"
"N-Natalia, Natalia Arlovskaya," she curtsied softly.
"Well, Natalia, I can count on you to meet me here tomorrow right," he asked her kindly. The Belarusian nodded.
"Of course!"
The both of them walked in silence along a small trampled pathway. It was the first time that this man was bringing her to see his niece, after 2 weeks. Before then, simply the two of them talking was enough to keep her questions at bay. Soon enough, though, she grew to curious.
"Are you a country?" she spoke, breaking the calming silence. Vadim stiffened slightly when her question hit his ears. The Belarusian grew curious at the action.
"W-why do you ask," he jumbled the question past his lips. The woman sighed.
"Well, truth be told, I'm the representation of Belarus," she said softly. The man chuckled.
"Makes sense," he cooed, "You seem like the tough woman type." Natalia couldn't help but smile as she felt her heart flutter. "I will admit though," Vadim spoke again, "I am a country. I'm the representation of Moldova."
"That's amazing," Belarus cooed, wrapping her arm around his bend elbow. She heard him chuckle as their feet continued down the path. It wasn't till they walked past a gate with cemetery etched within it's twisted metals, did she feel something wrong.
"U-um, Vadim," she stuttered as they walked up to a tombstone, "Where's your niece?" She watched as he let out a saddened sigh before he stretched his arm to point to the tombstone.
"Natalia, this is my niece Stasia," he turned his head as if the little one was there herself, "Stasia this is Natalia, the woman that I've been telling you about....Now now, just because she's with me doesn't mean I'll stop seeing you...I promise you."
The Belarusian closed her eyes and took a breath, when she opened them again, she saw her. The little girl who's hair flowed around her like a halo as she and the man talked. Natalia tipped her head as she watched them talk.
Soon, Vadim spoke to her.
"She died from cancer," he whispered, gently placing a hand onto the top of the tombstone, "She was born a year after the Chernobyl incident happened. Both her parents being open to the radiation caused her to have an overdose, killing her long before she was able to attend middle school."
Natalia felt her heart fall as she watched the young man start crying. "I wish I could've done something to save her. She was so innocent, so precious, but," he puts on a smile as he stands up straight, "I have found another Chernobyl child, lucky for her she's still alive."
She looked down onto the ground as she shuffled her feet. "And me and Stasia agree that I should be focused on curing you than trying to redo the past," he said calmly, using one hand to tip her head up and meet his gaze, "To love a woman who had suffered so much, she needs it more than anyone else."
Natalia felt her eyes tear up as she wrapped her arms around his torso, pulling him close as she cried into him. He simply smiled as he held her close. As the tears fell, she couldn't help but smile softly as she felt happiness fill her soul.
Finally, she was happy to know that someone could see what she had been through.
Someone who could she...
She was more...
Than a Chernobyl Child.
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