Hellooo :3 So I decided to have a go at actually writing fanfiction! I'm not sure how well it went…O.o

So, first up is the prologue! It's not very exciting really, but you will kinda need it to understand the rest of the story.

Sadly, I do not own Hetalia, and never will.

Anyways...enjoy!

Prologue

For most 17-year-olds, life is pretty good.

At 17, most kids would be staying out late with their friends. They would be talking into the early hours of the morning about their future plans, half empty beer cans crumpled in their hands, planning out road trips and voyages in meticulous detail, the once impossible ideas that were now within reach. Almost all would be looking ahead, at the bright future they had ahead of them.

Toris Laurinaitis was one exception. In many ways, he was your average 17-year old. He was a perfectly ordinary, plain-looking boy with longish brown hair and green eyes, and a constantly anxious expression. Like any other teenager, he worried about school and exams and failure. However, he also had more important things to worry about.

Every day in class, instead of stressing over some complicated equation, he would be chewing his nails with anxiety over his brothers. Toris would be up until the early hours of the morning studying, because they needed him during the day. He would neglect his own essays and assignments in favour of helping them with theirs; making sure that Eduard finished his math and that Raivis still remembered his letters. The dark shadows under his eyes deepened with each day that passed, the exhaustion from caring for his siblings and managing to keep his grades up dragging him down like a physical weight, but he had no choice but to carry on.

There had been talk of sending them into care after their stepfather left. Toris had been only sixteen at the time; Eduard was ten, and Raivis was just four years old. Toris had always detested Ivan from the moment they met, but Raivis adored him. He was the only one of the three of them who really was Ivan's son – Toris and Eduard had been born to different fathers, who had both left when their sons were born. Despite this, Eduard also looked up to Ivan a lot and was constantly striving for his affection, even though he fervently denied it when asked. Raivis had been the most affectionate though, always begging for cuddles and games and stories, and his love barely faltered, even when Ivan drank too much and yelled at them and even, on occasion, smacked them. After each of these episodes, he would cry himself into a fitful, nightmare riddled sleep – even then, Toris had been the one to stay with him and hold him each time he woke up in tears – but in the morning he was always back to his bright, cheerful self. It was almost disturbing how little he understood. He was just too young to see that what Ivan was doing was so, so wrong.

Toris had always got the worst of Ivan's anger, after his younger siblings went to bed. Once they were asleep, he would challenge his stepfather and beg him to stop this, before he hurt them. Of course, he didn't listen. Ivan didn't like being challenged, and there was a price for it. But despite the pain, Toris never gave up.

Then, one day, Ivan left, and took their mother with him. It wasn't completely unexpected, for Toris. He had heard the whispers late at night, the quiet planning over glasses of alcohol, the muffled excitement drifting up the stairs. He had heard the little snatches of words, about Russia, and a new life, although he never heard anything mentioned about the children. Of course, he wasn't certain of anything. All he knew was that Ivan and his mother were planning on going away somewhere, and he wasn't sure when they would return.

When they broke the news, it wasn't as bad as he had expected. They were going away on holiday to Russia, to meet Ivan's family and stay there for a while. They weren't sure how long, but they would definitely, definitely be coming back. Promise.

Raivis, of course, had cried.

"But I don't want you to go, Daddy!" He had wailed. "I thought we were your family now! I thought you loved us!"

Eduard had shouted.

"This isn't fair! You're our parents, you're not allowed to leave us like this!"

Toris had said nothing. They had never been listened to in the past, so why would they be listened to now? The bags were packed, the flight was booked, and his parents were bubbling with selfish excitement. He knew that there was nothing he could do to change their minds.

So he just stared numbly as they climbed into the car and drove away, his mother blowing them a kiss out of the window. Raivis had sat on the floor and sobbed, his mouth square as tears poured down his face. Eduard had sworn over and over, punching a wall. As the car disappeared into the distance, Toris had but his lip so hard it bled, then had gathered up his siblings and taken them inside. He was sixteen years old, and had been sentenced to caring for all three of them for goodness knows how long. He had no idea how he was going to cope with this. But, somehow, he was going to have to.

Of course, the children couldn't be expected to keep it a secret, although Toris had warned them to. He had told them that they would be taken away and separated, placed in the homes of strange people that didn't really want them or care about them. Although he didn't mean to upset them, he had described it so vividly that both had been in tears and insisted on sleeping with him that night. Even so, the situation had been discovered after Eduard had got into a fight at school, and a Child Protection officer had come to visit. For a while there was uncertainty and doubt, especially for Toris – what should he do? What would be best for his siblings? – but their reactions when he sat them down and asked them was all he had needed.

"Just one chance, officer. Please. I can make this work."

And he had tried so, so hard. For almost two years now he had cared for them, neglecting himself so that he could attend to their every need. He was determined for them to have the kind of life that every child deserved; to prove that he could make it work.

After over a year of their parent's absence, Toris had almost given up on them coming home. He still clung to a shred of hope that one day he would open the door to see his mother standing there smiling, hopefully without Ivan. But with every day, that shred had become smaller and smaller, until it had almost disappeared altogether. He had never told his brothers what he suspected. Life was hard enough for them already.

Often, he wondered if he had done the right thing. Perhaps it would have been better for all of them if they had been taken into care. Eduard wouldn't have to grow up so fast; he could keep his childhood for a little longer, like any other 11-year-old, and he and Raivis would be able to have birthday parties and days out without having to count every penny they spent. Toris could have more time to focus on his studying.

But then Raivis would come running into the garden, his face alight with childish joy as he held out some interesting bug or plant for him to see, or Eduard would shyly turn up beside him in the kitchen and pick up a dishcloth to help with the chores, and he would remember why he had made the decision. They were family, and true family sticks together.

Sure, it wasn't the easiest life. But if these sacrifices meant that his brothers could be happy, then it was worth it. After all, his aim wasn't to have a great, exciting, colourful life like everyone else his age. His aim wasn't to live, but to survive.

Thank you for reading this! Because it was kinda short, I will be uploading Chapter One today as well, hopefully.

Please review and tell me how it was! This is my first ever fanfiction, so I'm really excited to hear your thoughts about it, and I'd love some constructive criticism too, to help me make it better :)

(Btw, I found the cover image on Google, and I have tried and failed to find out who it belongs to. If it is yours and you would prefer me not to use it, please tell me and I will remove it immediately!)