"I-Is this…"

"Oui."

"Can I…?"

A laugh, "Oui."

He needn't be told twice. With one hesitant step, then another, quicker one, until he was jogging, then running- sprinting- a laugh echoed, and it took a long moment for him to realize he was the one laughing.

Quick breaths left him in pants, his boots crunched in dark, soft soil; he zigzagged, never staying on a single path, wanting to take in all of its beauty. All he could see was gold, all he could smell was Earth.

The gold touched him, brushing across his heavy jacket tenderly, caressing his face; they surrounded him in warmth.

He loved it.

He ran until his lungs told him to stop, and the end of this beautiful sea of gold hadn't come in sight. He fell to the rich earth below, trying not to hurt any of the green stalks that rose to the sky, asset with small suns.

He lay on his back, violet eyes seeing nothing but the golden flowers and the endless backdrop of the sky. A wind picked up, the flowers swayed and whispered to him. A smile could never leave his face as he listened- a quietness. It was so peaceful.

"Do you like it, Ivan?"

Gold, almost the same shade as the pedals around him, framed a soft face with slightly plump lips and bright mauve eyes. Wireframe glasses perched on the dainty nose were pushed up before the hands were stuffed inside the thick red hoodie. That smile on the boys face was caring, kind, loving even.

"Da. Matvey, this is beautiful," he replied.

The boy came closer, sitting down beside Ivan leisurely, turning his face to the sky as well. "I'm glad. I would have brought you here sooner but they weren't ready yet."

"What do you mean?"

A tender smile, "This field isn't so pretty nine months of the year, you know? The temperature kills them."

Violet eyes widened in horror, turning to Matthew as if begging him that fact were not true, "They die?"

"Oui," he replied gravely, but in the next second, the Canadian reached across the man to retrieve a small seed that had fallen to the fertile soil. He held it up for the Russian to see. "It's okay though. See, they go into hibernation. Burying into the ground, waiting for the temperature to get just right- then this whole field is born again!"

Ivan stared at the tiny black seed barely the size of his fingernail, amazed at how such a small thing could wait out the harshness of winter only to get three months of life.

"If they can survive the weather, we can too, eh?"

A blond head leaned down to rest on Ivan's shoulder, the hand holding the sunflower seed closed in a gentle fist. "We'll make you one."

"What?"

He could feel Canada's smile. "You have a perfect gardening patch in your front yard, it's a shame to let it go to waste, eh?"

Ivan frowned. "I am not good at growing things, Matvey. I don't want them to die; it'd be my fault, da?"

"Non, I'll help you. Besides, you do too know how to grow things Mr. Kolkhoz."

"That's different," the man said petulantly.

Matthew just hummed, shifting slightly to get comfortable- until Ivan's arm wrapped around his shoulders and the Canadian molded against the man's side. They lapsed into a comfortable silence, peaceful and serene.

A light fluttering feeling in his chest made Ivan smile; he could recognize the feeling of happiness and it was always a result of being around Canada, he realized.

"I had a dream once," Ivan found himself whispering, as if afraid of breaking the tranquility of nature all around them, "Of lying in a field like this and falling asleep. I was warm and comfortable, safe and loved… I never thought it would come true."

A hand soothed across the coated chest, tracing his flank up to the collar bone, over the scarf to the Russian's cheek. A padded thumb brushed the skin there before lazily playing with the white hair next to his ear.

It started as a hum.

A soothing beat, slowly rising up and down in a peaceful melody- Ivan could feel the vibrations of Canada's chest as he made the sounds. Then there were whispered words, hardly heard over the wind.

"You are my sunshine," he sang, and Ivan could recognize the lyrics, captivated as he was by their words so long ago. "My only sunshine."

Russia never heard such a song sang directly to him before.

"You make me happy, when skies are grey."

Matthew was tender; from the hand in his hair, to the words from his mouth, radiating a calming aura that never failed to affect Ivan. The blue of the sky surrounded by gold was no longer the most enthralling scene in the world- instead; his violet eyes turned to the head full on hair tickling his chin, smelling the sweet shampoo coupled with maple and baked goods.

His eyes closed, his entire body relaxing into the ground beneath him, his mind completely focused on the feel of Canada around him, the lullaby Matthew sang so quietly. "You'll never know dear, how much I love you."

He felt the thumb caress his cheek again, so lovingly it threatened to choke him with such meaning behind it.

His wonderful Canada, how lucky he was to have such beauty. "Please don't take my sunshine away."