Title: October and April
Author: 15anime4ever15
Words: 3,002
Theme: Modern Fantasy
Pairing(s)/Characters: Russia (October)/America (April)
Summary: Twelve months in a year, twelve personifications, one for every month. They hide among the humans, residing in the world's current superpower. They live the life span of a human, die, and are reborn in a new body with no memory of their past life. Each is destined to love another. But for the first time in millenia, two months from opposing seasons fall for each other. It can only end in disaster.

Written for the Fantasia Event 2011 on the Russia/America community.

Every human born in modern times understands the way a year works. Four seasons, twelve months, three to every season. Winter's blustery cold, when Mother Earth takes her rest in the frigid months of December, January and February. Spring's renewal and rebirth as Mother Earth awakens from her slumber in the sunny months of March, April and May. Summer's endless heat, as Mother Earth basks in the warmth provided by the sun in the steamy months of June, July and August. Fall's gradual chill and wind as Mother Earth grows weary and tired in the blustery months of September, October, and November.

However, something humans have never known, even now, is that each month is represented by a person. This special person lives out a slightly longer life span than that of a human, and is reborn into a new life after they die with no recollection of their past. They grow powerful during their season, especially so during their month, then become weak during the season of opposition. Spring against Fall, Summer against Winter. They can never get along and often avoid each other. Their only role on Earth is to serve it during their month, their season, and to know when something is wrong so they might warn the human race in whatever way they can before it is too late. So it has been for millenia.

To make their jobs easier, the seasons gather in the country serving as the current superpower. They remain within close proximity of each other, normally around or within a major city. They venture out into the countryside often, alone or in pairs or in groups, and hold meetings once a season to make certain everyone is performing their duty and that Earth is still balanced. Being as alone as they are, they often pull together, falling in love and spending their lives together until they are reborn and love again.

Those whom truly become lovers, or at least close, will give the other the privilege of using their human name. The one they were given at birth. Otherwise, it is far more respectful to call a month by their month name, such as April or August or January.

The months have loved each other numerous times, even those from other seasons, but there has always been an unspoken rule.

A month must never love a month of the opposing season, for it shall only end in disaster.

This rule was easy enough to follow, seeing as months of opposing seasons tended to get along as well as felines and canines at the best of times. Of course, it was normal for months even of the same season not to get along swimmingly. It was rumored August often fell for July, but acted as if they hated the other. February and March, though from adjoined seasons, were almost constantly at each others' throats; yet they often found themselves falling for each other as well.

Yet everything, even the seemingly impossible, is bound to happen eventually. So it did in 2011, one year away from the supposed apocalypse. What better time to have the impossible happen than just before the world was supposed to end? During this time, two months from opposing seasons, enemies on shaky alliance forced by Mother Earth's hand, would test the bonds of what held them together as representatives of the seasons.

October and April. Fall and Spring. Death and Birth. Cold and Hot. Ivan and Alfred.

They first met as children, in the field outside the city where the months had decided to meet from then on. It was a warm Spring day, and thus the Spring and Summer months were quite enjoying themselves.

Ivan hated it. Yet he longed for it. Longed for the warmth, the sunshine, the flowers. But it hurt, the sunlight burned him and the heat quickly became stifling for a Fall month such as himself.

Then he saw him.

The young boy was like April skies, his hair as golden as the sun and eyes as blue as the sky. One could tell he was a child of the light simply by gazing upon him as he ran about the grass, waiting for the meeting to begin. There was a fire in his eyes unmatched by any of the other months present, even sweltering July. He was bright as day, a shining star, and Ivan was drawn to him like a moth to flame.

"Hello..." he greeted the boy shyly. His sunshine turned to look at him in surprise, then smiled; he was practically glowing.

"Hi! What's your name?" the child asked cheerfully. Ivan swallowed, nervous. People tended to be intimidated by him, and the last thing he wanted to do was scare something so beautiful away with his rough words.

"O-October. I'm October, but... but my human name is Ivan. What's yours?" he whispered, as though this was supposed to be a secret. The other boy smiled conspiratorially and leaned in close, playing along as he whispered the answer into Ivan's ear.

"April. But you can call me Alfred~"

Ivan was struck by February's arrow of love in that instant and sent flying head over heels. He suddenly reached out, grabbing Alfred's hands. He marveled in their warmth. "Alfred! Let's... let's promise to be friends, okay? I-I know we're from opposing seasons, b-but... but I like you." He paused, suddenly worried. "And... and you like me too, right?"

Alfred stared at him in surprise for a few moments before smiling. "Yeah! You seem nice, Ivan. Not all stiff and cold like the other Fall months. Let's be friends! C'mon, we have some time before the meeting starts, I can show you some flowers I found on the other side of the field!" He grasped Ivan's hand and ran off, half-dragging the boy behind him in his haste.

Ivan found himself smiling genuinely for the first time in a long while.

Their promise had not lasted very long at all, but then that was no surprise. Opposing months could never get along.

They were teenagers now, and Alfred glowered at Ivan from across the field, scowling. It was not sunny and warm like that time so long ago. No, now it was Fall, and the Spring months were freezing already. He himself was bundled up in a coat and scarf, while Ivan appeared to be completely at ease even with the wind whipping him in the face.

He was like a frozen sky, with his silver hair and violet eyes. His skin was as pale as the moon, but his expression was always cloudy and dark. It was as if his feelings were an endless storm, raining down on his heart and drowning it. Alfred swore if it was not for the fact they had to blend in with humans, Ivan would have blue skin. He was simply that cold. Always tearing down the Spring, no matter how hard he tried to break through the chill.

"Hello, April," Ivan growled as they were forced to gather up for the meeting. Alfred held his glare as he spat out his response, tone about as friendly as Ivan's.

"October. Long time no see." Not long enough in his opinion. He loathed the fact they had to meet once every three months, at the start of each new season. Especially when he was at a disadvantage during the Fall or Winter. In Spring and Summer he could laugh and gloat at Ivan's discomfort, but during these times he was at a severe disadvantage. Even the sunlight was harsh and cold, just like Ivan.

"You look a bit pale and wilted, April. Don't tell me the recent frost has had such an effect on you? After all, you seem to be powerful enough to break through the chill of Winter."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, October. Not like you were practically melting at the last meeting. Don't get all cocky just because it's your element now."

"Oh both of you shut up! The meeting is starting!" December snapped in annoyance. The two months grudgingly complied, though they glared at each other throughout the entirety of the meeting.

Alfred grunted as the metal pipe collided with his skull, cold as ice against his skin. He stumbled, grabbing onto a wall of the alley for support, but was promptly shoved against it. He growled, flailing and squirming, trying to kick at Ivan as he was pinned to the brick by frozen, unforgiving hands.

"I win again, April."

"Damn bastard! It's only 'cause it's Winter and you know it!"

They paused for a moment, amethyst meeting sapphire in a clash of fire and ice, breaths puffing out into the frigid Winter air. Blood was trickling down Alfred's head from a cut the pipe had opened up, and Ivan was sporting a quickly swelling lip. Normal injuries they had received a dozen times before from a dozen previous fights. Contrary to Alfred's belief, however, season never tended to change the victor. Ivan was stronger than Alfred, simply put.

They were like hate and love, two complete opposites and worlds apart in everything from appearance, likes, dislikes, hobbies and even fears. They were like loaded guns in a way. Constantly banging together, dangerously close to firing and killing the other with a bullet.

And yet...

"I hate you," Ivan growled out.

"I hate you too," Alfred agreed whole-heartedly.

"Then why... why..." Ivan leaned down and suddenly captured Alfred's lips in a frozen kiss. Alfred pressed back, fueling it with his heat; just another normal occurrence. When they broke apart, Alfred breathed out an answer.

"Why do I want you..."

There love was fated yet doomed from the start. Perhaps Mother Earth was exceptionally bored and wished for some entertainment. Perhaps she wanted this to serve as an example to the other months. Or perhaps it truly was simply a matter of coincidence. One the two months would sacrifice their lives for. Because their love was poisoned from the start, and they knew it.

Every kiss they shared.

Every embrace they held.

Every touch of skin on skin.

It all brought them closer to death, to extinction. Ivan was melting, and Alfred was freezing. Yet this did not stop them. They were like love undone, craving to entwine whenever possible. They hated each other, they loved each other. Their touches were teasing and fatal all at once, thrilling and bound to kill in the end.

And it did.

But it was glorious.

Ivan shoved Alfred down into the summer grass, a light breeze playing at their hair and clothes. This was it, they had decided. This time they would go all the way, even if it killed them. They simply could not hold back any longer. The sun's rays were dimmed by the clouds, and they were alone.

Ivan tore Alfred's shirt off, his own following along with the scarf he always wore no matter the season. He envied April's healthy tan, while his own skin was pale as alabaster. Not wanting to see it any longer, he swooped in close, stealing a kiss from the sunny blond. His nails dug in at Alfred's collar and dragged their way down his chest and stomach, leaving clear, icy trails against his skin.

Alfred gasped into the kiss, initiating a battle of tongues in the process. Reaching up and around, he sank his own nails into Ivan's back like ten searing hot needles. They clung to each other like this, a painful embrace, for a few long moments before Ivan could stand it no longer and broke the kiss. Alfred's lips were almost blue, and his own felt as if they were on fire.

"I hate you. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you-" he muttered, leaning in close again. Ivan sank his teeth into Alfred's neck, making him yelp and squirm uncomfortably beneath him.

"I h-hate you t-too..." Alfred stammered out, digging his nails in harder, dragging them down enough to draw blood and almost burn October.

Ivan released Alfred's neck with a hiss and pinched both of his nipples in his icy grip, making April yelp. The bite mark was already becoming a frost-bitten bruise on tanned skin. "Then why... why..."

"Do I want you?" Alfred finished, again, mimicking the words they had said all those months ago. He grinned, that same grin as when they were children, and clutched at the silvery strands of Ivan's sweat-soaked hair.

"Yes, yes- why? This is... it isn't right, we shouldn't..." Ivan trailed off again, unable to help himself as he trailed frozen kisses down Alfred's abdomen, making the blond shiver. He started to work on those infernal pants and April helped him with his own.

"But we are." Alfred pointed out as they both simultaneously disrobed, leaving them naked as the days they were born. He wasted no time, fisting Ivan's length and beginning to tease it into hardness.

Ivan clenched his jaw and shuddered. The heat was so intense it was almost unbearable, but he bit his lip and trailed icy fingers up and down Alfred's own manhood, just enough to stimulate. "I know. We won't survive this."

"I know." Alfred pulled away, laying back in the grass and looking up at the sky as he drew a deep breath of Summer air. It would be the last time he tasted it on his tongue.

"Then why are we doing this? Why?" Ivan whispered, wetting his fingers with his mouth and sticking one into Alfred without preamble.

Alfred tensed and shivered at the frozen intrusion, shifting in an effort to get more comfortable. "Because we h-have to." His legs curled around Ivan and tightened, clinging.

"No, we don't..." Ivan reminded half-heartedly, slipping in a second digit and scissoring them about. It was so hot, like putting one's hand into a fire, but he ignored it because Alfred clearly felt uncomfortable as well.

"Yes, we do." Alfred could feel his insides rapidly growing colder.

"And why is that?" Ivan asked, adding a third finger a bit more forcefully than necessary.

Alfred whined in pain. "Do you really want to just hate each other and never-"

"Don't say it," Ivan growled, giving his fingers a twist and making Alfred gasp.

"Never-"

"Don't!"

"Love?"

Ivan froze, literally this time. Alfred, panting, pushed himself up onto his elbows and kissed October softly on the cheek. "I know you want to feel it as much as I do."

"I..." Ivan looked down, frowning hard. The spot where Alfred had kissed him burned. "It hurts."

"I know."

"Why does it have to be this way?"

"Why should we let it stop us?"

Purple met blue again, and Alfred offered Ivan that reassuring smile of his that promised everything would be all right. Even as he began to feel numb. "...we won't," October conceded at last. He pulled out his fingers and positioned himself, hefting Apil's legs over his shoulders.

"D-do it." Alfred's hands gripped Ivan's hips, forcing his body to relax even though he knew this would be the end of him.

It was worth it.

Ivan pushed into Alfred, and the both cried out simultaneously. Such cold, such heat, colliding together so quickly almost threw their bodies into shock. April thawed the ice within October, and he in turn killed off April's warmth and greenery. It was so cold, Alfred forgot how to breathe for a few seconds. "G-go!"

Ivan merely nodded and began thrusting. It felt so wonderful, yet so horrible all at the same time. The warmth he longed for his entire life was engulfing him, but it was too much, too fast, he was being burned.

Alfred was fast growing numb, yet he felt it. Felt "love." Not in what they were doing, oh no. That was not love. No, it was the fact they were finally, truly connected in a way they could never be alive. Which was precisely the reason it was killing them.

"I-Ivan!" Alfred gasped even as his vision grew dark and shadowed, his soul spiraling up, up, up as he released.

"Alfred..." Ivan breathed out, hissing as the white hot substance burned his skin. He released soon after, deep inside of Alfred. Then he was spiraling up as well, soaring.

But they both crashed down eventually.

Alfred went stiff as his body froze from the inside out, all of his warmth stolen from him. For it had rushed out at Ivan once he was empty of his cold, burning him up on the inside. The larger man collapsed on top of his lover, both months as dead as the flowers in Winter.

But they had felt something few of their kind were allowed to feel before death.

They had felt love.

"Mommy, mommy, look! Look at the pretty flowers!"

"Yes, dear, I see them."

The little boy pulled away from his mother's hand, running off the path so he could get a closer look at the two flowers rested side-by-side. A pure white trillium and a large, purple aster. The boy tilted his head, fingers brushing the flowers' petals curiously.

"Mommy, I've never seen these flowers before. What are they?"

"Well, honey, the white one is called a trillium. Though... it's a bit late for one to still be around in August... Come to think of it, the purple one- that's an aster, honey- is a bit early..."

"What do you mean, mommy?"

"Well, trilliums are seen in April, sweetie. Asters like it in October. I wonder how they're even growing together..."

"Did you come to see the pretty flowers too?" a quiet voice asked shyly.

The little boy looked up, only to come face-to-face with a boy perhaps a year older than him. He smiled and stood, the flowers between them. "Yeah! I love flowers, especially wild flowers. My name's Alfred, what's yours?" he asked curiously.

The other boy smiled softly and toyed with his scarf. "Ivan."

"Let's be friends, Ivan! Like the flowers!"

"I... I think I'd like that, Alfred..."