Kalda had to admit that she had never witnessed such a party before.

She had never had so much fun before, either, and she didn't want the night to end.

Russia and Kalda had even talked amongst themselves, and he had asked her if she wanted to go somewhere special with him.

Kalda obviously knew that it was a date, but Russia didn't want to make it awkward.

It was nice of him to do that for her, so Kalda knew then that she couldn't refuse.

Kalda smiled to herself as she put on the red and white dress that the five men had given her the night before as a present.

After Kalda had gotten ready, she got on a plane after she had brought a jacket and her purse.

I'll never know when I'm going to need this, she thought to herself.

Kalda met up with Russia and the Baltics, and they seemed really happy to see her like always.

She was happy to see them, too, laughing and hugging them.

"Ready to go?" Russia asked.

"Can't wait," she told him with a grin.

Russia took her to a beautiful building, and Kalda noticed that it was an opera house.

The duo walked in and Kalda gasped at the beauty of it all.

She saw the grand stage with the dark red, velvet curtains closed over the set, and Kalda suddenly realized what was going on.

"We're at the ballet!" she squealed. "Oh, I've always wanted to see it in real life!"

Russia grinned, his silver hair falling into his violet eyes.

"Knew you would like surprise," he said.

"The Nutcracker," Kalda read on the program. "This sounds wonderful!"

"It is," Russia replied. "Is one of my favorites. Always try to see it every year."

"Well, I'm excited," Kalda smiled as the lights went dark.

The pit orchestra near the stage started to play the overture, and Kalda's heart raced with wild excitement.

The curtains opened, revealing the dancers in their fancy outfits.

The set looked gorgeous and very well-constructed, so Kalda got even more excited.

As the beginning of the story went on, Kalda turned to Russia.

"There's no singing or talking," she softly whispered.

"In ballet, is no singing or talking at all," he softly whispered back. "Just music and dancing."

"How do they tell the story, then?" Kalda wondered. "If there's no words, how do people understand the story?"

"Because dancers tell story themselves," Russia answered. "Continue watching. Will make sense later."

Kalda nodded with a smile, looking back at the beautiful dancers.

They move so quickly that their dancing is on point, Kalda thought to herself. If I was a normal person instead of a country, I would be a ballet dancer for sure!

Kalda started to fall in love with the story, seeing Clara fall in love with her little toy soldier.

She smiled as she closed her eyes for a few seconds, letting the music swallow her whole.

This music is so amazing! she grinned. I could almost dance to it myself!

Kalda's thoughts were interrupted by a clash of notes, and Kalda gasped along with some other audience members right when she opened her eyes.

A rat soldier started to fight the Nutcracker, and Clara was scared out of her mind. 

Oh, please be okay, Mister Nutcracker! Kalda pleaded. Clara would be so heartbroken if you died! I would be, too.

The Nutcracker was kidnapped by the Mouse King, but then all was well in the end.

Clara got her soldier back, but then she woke up and realized that it was all a dream.

Russia was right, Kalda thought as tears streamed down her face, this whole story was beautiful, even if there were no words.

Everyone stood up to give the dancers and pit orchestra a standing ovation, and Kalda couldn't contain herself any longer.

She cheered really loud and clapped her hardest, tears still falling down her face.

This was so beautiful and romantic, she thought. If I could re-live this entire night again, I would.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kalda and Russia had went back to Russia's home, his arms behind his back the whole time.

When Russia led Kalda into the house, he told her to close her eyes.

She held out her hands, and Russia had put his gift into them.

"Can open eyes now," Russia said with a grin.

Kalda opened up her eyes and gasped, amazed by Russia's gift.

In her hands was the Nutcracker that the actress for Clara had used in the performance.

Kalda could tell because of the autographs on it.

"Oh, Russia," she breathed, tears forming in her eyes, "it's...oh, it's wonderful!"

Kalda hugged him with as much strength as she could muster, and Russia hugged her back.

"For you, my little Clara," Russia told her softly.

Kalda laughed, wiping her tears away.

"You're the best, you know that?" she answered with a smile.

"Oh, I know," Russia replied smugly, "just wanted to hear you say that."

"Well, you heard it, all right," Kalda giggled, looking at her gift. "It's really beautiful. I love it. I'll put it on my desk right when I get home."

Kalda started to walk away, but then Russia stopped her.

"Kalda, wait," he grinned.

She walked over to him again, and Russia pulled her into a hug by the fireplace.

Kalda looked up at Russia, and he got lost in her beautiful, brown eyes.

He leaned in close to her as she did the same, their lips meeting in the middle.

Russia pulled her closer to deepen the kiss, and he felt all warm and tingly.

I love her, he told himself. I love her with all I have.

Russia pulled away, his face a little red.

"Good-night, little Kalda," he grinned, walking away.

He felt a little weak, not quite sure how to feel about what he had just done.

Russia went to his room, getting into his bed.

He closed his eyes, dreaming about the future that he wanted with Kalda.

Russia even imagined himself being in his house, with Kalda by his side.

This was best night ever, he thought to himself. Kalda loves me, and I love her.

It was true; Russia thought that he was falling in love with the mysterious and sneaky Kalda, the same Kalda that had taught him so much about being kind and loving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"No fair! Why does he get first place?" America whined.

"Because I am clearly faster zhan you!" France replied.

"Friends, friends, please do not fight," Russia grinned.

"You are all being too loud again!" China complained.

"Russia is right. I'm your General, so I order all of you to shut up and run another lap," Britain stated.

"Ugh! I'm gonna' freakin' die out here!" America groaned.

"That's the spirit, America," Britain answered, looking at his stopwatch. "You will die out here because Germany already has his shotgun pointed at you."

"AAAAHHHH! GERMANY IS GONNA' KILL ME!" America yelled dramatically.

"He runs zhat fast when he is zhreatened?" France wondered, confused.

"Yes, France," Britain sighed, exhausted even though he was just watching. "He does."

Inside the house, Kalda had heard all of the commotion going on outside.

She got out of bed to inspect what was going on, seeing that the five men were exercising outside.

She put on a white shirt and black shorts, feeling casual today.

Kalda also put on some white socks and black flats before she walked outside.

She saw Britain standing on the sidelines and noticed that he was wearing shorts, running shoes, socks, a short-sleeved shirt, and a hat.

Kalda walked up to him and stood beside him, wanting to see what was going on.

She also noticed that a silver whistle on a chain was hanging around his neck, and a clipboard and a pen were in his hands.

Kalda saw her three friends and uncle running on a makeshift track, all four of them hot and sweaty since it was long passed winter.

Kalda also felt her cheeks get hot as she stared at Britain, a pleased smile on his face and the cool breeze teasing his blonde hair under his baseball cap.

I still haven't told him about the kiss Russia and I shared a few months ago, Kalda thought to herself.

Russia had taken Kalda to see the Russian ballet performance of The Nutcracker.

He had also given Kalda the very Nutcracker that was used in the performance, autographed by all of the dancers.

They had kissed that night as well, and Kalda's heart sped up every time she thought about it.

I'm not falling in love with you anymore, Britain, Kalda wanted to tell him, even though I probably wasn't in the first place.

Kalda wanted to say that, but she knew that it would be rude of her, and she didn't want to make him upset.

"What are they doing?" Kalda asked, wanting to focus on something else.

"Ah, good morning, Kalda," Britain answered with a grin. "I'm just trying to loosen up their muscles to make them more healthy. America, mostly because, well, reasons."

Then he did a double take, looking at Kalda.

"What in the world?" he shrieked. "How long have you been standing there?"

"For about two seconds," Kalda replied with a smirk. "Man, you should see your face right now!"

"Sneaking up on people like that isn't nice at all!" he yelled at her. "I thought that I was making you break that habit!"

"You were, but can't a girl like me have some fun every once in a while?" Kalda wondered, her grin growing.

Britain glared at her, pointing to the track.

"Your time starts now," was all he said.

Kalda groaned as she put her hair in a ponytail, glaring at Britain as he continued to glare at her.

Kalda took off, meeting up with the other runners.

"See you at the finish line, Alfred!" Kalda joked with a laugh, passing America.

"What?" America gasped. "Since when did you join this?"

"Try to keep up, uncle France!" Kalda giggled, passing the blonde.

"What in zhe world?" France exclaimed.

"I'm faster than you!" Kalda teased with China.

"How did you get here?" China yelled at her.

"Is the heat getting to you yet, Russia?" Kalda grinned, taking the lead.

"Little Kalda?" Russia wondered, confused.

Kalda reached the end of the track, high-fiving Britain as she started to make another lap.

She got to the four men again, still seeing that they hadn't finished their lap.

"Seriously?" Kalda smirked. "You guys should be creaming me right now!"

She ran faster, getting to Britain again.

Kalda saw that they had finally gotten a lap in, her adrenaline kicking in.

Third lap! she told herself, passing Britain once again.

"So what are you doing this for?" America asked flatly.

"Snuck up on the guy," Kalda answered. "I don't know what this is for, but I feel like I'm being punished for no reason."

"So do we," China sighed.

"Last one to Britain gets chores for the whole week!" Kalda cheered, and the others cheered with her.

They ran as fast as they could, but Kalda had still won.

She came in first place, high-fiving Britain as hard as she could just to prove herself.

"That was pretty good, Kalda," Britain congratulated with a grin. "I didn't know that you could run so fast."

China came in close second mainly because he had paced himself.

"How can you run so fast?" he panted, looking at Kalda.

"Well, my brothers are Italian," Kalda joked, not even out of breath.

France came in third place, out of breath as well.

"Third place?" Britain asked sarcastically. "Boy am I impressed."

"Oh, just shut it!" France snapped, walking over to China and Kalda.

Russia came in fourth place despite being in the hot weather.

"Why so hot out?" he wondered, walking up to the other three.

"And just as I suspected," Britain sighed, seeing America practically lag into fifth place.

Britain put his hands on his hips, glaring at America.

"I expected more from you against all of the others," he said firmly. "Didn't I teach you anything?"

"I'm sorry," America gasped, falling onto the ground.

"Well, I expect to see progress tomorrow," was all Britain replied with, ignoring America's groaning. "Except for Kalda because she passed the running test."

"But she only did three laps!" China argued. "That's not even fair!"

"I can go and run more," Kalda offered. "Just to even out the score."

"You can if you want to," Britain agreed, "but I won't make you."

Kalda just started running, ready to show them her skills.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You really didn't have to run those extra laps," Britain said. "They weren't even meant for you. It's not proper for a lady to run so much like that, or even at all."

"Then why did you make me run them in the first place?" Kalda grinned. "You really ought to be more careful about that. Saying such confusing things like that could get a nice man like you in trouble."

"Ha!" America laughed. "She totally schooled you, dude!"

"And like you know anything about getting in trouble?" Britain questioned, looking at Kalda.

"More than you know," she grinned. "I have dreams about that too in case you want stories?"

"I think we're fine," Britain told her.

"I just want to know how you have zhem," France replied. "I swear zhat it's zhe childhood trauma."

"But it's not," Kalda sighed. "I know that it isn't. They feel...different. I don't know why, but they do."

"Onto a different subject-" Britain cut off awkwardly.

"This just in, Adolf Hitler has just been voted as Germany's new dictator," a news reporter announced. "He has just started setting up prison camps all over Germany, probably for execution."

Kalda gasped a little, starting to shake.

Oh no, Britain thought. That isn't good.

Kalda looked at the five men, wanting answers.

"Can you excuse us, Kalda?" Britain asked her as the five of them stood up.

Kalda just nodded as the five of them walked into Britain's study, wanting all of her questions to be answered.