WHO Elena and Sasha
WHAT This weird little Russian triangle is FIXED.
WHEN Tuesday
WHERE Sasha's apartment
STATUS complete
It was Tuesday, finally and Sasha found himself waiting once again, for Elena. He'd never been a particularly patient person, at least when it came to people his own age, but for Elena, he found he was willing to wait for hours on end. It's true, he didn't really
have to wait for hours on end, since they hadn't really set a time, but he didn't mind so it was all okay. He started to pick out a tune on the piano while he waited, assuming Elena knew it was okay for her to come in whenever she arrived.
Elena hesitated as she stepped up to his door. Was she supposed to knock or just go in? She didn't really know how to act at these sorts of things, being rather inexperienced and new at all of this semi-social business. This was Sasha, though, and for some reason, she felt rather comfortable with him. Thinking this soothed any of her nerves quite a bit -- she normally got extremely skittish before meeting someone. Stepping up to his door, she knocked firmly. Elena was rather looking forward to this, she thought to herself.
"Come in," Sasha yelled rather gruffly at the door. He hadn't meant to be so unwelcoming, but he was just so into the music. Surely a musician like Elena could understand.
Elena flinched just slightly and turned the knob, opening it and stepping inside. She smiled in greeting as she took a seat on the couch several feet away from the piano, giving him space until he was done with what he was doing.
Sasha tapered off before the piece was actually over, not wanting to offend his guest. He turned around on the bench to face her, smiling. "Elena. How are you? I'm sorry I was so...err..." He flailed his hands a bit, searching for the right word. "Mean? Rough? I do not know. But it was not polite, and for that I am sorry."
She smiled hesitantly and shook her head. "No, no, that's okay, I understand! You were working and we didn't set up a time." Elena looked over at his music curiously. "If you're not finished, I'm perfectly happy to wait. I could go outside again if you'd like."
Sasha shook his head quickly. "No, no, not at all. It was nothing, I was just waiting for you to arrive." He stood, suddenly remembering his manners. "Would you like something to drink, perhaps? Before we start?"
"Um," she started awkwardly. "Um, sure! I'd love something to drink, if it's not too much trouble." Elena shuffled her feet.
"No, no, not at all," he replied, moving into the small kitchen just off the small living room. "I am sorry my apartment is so small," he called to her from the kitchen. "But it is really all we could afford." He emerged again holding two glasses. "I hope water is okay."
"No no, don't worry about it," she said quickly. "My dormitory room is much smaller than this, and it's much better than being in that little box of a practice room all day. Water will be just fine, thank you," she said quietly, taking the glass from him in thanks.
Sasha smiled again and took a sip of his own water and then set it down on the small bookshelf next to the wall, next to a framed portrait. He accidentally knocked it, sending it flying to the ground. He frowned at it and picked it up, wiping the dust off the glass before replacing it on the shelf. "I thought I told Anna to move that.." he muttered.
Elena was about to say something about how it was just fine and she didn't mind, but something in the picture distracted her. Elena stared at the portrait, not knowing what she had just seen. She shook her head, thinking that she was just seeing things as he wiped it off. But when he put it back, Elena was still again. "Is... is. Who is that?" she asked, pointing at the picture.
Sasha furrowed his brow and looked at the picture again. "My aunt, I believe. My mother's sister. I have never met her. She moved away before I was born and never came back to Russia."
The glass of water slipped from her hands, but she caught it quickly before it could spill, fortunately. After that little scare was over, she set it down and stared at Sasha with a very serious expression. "No," she whispered.
Sasha's eyebrow quirked and he looked at the portrait again. "Yes," he said in reply, quite confused. "That's my Aunt."
She shook her head. "No it's not," Elena whispered. Quickly, she looked into her bag and pulled out her wallet. Her hands shook as she took out a photograph -- the very same photograph, in fact.
Annnd there went Sasha's brow again, furrowing away. "But that's-" he pointed to the picture in her wallet and the framed one on his shelf. "How did you- What is- What are you-
What?"
Elena bit her lower lip, her eyes welling up. "She is my mother," she said, barely even able to whisper.
No no no no that wasn't possible. Why was she crying? Oh god, when had Sasha's life gotten so complicated? He sat down on the couch next to Elena, wanting to...hug her or something. "She is really your mother? I mean. Really?"
She nodded her head, covering her face with her hands. Elena couldn't believe this. After all this time, she had been so obsessed with finding her family, and here was her cousin, right in front of her.
Why was she doing that? Oh no, was she crying still? Oh god, why did Sasha fail so miserably at social interaction? "Elena. Elena why are you-" he put a hand on her arm, not knowing if it was okay. "Elena, are you alright? Tell me what's wrong. Please."
Elena wiped her eyes and shook her head. "Nothing, nothing, I'm just being silly, really." She looked up at Sasha -- her cousin, her FAMILY, and back down at her knees. "I just. I've been looking for my family all this time and I lost hope of finding any of you and. And you're right here."
Sasha laughed slightly, relieved, and took her face in his hands. "Elena. I do not think that is a reason to cry, unless those tears are happy ones."
"I don't know," she said, astonished by herself. "I think I'm. I don't know. Overwhelmed?" Elena suggested. She smiled goofily, sniffling. "It's nothing, really. Just silly business."
Sasha smiled at her and wiped the tears from her cheeks before pulling her into a bear hug. "Well," he said, "since we are family, I must now protect you against everything. You tell me when someone is bothering you. I will kill them. No questions asked."
She hugged him right back, absolutely stoked to have family to hug. It was much different than anyone else. Somehow, she KNEW he was family. She wrapped her arms around him delicately, grinning into his collarbone. "Same to you, cousin." It felt so oddly wonderful to say that aloud.
Sasha laughed into her hair. Well, that certainly explained things, didn't it? It explained why he was so weary of Sergei for no reason. Usually he would not care, but whenever Elena mentioned him, Sasha would get a bad feeling. He pulled away from her and patted her head. "Well, that was certainly an interesting lesson, was it not?"
Elena laughed and nodded her head. "It certainly was," she said quietly, laughing to herself. "I guess this kind of changes things, doesn't it?"
Sasha blinked at her. "In what way?"
She shrugged. "I'm not sure yet. But. Well." She grinned. "I have a
family, Sasha."
Sasha grinned back at her. "And I am very glad to be a part of it, you know. You wil have to meet Anna! Oh, she'll love you. She loves everyone."
Elena nearly squealed in excitement. "I'm going to love her, I just know it! Oh this is just what I wanted for Christmas."
Sasha laughs quietly, absolutely delighted that she's so absolutely delighted. "I am glad I was able to give it to you! Now, I think I will have to explain this all to Anna." An idea suddenly occurred to him. "Would you like to see other pictures?"
Her breath hitched. "You have other pictures?"
Sasha nodded. "I think Anna does. She brought them with us when we left. I did not know. I believe my mother gave them to her."
"My aunt?" she asked, a slow smile forming on her face. "What's she like?"
Sasha's expression dropped. "It would probably be better if you didn't know. I am sure she was wonderful before she met my father. Unfortunately, I never knew her then."
Elena's smile faded. "Why?" she asked quietly. This was one thing that she really did want to know. She had spent so long wondering that she wanted to know.
"Why what?" Sasha replied.
"Why can't I know?" she asked. "I want to know."
Sasha frowned. "Because somethings are better not to know. Some things don't need to be known for you to still love your family."
Elena frowned right back at him. "Oh," she murmured, staying silent for just a few seconds. "What about the rest of our family?"
"Most of them are nice. Most of them, my family excluded," Sasha told her rather reluctantly. "Your parents left because of mine."
She furrowed her brow. "What do you mean, Sasha?" Elena murmured. "My father said they left because of unresolved business."
"Yes, there was a fight, Elena. Between our parents." Sasha himself only found this out through letters. "But we should talk about it. It's no good to dwell on it. I will go get those pictures, yes?"
She frowned. "Okay," Elena whispered, secretly wanting to talk more about it. She thought she deserved to know.
"I'm sorry, Elena," Sasha said. "I just can't talk about it. Maybe Anna will tell you someda, but I cannot."
She nodded. "No, I understand." A pause. "Well no I don't, but I'm sure I will with time."
"It's just...hard," he told her, trying to explain. "My father...was not a good person. Is not a good person. There is a reason Anna and I left, and a reason your parents left."
"I know," she murmured, nodding. "I know there's a reason, or else we would not all be here right now. I just. I wish I could
know."
Sasha nodded sympathetically and patted her shoulder. "I will find those pictures, yes?"
"That would be wonderful," she added with a small smile. "I'd love to learn more."
Sasha nodded again and left for a moment to go into the room he shared with Anna. He rooted around her side of the closet for a moment before coming out with a gold box full of photos. He set it down gently on the couch and sat on the floor, opening it carefully.
She peeked over at the box, her curiosity getting the best of her. She wanted this to start quickly so that she could get a story. Elena was excited just to
know.Sasha picked up the first photo, one of the more recent ones. He smiled. It was him and his sister. Anna was on a swing and Sasha was behind her, hugging her and smiling. Anna was laughing. "This is my sister and I, in the park in St. Petersburg. On a good day." One of the last, he refrained from mentioning. "I was oh, about six, perhaps, and Anna is four, maybe? Yes. Four." He sighed at the photo and put it face down on the couch.
"She's beautiful," Elena commented, grinning from ear to ear. She was ecstatic just to be a part of this.
Sasha smiled and picked up the next photo, a wedding photo. His mother and father. "My mother and father," he said slowly, showing Elena. "Their wedding."
She held the photo closer to her face, staring at her aunt and uncle. Elena could detect the little similarities between her and her own mother's face. She handed the photo back to Sasha, biting her lip as she smiled, trying to keep from crying again.
Sasha turned that picture face down as well, picking up another one. He moved slowly through the photos, stopping to tell who each of the people were, if he knew. Most of the photos had names written in Russian on the back, but some were illegible. Mystery family members made it more interesting anyway.
Elena stared intently at each photo, listening to what he had to say to each of them, each one more interesting than the last. She smiled whenever she spotted her mother in pictures.
Sasha watched Elena's face as he went through the pictures. He tried to find as many as he could with her mother in them, but it seemd as though they had left them in Russia. No doubt they were destroyed by now. When the box was empty, Sasha sighed. "And that is all I can tell you right now, I think."
She nodded, wiping her moist eyes with her sleeve. Elena stared up at Sasha. "Thank you," she whispered.
Sasha held her face again and pressed their foreheads together. "You're welcome."
Elena grinned and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. This was so so important to her.
Sasha could tell that it was important to her, and he felt so lucky to be able to help her with her quest for her family. How funny was it that they ended up at the same college after all those years?
