"Gilbert! Gilbert!" Called Ivan, while walking through the long corridor of his house.
He was looking for his pet, a small white-fur rabbit, with big red eyes and long ears, named Gilbert by the Russian.
The reason for that name was simple, just like the reason why he kept a rabbit as a pet: He missed the real Gilbert.
The Prussian had left Ivan's house a long, long time ago, and since then the Russian had felt lonely because now he didn't have the person he loved the most by his side. Then, to fight against this loneliness, he decided to keep a rabbit with him; the animal which most resemble the Prussian, because of it's white fur and red eyes, just like his krolik - the nickname Ivan gave to Gilbert while he was living there, specially in the most intimate times.
The animal was very well treated by his owner. Ivan always gave him fresh vegetables and rations from special brands, took him to the veterinary every month, wash and brush his white fur with special cautions and cares, and even gave him a black and white ribbon; the same colors of the Prussian flag. And, of course, always protect the rabbit from getting injured or running away.
But, even with all these precautions, Gilbert sometimes escaped from Ivan's house, always returning safe, to his owner's relief. Unfortunately, today something seemed wrong; the rabbit was anywhere to be found. And he couldn't call for help because he was the only one who knew about Gilbert's existence. He hid it from the others who lived with hm because he was sure anyone will understand his reasons.
"What are you looking for?" Natasha asked, seeing her brother walking around the house, talking to himself.
"Nothing, nothing..." He answered, after a long minute looking under one of the beds, completely away from his mind, so distracted that he even showed no fear to his sister "I was just looking for my...Pipe." he lied terribly, since his pipe was on his bed during the whole day, and the other country knew it.
He doesn't even imagine that Natasha knew very well what he was looking for. She saw Ivan talking to the rabbit one day he carelessly doesn't close the door very well and Natasha could see they through a opening. She saw how much love her brother gave to that animal, and since then she was secretly helping him with Gilbert. When he wasn't home, she always go check if the rabbit have sufficient water or food, and if everything was all right with him.
Also, there is one more thing she did for her brother...
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Natasha slowly walked to the next corridor, taking care to not be seen by Ivan. Carefully, she checked the box she was carrying, seeing if what was inside was fine, and kept walking behind her brother, who was still looking for Gilbert. He was now completely worried about what could had happened with his rabbit, searching in places he already had searched.
The Belarusian was just waiting for the right moment to show herself, what didn't took so long to happen. She hid herself behind a wall, watching Ivan entering in a minor corridor, next to the entrance door. The weather outside was snowy and the visibility was minimum, the perfect apology, since the background was so white that nothing could be seen at first instance.
Still hid, Natasha placed the box carefully on the floor and opened it, picking up what was inside it; a white rabbit, with red eyes and a black and white ribbon on it's neck. She carried the animal and walked towards her brother:
"брат!" She called "Look what I've found outside." And showed the rabbit to him.
Slowly, the Russian, who was backwards to his sister, turned to face her. His violet eyes were watery, indicating he was going to cry at any moment.
But then he noticed the rabbit on Natasha's arms, and couldn't hide his happiness:
"Gilbert!" He said, happily, walking fast towards Natasha "You've found him!" Then he stopped, noticing he had revealed what he was looking for "... I mean..."
But she said nothing. Instead, she just walked closer and gave him the rabbit, saying:
"I'm jealous of him..." And then she left, trying to act as herself and not to running back to hug him firmly and go berserk until they get married when she heard Ivan saying a "спасибо, Bela!", full of happiness.
But at the same time, she felt guilty for hiding him the truth: That wasn't the real Gilbert. Actually, the other rabbit wasn't Gilbert too.
The missing bunny had died this morning, he was already too old. He wasn't immortal like Ivan was. None of those rabbits were.
Since Natasha found out about her brother's pet, she immediately understands that she could never let Ivan knows when the rabbit died. And since then she was already aware for the moment when she could replace the animal without being noticed.
She did that because she doesn't wanted to see her brother suffering like he did when the original Gilbert left him. It bothers her, of course, but she knows how much Ivan loved the Prussian, and even if he couldn't love her in the same way, at least she could make him happy.










