Little foot prints trek through the snow as a man ran through the darken and empty streets of Helsinki. It had been snowing for much of the day but it had become lighter as time progressed so he took his chance to meet someone special. The cold weather didn’t bother him much as he only wore a simple brown waistcoat and black leather gloves. He was very cautious about being seen as he wore a matching cloak over his jacket with the hood up to cover much of his head. Though he had no proof it, he wouldn’t be surprised if he was being watched. The bosses always seemed to had eyes at the back of their heads and since the assassination, he couldn’t risk being seen like this.

In the distance he spotted a carriage with two horses and he quickly picked up speed. In his hand was an unaddressed envelope and he was careful to not lose it as a breeze rolled through him. The operator was alerted to the sounds of someone running in the snow. When he saw the cloaked man running towards him, he smiled and gave him a little wave.

Every month the two meet like this but he doesn’t mind one bit. For him, it’s an honour to be of assistance to the one who represents them, the man they all call “Suomi” or “Finland.”

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting!” Finland apologized as he handed the man the letter.

“It’s alright,” he replied as he stuffed the envelope inside his coat. “I knew you’d come eventually.”

Finland smiled at the comment but his expression was filled with worry, “I appreciate that. But I think this is the last time we’ll meet, at least for a while.”

The other man nodded and understood. It was difficult not to notice all the changes and unrest going on within the empire. He knew deep down that this day would come sooner rather than later.

“I understand. You know where to find me if you need me. I’m always here doing my nightly runs.”

“Of course. But please be careful. I don’t know if they’re on to us. Russia is never supposed to know that I’ve been communicating with Sweden.”

“If that’s the case, I’ll be sure to burn the letter if there’s any compromise.”

“Good,” Finland replied with a serious expression. “Burn it, shred it, stash it away... I don’t care how its done as long as Russia never sees it.”

The man had suddenly become a little hesitant but his curiosity couldn’t be contained. “Since this is possibly the last time we will meet, I was curious, just what are you sending in these messages to Sweden?”

“You mean you’ve never once ever opened any of the letters I’ve given you?” Finland blinked.

“Never.”

Finland was surprised by the response but he quickly turned into a fit of giggles, “I always knew you were trustworthy. Your brother speaks highly of you and that’s why I choose you for this job. But don’t dwell on it too much, they are nothing special for the average person like you.”

“Are you asking for help from him?”

“Sweden has his own problems with Norway and he is not the empire he once was. Russia would destroy him if they were to fight again. We are alone in this battle.”

“I see...” he paused. “I guess it’s personal then isn’t it?”

Finland looked away shyly as a smile crept up on his face. “You can say that, yes. We’ve known each other for centuries. I didn’t like being under Swedish rule but I learned a lot about him when we lived together. Even though I admit I don’t fully understand him, he is not a bad person and never wanted to hurt me in any way. He always bent the rules for me, like allowing me to speak my own language in his house. He was always scolded by his bosses because of it.”

He laughed for a moment as a sense of nostalgia came over him. He hadn’t seen much of Sweden in over a century. Was Sweden still the same person as he always was? Did he still look the same? He imagined he still did. Neither of them had changed that much, but still he longed to see him again. Maybe once everything had passed, that door would be open for him.

What Finland had told him was a lot to take in. It was reminder that nations were their own person too and were often vastly different than the bosses they served. But the man felt a feeling of pride from inside him. He always gave Finland his one hundred percent, but now he was determined to go higher than that.

“I write my letters not as a nation, but as a human. But I think you understand and I know you’ll do your best for me.”

“Of course. I will make it my duty to make sure your final letter makes it to Sweden safely. It’s always an honour to work for you.”

Finland was all smiles as they part ways. He watched and waved as the horses pulled the carriage that he operated away. Finland didn’t stay long enough to fully see him off. He had been here for too long and he didn’t want to risk getting caught out this late at night.

“Sve! Let’s have a picnic here before we start!”

Finland was full of life as he carried their basket of goodies in one hand, the blanket in the other. Sweden was not far behind him carrying their fishing rods and bait. Finland always had an eye for picking out the nicest spots. They were near the lake not far from the home they shared. Where he set up the blanket was underneath a large oak tree. After leaving the fishing equipment on the other side of the tree, Sweden happily joined him on the blanket as Finland laid out the food, the plates, and the silverware. The food was plentiful and almost too beautiful to eat, as if they came right out of a painting. They were blessed with good crops this year and took advantage of it to celebrate.

“I made all of your favourites,” Finland said with a smile. “But I slipped in some recipes my people are fond of too. I hope you don’t mind?” He asked curiously, his cheeks flushed in a bright pink.

“No,” Sweden shook his head. “Be happy to try some if ya like.” A twinkle could be seen in Finland’s eyes.

They enjoyed a wonderful feast in each other’s company with the abundance of fresh fruit, berries, mushrooms, and bread, all made into delicious desserts and salads. The meats were mostly in sandwiches and were eaten rather quickly. The sun was warm against Sweden’s skin as he joyfully listened about Finland’s adventures in the forest and how he went about preparing the food. Their conversations were always like this: Finland would be the one to do all the talking while Sweden would simply listen, but neither really seemed to mind.

When Sweden finished one of the salads, he was greeted to a strange looking pastry and stared at it curiously. He wasn’t sure what it was but it looked delicious and was eager to give it a try.

“You need to try this! My sister Karelia introduced this recipe to me that’s very popular at her house. The crust is made of rye and while filling is usually talkkuna and barley, she recommended I try it with potato and it’s so good!”

Finland grabbed a knife and split the pastry in half.

“Here! Try it!”

Sweden took his portion and put it on an empty plate he was formerly using. He stared at it curiously as Finland happily munched on his portion. He finally decided to go for it and took a large bite.

BANG

Sweden’s eyes jolted open as he nearly jumped out of his bed. He couldn’t see a thing and reached for his glasses before turning on his lamp. From across the room, he could see his makeshift bookshelf had given way and collapsed. He had been meaning to repair it for some time but hadn’t been feeling the motivation as of late. He turned to face the clock on the wall on the other side of the bed. 6:22, the sun would not rise for another few hours.

He forced himself out of bed and grabbed his housecoat. He was now feeling restless and there was no way he could go back to sleep. The dream was too real for him and many of them had been like that for a while. His dreams were manifestations of his memories, created out of loneliness. He missed Finland. He missed everyone. He missed the sights and sounds of conversations being carried out all around and the smiles that came with it. Sweden was just happy to listen to whatever they were saying, even if he didn’t quite understand everything they talked about. His home was too quiet and he hated coming here every night to silence. He wished his king hadn’t given a lonely soul like his such a large home to live in, especially now that Norway refused to live with him. He never really knew what to do with himself in a place like this.

Sweden had made his way into his study and turned on the desk lamp. Book shelves cover the walls around. A painting he had commissioned of Finland with the little money he had nearly two centuries ago hung above the fireplace. He decided to warm up the room with a nice fire and got himself cozy in his chair. Whenever he felt restless, he always went straight for his collection of books that never failed to make him relax. He remember he had left one he had started in one of the top drawers. Pulling it open however not only gave him his book but an envelope laid on top of it as well. There was no writing anywhere on it and he curiously opened it. Inside was a letter and upon seeing the writing on his sheet, Sweden’s eyes grew wide as he nearly felt his heart burst out of his chest.

Sve,

Best regards,
Finland

Sweden laid back into his chair and was deep into his thoughts. Finland had been keeping him posted about what was going on through letters like these for some time now. They always left him feeling anxious. How he wished he could get out of his chair and sail across the sea towards him. Finland was special to him and he would do anything to help or keep him safe. But he could never risk dealing with an angry Russia, as he was no longer in shape to fight. He felt helpless and the feeling hurt him deeply.

But Sweden had to remind himself that Finland was strong. Yes, they had fought many battle together and he had a fighting spirit that rivalled his own soldiers. The man was brave and always the first to step in an emergency. When he was at his weakest, the other was at his strongest and always there to finish the fight. Finland was a gentle soul but the bravest man he’s ever come to know. He admires him so much but Sweden has never had the courage to say that openly, amongst other things. It still angered him that he could let Finland down when he needed him most. He will never forgive himself for that.

But if he could not join him in his time of need, then the least he could do was keep the moral up. For that, he had grabbed his favourite pen and wrote down a small message. He would get someone to discreetly send this letter to Finland while on route to work later on in the morning.

The sun had just risen for the day but the air still felt bitterly cold. Despite the weather, he passed by a small group of student protesters as they made their way down the main core of the city. Though this protest is among the more the peaceful demonstrations in recent weeks, Finland was worried this wouldn’t end well and that he would be forced to answer questions by Russia and his bosses.

“Suomi!”

He heard his name being called out and as he turned around, he was surprised to see the man running towards him was his messenger.

“Hannu? What are you doing here?”

He had struggled to catch this breath when he stopped. But when he recollected himself, Hannu reached into his jacket and pulled out an envelope and handed it to Finland.

“I received this urgent message from my Swedish colleague. He said it’s a letter from Ruotsi himself!”

Finland was shocked. “What?!” It was very rare that Sweden would send anything in return. Out of the all the letters Finland had sent, Sweden had replied to only three of them, now four. He quickly ripped the envelope open and unfolded the letter. He immediately recognized the writing to be Sweden’s. His penmanship was eloquent and precise, as taught by one of his former king’s advisers centuries ago.

Do your best. You are stronger than you look.

Short but powerful, Finland was moved by the letter. It was written in Swedish but Finland was still fluent enough in the language that he could read it easily. But there was something heavily scratched out underneath the message and he struggled to make out what was written, even going as far to move the letter closer to his eyes for a better look. It appeared there were two additional sentences written and was able to decipher the first one as “Be careful” but the second part was nearly impossible to read.

Sweden, just what did you write here? A mistake?

Finally he was able to understand the first and last words, “I” and “always”. When the sun showed its face from behind the clouds, Finland was able to see the message clearer and realized the two faintly placed dots were not actually pen marks but an umlaut on the first letter on the second word. The third word appeared to look like “you” but he wasn’t certain. He stared blankly at the letter with a raised brow. He wasn’t able to piece the message together.

“What’s wrong?” Hannu asked curiously.

“Sweden wrote something underneath his message but scratched it out. I-something-you-always...”

Finland’s eyes suddenly grew when it felt as if he was hit by a bag of bricks. What Sweden wrote was no mistake. It was a personal confession that he purposely scratched out out of embarrassment.

Be careful. I love you always.

The words rang in his mind repeatedly as his eyes couldn’t part ways with the letters. Everything had begun to make sense when he thought back about their time together. He was always treated differently than everyone else. The rules were always bent for him and Sweden always catered to his needs. He was dotted over for centuries and he had wondered if it was because he saw him as family. He was correct in that statement, but not in the way he thought. Sweden loved him in a way that was stronger than what friendship could provide. And to his own surprise, he was happy. He was captivated to know Sweden’s true affections, that he was his one and only, even after being apart so many years. He owes the man another letter, one made of his own true feelings.

“Is everything alright?” he repeated in a more worried tone. Finland looked back at him with his usual cheerful smile. It seemed Hannu didn’t catch the hint of what the possible missing word was and Finland preferred to keep it that way.

“We’ll be okay. I’ll do my part and you keep on doing yours. Sweden has his faith in us.” Hannu excitedly nodded in reply. They had enjoyed autonomy for over a century and no matter what Russia or his bosses threw at them, he and his people would always be ready to make their voices heard. Freedom was around the corner and they could taste it in the air around them.

But the peace was not to last when gunshots ran out at a building across from them, leaving the pair startled and ducking for cover. It was a grim reminder that a lot of progress still needed to be done.