Hello Everyone! Wow, its been a field day, I posted so much! Anyway this is going to be a two shot, maybe three, but I am running out of ideas. I thought I would run it past you all. If you have any questions/suggestions, feel free to PM me or just leave me a review. Enjoy!
It was cold, bitterly cold. The great northern wind blew through the tall pines, threatening to strip them of their branches and send them toppling down. But they never fell, for years they weathered the abuse, but they never fell. Looking back, Norway knew he had once been one of those trees, standing tall, enduring the abuse of ages. He had looked upon the world from high up in his mountain ranges and had withstood everything the world had thrown at him. He had stood through the Viking raids, the Witch trials, the betrayals, and fights with the men he had called brothers. Through the loss of his beloved *lillebror and the hatred and abuse that followed it, through the World Wars and everything in between he had stood. Nowadays, although he had long since forgiven his brothers, he still harbored an aching pain of longing for the time before they had all separated.
It was New Year's eve, and he was alone. There had been a half-hearted invitation to go over to Denmark's house and get ridiculously drunk, but he had declined thinking it would be more peaceful at home. Now, he was regretting it. It was lonely and cold, and he had been walking around in the snowy woods for ages.
Suddenly he looked around, it was eerily quiet in the snow covered woods, but more importantly, he had no idea where he was. He had decided to spend this new year in one of his more remote northern cabins, there was no one around for miles and the northern lights were gorgeous up here. However, he spent next to no time here and knew the woods very little.
Fortunately, he had worn boots, a relatively warm coat, a hat, and gloves, however, he still was freezing. He decided to try and follow his footsteps back to the house.
The snow fell in silent drifts, peaceful and calm. This was his favorite weather. It brought back the happier memories of happier time. As he plodded through the white snow, he was taken back long ago to the memory of another time.
"I'm going to find you! you can never hide from *storebror my little Iceland," shouted a younger Norway as he followed the sounds of the giggles to a nearby tree where the little one was crouched behind. He feigned looking around, checking behind other trees and underneath rocks before he finally pounced on the little ball of giggles. Snow flew as they rolled down the hill.
"Storbror!" reproached the gleeful little Iceland with a barely sustained glare, "you found me again! Now it is my turn!"
"Alright my lillebror, I will hide but you must be careful not to go into the woods, only search in the glen and around the house," said Norway sternly.
"Okay!"said Iceland cheerfully, and ran back to the house to count to ten.
Norway chose a tree to hide behind, somewhere relatively easy, but still would take the child a few minutes. "I'm coming storebror!" shouted the little one. Norway crouched at the base of the tree and began thinking about the next troll meeting when suddenly, BAM! Iceland had launched himself on Norway and was giggling away. As Norway lifted him to the sky, both of their eyes shining with cold and excitement he thought, "there was nothing better than this."
Then, it was gone... the love, the excitement, the joy of life; it vanished, flung into the bitter wind. It was at that moment that Norway realized how much he truly missed his brothers. He longed for Finland's undying cheerfulness, for Denmark's bawdy compassion, even for the simple gestures of Sweden; but what he longed for most of all, was his little brother's laugh, for his joy, and his love for him. The innocence of a child, the pure love they can have for someone so stained in darkness. But Finland's joy would always seem undeserving, Denmark's kindness fell upon stone ears, and even Sweden's gestures felt cold. He was undeserving, unworthy of their love. How many times had HE been cold towards them? It was no wonder that they would betray him, hate him. And Iceland, his dear lillebror, how many times had he denied any relation to Norway, how many times had he refused to allow Norway to teach him magic, how many times had he rejected him. He hated him. It was so obvious now, now that he realized what he wanted, he realized why he did not deserve it.
Norway's thoughts spun, he was confused, cold, and hopeless, all he knew was that he was hated, and he deserved it. The blonde was lost, so lost that he didn't notice the cloud, a black cloud, all around him, and the whisper of a figure in the shadows.
*storebror → big brother
*lillebror → little brother