As Planned

Chapter One: The Incident

"Come on Norway, we're going to miss it!"

"I told you: I'm not running. Whatever you want to show me will be there when we get there. Just walk."

"Norway! Hurry up! Please?"

"You idiot! Slow dow-"

BAM.

And with that, Norway woke up. It was the same nightmare he had been having since the incident. A week now. The memory was burned into his head.

Denmark had wanted to show Norway something. He had been so excited for Norway to see what it was. He kept it a secret, though. Said he wanted it to be surprised, no matter how much Norway insisted he hated surprises. Denmark had been jogging backwards, trying to coax Norway into running with him. Norway wasn't having it. He had no clue where they were headed, so there was no chance he would be running to get there. They had almost made it, too-Denmark had been saying that they were close. Denmark had sped up, but still kept himself turned and focused on Norway. Norway kept walking, shaking his head at Denmark.

Norway noticed the road first. He tried to get Denmark to slow down, tried to get him to notice that he was running right into busy traffic. Denmark ran through. The truck's horn blew, but it didn't matter. It was already too late. Denmark's body flew a few feet and crunched on the asphalt. Norway felt part of him stop. But he still ran to the body. He ran harder than he had run in a long time. The truck was blocking the traffic. The driver on the phone with someone, probably the police, but Norway paid it no mind. His attention was on the body that was lying at his feet. He had to cover his mouth. It took a lot to kill a nation, Norway knew. The body of a nation was much stronger than the body of a normal human. But Norway knew that there was no way anyone, nation or otherwise, could survive this. Denmark's neck had snapped, his head resting at an unnatural angle. Blood was dripping out of various places on his head and body. Norway saw his eyes: still wide open, seeing but not really seeing. Norway could tell that Denmark was gone, but he had to make sure. Norway dropped to his knees, ignoring the blood that had pooled beneath him. He put his ear against Denmark's chest, hoping that he would hear the soft thumping of a pulse. There was silence.

Norway sat up. He vaguely heard someone ask if he was okay, but he couldn't remember if he'd responded. No, he wasn't. Norway collapsed on Denmark and cried. Before then, Norway couldn't remember the last time he had cried. He sobbed on the body, cursing at it. Calling Denmark an idiot for not paying attention. Calling himself an idiot for not being able to stop Denmark fast enough.

Norway was sitting up in bed, with his knees pulled up to his chest and his head resting on his knees. He blamed himself, of course. If he had only agreed to run with Denmark. They would have noticed the road well before it was too late. If he hadn't been so stubborn, Denmark would still be here. He would be asleep next to Norway on their large bed, snoring loudly, just like always. Norway had imagined Denmark's death before, but never had he thought of it like this. In his mind, Denmark would die honorably in battle, protecting what he believed in. He wasn't supposed to die in an accident.

He looked over at his alarm clock. Four. Norway was surprised; the past few days he had been waking up around one. It was impossible to fall back asleep after his nightmares. He got up to make a cup of coffee and reached for his robe hanging on the hook behind the door, but instead grabbed the one that had belonged to Denmark, to use whenever he was over at Norway's house. It was much too big for Norway, but he didn't care.

He stood in the kitchen as the coffee brewed and closed his eyes, because he couldn't push down the memories. Not today.

It was a cold day for a funeral. It wasn't raining, but the clouds were hovering, like they just wanted to get in on all this pain. The winds in Denmark were blowing fiercely. Norway pushed his hair back repeatedly. Denmark had always called that cute.

Every other nation showed up to the funeral. None of them could the last time a nation had died. Some of them were crying. Norway could hear Finland and Sealand's cries, and they stood with their faces nuzzled into Sweden's sides. Iceland's lips were pulled into a tight line and he was looking down, not knowing what he should be doing. Norway turned his attention back to the front, where the preacher was saying a few words over the body. The casket was closed; Denmark's body had been too badly damaged for it to be on display. Norway did his best to keep up his stoic appearance, not wanting to let his guard down in front of his fellow nations.

After the funeral, numerous other nations approached Norway and the Nordics, giving them their deepest condolences. Each nation, one by one, started leaving until the only ones that remained were Norway himself and his fellow Nordics. He still hadn't let his guard down, but when Finland pulled him into a hug, Norway choked up. Norway and Finland dropped to their knees on the grass and cried together. Sealand joined in as well, wrapping his little arms around Norway, and eventually even Sweden and Iceland came into the hug, crying just as much as the other three.

The tears dried up in a few minutes and the nations all looked at each other. They all thought, "What now?" They all knew that the country of Denmark itself wasn't gone. The people weren't gone. The people weren't mourning. They probably didn't even know that Denmark had died. None of them really knew what would happen next. They couldn't remember the last time a nation had been reincarnated. It had happened before, but it didn't happen to anyone they cared about, so they hadn't bothered to pay much attention. The officials in Copenhagen assured each of the Nordics that they would call as soon as the new Denmark was found. They hadn't called yet.

Norway turned as the ringer on his phone belted Denmark's national anthem.

A/N: Copenhagen – Denmark's Capitol

Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this story! Many thanks to my lovely beta, ! – Wolf