So, this story is based off the song Anywhere by Evanescence. Each chapter is a line from the song, in order, with the chorus only being used once. The song is not my own, neither is Hetalia.
Anywhere
Song by Evanescence
Iceland/Liechtenstein
Chapter One
Dear, my love, haven't you wanted to be with me?
Iceland didn't usually come to these meetings. They were loud, obnoxious, and nothing ever seemed to get done. Only five minutes in and England and France were bickering over food, Italy was begging for pasta and America was taking lead and declaring himself the hero. And that wasn't even mentioning the other countries, it was a mystery why they even called these meetings anymore. Even more so, why Norway had dragged him here. It's not like any decisions that were made (when decisions were made at least) particularly affected him. If they did, at least, he was sure his brother would tell him.
He leaned back in his chair, scanning the table before they paused on a young girl sitting up straight in her chair. She hand her hands folded neatly in her lap, and while she had a rather dutiful posture, her expression was that of hidden boredom mixed with innocent interest. Iceland quickly found himself intrigued, sitting up a little straighter as he looked to her right to find a boy in a green uniform, looking rather displeased with the situation. Iceland recognized him immediately as Switzerland, the country famous for its harsh neutrality. He glanced back over to the younger girl sitting beside him and quickly concluded that she must be Liechtenstein, the tiny country Switzerland took in as his younger sister some years back. He had heard of Liechtenstein before, but this was his first time seeing her.
Iceland wasn't afraid to admit that she was beautiful, at least to himself, he spent the rest of the meeting wondering if he should talk to her and by the time it was over, he found himself unable and she disappeared quickly behind her brother.
That was the first time.
Iceland attended every meeting he could after that, each time trying to get up the courage to say hello. But whenever he did, Liechtenstein would leave before he had the chance to even get her attention.
Months rolled by and Iceland found himself wondering what her voice sounded like. She never spoke up in meetings, it was always her brother who did all the talking. Occasionally she would tug on his sleeve and whisper something in his ear, but it was never loud enough for anyone to hear.
Finally, at a particularly boring meeting, the chance finally arose.
After a quick question into her brother's ear and a nod in response, Liechtenstein quietly rose from the table and excused herself.
Iceland had started to zone out, when the closing of the meeting room door directed his attention to Liechtenstein's empty seat. He gazed around the table and confirmed that she had indeed left the room. Quickly seizing his chance, he muttered a quick, "bathroom," to his brother and pushed away from the table, excusing himself as well.
Norway gave a nod to show that he had heard, but took note of his brother's slightly odd behavior.
Iceland closed the door with a quiet click, feeling an immediate sense of relief. He has spent so much time in isolation, or just with the other Nordics, the large crowd that could be found at the World meetings made him uncomfortable. It wasn't anything he couldn't handle, but he much preferred when there weren't as many people.
Stepping away for the door, the Nord glanced down the hall, spotting Liechtenstein in her familiar pink dress, heading in the direction of the bathrooms.
Taking a deep breath, Iceland raised a hand, ready to call out to her, but then paused and thought better of it. He lowered his hand and with quick, nervous steps, swiftly caught up with the young girl.
When he was close enough, he reached out and gently tapped her on the shoulder.
"Um, excuse me."
Liechtenstein stared slightly, giving a small gasp as she turned around, making Iceland feel a little guilty for startling her.
"Oh, hello," she said, giving a comforting smile once she got over the initial startle. "Can I help you with something sir?" she asked.
Iceland paused a moment, realizing that he suddenly had no clue what he was going to say. Her voice was more childlike than he had imagined, but it still held that slight Swiss accent that he had come to expect.
"Oh, no," he finally said after a slightly awkward moment of silence as his courage slowly returned. "You're Liechtenstein, right?"
She smiled. "Yes, I am, and you are…" Her mouth turned down at the corners as she failed to recognize the country standing before her.
"Iceland," he provided gently, giving her a comforting smile in return.
"My apologies, Mr. Iceland," she said with a small bow. "I did not recognize you."
He shook his head. "You're alright, though I did actually want to ask you a question, now that I remember."
Liechtenstein tilted her head curiously. "What is it, Mr. Iceland?" she asked.
"I was wondering if you would like to go out to eat with me after the meeting." Iceland was secretly proud at how casually he managed to ask the favor of her.
The girl seemed shocked but this proposition, feeling a little flustered as she took a moment to answer.
"Big Brother always takes me out for ice cream after the meetings, would you like to join us?" she asked, rephrasing the question.
Iceland frowned, this was not the answer he had been hoping for, and if he was being honest, Switzerland tended to intimidate him. After another long moment of thought, he nodded.
"I would like that," he said, figuring this was probably his best chance to get to know the small nation and that if he wanted to do so, he was going to have to brave her older brother. If he wasn't willing to do that much, then it was pointless to pursue her.
Leichtenstein smiled. "I will talk to my brother, but I'm sure he'll be okay with it," she said. "Now I must go Mr. Iceland, I look forward to speaking to you again." She gave a small bow and Iceland gave his own farewell as she disappeared into the bathroom.
Turning around, Iceland returned to the meeting, something inside him feeling a little lighter.
He took his seat next to Norway, who casted him a suspicious glance. He watched the door and when Liechtenstein returned to her own seat a few minutes later, he managed to catch her eye and send her a small wave.
She smiled at him and waved back before focusing back to where her brother's attention had been directed.
"Is there something I should know little brother?" Norway asked quietly in his ear, a smirk playing at his lips.
Iceland swatted him away with mild annoyance. "Shut up and mind your own business," he snapped lightly.
Norway decided to back off for the moment, but Iceland couldn't help the small smile that secretly made its way onto Iceland's face.
The meeting lasted much longer than Iceland would have liked. Granted, he always thought they went on much too long, but this time it was for a different reason. He spent the rest of the meeting trying not to watch Liechtenstein across the table. He had caught Switzerland's suspicious glances one or two times and the last thing Iceland wanted to do was to set a bad impression right off the bat.
When the meeting was finally adjourned, Iceland was one of the first to leave the table.
Finland called after him, asking where he was going.
"I'm just going to be home a little later, you guys go on without me," he called back in explanation before he pushed past the doors and into the hall.
Switzerland and Liechtenstein were waiting for him by the front door and the young girl sent Iceland a wave to let him know that they were waiting.
The young Nordic country walked over to meet them.
"Hello, Liechtenstein, Switzerland," he greeted.
"Hello Mr. Iceland," she said.
Switzerland gave him a disapproving stare. "Hello, Iceland," he glanced between his sister and the boy.
"Shall we go then?" Liechtenstein asked casually, completely unaware of the tension that was starting to build between the two men.
Switzerland directed his attention back to his sister and gave a small nod. "Where would you like to go today? We passed a few shops on the way here."
She thought for a moment, her eyes drifting up to the ceiling. "The one with the flowers on the windows, it looked so cute and cozy. I would love it if Big Brother could take me there."
He sighed. He had hoped she wouldn't pick that one, knowing it to be one of the more expensive, but for Liechtenstein he was willing to splurge, just a little. He had promised her after all.
"You're paying for yourself," he said to Iceland, and the younger boy nodded, he had expected as much.
Switzerland took Liechtenstein's hand and left out the front doors, clearly expecting Iceland to follow.
Iceland relaxed slightly once Switzerland's eyes were off of him. He took his usual casual stance. He couldn't let Liechtenstein's older brother get to him. What did he care about him anyways? All he cared was doing his best to get Liechtenstein to like him. He knew that Liechtenstein was very close to her older brother, but Iceland couldn't worry about that right now. He had to take thing one step at a time, and Switzerland was a couple steps down the road still.
It took them several minutes to reach the shop that Liechtenstein had chosen and by then, Iceland's confidence was back to its normal level.
There wasn't a line, so they managed to all get their ice cream in a matter of minutes and went outside to sit at one of the decorative, iron work tables under the awning.
"Brother knows the meetings are really boring for me, so even though he likes to save money, he takes me out to ice cream to make up for it. As long as I pay attention and try to learn from them," Liechtenstein explained as she licked at her cone of strawberry ice cream. "I find all of the countries very interesting and I really like spending time with my big brother, so I don't mind. Though the meetings do make me a little confused, but Big Brother always draws me pictures afterwards to explain what happened and it helps a lot. Big Brother draws really cute pictures and I like them a lot."
Iceland listened with interest. Liechtenstein had a very innocent way of speaking, going on much as a child would about someone they admired. Still, she had a sort of regal maturity in what she said and meant that seemed to contrast her innocent air. A lot of her thoughts seemed to revolve around Switzerland, whom she always referred to as 'Big Brother'. It was clear that she admired and looked up to him far more than Iceland initially realized.
He frowned and licked lightly at his own ice cream cone. Perhaps impressing Switzerland was closer to the first step than he thought.
"Ah, your ice cream is dripping," he said suddenly, bringing Liechtenstein out of her day dream and her attention down to the ice cream that was rolling down her fingers.
Switzerland sighed. "You're so spacey," he muttered, grabbing a napkin and cleaning off her fingers, having finished his own cone several minutes earlier.
"I'm sorry Big Brother," she said as she used her free hand to hold the cone and started licking the ice cream again.
"It's fine," Switzerland said, tossing the sticky napkin into the trash and leaning back in his chair. "Just pay better attention."
Iceland watched with a mix of amusement and awe. He knew that the rather stingy Swiss was close to Liechtenstein and very protective of her, but he didn't realize he could be so… sweet. It didn't take much for Iceland to realize that this side only came out with the young girl and he shouldn't be expecting it too often.
"Do you have any pets Mr. Iceland?" Liechtenstein asked, bringing Iceland's attention back to the current situation.
"Oh, Yes, I have a puffin. He's rather annoying though," Iceland explained.
"What's his name?" she asked eagerly.
"Mr. Puffin," he said, suddenly a little embarrassed by the childish name.
"That's cute," she said approvingly. "Mr. Puffin is easy to remember and makes him sound like a very proud bird."
He was starting to like her more and more.
"Well proud is one term for it," he muttered. "Do you have any pets Liechtenstein?"
She shook her head. "No, but animals like to come and visit sometimes, but none of them live at my house. Big Brother says that we don't need to take in animals that are already happy where they are."
He smiled and nodded. "What are your hobbies?" he asked, finishing his ice cream cone.
"I really like sewing," she answered as she finished off her own.
Iceland opened his mouth to say more, but Switzerland stood, cutting him off.
"We better get home," he said.
Liechtenstein nodded. "Alright Big Brother," she said as she stood. Iceland quickly followed suit. This outing had been much too short for his liking and he felt he had barely gotten to know the girl any better than before.
"You should head home, Iceland, the other Nordics will be waiting for you," Switzerland said.
He simply nodded in response as the Swiss turned and started to walk away. Liechtenstein paused before following, turning to Iceland.
"Thank you for coming with us today, it was very nice talking with you. I hope to see you again, Mr. Iceland."
"It was my pleasure," Iceland answered. "And just Iceland is fine, though, I was wondering if you would be willing to do this again sometime, just the two of us," he said, glancing at Switzerland who had stopped to wait for his sister a few feet off, watching the two warily.
Liechtenstein glanced over her shoulder in the same direction, before giving Iceland an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Iceland, but I will have to decline your offer. I hope you understand."
"Yeah, sure," he said, a little crestfallen.
He pretended like he didn't see the flicker of a smirk twitch at Switzerland's lips.
The truth was, he really didn't understand. He was so sure she would accept and now as she said good bye and he did the same in return, he watched her walk away, hand in hand with her big brother and he knew that he was back to where he started, watching from afar, with nothing more than the faint hope that he would get to know her better.
Alright! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this story! Thank you to my friend who beta-ed this and will hopefully continue to do so. I apologize for any cliche-ness or out of characterness. I will do my best to try to keep this as a weekly update, since I have it all plotted out already. Comments and favorites are much appreciated! Thank you!