0.o Wua another fic? When I've been neglecting 100 Pasta surprises? Don't kill me please! I just haven't gotten around to typing up the next 15 chapters. but anyway this is my newest fic! enjoy! ^^

I'd like to thank Coins Compressed for editing it ^^

So yep, hope you guys like it!

January was running.

She was running through her home, to be precise; she wasn't running from danger, but she was potentially running towards it. A new Year was about to be born, and as always, it would fall upon January to be the guide for this young Year, guiding it through their first thirty-one days in the human realms. By now, after being the guide to hundreds of young Years, January had grown accustomed to her role.

The House of Years, January's place of permanent primary residence, was a grand building. It always had been, and filled with expensive furniture provided by the Nations of Earth and decorated with yellowing calendars from centuries long-since dead. But the house never felt like one of death; it felt like one of life, as every Month dwelling inside it promised success and prosperity for the people of the planet below. Though the promise couldn't always be kept, it was constantly attempted.

She had been running through the House since she was a child, so by now, she knew the winding corridors off by heart. She knew every step she would have to take to reach one of her housemate's rooms, and she knew every step she would have to take to reach her own. When she turned into the dormitories and reached the door to her bedroom, she quickly flung it open and disappeared inside.

Though most of the Nations on Earth had already celebrated the New Year, eagerly waiting for January to bring the young Year itself to visit them, there was still one Country that hadn't yet reached January 1st due to its time zone. So it was still December 31st somewhere on Earth- in the country of American Samoa, to be precise, and January had five minutes before she would head back to Earth for the first time since her last departure. 2012 was soon to be born and 2011, or Lavendel, as she had named him, was going to die.

She remembered those thirty-one days she spent with 2011; a gorgeous young boy that quickly became a man within his first ten days of life. He smelled like lavender so she named him such, because Germany suggested it and January agreed. January wondered if maybe Lavendel would have wanted to see her again before he died, but she couldn't leave the House without a legitimate reason, and nostalgia was not an accepted reason whatsoever- not anymore.

Removing herself from reminiscing, January paused to look at her clock, brushing back a strand of Galanthus-white hair. Two minutes left…

A knock on her door made her jump.

"Jan!" a muffled voice shouted through the woodwork, "Come say goodbye!"

January sighed. She had wanted to be left in peace, but her housemates wouldn't let her leave them for her duties without hearing a farewell first. "One minute, May!"

She heard a scoff from the other side of the door, "I'm July, dumb-ass."

January laughed. "Alright; I'm coming…"

She opened the door and saw it was indeed July, his messy blond hair hiding his light brown eyes as they stared down at a watch attached to his wrist. For a Summer Month, July was always strangely serious, regardless of his fondness for brightly-patterned shirts. "One minute and thirty- no, make it twenty-five- seconds left."

"Whatever," January said, fighting back a wave of nausea. As July continued to glare at his watch, January took a moment to look around, eventually asking, "Where's 2010?"

July's head snapped up, "Uh, she's waiting to greet Lavendel."

January sighed. "I always feel so bad for December; he always has to see them die."

July raised his head to stare at her though his glasses, lips pressed tightly together. "You know he doesn't like you saying things like that. He hates it when people pity him." Before January could reply, July looked down at his watch again. "Thirty seconds."

Unmistakable giggling and shhh's could be heard from around the corner on the secondary landing. January and July both rolled their eyes in time to the familiar sounds.

"May? Are you with June and April?"

The three most-mischievous months came tumbling out from their hiding place, still giggling. As sister Months, they all wore bright yellow frocks and tied back their glossy hair with their individual representative flowers; their sunny style simply hid their cheeky demeanours.

May was the first to detach herself from the mess on the ground. "Sorry July; we just wanted to see January off!"

July and January both laughed.

"Is anyone else here?" July asked. "February, maybe?"

Finally, June sat up. "Nope, just us three! February's drunk as usual. I think he's bothering March now; we got bored of February's blatantattempts to flirt with us, so we went to find you guys."

June stood up and made a little aha sound. "October is scaring November again; she probably still thinks it's Halloween- and I think September and August are waiting with 2010 for Lavendel's arrival."

April sprang up, exclaiming, "Oh! 10 seconds!"

10…

(January's heart skipped a beat-)

9…

8…

7…

(What's 2012 going to be like?she thought-)

6…

5…

4…

(And January could feel herself fading from the House of Years, towards Earth's pull, Earth's gravity-)

3…

2…

1.

American Samoa's population, that final Nation to call for the dreaded New Year, yelled the countdown's last number. Their voices, loud and ringing through the air, across the planet, the International Date Line and the oceans connecting every continent, sent January spinning and forced her eyes into closing. She couldn't see, but she could feel herself slipping from her home, flung onto the Earth, contact severed from her fellow Months and their presence.

Her limbs flailed and her legs dangled until she felt something damp and soft beneath her feet- soil of the lawn outside of one of the Nation's houses. Every year, a different Nation welcomed January and the baby Year into their residence first; last time it had been Germany's turn, but when January opened her eyes she saw a completely different building, albeit one she had spent time in before.

So we start this year in America's house.

She took a moment to contemplate whether or not America would have changed too much in the time they'd spent apart- but when she heard a little kid's laugh, she turned around and abruptly discarded her train of thought.

There was a boy with jet black hair and strikingly bright green eyes watching her intently; he was pale, and the gleaming sunlight against his skin did nothing to alter his complexion. This couldn't be America; America was a cheery blond boy, sun-kissed and overly-energetic.

January frowned at the sight of a small white dragon, the size of a terrier, beating its paper-thin wings whilst circling the child's head. It would occasionally dive and swoop, the acrobatics making the boy laugh. At the realization of who exactly she was facing, January smiled and began to make her way across the grounds, the blades of grass beneath her toes soothing against her sore soles.

"Hello; I believe you are 2012, right?"

The boy nodded, confused as to who he was facing. "Y-yes, I am."

January bent down to his level. It had been a while since she had to deal with children like this. "Well, I'm January; you can call me Jan, okay?"

The boy cocked his head to the side. "Am I really gonna be called 2012? Don't I get a name like you?"

January laughed. She thought of the Earth's languages, and she thought of who 2012 was- he was rumoured to be a child with fantastical strength, the first realpotentially Earth-destroying Year in centuries. And yet, he was so young, so small- the manifestation of innocent. That wouldn't last long; he would soon grow. The lifecycle of a Year was condensed into twelve months, no more and no less, no matter how much January sometimes wished she could change that.

She couldn't let the child know her thoughts, it would only frighten him. So she smiled and said, "Alright. How about.. Deireadh? Sound good to you?"

The boy smiled back. His dragon swooped and hissed, and 2012- Deireadh- frowned when he remembered its presence; he couldn't have become well acquainted with the animal because he had been alive for less than a minute, but he had already inherited all the knowledge of the Earth's past, his unbridled power hidden behind the wide, child-like curiosity in his eyes.

"Hey, what about my dragon?"

January knew that the dragon, unlike the months, would stay by his side until the day he died, so she thought it would only be proper for Deireadh to choose the name himself. "Youname it."

Deireadh nodded. "I like Zenif. Because my dragon is a boy, you know."

January's smile returned. "So, 2012, you ready to start your year?"

Deireadh nodded. "Yes, I am! I know what I have to do. It's… it's all I know. I'm a Year, right?"

January stood up and held out her hand. "Come on, Deireadh, I'm going to show you the world you live in. First stop this time 'round is meeting America."