Trail of Breadcrumbs
Pairing: Denmark x Norway
Summary: ...Like a trail of breadcrumbs, you lead me back home.
Word Count: 1400
Disclaimer: Axis Powers Hetalia (c) Hidekaz Himaruya
...Like a trail of breadcrumbs, you lead me back home.
Norway paused at his doorstep, a hand hovering over the doorknob. He narrowed his cobalt eyes at the folded slip of paper taped to the chipped varnish of the wood and took it down warily. The outside of the paper was blank, white as winter's snow, so he could safely assume that the importance of it was on the inside. He unfolded the paper and scanned the message written there in slanted scrawl.
Norge,
You've found the first of many. Your favorite tale will tell you more.
There was no signature and Norway's suspicion increased. His eyebrows furrowed as he re-read the second sentence of the message. Shaking his head in bewilderment, he stepped inside his home, setting his briefcase near the door, and gazed at the interior, searching for anything disturbed or amiss and found nothing. He wandered towards the bookshelf—his curiosity getting the better of him, he figured the best place to find a tale would be in a book. Spying his current read on his side table, he sat down in the chair and took it up. He flipped through the first few pages slowly, and then, with a sudden realization, quickly turned to the page he had last bookmarked. His suspicions were confirmed and there was another message, scrawled onto a sticky note on the page.
The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plains, but the snows in Norway are everywhere, even in your own backyard.
Despite his initial reservations about the sender of these notes, Norway found himself doubting the bad intentions of him. In addition, he was a terrible author of "suspicious messages" and he found himself doubting the intelligence of sender. With a sigh, he closed the book and walked out to his backyard and looked for something significant. Snow wasn't a very good clue, as it was in fact everywhere, but soon he found what he was looking for. A large snowman was standing near the edge of the forest the bordered the end of his yard. He examined the snowman, uncertain of exactly what he was supposed to see. A cold gust of wind abruptly blew past him and the snowman's small black hat flew off. He stooped to pick up the article, surprised to find that it was made of paper. In fact, it was a very cleverly-made origami hat and he took the liberty of undoing it and, sure enough, there was message written on the inside of the black paper.
Just think of what you've done to this poor snowman. Now, he's hatless!
Well, it's time to get serious. Helmets were important back then, don't you remember? As were the trees and the forest. But you know that better than anyone, don't you Norge? Your little friends certainly seem to think so.
At this, Norway was puzzled. The whole note seemed mismatched, jumping around from subject to subject. He pursed his lips, trying to think of what exactly the author meant by the message this time. Obviously, it had to do with the forest. The proximity of the location of the note itself coupled with the note's content certainly made that clear. But he wasn't quite sure what it meant. At the edge of the forest, he stood, contemplating, when a gurgling from the nearby river caught his attention. On the water, an islet with two red lights floated downstream. Norway walked along the river, following the water sprite, until he was met with a small clearing that he frequented. A small fairy whizzed by his hair in a flurry and he spoke in a small voice, asking the sprite whether she knew anything about the paper he held. She shook her little head and flew around him again, until she finally stopped, alighting on his shoulder and whispered in her own language that he should ask the tussers.
He nodded and the fairy flew off, leaving him alone. No, he wasn't alone. He found a small area of dirt and moss and whispered to it in the language of its residents, beckoning them outside. He was met with compliance, as the little tusser came out, listened to his request and wordlessly went back into its earthen home to retrieve a small, very small, note. Paper wrapped in a leaf, with a twine ribbon sealing it from opening. Norway took the item and thanked his friend, gingerly undoing the tiny bow and reading the message inside.
Don't you know exactly how hard it was to tie that bow? It's not easy, you know!
This place brings back memories, doesn't it? At least, it does for me.
Memories... I will never forget when you left me. You took a ship and sailed away and in that moment... well, it's all in the history books now. I sometimes wonder how you felt that day. You never told me, never made any expression. As cold and beautiful as the sea. A gull's call resonates within me as I let go of you.
Norway read the note a few more times before it crumpled in his hand. He clenched his eyes shut; he knew who it was making him go on this pseudo scavenger hunt. The only person who could ever make him do something so absurd. He was also the only person who would go to such lengths to tell him... well, Norway wasn't quite sure exactly what it was he was trying to tell him... Blinking, he sighed heavily and made his way to the harbor. He knew exactly where to go this time.
The harbor was alive with motion. He stood at the docks where they had separated. He glanced down at the note again and made a resolved beeline to the flagpole that proudly flew his flag. A seagull's had made its nest next to the pole and it had been there for so many years that no one had moved it. A paper stuck out from underneath the twigs and paraphernalia. The message was much simpler than any of the others.
Home is where the heart is, Norge.
Norway paused at the doorstep, a hand hovering over the knob. He widened his cobalt eyes at the folded slip of paper taped to the chipped varnish of the wood and took it down gingerly. He needed a mere glance at the content to hurry inside.
In the library of his own home, Denmark stood by the window, with a pensive gaze at the sky. Norway entered swiftly and quietly and stared at his childhood friend. A touch to his elbow and the tall Nordic looked down at the smaller blond. He smiled softly, with a glowing flush. "You found all my notes, I see."
"You're a terrible poet."
"I thought I did okay."
"...Just don't go thinking of making a career out of it."
Denmark let out a breath and stood wordless, looking down at his friend. He hesitantly lifted a hand and, receiving no resistance, cupped Norway's cheek. Norway sucked in a breath between his teeth but slowly relaxed into the touch. "Did you... read the last one?"
"You had something to tell me." Norway asserted with closed eyes. He felt Denmark's hand twitch on his cheeks, beginning to pull away, but he stopped the motion with a slender hand covering the Dane's own, keeping it in place.
"Y-ye... well, I..." He trailed off, reveling in the Norwegian's caring action.
"Actions speak louder than words, Danmark," Norway said with conviction. He opened his cobalt eyes to gaze up at the other, inching just the slightest closer. When the Dane's head dipped down, his eyes fluttered shut once more and their lips met with a chaste touch. He twined their connected fingers together and Denmark's other hand came to rest at his waist, keeping him close.
"I'm not going to run away," he said, pulling away just enough to speak.
"I'm not going to let go of you again, Norge," Denmark whispered back.
"You don't have to."
"Good," he said with finality, pulling the smaller Nordic close. "I love you too much to let you go."
"Jeg vet. Jeg elsker deg."
"Jeg elsker dig! So very much..." Denmark whispered lovingly and leaned back in to kiss the daylights out of his friend and the one person he would always love more than anything in the world.
A/N: I'm proud of myself! I wrote this entirely on the computer last night. It was just a little idea that started with that first line up there at the top of the text. So, I went with it and actually like how it turned out! I don't normally type up my fics solely on the computer--I like to write them in a notebook first then type it up. So, I do like this one, but it is not my favorite of my own works. I thought the idea was very cute, but it is not my best writing. Please forgive the horrible-ness of Denmark's notes. I would not make a good suspicious-note-writer ^_^;;; Maybe my writer's block is finally going away! MOAR DenNor because that seems to be the only pairing I have been able to write as of late _
Tussers are small beings living under the ground. They are old, ugly and look as a mixture of bones, moss and twigs.
A nøkk is a water sprite found in rivers and lakes. It can turn up as a handsome young man playing the violin, as a white horse, or a ghastly head that can look like a small island with red lights.