Latvia squirmed in his seat, anxious for the World Conference to begin. Absolutely everyone was in Munich for the conference: countries, territories, regions, and micronations alike. The Baltics, Russia, and Poland had been here early; Estonia had made sure of that, but Latvia was getting bored.
Finally, Germany yelled the chatter in the room to a halt. "SHUT UP! WE NEED TO GET THINGS DONE THIS TIME! NOW, ATTENDANCE, IN REVERSE ALPHABETICAL ORDER! ZIMBABWE!"
"Here, Germany."
"Zambia!"
"I'm here."
"Yemen!" And so on, all the way to the L's.
"Lesotho!"
"I'm here, sir."
"Lebanon!"
"Yes, I'm here."
"Latvia!" But Latvia didn't get his chance to answer, because at that moment, the door to the huge conference room was thrown open with a bang, and a blond country marched in with fury in his eyes.
"WHO DID IT?" the country roared. "WHO STOLE IT?"
Germany responded. "America! Shut up, sit down, and add it to the agenda!"
"Uh, dude, I'm over here! I've been here the whole time!" Sure enough, America was in his chair, a plate of burgers on top of his papers.
Latvia looked from the country standing seething in the doorway to America and back. They looked like each other, and America certainly sounded like that when you ticked him off. Latvia had definitely learned that the hard way. So who was this guy? Everyone else looked equally bewildered – well, almost everyone.
America still looked confused, but he obviously recognized the country. Prussia simply grinned. France looked shocked, but the shock quickly faded into amused pride. And Russia had his small, dangerous-looking smile on his face.
"Canada, it is nice of you to join us. But what is wrong? You look troubled."
Canada… yes, Latvia had heard of him before, when Russia was having trouble with a polar bear. Russia had asked Lithuania to call this Canada up for him. Other than that, Latvia couldn't remember anything about him. He must be a micronation - some little island up near Iceland or something, Latvia concluded. He resolved to ask later.
"Yeah, dude, Canada, what's up man? You're never late!" America asked, surprised.
Canada exhaled and set his jaw. "Someone broke into the strategic maple syrup reserve."
Latvia heard a small giggle from the direction of Poland, then another from Belarus, followed quickly by Prussia, and soon almost everyone was laughing. Even Germany and Japan cracked smiles. Poland eventually fell out of his chair. Soon America did the same.
"Dude…" he gasped. "Dude, you have a STRATEGIC MAPLE SYRUP RESERVE?"
"YES!" Canada screamed in such an uncharacteristic tone that everyone but Sealand managed to stop laughing. "It's VERY important to my economy! That was over thirty million dollars of maple syrup that was stolen! And if any of YOU are behind its disappearance…"
"We're sorry, Canada," Liechtenstein apologized. "We shouldn't have laughed."
"Liechtenstein is right," Germany affirmed. "I will add it to the agenda, and we will go over it first thing tomorrow. Now, let's get started."
-/|\\-
Latvia sat in his spot at the table, fidgeting, as he waited for the meeting to begin. It did, eventually. Germany called the room to order in his usual fashion. "SHUT UP! TIME TO GET STARTED! Everyone please go to page sixteen of your agenda. Our first matter of business is… wait, what is this? This isn't relevant… very well, make that page seventeen of your agenda."
"Hey! That was important!" the blond country sitting next to Latvia said. Well, Latvia at least thought he was a country… perhaps he was just one of another nation's aides or something like that. Latvia turned to the man, curious.
"Excuse me, sir, but what country do you represent?"
The man just looked at Latvia for a long time with his sad violet eyes. He did not say anything, but turned back to Germany, who was currently briefing the room on major flaws in the Venezuelan judiciary and correctional systems. The blonde shook his head slowly.
"I'm Canadia."
AN: Hi, guys! Yes, there is actually a Canadian Maple Syrup Reserve, and it was broken into a couple months ago. I wrote this a few days afterward, but couldn't post until now. I hope you enjoyed and will review! Please? You will get maple syrup. And who doesn't like maple syrup? Thanks for reading! -Luna
