"You're sure, Arthur?"
"Bloody hell, how many times do I have to say it? Yes, I'm sure!"
"Hey, Iggy? She still looks really pale. Think it was too much for her to take in?"
"Yes, America, it probably was too much."
"Mon ami, you are too blunt. You have to know how to tell girls such horrible things."
"And how is being a country horrible, I'd like to know?"
"When a person has to deal with your huge eyebrows, mon lapin."
"Why you-!"
"And they wonder why I detest French people," I managed to say, forcing my eyes open again.
Arthur's laugh rang through the room. "Looks like you don't know how to talk to this girl Francis."
"Hmph," was all the Frenchman said.
"So un-awesome, you two, fighting where a delicate girl can hear you."
I sat up, fighting the dizziness, and glared around the fuzzy room. Someone had taken my glasses off. "Who the hell said that? I'm not delicate! I earned my third degree black belt in tae kwon do! I can protect myself!"
Alfred, who was standing right next to me, handed me my glasses. "That was Gilbert, your idol, who said that," he said sarcastically.
I shoved my glasses on, glaring at him. "Oh, shut it, you."
"What's this, what's this? I have a fan?"
I turned, my nose almost touching Prussia's nose, he was so close. His eyes were more of a soft, sexy red, I thought faintly. Nothing like the blood red color most people said his eyes were. And his hair was shorter than the anime portrayed, and soft-looking, sparkly white not silver or grey. His skin was extremely pale, yes, but in an attractive way. From what I could see, his body was lean, but with muscles. He was wearing a black t-shirt, a pair of well-worn red jeans and black sneakers.
He smiled. "Hi. I hear you're a fan of mine."
I blinked, coming back to the present. "Er….um, yeah…I mean, I have Prussian ancestry, so I always kinda thought you were… I dunno, kinda cool…." I trailed off awkwardly.
He smiled a little bigger. "That's awesome."
"Prussia, stop short-circuiting the poor girls brain, and let her breathe!" A German-accented voice commanded.
I looked the other way and saw Ludwig. "Hi, Germany. You're a lot more handsome in person than in the anime or the manga."
He blinked. "Um…danke."
"Bitte schon," I said sweetly.
His eyes narrowed. "You understand Deutsch?"
I shrugged. "Some. I'm trying to learn German and Danish."
He nodded.
"That's Hungary over there," Arthur pointed to a striking woman with long, wavy auburn hair and glowing green eyes.
"Elizaveta," I said, peering around France at her.
She smiled and waved at me. I waved back.
"The man to her right is Austria, and on her left is Romania."
I giggled.
Arthur looked at me. "Pardon, did I say something funny?"
"No, no, it wasn't you. I'm just thinking…" I smirked at him. "You're gonna have a hard time when Andrea gets here. You're her favorite."
Arthur turned a very becoming shade of cherry red. Alfred started laughing.
I grinned at him. "You have no right to laugh. My friend Kortinee likes you the best."
His laughter stopped abruptly, and he gaped at me. "Really? I have a fan?"
"Let's see….Megan likes Austria best, Star likes Russia, Jenny likes Canada" -Matthew blushed scarlet- "Lanie likes Netherlands, Erin likes Australia, Chelsea likes Turkey, and my sister, Arianna, likes Thailand." I folded my hands and laid them in my lap. "I think that's all."
There were a bunch of red faces when I looked up. I grinned.
"I-it's not funny!" Arthur spluttered. "I don't even know this friend of yours!"
"She still likes you," I teased, smirking when his blush deepened.
"And who do you like?" Alfred asked casually.
I laughed. "Oh, no you don't. You're not getting that tidbit so easily."
Prussia laughed. "She's not as simple as you, America."
We grinned at each other.
"I resent that!"
"I think he meant to say he resembles that," I muttered at Gilbert, who threw his head back laughing.
"Meine gute, a female Prussia," Ludwig groaned. "Just what we don't need, two crazy people running around."
I looked around, ignoring Germany. "So, where's the third member of the Bad Touch Trio? Where's Spain?"
"He's around here somewhere," Gilbert shrugged. Then he raised an eyebrow at me. "Don't tell me you like him? Cuz he's stuck on Feli's big sister, Lovina."
"The Italy's are girls?" I asked, surprised.
"Let me guess, they're boys in your manga."
"Yup," I sighed. "But I write fanfics about them as girls. Are Germany and North Italy together yet?"
Gilbert and Alfred started laughing. Even Arthur cracked a small smirk.
"This girl knows everything!" Gilbert howled with laughter, holding his stomach.
Alfred had collapsed on the floor with laughter, pounding the floor with his fist. Arthur was sniggering. Even Matthew was chuckling.
I looked at them, confused about their reaction. Then I noticed Germany's face was beet-red. "Oh… I'm sorry, Ludwig. I didn't mean to embarrass you. But back in my dimension, my friends and I ship you two. Always have, always will."
This set off another round of loud laughter.
"What did I say now?"
"N-nothing," Alfred gasped. "Never mind…you - hahaha! - just are really funny, that's all."
Matthew struggled to stop laughing. "You see, Skyler, we've been trying to get those two to admit they have feelings for each other for a couple years now. We're almost to the point of giving up. The way you put it just struck us funny."
I opened my mouth to speak, but was prevented when some invisible force whacked me in the chest. I gasped in surprise and looked down, expecting to see blood or something.
"Something wrong?"
I looked up into concerned red eyes. "It felt like something hit me…"
Arthur nodded behind Gilbert. "That means one of your friends, or your sister, is here. We'd better go find them."
"Can I come too?"
"Of course you can!" Gilbert glanced at Arthur. "Can't she?"
Arthur rolled his eyes. "Yes, she can come. That's the first time you've ever asked my permission on anything. Are you sick or something?"
Ludwig snorted, ignoring his brothers fake wounded look.
Gilbert shot something in German at his brother, and Ludwig hissed something back at him. They glared at each other.
"Yo, Prussia! We gonna go find my friend or not?" I asked, trying to distract him.
His face lost it's angry look, and he smiled easily at me, the distraction working. "Ja, let's go."
Prussia, obviously not thinking, grabbed my hand and pulled me from the room, Alfred and Arthur hurrying along behind to keep up. My face grew hot, but I couldn't smiling. I was finally where I wanted to be, holding hands with Prussia, one of my favorite anime characters. Well, live people, now that I'd met him in real life.
"You feel anything?" He asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.
I thought for a minute. "Yeah…a slight pulling kind of sensation. It's coming from this way…" I started pulling him to the left.
HONK!
Gilbert yanked me backwards into him, both of us landing in a heap as a car flew past. I stared after it, feeling slightly dazed.
"Y'know, it might be better for your life's sake if you make sure there are no cars coming next time," Gilbert said, sounding amused…and muffled.
I looked over my shoulder, and felt my face grow warm again when I realized that his arms were around my waist, and his face was hidden by my shoulder. He peeked over my shoulder at me, his eyes sparkling with amusement.
"Peek-a-boo," he teased, resting his chin on my shoulder.
I giggled.
"You two okay?!" Alfred said, catching up to us, Arthur right behind him. "I saw the car almost hit you!"
"I'm fine," I said. "But I think I squished poor Gilbert."
"Nah, you're light as a feather," he disagreed, sliding out from under me, then grasped my waist and pulled me to my feet.
I steadied myself by placing my hands on his shoulders, my head spinning from delayed shock. "That was scary…"
"Ja, but nothing happened," he reassured me, his voice soft and comforting.
I looked up, the dizziness receding a little. His red eyes gazed back, the amusement fading from them, replaced by something unfamiliar. We stayed like that, his hands on my waist, my hands on his shoulders, gazing into each others eyes, until the spell was broken by a loud cough. I looked to see Arthur and Alfred exchange a knowing look.
Alfred grinned at me. "I think I've figured out who you like, Skyler."
My face grew hotter at his words, but I played innocent. "Oh? And who do you think it is?"
He looked at Gilbert, me, Gilbert, then me again. His grin grew wider. "I think you know who I mean."
Gilbert let loose my waist and stepped back, my hands falling from his shoulders. "Stop teasing her, America, and let's go find her friend," he said, frowning at Alfred, who kept grinning.
I felt the same pulling sensation, and turned to the left - making sure I wasn't about to be run over first - then ran across the road to a park. Right in front of me sat a girl in the grass, her back to me, gazing up at the sky. I recognized her the instant I saw her, even from the back. The blonde hair was a giveaway.
"Star! Star! It's me, Skyler!" I yelled, running at her.
She sprang to her feet and stared as I skidded to a halt in front of her. A smile spread across her face.
"Oh, goody! A friend in my dream. Hi, Skyler."
I laughed. "You goofball, this isn't a dream! We're really in New York City. What do you remember last?"
She thought for a minute. "Hmmm…..the last thing I remember is doing my homework at my desk, then resting my head on my books….I guess I must've dozed off."
"Skyler! Stop charging off!"
I raised an eyebrow at Gilbert as he caught up to me. Alfred and Arthur were watching us from across the street.
"So, which one is this?" Gilbert asked, eyeing Sophie, who stared back, gaping at him.
"Th-th-that's P-Prussia!" She squeaked. "H-how-! Where-why-"
"Stop talking, and I'll tell you!"
She shut her mouth, gazing at me questioningly.
I smiled. "This is Gilbert. Alfred and Arthur are back there, on the other side of the road. Guess what, Star? We ended up in their dimension."
"We're in the anime?" she sounded so confused!
"No, silly. They're alive and real, as you can see for yourself. And guess what?" I leaned closer, whispering in her ear, "You'll get to meet Russia. In person."
Her eyes sparked, face lighting up. "Let's go see him right now!"
Gilbert snickered. "Which country is it?"
I sighed. "You won't like it. She wants to meet Russia."
"Oh, really." He looked at Star, smirking. "Maybe you can get Mr. Sadistic to become a normal person. I wanna watch this meeting."
Star eyed him. "Russia is a kind person. He's just misunderstood, that's all."
Gilbert looked at me in disbelief.
I shrugged. "Hey, the man likes sunflowers. Only a man with gentleness would like sunflowers."
"I like flowers too, and I don't push around the Baltic States," Gilbert muttered.
"Well, that's something in your favor," I teased, watching as his eyes sparkled again.
"Who's this?"
I turned. Arthur was there, staring curiously at Star, as though he knew her but couldn't quite place her.
"This is Star, one of my friends."
Star's blue eyes sparkled in awe, staring at Arthur. She flipped her long, curly blonde hair over her shoulder. "Hi, England. You look a lot better in person than in anime form. I can't believe Himaruya made your eyebrows so big! They look normal to me."
Arthur blinked a couple times. "Um…thank you?"
"Hey, Artie…don't we know her?" Alfred looked at Sophie, then me. "And her? Before today?"
"They look familiar, now that I see them together…like long-lost relatives, or something…." Arthur mused.
Then Gilbert made a strangled noise. "I remember now…don't you guys remember that incident? Where the girls disappeared in your magic black hole?"
Arthur glared at him. "Would you stop bringing that up?! It wasn't my fault! They shouldn't have been wandering the old passageways-" He cut himself off, his jaw dropping open. "I don't believe it…you're right!"
Star and I looked at each other, then back at them. "What is it now?" I asked warily.
"Antarctica?" Arthur asked hesitantly. "Is that you?"
I looked behind myself, but saw no one behind me. Then I realized he'd spoken to me!
Star looked at me. "She's a country?"
Alfred pointed at Star. "It's Greenland! Sophie! Wait until Denmark and Norway hear! They'll be glad to have her back."
Arthur ignored him, instead slowly coming closer to me, his face full of relief and guilt. "I'm so sorry about what happened. I didn't know you and your friends were in the passageway above me."
I swallowed hard. "What are you talking about? Don't you remember? I'm just Skyler from Indiana!"
"No," Arthur shook his head. "Skyler isn't even your true name. You're name wasArtemis, before you vanished. And," he swallowed hard, tears shining in his eyes. "You're my little sister."
It was the second time I'd passed out that day, and I'm pretty sure Sophie passed out before I did.
