*Twitch, twitch* After watching HetaOni and Fullmetal Alchemist all week long, I FINALLY got some of my sense back and decided to update. …My mind is about to freaking explode right now…and I finished writing this at 2:40 in the morning last night…Um, so, yeah…enjoy and R&R! :D

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Axis Powers: Hetalia.

December 14th, 2008

I was fourteen again; living in my own little world in the frigid, icy weather. Emil, two at the time, was lying on the ground, rocking back and forth holding onto his feet, and sucking on that dirty Puffin in his mouth.

He was innocent; aloof of everything that I'd be worrying about for the past hour. Did children as young as him even worry at all? He seemed so happy, like everything was perfect. And I could only envy being him at the time.

Instead of being happy and worriless like my little brother, I stared out the window into the icy night. Where white snow blanketed across the land, and it all seemed so serene. Yet I could only worry. Where were our parents; they said they'd be back over an hour ago. Something wasn't right, I knew that for a fact, and the rising anxiety and nausea would only push higher at the thought.

"Lukey, why you look out da window?" Emil asked me, his dark eyes curious. He's just learned to talk at the time, and didn't know very many words. It was one of the first sentences I'd ever heard him speak.

I turned to him, giving him a fake smile and a happy façade to make sure he didn't worry as well. "It's nothing, Emil, I'm just a little bored is all. You have nothing to worry about; just go back to playing, alright?"

He nodded, and continued to play with his feet. The kid hadn't changed a bit.

I was watching over him for the night while our parents went out for their anniversary. I was fourteen, so I knew I was old enough to watch over him by myself. Besides, it was only for a couple of hours that they'd be gone. And we would have gotten a call if anything dramatic happened!

It seemed like perfect, and coincidental timing as that thought occurred, as the doorbell had rung not a moment after.

I sighed, telling my brother to stay put while I answered it, wondering who exactly would be here at such a late hour at night. Yet as I opened the door, there in front of me stood Kya, an old friend of mine and neighbor, along with her parents. She was crying, with tears frozen too her cheeks and her blue eyes misty, with both her mother and father clinging onto each other in sorrow. Something definitely wasn't right.

She looked up at me, sniffling, as two more tears trickled down her face. "Lukas…" She whispered.

"Kya…what is it, why are you crying? What happened that could possibly be so bad?" I asked her quietly. At that, her mother buried her face in her father's chest, as he soothed and shushed her then looked up at me.

More tears fells from Kya's eyes, as she immediately flung onto me in embrace, and sobbed. "Oh Lukas, I'm so sorry!" She wailed, letting out a violent sob in the process.

I stood there confused and scared and she cried and hugged me, attempting to hug back but found myself unable to move. What was going on?

"W-What's going on? Why are you guys acting all sad and stuff? Answer me!" I demanded, feeling frightened tears well up in my eyes.

The girl's father stepped in and sighed, looking me dead in the eye. It was a look I had never seen before coming from him, a look of…sorrow and pity…

"Lukas…I'm sorry, son, but…you're parent, Elina and Aleksande, they…died in a car accident earlier tonight. Somebody hit them dead on, and they were killed instantly. We just heard news from the hospital; they called us because they didn't want you two to be alone when you were told. I'm so, so sorry, Lukas…"

At that moment, my body had completely shut down. I stood frozen to the ground, speechless and unable to breathe, completely dumbstruck as I felt my body go numb and weak. This wasn't happening; it couldn't be!

Anger bubbled up under my skin, and once my senses had finally snapped back, I immediately pushed Kya away, stumbling backwards and gripping onto my head. An intense amount of nausea rose up in my body, and it felt as if I were about to throw-up right then.

"No…no it can't be! Stop lying to me, they're not dead! This isn't funny!" I cried, hot tears rushing down my face.

The man sighed, walking closer to me and putting is hand on my shoulder. "Lukas…I'm afraid we're not lying. I'm so sorry, son, I wish we could do something to help."

I could only stand there in utter shock for several more seconds, not even daring the process the entire situation through my mind. This couldn't be happening, it just couldn't! Why would God make them die at a time like this; it just wasn't' fair! Not when Emil was so young and I was only an adolescent! None of this could be true!

Not knowing what else to do or how else to react, I clung onto the man, squeezing him tight and gripping onto his shirt as tears poured down my face. Vicious sobs escaped from my mouth, and I began to sake untrollably. He shushed me, rubbing my back comfortably as I cried.

Just then, I head the slightest pitter-patter of footsteps from behind me, and turning around I saw a bewildered Emil standing at the entrance of the door. "Brother, why are you crying?" He asked me, saddened by the sight of my tears and sobs.

And that was the last thing I could remember before I had fallen and completely blacked out.

I woke up that morning in a cold sweat, panting heavily as I jolted upright in my bed. I immediately turned to the calendar hanging up on my wall, observing that date closely.

December 15th, 2010-Wednesday.

I let out a sigh of relief, slowly lying my head back down on my pillow, and shutting my eyes.

It was just a dream… I thought, placing a cold hand against my damp face to cool it down. Burning saltwater rolled down it and onto the sheet, and I couldn't tell if it was a tear or sweat. A mix of both, maybe? All I knew was that my head was throbbing, and I needed a hot shower to clean off my sweat-drenched body. A bad dream at that…

As I turned to my right, I looked down only to see Emil clinging onto my arm, nuzzling up against my chest. Sighing, I stroked the silver hair out of his eyes. He really needs to learn to sleep in his own bed…I'll let it slide for tonight.

I smiled at him, kissing him lightly on the forehead as I got out of bed, trying my best not to wake him up and to let him sleep. He needed it, after all.

Trudging groggily to the bathroom, I watched from the window outside the door as a light snow fell from the sky and danced across the white blanket that had already been lain out for quite a while now. At this rate, we'd have snow until the end of March! But neither Emil nor I really cared. He liked the snow, and by now, I was used to it.

After warming myself up with a nice, steaming shower, I stepped out and dried off my dripping body, trying my damp hair back in a short ponytail just as before. Before I could even step out the door, I took one last look at the boy I saw in the mirror. The fourteen-year old me; the happy me, and the person I wanted back so desperately it hurt.

I glared at the reflection, clenching my fists as I was about to shatter that mirror into a thousand pieces. Scowling, I raised my fist to take the first punch, yet as I tried I only stumbled farther towards the sink. Why was I doing this; why was I even thinking about punching that mirror? Doing that, it would only just put me in an even worse situation; with a crippled hand and sticky blood all over the floor. If I did that, there was no way Emil would ever be able to help me; he couldn't drive or reach the telephone on the wall! Besides, if I was going to support him, it was time I started setting a good example. And it would be just too risky to pay for another mirror if I broke it.

I sighed, staring back into those dull, dark eyes, glaring one last time as I walked out the door. "If I don't learn to love myself more soon, then…I'll probably just crumble and leave Emil here all alone and by himself…" I mumbled under my breath, tying the robe around my body and quietly walking downstairs.

My stomach gnawed and begged for food, wanting to at least get something nice to fill it up. Yet standing in front of our refrigerator, I noticed almost nothing was left inside; only a bag of what looked like rotten lettuce, an empty ketchup bottle, and some mayonnaise.

Hadn't I just gone shopping the week before? That's what it seemed like, but judging from the emptiness, it had apparently been longer than that. I sighed, blonde bangs falling over my eyes as I lowered my head. "Guess I'm going to have to do some shopping today…"

Emil and I trudged along through the snow as we walked back from the market, him singing happily to himself close by my side, as I carried the two bags of food we had bought from the store. The temperature had finally gotten warmer, being at about six degrees Celsius, although soft flakes of snow still fell from the sky.

Harsh winds bit against my bare ear, as my hair was tied back, and I flinched at its cold touch. My hands were full, so I couldn't exactly untie the ponytail. And Emil was already carrying a small bag too, Mr. Puffin sitting on the top, so that was out of the question. I sighed, trying to resist the cold and get used to it, as our house was still a good fourth of a mile away.

"Lukey, why don't we have a car?" Emil asked me, staring down at the bag he was carrying.

I sighed. He didn't quite understand yet, did he? Even two years later, it was all just a haze to him for being so young. "Well Emil, it's because we don't have very much money, and can't pay for a car. I don't even have my driver's license yet! Don't worry, the cold will go away soon."

The child nodded, continuing his singing, which apparently seemed like it was to Mr. Puffin. I'd been smiling a lot lately seeing him so happy, and it was a nice way to lighten the mood, especially when times were as tough as were right now.

I continued to smile at his singing, closing my eyes slightly and looking upward to let the cold snow fall on my face. It wasn't until I heard the sound of a voice I recognized that brought me back into focus.

"Hi Lukas, hi Emil!" The voice sang, as footsteps followed after it.

Looking up, I watched as Kya, our neighbor of two years, ran towards us with a smile glued to her face. Her family had moved from Denmark in next to us that June of 2008, just before mine and my brother's parents had died. Ever since I first saw her, there was something about her that I always found so…stunning…

With her bright blue eyes sparkling in the sunlight, and her long, dark brown hair bouncing behind her as she ran. Kya had been adopted from Greenland as a child, with her olive skin-tone watching perfectly with her face. I wasn't much of a person to really be attracted to most things, but there was something about her that I just found so…wonderful.

"Oh, um, hi Kya." I said, feeling a tinge of warmth make its way onto my chilled face.

She smiled as she ran towards us, stopping in front of me with a bag in her hand. "Hey Lukas. I haven't seen you guys in a while. How are you; I was just on my way to the market." Kya chirped.

"I'm good. Emil and I were just coming back from the market; we were completely out of food. How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks!" She turned to Emil, crouching down to meet him at eye level. "Hi Emil, is you brother being nice?" The girl said to him sweetly. She always did love children; especially Emil since we were so close with her family.

He nodded happily. "Yep! Miss Kya, Lukey also said something about having a crush on somebody! I think he said it might have something to do with you…I overheard him say it in the bathroom this morning!"

My face flared a thousand shades of burning red, and I immediately nudged him lightly on the arm to get him to shut up. I knew he didn't know any better; he was just a child, young and naïve. But he could at least keep it to himself or ask me about it first.

Kya's cheeks dusted pink, and she chuckled at his words. "Oh, did he know?" She said, shooting a glance at me as she stood back up. I could only look away, not wanting either of them to see my embarrassed face. "…So Lukas…how was yesterday? I know it was the 14th; did you guys do anything special?"

I turned back around as soon as my face had finally cooled down, trying to at least give her a fake smile. "It was…good; I can't believe it's actually been two years already. We went and visited our parents' graves, kind of emotional if you think about it." I replied. The last time that girl had ever seen me cry was that time two years when I was first informed they were dead, and I couldn't let her know that I did know. Not after trying to be so strong.

The girl sighed, shifting her eyes to the ground. "It's ok to admit it, Lukas. Nobody's here to judge; I would have been that upset if I was in that situation, too."

So she actually could she right through me. Was it really that obvious? As a long and awkward silence set it, with the only sound being to howl of the wind, I felt it was only necessary to speak up what I had to say. "Have you guys found your brother yet?"

Kya looked up at me at that, seeming shocked almost, then sighed and lowered her head once more. "Not yet. It's been so long since he ran off; I don't think he'll ever come back! It seems like there's nothing we can do about it now…"

Seeing her hopeless expression, I smiled in an attempt to cheer her up. "Don't give up now, Kya, I'm sure you and your family will find him. Besides, he can't be too far right? After all, Norway is quite a ways away from Denmark." I encouraged.

"Yes, but…it's been over two years now, he could have easily made his way over there by now. It's either that, or he's…dead…"

Although I didn't want to upset her, the girl's point could very well be true. About two years ago, right after they had moved to Olso, Kya's older brother ran off, and they never heard from him again. I never knew that guy's name, but what I did know from her was that apparently their father got angry at him one night, and he just got sick of it and…left.

I remembered just how depressed she was those next few months, having been so close to him, and that there was nothing Emil, our parents, or I could do. Yet that's why I knew she was always there for us after our own tragedy; because she knew how we felt after our loss. And I couldn't thank the girl enough for that.

"Don't worry, Kya, he's probably still alive out there. You never know the truth until it's actually proven." I lied, trying to comfort her. He probably was dead, yet it was a fifty-fifty chance.

Kya smiled. "Thanks Luke; I owe you guys a lot. Well, I'm going to go now so that I don't have to keep my parents waiting. It was nice talking to you guys again; I'll see you later!" With that she walked off in the opposite direction of us toward the market. Yet there was one last thing I had to say that was nagging me in the back of my mind.

"Wait, Kya," I stopped her, and she turned back around with a bewildered look on her face. "I just wanted to say…t-thank you, for everything that you and you're parents have done for us in last two years. Sending us to school, helping us out and providing us when we're in need, it's really…it's really helped us. These past years have been hard, but we've managed! I should be the one owing you." I admitted, feeling a warm touch of blush make its way onto my face.

Her face had the exact same reaction, and she smiled. "You're welcome; it's no problem, really! Your family helped us when we were still sad about my brother running away, so we're just repaying the favor. Well, see you guys later!"

I smiled and waved as she left, letting out a long sigh as Emil and I continued walking towards our house. Yet as Kya disappeared over the horizon, that's when I smacked my brother softly on the arm once more.

He winced. "Ow, hey, what was that for brother?" He cried, giving me a sad look.

I smirked, yet I knew all too well that I wasn't exactly too impressed with his words back there. "Next time you tell Kya, or anybody else something like that, you'll only get smacked on the arm harder.

With that, he was quiet.

Yeah, Norway is a little bit OOC in this chapter…I promise, he'll be back to is ever-so-awesome tsundereness in the next few chapters. Hehe, I knew exactly where this is going~. :) Well, summer's getting closer to being over, and I still need to finish my three other stories. So if there isn't an update for a while, I'm sorry, but I'll try my best to update as much as possible. Until then, reviews are always welcome! ...Aaaaand chapter 3 shall be held hostage until said reviews...