Chapter 2 is up early! Woo! :D

As a sort of apology for how short the last chapter was, I've made this one about twice as long ;)

Hope you like it~!

- MEANWHILE -

"Hey Ice, what's that piece of paper doing there?" Hong Kong, who's over for a visit to his boyfriend, enters the house approximately twenty seconds after Norway leaves it.

"No idea..."

"It's for you," says Hong, having invited himself to read the top of the note, "and it's from your brother."

"Humph." Still not appreciating it when people address the Norwegian as his brother, Iceland reluctantly takes the paper, glowering at the letters curving upon it in slanted cursive. After reading the first few lines, his facial expression changes. It then goes on to change again as his eyes flick faster from side to side, greedily drinking in the words. Irritation, then blankness, then understanding, followed immediately by horror; Iceland's face changes appearance rapidly.

"... What's it say?"

"It... Norway... Onii-chan!" Barely able to comprehend what he's just read, Iceland stutters incomprehensibly, not even realizing that he's just addressed his brother as such. He turns to Hong with an urgent expression.

"Read this. Read it fast!"

"Wha-"

"Just read it! I'm going to find Denmark."

"Why Den-"

"Because! Just please, do what I say. Please, Hong!" Tears form in his eyes. Hong nods, unsure how to react to the unfamiliar sight of Iceland showing emotion. With that, the white-haired Nordic rushes off upstairs to where Denmark is playing Guitar Hero with Finland.

"Whoo! Check this out, I'm doing awesome sht with the guitar!"

"Who knew guitars could be this much fun to play?"

The two of them are attempting to play a rock song of sorts (it all sounds like Greenday to Iceland anyway), but Ice has neither time nor patience for this.

"Den! I need your help, quick!"

"Just a sec Icey, I'm beating Finny here~!"

"But Denmark-"

"It's only a song, hold on a sec!"

"Den-"

"One sec!"

"MATHIAS KOHLER! LISTEN TO ME!"

Pausing the game with an irritated sigh, the addressed man looks up and pays attention to the frustrated Iceland, who once again has tears in his eyes.

"... Icey? What's wrong?"

"It's Norway! H-he's trying to kill himself!"

"WHAT?!" Both Denmark and Finland are shocked by this.

"Yes! Please, just come with me, we've got to stop him!"

Without a word, Denmark gets up and walks toward Iceland, while Finland rushes out of the room with a hurried "I'll tell Sve!". Denmark grabs the shoulders of the younger.

"Do you know where he is?" Never before has the man sounded this serious.

"Y-yes, he should be by the beach near the house and-"

"I'll get him!" Denmark has heard enough. Now's the time for action, not explanation, and he realizes that if he's not fast enough, there will be no way to save Norway.

Never would Denmark have dreamed he could run this fast.

- BACK TO NORWAY -

The water whispers softly against my ankles, soaking through my shoes and, soon enough, my socks too. I move at a moderate pace; within minutes, I'm in waist-deep. My hands trail at my sides like jellyfish, fingers dragging paths first along the surface, then just below it. A shiver racks my body. It's freezing, but I keep plowing forward; my body is filled with purpose.

A few minutes later, I'm swimming as fast as I can along the top of the water, riding the waves and battling the pull toward the shore. It becomes gradually easier to move farther from the shore; I have to exert steadily less force to keep moving. A strange feeling bugs me- it feels as though someone's calling my name. And not just anyone. It sounds like Denmark is shouting desperately for me.

Quickly convincing myself it's just a hallucination and that there's no way Den would actually come to save me like in my fantasies, I pull onward, aiming for an imaginary point on the horizon. However, soon enough, my drenched clothes begin to pull me down; I don't give up the fight until I've exhausted myself to the extent that I can't change my mind once I'm under.

At that point, I allow myself to sink.

- DENMARK -

"NORWAY! What are you doing?! Come back! Please Norge, don't do this!" While he's ripping his jacket off and casting it aside, Denmark shouts as loudly as he can. He's got to hear me- he's got to stop this! There's no way I'm going to lose him that easily!

With rapid strokes Denmark approaches the approximate spot where Norway went under, barely taking enough time to breathe as he does so. He pauses to suck his lungs full of as much air as he can manage before plunging himself under the water.

As soon as he's under, Denmark opens his eyes, choosing to completely ignore the burn this causes and focusing all his energy on propelling himself down toward where Norway should be. Not that he has a clue where that is...

- NORWAY -

I'm about to close my eyes and let myself bask in the glorious feeling of feeling when I notice something wrong: the familiar tug of my hairclip is missing. My eyes flicker left and catch sight of the shiny, cross-shaped object immediately. Quickly I reach out a hand and close it around the precious object; it's the one thing I can never let go of, even in death.

It's the one reminder of Denmark I will always hold on to.

Oh I just love DenNor. They're beautiful together. Drop a review if you want to give me cookies~