Sweden's sorrowful sigh echoed off the walls of his sphere-shaped prison.

"...never been engaged..."

It was worse than he thought it'd be. Not only did Finland not recognize him in this ridiculous form, his fiancé had forgotten about their relationship entirely. Finland and the rest of the world may have had Sweden erased from their memory altogether.

Sweden had underestimated the power of this curse. Oh well, he still didn't regret stepping in front of Finland to take it. If anything positive had come from their last two encounters, it was that Sweden could be assured that the love of his life was at least safe.

Finland's safety and happiness was the most important thing. That was another reason why Sweden had to break the spell and get out of this form; he couldn't protect his lover effectively in this condition. No matter how hard it was, Sweden had to get back to being himself, he just had to.

It was time to think strategically. Finland had no recollection of their previous relationship and Sweden had just shown up looking like a mass-produced novelty toy and started hitting on him. Hmm... The meager knowledge Sweden had about social skills told him that may have been just a touch awkward for poor Finny.

Dangit, these relationship things had never come easy to Sweden. He had an unrivaled capacity to love, but was downright horrible in expressing it in a non-terrifying manner. It'd taken him ages just to have Finland not scream every time he saw him. And then ages more to persuade Finland into loving him and getting engaged.

And that had been when he was a man. Now he had to repeat the process as an 8 ball. A magic freakin' 8 ball!

His heart got all teary as he recalled a pivotal encounter from Finland and his relationship back in the days when he was a human.

It was early December. Finland was doing a Santa appearance at an elementary school. Sweden remembered watching Finland sitting cross-legged on the floor and laughing while the kids climbed all over him and told him what they wanted for Christmas. He could feel his brain roasting like chestnuts on an open fire from the sheer cuteness overload.

Finland had asked him to make a dessert for the visit, and Sweden had more than happily obliged. An opportunity to impress Finland with his cooking skills was like a Christmas present in and of itself.

But when Sweden stepped through the doorway, the children took one look at him and ran out of the classroom screaming. He stared at the floor of the empty classroom with shame. Even holding a tray filled with cookies and wearing a fuzzy reindeer sweater, it seemed he was just too terrifying for anybody to want to be around.

He was about to turn and walk out when the sound of approaching jingle bells made Sweden look up. There stood Finland, looking perfectly precious in his fuzzy red and white Santa suit, complete with bells on the sleeves and everything.

...And not... looking terrified?

"I'm sorry Sweden," Finland scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile "You'll have to forgive them, they're only children. They can have the silliest responses to things sometimes."

"Nh," Sweden responded as Finland gently slid the door to the hallway shut and moved the tray from his hands to a nearby desk "It's 'lright."

"If you asked me I'd say you looked really cute today," Finland beamed and stepped closer to him "I hope you don't mind if I hug you, that reindeer sweater looks super soft and snuggly."

Before Sweden could really process what was going on Finland had his arms wrapped around him in a gentle hug. "Oh it IS soft!" Finland exclaimed as he nuzzled his face into it "So nice and soft. Thank you for making snacks! That was super sweet of you! I just know the kids will love them when they get back."

Sweden's arms were trembling as he returned Finland's hug. This was a complete reversal from previous encounters. Too much, couldn't process. Was enjoying, but could not comprehend. The only thought that was able to work its way through Sweden's mind was that he had a sudden desire buy about eight more of these sweaters.

"Sweden?"

"Yah?"

"What would you like for Christmas? You've more than definitely earned your way onto the "nice" list this year, so feel free to ask for anything you want! …Just please not for one of those furby things. Those toys are creepy!"

"Hmm…" Sweden did his best to think while his insides were taking on the consistency of figgy pudding. Holy Helsinki did this ever feel fantastic! Finland felt so warm and soft as he snuggled up against him. How could he tell Finland that what he wanted for Christmas was for them to stay like this forever without totally freaking him out?

"I w'nt…" Sweden spoke slowly, choosing his words with the upmost caution "…t' always be cute…so ya won't be sc'red to hug me."

Oh shoot, too much. He'd definitely overdone it.

Finland slowly lifted up his head to face Sweden. When their eyes met Sweden was stunned to see tears streaming down Finland's face.

"Sweden…you're cute already," Finland said with a teary smile.

Sweden didn't think he could be more shocked if Belarus decided to stop stalking Russia. Apparently his facial expression conveyed this sentiment, because a moment later Finland had let go of him and was shakily backing away.

"I, I'm sorry Sweden. That was too much yah? You probably think I'm crazy. Maybe I should just run away so I don't freak ya out more-"

"No."

Sweden seized Finland by the shoulders and pulled him back into a hug. Finland buried his face into Sweden's sweater and put his arms around him again.

"Pl'se don't r'n aw'y fr'm me. C'n…c'n I ask f'r s'meth'ng else f'r Chr'stm's?"

"Yah! Yah of course you can."

"W'll ya…" No Sweden, don't bring up marriage this early on. You're going to freak him out again, start slower.

"W'll ya…g' out with m'? Ev'n th'gh 'm…t'rrifying?"

Finland looked up at him with a face full of rosy blush and beamed "Yah! I'd be really happy to!"

"Mmm…" YAH THIS ROCKED! How was Sweden supposed to reply?

"Th'nk ya…" was the best Sweden could come up with.

"And I don't think you're terrifying, by the way. I mean ya might've been at first but once I got to know ya and learned what a softy ya are, you're just terrifyingly adorable," Finland winked at him.

"…once I got to know ya…"

Alright, Sweden decided as he returned from his happy flashback. He could do this, he'd done it before. He may look like a Magic 8 Ball, but he was still Sweden. If Finland really had been able to fall in love with him before because he was a "softy" behind all that scariness, then in theory it was possible for him to do it again, even though Sweden was in a different form.

Sweden would just have to take it slow. He had some damage control to do after screwing things up with his initial over-eagerness, but this could still work out. Finland was a sweetheart. Sweden knew he would give him a second chance…

…he just needed to make sure not to mess it up.

Sweden rolled to the back of the drawer and then launched himself at the front. There was the crackling sound of breaking duct tape outside. Dang, Finny really knew how to secure things. This would take a while, but he could do it. He just had to bust open this drawer and come out of the closet…