"Prussia? I'm home," called Germany as he came through the door of what was left of his house. He paused and listened for the sound of heavy breathing. With a sigh of relief, he heard the wheezing and realized his brother was still here. Germany removed his heavy workbooks and entered the bedroom, where he found Prussia rocking back and forth in fetal position with his eyes locked on the wall.

"Hey, Gilbert," Germany said softly. The red eyes glanced at him briefly, then returned to the wall. Germany smiled and ruffled his brother's hair as he walked by. Prussia had always been a little psycho, and Germany had never really liked him, but they were still brothers. So when the world's end got to Prussia and drove him completely off his rocker, Germany took it upon himself to care for him.

"Those norzern nations are selfish dunkoffs," he told Prussia as he unpacked his things. "Even Canada has become a dick. Ven zey decided to cut me off, he just sat zere und… Ugh. Eizer vay, zey vouldn't give me so much as a scrap."

Prussia remained unresponsive, but Germany knew he'd heard him. Opening a cupboard, he took out and carefully unwrapped half a stale pretzel. He broke off two pieces and held one out for Prussia to take. The albino former empire just looked at it and then up at his little brother. Germany sighed. Prussia's condition had gotten worse. He wrenched his brother's mouth open and popped the pretzel piece in, then watched in relief as Prussia chewed and swallowed.

Germany sat on the floor next to Prussia and looked at his own pretzel piece. "So zis is vat it has come to," he mused. "Taking a veek to eat a little snack." e ate it and immediately wished he had some beer to wash it down with.

"I fish ve still had vurst," he said out loud. Prussia nodded slightly in agreement. Some wurst would be very nice right now.

xXxBack in the west…xXx

Canada had a problem.

He'd put together a basket much like what he did for America, only with fewer maple products and more meat. He knew Germany liked meat. The question was, how could he sneak food that far without being caught? If he took the Atlantic route, he'd be caught by Iceland. If he cut through the former state of Alaska, Russia would see him for sure.

What to do, what to do…

"Canada? Is that you?" came a distant voice. Canada turned to see someone in a small boat rowing towards him. He squinted to see the design on the flag flying from the crude mast.

"britain?"

The boat grew nearer, and Britain's face became visible. He sighed in belief. "Oh, thank goodness. I was worried I'd hit Iceland. Or America. Is it true he's gone mad?"

"kinda," Canada replied as he helped his father-like relative ashore. "so what brings you here?"

"Tsunami. Would have ended up like Japan if I hadn't gotten away in time. It's probably hitting France right about now…"

Tears formed in his eyes as he thought of what France might be experiencing. Canada patted his back, understanding everything. He had seen much more of Britain and France's "secret relationship" than America. He himself was worried about France. The nation had taken a significant part in raising him.

"it'll be okay, britain," he said comfortingly. "at least you're safe. the world would honestly be nothing without you."

Britain smiled a little. "R-really?"

"of course. or at least i think so."

"Well, thank you, Canada. I don't know what to say."

Canada shrugged. "so… um… do you need a place to stay? you can stay with me if you want…"

"Oh, bless you, Canada. Bless you."

Canada looked up at the sky. "i guess now's as good a time as any to go home."

The two walked alongside each other, discussing how much nicer life had once been. In that moment, on the warm Ontario coast, there was a glimmer of peace in this dying world.

The water was almost up to Canada's doorstep. "i'm moving to saskatchewan later this week," he told Britain, who was wondering about the half-submerged city of Ottawa.

"I can't thank you enough," Britain repeated for the third time that hour as they stepped inside.

"it was the least i could do," Canada replied. "you must be starving. would you like something to eat?"

"To show you how grateful I am, Canada, I would like to cook you supper."

"ehh… no, thank you…"

"Oh, I insist! I'll make you pudding and scones and…"

"NO! i mean… no. thank you. please, i'll take care of it. you just relax. you've had a long day. i'll put some water on for tea."

"Why, thank you so much again." Britain sat down as Canada entered the kitchen.

Suddenly, the front door burst open. A tall and easily recognized figure stepped in.

"Canada? Are you in here?" asked Russia. Britain shrunk at the sound of his voice. He luckily sat with his back to the door, and prayed Russia would not see him.

A crash came from the kitchen and Canada stumbled out. "oh, hi, russia," he gasped, having been startled by the nation's presence. "what brings you here?"

"Sweden is calling an emergency meeting," Russia explained. "Apparently the UK is completely flooded and nobody can find Britain's body."

Canada glanced at Britain, who shook his head.

"uh… could you have the meeting without me and just fill me in next time?"

Russia blinked. "Why is that, Canada?"

"oh, well… i'm… busy… crops and such…"

Knowing where this was going, Britain took a deep breath and turned around in his chair. "'Ello," he said to Russia with a wave.

Russia's eyes narrowed. Canada quickly cut in. "he washed up on my shore- i couldn't just let him drown…"

"Come outside. We need to do talking," the large nation said through gritted teeth. Canada gulped and followed Russia, but only after telling Britain to help himself to anything in the fridge.

"What took you so long?" asked Iceland, who had apparently been waiting outside the whole time.

"Britain is staying at Canada's house," Russia said with a condescending glance at Canada.

"i don't see what the big deal is," Canada said reluctantly, despite the glares he was receiving. "all i did was help a country in need. america did that all the time when he was-"

"You're not America. You're a Northern Nation," Iceland said, cutting him off. "and as a Northern nation, you have a responsibility to keep yourself separate from the common country."

"What Iceland is meaning to say," Russia explained, "is you don't need to help anyone, because you are better than them."

Canada put his hands on his hips and tried to look intimidating. "britain is my ally and my friend. if i don't help him when he needs it, i'm not being true to myself. if you guys have a problem with that, then i guess i don't want to be a part of the can anymore. I QUIT- whoa!"

Russia picked him up, easily, with one hand. "I'm sorry, but we cannot let you do that."

"You have resources that are way too valuable to us for you to quit," said Iceland. "Now come on. We need to get to Europe. We're late already.