Healed by the Cold
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.
Chapter Four
"Ah, I'm sorry! I just, I was heating, no, healing you and then I guess I probably startled you and I'm really—"
"Who are you?"
Sweden's deep voice deftly sliced through Finland's babbling. A thick accent was embedded in Sweden's words. Finland immediately closed his mouth.
"Finland, I—!"
Denmark had opened the door and was now gaping at the sight. Finland was trapped under Sweden; the smaller man had been completely pinned and immobilized.
"Sweden! When did you wake up?" Denmark yelped excitedly. Sweden barely glanced at him.
"Who is he?" Sweden asked, directing his question at Denmark this time. His voice, though quiet, was far from weak. Finland could feel it resonate throughout the room.
"He's Finland! And..." Denmark blinked before grinning raucously as the sight sank into his rather filthy mind. "I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?"
Sweden flicked his eyes in annoyance at the other man, but Finland simply stared blankly.
"Huh?"
Denmark, slightly put off by the short man's innocent confusion, simply told Sweden to release Finland. The tall man did so reluctantly, getting off the bed and allowing Finland to sit up.
"You still haven't told me who you are," Sweden muttered, piercing Finland with his gaze.
"Err, I'm Finland! I... uh..."
"He healed you, Sweden. We found him a while ago while you were still unconscious," Denmark explained, rolling his eyes. "And I bet you're hungry."
Sweden shrugged imperceptibly—Finland immediately noticed the gesture, although Denmark seemed completely clueless—and left the room. Denmark smiled normally at Finland, scaring Finland slightly, seeing as Denmark never did anything normal.
"Thanks a lot. You'll have to tell us how you did it tomorrow. You aught to get some sleep now."
Finland nodded graciously and scurried off, shrinking into the familiar shelter of his own room. He did not bother to change into more comfortable clothes, simply lying down on top of his blankets. The last embers of the fire slowly dimmed as Finland fell asleep.
A prickling sensation woke Finland up the next morning. He sensed another body in his room without opening his eyes; whoever it was, they were staring at him intensely.
Finland barely peeked, letting a slit of light enter his eyes as he tried to identify the intruder. He opened his eyes fully and screamed in a painfully embarrassing fashion as Sweden came into view. The other man seemed unfazed.
"...G'morning."
Finland twitched as he sat up, running a hand through his hair as he did so.
"Oh, Sweden!" Finland said, laughing weakly. "I'm sorry, you startled me! How are you doing? Feel uncomfortable? Any relapses? I'll make you some medicine right away—"
"Here."
Sweden held out a plate filled with all sorts of Finland's favorite foods. Finland blinked and accepted the dish with a small smile.
"Thank you, Sweden, but you didn't have to do that. The kitchen's just down the hall, I could have gone myself."
Finland noted that the other man was not looking at him, but rather at the drawer next to Finland's bed.
"Had to thank you somehow."
"Thanks," Finland said, eagerly popping some crisp bread into his mouth. It was warm and had soaked up a bit of juice from a crushed berry. Finland closed his eyes and savored the taste. "How did you know I loved to eat all of this?"
"Iceland."
They sat in silence for the next few minutes, Sweden finally moving his gaze to Finland, who was completely oblivious as he was too busy with the plate of delectable food in front of him.
Sweden took the chance to study the man in front of him. Finland had large, avid eyes the color of amethysts. His blond hair was delightfully mussed from his sleep. And his cheek bulged slightly as he ate.
Finally, Finland realized that Sweden had been doing nothing but stare at him. He smiled hesitantly as he turned to face the other man.
"Uh, do you want some?" Finland asked, his brain hopelessly providing no other words to him as he held out his plate. Sweden stared at Finland for a few moments before taking a single blackberry and popping it into his mouth. And then he stood up, muttered an incoherent thanks to Finland, and left the room, leaving behind an extremely confused Finland.
"...He's scary," Finland muttered, before returning to his meal.
For a few days afterwards, Sweden was continuously present in Finland's room when he woke up. Finland, on the other hand, would make sure to visit Sweden every night, as he was worried that his patient could fall into relapses of sickness.
However, Finland noticed that this was not the only time they interacted; rather, Sweden was constantly looking at him. Feeling slightly unnerved by the intense gaze, the short man could not help but feel embarrassed. Even so, Finland began form a tentative friendship with the warrior, chatting amiably with him every night and morning when they were in each others' room, and occasionally greeting the tall man in the hallways when they passed each other. Although, their conversations were decidedly one-sided, as Sweden usually sat in silence while Finland blathered away about an endless list of topics. Finland, once he realized this, ducked his head and felt heat rise to his cheeks; he figured that he was annoying. Sweden gently contradicted him.
And so, with every passing day, Finland grew less and less wary of the taller man; Sweden, though, usually remained stoic and serious, and Finland found it difficult to delve past Sweden's emotionless barriers.
But if Finland were able to see what Sweden was thinking about, he would find that Sweden had developed a fondness for him as well.
"Norway? Denmark? Where are you going?"
Finland had stumbled down from the library, clearly having just awoken from a nap, if his yawns and eye-rubbing were any signs. Denmark shoved his feet into black boots.
"We're going to the village. We're low on supplies."
Finland had heard about the village from the others, but had never actually gone to it. According to Iceland, it was a quaint little place with a market and quite a few people.
Struck by a sudden desire to visit the outside world, Finland left and reappeared with his coat.
"Can I come too?"
Norway glanced at Finland. "It might be too dangerous for you to come because of Russia."
"Well..." Finland hesitated. The thought that the strange, powerful man named Russia had been searching for him had nagged Finland's head for days. He was worried, but refused to let his fear prevent him from going about his daily life.
"Norway, let him come," said Denmark before Finland could say something. "Call Iceland and Sweden too, and we'll be fine! Russia can't take all of us on, can he?"
"I would not be surprised."
"Norway, don't be so uptight. Finland, I think it's fine," said Denmark. "Go get Ice and Sweden and tell 'em to come along."
"I still think that this is a bad idea," Norway said, "but I have already called Iceland. He is getting Sweden."
"Thanks, Nor-nor!"
"I will not hesitate to pummel you with a troll."
Finland slipped on his coat as the other two bickered; Iceland and Sweden emerged from a hallway. Almost instantaneously, Sweden's gaze snapped to Finland, who still jumped at the sudden eye contact and shyly slipped on his own boots.
"We're going to the village?" Iceland asked, shaking an arm through a sleeve of his coat. "Why are all of us going?"
"To make sure nothing bad happens to Finland," said Norway. "Of course, I would love to have my little brother join us anyways."
"Shut up."
"I'm your big brother, you know."
"Don't care."
Finland smiled at the sight of the siblings and turned to face Sweden again, smothering any residual fear of the tall man.
"Is that your sword?" asked Finland, pointing to the large weapon he had seen numerous times mounted in Sweden's room. It was a large sword and a solid weapon. A strike with the flat of the blade would be enough to kill. Sweden hefted the sword and strapped it to his back.
"Yes."
And then, Sweden pulled out another sword and held it out to an astonished Finland wordlessly.
"Is this for me?"
"Hm."
Finland took the weapon and unsheathed it, delightfully examining the fine craftsmanship. The blade was fine, flexible metal, sharpened on both edges to a slim line; the handle was simple but elegant. The grip consisted of finely polished wood that was smooth to the touch. The pommel was made of a silvery metal and fashioned in a simple oval shape; an amethyst crystal was cut and shaped to mold to the end of the pommel. The cross-guard was perpendicular to the grip and was fitted with an amethyst on both ends.
"Sweden... this is incredible!" Joy almost radiated from Finland as he turned to the sheath, which was just as beautiful and made of polished wood like the grip. "Where did you get this?"
"Found it in my room... s'been sitting there for years."
Sweden realized that Norway was observing him; he returned the questioning glance with a glare. Norway shook his head disbelievingly and turned away.
"Well, it's a beautiful sword. Thank you, Sweden," Finland said, tying it around his back and securing the knot in front of his chest.
"S'my thanks for healing me."
"Are you still thinking about that? I told you, don't worry about it! Anyways, I've only lately been practicing with weapons... Denmark helped me learn with some of his swords upstairs, but this one's just amazing!"
Norway ushered Iceland out the door, following Denmark, who had already gone outside. Finland watched them leave; he contemplated for a moment, but then hugged Sweden briefly before running out. Sweden had frozen to the spot.
"Yo, Sweden! Get your butt out here, we gotta go!"
Denmark's yelling brought Sweden out of his reverie. He sighed and tramped outside to join the others, walking through the snow and venturing towards the village...
"Sweden, come with me," Denmark said upon their arrival at the outskirts of the village. "Finland, Iceland, Norway, you three stay together. Iceland, keep your telepathy open in case we need to contact you. Okay?"
Everyone nodded in confirmation. "Norway, go get some more food. Sweden and I will get other supplies."
Norway and Iceland led an awed Finland through town; the brothers pointed out a few of the more interesting things in the village but moved on to the village square, where a market had been set up.
While only a village, the market was bustling with plenty of people from the wooden houses surrounding the area. Different sellers led different stalls and yelled out the goods they had brought in for the day. Norway walked to a fruit stall, where he was greeted warmly by the seller, an old woman who had clearly met Norway before.
Finland wandered around while Norway bought food, making sure to always keep Norway and Iceland in sight, which was actually quite difficult given the number of people in his way. Iceland had already set up a mental conversation with Finland, and Finland chatted amiably with his friend in his head. Engrossed in his thoughts, he failed to notice the snapped tree branch lying in the street until after he tripped over it.
Before he could contact the rocky ground though, he felt a large hand grab his arm and pull him back. Finland yelped and waved his arms to steady himself and turned to thank his savior. A tall man with light hair and cheery, purple eyes greeted him.
"Da, hello! I'm glad I caught you before you fell!" the man said.
"Oh, thank you for helping me," Finland said, dusting off his shirt.
"No problem. Have a nice day here at the market!"
The man walked away, humming happily. His beige coat fluttered wildly about his ankles in a nonexistent breeze, and his white scarf gently cascaded behind him. Finland blinked a few times before turning to join up with Norway and Iceland again, the latter frantically sending thoughts to Finland asking if he was alright.
Finland found them a few minutes later, Norway laden down with plenty of bags. Iceland made sure Finland was alright before they decided to meet up with Sweden and Denmark again.
Finland followed them, contributing words to the chatter whenever it seemed as though he should, but his thoughts strayed back to the stranger who helped him. He seemed so familiar that Finland almost managed to match a name with his face.
But not quite.
