"RED ROVER!" Denmark suddenly shouted, turned around and ran toward us. His body slammed through our clasped hands.

"Is everything a game to you? Grow up a bit," Iceland said.

I brought my hands to lips and breathed out. I hadn't realized how cold it had gotten. My warm breath felt nice on my chilled hands.

"Were your hands cold? Sorry about that. You didn't have to hold my hand if you didn't want to," Finland said.

"It's all right," I said. "Your hand was warm. It was nice."

Finland stuffed his hands into his coat. His face was red from the cold. I did the same. He gave me a tiny shy smile. I wished my hand would be in his again. Our skin had only been separated by the thick covering of his mitten. I didn't want to be too clingy. I didn't want to scare him away. However…

This guy was being really irritating. I couldn't let my dislike show. This was one of Finland's friends after all. I would just have to deal with it now matter how annoying he was.

He ran forward in between us. "Hurry up you slow pokes! We're almost there!"


Denmark's house looked a bit bigger than mine. At the edge of the living room there was a full-blown bar. As soon as Denmark got inside the house, he threw off his heavy coat and went behind the bar. Everybody took off their coats as Denmark got some drinks.

"Don't you think it's a bit early to start drinking?" Norway said.

"Oh shush, Nor! It's never to early for a drink!" Denmark handed Norway a mug of beer. He handed the next to Iceland.

"I think I'll pass," Iceland claimed.

"Wow, I can't believe I hang out with you, Ice. You're such a pussy!" said the puffin on Iceland's shoulder. He flew off and landed on the table. I knew I should have been surprised by the fact that he was talking and wearing a bow tie, but I wasn't. A lot of odd things that had been happening I didn't seem to mind at all. I guess that could count as the strangest.

Denmark placed a mug in both Finland and my hands. We were sitting next to each other on the couch.

"You know, Susan, I'm really glad you decided to come with," he said. "It feels nice. Like our group is somehow more complete now that you're here. Don't you guys think so?"

It felt like my face was on fire. I took a sip of my drink to try to cool it down. It tasted really good. I couldn't help but wish that he said "me" instead of "group." I tried to drown that thought with each gulp I took. Why did I feel this way about him?

"Yeah, it's odd," Norway placed his drink in front of me. I nodded appreciatively at him. The fire still didn't seem to be out, but my drink was gone. I took the mug and swung it back.

"Very odd," Iceland confirmed. He placed his drink in front of me as well. Why wasn't this putting the fire out? I had two empty mugs and nothing to show for it. I quickly finished Iceland's as well.

"Wow Susan! That's really impressive!" Finland said.

"Is this a joke? You're really not trying to challenge me in my own house, are you?" Denmark filled up three more mugs of beer and threw them back.

"I don't want any trouble," I said. I didn't like that gleam in his eyes, but I wasn't going to back down if it came to this.

"Too late! Norway, keep them coming! We're about to have ourselves a drinking contest!"

Denmark shoved another mug in my hands and sat directly across from me. He stared me dead in the eyes. I sighed. It would be too troublesome to try to talk him out of this. I brought the mug to my lips.

"3…2…1," Iceland counted down.

The showdown was on. Denmark could drink faster than me, but I had more endurance. After each drink, Denmark had to stop to collect himself. He probably would have done better if he had taken his time. With each drink I took, I made smooth transitions. By the sixth drink, Denmark became more labored. By the eleventh, he had to stop completely. When I finished my twelfth, I was feeling a bit fuzzy, but otherwise perfectly fine. I was declared the winner.

"You guys are such traitors! Some friends you are! You were cheering for the Sue to win the whole time!" Denmark slurred.

"It was nothing personal," Norway said to me. "I just really wanted to see Denmark lose."

I nodded in understanding. I don't know how I would deal if a person like him considered me a close friend.

"I don't even know what you guys see in her!" Denmark continued. "She's more of a drinking monster than a girl. Take Finnie for example." Denmark flung his arm around a very surprised Finland. "He doesn't have Sue's big boobs, skinny waist, and long hair, but he has more feminine charm than she does!"

I don't know what happened. It was like I couldn't hold anything back. I could feel my eyebrows knit together and my eyes squint. My mouth was set into a frown.

"Denmark, would you stop? Stop picking fights with Susan. And I'm not a girl. I'm very manly."

"Whatever you say sweetie," Denmark said. He gave Finland a swift peck on the side of his head.

I completely snapped. I stormed up and threw Denmark off of Finland. He slammed onto the floor. I had used a bit more strength than I had realized.

"Stop it Susan!" Finland wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me back. He was stronger than he looked. I stopped advancing. I focused on his arms that were holding me while I suppressed my rage. "Denmark was just kidding!"

"All right, now I'm pissed," Denmark said. "You want a fight? You've got one!" The strange gleam in Denmark's eyes that I had seen earlier was burning at full force now. "Meet me in the gym in 15 minutes!" He stormed off down one of the hallways.

"This is going to be good," Norway said, the slightest hint of a smile hitting his face. He went off into another corner of the house along with Iceland.

Finland stayed with me. His arms came away from around me.

"I'm sorry 'bout that," I said.

"You don't need to be sorry, Denmark was asking for that. He hasn't had a good fight in ages. You didn't need to stick up for me like that. I could have handled him on my own."

I nodded. It didn't look it, but it seemed like he could. There was a hidden strength behind him that I couldn't quite pinpoint.

He sighed. "I really hate fighting. Especially when there's alcohol and sharp objects involved. I guess there's no helping it with Denmark around."

"Sharp objects?" I questioned. I hadn't been bargaining for this.

"Oh! That's right! You wouldn't know! Sorry, it seemed like you had been part of our group for forever! I forgot you wouldn't know about the fights. You see, Denmark likes to swing around this really big axe that he has."

An axe? That seemed sort of archaic. I tried to think of strategies that I could use to combat its strength.

"I think you should back out. We would all understand. I don't want to see you get hurt."

I blushed a bit and fiddled with my hair. "I'll be fine as long as you're there to take care of me," I mumbled quietly to myself.

What was I going to do about my hair? I looked at the ends.

"How trouble some," I said. "Maybe I should just cut it off?" It would be a shame to lose one of my feminine points, though.

"No! Don't do that! Your hair is so pretty!" he smoothed back the hair from my face. "I'll tie it back for you!" He grabbed my hand and pulled me down next to him on the couch. His fingers combed gently through my hair as he gathered it back to the top of my head. I closed my eyes enjoyed this simple pleasure. Out of his pockets he pulled out a dark blue and a yellow ribbon to secure my hair into place.

"I-I'm really not that girly. I just carry this ribbon around because of my job!" Finland confirmed.

I nodded, "It's cute." I kind of wondered what kind of job Finland had.

The time limit was almost up. Finland got up from the couch and led me to the gym.


It was pretty large with a lot of open space. One entire wall was dedicated for holding various weapons. Once Denmark saw me, he got up from the stool he was sitting on and went to the wall. He got down a giant axe and swung it around freely.

"If you feel scared, then that's a good thing. Feel free to back down and declare me the greatest thing that ever lived."

I looked at the countless weapons on the wall. "Can I use one of these?" I grabbed a long sword on the wall. It had a nice heavy weight. I swung it around experimentally. It felt good. It was a nice sword.

"Look, if you're trying to be intimidating, it's not going to work on me!"

"I wasn't trying," I said. I set the sword in guard in front of me, practically inviting Denmark to come at me.

He yelled and swung his axe wide. I was easily able to block him and push him back. He swung again. This time I ducked, so it missed me entirely.

Something about this made me weirdly happy inside. I tried attacking. Denmark was barely able to block my swing. It was like I giant game. I danced around him, parrying his attacks and thrusting my sword into holes of his defenses.

Denmark was getting frustrated and careless. He did a huge overhead swing, trying to use his force to make me submit. I blocked it with my sword, but Denmark wouldn't let up. The weight was starting to be too heavy. I used my long legs to kick his aside.

He grunted as he fell to the ground with a thud. His axe clanged beside him. He tried to grab it, but it was just out of reach. I placed my foot on his stomach and the tip of the sword on his chest.

"You lose." That was that. His face was growing red with anger. He didn't want to accept his defeat. I started to walk away. I searched for Finland's face. Would he be happy that I won?

"Like hell I lose!" Denmark said. He had gotten up. I whipped around in time to see his attack. I tried to back away from the length of his axe, but it wasn't enough. The corner of it laced my cheek and the force behind the swing knocked the glasses off of my face.

The blur was distracting, so I closed my eyes. It was a good thing my opponent was so loud. I could hear his footsteps and could gage where he would be attacking. I could barely hear the whoosh of the axe as it tried to hit its target. All I could do was dodge and block.

I lost my footing and fell to my knees. I needed to get up quickly or else I was going to lose.

"Finland, what are you…?" I heard Iceland say. I heard the whole room gasp. A slow panic creeped up in me. Did something happen to Finland? I felt sick to my stomach.

Warm hands were on my face. My glasses were slipped back on. Gentle fingers wiped the dripping blood from the slice on my face. I hesitantly opened my eyes.

Finland was right in front of me, his hands still on my face. His violet eyes were looking into mine. Above his I could see Denmark's shocked face. My eyes traveled to his shoulder, down his arm, and along his axe that was wedged partly into Finland's shoulder.