St. Paul; 4:35pm

She pushed the door open and slowly walked out into the chilly night. A shiver ran up her spine as the wind hit her. It had gotten cold in the short time they had been in Subway. Giving a glance up at the sky, she noticed several dark clouds to the west. Her gaze slowly fell back down to the earth. She hoped it wasn't going to rain. Her shoes echoed lightly across the parking lot as she walked, her eyes remained locked on the ground, no matter how many pairs of eyes she felt on her. It was as if they could tell she was different. Or maybe she was just being paranoid. After all, she was headed towards the most suspicious vehicle in the parking lot. A small chuckle escaped her lips. She must seem either really suspicious, or a victim of a kidnapping.

'I wonder if there's a search party looking for me, yet,' she wondered, rubbing her arms lightly in an attempt to warm them. Russia was probably still looking for her; he didn't seem to be the type of guy to give up so easily,. Would the police be looking for her? If they were, would it be their own decision, or under America's orders? A small sigh escaped her lips. It still felt so odd to refer to the country she had spent the majority of her life calling home as a living breathing person. She wondered what he was like. Was he proud and brave like his citizens made him out to be, or was he be immature and childish like his fellow countries described him?

'Would my people be proud of who I am … or ashamed of me?'

The thought made her pause for a moment. She had no idea where it came from, but it was a perfectly reasonable question. She didn't have centuries of experience of being a nation like most of the other countries did. She was just a teenage girl. An extraordinarily average one at that. She didn't have the qualifications to be a low level politician, let alone be responsible for the safety of millions of people. The idea was insane

'Penumbra. Home. Mother.' The voice whispered to her again, and she was overcome with an overwhelming sense of protectiveness. No matter how unqualified she might be, they were her people. Her's and no one else's.

"Miss … are you alright?" A young woman asked hesitantly, looking very concerned.

Nik jumped a little, turning to look at her, a small blush forming on her cheeks. She was sure she must have looked crazy just standing in the middle of the parking lot like that. At this rate she'd be drug to the insane asylum before any of the countries found her. Attempting a small smile, she gave the woman a polite nod.

"Y-yeah, I'm just tired," she assured her. The woman paused, about to argue with her, before finally deciding against it. She gave her another hesitant look, before nodding and slowly walking away.

Nik sighed, running a hand through her hair. She should probably hurry up and grab the jacket before the others got worried. Jogging to the van, she slid the door open, wincing at the slight creaking noise it made. They had gone pretty hard on the poor thing. It might not make it through another encounter with the Russian van. She hopped inside, crawling into the back seat. It was messy, but not in a bad way. The mess gave the van 'character' as her mother would say. Her lips turned up into a small smile. Considering the family the van belonged to, it might explode if it had any more character.

After a few moments, she spotted the blue jacket tucked into a corner. She grabbed it and backed out of the van, closing the door with a heavy thud. The jacket was a little big for her, but as soon as she put it one she felt an immediate difference. It blocked out the late afternoon chill quite effectively.

With a small, content sigh, she started to turn around when a firm hand landed on her shoulder. She froze, amber eyes widening in shock. The most reasonable conclusion would be to assume that Arthur or Seamus or one of the others had come to check on her. She had been taking an awfully long time to get a jacket. But she knew it wasn't them. Her heart beat erratically inside her chest, her mind was telling her to get out of there, but she couldn't move. The presence she had felt at the school was back, but much, much stronger this time. How could she not have felt it earlier?

"Whoa there girly," a male voice spoke from behind her. "I aint gonna hurt you."

Nik almost cringed. Did she detect a hint of a southern accent to his voice? Out of all the things to to pass her mind at that moment, she found enough time to be disgusted that her former country's accent leaned more towards being southern than northern.

"I just want to talk to you," he told her, tugging a little at her. "My name's A-"

She turned around and shoved his hand off of her shoulder, effectively cutting him off. "Leave me alone!" Her voice cracked slightly at the end, betraying the fear she felt. There was nothing on the tall blond country's face to suggest that he was dangerous or that he held any ill will towards her at all. But since she had become a country, she had gained an odd sort of instinct, one that told her that this man was dangerous, even if he didn't mean to be.

"Aw, come on~" He pouted slightly, his blue eyes betraying only child-like disappointment. "You're not even going to give me a chance to talk?"

"No," she responded without sympathy. "I already know what's going on. I'm not interested in having anything to do with you at the moment."

"But I'm your country!" He exclaimed, as if he couldn't believe that anyone wouldn't want to be with him. "You have to feel something towards me!"

"Not anymore." It wasn't a lie, either. She didn't feel anything other than fear when she looked at the proud, albeit a little childish, man in front of her. Had she met him a week ago she might have felt awe and adoration, but he meant nothing to her now.

He sighed. "You sure? I don't really want to kidnap you."

The moment he took a step towards her, she was in motion. Her fist struck out and landed in the center of his face, making him stumble back a couple steps. Without waiting to see any further reaction, she was out of there as fast as her feet would take her. She had to make it back to Arthur. The building was only a few feet away when an object suddenly appeared in her path. She ran into it and lost her balance, landing on the hard ground with a small 'oof'.

"I-I'm sorry!"A soft voice exclaimed. She looked up in confusion only to realize the thing she had run into was a person. He looked a lot like America, but there were striking differences between the two. Unlike America, everything about this guy seemed soft and gentle. Looking into his purple eyes, she almost felt herself relax.

"Don't apologize, Mattie! Grab her!" The much louder voice yelled from behind them. Nik glanced back to see that America was running towards them. Her eyes widened and she quickly stumbled back onto her feet, sprinting away from the two. She had no idea where she was going. Arthur and the others were still in the building and would have no idea where she had gone. She could only hope that they'd find her eventually. She knew the city well enough, she could find somewhere to hide out at for awhile.

As soon as she made the turn around the back of the building, she froze. An all too familiar van was sitting out in the street, not ten feet away from her, with a noticeably new tire. She nearly cried in frustration.

"It has been awhile, da?"

A/N: ... Well, after a few months, I've decided to try and start writing chapters again. I'm so very sorry this one took so long, and that it's so short.

Forgive me?