Su-chan: *reads reviews with a little smile on her lips* Hey, Norge?
Norway: Hva?
Su-chan: I think I've won our argument.
Norway: Which one?
Su-chan: The one about DenNor in "MoJ". Come look.
Norway: *peeks over Su-chan's shoulder to the PC's screen* ... *narrows eyes*
Su-chan: What are you going to say?
Norway: ... *sigh* Do what you want. *starts to walk away* But remember our compromise. Or else...
Su-chan: Or else... *shudders* Okay!
(Ever since "MoJ" was first published Norway and I have fought about the same thing over and over again: should DenNor in MoJ be romance or friendship. As you probably guessed I want romance but Norway wants that he and Denmark are just friends. Now it seems I've finally won that argument, thanks to you. But I still have to do our compromise. Or else...)
Su-chan: Hello again readers! I've had horrible time trying to hide this chapter from you (I got this written the weekend after posting "Sóttkví") but I thought I'd give you 10 days to read the previous chapter before posting this. I was climbing on the walls on day 4. As you can see I failed, as it's only been a week. (Though I don't think you mind.) Also, the Hits went over 1,000 last month! Now, lets see if we can get them to 5,000 before my 18th birthday, ne? ;) And also this time, first time in MoJ's history, I've got all the Nordics here with me!
Denmark: Breaking news! Su-chan and Ice are starting to get along! I heard them laughing together just the other night! So, Ice, do I smell a romance? *waggles eyebrows suggestively*
Iceland: No. I was trying to teach her Icelandic.
Finland: Oh? How did that go?
Norway: Poorly on Su-chan's part but at least Ice and I had fun.
Iceland: *laugh* She can't pronounce "Svíþjóð" for her life!
Su-chan: Stop mocking me, Ice! It's a hard word! So, who's going to do the disclaimer?
*silence*
Su-chan: Finland, Norway and Denmark have already done it. Ice?
Iceland: No way.
Su-chan: So Ice is refusing again. That leaves us... Sweden?
Sweden: 's all r'ght. I can d' it.
Norway: He's accent's gonna give us a problem...
Finland: I know how to avoid it! Su-san has to do the disclaimer in Swedish!
Su-chan: I guess that's all right. Everyone knows what the disclaimer is saying anyway. So, Ruotsi, the estrade is yours.
Sweden: LiteSnöIMussla ägar inte Axis Powers Hetalia. Den här serien tillhör Himaruya Hidekaz.
Denmark: Well done, old chum! *pats back* No accents at all!
Sweden: Tha' was m' 'wn lang'age, idiot.
Denmark: *doesn't listen* The chapter this time is all Norge's POV! HEJA NORGE! And I'm there too! Whoo!
Norway: Quit screaming in my ear! And it's "Heia Norge", you idiot! *hits Denmark*
Denmark: Av! Stop det!
Su-chan: At least he's not hitting me anymore... And Sweden just had to translate my pen name too... Enjoy the chapter~!
"Mats og Joa"
Chapter 7: I fall
"Come here, Joa! Let's play!"
"Joa! Are ya all right? ! Ya didn't hurt yerself?"
"I like yer hair!"
"Bye, Joa! See ya!"
Goodbye...
"Joa!"
I jolted awake in a dim-lit room and soon came aware of the rapid beeping on my left. I turned my head towards it and found myself sore all over. The beeping came from a heart monitor. The sheets I was lying on were white and crisp and I also had a breathing mask over my mouth and nose. In short, I had woken up in a hospital.
I turned my head again so I was staring the ceiling. What was that dream? I hadn't dreamed about him for a long time. I had tried to forget him. So what had triggered the memories now?
The moon illuminates the darkness,
creates shadows in the room.
I can't sleep, I just keep thinking about you.
Longing, so painful, I carry inside of me.
I lost you, I sank into the night.
A longing man can only be
comforted by memories.
Mats. He had betrayed me.
And still... I found myself missing him. Crying after him in the dead of the night.
I fall into the most beautiful dreams,
the moments of the past
when I got to be with you.
Again I disappear
into the nightly scenarios,
the days of the past,
the shared dreams. I fall.
Sudden noise at the door startled me out of my thoughts. The door on my right opened and someone put the lights on, blinding me momentarily. When I opened my eyes I saw a tall man dressed in doctor's white coat and a mask covering the lower half of his face.
"Ah, you're finally awake, Mr. Johansen." I could hear the smile in his voice. "I'm Dr. Braginski, your personal doctor on your stay here."
"Wha..." I started, removing the mask from my face and instantly falling into a coughing fit.
"Easy, easy, Mr. Johansen." He helped me to sit up a bit. "Do you want some water?" He continued and I nodded. My throat felt like it was on fire. Dr. Braginski poured me a glass of water from a pitcher on the side table and helped me to drink. When I finally felt I could speak I motioned him to stop.
"What... what is wrong with me, doctor? How... Who brought me to the hospital? I remember... losing my consciousness at home..." I startled a bit when I heard my voice. It was so weak, barely above a whisper.
"You have tuberculosis. The collapse was caused by a sepsis." Tuberculosis? Sepsis? I had really made it now, hadn't I? "Audun Johansen and some of his friends were the ones that brought you here." Dr. Braginski continued. My eyes widened. Audun! How hadn't he crossed my mind earlier? ! What was going to happen to him now? What was he going to do? ! He couldn't work legally nor could he beg all the money needed to pay the rent of our apartment! That boy was like a brother to me, if something happened to him I...!
"A-Audun...!" I yelled in somewhat broken voice and tried to sit up only to be pushed down again.
"No, no. Mr. Johansen is in no condition to start storming around now. You need to rest." And with that Dr. Braginski snapped the breathing mask back to place. I quickly removed it again.
"A-Audun! I need to know that he's all right!"
A look of understanding crossed in the doctor's eyes. "If you're worried about the little one I can make a call and check on him. I believe Tino took him home with him."
"Yes, please. Thank you..." I relaxed against my pillows and moved the mask back to place. The little panic attack had really tired me out and I was starting to have trouble on keeping my eyes open.
"That's right, Mr. Johansen. Sleep. I'll come back soon."
I brushed my hand through my hair and noted that someone had already removed the hair clip. When I craned my neck a bit I could see it was placed next to the pitcher on the side table. My eyes closed on their own and I fell into the comforting darkness.
Night darkens, a shade covers the moon.
In my mind I see your outlines
drawn into the darkness.
Smiling, caressing, you would be in my lap.
I lost you, I sank into the night.
A longing man can only be
comforted by memories.
A boy of about ten years with spiky blond hair and gleaming blue eyes ran towards his friend who was sitting on a beach and throwing rocks to the water. Plop. Plop.
"Joa! Found ya!" The boy plopped down next to his friend. The boy called Joa turned his dark blue eyes to his friend. "Hei, Mats," he said and went back on throwing the rocks. Plop. Plop.
Mats, slightly annoyed and upset that his friend was ignoring him, set his head in Joa's lap.
"Joaa~!" He then whined, trying to get his friend's attention. "Joaa~" Joa's eyebrows got an annoyed curve. "...What is it, Mats?" He finally asked and stopped throwing the rocks.
"Ya haven't been yerself since yer father died, Joa! Ya keep disappearing like this... Yer mom's getting worried!"
Joa faced away from Mats. "...It's none of your business."
"Is too! Yer my friend! My bestest friend!"
"'Bestest' is not a word, you know."
"Is too!"
"Is not. And back-talking like that is annoying."
"Yer doing it too!"
"Shut up."
For once, Mats actually listened. Joa would have went back on throwing the rocks but he realised he had already threw all the rocks nearby. After a while Mats spoke again. "Joa?" He asked. "I think I told you to shut up." Joa responded. "But Joa!" "All right, what is it, Mats?"
"Joa... Ya know yer my best friend but... Am I yer best friend too?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Joa!" Mats sounded upset.
"Okay, okay! You are!"
Mats smiled (grinned) and suddenly extended his hand and brushed it through Joa's bangs (the part that wasn't being held back with the hair clip). "Hey!" Joa objected but didn't slap Mats' hand away.
"I like ya, Joa!" Mats confessed. "And ya know what part of ya I like the best?" Joa made a noncommittal sound. "I like yer hair!" Joa was silent for a long time before he answered: "That's stupid." But Mats attention was already elsewhere (he had an extremely short attention span).
"Look! Look, Joa! It's the sunset!"
"Hmh. We should probably go home." Joa got up and lifted his backpack on his shoulder. "What time is it?"
"It's fifteen minutes over 11 a.m."
I opened my eyes. I was in the hospital room. It had been just another dream. Dr. Braginski was sitting next to my bed reading a book. "Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty. I made that call you asked. Audun Johansen is staying at his friend Tino Väinämöinen's house and you're welcome to stay there too after you're released here." Dr. Braginski started towards the door leaving his book to the side table next to the hair clip and the pitcher.
"Excuse me," I called after him, removing the breathing mask, "how long was I asleep?"
Dr. Braginski turned to look back at me. "About two or three hours. I waited the whole time to tell you the news of Audun Johansen. Also, keep the book, you're not going to be released from this quarantine room any time soon. And remember to rest, Mr. Johansen." And with that the door closed behind him. I plopped down to my pillows.
I fall into the most beautiful dreams,
the moments of the past
when I got to be with you.
Again I disappear
into the nightly scenarios,
the days of the past,
the shared dreams. I fall.
I sighed. I was really pathetic right now, wasn't I? All my life I had tried to be strong, get along on my own. Not trusting anyone but myself. ...Well I had trusted Mats but... And now, here I was, in a hospital, with tuberculosis and blood poisoning that had damn near killed me. Another sigh and the tears started to burn my eyes again. Maybe Audun too would be better off without me. The first tears slid down my cheeks. What was I going to do? I had failed Audun. I had failed myself.
I fall into the most beautiful dreams,
the moments of the past,
when I got to be with you.
Again I disappear
into the nightly scenarios,
the days of the past,
the shared dreams. I fall.
"I fall..." I whispered to myself before falling asleep again.
I fall, jeg faller. But who's going to catch me? This time...
Su-chan: Bye, bye, Hollywood hills/ I'm gonna miss you wherever I go/ I'm gonna come back to walk these streets again/ Bye, bye, Hollywood hills forever...! Sorry, that song started to play in my head when I wrote the "Goodbye" part in the start of this chapter. If anyone cares it's called Hollywood Hills by a Finnish band called Sunrise Avenue. The song in this chapter is called Mä putoan by Yölintu. I translated it with my friend's help.
Translations: none
Random notes:
(there's also some I've forgotten to mention in previous chapters)
-First, Joa said 3 funny things in this chapter. I wonder how many of you notice them all. Audun's going to explain one of them in next chapter, but two others are gonna stay hidden for a while longer.
-Last chapter I forgot to mention, I don't really use that much of Google Translator, as my friends are my translators. So thank yous to E-chan for French, K-san for Italian and I-kun for Russian. And no, don't misunderstand, all my friends are Finns. In Finland we just take a lot of foreign languages. :)
-Also, I'm wondering, how did this chapter turn into RussNor? Is Mats going to have a rival? At first Joa was supposed to be suspicious of his doctor, but now they became friends!
-On a fun note, I can't pronounce "Mats" as it's suppose to be pronounced without having a laughing fit. Joa is pronounced just as "Yo-ah" as you've probably figured out but the a in Mats is supposed to make an ä/æ sound. So Mats is actually Mäts. But in Finnish "mäts" is an onomatopoetic sound you get when you... *starts laughing* hit someone with a fist! This is why I pronounce Mats with an ordinary a.
And now, my favourite part. Review replies!
Pippuri-chan: Yay! A fellow Finn! I could put my answer in Finnish. ... Unfortunately my brain's refusing to switch language right now. Thank you! Also, I should have listed giving weird nicknames to patients in Ivan's flaws (even though I'm not sure if you consider that a flaw) as well. I have a feeling that "little one" and "Sleeping Beauty" (Don't hit me with that book, Norja!) are going to stick. Arg! The characters are twisting the plot to their own liking again!
Norwegian boredom: It's because of "Control"... I read that, just never worked up enough courage to review. Great story (I love psychological stories)! You should update it! Thank you, I was a bit unsure how the story would work with so many POV's. It's also pretty amazing if some typo manages to escape my spell checks (I like to go Grammar Nazi on myself and go perfectionist in weird things). When I write at school, I always carry a pocket dictionary with me in my backpack and someone of my friends is going to beta-read every page (usually it's I-kun). When I type I use British spell check and read the text over at least twice or thrice to check my grammar before publishing the chapter here. Usually only typos are in AN's because for those I don't use so much dictionary and don't read them over again. Oh, and then there's one last thing. After I've published new chapter I go check how it looks on the screen and kick myself to head if some typo has escaped me. And I wouldn't mind you coming in Finland!
Rhythm15: Audun's probably tired and because of that not being too reasonable. Later he's most likely going to clung into Joa or attempt hiding behind him if Ivan comes too close. *thinks for a moment* Yeah, that's a good idea! I'll put it in 9th! (Iceland: You do not!) Oh, that reminds me of the other issue. Why does Iceland hate me? Ah, there's many reasons, first one probably being that I got on his nerves in "Ask the Nordics", he's a bit too fun to tease for his own good. Second, we're the same age and very similar personality wise (temper, mostly, Norway says that if we get on a serious fight someday it could be considered WW3) so we don't really get along on a normal day either (some wise guy said that if two persons are too similar they're either going to be best friends or worst rivals). This goes to Norway as well, we have small bickers daily. Third and most important reason is Audun. Ice doesn't like how I portray him. He doesn't understand that a 13-year-old and a 17-year-old are mentally different. Last time he tried to kill me because Audun cried in the chapter a lot. And you don't know how fast you can ran until someone's chasing you around with a volcano!
PuffinCup: That's correct. Though I could start nagging at you for being too polite with me. Next time you can use "Terve!" (e makes an 'eh' sound, remember to roll the r... wait a sec, you speak Spanish so you'll do that automatically) or "Moi!" (do I really need to tell how that's pronounced?) You make a lot of good questions, which are going to be answered later. Kill Joa? No! *hugs Norway* (Norway: You're crushing my ribs...) This story is supposed to have a happy ending! ...After many many crazy and serious twists. Oh yeah, DenNor, here we come! (Norway: *pouty aura*)
lothinielflowermaiden: First, it was you who helped me (The Long Road Chap. 3 AN). Second, after "Family Secrets" and "The Long Road", are you kidding me? Nine years of mandatory English at school (which I love though and I still have one year left), lots of spell checks and dictionaries, that's my secret. I'm attempting to get a 10 in English, it's not before that that I believe in my linguistic skills (though you reviewers are making pretty good job). I wish to work with English in future as well, maybe becoming a translator. The occasional skipped word I blame for my ADD and too slow fingers... though I've noticed recently that I type faster in English than in Finnish even though making more typos too in progress. So this chapter explains Mats, Arthur's turn is next time. Also note that Arthur didn't recognise Joa before Audun described his hair style, which tells that his not familiar with Joa's nickname. I hope you enjoyed this chapter too.
Hermeteikn: Thank you, I was a bit worried how the story would flow with so many POV's. The thingy is also that I had been planning that cliffy ever since I first started planning MoJ in my head. Blood cough was a must as I've always found it... what the word was again? Intriguing? *checks from dictionary* Yeah, that's it. (Is there something from with my head? xD) Dunno what that feeling was but I think... I got a similar feeling when I was writing the chapter... O.o
atramentaceous: Glad you like it but watch out or you're going to be Norway's next victim. He's not too happy about people pairing him up with Denmark. Poor Norway's still in denial... HUAH! *dodges a book* Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
One more side note. As I'm a language-freak, I saw a Finnish-Norwegian-Finnish dictionary a while ago. I WANNAAA! I've went many times to the book store just to read it a bit. Unfortunately the dictionary costs 16,95 euros (don't ask how I remember the exact prise) and I currently have... *takes out wallet and calculates the money inside* 16,55 euros. Darn, I thought I had more! Anyway, I'm currently broke. *mutters to herself* Once I get some money that dictionary is so going to be mine...
Another side note. (I swear this is the last one!) I have my exam week now and I have a feeling I'm gonna fail my Swedish epically. Because of Hetalia. Why do they have to put people from different Nordic coutries reading the text on listening comprehension exercises? I just start to listen to their lovely accents (Norwegian is my favourite) and the thing what they are saying goes in my one ear and out the other. xD And then I start laughing when there's a Danish girl reading the text... I like to think their the Hetalia characters reading it. xD The Danish girl just ruins it all as I can't imagine a gender-bent Denmark... and somehow the Danish is always a girl!
Anyway, next chapter comes later this month. Review! And remember the poll, there's only been three people who have voted! I'm gonna take it off when I publish 8th chapter!
And now Su-chan's off to type some new material~!