Chapter 7

Intuition

"Mother fucker!"

Gilbert turned around, actually managing not to lose the puck as he did so. Matthew had reserved more ice time for the two, and the albino's skills were greatly improving. He was gaining speed in his skating and was starting to take more accurate shots (though, quite a few still went flying all over the place). Canada was a great teacher…when he wasn't pissed (so what if he'd managed to hit him in the face with a puck? It couldn't have hurt that bad).

Of course, Gilbert doubted Matthew would be very helpful from his position on the ice.

Canada had been sent careening into the boards, later he explained to Gilbert that his blade had picked. The blonde moved to stand, hissing in pain as soon as he put pressure on his left leg. He hauled himself up using the boards.

"You all right?"

Canada nodded. "It's probably just a sprain, I think it might be my knee, but it could be my ankle. I didn't hear any noises though, so at least it's not an ACL."

Now, Prussia was a man who'd gone through many injuries in his life. Many injuries. It kind of went along with the whole war-mongering nation thing. Now, just because he was a man that been through many injuries, it didn't mean he knew what a fucking ACL was.

"And that is…"

"A ligament in your knee. It's a fucking bitch to tear, can be career ending for humans."

"You going to heal it?"

Matthew shook his head. All Nations had the power to heal injuries that were just caused in everyday life and not a product of the condition of their country. It was a personal choice for Nations though, because there were side effects. The act itself was both taxing on the physical and mental being, usually afterwards Nations would be tired from healing and more irritable. It also depended on the type of injury; it was far easier to heal a cut then a sprain, since it's easier to locate the exact location of the cut and send energies there.

All Nations used it during times of war, but most decided to let injuries heal naturally otherwise. In a way it helped them connect to their peoples more, to live the way they had to.

"You can keep practicing if you want; we don't have much longer here anyways. I'll just start packing up the rest of the stuff."

Prussia started to skate around, picking up pucks and cones. "Nah, let's just get going then. I can't feel my toes anymore anyways." Gilbert then yelped, having lost his balance while bending down.

Matthew laughed. "Hmmm maybe we should go then. Don't want you to get injured too." Even though the blonde had just injured himself the mocking tone in his voice was heavy. "And I told you you'd want thicker socks."

"Shut up."


Gilbert was in the hallway upstairs, sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. He was alone in the house for the moment. Canada had an Arctic conference meeting at the moment and was gone for the whole day. Man, he never realized how creaky this place was.

Of course, "he" wasn't the right word to use at the moment.

Gilbert scratched her head, afterwards running her fingers once through her long silver hair. All Nations would spend a couple days of each year as the opposite gender. Some equal representation thing, a side effect of woman's rights. Of course, female Nations had always gone through this (them manly men forced it upon them just with their assertiveness in everyday life alone).

It happened to them at complete random, though they could just to morph into their other gender at will. That didn't happen often though. Gilbert had been thoughtful when packing for this little adventure of hers, so she had packed a pair of pants. The shirts didn't matter though; they were just a little baggy but still appeared decent. Not like she needed them to impress anyone anyways. Pffft, her awesome took care of that.

This time she scratched her face, feeling the scar that ran along her cheek. She had no idea why she had one in this form and not the other. Some odd little tic she guessed.

Odd like this damned door.

She folded her arms, a cold glare directed at the flat piece of wood. Call it women's intuition or something, but there was something wrong about that door.

Of course, you could also say that when you go to open it and a cold jolt of sharp pain spikes through the length of your arm.

It was a very odd door.

Gilbert unfolded her legs, left leg straightening as her right knee jutted up into the air. She scowled at the door; hair fell off her shoulders as she leaned forward slightly. It had to have been some sort of magic, something far better than the faulty spells England tried to cast all the time.

In other words, it was out of her expertise.

Norway was no doubt the best Nation at magic; he was perfectly in tune with his own skills and the creatures that helped him. England tried, Prussia would give him that, but his temper didn't make him the best candidate for excelling. Prussia herself had dabbled in the arts when she was younger, but the practice and patience needed didn't appeal to her like the drums of war did. Of course, lately she'd been trying out little tricks to pass the time.

Believing in magic was a choice for Nations; one most didn't waste the time on.

Gilbert tapped her finger against her elbow, trying to figure out what exactly was going on with the door. Whatever the Canadian had done was good, she couldn't figure out how to get through. Though, there was a chance he was getting help from some sort of creature. She sighed. No matter what, the Canadian definitely had more skills when dealing with magic than her.

She continued to stare, body stilling except for that one finger. She jumped slightly as a noise sliced through the silence. Standing, she cursed at the waves of discomfort radiating from her funny bone. Damn wall got in the way, going and attacking her funny bone like that.

That's when she realized that Canada was not supposed to be back yet, and he never said anyone was coming over. She heard the banging of someone throwing what she guessed were shoes around. Quietly, she walked down the stairs, fiddling with a switch blade she kept in her pocket.

As she walked down the stairs a blur of raven black hair walked past them, a cooler in one hand and a stack of papers in the other. Prussia came out of the slight crouch she was in, thinking about how the girl had appeared kind of familiar. She walked down the rest of the stairs, clearing her throat as she entered the kitchen.

The raven-haired girl set the cooler down on the island with a thump, the papers slapping down beside it. "I take it you're Prussia then?"

Prussia looked her up and down, nose crinkling at the sight of a cowboy hat. "Yes. Who the hell are you?"

The girl grinned cockily, hands on her hip as she brought up her head. "Alberta of course, ninth province of this fucking awesome land of ours."

Gilbert than realized she had recognized the girl from the picture Canada had shown her. "Awesome is my word. Do you really think it can be applied to this place?"

Okay, maybe that had come out a bit more condescending than she meant, but still! You just can't go throwing the word awesome around like that!

Alberta's eyes darkened as her grin grew wider. The shadow casted upon her face by her hat only added to the menacing look she was giving. "Now, what's that supposed to mean?"

Gilbert looked at the girl's threating stance, wanting a chance for a fight. She would've taken it to, if it wasn't for the fact that this frickin' scary ass owl came out of fucking nowhere and landed right on Alberta's outstretched arm.

She decided she like her eyes where they were. Those talons looked fucking nasty.

So, instead she decided to change the subject. "What's in the cooler? Beer?"

Alberta blinked, surprised at the question, then relaxed. Her arm with the owl lowered a bit as she stopped leaning over the island. Her grin toned down, only slightly on her lips now. "Dinner. I decided to come over to make sure my dad wasn't getting harassed by an asshole. Of course, I didn't think I'd be dining with another woman."

Prussia groaned. "It's that time of year okay?" She hated being in girl form, it felt wrong when suddenly all these human guys were hitting on you. Or when other girls would make comments on how you appeared.

Alberta only laughed at the way Prussia made it sound like a yearly period. Her owl fluttered off her arm, landing on a chair. "Now, even though you're a woman for the moment that doesn't get you out of interrogation."

"…What?"

"How do you like your steak done?"

"Medium rare."

Alberta nodded, seeming satisfied with the answer as she pulled meat from the cooler. "Good. You're not one of those pansy-asses that kill it."

Prussia sat down, staring warily at the owl as it ruffled its feather. The raptor's head swiveled towards her, the yellow eyes boring into her. Creepy ass fucker.

"Now second one. You have a pet?"

"Yeah, duh. Gilbird." Gilbert whistled. Gilbird quickly came fluttering into the room, landing on its usual spot on its master's head.

"Cute. No eating it Chinook." The owl gave a low "whooo" in response. Prussia once again eyed it warily, wondering if it actually would eat Gilbird.

The raven hair girl threw out the packages the steaks had been in, and then set the meat aside to marinade. She then pulled out a bag of potatoes and began to wash, peel, and slice them up. "Have you had any perverse, affectionate, sexual, homicidal, sadistic or hateful thoughts about my father?"

Gilbert looked at her with disbelief. "What the fuck?"

"Ya sorry. That one came from Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. They're fucking Easterners, what else can ya expect."

"Wait you guys actually came up with the time to think of these questions?"

"Pfffft yeah. You don't have the best reputation around. Have to figure some stuff out about you if you're spending so long with Dad." The thump of the knife was ominously loud this time. "Wouldn't want ya hurting him after all. It'd end badly, for both of you." The knife thumped again.

Gilbert looked at the girl; her face had become dark once again as the threat seated itself in her mind. Alberta had since then removed her hat, her hair falling in front of her face as her hand stilled and she glared a warning at the albino.

Prussia's lips curled into a snarl as she realized where exactly she knew the girl from. "You're the one who shot me at Vimy Ridge!"

Alberta threw her head back, laugh loud and large as she stuck the knife down in the wooden cutting board. "So she remembers! That's good. Then you'll know exactly what I'll do to you if you in any way hurt my father. Feel free to use your imagination and apply that to my brothers and sisters too. Quebec and Manitoba have also been known to have a bit of a mean streak."

Alberta was now leaning across the island, glaring right into Prussia's eyes. The albino blinked, mouth curling into a grin. "Kesesesesese. I like you. I'll keep your little warning in mind Rabe."

Alberta returned the smile, back straightening as she plucked the knife from the board. "Good to hear. Now, you never answered my question."

Prussia blushed, "You actually want me to answer that?"

Alberta giggled. "Nah, just screwing with ya." She put some of the potatoes that had already been cut into tinfoil.

Good, because I don't think you'd like my answer. The room quieted as Prussia thought about her feelings towards Matthew as Alberta continued to prepare dinner. She had never thought about it before, but if something did happen between her and Matthew, what would others think? Obviously America and England would attack her for getting close to their "precious little Matthew", if they remembered him. How France would react was up in the air, they were best friends but this was his kid after all. Gilbert remembered how she used to worry about Westen, she could somewhat imagine what France would feel.

And as Prussia watched the girl in front of her prepare dinner, she realized there was one other thing she'd have to factor in. His kids. She didn't really know much about them, regions like Provinces preferred to stay away from other Nations. Sure, sometimes you'd meet a region for a moment, but those weren't usually under the best circumstances (i.e. getting shot in the head). Some were more involved in world affairs then others too. Gilbert thought she remember how Canada had mentioned how Alberta stayed very involved with her oil industry, making her one of the more busy Provinces.

And he has twelve others. Wonder what they're like.

Prussia continued to watch the girl cook dinner. She went through the motions; Gilbert guessed she made this often.

He said one's like Lars, one's like Arthur, one's like Alfred, and I can see how Alberta's like me. That leaves nine others though, two of which Alberta made sound like they have tempers. An interesting bunch for someone like Matthew to have.

Chinook who'd. Alberta threw the knife she'd been using into the sink, stacking packets of tinfoil on top of each other, the potatoes inside. "What's your name kind?"

"Hmmm. Asking that during our first meeting, how bold of you." She grabbed the packets and the tray with the steaks, balancing them between her arms. "Alexandra."

"Gilbert."

"Great name for a girl."

"Shut it."

Alexandra laughed. "Just come help me with this damn door."

"Why should I?"

"Do you want supper? I have to go outside to get to the barbeque."

"But it's snowing."

"So?"

Prussia shook her head as she opened the patio door. "Damn Canadians."


Get hot, get too close to the flame
Wild, open space
Talk like an open book
Sign me up
Got no time to take a picture
I'll remember someday all the chances we took
We're so close to something better left unknown
We're so close to something better left unknown

I can feel it in my bones

Gimme Sympathy by Metric

Rabe-raven

Westen-West

Author's note- I'm so sorry this took so long! My beta was outta town and I value her advice and so decided to wait for her. I originally planned to use Man! I Feel Like A Woman! lyrics but felt that they didn't totally tie in with the tone of the story. So I went with another Canadian band instead~

Please, please review! I'd like to hear your opinions of Fem!Prussia suddenly being in the story, and about my OC!Alberta. Also, if you want to know about the whole Vimy Ridge thing, the second chapter of Unknown Muse is actually that story!

And don't worry my Eastern Canadian readers, I love you all. Even if you're stealing all of the hot weather. xDDDD