Sweden had apparently not taken as much to Lucia as Finland had, but he still apparently liked her. He'd found the hairdryer and sat the clumsy island on his lap, and started drying her hair. She was wincing whenever the warm air got too close, and Sweden appeared to be paying attention to this, carefully keeping a safe distance as the multi-coloured hair fluffed up and down. He turned the hair dryer off a second to call Hanatamago over with a click of his tongue and the dog sat in Lucia's lap. The hairdryer's noise resumed.
Denmark peered around the corner to look at the sofa where the two were sat. "Wow, they're getting along well!" He grinned at Finland, who was watching the scene with a surprised expression.
"It's quite cute to watch. Like a larger cat taking care of a kitten." Finland's eyes took in the scene before there was a hesitant knock at the door. He frowned, rushing to answer it.
"Estonia? What are you doing here?" he asked his friend. Estonia coughed slightly.
"I'm here to deliver something for the young lady. I went round to Denmark's house first but there was no one there, so I came here."
Finland looked at the small package. "Why do you have something for Lucia?"
"Mr Russia saw her drunk and thought it might be nice to send something." He handed over the bag and walked in, before seeing the scene in front of him. He turned around to Finland.
"I'm not seeing things, am I?" he asked shakily. Finland was still recovering from learning that Lucia had been drunk in front of Russia, of all people, but managed to shake his head as Estonia continued to gape.
Sweden switched the hairdryer off and Hanatamago jumped down. He looked down at Lucia.
"D'ne." She stood up from his lap and saw Estonia, tipping her head to one side. Finland smiled at her, reminded of Sealand.
"This is Estonia! One of the Baltics. He's come to give you something from Russia." He looked anxiously between the two of them, trying to figure out if they were okay with the other.
She chuckled quietly. "As long as it's not alcoholic. I don't really want a repeat of yesterday." She held a hand out to Estonia. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Estonia."
He shook her hand hesitantly and she smiled at him. "Great handshake. So what's in the bag?" Her eyes became very inquisitive, and Finland sweat dropped. Definitely like a kitten, interested and curious.
Estonia took a small box out of the bag just as Iceland and Norway walked in. Iceland had a similar look in his eyes to Lucia, and both started to edge nonchalantly closer to it. Estonia went to sit down while they did the thing of ignoring the box for a little while then turning back and watching it.
"Coffee?" asked Finland somewhat nervously while Norway and Denmark watched the two younger ones in amusement. Estonia nodded gratefully, and Finland went off to brew some while Lucia finally opened the box.
A little parrot Russian doll was nestled among the tissue paper. Her eyes welled slightly. "That's so nice! Can you tell him thank you from me?" she asked Estonia, taking in the careful painting. Estonia nodded and she suddenly ran shyly to hug him, causing the Baltic nation to flush a light pink.
Finland laughed as he brought the coffee through and Iceland began to mess about with the box, while Lucia eventually let Estonia go. He sighed with relief when he saw the coffee, reaching out to take a drink of it.
"Is that Sealand?" Lucia asked suddenly, peering out of the window.
Finland whipped around and saw the micro nation was indeed running towards Norway's house in tears. Lucia snatched the box from Iceland and wrapped up the parrot doll, putting the box on the coffee table before running into the hallway. Sweden had already opened the door.
Sealand saw Finland and rushed to hug his 'mother'. "That British jerk of jerks is being mean to me again! He says I'm just a micro nation!" He burst into tears before noticing Lucia staring at him as Finland patted his head, reassuring him that he would grow up to be a strong Nordic country.
"Lucia is here?" he asked Finland, while Lucia suddenly picked her present up from the coffee table and ran upstairs with it, an odd expression on her face.
"Yes, she's living with Denmark… Are you okay now, Sealand?" he asked him gently. The boy nodded, before looking upstairs. Estonia stood up.
"I've got to be off now; I still have some paperwork to do." He smiled slightly at Finland. "Thanks for the coffee." He walked into the hallway and out of the door, while Iceland looked up at the ceiling in some form of worry.
"She'll be fine." Norway patted his shoulder. "She's just climbed out of the window."
They all turned around to him and the door opened to reveal Lucia who grabbed her jacket and stormed down the path. They were all too shocked really to do anything other than gape.
….
England heard someone knocking on his door and opened it.
"Lucia?" He stared at his former colony before getting slapped upside the hide by a furious hand.
"Sealand is going to be a strong Nordic country! Don't you dare try and keep him from that!" Angry hazel eyes blazed and he just blinked. He didn't think that Lucia would willingly come back to his house, and he just stared at her for a few minutes.
"Look at me! He ran crying away from you! Do you seriously think that everyone doing so is a good thing?" The hand came up again ready to slap him but the English man caught her wrist before she could slap him again (one stinging ear was quite enough) and glared down at her. She trembled, and he saw her swallow. Of course he knew that she was slightly afraid of him, but let her wrist go.
"Sealand is a micro nation. Now, if you'll excuse me…" He turned around and Lucia walked away, and ran when she thought she was out of eyesight. England cradled his ear and thought a little.
So technically, Lucia and Sealand were siblings, seeing as they had been England's colonies. It stood to reason that even if it was clear that being pointed out by Sealand annoyed Lucia she would still be up in arms if anyone hurt him, even if they were a bit distant…
But did she really have to hit him that hard? His ear hurt like buggeration.
…
Sealand saw Lucia on her way back. The light of the day was just dying, and she was breathing in and then out, obviously either upset or angry. If he knew his 'sister' then it was probably a mix of the two. He rushed out to meet her.
"You're back! We were all worried about you!"
She looked down at him and engulfed him in a hug, which he returned happily. "Did you go to that jerk England's house?" he asked, suddenly aware that his 'sister' was trembling in a shock of some kind. She nodded, very slowly, and he gently led her into the house where the rest of the Nordics were waiting. Sweden walked over.
"D'n't j'mp out 'f w'nd'ws," he chastised her, before noticing the state she was in, shaking and tears starting to gather in the corners of her eyes. Denmark noticed this too, and ran upstairs very quickly, while Sweden turned to Sealand.
"Wh't happ'ned?" he asked gently. Sealand got a sparkling look in his eyes.
"My big sister Lucia is a hero! She went over to that jerk England's house and gave him what for!" He grinned up at her just as Denmark came down the stairs with the parrot doll. Lucia's own parrot was asleep in the corner, having given up on gaining Sweden's attention. Hanatamago was fussing over it, which Lucia seemed to notice.
Denmark waved the parrot doll at her. "Hey! Hey, Lucia. Luciaaaaaa. Lucy…." She turned back to him and jumped.
"Give me that!" She took it out of his hands, worriedly checking it for damage while the Dane pouted, before wrapping an arm around her.
"You okay? After seeing England, I mean." He hugged her and she hesitantly returned the hug, careful to keep the parrot doll out of his reach.
"I guess. It was just a shock going back to that house." She went and sat down on the sofa, glumly sorting through the layers of parrot. Norway stood behind Denmark and seized his tie, strangling him with it.
"Are you actually stupid?" he asked him quietly, while Lucia messed about. Sealand tugged on Finland's hand silently, and they both went down to sit down next to her on the sofa, while Denmark protested against the choking.
"Hey, don't worry about that guy! You're fine and Sealand's alright now so you don't need to worry about him, and we take good enough care of Sealand, don't we?" He looked worriedly down at the blonde and brunette girl, and she nodded, hugging her little brother like a stuffed animal despite his sudden protests.
Sweden walked over and pried her hands away from Sealand until she hugged him instead. Sweden stood there for a minute, before wrapping her arms around Sealand again, uncomfortable with the girl hugging him.
"I'm a nation! I don't need hugs!" Sealand squeaked as his older sister hugged him with a gloomy expression. She let go and went back to shuffling the pieces of the parrot doll.
Finland leant over to Sealand. "What's wrong with her?"
Sealand bit his lip, thinking back.
Flashback
Sealand ran up as England came back, a little girl clutching his arm. "Who's that, England jerk?" he asked, and the girl stepped hesitantly out from behind England.
She had brown and blonde hair, and was taller than Sealand, with tanned brown skin. She bowed quickly. "Bon jou, Sealand! I'm Lucia…"
She hid behind England again but it was clear that she was afraid of him; she trembled when he looked at her.
"This is St Lucia, Sealand. She's older than you, and France is fighting for her with me. She might not be staying here for long, but she's your big sister."
Frightened hazel eyes looked into Sealand's, and he blinked a lot before smiling. A sudden hug surprised him.
"You are very cute, little brother!" she said, smiling for the first time. And you could almost see sparkles in the background. Sealand stood there for a minute before shakily hugging her back, before England called them inside.
"When she was at England and France's houses, she changed. She used to have coffee coloured skin, but it was like she had been drained, during the war. So she doesn't like going back there so much, because it reminds her of the past too much."
They both looked over at her, as she walked over and started to tickle Hanatamago's tummy, so the fluffy dog rolled over. She still seemed rather depressed, and Finland was shocked.
"She's…"
Iceland turned to look and finished his sentence. "…tickling Hanatamago's tummy and is still depressed?!"
They rushed over. "Lucia! Snap out of it!" Finland shook her by her shoulders and she turned to look with dead eyes.
It was like something out of one of Japan's games. They turned to Sealand for help, who only said "Rum chocolate always helps," before picking up Hanatamago and running off with the fluffy dog.
Denmark ran over. "She's in complete shock, Denmark! Stay back!" Iceland said, before being gently moved to the side by Lucia who hugged Denmark.
Norway looked over, and snorted. "That's how you know when Lucia is in shock…" he deadpanned. "When she willingly hugs the idiot." Denmark turned to him.
"That's so mean, Norge!" He hugged Lucia happily. "How do you know that she doesn't just like hugging me?"
Norway raised his eyebrows. "Because usually she tries to escape your hugs."
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