Sealand ran to and fro, trying to get everything spick and spam as best as he could. Ukraine's boss was coming to converse with his own in order to decide on some new economic possibilities and the like. Though his boss and Ukraine's had met before, he was still edgy about them talking. He wasn't the only one nervous, though. All three of his fort's soldiers (his original defender and the two Ukrainian newcomers) were all doing their best to clean up the place for their leader's arrival. Even Sealand's pets had been groomed up for the occasion.

Sealine's hair had been brushed and washed with freshwater as best as they could get him. Seawing, however, was a bit less cooperative, squaking and squirming when Sealand tried to smooth out his feathers. Sealand leaned back against a wall with a sigh of relief when it was all finally done.

"Sealand," Sealand looked up to see his 'prince', Paddy Roy Bates, looking down at him, "we have a little time before he arrives. Why don't you go and get into your good clothes to greet him?" Sealand looked down at his work clothes and nodded.

"Yes sir, I'll be right back." Sealand ran down into the spiral staircase that led into one of his concrete pillars. After the fire, the pillars had been initially gutted, but they soon refurbished them to make up rooms on the seven stories in each pillar. The room at the very bottom of the right pillar was Sealand's. It was a rather bare thing, but he had a few things to keep it from looking completely barren.

He went to a little wardrobe he had placed up against the wall, opened the door, and removed the outfit he was preparing to wear. Truthfully, it was just a set of his new everyday clothes, but he felt a certain obligation to wear them ever since his land had joined with Ukraine's. He had had them washed and ironed specially for this occasion, even his scarf, which he wore almost everywhere he went, had been cleaned and left in his room until Ukraine's President's arrival. He quickly changed into his clothes, first slipping on the long-sleeved cotton shirt, then pulling up the overalls and securing the straps on his shoulders. He had just finished adjusting the scarf around his neck when the intercom in his room crackled.

"Sealand," Roy Bates' voice sounded, "his helicopter's arriving, so you'd better get up here quick." Sealand quickly stuffed his work clothes onto the wardrobe floor, slammed it shut, and ran up the stairs.

Thank goodness I'm in shape, he thought as he ran up the seven flights of stairs. He was panting heavily and had to lean over to catch his breath when he finally reached the top. "I'm *pant* here *pant* sir."

"Perfect timing, here he comes." Sealand looked up and held onto his sailor cap as the helicopter's arrival was announced with the sound of rotating helicopter blades and a gust of wind that was created by the former. The three soldiers, the one Sealandian and two Ukrainian, stood at attention as it touched down and the rotors eventually stopped turning. Two guards in Ukrainian army uniform stepped out and stood at attention on either side of the helicopter door. A polished black shoe emerged from the copter, and was soon followed by the rest of the man, president Viktor Yanukovych. Patty Roy Bates stepped forward slowly and extended a tough, old, work-worn hand towards the man and smiled the warm smile of a grandfather or old man.

"Laskavo prosymo do Sealand , my radi bachyty vas tut." The Ukrainian man looked at Roy's hand for a moment before taking it into his own.

"Da... I am... glad to be here as vell." His English was slightly butchered and slow, but it was coherent, which was enough for Mr. Bates. There was a few seconds of silence before Bates spoke again.

"Well, erm... my pidemo i obhovorymo ?" Yanukovych nodded and the two headed to Bates' office to discuss the matters they were meeting for. As soon as they were gone, Sealand relaxed and went to Ukraine, who had stayed behind on the platform.

"Hi starsha sestra! How has your day been?"

"Very good, spasybi." In truth, Ukraine was a bit distracted as she looked around Sealand's 'land'. This was really the first time that she had actually been there, so she didn't know what to expect. The fort itself was a bit rusty, and certain places on the deck had solidified sea salt encrusted on them. One had a great view of the ocean no matter where they were on deck, there was no doubt about that. However, the vastness of the sea around them gave a sense of loneliness. Ukraine, having been surrounded by her siblings and neighboring countries for as long as she could remember, couldn't even begin to imagine how lonely the boy standing next to her must have been when he was left alone here. To think, he may have felt like this all the time, being here all by himself, she thought sadly.

"Something the matter starsha sestra," he asked innocently. Ukraine smiled off her sad thoughts and shook her head.

"No, it's fine." A sudden squawking sound drew Sealand's attention away from Ukraine for a moment. A giant gust of sea wind blew through, making him have to hold on to his hat to keep it from being blown away. The squawking turned out to be a mama seagull walking across the deck, her little ones in a line behind her like ducklings. The wind proved to be too strong for them, sending all of them, even the mama, tumbling head over heels.

"Oh no! They're gonna' go overboard!" Sealand rushed towards the little birds to try and catch them. He dove forward and landed on his stomach. It knocked the wind out of him, but he managed to block their tumbling path, catching most of them. However, two were blown over the top of him and continued their tumble towards the edge. Ukraine was kneeling next to him to see if he was alright, but Sealand was more concerned with the baby seagulls at the moment. He cried out just as they went over, but two white blurs brought them back on deck in a flash. The first white blur turned out to be a seagull wearing a little blue sailor's cap on its' head and a blue and yellow ribbon around its' neck. The other was a kitten, white and fluffy as a cloud with a similar little cap and a blue and yellow collar clasped to its' neck. The cat had one baby seagull in it's mouth and the seagull held the other in its' beak. "Seawing! Sealine! Great work you two!"

Sealand went and took the baby birds from his pets and put all of them into a basket. He then picked up the basket and carried it to a small, slightly secluded, place between some crates.

"There," he said, "that'll keep you safe if any more wind comes your way." He smiled and the seagull mama seemed to squawk in thanks. "Your welcome." He turned to Ukraine and smiled. "Well, now that that whole mess is out of the way, would you like a little tour of my country?" Ukraine smiled back and nodded.

"Da, I vould like zat very much." So, Sealand took her by the hand and led her proudly around the fort. He pointed out their chicken coop, where Sealine got himself into trouble by getting too close to the chicks and getting pecked by a hen as a result. Then he showed her the slightly cramped rooms in the legs of the fort, including his own. Once back up top, he led her around the kitchen and main room. He laughed good-naturedly when their goat decided to introduce itself by bumping Ukraine from behind.

Unbeknownst to both of them, Sealand's smiling face was being reflected in a telescope from far off on the British mainland. Scotland sighed and closed up the device with a click. Ireland and Wales looked at him inquisitively.

"Well, how is it looking? Think we could go and get him pretty easy," Wales asked. Scotland rubbed the back of his head with his hand.

"Well, ah don't really know. Whail it seems pretty low-defense, they're ready to shoot at anyone tha' entr's their p'rtion of the sea w'thout permiss'n. Ah don't know wether this'd be easy 'r complicated. 'Specially since that tha' banshee-woman is ready to jump 'n help 'im a' a mo's notice." Wales shivered at the memory of being chased by said woman. Ireland had a hand resting on his chin thoughtfully, when one large eyebrow twitched slightly. His two brothers noticed this, and immediately were curious.

"We saw that Ireland, what're you thinking?" Ireland slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He dialed and answered the question as the dial tone sounded in his ear.

"I'm thinking that I'm gonna' ask for help from a good friend of mine." There was a click and the person on the other end asked who was calling. "'Ello. Yeah, it's me, Ireland. Listen, I have a favor to ask of you Turkey..."

Laskavo prosymo do Sealand , my radi bachyty vas tut. - Ukrainian: Welcome to Sealand, we are honored to have you here.

my pidemo i obhovorymo – shall we go and discuss

Spacybi -thank you

starsha sestra - big sister

da - yes