Afterword on Freedom

"Oh. Mokona, your ribbon's a little loose. Here, let me fix it."

"Do you not want to wear a bowtie instead of that cravate, Fai?"

"No, it's fine, France-san."

"Ah! Kurogane, you can't bring your sword out in the open like that!"

"Canada's right, monsieur. It's no longer the norm to show off such dangerous weapons, and since we're in America, security's bound to be stricter about these things."

"Tch! I'll wear my sword if I want to!"

"Please, Kurogane-san. We don't know all of the customs of this world; we don't what will happen if we go against them in their own territory."

The ninja frowned, and Syaoran frowned back. Finally, the other heaved a sigh and quietly gave his Ginryû to Mokona. As Kurogane looked out into the car window and fumbled with his necktie ("Non, non, monsieur! You'll ruin it again!"), Canada gave Syaoran an appreciative smile. "Thanks, Syaoran. I wasn't sure what to do if Kurogane brought his sword with him to America's birthday party of all places."

Syaoran nodded at the smile. "I understand that, as nations, you require a high level of security around you."

"Oh no, no," Canada denied with a shake of his head. "That's not why the security is so uptight here in America. We don't get hurt as easily as humans do, you see, and are actually much stronger than the normal person too." Purple eyes darkened as he continued, "A few years back, America was hit by a big terrorist attack that killed many of his people and endangered hundreds more, possibly thousands. That's why America's not going to take any risks this time – he doesn't want to endanger any more lives because of him."

"…I see." When he first saw America-san through the other Syaoran, he thought he was just a highly energetic and charismatic person. Now that he heard more about his past, Syaoran realized that America-san was more than that.

When the chauffeured sedan pulled to a stop, France said in a low voice, "We've arrived. Is everyone ready?" They nodded from where they sat (with Mokona proclaiming, "Mokona's ready to roll—!"). The Frenchman nodded back, and slowly opened the door.

Wherever they looked, Syaoran and the others found another reason to awe. The building looked overwhelmingly huge from the outside. From the inside, the venue wasn't as overly big as they expected, but just spacious enough for all the guests to stay comfortable. The people were scattered all over the place, each looking so different from the other, talking among themselves in small groups. Most of them, though, lined themselves over at the long tables that served the food. Fai particularly eyed the bar just sitting pretty at a corner of the venue.

"America's really outdone himself this year," Canada sighed.

Beside him, France squeezed the Canadian's shoulder. "Come now, mon cher. You know your own birthday had more class."

"Oi, Frenchie! Over here!"

Everyone, including some of the other guests who looked displeased by the noise, turned towards the voice and found Gilbert waving at them with Antonio not too far behind. When they were close enough, the albino slapped the Frenchman on the back and stated, "Oi, France! Where've you been this whole time? I was stuck with West and that uptight aristocrat since Canada's birthday party 'cause of you, y'know!"

After a few rounds of coughing, France finally replied, "Ah, I apologize, mon ami. I visited Angleterre the night after Canada's party, you see, and, well… Things happened."

Syaoran and the others began to frown at the memory, but Gilbert suddenly gasped and, with a mad grin on his face, cried out, "Holy—! No way! Seriously?" He laughed boisterously, his laughter attracting not so amused looks from the others guests. He wiped the tear from his eye as he jeered, "Man, I didn't think you'd – don't get me wrong, France; I know you've got the skills – but mein gott, England? Ahahaha! This is just… Oh mein gott…"

Beside him, Antonio's eyes sparkled. "So give us the details, France. Come on, you can tell us."

When Gilbert got his breath back, he smirked, "Yeah, who's the… What did Japan call it again? Uke?" His smirk widened, his red eyes now mischievous. "Yeah, uke! Hey France, was it England? It was England, wasn't it? 'Cause you know you can't spell uke without UK, am I right?" he winked, elbowing the now speechless France on the side.

All the while, Syaoran just watched them fool around with a raised brow. It was becoming clear that Gilbert-san didn't understand France-san's choice of words at all, though he wondered why the Frenchman didn't correct them about it yet. A finger tapped his shoulder from behind and Canada whispered into his ear, "I think it's better to leave them alone for now. When these three get together, they—"

"Oi, what're you whispering on about over there, Canada?" Gilbert smirked at them before noticing the other people with the Canadian. The albino blinked at Syaoran. "Huh, weren't you that group of travelers with Eng—uh, I mean Arthur before?"

Fai smiled at him thinly. "It's been a while, hasn't it, Prussia-san?"

At that, their jeering stopped and Antonio blinked at the magician. "Oh. So you know about us? All of you?" he asked, looking at the rest of Syaoran's group. The boy showed a small smile and nodded. The green-eyed nation just smiled back. "Well, it makes things easier, doesn't it?" He showed his hand to Syaoran as he continued, "My name's Spain, by the way, though I know that I introduced myself to you before with a different name."

Syaoran shook Spain's hand firmly. "It's a pleasure to meet you again, Spain-san," he said even though it was his first time meeting the nation in person.

The albino nation patted him on the shoulder to get his attention before proceeding to ruffling the boy's hair roughly. "And I'm the awesome Prussia, but you already know the awesome part, didn't you?"

When the Prussian finally stopped ruffling the boy's hair, Spain asked with a smile, "So are you here for America's birthday, too?"

"Yes," Syaoran nodded. "Actually, we came here in—"

"Hey~!"

As heads turned to the familiar lively voice, Prussia grinned, "Well, speaking of the birthday boy…"

They watched as America approached them in a bit of a jog with four other people trying to catch up to him. Syaoran and the others smiled at him in greeting while Mokona waved back at him, "Long time no see~!"

The American blinked at the white creature for a moment before pointing at it in recognition. "Mokona!" Then, he looked at the rest of the group around him, his blue eyes smiling. "You're all actually here! I didn't know you were even around town."

"We heard from France-san that today's your birthday," Fai began. Syaoran started but the magician just winked at him before continuing, "And I admit – you're having a grand party here, America-san."

Syaoran grimaced slightly, worried about how America would react to Fai calling him by his country name. However, the nation-celebrant just smiled back at Fai and said, "Thank you!"

Then, as if to answer the boy's silent question, Canada told him from behind, "He may be a powerful nation, but he's just hopeless at reading the atmosphere, so expect him to miss a few details here and there."

"I-I see…"

"Fucking Spagna…"

Syaoran turned in surprise to find a certain brown-haired man glaring at Spain. As he wondered how that stray curl managed to float like that, the Spaniard became ecstatic. "Lovi~!" he exclaimed before giving the other a tight hug. "You're here, too!"

"Let go of me, you bastard!" the one called Lovi shouted back in Spain's ear. But the Spaniard only hugged tighter, cooing at the other as if he were a stuffed bear.

Syaoran heard a set of feet approaching, and, when he turned, saw three people standing behind America. He was about to smile in greeting, but thought otherwise when he noticed the narrowed glance of the blonde-haired one. "I'm sorry," he asked, "but how did you find out about France and America?"

Before the boy could open his mouth, Fai cut in and remarked with a curled smile, "Oh, it's not just France-san and America-san~ We know all about your real identities as nations!"

At that, Syaoran began to fret. "Ah, F-Fai-san…" That was a little bit too straightforward…

He noticed that the blonde-haired nation was staring down at them more than ever, but then Prussia suddenly pressed a beer mug (that Syaoran never saw him getting) to his brother's cheek, jeering, "Aw come on, West! You need to relax~ It's obvious that my awesomeness is just too awesome to stay secret for long!"

Then, the brown-haired nation approached Syaoran and held both of his shoulders, smiling, "Ciao, my name's Italy and he's Germany!" He pointed to the blonde-haired nation beside him, who just frowned but nodded in greeting. "What's yours~?"

Syaoran blinked. The nation looked very similar to the one called Lovi, except his stray curl was on the opposite side. He wondered how he could see anything with his eyes closed like that. Just as he realized that he was staring, Fai patted him on the head and said, "This young man's name here is Syaoran. I'm Fai, and the one with the scary face is Kuro-ron."

"It's Kurogane!" the ninja snapped. Italy immediately scurried over to Germany's side, clearly out of fear, while Fai merely laughed at the usual reaction.

Mokona jumped from Syaoran's arms to the Italian's head, declaring, "Don't forget about Mokona!"

Italy let out a surprised 've' sound at the creature on his head, but Germany flinched. "A-A talking rabbit?"

"Mokona isn't a rabbit!" Mokona returned. "Mokona's Mokona!"

The third person behind America gave Mokona a small smile, not showing the least bit of surprise. "I see. Mokona, is it?"

"That's right!" Mokona hopped over to the black-haired nation, who readily caught it with outstretched hands. "And what's your name?"

"Oh right, my name. Well, my human name is Honda, Kiku but my country name is Japan."

"Eeeeehh—?"

Syaoran blinked at Kurogane's shocked face, his mouth gaping. He pointed a trembling finger at the Japanese nation, muttering, "Y-You're… You're…"

"Oh~" Fai smiled. "If I remember right, didn't Kuro-tan say that he came from the country of Japan~?"

"What!"

"Really?"

"Ve~ Is that true, Kuro-ron?"

"My name is not Kuro-ron!"

"Ve—! H-He's scary, Germania!"

"Just calm down, Italien."

"Your face is all red like a tomato, Lovi~!"

"My face is not a fucking tomato, you damn bastard!"

Syaoran chose to ignore the rousing chaos and stepped towards the nation-celebrant. "America-san," Syaoran called for his attention, and the American looked back at him with bright blue eyes. "I'm sorry for suddenly showing up without telling you beforehand."

"Nah, it's okay," America brushed it off with a smile. "I like surprises! I'm just wondering though," he continued, and there was a slight strain of apprehension in his voice, "how'd you get past the guards at the entrance? Weren't you asked for verification or something?"

"Ah!" Syaoran fumbled through his pocket before showing him a letter. "England-san wrote a letter of permission for us to come in his place." The Brit was still too weak (and even caught a flu) to travel, let alone attend America's party, but it was nice of him to have Syaoran and his group go instead.

He let America have a look at the letter, and Syaoran noted the forced smile on the American's face as he muttered, "So, that old man's not coming again this year, huh?"

Syaoran frowned at the hint of disappointment in the nation-celebrant's tone. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, what're you apologizing for?" America returned the letter to him with a smile, even though Syaoran knew it was no longer genuine. "If England's gonna act like some hermit, it's up to him."

"Even so—"

A strange blue glow suddenly emanated from behind, and everyone stared at Mokona's glowing earring. Mokona looked at its companions and said quietly, "It's time to go."

"What?" America whined. "But you guys just got here!"

"The beer-drinking contest hasn't even started yet!" Prussia added.

"Bruder…"

Fai smiled at them apologetically, as he and Kurogane began to walk away from the group. "Sorry, but we really have to go."

"Can't you at least stay for the fireworks?" the nation-celebrant tried, and Syaoran bit on the inside of his cheek when he saw the growing sadness in those blue eyes.

The boy steeled himself and patted America lightly by the arm, saying, "As much we'd like to, we can't stay any longer."

America opened his mouth to protest when Mokona suddenly hopped to his shoulder and hugged his face. "Happy birthday, America!"

The nation-celebrant paused for a moment, but a small genuine smile crept up his face as he patted Mokona gently. "Thanks, little buddy."

"Mokona!"

At the call, the white creature hopped to Syaoran's waiting hands. Urging himself not to look back, Syaoran followed Fai and Kurogane as they made their way out of the venue into the open grounds outside. The light that shone through the windows of the venue revealed that they were the only ones there, much to their convenience.

In Syaoran's arms, Mokona frowned. "America looked sad when we left."

"You don't need to worry about him. I'm sure he'll be fine once the fireworks start."

Heads jerked around, their eyes looking through the scant light, until they saw a certain figure smiling at them from under the shade of the lone oak tree. Syaoran blinked, gawking slightly. "Japan-san…?"

The Japanese nation smiled at them still and began to walk towards them. Syaoran held his breath as Japan paused in front of him. He watched with wide eyes when the nation patted Mokona gently, his fingers trailing over to the glowing earring. "So you really are leaving? To another world?"

Syaoran stared the nation. "How did you…?"

Japan merely shook his head and began to step back. "Then, I will not delay you on your departure."

Before he knew it, Mokona had already stretched its wings, and the magic circle glowed from underneath their feet. The familiar gusts and beams of light encircled them, as Syaoran watched Japan waving at them. "Please pass my regards to Watanuki-san."

At his words, Syaoran understood. With a small smile, he nodded, "I will."

The multicolored light wrapped around them and soon they disappeared into a ball of light, already on their way to their next destination.

From the grounds outside the birthday venue, Japan watched the fireworks that had begun to light the sky. "I wish you all a pleasant journey."

~oOo~

Special notes:

Cravate – necktie in French (according to English-French dictionary online)

Chauffeured sedan – If Syaoran knew what kind of car it was, it would be a Lincoln Town Car, c/o the generous America :)

Germania – Germany in Italian

Italien – Italy in German

Bruder – brother in German

A/N: It's finally over! And it only took me about a year too |D;; A big thank you for staying with me 'til the last chapter! For those who reviewed, you're all awesome! Mokona-hugs for everyone :"D

Previous chapter's BGM (sorry for the lateness!): Past Story [Fairytail OST]

This chapter's BGM: Keikai ~ Wolfram no Theme ~ [Kyou Kara Maou OST]