Hello people I have returned for god knows how long...just until I get the next chapter typed but until then there's not much I can do but there are some more surprises up head please bare with until then. Please and thank you. TO THE REVIEWS!

Elizabeth Fire Ice Heart: I will too...I would expect maybe less than ten chapter left of this story

Anglel999FTW: I think half of your review is missing but I meant it as sh'e slipping away from sanity...and yes alas! All things must come to an end! Parting is such sweet sorrow...

TO THE STORY!

Chapter 25: Off To Japan

I looked outside the window as we flew over the land that was Asia. 'Leaving the Nordics behind is just a slight practice for when I actually leave...but I'll get to see them again...they promised.' I hugged the borrowed backpack closer to my chest and sighed.

"You ok Brittany?" Maddy poked my face. "You can't hide that this upsets you forever. I can see through your acts."

"Well you seem to be the only one who can." I muttered and forced the upcoming tears away.

"I'm the only one who's known you forever so I actually can." Maddy rolled her eyes. "Did you...fall for someone other than Alfred?"

Some heat rushed to my face and I turned away from my friend. "Oh my god!" She whispered/yelled. "Tell me who it is!"

"I can't." I whined. "Besides he doesn't even feel the same. Alfred's a good guy...and he's funny...and a dork...but...a lot has happened to me in the past months...I think I might stay away from relationships for a long time." I pushed my hair so that it would be behind me. "At least I sort out my feelings."

"Darn it Brittany! I told you no dating until you're 25!" Maddy faked a high pitched voice.

I chuckled. "Sorry mom, I forgot that if I keep talking about boys then I'll wake up your boyfriend."

"That's right! Go into the corner and think about what you've done."

"But mom-" I whined.

"No! Time out corner!"

"What...are you two even talking about?" Matthew groaned and adjusted the classes on his face.

Poor guy.

Thirty minutes into the flight and the North American brothers completely passed out. Alfred was sitting down behind the three of us-with a snore that rivaled Mathias's.

"Nothing just girl stuff." Maddy waved her hand and dismissed the Canadian's question. Matthew nodded and wrapped his arms around Maddy, bringing her closer and hid his face in the nook of her neck. 'I don't think that's allowed on the plane.'

The skin to skin contact made my sister completely flush red. She tried her hardest to get out of his hold without hurting him but his grip around her only tightened. Maddy sweatdropped when her efforts were all in vain. I giggled and closed my eyes, leaning against the chair. 'I wonder how the boys are doing? Sealand doesn't even know what happened...he was hanging out with Wy last time I heard.'

"Brittany? Brittany, wake up!" I felt a nudge on my shoulder.

I groaned. "What happened?"

"Come on dudette...we're here." Alfred's voice called out from the distance.

"What?" I called out.

"Come on dudette, we can't stay on the plane forever." The voice called out to me. I couldn't find the willpower to open my eyes though.

"Five more minutes."

Next thing I know, I was being lifted out of the seat and carried away from my spot that once held so much warmth. However...even if I didn't know who was carrying me-they provided the lost warmth that i obtained over the flight. I yawned. "I'm cold."

"Don't worry dudette I gotcha...you'll have to walk on your own though."

I shook my head as I was being put down. My feet touched the ground and Mr. Unidentified (it was Alfred, let's face it) took my hand and started leading me away somewhere. I yawned and willed myself to open my eyes. "It's too early for this."

"Welcome to Japan!" Alfred called out.

"Alfred shut up, we're all tired."Maddy groaned.

"We're going to be in a-"

"Conference building-where Kiku holds the world meetings when he's hosting." Alfred cut me off. I was too tired to care and frankly it wasn't even that big of a deal. "Great."

"It's Japan, it can't be that bad." Alfred rolled his eyes and started to lead us through and out of the hectic airport.

I yawned again. "What time is it?"

"No idea." Matthew blurted out as Alfred ran ahead of us.

We were a sleepy trio. None of us bothered to run after him, as we trailed behind...at least in the direction we thought he went in. Maddy ran her hand down her face. "We lost the idiot."

"You know- you could be a little nicer." I rolled my eyes, feeling a little more awake.

"You can't make me."

"Is that a challenge?"

"Maybe it is."

"Hey dudes! We've been looking all over for you!" Alfred regrouped with us with a slightly disoriented Kiku behind him.

"You're the one who left us behind." Matthew snapped giving Japan an acknowledging nod.

"Details, details, ok Kiku-the gang's all here. Lead the way out dude!"

"Hai." Japan politely bowed to us before spinning on his heel and leading us out of the airport in a better manner than Alfred could ever do, no offence to him.

When we reached the outside of the building, there was a highly guarded limo of sorts, surrounded by police and the public waiting for whoever the car was destined for. "Is there a celebrity nearby?" Maddy stretched her arms.

Kiku groaned and said something in his native tongue that none of us, (I assumed none of us) understood what he said. "My aporogies but it seems that despite my request, my peopre have prepared a car to ensure your safe journey to the building you'rr be staying at."

I blinked and simply stared. "We get to ride...in that?"

"Brittany no!"

"But-but-but"

"Thank you Japan we appreciate it!" Alfred beamed at his friend. I felt myself beam as I turned to the both of them. "Are we going?"

"Japan ignore her the two children. It's your call if we take the car or not." Maddy waved her hand.

I turned to my long time friend and snapped my fingers. "Hold up!"

She started laughing.

Laughing!

The nerve that woman has!

"You expect me to believe that in this sibling relationship I am the only child. When was the last time you looked in the mirror and studied yourself!"

"The last time I like I looked in the mirror to study myself was when you went missing and I was contemplating my life choices so far." Maddy rolled her eyes.

"Oh my god…" I hung my head. "Maddy- why do you do this?"

She shrugged.

"OK you two let's go." Matthew called us over. "Alfred's already dragged Japan to the fancy limo...car...thing."

"Adventure time!" I yelled as I bolted to the car. One of the guard people opened a door for me. I blinked. "Thank you." 'Wait...I'm in Japan, did he understand me? I don't speak Japanese either...this could be problematic.' I thought as I plopped into an empty seat. 'Well they are ahead of us...if they teach the language in the school they should know. What am I so concerned about?'

"Dudette, think fast!" Alfred tossed me a Coca-Cola can.

My eyes widened and I stared at the red can in my hands. 'I've missed you more than I thought,' I looked back up at the American and nodded my head. "Thank you." I turned to Japan and thanked him as well since we were in his country.

Maddy and Matthew entered into the car soon after me. We then drove off to our destination leaving the airport behind. I stayed silent for a while afterward, only gazing out of the window at what is the world of Japan and only catching snippets of the others conversations. Truthfully I wasn't really paying attention...until the car passed an anime store. "Japan?"

Kiku's attention turned to me.

"Do you think...at some point we'll be able to go shopping? I just saw a Pika-Chu thing and I want it." I tried to look through the back window but Pika-Chu was long gone.

"You like Pika-Chu?" Matthew raised an eyebrow.

"Not like...love. He is just one of the cutest things ever!" I tried to suppress the soon to be stupid grin on my face.

From the corner of my eyes I saw Japan take out his phone. I saw him text a person but whether it was important or not- it would be rude to ask. Suddenly Alfred smacked his forehead, making us all jump in the process. "God-! Darn it...Brittany I'm sorry."

I blinked. "What's wrong?"

"Remember that about a month ago we went to an amusement park?" Alfred leaned back against the car-looking defeated and disappointed. Japan stared at the unfolding scene with interest.

"Yeah of course I do!" I smiled. "That day was awesome!"

"Do you remember anything from that day?"

"You shoved me through a haunted house then we caught up with Maddy and Matthew...then you gave me my own Gunter along with cotton candy and a soda. Later on we went to a restaurant where you challenged Arthur to a gentleman contest." A small laugh escaped in the end.

"Well...speaking of your penguin...you left it at my place when you went to France and then I left it there when I found out where you were." He sighed. "I meant to bring it to you but I completely forgot."

I smiled. "Don't worry about it Alfred. I'll live. It's not the end of the world."

"I still wish I brought it though." The goofball pouted. 'Is he trying to cheer me up by acting cute?'

"It's the thought that counts, right?" I smiled, in my own attempt to cheer up the American since he failed in his plan to cheer me up. "It's ok Alred really."

"If you say so."

My gaze returned to the outside world beyond the window of the car. Everyone eventually started having their own conversations again while I calmly listened. Within a few minutes the car started to slow down as it parked into a space right outside the building I assumed we would be staying at. Kiku said something about there being more cars in the parking lot than there should have been however his words were drowned out by the sheer impressiveness of the building. Alfred handed me the backpack from the car which contained the clothes that I had received from Tino, the rest of my liquorice and the plush puffin that Emil gave me. 'Maybe Alfred knew that I kept their gifts...and only wanted me to have his with me.'

We all walked into the building being led by the countries with us as they have been in the area before. Maddy and I were so focused on the decor of the whole place that neither of us were paying attention to the layout or in what direction we were going in. Sooner than I expected we reached the double doors that would open to display the room in which my sister and I would be staying in.

Before the doors would even be opened however Kiku, stopped us all from doing so. "Something's not right."

It all happened so fast.

Not a second later the doors were thrown open slamming into Mathew (successfully sending him across the room). Maddy freaked out and ran to his aid, Kiku went inside, Alfred was too busy dying of laughter on the floor and I was trying to piece together what the hell just happened. Next thing I know there was an Asian boy in front of me with a slightly crazy glint in his eyes. "I'm Im Yong Soo! Nice to finally meet you!"

I blinked. "Hello...I'm Brittany."

"We all know who you are silly." He chuckled. "Between us countries you're practically a celebrity! And now you need our help! Would you mind if I claimed you?"

"You?-WHAT?!" I flushed ten shades of red.

He was just about to pounce on me but Alfred (like the hero he claims to be) caught his attention and allowed me to escape. "Korea! How you been man? It's been forever since I last saw you! Have you been working out?"

"Alfred? It's good to see you! I have been working out." The two boys went off and talked about whatever those two found interesting. I walked into the rom to what I could assume was the very definition of chaos.

Not only was the place a wreck but China was trying to corral everyone- Japan was livid/trying with all of his might and willpower to not take the katana from the wall- Hong Kong had headphones on while looking at his phone- Taiwan was trying to get close to Japan- Korea came back into the room only making it crazier than it previously was- India was...I had no clue what he was doing- Thailand and Vietnam were calmly talking at the table like any normal human being would. 'If only I knew what they were talking about…'

China yelled at Hong Kong, only prompting him to yell back which then ensued everyone having a yell off. As random objects started to fly around, I lost track of Maddy and Matthew. Nothing got better when Alfred decided to join into the madness.

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" I heard Matthew yell.

It was enough to calm the storm and got the whole group to realize the mess they created. The entire building shook even after the Canadian yelled- inducing fear onto those in the area. "Thank you." Matthew growled. "Do you people have any ice?"

China immediately set out for what he asked for as the rest of us were left with a threat in the room and one giant mess. I gulped and retreated to the wall next to Hong Kong. He looked up, acknowledging my presence and looked back to his phone. -immediately typing away. I felt the beginning of a slight headache build up. 'Maybe this is why Matthew snapped…' "Hey…"

I looked up and turned my head to Hong Kong.

"Are you Brittany?"

"Yes." I nodded, feeling skeptical of the question.

"Emil says hi…" He looked back at his phone and quickly added. "And that you're hot."

"I? What? Did he really?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah...look." He tilted his phone so that I could read the messages.

E: I like MLP, so what?

L: Hey, one of those two girls is in front of me. Brown hair, glasses-what's her name?

E: She's hot, right? Her name's Brittany

L: Thanks

E: Don't you dare try to flirt with her!

A slight blush dusted my face as I moved away from the phone-signaling that I was done reading. I chose not to focus on the fact that Emil was being more straightforward than he normally would. "I take it you name starts with an L."

He blinked and looked back at his phone before pocketing it. "I'm Hong Kong."

"I meant your non-country name."

"Oh... I'm Leon then." He ran a hand through his hair.

I smiled a bit a struck out my hand. "Nice to meet you then Leon." He gently shook my hand. "Is everything normally this crazy?"

"Believe it or not you actually caught us on a good day. This is nothing." He shrugged.

I rolled my eyes. "Fun."

"Tell me about it."

"Brittany!" Maddy called out.

"Yeah?" I called back.

"NO-darn it-come over here!" She groaned.

I sighed and turned to Leon. "It appears that my presence is being requested. I'll see you later, I guess."

I walked away and eventually made it to my friend without any harm done considering the amount of things on the ground. "You called?"

"Where were you?" She put her hands on her hips.

My jaw dropped. "Literally! Over! There!" I frantically moved my hands and arms in the general direction that I came from.

"Hey, keep it down. Matthew has a headache." Maddy frowned and crossed her arms.

I glared at her.'You have got to be kidding me?!' "You were yelling earlier…"

"Yeah...well…"

I sighed and gave up on the argument. We were all just being butts and frankly I was still tired from earlier. "Where's food? I'm starving."

"Come on dudette! I'm taking you to the nearest McDonalds!" Alfred ran over to me and picked me up bridal style- running over and out of the room. "We'll be back Kiku, we promise!"

"Alfred!" Maddy called after us.

The man holding me ignored her and ran with in his arms as if I was only a dol. The speed we were going at caused my heartbeat to race and my breath to be caught in my throat. It was exhilarating to say the least.

The second the two of us had left the building, Alfred had placed me on the ground and held my hand, intertwining his fingers with mine. "Ok Brittany, a promise is a promise. Let's go eat!"

I blinked. "You remembered?"

"Of course I did!" Alfred flashed me a smile. He had a good grip on my hand as we slowed to a walk in the crazy streets of Tokyo. "I'm the hero remember?"

The American was considerably calm considering the kind of drama we've had over the past few days. His grip around my hand tightened as we crossed the street. "A hero never break his promise."

My heart unwillingly melted at his words. "Thank you Alfred...I needed that."

He let go of my hand and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "If I remember correctly there should be a McDonalds here somewhere…"

Alfred walked by my side until we reached the restaurant. "Dudette-go find a spot to sit and I'll order for the both of us."

I nodded and set off to find a semi-empty place for me, Alfred and the insane amount of food I knew he was going to purchase. In the time that I chose to wait for both my friend and the food-I was looking at my phone. "Herro?"

I looked from my Tumblr app only yo see one of the locals standing by my side. "Is this spot open?"

I looked at the man and awkwardly smiled. "I'm sorry. My friend is over there getting some food for the two of us."

The man looked in the direction I pointed in and failed to noticed the obnoxious American ordering all of the food the establishment had. However there were more people in line waiting for Alfred to finish so he only had to guess on who my friend was.

The man the left me alone -staring at me from the corner of his eyes only to finally look away when Alfred flung himself into the empty seat next to me. I laughed at the goofy face he had on. "Geeze Al- I could hear you from all the way over here. Did you order the whole restaurant or something?"

"Don't worry dudette! We can split it!" Alfred winked.

I giggled to myself. "Even if we did I wouldn't be able to finish my half. I'll eat what I can." I looked down on to my hands under the table. The slight feeling of sadness and dread looming over me as the moment started to fade away. "Alfred?"

"Something on your mind?" Alfred cutely blinked, turning on a serious mode only God knew that he had.

"Thank you…" I sighed. "Not for just paying for our food but for being my friend and being here with me while all of this crap is happening. I'm probably more of an inconvenience to everyone if anything and I can tell who hates and who hides it and there's all of this pressure to be hidden or to be kept safe and then there's the pressure to go home or to stay…" I trialed off.

The emotions were heavy in my heart and no matter how many times I talked about it or who I talked to- the pain never went away. 'Why can't things go back to normal?' Alfred stared at me as I spoke, drinking in every last syllable that came from my mouth. I glanced outside of the window. 'Those normal people have normal problems, I'm "normal" girl with out of control problems.' "And then there's you." I muttered. "Despite your history- you have smile on your face and you act like everything in life is ok or will be ok...and then when something goes wrong, you try to help with your little 'I'm the hero' gimmick. Your pranks and jokes and personality...it's one of the few lights I have now. There is no escape from my problems as much as I wish there was. Every chance or issue that came up gave you the opportunity to turn it all walk away from it all and say no thank you, I'm done, you're on your own but you stayed...and for that I wish to thank you."

We both stayed silent for a while. Alfred glanced down and I returned to watching the pedestrians outside. Alfred huffed a little and ran a hand through his hair saying. "I was not prepared for that."

A tiny puff of air escaped me. A signal that I laughed a bit. "In all honesty, neither was I."

"ナンバー37!" The lady at the cash register called out, gaining Alfred attention. "I'll be right back."

I nodded and went back to checking my phone and any current updates that might have have happened. Within a minute or two, America had returned with 50 hamburgers, some cheese burgers, a Coca-Cola, a milkshake and 5 large fries (although they didn't appear to be as big as the one's back home). "Ok dudette! This is treat ourselves so much that we explode and as a bonus- I got you the strawberry milkshake!"

I smiled. "Thank you."

He settled the food onto the table and sat back in his seat. "As for what you said earlier, what kind of person would I be to befriend you and then completely turn you away merely because of someone else's problems? I've made a lot of mistakes in my life and there are lot of promises that I've failed to keep but I really want to help you Brittany." A small blush appeared on his face as he mumbled. "You're one of the few lights I have as well dudette."

"Do you mean that?"

"Of course! Why would I lie?" 'I don't know...to make me feel better?' "Are you still hungry?"

I shoved my feelings aside for his sake and grinned. "Starving."

Please review,

I don't usually ask but I really need feed back by this time of the story as I start to lose my motivation to write it since it's so close to the end and frankly I don't want to end it abruptly like a few of my other stories because although the beginnings were rough and the middle was great...I suck at ending a story