Thank you to Vves for reviewing. I highly appreciate it. Enjoy.

The rest of the day hadn't been that bad. Norway was mostly out of it due to his jetlag, and everyone else mostly left Iceland alone, which pleased the teen. Overall, it wasn't a bad day exactly.

It was the next day that left an impression.

The Nordics were going on their annual Christmas market stroll, just a little earlier this year to give themselves more time for presents. Usually this consisted of Denmark getting distracted by every single booth, Finland marveling over all the crafts, and Norway's Hetazon text messages, which Iceland of course wouldn't be receiving this year.

And truth to be told, almost instantly Denmark ran off, Finland close behind. Norway and Sweden browsed the wares much slower, Iceland trailing. He rarely found anything here anyway.

"Hey Mister!" A small Swedish girl ran up to Iceland, her blonde pigtails bouncing behind her. Iceland turned around to the voice, confused.

"I like your hair! It's so pretty!" The girl, who couldn't be older than 9, pointed to Iceland's hair.

"Um, thank you. Your hair looks… nice as well," replied Iceland in his heavily accented and broken Swedish, as he didn't know the language too well, but his knowledge of other Scandinavian languages helped.

"Thank you!" The girl giggled, before running back to presumably was her mother, who beckoned her.

Iceland thought nothing much of the interaction, just a happy child who didn't have a care in the world. He wished he could be like that.

Iceland turned around to rejoin his fellow Nordics, yet found that there wasn't a Nordic in sight, just a sea of Swedes and tourists.

Lovely. They left me all alone again. I guess I could just call...Damn it.

Iceland silently cursed Norway and decided to start searching.

Yet the more he walked, the more he got lost. The market wasn't just a straight line, no, it was turn after turn, intersection after intersection. Not even five minutes later, he was completely and utterly, lost.

Iceland decided to just walk in a straight line for a while, trying to see if he could find his way out of this mess. After some walking, Iceland found his way outside of the market, in an area he had never been in before. The buildings were small and far in-between. He walked towards a few benches, sitting down to rest his feet.

What he didn't realize was the winter flora behind him, all covered in snow. And behind that flora was a graveyard. All of the stones in uniform order, yet all at different stages of decay.

Iceland stared at the Lutheran church across the street, it's steeple high in the sky. There wasn't much special about it, but for some reason it stood out to the teen. Maybe it was the lack of things to stare at, or the icicles hanging off the roof.

"Hello, it's you again!" A voice jolted Iceland out of his daydreams, and to the other end of the bench. There was the little girl from earlier, blonde hair, rosy cheeks, bright smile and all.

"Ah, hello."

"What are you doing?" The curious girl asked in Swedish.

"I'm waiting for... someone." Iceland really hoped she could understand his broken Swedish.

"Oh." Silence reentered, with the faint sounds of the crowd at the market being the only sound.

"You aren't from here, are you?" The girl meant no harm, for it was obvious she was just an innocent, curious child.

"No."

"I thought so. The way you speak is funny! Where are you from?" Where is this girl's mother?

"I am from Iceland, I am visiting some… friends."

"Cool! What do they speak there?"

"Icelandic, but I know few other languages as well."

"Neat! Do you know Norwegian!?" The girl seemed excited to meet a multilingual person, not that Iceland minded.

"Yes."

"Me too! My father and grandma taught it to me when I was younger. What other languages do you know?" The girl had switched to Norwegian, as she thought it might be easier for the foreigner. Iceland was a bit surprised at the action, but gladly switched to the more familiar language.

"Well, I also know Danish, English, and just a bit of Finnish. How about you?"

"I've been learning English in school! Father told me that when I get older I'll get to choose another language to learn!"

"Cool."

"I wish Father was here. Mom said he's gone off to a higher place, but I'm still not exactly sure what that means."

"Oh... I'm sorry." Iceland didn't know what to say to that.

"It's fine. Where are your parents?" Do I really look that young!?

"I...never met them."

"Oh… So you're alone?"

"Not exactly, my brothers raised me."

"That's nice! I have an older brother too!" It amazed Iceland how quickly the girl could change her tone.

"Ah." Iceland was starting to hope that this conversation would be over soon. He didn't do well with little kids.

"Clara! There you are!" A teen boy, with bright blonde hair that rivaled Poland's, ran up to the small girl. He scooped her up in his arms and instantly started filling her head with questions such as: "where were you" and "where is Mother?" He eventually stopped his rambling and glanced over to Iceland.

"Mister! I never got your name, what is it?" Clara called out.

"My name is Emil."

"That's a really cool name!"

"Thanks for watching her, and I'm sorry too." The teen spoke in accented Swedish, though definitely not as bad as Iceland's.

"It's no problem."

"Emil is it? I'm sorry for the trouble."

"Like I said, no problem. She's a nice kid."

"Thanks. I'm Noah, by the way."

"It's nice to meet you."

"Same here, but we must get going. Thanks once more." Noah turned around back to the market.

"Bye Emil!" Clara called out, waving. Iceland waved back, showing a small smile.

"There you are." Norway and Sweden walked up to Denmark and Finland, who had found a booth selling chocolate.

"Hei Nor!" Denmark paused,

"Uh...where's Icey?" Norway and Sweden looked around them, finding that there was no such Icelander.

"Well…"

Iceland couldn't help but wonder about the girl. He felt bad that she had lost her father, and the way she spoke so highly of him made it sound like they were close. And right before Christmas nonetheless.

Iceland never had gotten super close with anyone, as he didn't have parents, and his introverted nature didn't allow for him to suddenly make best friends with a stranger. Heck, it even took him a while to get used to the other countries, but in some cases that was understandable. It's not every day you have an Italian running around with pasta or a Russian with a large pipe behind your back.

There were also his bosses, but they were bosses, not best friends. It's not to say he hated them (mostly), he just wasn't very close with them. They did look out for him though. He even saw them on that one Halloween a few years back.

Though it was a bit creepy.

"There you are. Why did you walk off?" A calm voice spoke in Norwegian awakening the Icelander from his daydreams. Strangely, there was no one else following him.

"I didn't walk off." Iceland didn't feel like arguing, but somehow he felt he would have to.

"Really?" His voice was laced with disbelief.

"You don't believe me then."

"No, not really. Especially with your track record." That struck a chord, why was he so harsh?

"Fine then, be that way." The wind had picked up, tossing the brothers' hair around. Norway sat next to Iceland on the bench, but kept his distance.

"What are you implying?"

"Depends, what is your assumption?" Iceland kept his ground, with his wall up strong and high.

"You're trying to make me look like the villain."

"I am not. I simply pointed out that I did not wander off, and then you jumped to conclusions!"

"But with your history, I have reasons to be suspicious, little brother."

"And that's the problem! You dwell on the past and keep a foggy view! Why is it so hard for you to accept that you were simply wrong? Don't you realize that I wasn't the one to 'wander off' but you were the one to leave me behind!?" Iceland finished his spiel, realizing that he had stood up in the middle of it with his fists clenched tightly.

The Norwegian was simply left speechless, as the Icelander's words left a deep gash that made him pause and question his motives when he first sat down next to the teen.

Norway sighed, got up, and stated "...W-we should find the others."

And then he started walking, not even looking back to see if his younger brother was following him or not.

Iceland kept his distance, not sure whether he was proud of the way he stood up for himself, or if he was disappointed with the solemn aftertaste of the conversation.

Hey look! He left you behind again. Some 'big brother'.

They didn't speak to each other for the rest of the day. The minute they had reunited with the rest of the Nordics, they both had an act of, 'there was definitely no arguments between us'.

Norway surrounded himself with the other Nordics, if they were his posse in a way. Iceland found it a bit out of character for him, since Norway is a much more introverted person, but paid no mind and simply isolated himself in the study, wrapped up in a book. It wasn't a well known fact, but Iceland was an avid reader.

Iceland was far from a people person. He found that he gets a bit uncomfortable around large crowds, and that he has to recharge by himself after an outing. Denmark had always pointed out that he must have gotten those traits from his brother, but Iceland wasn't so sure.

The study had a sort of calming presence for Iceland. It felt a bit like a remote island, with the only interruption being the occasional loud chatter from downstairs. He also had a great seat in the window, almost how a cat would curl up in the sunshine, yet this was the Swedish winters for it was much more of a snowy landscape, littered with the occasional markings of animal prints. Sometimes the wind would howl, but to Iceland it was just a mere tune.

Perfect for a good book.

Pure white light flashed in the tactician's eyes, temporarily blinding the fellow who was partially hidden by a dark purple hood. The sudden weakness caused him to lose his strength in his knees, collapsing on the rough ground. A strong swordsman ran over to his side, catching his friend before said friend's head hit the floor.

"Are you alright?" The swordsman looked in concern, worried for his friend and close ally's well being.

"That's the end of him." The blue haired man reassured. They watched the villain in front of them turn into smoke, for he was no longer a threat thanks to the duo.

"Thanks to you we carried the day. We can rest easy now, at long last..." The tactician felt a hand on his back, a sign of comfort and reassurance. Was it finally over? The tactician longed for peace, especially back home.

Yet the peace was soon disturbed once more as the tactician felt extremely dizzy, as if the room was made of gelatin. It had a red hue, frightening himself greatly. The tactician glanced at his ally for help, worried he might pass out due to a loss of control.

"...What's wrong?" The swordsman once again carried a face of marred with concern, instantly noticing something wasn't right with the white haired fellow.

"Hey, hang on-" The swordsman's face then suddenly became filled with surprise and pain. The tactician felt normal once again and regained control, but instantly noticed the electricity flowing from his hand, unnerving himself greatly. Surely he didn't-

The swordsman stepped back a few steps due to the extreme pain from the electrical stab wound, sputtering.

"This is not your...your fault." He breathed heavily, "P-promise me…you'll escape from this place…"

The swordsman took his final breath and stated his final words, laced with trust and care for his friend.

"Please, go…" He collapsed right after, becoming a lifeless body on the rough ground, and forever the missing piece to his fair young daughter… Lucina.

The tactician stumbled backwards, scared for what he could be used for as merciless laughter filled the air...

For the Prince of Ylisse and the Exalt's name was Chrom, but now he was no more than a memory and a legend in the hearts of his people, family, and close friend...Robin.

And everything went black.

"Hey, there you are." Finland walked into the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.

"Hm?" Why can't he leave me alone?

"What are you up to? Seems kind of lonely."

"Did you come up here just to criticize my way of living?"

"No! Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"It's fine. What did you need?" Iceland kept his eyes mostly to his book, trying to look occupied hoping that it would deter the Finn away.

"Just wanted to check on you. What are you reading?" Iceland showed the cover, keeping quiet.

"Ah, that's a good series."

"Series?"

"Yeah, it's part of a series! Though I suppose you really don't need to know much about the ones before this part to understand it. Takes place in a different time."

"Ah. It's not bad so far."

"I think you'll like it. Maybe you'll learn something new."

"Maybe."

The room went silent, both of its occupants staring off into space.

"You're a bit of an introvert, aren't you?" Finland said not quite as softly as a whisper but not loudly by any means.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't like large social gatherings and whenever you go out for a while, you need to be alone for a bit afterwards… Y'know, to sort of recharge."

"I suppose…"

"It's not a bad thing, it's just the way you are. It's funny, since Ta raised you for a while."

"Funny?"

"Yeah, Ta is so loud and extroverted... almost the opposite of you and Nor. He thrives when being with others, where you prefer a quiet lifestyle."

"I see…"

"Anyway, I'll leave you to your book. See ya." Finland got up from his spot and walked out of the study to go find the others.

Fin says it's not a bad thing… But why do they all act like it is?

Notes:

-Iceland's book is the first cutscene from Fire Emblem Awakening. I plan to just show some of the cutscenes, but I highly recommend playing it or watching a playthrough. Fortunately you can jump into that game without much knowledge of the previous games in the series.

-And now that I think of it, Iceland reminds me of Robin in a way; Just with less 'teen angst.'

-Fun Fact: Liechtenstein was originally designed to be much more serious.

I'm hyped for season 7! It's exciting to finally see Portugal, Czech, and Slovakia in it. My fingers are crossed for more Nordics (of course), Baltics, as well as Romania and Moldova!

Thank you for reading. Happy New Year's.

-TapiocaTundra