A/N: Let me just start off by saying that it has been so long since I've written any fanfics for Hetalia, and during quarantine, it's one of the things I've revisited. I used to love to write a lot as a teenager, but depression took over and I lost the motivation for the hobby I enjoyed. But in recent years I've recently gotten back into writing, and fanfic writing has always been a great outlet for me. But anyway, I know this might not be quite historically accurate, but it's still a cute idea I've had for a long time, and I hope you all enjoy it!
Denmark, sometime in the 11th century.
It was a particularly cold day in the small fishing village, the wind whipping the snow across the harbor, leaving little piles of it on the docks. The snowstorm blinded the town, muffling the world in a white silence. It was much too cold to be out, but that didn't matter to the very personification of the land himself, Mathias Køhler, who had just finished fishing for herring for the day, grunting as he hauled his catch in a net up onto the dock.
He shivered as he took a deep breath through his nose and out through his mouth, watching his breath disappear on the wind as little snowflakes melted against his face, his wild honey locks billowing gently in the wind, rubbing his hands together in a futile attempt to warm them.
In recent years, Arch Bishop Absalon had become an important advisor to Mathias - numerous churches and abbeys had been founded and the town was beginning to flourish thanks to the growing herring fishery trade.
The possibilities for herring fishing provided great opportunities for the town's growth, well on its way to becoming an important trading center. Though pirates were becoming an ever-growing problem, ravaging the coast for years. He needed to figure out a way to protect the town, and fast. Perhaps building a fort around the town would do a lot of good.
"Mister Denmark!" He heard a voice call from the distance.
He turned to see two dock workers rushing towards him. What were they doing out here? They were done for the day, weren't they? Though the graveness in their voices told them it was urgent. And, as they got closer, from what he could see, one of the men was carrying a bundle in his arms, and he could hear the cries of an infant, only adding to his concern.
"What's going on?" Mathias asked them, the men panting when they stopped in front of him.
"Mister Denmark, you need to see this," the dock worker said, pointing to the other man holding the bundle.
The other man sidled up beside him, the infant's cries growing ever louder, echoing through the air, the little girl flailing about. "She's just a baby. He shook his head in disbelief. "She was just...lying there in the snow, we think she was abandoned. We took her to Bishop Absalon and he advised us to take her to you straight away. She's in really bad shape..."
"Let me see her," Mathias said.
The worker stepped forward to hand the wailing bundle to Mathias, who took the small bundle in his hands and then, as he retracted them to his chest, readjusted his arms to accommodate the baby in them, and the girl almost instantly calmed down. Peeling back the thin blanket from her face, all it took was one look at her, and he was immediately enthralled by the child. He felt his heart swell as she blinked up at him, eyes curious as to whom this new person was.
She had a patch of wispy blonde hair sat atop her head, and she had big, sad eyes as blue as the sea before stretching out on the horizon before them. Her little nose and tear-streaked cheeks were tinged red from the cold, her breathing ragged.
Mathias was overcome with a mixture of anger and sorrow clenching his chest as he stared down at the whimpering baby looking back up at him, only dressed in worn-out rags and wrapped in the thin blanket. He couldn't figure out why, but he felt an instant connection to her, as if she were his own daughter. Who could abandon such an innocent and beautiful child?
"There, there, don't cry, skat," Mathias spoke to her for the first time, and she blinked up at him. "You're safe now. I've got you." The little girl had stopped whimpering and blinked at him again, before she tapped her hand with his and his smile just widened, and he brought forth his finger for her to grab, which she did. "Are you cold? I'm sure you're hungry, too, huh?" He then raised a free hand and brought the back of it to her forehead, and he was alarmed at the searing heat that seemed to burn through his glove.
"Boss," one of the workers spoke up. "What should we do?"
"She has a fever. We need to get her inside, right now," Mathias called out to them. "Get her some warm clothes, milk, medicine, anything, if we don't, she'll die!"
"I know it tastes bad, but it will help you feel better," Mathias said, bringing a small wooden spoon containing an herbal mixture to the fussy baby's mouth, gently prying it open with the spoon. She scrunched her eyebrows and released a loud cry once the mixture hit her tongue, and Mathias felt a twinge of sympathy for the little girl - it was no fun being so sick, especially as a small child.
After her discovery, Mathias brought her back to his house and, with some help, she was clean, fed, and the old rags she wore were thrown out for clean clothes. Now the two were alone together, the baby girl lying on his bed wrapped in a thicker blanket.
"Hey, looky here," Mathias said, getting the girl's attention. She turned her head and looked up at him through her tears. "If I can handle this stuff, so can you. Watch." Mathias took a little bit of the medicine himself and popped it in his mouth, and in an instant his face scrunched up in disgust, his eye twitching, but he swallowed it regardless. "S-see? I-it's... good!"
And for the first time, Mathias saw a little smile grace her cherub face, her laughter chiming through the air. The difference between this little girl and the one he brought home was vast - her fever had gone down, her blue eyes were no longer sad, but bright and curious of her new surroundings, and now she was smiling and laughing. And once again, Mathias felt his heart swell with indefinable love. He couldn't quite place it, but he had already felt so much love for the little being he had only known for a couple of hours.
And it was incredible.
Something about her told him she wasn't just an ordinary child, not an ordinary human - he could feel it.
Suddenly, she reached her arms out towards him, and Mathias raised his eyebrows. "Hm? You...want me?"
The only response he got was the happy cooing from the little girl.
"Well, alright." From his seat at the bedside, he gathered the nameless baby in his arms and pulled her close, and she nestled herself in his chest. Mathias peered down at her, and she looked up at him before closing her eyes, tottering in between sleep and wakefulness. "I'm sure you're tired, aren't you?"
His steady heartbeat lulled her into a sleep, and adorable yawn rising from her mouth, her little voice uttering a barely audible "Fa-" before she drifted off.