Hetalia
Tri-Stars
Three ordinary girls somehow get transported into the anime world of Hetalia, where they're somehow called "Elements". More importantly, everyone around them is crazy, there's a lot of really hot/perverted guys, it's only 1942, and a meteor is coming to "end" World War II...and the world!
CHAPTER SEVEN
Sexy Legend Of Outdoor Hot Spring?!
I know it's sudden, Emma thought, looking out the window of the bus as it drove up a winding mountain path. But, I'm on a luxurious hot spring trip with the Axis Powers!
Emma thought back to the events of the past week, and still couldn't figure out what they were suddenly doing going on a trip in the middle of a world war. But, Japan had said that his boss had said that it would be good for them, and Emma wasn't about to argue with the guy (Hirohito was his name, and he was the emperor) that was letting her stay here, against his better judgement. Emma had a feeling that it had something to do with the strange, supernatural powers that she had exhibited when falling off the rooftop with Italy the other week...
Emma glanced at Italy now. He was sleeping peacefully in the seat next to her, muttering something about pasta and sauce. Across the aisle from them, Germany was peacefully reading a book about guns, seeming totally absorbed in whatever was so fascinating about firearms. Next to him, Japan sat with his elbow resting on the window sill. He seemed his usual, calm-self, if not a little bit deep in thought.
Emma stared at him for a moment longer than she had intended to, and he glanced curiously at her.
Emma blushed, and quickly snapped her head around to look out the window again, feeling embarrassed to be caught staring. But...over the past week...she'd grown much closer to the three nations.
Well, mostly Italy. He was just so happy and likable, and it was hard not to like an optimistic guy that makes you pasta and loves to hear you sing. Emma thought that Italy was cute, but not really in a looks way. He was more like a cute little puppy, one you just wanted to hug. He was a good friend, she had realised, and they treated each other a bit like brother and sister, much to Romano's annoyance (which, may have been why he, Spain and Prussia had taken off a few days ago...)...
Germany was still intimidating, and scolded her on the occasion when she'd do something he thought she shouldn't, but Emma wasn't worried about the taller nation that much anymore, since she had discovered that he could actually be quite caring, in his own way, and he was good to have around if you needed protection, which may have been Italy's point, exactly...
And, then there was Japan. Emma was having a hard time trying not to think about the calm, Asian nation. It was hard to do, since they lived in the same house and, somehow, she always managed to walk into him. She walked out of doorways and into him, she walked around corners and into him and, one time, she'd bumped into him in the middle of the night on her way back from the bathroom, and they'd fallen through one of the sliding doors and into Kiki's room, scaring the poor lady out of her mind. It had been one of the more mortifying experiences for Emma, since she'd arrived in this strange world...
Now, however, she stared down at her hands. She'd been surprised when a doctor had said that both her wrists were healed and taken off the bandages. Now, with only a slightly sore feeling in the dorsals of both her wrists, she was pretty much free to do whatever she wanted. This had included taking the longest bath in the history of the world, and then punching Prussia in the face when she'd caught him spying on her. She still hadn't figured out what becoming a nation's capital meant, but had decided not to ask until the opportunity to do so presented itself to her...
For now, she was just happy to be allowed to stay here for awhile. This city was beautiful and, Emma thought, she thought that Japan was pretty special, too...
Japan glanced across at Emma, and saw that she was staring at him. She blushed suddenly, and quickly turned her head around to look out the window at the mountains in the distance.
Japan quickly shook his head a little bit, and then turned away, with the tiniest traces of a smile on his face.
Germany, whom had been watching all of this take place, just sighed to himself.
This was not going to end well...
They arrived at the hot springs, and Emma gasped happily, despite herself. "K-kirei..." She breathed, stepping off the bus with her backpack slung over one shoulder.
Germany was behind her. "Ja...I did not know zat zey had places like zis in ze mountains...it is shön..."
"Bello!" Italy agreed, marching off the bus, as they all took in the sight of the beautiful two-story building.
Japan turned around, and said calmly: "Wercome to the Sarugakyo Onsen."
"It-it was really nice of your b-boss, to let us come here, J-Japan-Sama." Emma stammered, and Japan nodded. "We just...have more people with us, though."
"¡Hola!" Spain said cheerfully.
"Vhat ze Hell?!" Germany was startled.
"Why the fuck am I here, again?" Romano wanted to know, grumpily crossing his arms.
"Ciao, fratello!" Italy chirped.
"Don't touch me, idiota."
"This place is awesome, ja?" Prussia smirked at Emma. "Don't you agree, liebe?"
"Yes," Emma nodded. "And, had I known you would show up, I would have brought along a suit of armor." She marched ahead towards the entrance to the building.
Prussia rolled his scarlet eyes. "She acts like I'm going to rape her, kesesese...which would be awesome..."
"You stay away from her, bruder!"
Once inside, they checked in - they would be staying for two nights.
In a sheer case of irony Prussia, Romano and Spain had the room on one side of Emma and Italy, Japan and Germany had the room on the other side of her. They were connected by sliding doors.
Emma stood in the middle of her room, and set her bag down on the floor. She then began swiftly stacking up chairs, tables and cabinets in front of the door that connected her room to the one shared by Prussia, Romano and Spain, and nodded to herself.
There was a slight knocked from the other door, and it slid open slightly.
"Emma-San?"
"Oh?" She turned around, and went over to the door, opening it up a bit more to see Japan. "Nani, Japan-Sama?" She asked quietly.
"We're arr going to get changed now and go to the hot-springs." Japan told her. He had noticed the barricade she'd set up against the other door, but chose not to comment on this. "If you wourd rike to join us, then I wirr show you where the woman's baths are."
"Whaaa~?!" Italy appeared behind Japan, wearing only his underwear, much to both Emma and Japan's discomfort. "I thought we were all going to bath together, Japan!"
"I-Itary-San, prease, it wourd be highry inappropriate..." Japan stammered, blushing furiously.
"Ja." Germany came and dragged Italy away by the arm. "Put on your robes before somevun calls security, Italy."
"But Germany..." Italy wasn't happy about this.
Germany sighed, and put his hands on Italy's shoulders. "Don't be villfull now. You don't want to make zis hard on Emma, ja?"
Italy glanced at Emma, and saw that she was blushing. He nodded. "Si...ho capito...mi dispiace..."
Germany nodded, and then let go of Italy. He began to take off his own shirt, which was when Emma decided that closing the door would be a good idea, and Japan seemed to agree with her...
Emma changed into the light pink yukata that the hotel staff had given her. They seemed only slightly wary that she was a foreigner, but then had assumed that she was Italian after hearing her speaking rapidly to both the Italy brothers.
Emma left her room, turning around to shut the door, and then turned around again to find five of the others waiting for her, minus Japan.
Her eyes widened slightly, seeing how they all looked in their greenish-blue yukatas. They...they all look...really cool! Even Italy! Even Romano!
Spain must have thought so too, because he was admiring the Italy brothers in their yukatas with a small smile. He then turned to Emma, and beamed. "Ah, mi señora! You look hermoso!"
Emma blushed, guessing that hermoso was a good thing. "Ah, thanks, I mean...gracias..." Then, she noticed something that needed attending to. "Ah, Mr. Germany, your yukata..."
"Vhat's vrong viz it?" Germany glanced down at himself.
"It's, umm...not on the right way..." Emma told him. "The left side is supposed to be on the top, otherwise it's...umm...how they dress corpses..." She finished, awkwardly. "You know, dead people?"
Prussia seemed to find this highly hilarious. "Kesesese! You're such a dummkopf, West! You really haven't got any fashion sense, have you?!"
"You're the one with a bloody bird nesting in his hair." Romano muttered.
"Shut up! Gilbird is awesome - just like me, ja?" Prussia crossed his arms and looked haughty.
Germany just rolled his eyes, and undid the obi around his yukata to change the way he was wearing it.
Emma gasped and turned around quickly, blushing red. Prussia noticed this, and his haughty look turned to a smirk. He sauntered up to her and said: "You act like you've never seen a man's body before, ja?" When she didn't answer, his smirk grew. "Relax, mein lieber...there's plenty of time for such awesome things..."
"Bruder..." Germany said warningly, trying to fix his yukata in record time to get his brother away from the frozen woman. If there was one thing Germany had learned about Emma, it was that it was best to keep the shy and awkward young woman away from perverted people like Prussia, and vice-a-versa.
Germany was just about to take control of the situation, when Japan stepped out of their room, took a look at what was going on, and said: "Ret's go the hot-springs now."
"Yay!" Italy cheered and, grabbing both his brother and Emma, dragged them down the hall after Japan. "Pa-astaa, and ho-o-ot springs! Yeah, yeah, yeah!" He sung.
Emma looked at Romano. "Does your brother always...?"
"Sing weird songs and make us all look like idioti?" Romano rolled his eyes. "You should be used to it by now, cagna..."
Emma gasped, and then narrowed her eyes. "...I don't wanna talk to you for the rest of this thing."
"Good." Romano snapped.
"Fine." Emma retorted.
"That's what I meant!"
"No, that's what I meant!"
"Mostro!"
"Freakazoid!"
"What?"
"Mostro grande!"
"Troia!"
"Cazzo!"
"Zoccola!"
"Brutto figlio di puttana bastardo!"
"Fica!"
"Ti ammazzo!"
This continued all the way to the other side of the building, with Japan severely glad he didn't know what they were saying to each other, Italy completely ignoring them, and Spain wondering how such a nice and sweet girl knew so many Italian curse words...
The men's baths and women's baths had separate entrances.
"Arrivederci, Emma!" Italy waved to Emma, and then dragged a protesting Romano through the entranceway to them men's bath.
"Have fun, novio." Spain smiled at Emma and followed the Italy brothers.
Emma blushed. What was with Spain and his nicknames?
"Ja." Germany nodded to Emma. "And, danke, for helping me viz my robes..."
Japan glanced at Emma curiously. "What happened?"
"Mr. Germany just needs to study more of your culture, Japan-Sama." Emma said quietly.
"Kesesese, I'll say..." Prussia chuckled.
Japan nodded. "Werr, we wirr see you rater, Emma-San."
"H-hai." She nodded back to him.
They stared at each other for a moment.
"Hmm?" Japan suddenly blinked.
"Hmm?" Emma looked to see that Prussia had latched onto her. She blushed.
Germany lunged forwards and grabbed his older brother by the back of his robes. "You're coming viz me!" He yelled. I can't let my guard down for even a second...
"Wow..." Emma whispered to herself, making sure that her light pink towel was secure, as she walked across the path towards the steaming hot water. "Mmm, even the rocks are warm..." She smiled, and sat down at the edge of the hot-springs. "My first outdoor hot-springs experience...I can even get past the fact that, underneath this towel, I'm completely naked...here, at a Japanese hot-spring, that seems completely normal...heh, Italy must be having fun wading in the water right now..."
Italy was currently splashing about, his white towel practically falling off, as Romano glared at him and Spain just smiled.
Prussia was sulking, and Germany was alternating between glaring at him and enjoying the water.
Japan was in his element. He was shy, it was true, but hot-springs were the exception. The water had special natural minerals in it, that were good for the skin and felt good, too!
He hoped that Emma was enjoying it, too...
Emma was fully relaxed after about five minutes, and enjoying the feeling of the hot water on her skin, when she heard a little girl's voice say: "Nee-Chan...ano musume koko de nekkuresu o mi ni tsukete iru koto o sōtei shite inai..."
"Aki, shitsureina koto wa arimasen!"
Emma cringed. She'd forgotten that there would be other people in the bath, as well. She'd also forgotten that she was still wearing her necklace. Japan had advised her to keep it on, since it appeared to be the source of her powers but, apparently, necklaces were against regulations.
The little girl was pointing at the red star, and frowning. Her sister just sighed.
Emma hurried back into the change-rooms, and put her necklace on top of her yukata.
She then hurried back out to the waters.
The girl whose little sister had pointed out Emma's necklace was lounging on the rocks like a cat. She was wearing a light purple towel that was already wet, and clung to her curvy body seductively. She looked across at Emma. "Oh." She tilted her head to one side. "Sor-ry, my sister rude to you." She said, in fractured English, and then added, in Japanese: "Pechapai-Chan."
Emma gulped, and blushed angrily. I know I have a flat chest... She thought for a moment, and then smiled. "That's okay." She mimicked the Japanese girl's fractured English, and then added, in Japanese: "Anata wa sono iwa no ue ni gokiburi ga aru to kizukun?" She pointed to the hand-sized flying-cockroach that was crawling up the rock towards the girl, who looked down, and then screamed at the very top of her lungs.
"GYAAA! SORE O KOROSU!" The girl fell into the water with a splash, and the cockroach took flight. "Watashi wa, osen sa rete kita!"
Emma couldn't help it - she started to laugh, and a few other ladies that had been watching joined in.
On the men's side of the bath, the nations and the other men listened to what was going on.
"Eh? Was that Emma's voice?" Italy asked.
"Hai." Japan nodded. "That was Emma-San terring another girr that there was a cockroach on the rock."
"That other mädchen was screaming over that?" Prussia looked surprised.
Japan nodded. "Hai. She said she'd been contaminated."
The nations exchanged a glance.
"Girls are weird." Romano decided, and the others nodded.
Later on, Emma was furious to find prussia in the girls change-rooms.
"Why are you here, you pervert?!" She asked him, glaring daggers at him.
"Nein, it's not me!" Prussia cried. "Somebody was trying to steal your necklace, ja!"
"Why would somebody do that?!" Emma snapped. She began making shooing motions with her hands. "Out, out, get out!"
"Nein, I mean it, she had big brüste..."
"OUT!"
That night, after a traditional Japanese dinner in which Italy somehow managed to choke on a chopstick and Gilbird flew into a bowl of wasabi, everyone returned tiredly to their rooms.
Walking down the hallway, Emma and Japan walked at the back of the group, in silence. Suddenly, Italy came running back to them with some exciting news...
Aki and her big sister, Rin, were currently walking back to the room they were sharing, when they saw the commotion happening in another hallway.
Aki recognized Emma, and pointed her out to Rin.
Rin was more curious about the men that the flat-chested foreigner was with. They all appeared to be foreigners, too, except for the one standing closest to Pechanko No Oppai. He, at least, was a Japanese man, and a very good-looking one, at that. He was shorter than Rin, but she didn't care.
"Listen, listen!" The brown-haired man cried, in what sounded like an Italian accent, but Rin wasn't sure.
Rin also saw a very tall blonde-haired man, a white-haired man that looked like some freaky albino, a brown-haired guy that looked like the Italian and another brown-haired guy. For foreigners, they were quite attractive but, the question was, why were they (and the handsome Japanese man) with a flat-chested, smart-mouthed child?!
Aki tugged at Rin's yukata. "Nee-Chan, Nee-Chan..."
"Ssh!" Rin hissed. She was trying to listen to what the Italian was saying. With her English skills she had learned at school (why they were still teaching English at Japanese schools in the middle of WWII, nobody knew) she deciphered the following:
There was going to be a singing contest at the hotel tomorrow evening.
Anybody was allowed to enter.
The prize was an all-you-can eat dinner tomorrow night.
Rin watched as, in one small gesture, all of the men turned to look at the flat-chested girl, that the Italian referred to as 'Emma'.
Emma's eyes widened. "No, no, no, no, no!" She shook her head vehemently. "There is no way...singing in front of you g-guys is hard enough!"
"You can sing?" The albino-man stared at Emma with wide, red eyes, and then smirked. "Now, that I want to hear, ja! I bet it will be awesome!"
"It won't be because I'm n-not going to d-do it!" Emma folded her arms.
Rin thought that that was a good idea - this Emma seemed too shy to do much else than annoy people.
"Come on, mi querido," the stand-alone brown-haired-man smiled at Emma. "Such a precioso chica must have a precioso voice - I'd be very surprised if you didn't win."
"I'm not d-doing it." Emma replied firmly.
"Aww, Emma, por favore?!" The Italian man latched onto her arm and begged.
"N-O spells NO." Emma replied. "No! Nada! Nein! Iie!"
"Emma-San." The Japanese man suddenly spoke up, and Emma looked at him, and blushed. He was smiling at her. "You shourd not do anything that you feer uncomfortabre doing but, if you did, then we wourd arr aupport you." He informed her.
"I wouldn't." The other brown-haired Italian (not the one hanging off of Emma's arm) stated, but nobody listened to him.
They were all watching Emma and the Japanese man.
Emma sighed, blushing, and looked defeated. "Oh, okay..." She said.
"Yay!" The happy Italian hanging onto her arm cheered, and picked her up and twirled her around. "You're going to win, decisamente!"
Tondemo nai... Rin thought, deciding then and there to enter, as well, even though she couldn't sing...the question was, could Emma? Rin suddenly decided not to give Emma the chance and, living up to her name, decided to sabotage things so that Emma couldn't get the chance to impress the Japanese man...err, win the contest...yeah, that was it...
The next morning, Emma was surprised when Rin approached her at the breakfast table.
"Hi!" Rin said brightly. She introduced herself, saying that they hadn't had a chance to do so yesterday, and so Emma felt obliged to introduce herself and the others (using their human names, of course). Emma hoped that Rin wouldn't ask too many questions, like where she was from and how she knew Japanese (she had a feeling that they didn't teach it in Australian school yet) but, as it turned out, Rin had some information for her.
"Have you heard of Legend Of Sarugakyo Onsen?" Rin asked slowly, using her best English.
Emma shook her head. "No. You tell me?" She asked slowly, speaking in the same tone she'd used to speak to her Japanese exchange-student buddy (Liu Jia hadn't stayed at Emma's house, but Emma had taken care of her at school). She made sure to pronounce her words properly, and even Rin was a little bit surprised, as she recognized how easy it was to understand the other person when they spoke their native tongue slowly.
Rin shook herself inwardly, and told herself not to back down. She hadn't forgiven Emma for embarrassing her yesterday. She said: "There myth of lake near here that say look into lake find unmei."
"Unmei?" Emma repeated, tilting her head to one side. "You mean...?"
"Unmei..." Rin moved her hands slightly. "Sourumeito, uh..."
"Oh!" Emma brightened. "Soul-mate! Watashi wa rikai!" Wait, why is she telling me this?!
Rin nodded, smiling brightly. "I notice you have much male yūjin." She watched as Emma blushed, and looked away. "Watashi wa anata o aishite iru kamo shirenai sorera no doredarou ka?"
Japan glanced up from his rice, and saw Emma talking to an unfamiliar Japanese girl. Reading the mood as the two girls were talking, he assumed that they were on good terms.
However, when Emma walked away, in the direction of their rooms, Japan read a different aura from the other girl.
It turned darker, and Japan had to wonder just what they'd been talking about...he decided to find out...
As Emma walked along the forest-y path, she had to wonder about Rin's question. I wonder which of them might love you...
Emma blushed just thinking about it, and forced herself to keep on walking. She just had to know if she had a true love, she just had to! She'd never had a boyfriend but, if she could just find out what he looked like...and, in the Hetalia world, anything seemed possible.
Many male friends...
Was that what they were? Germany, Italy, Japan, Romano, Spain and Prussia? Were they her...friends? Well, Italy certainly considered her a friend (he told her so six times a day) and Spain and even Germany seemed to be heading in that direction, too. Romano would always be Romano, and Prussia was a creepy pervert but at least he didn't hate her (and, considering she punched him or kicked him whenever she felt he was being too grabby, this was incredible). But, she would probably never consider them to be boyfriend materiel.
Soooo...that only left Japan.
As soon as the thought crossed Emma's mind, she turned red, and nearly tripped over some rocks...hey, was this trail getting rockier, or was that just her?
But, seriously, what was she thinking?! Just because he'd smiled at her and said he'd support her if she entered that singing contest, didn't mean he could be her soul-mate!
...Did it...?
Emma shook her head, and kept on walking, albeit slower now, as the trail grew rougher...
Prussia smirked, as he snuck into Emma's room from the hallway. "Kesesese...awesome...the coast is clear, ja...ah!" He cried, seeing Japan standing in the middle of the room, holding a note. "I mean, what are you doing in here?"
Instead of saying that he should be asking Prussia the same question, Japan simply let the piece of paper that he was holding flutter to the ground, before he pushed past Prussia and ran down the hallway.
Without even thinking, Prussia ran after him, wondering where on Earth that weird guy was going?
Japan finally slowed down enough for Prussia to catch up to him but, by then, they were well off the beaten track. Well, they were in the woods, and Prussia had no idea where they were going but, evidently, Japan did. Prussia just had no idea why the Asian nation was going into this particular part of the forest.
"Slow down, ja?!" Prussia cried. "What's the matter with you, anyway?!"
Japan stopped for a second, allowing Prussia to catch up. The albino nation grabbed the raven-haired nation's arm. "What is going on, you Gott Verlassen...?!"
"Emma-San is in troubre." Japan said quietly.
That stopped Prussia for a second. "What...what do you mean, trouble?"
"A girr today tord her that there was a rake around here." Japan said.
"A what?" Prussia blinked. "Oh, you mean a lake, right...ja, und...?"
"Werr, that is true, but this area is arso notorious for rock srides and treacherous criff faces." Japan shook his head. "She shourd not have come out here arone, but I berieve she did."
Prussia considered this information for a second, and then said: "Why didn't you tell my idiot brother and the others?"
"There was no time."
"So, how are we supposed to find her?"
Japan thought for a moment, and then his eyes travelled to Prussia's head, where Gilbird was nestled in the albino's white hair. "Ah..."
Emma stumbled, but kept on going, thanking the renewed use of her arms, as she climbed up what she would later consider to be a near-on vertical cliff-face. She was now determined to climb this thing and get to the lake she could hear. She would look into its waters, and find out who her soul-mate was. And, if not then, well, she could always say she climbed a mountain. How was that for determination, aye?
Emma wondered what her parents would say if they could see her now, and then she almost slipped, because she knew they'd freak out that she was in an anime. Oh well...
Emma finally, finally reached the top and, for a moment, the absence of aching in her arms was all that she could feel, and she lay on the rocks, letting her breathing return to normal, before she looked around her.
"Whoa..."
Japan and Prussia waited in silence for Gilbird to get back and, when the bird did, he landed on Prussia's shoulder and began to chirp like some kind of an Angry Bird.
"Uh-huh." Prussia was nodding. "Ja...ja...no kidding...that's awesome...hmm-hmm...okay, I'll tell him." He turned to a patient Japan. "Gilbird says that Emma found the lake, ja, but it's a wunder that she did..."
Japan nodded. "Ret's go, then." He suggested, and so they did.
Emma was in shock, as she saw that the lake was right next to where she was now sitting, at the edge of a near-on cliff-face. She looked out over the water, and saw a whole lot of animals staring at her. Japanese deer and birds and weasels and a tanuki family.
"H-hi?" She said, nervously, and the animals all scattered. "Aww..." Emma frowned. "Wait...umm..." She sighed, and looked up at the sky, which had gotten to late afternoon without her knowing it. Wow. She'd been out all day, and she hadn't even realised it. She might even miss the singing contest...
For some odd reason, that upset her. Maybe because Italy and Spain had wanted to hear her sing, and maybe because Japan had said that he'd support her, so...what the heck? Why not sing now?
She began to sing the song she usually sang when she couldn't think of one to sing, but she decided to be smart and sing parts of it in the German version she'd gotten off the internet a few days ago (why there was an internet in 1942, she didn't know).
"I am a dreamer...hidden power..." She sung the first parts in Japanese, and then abruptly switched to German just before the first bridge into the chorus, trying to sing the exact same way as the singer online had done.
And idea came to her - why not just get Germany to teach her German?! Would he do it...?
There was only one way to find out, but she was too nervous to ask him. Maybe if she asked Italy to ask him for her...yeah, that might work!
During her song, Emma realised that all of the animals had come back, and she suddenly knew why Snow White and Cinderella and Aurora liked singing so much...
At the end of her song, Emma decided to chance a look at her reflection in the lake. It was now or never, she decided. Taking a deep breath before launching into the final chorus (in Japanese, but she switched to German at the end) Emma looked at her reflection in the water...and then...
Prussia and Japan were about halfway up the cliff when they heard the song. They even stopped for a moment, just to listen to it, and then Japan smiled, despite the fact that they were practically sideways.
"Ah...Emma-San...she is arright..."
"Ja, great, now can we please get moving...wait..." Prussia cocked his head to one side. "Now she's singing in...hmm...so, she knows my language? Kesesese...awesome..."
They continued climbing, wondering how a girl that hated physical exercise had made it up here, and in a yukata, and finally they reached the top, where the singing was loudest of all.
There was Emma knelt over the surface of a lake, and peering at something.
Prussia and Japan exchanged a glance, and then stood up, standing on what little space they had between Emma and the cliff's edge. What could she be looking at?
Half noticing all of the animals watching them curiously, Japan and Prussia leaned over Emma leaning over the water, and looked into the shiny surface of the lake.
Now, one of two things was bound to happen after they did that.
One, they would all over-balance forwards, and fall into the lake.
Or, two, they would all over-balance backwards...and fall off the cliff.
Such choices for the God of Hetalia to make, such choices...
Back at the hotel, Germany checked his watch. "Vhere are zey?"
"They're going to miss the contest!" Italy wailed. "Germany, do something!"
"Hola, amigos!" Spain greeted them as he made his appearance. "Have you seen Prussia, a propósito? He's missing..."
"Ja, Japan and Emma are, as well." Germany told him.
"De veras?" Spain's smile grew. "All three of them are missing?"
"Si, and we haven't seen them since breakfast!" Italy sobbed.
Spain's smile became fixed. "Veo..." He muttered.
"Vhat are you smiling about?" Germany wanted to know.
"The tomato bastard's probably thinking those three idioti did something crazy, like fucking fuggita or something." Romano rolled his eyes.
"Fu-vhat?" Germany hadn't heard the term before, and glanced at Italy.
Italy looked up at him. "You know, fuggita...to be married, like Mr. Austria and Ms. Hungary, but run away and do it." he explained, with a shrug.
Germany nodded. "Ah, ja, eloped...vait a minute, Japan vouldn't do something like zat!" He cried.
Spain was grinning now. "Are you sure, amigo? Have you seen the way he looks at her, like she's his most precioso tesoro, or his bella novia?"
"I have no idea vhat you just said," Germany shook his head. "But, yes, I have noticed...ah, Mein Gott...vhat should ve do?"
"What I wanna fucking know, is what that albino bastard has to do with all this." Romano said suddenly.
Spain sighed. "Ah, mi Romano, one day, you too, will understand..."
"Look!" Italy cried suddenly, pointing at a TV screen. "Emma and Japan are on TV!"
The others turned in shock to where Italy was pointing and, indeed, there were Emma and Japan, and Prussia, too. They were standing on the top of a seemingly sheer cliff, and the pictures were being shot in black and white from a news helicopter.
Because the news report was in Japanese, nobody understood what was going on.
Then, Germany spotted the girl that Emma had been talking to that morning, staring up at the TV in horror. Germany walked over to her, and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Excuse me, Miss.?" He said.
She turned to him, her face still pale. "H-hai?" She stammered, sounding a lot like Emma when she did it.
"I noticed you talking to my friend earlier today..." Germany pointed at the TV screen. "You vouldn't happen to know vhy she's up zere, vould you?" Italy, Romano and Spain had come over, out of curiosity, by this stage.
Seeing them, the Japanese girl broke down completely. "S-sumimasen! I...I not think she actually go to lake, I just tell her so she not here this evening! I want win singing contest!" The four nations present were all staring at her by this stage, as were a whole bunch of other people. Germany was silently furious, and Italy was panicking. "I not think she go, and handsomu man and white-haired man follow her! What if handsomu man fall of cliff, or...?! Watashi ga nani o shita?!" She sobbed.
Somebody suddenly screamed, because the three standing on the cliff had overbalanced.
Backwards.
The three of them fell over the cliff.
Spain, Romano, Italy and Germany watched helplessly, unable to do anything...
Emma freaked out when Japan and Prussia snuck up on her and, unable to do anything else, she ended up falling backwards.
Both Japan and Prussia, on instinct, tried to catch her, but there was nothing for them to hang onto and, so all three of them fell.
Time and space seemed to slow down again, as Emma stared up at the sky before somehow managing to turn her body around, to face the ground that was rushing up to meet them. Prussia was yelling something unrepeatable, but Japan was silent, staring at Emma as her necklace glowed light red, and the light slowly traveled from her chest, up to her shoulders, and onto her back, where they formed a big pair of feathery, white wings.
They beat heavily, as Emma wrapped an arm around Japan (Prussia was already clinging to her waist) and tried to stop their fall. She had no idea how to work her wings, so the best she could do about their fall was slow it drastically enough for them to not die when they crashed into the trees.
Back at the hotel, and in the surrounding areas, everybody watching that presentation had dots for eyes, and their mouths were open comically wide, except for Germany and Italy. They had turned sheet white, with big black lines for shock, as Spain and Romano glanced curiously at them...
Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, America was stoked. "Dude, this show rocks!" He cried, as he watched the three figures fall from a cliff.
"Where the Bloody Hell did you get a TV from?!" England wanted to know.
"China Town."
"What the Hell-O Kitty?!"
"Shinatty-Chan!" China cried.
England just sighed...
On the forest floor, Emma and the two nations gasped, and made sure that they were really alive, as the wings on Emma's back vanished, and the red light returned to her pendant.
Prussia was the first to voice his opinions. "S-see, ja? Isn't it good that...I stopped that Cat Dieb from stealing that necklace yesterday...?"
Emma suddenly threw her arms around him, much to his shock, and hugged him, tightly. "Yes, Prussia, I do believe you now, and I'm sorry for not believing you yesterday! She was the same girl that tricked me into coming here, but I just had to come, you see..."
She's hugging me...this is the most awesome day of my life...kesesesese... Prussia returned the hug.
"Emma-San, prease terr me..." Japan sat up, leaning against a nearby rock for support. "Why did you come here without terring anybody?"
"I did tell you," Emma said uncomfortably, letting go of Prussia and sliding into a more comfortable position. "The n-note...?"
Japan nodded. "It is a good thing I found that note...this is a dangerous prace...why did you want to come here so badry?" His haze was piercing.
Emma avoided his gaze. "The Legend..." She muttered.
"What Legend?" Prussia wanted to know.
Emma sighed. "Rin told me that if you look into the water you'll see...umm...unmei..." She muttered.
"Unmei?" Japan repeated, looking slightly surprised. The Regend Of Sarugakyo?
Emma nodded, looking uncomfortable. "So, Rin said something about the Legend and, I thought that, if I came up here, I'd see the reflection of..." She mumbled something that neither of them could hear.
"What was that, ja?" Prussia asked her.
"My...s..." Emma blushed.
"Nani?" Japan tested.
"MY SOUL-MATE!" Emma shouted. "I WANTED TO SEE MY TRUE-LOVE!" She threw her arms up in the air. God, I can't believe I just said that!
Both Prussia and Japan looked shocked for a second and then, in unison, they asked her: "What did you see?"
Emma froze for a moment, before getting up and walking away from them. They both jumped up and followed her.
"Emma, what did you see, ja?!" Prussia wanted to know.
Japan reached out and grabbed Emma's wrist, forcing her to turn around and face them.
"Fine." She said quietly. There was a blush across her face, and her eyes were bright, but not with sad tears. She just seemed frustrated about something. "What I saw was...nothing. Absolutely nothing, not even myself!" She yanked her wrist away from Japan and continued walking.
The two nations exchanged a glance, and then decided to let the conversation slide. They both followed her back to the hotel in silence...
Back at the hotel, Italy greeted Emma and Japan like they were long-lost best friends, and Germany said that if they ever did zat again, zen he vould...he didn't finish his threat and, for that, they were glad.
But, there was still one last thing for Emma to do.
She approached Rin, who didn't try to back away from her. Emma raised a hand, and then slapped Rin across the face as hard as she could.
"Anata wa watashi no nekkuresu o nusumou to shitanode, watashi wa Gilbert no fushin!" Emma shouted.
"Ah, all I heard was my name, ja?" Prussia whispered, and Germany just shrugged.
Then, to the nations' complete surprise, Emma held out her arms, and Rin burst into tears and fell into the other girl's arms, sobbing.
"Sumimasen! Sumimasen!" She kept on saying.
"Ssh, shh, daijoubu!" Emma comforted her, soothingly, patting her on the back...
"Vhat ze Hell?" Germany muttered.
"I thought they didn't like each other..." Italy was confused.
So was Romano, but there was one thing that he was clear on. "Girls are weird." He stated again and, once again, nobody disagreed with him!
That night, on their last night at the hotel, Emma slipped away from dinner and the fact that they were going to get in trouble with Japan's boss tomorrow, and went out into the courtyard, where she discovered an entire branch-full of Gilbirds.
She smiled up at the little yellow birds, and said: "Can you keep a secret?"
She jumped when they responded like the big Brother Angry Bird.
She then smiled again, and said: "In the lake, today, I actually did see somebody's reflection, including my own!"
From behind a small stone wall, Prussia, Italy, Spain, Japan, Germany and Romano listened intently.
"I don't know what it means but, since I saw them both, that means that my destiny is Prussia and Japan!"