Chapter 27 Party!
Warning: Very long chapter, but hopefully it will be fun and exciting enough to be worth it. Many readers' favorite nations will make guest appearances. So settle back and enjoy!
To Lili and Gilbert's relief, Maria passed the Abitur and received her certificate at the awards ceremony. The mortal teachers made speeches, the school band played, and there were refreshments. Gilbert had invited Ludwig, since he had been so keen on Maria taking the Abitur. Gilbert had been happy to hear that Maria had been active in the pranks planned during the Abistreich;1 her class had come up with the idea of turning the school into a zombie apocalypse, and she had been in charge of designing zombie makeup and costumes because of her artistic skills.
He was also secretly pleased that she had no interest in attending the Abiball. Maria had learned from her experience that while it was useful to get along with mortals, they would not be her source for friends and romantic interests. It also didn't help that Maria's school was filled with many wealthy mortals who had talked about renting out a club for the dance and requiring a dress code. Lili was a little disappointed that they wouldn't go shopping for dresses, but Gilbert only had to mutter "Gesamtschule" and she blushed.
Instead of celebrating with her classmates, Maria agreed to a beach party in her state with the personifications of German states and some nations. Lili liked Hiddensee, "that sweet little isle" with its ban on cars and twentieth-century artists' colonies, but Gilbert and Maria opted for the island of Rügen with an open-air performance of a play about the German pirate Störtebecker. There would be plenty of hotels and guest houses available for personifications, as well as open sandy beaches for swimming, sunning and cooking out. "It's going to be awesome!" Gilbert exclaimed, and he was happy to see his daughter smile as she nodded.
The one thing that wasn't awesome was the expanding guest list. Of course, every German state needed to be invited. And if Ludwig was going to be there, then Northern Italy needed an invitation also. And that meant, Feli's brother, Southern Italy, also needed to be invited. But Lovino would still be coming anyway, since Spain would insist on it. And speaking of Spain, Antonio was still seeing Belgium, so she needed an invitation also. Gilbert liked the Netherlands, but Tim and Bella were feuding with each other, so he reluctantly crossed him off the list. France would have to come too, of course, and that also meant Monaco, because she was friends with Lili. Gilbert also didn't want to snub the small nation that was the home of the Bielschmidt Blood Bank and sponsor of the personifications' annual blood drive. And if the Bad Touch Trio were going to be there, then the Epic Fail Brothers, Denmark and England, needed to be invited also. And if they were going to be there, then the United States needed an invitation because Arthur would insist on it, and Gilbert and Matthias needed Alfred F. Jones to make up the Awesome Trio. Gilbert drew the line at inviting Norway, however; Lukas still held a grudge against Lili for stabbing Belarus in Monte Carlo.
And then there were the nations Lili wanted to invite. Vash would be there, of course, and that meant the state of Colorado would come with Alfred. Austria and Hungary were also no-brainers. .And if Lili wanted to invite China because she was studying tai chi with him and he had trained Gilbert to win his bid to represent Eastern Germany, then Gilbert was fine with that, but that also meant inviting his friend, Japan. Lili was also friends with Ukraine, so they would invite her. And of course, that meant Poland, which meant Lithuania.
Gilbert ran his hands through his hair as they looked at the list. "Mein Gott, this is getting out of hand," he grumbled. "Do we have to invite the other Baltics? I mean, seriously, is she going to have much to do with Ravis and Eduard?"
Lili paused in her typing. "It would be nice, but it is getting rather large, and she doesn't really know them," she sighed. "Should we invite Canada? You were involved with him once, and he is related to the United States, England, and France."
Gilbert shrugged. "You could, but then you're going to have Ukraine and China making a scene because of how he dumped Russia for South Korea." He shuddered. "And we are not inviting Ivan!"
"Or Belarus," Lili said primly. She automatically rubbed the arm where a pale line marked the entry and exit points of Natalya's knife. She scanned the list and frowned. "I just realized something," she said. "These are all relatives and friends of ours, not Maria's. We need to ask if she'd like to invite any of her classmates."
"I did and she didn't want to. She thought it would be too weird for most of them." Gilbert bit his thumbnail. "Besides," he mused, "she says most of her favorite mortal friends are from the internet and they're scattered all over the world." He turned to Lili, an idea dawning. "She mentioned she corresponded a lot with a couple of girls from the United States. And there was a guy, a really talented artist from Argentina."
"Well, we're inviting him then!" Lili exclaimed, getting Gilbert's drift. "Did she mention anyone else?"
"We'll have to invite South Korea, because she's friendly with a couple of his mortals." Gilbert thought it would make be awesome to surprise Maria with her mortal online friends, but Lili warned him that surprises can backfire. So they finally decided to ask her about it. Maria listened to their offer and said, "Ja, that would be really fun!" She gave them the list of friends she wanted to invite and Lili began working on invitations to them and notifying their nations about making arrangements to bring the young mortals.
The day of the party was warm and sunny. Gilbert, Ludwig and Bavaria set up kegs of beer, as Lili made sure there was plenty of ice for the coolers of Würste and potato salad Thuringia had brought. Saxony-Anhalt started the fire for grilling the sausages, while Vash critiqued him. Maria waved as Austria and Hungary came with the cake Roderich had baked.
As more guests arrived, Gilbert beamed at Maria's good manners. She greeted each nation warmly, thanking them for the gifts they brought and urging them to have a beer or bottled water. Such a difference, Gilbert thought, from the sullen sixteen-year old who preferred her room to his company. Now she strode gracefully through the sand, bringing Spain, Belgium and Southern Italy over to chat with Lili. Gilbert went up to greet his friend.
"¡Hola, Gilbert!" Antonio waved as he offered a large salad bowl to him to put under a sun umbrella. "Lovino and I brought tomato salad."
"'Cause you potato bastards need real vegetables," Lovino grumbled. Maria laughed and Southern Italy looked longingly at her. "A cute child and now a beautiful woman," he sighed as he turned to Gilbert. "Has France seen her yet?"
"Not since she wore braids," Gilbert replied. As he noted Lovino's appreciative glances at Maria while she chatted with Belgium and Liechtenstein, he began to realize what kind of hornet's nest the party could become. His daughter was lovely, and now she was of an age where she could be considered an adult, free to make her own choices in elections, housing, and sexual partners. Sexual partners!
"Bonjour mes amies!" Gilbert turned, his heart sinking. France, Monaco, and Seychelles walked up, exchanging greetings with the other nations. Francis Bonnefoy handed Lili a bottle of wine and kissed Maria's hand. Gilbert watched his daughter giggle a little. He set his jaw and strode over.
"Well, well, well, Francis, Monique, Michelle!" He exclaimed. "You all look awesome! And now you can see what an awesome place the Baltic coast is. Maria," he called to his daughter, "why don't you take Monaco and Seychelles down to check out the water? Show them we can rival the Mediterranean!" To his relief, Maria and the female nations obliged, shedding their coverups and running to the waves. To his great annoyance, France's eyes followed his daughter's lithe form.
"Pas mal, mon ami, pas mal," France murmured. He turned to Gilbert and winked. "No wonder you wouldn't show me vacation pictures."
"Calm yourself," Gilbert growled. "This is her graduation party, not a deflowering ceremony." He jerked his head towards Southern Italy, who was shedding his shirt and revealing a slight but toned body. "You have competition, not to mention a father and uncles who will use you for target practice." He nudged Francis to see Vash stalking over the sand drifts towards Lili, Belgium and Spain.
Francis made a little moue with his mouth, flipped his beach-waved golden hair and was about to make a retort, when someone yelled in English, "Hey, hey, dudes look who's here, and I brought something better than sausages! Am I the hero or what?" Both nations turned and saw the United States bounding down the dunes, a few young women and men behind them. "So where's the guest of honor? She's got some friends who want to party with her!" Alfred F. Jones just grinned as if he had brought the sun out on a cloudy day.
"Mon Dieu," France grumbled, "cet idiot makes me want to go back to smoking and quoting Camus." Gilbert shrugged and headed over to shake America's hand. "Great job, Al!" He leaned in closer. "I'd almost say that you're awesome!" The two nations laughed, while the young mortals stared or giggled nervously. Gilbert turned to the group. "I'm Maria's father, and she's already in the waves over there." He gestured for them to follow him and as he called Maria's name, he couldn't help grinning when he saw her dash up to her mortal friends. The cluster of teens greeted each other as if they had all met before, chatting away in English. Gilbert had to hide his smirk when a couple of American girls tried to congratulate Maria in poor German. Oh well, he thought as he turned to leave the young people, at least the poor kids tried.
France almost bumped into Gilbert's face. "Ces jeunes americains sont trés charmants, non?"2He squinted and leered, following one curvaceous young woman in particular. At least he's not checking out Maria anymore, Gilbert told himself. He watched England grumble up to the United States. Arthur Kirkland had been stuck carrying a cooler and bag of towels and he was not happy. But then Denmark scampered up, took England's burden, and strode over to Gilbert.
"Hej ven, great weather, ja?" Matthias grinned broadly as he started to strip off his shirt. "Alfred and Arthur insisted on bringing some of their own brews and snacks, and I'm not going to complain!" Denmark scanned the horizon, where he saw the young people chatting and dipping into the waves. "I haven't seen Maria in a dog's age; which one is she?" Matthias turned and smiled at Gilbert, bright blue eyes complimented by his golden hair and tan.
Scheiße, he looks like a verdammt god, Gilbert thought. "She's down there," He muttered, "in the green two piece. But don't-." Too late. Denmark had bolted down to the water like an excited retriever, claiming Maria for his partner in a game of chicken. When the United States heard that, he yelled, "wait for me, Awesome Bro!" and left a scowling England with a hand full of sunscreen.
Arthur Kirkland turned to Gilbert. "He'll be a bloody lobster within two hours and I'll have to hear his whinging all night long." He stepped up to study Gilbert's face. "I think you need—"
"Nein, I'm fine." Gilbert retreated to the canopy where the German entities and beer were. At least, he thought as he helped himself to a Weißbier, no one here was looking at his daughter like a potential conquest. Nein, she had been like a little niece to all of them and soon she would be a future coworker, and it wasn't always a good idea to mix business with pleasure.
"I might go down to say 'hej' to Far and check her out."3 Gilbert froze as he heard the German with the slight Danish accent. He edged about and saw Holstein talking with Saxony-Anhalt. He waited to hear Günther scold the other personification, but instead Saxony-Anhalt chuckled and said, "She is a cutie, isn't she? I might have to visit Gisil while she's apprenticing with him."
Gilbert had had it. He turned and made his presence known to the younger male entities. "Ja, I'm sure Maria would love to see her Onkel Günther while she's in Saxony. You could have a nice chat about all those cute video games you used to make for her, ja?" He was pleased to see Saxony-Anhalt blush and Holstein duck away. Gut, he thought as he stalked over to the grill for a sausage, at least they knew he was onto them. It was a relief to see Thuringia fussing with Ludwig over the right way to detect the sausages' doneness. Here were at least two personifications, Gilbert thought, who loved his girl without any designs on her.
"Is Maria enjoying herself so far?" Thuringia asked as she placed a sausage in a roll for Gilbert.
"Danke, Magda." Ever since Maria's first disastrous Christmas, Gilbert had made a point of being kinder to Thuringia. He clinked beer bottles with her. "I think so, she's certainly getting a lot of attention." He looked significantly at Ludwig, who was too busy fending off Northern Italy's offer of fresh Italian sausages.
"Gisil will take good care of her," Thuringia replied. "He will keep the predators at bay and talk to her about what personifications have to consider when they get into relationships."
Gilbert wanted to retort that Maria was legally an adult and she didn't need to be kept in a convent, but Lili, Vash and the American state of Colorado came over to get something to eat. Gilbert excused himself to go with them to sit down in the wicker beach basket chairs Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's resorts were famous for. It was nice to get into the shade with Lili next to him and Vash and his girlfiend sprawled on a beach blanket. France and Spain were playing volleyball with a mix of nations and mortals, while South Korea and Japan were setting up a solar-powered DJ booth. He watched Maria ride Denmark's shoulders in a spirited game of chicken against the United States and one of his mortals. He thought about what he had almost said to Thuringia and rationally, it made sense, but his heart just clenched at the thought of his little girl getting taken by any of the entities he had known over the centuries.
"What is it, Schatz?" Lili whispered as she nudged him.
Gilbert checked Vash and Melinda; they were too busy talking and looking out at the water to overhear him. "Every male entity is checking her out," he grumbled. "I wanted her to have fun with people her age, not to advertise fresh meat to the nations and states." He thought about the day turning to night, the pulsing music, the beer consumption, the cover of dark and his hands curled into fists. "I swear, if anyone tries to take advantage of her, I'll—"
"They won't do it here," Lili said. She turned to him, her green eyes confident. "They know if they make a move on her and she doesn't want it, you and Ludwig and Vash will be on them! Everyone will be on their best behavior—"
"That's what I'm afraid of," Gilbert grumbled. "France will be complimentary and attentive, Romano will sing to her, the United States will fetch her drinks and snacks and tell her which celebrity she resembles. Denmark is out there, being a strong, fun-loving merman, and she hasn't even met South Korea or Argentina yet." The thoughts of unattached male nations hovering around his daughter made him rub his face. "Mein Gott, even Holstein and Saxony-Anhalt were talking about chatting her up and she's called them Onkeln since she could talk!"
When Lili looked at him, something hard and dark entered her eyes. Gilbert drew back, puzzled. "I mean, maybe I'm being old-fashioned, I'm no prude, but she's our Kind and I'm just not used to feeling this way. Lili, doesn't this bother you?" He scanned her face, trying to understand her expression.
"Ja, it does bother me." She said softly. Lili got up, put on her sunglasses and turned to Gilbert. "Maria's not just some passive lump who can't act and choose for herself, Gilbert. Remember that." She called to Colorado to go to the public restrooms and showers with her and the American state happily obliged. Gilbert stared after the two female personifications, wondering what had gone wrong. Scheiße, he thought to himself, the awesome carefree celebration was turning into a mess.
He heard a low chuckle and saw Switzerland grinning at him. "Welcome to my world," Vash said. He offered his beer bottle to clink and for a second, Gilbert wanted to throw his in the other nation's face. But then he thought about how Vash had guarded Lili, how vigilant he had been to protect his adopted sister from predatory males, and he started to laugh. Mein Gott, of all the nations who would understand him at this point! He clinked bottles with Vash and settled back to watch his daughter frolic.
The sun traveled east, casting long shadows over the tide. Someone had started a small bonfire, and sparks floated along the ocean breeze. South Korea had changed from K-Pop to more European techno and American hip-hop. Nations and mortals mingled, either dancing, finishing up the food and drink, or zoning out to the fire's flames.
Maria had excused herself from her mortal friends and walked along the beach towards a jetty of rocks. She was glad they were all getting along, but she had started to feel overwhelmed by them. It wasn't just the death-smell Vati had warned her about, but people who had been fun and interesting to communicate with individually online seemed very different in a group and in person. Somehow, they seemed both younger and older than she; the Americans, especially, seemed very coddled, and yet they also spoke enthusiastically about which colleges they wanted to attend and what careers they wanted to pursue. That was why she needed to step away, she realized. If they started to ask her about her plans, what was she going to say to them? I'm training with my uncle to represent my state. Nein, I'm not running to be a state representative; I am the state. She had had too much beer and sun to come up with a plausible lie and she certainly couldn't tell the mortals the truth.
Maria saw three male figures sitting on the jetty, talking. The setting sun cast their faces in shade, but as she got closer, she recognized two voices and grinned and waved. Poland stood up, waving frantically for her to join Lithuania and the third male. As she got closer, she grew intrigued. The other nation was France, and he smiled as he placed his shirt down for her to sit upon the rocks.
"Wuj Feliks!" She laughed as she joined them. Poland and Lithuania hugged her, and France stood up and shook her hand. He smiled expectantly at her and Feliks nudged her. "He like wants to greet you properly, just a cheek kiss," he whispered.
"Alors, I don't want to impose," France murmured. "C'est le choix des femmes."4
Oh why not, Maria thought. She leaned in and Francis Bonnefoy pecked each cheek. She felt the slight stubble brush her skin and smelled lavender, jasmine and something warm and musky. Nice. She settled down next to Poland as France sat across from her, his long golden hair whipping across his handsome face in the breeze.
"Are you enjoying the party?" She asked. She had been too busy with her mortal friends to spend a great deal of time beyond greeting the nations. Poland and Lithuania had arrived with Saxony, and she had caught glimpses of them chatting with Austria and Hungary. France had been playing volleyball and splashing in the water with his sisters and one American girl in particular. Earlier, Maria and her mortal friends had teased Ashley that she would probably hook up with the handsome Frenchman. But now, as Maria studied France, she didn't think that would be such a good idea.
"It's a lot more fun now that I'm catching up with you!" Poland exclaimed. Maria recalled how shy he could be and she felt bad that she hadn't spent more time talking with him. "So tell me, chickie," Feliks continued, "any of those mortal boys catch your eye?"
"Pablo is cute," Maria admitted, recalling the Argentinean mortal. "But I think he's more interested in one of my Korean friends."
France shrugged. "It's ideal for mortals to be with mortals. And it might go nowhere beyond a night's flirtation. Not that there's anything wrong with that, non?" He shaded his eyes with his hands, so Maria could see how blue they were. "Sometimes the loveliest memories are of a moment that might have been rather than what actually was."
Maria thought a little, studying France's little smile. He looked sad, rather than cynical or seductive. "That's deep," she finally said.
"I have had many experiences." France shrugged, his eyes still on Maria's. "They all have some meaning."
"Watch yourself, Francuz," Poland warned.5 He took pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of his shirt pocket. "Just because you're friends with her dad doesn't mean you can make a play at her."
France looked hurt. "I was just talking. It's a pleasure to discover such a young mind willing to explore ideas. So many young people these days only want to talk about jobs, things to buy, money to make and spend." He shrugged, took one of Poland's cigarettes and lit it. "So few want to sit still and have an intelligent conversation."
"Young people talk about jobs and money, because they're like scarce," Feliks grumbled. Lithuania nodded sympathetically. "You don't know how it kills me to see like my mortals head out to other countries to do donkey work. And you'd think those nations would appreciate how hard my kids work, but no! They all make jokes about Poles being like thieves."
Toris raised an eyebrow. "Feliks, you have to admit that the car stuff is true." Maria blushed as she recalled all the Polish car thief jokes her schoolfriends told.
"I don't steal cars," Poland said loftily. "I rescue them. Some fat, complacent German, like, abandons a perfectly decent Mercedes or BMW. I take it in, clean it up, make it look fabulous and find it a nice new home."
"Honhonhon," France chuckled. "I never heard it put that way before, non?" He winked at Maria and she laughed also, surprising herself with the strange, high-pitched giggle that came out of her mouth. That was strange; she never sounded like that before. She shut her mouth, and when Poland raised an eyebrow at her, she started giggling even harder. I must have had too much to drink, she thought.
"Liet, go get us some beer and snacks." Poland said. Toris looked askance at him. Poland glared back. France looked over at Maria, as if to say, strange dynamic, non? She nodded and felt pleased, as if she were sharing a secret with a wise friend.
"Fine," Feliks sighed. "Toris, would you be a gentleman to our lady guest here and fetch us a round of beer and some bread or sausage, proszę?"6Lithuania kept staring at him. Poland put on his most winning smile and said, "Prašom padaryti tai mums?"7Toris thawed a little and got up. "I'll see what food I can find," he said and headed back to the canopies, beach chairs and bonfire.
"Since when did Lithuanian become the language of love?" France chuckled. Maria felt as if the two male nations had forgotten about her. She was content, however, to sit still and listen. A conversation with Poland always revealed some interesting story about the nations.
Poland rolled his eyes. "Since his latest attempt to win back Belarus failed. Ever since Canada dumped Russia's fat ass, Natalya is back in 'marry me, brother!' mode. It's enough Ukraine and I can do to keep him from sulking in the woods all day." Feliks leaned forward and his voice dropped to a whisper. "It's like she's had a spell cast over her ever since the Soviet days. She forgets how close she and Toris had been, and all she does is run after Ivan and he's like terrified of her."
"Well, that's what he gets for messing around with all those experiments and operations, non?" This time, France's shrug seemed indifferent instead of light-hearted; Maria had never seen any other nation with such subtle body language. She watched, fascinated.
"That's what I say. It's odd," Feliks mused. "It's like the electroshock and other experiments messed up the female minds more than the males'. I mean, I like forgot some stuff, but then it started to come back. But Belarus, Kaliningrad—"
"Shhh!" France hissed, nodding his head towards Maria.
"It's all right, Monsieur France," she said. "I know what happened to my aunt. Wuj Feliks told me." She grew braver. "I know you two behaved honorably towards her."
France smiled thoughtfully at her and then turned to the blushing Poland. "C'est bon. Now how did you get such a lovely niece, Pologne? And Prussia's fille, of all people!"
"It's like a long, crazy story," Poland began, and Maria perked up. She remembered the Easter weekend they had met and bonded. She was eager to help him tell it, when Lithuania came back to them, empty-handed.
"Francis, Seychelles got into a quarrel with England, and she really wants you right now," Toris panted. In the final blaze of violet and orange sunset, Maria could not make out his expression.
France waved his hand dismissively. "Tell her to come sit with us," he replied. "Feliks is going to tell how he and Maria became so close."
"You need to go to her. Right now!" Lithuania said firmly. France paused, studying the poorer nation's agitated stance. Finally, he got up, nodding regretfully towards Maria. She wondered why Seychelles couldn't come sit with them; she liked the bubbly, ocean-loving island.
"Ma petite soeur needs me," he said. "So I must hear this lovely story another time, non?" He gently took Maria's hand and squeezed it. Even in the receding light, she could see fondness in his eyes. "Maria, someday, you must come visit me. It is strange that I am such good friends with your father, yet I lack such a lovely niece. Maybe—"
"SEYCHELLES NEEDS YOU NOW!" The other entities startled at Lithuania's voice. France bolted up and ran off with him.
"Liet! You forgot the beers and snacks!" Poland cried after them. He turned to Maria, exasperated. "Like, I don't know what to do with him sometimes." He lit another cigarette. "But tell me, chickie, how are you feeling about going to study under Saxony? Are you like excited? Nervous?"
At last, Maria thought, she could finally talk about something important. "I'm resigned," she said.
Feliks exhaled, waving the cigarette smoke away from her. Maria studied how the lit tip floated about in the gray twilight. "Chickie, that doesn't sound good," he sighed. "Really, it's not as bad as you think. And Gisil's really smart and respectful of boundaries, unlike some of the horny bastards around here."
"That doesn't bother me. I trust Onkel Gisil." Maria looked out toward the horizon, where the last shades of violet shifted into gray. "I'll give it a year, and then…" she trailed off.
"And then you'll go to university? Try an apprenticeship with another state? What?"
"I don't know. Maybe say I want to work at a regular job for a bit, make some money, and think about paying a nation to cast a mortality spell on me." There, she had finally said what she had been thinking about ever since she had passed the Abitur.
"Are you serious? You can't be! You do that and there's no turning back, Maria." Poland put out his cigarette and grasped Maria's wrists. It amazed her how strong such a delicate-looking man could be. "You'll break your parents' hearts. And you know this is serious, when I worry about your father's heart, of all nations."
"I know, but if I can't stand being an entity, I can't. That's being miserable for as long as there's my state and a Germany." Maria's eyes filled with tears. Great, this was supposed to be her big, happy party and she was crying instead. But it actually felt good, to speak her thoughts and have a friend listen to her. "I'd rather live only sixty or seventy more years where I want, doing what I want than something that bores me senseless. And if they love me, they'll come to understand and forgive me."
"Your mother might. But your father will be, like, devastated. And believe me, chickie, he doesn't handle devastation very well. You'd end up alone."
"I know," Maria whispered. That was the worst part of her plan. She looked down, watching Poland study her hands. Maria could feel a strange energy pass from his delicate fingers to the veins in her wrists. When he looked up at her, she could see a fierce glow to his pale green eyes.
"Come to Poland," he said. His voice was firmer and deeper than she had ever heard. "If you finally decide to go through with this crazy plan of yours, then come to Poland and become one of my mortals. You'll get a free education at any university you want. I'll pull whatever strings I can with my bosses and business leaders to help you get a great job. You can live in any of my cities and I'll find the best men—or women, if that's your thing- for you to choose from. You won't have to do this alone, without anyone to look after you."
Maria stared at the nation she had called her uncle and friend. Even in the dark, she could detect a change in him. He was still fine-featured, but there was a strength to his brow and jaw she had never noticed before. She leaned closer. "Really?"
"Tak," Feliks said. "I don't get why you want to do this, but if it makes you happy, then I'll help you." Maria started to laugh in relief, as her tears started to roll down her cheeks. "Ah, don't cry, kochanie."8 Poland wiped at her tears with his thumb. "You've got your fallback plan now. But give your time with Saxony a fair shot, tak? You might surprise yourself with how you do as a state." He smiled, and suddenly Maria felt like she was looking at the Poland who loved gossip and fashionable clothes again.
"Thank you," she whispered, "thank you so much." She felt better about her apprenticeship now that she knew she had a way out. When Feliks smiled at her, she felt safe, but she wished the fierce gaze and deep voice would return.
"SSSSt." Feliks suddenly hissed. A male figure was racing towards the jetty. They couldn't make out either of his features, but Maria quickly pulled away from Poland.
To her relief, it was Lithuania, carrying a couple of beers and rolls. He caught his breath and then gasped, "Maria, your father's looking for you. You better go back to the group."
She nodded and sprang up. "I will. Thanks for telling me." She was glad that Vati had not found her talking so closely with his old enemy. If he had been so angry at that Easter six years ago in Austria's house, imagine what he would have done if he had overheard their latest conversation. She nodded to the two male nations and jogged through the sand to the crowd, lights and music.
She found Vati on the outskirts of the party, looking for her. Maria walked over to her father and as her eyes adjusted to the night, she could see he looked worried, but not angry.
"Your mortal guests are looking for you," he said. "They want to check out the nightclubs in town. You should be a good hostess and go with them."
Maria smiled, relieved. "Sure, Vati!" They walked back to the mortals clustered around the fire.
Toris watched his friend's gaze follow Maria's slender figure. He offered him a beer. "What's up with you?"
Feliks turned to him and there was a strange excitement in his eyes. "Toris, I have, like, the best idea ever!"
Lithuania didn't even hide his dismay. Whenever his friend said that, it meant some crazy, improbable plan. "What?"
Poland grinned. "Remember what Gilbert did to my sister?" Lithuania started to shake his head and protest, but Feliks held up a warning finger. "I'm gonna go one better! I'm going to make his daughter fall in love with and marry me!"
Toris felt as if he had been pushed off a cliff into a dizzying world of nonsense. "You can't do that! That's insane, Feliks! Gilbert apologized to Gdańsk, that's history!" He pleaded. "Don't punish his daughter to get back at him for the past!"
"What? Being my wife is a form of punishment?" Feliks said haughtily. "Nie, Toris, this will heal the past. Like true love, honorable intent and unity and all that. Gisil will help me, and even Ludwig will see it's a good thing for us. And if causes że diabeł pruski to tear his hair out and finally drop dead from shock, that's even better!" He took a sip of beer and bite of roll. "Imagine what a fabulous wedding it'll be," he mused. "Elenka will insist that it be held in her cathedral, and—"
"What about Ekaterina? What about me?" Toris couldn't stop staring at his dearest friend's face.
Poland shrugged. "We'll still be friends. You'll be free to pursue Natalya, and Kasia's always known her place." He smiled dreamily again. "She'll stop crying long enough to make plenty of pierogi for the reception. The Czeck Republic and Slovakia will bring the beer and music. And Elizabeta will be thrilled! I'll ask her to sing and maybe we can get Austria to be the organist!" As he chattered away, Lithuania gazed out at the sea, noting how the waves shimmered in the moonlight. At best, this was just a fantasy his friend would drop for the next appealing one. At worst, it really was one of the most disastrous ideas he had ever imagined.
Sorry I didn't update earlier, but some other work got in the way. So, what do you think of Maria's plan? Poland's? I hope you enjoyed this; if so, let me know!
1 Abistreich is the graduating students' prank played on the whole school. German students get more into this than the Abiball (graduating class dance, usually a more low key affair than an American prom).
2 French: those young Americans are very charming, non?
3 Danish: Hello or hi, Father or Dad. In my head canon, Holstein and Schleswig see Denmark as their father.
4 French: that's the women's choice
5 Polish: Frenchman
6 Polish: please
7 Lithuanian: Please do this for us?
8 Polish: darling, sweetheart