"Hey guys."
The Allies looked to England, who was walking into the camp. In one hand, he supported a sleeping girl with long pale blond hair pulled back into two ponytails. In his other he held a large woven basket, obviously water tight and dripping from the bottom.
"Who's that?" Russia asked.
China nodded. "She obviously survived the attack on that village. Fate must favor her."
"Someone saved her is what I'm assuming." England set the basket down and sat down beside the fire with the five others. "She was sleeping in the basket, it was washed up on the bank."
The girl began stir in England's arms. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, and she was greeted with the Brit's kind and worried face.
She began to fight him immediately, sobbing terribly. "En ole Juutalainen, en ole Juutalainen! Anna mennä, en halua mennä kotiin! Äiti, isä, isoveli! Apua! En halua kuolla! [I'm not a Jew, I'm not a Jew! Let go, I want to go home! Mother, papa, big brother! Help! I don't want to die!]" She managed to get out of the Brit's arms, and she stood by the fire, wailing her heart out.
All six countries stared at her.
"Okay, anyone understand what the heck she's saying?" America asked, breaking the silence.
Canada nodded. "She's speaking Finnish." He got up and stood in front of her, talking in that soft voice he had. "Älä itke, me olemme täällä auttamassa sinua. Olemme hyviä tyyppejä. Nimeni on Matthew Williams, ja nämä ovat ystäviäni. [Don't cry, we're here to help you. We're the good guys. My name is Matthew Williams, and these are my friends.]"
The girl slowly stopped crying. "F-ystäviä? [F-friends?]"
Canada nodded, then spoke extremely slow. "Do you understand what I'm saying?" The girl nodded again. "My friends don't speak Finnish, so we're going to talk in English so they understand what we're saying, ok? What's your name?"
"Maliina Marie Rosing." the girl answered. Both America and China cooed from the cute, heavy Finnish accent she had.
"These are Arthur Kirkland, Alfred Freedom Jones, Francis Bonnefoy, Yao Wang, and Ivan Braginski. And the polar bear is my pet, Kumajiro, and the panda is Yao's pet, Bǎihé [lily]." Canada pointed to each nation accordingly. "We're the Allies. Sit down with us, and tell us how you got to be in a basket on the river bank, eh?"
Maliina acted as if something clicked in her mind. She began checking her skirt pockets, then her jacket pockets, obviously searching for something. Then she gave a sigh of relief, pulling the metal cylinder from her jacket pocket. "I thought I lost it.."
"What is it?" France asked.
"You know, I don't know, Mr. Bonnefoy, I don't know." Maliina stared at the cylinder. "Brother gave it to me for Christmas. He said it would protect me if I was ever in trouble. He said it was enchanted." She sat down between Canada, who had Kumajiro in his lap again, and China.
"So how did you get in the basket, da?" Russia asked. The other nations prepared for the worst, fearing that Maliina would be frightened by him.
She didn't react to the Russian's dark aura, like she saw a similar thing almost everyday. "Äiti was running from two Nazis- one was albino- while Big brother distracted them. Äiti put me in a basket and told me to stay quiet and stay put. Then the soldiers came, and large stones fell and pushed the basket into the water. Then I was waking up in Mr. Kirkland's arms."
Canada frowned, burrowing his chin into Kumajiro's fur. "I thought Gilbert said he wouldn't get wrapped up into this..."
"Maliina, you'll stay with us, okay?" England spoke. "It'll be safer for you."
Maliina nodded, playing with the edge of her skirt.
†*°•~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~•°*†
"Do you see your family anywhere?"
Maliina looked around the survivors camp anxiously, hoping to see her family- even her annoying Danish brother would have been absolutely fine! But no familiar faces met her own.
"I don't see them..." she whimpered. "Are these all the survivors?" Maliina looked to the Allies with a hopeful look. But she was met with sad looks, and England wouldn't look her in the eye.
"There's no one else they can find..." America answered.
Maliina stared them in the eye. They expected her to start bawling, and China was already prepared to scoop her up if needed. But instead of bawling, she turned and started walking down the wrecked town. The Allies followed her until she stopped at a certain house that had been burnt.
In front of the house was a stake made from a plank of burnt wood. Tied to it was a strip of navy blue cloth, and a strip of black cloth.
"Big brother is alive..." Maliina smiled slightly, touching the cloth slightly before sitting down in the snow and rolling up her skirt a bit to reveal her shorts that ended at her knees. She looked up hopefully. "Anyone have a pocket knife?"
They stared at her weirdly, but Canada handed her the pocket knife he used for carving.
"Thank you." Maliina took the knife, placing it against her leg. The sound of fabric ripping filled the practically silent air as she cut a long strip of cloth from her shorts.
She handed the knife back to Canada before standing up and tying the cloth to the stake tightly. Then her eyes widened as they fell on a slightly damaged barn. "The deer!"
"What deer?" Russia asked.
Maliina practically shrieked. "I have to make sure the deer okay! All of you- close your eyes and turn around." The confused Allies did what she asked as the Finnish girl ran to the stable and flung open the doors.
"Calm down, I'll get you out of here!" Maliina began opening the stall doors, letting the prancing deer out. Then she began shouting orders to them. "Tule nyt, siellä on Donner, Blitzen, Cupid, Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, .. Vixen, Vauhtia, että häntä! Hyvä tyttö, nyt mennä! Go! Mene nyt metsään! Äiti löytää sinut! [Come on now, there's Donner, Blitzen, Cupid, Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer,.. Vixen, come on, move that tail! Good girl, now go! Go! Go on now, into the forest! Mother will find you!]"
The reindeer pranced around for a few seconds before taking off and running to the forest.
"Okay, you can look now." Maliina called, making sure that her Äiti's sled was still in the shed before closing the door tightly and locking it.