Disclaimer: Let me check… Nope. Not mine.
"Hey! I found you guys!" Sealand declared loudly as he stumbled into the clearing where several of the other nations were asleep. "Sealand is here to help!"
Well, he hoped they were asleep, but their lack of movement wasn't doing much to bolster his confidence.
"Guys?" he called again, a bit more hesitantly this time. "Guys!"
Finally, Switzerland began to stir. The blond nation felt around for something, and suddenly sat up.
"Liechtenstein!" he called. "Liechtenstein!"
"It's just me," Sealand told him. "What happened here?"
"Liechtenstein?" Switzerland called again.
He looked towards Sealand.
"Have you seen her?" he asked desperately.
Sealand shook his head.
"Nope, sorry," he said. "I can help you look though!"
"But she was here," Switzerland muttered.
"Maybe she had to leave?" Sealand suggested.
"No, she wouldn't do that," Switzerland insisted. "And why is everyone asleep?"
Sealand shrugged.
"You guys sleep pretty deep," he remarked.
"I don't usually," Switzerland told him.
"Hey! Guys! Wake up!" Sealand yelled.
Slowly, one by one, the group began to stir. Korea was the first to wake, followed closely by Poland and Estonia, who then shook Lithuania and Latvia awake. Finally, Austria and Hungary managed to drag themselves back to consciousness.
"What happened?" Korea asked, looking vaguely towards the Baltic trio. "Why are Sealand and Hungary here? Where's that girl who looks like Switzerland?"
"That's what I want to know," Estonia told him.
"Hungary tripped over me in the middle of the night," Austria said. "I made her get some rest. I don't know about anything else though."
"I came to offer my services to help you!" Sealand declared.
"It's too dangerous for you," Lithuania told him.
"Don't worry about me," Sealand replied. "I'm very brave!"
"That's not what I'm worried about," Lithuania muttered.
Sealand pouted. Why did they keep dismissing him?
"But I know something important!" he insisted.
Japan looked up from the tea he was preparing to see Prussia, France, and Spain return. The trio looked out of breath and Spain was carrying the mochi that resembled America.
"That was a close one," Spain declared.
"Indeed it was," Prussia agreed. "Luckily, the awesome me was there to save you guys!"
"Rubbish!" France scoffed. "I was the one who saved all of us!"
"I hardly think running faster than the rest of us and leaving us behind was 'saving us'," Spain teased, eliciting loud laughter from Prussia.
Japan rolled his eyes and began pouring the tea into cups.
Meanwhile, the mochi in Spain's hands had begun to struggle.
"Hey, what's wrong, little buddy?" Prussia asked, bending down to look at the creature. "Spain, maybe you should let go of him?"
Spain opened his hands, being careful not to let the little blob fall. He needn't have worried. As soon as it could escape, the mochi launched itself into the air in America's direction. America certainly seemed pleased.
"Come here, little guy," he said, holding out his hands.
Japan noted that the America was quite fond of the mochi. Perhaps it was the obvious resemblance between them.
But the mochi had no intentions of landing on America. The little creature flew over America's head and landed on the shoulder of the nation standing behind him.
England started.
"What on Earth?"
The mochi made a strange noise, between a whine and a squeak, and began to bounce up and down on England's shoulder. The island nation turned his head to look at it.
"Oh, I see," he said. "Very well then."
"You can understand that thing?" America asked in shock.
"Being a wizard does have its uses," England replied calmly.
"So, what did he say?" Prussia asked.
"Just that he wants a safe place to stay," England told him. "He's on the run from the monsters, just like us."
"Of course he can stay!" America declared.
No one seemed inclined to argue with America, so the matter was decided.
Japan poured the last cup of tea. Picking up the tray, he hurried to serve his fellow nations.
He brought the first cups to China and Russia, who were sitting and talking in the corner. They went eerily silent as soon as he came close. Each accepted the cup with no more than a muttered thank you and a subtle glare telling Japan to leave them alone. Not wanting to impose on them, Japan hurried away. He was worried about China, though. China had been spending so much time with Russia lately.
He next served the three friends who had just returned.
"Thanks man!" Prussia cheered as he gulped the tea down.
"Gracias," said Spain, although his attention was clearly focused on Romano, sitting next to his still-unconscious brother.
"Thank you, Japan," France remarked, sipping the tea delicately.
Japan smiled. At least they were trying to be polite, though the degree of success varied.
The next set of drinks he brought to America and England. America was trying to communicate with the mochi, but it was clear from England's expression that the only thing he was doing was managing to sound like a drunken chipmunk.
"I brought you some tea," Japan said quietly, interrupting the dreadful cacophony.
"Thank you," England said, taking a cup and sipping it slowly.
"Tea?" America groaned.
He seemed about to make some snide comment, but a glance towards England changed his mind.
"Thanks," he remarked instead, grabbing a cup and gulping down the tea in seconds.
He tried to hide his distaste for the drink, but Japan suspected that England could see right through the act. He was also quite certain that the island nation was grateful for America's small bit of thoughtfulness.
"Is Canada-san asleep?" Japan asked, noticing America's twin stretched out on one of the beds.
"I don't know," America admitted. "He's been really distant."
"I'll just let him rest then," Japan decided.
He finally approached the two sitting beside Italy's bed. Germany had barely moved, except to lean forward and whisper something into Italy's ear every once in a while. By contrast, Romano was constantly fidgeting. But his attention was always focused on his brother.
"I've brought you some tea," Japan said.
Romano grabbed a cup and downed the contents quickly. As usual, he offered no thanks.
Germany didn't even look up.
"Germany-san, do you want some tea?" Japan tried again.
"I'm fine," Germany insisted.
"Germany-san, please drink some tea," Japan requested. "It will help you relax."
"I said I'm fine," Germany snapped. "Just leave me alone."
"We're all worried about Italy-kun," Japan said. "But you're getting a bit obsessive. His condition is stable, for the moment. You don't need to be with him every second. You could at least have a cup of tea."
Germany shook his head.
"Italy's fighting for his life," he said. "This is the only way I know of to help him. So I'll stay by his side and watch over him until he comes back."
Japan nodded.
"Very well," he agreed. "If you feel it's necessary."
Author's Note: I feel really bad. This is so late. The quality is also not my best in places. I'm so sorry. My muse was just not cooperating. She always takes the first week of December off to recover from NaNoWriMo, so she refused to do any work. But hopefully next chapter will be better.
Thanks to The Result of Squiffie, who suggested that I include Sealand. Also, last chapter got nearly 25 reviews/comments between here and Deviantart. I'm shocked and delighted. Thanks so much for all your support!