Just so you guys know, this chapter used to be in three parts, so it's a bit long.
Chapter 4: Nations's Party
A week passed and the unusual "family" were getting ready to head out.
Germany was in his ironed down grey suit as he adjusted an olive green tie as he looked at the time. "What could take Italy so long?" He said to himself as he was giving the Italian thirty seconds before he calls out.
At the same time, Italy was debating which dress shirt to put on. He looked at his nice black silk dress shirt that would go great with his blue tie, but there was also the nice crisp white shirt he got the other day that he didn't have a chance to wear, but feared it would get stained.
"Italy!"
He slightly jumped when he heard the German's voice from down the hall. "Almost ready!" He called, only for the man to enter the room anyway.
"What is taking you so long?" Germany asked, looking at the two nice shirts on his bed.
"I can't decide to go with black or white with this tie."
Germany sighed as he picked up the black shirt and handed it to the Italian. "This one, in case the white one gets stained. There will be another time for that one."
"Ve, thanks Germany!" He said as he placed the shirt on.
"Have you seen Fern-Lui?"
"She hasn't come down yet?"
Germany shook his head as he went out to locate the door where the girl was staying. He knocked on it and asked if the girl was okay.
"Ja! Just looking for my other hair clip!"
"Mind if I come in?"
"I don't mind!"
He entered and saw the girl, wearing a red velvet holiday dress with a white ribbon around the waist and tied to a nice bow in the back, was going from one corner of the room to the next, causing a bit of a mess in her wake, but going back to straighten. "Everything okay?"
"Nein… I can't go anywhere without both of my hairclips." She said as she pointed to the one Iron Cross hairclip.
"Is it important?"
"Very." She said as she looked like she was close to tears.
"Okay, okay, I'm sure they're somewhere…" He said as he whistled to get his dogs to enter the room. "Mind if I see that other clip?"
She handed her other hair clip, which has the bullet dent, to him as he gave a command to the dogs to sniff and search for the hair clip.
Italy walked out of the room and saw the dogs sniffing on the ground before looking at Germany and Fern-Lui. "What's going on?"
"She's missing her other hair clip." Germany said as he held up the first of the two clips.
"Oh." Italy said as he looked to see that the girl was slightly flustered at the thought of missing the second clip.
Then the dogs started barking and the trio went to see that the dogs were at the couch.
"Good boys." Germany said as he felt around the couch before he felt something and pulled it out to find the missing hair clip.
"Yay!" Both Italy and the girl cheered as the girl hugged the dogs and saying praises in both German and Italian before the man gave her back her hair clips.
"Thank you so much!" She said as she placed both hair clips in her hair. "I'm ready now."
"Ve~ You look so pretty!"
"Grazie, Signore Italia."
"I've been meaning to ask you about those clips." Germany said. "I noticed that they're chipped." Which was partically true.
She touched the one without the bullet dent. "This is from mein vati who got these from his opa after begging forever." She then touched the one with the bullet dent. "And this is from mi mamma who got it from mein vati as a symbol of their friendship, then as a symbol to let everyone know that they're together, and then saved her from being killed when she was in labor with me."
Germany blinked a few times, seeing the happy smile on the girls face as she touched the clips with such delicatecy as if they were made of glass.
"Mein vati wielded the bobby clips, so that I could have something of theirs when I'm not with them. I feel protected and not so lonely."
"I-I see…" He said, having a bit more consideration of the crosses now that he knew the history behind it.
"Ve~ I got something similar from Germany too!"
Germany remembered that moment as the girl looked at Italy.
"Really?"
"Sì! It symbolizes our friendship and that we back each other up when we're in a pinch. Though Germany saved me every time after that."
The girl laughed. "That's the same thing with Mamma before she and vati married!"
Germany looked at the clock and made a mental calculation before he cleared his throat and calmly told the two to head to the car, while also letting Italy know that he's not driving.
"Ve! This is so exciting! You'd get to meet everyone!" Italy said as he started to explain each and every nation, Germany would add a few bits of warning of some of the nations, France and Russia especially.
x0x
A few days earlier, Germany was in his office getting his paperwork done in the late morning, which was a record for him, when the phone rang at his desk. He knew Italy and the girl were out shopping for some pasta supplies and took the dogs with them, and his brother was out who knows where, possibly getting drunk off his ass. "Deutschland sprechend."(1)
"Hey Germany!" America called out excitedly, causing the German to get the phone away from his ear from further damage of his eardrums. "How's it going!"
"I'm doing well, thank you." Germany said calmly as he checked his paperwork before him. "What brings you to call?"
"Well! Since all of us know that the girl, Fern, right? Is staying with you and Italy, I figured it's time for all of us other nations to get a chance to know her too!"
"Her name if Fern-Lui, and are you suggesting that you're holding up a party soon?" Germany asked, since this wasn't the first time is ex-enemy-now-sort-of-acquaintance-but-not-full-on-friend did this out of the blue.
"How'd you know?"
"You've done this kind of thing before." He said bluntly. "And when will it be?"
"You're gonna go?"
"May as well, Prussia, Hungry, and Austria have already met her as well. And it's not like she doesn't know about us anyway. Besides, I know you'll talk to Italy about it and he'll definitely want to go."
"He still has you under his thumb, huh?"
"America…"
"I'm just saying…" The American said with a laugh. "Well great! I really would like to meet this girl, I talked to England, who argued with France, who heard from your brother about her. She sounds like a sweet gal."
"She is, she can easily keep up with Italy better than I do." He said, hearing the other laugh.
"Getting work done I bet?"
"At a record pace." He said as he couldn't help but grin. "So, when is this party you're planning?"
"Thanksgiving."
"Was! That soon!"
"Don't worry I let everyone else know ahead of time. And it's a pot-luck, so bring something to the party! It's going to be a World Buffett!"
"Who else is helping you plan this?" He asked as he rubbed his eye lids and pinched the bridge of his nose from the on-coming headache.
"I know Japan was on board with it because he likes to cook, and I asked England but only with the décor and table setting, so he's nowhere near the kitchen. And with Japan's creativity and England's help with his imaginary friends, the place will be ready for everyone to set up and display their best dishes."
"You sound pretty organized, America."
"Nah, not really, I just asked these guys to help and they pretty much do the whole thing."
Germany rolled his eyes from the blunt honesty of the American. "Where is this held?"
"Where else? The World Conference room back in England's place!"
"Okay… And time?"
"Well… Knowing how everyone is gonna be like when they arrive here, have time to cook, and set up… Be here around one or something."
Germany wondered if America doesn't like to admit that he does get organized sometimes, but dropped it and agreed to go, earning another almost eardrum busting cheer and that was the end of the conversation.
x0x
Back at the present, Germany kept his eyes on the road while Italy was singing something about pasta and the girl was looking out of the window, as if seeing the outside world for the first time.
"Ve~ Fern-Lui, do you know any songs you like to sing?"
Fern-Lui looked at Italy and smiled. "I do know a few songs…" She said.
"Can we hear them? I'm sure Germany would like to hear too."
Germany blushed as he cleared his throat. "Only if you want to Fern-Lui."
She giggled as she thought up a song and started to sing.
"Accept me like this. Please don't look.
In my head there is a world you must ignore.
I want you to be my discreet accomplice.
Accept me and you will be my silk doll."
She hummed a bit before continuing.
"Accept me and you'll see we'll go till the end.
Don't think about what's right and about what is changing.
We'll go to the North Pole or to the South if you want.
Please accept me, tell me that you can do it.
I've never said that I am perfect.
Then I'm the one helping you discover my every fault.
If you find even more, it's still okay.
It's enough to stay together like this." (2)
"Ve~! That's very nice! Isn't it nice? I thought it was so cute!"
The girl blushed, but she smiled just as widely as Italy as Germany agreed that the girl's singing was very nice, pleasant even.
"Grazie… Mi mamma would always sing that song to both me und Vati." She giggled. "Vati would always blush when she sings the rest of the song, but he's happiest when Mamma sings. And I would sing to Vati when Mamma isn't around when he looks a bit sad."
"Ve~ Sounds like they're really in love." Italy said as he had a dreamy look.
"We're here." Germany announced as he parked in the lot in front of the building.
"Looks like everyone else has arrived early." Italy said as he helped the girl out of the car.
Germany went to the trunk and pulled out two pots and carefully balanced them as he walked.
"Ah! Let me help you Germany!" Italy said as he grabbed one of the pots.
"Thanks Italy." He said as both men watched the girl walk around in the snow, giggling happily at her footprints.
"We better head inside then, who knows how everyone is holding up." He said, imagining the chaos that is probably going on at the moment.
They walked to where they saw the open door with sounds of the rising chaos that would take place.
0o0o0o0
Much earlier before their arrival, the other nations were setting out their hard worked dishes onto the set up tables and some were chatting and side arguing to pass the time as they set up.
America laughed as he finished his display of small sliders on his assigned spot on the long table.
"You cannot be serious, America!" England called out, as he finished his display of tea and scones, causing some to worry. "You cannot be planning on feeding a healthy young lady with even a bite of those heart attacks waiting to happen!"
"Hey! I got most of the fat and extra grease out! This is Germany we're talking about here! And since the kid is in his care, it's my head he'll be after if I don't do a few changes for the today only dish."
England blinked. "You're actually being considerate of your health?"
"Most of my people are being health conscious now and it's rubbing off on me." America admitted as he looked at the scones. "But look at you, you're going to practically food poison her with your scones."
"My scones are not awful, you bloody git!"
"I'm afraid that I have to agree with America on this one, mon ami." France said as he had his display ready with every kind of bite sized sweets stacked on top of one another to create an Eiffel Tower while it was surrounded by rose petals. "Your food isn't well known to be even a bit decent. At least America's food is able to not allow the person to get nightmares and see things."
"You stay out of this you frog!" England said as an argument came up.
Canada set his stack of pancakes next to France's and sighed. "Oh you guys…" He said, but as usual no one listened or realized he was there.
"Aiyaa…" China said as he set a few bowls of noodles and vegetables that he cooked up in his handy wok while there was a basket of sweet treats. "Are those two arguing again?"
"They like to do that a lot…" Taiwan mentioned as she had hers set her plates down, Hong Kong also set up next to hers.
"Oh let them! As long as they don't bother us, da ze!" Korea said as he tried to reach over to China, only for the targeted nation to dodge in time.
"I don't see why we have to come, Брат…" Belarus said as she set her food next to Russia's, a bit too closely. (3)
"Well, I'm curious about this girl that Germany has taken in. She must be quite impressive." Russia said, a bit nervous because of his younger sister eyeing him possessively.
Belarus didn't seem to like the idea of her brother wanting to see some small mortal child that her ex-enemy has taken in. She had plans to propose to him for weeks, and today was just ruining it for her. She didn't see anything special other than the girl popped out of the English bastard's magic circle things. She was even uncomfortable at everyone else being excited to see the girl.
Have these nations gone mad?
"Oh! I hope the girl likes the fresh milk I brought with me." Ukraine said as she seems to start crying at the possibility of the child not liking milk at all.
'Even старшая сестра has gone insane with this…' (4)
The Baltic Trio: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, seemed a bit nervous about the Russian getting anywhere near the poor girl, while also not being sure what the girl could possibly like.
Poland was redecorating his table spot to be pink and set his snacks on them. "Yep! There's no doubt that she'll love this!" He said as he sported a short, baby blue plaid skirt and white dress blouse, but he was really nervous of meeting the girl.
"Er… Poland…" Lithuania said looking at the Polish man's dress attire. "She may mistake you as a girl…"
"So? Like, if she does, I'll just, like, tell her I'm a guy. It's not like a big deal."
The Lithuanian sighed, knowing that reasoning was hopeless when it came to his friend.
"This is so exciting!" Finland said as Sweden made a sound of agreement. "But I'm also a bit nervous about her not liking the things we made."
"If she'd don' like 't, den we'd know." Sweden said as he watched Sealand going up to Iceland, only to have Norway politely tell him to go away and went over to Latvia instead. "You'd 'ink Sealand wo'd get along wit da girl?"
Finland looked at their adoptive son and wondered about that too. "Hard to say… I heard she's only eight years old… And Sealand looks to be about twelve. But we'll just see…"
Sweden made a sound of agreement and finished setting up his display of his snacks.
Greece was taking a nap near his set up table, the cats crawling all over him and one tried to steal one of the display foods when Turkey went over and snatched the cat up.
"Greece! Wake up! The point of having a display is so that it wouldn't be eaten up before the guest arrives!"
The other lazily glared. "Put him down, bastard."
"Not until you can keep these cats away from your food so that there would be something for the girl to eat. Then again she might not even like your food."
Greece went up and seemed to be ready to fight when Japan, reading the atmosphere, went up to the two and calmed them down.
"Prease both of you, can you settre your disputes for another day? We do have a young guest and I don't think seeing the two of your argue is the best way to present yourserves."
Greece and Turkey immediately calmed down and Turkey handed back the cat to the other and went to talk to Egypt, who didn't say much.
"You know how to calm people down, Japan."
"Oh no, I simpry read the atmosphere and knowing the situation." He said as he finished setting up his display, which was various different sushi. 'I hope she rikes at reast one of these…' He thought as he made some onigiris to pass the time.
"This is pretty exciting, don't you think Romano?" Spain asked as he finished setting up his table and watched as the other Italian was just finished with his signature tomato sauce just in time as the pasta being ready to be eaten.
"I think this is a waste of time!" He said as he took a taste of his tomato sauce. "If this kid really is half of those damn potato bastards, she may not even like pasta."
"Oh don't be so harsh on her because of that." Spain said. "You never know, she may even like tomatoes as much as you."
"Doubt it. But since she is a girl, I'll be easy on her. But I won't get my hopes up."
Litechstien looked at Switzerland and saw that the man seems nervous as he looked at the display of chocolates he made much earlier when America called about the party. "I'm sure she would love your chocolates, Bruder." She said with a gentle smile.
Switzerland sighed as he was looking at the display again. "No doubt, but you never know with these kids, they can like a certain kind of chocolate."
"You're worrying too much, I'm sure she'll like all of them."
"Hungary, would you please settle down."
"Oh but I've been wanting to see her since the last time I saw her!"
"You saw her a few days ago…" Austria said as he was reading a book. His table space didn't have anything on it while it looked like Hungary went on a baking rampage.
A few others were also a bit nervous about what the girl would like and whether or not England would take the scones out of the room and just leave the tea there before the guest arrives, but the mentioned Englishman was continuously arguing with France, who seemed to enjoy annoying the other as usual.
Then the present moment arrived when the trio looked from the hall to the room of the nations in their chaotic activities.
0o0o0o0
Fern-Lui and Italy smiled at the energy going around.
Germany sighed as he expected as much from such a large group of nations.
"Oh hey Germany!" America announced loudly. "Hey Italy! What's happen'?" This gained everyone's attention as the room stilled to silence.
"Hey America! Did we miss anything?" Italy called out, not realizing that everyone was looking their way.
"Nah, just the usual thing we do." He said as he went over to the three and looked at the girl who looked surprised and partly hid behind Italy, but still looking out at the personified nations. "So you're the little lady who knows about us nations."
She blinked before coming out shyly but with a smile on her face. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. America."
"Same here!" He said as he mentioned the three in. "Come on in! We're waiting for you after all."
And, in eagerness of the Italian, the cautiousness of the German, and the excitement of the girl went into the room to meet the nations as the two nations placed the pots down on an empty spot, and once they were where all the nations could see the girl clearly, the girl curiously looked around at the taller nations.
"So, since you're here, would you like to introduce yourself?" America suggested as she blushed but nodded.
She started to hum, which seemed to gain some confidence from before singing.
"Draw a circle, that's the Earth.
Draw a circle, that's the Earth.
Draw a circle, that's the Earth.
My name is Fernanda-Luigia.
Draw a circle, that's the Earth.
Stare awhile, that's the Earth.
Should that be the Earth.
You can call me Fern-Lui.
Ah~ The wonderful world you can see with just a stroke of a brush!
I am half German and Italian, but I know lots of languages!"
The whole room seemed to be a lot lighter as some girls awed at the cute song she sang.
"That's so cute." America admitted as he looked at the two. "Hey Germany, you didn't tell me she's a cute singer."
"I just learned that today…" Germany said as he blushed lightly.
"Oh! You're truly are adorable!" France said as he swooped her up and hugged her.
"F-France!" Germany said as he saw that the girl was at a complete lost for a moment.
"I can't breathe! Take it easy on your hugs please!" She called out, which the other responded.
"I'm sorry, mon cher, I'm just so overtaken by how cute you are that I don't know my own strength."
She smiled. "C'est bon, juste se souvenir de ne pas me tenir si tendu la prochaine fois."(5)
"Oh! Vous parlez du français ?" (6)
"I speak a lot of languages." She said with a giggle. "May you please let me down, I'm sure everyone else would like to carry me for a moment."
"Mais, mon cher, je veux vous tenir un peu plus long." He said as he hugged her close. (7)
"I know, but you'll have another chance. Pretty please?" She said as she tilted her head to the side and smiled.
"Oh alright! For now I'll share." He said as he placed her down.
'She saved herself from France's clutches!' Everyone thought, each one knowing the nation far too well to let anyone go without some form of molesting. But the girl only got off with an innocent hug, a rose that France seems to carry around, and gave her one of his treats before she took a few bites of the pancake, much to the Canadian's relief and even noticed him, before Cuba came up and gave her a small scoop of his ice cream and she enjoyed it as she drifted over to Hungry.
'Looks like she used her cuteness and overly polite gesture to somehow control France to doing what she says.' Germany thought, having one thing less to worry about. 'And France's weakness is over dulgance of cute.'
"Ve~ I'm so glad everyone is getting along with Fern-Lui." Italy said.
'Now I have to be sure France doesn't get close to Italy.' Germany thought as he nodded in agreement.
0o0o0o0
Meanwhile, Fern-Lui was being hugged and took a bite of Hungary's treats before meeting up with Austria, who mentioned that his were not quite ready. She lifted his spirits that it was okay and would probably taste the best because it was the last out.
She took a bite of America's sliders, which Germany nearly chewed out the American as he explained quickly what he told England not too long ago and moved to where Italy was, talking to someone similar to Italy.
"Signore Italia…" She said as she tugged on his pants a bit, gaining his attention.
"Ve! Fern-Lui!" Italy happily said as he picked her up. "How are you enjoying this?"
"It's a load of fun! Everyone is really nice."
"That's good. Have you met Romano and Spain yet?"
She shook her head and looked at the older Italian and the other known as Spain.
"Hola allí I'm Spain." (8)
"Es agradable encontrarle, Señor España." (9)
"You really do know your languages."
"Grew up with them really."
"You still hungry?" Romano asked, a bit wary about the girl.
She nodded as she looked to see that the display is spaghetti with heavy tomato sauce. "That looks really good!" She said as she was given a serving and hummed in pure content. "Soo good…" She sighed with a huge smile on her face.
"You like tomatoes, huh." Romano said as Spain was amused by this.
She nodded. "I love them. Mamma and Auntie makes them all the time, but the tomatoes don't grow the way they want them too."
"How do you like the sauce then?" Spain asked, knowing that Romano worked hard on the sauce alone.
"Fantástico! I can taste the love and care in the making of the sauce."
Romano blushed as he looked away. "Glad you like tomatoes so much."
"We got a lot of tomatoes left if you want to take them home." Spain offered.
"We just got tomatoes not too long ago, but we would like to take a few in case we get hungry going back to Germany's house." Italy said.
"You're still staying with that macho potato, Veneciano."
"Yes, fratello, you're welcome to visit as well."
"As if I want to step foot in that place."
"Don't be like that, Romano…" Italy said, a bit down.
"Be nice to your brother, Romano, plus Fern-Lui is half German. You can't really be mean to her too…"
"That's because she's more Italian than German…" Romano said before eyeing her, who seemed a bit sad, and he doesn't like to see a girl sad, no matter what age. "But if you would like some authentic tomatoes from us, let us know and we'll drop by…"
"Really?" Both Italy and Spain said as Fern-Lui seemed a bit happy to hear that.
"But only to drop off the tomatoes, I'm not going to spend a minute in that place."
The girl smiled as she got down from Italy and hugged Romano's legs. "That'll be great, Signore Romano." She said as she looked up at the other Italian before he bent down and hugged her.
"You're lucky you're cute." He said, making her giggle as Spain had a turn holding her as well.
"I remember when Romano was your size, but he hardly ever lets me hold him like this."
"Shut up Spain!" He said, face red as a tomato.
"Ciao!" Called out another Italian that looked a bit like the Italies, with the hair curl, but it was a bit angled while the Italies were a smooth curve, the skin complexion that is between North Italy's fair complexion and Romano's slightly olive one, and green eyes. "I'm Seborga."
"I'm Fern-Lui, it's a pleasure to meet you." She said as Seborga grabbed her hand and gave it a kiss, making her blush.
"You truly are adorable!" He said as he presented a sweet treat. "For you, a sweet for a sweet."
She giggled as she accepted the offer and enjoyed it as well before she headed to where Japan is, who was talking to Greece and America.
Greece noticed her and pointed it out to Japan, who turned and smiled politely.
"Konichiwa, I'm Japan, it's nice to meet you."
"同様にあなたに会うとはうれしいことで、日本氏." She said with a bow. (10)
Japan was a bit taken back by the perfect pronunciation of his language as America laughed.
"She did say she know a lot of languages."
"Werr, would you rike to try something?"
She nodded as Japan gave her an onigiri and took a bite. She hummed in content as she took another few bites, having some rice bits on her face.
Japan was very touched to see the girl enjoying one of his onigiris.
"May I also try the salted tuna?" She asked as she finished the onigiri.
"Of course." He said as he handed her some chopsticks. "Do you know how to hord these?"
She nodded. "I know how." She said as she held the chopsticks and picked up the tuna and ate it easily. "This is good too!"
"I'm preased to hear that." He said, finding the girl too cute.
One of Greece's cats went up to the girl and leaned up against her leg, gaining her attention and pets it.
"Hello kitty." She said as she looked to see more cats joining her. "Wow, you got a lot of cats… um…" She looked up at Greece, who smiled and bent down to her level.
"I'm Greece. It's nice to meet you."
"Ίδια εδώ ο κ. Ελλάδα. Are all these cats yours?" (11)
"Yes… Do you like cats?"
"I do. I also like dogs as well."
Greece nodded. "I'm okay with dogs as long as they don't chase my friends around."
"I understand." She said as one cat managed to crawl its way to the top of her head. "How did you get up there without me noticing?" She said with a laugh.
"They seem to like you too." He said as he brought down his dish and handed to her. "Here, it's something I've made."
"Thank you." She said as she took a bite of it. "It's a bit hot, but it's great."
"I'm sorry, I thought it would be cooled down enough."
"No harm done." She said as she shared some pieces to the cats, after she blew on the pieces.
Greece smiled at the generous girl as she also has a few bites while she was sharing.
Soon she heard some kind of dispute going on with the Englishman and the Frenchman. "Thank you for the food. But I would like to introduce myself to the other nations."
"Okay, but be careful." Greece said as the girl nodded.
"I will." She said as she petted a few cats before seeing that America has talked to the two to 'cool it', and met with a boy who is just a head taller than her.
"Hi, I'm Cyprus." The boy said. He as a dark olive complexion, short yet slightly curly dark brown hair, and brown eyes.
"Hello Cyprus, it's a pleasure to meet you." She said as she tried a small dish and made her kind comments about it.
"I'm glad you like it, my brother and I tried our best to make it."
"Your brother?"
"Yeah, his name is Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, TRNC for short."
She looked to where Turkey was and saw a boy about her height wearing something similar to who she believes is Turkey without the mask. "How come he's not here presenting the dish you two made?"
"Because Greece downright hates him because he looks up to Turkey. Then again he wouldn't be here if it weren't for Turkey…"
"Must be hard to be torn like that…"
The boy shrugged. "It's not all bad, we still talk. It's just when Turkey and Greece meet is when things get bad."
"I see…" She said. "Thank you for your dish." She said as she saw the boy blush a bit before laughing a bit nervously.
"No problem." He said and she made her way to Turkey's spot.
"Well now, I thought that you wouldn't come around." Turkey said.
"There's a lot of nations and only one of me, sir…"
"Where are my manners? I'm Turkey, and the quiet guy next to me is Egypt."
Egypt looked up before going back to reading.
"And this little guy is-"
"Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, or TRNC. Cyprus told me." She said making the nation chuckle as she bowed. "Bir lezzetle karşılamak." She said as Turkey handed her a sampling. "Thank you." She said as she took a bite and smiled. "This is good Turkey, though the seasonings a bit strong for me." (12)
"I'm sorry, I forgot that children could only handle a certain level."
"No, it's fine as it is." She said as she finished the dish. "Thank you for sharing."
"Not at all! I'm glad to hear you like it."
She looked at the child and smiled. "The dish you and Cyprus made is good as well. Thank you."
The boy blushed and mumbled 'you're welcome' to her.
She went up to Egypt and smiled. "Mind if I have a taste of what you've made?"
Egypt nodded as he gave her a dish for her to try and was met with the same praise, making him blush.
(13)"شكرا لتقاسم ."
"يسرنا أن نرحب بكم " He said quietly. (14)
She gave him a bright smile before moving onto Poland's table, while the nation was talking to Lithuania, at first she thought Poland is a woman, but then heard the voice, which she knew is male. "Excuse me…" She said, gaining the other two's attention.
"Oh hi there!" Poland said as he bent down to gather her in his arms. "Oh you're just, like, as cute up close! I'm Poland!"
"Przyjemność spotkać was pan Polska. You seem to be having fun." (15)
"Sure am! Even more so, like, now that you're here. And don't be, like, so formal." Poland said as he grabbed one snack and handed it to her. "Try this, it's, like, one of my faves!"
She did and smiled. "I can see why. They're good."
"I know, right!" He said as he hugged her. "I can tell we're, like, going to get along so well!"
She giggled as she hugged back. "Me too!"
"Aww!" Poland gushed as he seemed like he was never letting go of her anytime soon if not for Lithuania meekly interrupting them and handed his dish to the girl.
She took a bite, smiled and took another bite, making the Lithuanian smile.
0o0o0o0
Meanwhile, Germany was keeping an eye out for both Italy and Fern-Lui. 'So far she's doing a good job not making anyone feel uncomfortable, and Italy is safe with Hungry…'
"Doitsu-san?"
He looked to see Japan. "Oh, Japan, how are you?"
"I'm werr, I quite enjoyed Rui-chan's company not too rong ago."
"Yes, I saw that. Even Greece seems to like her. I know his cats do."
Japan nodded his agreement. "It seems she has nothing bad to say about the food she's tasting."
"If I know anything from Italy, is that his taste buds are just as acute as France's, but it seems she's more culturally acceptive to different tastes."
"Werr put. She even picked up that Toriko-san(Turkey)'s spices were a bit strong for her, but it was manageabre for her at the same time."
"I just hope she doesn't eat England's scones." He said as he looked at the still untouched plate of scones. "Why did he have to make those?"
"I am not sure…" Japan said honestly, also a bit worried about the girl's safety towards the possibility of having a bad food reaction with England's cooking, or lack of it.
"Then there's Russia…" He said as he looked at the said nation, sitting there innocently while Belarus hovers around like a bad omen.
"Yes… but this party was for her to get to know the nations and vice versa."
"Ja…"
"Is that why you're keeping an eye out for her?"
"Her and Italy. I still don't trust France with either of those two alone."
"Understood." Japan said as he looked at the time and seemed a bit surprised. "Ah, Doitsu-san…"
"Yes Japan?"
"It's almost three."
Germany looked up at the clock and sure enough it was ten to three and he looked to see that the two Italies were at the corner of the room, Spain included, while America is on guard, and looked to see that Fern-Lui was on Russia's lap, asleep. 'This can't get any worse!' He thought in horror as he was about to walk over to retrieve her, only to stop to see that Russia had asked Belarus for her apron, even so far as gave her a warning tone when she was about to protest, and used that apron as an alternative blanket. But he still went up, casually this time as everyone started to quiet down.
Russia looked up from the girl on his lap to the German, and gave out his usual innocent smile. "Hello Germany, worried?"
"Ja, I can move her to where Italy is."
"Oh no, she's fine here."
"The siesta only last an hour to two hours…" He warned hoping for the other to reconsider.
"That is no problem to me." He said gently as the girl curled up a bit more. "She seems to be comfortable here for now. If she starts to act up, then you can take her." He looked down at the sleeping girl once more and there was a sense of calm surrounding Russia that took even Belarus by surprise.
Germany, not used to seeing the usually slightly insane with an innocent face nation be so calm and gentle. He walked away a few feet, but still has his eyes on the Russian, who was watching over the girl like a mother would. 'How unusual…' He thought as he looked at Belarus and begin to fear for the girl's life by the jealous look in the nation's glare. 'Looks like she made an enemy out of Belarus…' Then he realized something. 'At least they didn't take off their clothes this time… That's another thing that's unusual.'
0o0o0o0
About an hour into the nap, Fern-Lui woke up and blinked as her hazy mind started to clear. Once she was fully awake, she looked to see that Russia greeted her with a smile, which she returned. "Thank you for letting me take a nap on your lap. I hope you weren't uncomfortable."
"None at all." Russia said as he patted her head. "But you did cause a bit of a stir with everyone else."
"I did?" She said, rubbing the sleep from her eye, looking confused.
Russia couldn't help but lightly chuckle at such a cute display of innocence. "Yes, but now that you're up, would you like something to eat?"
She nodded as she tried Russia's and Belarus's foods and drink some of Ukraine's milk. All of which she was pleased and thanked them highly.
The other nations sighed in relief, seeing the girl is going to be okay around Russia, while a bit unnerved by how Russia is acting very motherly to the girl.
Germany was no exception as he watched the girl thank Belarus for the use of her apron, even got a simple pat on the head by the nation, but it was hard to tell if Belarus is okay with the girl or not. 'Even Italy wasn't this much to worry about.' He looked to see that both Italies and Spain were still asleep. 'So her nap is only an hour less of what Italy normally takes.' He put this thought into this mental library as he saw that the girl has reached the Nordic table.
0o0o0o0
"Hey der indianerkrigersprøjt!" Denmark said as he scooped her up and lifted her up in the air. "You're definitely a force to be reckoned with! Ya know that!" (16)
"No, can't say I do…" She said calmly.
"And so modest!" The loud Nordic said as he handed her a sampling of his food. "You'll love this!"
"Don't be so full of yourself." Norway said. "They're not that great."
"Ouch, I know we're not the warmest bunch, but you don't have to give the cold shoulder every time."
"It is good." She said with a smile. "Thank you very much."
"Well you're welcome! Now if only Norway was just as cute and nice as you…"
"Then it wouldn't be Norway."
Norway had to chuckle at this. "I like her, she's smart."
Denmark pouted as he handed her to the nation. "Your turn to hold her!"
Norway blinked as he looked at the girl in his arms. "Du er meget lett…" He pointed out has he gave her a dish. "It's nothing much. Don't even know why we bother to make anything when we're not known for our cooking." (17)
"It's still yummy." She said, having an empty dish to prove it.
Norway blushed lightly as he introduce Iceland to her, who lifted a bowl of some of his snacks he had been munching on.
She tried Iceland's snacks and smiled. "Thank you for sharing, they're very sweet."
"You're welcome." Iceland said as his Puffin helped himself to some fish that the nation laid out for him.
"What a cute puffin." She said as the said bird looked up at her.
"His name is Mr. Puffin… and he thanks you."
"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Puffin." She said as Norway handed her off to Finland who was more than eager to hug the girl.
"Hyvää päivää, Fern-Lui, olen Suomi!" (18)
"Mukava tavata sinut!" She said happily as Sweden was standing next to Finland, who was caught by surprise of the large nation. (19)
"Ah! Sweden, don't sneak up on me like that…" He said, slightly trembling from the sudden shock of seeing Sweden next to him so closely.
Sweden then was six feet away. "Bet'er?"
"Oh Sweden…" Finland said with a sigh as the girl giggled and waved him to come back.
"Var inte så dum Herrn Sverige! Kom tillbaka hit!" (20)
Sweden did come back as Finland handed her to him and the nation gave her a dish.
"You like it?" Finland asked as she nodded.
"It's really good."
"Thank you. Oh! You should also try Sweden's dish." He said as he handed her Sweden's dish.
She smiled as she hummed in content, earning a smile from the Swedish nation. "I like it a lot. Thank you for sharing." She said as she looked at the man, who smiled and held her close before setting her down.
"Du är välkommen." He said as Sealand came up. (21)
"Hi! I'm Sealand!" He said as he puffed out his chest. "You can call me senpai if you want!"
"I rather call you Sealand." She said as she bowed. "It's nice to meet you."
Sealand blinked. "Wow, you really are old fashioned."
She smiled. "I've been taught to respect my elders and only be rude when necessary."
"I can't wait to see that." He said as he grabbed her hand. "Have you met Latvia yet? He's a nice guy too! You would get along easy!" He said as he dragged her over to where Latvia and Estonia were trying to avoid Russia at all costs. "Latvia!"
"Looks like Sealand found a new friend." Finland said as Sweden nodded.
0o0o0o0
Back with Latvia and Estonia, Sealand introduced the two to the girl as the two nations gave her a sampling of their dishes and she gave them equal praises.
"Wow, is there anything you don't like?" Sealand asked. "Don't tell me you like brusselsprouts."
"Don't you?"
"You can't be serious…"
"Not by themselves, but if added with other foods then I'll eat it."
"You can't be normal…"
"How can you describe normal?"
Estonia couldn't help but chuckle at this. "A bit of a smart alack, are we?"
"I try not to be, but sometimes it just comes out."
"That happens to the best of us." Latvia said as he was trying to get Sealand's attention.
She made her way to where Switzerland and Liechtenstein were and tried both their dishes. "Yummy!" She said happily, making the two seem very happy as Liechtenstein picked the girl up and hugged her, who returned the hug full heartedly.
0o0o0o0
Germany was watching the girl getting along with everyone. In a way it was reassuring, but in another it wasn't.
"Ve, she's so good with everyone, isn't she?" Italy said, sounding a bit tired after waking up.
"Ja. It's good to see everyone not arguing." He said as he looked to see France and England. "Well, mostly everyone not arguing."
0o0o0o0
With Fern-Lui, she went up to Taiwan's spot, where she and China were having a small argument. "對不起." She said, gaining the two and the other Asian nations' attention. (22)
"Oh! I'm sorry!" Taiwan said as she picked the girl up. "Here I am arguing with my big brother and here you are."
She just smiled and hugged the female nation. "That's alright."
"Oh! You're so adorable!" She squeeled as she handed her sample to the girl, who enjoyed it and praised it. "You're so sweet!" She said as she handed the girl to Hong Kong.
For a second they just stared at each other before he mumbled a "hello" and handed her his sample. She enjoyed it all the same and was handed over to Vietnam.
"Xin chào, tôi là Việt Nam." She said, knowing the girl will understand. (23)
"Rất vui được gặp bạn." She said as she enjoyed the small dish before being introduced to Thailand. (24)
"Hello!" He said with a bright smile. "How are you enjoying yourself?"
"I'm having lots of fun!" She said as she tried his dish before being led to China.
"Hello Fern-Lui, I'm China."
"Nice to meet you." She said as she was praised over for how cute she is. Soon she was able to enjoy the food that the nation has made as well as enjoyed the treats he set out. "These are good."
"I'm glad you like them, aru!" He said as he didn't want to let her go, but had to and Korea scooped her up.
"Hi! I'm South Korea, da ze!"
"안녕하세요." (25)
"And I'm North Korea…" Said the nation that looked like the southern, only looked calm and not as loud as the other.
"It is nice to meet you." She said as she enjoyed the dishes. "감사합니다." (26)
South Korea smiled as he hugged the girl. "You know your kind personality is from Korea?"
She laughed and patted his head. "Don't be silly!" She said as she was set down. "Thank you everyone!" She waved and headed to where Austria was just setting out his pastries.
"Oh, Fern-Lui, you're just in time."
"They smell so good!" She said as she was given a slice.
"Well, I would be in trouble if these were not in their top potential." He said as she hummed in content.
"And it's just as good!"
He blushed lightly as his curl created a heart shape due to the comment. "Thank you, my dear."
She smiled and bowed politely before heading to the table that had one of many of England's relatives.
"Crikey! There you are!" said a man with tan skin, a bandage on his nose, brown hair that was slightly combed back. "The name's Australia, but you can call me Aussie for short."
She giggled. "It's nice to meet you, Aussie."
"Same here, Lil' Sheila." He said as he grabbed his dish and handed it to her. "So, how do you like us crazy nations so far?"
She giggled. "It's a lot of fun! Everyone is so kind to me, even though some don't get along with each other."
"Well, that'll happen, but that's our issue."
"I know." She said as she saw a koala bear. "How cute!"
"Wanna pet him?" He said as he handed the marsupial to the girl, who hugged it gently and received a hug in return. He chuckled at this. "Aw! Looks like you found a new buddy, Mate."
She gave back the koala to the happy nation, said her thanks, and headed to one of the other English nations.
"Well! If it isn't the little tike herself." Said a man with red hair and thick eyebrows, fair skin, and emerald green eyes.
She smiled. "Hello, it's nice to meet you."
"Same here, the names Ireland." He said as he handed his dish to her. "How were the other nations?"
"They were also kind, sir."
He laughed. "You always this polite?"
"Only to people I don't know right away." She said with a smile.
"I can understand that, but it's never been my thing."
"That's okay though." She said as she thanked for the dish.
"Don't be a stranger now."
"I don't think I will be after this." She said with a giggle, making the Irish man laugh.
She headed over to Wales, who had light brunet hair, combed back, and light green eyes, and also thick eyebrows. She had a small chat with him as well before heading to the one table everyone feared she would go: England's.
"Ve!" Both Italies saw where she was heading and ran to take her away from the table, this caused Spain and Germany to look as well as England, who had been glaring at France the whole time.
"Italia? Romano? What's wrong?"
"Saving you from certain death!" Romano said.
"England's food isn't really all that good, honest!" Italy said as tears were coming out.
Fern-Lui looked at the two before placing her hands on their shoulders. "Italia… Romano… Thank you for worrying about me, but everyone here made something. The least I could do is try them out and thank them. Isn't what this day is all about?"
Both Italians weren't sure about letting her go to England's table, which Romano covered his concern by acting like he didn't care and march his way back to Spain's side. Italy however was speaking in rapid Italian, using one arm to do the gestures, to convince the girl to skip the scones.
But she wouldn't budge as she kissed Italy on each cheek and climbed off. With that she held her head up and smiled as she walked up to England's table, took a scone and bit into it.
"Brave girl, that one is." France said to Germany, who kept his eye on the girl like a hawk when he and everyone saw her flinch.
Fern-Lui managed to swallow, much to everyone's worry, and looked up at England. "England, what exactly do you make with these?"
"Is there… something wrong?" He asked as she reached for the tea he set out and drank a whole cup.
"Are you sure you put in the right ingredients?"
England ran to the kitchen where he had left his bag and looked through all the things he used to make the scones, only to pale at one jar he thought were raisins.
He walked out, white as a clean sheet, and everyone grew concerned for the girl.
"England! What is going on!" Germany called out as he marched up to the Brit, the promise of pain was clear on his stern face.
"I… I… That is… to say…"
"Out with it!" Germany ordered, patience wearing thin very fast.
"She's going to experience some abdominal pains for the next few hours." England said quickly and waited for the German to back away and saw him headed to pick up the girl.
"Are you feeling okay?"
"I'm fine, just have a bad taste."
Germany was worried though. He remembered the last time he saw someone eat anything of England's. It was his own brother and he remembered that the day after eating fish and chips. Prussia kept giggling and running into walls for three days. "We're going to see a doctor on our way home." He said, not taking any chances.
"You're a big worry wart, Herr Deutschland."
"And every right to be." He said as Italy was in a panic mode as he started fussing over the poor girl. "Italy! Would you calm down! It's just a check up!"
"I'm sorry! I'm just worried about her! I told her that England's cooking isn't great, but she went ahead and took a bite of that scone! I'm afraid she might die from it. Ve! She isn't going to die is she!"
"NEIN! She's not going to die! Now calm down!"
"Waah! Germany's scary!"
Fern-Lui couldn't help but giggle. "You two act like my parents when it comes to cooking sasagues."
Germany became red as Italy looked lost before smiling.
"Wouldn't that be funny? Germany and me married?"
"I don't think so." She said as Germany cleared his throat.
"I think it's time for us to head on out." He said. "I would like to make sure you're really okay."
"Okay." She said as everyone exchanged thanks and hugs.
0o0o0o0
After getting an okay with the doctor and arriving at Germany's home, the girl was fast asleep and Italy took off her clothes and tucked her into bed while the German was in his room to get ready to bed.
"Buona notte, Fern-Lui." He said as he heard her mumble a good night as well and left the room.
Around midnight, she whimpered, causing the dogs that settled into her room to whimper along. She tossed and turned as she looked like she was having a fever. After fifteen minutes, she stilled to a peaceful sleep, but the dogs were whimpering and Blackie went up to the closed door of his master's room and tried to get his attention when Prussia came up.
"Hey there Blackie." He said when he saw that Blackie was whimpering. "Hey… What's up? Need to go?" He asked when his bird started to flutter around as if in a panic. "Hey there, what's wrong?" He held out his hand for his bird to perch on as the bird moved around as Prussia seemed to understand and headed to the girl's room.
When he arrived there, he blinked to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him before mentioning the dogs out of the room and closed the door. He sighed as he headed to his brother's room, but his bird tugged his jacket to the nearest phone. "Why do you think I wanted to wake West up for? I don't know who to call." He said.
The bird made motions of a woman and then acting like it has something in its wings and swung it around.
"Are you crazy? That woman wouldn't listen to me if I called." He said, earning a glare from the bird. "Fine…" He picked up the phone and dialed the number. "You're not being awesome to me, you know that." He waited until he heard a tired woman's voice.
"Who's calling?"
"Hey! This is the awesome me calling!" He said, which resulted in being hung up. "She hung up on me." He looked at his bird friend and saw that it was still glaring at him. "Okay, okay…" He dialed again and waited until he heard the woman again.
"Prussia, for the life of me why are you calling this late?"
"Well, the awesome me was just walking in from going around my usual drinks, right?"
"I'm hanging up…"
"Wait! Wait! It's about the kid!"
"Fern-Lui! What's wrong? Is she okay? You didn't do anything to her, did you!"
"Nein! She's a kid! That's something France would do!" He said as he sighed. "This is gonna sound really strange but… I believe all of us would like it that you would come here as soon as possible…"
"Why?"
"I've no idea what just happened but… being the awesome me, even I can't handle something like this."
"What is it!"
"The kid is…" He said as he sighed. 'Germany better have some beer around here after this…'
Translations:
(1) Germany speaking - German
(2) The beginning English lyrics to an Italian song: Una su un milione (link: www. youtube .com/ watch?v=PzjROcYCIZw (rid spaces))
(3) Brother - Russian
(4) big sister - Russian
(5) It's okay, just remember not to hold me so tight next time. - French
(6) You speak French? - French
(7) But, my dear, I want to hold you a little longer. - French
(8) Hello there - Spanish (European)
(9) It's nice to meet you, Mr. Spain. - Spanish (European)
(10) It's nice to meet you as well, Mr. Japan. - Japanese
(11) Same here Mr. Greece. - Greek
(12) It's a pleasure to meet you. - Turkish
(13) Thank you for sharing. - Arabic
(14) You are welcome. - Arabic
(15) Pleasure to meet you Mr. Poland. - Polish
(16) Hey there brave squirt! - Danish
(17) You're very light... - Norweigen
(18) Hello Fern-Lui, I'm Finland! - Finnish
(19) Nice to meet you. - Finnish
(20) Don't be so silly Mr. Sweden! Come back here! - Swedish
(21) You're welcome. - Swedish
(22) Excuse me. - Chinese (Traditional)
(23) Hello, I'm Vietnam. - Vietnese
(24) Nice to meet you. - Vietnese
(25) Hello. - Korean
(26) Thank you for sharing. - Korean