Hey everyone! So, this is the chapter I was working on before the drama a few weeks back. As you can see, it's fricken long and the reason for that is this chapter was originally four to five parts long.
With that said, I hope you enjoy reading this!
Chapter 16: Valentine Wreak
When Valentine's Day arrived, Fern-Lui woke up to the scent of pancakes and she immediately got up and ran down to the kitchen to see Prussia, making pink, heart shaped pancakes. Germany was also there, helping out by catching some airborne pancakes thrown by the Prussian, annoying him once again.
"Happy Valentine's Day!" She said happily, making the two brothers turn and smile as they returned her greeting.
"Did you sleep well?" Germany asked as he placed the first few pancakes on the plate and set them in front of the girl as she sat down.
She nodded as she took a bite of the pancake, which had the taste of strawberries, and hummed. "So good…"
"I was taught by an awesome pancake teacher." Prussia said as he finished the next few pancakes and flips them in the air. "Catch, West!" He warned as Germany caught the airborne pancakes to a plate, glaring at him.
"Bruder! I told you not to do that!"
"Keeps you on your toes." Prussia countered as he placed the metal heart cookie cutter on the pan and poured the pancake batter.
"Ve~ Smells really good!" Italy said as he finally came down, this time he was wearing one of Germany's shorts as he joined the girl as Germany set his plate in front of him. "Grazie!" He took a bite and hummed the same way as the girl. "So good…"
Both Germans chuckled at the similarity of the two's reactions before finally settling down with their own plates.
"Where are we going?" She asked as she finished up her plate.
"France's house…" Germany said dully, looking like he didn't want to go.
"You think everyone got their Valentine's I sent? Just in case they couldn't make it?" She asked, making Prussia chuckle.
"I'm sure they got there fine. West is a stickler when it comes to getting things on time."
"Only because one of us has to be." Germany said as he pointedly gave his brother a look before finishing his plate.
"Ow…" Prussia said as he finished his orange juice. "Right! I got something to finish up, so I'll meet you guys at France's place." He then disappeared to another part of the room of Italy's home.
"Ve~ I wonder what he has to finish up?" Italy asked which Germany shrugged.
"I wouldn't worry about it." Germany said as he gathered everyone's plates and started to wash them. "Italy, you and Fern-Lui get dressed, alright?"
"Okay!" Both said in unison as they went to their rooms to change.
0o0o0o0
After the trio changed, they heard strange sounds from the room Prussia was using and left him be as they made their way to France, then to Paris, where they went up to a quaint residence that didn't seem to change from its golden era.
"This is Uncle France's house?" She asked as she walked out, wearing a white dress with pastel colored flowers with a white ribbon around her waist, stockings going up to her knees, white dress shoes, and she's wearing her Iron Cross hair clips, which was a huge contrast, but the two nations didn't mind that detail as they went up to the door and waited for someone to open it.
Germany looked at Italy for a moment and saw that the Italian's tie was a bit crooked. "Your tie is crooked Italy." He said as he reached over and straightened it in time when France opened the door.
"Eagar to get to the bed room?" France said teasingly, but with a hint of suggestion that made Germany go red in the face.
"Bonjour! Oncle France!" She said before her Vati or her French uncle make a scene, which was a success as the Frenchman looked her way, got ecstatic, picked her up, and soon was whisked away from the other two nations and into a mob of others.
"Guess who just arrived!" France announced as he held the girl like a trophy.
"You frog! Put that girl down!" England called out as he went over and took the girl from the Frenchman's hands. "And where is Germany and Italy?"
"Ve~ Here we are!" Italy called out as Germany followed, nursing a bloody nose. "France slammed the door on Germany when he took Fern-Lui inside." He guided the German to the bathroom. "We'll be out in a minute!" And with that he closed the door.
"That's so not cool France." America said, feeling sorry for the German.
France waved it off. "It's part of my plan of amore." He said coolly.
"Still, that was really mean what you did to Vati Deutschland …" The girl said as she pouted and crossed her arms. "Vous êtes un oncle moyenne." (1)
That seemed to struck the Frenchman hard as he seemed to resemble stone.
'He brought this on himself.' Most of the nations thought as Sealand went up and patted her back.
"Hey don't worry, your dad can easily kick his butt anyway, so he's going to suffer after your mum fixes him up."
She nodded. "I know. Did we miss anything?"
"Just the snacks! Come on! We need your help with something."
"Huh?" She said as she was dragged off to the depths of the party.
0o0o0o0
Everyone let the kids be as they looked to see the host of the party hasn't gotten over the stoned phase yet.
"Finally, some peace from that annoying git." England said as he took a sip of his tea before hearing a pained groan from the bathroom, followed by panic in Italian.
America slightly cringed before hearing the door bell ring. "I got it!" He said as he got the door and opened it to reveal Japan. "Hey Japan!"
"Ah! Amerika-san, how are you?"
"Fine! Come on in!"
"Arigatou." He said as he entered and saw France. "What has happened to Furansu-san?" He asked as America filled him in when a crash was heard in the bathroom, which seemed to break the spell on France.
"My cologne!" He said as he ran to the bathroom door and tried to open it, but it was locked. "Open up! If I see that you broke my very expensive cologne, there will be hell to pay!"
"Damn it! It's all over me!" Germany said.
"Ve! I'm sorry Germany!"
"Italy! Don't cry!"
"Unlock the door this instant!" France said as he continued to shake the door.
"Some Valentine's party this started out to be, aru…" China said as he helped himself for some of his snacks he brought with him.
Russia chuckled. "I think it's rather amusing. Even Germany looked a bit silly with a bloody nose."
"Aiyaa…"
0o0o0o0
Meanwhile, after Italy dragged Germany to France's closest bathroom, he brought the man to the sink where the blood can freely go down without hitting the floors or the German's clothes. He gave the man a cloth while he looked for the first aid he knew France would have somewhere. Once he did he opened and found a small booklet, flipped the pages to broken noses and mentioned the German to sit on the toilet as he tried to follow the instructions to fix the man's nose.
It was going fine until Germany made a deep throated sound of pain, which Italy started to apologize rapidly until the German placed both hands on his shoulders and telling him that he was fine.
When he saw that Germany stopped bleeding, Italy looked for any bandages to use, only to open the wrong thing and the cologne bottle on top of the bathroom cabinet fell onto Germany, luckily there were no signs of cuts on his head, but he was covered in the Frenchman's horrid cologne.
It was at this point that the Frenchman started to threaten them about said cologne and the German was starting to think what else could go wrong?
Germany finally calmed the Italian down as he took off his coat, and found that at least the coat got most of the horrid sent away from his shirt. He would just have to wash down the cologne on his head.
"Ve~ Are you okay, Germany?" Italy asked, the threats from France were nothing but background noise.
"Ja… Just have to wash out France's horrid cologne out of my hair." He said as he turned on the water. "You can go Italy, I can handle things from here."
"Okay…" Italy said as he was about to unlock the door before Germany mentioned his name. "Ve?"
"Thank you Italy for helping me." He said with a smile. "You handled the situation well. I'm proud of you."
Italy blushed and smiled happily. "I'll find Fern-Lui and tell her you're okay. And then we'll get something to eat, okay?"
"Ja." He said as Italy unlocked the door, just in time for France to try to ram through the door, only to ram to the tiled wall of the shower.
"Ve! Is he going to be okay?" Italy asked as Germany looked at the pathetic mess called France.
"What tall and pretty glass of wine you are… Mind coming up to my room for a special entertainment show?" France said as he seemed to be staring at stars and who knows what else.
"He'll be okay, just needs to sleep it off."
"Ve, that's good." Italy said as he headed out of the bathroom to find the girl as well as greeted the other nations and told them that Germany was fine and all that. When he did find her, she went up to him and asked about the German and he told her that he was fine and that he would be out in a moment.
0o0o0o0
When Germany did make it out of the bathroom, leaving his coat with the unconscious France, and closed the door behind him, he joined the group, sporting a bandage on his nose from where Italy mended it. He got the scent out of his hair, but now it wasn't as slicked back as he had had it earlier, but he couldn't do anything about it and just looked for Italy. When he did find Italy, he also saw the girl, who looked happy to see him, but suddenly looked far away before Italy happily told him to join them and quickly smiled. He wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him as he joined the two.
Russia however knew what he saw and his smile faltered, causing some concern to those near him.
"What's wrong, aru?" China asked, who had been hanging around Russia to get away from South Korea.
Russia remained silent, which the Chinese nation knew was something serious. "Russia?"
"Hard to say…" He said seriously, which was a rare occurrence to those who witnessed it. But then he quickly smiled and acted as if it never happened. "So, how is America dealing with your growing economy?"
"Don't change the subject, aru!"
Russia then has a dark look with the smile. "I said it was hard to say… so don't think about it…" He said as the aura around him would've made the 'kolkol' sounds for him, making everyone move away from the possible wrath.
"Aiyaa…" China said as he leaned away from the dark aura, waving his hand as if swatting away a fly. "Why do you do that?"
Russia chuckled. "Because I can." He said which made the Chinese man sigh.
'Why am I over here again?' He thought as he heard South Korea cheer when he saw Japan, who hid behind America, who got glomped by said nation. 'Oh, that's right.' He thought as South Korea and America started to strike up a conversation while Japan took this opportunity to talk to Greece.
0o0o0o0
Turkey entered the residence as TRNC and Cyprus entered as well. "I don't know why you kids like to drag me to these things." He said, playing the part of a disgruntled nation who would like to avoid France's house like the other nations, but he knew his little charge would like to give something to the girl and the day just happened to be perfect. He looked around and found no sight of France. "Hey? Where's that guy anyway? Isn't he the host?"
"The frog is taking a time out from slamming the door on Germany after stealing the poor girl away." England filled in as he continued his tea and looked content.
Turkey laughed. "He gave him a thing to think about, huh?" He said as he found the German and whistled. "This is starting to become an interesting Valentine's Day."
"That happened after France slammed the door on him." England corrected as Turkey hissed.
"Bet that hurt like hell."
"He'll be fine. He's been through worse."
TRNC, meanwhile, blushed as he watched the girl chatting with her parents and few of the nations that came around before she saw him and made her way towards him. 'I'm not ready!' He thought as he could hear his heartbeat in his ears. 'For God's sake! Why do I quickly have these feelings towards her? This is insane!' He thought, keeping his Valentine gift behind him. 'What do I say? What do I do?'
"Happy Valentine's Day, TRNC!" She said happily.
"H-H-Happy Valentine's Day!" He said feeling his face burn. 'Why me?'
"Well, it seems Sealand has a crazy idea for today. I may need your help in keeping him from doing something that will destroy half the house." She said with a roll of her eyes. "I swear sometimes I feel like I'm the older sister."
"Well, you're very smart for your age."
"Not my fault though, I was homeschooled all my life."
TRNC blinked. "You've never been to a real school?"
She shook her head before blinking and looking down the floor.
He knew it was another thing she didn't want to talk about and changed the topic. "So… what's Sealand got in mind this time?"
She sighed, out of relief or the thought of Sealand's plan is unknown, before she looked at him. "Something with explosives and confetti."
"Nothing good then." He said as he felt eased with this conversation that he forgot the gift he hid from her.
"Yeah, and Latvia isn't here yet, it seems he can handle Sealand's crazy antics to something settle, like not doing it at all."
TRNC smiled. "They are really good friends." He said as he shifted his hands, remembering the gift. "Ah!"
She blinked. "What's wrong?"
He started to get nervous as he sighed and handed his gift to her, which was a simple small basket of chocolate covered strawberries. "Happy Valentine's Day… I know you said you didn't want anything special, but I figured I return the favor after your Valentine's gift…" He said, remembering the very nice detailed drawing of one of the coastal beaches. 'How is she so good in art anyway? Is there anything she can't do?' He thought realizing that the girl was practically perfect that it made him wonder if it was all an act from what she must've experienced.
She looked at the small basket of the chocolate strawberries and gingerly took it. "Thank you…" She said softly, shock was written on her face.
"Fern-Lui? Is everything okay?" TRNC asked, wondering if he gave her the wrong gift after all.
She nodded as she closed her eyes and smiled at the boy. "I am! These are my favorites!" She said cheerfully, looking like Italy.
'She…' He thought was cut off as his hand was grabbed and ran along with the girl.
"Come on! Before Sealand takes matters into his own hands!" She said as she led them to where Sealand was.
0o0o0o0
Russia saw the whole thing and he still has his smile, but his eyes told a different story.
"You know that's creepy, right?" China said, still with Russia to avoid being glomped by the hyper Korean.
"I just find it so amusing." He said, but the Chinese man knew better.
"If you don't want to talk about it, fine! But don't look so damn creepy, aru!" He said as he drank his tea.
"Then why are you here, da?" He asked, smiling a bit more.
"I want to avoid South Korea, and he doesn't really like you, aru."
"Oh? I'm some shield to you?"
"Don't go there, aru. Be glad you got someone to talk to besides Belarus. Where is she anyway?"
Russia flinched. "I told her I was going around my home today…"
China looked at the nation. "You know that won't stop her?"
"Nope, but it does give me time to spend with friends, da?"
China sighed as he shook his head. "Just don't expect me to stay here when she finds out."
"When has that stopped you?"
"Not now." China said as he looked at the floor. "That was decades ago…"
"Maybe, but us nations don't really have to worry about time, do we?"
"We do now, unless you don't care about the girl."
Russia's smile faltered a bit. "Don't bring her into this, and I know you didn't mean to."
"But you know full well that time for nations means nothing before she arrived. Now the time will be apparent as she grows up."
Russia then looked dark. "Don't you think I already know this?"
"I'd be surprised if you didn't." He said, with his own dark aura.
"Hey you two!" America called out as the two looked at him. "Seriously, if you two are going to start arguing, do it outside."
It was rare for the American to stand up and have the responsibility to tell others what to do in a way that was mature and considerate.
The two nations looked at the American, then at each other and walked away from each other.
"We were done anyway." China said as Russia said nothing as he took out a bottle of vodka he had carried with him.
America sighed, knowing that this isn't going so well, and it wasn't even his party to worry about.
"You've done the right thing, America." England said suddenly. "Otherwise those two will end up in a painful argument."
America sighed. "Some Valentine's Day this is…" He said as he looked back to see Japan and Greece, talking contently about something.
England looked to where the American was looking and sighed. "You know that you can confuse one feeling for another."
"It's not that." He said as he looked away and smiled. "What about you? Shouldn't you check on France now?"
"Bah! As if I'm worried about that perverse frog! If anything I do believe this party is going well without him trying to feel everyone within his reach!"
America laughed. "Worried about Fern's innocence, huh? Well it seems there's another thing you and Germany have in common!"
"Wanker! What do I possibly have in common with him!"
"Both of you are…" America paused as he looked like he tried to remember something before looking back to Japan. "Hey Japan! What was that word you used to describe Germany?"
"Tsundere."
"That's it! You two are that."
"Do you bloody know what that is? You git!"
"Yeah, it means you two are asses, but are actually big softies." He said with a laugh while England was in-between being embarrassed and strangling the American.
0o0o0o0
While all of this went on, Fern-Lui and TRNC, as well as some of the other child-like nations, micro or not, were talked into finishing the large Valentine's heart that he somehow got in without anyone knowing.
"Isn't this cool?" Sealand said as he stood back to admire the large, float-like heart with sparkling words saying 'Happy Valentines from Sealand' on it.
"Definitely better than what you originally thought up." Wy said.
"Yeah! It is!" Sealand said as he wrapped an arm around Fern-Lui. "We make a good team, huh?"
She sighed. "I just don't want to see Oncle France's house being burned down."
"But it would've worked!"
"No it would not." She said. "Couldn't you do something simpler?"
"What's the fun in that?"
"Should've known…" She said as she face-palmed, making the British boy laugh.
"You're definitely Germany's girl. He does that a lot!"
She blinked as she blushed. "Must be contagious…" She said with a slight grin. "So, is this for everyone?"
"Nope! It's for Germany." Sealand said, earning a few bewildered looks. "What?"
"You have a crush on him?" Fern-Lui asked.
"I did for a while, but now it's mostly a thank you kind of thing."
"For what?"
Sealand laughed. "And you said you were a history nut!" He said as he looked authorative. "Germany is the one who recognized me as a country sometime back! And I owe him for that!"
"Really?"
"Yeah!" Sealand said while he laughed.
"After your boss practically kept a German lawyer for being a traitor, when he didn't do anything wrong." Wy puts in.
"Really?" She said, a bit put off.
"Hey! That was my boss's issue, but thanks to that, Germany recognized me as a nation!"
"Micro-nation." TRNC corrected.
"So what? One day I'll be a nation for sure!"
"Your house is an iron fort in the middle of the ocean that could barely fit a few hundred people." Wy puts in again.
"But we still have our way of governing."
'So he's the grandeur type…' Fern-Lui thought as she started to head back out to the party when Sealand grabbed her. "What's wrong?"
"I can't let you go out just yet!"
"Huh?"
"I need your help announcing my Valentine!"
There was a pausing silence as the atmosphere became a bit awkward. "Why…?"
"Because everyone pays attention to you!"
"That's no good reason!"
"Why not? Everyone likes you from the start, so you'll gain their attention like that." He said as he snapped his fingers.
She pulled her hand out of his grasp and glared at him. "I never asked anyone to like me right off the bat! I was just introducing myself!" There was a pausing moment of silence as the girl looked surprised and looked away. "Sorry, Sealand, but you're being a bit unfair. It is your Valentine."
Sealand blinked and placed his fists on his hips. "Hey, it's okay to be mad you know."
"Yeah, good lord knows he needs a talking to." Wy said.
"Arguing never ends in good results though…" She said. "It just leads to more arguments…"
"Hey now, what's with that face?" Seborga said. "We're not mad at you. In fact we're impressed. We figured you would be like Russia or Thailand, those two smile all the time. Then again North Italy also smiles a lot… And so does Spain…"
TRNC went up to the girl and lifted her chin up. "They're right, it's okay to show how you really feel. You don't have to put on a happy face all the time to make us happy. A lot of times we don't get along at all but we're still in this crazy group."
She seemed taken aback on this as she rubbed her hands to her eyes. "Thank you…"
"No problem! We're friends now! And this is what friends do for each other!" Sealand said.
She smiled contently as she nodded. "Yeah."
"Fern-Lui?" Germany said as he found the group and saw the huge Valentine. "Is this what you were working on?"
"Ja. It's Sealand's Valentine to everyone." She said.
"Yeah, but we're all done now!" Sealand said.
Germany wasn't sure what was going on, but he let it be as he held out his hand to the girl. "Romano and Spain just came in and wanted to give you something."
"Okay!" She said as she grabbed his hand. She looked at TRNC, who smiled and mouthed that he'll take care of this. She mouthed her thanks as she followed her father back to the party.
0o0o0o0
France regained consciousness and found himself in the bathtub and Germany's jacket over him. "Damn him… I'll show him the rage of France!" He said, only to trip and fell on his face. He cried out, fearing that he damaged something on his face.
Outside, some of the nations paused when they heard the anguished cry of France before going back to talking among themselves.
"Looks like France is awake." Germany said as he was talking to Japan, who Italy continued to talk like he didn't hear France, or that he was used to this that it never crossed his mind.
"Should we make sure he really is okay?" Fern-Lui asked as Germany shook his head.
"Nein, he'll be fine. He has been beaten down worse." He said when Australia came out of nowhere and saw the bandage on his nose.
"Crickey mate! Looks like you got beaten by a mamma kangaroo."
Germany, not expecting the nation, blinked as the nation's attention went to the girl.
"Hey there, Lil' Sheila, Happy Valentine's Day!" He said as he handed her a boomerang.
"Thank you, Uncle Aussie!"
"No worries! But I'll have to teach you a thing or two about that, or you'll end up hurting someone."
She nodded. "I never held a boomerang before, so I'll learn something new."
This made the Australian laugh. "And here I thought you knew everything."
She laughed as she shook her head. "Not everything!"
Then France walked out to see that everyone was enjoying themselves… without him… 'But I hosted this party… Did no one care?'
"Are you okay?"
He looked to see Monaco. "Why is everyone enjoying themselves when I was in the bathroom?"
"Because they knew you'd be fine and liked the break from your molesting." She said pointedly.
"But this is the day of l'amore! This is my day to shine!"
"Valentine's Day was invented in Italy, also a country of romance, but they don't feel assaulted by him." She said as she handed her gift to him. "But even so, you are my older brother, and therefore deserve something for your misery."
"Oh Monaco, you're so kind."
"But if you do what you did to Germany to anyone else again, I will tell you just how financially concerning you are at this point."
"What! Go back to being sweet!"
She humphed and adjusted her glasses. "It's your own fault that you can't control your hands or urges." She said as she walked away.
"What ever happened to my sweet nations I raised so dearly?"
"Ah! Amigo! There you are!" Spain called out as he went up to him. "This is a great party you got here. But I haven't seen you around. Were you being naughty somewhere?" He asked, a cheery smile never leaving his face.
"Ah, mon ami… I've been having the exact opposite."
"Oh? What's wrong?"
"Nothing is fair, that's what…"
"Well that's life for you!" He said cheerfully before he heard a knock on the door. "Oh, looks like you got more guests." He went to the door and opened it to reveal Prussia, who looked groomed up and hair slicked back much like Germany's earlier, and holding a medium sized white box. "Ah! Prussia!"
"Spain! My man!" He said as playfully punched the Spaniard's shoulder. "What's been going on?"
"Oh, the party is going great, but France isn't in his best moods."
"Eh?" Prussia said as he looked at the Frenchman. "Jeeze, France, the hell happened to you?"
France sighed. "God is being very cruel to me today…"
Prussia raised his brow as he looked back at Spain. "What's eating him?"
"I'm not sure. Oh! I was talking to Italy earlier and I saw your brother, with a bandage on his nose. Italy said he got that when France took your niece and slammed the door on Germany."
"Was? He okay?"
"Sì! Italy fixed him up good."
Prussia laughed, thinking something different. "I bet he did! Well! Where's mein Bruder now?"
"Last I saw them, they were talking to Japan."
"Okay, hey, have you seen Canada?"
"Who?"
"I have not seen him, but then again I was passed out for who knows how long." France said.
Prussia sighed. "Okay, looks like I have to look to see if he's here." He said as he looked around the room, only to spot Cuba and went over to him.
"Who's Canada?" Spain asked.
"He's my charge before England had to snatch him up like he did with America when those two were still so small."
"Oh? Have I met him?"
France sighed. "He's the one who gets mistaken for America."
Spain blinked. "The one with the white bear?"
"Oui …"
0o0o0o0
With Prussia, he went up to Cuba, where he saw the nation he was looking for. "Hey Canada!"
"Oh, Prussia." Canada said softly, but he was happy to see him all the same. "Did you make pancakes this morning?"
"I did! And they were awesome! But then they would be because the awesome me has been taught by an awesome teacher."
Canada blushed as he hid his face behind the bear. "It was nothing Prussia…"
Prussia grinned as he scratched the bears head. "Kumijiro, I was talking to your owner."
"Who?" The bear said, making the said owner groan and the Prussian laugh.
"Oh well! Thanks a ton!" He said as he saw the Canadian lift his head to look at him in the most bashful look he'd seen. "I got something for you." He said as he held out the box. "It's a thank you kind of thing."
Canada opened the box with his free hand and saw a red maple leaf shaped cake. "You baked this?"
"Yeah, you can have a bite of it if you want."
"Since you took the trouble to make it." He said as he tore a piece, put it in his mouth and he took on a surprised expression. "Maple flavored?"
"Not easy mind you." Prussia said with a blush. "In fact Bruder would kill me if he found out I used his kitchen to bake this."
"I love it! Thank you so much!"
Prussia smiled before looking cocky. "I would've gone with a heart for tradition's sake, but I'm not too big with the whole Valentine thing. But since the leaf on your flag is red, and hearts are red, and like I said it's more of a thank you than something intimate."
"I understand." Canada said with a smile. "Just the thought that you thought of me while making this makes me very happy."
Prussia blushed a bit, as he made his unique laugh. "Well! That just proves just how awesome I am compared to everyone else."
Canada giggled as he shook his head. "Whatever you say."
Prussia 'frowned'. "That's it?" He asked as he earned a giggle.
"I have no doubt that you are awesome, Prussia. That's why we're such good friends."
Prussia scratched his head as a pink hue dusted his cheeks. "So… what should I do with the cake? Since you look a bit busy." He eyed Cuba, who has his arms crossed and glaring at the albino.
"I don't know… Then again, it's not like no one will know why you made a cake with my symbol on it."
"Fern-Lui would. She's awesome that way." He said, making the other giggle again which made him smile.
"The weather is nice out." Canada said, making the Prussian smile.
"Lead the way." Prussia said, making the other laugh as he invited Cuba along and they went outside.
0o0o0o0
France, seeing this, grinned suggestively. "Oh ho… So you're after my little charge, hm?" He said to himself as Germany went up to him.
"Excuse me, France." Germany said, making the nation look at him and immediately locked onto his nose. "It's getting better." He said as he snapped his fingers to get the nation's attention away from his nose. "Have you seen Prussia? He said he would come around later."
"You worried about him?"
"He's mein Bruder, I know he would try to get into trouble if I don't check on him now and then."
France couldn't help but laugh. "Oh! I'm sorry Germany, but I had no idea you were practically a father before Fern-Lui came into the picture."
Germany sighed as he walked away. "I'll ask someone else…" He said as the Frenchman continued to laugh. But before he could ask anyone else, Sealand decided it was time to announce his Valentine to everyone, which was met with everyone staring and felt a bit embarrassed.
"And a big thanks to Germany for recognizing me as a nation!" Sealand said, making everyone look at the said nation, who was red like a tomato.
"Micro-nation!" Said the others who were there.
'If I didn't his boss wouldn't let go of that lawyer…' He thought as the youngest micro-nation was taken down from the small stage by Sweden, who patted him on the head, and everyone went back to what they were doing. He was glad that moment was done with before he turned only to jump back a bit to see that Russia was there.
"Hello Germany, seems you're very popular."
"Didn't ask for it, but then this is the day to get away with it."
"I guess…" Russia said with a look in his eyes that disagrees.
"Er… Have you seen Prussia? He said he was coming around later."
"Oh, yes, he's currently flirting with Canada."
Germany blinked as he shook his head. "If anything mein Bruder is, he's definitely not a flirt." He said as he asked where the Russian seen him and went to where the other pointed to. He found his brother and the other that looked like America, if not for the obnoxious laugh behind him. 'Must be Canada then.' He thought, remembering that his brother constantly mentioned the name before seeing the cake. 'Where the hell did he get a cake? He couldn't possibly made that himself.' He shook his head. 'At least he's not causing trouble.' He found Italy, talking to France, who tried to grab the Italian's rear. He grabbed the wrist and gave the Frenchman a warning look before letting go.
0o0o0o0
France, not liking how he was being treated so far, figured out an idea that was perfect for the occasion, and embarrass the pants off of the German nation.
He grabbed a champagne glass and a spoon and lightly tapped the glass with it, making the whole room turn in attention to him. "Everyone! Since everyone is here and this is Valentine's Day, I will now open up the dance floor to all dancers. And to make it a little fun, for every song change, the dancers will have to find a new dance partner! If I don't see people dancing I will be their partner!"
'We don't have a choice!' Many thought while Italy found it fun.
"Ve~ Germany will dance with me!"
'Damn you France…' He thought as he nodded. "Ja. I will."
TRNC blushed as he looked at the girl and remembered the masquerade dance back in Italy on New Year's Day. He was going to ask her to dance when Sealand beats her to it. 'Bastard!' He thought as he looked around. 'Where's Latvia when you need him? Wait, I haven't seen him when I arrived. Is he at home? Just great.' He thought as he saw her agree to one dance. 'Only one huh? Knowing France he would play every song he has before letting anyone go, or so drunk that everyone can just leave.' He nodded his head. 'The next dance is mine.'
Fern-Lui had to admit, the best part of the party is the dancing, and then again she would rather have anyone other than Sealand to be her dance partner. Thankfully though it was only a one dance thing and once the song was done, Sealand was pouting that it was over too soon, but she didn't complain and assured the other that there will be other chances, when she saw Latvia there and mentioned him.
Sealand looked back and immediately went up to the other and immediately asked what took the guy so long and all that.
"W-W-Well I-I-I w-w-was o-on my-my way w-w-when…" Latvia said, shaking horridly before a shadow appeared behind him before stepping out to reveal Belarus.
"Брат …" She said, making the Russian nation across the room freeze where he stood and fear was evident in his expression. "Where have you been?" She slowly went up to him, the other nations backing away from her, as she was wielding a dagger.
But then America stepped up and patted her on the shoulder. "Hey Belarus! Where you've been? You gotta try out these snacks!"
"Don't. You. Dare. Touch. Me." She seethed.
America just laughed as he wrapped an arm around her and they went up to Russia. "Russia and I were just talking about you! I asked him if you were coming and he said that he had a surprise for you but he had to not let you know about it until much later. France has it stored for safety, but now it got a bit damaged so now we're helping it fix it up."
Belarus seemed to calm down and looked at her brother. "Is that true?"
Russia nodded, playing along. "Yes dear sister. I know how you don't like gifts, but I wanted to make something special."
"But Brother… I only want you…"
"I know, but I wanted to something anyway. But it's not done yet. So you can just enjoy yourself while I finish up. I just came out to get something to eat." He said as he grabbed a cookie and munched on it.
Belarus nodded as she put her dagger away. "Okay." She said as she looked at everyone is paired up and seemed to be dancing before the interruption.
"Belru! Belru!" Taiwan called out suddenly as she went up to the woman. "Dance with me!"
"But we're both women!"
"I know! But if I don't dance with someone, then I would have to dance with France!" Taiwan said as she started to get teary.
Belarus sighed, not a huge fan of France either. "Fine…" She said as the Asian nation cheered and dragged her to the dance floor and the dancing continued.
"I do hope you have something in mind about the gift." Russia said, smiling innocently but his mind thought about ways to torture America if Belarus found out they flat out lied to her.
"Don't worry, dude, I know just what to do." America said as he looked around the room. "But first we one more helper." He found China and dragged him away before South Korea had a chance to glomp him. "Sorry! Need to borrow him for a while!"
"What the hell! Da ze!" South Korea said as he fumed.
"I don't know what you want with me, but I owe you."
"Good, cause we need your help in creating Russia's gift to Belarus."
"What! Is that what the commotion was about!"
0o0o0o0
Ukraine looked around the room, looking flustered. 'Oh! Everyone is paired up!' She thought, remembering what Russia warned about France.
"Oh! You don't have a partner either?"
Ukraine looked at Belgium. "You don't either?"
Belgium shook her head. "Nope, mostly because my brother is a bit over protective. But if I dance with you, he wouldn't mind. And you look like you need a partner too."
"I do." She said as they made it to the dance floor.
Germany felt completely awkward of the whole thing. The first dance he was dancing with Italy, and it wasn't that bad, being around with Italy for about a hundred plus years can do that. But now he was dancing with Romano, who 'accidently' stamped his foot on his and cursing that he was a lousy dancer just causing him to have a growing headache. He even didn't face the older Italian, knowing that it would also lead to something he didn't want to deal with.
Italy enjoyed the whole thing so far, but he wanted to dance with Germany again, and he knew Spain felt the same towards Romano as both looked to see the misery that the German was expressing.
England was the only one who ended up with no partner, contently sipping his tea. France had tried to get him to dance twice in the row, but he managed to avoid the first dance entirely. Now he was arguing with said Frenchman, which caused him to sacrifice a lot of good, hot tea by throwing said liquid on the other nation, who will cry and complain and go to the bathroom to make sure it didn't leave blisters on his face.
0o0o0o0
Latvia was dragged to dancing with Sealand and heard about what happened before his arrival. "Sealand…"
"What's up?" Sealand said happily.
"Do you like Fern-Lui?" He asked with a small blush.
"Well, I think she's okay for a girl. But after she got angry, I'm getting curious to what else makes her tick."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh come on, Latti, she knows practically every language, draws like she's Michelangelo, and gets along with everyone and thing. I'm trying to find out what she doesn't know or like."
"Wouldn't that be mean?"
"She can't be that perfect though!"
"I'm not saying she is. Even nations aren't perfect."
"Exactly! So why would a mortal girl be better than us?"
Latvia sighed, feeling bad for the girl now, but couldn't help but also know what else the girl doesn't know.
0o0o0o0
With Fern-Lui, she danced with TRNC and both laughed at something that either of them said.
"Hey, Fern-Lui?"
"Hm? What's up?"
"I was just wondering… You're good with art and you know a lot of languages, is there anything you don't like?"
She blinked before responding. "I guess it can't be helped after what I said earlier." She said with a bit of a smile. "And I trust you a lot. So, of course there are things I don't like. Science for being my number one thing."
"Science?"
She nodded. "I rather not go into that detail, because the last time I was taught about anything science related, I had nightmares for a month."
"A month? That's crazy."
"Not when my oncle was teaching."
"French?" He asked as she nodded. "I see..."
"He's not a bad teacher, but he just gets… too detailed…" She said as she seemed a little sad. "But then I do kinda miss him. He gets really funny when my aunt comes in and starts arguing." She then looked at the boy in the eye. "Why is it I can talk to you so easily about this?"
The boy blushed. "I did ask."
"You did. But how is it I can tell you these things that I haven't even told anyone else."
"If you don't want to tell me you could've just said you don't want to talk about it."
"That's the thing… I just feel so comfortable telling you these things."
He blushed as he noticed that the song was going on longer. "Long song."
"It only has about a minute left."
"How do you know?"
She blushed. "There's a similar song back in my world. My aunt hates it because it's too long, and my uncle loves to annoy her through dance. A lot of my family wondered how they stayed together."
"Isn't that a French thing?"
She shrugged. "How would I know? I was taught never to judge a person by their stereotypes."
TRNC laughed. "Sealand is right, you do sound like an old woman."
She stuck out her tongue. "If I'm an old woman, then you're an old man."
"Technically I am if I was human."
She laughed. "I'm glad though, I can talk to someone who isn't so hyper."
TRNC blushed as he shook his head as the song stopped. "Who are you going to dance with next?"
"Probably Wy, she seems fun. And you?"
"I don't know…" He admitted.
"How about Seborga? He seems to like Wy."
"He hopelessly has a crush on her, but he's waiting until she matures as a micro-nation."
"That's sweet of him." She said as they found the two and danced with them.
"Why do you say that?"
"Say what?"
"'That's so sweet', you used that a lot." He pointed out.
"Oh! Because mi mamma back home uses it a lot on mein vati. And I always wanted to do that too."
TRNC smiled at the simplicity of it as they found the other two micro-nations.
0o0o0o0
In the next song, it became a lot awkward for Germany as his brother claimed as his dance partner and were now tailing Cuba and Canada.
"Bruder, remind me again why we're doing this…?"
"Because I don't trust Cuba with Canada."
"You do realize you sound like a stalker."
"Don't compare me with France."
"Still, Cuba and Canada have been buddies long before you met with him." He said, remembering who Canada is when this whole thing started.
"I know that. That's why I want to make sure it remains that way."
Germany lifted a brow at this. He may not get relationships, but he seen enough to get two and two together. "Do you like Canada then?"
"Huh?" Prussia said as he looked at his younger, yet taller brother. "What makes you say that?"
'Bulls eye…' Germany thought as he rolled his eyes. "You're the one who dragged me into this, you tell me."
"I told you, it's to make sure Cuba doesn't do anything funny."
"In other words you're jealous."
"Am not!"
"Bruder, I'm not stupid." He said, seeing the signs easily now. "All those times you said you're going to France's house was a lie, wasn't it?"
"Technically it's not a lie."
"Right, Canada was once raised by France." He said, thanking that Canada did not inherit the perverse trait. "But you spent all that time with him. When did this even start anyway?"
Prussia blushed. "It was after when the wall was knocked down. That's all you need to know."
Germany was surprised to hear this. "You held a liking to him all this time?"
"You're one to talk."
"That's different."
"Is it?" Prussia said as he looked at his brother in the eye. "You haven't even tried to ask him out since that one time."
"I miscalculated that time and scared him. I don't want to repeat that again."
Prussia groaned. "That was then, West! Where the hell did your balls go?"
"Like you're one to talk." He said dully. "The Prussia I knew growing up had an unhealthy obsession with conquering vital regions."
"Hey, that was then, okay!" He said as he pointed at his brother before the song ended. "Excuse me while I dance with Cuba." He bolted to the said nation and there was immediate tension.
'Dancing with the enemy is always a dangerous tango.' Germany thought as he shook his head when Finland came up to him. "Finland?"
"Hey Germany! Hope you don't mind."
"Not really, I need to talk to someone with more sense."
Finland laughed. "Bad partners?"
"Only mein Bruder and Romano, Italy I'm okay with."
"Yeah, I noticed." He said as they started to dance.
"What about you?"
"Well, I danced with Sweden, and you know how that is."
"He does care about you." He said.
"I know, but sometimes he suddenly appears when I least expected and scares me a bit."
"Italy can tell you the same thing about me when we first met." Germany said as he looked around to find Sweden, dancing with Denmark, obviously hating every moment.
"But his expression hasn't really changed, and that scares me whenever I do look up at him."
"Again, Italy can tell you the same thing." He said as they continued their talk about things before the song ended.
0o0o0o0
"Dance with me." France asked, face red from constant hot tea thrown at his face, but now England was out of his precious tea, and he was tired of doing every method to drag him to the dance floor.
"No." England said as he glared at the Frenchman with his arms crossed and leaning up against the wall.
"Why not?" France whined.
"You sir, are an annoying, incompetent, perverse, always thinking with your vital region than with your own head, slimy frog. Why on earth would I dance with someone who may have contracted every sexual disease in all of mankind, but due to being a nation you are not fully affected by it!"
"I don't sleep with everything that moves." France said as he moved his hair back. "Sure I grope and molest, but sleeping is something else entirely."
"You're a sex addict." England said. "And don't you dare deny it."
"Why do you always have to act this way towards me?"
"Must I repeat myself?"
"We used to get along so well."
"I wouldn't call it getting along." He said with a glare.
"At least one dance?"
"No means no!"
0o0o0o0
Somewhere out on the dance floor, but not far from where the two were arguing, America and Japan were paired up for the song and overheard the argument.
"Looks like France won't let up anytime soon." America said with a bit of a chuckle. "This means we can dance to who we really want to the next few songs."
"Sounds okay, but I rather not dance anymore."
"Getting tired of it?"
"I'm just not used to this kind of thing…"
America laughed a bit and shook his head. "Seriously, Japan? Your house has been exposed to a lot of things, surely you're used to this by now."
"I'm not exactry a young country, Amerika-san."
"You're back hurting again?"
Japan sighed. "No, it isn't. By the way, how did you and Chugoku-san do for Roshia-san's gift to Beraushi-san?"
"I'll tell you one thing, I'm glad I won't suffer either of their wraths." America said as he looked over to see Russia dancing with Belarus, in a new ice blue dress. "It's a good thing China carries around extra silk and good with making dresses. Otherwise Russia would be in deep and he will definitely come after me for putting him there. But then it's his own fault for lying to her in the first place…" He said with a pout, making the Japanese nation giggle.
"You courd've just ret Roshia-san have it though." Japan said with a bit of a smile. "But you are very kind in herping him anyway."
America sighed. "That kind of thing will be the death of me one of these days." He said as he looked over to see the mentioned two nations dancing together, and will be for the remaining time of the party.
"How are you on your economy?"
"Dude! We're not in a conference!" America said with a laugh as the song ended. "That was fun."
"It was. Arigatou for dancing with me."
"Back at cha." He said as he looked at the two still arguing nations. "If you dance with England, I'll take France."
"Are you sure?"
"England has to dance out here at least once, right?" He said as they went over to the two and grabbed France. "Come on! The host hasn't danced with the Hero yet!" He said as he successfully dragged the Frenchman away from the Englishman.
"Thank the Lord." England said as he saw Japan come up to him. "Oh, Japan, I haven't talked to you yet have I?"
"No, I was busy tarking to Itaria-kun."
"Right, right. He does like to talk up a storm." He said as he saw the Japanese nation held out his hand. "Japan?"
"Amerika-san said you needed to dance at reast once. That's why he vorunteered to dance with Furansu-san."
England sighed and grinned a bit. "He may be a git, but he is raised well." He said as he accepted the offer and danced with Japan.
0o0o0o0
"America! What are you doing?" France said as he was, more or less, manhandled to the dance floor. "If you weren't paying attention, I was having an argument with that stubborn England!"
"The reason why I dragged you out here." America said. "We're here, switching partners to avoid dancing with you, and there you were arguing with England, who is the least likely to dance with you, and more likely to argue with you until the party is over. Which, let's face it. The party is over when you are in a drunken coma, or we just can't find you anywhere in your own house."
France sighed as he allowed himself to dance with the American.
"Why were you so intent on dancing with England anyway? Everyone here is afraid you would pick them."
"Well… the main point was to embarrass Germany for what he did earlier."
"You mean when you practically broke his nose after stealing his kid away from him. Oh yeah, you have every right to get payback at him." He said.
"Don't be sarcastic with me, young man." He said waving an accused finger at him. "I was once great you know!"
"Sure, tell that to Google and Yahoo who agree that you haven't had one military victory in history."
'Smart mouth brat.' France thought as he sighed. "Now I know how England feels when he talks to you."
"You're just tired and cranky from being dejected to dance and having tea being thrown at you." America said cheerfully as the song ended. "And switch!" He said as he handed France to Prussia, who laughed and made a joke of the arrangement.
0o0o0o0
"So you are reaving?" Japan asked England as he grabbed his coat and hat.
"Yes, Japan, I enjoyed dancing with you, but I'm not much into dancing, and that frog will be after me again if he spots me."
"I understand."
"Thank you Japan, and tell America I appreciate his thoughtfulness. He rarely does that as you well know."
"Of course." Japan said as he watched England walk out of the door and turned to see Fern-Lui come up. "Herro, Rui-chan, what brings you here?"
"I'm just going to the bathroom." She said as she entered the nearest bathroom.
0o0o0o0
Once in she sighed and went up to the sink to wash her face. She then looked up to see her reflection, droplets going down her face as she looked sad and guilty. She was surprised to see this as she shook her head. "Why are you sad for, silly Fern-Lui." She said to herself as she found a hand towel to dry her face. "It's not like you asked for this, and they can focus on that until they're done." She forced herself to laugh, but then became silent as she looked at herself in the mirror once more. "How long can I do this though?" She felt her face and smiled a bit. "I'm looking more like Mamma now… Just like Vati said…" Tears came down, but she immediately rubbed her eyes.
"No, no, don't feel sad. I can't be sad because everyone here is happy. I don't have any reason to be sad." But the tears continued to come out. "I'm… happy… aren't I?"
Then a knock was heard, making her jump. "Ja?"
"Oh, there you are." Hungary said. "Everything okay sweetie?"
"Yes, Néni Magyarországon. Just drank too much punch." She said. "I'm almost done."
"Take your time sweetie."
She waited until she couldn't hear the footsteps outside and looked at the mirror once more. Her eyes were starting to become red and sighed as she washed her face once more before walking out to see Canada, taking a bite of a cookie before noticing her.
"Oh, hello Fern-Lui, how are you?" He said quietly.
"I'm okay, a bit tired but not so much to get out."
"Did you get good dance partners?"
"I did. You?"
And they struck up a simple conversation before France announced that the party was over, causing some confusion and everyone didn't need to hear it the second time as they headed out of the house.
0o0o0o0
"Ve~ That was so much fun!" Italy said happily.
"A bit too long for my liking." Germany said, glad that it was over without anything mentally damaging.
"Ah~ It wasn't that bad, West." Prussia said with a laugh, messing up his combed back hair. "I should know, because the awesome me was there."
Germany rolled his eyes as he focused on the road.
Fern-Lui smiled at her Onkel's continuous speech about how awesome he was, making her mamma laugh a bit and she can see a slight grin in her vati's profile. She looked at the small basket of the chocolate strawberries that TRNC gave her and her smile faded so that it was barely there.
"Happy Valentine's day everyone!" Her Mamma called out, holding up the handmade valentines to all the women there.
"Arigato." Said her Obasan, who looked like a softer, female version of Japan as she looked at her valentine, with a slight blush on her face.
"Ah! I wish our husbands can come back already!" Said her Aunt, who looked like a long haired, female version of Romano. "Damnit! Where the hell is he? He said he would be here!"
"Ve… Sister, you know that it's not that easy…" Her mamma said a bit sadly.
The atmosphere was a bit down as the other women were fingering their wedding rings on their left hand.
"Oh Ladies!"
All heads turned to see a man that looked exactly like France, followed by the other men behind him, all holding a small basket in their hands.
"Lovi~!" Called out a man that looked exactly like Spain as he ran up to her Auntie, who looked like a tomato and sputtering insults to the man, but she hugged him as he petted her dark brown wavy hair.
She then saw her vati and she and her mamma ran up to him, happy to see him.
"It's so good to see all of you." He said as he held them before giving the basket, which was slightly larger than the other baskets, to the two. "Happy Valentines… All of us went through a lot of trouble finding them."
She, her mamma, and all of the other women looked into the basket to see chocolate covered strawberries.
"Ve! How did you find them?"
"The strawberries were somewhat easy to get, especially when we were in America." Her vati explained. "But we had to keep them fresh in a cooler until we got to Switzerland for the chocolate factory, which surprisingly still works." He chuckled. "And, well, there they are."
"Ve~ My brave and wonderful husband!" Her mamma said as tears were at the corner of her eyes as she went up to kiss her vati, which both were overdue after being apart so long.
She loved this day so much because she gets to see everyone so happy as everyone renewed that spark that made them crazy for each other in the first place. She took her first piece and took a bite of it, which tasted so sweet it made her feel like floating.
She took a bite of the strawberry that TRNC gave her and, although it was sweet, the memory made it slightly bitter sweet.
"Those look good." Her Onkel said as he looked at her basket.
"TRNC gave them to me." She said as she offered one to him. "Here, try one."
"Aren't you awesome." He said as he took up the offer and took a bite. "Not bad." He said as he seemed to be thinking.
She giggled as she looked to her parents and asked them if they would like one as well.
"Ve~ Thank you." Italy said as he grabbed two and offered one to Germany.
"Italy, I'm driving."
"Say 'aahh'."
"Huh?" Germany said with a blush.
"Say 'aahh'." Italy pleaded, making the blond German blush more as he could just picture the puppy pout the other was giving him.
Germany complied as he felt the chocolate covered fruit enter his mouth, bit down, and he would've sworn Italy brushed his fingers across his lips as he closed down. 'This is Italy. Pure, innocent, useless Italy. There's no way he's teasing me.' He thought as he chewed on the treat.
"Ve~ Isn't it good?"
After he swallowed, he replied that it was good.
Fern-Lui smiled as she could clearly see how red her vati is while her Onkel was keeping himself from laughing. 'It's not like home, but…' She looked at her mamma to see the same look he has that's very similar to her real mamma when she looks at her real vati when he's not looking. 'This is just as good.' She thought as she giggled.
"What's so funny?" Her Onkel asked with a grin on his face.
"I was just remembering something mi mamma would do to mein vati on Valentines." She said, not really lying. She looked down to see one more of the chocolate covered fruit and smiled. 'As long as I don't forget the good things, then, maybe one day…' She looked to see that her Onkel and Vati were in some kind of brotherly argument. 'One day, they would be together like my family.' She took a bite, finding the taste sweeter this time and thought of TRNC. She smiled and blushed happily. 'I better thank him the next time I meet him.' With that she fell asleep, dreaming of that Valentine's with her family.
Translations:
(1) You're a mean uncle - French
And that's all I have for you guys today. Now I have to focus on reality on my end for a while, so the chapters after this won't be up for some time. I don't know how long this fic will go to tell you the truth.
And because I'm a curious kitty, I was wondering what theories you have about Fern-Lui up to this point, what pairings (besides GerIta) did you notice I put in, and what is your favorite part/line in the fic so far. I got some ideas of what the ending would be like, and it's not pretty... I think I said too much. Anyway! Enjoy the little things in life as much as you can and don't forget to look around when you have the moment to yourself, because you'll never know what you'll find.