I siste...

A small blond nation finished casually sweeping away the fine layer of dust and dirt that generally gathered on the floor. Skirting the small pile he had made, he laid the wooden broom against the wall and stared out the square window. There weren't any animals that he could see, or any wind rusting the leaves of the trees.

"It's hard to keep smiling when it gets so lonely up here," Finland mused uncertainly.

"W'ldn't w'rry 'b't 't," said a low voice to his right. Finland wasn't sure why Sweden stuck around; he was only cleaning. A loud yell startled both of them, though one nation jumped as if someone had poured ice down his shirt and the other's glasses slipped down his nose an inch.

Neither of them heard the soft slam that followed the scream. Iceland turned and locked the door behind him, taking comfort in the fact that young Vikings probably didn't care to pick well-made locks. And that Denmark would probably have enough sense to not go busting down a door in his own house. Just in case, the white-haired nation calmly walked as far away from the door as possible.

"It was quieter in my nest than here," Mr. Puffin remarked.

"You get used to it," Iceland admitted.

"Aww, where'd Ice go?" Denmark wondered. Why was he always so hard to find? It wasn't like he could turn invisible or anything. All he was doing was running through the house, hoping to get a taste of the thrill that would come with pillaging a real village and taking over towns! He had heard that there was some land over to the west, and he knew it would help him since he was a rapidly growing nation.

Denmark leaned against the wall to rest (Chasing people was hard work!) and bumped into an old painting of a mermaid that had been hanging since before he could remember. It never occurred to him to straighten the crooked silver frame, but it would to Finland later even though he couldn't reach. Accompanying the loud noise was a slightly less loud but more insistent barking.

"Hana, quit that, I'll get you a few treats from the cupboard." The fluffy puppy ignored the promise of a reward, which he could fully understand, and padded over to the door where he continued barking. He really wanted a doggy door installed, but that hadn't happened yet.

His owner shushed him, but Hanatamago didn't stop barking until Finland gave in and opened the door to prove nobody was there. Except that nobody turned out to be a really familiar looking somebody with blue eyes and a cross pin in his hair. Sort of like someone he knew.

Even a troll could see that England's magic had failed. Or maybe that was what it usually did, Norway didn't know. He approached the house and looked down at the ground while he waited for the door to open. The mouth of the boy inside dropped open.

"S-Sve?"

The Swede looked up. The view he could have had of the visitor was obstructed by the wall and a bookcase.

"Wh't 's 't?"

Norway wasn't sure what to say at first. Eventually he went with something like, "I'm your brother from the future and I don't look threatening so let me in."

"Norway got bigger," Finland replied to Sweden. The latter stood up and was at the door in a few long strides.

"F'rg't y'r key?"

Actually he hadn't; it was in his pocket. The locks had been changed anyways, over the years. But not by Iceland. Iceland insisted that it wasn't him.

The Finnish nation recovered himself and broke into a grin. "You could have just come down the chimney. The soot brushes off." He picked up Hanatamago so Norway didn't have to step over him to get inside. Norway felt a little nostalgic after hearing languages he hadn't heard for years. He didn't want to brood at the doorstep, however. It was his house, so he figured he was entitled to his old room. He climbed the stairs, leaving the other two nations alone again.

"He really did something to himself this time. You think we can help him?" Finland asked curiously.

Sweden could hear footsteps above him; he had thought his brother would go to his own space. He walked back into the living room, Finland following.

"'v'nt'lly."

On the way up Norway walked past the same hallway with the mermaid painting. When he was about his brothers' current age he would sometimes splash in the sea by the coast and meet a few mermaids himself. He was wrapped up in the picture and didn't notice his brother standing next to it until it was too late (even though he was wearing his favorite color, a vibrant red).

"Hej!"

Norway turned to leave for the sanctity of his room.

"Oh, come on, don't run from me, too." He pretended to be disappointed, but his pout was much too big for it to be serious. And his ax was sitting next to him, which didn't exactly make people want to come closer.

Norway looked back over his shoulder.

"Look, I know you're all 'mature' and stuff, but you didn't have to grow up so

fast!" Hmm. Denmark accepted the situation fairly well.

"Uhh... It was a time mishap. With magic and stuff. But I'll be gone soon."

Norway wanted to leave again so he wouldn't have to deal with all the awkward questions.

"Huh. The noise stopped. It really stopped. Endelig noen rolig." Iceland stood up and warily approached the door. The growls of his stomach could be heard over his voice. Iceland had been on his way down to the kitchen to get some fish for both of them to eat (his cooked, of course) when Denmark had decided to "practice".

"I had better not get tackled upon opening this door," he thought. Denmark was bigger than him, and he really didn't want to get caught.

"The coast is clear," Mr. Puffin said.

Iceland unlocked and peeked outside the door, ready to pull back at any moment like a seal coming up for air. His brother was nowhere in sight, and he relaxed a little. Just a little. He took a few cautious steps out of his room, and froze up again when he glanced at the hallway.

"Oof!"

He forgot to move out of the way and accidentally bumped into Norway. "Great. Now my big brother is even bigger," he thought sarcastically. Iceland quickly

got up and brushed himself off like nothing happened. "What did you do this time?" He got straight to the point. Some weird things had happened in the past, and he had learned to accept them.

"What kind of 'mishap'?" The young Dane asked.

Norway sighed. So it looked like they were having this conversation.

"It's cool, 'cause you're older and taller and stronger. I've been trying to get stronger myself."

Iceland rolled his eyes and whispered something to Norway. He had done something to himself, but Iceland figured he still deserved the courtesy of not getting an ax through his head. Nothing but common courtesy, it wasn't because Norway was his brother that he was telling him this.

"He's a little overexcited about being a Viking. Nothing new."

"Sverige! Finland! Norge wants to tell you a story!" Denmark shouted.

"No, I don't!" He wasn't prepared for a bigger audience. But, you know, he made an exception for the two people he hadn't seen in years. He had planned to visit with them after he had had some time to himself, but he couldn't see a way out of this situation.

"Yay! I thought it would be a while before he talked to us!" The Finnish nation's voice carried up the stairs. It made him happy when Sweden grabbed hishand and led him upstairs. Even though his was so much bigger. Sweden had been wondering what had happened himself, but he wasn't feeling inquisitive.

"There's not much to tell."

He looked around at each face in turn. Finland's cheeks were rounder, but other than that he was as he remembered him. Sweden was shorter of course, as was everyone else. He felt like a giant, but since he was the one closest to an adult here, his storytelling instincts were slowly coaxed out.

"Wh'r's th' y'ng'r N'rw?" Sweden asked.

"I went to my room, and I didn't see him there. If I was anywhere, I think I'd be hiding from your Viking games, Den."

"They are pretty terrifying," agreed Finland.

Norway's head had almost stopped spinning from the mental strain that was his brothers, and he was starting to think he had been let off the hook. Until Denmark spoke up.

"Story, then?"

Since it seemed he had no choice, he slipped into his tale, happy he didn't have to translate. Except for Sweden, but he was old enough to her the similarities in the words and get the gist of it.

"After all these years," he began, "I have kept the magic of our ancestors close to my heart. I remember he ancient ways of doing things-" mostly "-you should remember them, too." (Hint, hint.) If he could get the message in while they were still young, maybe his brothers wouldn't turn away from their gods like he knew they would in the future! It wasn't likely, but you never knew.

" I longed for a vision of the future; but this time I made the grave mistake of asking England for help. I traversed the rugged mountains and crossed a small sea to get to his house."

"Untrue," young Iceland coughed.

"It's a nice story," Norway continued.

"But nations never go through that much trouble to visit other nations. It's like they have giant footsteps. The distance between us just doesn't seem that great."

"You know, whatever," Norway continued. "Anyway I asked him for help seeing into the future, and he messed up, and now I'm here." Well, he guessed that was what he deserved for using a non-traditional type of magic.

"So, wait-" Norway didn't want to wait, the circle they were sitting in was starting to feel claustrophobic-"if you're here- and- past-you or whatever you want to call him, isn't, but he's still alive—and he must be, because he's you-then that means there are two Norways!"

"No..." Iceland facepalmed and Finland's dog barked from somewhere downstairs.

"Yessss! Two Norways!" He held up two fingers to illustrate. "I'm getting a new brother! Well, sort of new..." he trailed off.

"No..." Iceland said softly again.

Translations:

I siste(Norwegian): In the past...

Endelig noen rolig (Norwegian): Finally some quiet.