"You're right, she seems fine..." England muttered, pressing his hand against Lilli's forehead. No temperature, she didn't feel cold or sweaty. She really was just asleep. Strange. He was pretty sure she had slept fine previously.
He propped the girl up, removing her school jacket, loosening the tie and also removing the socks and shoes, which America had kindly enough forgotten to take off. Once finished, he laid her back down, so that she could continue sleeping peacefully, leaving the articles of clothing on the chair America had been sitting on.
"... Are you sure you haven't left anything out?" He asked, walking over to America. He shook his head.
"No. I can't think of how she... Wait a second..." America paused in midsentence, much to England's frustration. What was that idiot thinking?
"... It's possible she nation-hopped.*" America then announced. England didn't respond, if he had been able to see, he would have given the American a mix of a blank face and scowl.
"... Um, nation-hopping's what all countries can do." America started to explain. "Basically, we can go to any country we want to within seconds if we imagine being there. It can use a lot of energy depending on where you hop, like from China to Mexico. It also takes up a lot of energy if you hop to an exact location, so we usually also use public transports if there's no emergency. We can also randomly nation-hop, where we don't have a clue where we're going. It uses a lot less energy, but is dangerous, because you could hop to a place where a vulcano is about to explode."
"Errupt. The correct word is errupt."
"Yeah, that too."
"So, I should be able to nation-hop?"
"Yeah, you've just got to imagine a place you'd really like to be in!"
"... And you didn't tell me this yesterday, when I could have really needed nation-hopping?"
"... Yeah, I guess I didn't. " America responded sheepishly.
"I give up. There is no point in getting frustrated with you and your stupidity. Absolutely no point." England announced, exiting the room.
"H-hey, wait England! I haven't finished explaining to you what nation-hopping is!" America shouted, exiting also.
"Sh... Feli, be quiet. We're spying right now!" Mattie whispered to the Italian, who instantly fell silent. Amazingly Feliciano actually listened to them and didn't utter a word. He must be worried about Arthur too.
"Now, what can you see?"
"It's a... kitchen. No one's in it- Ve~ I can see pasta on the table!- Oh no, quick, duck!" Feliciano quickly announced, pulling the Canadian and Japanese man down under the window.
"What? What? What did you see?" Mattie asked curiously.
"Ve, I saw Arthur and someone else enter the kitchen. Arthur looks very annoyed." Feli summarised, daring to take a peek again, something he'd usually be too afraid to do.
"Well?" Mattie continued asking.
"The guy he entered with is... Trying to explain something, I think. Arthur's sitting down on the kitchen chair... I think he's listening him out."
"Why would Arthur-san 'ditch work' as you say, to spend time with another friend?" Kiku wondered, for the first time ever wishing he could see.
"Hm... I wonder if you can open the window..." Feliciano mused, pressing the glass gently with his fingers.
"No, I don't think you can open it-"
"Ve~ It was already open!" He said cheerfully. The trio fell silent, finally able to hear them speak.
"...You said it uses little energy to nation-hop to locations close by or within your own country... We live near by, so Lilli- I mean, Liechtenstein should have been fine hopping here. Why'd she collapse?"
"I dunno. It's weird." America replied.
England took a deep sigh.
"We're getting no where."
"Hm?"
"I said we're getting no where. If anything, I'm just getting more confused the more we try to figure out the whole nation-nap mystery... And now with Lil-Liechtenstein in the mix..."
America shrugged in reply and mumbled "I know, I know..." He walked over to his coffee machine and stared at it intently for a few seconds, as if it were the solution to all his problems (which, during very early mornings it is).
"... Coffee?"
"What?"
"Do you want any coffee?"
"... I'd prefer tea."
"Sorry, I've only got coffee."
"... Fine, I'll have some coffee."
"OK."
"... So... Have you contacted the others yet?"
"Hm? Yeah, they'll be coming as soon as they can... That'll be tomorrow or the day after."
"How many are coming?"
"Well... If we want to be reallistic... Two."
"Unrealistic?"
"... Maybe seven or so."
"Brilliant."
"..."
"Why aren't the rest coming?"
"... They don't want to talk to me?"
"Why?"
"... Well, before I found you again, I kept finding things that seemed to have something to do with the nation-nap mystery... Naturally, they were all deadends, leading no where. As time went on, I lost my credibility and the remaining nations just stopped trusting me. It hurt too much to be given hope, only for it to turn out to be false."
"... Oh."
"... Yeah."
"... So, now we're just waiting?"
"Yeah... Gosh, I hate waiting."
"Well... What would you usually do to pass the time?"
"... I'd play video games or watch a horror movie or..."
"You know what, I'm going to check on Lil- Liechtenstein, see if I can wake her up."
"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, she did collapse-"
"Yes, I'm absolutely sure."
"What are they talking about?" Kiku wondered, as Feliciano poked his head out to see if anyone was left in the kitchen.
"Ve~ It's so tempting to cook pasta~! It's still lying so lonely on the table..."
"I haven't go a clue. Nation-hopping? Nations... The nation-nap mystery?... It doesn't make sense..."
"Maybe we should confront Arthur-san on the matter tomorrow. Apparently he has also got Lilli-kun involved... He made it sound like he is dealing with illegal drugs..."
"Ve~ You mean medical drugs that doctors prescribe?"
"... Yes Feli, Kiku means medical drugs."
"Ve~ Well, Arthur spends time away from work and doesn't call us in order to spend time with 'Alfred'." Feliciano summarised.
"... Who's in favour of questioning him tomorrow, say I."
"I."
"I."
"Ve, I."
"OK... Feliciano, if you'd drive us home?"
"Crap. This isn't good." America muttered, as he continued to rattle Lilli.
"What's the matter?" England asked, walking in.
"I can't wake her up!"
"Huh? But... she's a lightsleeper...?" England trailed off, stumbling over to the bed, where America was trying and failing to wake a sleeping Liechtenstein up.
" Ah, this's really not good..."
"... We're gonna have to try and wake her up any way possible." England told America, not that the American didn't know. "I'll fetch some water, that woke her up a couple months ago..." England announced, getting off the bed again, remembering when Lilli had absolutely refused to get out of bed one morning.
"What? Now? But what do-"
"Yes, now America. Just try waking her up in the mean time." He pretty much ordered America, quickly rushing off, leaving America alone to do as he'd been told.
Sighing, America looked over to Liechtenstein, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully, at the very least.
Why wouldn't she wake up already? Then a thought crossed his mind...
What if...?
He slowly reached out for her eyes, once reaching them, opening them gently.
To his horror, they were completely dilated. She was most probably in a coma.
How the heck did that happen? Nations don't go into a coma unless something real big's up! ... But... Being missing for almost a century... The impossible already happened once, it shouldn't surprise me that it could happen twice! Ah, what's the matter Liechti? What happened?
Quickly, the America examined her, to see if her coma-state was achieved by physical damage. Afterall, maybe something happened between when she'd been at school and her appearing in front of him?
To his relief (or horror?) he found that she was physically absolutely fine. Maybe she hit her head hard somewhere? Maybe she was suffering from a brain clot (or was it called blood clot? or brain blood clot?) Maybe she was having a brainswelling? Maybe she was currently dying and he hadn't noticed?
Calm down America. She's a nation... Our bodies work differently from human bodies. She'll be fine.
...
...
How do our bodies work?
"America, I'm back with a bucket of water..."
"Iggy, there's no point. Liechtenstein... Lilli... Is in a coma... I think."
"She's what?"
"She's in a coma."
"... Really? I-is that possible? I thought the bodies of nations were supposed to work differently from human bodies!"
"I know, I know." America replied, sulking.
The two stood in the room quietly, both deeply concerned for the girl lying on the bed, sleeping. Finally, England found something to say, remembering something he'd thought of earlier.
"... America?"
"Yes?" America asked, coming out of his thoughts.
"... How much do nations know about themselves?" England asked curiously.
"Hm?" America repeated, not sure if had caught all of that.
"How much do nations know about themselves?" England asked again patiently.
"Uh.. Well, they know their own history, since they lived through it and um... They um..."
"I meant how nations work. Like... Is it possible to permanently harm a nation? How come we can act human and then... For example in your case, have superstrength or something? How come it's possible for us to feel hunger, yet have the ability to not eat anything for days on end? How come-"
"Oh those kind of questions..." America said cheerily, although he sounded nervous. "Um... No one... Knows those kinda things... There are only so many nations around and with them being connected to a landmass and population..."
"OK... This means that if we start behaving weird like Lilli- I mean Liechtenstein and I are... We won't have a clue what's wrong with us?"
"Uh... Yeah." America replied. He frowned, realising that he'd had similar thoughts earlier.
"Well that's great." England muttered. "I just wish I knew what threw her into that state..." He sat down on the bed, caringly brushing the bangs away from her forehead, or at least, so that they didn't cover her closed eyes any more.
"Great, I'm going to have to head home soon and I can't take Liechtenstein home like this!"
"Huh? Why not?"
"She's in a damn coma git!"
"... Oh boy. I think I can see the problem."
"You don't say? And that's not the half of it... The problem is, is that Lilli's skipped school, I've ditched work and that Maria and Jack don't have a clue where I am half the time! Oh, brilliant work Kirkland, you've just made a lovely hell to sort out." England grumbled out, the last part to himself.
"So... Basically, you can't go back without questions being asked..." America summarised helpfully.
"You that damn right..." England groaned and sat down. "And life used to be so simple..."
".. Maybe I can get the goverment to cover you!"
"Huh?"
"There's a department that's still specialised with nations in my government. It means they're aware of us and often clean up messes we make. So, if a group of us were to go to a bar and get stone drunk and reveal stuff we shouldn't have, those guys come in and clean up the mess! Well... Only if that mess has something to do with me or happened in America."
"... Is that so?"
"Yeah!"
"... I'll be guessing you'll have to call them then."
"I'll get the phone!"
"And order some food while you're at it!"* England listened to America rush down the stairs, before he decided to join him in the living room. He got up and tapped to the exit. Once there, he paused and listened to Liechtenstein's soft breathing, as if she was just sleeping.
He sighed worriedly, rubbing his forehead.
What's wrong with you Lilli?
Lilli sat on the ground, in the middle of mountains. Her metaphorical mind (or something like that). Basically, she was having a dream. A long one.
She knew she was having a dream. Mostly because there were three versions of herself fighting over what she should do.
Two knew everything there was to know about herself. The other one, which was probably representing how she really was at that current moment, knew nothing other than the name Lilli.
The one representing how she currently felt (named Unknowing for now) was wearing a dress with Mary-janes shoes and white knee-high socks at her feet.
The other two wore identical, baggy dresses that hung loosely from their bodies. They were both also noticeably paler than Unknowing and had scars, cuts and bruises in every single direction. One of them had a serious expression (Named Wanting), the other a frightened one (Named Unwanting). Currently, both Wanting and Unknowing were argueing with Unwanting.
"I... I don't want to remember..." Unwanting wimpered quietly, clutching her head protectively.
"But we have to, think of the other ... If we don't remember, they'll be ..." Lilli blinked in surprise. She saw Wanting's mouth move, but not a sound emit from it. She pulled her legs up and slung her arms around them, listening intently.
Maybe she just missheard?
"Yeah, and don't be selfish! I want to know who I am!" Unknowing said. Unwanting shook her head. "You don't know. You don't remember the ... the ... ..." No, they deffinitely silenced when they were talking about something particular... How annoying.
"Of course ... remember! ... Let me!"
"That's because you don't ..."
"But I know. And I also remember ... ... He... ... " What on earth were they talking about?
"You don't want to remember!" Unwanting wimpered again, tears leaking out her eyes. "I... If I remember... I'll ... "
Lilli sighed, wondering how long it would be until they noticed her. Really, they were pretty much voicing how she felt. She wanted to desperately know what was going on, yet she also didn't want to at all, as if she remembered but decided not to.
It was a weird feeling. She sighed again deeply, her eyes focusing on the mountains. How she missed it. She let her hand softly touch her chest, noticing that it felt strangely hollow.
How come she never noticed before? Silently the girl looked back at the mountains, knowing one thing. She wished more than ever to be back in Liechtenstein.
* It has to be noted at this point, that after England's first meal with America, the brit quickly learnt to avoid letting America cook. Ever.
The idea of Nation-hopping doesn't belong to me. It originates from Kimanda, who is writing "Behind the Mask". If you wish to, like me, use this in your own fanfictions, ask her. Not me. Cause it's her idea.
The idea of Nation-hopping isn't mine! It's Kimanda's! (Just making it ABSOLUTELY clear!)
Goodness, I'm so LAZY . This is actually a rewrite of the original chapter, that's why it's SO "long".. Argh... Please forgive me for making it so crappy. I just hate this chapter so much. The original chappie was really long, so PLEASE forgive me for making this ridicolously short.
P.S. Nation-hopping isn't my idea. I borrowed it from Kimanda, who's writing Behind the Mask.
I'll try to update on Friday again, no promises though!