And now a rhyme of appreciation for my readers and reviewers

Thank you for reading

My tale of Finland and Sweden.

Your reviews make my life

As jolly as the Christmas season.

At the end of this story

True love will be found

Until then happy reading

And love all around!

"Doo-wah. Mee-soo-nah-dah!"

Oh no, they'd returned for him.

"AIHH! THESE CRAZY FURBIES ARE GOING TO EAT MY FINNISH FANNY AND THEN KILL IT!" Finland shrieked as he fell out of bed and awoke with a thud.

"Oh good...that was the kind of dream I'm not sorry to wake up from." Finland let out a sigh of relief and slowly crawled back under the covers. "Just a dream yah? Nothing to be scared of. Who is scared? I'm not scared. I'm the mighty country of Finland...I'll be fine."

So Finland told himself while shaking like a cell phone on "vibrate" mode.

After a few minutes of jumping at every ambiguous creak he heard from somewhere in the house, Finland decided he'd had enough. With trembling legs he slipped on his fuzzy brown bear slippers, tossed his bath robe over his shoulders, and quietly crept out into the hall.

He opened his office door and saw the Magic 8 Ball perched on the corner of his desk.

-Good evening m' friend.-

"Hello Magic 8 Ball," Finland replied in a shivery voice as he picked the plastic toy up.

-You're shaking. What's wrong?-

"Oh, well...you know...I may or may not have just been traumatized by a nightmare about the return of the furbies. Ha ha ha! Silly, yah?"

-N't at all. That IS traumatizing.-

"Yah I know! A few years back the children of the world went crazy and all of them asked for a furby for Christmas. Scariest night of my life! I was so terrified that I had to ask someone to ride with me in the sleigh. The weird thing is…I don't remember even who was nice enough to ride with me. The memory must be so scary that my mind is blocking out the details. Crazy yah?"

Sweden's heart hopped onto a trampoline of tremendous joy. Sweden REMEMBERED that night! That was the December they'd first started going out.

That had been adorable. A couple of times Finland had been clutching him so tightly out of fright that Sweden had started to turn blue in the face…but that was fine. He'd gotten to have Finland's arms around him all night long. And then the next morning Finny was so worn out that all he wanted to do was sleep using Sweden's shoulder as a pillow.

Good times. Grand times. Times worth repeating. And Finland remembered it! The curse had probably made Finland forget that Sweden was the one riding next to him, but still! This was good! This was great! It was something to start from.

"Magic 8 Ball?"

-Yah?-

"Would you, um, mind terribly, spending the night with me? I know it probably sounds wimpy of me but I am really, really scared after that nightmare. I don't want to be alone!"

Was this a trick question?

-Wouldn't mind at all.-

"Thanks!" Finland replied with a relieved smile as he carried the Magic 8 Ball back to his bedroom "You're a great friend you know. You're always willing to help me out."

-Course. I love helping ya.-

"You don't have to do anything...It'll just be easier for me to sleep, I think, if I'm not in bed all by myself."

WHOA! Holy canned crayfish...was Finland meaning-?

Finland climbed under the covers and hugged the Magic 8 Ball tight against his chest. "Well, good night then Friend!"

...yes that was what he'd meant.

This was more than what Sweden had bargained for. He thought that Finland just wanted him to sit on the bedside table. Sweden didn't know he was signing up to be a teddy bear substitute.

Not that it was bad. No, not at all, just the opposite. It was good, far too good. If Sweden was a seismograph instead of a Magic 8 Ball he'd be drawing lines for an earthquake too large to rate on the Richter scale.

Meanwhile, he reckoned, Finland probably didn't feel anything. Finland probably just felt like he was curled up in bed holding a plastic sphere for comfort.

Why? lamented Sweden silently as Finland's soft, perfect fingers held him against the fuzzy pajama fabric that was covering his love's chest. Why now of all times was he trapped in this absolutely ridiculous form? Why couldn't he have fingers to stroke Finland's silky hair? Why couldn't he have lips to cover Finland's face with kisses? Why couldn't he have a chest for Finland to rest his sweet head on? Why?

WhywhywhywhywhyWHY?

This form was not conducive to loving! This form wasn't conducive to anything! What if the spell couldn't be broken? What if Sweden was stuck in this ridiculous, unfitting form for the rest of his days?

Sure he could talk to Finland like this, but words could only say so much. How could Sweden ever show Finland how he really felt about him?

What if Finland found someone else who could show him love like that and left Sweden forever?

Maybe it was a good thing Magic 8 Balls couldn't sleep. Sweden shuddered to think of the kind of dreams he would have with worries like these running through his head. The nightmares would be far more frightening than furbies.