*OKAY, SORRY, MY MISTAKE; "Toris" IS OFTEN USED FOR LITHUANIA, BUT IN FACT, "Tolys" IS LITHUANIAN, SO I WILL START CALLING HIM THAT! ALSO, THIS IS ANOTHER WEIRD ONE-SETTING CHAPTER WITH FOCUS AROUND A SINGLE STUPID SOLITARY CHARACTER, I'M SORRY, OKAY, I CAN'T HANDLE MY STUPID FINGERS WHEN THEY TYPE. ALSO, INDIE CARTER AND SAM CARTER BELONG TO TheAmericanNinja GO CHECK OUT HER STORY!*

The countries—as in the whole WORLD—called each other on speaker-phone, so every personification could hear and talk to each other. Indie Carter and Sam Carter were also on that phone, as well as Alfred's states, Gilbert, and Lauren.

It took about three hours are arguing, shouting over each other, trying to recognize voices through the phone, not getting voices confused, and everything, until they confirmed that they would have it in the same place, same time, but in three days.

Ludwig, Roderick, and Elizabeta had been doing many chores, went shopping for food, and paying for Matthew's gas to pay for a prolonged stay. Lauren continued to hang out with Elizabeta, who taught her some Hungarian, and decorated her room with her.

Lauren put pictures of the seasons on either room of her wall. It was winter on one side, spring on the other, summer on the other, and fall on the other. And on the ceiling, she put pictures of every hour of the day over a fixed point. She told Elizabeta, "That way, if I ever feel bad about a time of day or season, then I can look at whatever I like!"

Elizabeta smiled, helping her tape something on the wall, and said, "Very smart! I vould not have zought of zat!"

Ludwig and Gilbert taught Lauren some German as well, which was complicated to catch on, as was Hungarian, but she was excited to be learning things. Matthew was also teaching Lauren about Canadian wildlife, plants, history, and all of those things. Lauren was feeling better, and they even stayed up late one night to watch a movie.

Finally, on the third night, they were going to go back to the meeting. Lauren was nervous because she was afraid that the countries and states would be mad at her, what Ivan's family would think, and everything. She was excited to be meeting the new states, the Baltics, and apologizing to Nataliya. She hoped to apologize, even if Nataliya didn't accept the apology.

Deciding to wear her red dress to the next meeting, Lauren put on the dress and found red ribbons to put in her hair. She put the yellow flower-band back in her hair like last time and wore black-and-red boots that went to her knees. She played with her two ahoges in the mirror, smiling. She liked how she looked, and she actually polished her glasses, so they were nice and shiny.

They all got into Matthew's car and drove away again. Lauren's stomach started feeling a little upset, because she was very nervous, but she liked hearing Elizabeta talk to her about Hungary, and she felt less nervous with Elizabeta talking.

By the time that they got to the meeting place, Lauren had forgotten that they were actually going to the meeting. Then she heard "we're here" and instantly felt sick to her stomach.

Gilbert shouted something in German that sounded like "SEE YA LATER!" and jumped out of the car before Matthew even brought it to a complete stop. Ludwig followed, scolding Gilbert for recklessness, then Matt followed awkwardly. Roderick then followed, murmuring things under his breath about immatureness. Elizabeta and Lauren left next. Lauren walked barely inches away from Elizabeta's back, holding onto her hand, feeling sick and nervous.

Elizabeta sensed this and said, "Honestly, it vill be okay."

"Thank you," Lauren said. Elizabeta continued, saying, "You didn't get to meet the rest of the vorld, anyway! You vill love the Asian countries, I bet!"

Lauren smiled and said, "Yeah, that's cool…I met a lot of Europe, but not Asia…"

As they approached the building, Lauren asked, "Oh, yeah, Elizabeta—what would you call Russia? A European country, or an Asian country?"

"I do not know!" Elizabeta exclaimed in surprise, "Perhaps Eurasian…"

"Probably," Lauren agreed.

They entered the building, still not any earlier than they were last time. Matt placed his hand on his forehead and said softly, "We're ten minutes early…perhaps we should leave an hour and a half earlier next time it's in Canada…"

Addison met Lauren at the door, wrapping her up in a hug and spinning her around like two ballerinas, Addison saying happily, "YEEE-HAAAAAAWWW, YOU CAAAAAAMMMEEE! YAY!"

Lauren laughed awkwardly, face bright red. Addison let her go, Lauren dizzy for a moment. Addison laughed merrily and said, "I thought that you'd stay in Canada or whatever!"

Furrowing her eyebrows, Lauren stammered, "B-But, aren't we in Canada?"

Addison gasped, saying, "Wait, we are! We're in Canada? Wait, we're in Canada!" she turned to some light-haired, pale skinned girl with pale blue eyes who dressed like a missionary, and she said, "We're in Canada! Isabel, did you know that?"

"Yes," Isabel said. "Well, I thought that we were in Canada…we certainly passed the Canadian border, right?"

"Yeah!" Another pale-haired-pale-skinned one said. She had pink eyes and looked like a female version of Gilbert. "We totally passed the border! I didn't notice, though!"

"We didn't pass the border!" Hugh exclaimed, surprised, "We didn't, right? I don't remember ever crossing any border!"

Addison was astounded, asking slowly and carefully, as if talking to idiots, "Wait, so are we in Canadia or not?"

"Canada, right?" Hugh asked, "It's called Canada, right?"

"What did I call it?"

"Canadie."

"No," Gaile said, "You totally said 'Canadia' bro!"

Lauren exclaimed, "YOU GUYS ARE CONFUSING ME! ARE WE IN CANADA OR WHAT?!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" The states all exclaimed. Isabel hung her head, groaning, and said, "Well…this is odd…"

After a moment of awkward silence, Isabel straightened up, saying in a cheery mood, eyes wide, sounding excited as if she received some sort of revelation from God, "WE ARE IN CANADA!"

"HOW DO YOU KNOW?!" every state including Lauren asked.

Isabel smiled, waving her right hand through the air, and said, "The Holy Spirit told me!"

Gaile threw her right arm over Isabel's shoulders, saying, "LISTEN TO MAH MORMON LIL' SIS! SHE TOTALLY JUST GOT A SIGN FROM GOD THAT WE'RE IN CANADA, YO!"

Hugh crossed his arms, saying something in Spanish, then said, "'Yo' is used in the wrong, um, place!"

"Context?" Madeline asked.

"YES!" Hugh said, pointing at Madeline. He then pointed at Gaile and said, "'YO' MEANS 'ME' BRO!"

Lauren hung her head, feeling smoke sizzle off of her forehead. Addison gently elbowed her and asked softly, "You alright?"

"Yes, thank you," Lauren said.

Addison smiled and said, "Great. Let me introduce you—that's Pennsylvania, Gaile. She's Germanic, like Kurtis, Madeline—Minnesota—and Isabel—Utah—so they're all interesting. Most of America is of Germanic descent, anyway, so the states will all probably be like Ludwig, Gilbert, Elizabeta, or Roderick, huh?"

"Probably," Lauren agreed.

Continuing, Addison said, "Gaile believes herself to be a Crusader, 'cuz she's kinda Teutonic. She likes Isabel, whose LDS or whatever you call it; Mormon. She and Kurtis get along, and she said that it's probably because the early LDS had been exiled from New York or something and stopped in Illinois, then were kicked out and settled down in Utah."

Lauren smiled, saying, "Cool! You guys all know your history, huh?"

"Yeah," Addison said, smiling. Lauren started to feel kind of sad, not knowing her history. She shrugged it off and said, "That's awesome! Hey, I'm gonna go find the Asian countries. You wanna come with?"

Addison opened her mouth to respond when Lillian and Hugh threw their arms over her shoulders, saying obnoxiously, "DUDE YOU TOTALLY WANNA GO PRANK ALFRED AND THAT MEXICAN" and "LET'S GO HAVE A PARTY, MAN, THIS IS GONNA BE TOTALLY WHOOOO'ING COOL AND LIKE GET YOU DRESSED FOR A PART BRO!"

Lauren smiled and walked away, leaving Addison to be with the other states. Lauren saw a man, not very tall, wearing a white suit, from behind. He had short-cropped black hair. She approached him and said clearly yet respectfully, "Hello, sir."

He turned around for Lauren to see that he was Japanese. He curtly bowed, and she bowed back as he said, "I am Honda Kiku; Japan."

"I am Lauren," she said, straightening up. "Quebec."

"Aiyah!" a feminine man exclaimed from behind Kiku, hiding behind the slightly-shorter Japanese man. The feminine man whispered, "Kiku, this Rauren, the same Rauren that we saw beat up Natariya!"

Kiku crept away from the feminine man and said, "Yes, I know. Do not be so rude, prease."

The Japanese man curtly bowed on the feminine man's behalf and said, "This is Yao, who is China."

Yao seemed wary of Lauren for a moment, then Lauren saw the panda on his back and exclaimed in a high-pitched voice, "Ooh, your panda is so cute, mister!"

Yao smiled and said, "Yes, Panda is great and cute!"

Lauren smiled as well, saying, "And your outfit is cute, too! Are those little kitties on your shoes?"

The Chinese man looked down at his outfit and said, "Yes, they are! I rove cute things!"

"Cute things are the best!" Lauren said. She looked at Kiku and said, "Honda-san," bowed, "thank you for introducing us."

"You are wercome," Kiku said, bowing back.

A Korean man came walking up, saying cheerily, "YAO, ARE YOU STIRR TRYING TO COME UP WITH ORIGINAR ANIME?!"

Yao got angry, saying, "Aiyah, I have originar anime's!"

Changing the subject, Yao introduced Lauren to the Korean, saying, "Im Yong Soo, this is Rauren-Quebec."

"Rauren?" Im Yong Soo gasped, eyes widening. Then his gaze dropped a little, and a weird look came to his face. Yao noticed this and said, "IM YONG SOO! NO! YOU WIRR NOT BE DOING THAT!"

Lauren bowed and said, "Pleasure to meet you, Im Yong Soo."

Bowing, the Korean said, "Preasure to meet you, Rauren."

Curtly taking leave, Lauren left the three Asian countries. She knew that there were more, but she would find them herself after checking up on the Baltics.

Tolys found her before she found him, and he sighed in relief, saying, "Miss Lauren!"

"Hello, Tolys!" Lauren said, smiling at him. Raivis and Eduard came walking up from behind Torys. Gaile was lingering around Eduard, trying to talk to him, saying things like, "BRO, COME ON, YOU GOT COMPUTERS, RIGHT? TELL ME WHERE I CAN GET A GOOD DEAL ON A PC!"

Eduard found it very ironic that Gaile Penn was very similar to Maria Beilschmidt, who was female Gilbert. Perhaps it made sense, a bit…a lot of American states had unknowingly large amounts of Germans among them. Also, Isabel was very religious and looked like Maria as well, so she could be the calmer version of the Prussian.

Gulping, Tolys said shakily, "I th-thought that you should have been staying at h-home…"

Confused, Lauren asked, "Why, Tolys?"

"M-Mister Ivan…" Raivis stammered. "H-He's here!"

Now Lauren remembered her conversation with Ivan a couple days ago and felt like gutting herself. He wasn't angry, though—well, he at least forgave her—so she reassured the three nations by saying, "Don't worry; I already spoke to him, and he forgave me."

Their eyes widened, and Eduard asked softly, "H-He forgave you? The s-s-scary Mister Ivan?"

Lauren nodded and said, "Of course; he's the one." Smiling at them, she said, "I really appreciate your concern, and for not being afraid of me after the incident…"

Gulping, Tolys said, "O-Oh, that…" honestly, they were a little scared, but she only became scary when the "bullies" were abusive, so they knew that she wouldn't hurt them. Tolys nodded and said, "Yeah, w-we thank you f-for appreciating…uh, our…concern…"

Lauren opened her arms, ready to hug them, and asked tentatively, "Can I hug you?" She didn't want to make them feel awkward, but they looked like they needed a good hug.

Shakily, the three Baltics agreed, and she wrapped her warm arms around them in a hug. Their faces all became red, but they enjoyed her hug. Her arms were tight and strong around them, but her hug was very comforting and loving. Tentatively, they all hugged her back. Lauren smiled wider, pulling away slowly, and said cheerily, "See, wasn't that nice? Hugs are nice…" her cheeks became pink, and she said, "Honestly, I don't really hug that much, but…" she thought back to Addison hugging her, and she said even louder and happier, "I got a hug from a friend earlier, and I feel like spreading it around!"

Raivis said shakily, "Y-Your hugs c-could melt J-Jack Frost, M-Miss Lauren…"

"Don't call me 'Miss'!" Lauren said cheerily. "Friends don't call other friends 'Miss' and 'Mister', do they?"

Eduard stammered, "I-I don't g-guess so…"

Suddenly, all three Baltics gasped and stiffened, frozen in fear. Lauren furrowed her eyebrows, asking worriedly, "What is it, guys?"

"Privyeee~eet! You are being ready to become one, da?"

Heart taking a bungee cord-dive to her feet and snapping back up again, Lauren mirrored the Baltic's look of surprise and terror. Then, instantly convincing herself, "Idiot, don't be a stereotypical Canadian! You kill people during hockey games for Pete's sake! You don't have to be afraid of Ivan, he's okay, he forgave you, got it?" and found bravery to turn around to face Ivan with a smile, saying, "Hello, Mister Braginski!"

"You will be calling me Ivan, da?" Ivan said, beaming at Lauren.

Okay… Lauren thought, staying smiling as she said cheerily, "Of course, Mist—um, Ivan!" She felt in a good mood when she acted like it, so she continued feeling cheery as she said, "I'm glad that you forgave me!"

Ivan smiled down at her. Lauren was either a kiss-up, or she was in a generally good mood. He didn't mind either way, saying, "Da, I forgive you! I was even speaking to Nataliya, and she wasn't trying to become one today!"

Lauren smiled wider, genuinely feeling warmer. She didn't know Ivan's and Nataliya's relationship, but because he had been trying to hide from her and seemed please that she didn't want to "be one" anymore, apparently she usually wanted to become one, and now that changed. Lauren said, "That's great, isn't it?" Tolys, Raivis, and Eduard were all surprised that Nataliya didn't want to be one—what a miracle!

Nodding, Ivan said, "She even thanked you, like I am thanking you!"

Okay, Ivan had forgiven her, and for that, Lauren was grateful—but thanking her? Even Nataliya thanking her? Her jaw almost dropped, eyes widening, and she asked, "Really? Th…thanking me?"

"Da!" Ivan said, "Since beating Nataliya, Belarus's government has become free, and Nataliya asked me to be personally thanking you!"

Raivis, Eduard, and Tolys all felt awkward, not liking to be so close to Ivan. They prepared to leave, when Lauren instantly spoke to them positively, asking, "Isn't that great, guys? How about Nataliya being in a better mood?"

That certainly did sound great, but standing so close to Ivan wasn't. They all nodded hurriedly, Tolys saying as respectfully as possible, "Yes, th-that is sounding great!"

Lauren smiled at him, a look in her eyes that he recognized as, "Thanks for talking". Lauren turned back to face Ivan, who had taken a step or two closer. He had a very calm, serene, pleased look on his face. His amethyst eyes and bright smile seemed inviting, like soft, new-fallen snow that hasn't yet been trampled on.

Eyes nearly widening with the curious feeling, Lauren instantly felt like leaving Ivan's presence. Reasoning; she wasn't understanding if she liked the feeling or not, which made her loathe the feeling. She hated uncertainty, which is why she often walked away from groups of nations when they started changing topic or talking to each other. She wasn't sure if they contained interest in her, if they wanted her to join the conversation, or what, so to avoid any uncertainty, she left so she would not have to wonder.

Smiling at Ivan, Lauren said, "Thank you again, Ivan, for forgiving me. Will you tell Nataliya that I am very happy for helping her?"

"Da," Ivan said, still smiling at Lauren. Lauren nodded, saying, "Okay, well, I have to go meet the other nations."

Lauren began to walk away, when some cloth wrapped around her neck, and Ivan said from behind her, "But we were becoming one, da?"

The Baltics all gasped, fearful again. First of all—Lauren was in danger! Second of all—Lauren was in danger! The last time that Lauren or someone she liked was in danger, a country almost died!

Lauren froze, instantly becoming empty. She wanted to think of a way out of this or how to react, but not a single thought formed in her brain. In fact, every thought, even those that had filled in their graves, had left without a trace, flying around her head like mosquitos, yet not close enough to be used or even remotely recognized.

Ivan's scarf had wrapped around Lauren's neck, as if it were alive, and Ivan said childishly, "Other day on phone, I say, 'We become one' and you say, 'Da,' so we become one now!"

Holy cow, Lauren thought. Oh man, baby seal diapers and polar bear droppings…man-oh-man-oh-man-oh-man-oh-man…geez, he sounds so innocent…why did I forget about that conversation…oh man maple-leaf-cigarettes…malamute-dung…orca-barf…crap-oh-crap… As calmly as she could muster, Lauren turned to face him and said, "Wait, I said…" Her eyes widened in false surprise, "Oh! I remember!" Ivan smiled at her, but the smile was different, as though instead of just being Ivan-looking, he found it funny that she forgot momentarily about their talk over the phone.

Ivan felt kind of hurt, though, at the same time, and he asked, "Were you really forgetting our talk on phone?"

Lauren shook her head, saying worriedly—sincerely concerned that she hurt his feelings, "Nyet, Ivan, I am so sorry! I remember not being able to sleep later, so Matthew gave me some sleeping medicine…I think it made me forget!"

That wasn't a complete lie, because Lauren had in fact had problems getting to sleep, but she didn't really forget, obviously. Ivan accepted this, not noticing her lie—he could usually tell a lie from truth—and said, "Da, I see!" The scarf sort of tightened around Lauren's neck. Her neck felt warm and snug in the soft fabric, but while it tightened securely around her neck, it sort of tugged her closer to Ivan, like when someone reels in a fish.

Lauren carefully brought her hands up, petting the scarf, yet didn't take her forget-me-not-blue eyes away from Ivan's eyes. She felt the scarf, how soft and warm it was, and told Ivan calmly, "This scarf is very warm…where did you get it?"

The Baltics were still here, shaking in fear, backing away slowly, not knowing what to do. Lauren was either very naïve or very brave, the Baltics thought. Lauren was honestly worrying for her safety, which, in her opinion, was stupid because she was a personification with personifications around her, what could go wrong? But Lauren had confidence, which was stronger than courage or innocence.

Dragging Lauren in tighter, the scarf coiled up more around her neck. Ivan told her, "My sister, Yekaterina, gave scarf to me. She made it—I never take it off."

"That's sweet," Lauren said, beaming at Ivan as the scarf wrangled her in closer. She nearly tripped over her own feet, and she asked, "What does Yekaterina think of me?"

RUN! Raivis thought, clinging onto Tolys's arm. Mister Ivan was showing a lot of interest in Lauren, and he didn't want her to become one! Ivan noticed the Baltics lingering, and he wasn't in the mood for them right then. He took his gaze away from Lauren's and told them, "You will be leaving now, da?"

Frozen instantly, the Baltics stared in fear. Lauren turned her head enough to see them, and she gave them a look that they couldn't recognize. The scarf had finished winding up, and Lauren was now pressed against Ivan, feeling her face grow hot. Ivan responded to Lauren's earlier comment, saying, "Yekaterina is very sad and being worried for Nataliya, but when Nataliya said that she is thanking you, Yekaterina is ready to be liking you—she has to be meeting you first, though."

Ivan looked at Lauren's pretty flower-colored blue eyes through her glasses. He, now staring directly down at her, took notice of the yellow flower-band in her hair. He smiled wider and giggled like a child, saying, "You have sunflower in hair, da?"

Lauren smiled, wanting to postpone "becoming one"—or however it worked—and said, "Yes, I think. It doesn't look as much like a sunflower as it could, though."

"I like sunflowers," Ivan said, smiling brightly at her. Lauren had to tilt her head back sharply to see him, who had to bend his head down. Lauren felt her face grow even hotter, and even though this wasn't really unpleasant, it was the fact that the indecisive feeling had started burning again, so she wanted to leave. Lauren told him, honestly, "I like sunflowers, too. "

She felt Ivan's chest rise, then lower, as he breathed, and she also smelled a hint of something familiar…it was something she had smelled before. She remembered going to the inn in Quebec, going into a daze where all she saw was white glare, and she smelled some alcoholic smell…Ivan had it on his breath…

A slight squeaking sound escaped Lauren's throat. Vodka. She wrapped her arms around Ivan and buried her face right beneath his chest. At this point in time, Raivis had whispered something to Tolys and had rushed away.

Ivan completely surprised. He felt her breath on his jacket. She breathed in, smelling the same comforting smell. Ivan, confused and warm-faced from the odd, sudden affection from Lauren, shakily placed his large hands on Lauren's back. Yekaterina came walking up from behind Ivan, only seeing some red-clad arms wrapping around his broad torso. She asked daintily, "B-Brat?"

At that same moment, coming from the opposite direction, Raivis broke through the crowd with Addison, Isabel, Gaile, Francis, Antonio, and Gilbert at his tail. All they saw was Ivan placing his hands on Lauren, his scarf wrapped around her neck, and what Raivis had told them about Ivan trying to make her become one.

Gilbert and Gaile were the first to react, the similar-looking non-nations throwing themselves around the two Baltics and grabbed onto Lauren sharply on either side, by her waist. Her eyes popped open, and she screeched as the albinos yanked her away. Her screech was inhuman, yet not evil like the sounds she made when she was attacking Nataliya.

"No!" Lauren screeched, flashing back to a pair of tender, leather-clad hands taking her and holding her to a leather jacket. They weren't unkind hands, taking her from Ivan, but they were taking her from familiar arms. She didn't hear Gilbert, the Yankees, Yekaterina, or the Baltics as they started saying things to each other, but she heard Ivan's voice, and she heard an annoying, yet concerned American-accented male voice asking, "Dudes, what's wrong?"

She didn't hear Matthew or Ludwig saying anything, but she heard Ivan and Alfred. She grabbed for the nearest body, Gilbert, and clung onto him. She hated thinking of those stupid things. That sudden explosion of hate made her realize where she was, hearing nations and Yankees asking what happened.

Gilbert asked very hatefully, "Vhat did the commie do to you?"

Shaking, Lauren said clearly, "Nothing! He was sad because he said that sunflowers always die from snow, so I hugged him!"

The nations and Yankees looked at her oddly in disbelief, Gilbert in particular. Yekaterina was now holding onto Ivan's arm, begging for an explanation on why he had his arms around the same girl who hurt Nataliya.

Angrily, Gilbert countered, "Raivis said zat he vas trying to get you to become vun vithz him!"

Shooting a glare at him, Lauren said in an irritated tone, "He wants everyone to become one with him, right? And how often does that happen?"

Indie and some other girl, about a year or two older in appearance, came hurrying up. Both were holding several coffee mugs in their hands, and Indie gasped, "Dudes, what the heck is going on?!"

"Hey Indie!" Lauren called casually, waving. Gilbert didn't let go of Lauren's arm, holding her protectively, Matt holding her from the other side. Many personifications shot angry glances at Ivan, and vice-versa, and Lauren said hatefully, "You guys need to stop being so stupid! I'm not going to hurt anyone, and no one is going to hurt me! Got it?"

She pulled away from Gilbert and Matt—she felt bad for pulling away from Matt, so she held his hand—and said, "Guys, can we just start this stupid meeting before more things screw up?"

Well, the meeting went on perfectly, Lauren apologized to Yekaterina, who accepted the apology, she apologized to Ivan about the other nations and Yankees, to which he accepted and said that it happened all the time, and she got to meet Indie's sister, Sam.

Nothing was improved in the world, except for the fact that some Polish guy sneakily slapped some pink on everyone's outfit—most people hated it, but Lauren was nice and acted really excited, hugged the guy, and then blah-blah-blah, the meeting ended like it normally did, with countries arguing with each other, but now they had Isabel running around trying to spread the word of "Our Lord and Savior" while the Gilbert-clones went around trying to harass nations that they thought were unawesome.

You know, stuff that's normal. In Belarus, Nataliya Arlovskaya was lying in bed, reading a book. She couldn't stop thinking of her darling siblings—especially Ivan, but not in a creepy way like she used to. She was more tame—still Nataliya, but more understanding of Ivan's feelings toward her.

*HERE'S A PLAYLIST OF MUSIC I LISTEN TO WHILE WRITING THIS, JUST IN CASE; "Russian Roulette" by 10 Years, "Leave Me Alone", "Fairyland", "Oah", "Europe's Skies", and "Superhero" by Alexander Rybak, "Let it Burn" by Red, "24" by Jem, "Anti the Holic" with Hetaloid US and UK, "Justice Breaker" with Ameriloid, "Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift, stuff by Lindsey Stirling, "Be my Friend" by One-Eyed Doll, and more stuff.