Norway stepped back into his tent. Well, he stepped back into the spot where his tent used to be.

He should have expected that. The meeting was today, after all; the troops would have been sent home sometime in the last twenty-two days.

He glanced around. A few signs of the war remained: empty bullet casings, miscellaneous tents, broken flag poles. The ground was stained red in some places.

It was snowing. A light dusting had already begun to cover the world.

He stood for a moment, letting the snowflakes cling to his clothing and hair. He'd always loved the snow, though now, of course, the cold made his wrist ache.

Sighing, he opened a new portal to a hotel in Bern.

Norway stepped out into the hotel lobby. He hadn't meant to end up there, but he'd been rather distracted.

It was approximately 1.7 seconds before he was noticed.

"Nooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggg gggggggeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

An instant later, Norway was engulfed in an enormous bear hug. It proved to be a problem, as Norway was unable to breathe properly.

"Denmark, I can't breathe…"he muttered.

Immediately, Denmark let go and began yelling at Norway.

"Do you have any idea how worried we were? You can't just go running off without telling anyone! We had NO IDEA where you were! Where the hell were you?"

Norway shrugged. He was unimpressed. "Look, I'm back in time for the meeting. I just needed some space, ok?"

"Did you get that space?"

"Yeah, I did."

"And…?"

"I came back. I'm back now, and I intend to stay, at least until this is cleared up."

"Okay."

"That's it?"

"I don't want to pry. I-" He sighed, then looked down at his shoes. "I don't want you to leave again, Nor."

"I won't. I promise."

Denmark smiled sadly. "That's what you said after Sweden left."

"I had no choice in 1814."

"Yeah…" Denmark unexpectedly hugged Norway. "I was worried about you." He lightly kissed the top of Norway's head. "I missed you, Lukas."

Norway said nothing for a moment. "I missed you too, I guess." Pause. "It's time for the meeting, isn't it?"

Norway was nervous as he waited for everyone to enter the meeting room. He had a plan, but he didn't think that it would go over well.

The meeting room, which was set up like a court room, was soon filled with countries. Norway sat in the prosecutor's chair and Switzerland was the judge.

England was led in by a poker-faced Prussia. He sat in the defendant's chair. He had no lawyer; this was the World Court, and countries represented themselves.

"The charges, Mr. Norway?" Switzerland began.

"Mr. England is charged with one count of starting a world war, one count of imperialism, and four counts of upsetting the balance of power."

"How do you plead, Mr. England?"

"Innocent."

The whole room burst into chaos:

Scotland was shouting something in his native language in such a tone that it could not have been polite. France was trying to keep him from murdering England. America was loudly shouting that Norway was a commie, but he took it back when Denmark hefted his axe in a threatening manner. (It could have also been Sweden's glare. One does not simply call any of Sweden's wives, current or not, 'commies'.) Prussia had been trying to literally make England eat his words, but Hungary hit him with her frying pan.

And that was only a small portion of the commotion.

Switzerland raised his gun and fired a warning shot. "Sit down and shut up, or I'll beat you with my Peace Prize."

Everyone immediately sat down.

"Mr. Norway, what evidence is there?"

"England took on the colonies of France and Spain, allied himself with Russia and America, then he began to annex Germany. This led to war."

"Mr. England, would you like to revise your plea?"

"Yes."

"All in favor of England's guilt say 'Aye'."

Every country, with the exceptions of Russia, his housemates, and America, said, "Aye!"

"Guilty. Mr. Norway, what is the sentence?"

Norway cleared his throat. "England must give up all of his colonies and Common Wealths. He must alos dissolve the United Kingdom."

"All who agree, say-"

"Vhat about zhe reparations?" Prussia shouted. "Mein brüder had to pay zhem!"

Switzerland ignored him. "Vote, please."

Again, a majority was reached on Norway's side.

"The motion carries. Who do you call to the stand next, Mr. Norway?"

"I call Mr. America."

"I didn't do anything, you commie!"

"Mr. America is called to the stand," Switzerland said, casually flipping the safety on his gun on and off.

"Commies," America muttered again as he made his way to the stand.

"What are the charges, Mr. Norway?"

"Mr. America is charged with prolonging the hostilities; joining a war to which he was not invited; and allying himself with, to quote Mr. Scotland, 'an ambitious bastard'."

"How do you plead, Mr. America?"

"Innocent!"

"All in favor of America's guilt?"

Every single country raised their hands.

"Guilty. Mr. Norway, the sentence?"

"America must pay damages to Germany and Prussia in an amount that will later be specified."

"All in favor?"

Again, every country raised their hands.

"The sentence carries."

"Commies!"

"Get off the stand before I find you in contempt of the court."

"I call Mr. Russia to the stand."

"You called, da?"

"What are the charges?"

"Mr. Russia is charged with taking advantage of an economic situation to increase his land holdings."

"How do you plead, Mr. Russia?"

"I plead guilty. It is what I did, da?"

"All who agree?"

Nearly every country raised their hands.

"And the sentence?"

"He must give up all of the land he gained since the collapse of the euro."

"But they become one with Russia."

"All in favor of Norway's sentence?" Switzerland asked, ignoring Russia.

Many countries raised their hands -not all, of course, but the majority was on Norway's side.

"Sentence carried. Mr. Norway, you said that there were four people you wanted to try today. Who is the last?"

"I call myself to the stand."

You could have heard a pin drop, if it hadn't been for the actual noise of dropped pens.

"Nor? What are you-?" Denmark began in a low voice.

Norway cut him off in an equally low voice. "Trust me. Please."

Denmark nodded. "I do."

Norway walked slowly to the stand. He wondered if this was the best solution.

"Who is prosecuting?" Switzerland asked.

"I am prosecuting myself."

"What are the charges?"

"Imperialism, upsetting the balance of power, and joining a war to which I was not invited."

The whole room burst into chaos yet again. All of Norway's allies were shouting their disagreements. His enemies were shouting back. This only went on for about two minutes before, thankfully, Switzerland fired off another warning shot.

Everyone settled down immediately. He'd already used tow today. The next one would not be a warning.

"How do you plead, Mr. Norway?"

"Guilty."

"All in favor?"

Slightly less than half raised their hands.

"All against?"

Again, slightly less than half raised their hands. It was a tie. Only the neutrals remained. They would not vote. Switzerland would have to decide.

"Mr. Norway, you accuse yourself of upsetting the balance of power."

"Yes, your honor."

"That is a serious accusation."

"A true one."

Switzerland nodded. "We live to preserve that balance. You upset it. Therefore, you are guilty."

"Yes."

"What sentence do you propose?"

"I propose that I give up all the land I have gained since the collapse of the euro."

Interestingly enough, it was Denmark who grasped the implications first. "You wouldn't give us up, Norge! You wouldn't leave us alone!"

Switzerland ignored the Dane. "That would help restore the balance. I accept your terms."

Norway smiled sadly. "One last thing, Mr. Switzerland. The German state must be divided into two states: West Germany and-"

"Zhe awesome me!" Prussia was so excited; he grabbed a broom, jumped on a table, and began playing air guitar.

"Terms accepted. Now, who will enforce these new terms?"

The Nordics (except Norway), Germany, Prussia, France, Scotland, ad Hungary all raised their hands.

"Accepted. Court dismissed."

"I guess zhat makes us zhe "Beat Up England" League, mon cher," France said to Scotland.

"It's a rather large club. We should have t-shirts."

Norway was in the process of changing into his pajamas when Denmark burst into his hotel room. Thankfully, he only needed to put a shirt on.

"Why are you here, Dane?"

"Why did you do it?"

"Do what, Idiot?"

"Why did you give us up? I never would have done that. If Sweden hadn't left, I'd probably still be an empire!"

"I'm not like you."

Denmark nodded. "I know."

"I let you go because I couldn't face becoming what you are."

"Ouch."

"I didn't mean it like that, you idiot." Norway started to pull on his pajama shirt.

Denmark stopped him. "Let me see your scars."

Norway was a bit baffled, not mention offended, by this request. Scars were a sign of weakness; that's why most countries wore long sleeves and long pants, even gloves and scarves, not matter what time of the year it was. It was terribly impolite to ask to see another country's scars.

"To see how your side is healing," Denmark clarified.

"Oh. Yeah, sure."

"Finland wanted me to check on you."

"Danmark?"

"Hm?"

"You're making this far more awkward than it needs to be."

"Oops. Sorry, Norge." He quickly inspected Norway's new scar. "It looks fine to me." He grinned impishly. "I'll bet it's still ticklish."

"Don't you dare, Dane."

"Fine." He sighed. "Hey, what's this scar from? I don't remember it." He lightly traced the edges of a large, smooth scar that covered a large portion of Norway's upper back.

"The burning of Finmark in October 1944."

"Oh…I hadn't realized that it was so…bad…"

Norway shrugged. "It does not hurt so much anymore."

They sat in silence for a moment, both of them reminiscing about the Second World War.

"You know," Denmark said, breaking the silence, "I wish I'd been as brave as you were."

"I wasn't brave. My people were, but I was not."

"Oh, yes you were. You resisted all five years of the war. You did not surrender for two months -longer than anyone else managed. How is that not brave?"

"I was afraid constantly during those five years."

"But you didn't give up! You worked through it. I didn't."

"Were you afraid?"

"Of course, but…not for myself."

Norway raised an eyebrow.

"I was worried about you, you know. Well, and for Copenhagen."

"What happened? I never got much news from you during the war."

"Oh, they threatened to bomb Copenhagen."

"Ah."

"You know, Norge, this is a depressing topic of conversation."

"Really, Danmark? Anyway, it's getting late, and I'm tired."

Denmark stood. "Good night, Norge." He lightly kissed the top of Norway's head and left.

A/N: I will make ALL the Dr. Who references!