Dda-da-DUM! Chapter 4! Please enjoy! X3

I think one of the most memorable moments was Greenland's first training session.

Our training this month took place in Russia's country. The obstacle course was set. All of us Allies lined up to test our strength and progress. Greenland was there, too. She looked a little nervous, but I knew she had it in her. We stood a while as Britain went over the obstacles we would have to go through (of which we already knew about, but sometimes, I think he just likes to hear himself talk.) I kinda tuned him out for a while, shifting my weight with impatience. I looked over at Greenland. She looked at her feet and fidgeted with her fingers. I nudged her and gave a reassuring smile as if to say, "Hey, you'll do fine." She smiled back at me, but I could tell she was still anxious.

Finally, when Britain was done his spiel, we all lined up to run the course. China was first in line. Britain held the timer as China took his mark. Greenland leaned forward a little in anticipation. We waited in a few moments of tension, until finally, Britain shouted "GO!"

China took off like a bullet! He raced over the ladders and jumped over the hurdles with his usual grace and speed. He army crawled under the barbed wire without so much as a scratch to the back of his shirt. He raced across the tight rope that was hung over freezing water. None of us feared that he would lose his balance. As Japan's older brother, he was the original ninja country. He climbed over the last wall and landed on his feet like a cat, speeding off to the finish. Britain clicked his thumb down on the timer and nodded in approval. "That was a good run, China. You managed to shave two whole seconds off your record time."

China doubled over, his hands on his knees, breathing hard. "Huff… huff… It was… nothing… huff… huff…"

The rest of us blazed through the course like we were bred for it. I was, of course, a bit of a natural. Military skill ran in my blood. It was knit in my genes. I practically destroyed that course, laughed in its face and danced on its grave! (Ok, so it wasn't actually one of my better times, but I still did pretty good, if I do say so myself.)

At last, it came down to Greenland's turn. She took her position and stared straight ahead, determined to get her name on the board. Britain re-set his stop watch. "On your mark…"

She took in a deep breath.

"Get set…"

She focused ahead on the course.

"GO!"

At Britain's command, I could already tell she was thrown off. She looked really shocked, and she glanced around wildly before running ahead. She tripped over some of the hurdles, and the tight rope proposed a challenge for her, as her arms waved wildly and her body teetered clumsily back and forth. After a while, she finally made it to the other end. I tried cheering for her, to give her some sort of encouragement. "Go, Greenland! Come on, girly! You can do it!"

It didn't seem to help much, though. She cut her back a few times after crawling under the barbed wire, and smacked her face into a tree branch before falling back on her butt. She got up quickly, though, and headed straight for the wall. She slipped and fell a few times, but didn't seem to be injured. After a few tries, she finally got over the wall, but landed flat on her back. I held my breath as she laid there for a few seconds. She rolled over and darted with what energy she had left for the finish line (of which she tripped over and cut her chin…). Britain looked at her time and shook his head. "It… could be better…"

Greenland looked at the ground. I knew she felt ashamed, like she let us down as her allies. I walked over and knelt down with her and put a hand on her back. "Hey, you did your best. That's all we can ask for, right?"

I saw tears come to her eyes and she nodded.

I patted her head. "Come on, let's go get cleaned up, ok?"

"You go ahead. I'll stay here a while and… work on my time."

"Ok." I got up to leave. "I'll be back to check on you, ok?"

She nodded again, but didn't look up at me.

I took one last glance at her before I left for base with the others. I knew she felt useless, but I wish she knew how much she mattered, how many people cared about her. I guessed that the best thing I could do for her was to let her think for a while and burn off some steam.

Greenland stayed at the obstacle course the entire night, training relentlessly. I let her be for a while, just letting her do her thing. I knew she'd come back to the hotel room when she was ready. Of course, I wanted to check on her the next morning.

I could hardly believe what I saw.

I got there just in time to see Greenland take off from the starting point. She was totally ready this time, I could tell! She rushed straight forward, not once looking back or to the sides. As she hit the first obstacle, I saw France and China show up out of the corner of my eye. France's jaw dropped. "Is that… Greenland?"

I beamed proudly as she raced through the hurdles with her newfound grace. "Go Greenland! You got this! Keep going!"

From a distance, I saw her smile widely as she kept running. Russia came to see her as well. He laughed as he saw how fast she went! "Is that the same girl we saw yesterday? She looks like a new colony!"

Soon, all the Allies were there to see her run. I could hardly believe what I was seeing! Even Canada cheered as she hit the tightrope! Only, she didn't intend to get across the river that way.

SPLASH! She fell in!

My pride suddenly turned to terror as I watched her slender body plunge into the icy waters beneath. "Greenland! Hang in there, I'm-!"

Britain caught me by the shoulder. "Wait, look!"

I turned back to see that she was swimming across the river. She took to water like a fish! I jumped up in the air and threw my fist up in victory. "YEAH! That's my colony!"

Greenland leapt out of the water and threw her coat off as she ran for the wall. She only slipped once, but quickly regained her footing and kept climbing. She hit the ground running and tore over the finish line. She did it! She conquered the obstacle course! I could barely contain my excitement as I rushed over and threw my arms around her. "Greenland! That was AWSOME!"

She looked up at me with those big bright eyes of hers. "You are proud of me?"

"Uh-duh, I am! You did great out there!"

Her face lit up and she let go of another smile.

Russia patted her on the back. "Da! That was very good!"

"You really made an improvement from yesterday," Britain added.

"I never knew you could swim so fast!" Canada gave her a friendly smile. "That was really cool!"

We all gave our new teammate a few words of encouragement at her job well done. She seemed a little bashful at the sudden attention, but couldn't hold back that smile of hers. I knew she was exhausted from training all night and all day yesterday. When we got home, she crashed hard. Her whole body was sore, but she was happy, and I was proud of her. After she took a hot shower, she flopped down on the bed and slept like a rock. I laughed to myself as I took one last look at her before closing the door. "Sleep well, Greenland."

Yay! She did it! What adventures await our heros in the next chapter? Keep reading to find out!