The sun still gave us several hours of daylight left, but we had cream colored lights draped around the band platform and were hanged above the dance floor, ready for when night rolls in. Small candle lanterns were set on each guest table and were aligned along the buffet table. The reception was in full swing as Uncle Alex, Kupunakane and The Fedoras jammed out on stage. People packed themselves on the dance floor, each one showing off their moves.

I was on my feet the entire time, maybe taking ten minutes to eat and drink. I walked around visiting family friends and neighbors, introducing them to Arthur, Francis and Matthew whenever I got the chance. Mostly because I loved the look Arthur gave when he had to choke out, 'Yes, Francis is my boyfriend.' Every time he said it his voice and face grew in bitterness, but yet Francis would still wear his million dollar smile and coo over his Angleterre.

I on the other hand would laugh my ass off.

When a song I loved played (which was pretty much every song) I would drag one of the nations to the dance floor. Matthew and Francis happily followed my lead while Arthur occasionally complained. Luckily for me, I had Francis and Matthew on my side to make him dance. Alyce and Roman were able to gather their cousins and any other child from the party into a large group. They would hop and twirl around the dance floor, play soccer or toss around a stick with Lady on the sandy shore. The bride and groom twirled with one another but would also separate to dance with family and friends. Mom and Dad were sitting with the Russos and the Chens, chatting happily with one another. Aunt Emily was dancing with her daughters, along with Kupunawahine. Melissa couldn't stand on her feet for too long, but she had Sanjay and Josefina to keep her company. Rafael, Eduardo, and Aaron were drinking with Neill. I even caught Grandma Aponi dancing with James when he got a break from playing.

I smiled at the scene, I was worried she would be lonely without Grandpa but she seems to be having fun. I caressed Grandpa's ring as the thought came and went.

"Amy!" Ella called out and hugged me from behind.

"Where have you been?" Sam asked, "We've been looking for you."

"I was just dancing with my bros," I proclaimed as I untangled myself free from Ella's gasp.

Daniela's eyes widened, "Oh right, your biological half-brothers."

"That certainly isn't a mouth full," stated Sam.

I rolled my eyes and Dimitri cracked a grin, "Well aren't you going to introduce us."

"Sure," I smiled, and gestured for the nations to stand beside me. "This is Arthur Kirkland and Matthew Williams my half-brothers." I gestured to my friends, "You guys have met Michel and Jamie," they both gave a little wave. I moved along, "this is Sam Collins," Sam was dressed in a simple dress button down shirt with dark slacks and had his blond dreads tied in a messy, but yet stylish bun. "Daniela Aguero and Ella Chasse," both girls gave a smile. "Heisuke Sato," I gestured to a Japanese boy a little taller than me, wearing a dress shirt, slacks and a blazer. His shaggy black hair bounced forward when he bowed and gave a swift greeting. "And last but not least is Dimitri Maier." Dimitri wore a black dress shirt that outlined his wide gymnast body with khakis and black dress shoes. He was a few inches taller than Francis and had his short dark hair brushed back.

"And who's this?" Ella pointed to Francis.

My smile grew wider, "Arthur can answer that."

Arthur tensed and Francis bashed his lashes at him. Arthur tried not to glare and swallowed his pride, "This is Francis Bonnefoy." He slowly, and painfully, wrapped his arm around Francis', "my life partner," he smiled through gritted teeth.

Michel, Jamie and I shared a humorous grin.

Daniela nodded, "nice to meet you," she shook Francis's hand.

"The honor is mine, I heard you and Ella were the ones that designed Celine's dress. I must say, you girls have amazing taste." Francis proclaimed.

Ella's eyes sparked to life, "Oui, and please tell me, you're a high end fashion designer, here to sign us up for a clothing line?!"

Francis blinked, lifted a brow and said, "No."

The spark in Ella's eyes died, "Then you are of no use to me."

Daniela elbowed her, "Could you be any ruder?! I'm sorry she does not have, what the Americans say, a filter."

"I am only being truthful," Ella exclaimed.

Sam shook his head, "you can learn to be less harsh about it."

Heisuke stepped forward, "please don't take Ella-chan's words to heart, she is just honest."

"More like blunt," Michel added.

"All of you are just envious of the courage I possess to speak my mind," Ella smiled wickedly.

Before we could say anything else, Celine called out, "It's time to toss the bouquet!" Single women squealed and swarmed onto the dance floor. Ella pulled an unwilling Daniela into the crowd as Jamie and I stood in the back. The boys and the nations stood behind us, staying out of the way. Celine turned her back to us and on the count three, tossed it in the air; but she threw it too far and it passed right over Jamie's head. On cue the crowd turns and we found the bouquet of pink tulips in Arthur's hands.

There is a God in this world, and he has an awesome sense of humor. Jamie and I burst out laughing as Arthur stared at the bouquet with a mix of horror and confusion.

"Congratulations Arthur!" Celine called out.

"What? No!" Arthur exclaimed, "This should go to a woman, Amy take it!"

"I don't want it," I lifted my hands in mock surrender.

"Jamie!" Arthur turned to her.

"Don't look at me," she replied.

Arthur didn't give up; he tried, almost begged for any of the women from the crowd to take the bouquet. The women politely declined and reassured him to keep it. Arthur was left in the middle of the dance floor, looking like he was about to cry.

Francis came up behind him and wrapped his arms around Arthur's waist, "You can't change fate Angleterre. You and I are meant to be together," Francis said lovingly.

Arthur finally snapped. "I will never be yours you bloody wanker!" He smacked Francis in the face with the bouquet, knocking him down. Arthur then took his chance to beat Francis with the bouquet. The stems of the flowers broke as pink petals flew through the air and scattered to the floor. After several hits, Arthur threw the damaged bouquet to the ground and stomped away, cursing the entire way.

People shifted from one foot to the other in awkward silence as Francis rose to his feet, and shook out the petals from his hair. "He's a little shy," he said as he walked in the direction where Arthur stormed off; giving apologetic replies to anyone he crossed.

"I'm gonna go make sure they don't kill each other," Matthew whispered in my ear and followed Francis.

"Well, that was certainly a show," Sam remarked.

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Sherlock," I countered sarcastically.

The band quickly begins another song as Uncle Alex grabs the microphone. He streamed his fingers over his guitar strings and sang 'Locked Out of Heaven' by Bruno Mars. Family and friends tried to ease the tension by pulling people back onto the dance floor. Jamie hauled Heisuke into the crowd as Ella and Daniela grabbed for Sam and Michel. I tapped my foot to the beat till Dimitri nudged me with his arm.

"I am waiting," he proclaimed.

"For what?" I asked.

"For you to ask me to dance," he smiled childishly.

I rolled my eyes, "Dimitri, do you want to dance with me?" I asked.

His smile became flirtatious, "I thought you would never ask."

I shook my head and yanked him to the center of the dance floor. We rapidly adapt to the beat of the song and shuffled our feet in sync. We were half serious about dancing, mostly we just goofed off and displayed our corniest moves. Then he would hold my hand as I did some exaggerated version of a flapper's shuffle. He grinned and took his turn to show off his moves. He spins himself fast, stopped and shook his hips unevenly to the tempo.

I laughed, "What is that? A cow's got better rhythm."

He narrowed his eyes at me, "Are you making fun of me Ms. Hawkfeather."

"A little, yes," I smirked.

He lifted a brow at me and then a sly grin spreads from ear to ear. In one swift move, he flipped me over his back and I yelped in a girly squeal. My waist was right over his shoulder and my face was inches away from his lower back. He struts off the floor as guests smiled, laughed and cracked a few jokes.

"Dimitri, what are you doing? Put me down!" I exclaimed.

"Oh, I will," he said mischievously.

At that moment I heard the waves clash against the shore. Dimitri discards his shoes in the dry sand, then took off my shoes and tossed them next to his. He stood near the shore line as the water caressed his toes.

I tensed, "You wouldn't dare."

He grinned, "I would." He sprinted into the ocean, lifted me off his shoulder and threw me into the water.

My bottom splashed into the surface as the cool salty water soaked into my dress. I was completely submerged till I hastily rose to my feet with a gasp. The water circled around my waist as the humid air of the afternoon made my body shiver.

I glared at Dimitri, "You're dead." I splashed my hand over the surface in his direction. He turns back and I chased after him, kicking water at him.

"Let's go swimming!" Gael exclaimed and ran to the ocean's shore, kicking off his shoes and tossing aside his blazer, tie and vest as he did. The children followed suite before their parents could protest, discarding their blazers and shoes before they hit the water. Lady leaped after them, running around the children and dodging the water's edge.

Roman, Valencia and Blair came to my aid by splashing Dimitri at his front and sides. This gave me the opportunity to tackle him into the ocean. We fell back as a wave crashed against our backs. We were under the water for a second till Dimitri sat up with me in his lap. We looked at one another and we couldn't help but laugh.

"Group hug!" Michel called out and jumped on top of us, soaking his clothes with one splash. Jamie leaped in and pulled me under another wave. When I surfaced, it became a free for all. Ella splashed at Heisuke as Sam kicked water at Daniela. The kids joined in by splashing water at one another and ducking each other under the surface. The late afternoon was then filled with playful banter, excited screams and childish laughter.

Twilight's light gleamed over the surface of the water as the day waned down. The children were still going strong, but the older teens no longer had the stamina to continue.

"Where in the bloody hell do they get all that energy from?" Sam asked.

I shrugged, "I put my money on the cake."

My friends and I laid out on the sandy shore, watching as the kids played in the water and the sun set over the horizon. I sat between Dimitri and Michel while Sam had placed his head in Jamie's lap. Ella was draped over his waist. Her elbows were in the sand as her hands supported her face. Heisuke sat beside Michel and had Daniela on his right, her head resting on his shoulder. We allowed the peaceful atmosphere to calm us, but this moment didn't last.

"Lady!" Lali cried, "Give me back my shoe!"

Lady jumped away from Lali's grasp and placed her front paws out with her tail in the air. Lady was being playful, but clearly Lali was cranky and didn't want to join in her game. Lady leaped into a sprint across the beach, Lali whined and tried to run but she was too tired. Blake came in and gestured for her to stay as he chased after Lady.

"Run Forest! Run!" Michel called out and everyone laughed.

I grinned and rose to my feet, "I'll be back." I sprinted after Blake, my feet sinking into the sand with every step. The ocean's waves brushed against my toes and heels as my second wind kicked in. In the distance, I spotted Lady and Blake stop in front of a tall man. My brows knitted in concern as I pushed myself forward.

This man had stooped down to pull the shoe from Lady's mouth and hand it to Blake. He wore a long sleeved white shirt with khakis. As I got closer, I noticed that he had a white scarf wrapped around his neck. His hair was silver but when the sun's rays clashed against it, it took on the color of white. I stopped inches away from the scene as Blake turned to me and violet eyes met mine.

"Hello Amy," Ivan greeted with a fake smile.

"Aunt Amy," Blake ran to my side and buried his face in my dress. Lady followed and growled softly at Ivan from my right.

I wrapped my arms around him, "did he do anything to you?" I whispered.

He shook his head and whimpered softly, "his aura's scary," he was beginning to tremble and I squeezed his shoulder affectionately.

"Blake, go," I told him firmly.

"But-"

"Don't question me." I made my eyes hard and pushed him gently in the direction we came from.

He was hesitant and I snapped, "Go!" It pained me to raise my voice at him, but I refused for Ivan to be any closer to my nephew than he already was. Blake flinched and ran back to the party.

Once he was a good distance away from us, I turned to Ivan along with Lady bearing her teeth, "What the hell do you want," I commanded.

The waves splashed against Blake's ankles as he sprinted across the beach. His mind was spinning with thoughts of his encounter with the silver haired man. When he first saw the man's aura, Blake's immediate instincts were to run in the opposite direction. Yet he stayed; fear had frozen him in place. The man's aura was a mix of rueful dark crimson, greedy brown and murderous black. It was difficult but Blake was able look beyond those traits to discover the man's true celestial golden aura.

Then his thoughts turned to Amy, how her bright shining gold dimmed and flickered with fearful red when she saw the man. He never saw Amy so frighten before, but yet her gold seemed to thrive back to life when she turned her eyes on Blake. The moment Amy focused her attention on him, bright orange; the color of courage surged through her and her protective nature took the lead. Yet he knew Amy couldn't face that man alone.

She needed a hero, a person that could stand up to a living spirit.

"Dimitri!" he called out, "Dimitri!"

A figure rose and Blake caught sight of a silver aura glistening in the light of the twilight sun. Blake quickly remembered what his great grandfather used to say about people with silver auras. They had strong leadership skills, a noble heart and a selfless personality. They were also the rare breed of humans that were compatible with living spirits.

He sprinted to Blake's side, "what's wrong?"

"Aunt Amy," he panted and pointed in the direction where she was. "A man is there and he's not nice."

The moment the words left his lips, Dimitri's eyes widened in concern, "stay here," he instructed and sprinted in that direction.

Blake knew Dimitri was strong enough to hold off the silver haired country, but it was best to be prepared. He ran back to the crowd of kids and quickly handed back Lali her shoe. He didn't waste time with talking with his cousin. He leaped into the party of adults and began to search frantically for three young men with golden auras.

Colors of blue, yellow and pink surrounded him, but under those colors there were hints of red, green, orange, and indigo. Auras are not as simple as having one color. A person's aura can fuse with other colors, these colors represented emotions. Several colors can also have different meanings and shades.

This blue was kind, while the yellow represented the optimistic and happiness of the mood and the pink was for friendship. To find someone's true color, the one that represents their personality. Blake had to focus and strip away their layers of emotion to reveal their true nature. The process was second nature to him, and this skill was helpful in these types of situations.

He scanned the area, locating Grandma Jessica's passionate red aura and Grandpa John's peaceful green on the dance floor. Blake looked away and collided against Great Aunt Emily.

"Whoa, where's the fire," her aura was the shade of bright yellow, but the true nature behind this yellow was a person that was a perfectionist and an intellectual.

"Have you seen Matthew? Or Arthur? Or Francis?" he asked.

She shook her head, "no."

Blake didn't bother with anything else she had to say and ran further into the crowd. Cheerful light yellow grew even stronger, surrounding him like a fog. Till a table from the distance shimmered with a shade of dark angry red, which Blake used as a guide through the fog.

At the end of the color, he found three young men sitting at that table. One had a calming shade of indigo, the other wore a wounded dark blue and the last held an angry red. But deep down, all of them carried gold.

"I can't believe you embarrassed me in front of everyone like that," Francis hissed at Arthur.

Arthur glared at him his red aura swirled in irritation, "You're the one that's embarrassed? I was humiliated!"

"I was just playing my part," Francis rose to his feet.

Arthur jumped to his feet and snarled, "Playing?! I know that look in your eye and you are definitely not playing!"

At that moment Blake caught a glance of pink and red fusing together with Francis's dark blue.

Matthew stepped between them, the colors of soothing indigo and compassionate green lingered off him. "You two are making a scene, stop," he begged.

Before they could argue any further, Blake sprinted to them and cried, "Help!"

They snapped their attention to him and Arthur sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "What is it lad?"

"There's a country here!"

All three nations widened their eyes at him, their true golden auras shining through the other shades of emotions.

"What did the country look like?" Arthur asked.

"He was tall," he answered, "with silver hair."

Dreadful red took shape in each of their auras but was soon drown out by orange and gold.

"Where is he?" Matthew asked.

"The beach, go left!"

The nations leaped into a full speed run towards the ocean, Blake tried to follow but was stopped by Matthew. "It's too dangerous, stay here."

Blake was left behind in the crowd, watching the golden light of the countries fade away.

Ivan smirked, "I've only come to congratulate your brother and his bride on their wedding day."

"Bullshit," I hissed.

He shrugged, "it is the truth. Well, not entirely, it all started with simple curiosity. I only wished to know more about you, маленький котенок. You didn't really talk much about yourself during the party."

"I was too busy running for my life," I snapped harshly.

His smirk became a cruel childlike smile, "that was fun, Da?"

I glared at him as he continued, "So after the party, I decided to take a look into your files, everything nowadays is online. But to my surprise I found your files locked and sealed. Now I was really curious, what were you hiding?"

"You know the whole evil monologue thing is getting old, real fast," I said with sarcastic venom in my tone. "If you could, you know speed this up a bit, that would be nice."

Ivan chuckled, "Very well, I hired a computer specialist to hack into your files. It took a couple of days, but may I say it was worth it to discover your little secret."

I took a deep breath and summoned all of my courage. "Good for you. Now get the fuck out of my sight!"

His smile disappeared as he moved to stand in front of me. His fists were clutched tightly as his eyes sparked with rage. "You must be mistaken; you think you have the power in this situation." He leaned down, his face mere centimeters from mine. "You don't; I do."

"Amy!" a voice breaks the tension and we turned to find Dimitri running towards us.

Relief surged through me, but that emotion quickly turned to worry and anxiously. Ivan took a step back as Dimitri made his way to stand on my side.

He glanced to me, and then to Ivan, "Is everything okay here," he asked more like a statement than a question.

"Da, everything's fine," Ivan smiled, "we were just having a little chat."

"And he was just leaving," I proclaimed.

"Oh no, not just yet," said Ivan, "I have a message to give you."

Seems like everyone has a fucking message to give me, I thought. Irritation was building inside of me and I was about to tell Ivan to take his message and butt fuck himself with it. Before I could form the words, Dimitri placed himself between me and Ivan, "Then say it, and once you do, you can leave."

"Big talk for a boy," Ivan narrowed his eyes at him in annoyance.

"You have two choices," Dimitri's voice was filled with confidence and authority. "You can pass along your message and leave or I will escort you off the property."

Ivan glared at him, "Listen well boy, this has nothing to do with you. So I suggest you walk away or do you prefer me to beat your face in."

I pulled Dimitri back and was about to threaten Ivan with calling the police till another voice exclaimed, "Ivan."

All three of us looked up to the small cliff of grassy land that separated the brown dirt from the yellow sand. Arthur was standing at the top of the cliff with Francis and Matthew at his side.

"Last I checked you were not invited to the wedding," Arthur proclaimed as he jumped down and stood before him. Francis and Matthew followed and placed themselves beside me. "You have no right to be here."

Ivan smirked, "I believe I do. One of my many duties is to protect our secrets. Clearly all of you do not seem to take that to heart."

"Do you even have a heart?" I remarked.

"Amy, do you know this man?" Dimitri asked.

The nations glanced at him and Francis hissed, "This is not the time Ivan."

Ivan cocked his head to the side, "true, but this time would certainly be the most fun."

"I need you to go," I whispered to Dimitri.

"I'm not leaving you with him," he whispered back.

"I won't be alone with him, I got these guys. Now go, please," I begged softly.

"What's going on? Amy you can tell me."

"I can't. I'm sorry."

His face became expressionless but his dark eyes revealed his disappointment. "Fine, but I will be close by just in case he tries anything." With those final words he walked away, keeping a short enough distance to watch us but far enough not to hear us.

"So I am guessing he does not know," Ivan glanced to me.

I ignored his statement, "What do you have to say that was so important that you had to travel half way across the world to deliver in person."

"Humor me for one more moment," Ivan lifted his index finger to me. "How long have you known?"

I rolled my eyes, "A month."

"A month," he repeated with an ugly smile, "that's must have been quite a shock. All your life you thought you were human and now your life is no longer your own."

"What do you mean by that?"

"A nation's duty is to their country," he looked to Arthur, Francis and Matthew; all three of them glared at him but said nothing. "It is also," he continued, "our responsibility to keep certain things out of the public's eye, we all have learned from experience that it's best to keep civilians out of our business." He turned to me, "Enjoy these moments America," he leaned forward to whisper in my ear, "for they won't last long."

Before I could counter with a sassy comeback, he stepped back and walked away.

We walked across the beach in silence. The nations walked ahead of me as Dimitri and Lady took my sides. During this time, I tried to come up with an excuse for Ivan, but Dimitri didn't buy it.

"You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to," he proclaimed.

I sighed and asked him to keep quiet about Ivan. He agreed with no argument and kept walking. When we returned to the party, the sun was setting and the lights and lanterns began to twinkle. Dimitri gestured me to go hang with the gang, but I could feel Arthur's gaze on me. I turned to him and the expression on his face read, 'we need to talk.' I declined Dimitri's offer and walked off with nations to sit at a far off table; away from the crowd of party guests.

As I took my seat, Lady slid her head on my lap to comfort me. I smiled and scratched her behind her ears.

"What did Ivan say to you?" Arthur asked.

"About my moments of life not lasting for long; is that just a poetic way of saying that he wants to kill me?" I joked.

Before Arthur could lecture me about not taking situations like this seriously; his phone alerted him of an email, so did Francis' and Matthew's. They shared a worried look with one another and checked their emails.

Arthur's eyes widened as Francis gave a small gasp and Matthew groaned softly, "oh God, no."

I knitted my brows in confusion, "What is it?"

Arthur sighed, "Ivan has just sent an email to every nation, an email containing your files."

Translations:

Russian: маленький котенок (little kitten)