Author's Note: Alright, so here is chapter four. As usual, only the character Wegener is mine. I apologize for the short length of this chapter, but I hope you enjoy it anyhow. Thanks for reading!
Being a little kid had it's perks, Iceland had to admit. First and foremost, you could sleep and be carried when you had to leave ridiculously early in the morning to make a flight to Australia for a world meeting.
Being the guardian of a little kid also had it's perks as well. You could board planes before most of the other passengers. Of course, that only meant that you were stuck on a plane with a screaming kid who had just woken up fifteen minutes longer than everyone else.
Australia. It had been a while since Iceland had visited the southern hemisphere. He liked Australia, but the season change never failed to take him by surprise. It was the dead of winter in Iceland, yet he was headed towards incredibly hot conditions. They weren't going to the hottest place in Australia, but it had been reaching just under halfway to boiling some places there lately. He dressed for cold weather to go to the airport, but knew he'd regret it later. Not that he was focused on that right now- more so on the screaming Wegener in his arms. This would be a long flight...People were already starting to throw him nasty looks. If only Wegener would stop wailing (Iceland had tried everything trying to get him to stop), then everyonecould get some much needed sleep. It didn't look like that would happen anytime soon though.
Iceland woke as the plane shook. Turbulence. He was okay with normal flights, but when the plane started shaking around, he got nervous. Out the window, the lights on the wing tips rose and fell with the violent wind currents. Then Iceland realized something: Wegener was gone. He went into full panic mode, unbuckling his seat belt and jumping up, wide eyed, ready to tear the plane apart if he had to. Heck, Iceland wasn't even on the same plane as he was before!
A strong hand suddenly came down on Iceland's shoulder and shoved him back down into his seat. Norway.
"Shh. People are sleeping. You're going to cause a scene."
"But Wegener's-"
"Right there," Norway answered, gesturing across the isle towards his left, where Wegener was sprawled out on his back, mouth open, across the laps of the other 3 Nordics. All four were fast asleep. How Finland and Denmark managed to sleep while sitting up was beyond him.
"You don't remember anything do you?" Iceland shook his head slowly.
Norway sighed. "We got on our connecting flight a few hours back. Wegener cried all through the first one," he said, grimacing. That much Iceland remembered. How could he not? "By then, you were pretty much dead on your feet and on autopilot, and we were honestly pretty worried that you would just collapse and drop Wegener, so Sweden carried him for you. Then Denmark wanted to...then Finland. Long story short, they all started fighting over Wegener and very nearly got us kicked off our second flight at the gate"
"They?" Iceland teased, noticing a cut by Norway's ear. Norway must have been fighting over Wegener as well.
Norway just glared. "I don't know how you forgot all that." Iceland shrugged. It wasn't particularly rare for his memory to slip when he was really tired.
The plane gave another violent jolt and Iceland clutched the edge of the seat. Norway looked at him from over the magazine he was reading: one of the boring ones that they put in the back pocket of airplane seats even though almost nobody reads them.
"You're scared of flying." he stated plainly.
"Am not!"
"Are too."
"Am not!"
Norway leaned back in his chair and continued to read his magazine. He wasn't getting sucked into a childish game of 'am not, are too.'
"Well if you are," he said, not looking away from his magazine, "you only have to say so."
Iceland looked out the window again. He couldn't even see the wing tips through the storm clouds, just the blurry blinks of the lights on the end. He considered, really considered telling Norway that he wasn't fond of (to put it lightly) flying through storms. Norway could really help when he wanted to. On the other hand though, he didn't want to look like a little kid...especially when he was taking care of one himself.
A clap of thunder and a violent gust of wind shook the plane. This time you could hear all of the carry-on bags slam against the doors of the overhead compartments. Iceland inhaled sharply, grabbing at the wall and seat in front of him.
Norway suppressed a laugh. Iceland was as relaxed about this flight just about as much as America disliked fast food. The only response from the other Nordics was Denmark shifting slightly in his sleep.
The plane suddenly dropped a feet and wobbled. Iceland stood up and squeezed past a surprised Norway into the aisle suddenly. Norway frowned, poking his head around the edge of the seat. Hopefully Iceland wasn't getting motion sickness. This was a long enough flight for everyone as it was. But no, Iceland just tiptoed across the aisle and grabbed Wegener back from the other nordics, who could probably sleep through a tornado. Wegener was getting heavy quickly; the island was still growing pretty rapidly. Actually, Iceland suspected that had been why Wegener was so fussy on the first flight. Volcanoes hurt!
He sat down in his seat by the window again, and propped Wegener up between his arm and his chest. Wegener sighed and mumbled some baby-gibberish in his sleep. Iceland couldn't wait until he could talk. It had only been a few weeks (in which the nordics had insisted on staying with Iceland and making sure everything would be okay) since he found Wegener but he had become more and more impatient to find out just what the little island was thinking. So many languages were being spoken around him though, it would be a miracle if he picked up on one correctly at this point. Iceland was jolted from his thoughts when the plane took a sharp veer to the left (making the three nordics on the other side of the plane slide over and crush Sweden against the wall of the plane- though miraculously none of them woke up) then a slight veer to the right. Many of the other sleeping passengers awoke with a grumble, although Iceland just rested his chin on Wegener's head and inhaled that baby-scent that smelled like soap and cotton.
Norway watched all of this from over the top of his magazine. "Well he seems to have calmed you down."
Iceland just grunted - a sound that neither confirmed nor opposed Norway's comments, and frowned out the window.
"What now?" Norway sighed.
Iceland looked over to him and raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Well you're obviously still upset about something." Norway wouldn't have Iceland moping around for the next several days, especially with the focus that would be on he and Wegener at the meeting.
Iceland paused, wavering for a moment, before deciding to talk. Norway was in shock. Iceland rarely ever opened up to anybody about what he was feeling, just like himself. Maybe (Norway hoped) he was just coming out of a teenage phase and would start talking to them all more openly again. Somehow, he doubted it.
"You were all fighting over him earlier. I know it was just to hold him- but what you said a few weeks ago is true. What if other countries try to take him and I can't protect him? Plus I mean, a good portion of countries declare independence eventually. What if-" Iceland stopped when he saw Norway staring at him while he talked. "What?"
"I didn't say anything. Continue."
Iceland shrugged. "That's it." Norway continued to stare off into space, thinking. "I believe this is part where you tell me that I'm just being stupid and over imaginative and not to worry." Iceland suggested.
"But you're reasons for worrying are perfectly legitimate."
Iceland heaved a sigh. It may have been been better for his peace of mind not to talk to Norway.
"One way or another, you've got us backing you up, and there's no use worrying about a future you can't control. As for the other Nations, we'll see at the meeting won't we?" Norway said.
"Yeah." This was doing little to put his mind at rest. Boy, this would be an interesting meeting.
"You've got a couple more hours left until we land. I suggest you use it and sleep while you can."
Iceland nodded, although he didn't appreciate being told what to do like he was Wegener's age again. He leaned his head against the wall of the plane and was halfway asleep when Wegener began stirring- followed by his loud baby babbling and struggles to get up and explore. Iceland sighed while Norway laughed next to him.
Well, there went his last few hours of sleep.
Author's Note: I'm leaving soon and don't know if I'll have internet while I'm gone. Therefore, I wanted to post something (even if it wasn't much) before I left. If I have internet, then the updates will continue as normal, but if not they may be a week or so. Thanks to everyone who favorited and followed, as well as PianoKeys4, .143, Miss Akiyata, SomeSnowInShell, and Transformers' BABY for the nice and helpful reviews! Some errors in the past chapters have been brought up so I will fix those ASAP, and I was also told about another island called Surtsey that sounds a lot like how Wegener was described. I had really hoped to include Surtsey in this chapter, but I needed to get a chapter out before I leave, and researching Surtsey would take a little more time. It will be in the next chapter though! :) Reviews are very much appreciated and please don't hesitate to point out any errors or criticize so long as criticism is kept constructive. Oh, and one last thing (sorry) if you review, but would not like your name mentioned, please let me know!