Hi! Sorry it's been so long since I updated. I haven't forgotten about this, I promise! Things have been crazy lately, although I did manage to make some very very minor edits in the earlier chapters, and post a really short one-shot. If it makes up for the delay, this chapter is a little longer than most of the other ones. If you would like to suggest an idea for a chapter, just let me know, even if it has to go in-between two others (although I do have a basic plan for where the story will go, so I may not be able to take all suggestions :( ) Anyway, the only character that is mine is Wegener. I hope you enjoy chapter 9!

Wegener's eyes were wide and unblinking.

"Are you okay?" Iceland asked. He could only imagine what the little guy was going through. Actually, he wasn't really all that little anymore. Sure, he was still a kid, and about seven or eight if he had to guess, but he was a tall kid. Long gone were the days of picking Wegener up and carrying him around, or of telling him bedtime stories. He would miss those days. As bad as it sounded, some days Iceland found himself just wishing he could get littler Wegener back. It wasn't that he didn't like Wegener now, not at all, it was just that… Wegener needed him less and less...and less. But he was so proud of him. Especially now.

Wegener nodded, although he was otherwise frozen in place. Today was the day that he got his first citizens. Today was the day that he went from having just his own voice in his head to hundreds. After several years, scientists deemed the north-easternmost part of the island safe from the island's volcano, which was still causing the island to grow quite literally away from Iceland. Buildings had been going up there for the past few months, and today, they all opened.

Nobody could relate to Wegener today, say 'I know, I've been there too,' or 'this is what you should do.' Iceland had been connected to his citizens ever since he could remember. To go from almost human to this must be incomprehensible.

Everyone was visiting Finland right now. Wegener didn't want to be on his island today. Actually, he hadn't been back since he was found. So, to distract him, Finland offered to let everyone visit...and everyone may or may not have gathered to try to convince Wegener to be with his people today.

"How's he doing?" Finland asked, walking to the kitchen for his morning coffee.

"Alright." I think.

Wegener had stopped answering a few hours ago. That had been moved to the bottom of his priority list. It wasn't that getting citizens was bad, he had been waiting for this day forever! It was just…overwhelming. Actually going to the island…it would just be too much right now. He wanted to go run to Iceland and be told everything was okay so badly he almost felt tears prick his eyes, but he couldn't. He was really a nation now. He had citizens now (well, technically they were Icelandic citizens, but still). He had to be big.

"Wegener?" Wegener blinked to see Denmark waving a hand in front of his face. "Ya there little dude?"

"Huh?"

"L'sten Wegen'r," Sweden said, sitting down on the coffee table across from the couch that Wegener was sitting on so that they were both seeing eye to eye. "I get why 'y d'nt want t' go to your island," he started to say, even though nobody understood why he didn't want to go, " b't this 's something 'y have to do...as a nation." Wegener looked around at all of the Nordics. Did they set this up? Did all of them gather here just to tell him he had to go to the island? "Look. I d'nt want 't force 'y to-"

"I'll go." Wegener said quickly. Just agreeing and going to the island would be less problematic than sitting here arguing an argument that he would lose anyway. He had learned that a while back.

Norway glanced at Sweden, and then his two little brothers anxiously.

"Iceland...I thought you knew but we think-" his sentence drifted off into nothingness quickly.

"You think what?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. He knew that tone.

"We think," Finland said gently, stepping in, "that it's time for Wegener to go to his island with his people."

"And?" Iceland didn't see where they were going with this. Did they not just agree to do just that?"

"Permanently," Finland finished.

That snapped Wegener out of his near-coma, not to mention put Iceland in one.

"What!?" THIS wasn't what they all agreed on convincing Wegener of (and had come an awfully long way to do). "He's only eight! Are you insane?"

"An eight year old nation Iceland," Norway interjected.

"Besides Wegener, you strike me more as looking like a nine year old to me," Denmark said in a weak attempt at humor that fell flat at the end.

"But-"

"He needs to be with his people."

"All nations grow up something like this."

"He'll be perfectly fine."

Wegener ground his teeth together in frustration. Did anyone care what he thought?

"No. You cannot do this to him," Iceland went on. "Don't worry Wegener," he said in a lower tone so that only Wegener could here.
This went on for a while, but In the end, Wegener bent to the pressure of the other Nordics. All it took was one word: 'okay,' which he didn't really mean, to seal the deal.

They were on a boat headed for Wegener's island before lunch, having already taken a flight to Iceland. Wegener sat by Iceland on the way there by the boat's railing. The wind whipped his blond hair around, stinging his ears and eyes occasionally. This was what he wanted. He wanted to grow up and be big and drink coffee and have his own citizens and go to meetings. And now he would do all of that. Well, maybe not the coffee, but everything else. But… he didn't want it now. Well that wasn't true, he did, he was sooo excited about that part, but all that excitement was smothered by...by dread. He didn't want to grow up to drink coffee and go to meetings; he wanted to grow up to drink coffee with Iceland and go to meetings with Iceland.

"Are you sure about this?" Iceland asked for the hundredth time.

"Yes Iceland." He couldn't go back now.

The six of them later got off the boat and walked around, meeting the new citizens and trying to get Wegener acquainted with them. Not that they needed to, Wegener already felt like he knew every one of them, which was weird to say the least. The people, his people, had come from all over the world to explore the new island. They were excited. They were scared. They were curious about the island and their new neighbors and anxious about starting over somewhere.

Just like him.

Everyone went to Wegener's house (his house, how crazy was that?) pretty early. Wegener had not up for much that afternoon, and ended up just watching a British horror movie while everyone else went to sleep. He could faintly hear the other nations talking a few rooms away.

"Iceland," Norway said.

"I don't want to talk to you."

"Iceland?" came Finland's voce.

"Or you."

"You had to know this was coming."

"How about a warning next time."

"Ice-"

"You knew-" Iceland said, cutting Denmark off and narrowing his eyes at Norway. "You knew I've been worrying about this since before he could even talk, and then you go and-"

"Iceland he's not a little kid anymore, you had to know-"

"Get. Out." Wegener turned the volume of the movie up. Iceland almost never used that tone with anyone, and when he did- watch out. He didn't want to witness what happened next.

He didn't make it through the movie (particularly the part where the ghosts and zombies were defeated) and ended up fast asleep on the couch in front of the television. Four hours later, he woke with a start, not recognizing where he was for a moment before all the memories came rushing back to him. He sighed and closed his eyes again, too tired to go to his room. Where was his room anyway? Just when he was starting to fall asleep again, he heard a clink and bolted up. It was a ghost! If that movie had proven anything, it was that what he just heard was a ghost...or maybe just the two chains on the ceiling fan clinking into each other. Clink. Wegener had been watching the ceiling fan that time, and that wasn't the noise. He jumped up off the couch, making the cold floor creak and send a chill up his spine.

Ghost! Zombie! Who cared, his feet carried him down the hall to where he had heard Iceland talking earlier in a fraction of a second.

"Iceland," he called, bursting through the door. But the only person in the room was Norway.

"Wegener?" he whispered groggily, sitting up. Wrong room.

"Sorry," Wegener muttered hastily, cracking open the next door and running in upon seeing silver hair spread out over the pillow.

"Iceland!" He ran over and shook his caretakers shoulder. Iceland groaned and turned over on his other side, still asleep. "Iceland!" he tried again, running over to his other side.

"Hmph." Iceland pulled the covers up over his head, only half-awake now. Wegener reached over to the table beside him, and turned the lamp on, shining it right in Iceland's face.

"Get. Up."

"Alright, alright, geez kid, I'm up." He looked over to where Wegener stood, still fully dressed in his clothes from the previous day. His eyes scanned his for a moment before coming to a conclusion.

"I told you not to watch that movie."

"Can I stay in here tonight?" He checked over his shoulder.

"Sure," Iceland said smiling. Wegener climbed into his arms.

"When are you leaving?"

Iceland was taken aback. "Whenever you want me to I guess."

"I never want you to leave though."

Iceland's chest shook as he laughed quietly. "Maybe not that long." Wegener sighed and sunk into the pillows, completely exhausted.

Maybe Wegener did still need him.

Just then there was a tap on the door and Norway stepped in.

"He okay?"

"Yeah," Iceland said quietly while patting his hair. "Asleep now." Wegener tried not to laugh as his trick worked. They thought he was asleep. He wanted to wait until Iceland was half asleep and then jump up shouting BOO at the top of his lungs, like the ghosts in the movie. But then they started talking, and he focused on evening out his breaths so that he could listen.

"Are you okay?"

Iceland glared at his older brother for an uncomfortable amount of time before sneering "sure."

"Icey-" Norway paused, shuddering upon realizing that he just used Denmark's nickname. "Iceland, we really weren't trying to throw all of this upon either of you. I- we all just assumed that he would move here once he actually got his own people."

There was another uncomfortable silence. "And you never thought to mention this?"

"I'm truly sorry Iceland. It didn't occur to us."

Iceland sighed, he still didn't see why it was supposed to be so obvious that Wegener should live here as of today, just as Norway couldn't see why it wasn't obvious to his brother. " 'S okay I guess"

"Is it?" Norway questioned.

"What do you mean?"

"Is he going to be okay here?" Iceland frowned and looked over at the sleeping (or so he thought) form of Wegener. They both were thinking the same thing. Pretty soon there would be nobody there for him to run to when he got scared…
"If he really can't handle being here, I don't think any of us can force him…" Norway said, frowning.

"As long as he's okay, I'm okay."

"I'm okay," Wegener said, sitting up suddenly, making Iceland jump.

"Sorry; thought you were asleep." It was plain as day that Wegener was anything but okay. His eyebrows were pulled together ever so slightly, making a little crease in-between them, and his eyes shone with a thin layer of tears.

"I'll let you two talk," Norway said, nodding sympathetically before leaving.

"Sorry for snapping at you earlier," Iceland whispered before the door closed, earning another nod and if he saw correctly, ghost of a smile before the door closed. He would have to apologize to the others in the morning as well.

"Are you sure you're okay? You can come back if you're not." Iceland turned to find Wegener with his eyes closed, a bit too tight, lying motionless on the bed. "Nice try. I know you're awake. You're not avoiding this conversation."

Wegener grumbled and sat up. "I said I was okay."

"Well you don't look it."

Wegener looked away, trying to blink the moisture out of his eyes without Iceland noticing. The truth was, he didn't want to be on his own quite yet. He didn't really understand it; all he had been wishing for lately was to be all grown up and a real nation like the others, but now that he actually was really starting to get his wish, he wasn't ready for it. He was scared and unsure and somewhat awestruck, yet anxious.

But so were his people. This place was new to them too. Finland had told him a while back that nations exist for their people. He would be with them from day one, always by their side, never missing a thing.

"I'm going to stay," he said with so much conviction that not even Iceland could protest.

"Okay," Iceland said, in slight disbelief, right before being smothered by one of Wegener's hugs.

"We can still visit each other though, right?"

"Of course."

Once Wegener was sound asleep (for real) Iceland went to get a glass of water. He wasn't really thirsty, he just needed to walk around for a bit. As soon as he stepped out of the room though, he saw Norway leaning against the wall next to the door.

"Gah!" Iceland jumped. "You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days." Norway chuckled softly, his thin white smile standing out against the dark. "Were you eavesdropping?"

"Maybe." Norway left it at that.

"Why are you even still up?"

"You said you were okay," he replied simply.

"Yeah, and?"

"I've already told you: you're a terrible liar."

"I'll be fine."

"Undoubtedly."

Iceland stopped walking and looked at Norway. "I fail to see what your point is."

"Alright, it's just that-" Norway paused, fighting the urge to just pat his younger brother on the shoulder and go back to bed. He had never been very good with the emotional stuff with Iceland, who had taken after him. "I know that you're missing how things used to be with Wegener, and you're right, you'll never get those days back."

"...Are you trying to help?"

"Yes," Norway narrowed his eyes at Iceland. "As I was saying, you'll never get those days back, but...how do I put this," he mumbled. Iceland raised an eyebrow. "Look. He had just started talking at one point, and you loved it. And then, when he started talking clearly you were a little upset because he was growing up. But then you got to help him start walking, and you loved that. You may be saying goodbye to this past era, but you're saying hello to the next one as well."

Norway had remarked on more than one occasion that Iceland had started talking to him more lately...but so had Norway. This might be the most Norway had ever said at once...ever.

"Oh...um, thanks Norway." Norway simply nodded and went back to his room. Iceland went back to his room as well without the glass of water, and simply sat on the bed, staring up at the ceiling while patting Wegener's hair. He was so proud of him and his decision. He couldn't wait to see what the next so-called 'era' would bring...but he sure would miss this one.

Well there you go...I'll try to end on a happier note in the future. I won't take so long to put chapter 10 up, sorry again. Unfortunately, I'll probably be bringing this story to a close within the next few chapters. :( And of course, thank you to all who read, favorited, followed and reviewed. Special thanks to Transformers' BABY, Miss Akiyata, PianoKeys4, and an unnamed guest (you know who you are :)) Due to a bit of confusion, I'd like to clear things up and say that Wegener is NOT Surtsey. Constructive criticism (did any part of this seem a bit rushed to you?) and reviews are greatly appreciated. Thanks!