Eventually, the meeting ended, and the others slowly filed out until it was only me, Alfred and Matthew, Arthur and Francis, Yao Wang and Kiku Honda Kiku, Roderich, Ludwig and Gilbert, Antonio, Feliciano and Lovino, Ivan and Natalia, and Berwald and Tino. Matthew had moved significantly closer to my seat, as had Alfred, though I wasn't sure why. Gilbert had taken it upon himself to wake Greece, whose name I now knew to be Heracles. He left right away, presumably to find somewhere else to finish his nap.

We were now, all seventeen of us, arranged around the table. Don't ask me why these particular people decided to stay in the room, because their reasons, quite frankly, escape me. I was in the middle, and to my left, going outward, was: Arthur, Alfred, Matthew, Ludwig, Feliciano, Lovino, Antonio, and Yao. On my other side, or to my right, going outwards, was: Gilbert, Francis, Kiku, Roderich, Ivan, Natalia, Tino, and Berwald.

"Now, Lillian," Arthur said gently. "What was it you were trying to say before the meeting?"

I had to think for a moment. So many things were going on in my head at that moment, and some of it was so jumbled I couldn't understand it. Finally, I remembered.

"Oh," I said, "oh, right." I looked at all of them in turn, then continued. "I really think that I should be going home now. My friends and dorm mates are probably missing me right about now, and—" I stopped short; they were all looking at me sympathetically. Even Berwald, whom I have never seen have any expression other than one of either indifference or creepiness. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" I was starting to get frustrated, practically crying. If one more person looked at me like that, I was going to—

"Lillian, poppet," Arthur interrupted my thoughts. I looked at him, and I guess my emotions were obvious, because he reached out and put his hand over mine. "I'm so sorry." I almost asked him why, but something about his expression told me he wasn't finished. "You cannot go home."

"What?" I said, almost laughing. It was a nervous laugh, though. It was a laugh that said, Please, tell me you're joking. Tell me that this is not happening. It sunk in after a few minutes, though. "What do you mean I can't go home? Why not?" I asked with tears in my eyes, in my voice. I turned my hand over and returned Arthur's grip, for support. At that moment, it was the only thing keeping me from outright sobbing.

It was Ivan who answered my question. "What Artur is trying to say," he said, his purple eyes shining faintly, "is dat you are a part of our world now." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Dis is your home now, Lillian. Even if you could return to dat world, which you cannot, no one would remember you, even if dey could see you, which dey would not."

"What do you mean, I am a part of this world now?" I asked.

"Well, dude," Alfred said, drawing my attention, "I guess what we're trying to say is that, well—"

"You're a country, bella," Feliciano blurted out.

"Who do you dink she belongs to?" Ivan asked, smiling sweetly.

"'Belongs to'? I don't 'belong to' anyone, Ivan," I spat angrily, my sadness forgotten. Beside me, Arthur looked mildly disappointed about the direction the conversation was heading. Everyone looked slightly uncomfortable, and several were shooting me nervous looks that said, Be careful where you step, girl. You don't want Ivan to hurt you, do you? I wasn't looking, though. I was busy trying to keep my voice from either rising or cracking. I even summoned up what little strength I had into shooting a glare his way. "I am perfectly capable of holding my own, and I do not appreciate people saying things that discredit that." I meant to say it calmly, in a matter-of-fact way, but it came out as sounding vain and extremely rude. My words clearly had an effect on him; he looked shocked that someone would dare speak to him like that. I was instantly (though begrudgingly) afraid of hm. "I'm sorry. I did not been to be so disrespectful. I only—"

Finally, Ivan shook his head, silencing me. Then he smiled brightly at me, saying, "Sorry? My dear, why on Erdt are you sorry?" I was surprised, to say the least, and then he continued. "No one has spoken to me like dat in a very long time. It is…refreshing." He turned to Alfred, grinning. "Finally, someding good from your country, Alfredka. I like her."

Alfred puffed his chest with pride, but then Ivan's words seemed to click, prompting a "Hey!" from Alfred's lips. Everyone had to laugh at that.

Once everyone settled down again, we sat in a comfortable silence for several minutes. Finally, I gathered my strength to ask my only question; the only question anyone ever had. "So, what now?"

Everyone looked at me for a moment before Kiku spoke. "Werr," he said, "you wirr have to be taken care of by someone." He looked a bit nervous. "Normarry, you wourd riv wis seh country you came from, but—"

"But what?" Alfred interrupted, standing. "Why can't she live with me?" I did not understand it, myself, but I did think that Alfred's reaction was a little over the top.

"I still don't understand what is happening," I said. The others turned to me. "Why am I a country? How am I a country? I'm not immortal, and I've never even been more than a hundred miles from home. Why am I even here?" The others seemed slightly bothered by my questions, but no one answered. "Besides," I said, "I wasn't even aware that there was any land left in the world to make a country. Isn't it all claimed already?"

Roderich answered me. Or, rather, tried to. "Vell, vee can't tell you vhy you are here, but now zat you are, you are immortal. I have sensed it, hasn't anyvun else?" The others all nodded, and he continued. "As to your uzzer qvestion, vell," he seemed nervous to continue, but he appeared to steel himself a bit. "It is possible zat you are un 'country vizzin un country', as your…muzzerland vuzz to Britain." He looked down after saying his piece. He did not speak again, whether to elaborate or comment on other people's opinions.

Everyone looked much more somber after that, and I slowly came to realize why. "Is that a bad thing?" I asked. "Does that mean I'll have to fight Alfred? Or are there countries within countries elsewhere who don't…rebel?"

Arthur looked at me sympathetically. "There have been countries that have been territories of other countries," he said, "but…as far as I have ever heard, they have always fought for independence, either gaining it, or…"

"Not," I said. "They've disappeared, haven't they?" No one would meet my eyes, and that was answer enough. I took a deep breath, and then let it out in a long sigh. Then I said, "No."

Everyone's heads snapped up in my direction. No one said anything for what seemed like forever. Of course, it was probably only a couple of minutes before Tino spoke up. "Maybe it woo'n't happen like dat, Lillian. Maybe—"

"That's not what I meant," I stopped him. My voice wanted badly to break, but I was determined to keep it together.

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked. I turned towards him. It was easier to pretend like I was going to tell just one person, rather than nearly twenty.

"I mean," I said, "I'm not going to do this. I'm not going to stay here and become a country just so that one day I have to fight Alfred." I was tearing up. I could barely see through the tears, but I didn't sob. I couldn't, because I knew if I let that much go, I would never stop crying.

"Well, maybe you could be like me," a voice said. It sounded British, but it was younger than Arthur. "You look pretty young, and you seem to be really nice." I tried to locate the voice, but it was a little difficult to do so, what with being practically blind. I knew who it was, though. Of course I did.

"Well, hello, Peter," I said, wiping my eyes. I turned to my left, and there he was. "So nice of you to join us. What do you mean, I could be like you?"

Peter smiled before replying, "I mean, you could be country and not a country, like I am." He shrugged like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh," I said, "You mean, I could be a…micronation?"

"Yeah," he said. "I don't really like Arthur—" he sent a glare at said person "—but we've never gone to war. If you were a micronation, then you, me, and some other micronations will be great friends." He smiled and winked before walking over to sit at the other end of the table, between Natalia and Wang Yao.

I turned back to Arthur, grinning. He looked confused, which made sense. None of the other countries acknowledged Sealand as a country, so he was pretty much ignored. I gripped his hands, bringing his attention back to me. "Is that okay? Can I—can I do that?"

"Well, I don't know—"

I felt a hand on my shoulder, then heard Ivan's voice, startling me a little. I hadn't even realized he had gotten up, let alone seen him walk almost all the way around the table. "I dink dat is great idea. I love duh micronations, and dis young lady will make an excellent addition."

"Thank you, Ivan." I said it quietly, but I really did mean it. "It's been a long time since someone said something that nice to me." I blushed a little, and gave a breathy laugh. "And I cannot believe that I just said that to Russia." Some of the others laughed at that, but many of them just looked sad. "Well," I said, "it's settled. I'll be a micronation, and everyone will be happy, right?"

The others exchanged looks, and I could tell that no one was going to say what everyone was thinking: There's no guarantee that I wouldn't one day want to be a full on nation, no guarantee that Alfred and I would never go to war. No one said it, though. Everyone just nodded. Arthur looked back at me and squeezed my hand, smiling a bit sadly.

Then, Berwald stood. "Well, now we need to figoor oo't where she will lee've. I wooh'd suggest—"

"What do you mean, dude?" Alfred stood as well. "She can totally live with me!" he said, then seemed to realize what his words implied, because his face turned a little red. "I-I mean, since she's my little sister, and all."

"As much as I love Alfred," I said. "Why can't I just live on my own?"

"Well," Antonio started, "maybe you could live on your own someday, but—"

"Even micronations must start somewhere," Francis finished.

"Fine," I said, shrugging. It didn't really matter to me; chances were, I'd be dead in a few weeks, anyway. I was pretty okay with it; the circumstance of my previous life had numbed me, erasing any fear, if ever there was one, I'd ever had of death or dying. "So, I guess I'll stay with Alfred until—"

"Vell," Ludwig interrupted, "I don't know. Maybe you should live vizz someone—"

"Someone what, Ludwig?" Alfred was obviously offended. "Older? More mature? She's my little sister, she should live in my house."

"How do you know zat she is truly your little sister?" Roderich asked, indignant. "She duz not vreally look like you. Perhaps she vahz simply born in zeh wrong country. You yourself were born in un landmass founded by Bervhald. Zhen Arzzur claimed you uz his little bruzzer, and you vheren't even hizz to claim."

"Bring up the past, why don't you, Roderich?" Arthur asked. He turned to Roderich with a deadly expression, and I could tell that the two were not far from a fight. Berwald had sat back down and was just looking at the table a bit sadly, not really interested in the argument, but I knew that I had to do preventive maintenance.

"Hey," I said. "That was a long time ago. You guys have grown up since then, or so I would like to think." They all looked a little guilty. This was obviously going nowhere, so I decided to change the subject. "Anyway, what would it mean if I was 'born in the wrong country'? Where would I go? Where am I from?" I looked around, trying to find any resemblances between me and anyone else. There weren't many. My features are so mundane, so average, that I shared at least one thing with nearly everyone in the room.

"Well," Natalia spoke for the first time, with an accent just slightly different from that of her brother, "you could be part of almost any group of countries. You would have to get an excavation done to determine to whom you are related, and den—"

"I would live in their house," I finished. She nodded grimly. I sighed. "Well, I guess, if it's the only way. And," I said gloomily, "if it means nobody will fight over whose 'little sister' I am, I'm willing to do it. I assume, by 'excavation', you mean a DNA test?" She looked confused by the question, so I turned back to Arthur.

However, he looked just as confused as Natalia, as did everyone else. I sighed. "But of course," I stated drily. "None of you have any idea what that means. Well, okay." I looked around, then said, "So, who will I live with until the results come?"

The others looked at each other before Ludwig answered. "Vell," he said, "I guess zat I could take you in, but—"

Gilbert, still sitting next to me, interrupted him. "Don't you vorry, little bruder." He looked at me and grinned. "I'll take ziss cutie of un nuisance off of your hands." He looked back at his brother, who looked more than a little suspicious as to whatever Gilbert was up to. I, myself, was very confused. Gilbert, however, did not seemed to vex himself about that. "She can live in my side of zeh house," he said. Then, seeming to remember something, he turned back to me. "Unless zeh lady hazz un objection?"

His red eyes were creeping me out a little. "Well," I said, "I don't know. Maybe I should stay with someone—"

Gilbert laughed. "Someone vhat? Less scary?" He looked at me with a smirk on his face. "I should have known you'd be too scared. I mean, I am zeh most awesome country zare is. Anyvun vould be afraid to be in my presence for longer zan necessary. Really, zat's okay. I zot maybe you vur okay, but if you're too scared, I guess—"

"Hush, Gilbert," I said. "First of all, I know exactly what you're trying to do, and it won't work. You cannot possibly make me feel worse about myself than I already do." He looked a little shocked, like no one had caught him in his trick before. Then, just for a moment, he looked a little sad, like he was sorry I didn't think higher of myself; however, that look was quickly gone. Whatever. I didn't really care. I bet you're thinking something like, Sure, Lillian. Keep telling yourself that. Please. I didn't need, nor have I ever since needed, his pity. "Second of all," I continued, "I didn't say no because I am afraid of you. I'm too empty to be afraid of anything as stupid as another person. Sure, if you were chasing me with a chainsaw like a maniac, then I'd be afraid. But just being in someone's presence is no longer enough to scare me, so you'll have to try harder than that." He looked like he might really like to get the opportunity to try harder to scare me, but I continued. "Anyway, I said no because I'm sure other people have an opinion on the subject, and the decision of many is better than the idea of one." Then, I looked around for anyone to help me out, even a little. However, no such luck. Everyone either seemed just fine with it or too shocked that the idea was even out there or so upset about the little things I had let out about myself that they weren't paying attention. Some even looked downright amused, like they were interested to see what would come of it. "Fine," I said, looking back to Arthur. "So, what now?" I repeated

As if in answer, my vision went blurry, then faded to black.

Hi guys!

So, here's chapter 7! I know that the description of everyone around the table seems really weird, but I really couldn't think of how else to say it. I just got it all out here, rather than placing the description at weird places in the rest of the chapter. Sorry if it's a little boring! :(

Anyway, get ready for a weird chapter next time! (You get to see the Nordics, I'll tell you that!)

;)

Happy reading!

Anya