I do not own Hetalia or any characters depicted here. OCs abound. Please excuse for any inaccuracies, historical, cultural, or otherwise.

Kunik: Otherwise known as a nose kiss that a lot of the Inuit people do as a way to either greet or show affection to their loved ones!

Hello there! Yet another chapter is here! Thank you to those who liked and followed, I genuinely appreciate it! I should say too since I didn't in the last chapter, I'm putting this story in two acts. As you can guess, we're in Act I! I don't think it'll be too long as I have some stuff planned before we get into Act II. For now, we get to enjoy some cute bonding time with these two :) Onwards!

Chapter 2: The Dancing Lights

Seasons had passed since Aranck had found Hania in the snow. By now, the children that were around when he was found were grown up with their children, yet Hania stayed young, looking to be about four summers. He was growing up so far to be a cheerful, albeit quiet little boy, and many nights he dreamt of when he would be as tall as Aranck, looking at him eye leveled while they roamed their lands together.

The young boy adored him, it was obvious to anyone who saw their interactions. He aspired to be like his brother, whose voice was as loud and boisterous as the Thunderbirds he always spoke highly of and such a bright smile the gods themselves would shield their eyes.

Hania had seen Aranck fight a few times before, it had been a terrifying yet awe-inspiring event to behold. Though he feared for the elder's safety, his brother usually came out of it as the victor, making sure that Hania had been away and safe. He was usually worried about him getting hurt and making sure there weren't any wounds.

He was the only one that was truly kind to him.

Most tolerated him because they held Aranck in high esteem. They could easily ignore Hania — who was already rather good at hiding, which stressed out Aranck to no end when he decided to pull disappearing acts — while he was behind Aranck's legs or being held tightly by the older man. When Aranck had to be away, they made sure he was protected, fed, and slept as warm as they could manage.

That was about it.

They showed no warmth to him. Most cringed at his presence, avoiding any eye contact with him. They thought that he was malformed. A ghost child, or a bad omen. Of course, they never said this to him directly, but he heard their whispers to Aranck. Thought their children of course never had the sense to be as discreet, mimicking what their parents said to his face and more. It was always children who were the cruelest to him when none of the adults were around.

Times like right now made Hania glad that he had the uncanny ability to be unnoticed by everyone else. He had decided that he would just just wait till Aranck came back by a small lake that was nearby, a small spear that the elder made for him in hand as he decided he wanted to catch fish.

The water was still too cold to wade a bit into, so the boy had to settle for trying to see if any fish were around by the shores instead. He would sometimes catch his reflection in the water and frown at what he saw.

He saw yellow hair, violet eyes, and pale skin, with the only color being his nose and cheeks a bright red from the cold air surrounding them. Hania often found himself wishing that he looked like Aranck. It was jarring to see the differences between the two side by side when they were able to catch their reflection.

Did it bother the elder?

He never showed it, but never said anything about Hania's appearance unless he was covered in mud.

He quickly felt something hit the back of his head hard enough to make him lose balance, falling face-first into the icy water. He scrambled up as he looked at the offenders behind him; a group of those children laughing at him falling, seeing him cry only making their sneers worse.

The eldest of them grabbed a pinecone, hitting Hania's chest with them. "He looks even uglier when he cries!" Came his jeer, the small group now circling him.

"Why is his face turning all red? It looks gross."

"Eeew, he smells even grosser up close!"

"Do you think if we bury him in the snow, he'll just blend in?"

The small boy felt his heart pounding in his chest as the kids surrounded him, still in that icy lake and shivering. He couldn't help the wail that came out of him, which made the kids panic and immediately try shushing him. But he couldn't, he just wanted to find Aranck and leave this tribe and go roam around again. Why did Earth Mother make him look this way?

Suddenly he felt large hands around him and he found himself lifted off the ground. He blinked as he looked back at soil-brown eyes, filled with worry. Aranck pushed back wet curls that were sticking in his face as he looked the young boy over. "Are you hurt Hania?" The little boy shook his head, clinging closer to Aranck. He could see the children that were tormenting him earlier running away back to their camp, a sinking feeling nestling itself in his stomach.

"Let's get you warmed up before you get sick."

Aranck silently hoped the wet clothes he laid out wouldn't freeze in the morning as he sat across Hania, wrapped completely in one of the warmest blankets they could find as he was huddled closely to the fire. He had refused to be rolled up in the blanket, staring despondently at the fire.

Not a peep had been heard from him since they got back, which was shocking. Even though he was quiet Hania would still be talking to him about what he saw or asking him questions such as why the sky was blue.

It made Aranck worried.

Damn, those children.

The elder Guardian grabbed a salmon, his knife, and some other supplies as he sat next to Hania, crossing his legs as he began to prepare the fish with a large smile on his face. "I was thinking that tonight we would have a special meal. We have a rather fat salmon, and I was thinking of crushing up some blackberries and getting some of that seaweed. How does that sound?"

All he received was a shrug in response.

Aranck looked down as he began to fillet the fish, missing Hania scrunching his face as he cut down the spine. "You could help me do some preparations if you wanted? I do need a taste tester for those berries." When he received no response, the elder sighed. He set down the knife and fish on a cedar plank, turning his body over to face the boy. "Tell me your thoughts, little brother. I can only keep up a conversation by myself for so long." Which of course what a lie, Aranck could talk for a very long time with little to no input from others.

Hania picked at the fur on the blanket, taking his time before he answered and finally spoke. "I'm ugly and no one likes me for it."

There was a moment of silence where Aranck was just staring at Hania and for a moment Hania was scared that his brother was just trying to find a kind way to affirm this.

He glanced up only to find said man holding back a smirk! A smirk!

At seeing Hania's angry little face Aranck couldn't stop himself from falling to the ground and laughing loudly, which made the boy even more angry as he got up to hit his brother's chest repeatedly. "It's not funny, Aranck!"

Aranck responded by grabbing Hania and pulling him close to his chest, trying to control his breathing. "I-I'm so sorry, little one. But you? Ugly?"

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say. Aranck could quickly see tears starting to form back in Hania's eyes and he went into damage control, sitting up suddenly and letting Hania stand up.

"Hania, I'm sorry for laughing but you are not ugly."

"Then why does everyone keep saying I came out wrong or they don't treat me the same as everyone else? They keep saying I'm unnatural." Aranck could hear his voice wavering at the end and frowned.

He gently cupped Hania's face with both his hands as he looked him straight in the eye. "You are not unnatural, Hania. You do look vastly different than everyone else, but it is the Earth Mother's will. We do not question it."

Hania still stared at him as if the answer didn't satisfy him enough. Aranck stared at him for a moment grinning. "Come on, get your boots on, I've got to show you something."

Aranck made sure to stick the salmon on some ironwood sticks and leave it by the fire to cook while Hania got ready, scooping him up as they left the warmth of the igloo they had been residing in. Hania was on Aranck's hip, seeing that it was much darker outside now.

Violet eyes widened as he looked up in the sky, seeing the lights in the sky above him, and squealed with delight. "The dancing lights! They look even brighter today! The spirits up there must be really happy tonight!"

Aranck noted with amusement that they did, indeed, look much more vibrant today. He had told Hania of multiple stories their tribes had come up with including the infamous walrus skull story, or the warning to not whistle at it.

Probably not the best bedtime story in retrospect.

His favorite though had been that they were the spirits of those living beings long gone, whether they be human or animal. They were dancing or sending messages to their loved ones, waiting for them to join in the dance.

"Will get get to dance with them soon, Ara?" Hania had asked after that story had been told.

Aranck just smiled and ruffled his hair. "When our time as Guardians pass. But that won't be for a long time, hopefully."

He smiled warmly at the memory, looking at the little boy at his hip. "Tell me, little brother, what colors do you see up there?"

"A lot."

"...well you aren't wrong but let's be a bit more descriptive, hm?"

Hania absentmindedly played with Aranck's hair as he looked up at the sky. "There's a lot of green."

"Good and what else?"

"Red, and pink and purple."

Aranck smiled down at him. "Do you know what else is purple in the world?" He asked softly while readjusting his hold on the little boy.

He tried not to laugh again as Hania's face scrunched up. concentrating on what else was purple before answering. "Blueberries. Even though their name is blue, they look purple."

"Whoever decided that was their name must be blind. What else?"

"Elk root is purple too, and a lot of the other flowers in general."

"Is that so?" Aranck hummed, pushing some of Hania's curls away from his face. "Now tell me, are those things you just said unnatural to our world?"

The question seemed to catch the boy off guard, staring wide-eyed at him as he shook his head.

"Of course not. Like us, they come from the Earth. You may not have dark hair like the rest of us, yours is more reminiscent of honey. And none of that is unnatural. I don't know why you don't like the rest of us, but you still reflect the land underneath us."

Hania looked shocked, the thought never having occurred to him before. He was still gently twirling the loose brown strands of hair between small fingers as the idea settled in his head. Finally came his soft, "Thank you, Ara."

Aranck beamed at his brother, pressing his nose against Hania's cheek and rubbing it, which earned him a weak pushback.

"I'm too old for a kunik, Ara!"

"Nonsense, you'll never be too old for it. Now we have some blueberries to taste test."