Silver Umbrellas

Twenty-Six-- Fantasy

Finalnd's POV~

The sleigh slid to a perfectly smooth stop on the snow-covered ground in the compound's plaza. Our destination? Norway, with a mountain range as our protection on one side and rolling plains surrounding us everywhere else. Everyone disembarked, wrapped in blankets and with relieved expressions, as they hurried inside the hospital to wait and get checked over. Sunrise was on its way, so I still had a little bit of my magic left to spiff up the place a little bit in the spirit of the holidays!

With a wave of my hand, Christmas lights appeared strung between the eaves of every single duplex. Now the 'wagon wheel' we lived in was illuminated with a gentle yellow glow that made the fallen snow sparkle gorgeously. Meanwhile, the other passengers in the sleigh disembarked, some looking in awe at the snow while others rolled their eyes and silently wished for less of it. I couldn't blame them at all; when we'd picked those nations up, they'd been practically drowning in snow.

"Phew," I sighed, relieved to be back in a part of the world close to my land. The comforting sensation expanded in my chest, radiating warmth to my chilly extremities. Addressing everyone, I spoke quietly but with enough volume to be heard by all. "Everyone, let's all head toward the hospital while I wake a few people up. Lili, can you show them the way?"

"I'm your navigator; I'm sure I can," she giggled, holding Alice's hand in one of hers. Yao was being carried in one of his brother's arms, and the young boy was asleep from his fever.

My niece looked up at me imploringly. "Who're you gonna go wake up, Uncle Tino?"

"You'll see," I promised with a jolly twinkle in my eye, a side effect of my magic. "Now hurry up, alright? Before you get too cold."

Lili and Alice nodded, and the former began to lead the procession toward the hospital located, from where we were standing, on the left side of the plaza. I took my cue and dashed through the snow, leaving footprints behind with my fur-lined black boots. My short red cape trimmed with white fur flapped in the cold air behind me.

'We made it. We made it!' It was like I couldn't believe what was right in front of me anymore; the joy in my heart was just too much.

First, I found Japan's front door and quickly rapped my knuckles on the wooden surface. Every house looked relatively the same, built identical to each other; paint colors were the only obvious distinguishing feature, and Japan's was a simple white.

When he opened the door a moment later, looking disheveled from sleep and unimpressed, I was so impatient that I couldn't stop bouncing up and down on the balls of my feet over and over again.

"Finrand-san--?" Japan gasped, his eyes widening marginally when he recognized me. "Wh-- How--?"

"There's time for that later, Kiku," I said quickly. "Right now there's a Chinese boy who's been dying to see you, and he's waiting for you at the hospital."

Disbelief danced across his face. "Y-You mean... Yao?"

I just nodded emphatically and motioned for him to leave his house while I stepped down from his porch. To my surprise, Japan didn't even bother to put on shoes; he just took off running through the snow, and I pointed to his back while he hurried. A new coat appeared draped around his shoulders, but he took it in stride and slid his arms into the sleeves without missing a beat. Had I tried to give him new shoes, he might have tripped and that would have been bad.

"Alright, now for Emil and Willow," I said to myself, taking a page out of Japan's book and running as well, except in the opposite direction. I knew they lived at the end of the wheel spoke that the hospital's front faced directly.