Welcome home

The desk was covered in photos and trinkets. Books a prominent sight in the small bedroom. A calender hung on the wall with only a few dates circled and highlighted. A faint buzzing brought Brunei's dreams to a halt and he rubbed his eyes as he looked to his phone alarm clock. The notification brought him to full attention and had him running to MalPhilIndo's room. Shrugging on a sweater, he busted through the bedroom door and made straight to Indonesia.

Indo lazily opened one of his eyes. The first thing he saw was Brunei in his face. "Apalah Bru...ku nak tidur ni..." he mumbled, too tired to speak in english. Brunei blinked at the sudden use of malay but was quick to recover. "Singa balik hari ni lah Indo!" he said in frustration. "Wut...?" Phil muttered from across the room. Mal looked down from his spot on the top bunk and blinked thrice. "Singa's coming home today?" that got Indo's attention as he threw the covers aside. "Her plane arrives today?!" As the ' South East Asian rice gang' began getting ready, Brunei made to wake everyone else only to find pandemonium outside.

"Cam, you got the balloons?!" Myammar yelled as she helped Thailand prepare the sandwiches. "They're in my bag!" Cambodia yelled back as she raced to where Laos was standing with the keys. "Indo, the keys!" Laos trumpeted as she yeeted the keys to her friend. "Clear!" Thailand cried out as he passed out the sandwiches. Catching each of the sandwiches in the air, the Asean family hustled their way out the door and to the cars. "20 minutes on the clock!" Phil reminded everyone as he shrugged on a jacket for the road. "Go,go,go!" As the nine friends headed out the house, Myammar and Vietnam shifted gear and they were off.

Lifting her head to the sky, Singapore embraced the wind as it ruffled her long braid. Stepping out of the arrival hall, her eyes shone with amusement and delight when she saw a banner with the words 'welcome home Singa!' being held between two familiar faces. Indo struggled to keep Phil steady atop his shoulders and Brunei was nearly collapsing under Mal. While the four of them were charged with the banner, Cambodia and Vietnam were toting a bunch of balloons each while Thailand and Myammar held confetti poopers at the ready. Laos stood under the banner holding small slice of cake for their arriving friend. Around Singa, whispers reached her. Someone next to her murmured "I would hate to be related to them...so embarassing!" Singa glared at him with the full force of the Eastern Lion. "They're my family. So don't even go there." Singa gave him that final warning before she leaped over the barriers and sprinted towards her crazy Asean family.

"There she is!" Laos pointed out as Singa came running towards them like a dog was after her. "SINGA! YOU'RE BACK!!" lost in a sea of hugs and a chorus of welcome homes, Singa immersed herself in the family she had missed for 5 years now. "Indo! Mal! Phil! Cam!" She laughed as the four of them nearly brought her down with their group hug. "Brunei! Over here!" Singa waved from under the pile of limbs. Brunei chuckeld as he helped her up and into a bone crushing embrace. "You were gone for so long girl! You missed a ton!" Myammar commented while Vietnam and Thailand popped the confetti. "I missed you guys too!" Singa said in between giggles of delight. Laos poked her friend's ribs playfully and smiled in satisfaction when Singa began giggling uncontrollably. "Can't wait to get you home Lion Cub!" Brunei ruffled her hair as he stepped away slowly. As the ten friends left the airport, the staff on duty were left wondering how to take down all those balloons that had floated up to the ceiling.

Asean checked the clock on the wall for what must've been the 14th time. He should've been in a meeting with EU but had told him that he was going to have to skip the meeting in favour of seeing Singa for the first time in 5 years. The doors to the mansion eased open and the sounds of excited chatter and general merriment filled the silent home. "Papa ASEAN!!" Singa laughed in delight as she cannonballed into Asean's middle. Taking a fall, Asean pulled his Lion Cub in close as the two embraced on the floor. "Laos said you had a meeting!" chuckling slightly, Asean helped himself up from his spot on the floor and pulled Singa up. "Are you kidding me? It's been 5 years since I've seen you! How could a meeting be more important than this?" the assembled crowd roared its approval and Thailand pulled out the cake that had been hidden in the depths of the fridge. "Celebratory cake for lunch!"

That afternoon, Singa received a brief but fun filled commentary on what she had missed throughout the past 5 years. Russia and Ame had begun dating(Rusame), Indo was dating Netherlands(Indoneth) and Canada was crushing hard on Ukraine. ".. and Brunei's been crushing on you!" Laos finished finished triumphantly as though she had unveiled the biggest secret of the century. "Well...sorry to break it to you Laos but Brunei and I have been doing long distance dating for the past 5 years...?" Singa's voice crawled back in her throat to die when she caught the incredulous look on Laos' face. Lucky for her, Laos quickly got over it and began fangirling. Hard. "HNIBUGYDRXGCHBJBINKONINNIUTDCIVU!!!" Myammar pulled on Laos' sleeve if only to keep her in her seat. Thailand and Myammar exchanged exasperated glances before looking at Brunei and Singa. "Dude! Congrats!" Indo clapped Brunei on the back while Mal and Phil showered similar messages of congratulations on their embarassed friend. Asean sipped his champange thoughtfully but even he could not hide his joy for the couple.

That evening, Brunei and Singa met on the balcony of his room as they gazed out at the city sprawled before them. A long comfortable silence passed as the two of them stare into the coming dusk,hands interwined in between them. "I missed you." Brunei finally said not daring to raise his eyes from the view. "Whenever you logged on, I would worry a lot but you seemed to be doing fine without me-!" he was cut off when Singa pressed her lips onto his. The kiss was soft and chaste and as she pulled back, a message in her eyes. "Did you really buy that?" As the couple stared into each other's eyes for a moment longer, the sound of a motorbike's engine killed the mood. "Hope y'all are ready to race down the stairs!"Mal leaned against his bike parked in the hallway. Singa's smile widened even further while Brunei bit back a sigh.

For the next two hours, motorbikes began racing down the stairs and onto the once clean floors of the mansion. All furniture had been cast aside and spectators wee gathered eagerly by the sides. Asean watched from his post on the kitchen which also served as a makeshift medical bay. He had long ago given up on stopping these indoor races and had decided that if he couldn't beat them he might as well prepare a medical bay. As Indo and Mal zoomed down the stairs, Singa smiled to herself. This was her crazy Asean family and she loved it.