"Help..."Maria voicelessly called. Her mango t-shirt is full of holes; her body is full of scratches, a symbolism that Maria got hit by a typhoon. Most of the trees have snapped and all the houses have fallen. It's raining, cold and dark; not the kind of scenery you could imagine in a country so bright and hospitable.
Just as when she was about to give up and close her eyes, a soft cloth was wrapped around her shoulders and an umbrella went over. A figure knelt before her. She raised her head and met two indigo eyes; the right of his hair is clipped by a cross and he was wearing a bonnet: Lukas "Norway" Bondevik.
"Thank...you..." Maria said, rather dumbfounded. "You're welcome," Lukas said. His voice was rather stoic-so is his personality-but it was calming to hear. Maria and Lukas stayed in the rain a bit longer and calmed down.
- - - - - - - -
At a top of a line of houses were the Nordics in a carpenter's clothes; ragged shirts and shorts with white bandanas on their heads.
"Big brother..." Lukas whispered in Emil's ear. "Not doing it," Emil responded. "Big brother," he went closer to Emil's ear making him sweat drop. "Keep doing that we're going to fall!!" Emil berated him.
Maria cupped her hands around her mouth. "Hey, do I see (incest) brotherly love there~?!" she sang.
"Since when did that happen?" Mathias teased. "DENMARK!!" Emil berated. "I'll kill you later" Lukas told him. "You guys seem to be having fun over there~" Tino giggled. "Be careful... You might fall" Berwarld reminded.
"It's fine, if we did fall, Maria is down there to catch us." Mathias grinned. Lukas on the other hand, secretly went behind Mathias and choked his neck. "S-sorry..." Mathias stuttered. 'Are you guys always like this?' Maria sweat dropped.
- - - - - - - -
Later that day...
Lukas is just sitting on a river bank, alone with a plate of food in his hands. Mathias noticed him and went to him.
"Hey Nor!" Mathias sat beside him. He observed the plate and the food's unusual color. There were a bunch of colorful pastries called puto at one side with cheese; three sticks of barbeque on the other and rice in the middle. "What's that?"
"Maria said it's going to be our food," Lukas answered and Mathias took a bite. He closed his eyes and tried to feel and taste the texture of the food.
"Whoa, it tastes good!" Mathias happily said. "Ice, Swe, Fin, come here!" he called the other three who obediently and curiously went to him. "What do you need Denmark?" Emil asked. "Try these; it's good for food with odd colors!" Mathias gave each of them food while Lukas quietly chewed on his puto.
"Hm~ it's delicious! Maria is good at cooking isn't she~?" Tino smiled. "I agree," Berwarld nodded. "I know right?!" Mathias laughed.
"G-get... u-up--!!" Lukas heard Maria grunt. It looks like she's trying to lift something. Lukas reacted by putting his food down, going to her.
"Do you need help?" Lukas asked though it was unnecessary. He was already helping her before she could respond. "One, two, lift," Lukas instructed and the tree went over. Maria bent down and picked up a huge, wooden box. Much to Lukas' curiosity, he knelt down beside her and watched her open it. There was a katana, a cross, a pearl choker, a sungka game, a kite, small Malaysian clothes and an old fairy-tale book which Lukas got.
"Arthur gave that to me," Maria said. "The things in here were all from World War 2, it brought bad memories but I love the people who came by," she smiled as she touched the sampaguita on her head.
"You love Alfred?" Lukas asked. "W-what d-do you mean?! L-like hell I-I'd e-ever like that guy! Hmph!" Maria folded her hands and looked away with a tint of pink on her cheeks.
Lukas went closer to Maria's ear and whispered "Me or Alfred?" making her skin crawl. "S-shut up!" she berated but it didn't seem to have any effect on Lukas.
The rest of the Nordics watching came up with the same thought: 'Lukas likes Maria doesn't he?' and Berwarld just nodded.
- - - - - - -
"Hey the ship's here!" Tino waved. "It was nice meeting you Maria!" Mathias and she bumped their elbows together like some friendship handshake. "Your cooking...taste good," Berwarld commented making Maria smile. "You can take home some of my cooking then, I'll charge it for free" she gave him a blue plastic with a bunch of pastries inside.
"If you need anything, we're always open" Emil said and went onboard with the rest. Lukas on the other hand, is still behind Maria.
"Lukas, they're waiting" Maria smiled, her head turned to him. Lukas walked forward and hugged Maria. "L-L-Lukas?!" Maria stuttered with pink across her face. "Thank you, little sister" Lukas said. He wasn't showing any emotion but his voice seemed like he was.
They departed from the hug. Maria tip-toed and kissed the cheek of Lukas. "Papa Spain said that's how you say good bye to a person close to you" Maria smiled and waved at the departing Lukas.
"Be safe!" Tino waved at Maria. "I will!!" she responded and waved with two hands. Lukas stood at the back of the ship, watching Maria until they would disappear into the mist. Emil can't help but watch what he's seeing.
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Admin: This ship wasn't my idea (though I wish it was). TwiliTwilight? TwiliTwinkle? I don't know. She thought of this fabulous shipping and told this to me so I owe her a lot and I made this for her!
Maria: So about this, the whole Nordics didn't come, it was just Norway. But since they're really a close family, I told "admin" to add them.
