Hello our most beautiful readers! 

First things first, we would like to wish you all a beautiful and most happy Christmas! It's our pleasure and absolute honor to bring you this MEGA collab, with the talent of nine separate authors. Each one of these people worked for the  two long months and completed their personal spin on a chosen prompt!

 From the bottom of our hearts, we all thank you dearly for the support and love that keeps us going! We hope you thoroughly enjoy our collaboration, and the best of Christmas and New Years! 

With much love and Christmas wishes,

~ WeirdestArrow

~ Germanyv2

~Flamingo943

~ Yonderblu

~ MynameAppleUWU

~ Pinky

~Grilly

1: ( WeirdestArrow ) 

"Can you three please help?" 

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"All of you suck I want out of your region." New Jersey said as he struggled out of the Christmas lights he had somehow gotten stuck in. The rest of the Mid-Atlantic region, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New York, watched this sight with amusement. 

"We don't want you in it, so that's a win-win situation for us." New York said, New Jersey scowled and glared at him, before struggling with the lights again. For a second it looked like he was going to be successful, but then New Jersey lost his balance and fell over.

The states, excluding New Jersey, burst out laughing at the site.

"I hate you all." New Jersey muttered, blushing with embarrassment.

"We know." Pennsylvania said as she took a picture of New Jersey.

"This is the best Christmas gift I could have ever gotten." New York said.

"I'm going to kill you Yorkie. Just give me a second to get out of this." New Jersey said as he continued his struggle to get free.

"I'll start running in fear." New York deadpanned as he began recording New Jersey.

"Send me that video." Delaware whispered to New York, who nodded.

"Delete that video!" New Jersey yelled, probably a bit louder than necessary. The yell caught the attention of Maryland, who walked over to the group.

"What are you doing?" Maryland asked, walking up to the Mid-Atlantic. 

"Watching NJ make a fool of himself." Pennsylvania responded. Maryland stared at New Jersey in confusion.

"How on earth did you manage to do that?" She asked. New Jersey scowled.

"Don't ask." 

"And why have none of you helped him?" Maryland asked the other Mid-Atlantic states.

"We hate him."

"It's funny watching him struggle."

"I want to see if he can get himself out of the mess he got himself into."

"Fair enough." Maryland before turning back to New Jersey.

"Can you help me?" He asked. Maryland smiled and sat down.

"Nah." She said with a smile.

"This is why I hate all of you." New Jersey said. Maryland gasped and put a hand over her heart.

"NJ how could you say such a thing?" She said. New Jersey rolled his eyes at his sister's antics and continued his struggle.

"Please can someone help?" New Jersey asked again.

"Give me back the rest of Ellis Island." New York said. Maryland then quickly stood up and started helping New Jersey out of the lights.

"Mary!" Delaware said. Maryland turned to face him, raising an eyebrow. 

"Do you want to listen to these two argue over their border for that rest of the night?" She said. Delaware, grumbling about his old border issues with New Jersey, went to help his sister. 

"Thanks." New Jersey said, as they helped him out. 

"No problem little bro." Delaware said, messing with New Jersey's hair as they finally got the last of the lights off the state.

"Delly I was thinking about getting you a Christmas present but if you keep touching my hair. I'm not going to give you anything." New Jersey said. Delaware looked shocked, as did the other states. 

"You do care!" Pennsylvania said, pulling New Jersey into a hug. New Jersey scowled.

"Don't go telling anyone."

2: (Germanyv2) 

Weimar was up early, as per usual. On a day where most would be getting ready for the annual UN Christmas Party, he was on top of a massive ladder, hanging up and decorating one of the rooms for that party. Austria was off preparing food, Switzerland was probably taste testing everything and Scotland was sitting in the corner of the room, fiddling with the radio so that Christmas music would come out of it. He was also there for Weimar's company, since he couldn't do much due to his blindness. 

"Ack god dammit it stop playing that tune-" He could hear Scotland muttering swears under his breath, and a chuckle from him would approve louder swears from the now-enraged country, filling in for the static that was now yelling from the radio. Scotland was just walking around, trying to get good reception. Pinning in the last pin into the wall, he debated whether to climb down the ladder or use his wings, but he opted for the sensible option and slowly climbed down the stairs rung by rung. Just joking. Weimar? Sensible? 

He's a part of the German family, they've always got a bit of risk taking in their blood. Even if that risk taking was illogical. Stepping off the front of the rung, he would use his wings to glide to the other end of the hall, skidding to a halt and turning around to look at his pinning work. Straight and with most country's initials clearly seen. They were high so that countries that had a  sweet tooth couldn't get to them during the party, and only UN would be able to get them once it was time. That was the stockings done, and he would turn his head just as Austria would come in, Switzerland coming in behind. 

"Brother! Will you taste test these? Switzerland won't give me an answer aside from 'it's acceptable', and I'm getting tired of Mr Neutral's answers." Technically Austria was Weimar's step-brother, but they were the sort of siblings to ignore that. Plus they were both in the Christmas spirit. On the baking tray was some baked goods, mainly gingerbread and a slice of prügeltorte cake. Looked delicious to Weimar, he never would have been able to make this when he was an active country. 

"It looks and smells delicious, Austria...please remind me why you couldn't have gotten anyone else to eat them?" Although they were smelling delicious, Weimar didn't have the best appetite. 

"You know how I am with food, Österreich-" "Weimar! Just eat the damn food before I make it go down your gullet for you!" A bit harsh, but Austria did get his point across, for Weimar picked up that slice of prügeltorte cake and took a small bite out of the cake, nodding his head whilst chewing it. Covering his mouth, he would still give his comments back to Austria, who would smile happily.

 "It really is delicious Austria, I'm sure people will love it..." He would pause mid-chew before staring at him. 

"You never got people to taste test before...ohhhh I see your plan now. And it definately is working." He would take another bite out of it before smirking. 

"What about Scotland?" Austria would go over to him and gently offered him sweets, and Weimar giggled to himself as he could see Scotland slowly getting more frustrated the more Austria would talk in the 'poor you, you're blind' sort of talk. Now he was just waiting for him to snap, and he would grab some of the magical Switzerland popcorn who was now standing beside him and somehow pulled popcorn out of thin air. Soon it did get interesting, with Scotland accurately estimating where Austria was and wrapping an arm around his neck. Quickly thinking, Austria would slide the tray away from them before he went down. And it quickly turned into a fight, but one where they were mainly wrestling. Weimar would turn to Switzerland before grabbing another handful of popcorn. 

"You're right...this is fun to watch from the sidelines." 

"I'm putting 30 Euros on Austria."

 "Hah! My brother defeating Scotland? Nonsense, I'll put 30 on Scotland." To put it shortly, Switzerland was missing 30 Euros after half an hour.

3:Flamingo943

 The icy cold breeze hit America's face as shivers ran down his spine. He clutched his jacket closer towards him, trying to block out the freezing winter winds. 

A smile creeped down his face as he stared at the lovely holiday decorations covering the sprawling shopping mall. It was his favorite time of year, and nothing could describe the happiness he felt during this jolly month of winter wonder! 

A loud shriek interrupted his thoughts as he whipped his head around to see Florida and Alaska scaring Hawaii with a fake spider, while California stared at the large displays on  the window.

"AHH! SPIDER!" Hawaii shrieks, her screams echoing throughout the large stairway that leads you to the second floor. 

"It's just a fake!" Florida and Alaska roll on the ground, laughing. California rolls her eyes, then goes back to staring at the jewelry store display. They had a necklace on sale that she wanted!

"Children, be kind to each other please-," America settles the little affair "Now who's ready to go holiday shopping!!!??" 

"I AMM!!" Florida screams, causing everyone to look at her in surprise. She blushes in embarrassment, then turns to look at the staircase which was covered in sparkly bows that glimmered in the light "Woah..," 

"I know right. I haven't seen anything like this since like- forever!" America smiled. It was true, the shopping mall was gorgeous this time around! Beautiful woven wreaths hang from the top of the glimmering waterfall. A large Christmas tree stood in the middle of the scarlet carpet, covered in ornaments of all types. The rule was anyone in the city could decorate the Christmas tree! 

"Well, why don't we hang our own ornaments on the tree before we begin our shopping?" Ame carefully cradled the delicate ornament! 

"Okay Pa." Alaska nods, and the other states nod afterwards. America grabs their hands and leads them to the large tree, glittering in decor galore!  

"So, who's gonna hang it up?" California snarkily remarks. Florida snickers at the question.

"Obviously me!" She rolled her eyes.

 Alaska glared at her, "No way Hurricane, it's mine," 

"But-," Hawaii whines "I made it!" 

"Move children, let me show you how it's done!" California grabs the ornament out of Florida's hands. Florida hisses the words But I'm older than you before crossing her arms. 

 A huge amount of screaming begins as Alaska reaches for it, and as tall as he is, manages to grab it easily. 

"That's just not fair!" California whines "You're too tall!".

 Florida and Hawaii start to fight while California threatens Alaska with her knife, pulling it out her Louis Vuitton bag with ease. 

America was going to have a seizure with all this screaming, but he refrained from yelling. . 

"Now, now, if all of you don't behave, you're grounded." Ame sighed "Now let's just start shopping. I'm saving the ornament for another time,"

The states groan in response, then start to whisper blames to each other while walking towards the first store. They enter the store through the large panel glass doors, which were covered in snowflake decals. 

But before America could say anything, Florida bolts towards the shelves, grabbing anything she could find. Struggling to carry all of it, she moves on to the next aslie, picking up more trinkets and small toys. Following Florida's lead,  Alaska and Hawaii bolt towards the aisles, splitting up and shopping for their preferred items! 

"BUT WE HAVE A LIST!" America waves a piece of paper in Cali's face. She was the only state that hadn't left just yet.

Annoyed, California grabbed the piece of paper out of his hands and ripped it up into pieces, dropping it on the floor and mouthing, "What list?" before walking away. 

America glares at her, then crosses his arms in dismay. His children were wild, and he needed some coffee. 

After attempting to call each one of them, he decided to run into the aisle and try to find them himself, and hopefully convince Florida to put everything away.

Strolling through the store, he sees the perfect place that Florida would be at. The snow globes aisle! She loved anything related to snow, since she never got some herself! She thought it would be so fun to play in it, and her hobby was collecting snow globes to imagine how it would look to see a city covered in sparkling snow.

America enters the alsie, cautiously searching for his states, when a rustle in the next aslie gets him distracted, and he wanders into it. 

In front him was a heartwarming sight! Hawaii was in Alaska's lap, her head resting on his shoulder as Florida read them one of Christmas stories that they were selling. California was sitting criss-cross right next to them, her eyes closed as she silently listened. 

"And for the first time, snow fell...," Florida's soft voice filtered the air as she read the picture book. 

 It was so cute to see them all getting perfectly along for a few minutes. 

Ame smiled, a loving look in his eyes as he stared at the sight in front of him. None of this holiday was about decorations, food, or even presents! It was about spending time with family. And now realizing it, he never made time for any of his children to spend time together. He was always busy! Lost in his thoughts, he accidentally knocks over an ornament, the sound causing Alaska, Hawaii, Florida, and Cali to realize he was standing right there! 

"Hello Daddy!" Hawaii squealed once she realized who dropped the ornament "Get we get everything that Flo, Alaska, and I put in our carts!"

"Yeah like he'd do that," California rolls her eyes sarcastically, but a glint of hope shimmered in her blue eyes. 

"Haha, no." America chuckles, scooping Hawaii up in his arms "Come on, let's head home."

"Pleasee!!" Florida comments, earning a nod from Hawaii. 

A silent pause filled the room as America thought of a good answer, "We can buy it.....once you're older and have enough money in 30 years! ."

"Awwwww!" Florida and Hawaii whine and laugh as Alaska and California hide their smiles that were  creeping up their faces.

"Pick one item you each wanna buy, and then we'll leave." 

After minutes of deciding, each state settled on something they wanted to buy. Florida bought a crazy book of pranks, Alaska bought a new jacket, Hawaii bought a straw doll, and California bought a necklace. Everyone was happy with their pick, and were ready to head home and brag about how good the things they bought are. They all run over to Ame, thanking him for the gifts. 

 Ame just laughs and scoops them all into a big hug, clutching each of their hand's as he leads them towards the cashier. After purchasing everything, the cashier put them all in the bag and handed it to America!

The thing was, the holidays weren't about the presents! They were about spending time with people you love! All of them hanging out together was the greatest gift they could ever have. All this American family needed was to spend quality time together! 

"Ready to head home?" America gleefully smiles. The states all nod and yawn in  response! Shopping for Christmas stuff was tiring, but they couldn't wait for next year! 

4: (Yonderblu)

It was nighttime, and most of the countries were in bed. They were all sound asleep in bed and having nice, peaceful dreams. But that was the countries. A  state was wide awake.

Venice pokes his head out from the room he was staying in. The UN building was quiet.

The State was out and about because he was bored and wanted to maybe go to the kitchen to get something to eat.

Venice had a charming kind of frame. He was mixed with the Lion of Saint Mark but was sometimes mistaken as a griffon. He had a lion tail, feathered wings, and a lion mane. His flag was the detailed Banner of Saint Mark. His eyes were a royal blue. He was wearing yellow plaid pajamas.

He was about to turn the corner when he ran into someone.

"Ow..." A little voice said, falling onto the ground.

Venice looks at the little figure. "Rome?! What are you doing here?!"

Rome looks up at him while rubbing his head. "Could say the same for you. Ow... My head hurts now..."

"Oh, shut up, you have horns to protect you." Venice rolls his eyes and gets up. He sees something in Rome's hands. "What's that?"

Rome hesitates and hides it behind him. "Nothing..."

Venice looks at him, they both were about the same height, but Rome was smaller. Even though he's the capital, yet he's the smallest. They were both 7-year-olds, mentally and physically even though they were more than 100 years. 

Rome was part Dragon so he had wings, a tail, hind legs, and sharp claws and teeth. His eyes were golden-yellow. His flag was half red, half gold. His hair was naturally curly. He was wearing dark blue pajamas.

"I don't believe you, what do you have?" Venice became pushier and tries to see what he had.

"It's none of your business." Rome moves the thing away.

Venice tries to move around him but he couldn't see it. They both stop when they hear a voice.

"What are you two doing?!" Someone said behind Rome. 

Rome 'eeps' and turns over to look at who it was. Venice did the same.

The Providence of Lucca was there.

Lucca was taller than Rome and Venice, and that was mostly because he was a Providence, so he looked like he was 12-years-old. He took after the movie Luca ever since it came out, so when he gets wet, he turned into a sea monster. He has naturally straight hair, brown-yellow eyes, and the flag of Providence Lucca. He was tired and wearing blue jellyfish pajamas.

Venice growls. "Lucca! You scared m... Rome!" He whisper-yells. Rome just looks at Venice confused, knowing Venice got scared too.

"And you're going to wake everyone up with your stippy-steppies!" Lucca replies.

Rome rolls his golden-yellow eyes. "We're not toddlers-" Venice loudly shushed him. Rome glares before understanding and refocusing. "We're not toddlers. We're- I'M older than you. And-"

A different voice interrupts them.

"Rome. Ven. Luc. What are you doing up at 1am?" A tired but firm voice spoke.

The two, Ven and Rome, turn slowly. Lucca had a nervous look and even gave a nervous smile. Rome hid the thing he had in this hand behind his back.

It was Italy standing there. "You three are in trouble." He yawns. "You should be in bed."

Rome's little dragon ears drooped. "Scusa, papà." (Italian translation: Sorry, Papa)

"Go to bed." He instructs.

Rome, Venice, and Lucca walk off. Rome felt guilty, Ven was huffy, and Lucca was bossy, saying he knew they shouldn't have done that.

Venice clenched his fist.

"Shut up, Lucca!" He yells. Lucca stops talking and is shocked, then gives a sad face and runs to his bed and covers his head.

The other Italian regions were awake when they first entered the room, but everyone stayed quiet and pretended to sleep.

Venice felt bad, but his pride kept him quiet.

Rome smacks the back of his head. "What were you thinking?" He asks, quite loud. "You should say sorry!"

"What am I? A toddler?" He quotes Rome in a teasing way.

Rome growls and he was ready to tackle Ven, but two regions broke it up.

Vento grabs Venice, and Lazio grabs Rome and puts them in their beds. The regions were taller and physically older than the states so it was easy.

Rome was huffing in his bed and says out loud. "Meany!"

All the states in the room shush him.

"Meanies..." He mumbles.

☙❊╚═══╗❊❧

Rome, Venice, and Lucca didn't talk to each other out of stubbornness. They'd only send glares to each other.

Currently, Rome was helping Italy bake since he was in charge of a lot of the food.

"Remember, Rome," Italy said while both of them looked over a bowl. "It's not exactness that makes a good meal, only add what makes it taste good." Italy took a small spoon and tastes some of the batter. He thinks. "And that is some mighty fine batter!"

Rome giggles. "Okay, Papa!" He says.

Italy boops Rome's nose and helps him make the last batches of pancakes for the morning.

Rome takes the lead and now they have red and green colored, fresh pancakes ready to serve.

"Looks good, Papa!" He exclaims. He looks at the stack of 1,000 pancakes on each other. He realized that Italy didn't respond, he looks over.

Italy was leaning over a counter like he was a student that fell asleep in a boring class.

Rome tapped him and Italy shook himself awake.

"Uh... What Rome?... Oh! Yes, we got a lot of plates to serve. Get some of the other states to serve the countries." Italy yawns but starts to set two pancakes on each plate, one green, one red, and set them on a table so the states and regions could take them.

Rome gets the other regions to help, but he purposefully didn't tell Ven or Lucca.

He gets some of his share of plates and heads out of the kitchen and to the dining room.

China and Bhutan were chatting in their dragon group. China notices a head that couldn't see over the table they were at.

Bhutan stops when he hears China giggle. They look at him then what he's looking at.

A little forehead that was too short to see the three.

Rome wasn't sure they were laughing, so he just continued to serve. He puts three plates up. "Here's your breakfast." Then pauses then puts a jar of bacon on the table. "And here's the Dragon-nip."

Once Rome said that the three dragons fought over it. He couldn't see anything, but he heard growling and maybe even someone darting at another across from the table.

I might need to get a First-Aid... Nah, they're fine.

Rome leaves.

He heads back to the kitchen to get more plates. Then he sees Lucca and Venice glaring at him.

"What?" He asks.

"You didn't tell us Italy needed help," Lucca says.

Rome rolls his eyes. "Well, because he didn't need more hands. He wanted claws~" He taunted, holding out his claw-like hands.

Lucca steps on Rome's tail.

Rome 'yeeps' in pain then darts at Lucca and tackles him. The Sea monster growls, and the dragon growls back.

Lucca kicks Rome in the stomach and Rome stumbles back and falls on the ground. Lucca tries to get him again but the smaller one scratches him on his forearm when he gets close. Rome gets up and tries to get away before he hurt Lucca more, but Lucca keeps trying to get him.

Venice had enough and tries to get them to stop. "Guys! Stop!" He grabs Rome and tries to pull him away before his dragon instincts kick in.

But Rome bit Venice in the arm and squeezed.

Screaming erupted from the kitchen. Everyone goes quiet in the cafeteria. 

Italy was the first to react, he ran to the kitchen and burst in to see who was in danger.

Venice was grabbing his arm and was on the verge of tears, Lucca had a couple of deep scratches, and Rome was nowhere to be found.

"Ven, Luc, what happened?" He goes up to both of them.

"R-Rome hurt us," Lucca said, both of the states were in shock and in pain.

Italy was confused. "Why did he attack? He only attacks if-"

"Lucca stepped on his tail and tackled him!" Venice points at the Providence, who glared at Venice for ratting him out.

Italy looks at Lucca. "Luc, you know you can't edge Rome on, you know his dragon side will come in to help defend himself, and I've told you to be careful around a stressed country with a vicious animal side." Italy takes the two over to a First-Aid and wraps them up. His voice was disappointed.

Lucca was quiet, and so was Venice.

"And now he's hiding." Italy finishes wrapping them up. "Who knows where he could be now." The country pauses. "And while I'm looking, you two are grounded."

Venice perks up. "What?! What did I do?"

"You both snuck out at night, and now you made Rome have a freakout. Now to your rooms!" Italy instructs.

Venice does so but glares at Lucca beforehand. Lucca being stubborn, glares back, both blaming the other.

☙❊╚═══╗❊❧

"Why'd you have to get in the dustiest spot in the building?" Italy asks while drying Rome off after a bath. "You turned the bathwater gray and brown, Rome."

"...I know..." He says in a quiet and high-pitched voice.

Italy frowns. "I'm not scolding you, just reminding you, you don't have to hide every time you get stressed."

Rome just quietly whines. He felt bad, for a couple of reasons. He bit Venice causing him to bleed, he scratched Lucca, also causing him to bleed, and he disappointed Italy.

Italy finishes drying his wings and sends him off to do his own thing.

Rome puts on a warm sweater over his white polo shirt. It was brown with white pine trees and dark brown lines and patterns. It did have little wing holes so his wings could poke out.

He goes out and tries to find a friend.

☙❊╚═══╗❊❧

Rome was talking to the other regions. The thing he had with him last night was an apron he made. He sewed with the help of other countries, they promised to not tell Italy about his Christmas present.

He had planned it to be white and he got fabric markers so the other Italian states can write something, but they have to write something small so others can have room.

Rome was heading to his room because he need to grab it and ask the states to add their own thing to the apron.

He goes under his bed, but they weren't there. He gives a confused face and looks on his bed.

But it wasn't under his covers or anything.

Rome sniffs for any scent.

He can sense Venice's and Lucca's scent.

Rome growls, why can't those two leave him alone?

He follows them until he gets to the playroom where the states hang out while the countries are in a meeting.

There were toys for the younger ones and about three TVs for the older ones.

Rome finds the two talking or maybe fighting. They were yelling at each other.

"Lucca! Just give it to Rome!"

"No, I can take it if I want!"

Rome saw Venice grab something from Lucca. It was the white apron he was going to give to Italy. "Hey!" Rome yelled. "That's mine!"

Lucca gives Rome a glare and Venice gives a panicked look.

Rome went over and growls, almost ready to kill them.

Venice tugs the apron and takes it away. "Rome! I wasn't doing anything, I was just trying to get your apron away from him!"

Rome was going to speak but Lucca grabs the apron and takes it again and then runs away.

"Lucca! Get back here!" Venice yells and runs after him. Rome took a second to process and then runs after both of them.

Eventually, Lucca goes to the pool area and dives into the water, and turns into a sea monster.

It doesn't faze Venice, so he goes in the air and dives like an eagle trying to get a fish. A really fast fish.

Venice tries to get him but Lucca always dived too deep for the griffon creature to follow.

Until Lucca didn't go deep enough and Venice grabs him. Lucca growls and struggles, his tail wraps around Ven's wing, and they both crash onto the dry floor.

Lucca and Venice get up quickly and they start to fight.

Rome flies over and snatches the apron and was about to dart off but Lucca grabs Rome's tail.

"Ow!" Rome says before trying to scratch Lucca but scratches Venice.

"Hey! I'm trying to help you!"

"It was an accident, you moron!"

Lucca gets up and pushes Venice away and chases after him. Venice follows.

Rome gets to the state lounge area when Lucca pounced on Rome and made him slip and fall.

Lucca grabs the apron and starts to run.

Venice opens his wings and flies up and grabs Lucca and tires to get the apron away from him

Lucca, Rome, and Venice continue to fight until a sharp voice breaks in.

"Roma, Venezia, Provincia di Lucca!" Italy yells.

Rome, Venice, and Lucca perk up. All of them were full of marks of fighting. They get off each other and stand in a line. 

"You three tell me what the meaning of this is!"

Everyone looks down or to the side, none of them look him in the eye. "Nothing Papa..." Rome mumbles.

"Nella tua lingua madre!" (In your native language) Italy says sternly.

Rome slightly jumps. "Non abbiamo fatto niente, Papà." (We didn't do anything, Papa)

"Stavamo solo mettendo le cose a posto!" (We were just making things right!) Lucca said.

"Non urlare!" (No yelling!) Italy takes a step forward. "Dimmi cosa è successo." (tell me what happened)

The three talk at the same time in Italian.

"Uno alla volta! Venezia. Spiegare." (One at a time! Venice. Explain)

"Roma e Lucca hanno iniziato a litigare." (Rome and Lucca had stared fighting) Italy looks at Rome and Lucca. "Ho provato a romperlo..." (I tried to stop it)

"No, non l'hai fatto!" (No you didn't!) Lucca said back. "Ci hai attaccato entrambi!" (You attacked both of us!)

Rome huffs. "Mi hanno rubato!" (They stole from me!)

Italy looks down at his capital, "Cosa hanno rubato?" (What did they steal?)

Rome looks over at the apron and it was completely shredded. He gasps and goes up to it. "No!" He picks it up, tears starting to fall down his face. "No..."

He was so looking forward to giving Italy this present. He knows how stressed his father can get, but now he can't show him how much he loved him.

Venice and Lucca look at each other. Both start to feel the guilt.

"Roma..." Lucca reaches his hand out to touch his smaller brother but he was whipped away and Rome ran away from the room. 

While saying, "I hate both of you!"

☙❊╚═══╗❊❧

A day later, the three had been avoiding each other.

Yet, the day went on normal, despite it being Christmas eve.

Italy made another big breakfast, but his little helper, Rome wasn't around.

"Rome!" Italy called after serving everyone. "Rome! Where are you hiding this time?"

Italy looks around the common hiding spots, but he can't find him.

He started asking around but no country or state has seen him. He panicked and runs around calling out for Rome. "Rome! Rome! Where are you?!"

Lucca saw Italy and runs after him since something was obviously wrong. "Italia! What's wrong?"

Italy looks back at him and stops. "Rome's gone! I can't find him!"

Lucca gave a confused look. "He isn't under his bed?"

"No, I looked there."

"What about-"

"I've looked everywhere!" Lucca sees Italy almost have a panic attack.

"U-Uh, Italy, it's okay, he'll turn up!" Lucca tried to give him some confidence. "He sometimes just needs alone time."

"He tells me though!" Italy started breathing heavily. Lucca wasn't sure what to do.

"Don't worry, Papa, I'll get the others and we'll all look for him!" Lucca smiles even though there was panic in his eyes.

Italy took deep breathes and slightly calmed down. "Okay, you call the other states, I'll keep looking." Italy runs off to continue to look for Rome.

Lucca panics on the inside for a minute before going and getting the states to look for Rome.

☙❊╚═══╗❊❧

"Rome! Rome!" Venice calls out. Lucca was with him. Venice sighs. "This is all our fault."

Lucca looks at Venice. "I know. Now I feel bad for yelling at him and..." Lucca looks forward. "Is that blood?"

Venice's eyes widen and he looks forward and sees a broken vase and blood on some of the shards. "Oh, please don't be Rome." Venice and Lucca follow the trail.

"Ven, can't you use your griffon powers?"

"What about your sea monster powers?"

"I don't have sea monster powers beside turning into one! Disney left out powers..." Lucca grumbles.

They find the trail of blood going into the Countryhuman locker room.

"Why would he go in here?"

"I don't know." Venice tries to open the door but it's locked. "It's locked."

"Move, feather boy." Lucca gets the water bottle he had one him and puts it on his hand. His skin changed to large scales and his fingers were sharp claws. He puts his claw in there and moves it around.

The lock clicks.

"Got it." He opens the door.

"Since when could you do that?"

"A long time ago." Lucca lets Venice go in first.

"Hello?" Venice calls out. Nothing.

"Maybe no one's in here." Lucca shrugs.

"There was blood, someone had to have been in here."

Lucca looks over and sees a broken mirror. "Who would run into a mirror?" He said going by the shards.

Venice looks at it. He picks up a shard. "These have blood on them as well."

"That is not a good sign."

They both get up and look around, the locker room was empty because it was Christmas eve and no one will be using it for meetings today.

"Rome? Are you in here?" Lucca calls. There's a sound of struggle in a locker.

Venice hears it and goes over and opens the locker door.

Rome was in there and there were claw marks on the door. He had many cuts on himself, mostly his elbow area. The boy was shaking, and his eyes were soaking with tears.

"Rome!" Venice picks the boy up. Lucca hears Ven yell and runs over.

Rome was whimpering and didn't want to move.

"Roma! Roma! What happened?!" Ven looked at all the bleeding scratches on him.

Rome whimpers and curls up. "I-Italia..." He mumbles.

Ven doesn't understand, but Lucca does. Lucca picks him up. "We need to get to Italy!" He says in a worried tone.

Venice nods and Lucca bolts out with the tiny dragon on his arms

Italy was called over by a region and he goes over and he sees a terribly hurt Rome.

"ROME!" Italy runs over to him and holds him in his arms.

Rome opens an eye, the other was too damaged to open. He whimpers and reaches out for Italy.

Italy's heart was broken, seeing him in a such a pained look. He picks his son and runs to the medic bay.

☙❊╚═══╗❊❧

Rome groans and opens his eyes. His right eyes was covered but the other could see.

"P-Papa...?"

Italy perks up and puts down his phone and goes right up to Rome. "Roma, stai bene?" (Are you okay?)

Rome slowly nods. He looks and sees he's covered in bandages. He gives a shocked and confused face.

"Rome," Italy took his hand. "Can you tell me what happened?"

Rome sighs. "When, I ranaway I ran into a table and a vase fell on me. My dragon side took over when I felt a lot of pain, and it ran into the locker room and ran into a mirror, then got stuck in a locker..." Rome looks down, he internally felt stupid for doing all that.

"Rome, it's okay. We found you and you're healing." Italy smiles.

"Am I still going to be able to go to the Christmas party?" Rome asks.

Italy frowns. "Well..."

Rome frowns. "Oh. No. I understand." Rome starts crying and goes under the blankets.

Italy frowns. Rome was too hurt to get out of bed. "I'm sorry, Roma." He pats Rome's head and heads out.

☙❊╚═══╗❊❧

Rome stays under the covers for the whole day. Soon, in the morning, Lucca and Ven check on him.

"Hey buddy." Venice says.

Rome stays quiet.

"We got you breakfast." Lucca said putting down his filled plate.

Rome was still and stayed under. He wasignoring btoh of them.

Venice and Lucca look at each other. "Want some dragon nip?" Lucca said dangling a piece of bacon above the hidden Rome.

It's suddenly snagged from a tiny arm of Rome and he eats it very quickly.

"We've decided to stay with you all day!"

"It's christmas and no one should be alone!" Venice added.

Rome pauses. Then comes out of his shell he often has up. "R-Really?"

"Of course!" Lucca pats his head. "We don't want you to stay by yourself."

Rome smiles and his tail wags under the sheets.

Lucca and Venice rea to him, talk to him, and just entertain him in general. Which Rome enjoyed.

After some time. Italy comes in. "Rome! Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas, Papa!" Rome smiles.

Italy kisses Rome's head.

"You know you didn't have to give me a present." Italys says.

Rome gives a confused look.

Italy shows him an apron. A colored one. With all the regions and states' names signed. "Luc and Ven told me you made this just for me. I love it so much!" Italy hugs him.

"Ow!" Rome says feeling some of his bandages digging into his cuts.

"Sorry." Italy lets go. "But I can't believe you thought of this!" Italy smiles and chuckles.

Rome is still confused. He looks at Lucca and Venice and they both smirk. Rome smiles at them.

"I couldn't have done it without my two brothers!" Rome giggles.

5: ( MiaGodOfCats) 

*Forewarning and disclaimer: Australia's actions with in this chapter are not to be copied or replicated*

It was good to finally get a Christmas away from my overbearing family. It's not like Kiwi shows up anyway. It's no fun if he wasn't there.

But this year, Denny had invited me over for a Christmas party, so I was packing my bags, expecting to get blackout drunk for the first Christmas in four years. Ah, what a memory. My mind flicked back fondly to the night I spiked all the drinks and forgot I spiked my own. It was delicious for all twelve seconds I was conscious.

Unfortunately, I was banned from possessing n@rcotics by UN in the presence of others, so that sucks.

I stared down at my empty backpack, I'd be there for a couple of days, so I needed to pack some clothes. It's Christmas, so I decided that a nice festive Hawaiian shirt would suit well. I dug around in the back of the closet, looking for that one Christmas shirt Torres had bought me years ago. It had surfing Santa on it and reindeer sunbathing. It was pretty much as festive as I ever got.

I managed to find it and as well as a t-shirt that read 'Merry Christmas, you filthy animal'. Another gift. I shrugged my shoulders and slipped it on. There's no reason why I couldn't start the festivities early.

I dumped a few more things in my bag, with my Christmas Hawaiian shirt on top. Finally, I was ready to roll out. Dragging myself outside, I said a quick goodbye to Torres and Abs.

It didn't take long before I was on the road, heading towards my destination. It was a pretty long trip, but I enjoyed having the windows rolled down and the aircon on, especially in the hot weather.

I stopped at a supermarket and a Bottle-o on the way. I thought that I may as well turn up with something to celebrate with. I picked out a nice whiskey and grabbed a premade pavlova. Nothing makes Christmas better than alcohol and pav, the traditional Australian Christmas dessert.

Walking inside the supermarket, the aircon was so nice, especially on such a hot day. I kinda didn't want to leave but looking down at my watch made me hurry up a little. I mean, I always liked to show up fashionably late, but at this point I would be there at the point in which I'm pushing back plans.

As I left the supermarket, the hot air hit me in the face. I quickly walked back to my car and turned the key. It took me a couple of goes before the car turned on. Unfortunately, the aircon did not. I let out a small sigh before looking at my watch to see if I would have enough time to get it fixed. However, my watch told me that I was not to spend the car ride in comfort, so I had to speed off. Rolling the window down seemed to help cool me off at least.

As I neared Den's place, I noticed the air seemed to feel... crispier? Cold? No, not cold. I'll go with crispier. The air felt crispier

Suddenly, the realisation hit me.

"F#ck! I forgot that they are in winter!" I muttered bitterly to myself. I didn't have time to go back home and get some warmer clothes, so I kept driving while I cursed myself.

I finally got to his place and looked around at the ridiculous amount of snow on the ground. I never liked the stuff. Putting the car in park, I looked up at the vast array of lights and decorations. I would have never put that much effort into a one-day holiday. But, it was still impressive, nonetheless.

I stepped out of the car. Of course, I was wearing my thongs. My foot sunk into the snow and sent a cold shiver up my spine. I looked down in disgust as I placed my other foot in the snow. It was up to my ankle and f#cking cold.

I quickly grabbed my bag with all my clothes and started shuffling my way to Den's door. Before I could knock on the door, Den slammed it open and pulled me in excitedly.

His house was just as festive inside as it was outside, complete with that typical crackling fireplace. It looked so hypnotising.

"I'm so glad you are finally here!" He said excitedly, snapping me out the trance the warmth had on me.

"Uh, yeah... I said I was coming, didn't I?" I smiled as I rolled my eyes. He seemed to stop for a brief moment and look me up and down.

"It's really cold outside, why are you wearing summer clothes?" Denmark asked, finally speaking his mind.

Feeling like my pride was in danger, I said the first thing that came to my head.

"Cold? It's not cold. I'm Aussie! Temperature has never kept me down before!" I said proudly knowing that it was true only in the heat. I was frozen to the bone in anything less than 20 degrees.

"I guess that isn't too out of character for you." Denmark sighed with a small smirk.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked as I tried to get closer to the fireplace to warm myself up a little.

"Well, there's a party at the UN building. I didn't actually have a plan besides going there," Den shrugged.

"Oh, we can still get black-out drunk, right?" I asked. Den rolled his eyes.

"Duh, but they never serve any spirits, so you gotta bring your own poison," He smiled as he pulled out a couple bottles of his own.

"Ha! Lucky, I stopped to get some whiskey!" I said pulling out my own bottle.

"I'm not surprised. You bring alcohol to every event," He rolled his eyes.

"No, I don't?" I said, partially offended at his accusation.

"You brought a case of beer to your nephews' birthday,"

"He needed to start drinking at some point." I shrugged.

"Wasn't he like, 12?"

"He was 11 actually," I corrected him.

"You moron," He laughed as he walked into the next room over. I could hear grabbing something from the kitchen.

I let out a small sigh and inched closer to the fireplace once he was out of sight. My body slowly thawed near the fire.

"So, are you sure you don't want a coat or anything? It is really, really cold outside." Denmark asked.

"Nah! It's not cold!" I shouted back, letting my pride get the best of me again.

"Fine," Den responded bluntly.

I kept getting closer and closer to the fireplace. Every step closer made me feel warmer. It was so nice... So comfy... So toasty... So mesmerising... So... on fire... On fire! F#ck! Sh!t! B@lls!

My arm was on fire! I waved my arm around, trying to put the flame out, but it didn't seem to work. Thinking fast I looked out the window to the snow. I quickly opened the door and dunked my whole arm deep into the snow, finally extinguishing the fire.

I listened to the sizzle of steam as I felt my arm cool down.

"Aus! You okay?" Denmark ran outside to see me elbow deep in the snow.

"Uh, yeah! Um, I'm so hot I can self-combust!" I blurted, thinking off the top of my head.

"Yeah, I know you're hot. But you should probably get that checked out? Bursting into flames at any given moment is not normal." Denny said, helping me out of the snow.

"Heh, you admitted I'm hot," I said with a smug smile.

"Do you want to take your shirt off for me to confirm, or are we going to head to this party?" He rolled his eyes.

"Fine. So, whose car are we taking?"

"I figured we could just walk there. It's only 10 minutes away. Besides, I could use the exercise,"

I didn't get much of a choice to disagree, besides, this way I could truly prove that the cold doesn't bother me anyway. God, all this time looking after Papua, I'm starting to sound like a princess.

We grabbed our alcohol and started the walk down to the UN building. It was far more challenging than I had anticipated. Despite my burnt and crispy arm, the cold weather completely chilled me to the bone. Den was all rugged up in a nice warm brown jacket with a red and white scarf wrapped around his neck. I felt jealous but I couldn't sacrifice my own pride for a bit of warmth.

The thongs on my feet were not helping the situation either. I could feel my toes start to be claimed by the frostbite. But, I couldn't let Denny know I was cold. I kept thinking to myself and assuring myself that it wasn't cold.

It's not cold, it's not cold, it's not cold. I repeated in my head, hoping the words would shield me from the freezing weather. But, that was when I noticed something land on my nose.

"Hey look, it's snowing again," Den smiled happily as he pointed up to the overcast sky. He was right. Not only was the coldness of the snow and the wind working together to test my strength, but now the sky had it out for me too.

"So? It's just frozen water." I muttered to myself in another attempt to fuel my already depleting pride.

We continued to walk through the snow as I tried to position myself in a way that doesn't make my goose bumps obvious. I didn't want to cross my arms, it would be too obvious, but it felt like icicles were forming from my fingers and that they had turned frozen solid and the bottle of whiskey in my hand became fixed to my skin. I was so caught up in trying to ignore the cold that I had completely ignored Denmark's attempts to converse.

"Earth to Aus? Are you there? I think the snow must have short circuited your transmission systems," Den asked, tapping in on the head a few times.

"Huh? My transmission systems are just fine, thank you very much," I said, swatting his hand away.

"I was just making sure. So, what are you planning on getting your brothers for Christmas?" He asked.

"Probably a Christmas card like every year," I shrugged.

"Creative." Den rolled his eyes.

"Oh, come on, surely you don't put effort into getting all your brothers presents, do you?" I asked jokingly.

"Touché," He mumbled.

"When did you start speaking French?"

"In school, you know, when we were supposed to learn at least 3 languages."

We started talking about the good old days which quickly turned into an argument about whether washing machines are a bad idea to have around during the zombie apocalypse or not.

"They could be weaponry or barricades," Den argued.

"Yeah, but what about the plumbing? They are so noisy too; they would attract zombies!"

"And they could be used as a distraction,"

"How are you planning on getting it far enough away from the survivors? Those things are heavy,"

The argument really got my blood boiling and I barely noticed the cold by that point. Part of me just figured that it was the case because my limbs had gone numb or fallen off.

"Hey look, we're here," Den said, pointing to the two doors that led into the building. Our argument ceased the moment we entered the building.

The warmth of the building allowed me to regain the feeling in my fingers and toes. It felt like pure ecstasy being able to articulate my hands again. I was able to free the whiskey from my frozen grip. Now all I needed was to get some alcohol in my system and I'll be ready to party. I revelled in the warmth until I heard the ding.

I was enjoying the moment so much that I didn't notice Den had gotten in the elevator without me. I watched as the doors were closing and Den was waving at me.

"See you at the top!" He shouted before the door fully shut.

"Hey!" I shouted after him as I ran over to the elevator, spamming the up button. With only 1 elevator, it wasn't coming down anytime soon. Taking Denny's betrayal as a race, I quickly made my way into the stairway and began sprinting to the top. It was a much more tiring feat than I initially thought. By the time I got halfway, I had to stop and take a breather. Thank goodness Dad's not here. He would have told me I was being childish.

After my short break, I got back to running up the stairs, every now and again missing 5 steps at a time. I finally got to the last flight of stairs and burst in through the doors.

Everyone seemed to stop what they were doing and stared at me. In a moment of pure adrenaline, I held up the bottle of whiskey in my hand and chugged it all in front of everyone. It seemed to do the trick in hyping everyone up.

I was quickly engulfed by the party and I could feel the warmth of the whiskey kicking in. After what felt like an hour of partying and drinking, I needed to take a seat before I'd collapse.

I wasn't entirely sure how long it had been, and now that I thought about it, I hadn't seen Den the whole time. I brushed it off, knowing that the party was quite busy, he could have easily been somewhere in the crowd.

As I was sitting down, I continued to get curious. I asked a couple of the others who were nearby, but they didn't know either. After I felt like the buzz had passed, I began looking for him.

"Hey, are you looking for Denmark?" Thailand asked. I nodded, feeling a little fuzzy from the alcohol.

"He told me to tell you that he's in the break room," He shrugged. I nodded my head in thanks and walked off to find the break room.

After being turned around a few times, I managed to find, standing in the exact centre of the room.

"Have you been here the whole time?" I asked confused as I walked over to him.

"You weren't even looking for me." He said bluntly.

"Answer the question," I grumbled.

"Because you kept spamming the elevator button, I didn't get past the 2nd floor. I had to wait for the doors to open and close quickly before I could take the stairs up," Denmark snapped. He did look kind of p!ssed about it. As he babbled on, I noticed him holding onto a rope-like thing that hung from the ceiling.

"In my defence, that elevator has not worked well since we tried to see how many people we could fit on a single elevator." I mumbled.

"I still want revenge," Den said as he pointed up,

"I swear, if it's f#cking mistletoe, I'll punch you in the lips," I grumbled. I looked up still to see a comically large silver bucket hanging from the ceiling.

"What? Did you fill it with lego? The stuff only hurts to step on." I shrugged.

Denmark's face grew a grin as he tugged on the rope.

A f#cking mountain of snow covered me. My whole body turned to ice and I jumped out of the pile after the shock wore off.

"Okay! F#ck it! Why the F#CK is it so cold! You guys are insane living in these freezing temperatures!" I yelled as my whole body shivered violently.

Others quickly gathered to watch me rant about the cold while Denmark just stood there smiling.

"Don't ever lie to me again," Denmark laughed as he threw me a coat.

5: ( Apple ) 

The fire continued to crackle, but, on the other side of the frosted glass, lay another party of sorts. It was chilly and silent, small white flakes falling gracefully from the sky towards the ground. The sun barely peeked through the grey clouds, covering the land in a dark blanket of shade. Where the sun was shining, the rays reflected brightly from the glittering fallen powder. The wind whistled slightly through the suburban hills, swaying the heavy tree branches back and forth.  The loud chatter could be heard from inside the building, but outside a different set of conversations were being spoken.  

Five countries ran up and down the hills, dozens of frozen sculptures lining the front lawn. Despite the bitter cold, some of the gang were more privy to the cold than the warmth. Thousands of years exposed to that sort of weather had given them the upper hand to the feeling of winter. The snow wasn't uncommon where they lived, but Christmas wouldn't be complete without the simple frozen flakes. Most of them would rather burrow outside in the snow than sit inside and practically melt indoors. Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Greenland, and Antarctica all congregated outside, each one of them easily distracted by their own activity. All of them had an interesting story or two to share, and the warmth seemed to be felt on the outside, even despite the frigid conditions.

 Greenland and Antarctica seemed to enjoy each other's company more than ever. They would chat back and forth, each one adorned with a bright smile that refused to disappear. Antarctica's husky, Snowcone pranced around back and forth, digging in the snow and jogging alongside Norway. Sweden and Iceland preferred to stand off to the side, chatting quietly between themselves. Sweden was never the most social type and was ready to turn downtime with others for his work. Norway had to practically drag the country along to get him to come. Iceland, on the other hand, was quiet, but still the complete opposite of Sweden. He had quite a bit of energy when it was needed, and kept the conversation going on and on and on.  Greenland couldn't decide if Sweden enjoyed the company, or wanted to go home instead. It was probably a mix of both, really. 

And then there was Norway. He was on a sugar high. Four mugs of eggnog and a 'few' candy canes later, and he was bouncing off the walls. EU had to drag him outside before he destroyed the entire building. The Nordic country scrambled around, building various snowmen of assorting sizes or rolling down the frosted hills. Snowcone seemed to take quite a liking to the rambunctious nature of the country. 

"Norway you idiot, calm down! You're going to turn into a snowman if you keep running around like that" Sweden dropped his conversation with Iceland, instead of turning his attention to the puppy and country bounding through the snow. Norway stopped in his tracks at the sound of his name being said. He stared for a few seconds, before collapsing back, completely disappearing into the thick powder. 

"That's not what he meant," Iceland tagged along playfully. 

"BuT whYyYy? I LiKe ThE sNoW," was the loud reply from the mound of lightly packed snow. Antarctica smiled. It was a quiet and simple festivity, but she couldn't be more content. Patting the large mound of snow she had just shaped, she took a minute to look over at it. Another successful igloo, it wasn't too large and could hold heat nicely. She smiled at the thought of her own country, where the penguins would randomly wattle into her igloo, completely oblivious to who lived there. 

It only took a few seconds before they squeaked in surprise and slid out afraid of the country herself. Taking a step she took in a crisp breath, feeling the snowflakes land on her eyelashes. Christmas was always a wondrous time. She never really had the chance to celebrate as a young country, as she was all alone with no one but Snowcone for company. But after meeting Greenland.. well, everything changed. She felt her cold heart melt slowly, falling for the handsome country. Greenland, she thought dreamily. She looked over to her left catching sight of her husband. But it wasn't completely what she expected.   For a few long seconds, she stared at Greenland, who was laying on the ground, with a smile and a handful of snow. Antarctica quickly put her hands on her hips.

 "You big cheater. You copied me!"  she pointed an accusing finger at the larger country. Greenland slowly looked up with a smirk.

 "It's not completely copying.... I think of it more as taking reference." He shrugged innocently. Antarctica felt her blood boil, although lovingly. Greenland was the only one who could get under her skin but in a joking and happy way. Antarctica shook her head and tapped her foot in the snow. There was no way she was losing to her own husband. 

"Well, let me tell you, Mr. Cheater, I'm the master at making igloos. I've made more than I even want to recall. That's all I ever lived in. It's bold of you to try and copy me, let alone best me " she playfully kicked the side of his structure. Greenland raised an eyebrow, looking at the new boot print on the side of his house. 

"Is that a challenge, Snowflake?" Antarctica scoffed, she didn't need something bad to happen between the two. Besides, she always won anyway. "No, but I think we both know who's better." She turned back to the frozen shelter. She tried her best to ignore it but the thought of his smirk annoyed her. He was challenging her, no doubt about it. The female just gave him the side-eye for minutes on end. After a few minutes, Snowcone came trotting in front of the two, barking loudly at Greenland. 

"See, I told you mine is better," He pointed at the dog, pushing his wife even further. Antarctica snapped around glaring at him. " Is that a challenge, Greenland? " she echoed, staring at him with daggers in her eyes, her voice turning to a growl of sorts. Greenland chucked at her annoyed stance and shrugged. 

" I don't know, is it?" he asked. The female quickly turned away with a huff and crossed her arms. She loved him, but goodness could he get on her nerves.  In the back of her mind she knew that if she didn't respond, he wouldn't mess with her. But it was so hard not to respond. Naught but seconds later, along strolled Sweden. He looked between the two and quickly turned towards Greenland with a tired grunt.

 "Nice igloo, Greenland," he commented, sinking further into the knee-high snow. Antarctica felt her eye twitch. She didn't think so. 

"THAT'S IT! " she stepped quickly back with a ball of snow in her hand. Greenland stood to attention and Sweden took a step back at her loud yelp. It was unlike her gentle and calm nature. Sweden looked up at Greenland, but he found the entire interaction humorous in some kind of way. 

"You have brought war upon us Greeland! We all know I'm better at making igloos and building with snow in general! It's not even a question! I know you're my husband and the love of my life, but actions must be taken. I can't just sit around and watch anymore. I'm sad it's come to this, but I'll do what I must." Sweden looked more than confused. 

" Is she being serious?! " Sweden leaned to his right and whispered to Greenland. The slightly taller red-flagged male just nodded his head.

 "She's more than serious." Antarctica stomped a few steps back and grabbed a random stick that stuck out from the snow. She quickly drew a line in the snow right between the two. She looked up at Greenland and stuck out her tongue. 

"You stay on your territory and I'll stay on mine. We don't want a war, now do we?" Her voice was playful but serious. Greenland scoffed from behind and grabbed a large chunk of snow from the ground. "You sure you wanna go there Snowflake? '' he threw it up and down, catching it each time. Antarctica merely scoffed, walking forward.  Greenland took a defensive shuffle forward until the two's faces were only inches away. 

"Don't give me that look." 

"I'm not giving you any look. You're the one who wanted the war." 

"The war has already begun, you flirt."

 "So you still love me? "

 "Stop trying to play mind games with me. '' She looked at Greenland in the eyes, then at Sweden and others who circled around the couple.

 "You all must choose a side. It would be wise to stay with me, but choose your fate." she winked sinisterly. Iceland seemed mildly excited, Sweden looked like he was about to strangle someone, and Norway was already building his arsenal, already three feet deep in the snow.  Greenland snickered as Norway and Iceland walked over to Antarctica's side while Sweden refused to move from his spot in the frozen snow. 

The Ice (otherwise known as Antarctica) turned her back to her opponent. "You're outnumbered, you don't stand a chance. Now, I'm feeling generous today and I'm going to give you ten seconds to surrender to me " she handed Iceland a frozen ball of snow. Norway let out a giggling laugh, sounding half drunk. The other Nordic country let out a chuckle, his eyes staring a hole through Sweden.

 Greenland placed a hand on his chin as if he was contemplating her offer but quickly shook his head. 

"It's a war, Snowflake. You know I'm not backing down," he smirked. 

"So be it." She turned around, her arms already stuffed with frozen balls of snow. Sweden took a step or two back but held his ground defensively. Both sides stood in utter silence, the tension building. Antarctica wasn't one to back down, but the thought of battling Green made her hesitant for some reason. He was a charmer, but also faster and more tactical than her, this war could go south very quickly for her. But the female confidently held her ground. She grasped a snowfall firmly in her hand, feeling it crunch under the pressure. 

Sweden and Greenland stared back with their icy blue and yellow eyes, but she refused to flinch. She was too stubborn to do otherwise. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Norway who was camped out in his bunker in the snow. She knew he was excited and ready, but not that much. The second a snowball left his hand, everything fell into chaos. Iceland froze still as a snowball whizzed inches away from his face. 

He stood for a few more seconds before slipping in the snow and returning the fire towards the opposing side. Sweden fell to the ground, barely able to dodge a shot from Iceland, while Antarctica turned the other way and ran towards her igloo. 

"  COME ON ICELAND " she grabbed the sleeve of his jacket dragging the country up. Norway continued to fire, sparing the two a little time to run. Their enemies seemed to have taken the opportunity, retaliating in full force as the two countries fled. 

 The once peaceful hills had been transformed into a full-on war zone. Jumping into her igloo, Antarctica flopped over on the floor half exhausted, Iceland leaning against the wall. 

" How-.. How can your husband... do that " Iceland huffed, peeking his head out the door only to almost be hit once more. Antarctica shook her head.

 " I have no idea. '' she giggled slightly, lightening the mood. From what others had told her humor was an important part of being in battle. It was interesting to the female. How could one hate war, but fight so happy and valiantly for it? The country looked up to Iceland who seemed to have a better grasp on the situation than her. Honestly, she wasn't the most experienced at wars. 

They had never come to her, she never even knew anyone until around 1820. Maybe she was just lucky? Antarctica quickly shook her head, the thoughts slowly dissolving it.  She looked around hurriedly and pulled a small twig out of the snow, tossing it over to Iceland. The Nordic country raised an eyebrow at her partially confused.

 " Here, what's the plan? "A boost of adrenaline spread through her veins. Iceland seemed to panic at the sudden instruction. 

" I don't know! You can't just ask me to make an entire war plan. These things take time! Besides, I've never been involved in a full-scale ' war' before" he made quick air quotes. Antarctica frowned and grabbed the stick from his hands. 

" That time we don't have. I know things don't look good, but we can't panic. I haven't even ever fought in a war before. I know Greeland's weakness, and you know Sweden's. Let's use what we know to our advantage. " She started to sketch a map of the field in the snow. The dark blue country went silent and listened in closely. For several minutes the Arctic drew, the faint sound of Norway continuing to make her strong with faith.

 " If Norway is here, and both Sweden and Greeland are here... " she started. Iceland seemed to slowly catch on.

 " We might be able to sneak around....But that's too much of a risk. If they turn around or notice that we were gone, it will all be over " he proposed. Antarctica nodded her head in agreement. The Artic ran a hand through her long white hair before an idea simultaneously popped into her head.

 " But, we might be able to take cover in this tree right here. If we can do that, we could scale it and have the high ground. If Norway continues with ground fire, we can attack from on top, possibly forcing them to retreat or at least rethink tactics for a little.... If that doesn't work I have option C, but I'm not sure if it would work. " She drew a circle around the tree. Iceland stood for a few seconds, staring at the drawing deep in thought. He hadn't been in many fights, and had never seen something so risky, yet so strategic, but was almost willing to take the risk.

 " You sure they won't snipe us out of the tree? " he asked hesitantly. The other country shook her head unsure. 

" Not if we can get high enough. I don't believe they have a strong or accurate throw" her eyes sparkled with mischief. Iceland scanned over the plan before confidently nodding his head.

 " Good You start making as much ammo as you can, ill go a contact Norway " she forced herself up. Slowly walking towards the door, she pulled a glove off and whistled as loud as she could. From the middle of the field, the top half of Norway, and Snowcone's heads popped up from the bunker. " How are you going to talk to him.. Were too far away to hear " Iceland questioned, a half-formed snowball in his hands. Antarctica smirked and stuck her hands out the door. It took her a few seconds but Iceland knew what she was doing. " Where do you learn to use hand signals like that?'' he watched half astonished. Antarctica shrugged quickly. 

" A girl never reveals her secrets " she grabbed a few snowballs then helped Iceland up.

 " Ready? " the dark blue country asked. The female shook her head, and they were gone. Both of them quickly darted towards the heavily decorated pine tree that sat in the middle of the fire zone. It was at least 30 feet tall and was protected by large thick branches. The pine needles might be uncomfortable, but drastic measures are needed in drastic situations. Staring at the hundreds of ornaments painted with different countries' flags, Antarctica took into mind how mad UN would be at her if they destroyed the tree, but they didn't have any time to take it back. Taking oncoming fire, she helped Iceland into the tree, then quickly jumped up. They were safe. Iceland gave a satisfactory high five and continued to climb further up. Antarctica got tangled in a strand of lights, and a few ornaments fell but nothing was completely destroyed. 

 At least not that destroyed. Upon reaching the top, Antarctica poked her head out of the large thick branches and looked down upon the landscape. This was going to be easy. Greenland had built a wall to defend himself from Norway but had no idea that they were above. From the looks of things, Sweden had gone out to scout for them. Antarctica giggled. It was a game of moves and countermoves. Yes, her opponent had speed and skill, but she had strategy and stealth on her side. Iceland appeared right next to her, a large smirk on his face.

 " Would you like to have the honors? " Antarctica smiled. Iceland chuckled. " I would love nothing more."  He clutched the snowball almost protectively.

 " BOMBS AWAY " Antarctica pumped a fist in the air, letting a barrage of snowballs find their way to the ground. At first glance, Greenland was confused out of his mind. He was looking everywhere until he realized they were in the tree. Iceland was able to latch onto Sweden and throw a perfectly timed ball of snow, distracting him enough for Norway to hit him straight in the face. Sweden dramatically fell to the ground, laying in the snow in a weird position before Greeland came back and was able to drag the country back into their team igloo. Antarctica laughed and let out a happy sound of victory 

" One down and one cornered! That's what I call a success! " she cheered. That was until Iceland let out a small ' uh oh'. Those were never good. Their celebration was once again short-lived. Antarctica looked over for Iceland to open his arms, revealing they were low on ammo. There were only four measly snowballs left. The female cursed under her breath that wasn't good.

 " One of us is going to have to go down there and get a resupply. '' She hit a tree branch, watching the snowfall to the ground. Iceland let out a long but confident sigh.

 "I'll do it. " he sounded nervous but determined. The Arctic raised an eyebrow. 

" You sure?! " she grabbed his sleeve, stopping the Noric countries' descent. " I'm sure " he nodded and continued down the tree. Anxiety started to overfill the female. Greenland was not someone to be taken lightly. For all she knew, he could come out with an entire snow cannon.  She kept her eyes glued to the igloo he had entered, and didn't take them off of that igloo. That was all until a muffled yell wrang out from under her. Worriedly, she stuck her head up, and on the ground lay Iceland, a painted Red and white Greenland flag laying on his chest. 

" ICELAND?! " she tried to get some sort of response. Nothing. In the back of her mind, Antarctica knew that Greeland was trying to draw her out, but she needed to be there for her comrade. Even though it was fake, Antarctica felt something she had never felt before. It was like a mixture of guilt, hurt, and anger that weighed down on her chest until she jumped down from a low branch coming to the blue Nordic countries side. Was this how every country felt during the war? If so, how could they possibly live with it..

 " Iceland? " she shook him slightly. He didn't respond quickly but eventually raised a weirdly fake hand up. Antarctica gripped it with her gloved hand, staring down at him. Greenland watched from the side as the scene played out like a cheezy reenactment from a war movie. It was quite humorous, he couldn't help but laugh. 

" You fight this war until it's over " Iceland rasped his hand falling back to the ground.  Antarctica shook him once more but quickly realized he wasn't coming back.

 " Time for plan C... " She whispered under her breath... 

" It's one to one Snowflake. They all fought valiantly, but in the end, were no match for my superior skill. " he shrugged, staring at his wife's turned back. She stood up lazy and something about the fun shifted. It was only then he recognized the cracks lining her hands and face. It was only then he remembered she was dying, melting bit by bit. It made his heart sting at the sight.  She chuckled and stumbled slightly before falling over in the snow. " Snowflake!! " he dropped the cluster of snow and ran to her side. He threw his arms around her and pressed his cold, sweaty face to her forehead. She was so warm. Her skin didn't feel cold anymore. There were goosebumps on her arms, but she was warm inside. He took in a deep breath and shook her slightly. Antarctica groggily looked up and stared at Greenland with her crystal blue eyes.

 " Are you alright?! " he sounded almost desperate. Antarctica opened her mouth to speak but closed it. 

"It's alright " Greenland leaned forward to make it easier for her to speak. Antarctica mischievously smirked. " You play a fair game but your heart misleads you Greeland.. " she chuckled. Scooping up one last ball of snow, she dropped it on top of the red and white countries head, erupting out in a cheer! 

" We won!!!! " she yelled, practically reviving Norway and Iceland from the dead. Greenland on the other hand looked mortified.

 " I-... Ah.... " he stuttered. Antarctica looked up at him with a wide smile.

 " I'm alright. Just needed to use plan C " she kissed his cheek. 

" You scared me half to death Snowflake! Don't do that again " he playfully threw her into the snow with a giggle. " Oh come on Snowflake! How was I to know you would do that? You had me more freaked out than anything! Besides, you're the one that's afraid of disappearing and leaving you alone! " He said as she laid in the snow, laughing. 

" Greeland, I am an independent woman! Even though it would be horrible if you were gone You know what? Your right... I'm sorry for scaring you half to death even if it was funny. " she burst out into laughter. Greenland just chuckled lightly. " Well, that was one hell of a battle " Iceland bushed a spot of snow off his coat, watching the couple mess around. 

" Nice going Antarctica! That tactic worked like a charm :> " Norway strolled up, Snowcone right at his feet. " Remind me never to do that again " Sweden kicked a small mound of snow as Iceland pulled him into a half hug. Greenland looked around at the people around him. It was Christmas and he wouldn't want to spend his time anywhere else.

 "Let's go grab a drink" Sweden swung around. "I'm going to need at least a  keg " he groaned. 

Everyone was silent but agreed it was time to warm up. That was until a certain European Union wandered outside, snow in his hand and war written all over his face. Greenland looked and Antarctica and Antarctica glanced at Greenland. " Truce " Greenland stuck out his hand. Antarctica firmly shook his hand with a nod. The two turned around, grabbing a clump of snow with a smile. 

" Bring it on. "

6: ( Pinky ) 

"Sia?" 

Philip called out to his live-in partner, cocking his head through all directions in hopes of finding the slav. He sighed to find no one in their suite bedroom, closing its door shut as he continued down its short hall.

 "Sia, c'mon, it's just a party. Everyone is waiting for you downstairs." he tried to reassure out to whoever could hear him, scratching the back of his neck in gentle frustration. Hearing a small mutter coming out of the bathroom, he simply popped right in, grinning to see Russia sitting beside the toilet, hugging her legs close. 

"Hey there, Raindrop." he smiled sunshine-brightly. He proceeded to sit on the toilet's seat cover, slouching a little to meet her frame, 

"Why are ya here, girl?" She hung her head up, making her face visible on top of her arms, her glistening blue violet orbs peeping under her glaring eyelids, "You're seriously determined to make me go have fun in this stupid party, aren't you?" He chuckled in embarrassment, before pointing out,

 "I am." 

"Ha, over my dead body, the only thing missing is for you to drag me there-" but as she was about to finish what she was saying, he lifted her up bridal style in one swift sweep. 

"Why not carry you there, instead?" he wiggled his eyebrows mischievously, smirking at her surprised and flustered expression.

 "Nooo!!" she yelped in a high-pitched squeak as he started to run through their apa, laughing with Sia in his arms. He playfully plopped her on the white loveseat couch, earning another squeak of laughter from her.

 "Whoops." he smiled. He then sweatdropped, noticing the sudden heat in his surroundings--she was glaring at him like a falcon now, her face reddening in rage, and seeing the pillow by her right hand, he knew he was going to have a bad time. 

"You forkin--why the fork?!" she growled, beating him rapidly with the pillow. Him, on the other hand, was having a hard time breathing from his laughter, giving no effort to dodge her blows at all. When her wrath died down, she stomped and sat back on the couch, pouting with her arms folded. He sat beside her as well, a little cautious she might attack him again. 

"Why did I have to be at this party again?" she sighed, unamused, 

"You could just go ahead, have fun without me, but you still insisted, so why?" 

"Well, which boyfriend would not want their girlfriend by their side at a party?" 

"Humph, liar. Boys are so unpredictable; they feel ashamed having their partners around. Whenever they do 'guy stuff', it's strictly for guys only."

 "You know me better than that, mahal. I'm not like... the others." he grinned at her warmly, his eyes closing sweetly at her. She gave him an apologetic look of silence. Philippines was never fond of hanging out with the big boys--he may have seemed to be in a huge circle of famous guy friends, however, it was a bit tiring and difficult for him to mingle with them, masking that with ever so enthusiastic glee. But then again, so does Sia, therefore, she doesn't really understand the problem. His next words suddenly astounded her, 

"Besides, I take you as my blooming pride. I wanna flex to the others how awesome my girlfriend is." he winked at her, making her blush to roses once again. Still, she took a deep breath, before saying,

 "What about Ame? And China?"

 "Uh, what about them?" 

"They'll be at the party, right? Are you even okay with that?" she cried in worry for him. He gave her a small reassuring smile,

 "Russia, they're my friends, and that's another reason why I should go there. Sure, some may have ups and downs with me, but we'll never let go of that bond deep within ourselves. Besides, I don't think Chen would come, a bummer, he's expecting a cargo to arrive in his place." he sighed in disappointment.

 She groaned, reaching and hugging the pillow in place, 

"I still don't see any reason why I must go there." she muttered lowly.

 "Aww, where's your Xmas spirit, Raindrop? We're accepting this as a gift to us, we should be thankful we got invited." he breathed, wrapping his arm on her shoulder.

 "More like, you're the one who was invited, and I'm just being dragged into this alongside you. I doubt you're aware of how popular you really are, sunshine, I won't be surprised to see if you have received more than just one invite." she rolled her eyes, as-a-matter-of-factly. He sweatdropped a little, his blue, red, white, and yellow patterned flag flushing a slight pink, "I, uh, uhmm, I guess so...?" She continued to bury her face on the pillow she held. Phil could barely make out her muffled retort, "

Whatever, who'd invite a freak like me? Moochers, yes, that's what they are." "Hey, that's not nice, it's Xmas for goodness sake, Sia." he started to frown, a bit aggravated as he held on his head,

 "No one would play naughty this day, or else they won't receive anything from Santa." She gave him an arched eyebrow look, staring at him from up and down in a sarcastic manner,

 "Another reason why we don't even have such a ridiculous day of the year in our country. Santa doesn't even exist."

 "Of course, he doesn't. But how people inserted that myth in their minds was enough to stop themselves from doing anything wrong in a whole day, which I find delusional--they could've just been nice all year long, in their whole lifetime, yet heck, I guess I'm thankful we at least have this break once in a while." he shrugged, leaning on his seat. 

"People could be so cruel..." she sighed. "People are always cruel in the first place." Philip snapped, accepting the painful truth, 

"You and I are no exception to that either, everyone had their own dark side." She noticed his hands trembling uncontrollably, his flag turning red-side up every now and then, the sight of his anxious state was overwhelming for her to bear. She immediately placed her hand in his, the quaking halting abruptly. He was seeing red at first, but swiftly went back to a relaxed state, not just because he could feel her hands in his, but also because she was petting his hair.

 "Phil, chill out, there's a bright side in everyone as well. We just need something or someone to light our way that's all..." she gave him the softest smile she could ever muster, 

"Like how you lit up mine." The two couldn't help but fluster up like fools, staring at each other's gazes. 

"So... You lit up my side with lightning? 'Cuz suddenly, my heart feels so electrified whenever you're around me.'' he wiggled his eyebrows in a teasing manner. "Oh gawd, no, that was bad!" she shrieked in realization. 

"What? It's the only thing lighting up in the rain." he chuckled, ever so amused. "Whatever, no." "... So... are you coming or not?" he smiled tenderly, but in a waver, expecting a sure fire no from the stone-hearted slav. He was quite surprised to hear a squeaky "yes" after watching her muttering on her pillow. "Hm? Raindrop, what did you just say?" More of her muffles followed. She was trembling a bit. 

"C'mon, Sia, spill, I can't hear you." he smiled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. 

"I said, I'd go!!" she yelled from the cushion pillow, embarrassed and irritated at the same time. Upon hearing her approval, he grinned ear to ear like nothing he's ever done before, sweeping her off the ground once more to spin him around the air. He showered her so many happy kisses on her face, which in turn, made her laugh at his giddy state. He then sets her down on the wooden floor, still embracing his dose of downpour in his arms. 

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Sia!" he squealed like a cringey high school girl, which she found hysterical, "Oh my gad, salamat talaga [Thank you so much], I can't express just how happy I am today. Having you spend time with me this year's Xmas will be the best Xmas in my entire life. I love you so, so much, I'll never forget this!" 

"Huh, just saying I'd go already made you burst your bubble and crack your nuts and bolts in no time, is Xmas really that important to you?" she sweatdropped from shock. "Of course it is! They say it's the best time of this year, but I'd say, it'd be the best time of my life. Well, second best." he winked at her mischievously for a mamillionth time, and she wondered why. 

"Second best?" she frowned, a bit hurt. She was starting to like Xmas for what he said, but considering it as second best to him was a total crack for her, it made her almost want to change her mind. 

"Yes, because the best day of my life... Will be the time I see you wear a veil underneath a vine-decorated altar with me." He smirked, wiggling his eyebrows a little. Russia, was of course, in a flush, punching him in the arm before hiding her reddened face behind her hands, 

"Philip, what the actual–!" she yelled, "Go get ready, for goodness sake, just anything to get you away from me!" He smiled innocently, "Okay." ... He was already, uh, ready, wearing his indoor winter coat, sweater, overall clothing now that she realized. 

"Oh shoot! Why didn't you forking tell me you're already done?!! Agh!" she shrieked at the time running out, promptly throwing the cushion she held towards Philippines' face, and away she went to their bedroom in panic. He, on the other hand, chuckled either way, leaning back on the couch to await his Raindrop. ____________________________________________________________________________________ 

"What took you guys so long? The party's about to end any moment soon." The other guests at the planned party area of the UN building stared at the late-comers in shock and worry, especially at Sia, whom they knew to be someone who'd say she'd be caught dead going to a party. Phil sweatdropped a little, but when he felt Sia tug his sleeve nervously, squirming a little to try to hide behind him in anxiousness, he gave everybody in the room a kind smile. He pulled Russia back towards him, shouldering onto her firmly, 

"My not-so-little fashionista here had a hard time picking out a dress to wear. I told her not to, she's already beautiful the way she is, and just put some pants on since it's cold, and... I don't want other people setting their gaze on her brilliancy." He turned to look at her proudly, earning a sigh and 'They're-so-sweet's from the other guests. She just blushed, like the tsundere she always is. 

"Why did I have to be in this party again?"

7: (Grillly) 

That wrapping is the worst I have ever seen!

(My (Grillys) universe. December 24, 2021)

Papal's POV: 

I walk down the hall and the stairs of me and my siblings house. To the commotion going on in the living room. Some of my friends are here. This'll be fun. I get to the bottom of the stairs and I look around. "Those are the skills of someone who has zero experience." Britain said. "Oh shut up!" Third replied. "Honestly, do you even know what you're doing? I can help if you need?" My sibling asked. "You were that guy who only gave gifts in brown paper bags; weren't you?" Oregon continued. "Ok, you little witchcraft bi+ch. I'd love to see you do any better." Third said to her. 

"Fine. Anything to take our attention away from that horrid mess that you call a suitable gift." Oregon said as she picked a roll of wrapping paper. "It was made with love!" Third yelled. "I knew you didn't have a heart." Oregon said in return. The look on Thirds face was priceless. "Ok! Listen here you mother-" he was cut off. "Alright. Alright. This is a time of joy. No need to get violent. We're not at America's."  Britain said with calmness. 

Everyone calmed down slightly. Oregon was happy that she seemingly won the fight and Third was huffy that he lost. "What did I walk in on?" I ask with a chuckle. "Nothing brother. Just Third attempting to wrap a gift." Vatican said to me. I nodded. "Who is that gift even to anyways? It's not like anyone would want to receive a gift from you. No one loves you enough." Oregon said before Britain smacked her on the head. "Oregon! That is not necessary! Stop being so rude." He said. "It's fine Britain. Thanks anyways." Third said in return. "And besides. She was saying that to herself." He continued. Vatican began choking on their tea and Britain just spit his out. I, on the other hand, started laughing my ass off. 

Oregon looked pissed as all living hell. "You know what!? Fine! I'm going for a walk!" As she went out the door. Now it was just us four. Third went back to wrapping his present. He seemed MUCH happier now. After Britain and my sibling stopped dying I said "well now that it's just us guys..." and that got their attention. "Brother, it's not-" Vatican started. "Vati. You're one of 'the boys'. And if a gal can be one of 'the boys'. So can you. You're cool my friend." Third said cutting my sibling off. I nodded and so did Britain. "Yes Vatican, you are a part of the group. Don't exclude yourself for no reason." Britain said. Vatican just smiled a little; desperate to hide it. 

"That is the truth. But, another truth is I need to wrap this gift up. Third. Move. I need a place on the floor." I say taking the small, brown, cardboard box out from behind me. "Who's that for?" Third asked as he moved. I grabbed a roll of wrapping paper that had strips like a candy cane. "If I say it'll spoil it. All I'll say is that it's very important." I say. Everyone in the room looked intrigued and confused. "Come on! Tell me!" Third said. "No, you are a huge blabbermouth." I say to him, cutting a strip of paper from the roll.  "May you at least give us a hint darling?" Britain asked. "Can't honey. It's a surprise that I can't let get out." I say as I begin to fold it over the box. 

No one seemed happy with that answer but they shut up. I taped the paper down and made neat crisp lines. Leaving the top nice and smooth. "Show off." Third muttered in a disgruntled manner as he crudely taped his down. I shuffled around the supplies we had and grabbed some bright red ribbon and tied it nicely around the box and made a bow. "What do you think?" I ask, turning the box to them. "It looks positively lovely Papal dearest!" Britain said to me. Vatican gave me a smile. They knew this gift was for Britain. "You sure are dressing up something so small. Why?" Third asked as he finished his gift. "It's very special." Vatican said. "So you do know!" Third yelled. "I knew it!" He continued. 

"Yes, but I can't say anything. I promised not to, and even if I could; I'm the city of secrets. Nothing gets out unless I want it to." Vatican explained. It was true. They did promise not to tell anyone. Especially not anyone who slips up as much as Third does. But the main person they couldn't tell was Britain. This gift is very important and I want it to be given perfectly. I already have a plan, and Vatican is in on it. Tomorrow evening, I'm going to ask Britain to marry me. And all I can hope for is the best. I'm getting nervous just thinking about it. 

I set the box under the tree in the corner. All of my friends and family will be here tomorrow. It just makes sense that my sibling and I hold the Christmas celebration. Half of the people coming aren't even Christian but we still give them gifts and have a fun time. Hell, we even convinced our dad to come. Haven't seen Rome in our house in ages. And never around a christian holiday. So to make sure he stays, we have plenty of red wine. Our gift to him so to speak. 

"Who is ready for tomorrow?" I ask. "Pretty ready considering that it's already 23:30." Third said. "Is it?" Britain asked; looking at the clock. "Shouldn't you go to bed Vatican? You've told us plenty of times how stressful and fast Christmas is in the church." He continued. "No actually. I got the day off!" Vatican said with glee. They never get the day off, so their excitement is valid. "Now how did you manage that one?" Third asked. "I said I have family matters I need to attend to." They said. Everyone looked at me. "I'm not their only family guys; we have a dad. And they have a kid!" I say. It was for me mainly, but Vatican really does need some quality time with the rest of the family. 

Oregon never came back. America texted us saying she just went home. We all had a fun time till half past one and then we all said our goodbyes. When they left I felt even more nervous than before. Like getting butterflies all over again. "Are you excited brother?" Vatican said to me. "Are you serious! I'm more than excited sib'. I'm going to throw up if this continues any longer!" I say with a laugh. "Well, get some sleep. Then it will happen faster." They said as they turned off the main lights and turned on the Christmas lights on the tree. Then they went upstairs. 

I looked at my gift which was nicely tucked away where you could only see it if you knew it was there. Thirds crudely wrapped gift aided in this. I smiled and then turned to follow my sibling up the stairs. I can't wait. But I must. 

IF YOU HAVE MADE IT THIS FAR, HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND HAVE A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR!!!