Silver Umbrellas

Nineteen-- Wind

"Nu-uh, you got sick that one time," he recalled, thinking back to when he'd wanted her to come over and play only to be denied because an exceptionally frazzled Willow said that Alice had caught a cold.

"That was just one time!"

"Still got sick, though," was his triumphant retort.

Alice pouted and folded her arms. "Well, that doesn't matter. But if you're sick, you hafta tell me."

"Fine, but only if I get sick."

Lili looked over at Tino and raised an eyebrow. "I have no idea vhat they're saying."

Did I forget to mention they were speaking in Mandarin the whole time?

Whoops...

~

Later that same day, December sixteenth, Tino asked for everyone's attention and began to explain a very rudimentary version of a plan.

"It looks as though something bad has happened, and we probably need to do something about it."

"Vhat happened?" Liechtenstein inquired curiously from where she was seated by the window. The hem of the tarnished curtains just barely brushed the top of her loose hair.

Alice, hating to be silent, interjected enthusiastically-- if a little angrily. "Mr. Tyson found my house and stole all'a Willow's potions!"

The older girl's jaw dropped marginally for a second and she stared with big green eyes. "Vhat? He has potions now?"

"Bad ones," Oregon confirmed. "The blue ones explode! And I'm not allowed to touch the yellow ones at all. But the pink ones taste really good, and the green ones are okay."

"With all of that being said, we need to figure out what we should do," Finland said over Alice to reel the conversation back in.

"... Vhy are you bothering vith that, though?" Liechtenstein asked. "I mean, he is a bad person; I understand that perfectly. But if ve have to stay safe and go home on Christmas Eve, vhy do ve need to get involved?"

"I'm glad you asked that, because I have an answer," Tino responded. "To put it simply, I need some of those potions. If there are any boosters left, like the ones Alice mentioned to me earlier, then I can use them to strengthen my magic on Christmas Eve.

"The source of my magic is Christmas spirit, but considering the state of the world at this point in time, I won't have enough magic to do everything I want to in one night." A contemplative frown settled on his face. "It was my plan to go all around the world and use the List to find everyone we'd been searching for and haven't yet found."

"The List?" Alice echoed.

"Really?" Lili gasped. "You can do that?"

"Yes, I can locate people with the List-- the Naughty and Nice List," he supplied for Alice's benefit. "As long as we move quickly and my magic lasts, I'm certain we can pick up everyone who we couldn't find since the disasters struck."

"Oh, Tino," Lili said, her voice cracking with happy emotion. "That vould be so vonderful! Everyvone back in Norvay vould be so overjoyed to see everyvone returned, safe and sound!"

"I was thinking the same thing," Tino replied with a smile of his own. Then it was back to being serious. "But in order to do that, I need to get my hands on those boosters."

"Uncle Tino..." Alice whispered, and in the quiet of their cabin she was easily heard by all. "You mean going to Mr. Tyson's home..." Fear had caught her tongue, rather than the cat, this time.

"... We have to take risks to gain anything," Finland said softly, his voice a mere murmur. The thought weighed heavily on his heart and soul, but he had no other choice. This close to Christmas Eve, he could at least gauge how much holiday spirit there was in the world, and the energy levels were horrifyingly low.

'The other nations are too sad, and no one's emitting any Christmas energy. If they helped, their citizens would show a little bit more spirit by default. Then I might have enough power to accomplish everything without the potions, but that probably won't happen...'

Alice let out a shuddering breath and got up to throw her arms around her uncle's neck. "I don't want you to go," she said in a sotto voce voice, like she was on the verge of tears.

Finland hugged back, an uneasy frown on his face. "I know... But I have to. It's the only way we'll get everyone home where they belong."

~

Maybe a little optimism was called for in this gloomy setting. Some Christmas cheer was in order, at least! Two of the tea lights had been lit and set down on the coffee table once the sun went down; no one had felt tired enough to sleep quite then. Alice wove a new bracelet out of five colors-- the flag of Seychelles, which Lili had described to Alice previously-- while Yao lay on his back and boredly rested his head on her legs. Lili was writing something on a sheet of printer paper. Upon inquiry, she'd admitted it was a journal entry.

That left Tino alone with his thoughts, which stretched far enough into the past to include the last time he had seen the other Nordics in person. 'Wow... That was almost two years ago. It'll be two years in March.'

After everyone had been settled in at the base in Norway, it had only taken a few weeks to restore the old planes from a nearby World War II museum. Once they were ready, teams of two had volunteered to explore and search for the missing countries. 'And I haven't been back since I left on that day...'

The radio broadcasts every three days had always been a highlight to Tino and Lili because they were able to talk to their loved ones back in Norway. 'Berwald is probably very upset that I haven't been able to radio in... And Vash is furious, without a doubt. I hope he can forgive me when we return with everyone else that's still alive.'

'I wonder... How are Mary and Lukas doing? And what about Ice and Willow? They'll be so glad to have Alice back finally... And Japan. Poor Japan, he has no idea if China is alive or not. He'll be so surprised! Oh, who am I kidding; everyone will be surprised!'

'I'm willing to bet this will be among the best Christmases they've all had, and it's my duty to deliver that to them. That's why I have to find everyone and hurry back as quickly as possible.'

'That's why I have to get those booster potions from Tyson. Not only to keep them out of his hands, but to help us all get home to our families again.' Though he was uneasy, Tino's resolve was firm and unswayable. There was no talking him out of what he was going to do soon.

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Sorry, I feel like I'm repeating myself here... And boring chapter is boring. Please stay tuned, because things will heat up shortly!