Silver Umbrellas

Thirty-Five-- Hitchhikers

The chilly wind blew past their faces far too gently considering the speed at which they were traveling, but magic was at play so the minute disregard for the laws of physics could be overlooked. Every exhaled breath made little clouds of steam, but, wrapped up in their blankets and huddling together amicably, nobody was really all that cold. 

True to his word, Tino had started them off in a northwest direction after finding Miliana and Jared tucked away in a Hawaiian cave by the sea. Rather than get Yao all hyped up and hard to placate by telling him who they were about to see, Tino kept his mouth shut and just aimed to reach their destination as quickly as possible. To help that goal along, he drank down another pink booster potion and let the magic flow even stronger.

'He's going to be so surprised' Finland thought giddily, unable to help the little chair dance he did at the thought of the joy he'd be giving to so many people all at once in just an hour. 

"Is anyone hungry?" he called out.

"Always," Hawaii answered readily.

"Uh, yeah, I am," Tael piped up. Beside him, Alaska nodded mutely.

"I want a snack," Oregon agreed. "Can I have those-- cough cough cough cough-- those Brookside-- cough cough-- thingies?"

"There might be some of those in the big red bag," Finland replied mischievously. "I guess you'll have to look to find out, but don't eat too many. There's real food in there, and I want you to eat plenty of that as well."

When Tael and Jared dug through Santa's bag, they pulled out piping hot Hot Pockets and a box of fresh-out-of-the-oven cheese pizza, big covered bowls of soup with spoons and loaves of warm bread that steamed when they were broken, and-- as promised-- a large package of dark chocolate-covered pomegranate candies. No one had to be urged to dig in once their eyes landed on the veritable feast before them. 

"Kiitos~" Alice sang, and got up to lean forward and kiss her uncle on the cheek. He smiled wide and told her there was no need to thank him.

"It's Christmas Eve, and no one in this sleigh is going to go hungry," he stated. "Not when I have all this magic at my fingertips."

It didn't take long at all for nearly every last scrap of food to be swept up into a hungry mouth. With bellies full and healing potions doled out to anyone who might need a little TLC, the passengers settled down under their incredibly warm blankets and one by one began to doze off. Tino had promised a smooth ride, and he most certainly made good on that.

Two of the passengers took a little longer to drift off, however. One was Lili, unsurprisingly, but the other was Miliana, who swept her long, dark hair out of her eyes and looked down at the nine-year-old sleeping in her lap.

"Lili, why is she and Yao coughing so much?" she asked worriedly. "Are they sick?"

"Ja, but ve're doing vhat ve can to make them better," Lili assured her. "Mr. Norvay vill help them vhen ve get there, I'm sure."

Hawaii nodded and stroked a few strands of Alice's bangs out of her eyes. "I hope it's not so serious... I can tell she has a fever just by looking at her."

"She's actually doing a lot better than she vas before," Liechtenstein replied. "Yao, too. It vas scary, but the good news is we'll all be in Norvay soon. Actually, that reminds me-- Tino, how long until ve make it to Norvay?" She leaned forward to ask from her spot behind him.

"Well..." he said as he pondered the thought. "I guess that as long as we don't have to fight too much bad weather over land, we can be there just before sunrise."

"But what about time zones?" Hawaii piped up. "We're traveling so fast, but I can tell that the moon hasn't changed its position at all."

"Oh, that's my doing," Finland admitted light-heartedly. "I'm using magic to make sure time is turned back so we don't run out.