This is a story I wrote for the HetaChristmas Advent Lightning Challenge over at Livejournal. The fic was requested by sirvalkyrie, and the prompt was gifts.

HER SMILE

Prussia was doing his best to keep gulping down his mug of mulled wine and making it look casual, like he didn't have a worry in the world. And why should he? It was Christmas, the merriest time of the year, and he was currently supposed to be having a blast. It was just that there were several scratches in what should have been a picture perfect holiday.

Quiet, gentle music was flowing through the room, barely there but still loud enough to be noticed if one took a moment to listen. It was some fancy piece whose name he couldn't even begin to guess. He should have known that Austria would be too much of a tight-ass to relax and have some real Christmas music.

And that was one of the problems. Not the fact that the music was terrible but that Austria was hosting the Christmas party this year. Prussia didn't usually mind coming to his place – in fact, he was in the habit of inviting himself over whether he was a welcome guest or not – but the music, the shining decorations that ran up the walls of the lounge, the first-class wine and hand-made chocolate and other shit were really, really getting under his skin.

He knew he should have joined the others in their merry mood, but everything around him was a constant reminder of the fact that he was never going to host any of the up-coming Christmas parties. He didn't have a house, he didn't have money, he didn't have the necessary status. He didn't doubt his awesomeness for one second, but it really stung to watch all this and know that even the best he could do would never measure up to it.

One of the other problems was that the nation whose attention he had been hoping to catch the whole evening was constantly being surrounded by a crowd. That was no wonder. Liechtenstein looked stunning. She was wearing a dark red dress that ended a little below her knees. Her hair was tied with a green ribbon that complemented the colour of her eyes. But none of that compared to the small, shy smile she flashed at everyone who wished her a merry Christmas or the laughter in her eyes when someone told a joke.

She was beautiful, innocent and perfect. Prussia wasn't one for self-reflection, but he had spent a long time thinking about himself and her and had eventually come to a conclusion that was difficult stomach. He and Liechtenstein were too different – she'd never want anything to do with an ill-mannered, loud and brash nation who had been forged in war and wasn't even on the map anymore.

Nevertheless, he was hoping to do something nice for her tonight. Maybe she wouldn't think much of it, but he had to try. He wanted to have one of those little smiles directed at him.

He dug his hand into his pocket to make sure that the little box was safe. He had spent a long time trying to come up with a nice present for her. All of his first ideas had been something that he was sure she'd like – new shoes, an antique music box, jewellery, something fancy like that – but these options were a little too pricey for someone who was no longer a nation. Prussia didn't usually have any problems using Germany's credit card without permission, but gifts, especially this one, were something he wanted to acquire himself.

And so he had turned to a pastime he had learned centuries ago on the battlefield. He was a little rusty at it now, but he thought the result was still pretty damn good.

He noticed that Liechtenstein had left the centre of the crowd and had retreated to sit on the large, elaborate sofa and that she was currently alone. Prussia decided that this was his chance. He'd have to do it now before her over-protective brother came to watch her every move once again.

"Hi,"he said as he approached her.

She looked up from her hands, a somewhat startled look in her eyes."Oh, good evening, Mr. Prussia. Merry Christmas," she said.

Man, she was just too cute, Prussia thought. So delicate and pretty and precious. Normally, he liked to touch cute things and pet them, but the thought of doing that to Liechtenstein made him feel like he had accidentally swallowed a swarm of butterflies.

"Merry Christmas. And why are you sitting here all alone?" he asked. He instantly wanted to groan at himself. He could have gone for something else than one of the worst pick-up lines in history.

However, Liechtenstein didn't seem to mind.

"I just decided to rest a little. It can get a little excessive when there are so many people," she said.

"Yeah, that's why I like to be alone."

"You would rather spend Christmas alone?"

"Of course! What could be better? It's such trouble to deal with everyone being so friendly and the couples who are all kissy kissy and shit. I'm so awesome that I can spend Christmas all by myself! I don't need anyone!"

Liechtenstein was looking at him with a puzzled frown on her face. Prussia was beginning to realise that he probably wasn't making a very good impression on her.

"I see," she finally said, sounding a little sad. "I wish I could say I was that strong and independent, but I like having the people I love around me. I couldn't make it without them, especially at Christmas."

"Well, not everyone can be as awesome as me!"

"But isn't there anyone you would love to spend Christmas with? Someone so important that you'd give anything to be with that person?" Liechtenstein asked.

Sure there was. Prussia loved going to the Christmas market with Germany and buying roasted almonds. He loved drinking with France and Spain and singing Christmas carols until they forgot the words. He would have loved to play in the snow with Liechtenstein.

The first two happened every year, but he was always left feeling empty when it ended. Germany spent most of his Christmas time with Italy, Spain with Romano and France with England. As much as he appreciated the company of his brother and friends, it stung a little to know that he wasn't the most important person in anyone's Christmas. He always felt like the time the others spent with him was just a prologue to their real Christmas that they spent with their loved ones.

The third would probably never happen. It was better not to even dream of it.

"Nah," he said. "I'm good. I don't need anyone."

Liechtenstein turned her eyes momentarily back to her hands. "Well, if that makes you happy..."

Prussia realised that it was about time he directed the conversation to the direction that he wanted.

"Anyway, I actually had something to say to you. See, I've got a little something –" he said and dug his hand into his pocket to take out the little box. It was wrapped in green paper and had the most adorable little bow on it – he had spent nearly two hours making it perfect. However, before he had the time to finish his words, a loud voice stole their attention.

"Liechtenstein!"

They both turned to look and saw Switzerland and Austria coming towards them.

"Liechtenstein, why did you leave? I've been looking for you everywhere," Switzerland said as they reached them.

"I just wanted to catch my breath for a moment."

"You should have told me you wanted to rest. You knew we were just about to start exchanging presents."

"It doesn't matter. We have her now, so we can start," Austria remarked.

Prussia leaned back on his seat and lifted his brows. "And was anyone going to come and get me?" he asked.

"Well, I thought you would join us whether anyone came to ask you or not," Austria said and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. I'm just a little too familiar with your habit of always finding your way to the centre of attention."

Liechtenstein looked from one nation to the other. "Please don't start fighting. It's Christmas."

"I couldn't have said it any better myself," Austria said. "Come on, let's not keep the others waiting."

Prussia swallowed the remarks he could have made to get under the prissy aristocrat's skin and decided to follow the others as they made it back to the large Christmas tree. And it was large. Prussia had no idea how Austria had ever managed to bring something like that inside or who had climbed up all the way to put the star on top. Certainly not Austria himself, no way. The wuss would probably be afraid of breaking a nail.

He shoved the box back into his pocket. Maybe he'd slip it to her in the middle of all the other gift exchanging. He could just put it among her other gifts when she wasn't looking. That way, there would be no awkward silence if it turned out that she hated it.

He was distracted from this goal when he suddenly received an armful of happy Italy that nearly sent him to the floor.

"Merry Christmas, Prussia! Look, I brought you a present!" Italy announced and pushed something into his hands.

"Pasta?" Prussia guessed.

"Nope, but good guess! Open it!"

Inside Italy's present was a box, and inside the box was a bottle. Further inspection proved it to be beer, but it was a brand that Prussia had never encountered before, even though he considered himself an expert.

"What is this?" he asked.

"It's my beer! I brewed it myself!"

"You can brew beer?"

"Of course I can. Romano said he was going to disown me if I did that, but you won't tell him, right?"

"I think he and Spain are too busy under the mistletoe to care, if you ask me. But thanks! I bet this is going to taste great!"

Once Italy had skipped away to look for Germany, Prussia turned his attention back to Liechtenstein. She was holding several bright packages in her hands, all of which were larger than the one Prussia had for her. Well, size didn't matter, as he liked to think.

He made his way to her just as she was opening one of the boxes. She smiled at him when she noticed him.

"I'm sorry about my brother. He's so brash sometimes. But you were going to say something before we were interrupted," she said.

"Yeah, I wanted to give you – " Prussia started, but he was cut off when there was a startled gasp from Liechtenstein. He turned his eyes from her face to the box in her hands.

Prussia didn't much care for jewellery, but the necklace that Liechtenstein pulled from the box took even his breath away. It had a silver chain and a beautifully crafted edelweiss with yellow gems as the anthers.

"It's beautiful," Liechtenstein muttered and turned the flower around in her hands.

"Who is it from?" Prussia asked, but he could already take a good guess. One nation in particular liked flaunting the edelweiss around. The ass even put it on one of his coins.

"It's from Mr. Austria."

Yeah, bingo.

Prussia felt like he had just taken a gulp of mulled wine that someone had spiked with lemon. That necklace was one of the prettiest things he had ever seen. It was perfect for Liechtenstein. Apparently it wasn't enough for Austria to outdo him with this fancy party; he needed to hit one below the belt, too. There was no way that his crude little gift was going to measure up to this.

"Will you help me put it on?" Liechtenstein asked and offered the necklace to him.

"Sure," Prussia grumbled.

"How do I look?"

"Beautiful." Really, what else could he have said? With or without the necklace, Liechtenstein was the prettiest girl in the room.

Her eyes lit up at the compliment, and she turned to look away, a faint blush spreading on her cheeks. That was the last straw. If she was that taken in by the damn necklace, there was no point in even giving his gift to her. She would never look at his present with eyes shining like that.

Liechtenstein's hand flew to her mouth. "But I'm sorry! I interrupted you again! What was it that you wanted to say to me?"

"Nothing. Forget it. Merry Christmas and all that," he said. Without giving her the chance to say anything else, he gave her his best smirk and turned around, disappearing among the happy nations. He grabbed another mug of mulled wine on his way to the terrace that showed a wonderful view of the wintery garden.

He placed the mug down and leaned against the handrail, listening to the cheerful chatter and laughter of the others. He knew he shouldn't have let something like that ruin his evening, but he had been so damn eager to give Liechtenstein that gift. Now he couldn't even imagine doing it. It would just be a disappointment to her.

That damn Austria. Deep down, Prussia knew that Austria hadn't done that to spite him, but blaming him was so satisfactory. That prissy ass thought he was so much better than him, giving everyone expensive, fancy shit as gifts so that Prussia would look bad by comparison. And the whole thing was so fake, too! He knew for a fact what a stingy ass Austria was, so it was a really damn pretentious act that he had going on here.

He took a gulp of the wine and wondered if he should go back to the party to get Italy's beer bottle and spike his drink to get his mind off everything. Two reasons stopped him. One, right now Liechtenstein was probably giving Austria her thanks, and Prussia didn't want to see that beautiful smile directed at anyone but himself. Second, he always caused a scene when he got drunk, and letting her see him like that was the last thing he needed right now.

He was so busy feeling like shit that he didn't notice he was no longer alone until he heard a voice call out his name. Right at that moment, he was in the process of pouring more wine down his throat, and he nearly choked when he realised that it was Liechtenstein.

"I'm sorry, did I startle you? Are you alright?" she asked in worry as he turned away to cough and to get rid of the wine that had accidentally almost ended up in his lungs.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

"Do you need water? I could go back inside and get some," Liechtenstein offered.

"Nah, you don't have to."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Look, if you want me to drink something, I'll just grab some of this snow right here," Prussia said. He did just that and scooped a handful of snow and put it into his mouth. He winced at the coldness but kept it all in inside until it had melted and he could swallow.

"I'm sorry. I didn't meant to scare you. I just wanted to see if you're alright," Liechtenstein said.

"Sure I'm alright! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, I saw you come over here. I thought that maybe I had upset you somehow."

Prussia's eyes darted to the necklace she was wearing, but he made sure his face was plastered with a confident smile so that she wouldn't notice anything off.

"Nope, I'm perfect! I came here to spend Christmas alone. Like I said, it's the best way."

"Oh, right. I almost forgot."

Liechtenstein turned to look at the garden. Prussia followed her gaze. Everything was covered in snow, and there wasn't a single footprint in sight. The light pouring from inside the house made everything glitter and created tall shadows behind every bush. He guessed it looked nice, but he was much more taken in by the profile of Liechtenstein's face and the delicate fingers resting on the frosty handrail.

"Would you like me to leave?"

"Huh?"

"I must be bothering you since you said you want to be alone."

"Oh, that! Well, I guess I could try to have a different Christmas this year... or something. If you want to stand out here with me, I mean. But you should probably get a coat because it's freezing."

"It's alright. I need to go back inside soon or my brother will be worried."

"Oh. Okay." Prussia hoped his disappointment couldn't be detected in his voice.

"But I really wanted to ask you what you were going to tell me earlier. You tried again after you were interrupted the first time, so it can't have been nothing."

Prussia laughed. "No, no, it really was nothing. I totally forgot what it was already! I mean, what important could I possibly have to say to you?"

"Oh. Then... Then I'm sorry I wasted your time."

Liechtenstein turned around and took the first step towards the door, but Prussia had enough time to notice the disappointed look on her face. He realised his words had come off as ruder than he had meant.

"Wait," he said, not yet sure what he was going to say but knowing that he didn't want this to be their last encounter this Christmas. "I was kind of lying a second ago."

"What do you mean?"

Prussia spent a moment considering if he really wanted to go through with this. It could end up being humiliating. Could his gift ever make Liechtenstein happy? She had got such wonderful presents from the others, and she was one of the richest nations in the world. Maybe he could have wooed her back in the 19th century, but now he had nothing to offer her.

Then again, he wasn't one to give up without a struggle. He let out a defeated sigh and took out the box in his pocket. "This is what it's all about. I wanted to give it to you, but I sort of chickened out," he said and pressed the box into Liechtenstein's hand.

"A present for me?" she asked in surprise.

"Yeah." Prussia shoved his hands into his pockets and tried to look casual. "Well, aren't you going to open it?"

"Oh, of course."

Prussia watched her fingers work to undo the ribbon around the box. He almost regretted giving it to her now.

"It's totally okay if you don't like it. It's not like I really care if people appreciate my awesome – "

"It's beautiful!"

Liechtenstein had finished opening the box, and the item from inside was now resting on her palm. It was a small wooden figure of a kestrel, carved so that it looked like it was gazing into the distance with its wings folded against its body.

"What, you think so?"

"Of course! It looks so real," Liechtenstein said and brought the figure closer to her eyes so that she could take a better look. She took a step towards the door where the light was brighter. "Did you make it yourself?"

"Hah! Of course! I make all my gifts myself, unlike some people who have so little talent that they have to buy them!"

"Where did you learn to make something like this?"

"You have a lot of spare time between battles. You've got to find some way to use it," Prussia replied.

He loved the current fluttering in his stomach and the way Liechtenstein's smile made him feel warm. He had been afraid that she wouldn't like the kestrel. He had originally tried to carve flowers or a pony or something, but he had always had a thing for birds, so he had never learnt to do anything else.

"I love it. I'm going to put it on my nightstand, and – Oh, dear!"

"What? What's wrong?" Prussia asked, watching how a deep flush spread on Liechtenstein's cheeks.

"I just realised that I don't have anything to give you in return. How embarrassing. I'm so sorry," she said, clutching at her dress with the hand that wasn't holding the kestrel.

"Oh, that. Nah, don't worry about it. You don't have to give me anything."

"But you gave me something so nice. I want to make you just as happy as you've made me."

You already have, Prussia thought, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. She'd think he was a total idiot if he told her that seeing her smile like that was enough to make his day. He definitely wanted to say that to her one day, but not now.

He suddenly thought back to what had been on his mind earlier.

"Well, if you really want to do something for me, there's one thing."

Her eyes lit up eagerly. "Really? What is it?"

Prussia crossed his hands behind his head and flashed Liechtenstein a mischievous grin. "Promise that you'll build a snowman with me."

"What?"

"A snowman! I love building them, and I'm the best at it. West hasn't built one with me in decades because he thinks it's childish, Spain doesn't like snow and France is a total pansy who doesn't want to get his hair wet."

"I take building snowmen isn't like celebrating Christmas, then," Liechtenstein said.

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"I mean that it's not something you want to do alone."

"Oh, right. No, it's definitely something you should do with awesome people!"

"Like you?"

"Yeah! Like me! Or... or like you."

Liechtenstein's smile brightened, and Prussia was sure that she hadn't been smiling like that at anyone else that day, not even when she had seen Austria's necklace. If he hadn't been so busy melting from inside, he might have felt triumphant.

"I would very much like to build a snowman with you."

"Great! I'll pick you up tomorrow or something, but now we had better get back inside or your brother will have my head for letting you stand outside in that dress," Prussia said. He held the door open for her and then followed her into the warm house, hopeful that maybe this Christmas would be different from the others.