Title: Theme 89. Echoes
Rating: K, aside from one word, there's nothing... they're kids
Plot: What happens when Norway doesn't listen to Denmark?
Characters: Norway "Halldora", Denmark "Mathias", Sweden/Berwald

Note: Our Nordic friends are children in this story (except at the very end), Norway "Norge" is about 4 or 5 physically while Denmark "Danmark" and Sweden (called "Sve") are about 6 or 7

This was requested by TetsuHideyoshi who also requested Theme 73. Unsettling Revelations from my 104 DenFem!Nor Themes project Aurora Borealis 73 is finished, but it's on my laptop at home and I'll upload it once I get back from class.

Hetalia? I don't own it

89. Echoes

Mathias yelped as he skidded on the ice, barely able to regain his balance. "Careful! It's slippery… here…" he looked over to warn his younger companion only to find her giggling at him. "Not funny, Norge."

"Is too," the child countered, to which the older (by some trivial amount, but still) boy stuck out his tongue.

"Whatever, just be careful, there's a lot of hidden ravines and stuff," he sniffed, snatching her by her little mittened hand and leading her off across the field. "And if you fall into one because you slipped on the ice, I won't come and find you," he told her, "I'll let the trolls or the giants have you."

"You wouldn't do that!" Halldora gasped, "They'll take me away!"

"Watch me," he smirked as her round eyes grew as big as dinner plates. He'd succeeded in scaring her (okay, so he felt a little bad, but she deserved it) and lead the young Norwegian home.

"You're mean Danmark," she frowned once he'd gotten them inside and was taking off her mittens and outerwear.

"No, I'm not," he grinned and pecked her on the cheek before going to bug Sweden about dinner.

The Nisse keened, beckoning to the girl to give chase, which she did, scampering across the snow-covered fields. The tiny creature had come to her so suddenly that she hadn't thought to tell Mathias or Berwald she was going out to play (not that she needed to, she was a big girl after all and more grown-up than the two of them, with their constant bickering, put together). The Nisse paused and she made her move, lunging towards him.

She slipped, hitting a smooth part of the ice and she flailed her arms, trying to regain her balance like she'd seen Mathias do earlier. It was a futile effort that only served to plunge her into a rocky crevice that had been hidden by two large, snow-covered bushes. Too startled to scream, the young Norway tumbled end over end, hearing a sickening snap and a burst of pain so intense, she gasped, hitting the ground and coming to a stop. For a moment, she blinked, confused and disoriented. She twitched her arms; they seemed to be fine, right leg was also fine…

She shrieked as a test of her left leg brought wave of white hot pain. What had Mathias said earlier…? She began to cry, she'd ignored him and now she was left for the trolls.

"Sve, have you seen Norge?" Mathias gulped down a roll, looking at the stoic boy across the table from him, dangling his legs. "She wasn't in bed this morning." Berwald thought for a minute and shook his head. "Well damn… where is she?" he was worried, "She's too little to be out on her own! What if a troll gets her? What if she got hurt?"

"C'lm d'wn," the Swede smacked the Dane with a wooden spoon, "W''ll f'nd h'r."

At that moment, Halldora's Nisse friend burst into the house, tugging on Mathias' sleeve. "She fell," it told him, voice rumbling, "Norge slipped on the ice and fell." The Dane turned white.

"Sve, go get a couple men, I'm going to find her," Mathias got up and put his cloak and boots on.

The snow and cold had seeped through her clothing, making her shiver. They were probably eating breakfast back home, were they missing her? Halldora cried harder. The Nisse had disappeared and she was all alone and scared and her leg hurt a lot even if she didn't move it. "Mathias…"

His voice echoed across the landscape, calling her name frantically. Hallie choked back her sob well enough to call back to him as loudly as she could. She kept shouting, scared of being out there all by herself, trapped in a ravine, her leg lying at a funny angle and hurting terribly. Eventually the little girl stopped calling and began crying once more as the larger boy came in with help and pulled her up. "I wasn't gonna leave you to the trolls," he said, cuddling her once they'd gotten her back to the house. They were waiting for the Nisse to come back with one of his friends to heal the Norwegian's leg. "You're too cute," the Dane cooed, running a hand through her hair. She sniffled a little, fingers curling and uncurling in his tunic.

"Really…?" she blinked at him as he rubbed the tearstains off her cheeks.

"Ja! I love ya, Hallie," he grinned, hugging her as the two supernatural creatures entered, the Nisse leading a tall bearded man who bent over the two young nations, inspecting the girl's broken leg.

"This will be easy to heal…" he rumbled, his voice nearly making the children cover their ears. "It will be fine, just stay off it for a couple days," he smiled at them before bending and working his magic.

"T-Takk…" Halldora smiled as Mathias nuzzled her.

"You were so cute!" the Dane cooed, pulling the Norwegian onto his lap and nuzzling her hair as he liked to do.

"I was scared and in pain," she huffed, crossing her arms and looking very pointedly ahead of her.

"I woulda found ya," he protested.

"You threatened to leave me to the trolls."

"Oh, right… sorry about that…" Halldora gave him a sharp look.

"Apologizing nearly two thousand years after the fact doesn't count," the Norwegian smacked him upside the head.

"But still, I'm apologizing," he pulled her in to peck her on the lips.

"I have got to stop humoring you," she deadpanned, returning the kiss as lightly as she knew how.

"Who says you're humoring me?" the Dane smirked, kissing her again.