Canada was pacing nervously around his apartment in Ottawa. The soft carpet, which was usually a squishy comfort, was now more of an annoyance. He didn't want to be comforted. He just wanted to be told that everything was going to be okay. (Which was also a form of comforting, but in a more productive way.) He stopped and glared at the phone on the wall, and then his cell on the couch, willing them to ring. But there was only a heavy silence.

Sighing, he flopped into the big black office chair in front of his computer, and booted it up, praying for an email when he opened the Internet browser. "Come on, come on…Shit." There wasn't a single message. If anything, the computer was mockingly telling him that 'he had a very clean inbox.' It made him want to punch the screen, and scream at it.

He spun around in the chair, and flicked on the TV. Everything on the news was about the tsunami and earthquake in Japan. Just looking at everything that was happening there was making him want to cry. "Please be okay." He whispered to himself.

"He'll be fine." The Canadian looked down to see Kumajirou padding up to him. The polar bear jumped up to his lap, and curled up. "Don't worry."

"Thanks Kuma." He murmured, stroking the bear's fur to calm himself. "I just hope you're right."

{}}{{}

The blond's head snapped up as the phone rang. He hadn't even noticed he'd fallen asleep in the chair, but it really was comfy. He leapt to his feet, earning a disgruntled snort from the polar bear, who was thrown from his lap. Canada didn't care though. He snatched the phone from its cradle, and slammed talk with shaking fingers. "Hello?"

"Matthew. It's me."

Canada breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of Japan's voice, but tensed again at how weary he sounded. "Are you alright? How bad is it? Where are you?"

There was a soft chuckle from the other end. "Yes, I'm fine. But it's pretty bad. I'm not sure how long the cleanup will take. I'm staying at China's place right now."

"Screw that, you have to come stay here! I'll worry for days if you don't."

"I don't want to be a bother…"

"No bother, just be on the first flight out of Beijing to Ottawa, got it?"

"You're persistence is rather refreshing at this time. Alright, I'll probably be there early tomorrow."

"I'll be at the airport." He promised.

"Thank you."

{}}{{}

When Japan stepped off the plane, he was immediately tackled by a clearly exhausted, and worried Canadian. "I'm so glad you're alright."

"For now."

After pulling away from the hug, Canada looked the smaller man over up, and down, frowning at how tired he looked. "How bad is it?"

"I've had worse times, but…" He didn't want to go into detail about just how bad it really was. Needless to say, he'd probably have a few new scars. "Really, there's no need for you to look so worried. You'll get wrinkles."

"Well then I'll look as old as you act, and we'll be even." He teased, letting his hand grab Japan's and lead him to the baggage claim. "Now you look like you need a stack of pancakes, and a twelve hour sleep, so let's hop to it!"

Canada's back was turned, so he missed the grateful smile that spread itself onto Kiku's face. The smaller man didn't say a word, just allowed himself to be dragged around by the Canadian, who suddenly seemed to be brimming with boundless energy. 'It must've been the worry that made him so tired.' He found himself thinking. 'I know I feel better too, now that I'm here.'

"That one's yours, right? The black one with the Hello Kitty tag?"

Japan's face darkened. He'd forgotten that he'd used that bag, but Matthew didn't seem to want to make a joke about it. "Yes, that's it."

"So where's Pochi? He's okay, right?"

"Yes, Yao's taking care of him. I thought that it would be best to leave him behind, given how your Kuma reacted last time."

Matthew chuckled at the memory of Kumajirou growling like a thunderstorm at the tiny (dog?) and then glaring at it for the entire week it was there. The poor animal had lost a fair bit of fur from stress.

{}}{{}

The Canadian hailed them a cab, and quickly gave the man directions back to his apartment, before slumping back into the seat. He turned to ask Kiku something, but the nation was already asleep. Smiling, he pulled the man's head to rest on his shoulder, and contented himself to watch the streets blur by, comforted just by the fact that the weight was there. Japan was there.

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!

Yeah, I wrote most of this right after I heard about the earthquake, so it's not exactly up to date at all, but I figured I'd finish it. Better late than never!

And with this, I'm pretty sure I've squeezed all the story I can think of out of this plot bunny, so I'll just leave it like this, and hope you enjoyed it! I'll miss you guys!