Ignore the Author's Note. I forgot I had chapters to update, so I didn't update. But here is the next chapter that has actually been ready for months… sorry, guys. The next chapter is ready too, but I am currently late for a meeting and am running out the door. Here it is, though! Enjoy!

Liechtenstein paused, placing the dish she had taken from Lithuania on the counter so she didn't drop it.

"What do you mean? I won't… ever leave?" she asked, staring down at the counter on the verge of a panic attack and not daring to turn around.

"Russia-sama is a cruel man. His only goal is for everyone to become one with him. He won't easily let you break away and become your own independent country again if it means leaving his imaginary empire," Lithuania continued, wiping his hands on the apron he was wearing. Under any other circumstance, she might have found it amusing that said garment was pink and frilly.

"I'm a slave? My people will never be free… No… this…," Liechtenstein broke into hiccupping sobs, unable to continue her sentence.

"Shh. Shh. It's okay," Estonia cooed, wrapping his arms around her tiny frame and pulling her into his arms.

"I… can't… do… this," Liechtenstein slurred, speaking into Estonia's chest.

All three brothers watched her sadly.

"It's your only choice," Estonia said, placing a hand on Liechtenstein's head and running it through her curls.

Everyone stayed like this for a few minutes while Liechtenstein tried to pull herself together.

When she was almost calm, Lithuania grabbed her shoulder gently and pulled her out of Estonia's embrace.

"Come on, I'll show you around outside," he said, handing her a handkerchief for her to wipe her eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Liechtenstein rubbed her eyes on the handkerchief and tagged along after Lithuania, sticking it back in his pocket while they were walking.

Lithuania led her out of the kitchen, through the dining room, and opened the front door, leading her into the overcast and chilly weather.

They both walked around the mansion to the backyard that Liechtenstein had seen from her balcony last night.

"We do yard work once a week. If not, weeds take over which results in an… angry Russia-sama," Lithuania said, walking through the yard.

"Here are the yard tools," he added, rapping his hand against the shed positioned under a canopy of large trees. There is a fountain and a gazebo and this," he finished reaching the far end of the yard, "is the fish pond. It's technically Latvia's. He takes good care of the fish."

Liechtenstein leaned over the pond to look at the creatures inside. A smile crept over her as she looked at the diverse population. She had expected goldfish, but there was a wide variety of fish to look at. Koi, Tang, Angel, and Beta fish all lived in the same pond together, oddly harmoniously.

"Wow," Liechtenstein commented, not really talking to anyone.

"Yep. They're his pride," Lithuania responded, "Let's go. There's still some stuff to see before Russia-sama gets home."

Liechtenstein stood up and hurried after Lithuania who was walking back over towards the house.

As they got closer to the house, crashes and thumps could be heard from the upstairs.

"Oh, shit," Lithuania said, running up to the back of the house and opening a door in an instant flurry of activity.

"Stay here, Liechtenstein," he said quickly, running into the house. Liechtenstein looked up at the top floor looking into the windows trying to decide what was happening. It was then that she saw the back of a body pressed up against the window pane. It was Latvia.

There is no way I am waiting here, she thought, running towards the door Lithuania had just disappeared through. It led to a hallway that she hadn't seen before. Running through it, she found no doors. It ended in a small courtyard inside the house. Sunflowers were everywhere in the small enclosure. Exiting it through an arch, she saw a staircase and took it, knowing she had to get to the second floor.

Liechtenstein hiked up her dress so she wouldn't trip and ran up the steps two at a time. Upon reaching the top, she found a door and opened it. After looking around for a second, she realized she was in the hallway that led to her room. Turning left, she ran towards the last hallway.

Crash. "Nice of you to join us Lithuania, da," came a disturbingly high and cheerful, but creepy voice from what seemed like Latvia's room.

Turning the corner, she noticed his door was open. Skidding to a stop outside, she stayed out of the doorway with her back against the wall and her head turned towards the room, listening.

"Ah! Nice to meet you my little Liech," a voice from next to Liechtenstein said.

Startled, she spun and found herself looking at a tall, and all-in-all large man dressed in tan with a matching scarf.

"You must be Mr. Russia-sama. Pleased to meet you too," Liechtenstein said suddenly nervous. She ended her greeting by folding her hands nicely in front of her and bowing her head.

She was startled a little to hear the Russian laugh. She had always heard from others that his laugh was dark and smothered you in a dark aura, but this one was light and abnormally high pitched.

"You'll get along well here, little Liech," he said, patting her on the head and just walking away down the hall towards the stairs.

After peeking up through her eyelashes to make sure he was truly gone, she spun around quickly and ran into Latvia's room where the crashes had come from and she could now hear hushed voices.

Upon entering she saw Estonia sitting at a desk with a hand on his forehead and Latvia struggling with Lithuania.

"No! I have to clean this up b-b-be-before Rus-s-sia-sama comes b-b-ba-back," Latvia stuttered, trying to push Lithuania off of him.

"Latvia! Stop struggling and let me clean the blood off of your face. You're delusional," Lithuania shouted, getting frustrated with his brother.

Liechtenstein stood in the doorway watching the commotion with an I-don't-know-how-to-react-to-this expression.

"Oh, Liechtenstein! Could you plea—ow! Latvia! Liechtenstein, could you please bandage up Estonia? I kind of have my hands—ow!—full," Lithuania asked, trying to fend off (while hold onto) Latvia who was now taking an offensive angle to get away.

"Yeah. No problem," Liechtenstein said, grabbing an antiseptic wipe, washcloth, and some white bandage out of a box of first-aid on the bed and walking over to Estonia. She paused in front of him not sure how he was feeling about being bandaged up. She didn't want to deal with it if he was going to struggle like Latvia.

A small chuckle escaped from his lips, "No worries. I'm not going to sock you in the stomach like my little brother is doing to Lith."

Liechtenstein nodded once and stepped up to him, removing his hand from his head giving him the washcloth to wipe the blood off of his hands. Finally, she cleaned the cut with the wipe and did a decent job of wrapping the bandage around his head.

"Umm. There. All done," she said, not quite sure how well she had done.

Estonia smiled and tossed the soiled washcloth in the trashcan next to the desk, "Thank you."

Liechtenstein nodded and turned to see how Lithuania was dealing with Latvia. She noticed he had not won in the fight to be able to clean up the broken vases and was now sitting on the floor in Lithuania's death grip while having his head bandaged. Having his body immobilized, though, didn't stop up his mouth.

"Come on. Please let me clean up, Lithuania. I'm fine. Really," he complained, trying to convince his brother to let him go.

"Not yet," was all Lithuania responded, not loosening his grip.

Trying to appease the situation, Liechtenstein grabbed the waste basket Estonia had just deposited his bloody washcloth in and kneeled next to the mess and began carefully scooping glass up off of the floor and dropping it into the trash. Even though she was being careful, though, the palm of her hand got sliced open when she leaned on a piece of glass trying to reach a fragment from under the bed. Not wanting to cause anymore worry, she curled her hand and continued to nonchalantly clean up the glass, keeping her hand tucked in on itself.

After a few moments of this, she saw two more hands join her.

"Here, I'll help," came Estonia's voice from her left. Liechtenstein wondered why he had suddenly made a move to help when he had been sitting at the desk uninterested in the mess not even a minute ago.

By the time Lithuania had finished bandaging up Latvia, Estonia and Liechtenstein had finished cleaning up practically all of the mess. All that was left was tipping a stand right-side-up and cleaning some blood out of Estonia and Latvia's uniforms.

"Thanks," Latvia said as he tipped said desk into its correct position, "You guys didn't have to help. It was my mess to clean up."

Liechtenstein was dumfounded by his statement. He spoke like it was his fault there was blood all over his uniform and he had been thrown into the wall.

"What are you talking about? It wasn't your mess alone to clean up," Liechtenstein said, her hand now throbbing and her forehead crinkled in confusion and concern.

"It was my—"

"Come on, people. To work," Lithuania said, cutting Latvia off and pulling him off of the ground where he was kneeling.

"Estonia and Latvia can work together and you and I can, Liechtenstein," he continued, letting go of Latvia and grabbing Liechtenstein's hand, pulling her out of the room.

"We can start with dusting," Lithuania said excitedly, seeming to be in an attempt to sugar-coat everything.

"Sure thing," Liechtenstein muttered, still thinking about everything that had just happened. One guy had torn up Estonia and Latvia and smiled afterwards. Laughed even. He hadn't had a single hair out of place, either.

As they walked down the hall further, Liechtenstein suddenly remembered her hand.

"Hey. Hold up a second. I need to use the restroom really quickly," Liechtenstein said suddenly, spinning around and walking back down the hall towards the restroom.

"Okay," said Lithuania a little awkwardly, "but be quick about it."

Shutting the door behind her, Liechtenstein unclenched her fist and looked at the cut. The cut wasn't that deep, but it hurt more than it should have and was bleeding badly. Turning the water on, she rinsed the cut well and dug around in a cabinet behind the door. Finding a box of band-aids, she shook out one and tore it open prior to sticking it carefully over the cut.

When she exited, she found Lithuania impatiently waiting for her. They started down the steps to retrieve the cleaning supplies from the closet below the staircase.

"Why did Russia harm Latvia and Estonia?" Liechtenstein asked the Lithuanian while they were pulling feather dusters out and chemical cleaners.

"It's hard to tell," he began, "It could have been for any reason he saw valid. They could have been 'too loud' or 'not moving fast enough' or they might have forgotten to clean something up. It didn't help that Russia was in a foul mood. He threw them around simply because he wished to."

There was a short pause as what Lithuania had said sank in.

"That's awful," Liechtenstein muttered, glumly. And this will be my life from now on, she thought.

Taking a rag and wood cleaner, she followed behind Lithuania who was using the duster to remove the majority of the grime. Once he finished dusting the surface, she would spray the cleaner on and wipe down the surface leaving it shiny and polished.

I hope you enjoyed.