When I First Knew You

Chapter One: The First Encounter

Scandinavia (sometimes Scania) - or Ancient Scandinavia, as he would later be called - had always been a pretty feisty and reckless person. Even as a child he wasn't tame, and when he was an adult, he became even more wild. He was a free spirit, as many of the other empires and nations around him liked to say. So when he encountered an infant all alone in the woods of the freezing cold north during wintertime, he was not exactly sure what to do with it . . . especially because the male (he had been intelligent enough to check the baby's gender parts) infant seemed . . . different, somehow. Not just a normal baby, but someone special.

The nation (who represented all of the Viking nations, of course) brought the infant to his older brother, a stoic and stern man who lived in and controlled the area south of Scandinavia. A place that Rome liked to call Germania, where Scandinavia's brother eventually got his name from.

"It seems to me that this boy is like us," were the first words, barely above a mumble, that came out of Germania's mouth when he first examined the child.

"How, exactly?" Scandinavia asked, staring down at the tiny child in wonderment and awe.

"Well . . . you found him in the wilderness, correct?" Germania asked, the slight irritation in his voice evident. "That is usually a first sign. He has no parents, he just seemed to pop out of nowhere . . . it sounds a bit like us."

Scandinavia scoffed slightly. "We have parents!"

Germania raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that?"

"Well . . . no." Scandinavia frowned slightly, shifting on his feet. "But where else would we have come from?"

His older brother shrugged. "Nowhere. And anywhere, I suppose. We grew up with just ourselves."

"So you think that this boy is like us?" Scandinavia frowned, glancing down at the infant that was currently asleep in his arms.

Germania gave an expansive sigh. "What did I just say, Scania? Of course I think that he is like us. Why else would I have said it?"

"I dunno, I mean, what if he was just abandoned or something . . ." Scandinavia frowned even more, looking from the infant to Germania. The man shook his head and mumbled something. In those words he muttered, there were a couple that sounded suspiciously like "stupid idiot".

"You feel the power radiating off of him, do you not?" Germania asked bluntly, that seemingly ever-present frown deepening in his features.

"Well, yes, I do, but what if - "

Germania shook his head. "No what ifs. You know I am telling the truth . . . You know that this infant is like us . . . don't you?"

"I suppose maybe a little, but - "

"No buts. Do you believe me or not?"

". . . Yes, Bróðir," Scandinavia muttered, feeling quite defeated. Germania let a small smirk cross his face.

"Then you get to watch him," Germania decided, the smirk on his face growing a tiny bit wider as he imagined what his brother would do next. He wasn't to be disappointed.

Scandinavia's eyes widened, almost comically, and he glanced down at the baby in his arms before looking back towards his brother. "You want me to watch a baby? Like, raise him?"

Germania nodded. "Yes, that would be what I implied . . ."

Scandinavia stared at him with a look of utmost disbelief. "But . . . but . . . Bróðir . . . you're always the one that says I can barely look after myself!"

"Well, maybe this will be a little lesson for you." Germania stared at his brother, right in the eye, and it got to be so long that Scandinavia looked away. His brother was older. And strong. And fierce. Sometimes it could be intimidating.

"Why don't you take him?" Scandinavia asked, his voice quiet for the first time that day - and in a long time.

"Because I didn't find him," Germania answered simply, not moving his eyes away from his brother's face - a face that was still looking down at the ground. "That is the rule. When you find a young new nation in your land, you raise it. You found this baby up north, correct? That is not my land, it is yours. You know that little boy Rome found a few years ago? Austria?"

Scandinavia nodded slowly, his eyes slowing raising from their fixed point on his shoes. "Yes."

"Well, I am taking care of him now . . . for he was found in my land, and after Rome's decline he could not take care of so many colonies," Germania told his brother.

Scandinavia bit his lip and looked down at the little infant in his hands. The boy had previously been sleeping, but now his eyes, which were big, bright orbs of blue that reminded Scandinavia of his journeys on the sea as a Viking, were now wide open, staring up at the man with curiosity.

"But he's so small . . ." Scandinavia mumbled, his eyes still locked with the baby's. "How could I possibly take care of such a small thing . . . ?"

The kettle that was on the stove shrieked to let Germania know that the water inside it was hot, and he sighed as he stood up. The nation glanced over at his younger brother before he walked over to the stove and removed the kettle, then poured it into his cup along with some tea.

"You will be able to do it, Brother," Germania announced softly. "If I can do it, then I know that you can do it." He paused for a moment, and then continued on, even softer. "And you know, if you need it, it never hurts to ask for help."

Scandinavia's eyebrows shot up and he looked up towards his brother in surprise. "Ask for help? From who? You? It's not like you ever ask for help."

Germania sighed and shook his head, raising his cup of tea to his lips and blowing on it gently. "No, but it would not hurt to ask for it. Who knows, with all of these new little nations popping up everywhere, or so I have heard, it might not hurt us to try and help each other."

Scandinavia blinked and slowly looked back down at the infant in his arms, who was still staring up at him silently. "Yes, I suppose . . ."

There was silence between the pair of them for a few long minutes, as each of them contemplated their conversation, and what had just happened. Finally, Germania lowered his cup of tea from his lips and spoke in his quiet, low voice.

"What are you going to name him?"

Scandinavia blinked once again and looked up from the baby to his brother. "What?"

Germania sighed in slight aggravation. Why couldn't his brother just listen the first time around? "What are you going to name him?"

"Well . . . I found him in Denmark . . ." Scandinavia muttered. Then his eyes then widened. "Do you think that is the nation he represents? I mean . . . Denmark, Sweden, and Norway are becoming pretty distinct now . . . lots of people do not just refer to them as the same place anymore . . ." He frowned slightly, wondering what exactly this meant for him.

Germania simply offered a casual shrug. "What do you think?"

"I think . . ." Scandinavia sighed. "Yes, actually, I think he does."

"Then he is Denmark . . . but what about his human name?"

Scandinavia pursed his lips in thought for a few moments, before he declared, "Mathias. His name is Mathias."

Germania smiled a little, despite himself, and nodded. "The Kingdom of Denmark, otherwise known as Mathias."

"I have to admit," Scandinavia said with a grin, "it does have a ring to it."

So I dunno if that was at all interesting but I wanted to write it . . . ^_^

Explanation on the no parents thing: that is my headcanon. I mean, while I was contemplating about the Ancients and their "children" and everything, it seemed pretty impossible that like, ten European Ancients could have as many "children" - the modern countries and ex-countries like Prussia - as they did. That and their genetics just didn't seem to click. XD Besides, England found America alone in the wilderness, so I'm pretty sure it's okay to assume that all of the nations started out this way. XD They all have a "parent" or "boss" figure, at least in my mind.

I love the Nordics, so . . . that was the reason for this. XD The next chapters will be one-shots about the meetings of the rest of the Nordics, though I might be willing to branch out and do other characters, too . . . you can leave suggestions, but I'll only do it if I'm interested enough. :) There's not really any use in writing something I'm not interested in. XD