First Date

To say that Sealand was nervous as a private plane landed nearby would be an understatement. Ever since falling in love with Liechtenstein, he had been both longing and dreading the day when she invited him to see her country. The young micronation was being lectured by England on how to make a good impression for her, although he was mostly ignoring or zoning out on what the Brit had to say. Sealand had received Liechtenstein's invitation the previous day, along with instructions from Switzerland to go to the mainland and await a private plane sent to pick him up. Overjoyed at first, Sealand's emotions had soon switched to panic. What if he made a fool of himself? What if he wasn't good enough for Liechtenstein? What if this was all some elaborate ruse by Russia so he would 'become one' with the terrifying superpower? Scenarios of all kind flashed through his mind, and he was only brought back to the present by a sudden shake on his shoulder. Blinking, he looked up at England.

"What?"

England gave an exasperated sigh as he passed the youngster a large bouquet of flowers. After the world meeting where Sealand and Liechtenstein had kissed and fallen in love, and hearing Switzerland's remark that he was indeed a better big brother to Liechtenstein than he was to Sealand, he had resolved to amend that particular flaw, and had contacted Switzerland to tell him to send Sealand's transport to the mainland. Landing on the old war fort was not possible for a plane, so he had brought Sealand over to the easternmost airfield in Britain and done his utmost to give his youngest sibling a pep talk. He ran a hand over his forehead.

"Have you been ignoring me this whole time?"

Sealand took the flowers and managed to smirk mischeivously.

"I'm flattered that you'd give me flowers, England, but you really aren't my type."

England scowled.

"Watch it, pipsqueak. Now look. The plane is here, remember to behave whilst you're with Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Above all, be yourself around her. She was...charmed by you at the world meeting you crashed, and you don't want to mess this up."

Sealand looked at his older brother in some surprise. Normally, conversations between the two consisted of some variation of Sealand's demands to be a nation, followed by England's less than eloquent put-downs. To be given brotherly advice by the older nation was an entirely new experience for him. Feeling a lump in his throat, he suddenly hugged England and nodded. England gave a sigh, muttered something, and returned the hug. After embracing his little brother for a minute or so, he checked his watch and drew away.

"Go on, it's almost 9am. The plane will take off soon. Have fun, kid."

Sealand gave his older brother a genuine smile, scooped up the flowers, and ran out to the waiting aircraft. He recognised it as the kind of plane famous actors were often shown travelling in, and felt flattered that Switzerland had sent him such a luxurious way to travel. Boarding the plane, he looked around the opulent interior in wonder before being told to sit down. Strapping himself in, the young micronation waved at the small airport, despite knowing that in all likelihood England couldn't see him from here. The plane accelerated down the runaway, bringing a smile to his face as it took off into the sky and headed for Switzerland.

Two hours later, the plane touched down at an airstrip near Switzerland's manor where he lived with Liechtenstein. It was a lovely sunny day, warm, with a cooling breeze blowing from the nearby mountains. Once again, Sealand was jittery as the plane came to a stop. What if his love for Liechtenstein was unrequited and she shunned him? He began to panic as the door opened and he nervously walked out into the sunshine. Sat in a jeep nearby was Switzerland, looking the same as he always did; cold and stern at best. Sealand dithered for a moment before Switzerland pressed on the horn, startling the micronation and prompting him to get in. As soon as he shut the door, Switzerland drove to his manor nearby, and in no time at all had pulled up by the front door. Sealand was flushed red and all but panic-stricken as he exited the jeep, flowers in hand, and approached the door. Reaching out with a shaking hand, he pushed the doorbell, his heart thudding in his ears. Switzerland walked up the steps and pushed the doors open, ushering Sealand inside. As he walked into the manor, he looked around at the various paintings on the walls. Switzerland turned to face the nervous micronation and seemed on the verge of saying several things, ranging from threats to what would happen if he upset his little sister to words of encouragement, but couldn't seem to form any sentences. Eventually he sighed and closed his eyes.

"Lili will be down in a moment."

The sound of footsteps on the staircase behind him made Sealand freeze up. Gradually regaining his confidence, he turned to look. Walking downstairs in a dress of blue, a violet ribbon tied in her short hair, Liechtenstein took his breath away. She smiled as she reached the bottom of the stairs and curtseyed to the young micronation. Sealand swallowed and held up the bouquet of flowers England had given him to give to her. Liechtenstein gasped in astonishment as she saw the lovely roses. Whether by accident or design, England had given Alpine red roses to Sealand, Liechtenstein's national flower. She took hold of the bunch, smelled them, and leaned around them to give Sealand a kiss on the cheek.

"Peter, these flowers are my nation's signature flower! How did you know?"

Sealand flushed bright red and began to stammer.

"W-w-well I d-d-decided t-t-to have a l-l-look on..."

Switzerland cut through the micronation's stuttering speech.

"I have some things that need doing. Be back here by 6pm. Try not to disturb me please."

Liechtenstein smiled at her brother. Sealand nodded mutely as Switzerland walked upstairs and vanished into a room, leaving the two younger nations alone together. Liechtenstein smiled radiantly at Sealand, took his hand in hers, and began to lead him upstairs and to her room. She opened the door and beckoned the nervous micronation inside. Sealand looked around her room in amazement. It was clearly meant to be a girl's room, but rather than the stereotypical pink frilly room he had imagined, it was more modest in decoration. Over her chest of drawers was a picture of a hovering bird he recognised as a Kestrel, and her room had a tremendous view of the alpine scenery. Liechtenstein placed the roses gently in a vase that stood on her dresser and then turned to Sealand.

"Where would you like to see first, Peter? I can't show you everywhere in the house, big bruder doesn't like to be disturbed, but I can show you most places."

Sealand fidgeted before plucking up the courage to respond. He was acutely aware of the fact he was blushing like crazy.

"Well, at the Conference Centre, you said you had some lovely gardens here. Could we see those perhaps?"

Liechtenstein nodded as she walked up to Sealand.

"Yes, of course we can Peter. Come with me."

She took his hand in hers again and led the way outside through the manor house. Once in the gardens, Peter couldn't stop staring. The garden at the World Conference Centre was truly something, but the gardens here at Liechtenstein and Switzerland's home were just as amazing to the micronation. He was unique among all the nations in that his home had no natural land at all. Liechtenstein smiled at him.

"I know they aren't as good as the one at the World..."

Sealand cut her off mid-speech.

"Wow! These gardens are bigger than my entire home! They're so beautiful."

Liechtenstein giggled a little before leading him to a hedge maze.

"I'll give you a present if you can make your way through here. I'll go and stand at the exit, you try and find your way, ok?"

Sealand grinned and nodded.

"Sure thing Lili! I'm good at this!"

Liechtenstein ran round the maze and was soon stood at the exit. Smiling confidently, Sealand ran into the maze and began to turn in various directions.

Before long, Sealand was lost in the giant maze. Everywhere around him was unfamiliar territory, and the maze was uniform in shape and colour. Pausing to take a breather, Sealand looked up at the sun, which had by now reached its' zenith in the sky. He blew out a sigh and carried on running around in the maze. Before he quite knew where he was, he found himself near the exit. Liechtenstein was stood nearby, watching a small flock of crows flying towards the mountains. Sealand ran to the exit and smiled at her.

"See? Easy!"

Liechtenstein smiled back before speaking.

"Peter, you were in there almost twenty minutes!"

Sealand looked surprised before shrugging it off.

"Well I'm here now, with you. What was my present?"

Liechtenstein blushed and began to fidget with the cuff of her dress sleeves.

"Well, you see, I would like to..."

Sealand embraced Liechtenstein suddenly, taking her by surprise. She soon recovered and hugged him back, noting with some amusement that she stood slightly taller than him. She shut her jade green eyes to enjoy the moment, then felt a warm touch on her lips, and felt her cheeks redden. She responded to Sealand's kiss and they soon broke apart to smile shyly at one another. Just as she was about to ask him what he'd like to do next, he pointed at something behind her excitedly.

"Look at that! Your national bird!"

Sure enough, hovering over the gardens was a Kestrel. Liechtenstein turned to watch it, before the bird stopped hovering and glided away and out of sight. She turned to Sealand again.

"How did you know my national bird was a Kestrel?"

Sealand smiled.

"You have pictures all over your room, but only the painting of a Kestrel was by itself in the picture. All the others were in groups. It was just a lucky guess really, Lili."

Liechtenstein smiled and took his hand in hers.

"There's a pond nearby, come and have a look."

The two walked off, hand in hand, and soon arrived at a reasonably large pond. A small wooden jetty protruded into the water, and situated in the middle was an island with a marble gazebo. As they walked onto the jetty, Sealand suddenly pointed to a clump of reeds nearby.

"Look! Is that a duck nest?"

Liechtenstein turned to look. Sure enough, nestled among the reeds was a female duck on a nest of straw and down. She gasped as the duck stood up, revealing eleven pale green eggs. Subconsciously she lowered her voice and whispered to Sealand.

"Don't move until she sits down again. We don't want to scare her off."

Sealand nodded, and almost immediately, the duck sat back down on her eggs. Liechtenstein smiled and turned her attention to the small boat tied to the end of the jetty.

"Big bruder and I sometimes go to the island and sit there to watch the sunset. It's kind of early, but maybe we could go there now?"

Sealand smiled as he climbed into the boat, holding it steady for Liechtenstein.

"Sure! I'll row us there if you like."

Liechtenstein smiled as she climbed into the boat and sat down on the seat opposite Sealand.

"You're lovely, Peter."

Sealand blushed at her compliment as he untied the boat from its' moorings and pushed off from the jetty. He began to row the boat towards the small island, humming as he did so. Soon, the boat touched the bank of the island, and Sealand was soon perched on the island, grinning at Lili. Liechtenstein got up slowly, and looked around nervously. Sealand reached out to take her hand in his when the boat rocked slightly. Panicking, Liechtenstein grabbed Sealand's hand and all but leapt out of the boat. Blowing a sigh of relief, she nodded in thanks to Sealand, who pulled her towards him. Blushing, she was about to kiss the micronation when he leaned forward and grabbed the prow of the boat, which had been pushed away slightly when Liechtenstein jumped out of it. Pulling hard, he beached the boat on the shore so it wouldn't drift off again. He turned back to Liechtenstein, who took his hand in hers and walked with him to the marble gazebo. Sitting down on the bench, both nations were silent for a while, before Liechtenstein broke the silence.

"How did you come to be then, Peter?"

Sealand thought hard before speaking up.

"During the war, a lot of German aircraft bombarded England constantly, and ships too. A lot of forts were placed in important positions, and mine was one of them. Officially, at the time, I was in international waters, so I decided to become a nation, but nobody ever took me seriously."

Liechtenstein placed an arm around him, gently hugging the micronation. She spoke softly into his ear.

"You're wrong, Peter. I do, and I know big bruder does too."

Sealand smiled at her warmly and returned the hug. For what felt like hours, they both sat on the small island together, lost in their thoughts for one another. Eventually, Liechtenstein got up.

"We should head back to the house. It's already 3.15."

Sealand's eyes widened.

"Wow! We've been here quite a while, haven't we?"

Liechtenstein smiled.

"Yes, we have. I wonder if big bruder is done with everything important for today."

Sealand helped Liechtenstein climb into the boat before pushing it off the shore and jumping into it himself. Skillfully turning the boat around, he began to row them back to the small pier they had launched from. As they neared the jetty, he manuevered the boat expertly into position and soon had it tied to the jetty. Climbing out, he knelt and held his hand out to Liechtenstein. Giggling slightly, she took his hand to steady herself and climbed out. As they walked to the shore, Liechtenstein stopped and pulled on Sealand's hand, prompting the micronation to stop.

"What is it, Lili?"

"Look, Peter! The eggs!"

The mother duck the two had seen earlier was poking and prodding at her eleven green eggs. Whereas before they had been smooth and unblemished, now they were fracturing and squeaking noises were coming from within. In a matter of minutes, five eggs had broken open, revealing five damp, somewhat disheveled ducklings. Sealand and Liechtensteing gasped in wonder as the six remaining eggs began to shake and hatch. Some ten minutes later, all twelve birds were making a beeline for the pond. Liechtenstein gave a radiant smile at Sealand, making him blush.

"I think they waited for us to come back before hatching."

Sealand smiled back.

"Of course they did. They wanted to see a lovely girl as the first human they ever saw. And who better than you, Lili?"

Liechtenstein giggled as they walked back to the mansion. Inside it was neither hot nor cold as Liechtenstein led Sealand to the library. Sealand looked around in amazement.

"Normally when I want to look something up I just use the internet. I didn't think you'd have such a massive library just in your home!"

The young micronation wandered around, looking at various books before rejoining Liechtenstein. Taking care to avoid where Switzerland was working, Liechtenstein took Sealand around the house, showing him everything from the ballroom to the spare bedrooms. Before either of them quite knew where the rest of the day had gone, Switzerland had come to find them for their evening meal. Sealand followed Liechtenstein and Switzerland to their dining room, and looked in some trepidation at the meal that had been made for him. The dish was very yellow in hue, and gave off a warm, cheesy aroma. Uncomfortably aware that Switzerland was watching him, he raised his fork and sampled the dish, his eyes widening in pleased surprise. Finishing what was in his mouth, he spoke up.

"What is this? I've never tasted something like this before, and I wish I had, it's delicious!"

Liechtenstein smiled over her plate.

"It's called Käsknöpfle, and it's my national dish. I'm glad you like it, Peter."

Switzerland had already finished his food, and left the table to give Sealand some alone time with Liechtenstein. Both youngsters made small talk between mouthfuls before finally finishing. Taking their leave, Liechtenstein walked Sealand up to a spare bedroom near hers. It was fairly small, but no-one could say it was uncomfortable by any stretch of the imagination. Laid out on the bed were pajamas for Sealand. She turned and smiled at him.

"It's too late for you to go back tonight. You can stay here for the night and leave in the morning. Y-you will stay, won't you?"

Sealand answered by embracing her, catching her by surprise. Liechtenstein responded in kind before gently easing away.

"The bathroom is two doors down on the left. If you want, we could go downstairs and watch a film or two."

Sealand nodded eagerly, prompting a smile from Liechtenstein. She took his hand in hers and walked them down to a sitting room with a large television. She picked up a DVD and pushed it into the machine before hastily joining Sealand on the sofa. Quickly jumping up, she closed the door and turned the lights off just as the movie began.

Three hours and almost two movies later, Sealand was hard-pressed to find a care in the world. Liechtenstein had dozed off on his shoulder, the room was warm, and he too was feeling pleasantly drowsy. As the second film came to an end, he gently shook Lili awake. Blinking owlishly, she looked around in the dim room before turning to Peter.

"How long was I asleep for?"

Sealand shrugged.

"Oh, only about half an hour. I didn't want to wake you, you looked so peaceful resting and just being with you is enough."

Liechtenstein smiled and touched his cheek gently.

"You're really sweet, Peter Kirkland. But we'd better go to bed now."

Turning off the TV and DVD player, both young nations walked upstairs. After a goodnight kiss from Liechtenstein, Sealand bedded down and was soon fast asleep. Liechtenstein went to wish Switzerland goodnight and within twenty minutes both young lovers were sound asleep. Sat at his window, Switzerland looked out over the tranquil landscape. A single shooting star flared over the mountains, prompting a rare smile from the former mercenary.

"I don't need anything myself, and Lili's happier than I've ever seen her."

He turned his light off and bedded down himself.

It was late morning by the time Sealand awoke. After a bath, the young micronation was ready to leave for England and his home fort. He stood outside Switzerland and Liechtenstein's home as Switzerland went to get the jeep to take him back to the airstrip. Liechtenstein was on the verge of tears at her boyfriend leaving, but was making a valiant effort to not show her sorrow. She held a digital camera, preparing to take a picture of them both when Switzerland drove up. Seeing what his sister had in mind, he silently held his hand out. Liechtenstein smiled and embraced Sealand suddenly, making him smile and blush. Switzerland snapped a number of photos before ushering them both into the car. Liechtenstein sat in the back with Sealand, finally unable to hold her tears in. Sealand soothed his girlfriend as they pulled up at the airstrip. Exiting the vehicle, he gave her a final kiss goodbye.

"Come and visit me this weekend, Lili. I'll be waiting for you!"

Liechtenstein sniffed and gave a smile.

"Alright then. Thank you, Peter."

Sealand disappeared into the aircraft. Switzerland put an arm around his little sister as the engines roared to life and the plane took off, carrying Sealand back to the UK and his home nation.

My first ever Hetalia fic, complete. This was inspired by the fic 'Young Alliance', where Sealand and Liechtenstein grow close during a meeting. This was intended to be a pseudo-sequel, and there will be at least one other, where Liechtenstein visits Sealand on Fort Roughs.