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Before and After.

Night, 24th December

Tino gave the reins a gentle tug as the sleigh neared his cabin. As one, the four reindeer slowed to a gentle trot. Landing on the soft snow, he released the reins of the deer and gave each beast a gentle pat for their good work. Grabbing the numerous brown sacks empty of gifts sitting on the back of the sleigh through his gloved fingers, he dragged them into the cabin.

Tossing them to one side, Tino began to undress, unbuckling the belt that held the oversized red coat together. Ridding his white cuffed red trousers, he replaced them with more comfortable pants. A shirt over his singlet, and sneakers for his boots. A coat, and another parka.

Once he was comfortably dressed, Tino grabbed another sack that sat on the corner of the bed. Feeling the slight rustling of the wrapped gifts inside, he smiled in anticipation. He had done the job in sending gifts to all his precious children. Now it was time to give to his precious friends.

Opening the cabin door, the held the hood of his parka low over his head, slinging the sack gently behind him, he brisk-walked down the path past his reindeer and out of the forest. It wasn't long until he came to a fork in the road. There a limousine waited, the flashing headlights the only contrast against the otherwise white backdrop.

Entering the limo, Tino smiled at the driver, which nodded and gave him a salute. After waiting for Tino to settle himself against the leather seat, the driver promptly sped off into the night, leaving him to stare out at the pristine white landscape.

As the car pulled over at the Helsinki-Malmi Airport, the driver turned to Tino and spoke, his voice carrying respect. "The President and Prime Minister wishes you a Merry Christmas. Have a safe trip, kotimaa."

Tino tipped his head back to the man, a gentle smile on his lips. "And to you, my friend."

The flight had been brief compared to others, but by the time Tino exited the airport of his intended venue, he was itching to just drop everything and make a run for the mansion where the nations' Christmas Party would take place.

It was Christmas already in this time zone, and the streets were empty of people, all home to spend the holiday with their loved ones. Hailing a cab, Tino looked forward with excitement. It wouldn't be long now until he reach the mansion, where he could celebrate this joyous holiday with his precious friends.

Day, 26th December

Ivan woke to the smell of new frost. Shaking his head slightly to clear the faint buzz of last night's eggnog, he rose to his feet and went to his bedroom window to view the outside. Snow had fallen a few hours before dawn, bathing the ground with a new layer of white.

After a quick wash and drink of water, Ivan padded over to his boots, put them on and without so much as a sound, click the front door gently shut behind him. Trudging leisurely through the snow, he breathed in the smell of the wilderness, content in basking in the quiet of the late morning.

He had not bothered to put on an extra coat and therefore had to make do with his scarf. Still, he didn't mind. The weather now was mildly pleasant compared to other Russian nights. As he strolled down a path winding uphill, he pondered on last night's events with an amused smile on his face.

He had been invited to the annual countries' Christmas Party and had spent the evening in the corner drinking eggnog and watching the nations going about their businesses. Things have been pretty nice except until the American had challenged him to an eating contest. But that was another story. The eggnog had been too sweet, but he had to admit it was a pleasant break from drinking vodka all the time.

Just for the night, he had forgone scaring everyone and taken to sitting down and refusing Belarus' advances. Throughout the party, he had caught glimpses of many heart-warming moments, not that he would like anyone to know. Little Seychelles had been speaking with Egypt with such animated movements, the man's eyes had gleamed as he laughed at something she said. America and Australia were trying to push England to admit he was having a good time; Macau had taken to striking a conversation with Estonia; the Nordics and Asians had commence a competition against the other, interestingly with Hong Kong and Norway being particularly into it; his wonderful sister Ukraine had also shook off her shyness for once and was dancing so beautifully like that day before, unknowingly making South Korea and Denmark gawk at her open-mouthed.

Ivan chuckled darkly at the thought and made a mental note to keep a close eye on both nations and especially on Prussia, which had swooped in to twirl his sister around for a dance. He had seen Germany flailing exasperatedly , his hands full with both drunk Italians; Hungary dancing with someone other than Austria for once; France drunkenly singing a sonata with an awed Monaco watching; many nations generally trying to avoid the mistletoe sprinkled around the area; Ecuador and Spain having a heart-to-heart on turtles... For a while Vietnam had joined him in his corner as well, content in being silent and watching the ruckus along with him.

Looking back, Ivan thought the night was the most at peace he had felt in a long time. Then again, the past few weeks have seen him in a lighter mood. Perhaps it could be his growing relations with other countries or it could be because of a certain discovery he'd come across during the last few days of summer.

Reaching the top of the hill, Ivan regarded the scene in front of him with slight fondness. Around him, rows upon rows of sunflowers stood tall against the Russian sun, soaking in the warm sunshine. It had been a miracle that he had discovered the field thriving during a walk through the woods. Since then, he had returned many times, certain that the next time he visited, the sunflowers would have wilted. Fortunately, he had been proven wrong time and again.

Examining the petals of one of the heads, Ivan was concerned to find a slight layer of frost around the rim. Even though the field had miraculously survived the early chills of winter, he knew the next wave would not be so merciful. It wouldn't take long for the bright yellow-petaled suns to die. Still, Ivan couldn't have but feel strangely proud that a bunch of his favourite flowers had survived within his harsh lands for so long.

Gently grasping the stem in his hand, he lightly pulled and prodded the flower until the root pulled free. He did the same to several others. When he had gathered a sizable amount, he stood, gently cradling the tall stalks against his chest. He would go home and try to replant them. Perhaps, when they had grown, he would take some to this beloved sisters. It would like the old times again. No, better.

Casting one final look at the vibrant yellow field, Ivan went back the way he came, his heart full of lighter childlike promises.

And so the twelve days end.

I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist! No Christmas story is complete without Santa and the most famous country representative of winter. So there you have it, the longest chapter ever starring Finland and Russia! And with that, my story has finally come to an end. Commencing long authors note below. But first! Some notes.

Kotimaa- Finnish for motherland.

This is both a prologue and continuation to Chapter 12 with Germany and China. Finland is Santa only in to his own country in here. He has just finished sending presents to all the good kids in this country and is now on his way to the mansion in the middle of nowhere to celebrate Christmas with everyone else. Also, he gets sweet rides from his good friends the President and Prime Minister.~ Whoo!

Headcanon that there are only certain countries who know the President and or Prime Minister on a personal level and treats them as family. Right now, my list of those countries include Finland, America and Egypt, surprisingly.

If you read my homepage, you would know that Russia is a very special character to me. His is my bro and I will forever have his back. I just love him so much okay? I just want the guy to be happy and get some sister love from Ukraine dammit! Belarus can have him too if she puts the marriage thing on hold.

Also, friendly Egypt and mistletoe! Hmm, now that I realised it, I have never used mistletoe as a plot device for these few drabbles. Ah well, not much I can do with it when the genre is friendship.

Overall, I really had fun writing this series. This is the first time I'm writing for the online community to view, and out of so many fandoms, I'm choosing to write for Hetalia, the fandom I had joined only two months ago. So this point in my life is really important to me.

I hope all you guys enjoyed my mediocre works. I don't think I will be starting any major works really soon, but I definitely will be planning to write Hetalia again. I like the freedom I have with these characters, even when having complex personalities, they don't have really complete characterisation and I have this freedom to interpret and expand on some of their actions, making the character more dynamic. I don't really know how to explain it, but that's the reason there are so many variations of one character everywhere. This works especially on side characters. For example, Egypt. Some works portray him as stoic while others as more open.

Anyhow, I hope you guys could drop spare some time for a short review for the series as a whole. See you guys soon!

-Kaiistar