"I don't know if I can do this, Canada," I said. He didn't have to pull me down the hallway. I'd go with him anywhere. That didn't make less scared of what we were approaching.

"We'll be fine as long as we're together," he said. He paused for a moment to squeeze my hand.

I chuckled a bit and held his hand closer in mine. "Do you know how cliché that sounds?"

"Is cliché such a bad thing if it's true?"

I shook my head, and Canada kissed me lightly on the cheek. Twice. Three times.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"No, but I can't stay here any longer." I turned the doorknob and let myself in.

"Latvia, why are you still so small?" Russia asked.

"I think...I might grow a bit taller...if you would stop squishing me," Latvia said.

Russia was smiling a bit too much as he pushed down on the top of Latvia's head. Did I really have to do this now? He hadn't seen me yet. He was already in a pretty bad mood. I could probably still slip away unnoticed.

Too late. I was held firm. Russia turned to look my way.

"Oh hello Lithuania! What are you doing over here?"

"You see...Canada and I..." I tried to start. The words weren't quite coming out the way I wanted.

"Canada?" Russia interrupted. Confusion crossed his face as his eyes searched. Shock and even more confusion came across as his eyes focused on the man-country personification at my side. "Oh there you are! I wasn't expecting you. How did you even get in?"

"I guess I just sort of slipped in through all the confusion," Canada said sheepishly. He almost seemed as nervous as I was. We shared an understanding look, and I squeezed his fingers once more.

"Oh. You must have come to become one with me, da?" His smile got even bigger.

"Actually, no. That wasn't what I came here for." Canada shook his head.

Russia unsmiled. He couldn't see why we had bothered him.

I just had to go out and say it. He would just get more irritated the more it was left unsaid. "Mr. Russia, Canada's here to help me move out. I'm not going to live here anymore."

Unfortunately, the smile returned to his face. "That's funny joke, Lithuania, but really silly. Why would you want to move out? You love it here with me, da? No. You'll live here with me forever and ever and ever and ever..."

My chronic trembling returned. It was useless. I was never going to be able to leave this place. I tried, and I failed. Canada held tight to my hand. I was surprised to find a tiny trace of anger on his face.

"Russia, how about we play a game?" he said slowly and calmly.

"A game?" Russia was surprised by the sudden change in topic. "What kind of game?"

"A game involving snow. It's called a snowball fight."

"Alright. I'll play, but I'm afraid you're going to lose. I know everything there is to know about snow. And fighting," Russia said. A wicked little smile wormed across his face.

"Then, you won't mind if we make it a bit more interesting." I was surprised to find that Canada had sly little smile of his own. "If I win, you have to let Lithuania leave with me. If you win, I'll let China have my place in the G8."

"If I win, you'll become one with me," Russia insisted.

What? No! I couldn't let that happen to Canada. Before I could say anything, Canada nodded in agreement.

"Really, Lithuania, you have nothing to worry about."

"Are you going to be able to see alright without your glasses?" I fiddled with them nervously between my fingers.

"I'll be fine. I can actually see better far away without them." He fixed the goggles he usually kept on top of his head over his eyes. "Wish me luck!" he said with a smile. He turned to go out to the giant snow covered field.

"Canada wait!" As he turned his face to look at me, I placed my hands on his cheeks and pulled him down for a kiss.

"That was..." I could feel my face growing hot. "For luck."

He smiled sweetly and kissed the top of my forehead. "Merci, mon chou."

He ran off to the field without another word. What in the world did "mon chou" mean?

I couldn't quite see what was going on. Canada was pretty much invisible in the snow. Snowballs seemed to be flying in from all direction. I was too far away from Russia to see his reaction, but it didn't look like it was going well for him. The fort he had built was falling down all around him. He tried to form it back up with one hand. His other hand clutched a snowball tightly without actually crushing it. It was probably packed with ice by now.

A speeding snowball crashed through part of the barricade and hit Russia in the back. It was so forceful, Russia stumbled forward a bit. Russia whipped around and threw his snowball quickly at the direction the other snowball came from. It was no use. The snowball Russia threw disintegrated in flight by a storm of snowballs aimed toward him. The fleet of snowballs crashed through the fort and hit Russia square in the chest. He was knocked down from the impact. It didn't look like he was moving.

That's when I saw Canada's head peek out from over a hill. He crawled over and stood up on top. He snuck over to Russia's fort and watched carefully. Russia didn't seem to notice anything.

Canada raised his arms up in the air in victory. He turned and ran towards me. I got on my feet and ran to meet him. I was so happy I thought my feet were flying. I hugged him, and he lifted me off the ground.

"You're free!" he called out happily.

I laughed a bit out of pure joy. As he started to put me down again, I held on to his shoulders and gave him a long sweet kiss. His face had traces of snow on it. Our body heat melted it away.

"How? I've never seen Russia act like that. What did you do to him, Canada?" I pushed his goggles up on his head and slipped his glasses back on.

"I just thought he ought to have a taste of his own medicine. He'll just have a bit if internal bleeding. Nothing in comparison to what he did to you."

"That's fine. You've done enough." More than I ever thought possible. "Thank you Canada."

He kissed me again. I don't know if I could ever get used to this. "I've actually been banned from picking snowball fights. Luckily, most countries forget I'm even banned," Canada explained.

"Was this not fair then?" I asked

"Russia wasn't exactly being fair either. He put up a good fight. A lot longer than most. Though you know, I'd break all the rules for you, baby."

I laughed at that. Canada's cocky confidence was so out of character. He winked at me and paused my laughter with another kiss.

"That reminds me," I said after we parted. "What does 'chou' mean?"

"Cabbage. Why?"

"You called me a cabbage?" The phrase seemed so strange.

Canada's face went bright red. "N-n-n-no...yes. It's a term of endearment, okay? I didn't mean anything weird. Blame France. You wouldn't believe what half of his terms mean."

I kissed his cheek. "It's sweet." He kissed my lips in return.

I remembered something then. "I've got to go grab something really quick. Wait for me, mielasis?"

Canada chuckled a bit. "And what does that mean?"

I smiled a bit, still a little embarrassed to use pet names. "Sweetheart."

Canada was waiting for me outside after I left my room. I didn't have many possessions, but I had to go back for this. I held his hoodie tightly in my arms. It didn't quite smell like him anymore, but I was happy that this would all change.

Canada's eyes lit up when he saw me. "My favorite!" he exclaimed.

It made me happy to see him all the happier. "Yep! You can finally have your hoodie back!"

"That wasn't to what I was referring to." He scooped me up in his arms and kissed me enthusiastically, the bravado from his win still hadn't worn off. "Can I keep you, too, mon cher amoureux?"

I laughed. It was funny how I could be this happy. How times could change. "What did you call me this time?" I asked.

"My precious sweetheart," he replied with a serene smile.

"Okay then. You can keep me. But only if you play nice."

He held me close and kissed me. The warmth filled every part of my being despite the cold chill.

"The nicest."

AN: Well, it's finally over. I know, sad right? What are you going to do with your lives now? I'll tell you what. There's this lovely little poll on my profile page for you to answer if you want to see me write even more stories. I hope you vote! There's lots of interesting choices this time.