[fic] The Last Bit of Hope
Title: The Last Bit of Hope
Author/Artist: Me.
Character(s) or Pairing(s): Iceland, Norway, mentions of other Nordics, England, and Japan
Rating: K+
Warnings: Unclear ending of sorts?
Summary: "How many cranes has it been now, Norway?" "Around five hundred. You're nearly there."
Notes: Another oneshot, old, testing to see if I get a good reception on LJ. /horribly shy
To say that he himself wasn’t worried was a lie. A horrible, cover-up lie that was as obvious as snow in the Sahara.
And yet, he just looks at Norway and mumbles something about him being okay. Norway doesn’t buy it. Instead, he insists on being there all the time to watch over his little brother, and all the other Nordics took turns watching over the young country with Norway.
Iceland now got the full brunt of what isolation felt like. He wasn’t in the EU, the G20, and sometimes was not even acknowledged as a Nordic nation. And even now, during the worst economic crash his country has seen for many, many years, he just wanted to be left alone. It was unnerving, to have Norway constantly by his side, watching him with a deadly serious look.
It was getting hard for Iceland to stand up himself. He was constantly under the covers, hot and stuffy to the touch.
He had never known that it was possible to get so high of a fever.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland had been lending his country money, but at this point it had crossed the line, and he was left with €50 billion of external debt to deal with. If Spain was nearly on his deathbed before he adopted the Euro, there couldn’t be much hope.
And that was when Japan’s legend made its impact.
Iceland was indeed running out of hope, and when he made the strange request to Norway, worry had flashed in his dull, ocean-blue eyes. But he listened anyways, and did what Iceland wanted.
They said that if you folded 1000 paper cranes, you would recover from any sickness. It was time to test the legend, even with such extreme circumstances.
Japan had come over himself to teach him. At first, Iceland had fumbled with the small squares of multicolored paper, but Japan was endlessly patient. He explained to Norway about the legend, and in no time had two Nordic nations trying to learn origami on his hands. Thankfully, Norway got the concept much more quickly than Iceland.
When Japan had made sure that both nations had mastered the art of folding cranes, the ceiling had a chain of around twenty cranes on it. They all gleamed in Reykjavik’s morning sunlight.
The cycle went on like this. Each day more and more cranes decorated Iceland’s room, and whenever any Nordics came with Norway, they helped Iceland fold them one by one.
And yet the debts still did not go down. Iceland had nearly lost count of the cranes in his constant state of illness. He would drift in and out of consciousness and not have any recollection of doing so. His people would rile and protest to the government, clearly suffering from the economic slump. And yet Iceland was stubborn, not wanting to give up his independence or even do anything that would have it slightly threatened.
But when his boss said it was time to try to join the EU, he had no choice but to concede. It became apparent that his condition was severe enough to have him accept the proposal he had been declining for years. All of the other Nordics who were already in the EU came over much more; telling Iceland things were looking optimistic for his entry came frequently.
“How many cranes has it been, Norway?”
“Around five hundred. You’re halfway there.”
Iceland was able to relax that day.
Japan also came over occasionally, to see how Iceland was keeping up with his cranes. He was very pleased that he had made it so far, and wished him luck on stabilizing his economy. He had told Iceland that he, Japan, had talked to England about the debt, and England himself was fine with it, to Norway and Iceland’s shock. However, due to the fact that his people were becoming angrier, he had no choice but to ask Iceland for the money. It was now possible for Iceland to have a calm sleep instead of a fitful, fevered one, and everyone was relieved.
Sealand even came and gave Iceland what he called ‘money’ in Sealand. That made Iceland smile a bit.
And although Iceland was still in a horrible state, it was better than before and he was steadily recovering. Now that he was able to stay awake for longer than he used to, he spent his time folding cranes with Norway and whoever else happened to be in the room. Months of hard work had bore fruit; Iceland had now 650 cranes draped everywhere. Norway’s constant support, as well as donations from the other Nordic countries, had helped Iceland quite a bit; however, it still wasn’t enough.
Even though the EU had given Iceland a lift, his wheel of luck had turned to the bottom again. The small nation was reduced to the point where his fingers once again fumbled with the paper and could not make the clear creases he used to make on his cranes. Norway, being the possessive older brother he was, often reached out to take Iceland’s hand and help him smooth the folds.
700. 800. Iceland continued folding, and Japan came over much more than he used to so he could help. He told stories about his citizens who used this method to try and get better, prompting Iceland to wonder if it always worked or Japan was just not telling him the times where it did not work. Personally, Iceland hoped that it was the first option, as it was said that his was the world’s worst financial crisis, but had to ground himself to reality.
Iceland folded more than ever whenever he wasn’t asleep. When he was asleep, Norway folded them, in that slow way of his. Norway always wanted his cranes to be perfect for his brother.
Iceland folded the last crane, using a golden paper that Japan had brought over for the occasion. Iceland personally made sure that the folds were perfect and that the crane was, too. He hung it up alone, right above his bed, so that each morning he would wake up to see the last bit of hope right above him.
“Now,” Japan said, “we can only wait for Iceland-kun’s sure recovery.”
And so they waited.