"So you couldn't tell her truth?" Russia asked.

"I could have, but Britain is here," France stated.

"And I could have, but France is here," Britain retorted.

"Then I will tell her when she comes down here," Russia confirmed.

"Please don't," Britain begged. "She's practically a child."

"She will learn about this later on, da?" Russia questioned.

"Later on, but not right now," Britain said. "Please, Russia. I'm not asking you to lie, just...to keep it a secret for a while."

"But by keeping secret, I am therefore lying, da?" Russia inquired.

"Just do it," France sighed, pointing to Britain. "No one can win an argument with zhis guy."

"Sorry," Russia grinned. "Cannot lie to little Kalda."

Russia started walking up the staircase, Britain and France running after him.

"No, no, no!" Britain angrily protested, pulling on Russia's scarf. "Don't you dare walk up these stairs, Russia!"

Russia got out of their grip, going into Kalda's room.

Kalda screamed as she instantly hit Russia on the head with a wooden stick, pushing him out of her room as Russia stumbled down the stairs.

Britain and France gasped, helping him stand up.

"What happened?" Britain wondered.

"I heard her scream," France glared. "What did you do to make her so upset?"

"She hit me real hard with wooden stick after I went into room," Russia grinned, feeling woozy.

"Come here," Britain sighed, the two of them leading Russia into the kitchen.

"Here's some water," France said, handing Russia a glass. "Zhis should help."

"More like just to quench your thirst," Britain replied. "Listen, Russia. You can't just walk into someone's room like that. What were you thinking?"

"No wonder why she hit you on zhe noggin!" France agreed. "Zhat is a violation of a woman's privacy!"

"Or anyone's, for that matter!" Britain chimed in.

Russia just kept smiling, nothing France and Britain were saying making any sense to him at that moment.

"You two are hilarious!" Russia laughed.

"Ugh," Britain groaned. "Nothing we say will process through his head until he gets better."

"Perhaps we should just leave him be," France suggested.

"I guess so," Britain agreed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sorry for hitting you on the head with the cool wooden stick that I had found outside earlier today," Kalda awkwardly apologized to Russia. "It's just an instinct, I guess."

"No problem, little Kalda," Russia said, softly ruffling her hair. "Was my fault for walking into room like that."

"Hey, my dudes!" America grinned as the front door slammed shut. "What's shaken, y'all?"

"Ugh, will you shut up?" China yelled back.

"Oh, look," Kalda grinned sarcastically, "it's the annoying and loud-mouthed American."

Everyone in attendance laughed, Britain laughing the loudest.

America growled, glaring at Kalda.

"Didn't you dress up like a dude last time?" he sassed, and Kalda rolled her eyes.

"That was a weak comeback," she flatly replied.  "You couldn't beat me in a snark-off even if you tried."

"I could so!" America announced.

"Ugh, please be quiet!" China said, annoyed. "You are all being too loud!"

"Just sit down you two so that we can eat," Britain sighed. "It's a week before Christmas, and I wanted to celebrate it with you wankers before all of you go and do your own things."

"Aw, thanks!" America said, sitting next to Kalda.

"Can I switch seats?" Kalda instantly joked.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" America stated dramatically. "Why? Why do you hate me?"

"I was just kidding," Kalda told him. "Sheesh, you need to chill."

"Actually, you can come sit next to moi," France said cheerfully.

"Ew, no!" Kalda scoffed in disgust. "You'll just make me sit on your lap or something."

"Then I'll sit next to him while you sit next to me," Britain resolved, his face going red. "Besides, he's right. Family should sit together."

"But-" Kalda started to protest, but she cut off.

"Now, please," Britain calmly ordered her.

"Ugh!" Kalda groaned. "Fine."

She sat in between France and Britain, her arms crossed as she pouted.

"I hate being the only girl here," she muttered to herself, feeling pitiful.

"Aw, what's with zhe pouty face?" France giggled.

"You know what's with the pouty face," Kalda retorted as she grabbed her food, putting it on her plate as carefully as she could.

I want to act like a lady in front of them, but it's hard when I'm the only girl here, Kalda thought to herself. It's also hard when they are staring at me like they are right now.

Everyone else dished up as well, so then she folded her hands and closed her eyes.

Dear Lord, thank you for this beautiful day. Please help the people of Berlin recover quickly from the bombing squad-

"Uh...what's she doing?" America wondered out loud.

"Shh!" Kalda shushed him, her eyes still closed and hands still folded. "I'm praying."

Also, bless this food and meal for which my uncle and Britain have prepared for us, Kalda continued to pray. In Your Holy Name I pray, Amen.

She opened up her eyes, unfolding her hands as she smiled.

"Okay," she cheerfully began, "you can talk now."

Kalda saw the four men look at her in weird ways, Britain being the only one who looked pleased with her.

"Well, I'll be," he grinned. "Your brothers are teaching you well."

"They actually didn't teach me that," Kalda admitted happily. "Someone in one of my dreams did."

Kalda immediately put her hands over her mouth, knowing that she had spilled it.

Crap! she thought. No one knows about my dreams except my brothers, Russia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia!

"Uh....," Kalda drawled awkwardly, "please ignore that...."

"Can you run that by us again, please?" Britain asked her, trying to be calm despite his astonishment.

"It's not that simple," Kalda replied, "and I don't want to talk about it. You weren't supposed to hear that all."

"I would like an explanation now, zhough, missy," France told her firmly. "What do you mean someone in your dreams taught you to pray and not my brozhers?"

"Ugh!" Kalda groaned, her face going red. "Fine. It's not like you guys don't think that I'm any weirder, anyway. I guess the dreams started when I was a little younger."

She sighed before she continued.

"They seemed to have been coming before I was taken in at the age of eight, maybe even before that," she explained. "They were mainly from the past, my people showing me all of these traditions, especially Christmas ones."

Kalda debated on whether to share more or to just leave it at that.

"But then the day before Halloween, I had this nightmare about the party," she went on.

Britain's face went red, knowing what was coming next.

"It was telling the future instead of the past that time," Kalda added on. "What happened at the party a few months ago was...what happened in my nightmare."

She closed her eyes, fighting some tears that threatened to fall.

"At first I ignored the nightmare, hoping that the psychologist that my brothers took me to was right about the whole thing being a dream or a horrid case of deja vu," Kalda explained.

She seemed too focused on something that the five men couldn't figure out, but she ignored them.

"Then, well, it happened. All of you got drunk, Britain got drunk, and then Prussia did the whole newspaper thing, and...well...you can figure the rest out, I guess," Kalda concluded.

"That...is so weird," America pointed out. "Weird, but cool."

"It's not cool!" Kalda replied, distressed. "I didn't even think that predicting the future was possible, and I still don't! I don't know what's up with me, and you weren't even supposed to know about this at all! No one was!"

Tears streamed down her face, and no one knew if they were angry or sad tears.

Despite that, Britain gave her a napkin.

"Crying at the table isn't very polite," he told her, trying to lighten up the mood a little.

Kalda chuckled a little, taking his offered napkin into her hands.

"I know, but...I cry every time that I think about this now," she smiled.

"You're the mystical expert," Britain said to China. "What do you suppose is the cause of this?"

"Why are you asking me?" China wondered. "I don't know the girl or her past life."

"I am one of the only people who knows about this," Russia admitted, "but even I don't know what is causing it."

"It's probably just some childhood trauma,"  France dismissed. "You had a rough childhood, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah, but-" Kalda cut off.

"Maybe she's an alien," America blurted out.

"She's not an alien," Britain scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Kalda groaned a little.

"Well, whatever it is, I have a headache," she awkwardly smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kalda helped Britain wash the dishes after supper, and he secretly appreciated her help.

They had the radio turned on, Christmas carols chiming through the speaker.

America could be heard in the background singing the carols off key, Russia singing them in Russian, China holding his hands over his ears, and France trying to teach America how to sing on key.

Kalda had gotten the hang of the carols as well, singing them with passion.

"Jingle Bells" had ended up being one of her top favorites, along with "Silent Night," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," "Sweeter Still," "White Christmas," and "We Wish You A Merry Christmas."

"You know what would be fun right about now?" Kalda cheerfully asked no one in particular. "If my brothers were here singing these Christmas carols with us."

The three men in the living room stopped singing as the five of them looked at Kalda with sad looks.

"What?" Kalda questioned harshly, not liking their looks. "What's with the sullen looks all of a sudden?"

"Kalda-" Britain started sadly, cutting off.

Suddenly, static came through the radio and Kalda turned it off.

"Ugh!" she groaned. "Not again!"

"Wait!" Britain cried, stopping her. "That means that there's going to be a news report."

Kalda rolled her eyes as she turned the volume up again.

"....For the interruption, but we have some breaking news," a news reporter said. "We have just received word that the dictators of Japan, Germany, and Italy have formed an alliance together called the Axis Powers."

Kalda gasped as she dropped a glass plate, her mouth to hanging wide.

Britain slowly and awkwardly closed her mouth with his wet hand, not wanting her to stand there with her mouth gaping.

"They seem to be strong, and I'm sure that everyone is wondering who will stop these Axis superpowers and will a second World War break out?" another reporter added on.

They signed off, the music coming back on.

Britain turned the radio off, suddenly feeling awkward in the silence.

Kalda started shaking as she tried to pick up the broken pieces that were once a glass plate off of the floor, but Britain stopped her.

"Hey," Britain said calmly. "Don't touch those. You'll cut yourself."

Kalda suddenly broke down right there; she started sobbing, holding onto Britain for dear life.

"It can't be true!" she cried out. "It just can't be true! Feliciano and Romeo would never do such a thing! Lovino, maybe because that's just who he is, but not Feliciano or Romeo!"

Britain tried not to freak out, for Kalda rarely used her brothers' real names, so Britain knew that this meltdown of Kalda's was serious.

He helped her stand up and sit in a chair, wanting her calm down.

Britain quietly gestured to his friends to follow him into his study while Kalda had her space.

He closed the door and locked it, hoping that she wouldn't enter the small office until she had calmed down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I think that it's time that we become an alliance as well," Britain said right off the bat, sitting at his desk. "It's the only way that we can protect Kalda and everyone else."

"But I thought that you hated us," America grinned.

"I don't hate you," Britain defended. "What gave you that idea?"

"Uh, you glare at us a lot?" America replied.

"I only glare at you because I get annoyed easily," Britain answered. "That's not a valid piece of evidence."

"We are getting off track," China interrupted. "Even if we form an alliance, Germany will still crush us by millions. How exactly do you plan on attacking?"

"I can always do more reconnaissance missions," Britain explained. "What the rest of you will do, however, is fully your choice."

"Even if we attack Germany again, zhat still wouldn't solve anyzhing," France piped in. "Italy and Japan would only back Germany up."

"Well, we outnumber them five to three," America added happily. "With my military combined with Britain's, we would outnumber Germany and his troops by a lot!"

"I'm glad that you can do simple math problems," Britain grinned, "but I'm afraid that numbers aren't the problem here. While all of us are big superpowers, we can't attack three more superpowers. That would be like hitting a brick wall over and over again."

"Could always spy on them," Russia suggested.

"Yeah, but spying is boring," America groaned.

"It's the only plan we have as of now," Britain replied honestly. "Now we just have to come up with a name for our alliance."

"How about the Allies?" America questioned wistfully.

"Can you be any more cliche'?" Britain asked, annoyed.

"I am okay with zhat," France agreed.

"Allies versus the Axis," China mused. "That does have a nice ring to it."

"I like it as well," Russia said cheerfully.

"Alright, then," Britain nodded. "It's settled. From this day forward, we shall be known as the Allies, the five superpowers that will crush the Axis by the end of this War."

The other four cheered quietly, and Britain smiled a little to himself as well.

Don't worry, Kalda, he thought to himself. Revenge on your brother will be ours.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I just realized that it's Friday today," Britain announced to his new Allies in the living room.

He had led Kalda upstairs so that she could rest since he knew that it was hard for her, as well as Britain himself, to hear that Veneziano had joined an alliance with Japan and Germany.

Although, it made sense.

Germany and Veneziano had gotten along quite well in World War I, so Britain supposed that it was no surprise that they would ally with each other again.

Japan got into the mix because he was actually a lot more powerful than he looked; he also had all sorts of resources that Germany would want, like oil and spacious land.

"Yeah, so?" America interrupted Britain's thoughts. "It's just the end of the work week. No big deal or anything."

"Actually, it is," Britain replied. "Kalda was supposed to go home to her brothers today, but due to the news, earlier, I don't think that she will want to."

France sighed a little, his blonde hair falling into his blue eyes.

"I could always take her with me," he admitted. "She is my niece, after all."

"I believe that that is up for her to decide," Britain answered him with a small smile, "but I love your sense of responsibility."

Britain heard the stairs creak beside him, and he noticed that Kalda was walking into the living room.

She yawned, sitting in the chair by the fireplace.

That's her favorite chair, Britain thought to himself, but why is she even down here?

"I missed the crackling of the fire," Kalda mumbled, closing her tired, brown eyes. "Good-night, Mister Arthur Kirkland."

Britain sighed as he walked up to her, kneeling on the floor and in front of the chair.

He softly stroked her hair, smiling a little more.

"Good-night, Kalda," he whispered to her, standing up to sit in his own chair again.

"Is she really asleep?" America wondered, looking at her. "Damn, she's out."

"It's been a rough day for her," Britain explained. "Earlier today, she and I talked about some pretty pressing matters."

"Like what?" Russia calmly questioned.

"Private things," Britain replied. "Then, I left her here all alone to clean up while I went to the Meeting."

"I zhought zhat you didn't trust people with your house?" France grinned.

"I don't, but it seems to be in one piece," Britain answered. "Then, Kalda heard about our bombing raid, then she talked about her dreams at supper, and then she sadly heard the news about her brother. It hasn't been an easy day for her, that's for sure."

"You're rambling again," China chuckled.

"If it's all the same to you," America grinned, pulling a blanket onto himself, "we're staying here for the night."

Britain smiled at the kind thought as France, China, and Russia grabbed blankets and pillows as well.

"Thank you," he nodded. "All of you really are the best, and you do come through when it matters the most."

"Of course, Britain," France smirked. "We are all Allies now, and great friends. We will always back you up."

"And I with you," Britain softly replied, standing up to wrap a blanket around Kalda.

"She has truly grown into a beautiful young woman," France quietly pointed out with a pleased smile. "I remember when she was just an eight year old girl clinging to her brozhers."

"Do you think that she'll be okay with the whole "Alliance" thing?" America wondered.

Britain sighed a little, looking at Kalda's sleeping form.

"I honestly have no idea," he replied. "Best to keep it a secret for now."

"I think that she will," Russia cheerfully replied. "She trusts us."

"I hope so," China answered. "Otherwise, she will become a burden and stop us from doing our work."

"That won't happen," Britain promised them. "I'll make sure that it won't. That even gives us all the more reason to keep it to ourselves."

"You don't need to promise us anyzhing, Britain," France assured him. "We trust you."

Britain had never thought that he would ever hear those three words come out of France's mouth, but they did.

We trust you, the words silently haunted him.

We trust you.