(This is another CH oneshot, it is based on the idea that Mandara spends more than half a year in Ussr's clutches and most likely missed out on a lot of holidays with MA, Christmas possibly being one of them.  Don't worry, it's not as sad as it sounds, because if you're friends with the right people, you just might strike it lucky even in the worst of times.  Now enough of me rambling, enjoy the oneshot.)

It was that time of the year again, the air was getting colder, the snow was falling from the sky, and the world was celebrating the jolliest season, all except for one.  In a base deep within soviet territory, one country was feeling anything but jolly, staring out his barred window, longing for his family.  Mandara rested his head on his arms as he watched the snow falling, he'd been stuck in that cursed cell for five months, he really thought that he would have been rescued by now.

"What's the point in celebrating if you have nothing to celebrate," he muttered despairingly, running his finger over the fogged glass.

While he was gazing at the clouded sky, the door behind him unlocked and someone came in, "Happy Christmas, Mandara," a young and joyful voice said.

Mandara turned to the voice, smiling ruefully at the giddy teen, "hey Kaz, what are you doing here, shouldn't you be at home with your family, celebrating Christmas together?"

"We already have," Kaz said, plopping down on the bed next to Mandara's chair, "or at least we opened presents, now we're going to a nearby town to hang out but I wanted to give you something first."

The boy held up a large box, it was wrapped in silver wrapping paper and had a golden ribbon holding it closed.  Mandara looked shocked, not expecting anyone to even think about giving him a gift, being a prisoner after all.

"Oh Kaz, you shouldn't have," he said, genuine gratitude in his voice, "I can't believe your father let you give me something."

"Yeah, it took a LOT of convincing," Kaz admitted with an innocent chuckle, "and he was even more generous than that, but you got to open your present to find out what I mean."

Mandara raised a brow at the teen's words, wondering what he meant by that, so he did as told and opened his gift.  Inside was a scarf on top of tissue paper, the scarf had red, blue, and green stripes, the ends had a large black stripe with the Mandorian crest embroidered in the middle.  Mandara was speechless, it was such a thoughtful gift even though he couldn't wear it since he couldn't go outside, but when he removed the tissue paper that thought was dashed away.  Under the paper was a wool coat, it was black with red, blue, and green stripes on the sleeves, four stars decorated the lapels, two on each side, and his crest was sewn on the left side of the chest.

Mandara could feel tears welling up in his eyes, it was the first time he felt happy in months.  Kaz's smile grew bigger as he saw how delighted his friend was, "come on, try it on, let's see if it fits."  he insisted.

Mandara chuckled and obliged, standing up to put on the coat, Kaz helped zip up the back flap that let his wings poke out of the slits.  There was a stand-up mirror in the room that Mandara stood in front of, he tied his scarf around his neck to complete the look, doing a little spin when he was done.

"It fit's great," he declared, "but I don't understand why you would give me this, I can't go outside."

"That's just it Mandara, Папа is letting you come with us to the village," Kaz exclaimed, jumping up and down with joy, "you would not believe how much I had to beg him to do this, I had to promise to do all of the chores for the next month and a bunch of other things. The catch is that you have to wear a shock collar so you don't try to escape but I knew it would be worth it, right?"

He didn't get an answer right away, Mandara just stood still like he had been turned to stone, after a bit, he got down on one knee and placed firm hands on Kaz's shoulders. Kaz was confused at Mandara's behavior, did he not like the gift, did he not want to go out and spend time with them?  The teen's worries were dispelled when the older country pulled him into a big hug.

"Thank you Kaz, thank you so much," Mandara said through tears, "this is the best gift anyone has given to me."

Kaz smiled, "don't thank me yet, we still have the whole day ahead of us.  Come on, Папа is waiting for us outside, and I promise he won't hurt you today, not on my watch."

Mandara slightly chuckled at Kaz's promise, he highly doubted the kid would be able to do anything against his father, but he appreciated his reassurance all the same.  Kaz held his hand as they were let out of the cell since the older country was still a little scared of this temporary freedom, half expecting it to be a trap so when he saw Ussr standing in the hallway in front of them he immediately froze and whimpered in his throat.

"Relax Songbird, it's Рождество, not even I'm cruel enough to do anything to you today," the red-skinned country said in a sarcastic voice, "besides, I promised Kaz I would let you off the hook today, I never make promises to my children that I can't keep."

"Well ... that's ... reassuring?" Mandara said nervously.

Soviet rolled his eyes and held up something, Mandara immediately recognized it as a shock collar and understood what he needed to do.  The country bowed his head to look at the ground and held still while the other attached the collar, it was tight but not enough to hinder the Mandarian's breathing.  Mandara tried to adjust it so it was more comfortable but received a tiny jolt to tell him to keep his hands off.

"No touchy," Soviet mocked, earning a stink face from Kazakhstan, "and that was the lowest setting, I hope that you won't do anything stupid enough to make me use the highest setting, understood?"

Mandara quietly nodded as he rubbed his neck from the shock, he looked to Kaz in an "are you sure about this" manner, to which the boy gave him a reassuring squeeze on his hand.  The two Slavic countries led the Mandarian out of the complex and to a parked car, but before they entered, Ussr stopped them and produced a black piece of cloth from his pocket.

"Sorry Songbird, but you will need to be blindfolded for the trip there and back," he explained, "don't want you memorizing the landscape, you understand right?"

Mandara nodded, even if he didn't want to admit it but he agreed with Soviet, he would have done the same thing if their roles were switched.  He wordlessly allowed the communist to blindfold him and let him guide him into the car, Kaz sat next to him and held his hand to keep him calm.  Mandara was usually terrified to be blindfolded since Ussr would torture him when he was, so the car ride was long and unnerving, with Kaz doing everything he could to calm his friend down.  After what seemed like an eternity, Mandara felt the car slow down until it stopped completely, indicating that they arrived at their destination.

"We're here," Soviet confirmed, "just wait one minute I need to check something."

That made Mandara nervous, what was Ussr checking, why did he need to remain blindfolded, was this a trick?

"It's ok, Mandara, Папа is just seeing where Rus and Bel are since they came here before us," Kaz reassured him.

"Oh," Mandara breathed, settling down a little, "is Ukraine not here?"

"We don't know where he is," the teen admitted, "he ran away, remember?"

Mandara nodded, he did remember hearing about that, how Ukraine ran away because of what Ussr was doing to his people, he just hoped that Ukraine was ok, out there all alone in the midst of a war.  Before he could continue his train of thought, his door was opened and he was pulled out, gently of course.  The country shivered as the cold winter air came into contact with his skin, he never liked the cold, his bird half was that of a falcon, a typically migratory bird so the cold weather was not something he particularly enjoyed.

"Cold," Ussr asked as he untied the blindfold, Mandara only nodded, "you'll get used to it, for me this is considered swimming weather," Mandara couldn't help but quietly snicker, which felt very strange considering who made the joke.

Mandara blinked his eyes when the blindfold was removed to adjust to the light, and when he did he took a moment to see where he was.  They were parked next to a large park in the middle of a town, it was a quaint town with lights and Christmas decorations hung on every building.  People were walking around with shopping bags of gifts, having snowball fights and ice skating, and eating holiday treats.

"Wow," Mandara said with genuine surprise, "it's been so long since I've seen a place look so ... normal, it's like there isn't even a war going on."

"It's nice, isn't it," Ussr agreed, "you may see me as a tyrant, but I do care about my people, and seeing them happy and carefree always warms my heart."

Mandara turned to Soviet with even more surprise, he had never expected to hear that come out of his tormentor's mouth, nor the genuine smile etched across it, this was clearly going to be a very strange and confusing trip for the winged country.  His thoughts were dashed when Kaz started tugging on his arm, practically dragging him over to the ice rink in the middle of the park where Russia and a young Belarus were skating.  Belarus immediately hid behind Russia while Russia politely waved.  Mandara waved back as he was made to sit down on a bench by the enthusiastic winged child.  Kaz then ran off to a booth that had ice skates, bringing back two pairs and handing one to Mandara.

"Woah Kaz, I don't know about this," Mandara said, holding his skates uncertainly, "I can't skate, I'll most likely break something if I get on that ice."

"Then I'll teach you," Kaz offered, "Папа can help too, right Папa?"

Mandara flinched at the idea that Ussr would help him skate, he turned to where the communist country was sitting to hear his verdict.

"Нет, I think I'll let you be the teacher," Ussr said, "I'll just watch for now."

"Aww, come on Папa, it'll be fun," Belarus persisted, skating up to her father and pulling his arm to get him to stand.

Mandara couldn't help but smile at that as he put on his skates, the more he watched Soviet spend time with his kids and be a normal person, the more respect the country held for his enemy.  He wouldn't let that go to his head though, it's just for one day, he was sure that the same cold-hearted warlord would come back tomorrow.  Once he had his skates tied on, Mandara attempted to stand but immediately fell back down, Kaz giggled and resolved to help his friend over to the ice.  Mandara wobbled once his feet came into contact with the slick surface and held onto Kaz rather tightly, again making him and his siblings laugh.

"It's ok Mandara, I got you, I won't let you fall," Kaz said smugly, making Mandara grunt in embarrassment, "here, don't try to walk on the ice, slide your feet like you're walking on a wood floor in socks," the kid explained.

Mandara nodded in understanding and slowly started dragging his feet, letting Kaz lead him along the edge of the rink.  Russia and Belarus sat next to their father to watch the two, which made Mandara feel a little awkward at the attention but he paid it little mind, focusing instead on not falling and dragging Kaz down with him.  The two made at least three laps around the rink until Kaz decided to take it up a notch, he led Mandara over to the middle of the rink and left him there, backing up out of reach.

"Kaz, Kaz what are you doing, get back here," Mandara said, panic in his voice.

"Relax Mandara, all you need to do is skate over to me," Kaz reassured the older country,  reaching out his arms, "come on, come on boy, you can do it, come to Kazakhstan."

"That is not funny," Mandara grumbled, it didn't help that the other Slavic countries were laughing at him.  With an annoyed sigh, Mandara very slowly tried to make his way over to Kaz, however, when he was only halfway there, his foot slipped and he fell backward with a thud, hitting his head hard on the frozen ground.

"Mandara," Kaz shouted in shock, he skated over to his fallen friend and knelt beside him, "Mandara, are you ok?"

Mandara didn't respond at first, he was too busy groaning and holding his head in pain, there was a ringing in his head as his vision momentarily went in and out of focus, making him internally wonder how hard he hit his head.

"This is why I don't like the cold," the Mandarian muttered, "that's going to bruise in the morning."

Kaz's face turned down at the sight of his friend hurt, he felt it was his fault for making Mandara skate alone when he wasn't ready.  Russia skated over to help Mandara sit up, which only made him super dizzy and feel like he wanted to puke.

"Папа, возможно, нам придется сократить эту поездку," the Russian country reported, "похоже, у него сотрясение мозга." (Dad, we might have to cut this trip short, it looks like he might have a concussion.)

Ussr hummed in response, observing Mandara leaning against Russia with an out-of-it expression and Kaz looking like he was about to cry.  Belarus just stood awkwardly next to her father, unsure of what to do until he nodded in agreement to his eldest son, "Вы правы, Россия, давайте отведем его в каюту, где он сможет отдохнуть и восстановиться, доставим его сюда со льда." (You're right Russia, let's take him to the cabin where he can rest and recover, bring him over here off the ice.)

Russia nodded and he and Kaz slowly got Mandara to stand, albeit wobbly from more than just the ice and led him back to solid ground.

"No guys, I'm ok really, I don't want to stop your fun," the dazed country insisted, he knew some broken Russian from Kaz, "honestly, I'll be fine, I just need to sit down for a bit."

"I don't want to have fun without you Mandara," Kaz said, "you can sit when we get home, and I can tell you're freezing too, so we need to go either way."

Mandara wanted to argue but found that he was too dizzy and too cold to do so, ultimately backing down and letting the Slavic countries take him back to the car.  Soviet blindfolded him again but instead of being stressed Mandara was prompted to immediately fall asleep.  Since Mandara and Kazakhstan took up most of the car with their wings, Belarus road in Russia's car behind their father's, eventually reaching a large hunting cabin just a few miles away from the base.  Mandara was still sleeping when they arrived so Ussr picked him up and carried him bridal style inside, his children following.

When Mandara woke up he didn't know where he was, he was lying on a couch in the living room of the cabin, bundled in blankets and lying in front of a large fire in the fireplace.  After a second of trying to reorient himself, he remembered what happened and immediately looked around for any sign of the Soviet family, but oddly enough no one was around.

"Where are they," he muttered to himself, rubbing his neck in confusion, but stopped when he realized the shock collar was gone, adding to his puzzlement even more.  Not knowing what to do and too afraid to get off the couch, the country just sat there and waited for someone to come back.

After what felt like an hour -when in reality it was only fifteen minutes- the front door opened and Russian voices came in, Mandara turned to look behind him and saw the Slavic countries come in.

"Mandara," Kaz shouted when he saw Mandara was awake, he ran over and hugged him, "thank goodness you're awake, are you ok, how's your head, does anything hurt?"

"Easy with the questions Kaz," Mandara chuckled as he hugged the teen back, "I feel better now, no pain."

"Good, we almost couldn't get Kaz to leave your side," Russia chuckled, "he was worried that you were going to die if we left you."

"I did not," Kaz argued, "I just wanted to make sure he woke up alright, that's all."

Ussr chuckled at his sons' arguing with each other, "alright you нарушители спокойствия, go on and play before dinner, I need to have a chat with our guest."

Mandara whimpered when he said that and subconsciously hugged Kazakhstan tighter like he was a stuffed animal.  Kaz had to reassure him that he was safe for the frightened country to let him go, he brushed his wing with Mandara's in comfort before leaving with Russia and Belarus for their rooms.

"Have a nice sleep Mandara," Ussr asked when they were gone, his voice was gentle and almost sounded caring, baffling Mandara.

"Uh ... yeah, I-I think so," he responded feeling extremely weirded out by Soviet's behavior.

"You're confused about why I'm acting this way, aren't you," he stated the obvious, coming over to the couch with two take-out coffees in his hands.  He sat down next to Mandara and handed one to him.

"You could say that," Mandara muttered, hesitantly taking the coffee and inspecting it for anything suspicious.

"Relax, I didn't sneak anything in it, it's just a hazelnut coffee," Ussr reassured him, "I understand why you're suspicious though, after everything I've done to you."

Mandara simply nodded, not saying anything just in case he accidentally ticks off the communist country, though he did ask one thing, "so why are you acting like this, after everything you've done to me?"

There was a long and awkward pause, Soviet seemed hesitant to answer and Mandara couldn't tell why.  Ussr took a deep breath and leaned back on the couch, "you know how I haven't tortured you in the past month, how I started giving you more rations and better living conditions in your cell," when Mandara nodded he continued, "well, five weeks ago I learned that my smoking habits have started taking their toll on my body, specifically my lungs and heart, and my nuclear testing against America hasn't helped with that either."

Mandara was silent as he listened to Ussr, having a pretty good idea of what he was talking about, "so ... how long did the doctors give you?"

"Five years," Soviet muttered, "seven if I'm lucky."

"And ... what about Kaz, Russia, and Belarus, do they know yet?"

"They do, we've been spending more time together because of it, doing things I normally wouldn't do because of the war, with you and US, and I guess that's made me a little nicer than usual."

"I see, so what are you going to do, with everything that's going on I mean."

Ussr turned to the winged country and glared at him, "I'm not letting you go if that's what you're hinting at."

Mandara vigorously shook his head, "no no no, I wasn't implying that at all, I swear."

Soviet glared at him for a few moments more, eventually looking away and sitting up straight, "well, I don't plan on going down without a fight, if I have to die then I intend on bringing my enemies down with me."

Mandara reflexively flinched when that was said, earning a quiet sorry from the red country as he sat back and drank his coffee.  Nothing was said after that, no more words were exchanged or personal information shared, Ussr simply finished his coffee and left for the kitchen to start cooking dinner, leaving Mandara to ponder what was said.

When dinner was finished and everyone came to eat Mandara figured he should stay on the couch, despite Kaz's persistent persuasions.  The teen eventually gave up and went to sit with his family, but he did bring a plate of food over for Mandara.  It wasn't the most extravagant Christmas dinner but the Mandarian knew that food was hard to come by in the soviet union so he didn't complain, even though it was mostly meat, mashed potatoes, and a small biscuit, it was actually the best he's eaten in a while.

The rest of the evening was calm, everyone mostly took residence in the living room with blankets and hot drinks, making small talk and telling stories, Mandara couldn't have asked for a better end to his one day of freedom.  Kaz begged his father if Mandara could stay the night, and after a long and unnecessary explanation of why he should stay, Ussr relented and let Mandara stay.

Kaz decided to make it a sleepover and had everyone bring pillows and blankets out to the living room so they could sleep there, except Soviet was going to sleep in his room because Mandara wasn't comfortable sleeping in the same room as the communist.  Once everyone finished their nightly routines and settled into bed, Kaz gave Mandara one more present.

"I wonder what it could be," he said in amusement, ripping into the green and red striped wrapping paper, but when he opened the box his jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

There were two plushies in the box, they were spitting images of him and MA, from the flags and uniforms right down to the wings and button eyes.

"Rus and Bel helped me with them," Kaz admitted, "we all knew that you must be missing your brother terribly today so we made these, that way you two can always stay together."

"What's more is that when you are rescued," Russia added, "which we all believe will happen eventually, your brother can have the plushy of you so if you're ever separated again you'll still have each other."

Mandara was speechless, his eyes watering pure happiness, "you guys, this is, without a doubt, the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me, I just don't know what to say."

Kaz smiled and hugged Mandara, Russia and even Belarus did too, and that's when Mandara knew that Christmas wasn't only about spending time with your family, it was about showing others that you care about them, whether they are family or not.

"Hey Trigger, you coming, everyone's waiting in the dining room for you to give your Christmas speech," MA asked, stepping into the foyer of the mansion, "Poldara and MC are keeping the guest entertained but the marine only has so many crazy war stories to share."

"I'm coming, just putting the finishing touches on the mantel," Mandara said, turning to his brother, he then turned back to the fireplace mantel and put two objects on it, making sure they were positioned correctly before taking a step back to admire them.

MA smiled and wrapped an arm around Mandara, "it's perfect, I'm sure the Slavic siblings take pride in knowing they have a place of honor," he said as he gazed at the plushies sitting on the fireplace, leaning against each other and holding hands.

"Yeah, I'm sure they do," Mandara agreed, "even though it's not what they intended, I think this is more fitting, showing that no matter what happens we always come back together in the end."

"Now don't go getting mushy yet, little brother," MA teased, "leave that honor for Wehrmacht after you give your speech."

Mandara laughed, "sure thing big brother, how long do you think he'll last this time; ten seconds?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of two," MA smirked, earning laughter from both of them as they turned and went back to their Christmas party, leaving the two self-plushies to hold hands and watch as their live counterparts spend the holiday together at last.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

(and hope that Luv doesn't read this and see the brothers teasing Wehr)