M:   "Yeah, seen as this is the soviet independence day and not the memorial day for Mandoria, I think that we would be very overdressed if we all went like that." Belarus agreed.

"People will start to think that dad is knighting Iremacht," Poldara said as they walked to the door, "which he might if I overheard him correctly."

Instead of continuing the conversation, Poldara grabbed MA's general hat that he left on a hook by the door and lead the way outside.

"You know France and I have been to the park before, Poldara doesn't have to lead," Belarus reminded the Germans.

"And we passed by the park on our way to the training ground remember, it's the one with the big statue of grandpa," Poldara added.

L:   "Knight me—" Iremacht couldn't finish his bewildered statement because they were already going outside.

"Still, it's a good experience for Poldara to have, leading something," Wehrmacht said. "I imagine if he becomes the next militant, he will have to take responsibility for thousands of soldiers."

"Iremacht, you should be a part of this lesson," Germany said. "Then you can properly lead your military rather than letting them fend for themselves all the time. Why can't you stay put in Ireland and help your father out?"

"Because I hate responsibility," Iremacht grumbled. He saw the way Poldara was leading the party, though, and said, "But I suppose I'll be more active. At this point, Poldara's acting more mature than I am."

"Glad you noticed," France said.

"It only took a visit and a twelve-year-old," Iremacht smirked.

M:   Belarus and Poldara snickered at the comment, then Belarus rubbed the kid's head, "he wasn't always like this, the kid used to be so grabby when he was a toddler, his favorite pastime was pulling on anything he could get his hands on. Wings, clothes, jewelry, nothing was safe from him."

Poldara smirked at Belarus, "it's not my fault you always wore shiny things, us kids like anything that glitters."

Belarus just rolled her eyes, but she left the conversation at that and walked in silence.

The group eventually made it to the park, it was bustling with people who had come to celebrate the independence day. Poldara led the adults to the entrance area and waved at the security guards before going in. He stopped at the ticket booth, but instead of buying tickets, the man there gave him six paper wristbands, he said thanks and went back to the others.

"Here," he said as he held out the wristbands, "these are VIP passes for the rides and games, so you can play without buying tickets."

L:   "My, my, it's like VIP lounges at the—" Iremacht stopped himself from saying 'bar' when Germany shot him a warning glare and glanced pointedly at the underaged Poldara. Iremacht finished, "—at the club. Thanks, Polds. But I do want to pay for food. You invited us, I should at least support your economy somehow."

Wehrmacht beamed proudly at his son. "Alright then, Machty, why don't you go with Poldara? And Poldara, send him more of your positive influence. The rest of us older folks will explore at our own pace."

Iremacht flexed his fingers. When he really faced the rides and festivities, he forgot about keeping his cool. He couldn't wait to be a kid again.

M:   "Ok," Poldara shrugged, he stuffed Iremacht's wristband in his jacket just in case he wanted it later, "at noon is Uncle MA's flyover and hopefully Uncles Kaz and Rus will be here before then, the best place to see it is by grandpa's memorial statue."

"Poldara, are you sure your ok going by yourself with Iremacht," Belarus asked, "your dad asked us to keep an eye on you and Iremacht isn't exactly a reasonable adult, no offense Iremacht."

"We'll be fine, I'll keep a very close eye on him so he doesn't get in trouble." Poldara joked, earning a quiet snicker from Belarus.

L:   "Oh I see how it is," Iremacht said. "Reverse babysitting, eh? I'll warn you, I'm one heck of a child to look after."

"I can testify to that," Wehrmacht said. "Just don't set anything on fire, please. And meet us back at Mandoria's statue when it's time for the flyover!"

But Iremacht was already prancing away and yelling at Poldara, "Try and keep up! Let's see if you've gotten over your fear of heights. Where's the tallest, craziest ride?"

Wehrmacht watched the two of them run off and shook his head with a chuckle. "Oh boy."

"Relax," said France. "This is a rare opportunity to enjoy yourself while they're gone, believe me."

M:   Belarus was less enthusiastic after hearing Iremacht's response to the joke, even more so when Wehrmacht mentioned setting things on fire.

"Wehrmacht, if one or both of them get hurt it's on you, Mandara told us to keep an eye on Poldara and I just don't believe he is going to be very safe under Iremacht's watch," she said in a serious voice.

Meanwhile, Poldara was telling Iremacht about all the rides. "There isn't a whole lot of giant rides since this is a one-day event, but one of the faster rides should be a small spinning swing ride, though they like to change up the rides and games every once in a while so I don't know if it's here."

As they walked, people were giving Iremacht strange looks, his royal outfit was very out of place, and the fact that he was a foreigner alone with Poldara didn't help either.

Poldara noticed their staring and said, "maybe the royal clothes was a bad idea, you're kind of sticking out like a sore thumb.

L:   Wehrmacht understood Belarus's concern and frankly, he felt a prick of worry as well. But it was fatherly worry, nothing outstanding.

"I think, if anything, Iremacht will be more protective of Poldara after the accident from before," Wehrmacht said. "I hope it won't come to that though. I heard Poldara gets bullied by other kids - Iremacht won't be very happy about that."

"For all of our sakes, I hope no one gets more than a bloody nose," Germany muttered. "Now let's go get something to eat. These snack booths look interesting."

-----

"Attracting attention is my specialty," Iremacht dismissed. He even straightened his posture a little more and held his head high as he walked beside Poldara. He winked at a group of girls they passed.

"Anyway, the classic swing ride," said Iremacht. "I don't know if I'm the right age to be going on those anymore. That'll be sure to attract a lot of attention that won't be good for my global image. But it's a perfect ride for you, and I'm definitely recording the whole thing."

M:   Poldara nodded, that made sense, being a militant meant you had to appear mature and confidant in front of people, otherwise they wouldn't respect you or trust that you will protect them.

"Too bad, you would have liked it," he said, "it spins so fast that you feel like at any moment your about to get flung out of the seat, it gives you a crazy adrenaline rush that makes your legs wobble when you get off, I love it so much."

As they were looking for the ride, a thought came to Poldara's mind, "I was wondering what Mr. Wehrmacht meant by you setting things on fire. Was he joking or did that actually happen?"

L:   "He's more likely to set things on fire than me," Iremacht scoffed. "But yes, once. I take after Ireland as the cook of the family. Whenever I stayed with Vater, I'd always cook breakfast and maybe lunch with him, but only if he promised to take me out for dinner. When I became Ireland's militant, I had less time to cook or brush up on my skills." Iremacht smiled at the memory. "I hadn't cooked for a very very long time up to that day, our last full family reunion, when I set Ireland's kitchen on fire. It was, for better or for worse, the highlight of the event."

The swing ride was easy to spot in the distance. It was currently spinning and emitting screams while a line of kids around Poldara's age waited for their turn. Iremacht stopped and gripped Poldara's shoulder.

"Will you be okay?" he asked quietly, eyeing all the human children. Even though Iremacht wore the royal clothes, he felt that Poldara somehow stuck out more in this crowd of humans of similar age who had potentially bullied the kid for being different. "If anyone picks on you ..."

M:   Poldara stared at him for a moment, then he looked over to the line of kids. He didn't see anyone he knew so that made him feel a little better.

"I think so, no one over there I know and they aren't teenagers, which is what I'm worried about. There is a certain group of teens who really like messing with my wings, but I haven't seen them yet so I think it's safe."

He then fiddled with his feathers nervously and looked back at Iremacht, "If we do happen to bump into them, can you promise not to hurt them, I don't want to stoop down to their level. Feathers can grow back but dignity is harder."

L:   "Bullying itself takes away dignity," Iremacht hissed. "Standing up for yourself replenishes it. But if you continue to let them bully you, you'll stoop lower than them." Then Iremacht noticed Poldara's nervous movements and realized he sounded scarier than he'd meant. He patted the kid's shoulder and let him go. "I won't cause any more trouble, I promise. Look, the swing ride is almost finished. Have fun and don't worry."

Iremacht took out his phone as he spoke, getting ready to record Poldara. In fact, he was thinking about recording snippets of their whole adventure today and turning it into a little video to send to Mandara, Poland, and MA. This was the first time that he'd decided to do something nice for a fellow country other than Germany - usually, he treated everyone as a business partner to be used for what they were worth. Perhaps he was just trying to make up for everything.

M:   Poldara smiled at his reassurance, "thanks Iremacht, your the best. Wish me luck." He then ran off for the ride's line.

Everything went well, no kids picked on him while he was waiting, whether they were being nice or just too focused on the ride, Poldara didn't know. When it was his turn, he showed the ride operator his VIP wristband and was allowed on without a ticket. It was a little uncomfortable being strapped with his wings, but he has done this many times before so he was used to it. When the ride started spinning, Poldara let out the occasional holler of excitement and every once in a while would try to spread to his wings to catch the wind.

Little did the kid know that his excited screams attracted the attention of some less favorable people.