L

Wehrmacht was also interested and so their next destination became Germany's estate.

----------

Germany had woken up early in the morning as usual, with his cup of caffeine and the TV on with the volume tuned down. Bundeswehr was upstairs - he had stayed over at Germany's for the night to ensure security. The bruises on his face from Wehrmacht's punches were virtually gone due to the quick healing that the entity-line provided. Once he was finished getting ready, he joined Germany in the living room for breakfast. Halfway through, Bundeswehr had tried calling Wehrmacht's house but he just missed them because they'd left for the shooting range already.

M

"I really hope Germany isn't still mad at us." Mandara said, they where walking to Germany's house and he couldn't help but be slightly nervous as they drew closer. He was worried about how Germany would react to them after they had been away for the night, would he still be bitter towards the brothers, or would yesterday be water under the bridge.

"I'm sure it will be ok Trigger." MA said as he sensed Mandara's nervousness. "Today is our last day here, if he is still mad I doubt he is going to show it." He looked up at Wehr, "Right?"

L

"I hope so," Wehrmacht said. "Things are back to normal after all."

They arrived at Germany's estate. Instead of walking straight in like he used to, Wehrmacht knocked this time. They only waited a few seconds before Bundeswehr opened the door.

"Oh, you're here!" Bundeswehr said. "I was wondering when you'd arrive. I'm guessing you're here to say your goodbyes - Germany's in the living room, come on in."

Germany looked up faintly. He knew who was here to visit before they even came into the living room.

M

"Hello Bundeswehr, good to see you've fully healed." Mandara said as they went inside. 

When they walked into the living room and saw Germany, Mandara gave him a well rehearsed greeting. "Guten tag Germany, I apologize if we unknowingly kept you waiting, we were at the shooting range so I could settle a competition with Iremacht. But that's besides the point, Thunder and I have a few hours till we have to leave, so we thought we would stop by for a bit."

L

Bundeswehr looked between Germany and the Mandarians. Personally, he shared Wehrmacht's sentiment that everything would, in fact, go back to normal. Mandara seemed inclined to accept the normalcy, which was a relief. 

 "Guten morgen, I appreciate you stopping by," Germany replied. "Although I should have been the one to visit you since today is your departure day." 

 Wehrmacht stepped forward and reported, "A majority of the processing is finished and the Mandarians now have clearance to take the Crown out of the country." 

 "Did you spend the whole night doing that?" Germany asked, noting the bags under his uncle's eyes. 

 "Pretty much," Wehrmacht said. "But...I need your official clearance." 

 Germany nodded without hesitation. "They may take the Crown."

M

MA and Mandara were slightly taken aback by the abruptness of Germany's answer, but they shook it off since they figured he didn't want to talk about it. "Thank you Germany, and to show that there is no ill will for what happened yesterday, Thunder and I thought we could all do something fun for a bit since we have about two and a half hours. Like I said before, we were at the shooting range for a bit, but I assume you're not much into guns, so we could try something you find interesting."

L

"We could go for the ice rink!" Bundeswehr suggested. 

 "WHAT NO!" Iremacht shouted. "I can't skate, you know that!" 

 "Bundeswehr, Germany, and I all can," said Wehrmacht. "And it's about time I teach you how to become 'King of the Ice' as we called it back in the day." 

 Germany cracked a smile at the memories. "I skated with Poland and Austria and Ukraine and even our dog Dresden." 

At the mention of Poland, Germany glanced at Mandara. He sighed, "But that was years ago and I'd love to skate again. If the Mandarians know how?"

M

MA and Mandara glanced at each other and Mandara flashed his brother a smug smile, "Yeah I can skate, Poland taught me how to on one of our dates, but Thunder is terrified of the ice." 

"I AM NOT!!" MA protested, but Mandara ignored him, "He doesn't like how slippery it is and last time he was on it a kid thought it would be funny to knock him off balance by yanking on his wings, not only did he fall but he landed on his wing and bruised it pretty bad. But the kid got some feather souvenirs and I got a new home screen on my phone." 

By the time Mandara was finished with the story, MA was hiding himself with his wings, wanting to be anywhere but there.

L

Iremacht burst out laughing, and Wehrmacht and Bundeswehr both snickered. 

 Germany also mustered a smile. So Poland had taught Mandara. That was nice; he was glad his Polish friend had such a helpful heart. Odd, that such a heart could hurt his own, even if the pain was just a prick. 

 "In that case, it's 4 on 2 in favor of the ice rink," Germany said. "Since I've learned that cars don't fit winged people very well, especially not three of you, we'll walk there. And maybe pass by a couple bars." 

 As Germany led the way, Iremacht sidled up to Mandara and asked to see his phone screen.

M

Mandara looked behind him to check MA's response, but he was too busy sulking and didn't hear Iremacht, so with another smug smile he pulled out his phone and opened it to the home screen. Right there in all it's glory was the supreme general of the Mandarian army, mid slip and landing on his ass with the for mentioned kid standing next to him still clinging to his wing. Mandara chuckled a bit and showed the others when he was done with Iremacht.

L

"Ouch," Bundeswehr grimaced after seeing the image. "That kid looks pretty attached. Surprising that MA didn't have to go through amputation to pry the little troublemaker off." 

 "Now I'm scared," Wehrmacht joked. 

 "Psh, you're too scary yourself to attract any kids," Iremacht said. "They'd avoid you and probably swarm Mandara or MA." 

Iremacht bounced back to where MA was sulking and said, "Who knows, you might get your own hilarious home screen of the great Mandara being chased by children."

M

"Now that is something I can get behind." MA said with a smug smile of his own.

Mandara just scoffed, "Your one to talk, you may be intimidating to adults but you've always been the child magnet when we go out in public." Mandara then turned back to the others, "I don't know what it is about him that is so likeable since he doesn't like kids, but whenever we are someplace that has a few of them I will always find him being used as a jungle gym. Once he held an event for his soldiers and their families and I found him sitting in a chair with like 10 kids swarming him, asking him questions and tugging on his wings, he looked so miserable. I think I have a picture of that too somewhere." 

 MA's eyes widened, "Don't you DARE show them that!" he shouted, but it was too late and Mandara had already pulled up the picture.

L

Iremacht jumped forward to look at the picture and laughed until he had tears in his eyes. Wehrmacht had to shoo the teen away because the laughter was growing hysterical. When the former militant peered at the picture, however, he too ducked his head behind his wings to hide his quiet snicker. 

 Bundeswehr also saw the picture but he was a bit more understanding and patted MA on the shoulder. "No worries, we can be allergic to children together." 

 "And have your countries tease you about it," Germany added. "Perks of working with me, Bundie. I can't wait." 

 Bundeswehr rolled his eyes and stuck with MA for the remainder of the walk. 

M

For the rest of the walk Mandara entertained everyone with more embarrassing stories about MA, who tried to get him back by telling the one about his first date with Poland, but he was for the most part ignored. Right as they walked up to the skating rink, Mandara was telling the one about MA's fear of squirrels. 

"- and then just as we were reaching the finish line, a stray gust of wind blew Thunder into a tree." Mandara exclaimed, as he was tearing up from laughter "but the best part was that we found out later that he landed on top a squirrel nest, and the damn thing just about tore his face off, so from that point on Thunder has been extremely afraid of squirrels." 

 Mandara laughed some more until he noticed they reached their destination. He turned to MA "Well I guess it's your lucky break, because we're here." 

 "Thank the gods" MA said dramatically, "I never would have thought I would be happy to see an ice rink, lets just go." 

He then stomped inside without waiting for a response so he could get away from his brother, who promptly snickered as he left.

L

"Wait wait, MA, you need to get yourself fitted with skates before you can go!" Bundeswehr called after him. 

 Germany and Wehrmacht were already at the rental booth, estimating shoe sizes. They brought over six pairs of skates, and Wehrmacht handed two pairs to the Mandarians. 

 "Try not to fall while putting these on," he said to MA. "Wouldn't want you on your ass before you're even on the ice." 

 Bundeswehr and Germany both slipped on their skates with ease. Iremacht, however, was glaring suspiciously at the shoes and had a hard time believing he could actually balance on two thin blades. He sat down on the bench and slipped on the first shoe, muttering, "I'm about to break my ankles." 

 "I'll be listening for a scream of distress then," Bundeswehr chuckled.

M

"Me too" Mandara said, playfully shouldering MA and handing him his skates, who glared at him. 

"There is no way in the five realms of Jastrem that you are getting me on that ice." 

 "Aw come on Thunder, it will be fun."

MA shook his head, "No, I am staying right here on solid ground and there is nothing you can do about it." 

 Mandara frowned at MA's childish behavior, but the thought of an idea, "I bet you fifty bucks that Iremacht can learn faster than you." 

 MA blinked at Mandara's bet and grumbled, his brother knew that he had a weakness to bets, "Alright your on." 

He fist bumped Mandara to lock in the bet and went to put on his skates. 

 "No pressure Machty" Mandara said as he also sat down to put on his skates.

L

Iremacht heard the challenge and quickened his pace in adjusting his shoes. He'd already lost in a shooting match and he was not about to lose in a skating competition. But when he finished tying the laces and lurched to his feet, he immediately plopped right back on the bench. 

 "Nope," he said. "Nope, nope, nope. I am not walking on these." 

 Germany was on the ice already, following the edge of the rink to do his first lap. Before following, Wehrmacht said over his shoulder, "You better not lose to MA, Machty!" 

 Iremacht glanced to where the Mandarian brothers were putting on their skates. He flexed his feet in his shoes and tried pushing himself up again. He wobbled a couple steps, waved his arms, and promptly fell forward.Bundeswehr caught him before he could land face-first on the ground. 

"You okay?" 

 "No!" Iremacht said indignantly, checking on the Mandarians to see what progress his competition had made.

M

Mandara and MA both had their skates on, but MA was clinging to his brother's waist for dear life while he tried to balance on his skates. 

 "Thunder, you're yanking on my belt, let go." 

MA just shook his head, he didn't care if he was embarrassing himself at this point, he did not want to let go. Mandara chuckled at his brother acting like a baby, but he slowly led him to the ice. Once both feet were on the ice, MA immediately fell on his stomach, dragging Mandara down with him. The brothers landed with an "oof", and because MA landed under Mandara, when he lifted his head he ended up wearing his brother's wing as a headdress, which caused Mandara to snicker.

L

"Uh oh, they got on the ice first," Bundeswehr said to Iremacht as they watched the Mandarians fall on the rink. 

 "I can see that," Iremacht growled. 

He removed himself from Bundeswehr's arms and made the weirdest wobbly trek towards the ice rink. Iremacht stood at the edge, staring at the frosty white surface criss-crossed by the skating lines of so many other skaters who had braved the rink. If they could do it, Iremacht thought, then so could he. 

 He stepped on the ice with one foot. The blade slipped a little but he caught his balance on the railing. Once he was steady, he placed his other foot and just stood there with his arms out on the ice. Iremacht smiled, carefully placing his hands on his hips.

"I am standing!" he announced like it was the most epic thing in the world. 

 "Ja, ja you are," Bundeswehr chuckled behind him. "The next phase would be sliding." 

 Iremacht pushed himself off the railing to give himself momentum to slide. He immediately slipped, flailing his arms and tottering backwards—once again landing in Bundeswehr's ready arms. 

 "This is hopeless!" Iremacht screamed.

M

"You said it" MA grumbled, still wearing Mandara's wing on his head, but he was caught by surprise when something flashed right next to him. He turned to the flash and saw that Mandara had his phone out.

"HEY, give me that!" MA shouted as he reached for the phone, but Mandara held it out of reach and scooted away from his brother, getting back on his feet and skated further away. 

 "If you want it come and get it," he teased, shaking the phone like he was tempting a dog with a treat. 

 MA grunted and tried to stand up, but he was too far from the sides of the rink and couldn't get his footing, and after a few tries he just kind of gave up. He rolled onto his back with his wing spread out and dramatically called out, "Man down, I need reinforcements."

L

Bundeswehr, being alert for distress calls, heard MA. Iremacht still leaned on him for support, so Bundeswehr slowly dragged him over to where MA was. 

 "H-Hey, what are you doing!" Iremacht cried as the railing got further away. "Bring me back to the side. I need support!" 

 Bundeswehr simply dropped Iremacht down next to MA and said in amusement, "Reinforcements here. There's too many casualties though, I'll only be able to save one of you. Whoever gets up first." 

 Iremacht blinked at MA; he instantly tried to get in a kneeling position and push himself up.

M

MA growled at Bundie but also tried to get up. He too got into a kneeling position and tried to flap his wings to get himself up faster. 

 Meanwhile, Mandara, Germany, and Wehrmacht had stopped skating and watched the spectacle unfold, with Mandara recording it so he could show Poland and the rest of his friends. At one point, MA did stand up for a few seconds but immediately fell back on his tail bone. 

 "I stood up for a bit, does that count?" MA asked Bundie, but before he could answer Mandara yelled to him, "No it doesn't!" 

"Kiss my ass Trigger!" 

 "I would but it looks to much like your face!"

L

"That's what you get for thinking your wings could help you," Iremacht said when MA fell down. 

Since he didn't have wings, Iremacht relied on balancing the rest of his body to get up. He made sure his skates were planted firmly on the ice - he found that it wasn't actually slippery, he just subconsciously thought it was. Iremacht eased himself in a standing position, holding out his hands for extra balance.

 "Hah!" he said. "I am standing once again!" 

 Wehrmacht shook his head with a chuckle at his son's enthusiasm and called, "Okay, now make your way towards Bundie. Don't step, push and glide instead." 

 Iremacht had no idea what that meant, but he tried inching forward.

M

MA had the massive urge to trip Iremacht, but decided that he was gonna play nice and once tried one more time to stand, but this time he held his wings close to his body to minimize his center of gravity. He eventually was able to stay on his feet this time, and too tried to make his way to Bundie. 

 Back with the others, Mandara leaned over to the Germans, "Bet you ten bucks Thunder gets to Bundie before Iremacht." 

He didn't actually believe that, he just wanted to make things more interesting.

L

Germany scoffed and took on the bet with a silent air of confidence. Wehrmacht elbowed Mandara at the challenge and said, "I've got my wallet ready and open to receive your money." 

 Iremacht saw MA gaining on him from the corner of his eye. He was about to panic and slide faster when he remembered the tip Mandara gave him back at the shooting range. Just him and the target. Nothing else. Iremacht shut out all the other noises of the ice rink and focused on getting himself to Bundeswehr's outstretched arms. He experimented with pushing with one foot while gliding on the other. It seemed to work, although he went in a slightly diagonal direction and almost crashed into MA. 

M

Unfortunately for MA, when he stopped to keep from running into Iremacht, his foot slipped and he landed on his knee. 

 "Come on Thunder, I've got 20 bucks for you to win!" Mandara called out. 

 MA glared at his brother, "Oh yeah, well maybe I won't do it so I can shut you up." 

He then remembered the bet he made with Mandara that Iremacht would beat him too, so if he quit now, he would lose those 50 dollars. With that in mind, MA quickly got to his feet again and slid towards Bundie, but he had waited too long and Iremacht was mere inches away from him.

L

"Gotcha!" Iremacht said with one final push. 

He ended up kicking too hard and gliding forward at a high speed. Since he didn't know how to stop, Iremacht crashed into Bundeswehr. The militant couldn't save them this time. They both fell, with Iremacht on top of Bundeswehr. Their faces were centimeters apart. Before Germany or Wehrmacht could make any comments, Iremacht acted first and scrambled off.

 "I win!" Iremacht shouted. 

He avoided looking at Bundeswehr, who sat up next to him with a perplexed and...curious look on his face. 

 "Alright, hand over the money," Wehrmacht said to Mandara.

M

Mandara smiled and gave up his 20 bucks, ten to each German. Once the bet was settled, Mandara gracefully skated over to the others, stopping next to MA. 

 "Howdy soldiers, looks your all having fun." 

 MA rolled his eyes, "Yeah I guess just a little bit." 

He then looked over to Bundie and Iremacht and a smug smile crossed his face. "How about you lovebirds, enjoying your date?" 

 Mandara burst out laughing, from where he was standing next to Wehr and Germany, it did look like the two had kissed.