(Note: there is a small reference to 0luv0love0's book Wehrmacht [the Nazi brothers] here, go check it out if you want to understand it.)

It had been four days since Kazakhstan, Russia, and Poland came to visit the Mandarian brothers, and MA can truly say that he has never seen Mandara so happy, even before he was captured.  For the past days, the focus was to reconnect with friends and have fun, but today was going to be slightly different.  Before the three countries came to Mandara, MA had told them of his brother's unwillingness to fly, even though his wings should be healed enough to try.  So before Mandara woke up in the morning, the four of them including Russia, devised a plan to help Mandara get over his fear of flying.

About an hour later, the five countries all walked over to a nearby park that had an open grassy area that was large enough for all four winged countries to be in the air.  Since Russia didn't have wings, he was going to be left with Tank and Flurry, who Mandara insisted come along.  The others didn't tell him yet why they were going to the park, otherwise, he wouldn't have come, they made sure to wait till they were in the middle of the field before letting the cat out of the bag, needless to say, Mandara wasn't happy.

"Thunder, how many freaking times do I have to tell you, I CAN'T fly anymore," Mandara said annoyed, he couldn't believe that MA would do this, has he not learned from last time.

Before MA could respond, Kaz spoke, "But how that was five years ago, your feathers have grown back and MA said you've fully healed, how can you possibly not be able to fly?"

"If I tell you, will you all stop pestering me about it?" Mandara asked bitterly, MA, Kaz, and Poland exchanged glances, they really wanted to help Mandara but they couldn't if he wouldn't cooperate.

Poland spoke next, "Please Mandy, all we want to do is help, don't you miss flying?"

Mandara stared at him, of course he missed flying, that was like asking a caged animal if they missed being free.  Now that he thought about it though, that's kind of what he is, an animal that longs to be free from its prison, except he is the one who built the cage and locked himself in it.  With this new revelation, Mandara let out a drawn-out sigh before answering,

"Of course I do Poland, I've missed it every day for almost six years, but I just can't bring myself to do it.  Whenever I try, all I can think of is the fact that one of the last things I did before my wings were broken was try to fly."  Mandara stopped for a second to keep himself from tearing up from the memories.  After he regained his composure, he continued explaining, "So even though that wasn't the reason why they were broke, I can't help but be afraid that if I try to fly, Ussr will come back to break my wings again."

When he was finished, Mandara waited for his friends to scold him for his irrational fear, but they didn't, they just exchanged glances and a new understanding flashed in their eyes.

"Mandara, why didn't you tell us, we could have helped you," Kaz said, to which Mandara shrugged,

"I don't know, I guess I thought you would judge me for being afraid of something that is never going to happen."

"Trigger, we would never do that, your our friend and my brother, if anything, we would want to help you get over your fear." MA reassured him, "Which is why we are here in the first place, so we can help you fly again"

Mandara just stared at them, he was grateful that they would want to help, but he was still hesitant to try.  Poland saw the uncertainty in his eyes, so he gave Mandara a reassuring hug, "It's ok Mandy, you don't have to do it, we won't make you if you're too scared."  Mandara didn't say anything, he just leaned against Poland and let his embrace calm him.  When Poland finally let go, Mandara felt better and said he would give it a try, everyone gave a small cheer and led him further out into the field.

For the first hour, MA had everyone do stretches and wing exercises so no one would accidentally hurt themselves during the lessons.  After stretching, Poland was up next to teach Mandara how to take off since he was the only one there that had the same wing type as Mandara.  Unfortunately, Mandara was a bit slow to relearn because he hadn't flown for six whole years, so not only had he all but forgotten how to fly, but his wing muscles had wasted away from lack of use, so it was very difficult for him to even get off the ground let alone stay in the air. 

As the hours ticked by, Mandara was still unable to properly take off from the ground, he did stay in the air for 20 seconds at one point, but the height that he reached was only a few feet, where the tips of his flight feathers were still brushing the ground.  After Mandara fell from the last try, everyone decided they should take a picnic break so Mandara could rest.

"-and while I was hiding from everyone, I slipped on a sheet of ice under the tree, then a pile of snow landed on top of me and I was completely buried,"  Kaz said, taking a bite of his sandwich, while also trying to keep Flurry from eating it.

"Really, how did you get out?" MA asked

"I didn't," Kaz responded, "I was found by Wehrmacht, you remember that militant entity from Nazi Germany?"

MA shivered, "How could I forget, he is a very scary guy and I was always intimidated by his massive wings, and it takes a lot to intimidate me."

"Well, he's not that bad when you get to know him." Poland piped up, "I remember when I was young and still under Third's control, he took me, Ukraine, Germany, and Austria ice skating, and before that he helped me when my wings were broken by Schutzstaffel."

"Is that so?  Well, I guess even a Nazi can't resist children, sometimes." MA commented, causing everyone to snicker.  Except for Mandara, he was silent for the most part and not paying attention to Kazakhstan's story, instead, he was watching a small flock of birds pecking the ground nearby.  He took note of the way the birds were flapping their wings as they landed and flew off, it wasn't any different than how Poland, Kaz, and MA flew but watching the birds filled him with an inspiration that he didn't have before.  With this newfound hope, Mandara stood up and walked away from the group.

"Trigger, where are you going?" MA asked, but Mandara didn't respond or acknowledge the question, he just kept walking until he was at a good distance from the others.  He stopped and unfurled his wings, staring up at the cloud-filled sky and letting the wind blow through his feathers.  Everyone glanced at each other, wondering what he was doing, but their question was answered when Mandara took off with one strong beat of his wings.  The sudden action surprised the others and they all jumped to their feet, prepared to run to Mandara's side when he fell to the ground, but he didn't.

Mandara opened his eyes, he had them closed when he took off but when he didn't feel himself hit the ground, he opened them out of confusion and disbelief.  He looked down below him and saw the field that he was standing in was growing farther away, his eyes widened in shock.

"Mandara, your flying!" Russia exclaimed, everyone else was speechlessly watching as Mandara flew higher into the sky, eventually stopping and hovering in place.  Everyone blinked at each other in disbelief, but that shock was quickly replaced by ecstatic cheering, followed by the other winged countries taking off to join their friend in the air.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, I did it, I did it!" Mandara said as he hovered, he couldn't believe he was flying again after almost six years of being grounded, it felt so unreal.

"Trigger you did it, your flying!"  MA exclaimed overjoyed as he hovered next to Mandara, with Kazakhstan and Poland joining seconds later.

"Mandy I'm so proud of you," Poland stated, also overjoyed, "you never gave up and now you not only overcame your fear of flying, but you also relearned how to do it, we're all so happy for you."

Mandara smiled as everyone congratulated him, he was so happy that he had such supportive friends, but he was snapped out of the praise when he noticed his wings were hurting.

"I'm sorry to ruin the moment, but I think I need to land, my wings are hurting,"  he said, to which everyone glanced at each other again but nodded understandingly, letting Mandara fly down first before following.  When Mandara touched down, waiting for him was an ecstatic Russian and two even more happy dogs.  Mandara tried to dodge the tidal wave of fur, but he wasn't fast enough and was instantly tackled and given slobbery smooches.

Russia stopped in his tracks and burst out laughing at the scene unfolding in front of him, it was definitely one of the funniest things he had seen.  While Russia continued to laugh his ass off, the others landed and tried to pull the dogs off of Mandara.  Kaz and MA got Tank and Flurry under control and Poland helped Mandara up, who ended up tripping over his own feet and stumbled into Poland's arms.  The action startled them both and they immediately took a step back from each other, but still standing close to one another, blushing slightly.

Kaz, Rus, and MA all looked on with interest, they all knew that Mandara and Poland seemed to be a bit more than friends, but the awkwardness between the two was preventing them from going anywhere.  The three guys exchanged glances and seemed to telepathically come up with a plan to help push the lovebirds in the right direction, they all nodded in understanding, and Kaz and MA went behind Mandara and Poland, who were so lost in the awkwardness of their accidental embrace that they didn't notice the two troublemakers sneak up behind them until it was too late.

Kaz and MA pushed the two together, forcing their lips to connect.  Poland's and Mandara's eyes widened at the sudden contact and tried to back away again, but Kaz and MA held them in place.

"Oh no you don't." MA said teasingly, "Everyone knows you like each other, so it's about time you two face the facts."  Kaz snickered at what they did and Russia was recording.

Mandara was so embarrassed and ashamed, he didn't know how Poland felt about him so for all he knew he was forced to kiss a man that doesn't even love him, but that thought dissipated when he felt Poland leaning into the kiss.  Mandara was surprised, but he also found himself kissing back, for real this time.  When MA and Kaz noticed this, they let go of the two and rejoined Rus, yet even though Mandara and Poland were free, they didn't part just yet, taking time to enjoy each other's embrace.  By the time they did part, they were by themselves as the others didn't want to stick around.

"Wow Mandy." Poland breathed, "I didn't know you were such a great kisser."

Mandara chuckled, "Yeah, I can say the same for you."

The two laughed a bit before falling into silence, neither having let go of the other.  Mandara then piped up, blushing even brighter than before, "You ... want to do it again?"

Poland looked up at him and giggled, then pulled him into another kiss, and it wasn't a forced kiss this time, now they were kissing because they love each other, and they were going to make sure the other knew it.

(I have no flipping idea how this chapter ended like this, but I think it is a fitting way to transition into the next chapter, the LAST chapter.)