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You could travel the world,
But nothin' comes close,
To the golden coast!
Once you party with u-us,
you'll be fallin' in love!


Landon blinked as Andrew turned down his dance offer and followed the other state with his eyes to Leilani’s booth. He couldn’t help but watch as the island state spun and twirled below her flying flames and weaponry, drawing an astounded whistle at the same time. No matter how many times he had visited her in the past for her luaus, it always impressed him to see Hawaii gracefully escape death or serious harm.

But then Tennessee ran off, punched a nation in the face, and started tangling himself in a long and loud conflict with Leilani, Charlotte, and that prissy red gentleman. He had little idea how any of this had escalated so quickly, but it sounded like Hawaii was finally asserting herself as a much older state. That much he understood when he caught her saying ‘little brother’ to a bro she had normally submitted to. While Andrew turned this way and that to hear all of the shouts currently being directed his way, Leilani, Rutilio, and Christian all simultaneously performed a disappearing act worthy of Houdini himself. Andrew’s distraction meant that Landon was technically free to wander about and prove that there was absolutely nothing wrong with his brain after getting konked in the head with glass. The Californian never remembered seeing Hawaii leave, and her booth wasn’t fully cleaned up yet, either, so he figured that she was hiding behind it. Hoping that she would at least be calm enough after that outburst to not lash out at him if he approached, Landon turned and meandered slowly over to Leilani’s volcano, accelerating slightly as he realized he wasn’t going to fall over. He grinned at his little success. What concussion?

But his grin quickly faltered as he wandered around the Kilauea display and found the island state huddled against it, sniffling quietly. He had been the most ecstatic of all the states to see Leilani join the Union because he saw her as his partner in paradise. Indeed, he had been the one to pressure President McKinley into negotiating with her monarchy for her admittance. It just didn’t seem right to see his favorite sister so sad and alone.

He quietly sat down a little distance away from her, scooting steadily closer when she didn’t react, until the two were almost shoulder-to-shoulder. He decided to take a risk and hug Leilani by draping an arm over her shoulders.

“I think it was very brave of you to perform a dance like that,” he murmured softly and honestly. “It was pretty awesome seeing you spin those flames and knives so deftly.”

Oi Oi Vati give me a beer
Oi Oi Mutti, Oi Oi Mutti
I can't forget the flavor
of that wurst I had before

Ludwig

"One night, I couldn't sleep well and opened my eyes...
to find some strange guy staring at me."
"The hell are you doing, Italy!"

﹙ There’s no place I’d rather be ﹚
x﹙ Then on my surfboard out at sea ﹚
xx﹙ Lingering in the ocean blue ﹚
xxx﹙And If I had one wish come true ﹚

You could travel the world,
But nothin' comes close,
To the golden coast!
Once you party with u-us,
you'll be fallin' in love!


It did not escape Landon's notice that Leilani had been crying hard, even though she averted her gaze to keep him from seeing. He let her cry herself out for as long as she needed, and when the islander snuggled up against him with her head on the hollow between his neck and sternum and her arms around his waist, Landon decided it was safe to hug her back. While he moved to wrap his left arm around Leilani, his right hand began to massage itself up and down her back, tracing a path that he had seen relax civilians and hoped would relax her.

The West Coast state rested his chin lightly on her head and smiled into her hair. “I know,” he murmured. “I was very happy to see you show off your roots. Screw those stuffy old states and nations! No non-Pacific can ever know or fully appreciate Polynesia. It’s a shame that everyone just tries to suppress it. I swear, they wouldn’t know true art and beauty from a charcoal stain on the wall,” he added jokingly, hoping to inspire a laugh from her if at the expense of the other more conservative nations.

Before he could find out if his joke had worked, Leilani pulled away from him and confided to him that she was planning on moving up. He leaned back as he listened silently to her words. The unexpectedness of her announcement stole the words from him, leaving Landon at a loss for words. Did she really dislike her name as the baby state so much? Part of California’s pause was spent wondering how to comfort Hawaii without using the affectionate but potentially demeaning nicknames he had addressed her with in the past. Too, he had forgotten that Polynesia was far older than any Spanish colony. Oddly enough, the answer came to him much more easily when he didn’t worry about it so much. “That’s awesome, Leilani!” Landon exclaimed, hauling the islander back the short distance to him and hugging her a little tighter,. “You do deserve it! Now you’ll be able to join me and Rutilio in the sophomore class! We can all be the Tropical Trio or something! That’ll be gnarly for sure!” It would be so much more fun having Hawaii in his classes!

He would be enjoying the moment more if the sudden motion of squeezing her and tucking his chin over her shoulder had not suddenly set off the tilt-a-whirl in his head. He quickly pulled his head back, not helping the sudden headache by jarring his chin on her clavicle, and lifted his left hand to his temple. Everything was beginning to spin again, and something was ringing in his ears.

The State of Tennessee
☀Andrew S. Hickory☀

Andrew waited for England to tell him he was wrong and that America would never do something like that. He wanted to hear that it was a misunderstanding and Hawaii had her facts mixed up. He waited and and waited but there was never a denial or any reassurance that America was the sort of person who would never abduct someone into the Union for no reason. Sure during the Civil War he had seen a different side to the nation that he had never wanted to see again, but that had been under special circumstances! America had just been messed up at the time and that's why it got so bad!

If England didn't deny America would do such bad things to Hawaii, who had never rebelled nor hurt anyone for no reason, what did that say about his nation? Had South Carolina been right about him those 150 years ago after all? That wasn't supposed to be true...

Tennessee took a small step back from Arthur and Ludwig as the silence lingered and the elephant in the room became more and more monstrous. Why weren't they denying it...? Why wasn't England saying anything at all!? Andrew suddenly felt dizzy and sick to his stomach as he slowly started to realize there was only one reason why he wouldn't say anything...

It was true. All of it.

Oh, God Almighty. His stomach. Tennessee wasn't sure if it was because of this sudden and heavy realization or something he ate, but an unpredictable tidal wave of nausea overwhelmed him without any warning and he crumpled to the ground.

Grade 9
The Volunteer

The State of Tennessee
☀Andrew S. Hickory☀

Andrew couldn't remember a time in his life when his stomach had ever hurt this bad. And he'd been stabbed and shot there before! The Tennessean grit his teeth against the pain and tried to suppress a shudder of agony as his gut churned miserably but he couldn't imagine what could have caused this. The only foreign food he had eaten the whole day was one of England's scones...

He blushed and looked away stubbornly as Germany knelt beside him. He tried to grit his teeth and force himself to stand even though the pain was so bad it was starting to make his legs feel like they were cramping up as well.

"I-I'm fine," he lied even though he looked like he might puke his guts out at any second and was barely able to make it back to his feet.

Grade 9
The Volunteer