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Chapter Text

Alfred F. Jones did listen. Sometimes. When he thought the advice worth listening to.

“To love is to lose control.”

The personification of America could remember France telling him that when he’d been caught crying during his revolution. The older nation told him that just because he was trying for his independence didn’t mean he had to hide his love for his brother. That love meant losing control over whether they got hurt or not. It meant not having a choice but to care when they saw the other sad, no choice but to feel.

Of course, there was also the whole perverted aspect of that explanation, but he preferred not to think about that.

“Being on top of the world means being alone.”

England had told him that after the war was over in Europe. The UN charter had just passed in San Francisco, and unlike the previous world war he intended to join the group. He knew what that meant. He’d always known, in some way, that he was going to become a very powerful country. Why else would he have superhuman strength if not to bring the world together the way no one else had?

He was the world’s superpower in a way no one else had ever been.

He was alone in a way no one else had ever been.

He was fine with that. Really. He couldn’t afford to give up control, so he couldn’t fall in love. He didn’t want to give up his spot as the world’s superpower, so he dealt with their resentment, their hatred. They all needed each other, he could deal with not being wanted.

When one is single and has every intention of staying single, it puts things into perspective.

Mainly, that others were in love, and they had nothing stopping them from being together.

Contrary to popular opinion, he could read the atmosphere. He just didn’t let it change how he was going to act. He sat back at meetings sometimes, watching how others interacted. He could see why France made all the insinuations he did, but France always went about it the wrong way. Pointing out the obvious was not going to get things done, it only embarrassed them.

America was home to Hollywood. He had watched too many movies, and romcoms were his guilty pleasure. As the years went by, and nations still didn’t take advantage of the changed times, he thought he might have to do something.

Seriously, how could only Finland and Sweden have their shit together?

The fun part was that no one would suspect him. They didn’t think he picked up on romance, and they certainly had never seen him flirting with anyone. Which meant he could get away with doing things no one else could and if he was caught…

Well, that wasn’t going to happen. No one would see this coming from him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

America was flirting with Denmark.

Norway wasn’t sure how he felt about that. The superpower had never shown an interest in anyone before. Everyone thought he was such a child at heart that he’d never be romantically interested in people. Not that there was a lack of interest towards him, just a lack of response. He had never asked Matthias if he was one of those interested. He’d always felt the two of them were just friends.

But the way America was dancing…

That was not in the realm of friends. He didn’t think his little brother could turn that red.

“Who knew America was such a good dancer?”Finland asked, watching in amazement.

Sweden resolutely stared at his drink,”Hm.”

“I mean wow.”The Christmas lover gaped,”I wish I was that flexible. I’m almost jealous.”

Norway was not jealous. Denmark could dance with whoever he wanted, however he wanted. He did not wish it was his hands wrapped around the slightly taller man’s neck. He did not want it to be his hips the idiot was holding onto. He did not want to be the reason for that stupid, pleased smile on his face. He was not angry; he was not jealous. At least, he wasn’t before he made eye contact with America.

The bastard deliberately ground back. He was certain of it.

The magic user downed his drink and started rolling up his sleeves. Emil’s eyes widened,”Norge, what are you doing?”

“I’m not losing him to America.”Anyone else, maybe, if he thought they could make the man happy. But in that moment, he knew that the superpower was just playing. He would not let his Matthias be hurt by that greedy capitalist. He could tell he sounded possessive, but he was past caring.

No one had ever tried to take Denmark before. It was an unspoken thing that the Dane was his. They had to have been separated by force. The acceptance of their type of relationship was new, but he knew it was an eventuality that they ended up together. No one had ever threatened that, but of course America would be enough of an idiot to do it. He lived to be frustrating.

“Back off.”He growled when he was close enough for the younger nation to hear.

“Hm?”He stepped closer to him, and he refused to be intimidated,”Why should I?”

“Denmark is mine.”He glared, prepared to curse him if necessary, international politics be damned.

“Really?”A glimmer of a challenge,”Cause we’ve talked about this, and he’s pretty sure you’re not interested.”

Why was Matthias such an idiot?

“Not interested.”He turned to the watching nation and grabbed his tie. Matthias stared at him in shock as he pulled him closer into a kiss. Why did he have to love such a kind dumbass? He always had to be told everything, when some things didn’t need explanation. Those arms, strong from centuries of wielding weapons, pulled him closer, and this, this was what he’d been waiting for.

“Dance with me.”He ordered when they broke apart.

Denmark nodded, then smiled apologetically at America,”Sorry-“

“I get it.”He held up a hand, shaking his head,”He’s the one you’ve always wanted.”

“It would have been fun.”The other former Viking kept a hand around his waist, squeezing to ensure him that it would not have been fun.

“But not permanent.”The superpower huffed,”Whatever, I’ll see you around.”

Norway glared at his back until he was at the table with the other Nordics. Then Denmark turned him to face him,”I’m yours, huh?”

“Don’t be an idiot.”He smiled slightly.

He couldn’t dance like the younger nation, but he was a better partner for the Dane.

His Dane.

They’d have to have a conversation about this later, but for now, he was going to enjoy this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Belgium twirled in the beautiful dress. Americans were so weird, but in a funny way. Not that she was complaining if it meant she could have outfits like this. The superpower had said it was a gag gift from some of the celebrities he was friends with. He explained that it was because so many of his patriotic songs used feminine pronouns when describing him and he was giving the dresses to them because he didn’t have another use for them.

Hungary laughed as America did her hair,”Where did you learn to braid hair?”

“I’m an eagle scout.”The superpower chirped, completely focused on his task.

“Aw.”Ukraine grinned.

The coastal nation was always surprised at how sweet America could be when he wasn’t trying to win something. She leaned forward,”Are you sure we don’t owe you anything?”

“Oh yeah, you definitely don’t.”The teenager grinned,”Last time I donated them to a bunch of charities, and the time before that…”He trailed off.

“What happened?”Hungary instantly picked up on his embarrassment.

“France found them before I could figure out what to do with them.”He shrugged,”I mean, I have nothing against wearing dresses, but when Prussia and Spain showed up…”

“Oh, those three.”Belgium never understood why Spain was such good friends with them. He was nice. Not that France and Prussia couldn’t be nice, but they tended towards insane stunts and general mischief.

“Do you have pictures?”The brunette asked.

“Of course!”America beamed, passing her his phone after unlocking it. Belgium leaned over her shoulder, whistling in appreciation. Even if they were kinda jerks, they were attractive jerks. She could see that the superpower had also done their hair, and it was beautiful. Especially what he managed with Spain, who was blushing from the alcohol that had to be involved to get him in that red dress.

“We should have invited them.”Ukraine leaned on his other side.

“I did.”He rolled his eyes,”But Spain got all weird when I said Belgium would be here.”

She blushed, and was glad Hungary was having her hair done so she couldn’t look at her. She’d always had a soft spot for Antonio. She’d seen him at his best and at his worst and admired the way he would smile through it all. He ran halfway across Europe to save Romano from the Ottoman Empire. He married Austria for the wellbeing of his people, and she’d heard first hand from Hungary what a task that was.

He was sweet, but almost as oblivious as America when it came to romance.

“Did he now?”Ukraine smirked.

“Yeah. I shouldn’t have been surprised.”The blond man turned to look at her,”He’s always been like that about you.”

She blushed deeper. If it was obvious enough that America noticed…

“Trust me, America,”Hungary grinned,”Belgium’s the same about Spain.”

“Then why don’t you ask him out?”The superpower wondered,”He’s not gonna say no.”

“I couldn’t.”She bit her lip.

“Why not?”The teenager frowned,”I’m pretty sure he hasn’t asked you cause he doesn’t think the Netherlands likes him, but if you ask him then he has to respect your choice.”Really? Was her brother being scary again without her knowing? She stared at the former British colony, who tilted his head,”And if you ask him in that green dress, I’m sure he’ll say yes. You look beautiful in it.”

She beamed,”Maybe I will.”

“Do it.”America beamed back,”He looks at you the same way Austria looks at Hungary.”

She was glad she wasn’t the only one embarrassed by his bluntness. Ukraine giggled,”Any revelations for me, America?”

To her surprise, the blond young man contemplated the question,”I mean, my bro’s crushing on you pretty bad, but you’re way out of his league.”

“You have a brother?”Hungary tilted her head back to look at him.

“Canada.”Ukraine explained.

“Oh!”Belgium suddenly remembered,”He’s such a sweet man.”Even if it was weird to see him in her brother’s garden,”I think you two would be cute together.”He was almost as shy as her friend. Possibly the only nation that had gotten powerful without becoming a dick, now that she thought about it. Though he could use a bit of his twin’s confidence.

Still, he'd initially been raised by France, so who knew what he was like behind closed doors?

“He’s a huge dork.”America shook his head,”It’s hard to believe he was raised by France and England sometimes.”

“I think he’s sweet.”The eastern European defended, then blushed.

“Didn’t say he wasn’t.”The superpower smiled,”I’ve always been jealous of him for that, people always like him so much better.”

Only when they remembered him.

“But he’d never make the first move.”He nudged Ukraine,”So it’s up to you.”

Her blushed deepened, and Belgium wrapped an arm around her shoulders,”How about we make a deal? I’ll ask out Toni, and you ask Canada. We can even make it a double date if that’ll make it easier.”

“Make that a triple date.”Hungary finally had her hair finished,”I wouldn’t mind being in a relationship with Roddy again. It was fun the first time.”

“Sounds like a good time.”America laughed.

“Do you have anyone?”Belgium inquired.

“Me? Date someone?”He guffawed,”Nah. France’s pretty much scared me off romance.”

That was…probably true.

“Let’s hope Canada doesn’t share that.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Where’s Matthieu?”France leaned onto America’s desk, purposely putting his hands on his papers.

The superpower paused in his work to look up,“Oh, Ukraine asked him out so they’re getting lunch.”He said, like it was no big deal. Where had he gone wrong with this one? His brother picked up on romance with ease, but America? He either did not care at all or he was truly oblivious. The teen tried to grab his papers out from beneath his hands.

“Details, my boy.”He slapped it,”Your brother did not tell me he had a date, much less with the most beautiful Ukraine.”

“Ugh.”Alfred groaned,”I heard Ukraine, Belgium, and Hungary made a deal. Part of it was that Ukraine would ask Mattie out.”

“Thank you.”He had been dealing with Spain’s excitement, though he recalled Prussia mentioning another raid of his house by Austria who had wanted a specific shirt for an upcoming date with Hungary. He had been focused on his two friends, he hadn't noticed his little brother. Though the boy had not mentioned his date at all. He certainly did not know it was an agreement between the female nations.

“No sweat, my dude.”America grinned, and he finally released his paperwork.

“Denmark and Norway also got together.”He hummed.

“Did they?”The superpower wrote in a correction,”Good for them.”

“Ah, you are such poor gossip, mon amis.”He fell into the chair next to him,”How you can be with your interfering ways is beyond me.”

“Thanks, Francis.”Blue eyes rolled,”And is it really that surprising? You’ve been wanting them to get together for decades.”

“And I am happy for them. Love is a beautiful thing.”He sighed as his gaze turned to a certain island nation.

“Have you ever been in love?”The superpower asked.

He looked back at America, who was watching him curiously. He pondered his answer. He had been in love with England…it felt like forever. Whenever they fought he couldn’t help but admire his strength, and then smile at their banter. Whenever they were at peace, sitting with him as his did needlework was the closest he felt to being human, to normalcy. Even if he had to act annoyed so the Brit wouldn’t push him away.

“Oui.”He said softly.

“A human or one of us?”Someone should have taught this boy tact.

“One of us.”He could never lie to the earnest young man,”Do not worry yourself over it.”

“Come on, man.”He set his pen down,”If anyone deserves love, it’s you.”

He smiled,”Merci, Alfred, but I do not think my love is returned.”

“You know that for sure?”The glasses wearing nation raised his eyebrows,”Cause I already had to listen to Mattie doubt himself over nothing and I want ice cream if I have to do it again.”

Francis chuckled,”No, I do not know for sure.”

“Then why don’t you just ask?”He leaned back in his seat,”I mean, I know I’ve called you a coward a lot, but I did mean it when I said you deserve love.”He smiled that genuine smile, the one that made it impossible for him to flirt with him,”You’re the one always going off about how love is worth any pain. Take your own advice.”

“When did you get wise?”He looked away.

“When Mattie literally woke me up last night to freak out about his date.”Ah, no wonder he had been so quiet. Now that he was looking, the man did seem tired,”If you need a pep talk I’ve been told I’m good at them, if not, then go do it.”

He did not need to know what America’s idea of a love pep talk was. He got up, dodging a pat on the back, and walked over to where England was talking with Germany. He sidled up to his side,”Do you mind if I borrow rosbif for a moment?”

“No.”The man checked his watch,”I am late to lunch as is.”

“What do you want, frog?”England huffed once the other nation was out of hearing range,”This better be good.”

“My cooking is always the best.”He smirked,”If you would allow me to cook for you tomorrow night.”

Eyes narrowed,”Are you asking permission to come to my house? That’s different.”

“I’m hoping that this will be different.”He stepped closer to kiss him on the cheek,”A date if you would, mon amour.”

He had pondered many times what Arthur’s reaction to his genuine advances would be. The Brit turned red with embarrassment, as expected, but his eyes widened with surprise instead of narrowing further in anger. He took a step back, but that was also out of surprise, not disgust. He could read his potential lover well, and he relaxed when he didn’t see any negative signs. The silence though, was unnerving.

“Just say yes!”America shouted from across the room.

“Mind your own damn business, yank!”England yelled back.

He’d never thought he’d think this, but thank you, Alfred. He laughed, and took the other’s hand in his own,”Is it a yes, amour?”

“Yes, you bloody cheesehead.”He squeezed.

Definitely not a negative reaction.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Is America drunk?”Poland asked. He would have laughed if he wasn’t slightly concerned. He’d never seen the superpower drunk. He’d always complained whenever France gave him wine, preferring the sweetness of his own carbonated beverages to the burn of alcohol. Yet there he sat in his friend’s hotel room, nursing a near empty bottle of Jack Daniels.

Lithuania bit his lip,”Yes?”

“And you, like, want me to watch him?”Babysitting the global superpower was not what he expected when Liet called him for a favor,”What if he gets violent?”

“He’s not a violent drunk.”The Baltic promised,”He’s actually easier to handle when drunk. Just please, don’t let him out of this room.”

Poland worried his bottom lip. It wasn’t like he had anything against America. He was a good friend to Lithuania, and he had helped Estonia when someone hacked his blog. He also wasn’t intimidated by Russia, and they needed more nations who weren’t scared of that jerk. Another point in his favor was he hadn’t been a part of his partition, nor did he threaten him with it.

“Fine.”Maybe it’d be fun. No one knew what America was like when drunk, this could be some good gossip,”But why is he drinking?”

“I don’t know.”Lithuania looked at him in concern,”That’s why I don’t want to leave him alone.”

He placed a hand on his best friend’s shoulder,”Don’t worry, Toris. I can totally handle this.”

“Thank you.”His smile was worth any future trouble that night,”If you have any issues, call Romano.”And then he was off, not explaining why he should call the angry Italian.

Poland closed the door and flopped on the bed, grabbing the remote. The noise of the commercial that came on startled America out of his stupor,”Whoa.”He looked up at him with totally unfocused eyes,”I thought I was in Toris’ room.”He slurred, then tried to get up, stumbled, and slid back down the side of the bed,”Sorry, Poland.”

“You are in Toris’ room.”He didn’t know he was on a human name basis with Liet, though the actual use of names by America was rare.

“Oh.”He tilted his head back to look at him with a grin,”Shoulda known.”

What was that supposed to mean? Did…did he think that he shared a room with Liet? Did he think they were sleeping together? He narrowed his eyes,”What makes you say that?”

“Say what?”America frowned back, taking another swig.

“Do you think that…like, Liet and I are together?”Wouldn’t that be nice? Lithuania was always there for him, always protective. The man had held a knife to Prussia’s neck to save him. He’d never held the partition against him, or his failure to stand up to Russia back when it was happening. Those had been the good days. Him and Liet against the world, when they were considered very powerful.

“You aren’t.”The superpower fell to one side to look up at him,”Toris wants to be though.”

“He does?”He’d thought…after his failure to protect him…his general weakness when he had always been strong. Liet had survived living with Russia and living with America. He was so incredible…he deserved better than him. Actually, he had never met anyone who deserved his best friend. Maybe if God sent one of his angels down that might be a worthy partner for Toris, but that was still maybe.

“Totally.”America tried to drink while laying down, and he quickly took the bottle away before he could choke. He whined, but didn’t fight him,”He loves you.”

Poland took a drink. The burn was welcome. Was America an honest drunk or was he gone? Romance was not one of his strengths, but he doubted alcohol would make him any better a liar. He’d actually never seen him lie. Like, ever. He sighed,”No, he doesn’t.”

“Duuuude.”The superpower grinned,”We spent a lot, a lot, of time together, and he spent a lot of that talking about you.”

“He just doesn’t like talking about himself.”He rolled his eyes. Typical Toris,”He’s unselfish like that.”

“But when he talks about you.”America closed his eyes he was smiling so wide,”It’s like…it’s like when he’s praying, ya know? He looks…he looks…”

“Complete.”Poland said, getting an enthusiastic nod.

“You complete him.”The blue eyed man reached into his pocket and pulled out a flask,”If that’s not love France’s been lying to me.”

He was too sober for this. He finished the whiskey before taking the flask as well. He did not know what that drink was, but it made his head spin and soon he found himself sliding onto the floor with the superpower. They didn’t talk so much as laugh at each other, and soon they both remembered he had turned the television on and they were laughing at that.

Time passed way too quickly.

The door opened,”Thank you, Romano.”

“Whatever. Where’s the dumbass?”The gruff voice of the Italian made him look up.

Why was Lithuania walking on the ceiling? He turned over to push himself up. Oh, that was better. He grinned, remembering what America had told him,”Heeey, Liet.”

“Oh, Feliks.”He murmured, kneeling. He latched onto him in a hug.

“Oi!”Romano kicked at America,”Get the fuck up.”

“Nooo.”The younger country complained as he was forced to his feet,”Why you gotta be so mean, Lovi?”

“Why do you have to be drunk, shithead?”Poland looked over his shoulder to see the Italian almost crumble underneath the others weight,”And heavy. Jeez, what have you been eating?”America just laughed as he was half dragged out of the room. Huh, he thought that would be harder.

Lithuania laid him out on the bed,”Where’s your keycard? I’ll just sleep in your room.”

He caught his hand and tugged him onto the bed with him,”Why don’t we just sleep together?”

Liet blushed,”Feliks! You can’t just ask that.”

“Why not?”He whined,”America says you love me.”

“He said what?”Aw, some of his hair had fallen in front of his face.

He couldn’t have that. It was almost blocking one of his beautiful eyes. He tried to brush it out of the way, but his hand just seemed to slide down the side of his face,”You love me.”He crooned,”He said I complete you and you loooove me.”A part of his brain knew he was making the other uncomfortable, but the larger part wanted to know,”You calling America a liar?”

“America doesn’t know how to lie.”Toris murmured.

“Then stay.”He let go, and the other didn’t move away,”You can, like, be my boyfriend.”

He passed out soon after that, but when he woke up, Liet was still there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Japan could see what America was doing. He knew how manipulative the other nation could be firsthand. The fact that he kept being convinced to come to every party the man hosted was evidence of the success of his tactics. He recognized the signs of when the younger nation was planning something, but he wasn’t going to say that to another until he knew more.

He did hear from Italy that Romano had to bring America back to his hotel room after he’d been drinking.

America didn’t drink often. The superpower tried his hardest to never be caught in a compromising position, which meant abstinence from many things. At least, that was the official reason. If he had to guess, he’d say the man stopped because he knew that alcohol made weight gaining easier, and he was always slightly concerned about that. Either or both could be right.

Romano had the patience to get him to the room, but not to deal with the hangover. So he woke up early to help his friend.

To his surprise, America was perfectly fine. He smiled at him as he went about picking his outfit,”Morning, Japan.”

“Ohayo, America-kun.”He averted his gaze from the bare chest,”My apologies, I was under the impression that you might need help with a hangover.”

“I don’t get hangovers.”He laughed,”I think it comes with the superstrength.”

“Oh.”He should leave. He no longer had an excuse to stay. He sighed, then sat down at the desk,”What are you planning?”Direct for him, but he was curious. It wasn’t often that America used his acting skills.

“What makes you say I’m planning anything?”He asked with false innocence. Or he thought it was false.

“You have been acting out of character.”He glanced over, seeing him having decided on a light blue shirt, which he was buttoning up.

“How so?”America grinned.

“Hong Kong showed me the video of you and Denmark.”He blushed at just the memory of that video. He wasn’t sure who else had seen it, but South Korea had been whispering about organizing a night out at a club for the sole purpose of seeing those dance moves in person.

Another laugh,”That would seem out of character for me.”He moved to the closet to grab his jacket,”Promise you won’t tell anyone?”

“Hai.”He promised.

“I’m trying my hand at matchmaking.”America admitted.

“Nani?”He was glad he was sitting down. He knew his friend wasn’t as oblivious to romance as he let on, but to interfere? He scrunched his eyebrows together,”Why?”

“Because no one seems to be getting with the times.”He threw the jacket on, checking how it looked in the mirror,”And you know, with the current administration, there hasn’t been much I’ve been able to do in the ways of making others happy.”He reached into his open suitcase to grab a tie,”Honestly, I thought it would be harder than this, but nope. I’m six for six.”

“Six?”He thought about who he knew who had gotten together. The triple date yesterday was obvious, but he didn’t know he had caused that. Denmark and Norway had announced their relationship soon after the video. France and England had a date planned for after the world meeting, though he was certain he’d seen them together last night. That was only five. Unless getting drunk had been part of the plan.

“Six.”He tossed his phone over, and there was a post by Poland,”Soon to be seven.”

“Who’s next?”He was almost afraid of the answer.

“You, actually.”He froze, the phone slipping out of his hand.

Did he plan this? No, he couldn’t have. Granted, he had never understood his strategy before, if he even had one. He tended to depend on luck and opportunity,”I do not need help, America-san.”

“Well, you’re not helping yourself so I’m getting involved.”His grin was downright devious. This was the man who had fought a half century Cold War against the incarnation of evil himself. The island nation shuddered, but didn’t make a move to leave. America took a seat on the bed facing him,”Do I need to spell it out to you or are you not that emotionally constipated?”

“I presume you are referring to my friendship with Greece-san.”He would not let his friend convince him to do anything. They were just friends.

“Right. Friendship.”Sarcasm.

He kept his expression neutral,”Hai. We are friends.”

“Don’t act like I haven’t seen your sketchbook.”

“You’ve seen my sketchbook?”

“You literally sit next to me at world meetings.”He chuckled,”And it’s not like I don’t break into your house on a regular basis where you have a lot more sketches just lying around.”

He blinked, then sighed,”I do not wish to be in a relationship.”

“You don’t want to insult Turkey by picking Greece.”America corrected,”But you should know that Turkey isn’t interested in you that way. He wouldn’t be hurt if you started something with Greece.”

Japan blinked again. That wasn’t the whole reason, though it was a part of it. He clenched a fist,”He is European. He will expect…more than I am comfortable with.”America had been called a prude by them enough to understand.

He still didn’t fully understand their social norms. He probably never would.

“He’s used to taking things slow.”The superpower countered, leaning closer,”He cares about you, Kiks. He honestly puts more effort into interacting with you than he does about literally anything else. Besides, with the talk me and China are gonna give him he better take it at your speed.”

He blushed,”Are you sure?”

“You’re one of my best friends.”America’s grin dropped to a more serious expression,”And I promised I wouldn’t hurt you again.”

The western nation had. Japan couldn’t think of another argument, and he’d rather his friend come to him instead of talking to Heracles. He bowed his head,”I will ask him.”

A chuckle,”Seven for seven.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Germany had no idea why there were so many couples. Normally, he wouldn’t be bothered, but they were messing up his seating chart. The sudden romance meant hostile, overprotective siblings, and he did not want a fight to break out between Russia and America if the Siberian nation tried anything on America’s twin. Nor did he want a fight between Spain and the Netherlands. Not to mention his own brother’s teasing of Austria.

He wasn’t sure if China had noticed Japan and Greece holding hands, but that would be another distraction in the near future. At least Turkey had only reacted with mild teasing. He sighed, why couldn’t all the new relationships be like Poland and Lithuania? No one was bothered by it, no one was distracted by it. Though the smug smile on Poland’s face was rather irritating.

“Don’t let it bother you, Doitsu.”Italy patted him on the shoulder,”Love is a wonderful thing.”

No, it wasn’t. None of these relationships had been serious a week ago. All the nations were content in not having anything official, but now that there were so many he felt pressured to do something about whatever existed between himself and Italy. He was not good with relationships, but he knew there was more reason for them to be in one than many others.

Italy slept in his bed, in various stages of undress.

They cooked for each other, and vacationed together.

Italy would kiss him on the cheek every morning, and in return he would make his coffee. He had spent years perfecting that skill so the Italian would consume it.

He put up with Romano’s threats. He tried to make the bitter man like him.

Many nations assumed they were together already.

He wanted them to be together.

His idea of paradise was spending the rest of his life with Feliciano.

The meeting passed quickly in his state of near panic. Italy had to miss their lunch because Romano didn’t want to third wheel Belgium and Spain. He frowned as he gathered his things. He had many opportunities to make their relationship an official relationship but had let them pass. He’d also found out a few decades before that his love had been (and might still be) in love with a nation long faded.

Feliciano was a lot older than him, and it always felt like he was learning something new about his friend.

He feared he would never catch up, would never fully understand.

That he would never have his heart.

“Yo, Germany.”An arm slung over his shoulders,”Heard Italy bailed on you for lunch. We should totally get something since everyone’s bailed on me too.”

“You too?”He thought about it, and yes. Almost all of those near the superpower had recently gotten together. His brothers, his best friends…he felt a pang of sympathy for the other man, and he nodded,”Might as well.”

Lunch with America wouldn’t kill him, and his inane rambling was a welcome distraction from his thoughts.

“Weird how everyone’s pairing up, huh?”Or maybe not.

“It is strange.”He agreed,”I do not see a reason.”

“Iggy joked that they’re scared I’m gonna instigate nuclear war.”The superpower laughed, skipping forward to open the door,”But that can’t be true otherwise everyone would have gotten together in the sixties.”The fact that it had happened twice was not something to joke about, but he said nothing,”I think it’s nice, though. The world could use a little love right now.”

“Are you planning anything?”Germany asked.

Another laugh,”I don’t have time for a relationship. Turns out being a superpower is a lot of work.”His shoulder bumped into his,”You get it, right? That’s why you haven’t asked Italy out yet?”

He found himself blushing,”Nein. That…that isn’t why.”

“Really? That’s what France’s always saying.”America shrugged.

“You talk about my love life?”He avoided the question.

The other nation scrunched his face up in disgust,”You act like I want to talk about your love life. It just comes up and I want to know who’s going to be single at the next world meeting so I can avoid having to see other’s love lives.”

He could respect that. He frowned,”Should I ask Italy?”Why would America have an answer? He must be losing his mind.

The nation snorted,”I know you’re emotionally constipated,”He narrowed his eyes and he rolled his,”Prussia sends me pics of the books you buy, dude. It’s a running joke.”He would have to speak with his brother later,”But really. If your first reaction to Italy possibly flirting with you isn’t to friendzone him, you’re interested.”

“That isn’t the issue.”He sighed,”I…am not Italy’s first love.”

“Nah, that would be Holy Rome.”America sat down across from him,”But Romano wouldn’t hate you like he does unless he thought you could break his heart like HRE did.”

“That’s a nice way to look at his hatred.”The European shook his head.

“Hey, Romano’s lived with me before. I do try to understand my housemates.”He spread his hands out,”But if you don’t want to ask Italy, that’s your decision. I don’t care.”He opened the menu with a thanks to the waiter.

Germany stared at him. Italy had mentioned that Romano had gone to America after the first world war. Romano had also surrendered to the enthusiastic man in the second world war and been in his custody for a time. Not to mention the Mafia Incident…America wasn’t anymore airheaded than Spain and the irate personification put up with the latter on a weekly basis, why wouldn’t he put up with the former?

“If I were to ask Italy out…”He laced his fingers together,”Would you mind making sure Romano didn’t interfere?”

“No problem, dude.”He gave him a thumbs up,”I need to pay him back for getting me back to my room last night anyways. Just text me the details.”

Lunch after that was nice and that night he decided to lay his cards on the table.

He didn’t want to know what the superpower did that it took Romano a week to hunt him down, and he was too happy by then to care.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

America smiled to himself as he grabbed a plate of food. Austria had decided to host a Valentine’s Day Ball, and he was enjoying the fruits of his labor. There were a multitude of couples on the dance floor, making it one of the least awkward versions of this type of social events in recent memory. He hummed along to the song, enjoying the pastries provided by the nations that could bake.

It made him happy to see so many happy faces.

Even if they spent a lot less time with him now that they were in a relationship.

He also hadn’t been thanked, but the point was that he didn’t need thanks. He kept smiling.

No, this was good enough.

At least, he thought it was.

Chapter Text

Everything was burning.

America stared at the ceiling, trying to muster the willpower to get out of bed. He wished there was a Confederate States of America just so this pain would be gone. But he knew it was a good sign there wasn’t another personification. It meant there was hope that the confederacy would be brought back, or, at least, that they wouldn’t last as an independent nation.

He didn’t care, he just wanted this to be over. He was no stranger to war, but this war was worse than any he had been in before. These were his citizens killing each other. There was so much blood being spilled on his lands he was surprised his skin wasn’t dyed red. His only comfort was that his boss wasn’t going to send him to many battlefields.

He didn’t think he could handle seeing it outside of his nightmares.

There was a knock on his door,”Sir?”One of the servants opened the door,”You have a visitor.”

Did he? Even before the civil war started he didn’t have many visitors. His brother was still mad at him over the War of 1812, and if Mexico visited it was never for anything good. France was trying to do something with his southern neighbor and England had only sent a letter mocking him. He forced his legs to move, even if he couldn’t feel them that well,”Who is it?”

“Me.”A voice he vaguely recognized, and he tried to rise when he saw Russia walking in,”Please, stay seated. No need to push yourself on my behalf.”

The young man stood anyways,”Russia,”He’d been told a fleet of Russian ships were staying for the winter, but he had no idea the personification himself was coming with them,”I’m sorry. I would have come to greet your men if I knew you would be in attendance.”He walked forward to offer his hand.

The Siberian nation grasped it, and he shivered at how cold the other man was,”It was spur of moment decision.”His smile fell, and his other hand came up to touch his forehead,”You are feverish, America. Please, sit down.”

He let himself be led back to his bed,”How are you?”It had only been a few years since Russia's last war. He didn’t know there was anything that could make England and France ally until the Crimean War. That was, in part, why the current fleet was in his harbor.

“Better than you, my friend.”He chuckled,”I wish I could do more.”

If he wasn’t already flushed, he would have blushed,”I didn’t know you cared.”

“I care.”The smile widened,”No one else can anger Britain like you.”

That made him laugh,”That’s the nicest thing I’ve heard since the secession.”

Russia tilted his head,”I am sorry. Slavery was an issue that plagued my own people until very recently.”

“Yeah, I heard about it.”The emancipation of the serfs,”But slavery isn’t what this is all about.”

“Perhaps it should be.”Violet eyes watched him in amusement,”You are the land of the free, da?”

He’d thought Russia would only stay a few days, but days turned to weeks, and weeks into months. They’d pour over war reports together or just read whatever novel had caught the European nation’s attention. It was the most company he’d had in decades, and the other nation struck a chord with him. They’d both started off small under the rule of an empire, and now they had spread to the edges of their continents.

They were feared for their strength. They were also dismissed for their childishness.

When spring came and the fleet was leaving, he pulled the bigger man into a hug,”See ya around, Russia.”

There was a small pause, before he returned the hug,”I will try to visit, America.”

“Alfred.”He corrected.

“Then call me Ivan.”

He couldn’t stop smiling that night. He’d never been close enough to another nation (that wasn’t family) to use their human name!

His president ended up copying the Emancipation of the Serfs with his own Emancipation Proclamation. Not that it had any effect in the states that no longer answered to their government, but it was symbolic. That year saw the war shift in his favor, with the Anaconda Plan gaining momentum. The pain was still there, but his hopes heightened that they would be one united nation again.

Russian vessels stayed in American waters again in late 1963. Ivan accompanied him to the Gettysburg Address, holding his hand through the commemoration of the bloodiest battle he’d ever been in. He’d fallen asleep in those cold arms, and it was one of the few times he didn’t wake up from a burning nightmare. He liked that they balanced each other out.

When the time came for the bigger man to depart, Russia was blushing,”May I call you Fredka?”

“Fredka?”He tilted his head, not disliking the sound of it,”Is that a Russian nickname?”

“Da.”He fiddled with the edge of his scarf.

“As long as I get to call you one too.”He grinned as the blush spread.

“My sisters call me Vanya.”

“Vanya.”He repeated, definitely liking this one better. Every time he said Ivan he was reminded of Ivan the Terrible, and Vanya was far from terrible. He was the best friend he had throughout the war, one of the few things keeping him sane. Not even his family had checked in on him. He doubted they’d care, even if he fell.

He shook himself internally. He didn’t need them. He was fine on his own, who cared if they cared?

Vanya cared, and that mattered more.

Was this what it was like to like someone? Was this love?

The kiss was one of the greatest moments of his personal life, even if it was a complete accident. Russia was concerned that Britain would try to take Alaska from him. He didn’t think he was strong enough to protect it, so he was trusting him with the territory. He was honored and it was nice to have someone appreciate his strength. They’d gone together to check out the territory and he’d tripped in the snow.

Luckily, he tripped into Vanya, who was strong enough to catch him.

The kiss felt right. It felt like he wasn’t alone.

And he took the territory he was given for cheap, and treasured it. Gold and oil were discovered there soon after. He wasn’t sure if this was Vanya’s idea of a gift or if the man had truly not known the potential in the land, but it made him happy. Besides, he’d always been better at seeing the potential in things. He was the optimistic one out of the two of them.

He certainly saw potential for them to be something more.

And when Vanya thanked him for his help in ending the Russo-Japanese War, he felt his last reservation slip. He wasn’t going to hold himself back from this. Love wasn’t something he could control, and he trusted his heart in the cool hands of the Siberian nation. He couldn't honestly say he was fine alone.

He was starting to understand why France was so obsessed with love.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everything was cold.

The Romanovs…they were slaughtered. His long line of tsars…overthrown. The rulers that had always felt like his own children, his own family, who only wanted to do what was best for him…they were gone. They were lost to the fury of the people, people who were furious about a war he did not start, a terrible war that had put him on the same side as the likes of England and France. A war he was not even going to finish.

Fredka was joining to make up for his retreat. The strong man would tip the balance in their favor, and he had no doubts that America would have the war over in a year or two. He’d heard a person could do incredible things for those they love, but his hero was too late. The revolution had already happened and no power could bring back the dead.

Alexei…he’d only been thirteen. Anastasia…no one had been able to locate her remains but he knew in his heart she was gone at the tender age of seventeen. Too young.

Now, there was talk of implementing communism. A people’s government for the people where they all would be treated as equals. He had read the manifesto, Fredka had told him some people thought he would be the nation to try to use it when he first broke away, but ultimately no. Even the optimistic American thought it too idealistic, and he inwardly agreed. It was not going to work.

He grasped at the edges of his fraying sanity. Losing his royal family had broken something in him. The night they had been assassinated…it was the first time his heart had come out of its cavity. He’d been able to put it back in on his own, but it was getting more and more difficult to feel. He had lashed out at one of the Baltics the day before and he couldn’t find it within himself to be guilty.

He didn’t want to feel.

He embraced the cold, the numbness, where he couldn’t feel pain.

There was a knock on his door, and he sighed,”Come in.”

It was Fredka. He wasn’t smiling,”Hey, Vanya.”His heart skipped when he used the familiar name. It always did,”Saw what you did to Lithuania yesterday. Are you okay?”

Was he okay? No, and he did not see being okay in his future,”It was accident.”Except he wanted it. He wanted the others to feel the same pain he was in, and the losing part of his mind was the part that was terrified. He needed to push them away before he did something unforgivable. He looked up and into those too blue eyes, so full of love he didn’t deserve.

“I believe you.”The bright young man smiled,”I understand.”

He did. Personifications were stronger than the average human, but even for their kind, the two of them were unnaturally strong. Both of them had their fair share of accidental property damage, but they both tried to be careful when dealing with people. He looked away, because America would rationalize this. He would forgive him.

He didn't want to be forgiven.

He didn't know if he could forgive himself.

A warm hand slipped under his chin, turning him back to the former British colony. His thumb brushed under his eye, tracing the shadow there,”When was the last time you slept?”

He couldn’t sleep. He hit the hand away,”I am fine, America.”

“It’s America now?”A glimmer of hurt, but more confusion, in his eyes.

“The world is changing.”This war had proved that it was,”Our roles are changing.”

“And that means we can’t be…?”Whatever they were.

Some part of him, the part Fredka had teased him of being cynical, had always known it wouldn’t last. America was like fire, passionate and ever changing. He drew others to him like moths. He was the opposite, icy like the winter that protected him and repelled. Fredka thought it meant they balanced each other, but he knew they were destined to oppose each other.

His people wanted communism. America was the epitome of capitalism.

It was best to end this.

He had to end this. His warmth was infectious, and he did not want it to melt his heart. That was dangerous. He couldn’t keep caring for the younger nation. He straightened himself to his full height. This was going to hurt, but he’d already learned he could survive having his heart ripped out. He wasn’t sure he could survive the pain caring any further would cause.

“Not if you intend to keep siding with Britain.”He said.

“You did too.”The hurt was overwhelming the confusion.

“We had a common enemy.”Ivan took in a steady breath,”I liked you when you were a deterrent to Britain’s imperialism, but now…”

“I thought I was more than that to you.”Alfred was like himself, and he was grateful he was not expressing the pain he was in.

“Whatever gave you that impression?”He smiled, using the excuse to close his eyes.

The door slamming made him open them, and he immediately sank into his chair. America was blind, sometimes, to his own potential. He did not see that he was going to come out of this war more powerful than any of his allies, that his economy had overtaken theirs decades ago. The two of them were set to become the new world powers, replacing the empires that had been on top for far too long. They were set to become the new England and France.

Except their weapons would cause much more death. The wars between them would leave larger wounds.

He made the best decision.

They would take their pain and turn it into strength.

Maybe, one day, when the next world powers replaced them, they would change back, but it wasn’t in his nature to hope.

Nor was it in Fredka's to wait.

He finally left his room to get a bottle of vodka. He had a government to replace, a nation to rebuild, a love to put in the past.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

America ran down the alley, hoping to lose the officers following him. Lithuania would be disappointed he had gone to the speakeasy, but he had already taken away his work and he didn’t want to think. He’d won the war. He’d tried to argue with the bullshit treaty that came out of it, but he knew when England and France were out for blood, and they’d never cared for his opinion.

He didn’t want to think about Europe, especially Russia.

His…He was gone. In his place was the Soviet Union.

He stared up at the wall, wondering how he was going to get out of this. He’d be in so much trouble with his boss if he got arrested again. They wanted him to show his support for prohibition, but he thought the amendment was stupid. Show up to too many meetings with Congress drunk and suddenly the national ban of alcohol is getting the necessary support to pass an amendment.

He'd like to see any of his politicians go through what he did without the help of alcohol.

“Dumbass.”A hand grabbed his arm and dragged him into one of the shops. He shouted something in Italian at the owner, who just let them go through. He blinked, recognizing his savior as South Italy.

The Italian had come to his house looking for work. Since he hadn’t actually gotten work, he was beginning to think he was just there to avoid his government. Which was fine with him. He didn’t like Mussolini either. And his country was doing pretty damn well all things considered. He could more than afford to have him free loading, and he made good coffee as well as good food.

“Are you trying to get caught?”The Italian panted, shoving him into a wall.

“How’d you find me?”He asked back.

A snort,”Please, I’ve known you’ve been going to that damned club for weeks now.”He crossed his arms,”The mafia still respects me, even if they’re yours now.”

That was impressive,”You can use the mafia to find people? Can you teach me?”

A fiercer scowl,”No. Don’t act like the mafia is useful. I hate that it exists.”

“But since it does, might as well help me with them.”He tried for a smile. This might actually be entertaining, and if the Italian and Lithuanian were teaming up to deprive him of other means of entertainment, it was only fair,”Come on, Italy, it’s not like you’re doing anything anyways.”

“Fuck you.”The shorter man snapped,”And I’ll teach you if you stop drinking like you’re fucking supposed to.”

“Deal.”He stuck his hand out, only for it to be swatted away.

“You had that spineless bastard worried.”South Italy growled as he marched back to his car,”His anxiety gives me anxiety so stop upsetting him.”He slammed the door open and then shut on the driver’s side, quickly taking a seat,”And you need to get your shit together. Do you know how many people are depending on you?”

He winced at the reminder,”I know how to do my job.”

“Do you? Cause all I see is a walking disaster.”He drove angrily, shouting over the sound of the engine,”Lithuania told me what the psycho bastard did, but fuck him! I thought you were proud of your independence! You don’t need him!”

He didn’t need anyone before Russia. But Russia had a good reason to drop him. They were both changing, and he was no longer fit to be his ally. His own people’s fear of communism was leading them to pass the Johnson-Reed Act, which would exclude a lot of immigrants. It would probably piss off Japan too, but he wasn’t one of the nations that thought the Great War was the war to end all wars.

Fascism had already gained control in Italy and it was becoming more popular in other nations as well. They were heading into the abyss, and he wasn’t sure what he could do to prevent it.

Still, none of it was his fault alone. He could only do so much about the inflation in Germany, the inflation caused by the treaty that put all the blame on the man, even though it wasn’t him that started the war. He’d told England and France that if they let their need for revenge taint the treaty, it would only lead to Germany coming after them in revenge. But they didn’t listen to him or Wilson.

Sure, he could have joined the League of Nations, but he wanted nothing more than to go home after the war and just be left alone.

Where no one else could hurt him. Where his troubles were an ocean away.

“That isn’t what this is about!”He shouted back.

“Don’t bullshit me, America!”He glared, a glare he really couldn’t afford to be sending him since his eyes should be on the road,”You’re a shit liar!”

He was good enough that no one in his family asked him what was wrong. Good enough that none of them even suspected he was close to Russia before…

At least that was one lesson he’d learned. Almost everyone in his life wanted him for something, and once he could no longer provide it, or they didn’t need it, they would toss him aside. He’d barely spoken with England before the war, and once it started he finally began to act like they were brothers again. Then when it was over he and France went about dividing up the defeated empires and acting like he was useless.

He didn’t have to be a good liar if he wasn’t important enough for anyone to notice he was lying.

It had always been like that. There was always something more important to everyone else.

“You’ve got issues!”South Italy skidded to a stop in front of his house.

“What makes you say that?”He was grateful to be out of the death trap.

“Like recognizes like.”He grumbled,”You’re fucked up the same way I am.”

America paused at that,”I don’t think we’re similar at all.”

“Let me be the judge of that.”He pulled out the keys to the house. When the hell did he get a key to the house? Once he opened the door he made his way to the kitchen, dragging a chair loudly behind him,”Sit.”He sat, curious enough to wait and see where this was going,”Now start talking before I get the mafia to hunt your ass down.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Romano knew issues. God knew he had more than his fair share. It pissed him off whenever he saw them in his people, and he’d never gotten close enough to others to notice if they had them too. Which, as his brother loved to point out, was another one of his issues. He didn’t let people get close to him, because people were jerks who were always looking to take advantage of each other.

He didn’t want to go to America, but that’s where a lot of his people emigrated to so that’s where he ended up. Sure, they were treated like shit for being immigrants, but it was fractionally better than what his place had to offer. He thought America would be like all those other bastards, but he wasn’t. It felt like the younger nation didn’t even know he was there. He didn’t ask for money. He didn’t ask him to work.

That’s when he began looking at his host. Actually looking, and what he saw pissed him off.

It was like the dumbass was trying to run himself into the ground. If he wasn’t working himself ragged he was drunk, and if he wasn’t drunk he was off at some party or doing other work related activities that Lithuania hadn’t found a way to stop. He’d thought the spineless bastard was there as a servant at first, until he realized how hard the man was trying to make life easier for the idiot.

One day he’d demanded to know why.

“I think he’s trying to distract himself.”The Baltic had whispered, worried, before telling him what he had overheard at Russia’s house.

His fist clenched under the table as he ate, having had America confirm his thoughts while he cooked dinner. He’d never thought he’d have anything in common with the blond, but no, the universe couldn’t let him have that. His hand started shaking as he got angrier. If England weren’t an empire he would strangle him. France he could get away with punching in the face.

Romano knew what it felt like to be used. The only reason anyone saw any value in him was his grandfather, and they were always disappointed once they realized he was just himself.

He knew what it felt like to not be anyone’s first choice. The tomato bastard had originally wanted his brother. Everyone wanted his brother. Even their grandpa had chosen Feli over him when he could have easily taken both of them. Feli was talented, kind-hearted, trusting, everything he was not. No one would ever praise him the way his brother always was.

No one preferred him.

“Italy?”America paused in eating,”Something wrong?”

No one called him Italy. Maybe South Italy, if they were being formal, but more often than not he was Romano while Veneziano got the title of Italy.

“Lovino, dumbass.”He growled, wishing for a food that was more satisfying to stab but making due with pasta,”My human name’s Lovino.”

“Call me Alfred then.”A smile.

Human names meant friends. He didn’t have friends. He had idiots who forced themselves into his life and then didn’t go away for whatever reason. Though he could make an exception for this poor bastard.

“And you didn’t answer the question, Lovino.”Alfred pointed out.

“I was wondering where the fuck we’re going to find a decent tailor.”He grumbled,”You’re going to need to dress nicer if you’re going to impress the dons, shithead.”

“I like the way I dress.”He rolled his eyes.

“Only you would.”He replied,”Didn’t France teach you anything?”

“You actually want me to be more like France?”The blond asked.

He snorted,”Fuck no, you’re fine as you are, but your fashion sense is atrocious.”

“Isn’t that a part of who I am?”The dumbass teased.

“Yes, you dress like a human disaster.”At least he gave as good as he got, and he could use someone in his life that didn’t whine every time he was rude,”Unless you want to be a human disaster with bullet wounds, you’re gonna need a new fucking wardrobe.”

Lithuania chose that moment to walk in,”Who would be shooting at him?”

“Italy's going to teach me how to work with the mafia.”Alfred smiled, because he was a little shit.

The Baltic closed his eyes for ten seconds as he let out a long sigh,”Don’t get blood on the floor.”

South Italy snorted. Maybe he wasn’t so spineless after all? The conversation continued as he explained more about involving himself with criminals, knowing that they would probably get shot at once. Considering the idiot he'd be bringing with him, more than once.

Even if they did, he was going to fucking enjoy this.

He found a nice Italian tailor to take the idiot to. To his surprise, Alfred spoke decent Italian. He sat back in his chair, watching his measurements be taken as he talked with the older man about his family. At least he wasn’t shitty to his citizens, otherwise he would have to shoot him. It was when the man disappeared to get fabric samples that the nation looked back at him,”Decided yet?”

“What?”He scowled.

“If we’re similar.”He clarified with an eye roll.

“I said we’ve got similar issues.”The Italian crossed his arms,”And we do, but don’t think I’m here out of fucking pity. I don’t need your stupidity in my life.”

“And I don’t need your insults.”A small smile.

“Is it an insult if it’s true?”He glared back.

A laugh,”Wanna talk about our shared issues?”

“Fuck. No.”He growled,”Talking isn’t going to fix shit.”

“And helping me with the mafia is, Lovi?”His eye twitched at the shortening of his human name.

“I said you’re fine as you are, Alfredo.”That made the smile drop into an annoyed look,”Issues and all.”

“You did not just call me a sauce.”A mock glare.

“Alfredo’s a more Italian name, dumbass.”He rolled his eyes, but smirked.

If the mafia began to circulate information saying to respect Alfredo Jones, well, it was his fault for annoying him.

Chapter Text

Liechtenstein bit her lip as she stared at the email. Brother had helped her compose it, but he hadn’t offered any advice over whether she should send it or not. He didn’t feel it was any of their business, and that if the others were too stupid to put it together themselves they deserved to stay in ignorance, but she didn’t want to do this for them. No, not for them.

She felt bad. America had put a lot of effort into matchmaking, and no one had thanked him. It must’ve been really difficult for him, not to mention lonely. But it wasn’t her place to thank him.

It was theirs.

She clicked send and then powered off the computer. She hoped the other nations realized that they should be thanking America instead of getting mad at him and not yell at him like they usually did for interfering. He always meant well, and really, he hadn’t messed up so there wasn’t any reason to be mad. She bit her lip, tempted to turn it back on and check for responses.

“Don’t worry.”Vash told her gruffly.

She fretted anyways. All it took was one of them to investigate what she said, and then they would believe her. She assumed Germany would…but it could also be ignored. She wasn't half as powerful as most of the recipients.

“America can handle himself.”Her brother nudged her as he walked to the door.

“But this is different.”Personal.

“If he did what you think he did, then he’s put a lot more thought into his actions than normal.”Vash grabbed his gun,”He’ll be ready for any backlash.”

That was only a little reassuring. She nodded, deciding to let it go. She had faith it would be good. America deserved a thank you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

England frowned at the email,”That can’t be true.”

Francis had jokingly asked if they should get Alfred a thank you present for ‘helping’ them get together and he’d told him no. Anything his former colony had said or done in their favor had to be an accident. He scrolled through the replies, seeing the confirmation of a few key points by other nations. His eyebrows slowly drew closer together,”No bloody way.”He muttered.

Belgium confirmed America had been present at the girl’s night where they’d made their pact.

Poland sent an enthusiastic email about how America ‘accidentally’ let it slip when he was drunk, conveniently drunk in Lithuania’s room.

Greece added one sentence that said Japan had also spoken with his little brother. The other island nation had read all the emails, and sent nothing in response, which was rather telling in his eyes.

Denmark had added a video of him…he didn’t want to call that dancing but he lacked a different word for it that didn’t make him want to bleach his brain, and a quick message on how that had made Norway jealous.

Germany confessed to a lunch with America before he had asked Italy.

He wanted to say it wasn’t true, that it couldn’t possibly be true, but in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary…he had to accept that it was probable America had been playing cupid. And none of them noticed the bow and arrow in his hands. He pinched the bridge of his nose, leaning forward as he felt a headache coming. This meant he did owe the Yank something.

Although a thank you would suffice, the imbecile had meddled.

Reciprocation was the only acceptable response.

Which led to their current dilemma.

“Alfred doesn’t like anyone like that.”Matthew whispered.

“That we know of.”Francis sighed,”If there is anything we should learn from this, it is not to make assumptions.”

“We should know.”England rubbed his forehead,”We’re his family. If we don’t know, who would?”

“Japan, perhaps?”His lover offered,”Lithuania? They have both lived with him.”

He nodded. They were having an impromptu meeting of those who had gotten together in the past few months. He could wait a few hours, but he was angry at himself. Something wasn’t right with this whole situation. He thought he knew his former colony, but this had come out of nowhere. He sat down and put his head in his hands. He should have known, plain and simple, and he was beginning to think his image of the boy was flawed.

“What is worrying you, mon chou?”Francis knelt, taking his hands in his.

“Doesn’t this give you a bad feeling?”He muttered so Canada couldn’t hear.

“It does.”His eyes were worried despite his smile,”But Alfred is a strong boy, yes? He has always been fine.”

“Has he?”Or did they assume he was fine? He didn’t want to trust any of his past assumptions of the superpower,”Or did we just not notice he was hurting?”

“We will find out.”His frog promised,”And we will fix what needs fixing.”

“We can try.”Who knew how long this had been going on? What else they had missed? Was it even fixable? He bowed his head so that his forehead touched the other’s, closing his eyes. He hadn’t had this bad of a feeling in years. If Francis weren’t right there with him he would be making his way across the Atlantic to confront his brother. Lucky for him the cheese head was.

Who was there for Alfred? The question was whispered in the back of his mind.

He wanted to claim he had been, but that was not true. In that century between the War of 1812 and the First World War he had not been there. In the half century from his revolution to their second fight, he had been his enemy. Before that he had left the boy alone for the most part, too busy with internal and external conflicts to visit his colony across the seas. The colony he tried to protect by leaving behind.

Even after the First World War, America hadn’t joined the League of Nations. They had just begun talking to each other again. It was stilted, and then it had fallen to silence when his stock market crashed and the world was plunged into depression. Then there had been his resentment of the other for not joining the Second World War, for being neutral when France was defeated.

The formation of the UN was when he would definitively say he was a proper brother to the boy. When they started the monthly world meetings that essentially forced them into contact with each other.

By then, he was the new global power. A superpower. He had to stand alone, stand tall, lest he fall.

Like he had fallen.

He inwardly kicked himself. That didn’t mean he had to leave him completely alone. He understood loneliness. Hadn’t he promised not to leave him?

When was the last time they had talked? Not about work, or anything related to their countries, but just talked? Alfred to Arthur, man to man, brother to brother. He couldn’t recall a time in the current administration or the previous election cycle. There was always a pressing concern, always something that his bosses felt more important than their personal matters.

Not anymore.

Germany was the first to show up with Italy. Austria and Hungary were next, Belgium dragging Spain in soon after. Poland showed up alone but promised Lithuania would be there soon. Japan nodded to him silently while Greece fell asleep on the couch. Ukraine sat down next to Matthew. Norway apologized for their tardiness as he claimed a spot on the wall with Denmark.

There was shouting from the hall that stopped what little conversation had started. As it got closer they could make out the words,”Let me go, you ass!”A banging sound,”You did that on purpose! You want to fucking die today?!”The door slammed open, and Lithuania walked in, dragging an irate Romano behind him,”What the fuck is this?”The Italian glared at them, dusting his clothes as he rose.

“Um, Liet?”Poland walked up to his boyfriend,”I love you, but, like, why did you bring Romano?”

“He needs to be here.”The Baltic closed the door and leaned against it,”We are talking about America, right?”

“Ja.”Germany nodded,”I feel we should thank him for his…assistance.”

“That’s a word for it.”Norway crossed his arms,”I can’t believe he fooled me like that.”

“I can’t believe you thought he would dance like that without an ulterior motive.”Romano scoffed, and at their looks continued,”Are you that surprised? That dumbass knows how to act when he feels he needs to.”He sat down in one of the chair.

“Oh?”Francis tilted his head,”You and Alfred are friends?”

“Have been for a century, good on you to finally fucking notice.”That was a little more biting than his normal barrage of insults,”I lived at his house with this fucker between the war and the depression.”

“Then you can help us come up with a way to thank him.”Italy beamed at his brother,”What kind of girl would America like? Or boy?”

Romano scowled, though his gaze flickered to Lithuania, who was looking at the ground nervously,”No one.”The Italian bit out, causing the other to look up,”Dumbass has never liked anyone.”

“Never?”Francis pouted,”I find that hard to believe.”

“That’s because he’s lying.”England rose from his chair,”You know something.”

“You’d know it too if you were actually close to him.”The weak nation met his glare with one of his own,”He’d tell you if he thought you cared.”

“Romano-“The Baltic started, but paused when the other raised a hand.

“No, I’ve waited almost a century to have this fucking talk.”

“I care.”The European island nation stepped closer,”He’s my little brother.”

“Some brother you are.”Another scoff, and he was starting to get really annoyed by his bad attitude,”You jerks didn’t even notice he’d had his heart broken, no, you were all too focused on gaining from that shitstorm of a war.”

Alfred had his heart broken? He took a step back, his hand instinctively reaching for Francis’. No, that can’t have been right. A century ago Alfred had been upset because the war was terrible. That dark, broken look in his eyes was earned in the trenches, not deliberately inflicted. He’d known the boy was hurting, but he certainly wasn’t someone he wanted to talk to after.

Hindsight was always perfect. Looking back, he could see his mistakes clearly.

“Who was it?”He tried to think who he was close to at the time, and came up with no one.

“Russia.”Lithuania answered.

England froze. How could he not have noticed that? And how terrible must that have been?

“When?”Francis demanded, his grip tightening on his hand.

“His Civil War, I think.”The Baltic said softly.

“Why didn’t he say anything?”Canada asked, almost to himself.

Romano scoffed,”He didn’t think you’d care.”

“And if you did.”Lithuania sighed,”That you would disprove. It was not even a decade after the Crimean War.”

England closed his eyes. There were few wars he could look back on and be happy with but that one had left a particularly bitter taste in his mouth. He hadn’t gone to see America that decade, knowing that while his country was neutral, some of their actions were perceived as supporting the Confederacy. He’d thought of speaking again at the centennial, but couldn’t bring himself to.

He’d seemed happy then, and France hadn’t noticed anything at the celebration.

The Long Depression had taken a toll on all of them, and he’d been having more imperial issues. His attention was more on the continent south and east of him than the one to the west.

“As long as he was happy I wouldn’t have minded.”Undoubtedly he failed to bring it up later because they were allied once again in the Second World War,”But when did this nonsense start that I didn’t care?”

“America…”Lithuania trailed off,”I don’t know how to say this exactly.”

“He thinks you only care about him so long as you need him.”Romano said heatedly,”He doesn’t believe you actually want him around.”

That was on him. He hadn’t been there for Alfred when he was growing up, the longest he stayed was when he thought he was going to rebel, and that ended up pushing him away faster. It was his fault the boy he loved like a brother, a son, thought he didn’t want him around. He bowed his head. How could he fix this?

Francis made a pained noise, and England couldn’t say anything. Spain moved away from Belgium in sync with Italy to hug the angry Italian,”Fratello,”The younger brother whined,”You know we love you.”

“I know.”Romano glared at them, the ‘but Alfred doesn’t’ was left unsaid.

The former empire recognized a challenge when he saw one. He fidgeted. Physical affection had never been something he was comfortable with nor was he the most…demonstrable of people. That’s why he was good friends with the likes of Norway.

But if that’s what was needed, he would learn to enjoy it.

For Alfred.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Canada knocked on the door, trying to think of the last time he had gone to his brother’s house. They had used to meet up all the time, but as the years passed and technology advanced, he had less time away from work. Any spare time he had nowadays he spent with Katyusha. He hadn’t thought his brother minded, he’d always had more friends.

Except his friends had also started relationships and were just like himself.

No one was fine alone, not even the superpower. He was a terrible brother for believing he would be.

He had always been jealous of Alfred. Everyone saw him, everyone paid attention to him. He thought his brother enjoyed it. Now that he knew he didn’t think people cared about him at all…he wondered how he dealt with that attention. He never doubted that others loved him. If they could recognize him on sight, they cared about him. There weren’t many who could…

But he’d rather have a definite few than doubted dozens.

The door opened,”Bro!”America smiled, leaning on the doorway,”What’s up?”

“Can I come in?”He asked politely.

“Of course.”Alfred stepped aside so he could walk in,”You need something?”

“No.”He said, a bit too quickly.

“Dude, no need to beat around the bush.”He led the way to his tv room,”What’s wrong?”

“Did you…”He hesitated. He’d never had the strength to argue with his brother. If Alfred didn’t want to talk about something, it wasn’t talked about, but they needed to have this conversation,”Did you encourage Katyusha to ask me out?”

“She asked you out because she likes you.”His twin rolled his eyes,”We’ve been over this.”

“No.”Something about his tone made his brother turn to look at him,”Did you meddle?”

“Why would I meddle?”

“Because you wanted us to be happy when you couldn’t.”

The words came out without his permission, but they were what he suspected was true. Alfred couldn’t be happy with Russia, and with almost a hundred years between their breakup and the present, he wanted the couples that could be together to get together, because it was beginning to look like he never would. Because they didn’t have the world between them.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, bro.”He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes,”I’m perfectly happy.”

“That’s a lie.”He felt himself trembling,”Please don’t lie to me, or yourself.”

America laughed, patting him on the shoulder,”I’m fine, Mattie. What’s got you so worried about me?”

“We talked to Romano and Lithuania.”He was beginning to see how good Alfred was at acting. He barely reacted to that statement,”They were telling us about what Russia did.”

That got a reaction. His smile dropped,”And?”

“You loved him.”Canada gripped the other’s shoulders, stopping him from turning away.

“I did.”He confirmed,”Not that it really matters anymore.”

“It does.”He insisted,”That isn’t something that heals with time alone, brother.”

“I’ve healed just fine.”Alfred didn’t try to leave,”I’m always fine, really.”He put a hand on his arm,”Go back to your girlfriend.”

“Stop lying!”He shouted, and that seemed to get through to his stubborn twin,”I’m tired of hearing you lie. Please,”He stepped closer,”Just tell me the truth!”

“What got into your pancakes today?”His southern neighbor looked away.

Matthew pushed him into the wall,”I realized that you are a complete idiot!”

Blue eyes snapped back to him,”For meddling?”

How could one person be this infuriating? He pulled at his own hair,”No! Don’t you realize I care about you? You’re my brother, Alfred. I want to know when you’re hurting. I want to know everything.”His eyes widened,”I know, I haven’t always been there. I was wrong to assume you didn’t want me here, but I’m going to do better. And I’m starting with helping you.”

Silence, and his breathing was the only noise he could hear over his racing heart. Only his twin could get him like this, could make him lose his damned mind.

America slowly shook his head,”Why now?”

“Because I know now. If I’d known a century ago, I would have been there.”He promised, hoping the stronger man would believe him,”I don’t care what relations are like between America and Canada, I want you to know you can always come to me, with anything. I want my brother, more than anything your nation has, more than anything the superpower can do for me.”

A choked laugh, and he brought a hand up to wipe beneath his glasses,”You’re such a girl, Mattie.”

He laughed, because finally, something he said got through to him, and moved forward to pull him into a hug,”Real men talk about their feelings.”

A snort,”Try telling that to Romano.”

“I still can’t believe you’re friends with him.”He should have known, especially after the Mafia Incident. Not that the friendship had helped his issues. The Italian knew he alone couldn’t fix them, so he hadn’t even tried. And his brother had crashed, spiraling the world faster down into the abyss. That was probably when he learned to hide it better, to face the world like he did.

“We get along pretty well.”Alfred pulled back,”You know he invented the carbonara for me?”

He chuckled,”Sounds like he truly knows you.”

His expression softened,”You know,”He took a deep breath,”…it was enough for me just to see you guys all happy.”

“Even if it left you all alone.”He added.

“I’m used to being alone.”Alfred slung an arm over his shoulder, and moved them to the couch,”Iggy told me that comes with being a superpower.”

“I think you misunderstood.”Matthew bit his lip, promising to have a stern talk with his mentor later,”No one can stand alone.”

A smile,”And I suppose you’ll stand with me?”

“You don’t have to ask.”He elbowed him,”You’re stuck with me, brother.”

“Can we invite your girlfriend?”Alfred elbowed him back,”If someone’s going to be mother-henning me I can at least request someone hot, right?”

His eye twitched, but he just sighed,”I thought today could just be us.”Tomorrow would undoubtedly bring England and France.

His twin nodded, and then glanced at the clock,”What do you want for dinner?”

They ended up having pancakes for dinner.

It was a pancakes for dinner type of day for him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I heard you were once in a relationship with America.”Ukraine said, gently. She couldn’t think of another way to bring it up, not without losing her nerve. It was difficult to find the time to visit her brother, especially with the tensions between their nations, but she was determined to make the most of the time she had made. She was going to make it through this conversation without running away.

Vanya paused in eating,”Where did you hear that?”

She blushed,”Just the gossip mill.”

“Hm.”He set down his fork,”It was long time ago.”

“So it’s true?”She knew Lithuania wouldn’t lie, but she had hoped he was misinformed on this occasion.

“Da.”He nodded,”I ended it.”

“Why?”She refused to believe the reason given. Her brother was not one to love because of convenience or strategy. Nor would he toss love aside because it became inconvenient, or he would have denounced their familial ties a long time ago.

“It was what was best for both of us.”He burrowed into the scarf she had made him as if to hide his face,”If we had tried to stay together as we grew apart it would have hurt more.”

“Are you…okay with that?”She had upset him. She wanted to cry, but that wouldn’t help.

Light purple eyes looked to her,”The America I loved doesn’t exist anymore, and I am at peace with that.”

Of all his scars, she was glad this was not one that still caused him pain. She nodded, going back to the food. Another thought occurred to her,”And my relationship with Matvey?”

“Canada makes you happy, da?”Ukraine nodded,”Then I will not bother him. Should he ever make you unhappy…”His expression darkened.

She giggled,”I don’t think he will.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So, like, are we still going to do something nice for America?”Poland asked.

Denmark considered the question. On one hand, England, France, and what’s his name probably needed a few days to have some family bonding time. On the other, he did owe America. That video was on the internet, and while it was sexy as hell, he felt bad that he only did it to make Lukas jealous. It probably would get him into trouble somewhere down the road.

“Maybe Finny can get Estonia to take that video down.”He mused out loud,”But I don’t know how to get South Korea’s copies.”

“I will handle my brother.”Japan said.

“Great.”He smiled,”That’s a start.”

“Dumbass has always liked food.”Romano grumbled,”Since we forced Eyebrows on him for the foreseeable future we could all pitch in to make sure he doesn’t die.”

“You cooked for him?”Spain asked, tilting his head.

“Where the fuck do you think the carbonara came from?”He scowled fiercely,”I owed the idiot after the war and made due with the shit he had as supplies.”

That was oddly sweet for the angry Italian. Italy clapped his hands,”Good idea, fratello. I want to be better friends with America too!”

The former Viking could throw in some Danish pastries. He was going to stress bake for the next few days anyways and not even Sealand could consume the amount he had planned. He still couldn’t wrap his mind around Russia and America. Those two had almost destroyed the Earth! No wonder he had told him not to give up on his love. Anything was within the realm of possibility compared to that.

“We have been bad friends recently.”Lithuania bit his lip.

True. He, Gilbert, and Alfred hadn’t gone out just the three of them in months. He grabbed his phone,”Shit.”He swore. The albino would want to know about this. They were the awesome trio! He glanced up at Germany,”Did you tell your brother about this?”

A frown,”No. Why would I?”

“Gil’s going to be pissed.”He started typing out the paragraph,”Didn’t you think it was weird America helped you too?”

England and France were like his parents. That other guy was his twin. Lithuania, Japan, and himself were his good friends. That left Germany, Austria, and Spain the odd ones out. Nations he wasn’t personally that close to.

“Prussia.”Hungary realized.

He sent the explanation, and then started on his apology paragraph,”I should have realized sooner.”

It didn’t take long for the former nation to get there,”That devious little shit.”He announced before the door even slammed shut behind him,”How dare he not tell me his plan!”

“You don’t seem surprised.”Germany huffed.

“You didn’t see him during his revolution.”Prussia grinned,”Any brat that crosses a frozen river on Christmas to ambush the enemy is capable of anything, and that was before my awesomeness had an effect.”

Denmark laughed,”You would have convinced him to battle on the frozen river and he would have lost.”

The albino pointed at him,”You don’t get to comment. You lost to the same strategy.”

How was he supposed to know Sweden was insane enough to travel across a frozen straight? That reminded him, he copied the explanation he sent to Prussia and sent it to the couple. They cared about America enough to help them out. He then got up to bro hug the other man,”Speaking of strategy, what’s ours to make it up to America? We already got food.”

“Luddy could let him look at our cars.”Prussia mused,”He’s a decent mechanic.”

“He likes archeology as well.”Japan added.

“I can help with that.”Greece smiled.

“We should go to Disneyland again.”Denmark grinned.

“Are we still banned?”Prussia matched his grin.

“How did you get banned from Disneyland?”Austria asked.

“Secret.”They said together, but he thought about it,”It’s been what, twenty years? I think we can risk it.”

“Kesesese.”The albino chuckled,”We should find a new way to get banned.”He paused,”Or Comic Con. Those are always fun.”

“And paintball.”Denmark brought a hand up to his chin,”It will be a lot more fun if we could convince more nations to join.”

He knew how to have fun with the American. The hard part was dragging him away from his work outside of holidays. Germany started making a list, and knowing his organizational skills, he’d soon have a calendar that minimized the amount of time the superpower was left alone. He pulled Lukas closer to him as they ran over details,”This might mean we spend less time together.”

The magic user rolled his eyes,”It wouldn’t be the end of the world to spend some time apart.”

“Thank you.”He pressed a kiss to his nose,”And you should get to know America better. He’s a great guy.”At the deadpan, he grasped for something else to add to it,”He also owns a unicorn.”

“He can see magical creatures?”That caught his interest.

“No, but that doesn’t stop him from taking care of it.”

“Hm.”

That was Norge for he’d rethink prior judgments.

“This will be fun.”He promised.

Chapter Text

Iceland was so confused.

He knew something had happened. Denmark had made enough pastries to feed a small army. He had lived with the man long enough to know that was a sign of him being stressed about something. His brother, which he only called that in the safety of his mind, was also on edge. Finland kept leaving in the middle of conversations because an idea occurred to him about this unknown development. Sweden was being even more quiet than normal.

It was like the month leading up to his surprise birthday party all over again.

In hindsight, he wished it was another surprise birthday party.

He looked at the paintball gun in his hands and sighed. He hadn’t had a standing army…well, he’d never had one as an independent nation. The only wars he had fought in were either so long ago he’d been too small to fight in, or against England on sea. He looked around and knew he was going to be slaughtered. The other Nordics at least knew what they were doing.

“Look alive, Iceman!”America smiled as he nudged him.

He could not match the superpower’s enthusiasm,”How much does it hurt when you get shot?”

“Don’t get shot.”The nation that was younger than him but looked older laughed.

“Thanks.”He muttered, wondering if it was too late to back out.

“Don’t worry, Icey.”Finland smiled,”We’ll protect you.”

He failed to see how Tino was going to protect him. He kept his doubts to himself. The other three Nordics were on the other team. The Viking Trio, all against them. Guns weren’t their first choice of weapon, but they had fired them before. They also had Germany, though he hoped Italy would keep the man occupied. His team had Prussia and Romano, so he wasn’t sure they were any better off strength wise.

“This is gonna be awesome!”The albino declared.

“This is going to be a disaster.”He muttered.

“Hey,”He was nudged again by the other teen,”We get enough negativity from Romano.”

“I will shoot you.”The Italian glared,”I won’t even feel guilty.”

“You can’t shoot your teammates.”America scolded, as if that would stop him.

He was going to get shot. He’d never been shot before. Prussia threw an arm over his shoulders,”Don’t worry, kid.”He scowled at being called a kid. It wasn’t his fault he hadn’t been independent that long,”Stick close to Finny here and you’ll be fine.”He turned away and out of the ex-nation’s grasp.

Like Finland would be much help. Still, he moved to his designated partner. At least when the others found them he wouldn’t get hurt too badly. Sweden would murder anyone that hurt his boyfriend, same team or no. Finland looked up from his gun, and his focused expression softened,”It’s easy, Icey. Just point it at the target and pull trigger. America already got your safety, and you shouldn’t have to reload.”

He nodded but remained apprehensive. The easternmost of the Nordics was always excited about the strangest things. He tested holding the gun the way he saw the others holding theirs. Was there a kickback? What was a kickback? Was that even the right word? He took in a shaky breath as the buzzer went off, signaling they were starting.

This was nothing compared to real war. If he panicked here he would be treated like a kid forever.

“Get down.”Finland dove for cover. He quickly followed as paint splattered on the wall behind them. He could hear America and Prussia laughing somewhere, but when he peaked over his cover he saw it was Denmark shooting at them. He struggled to remember the layout of the course. Could they be ambushed from behind?

He tried to fire a shot. He didn’t even see where it went. Great, so he wasn’t a natural.

At least his former guardian was focusing on Tino. The smaller man glanced over the cover, not flinching even when the paint of the shot hitting the wall got in his hair. The island nation watched him take a deep breath, and then roll onto the ground, the gun in front of him.

Finland fired once, and the blue paint splatted on Denmark’s vest.

“What the heck?”He looked around, but didn’t see anyone else. He abandoned cover to stand next to his friend,”How’d you do that?”

Tino smiled,”I’m used to a sniper rifle, but this isn’t that bad.”

Right, because he was the only one of the five of them that was useless in a fight. He didn’t have time to ask before they were on the move,”Cover me.”Finland smirked, before going around the corner.

If cover him meant shoot at the others and hope they didn’t realize he had no aim, he covered him until he got where he wanted.

He was soon distracted by the sight of Finland maniacally laughing as he chased Sweden. He’d have to rethink his image of the smallest Nordic.

Something pressed into him from behind,”Call me big brother and I won’t shoot.”

That was it. He was officially in a nightmare. This was not happening.

“You have got to be kidding me.”He let the gun hang from the strap around his neck, turning to face his psychotic sibling. He had a newfound sympathy for Russia. Was this what he felt like when Belarus proposed to him with a knife?

Norge was smirking,”Well?”

He really didn’t want to get shot, but years of avoiding saying that tempted him to.

“Am I the only sane one?”He muttered, staring at the gun.

“You should be more aware of your surroundings.”The older man said.

“This is not normal.”Hong Kong didn’t have to put up with any of this stuff from the other Asian nations. Not for the first time, he wished he had invited the other teen along,”You know this isn’t normal, right?”

“I’m not hearing it.”His finger tightened on the trigger.

“I am not saying that!”He shouted back.

Alright. Getting shot was not as bad as he thought it would be. He’d have a bruise that would heal in a matter of hours, but it was worth it. He still limped slightly on his way to the dead zone. Did he have to shoot him in the leg? He sat down across from Denmark,”Your boyfriend needs therapy.”

The happy man just laughed.

Insane, all of them.

And he still didn’t know why they were doing this!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hong Kong tried not to laugh as Japan chased South Korea through the house with his katana. The peninsular nation was screaming, hugging his laptop close to his chest as he ran. The island nation had an unusually determined look on his face as he cornered their brother, holding the blade to his neck,”Hand over the computer, Yong Soo.”He said in a deadly serious tone.

“Should we do something?”Taiwan asked.

Macau shrugged,”A thousand yuan Kiku injures Yong Soo.”

“You’re on.”The island grinned.

“Never!”The tallest of them shouted.

“This isn’t a debate.”Japan pressed,”I do not trust you to destroy the video.”

“I promised I would!”

The former British territory wouldn’t believe Yong Soo either. The video was too good. He still couldn’t believe America had done that. He was curious why the island nation had waited a few months before wanting it to be destroyed for his friend’s honor, but South Korea had panicked when it had taken down by Estonia and that had distracted him. He quickly took a snapchat video of the standoff.

He sent that to Iceland.

Maybe this was connected to his friend’s paintball incident.

At the very least he would know he wasn’t the only one with an insane family.

“The computer.”Kiku insisted.

“I’d rather die, da ze!”Yong Soo replied dramatically.

Leon rolled his eyes as the younger of the two used his device to move the sword away, and then attempted to kick Japan. Japan and China shared the title of best fighter in the family. In a matter of seconds it was over, with the older holding the computer in his other hand,”Arigatou, otouto.”He smirked.

“I don’t know why America’s friends with you.”South Korea glared.

Another mention of America. Hong Kong followed his stoic brother out of the room while Taiwan went to nurse the other’s injured pride. Japan set up in the kitchen, quickly going through the device to erase all memory of that video,”Is something wrong?”

“It is a personal matter.”The island nation didn’t even look at him.

Suspicious. He sat down,”Iceland told me his family is being nicer to America.”

“Hn.”

“Should we be nicer to America?”He was the world’s superpower. If something was going on where his closest allies felt the need to ingratiate themselves…

“Only if you want.”Japan answered in a distracted voice.

He mentioned it to China when his father figure got back. He was never good at getting answers out of anyone, but his suspicions were enough to make the old man suspicious, and as soon as dinner was served he focused on the island nation,”What’s this I hear about everyone acting nicer to America?”

“It is not everyone.”Japan answered.

“Enough people to be noticeable.”The ancient nation amended,”I had to change the time of my phone call with France because he’s staying with America indefinitely.”

“It is a personal matter.”The stoic nation repeated.

“Even more reason for me to be concerned.”China set down his chopsticks,”Often personal issues reflect national ones.”

“That is not the case here.”Japan shook his head,”I assure you.”

“Then, as your older brother, I demand to know how this is affecting you. Personally.”

This was not what he wanted. He looked at his other siblings, hoping they might have a plan to intervene. Macau just kept eating, ignoring what was going on alongside Mongolia. Taiwan seemed as invested in the conversation as China. South Korea was glaring at Japan, probably happy he was about to be on the receiving end of China’s ire. Seeing no help, he sat back. He wasn’t getting involved without backup.

“It has made me realize I should strive to be a better friend to Alfred.”The island nation maintained his composure.

“If anyone was the bad friend between you two, it was America.”Yao frowned.

“I would disagree.”Kiku shook his head,”You do not know all the facts.”

“Enlighten me.”China leaned forward.

“As I have said, it is a personal matter.”Japan was unfazed,”You will have to ask America.”

“He will not tell me anything and you know it.”The old man narrowed his eyes.

“Then it is not yours to know.”The island nation smoothly went back to eating.

China smacked the table,”Why all the secrecy, aru?! Nothing remains secret!”

“Usually.”Taiwan muttered.

“I will find out.”Yao vowed.

“You are free to try.”

Privacy was important to Kiku. Leon doubted there was any way around that, and he hoped the old man realized that before they had another fight in the house.

South Korea pulled his phone out,”Why don’t I just call Alfred and ask if you can tell us?”

China and Japan didn’t look away from each other. Hong Kong nodded,”Do that.”

He went into the other room to make the call, and came back with a wide smile,”Alfred says it’s fine. He didn’t think it was going to stay secret.”

Japan slowly nodded, relaxing in preparation for an explanation.

If Hong Kong didn’t know his brother, he would have thought what he told them was a lie. Russia and America? A romantic couple? It was so different from his perception of the two he couldn’t wrap his mind around it. He did spare a moment to give props where they were due. America was good if he got Japan, patient, serene Kiku, to take the initiative. Then he went back to his confusion.

“I can see why you think you’ve been a bad friend.”Taiwan said.

“Told you.”South Korea crossed his arms.

“He does not want your pity.”Japan closed his eyes,”Unless you genuinely care, please do not change how you act towards him.”

“I can’t believe he would ever…”China muttered, his expression darkening,”With that capitalist pig…”

He tuned that out. They returned to their meal. Hong Kong wouldn’t consider himself close to America, but he was decent friends with Canada and Australia from their time in the British Empire, and they were close to the superpower. He typed the explanation to Iceland as he thought. It would be weird for him to do anything, but he’d been successful in getting a lot of European nations together…

Maybe he could help him with his own Iceman.

And if they were friends maybe he’d be forgiven for all his copyright infringements.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

America knew giving permission to South Korea would mean the entire world knew by the end of the day. Still, he gave it.

It was like a game of telephone. With each iteration, the information became less correct, and the last thing he wanted to do was look like he was trying to slander Russia’s name. Yes, he’d been hurt when they broke up. It took him a long time to understand. But that was hardly the cause of his issues, and yes, Mattie, he was thinking of them as issues.

He sighed as he rang the doorbell. The last few days had been great, but the lack of being alone made it difficult to slip away. He waited patiently. It was a big house, meant to house all the nations in the USSR, but now it only had one occupant. One occupant that wasn’t expecting visitors, so was probably making a detour to get his magic metal pipe of pain.

It finally opened, Russia raising an eyebrow,”America?”

“The one and only.”He smiled tightly,”Can we talk?”

“Yes.”He stepped aside to let him pass,”What about?”

“The world found out we used to have a thing.”He stayed in the front hallway, hoping to keep this short so rumors didn’t start about that thing only being in the past,”I’ll try to control it on my end, but people are going to ask you questions. Thought you should be prepared.”

“How did they find out?”Russia tilted his head,”Was it because of your matchmaking?”

“So you noticed.”He laughed,”And yes. They’ve taken an almost unhealthy interest in my life now that they’ve noticed.”

A chuckle,”I am used to being bad guy, America. I can handle these rumors.”

“But you don’t deserve them.”He shook his head.

“I will be fine.”

Wow, was this what Mattie felt like when he confronted him? Cause he was beginning to understand all the shouting that occurred,”You know I recently learned that just because you think you’re fine doesn’t actually make you fine.”

Purple eyes narrowed,”What is the saying? Ah, those who live in glass houses should not throw stones, da?”

“Fair enough.”He’d just ask Mattie to tell Kat to do something. Or maybe China, they were pretty close,”I hope this blows over fast.”

Another raised eyebrow,”Do you regret it?”

“No.”He answered after a small pause,”Do you?”

Another hesitation,”No.”

“Then we’re good?”He held out a hand.

“As good as we can be.”Russia shook it, his grip firm,”Though rumors would be set to rest sooner if we were both in relationships ourselves.”

“You have someone in mind?”

People always said how difficult it was to talk to their exes. That the emotions either never went away or never existed in the first place. He refused to believe the latter, so he had to admit a small part of him still loved Russia. But he also loved his people, his nation, and that meant this couldn’t be. He wasn’t Francis, he wouldn’t wait centuries for a better time. He had to keep moving forward.

He had moved on.

“Do you?”

He contemplated the question. With his family now staying with him he’d begun rethinking his position on a lot of his relationships. He was getting a clearer understanding of the differences between America and Alfred. He’d been wrong about why people wanted him around, maybe he was also wrong in thinking he couldn’t have love?

Francis had cornered him on this one. Did he not want to be in a relationship because he assumed no one wanted him? Or was he truly not interested in anyone? It was another distinction he hadn’t made himself. Then there was the added fear of it going badly again, a fear of being hurt. The nation of love had insisted he not let fear hold him back from the pleasures of life.

He was going to need brain bleach if they had more conversations about life’s ‘pleasures’.

It was complicated. He was, as Lovino had told him many times, a fucking mess.

“I don’t know.”He shrugged.

“I suggest figuring it out.”Russia smiled, patting him on the shoulder.

That was the moment the door was kicked open. China stood there, looking like he had just made the run across the entire continent. He took one look at them and summoned his wok into his hand,”So the rumors are true.”

That was his cue to get the hell out of dodge.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

China contemplated running after the superpower, but decided to stay with the nation that hadn’t run. Russia was inspecting his door,”You could have knocked.”

“You apparently had company.”He narrowed his eyes.

“America was warning me about rumors.”

The ancient nation crossed his arms,”Are they true?”

“It is true America and I had a relationship, but that is in the past.”The Siberian nation smiled,”People change over time, da?”

The longer haired personification paused, before relaxing. He had found the USSR-leading Russia creepy, but since the fall of the Union he had been getting closer to Russia. People were starting to say they had a special relationship, a far cry from the wars they had gotten into with each other a century ago. Together, they opposed America, and it was nice to have support as he clawed his way back to being a dominant world power.

“Yes.”He then turned to look at the door,”I hope I didn’t break it.”

“You didn’t.”Russia assured him,”I’m sorry the rumors upset you.”

“I wasn’t upset.”He denied immediately. Upset was too close to jealous, and what he had felt was more akin to protectiveness.

The Siberian nation kept smiling,”Of course you weren’t.”

He glowered,”Ivan…”

The smile widened,”I forgot how cute your annoyed expression is.”

“Ivan!”He blushed,”You make that sound creepy!”

“Even though I mean it?”His eyes opened as the smile dropped a little.

“That makes it worse.”China complained, looking away. A nation as strong as Russia should not be able to look that cute!

The taller man turned away and started walking down the hall,”Then I guess I won’t ask you out.”

What?! ”…what?”

“I intended to ask you if you would like to be my lover,”The jerk kept walking,”But I see that will have to wait for another time.”

Honestly, nations these days,”I just found out you had a relationship with America.”

That made him pause and turn back,”I ended it, if that helps.”

That did. Slightly. “And you are asking me now…why?”He stared at him, glad for the distance so he didn’t have to look up.

“I won’t lie. It would help put these rumors down if I were to be in a relationship with someone else.”His purple eyes met his,”But you are the only one I considered asking.”

“What if it wasn’t helpful?”He had been used by too many people in his long life to put up with it anymore.

“My feelings would be the same.”Ivan promised,”However, I would likely not act on them.”

“Why?”He took a few steps towards him.

“You are the older one of us. I expected you to make the first move.”A meek shrug. Adorable.

He moved so there was little space between them, before punching him in the arm,”If this relationship is going to work you cannot call me old.”He got enough of that from Hong Kong. Russia chuckled, so he hit him on the arm again,”I’m serious, aru!”

The Siberian nation just pulled him in for a hug, and he grumbled nonsense into his coat.

It wasn’t the ideal start, but it was a start.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Iceland was slightly less confused.

It was complicated, okay? He’d known Denmark felt guilty about not paying America back for helping him get his brother. He hadn’t known that guilt was magnified by that knowledge that America had his heart broken by Russia. He also didn’t know a lot more nations were involved. If the new video going around the nations showing Japan out to murder South Korea was any indication, there were a lot more nations involved.

He thanked Leon for what he knew now.

Was it always like this? He knew his own family had plenty of drama over the centuries, but he’d been young enough to largely ignore it. The most painful thing he remembered was watching Denmark cry when Sweden took away Norway. It was one of the few times he let his guardian cuddle him.

He looked at America’s unicorn. It had a collar, which informed him the being's name was Llamrei.

He’d just been trying to find a bathroom, but considering how the rest of his day went he was fine just sitting here with the magical creature he typically pretended he couldn’t see. Hopefully, it couldn’t get any weirder.

He jinxed himself. Llamrei had come over for pets when his brother found him.

Lukas stared at him, then at the magical being currently nuzzling his hand,”You can see him?”

Why was this his life? He blushed, and nodded. He’d always been able to see them, but when he was younger he’d wanted to be big and strong like Denmark and Sweden. So he’d pretended he couldn’t. He wanted to be someone who wielded a battle axe or a heavy weapon, not a sorcerer who only needed words. It was silly, childish, hero worship, but it stuck.

“That explains a lot.”His brother came and sat next to him,”You were always suspiciously good at avoiding the creatures I sent to watch you.”

He said nothing to that, letting the silence lapse. He wasn’t sensing any silent judgment, so he hadn’t angered him. He finally sighed,”What’s with the name Llamrei?”

“It was the name of King Arthur’s steed, according to legend.”Lukas smiled softly.

Iceland had gone and named his puffin Mr. Puffin. He snorted,”Can he…?”

“No. America has as much magical ability as Dan.”Norway huffed.

“Llamrei looks healthy though.”The unicorn neighed and bobbed his head in agreement.

America took care of a creature he couldn’t see because his brother had gifted it to him. He inwardly sighed. He could have that close of a bond to his own brother, if he would just acknowledge they were related.

Norway had just insisted on big brother, and he didn’t like how demeaning little brother sounded.

“He’s sweet.”He continued, looking anywhere but at the other Nordic,”Now that you know…I’d be interested in meeting some of your other companions, brother.”

“They’ll be delighted to meet you, brother.”

Chapter Text

Belarus threw her knife at the superpower’s head.

The man swayed to the side, easily avoiding the attack. He pried it out of the wall and turned to face her,”Well this is awkward.”He brought his other hand up to scratch the back of his head,”Good morning, Belarus.”

“You dated my brother.”She hissed,”You touched my brother.”

She was livid. Her darling shunned her advances in favor of his greatest enemy? That was an insult she would not tolerate. She pulled another knife and charged. America typically fought with a gun because he was too weak to use his own strength. He blocked her swipe with his own weapon,”It was a long time ago.”He tried to placate her, as if she would listen to his lies.

“No one hurts brother.”He was hers.

“I didn’t mean to, if that means anything.”He blocked again, this time twisting so they were both disarmed. She went to punch him, but she caught her fist, holding it tight enough that she couldn’t move.

“It doesn’t.”She spat, stopping when she felt her shoulder nearly give out,”Let me go.”

“So you can attack me again?”He nevertheless did, moving to kick the weapons away.

She glared at him,”You don’t deserve him.”

“Have you even talked to him about it?”The capitalist pig asked.

“I have been unable to locate him.”It was much easier to find America, who didn’t hide from her. She crossed her arms,”But I know my brother, and I demand to know what you’ve done to him.”He had to be what was standing between them. America would never allow her brother to be happy, he had always tried to sabotage his place in the world. Now that she could stop him…

America didn’t even do her the courtesy of acting intimidated. He was always so arrogant. He would pay for that,”I haven’t done anything to him.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Then you should really talk to Russia.”

They didn’t talk. That was the problem. America had created circumstances that had forced her to betray her dear one, and for all his posturing, her brother was unable to completely hide that the betrayal still stung. They had abandoned him. One by one they left the house they shared for decades, none of them looking back.

She had known she wouldn’t be able to go through with it if she looked back.

There were times when they could put that aside, where it would almost appear normal between them. She kept insisting on marriage because she didn’t know another way to show her support, to show she never wanted to be separated from him.

She remembered all the times he would come home crying about some western nation being mean to him. She was never strong enough to protect him from the hurt, but she used to always be there.

Under the UN, many felt the world was coming closer together.

Natalia had never felt further from Vanya.

“No.”She hissed,”You know something.”

“I really don’t.”America shook his head.

“You’re the reason he doesn’t want to marry me.”She accused.

The superpower gave her a bewildered look,”He doesn’t want to marry you because you’re his little sister.”

“Marriage is a show of support.”At least, in their kind it was. Everything was symbolic.

“Have you told Russia that it is?”America asked, his expression clearing.

“Of course not.”She didn’t need to explain. He wasn’t an idiot like the man in front of her.

“You should.”He turned his back to her,”If you still don’t like the answers, then you can come back.”He opened the door,”And next time, just knock or something, okay?”

She could have pressed the issue but she didn’t. Instead, she went off to China. Her family meant the world to her, it was all she had sometimes. When her world was on fire they were there to tend to her burns, when her nation was in tatters they had been there to help her rebuild. She so rarely had the opportunity to return the favor.

She decided to forgo the front door and enter through an open window.

Macau looked up from the book in his hands, then pointedly went back to reading,”Russia’s in the backyard.”

He didn’t lie. Her brother rose abruptly, spilling his tea on the small table between him and China,”Sister.”She wished he would be more comfortable in her presence. He fidgeted,”Why are you here?”

“I heard about America…”Her voice trembled as she held back her rage,”You won’t marry me but you’ll touch that pig?”

He looked ready to run, so she pulled out her knives. He swallowed nervously,”It was long time ago, little sister.”

“But you still won’t marry me?”She narrowed her eyes.

“I love you.”Russia held up his hands,”But not in that way.”

She faltered,“Marriage isn’t about love.”She hissed,”We need to become one so I can support you.”

“We don’t.”He said softly.

“We do.”She insisted.

Her brother came closer, and gently pushed the knife down,”I always know I have your support, sister. Marriage isn’t necessary.”

“I’d still like to.”Belarus scowled.

“You want a grand show of support?”Vanya asked,”Fine. I will contact my boss and we can have one. But it doesn’t have to be marriage.”

That was…acceptable. She crossed her arms,”Did America hurt you?”

“No more than I hurt him.”He patted her head.

Slowly, she smiled. That sounded more like her brother.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Italy was excited.

He latched onto Ludwig’s arm,”America’s going to play for us!”

It had been Austria who had brought up the topic of music at dinner. The superpower had confessed to being able to play the piano and violin with some skill, but he preferred the guitar. Spain had then volunteered his guitar, and, at the insistence of the many guests, mostly himself, he had agreed to perform something. He couldn’t wait! Prussia had already told them his friend was good, and he had Austria as a neighbor.

“I hope I don’t disappoint!”America laughed as he finished tuning the instrument,”Though I gotta say, this isn’t the normal way this song goes…”

“Just play.”Hungary smiled.

The blond man nodded, starting the chords. It felt vaguely familiar, but it wasn’t until he started singing that he recognized it.

“Volare, oh, oh.”

His voice was pleasant, deeper when he was singing than it was when he spoke. He wasn’t that surprised, he’d often caught the other man humming to himself.

”Cantare, oh, oh, oh, oh.”

Italy looked to his brother. Why did he pick an Italian song when he had American music to pick from?

”Let’s fly, way up to the clouds, away from the maddening crowds.”

Oh, so it wasn’t the original.

”We can sing in the glow of a star that I know of where lovers enjoy peace of mind. Let us leave the confusion and all disillusion behind.”

He thought these lyrics fit America better than the original anyways. The northern part of the country continued to stare at his brother, who was watching America with mild surprise. Had he heard this version before?

”Just like bird of a feather, a rainbow together we’ll find.”

He wasn’t the only one. Spain was also looking to the southern part of the nation, whose surprise was quickly turning to enjoyment.

”Volare, oh, oh. E cantare, oh, oh, oh, oh. No wonder my happy heart sings. Your love has given me wings.”

He wondered who the superpower was thinking of with that expression. One thing he did know about the younger nation was that he loved flying. That’s why he was almost always wearing his bomber jacket. Then the man seamlessly went into Italian lyrics, drawing his attention back. The song sure brought back memories. It was the late fifties, if he remembered right. They’d been so disappointed when it didn’t win Eurovision.

“I think that a dream like this will never return.”He automatically translated in his mind,”I painted my hands and my face blue, then was suddenly swept up by the wind and started to fly in the infinite sky.”A song about the feeling of flying one gets when they are with the person they love. He squeezed Ludwig’s hand.

“Flying, oh oh! And singing, oh, oh, oh, oh!”He tapped his foot in time,”In the blue, painted blue, happy to be up there. And I flew, I flew happily to the heights of the sun, as the world slowly disappeared, a soft music was playing just for me.”He smiled, very familiar with the feeling. His heart soared every time Ludwig smiled or kissed him.

“No wonder my happy heart sings.”America switched back to English,”Your love has given me wings. Nel blu, dipinto di blu. Felice di stare lassù.”He finished the final chords and looked back at them.

“I love that song!”Italy immediately leapt from his seat, waiting for him to set the instrument aside before hugging him.

“So does Romano.”America laughed, returning the hug,”I thought I’d do something in Italian since we’re at your house.”

“It was beautiful.”He beamed,”It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that song live. Grazie.”

The superpower ran a hand through his hair,”No problem, dude. It’s an awesome song.”

Austria then pulled him aside to talk music, and he moved on to his brother,”Ve~!”He got his attention,”That was sweet of him.”

“I know.”Lovino scowled, no sign of the happiness he was sure he saw there earlier,”It’s disgusting.”

“Don’t be like that.”He chided,”I saw you enjoying it.”

His brother sent him a look,“Don’t get any ideas.”

“I’m not.”The younger brother promised,”Has he sang that for you before?”

“Yes.”A darker look,”He was obsessed with it after it won two of his shitty Grammys.”His expression softened,”Beat out Sinatra. It’s the only song not in English that’s ever won.”

Italy smiled. He’d had his reservations about their friendship. America was America, and there would always be a small part of him terrified by his power. But the more he learned about it the less worried he was. He tilted his head,”Can America dance?”

“Depends on the dance.”Lovino eyed him,”And that sounds like an idea.”

He recognized that look. It meant he had to stop what he was doing before his brother started yelling and then not speak to him for a week. He spared a moment to wonder what button he’d pressed to get that reaction. He didn’t think it was that bad to tease him about America. There definitely was something there, even if he wasn’t sure how far it went.

“I’m just trying to know your friends better.”He pouted.

His brother pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering what sounded suspiciously like a prayer, before he sighed,”You’d like the Charleston he and Lithuania came up with.”

“Grazie, fratello!”He ran off.

Italy always loved the arts. They were forms of expression he picked up on easier. That’s why he liked Austria. The aristocrat would play his feelings, and he was rarely wrong about them when he could hear them in the music. It was harder to read the atmosphere, but he knew exactly what the artist intended when he looked at a painting, what the musician was feeling as they played.

If Ludwig had written his feelings into a song and performed it for him it would have been a lot more obvious.

Well, his lover had other ways of expressing his love.

“Teach me how to Charleston.”He interrupted the conversation to latch onto the superpower.

“Sure thing, buddy.”America smiled.

Dancing was another art, another expression of emotion. He could tell how good of friends Lithuania and America were by how they danced together. There was no reluctance or embarrassment, and from the way they moved in sync they’d practiced this a lot. The Baltic nation also trusted the other to throw him around, though he’d trust that super strength to throw him around.

He was surprised at how America danced with himself. There was hesitation, but he’d been expecting that since they’d never danced together before. There wasn’t any discomfort though, and he laughed off every time he accidentally kicked him.

“You dance a lot like Romano.”He chuckled.

He wondered what he would see if they did dance, and if it'd match what he saw when America was singing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In hindsight, it was a terrible plan.

He had thought he could join his little brother on his morning jog. It was as good a place as any to get him alone. Or so he’d thought. He forgot that he did not exercise regularly and that the boy was inhumanly strong. Minor details, but he was excited. He had been hesitant to claim that what he sensed between Alfred and Romano was romance, not after his apparent failure to read the young nation.

Hungary had told him all about his song choice at the dinner he had unfortunately missed.

That confirmed his suspicions.

Alfred had been receptive to some of his other talks. He had finally dispelled that terrible belief that he couldn’t find love as he was. Perhaps, much like himself, he just needed the right push to go from friends to something more. Which, being the ever loving and generous nation that he was, he was more than willing to give.

Still, was he willing to have this conversation while being piggy-backed by the man?

Yes, yes he was. For love, the greatest reason of all.

“So…”He rested his chin on his shoulder,”Romano?”

“Hm?”Alfred didn’t even break stride,”What about him?”

“He is a very good friend to you.”He tried to put aside how humiliating this was to focus on his words.

“I know.”The superpower was smiling.

“Oho.”He chuckled, really hoping he wouldn’t be dropped for this. His leg was hurting enough as it was,”Any plans to add benefits to that friendship?”

“No.”A quick, easy response.

He was not so easily deterred,”Whyever not?”He let the silence hang for a minute,”Mon frére, admit it. You do not have a reason to hesitate, just as I did not.”

“I’m not even sure if I want a relationship.”Alfred definitely rolled his eyes,”And I know Lovino doesn’t.”

“How do you know?”He wished he could look him in the eye, but alas, this would not be so easy.

The stronger man adjusted his grip on his legs,”I asked.”

“What did you ask?”Perhaps the Italian had misunderstood the question.

“Would you ever want to be in a relationship?”

France snorted. Naturally,”And?”

“He said he would never want to be in one.”Alfred kept his head up, looking straight forward.

“The same way you did?”He tried to think of a reason why Romano would answer that way and found nothing.

“No.”His little brother sighed,”He knows himself, and he’s decided that’s what he wants.”

The Gallic nation frowned. That wouldn’t do. He gave the best form of a hug he could in their position,”You know your amour better than I, Alfred.”He would have to investigate himself, but he doubted Alfred had misinterpreted such a straightforward conversation. He slumped further against the man. If what he said was true…

This was beyond his power.

“What the hell happened to Francis?”Arthur came storming down from the porch.

“Dude’s weak, bro.”Alfred responded before he could.

“I am not weak.”He flinched as he was set down, having forgotten the pain in his leg when it wasn’t weight bearing. He immediately accepted the support of the other as the limped the final meters to the house,”The path was not clear, I tripped.”

His little brother laughed,”You’d think you’d be better at running from all the retreating you do.”

“Arthur,”He mockingly glared at his lover,”Did you not teach this boy to respect his elders?”

“He respected me until you came along and supported his rebellion.”The island nation came over to help him,”Alfred, do you have any heating packs?”

“I don’t know. Give me a minute.”The boy left.

Arthur deposited him on the couch,”How’d it go?”

“Not as well as I hoped.”He murmured.

Those large eyebrows furrowed together,”How bad? Maginot line bad? Invading Russia in the winter bad?”

He swatted at his love,”It was not a simple matter of encouraging Alfred.”He leaned closer, just in case Alfred came back,”He claims Romano does not wish to be in a relationship.”

Green eyes widened, but before they could plan something the superpower returned. He pulled out his phone once they were done fussing over his injury.

It should have been him who had done the matchmaking. He was the country of love. Now, it appeared, he could not get two young men together despite the obvious mutual interest. He wanted Alfred to have someone in his life that lit it up the way Arthur lit his. He wanted there to be someone for his little brother to fall asleep next to, to dance with, someone who complimented and completed him.

Everyone deserved love. Everyone could have love if they opened their hearts to it.

He wasn’t so foolish as to think he could convince Romano to open his heart. The southern Italian was naturally suspicious of him.

That didn’t mean it was an impossible task. He just wasn’t the right person for it.

Lucky for all of them he was such good friends with Spain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Why not?”Spain complained.

“I don’t want a fucking relationship!”South Italy shrieked,”How many times do I have to say that for that tomato you call a brain to understand?!”

“But being in a relationship is fun.”The former conquistador whined.

Prussia downed the rest of his beer. The argument had been going on for the better part of an hour, circling around the same points like a carousel of misery for him. He got up to grab another from the fridge. He knew better than to get involved in that shit, but he stuck around because Francis had asked, and this was to help America. He repeated that to himself as he opened the beer.

He was single, content with his life as a bachelor. He had his brother and his dogs and his work. Who was he to argue about the joys of a relationship?

But if someone treated him the way Alfred treated South, they’d be going at it like rabbits.

He continued to watch the Italian. He’d basically known him his entire life, even if the first few centuries were insults he barely caught over the distance between them. The longer this went on, the surer he became that his thoughts were right. For once, he didn’t want to be right. It would be the opposite of awesome if he was right.

“Toni.”He interrupted,”Can you go outside for a moment?”Antonio looked at him, and he set down his beer. Not even beer could make him ready for the conversation he was about to delve into.

This was for Francis, for Alfred. This was the least he could do for his little brother’s happiness, and the longer Luddy thought he was in someone’s debt the more upset he would grow.

“You think you can convince me, potato bastard number two?”South growled.

The albino shrugged,”No, but I think I know why you’re so insistent on no.”

The rage in the other’s eyes faded into fear,”You know nothing, dickhead.”

“If I’m right,”He prayed he wasn’t,”I’m the only one who gets it.”

“Oh?”The Italian turned away to drink from his glass of wine,”You’re not just assuming you’re right?”

“You’re afraid you’re going to fade.”He wished for something stronger than beer just saying that.

Because it wasn’t just South Italy who had to fear that.

Prussia was dissolved at the end of the war. His healing factor had been steadily decreasing since then. In fact, he still had a bruise from where Italy had panicked and repeatedly shot him in the paintball match. They’d still awesomely won, but no one else had injuries present the next day. He didn’t feel like his time was done on the Earth, but he no longer tried to appear like he knew God’s will. He could fade at any time, which was why he lived every day to the best of his abilities.

He didn’t let his fear of death stop him from living.

Besides, it was better him than Luddy.

The wine glass shattered in South’s hand. That was all the answer he needed.

“I know the feeling.”The albino chuckled humorlessly.

“Then you understand why I can’t do that to Alfred.”He wasn’t sure if the liquid on his hand was the wine or blood,”Feli…it’s bad enough this will happen to him again.”

Rome. Holy Rome. Prussia sighed. He got it, he really did,”Do you feel like you’re fading?”

“How the fuck am I supposed to know what that feels like?”At least he still had his anger.

“My healing isn’t as fast as normal.”He confessed,”And scars are starting to be permanent.”

He had to be a lot more careful not to get injured. He wanted everyone to remember him for how awesome he was. He wanted his last however long on Earth to be surrounded by his happy loved ones. He wanted to be able to look at his younger brother and not be pitied, not be worried over. He took in a shaky breath,”Notice anything like that?”

“No.”Those hazel eyes were staring at him in disbelief,”No fucking way are you fading!”

“Oh, I’m not going down without a fight.”He grinned,”But hey, your country’s been unified way longer than West and me. That probably makes you okay.”

Silver linings. Always look for silver linings.

“Which means you should definitely ask Alfred out.”

South Italy looked away,”Who else have you told?”

“Just you, and I hope to keep it that way.”He answered easily, then leaned forward,”I’m serious about the Alfred thing. Don’t think you can distract me.”

“You just told me you’re going to fucking die and you want to talk about my nonexistent relationship?”There was the anger he was waiting for. That meant they would continue as normal.

“Rome visits you sometimes, right?”He shrugged,”That means there’s got to be a way back from it.”

If it was for his brother, he’d do anything.

“Why the hell do I have so many optimistic dumbasses in my life?”The shorter man huffed as he finally grabbed a napkin, wiping away the red liquid. They both watched as the small cuts he did get from the glass healed. South relaxed a little,”Thanks for the shitty information, macho potato.”

“Still not hearing a promise.”He grabbed his beer again,”Unless you have another stupid reason not to be tapping that.”

“I’ll consider it.”He growled.

“Awesome.”He took a swig.

Nothing lasted forever. Might as well make the most of temporary.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First of all, Iceland would like to blame America and Denmark.

The way they were laughing over spells gone wrong lowered his suspicion of magic and piqued his interest. He’d also lay some blame on his brother, for hiding his magic book somewhere any Nordic could find it. His Old Norse was a little rusty, but he managed to understand enough of Norway’s spell book. He was immediately interested in the section on shapeshifting, particularly one that granted the sorcerer whatever form they desired.

After checking with Troll to make sure that even if he messed up, it’d be reversible, he decided to go ahead and try it.

He wanted to be a puffin! Just for a little bit.

He most certainly was not a puffin. He stared in the mirror, the foreign hand brushing brown hair out of brown eyes. Leon’s eyes.

Why was this his life?

Chapter Text

Hong Kong refused to ask England to help.

Iceland refused to ask Norway for assistance.

Romania smiled at the two teenagers as soon as they finished explaining, remembering the embarrassment of his first spell gone wrong,”I’ll see what I can do.”He rose, stretching,”And I won’t tell the others.”

They both slumped, relieved,”Thank you, Mr. Romania.”Iceland in Hong Kong’s body managed.

He shook his head at the level of respect. Ha, it had been a while since someone called him Mr. Romania. He went to his bookshelf to retrieve the proper book, inwardly congratulating his friend. Norway hadn’t told him that his little brother was taking an interest in magic, but he’d been able to sense a satisfaction in him the last time they’d met up. This must have been its cause.

England had also been patching things up with his wayward brother.

Which left him the only one of the magic trio still failing epically at being a brother.

But what could he do? Aurel had rejected his offer to live together and even though he didn’t spend all his time at Russia’s house he seemed to prefer Georgi’s company over his.

The dog barked and started rubbing himself on Hong Kong in Iceland’s body’s legs. The boy patted its head,”What’s her name, sir?”

“Romania.”He looked up from the book to watch his reaction.

He had always unsettled people. He had red eyes, but he wasn’t an albino like a certain fellow former member of the Soviet Bloc. He also had that one fang left over from his time obsessing over Dracula that stuck out. He wondered how many nations still thought he was a vampire. That wasn’t even mentioning the pearl earring he wore as a tribute to Ileana Cosânzeana…he had been told he was rather eccentric in many areas.

He’d learned to enjoy the confusion his eccentricities caused.

Ah, how much fun this was when Bulgaria wasn’t there to ruin his image with his cheerfulness.

“Sir?”Hong Kong looked puzzled,”You named a female dog after yourself?”

“It’s not my dog.”He wondered when Hungary would realize he had taken her. He always had a little time after he did something like this before she realized it was him and not Prussia messing with her.

“…okay?”The Asian soul went back to petting it.

“So…”He pretended to read. He already knew the answer but he wanted to make them wait a bit,”You told me what happened, but why?”

Iceland blushed, and muttered something. Hong Kong’s head snapped up,”No way, really?”

“I wanted to be a puffin.”The larger of the two islands crossed his arms defensively.

“No shame in that.”His grin grew,”Besides, at least you messed up this way. I transformed into a bat and it took a week to figure out how to communicate that to Bulgaria.”

Good times. Or not so good times. They’d both been under Ottoman rule at the time, and while he had respect for Turkey he couldn’t say he didn’t harbor some resentment from being his underling. But a long time had passed since the Russo-Turkish War and he was his own nation, part of the European Union and NATO. Granted, he was one of the worst countries in both those groups.

But at least he wasn’t alone at the bottom. He’d always have Bulgaria.

“It’s normal to mess up in magic.”He assured the teen when he didn’t smile,”Between semantics, intent, and random magical creature interference, it’s difficult to get things right.”

“Really?”Iceland looked at him, the brown eyes he currently had looking for reassurance.

Why couldn’t Moldova come to him like that?

Oh, right, because compared to Russia he was a gigantic failure.

“Really.”That earned him a small smile,”England still summons Russia every time he tries to get a demon, and Norway still hasn’t managed to come up with a spell to put together IKEA furniture for him. And they’ve had centuries more practice than you.”

“What did I do wrong?”Norway’s little brother asked.

Romania waited a moment. He was glad he wasn’t either of their brothers, as he would not want to talk about this to his sibling. He would do it as a friend though. He looked at the currently silver haired one,”Can you take Romania outside?”

Purple eyes narrowed, before swinging to his friend,”You’ll tell me everything.”It wasn’t a request, but the brunet nodded. The one without magical abilities left, the dog following on his heels.

“Sir?”Iceland asked.

“Magic sees a difference between want and desire.”He set the book to the side,”Desire is deeper than a passing fancy, it’s a longing in your soul.”He was kinda amused the kid didn’t figure this out himself, but Norway had always been emotionally repressed why would his little brother be any better,”Some part of you desires Hong Kong, and that part overcame any intentions you had.”

Brown eyes widened,”I’m not…I don’t…we’re friends.”

“Apparently you want more.”The eastern European nation shrugged,”Congratulations, a lot of people don’t get an obvious sign like this.”

“How is this an obvious sign of anything?”Iceland scowled.

“If Hong Kong didn’t desire you as well we would have two Hong Kongs.”He wondered which magical creature had interfered to extend the enchantment.

His blush deepened,”How do we switch back?”

“Fairy tales are fairy tales for a reason.”He tapped his little hat,”Kiss the boy.”

“Not an option.”He muttered, blushing further.

“Then it’ll wear off in a few weeks.”Romania thought it would, at least. He had no idea how much power Iceland had,”And Norway will find out as soon as Hong Kong doesn’t see magical creatures. I don’t think China will like it either that his little brother was affected by magic. Especially since he associates magic with England and-“

“I get it.”The other European sighed.

“Then I offer my congratulations again.”He smiled.

“…thanks.”

“ROMANIA!”He heard the distant scream.

Yay, more visitors. Hong Kong came sprinting back in with dog-Romania in his arms,”Miss Hungary is here.”

“That would be the owner of Romania.”He rose from his seat to take her,”If you don’t want anyone to figure out, you better get your act together.”

“Why do you have Hungary’s dog?”Iceland frowned.

“She named it after me.”The dog liked his face,”I think that entitles me to some bonding time.”

He so loved annoying Hungary. He cuddled the dog closer as she came storming into the room,”Elizabeta.”He patted dog-Romania’s head,”What a surprise.”

“You red-eyed demon.”She glared at him.

He looked around,”Hm? I don’t see Prussia anywhere.”

“Stop stealing my dog, Twilight wannabe.”She came over to take dog-Romania away from him.

He checked his watch,”Three hours. What took you so long, Liz? Waiting for your dick to grow out?”

Her glare got angrier,“Are you ever going to let that go?”

It wasn’t everyday your guy friend asked you when their penis was going to grow and you realize they aren’t male. He grinned,”That gem? Never.”He ignored his other guests’ confusion,”But seriously. The record was an hour and half and that’s because Prussia knew you were coming and ran. I was almost worried.”

“Almost.”She huffed, before smiling,”Austria and I were out for lunch.”She turned to the other two,”Hong Kong? Iceland? What are you two doing here?”

“Iceland’s been trying to learn more about magic.”Romania explained easily, noting the silent discussion they were still having,”For Norway.”

That made her expression soften more,”Aw. That’s sweet.”

And technically not a lie. Hong Kong managed a passable reaction,”Don’t say it like that.”

She giggled,”I wish I had a younger sibling.”She sighed wistfully, then seemed to think about something,”Speaking of younger siblings, a bunch of us were planning to go to Disneyland together.”

“Is that an invitation?”He gasped.

“Yes.”She pointed at him,”If you bring your better half and little Moldova.”

“I am the better half.”He pretended to be insulted, then laughed,”But I’ll ask Georgi. Who else is coming?”

“Is this another one of the America things?”Hong Kong frowned, rubbing where Iceland had elbowed him.

“It is.”She arched an eyebrow at them,”Your family’s already agreed to come.”

Romania made a kissy face at him when she wasn’t looking. He got a glare in return.

Magic kept giving him more and more entertainment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Canada had never seen Hong Kong look so uncomfortable. He kept fiddling with the cuffs of his sleeves, and he was slouching more than he’d seen him do before. The second largest nation sent a glance towards Australia and America, wondering if they had noticed anything off as well. His twin met his gaze and raised his eyebrows. He sighed,”Everything alright, Leon?”

He didn’t react to his question. He just kept staring at the table.

“Leon?”Australia leaned closer to him,”Hong Kong!”

His head snapped up, eyes confused,”Sorry.”He mumbled.

Canada frowned. The former British island was normally on the quiet side, but when he did speak his voice was always steady. At his frown, the Chinese province blushed. Another unusual reaction from the typically stoic teen.

Had something changed? Was something wrong? He didn’t seem distressed, just uncomfortable. Though something had to be off it he could read him at all.

Alfred rolled his eyes,”Don’t apologize, dude, you’re not Mattie.”

He narrowed his eyes at his twin, because sensitivity, before plastering on a smile,”It’s okay, Leon. Is something bothering you?”

He just blushed,”It’s nothing, Canada.”

“It’s Matthew.”He corrected gently,”And it’s obviously something.”

He looked a few seconds away from panicking when Alfred laughed,”Don’t tell me you’re still stressing about that email, man. I told you I’d come up with a better plan.”

“What email?”Jack asked.

“What plan?”Matthew inquired at the same time.

“Is it alright if I tell them?”The superpower grinned at the younger teen.

“Yes?”He didn’t sound certain.

“Our boy here asked me for help getting his Iceman.”Hong Kong froze, but at least he seemed more aware of what was happening,”Didn’t agree with my first plan so I’ve been trying to come up with a second since I’m getting to know Icey better.”

That would explain the odd behavior,”Did something happen with Iceland?”

“…sort of.”Leon groaned,”I don’t know. Yes?”

“Such a clear answer.”Jack chuckled,”I never thought I’d see you flustered.”

The Chinese province just put his head on his folded arms and made a pitiful noise. Alfred and Jack both started laughing, and he just patted the youngest of them on the back,”Do you want to talk about it?”

“He likes me.”He said into his arms like it was the end of the world.

“And you like him.”Alfred leaned back,”You don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to, buddy. I thought from your email you were more comfortable with your feelings.”

Canada smiled,”Don’t stress yourself out about it.”

“I should do something though.”Leon said.

“Not if you don’t want to.”The superpower repeated confidently.

The northernmost of them looked to his twin. Francis had told him of the current situation, and while he knew his brother was starting to want a relationship, they still weren’t sure about where Romano was. Spain told them he hadn’t gotten anywhere in his discussion with the Italian, but Prussia claimed he was considering it. The ex-nation was confident Romano would come around.

But he was confident about a lot of things, so he had his reservations about trusting his word.

“No.”His head came up,”I’ve got a…deadline, I guess you could call it that.”

“I can’t imagine Icey giving a deadline.”Alfred frowned,”I can talk to Den-“

“No.”Leon shook his head frantically,”That’s not the right word. There’s just…something going on and it’s time sensitive and I don’t know what to do.”He covered his face again,”I don’t want to ruin our friendship.”

“You won’t, mate.”Jack assured him,”I mean, did ya see the success rate Alfred had? If he’s sure it’s gonna be fine you should try it.”

Canada rolled his eyes, but silently agreed,”You should do something about it.”

There was a long moment where Leon stared at his hands, before he nodded,”I will.”That sounded more like the Leon he knew. The younger teen stood,”Is it alright if I go?”

“Get your Iceman.”Alfred encouraged while Jack whooped.

The quieter of the three of them just smiled and nodded, hoping he would go back to normal once whatever it was got settled. The last thing they needed was China and England to go into overprotective mode and somehow come up with completely opposite plans to help Hong Kong. He stirred milk into his tea,”Did he really email you?”

“A few nations have.”The superpower shrugged,”I didn’t want to mess up so I originally stuck to the nations I was closer to. It’s mostly just me giving encouragement, but some have asked for plans.”

“Such as…?”Australia raised his eyebrows.

Alfred laughed,”You’ll just have to wait and see.”He drank his own tea and shuddered,”Dudes, can we stop adding milk to our tea?”

“Drink your tea.”Canada scolded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sweden stared at Iceland.

There were times when the teen felt overwhelmed. That was when he would come to him because he was quiet. It had been that way since he was little. If he was especially confused by what was going on he would find him and they would sit in silence. He never pressed him for answers, just let him be until he thought through whatever he needed to. They all needed that from time to time.

“Something’s wrong.”Tino whispered.

“Hm.”He agreed. Iceland was rarely that expressionless, especially if he was brooding. It made him look more like his brother.

His love bit his lip,”I have a meeting with Estonia…can you handle this?”

“Yes.”If anyone knew how taxing it was to put up with Denmark, it was him, and most of Emil's problems came from the Dane or his brother. He leaned down to kiss Tino on the cheek,”Have a good meeting.”

“Good luck.”He beamed, before throwing his jacket on and leaving.

He moved around the kitchen, feeling the island nation’s gaze on his back. He decided to make hot chocolate to pass the time. Emil would typically say something before a half hour passed, and they were approaching twenty minutes. The staring was uncommon, but it was what he saw in his eyes that worried him. He saw the intimidation there, the same intimidation that many nations felt around him.

He set down the mug in front of the other,”Thanks, Sweden.”

Sweden? He hadn’t been Sweden in ages. It was almost always Sve or Ber. It had also been seven of these occasions since the last time he was thanked for providing beverages.

“No problem.”He decided not to ask those questions.

They fell back into what should have been a comfortable silence, but the teen was uneasy. His face didn’t give away anything, but the way he minutely shifted in his seat did. The fear increased, and it saddened him. Emil shouldn’t be scared of him, not after all this time. The boy didn’t drink,”Are we just going to sit here in silence?”

“Unless you want to talk.”Silence was normal for them. If he wanted someone who would fill the silence, Dan was always ready to do that.

The silver haired teen opened his mouth, before shaking his head.

He shrugged,”Silence it is.”

The silence only lasted a few minutes. Emil sighed,”How did you know you were in love with Finland?”

He blinked, surprised at the question and at the use of Finland instead of Tino or Fin. Iceland would always shy away from the topic of romance, his own or others. He took a moment to prepare his answer,”I just knew.”

An unsatisfactory answer would normally have Iceland rolling his eyes and muttering how he wasn’t funny or cool. Instead, there was only a small frown,”How though?”

“When I see Tino, I see someone I want to have by my side my entire life.”

It hadn’t always been like that. The first time he had met Finland he was young, sent by his king to accompany their men on a crusade of the pagan Finns. He remembered the way the other personification had been scared of him and run away. Even back then, he was the cutest person he had ever met. They didn’t speak until the second set of crusades his kingdom went on in Finland.

He had given the other personification a rosary then, one he had carved himself and had blessed. The beads were small and he’d almost broken it from how delicate he’d tried to make it. Small and delicate, like he had foolishly thought Finland to be back then.

He’d seen Tino still pray over it when times were dark.

The third crusades had the other personification finally living with him. Right in time for the formation of the Kalmar Union. Finland had not gone on many of the expeditions with himself, Norway, and Denmark, and he was not able to overcome his own shyness when they were all home. Finland was still there with a warm smile and supportive words; he just didn’t return them.

After he snapped at the foolish Dane, he knew he couldn’t leave Tino behind. So he’d gone and asked him to run away with him.

To his surprise, even up to modern times, Finland had.

That night, when they slept next to each other under the stars, he wanted the Fin to stay by his side forever. He waited patiently for Tino to get used to him being there, watched the apprehension turn to comfort, nervous chattering smoothing into actual conversation.

And one day, long after all the drama had unfolded, Finland had told him he wanted him back by his side.

“Oh.”Emil took a sip,”And you told him that?”

“I called him my wife first.”He answered,”I didn’t explain what I meant until later.”

Was their Iceland in love? He didn’t socialize much outside of their family, but he had been getting better at using his phone. Again, he wasn’t going to ask. Sometimes, the best course of action was just to listen.

There was another long silence as they drank their drinks. The teen let out a small sigh,”There’s this boy.”

“Hm.”As he suspected.

“I don’t know if he’s interested, but we’ve gotten close.”Purple eyes stared at the table, and he was surprised the teen wasn't blushing,”I don’t think I can keep not telling him, but I don’t know if I’m just imagining this because I want it to be true-“

“Icey,”He held up a hand,”Think rationally.”

“I am.”A slight scowl.

“You are letting fear make you irrational.”He waited for those purple eyes to look back up at him.

“What should I do?”The island asked.

He would not be a hypocrite,”Trust your judgment.”

At that moment, his phone rang. He didn’t fumble with it as he checked who was calling,”It’s him.”He explained before answering,”Hello?...yes…you want to meet up?”His eyes widened at him and he gave him a thumbs up. Emil swallowed,”Yes…that sounds perfect…see you then.”He hung up, letting the device fall to the table.

“A date?”Sweden asked.

“No.”He looked at him pleadingly,”What should I do?”

Iceland would never ask him what to do. He didn’t like being told what to do.

“I would settle this before Norge and Dan see how you are acting.”He advised, hoping that this crush hadn’t changed him so much that he no longer feared his brother’s worrying.

“Am I acting different?”There was a note of alarm in his voice, but he’d be too if he was in the same situation.

“Hm.”The teen got ready to go, pausing at the door.

“Thank you, Sweden.”

He’d give the teen another day to figure it out. If he wasn’t back to normal in time for their Disneyland trip, he would tell the others about the conversation.

He was rather good at keeping quiet after all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Isn’t this cute?”Romania was holding…something that was vaguely demented looking.

Bulgaria rolled his eyes,”No.”

“Hmph.”He turned to his little brother,”Aurel, do you think this is cute?”

Moldova took it and examined it,”It’s expensive.”

“I think I’m going to buy it.”The red-eyed nation declared, leaving him to pick up the child and follow.

Bulgaria was used to his strange ways by now. He found them endearing in a way no one else seemed to understand. He absentmindedly fixed the little one’s hat so that way it tilted opposite his older brother’s. He smiled at the lady across the counter, who relaxed at the sight of the two of them,”Oh? Is this your husband?”

“Fiancé.”Vlad lied. He always gave a different answer whenever anyone asked.

That seemed to make her happy,“Is that your son?”The cashier asked, handing the stuffed…whatever to Aurel.

“Little brother, actually.”The vampire-like man laughed,”I’ve got him for the day.”

The southernmost of the three of them sighed. He had tried many times to convince Romania that he was a good older brother. He was Moldova’s favorite person in the entire world. He didn’t see the way the boy’s expression would light up whenever he was in the room. He didn’t know how much the little one chattered about his big brother, and no amount of explaining seemed to work.

“You three are adorable.”She smiled, and then wished them a nice day.

Americans were weird.

He was insane for going to their personification for advice. But he’d been wanting to ask Romania and Moldova if they could all move in together since a few years after the dissolution of the USSR. They’d still have separate homes, of course, but he wanted one to be for the three of them to share. It had been a long time since he had to live alone. He hadn't really adjusted to it between the Ottoman Empire and the Warsaw Pact. Not with all the wars.

Alfred had told him to take the first opening he saw and this was it.

“You could have both of us for more than today.”He said softly as Aurel walked between them.

“What?”Vlad’s red eyes looked at him.

“I’ve been thinking for a while now…”Breath. America had told him just to get it out there and everything would be fine. He’d even provided the opportunity for them to act more like a family unit,”We could all move in together on a more permanent basis.”

“You want that?”He looked surprised,”Even if we’re the worst nations in the union?”

“At least we’re on the same level.”He grinned. So what? He was bad at comforting people. It worked for them.

“I want it!”Moldova chirped from between them.

That made Romania stop walking. The crowd parted around them as he knelt in front of his little brother,”What about Russia?”

“I can still visit him.”The little one beamed,”But I want to live with you, big brother!”

Vlad looked from the boy to him, then back, laughing,”Why didn’t you say anything?”Aurel just laughed with him, and he picked him up to place him on his shoulders,”You both are moving in as soon as we’re done here.”

He stepped closer to him,"Told you you were a good brother."

To his surprise, he grabbed his hand,"I might just believe you."

For the rest of the day, whenever anyone asked, Romania called him his boyfriend.

That was a conversation for another time.

Chapter Text

“I know how to switch us back.”

“What?”Hong Kong was still shaken by his talk with Sweden. It was like talking to Japan but a thousand times more intense. Emil had told him to go there, since he was less likely to ask questions and then notice he was not the island nation. He didn’t realize that meant they were just going to sit in silence, but he hoped that he hadn’t acted too differently when he spoke.

Still, he had been surprisingly helpful.

Someone he wanted by his side for the rest of his life, huh?

“I can switch us back.”He repeated.

“How?”He wasn’t cut out to be Iceland.

“We have to kiss.”It was weird to see himself blush.

He froze,”Alright.”He could kiss Emil. He would gladly kiss Emil, even if it would hurt to know it was just once. He looked up at him and smiled,”It doesn’t have to mean anything.”He reassured him.

“What if I want it to mean something?”His friend immediately looked away again.

“Then we can make tomorrow our first date.”He grinned, closing the distance between them, tilting his head up,”Sound good?”

To his surprise, Emil was the one who initiated the kiss. He didn’t have to think about how weird it was to be kissing himself because when he opened his eyes, he was looking into purple ones.

His soon to be boyfriend bit his lip,”So…you asked America for help?”

"Yes."

He wasn't ashamed. Though that could be South Korea finally getting to him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Romano had promised that dying potato he would consider the idiot. So he was.

He’d always thought he was going to die. They’d been rushed to unification by their bosses, and it was hardly an easy feat. He’d been excited at first. He was finally going to be truly unitied with his brother. There was no Rome to separate them, no dickbag bosses cutting their visits short. Then he realized that one of them was going to become the Italy.

And the world had practically made that decision.

It was hard to look forward to the future when he didn’t think he had one.

He shook his head. That wasn’t an issue anymore. He got what the albino jerkface had said. Grandpa Rome had been littered with scars before he fell. Scars that shouldn’t have been on a personification. Then one day he was gone, and the western part of the empire fell apart.

That wasn’t going to happen to him. He was safe. He could have a future.

But did he want to spend it with America?

He closed his eyes. Every time he asked himself what the dumbass was to him he recalled the same memory.

*Flashback*

Their nation had surrendered a year ago, but that didn’t mean the war was over for them.

The potato bastard wasn’t going to let them fall under Allied control. His brother was convinced that them being captured completely was the worst thing that could happen. He scowled as he ran through the city, their city, their heart. The order had come for the Germans to retreat, and he was hoping to find his brother and convince him not to retreat with them.

“Lovino.”A strong arm caught his, holding him in place,”What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to find my brother.”He tried to escape the grip, before turning to face the nation,”What are you doing?”

“Ignoring orders.”Alfred’s face was serious,”My troops are supposed to be cutting off the 10th army retreat-“

“They’re entering Rome.”He could sense it now, the foreign presence occupying,”You dumbass!”He had the perfect opportunity to crush his enemy’s forces. Letting them live was only going to lead to more casualties and suffering later. Yet there the Americans were, going to a city with no enemies.

America had come to him.

“I needed to find you.”The blond sighed,”You were going to run off after Veneziano.”

“You know where he is?”He demanded.

“He’s already further north than we can reach.”America shook his head,”Germany made sure to take him with him.”

And left him behind. His jaw clenched,”Then I’m going north.”He tried once again to shake off his abnormally strong hold,”You can’t fucking stop me.”

“We need you, Lovino.”Alfred didn’t go for his gun. Neither did he.

“My idiot brother needs me.”He hissed,”Just like you should be fighting with yours.”

He closed his eyes,”Veneziano’s made his own choices.”He opened them, and his eyes were somehow colder,”You’ve never liked Germany. Stop siding with him.”

“It’s not that fucking simple, dumbass.”The surrendered nation growled. He'd never trust any potato bastard alone with his brother, not after what Germania did to his grandfather,”I’m not going to fight against my brother.”

“Your people are already fighting each other.”Alfred said,”If a personification was supporting them, they might get somewhere. I know he’s your brother, but you know he’s doing the wrong thing. Sometimes, you have to do what’s right even if it hurts the ones you love.”

Romano froze. He couldn’t call the idiot a liar. He couldn’t say he didn’t know what he was going through. America had thought independence was the right path for his people and so he fought against the man who had raised him and his twin brother. Alfred had mentioned Yorktown once, where he’d received a message from England asking if they could meet alone to talk.

Eyebrows had come alone. America brought a battalion with him because he needed the reminder of what he was fighting and what he was fighting for.

He wasn’t fighting Arthur; he was fighting British suppression.

He wasn’t fighting to hurt his brother; he was fighting for his people.

The Italian slowly relaxed, his anger at the dumbass fading.

He wouldn’t be fighting Veneziano; he would be fighting fascism.

He wouldn’t be fighting because he wanted to harm his brother; he would be fighting because he wanted to free his people. Their people, because he wasn’t the one blinded by love. He had to make the decision to save them, just as his brother made the decision to ally them.

America’s hands slid to his shoulders as he met his gaze again,”I promise he’ll forgive you. Trust me.”

He did. Alfred was an idiot, but he was an honest idiot. He looked away,”I better not regret this, dumbass.”

He couldn’t believe he had to be reminded that he had people depending on him and by the dumbass of all people.

That was the day the American captured his heart.

*End Flashback*

He swirled his wine around in his glass, contemplating. Another one of his worries had been that Alfred only liked him because he was the only one around. Proximity, or whatever the psychological term for it was. Of course the idiot would like him when he didn’t have anyone else. Yet even when everyone was clambering for the attention of the new superpower, even in the budding days of the United Nations, Alfred had sought his company.

Even now, when his family and friends were showing they actually gave a damn about more than his usefulness, he’d still text him, he still wanted him around.

There didn’t use to be a choice for Alfred. It was him or no one. That he still chose him when he had other options…

It meant more to him than he was willing to admit.

Romano chose to spend time with the idiot over his brother and the other idiot Antonio. He knew what his choice was. He was still trying to believe that he was Alfred’s choice as well. He was always annoyed and angry. He’d only seen the American angry once, and then he’d been angry more at himself than who he should have been angry at.

*Flashback*

He stared at the wreckage of Pearl Harbor because his friend was staring at it. Four days had passed since Japan had attacked Alfred. Three days had passed since the blond had declared war on the island nation. He stood by his side, not wanting to be the bearer of bad news but knowing that he deserved to hear their own declaration in person. It would be their last chance to talk as friends.

“This wasn’t what I wanted.”Alfred finally broke the silence, his voice low and filled with quiet rage.

“This wasn’t your fault.”He snapped back, because like fuck he was going to let the idiot blame himself for this,”That ninja bastard was an idiot to attack you.”

America was trying to be neutral in the war. Sure, he was doing a shit job of it, but no one expected him to completely ignore his brother’s suffering. Just like he couldn’t ignore China’s either. Still, he had every opportunity to strike first with military action, and he hesitated. He tried to deter the empire with embargoes. He gave them every possible warning.

“I should have declared war a long time ago.”Alfred crossed his arms, and sighed,”I probably would have, even if he didn’t attack. This was a success on his part.”

“A success we’ll pay for once you recover.”Lovino muttered,”I don’t want to fight you, dumbass.”

“Does it matter what we want?”The taller man scowled, then shook his head,”For what it’s worth, I don’t want to fight you either.”

He managed a pitiful attempt at a smile. That meant a lot. He looked away,”I’m sorry, Alfred.”

“Don’t apologize for your allies.”His friend scolded,”This might not have happened at all if I had just joined the League-“

“Stop right there, dumbass.”He cut him off,”The League was flawed from the fucking start and not even you could have fixed that.”

“Still…”He trailed off,”Once this is over, we need something like that again. We can’t keep letting this cycle of total war continue, not if we want a world left to continue living in.”

“You think this will end?”Romano shook his head. He hadn’t seen what the battlefields were like yet. He had no idea what was going on behind enemy lines. They had truly entered hell, and he wasn’t sure the devil would ever let them go.

“I know it will end.”There was his confident optimism.

“And then what?”He humored the idiot.

“The world will unite.”He smiled softly,”My boss was thinking about coining the term United Nations.”

“United nations, huh?”Sounded like a knock off League of Nations, but some part of him liked it. A part of him hoped for it,”Sounds like a dream.”

*End Flashback*

Romano set down his wine glass and began pacing. That dream had become reality, and he’d watched as his friend stepped forward to be the new world power. He watched as his power was challenged by his old love. He had stood by his side, knowing their friendship could be so much more than friendship, but his friend had lost so much. He didn’t want them to start something only for him to fade and add to that loss.

That wasn’t the issue anymore.

The only thing stopping them now was Alfred’s belief that he didn’t want a relationship with anyone. Because the idiot respected his decisions he would never do anything, and dammit that made him admire the dumbass more. He moved to the kitchen to make himself some carbonara. The dish he had come to associate as theirs.

He was screwed.

Alfred had held his heart in his hands, and instead of crushing them he had helped them rebuild. He was the strongest military power in the world, yet he didn’t become an empire. He didn’t have an insane side to his personality like Spain or Russia. He messed up, they all did, but he typically messed up with good intentions. He was an idiot through and through.

But he was his idiot if he had anything to say about it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Something was bothering Lovino.

America had noticed that from the moment they split off into their groups. He was glad to be with Germany and Veneziano instead of his own family. France had been getting extra insistent lately on his nonexistent relationship with the Southern Italian, and it was beginning to get frustrating. It wasn’t like he was lying anymore about what he felt for the man, but it wasn’t going to be returned.

He’d been trying to let go of his feelings ever since.

He was failing. Miserably.

“You okay?”He asked as they followed the couple.

“Shut up.”That was Lovino for no.

“Come on.”He nudged him with his shoulder,”We’re in the happiest place on Earth.”

“For children.”He smirked,”So I guess you’re pretty fucking happy.”

“I’m gonna ignore that cause I am happy.”America beamed,”Disneyland’s always more fun with friends.”It was even better with Lovino there.

“The potato bastard isn’t my friend.”The smirk slipped back to a scowl.

“But I am.”He raised his eyebrows, waiting for him to at least stop scowling. The Italian did, but he turned away as if embarrassed. He felt his smile fade a little, before he put a hand on his arm,”Seriously, what’s bothering you?”

“It’s nothing, Alfred.”He picked up his pace, slipping out of his grip as he joined his brother. He took his place on the opposite end of the line they formed, falling in step next to Germany. He could normally brush off his friend’s rude behavior, but he was certain something was wrong, and if Lovino wasn’t telling him that meant it was probably something he had done.

“How are you not sweating?”Germany grumbled, already having stripped down to his tank top.

“You think this is hot?”He grinned,”Be glad I chose Disneyland and not Disneyworld. That place is hotter and has humidity.”

“I like it.”Italy smiled,”And if it’s too hot we can get you ice cream, Ludwig.”

They went on rides, ignored England when they heard him shouting that it shouldn’t be cotton candy it should be candy floss, and then tried to find Norway when they found Denmark and Prussia left unsupervised. It turned out he was with Iceland, who was determined to reach a level that wasn’t space cadet on the Buzz Lightyear ride. He still couldn’t believe how bad his aim was.

He didn’t mean to brag, but he was a Galactic Hero.

“Why do I suck so much?”Iceland complained as they got lunch.

“I don’t know.”Prussia grinned,”I feel like you should ask your boyfriend that.”

America high fived him while Germany smacked his face,”Gilbert…”

“He walked right into that one.”Denmark chuckled,”And Tino offered to teach you and you refused.”

“He’s insane.”Iceland muttered,”How can you not see that?”

“I can give you some pointers.”Germany offered,”Feli managed to make Planetary Pilot.”

Knowing that he was worse than Italy only seemed to make him more upset. Matthias held out his turkey leg,”We never thought you were going to get in a fight without us or we would have trained you.”

“Practice makes perfect.”Alfred offered,”If you just ask your police force they’ll let you practice with them. They have shooting competitions and everything.”It had been fun, the one time he had competed with them.

“Why do you know that?”Iceland asked.

“I am in charge of your defense, even if I don’t visit that often.”He took a bite out of his pretzel,”Plus, a bunch of gun control and police reform groups love to send me information about how other countries operate.”He leaned forward,”Personally, Gilbert’s training kicked my ass into shape.”He fist bumped the albino,”Ten out of ten would recommend to a friend.”

“He’s even more insane than Tino.”The younger teenager sighed,”No offense.”

“None taken.”Prussia rolled his eyes,”Prepare for the asskicking of a lifetime, Ice Ice Baby.”

Iceland groaned, and Norway patted him on the back,”This will be good for you.”The younger burrowed his head into his arms, while the former Viking looked to the former Teutonic knight,”If he avoids it, he hides at Berwald’s house. Wang doesn’t let him spend the night.”

“Brother!”Iceland protested.

“Any potato bastard training is going to kill you.”Lovino cackled.

“You never came to training.”Germany rolled his eyes.

“I didn’t need training.”Alfred met his gaze across the table, and he averted his gaze like he was medusa. He fought the urge to pout.

“Something wrong in paradise?”Gilbert whispered.

“You and Francis are the worst.”He replied.

“I’m not hearing a no.”He took an obnoxiously large bite out of his turkey leg.

“We aren’t together.”He rolled his eyes,”He doesn’t want a relationship, and I respect that.”

“Where did Francis and I go wrong?”

He elbowed the albino, who snickered. Lovino arched an eyebrow at him, and he just smiled. That made him avert his gaze again. He sighed,”What did you do that made him embarrassed?”The Italian didn’t get embarrassed like a normal person. He just got angry when he was embarrassed. The blushing was…weird. It was cute, don’t get him wrong, but he was more concerned than endeared.

“I got him to consider you in a romantic sense.”Gilbert told him in a tone that was too similar to Francis,”I bet he’s imagining you-“

“Gonna stop you right there.”He shoved his face into the turkey leg.

Francis had sent Gilbert to talk to Lovino? He’d thought they would send Spain and Spain would epically fail to make a difference in their situation. They were quickly absorbed right back into the table conversation, and he got Germany and the Italians as far away as he could from the other quartet soon after. California Adventure sold alcohol, and that was where Matthias and Gilbert were planning to go.

Them drunk in Disneyland was how they got banned the first time.

Not that he was going to tell Germany about that. It was Iceland’s problem now.

Gilbert was overconfident about a lot of things, but if he was lying for his own amusement he wouldn’t have whispered it. Which meant he actually believed he got through to Lovino. Out of the people the Italian interacted with, there was a chance that he would listen to the albino. He tried not to get his hopes up, but if Lovino was thinking about him that way, that would explain his embarrassment.

Italy wanted to go up in the Ferris wheel with just Germany.

That left the two of them alone in a swinging one. The couple got on the one before them, giving them the next nine minutes alone.

It was the first time they’d been truly alone all day.

And they were back to blushing and avoidant Lovino. He sighed, looking out over the amusement park,”Whatever Gil said to you…you can just ignore it if it’s making you uncomfortable around me. You don’t have to change for anyone.”

He liked the the Mediterranean nation as he was. Flaws and all.

“Why do you have to say shit like that?”The Italian snapped,”You’re just making it worse.”

“Making what worse?”He turned back to him.

“Feelings.”Lovino crossed his arms,”I like you.”

“I like you too.”He fought the sinking feeling in his heart. They’d gone to war against each other, but they had never actually hurt each other. He kept his smile on his face as he added the next part,”But you don’t want a relationship.”

The red of his face was getting close to explosion levels. He rose off the little bench,”That’s the problem.”No yelling, surprising,”I might want a relationship.”

“Really?”He winced at the eagerness in his own voice.

“Is that so surprising, dumbass?”He crossed his arms, looking down at him.

“In all honesty, yes.”He smiled slightly,”What happened to everyone being scum?”

“You’re…decent.”

“High praise.”

“Oh shut up.”Their gondola swung as they moved around the circle, and he stumbled back onto his bench,”You like me too. What happened to being forever alone?”

“You willing to date the world’s superpower?”His smile widened.

“You think too highly of yourself.”Lovino scoffed,”I’ll be dating Alfred F. Jones.”

“Is that your weird way of asking me out?”His face was almost hurting from how wide he was smiling.

“How the fuck would you do it?”

That was a challenge.

He barely had to think about it before he was kneeling,”We’re in the happiest place on Earth.”He took his hands in his, watching his scowl soften into confusion,”Would you make me the happiest man on Earth by being my boyfriend?”

A pause,“That was corny as hell.”But he was smiling.

“Not an answer.”He kissed the back of one of his hands.

Lovino laughed,”Yes, you dumbass.”

He didn’t kiss him on the Ferris wheel. No, he waited until they were sitting on Main Street, watching the fire work show light up the night sky. Their first kiss wasn’t going to be an accident.

It was everything he was expecting and more.

And if he could hear France whistling somewhere in the background, he ignored it.

Chapter Text

Netherlands was prepared to kick Spain’s ass. The day that his sister asked him out, he found his old sword and prepared for the inevitable. He was banned from threatening the airhead, but he wasn’t going there to threaten him. The couple had finally had their first fight, and that meant he was allowed to just go there and fight him for making his little sister upset.

He spared half a moment to think about if he was ready to fight the man. Antonio was still strong, and if he was in a bad mood challenging him to a fight could bring out the conquistador side of his personality.

It would be good to have backup.

“You want me to what?”Portugal stood there, shirtless. Why did the Mediterranean nations insist on not wearing most articles of clothing when home?

“Help me kick Spain’s ass.”He didn’t like repeating himself, but he could trust Spain’s brother to have his back in a fight, and that was more than he could say for a lot of nations.

The laid back nation nodded,”…can I know why?”

“He upset Emma.”He said shortly.

“Ah.”The Iberian nation turned around to walk into his house. He ignored the mess, and tried not to wince when he picked a shirt off the back of his couch and pulled it on,”You know it’s normal for people in relationships to fight, right?”He stared blankly at his friend, who just sighed, then laughed,”Oh, right, you’ve never had a serious relationship before, huh?”

“Too expensive.”He rolled his eyes.

Miguel just kept laughing, summoning his own sword,”What if they offered to pay for you?”

“I don’t like being indebted.”Netherlands watched him practice a few strokes.

He didn’t want to waste his money on a human when the relationship would only last a few years at best. Relationships between nations were trickier. He didn’t want to risk business or tourism going down because of a bad separation. He didn’t think he would make the best boyfriend either.

Austria, who was normally as cautious with his money as himself, had hosted a party for Hungary. An unnecessary waste, just for another’s happiness.

He couldn’t see himself doing that for anyone. He also wasn’t the most expressive of men. Coupled together made him altogether an undesirable partner. Or he’d need someone who didn’t need much as far as physical and emotional displays of affection went.

It would make his sister happy if he had a constant source of company. She worried that he was too focused on his work, which he didn’t believe was possible. He suspected that dating someone would cause an increase in tourism…but he was still waiting on the data for that.

“So am I going to be compensated for helping you?”Portugal grinned.

“If you’re going to ask that you’re disinvited.”He replied.

“Fine, fine.”The Iberian slid the sword into his belt,”Let’s go kick Antonio while he’s down.”

That brought a ghost of a smile to his face, and he nodded. Maybe he would clean up Miguel’s house after this was done. He liked cleaning, and the mess in his house wasn’t nearly as bad as he remembered Romano’s room being. If he worked hard through the afternoon he would basically finish it all. Or he could do nothing and his friend wouldn’t expect anything.

He’d always liked that about Portugal. He was too care free to remember when someone owed him something, but he wasn’t a pushover. He remembered their war back when he had made his go at becoming an empire. He’d been upset, but he hadn’t held a grudge. He didn’t take it personally, which he appreciated with the amount of personifications that did take things personally.

Business was business.

The journey to Spain’s house didn’t take that long. They found him sitting on his back porch with France. Both rose at the sight of them and their weapons.

Portugal chuckled,”What’s that saying of yours, Francis? Déjà vu?”He held up his sword,”This is just like the War of the Oranges all over again.”

“Except you are here with the Netherlands.”France smirked, summoning his rapier,”Instead of alone.”

Spain reached out a hand and his battle axe materialized. His smile was suspiciously absent, and he prepared himself to fight conquistador Spain. Personally, he had never had to, but he’d seen it when they lived together and Spain fought England or squashed rebellion within his empire.

The spiky haired man focused on his former superior,”I never got to warn you, but you should have known you’d be facing me if you upset Emma.”

“I messed up.”Antonio growled,”But I don’t want to hear that from you.”

“I’ll take Francis, you handle Toni?”Miguel muttered, and he nodded.

They separated to give each other the room they needed to maneuver. He was glad it was Spain he was fighting, and not a nation that preferred modern weapons as their personal defense. Dodging bullets was never fun. Not that dodging an axe was all that better, but at least he could block it with his blade. He winced as the impact jarred his shoulder.

Snapped Spain was stronger than normal Spain.

“Tougher than you expected, amigo?”Antonio smirked darkly.

He forced his expression to clear, before sliding into a firmer stance and pushing him back, swinging his blade around as he did so the flat of it smacked Spain’s side. The man just growled and came at him with more anger. He marveled that his sister had this much effect on the Iberian nation. He bit his lip to muffle his cry of pain when the pole of the axe collided with his head.

Then a gunshot rang and they broke away from each other.

“What the fuck are you doing?!”Romano demanded, as America broke up the fight between France and Portugal. It was almost pathetically easy for the superpower, but the Italian kept his gun trailed on the two of them.

Neither of them were in a talkative mood.

“Put your damned weapons away.”His scowl deepened,”If you’re not going to explain, at least do that.”

“Shut up.”Spain snapped at the younger man,”I don’t want to be lectured by you.”

That was right. Romano had always been shielded from the dark side of Spain. The Italian scowled and moved to try and punch his former boss. The Dutch man was ready to let go of his weapon and intervene, but America reached him first.

He slid in between the two of them,”Snap out of it, Toni. I know you’re pissed, but taking it out on us isn’t going to make anything better.”

Netherlands put his sword away. Considering the Monroe Doctrine and his own war against Spain, he knew that America could handle this.

“We’ve got this, Holland.”The superpower looked at him,”Francis managed to cut Portugal, want to help him?”

He nodded. Conquistador Spain didn’t listen to anything but action. If he wasn’t going to be able to fight him, there was no point to him being there. He strode over to where Miguel was standing, his hand trying and failing to stem the flow of blood coming from his arm. He frowned. This meant he definitely owed his friend something.

“Your shirt is ruined.”The tulip lover tore the sleeve off.

“Maybe I’d have been better off coming shirtless.”Miguel smiled as he accepted medical supplies from France, who then went to assist his friends. The western Iberian nation kept smiling, even as he cleaned the cut,”Probably would have distracted France as well.”

“How could you let France hurt you?”He murmured.

“I got distracted when Toni hit your head.”He tied the bandage a little too tight when he heard that.

“You should have focused on your own fight.”Netherlands said, trying to decide whether to feel guilty or angry. He hadn’t watched out for his friend because he had confidence in his ability to handle himself. He was slightly irritated that his confidence wasn’t returned, but that didn’t change that his own injury led to Miguel’s,”I’m sorry.”

“You can always make it up to me with dinner.”Portugal laughed.

“If that’s what you want.”The blond replied.

“It’s a date then.”

Date? He blinked, before deciding his friend didn’t mean it in any romantic sense.

America took one look at him when he came with a clean shirt, sighed, and put a hand on his shoulder,”He means it romantically.”

Oh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All it took was a good slap from America and he was back in his normal state of mind. Spain apologized to his brother, who waved it aside and then dragged a somewhat subdued Netherlands back to wherever they were going. He’d called Emma and apologized profusely until she agreed to breakfast the next day.

He knew he wasn’t the best when it came to remembering things. If he was a human, he’d be that one guy that always showed up half an hour late to everything. Since he was a personification, he was even worse when it came to timing. He didn’t mean to stand her up on one of their dates and, in hindsight, his apology almost made it seem like the date hadn’t mattered to him.

He understood that. Now.

Which meant he could get back to the real reason he was having his friends over.

Well…friends and England. He had never forgiven the pirate for sinking his armada.

America groaned as his phone rang again,”Looks like I can’t stay long.”He smiled apologetically,”Duty calls.”He quickly kissed Romano,”I’ll try to remember the time difference this time.”

“You better.”His former subordinate tried for a scowl, but he couldn’t manage it.

Ah, young love. How he’d always hoped someone would bring a smile like that to his little tomato’s face.

Even if it made him sort of in laws with the black sheep of Europe.

He shook his head. That was not the matter he wanted to have settled today. Francis set down his wine glass,”So…Romano-“

“Whatever you’re about to say,”The Italian glared,”You better not fucking say it.”

“Relax.”Gilbert chuckled,”It’s not perverted. For once.”

The longer haired nation rolled his eyes at their albino,”Now that you are dating our Alfred, perhaps you can answer this.”He leaned forward,”What does the F in his name stand for?”

Lovino frowned,”How the fuck do you not know that?”

“I gave him the name Alfred.”England crossed his arms,”He changed his last name to Jones after Yorktown, but I haven’t the faintest idea where the F came from.”

“He told us it meant Freedom,”France huffed,”When I mentioned that to the second Bush, he was surprised. I did not manage to learn what it truly means…”

“But we know he lied.”Gilbert slung an arm over the back of the couch to face the Italian better,”So we started a little bet. Brat has a habit of renaming things after the people who helped his nation, and we figured the F is a tribute to one of us.”He smirked,”My guess is that it’s Frederick or Friedrich.”

The Gallic nation snorted,”It is Francis, bien sur.”

Spain shook his head,”Va a ser Fernando.”

There was always a chance. He thought he had pretty good odds. Most of the nations that made up the rest of the Americas spoke Spanish, and had belonged to him at the time. He had given the younger nation supplies and support when he needed it. Yes, he had done so mostly to make England angry, but so had the rest of them, with maybe the exception of Prussia.

He realized their mistake the second Lovino’s expression darkened.

The Italian moved away from Gilbert,”I can tell you one of you is right.”

Oh no. He pouted,”Lovi…”

“Don’t Lovi me.”Romano huffed,”I might be persuaded to tell you…for a price.”

Oh no. This wasn’t worth it.

Except it was. He so wanted to be right.

It had been far too long since he won one of their bets.

“What price?”Gilbert leaned forward.

The smirk faded into something more serious. The Italian frowned as he thought something over, before his crossed his arms,”Eyebrows, Pervert, Bastard…”He closed his eyes and let out a long sigh,”Information for information. What can you tell me about his mom?”

Spain physically recoiled from the question. England sat down. France downed the rest of his wine, then started drinking from the bottle.

“America has a mom?”Prussia asked quietly.

“Had.”The island nation corrected.

“Native America.”Francis pushed back his hair,”Hehewuti.”

Warrior mother spirit.

“Hehewuti.”Romano repeated.

Spain had only met her twice when he’d been exploring what would become Florida. He was more familiar with Aztec and Inca, both of whom he had ended up killing. Francis was the only one of the three of them that had spent any meaningful time with her, and even he had fought with her a lot. He’d never asked England about her…none of them liked thinking back to what their people had done.

His own mother, Hispania, had been cut down by the Roman Empire. France and England had lost Gaul and Britannia respectively in the same manner. Germania had faded over time with the appearance of his replacements, Prussia was there for his final goodbye.

For all the joy the world could bring, it was also a cruel place.

“Alfred has spoken to you about her?”The Gallic nation inquired.

Lovino scowled,”No. Canada mentioned something. I asked, but…”

“He doesn’t speak about her to anyone.”England rubbed his forehead,”It’s not just you.”

Not that they were any better. He could count the number of times he’d spoken about his mother on both hands.

There were some things that were best left in the past.

“How did she…?”Romano trailed off.

“We don’t know.”Spain sighed.

When his mother had died, her people became his people. He inherited what she left behind. For the New World…they had not had that comfort. At least Aztec and Inca had fallen in battle. They assumed the twins’ mother had died from illness, as none of his friends knew what exactly had happened to her.

“Finland might.”France offered,”He was the first of us to meet Alfred.”

“I just wanted to know if she was real.”Lovino pinched the bridge of his nose, before rising and going towards the door,”It’s Francis, by the way.”

Spain wasn’t even disappointed.

Every nation had their regrets, suffering they had caused that they’d been blind to. He shook his head. Lingering in the past never helped anyone. There was nothing he could do to change what had already been done, and it was an unsaid rule amongst nations to not apologize for actions after a certain amount of times. He had apologized, and he was certain he had been forgiven as much as he could.

He smiled, and got up to get Francis another bottle of wine,”I guess you are the winner, amigo.”

Slowly, he returned the smile,”Oui. Who else could it have been but me?”

“Still think Alfred Frederick sounds best.”Gilbert rolled his eyes.

Spain prepared himself for whatever demand Francis was going to give.

How come he never seemed to win?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Philippines wiped the sweat off her face before chugging the bottle of water she had put to the side,”How long are we going to practice?”

“Until we are perfect!”South Korea panted, leaning against the wall.

The archipelago laughed. They had a week until the dance party Yong Soo put together would happen, and he intended to challenge America to a dance off. She was fine with the extra practice. As far as modern dancing went, it was always a tossup between her, Japan, South Korea, and America for the title of the best. Though no one could quite challenge Alfred in breakdancing.

His super strength gave him an unfair advantage there.

It was the older dances that gave her friend issues. Which was why she was there. Apparently, he wanted a partner he could throw around, and no one else trusted him. To be fair, she’d been thrown across the room twice and dropped three times. Who knew Lindy hopping was so difficult? Swing wasn’t much easier, but they’d been dancing for decades. They’d get in sync eventually.

They were just that good together.

“Is this the twerking?”Turkey asked, and she knew better than to turn around.

“…No.”Japan answered politely.

“And it’s just twerking, old man.”Greece scowled.

Philippines giggled,”No fighting you two.”

South Korea liked to pretend he didn’t like Japan, but he still invited them to this practice. Japan had brought his boyfriend, who then was followed by Turkey. Hong Kong had practiced with them for a little bit until Iceland had showed up and proceeded to die on her couch. He’d just finished his third training session with Prussia, and Leon had decided that he should also learn to dance better.

None of them had the heart to tell him Emil danced like a confused grandpa.

“You ready to move on?”She asked the peninsula.

“Spanish dancing?”He grinned,”Let’s go.”

She had her own dances that were separate from Spain’s, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t learned her former empire-mates’ dances when they came to love them. She gave Yong Soo the rundown, smiling at the look of concentration on his face as he watched her footwork. He stepped the wrong way, tripping her up and the two of them went crashing to the ground.

“Sorry, Maria.”He groaned as he rubbed his butt.

“You want to win, don’t you?”She responded,”I’m your best bet against Alfred.”

The superpower hadn’t required her to live with him when she’d technically belonged to him, and when she decided to leave he had been supportive. She’d consider them friends, not as good of friends as either of them were with South Korea and Japan, but good enough to want him to be happy. She thought it was cute that he’d finally got together with Romano, but she was determined to show them up.

They were going to kick ass in this competition.

“I do not think Alfred-kun sees this as a competition.”Japan commented at the end of yet another unsuccessful attempt to get Iceland to dance without thinking too hard about it.

“Then he’ll lose.”Maria replied.

Yong Soo laughed,”He’ll lose no matter what! Dancing was invented in me!”

They’d all stopped trying to correct him in the seventies.

She groaned as she stretched,”Can we call it a day? I’m tired.”

“Sure.”The Korean flung himself onto the couch,”Drama time!”

She stole the remote from his hand,”I’m picking!”

“No way.”He glared at her,”You got to pick last time!”

She sat down next to Hong Kong and threw her legs over him and the European,”My house, my pick.”

“But you got to pick at my house.”He didn’t make a move to follow her, so she considered it a victory.

“I don’t see how that’s my fault.”Philippines drawled, turning on the next episode of one of her favorites, quickly explaining the plot to the Europeans who didn’t know what was going on.

Yong Soo pouted,”Fine, but I want lumpia.”

That could be arranged.

Chapter Text

The first time Finland met America…it hadn’t been pretty.

He had only found the clearing because the child was enlarging the clearing. He knew immediately the little one had to be one of their kind. Who else could have the strength to uproot and throw around trees? He had knelt in the bushes, watching the blond one throw a tantrum. Blond…he had heard all the natives had dark hair. Darker skin as well. The little boy…

He looked like him, if he was completely honest. Was he the personification of the European colonies that were forming in the region?

The smaller man made the decision to enter the clearing. The child was covered in dirt; the only clean parts of his face were where the tears had cleaned lines down his cheeks. He looked up from hugging his knees when a twig snapped under his foot. Those eyes, blue, just like Sve’s, quickly turned from miserable to angry.

“I hate you!”The child came running at him, and he knelt,”I hate you!”

He was slammed into the ground, the tiny child punching at him,”You made Mama sick!”He shouted, but Finland didn’t fight back. He refused to fight against someone so hurt,”You’re a monster! I hate you!”He could take a beating.

He remembered when he’d been alone. He didn’t understand why he lived when everyone around him grew older and died. He didn’t understand why he got sick every time there was a shortage of food, why he hurt when the people around him fought. It wasn’t until a Swedish crusader came into his life that he realized there were others like him out in the world. That he wasn’t alone.

The little one stopped screaming after a while, going back to sobbing. He slowly wrapped his arms around the child. He was so much smaller than Iceland had been when Denmark and Norway first found him. He pushed himself so he was sitting,”I know…”He’d heard what happened to the native people when Spain took over the rest of the Americas,”I’m so sorry.”

If there was a personification of the people there before them…they would be in so much pain.

The child clung to him, and he held him closer,”Aa, aa, allin lasta.”He sang, rocking the child a little bit,”Pientä linnunpoikaa, pienellä linnulla on pienet siivet.”The little boy started to calm down, his sobs no longer wracking his body,”Joilla se poikiaan hoitaa.”He managed to stand up, and began to make his way back to the little house he and Sweden had built.

Sve raised his eyebrows when he walked in, and he gestured to the tub. The quiet man understood, and went to draw water and heat it. He sat down, continuing the haunting lullaby.

No father. No mother. This little bird was all alone.

“I’m sorry.”He apologized again.

The child stayed silent, but he didn’t try to leave or hit him again. He grabbed a washcloth and tried his best to clean what he could of his face. Those piercing blue eyes watched him the entire time, but they were nowhere near as intense as his housemate's. Soon the bath was ready, and he set the little one in it,”Let’s clean you up, okay?”He smiled.

If nothing else, he wanted to show this child they weren’t monsters.

He discovered bruises underneath the dirt. He made sure to be gentle when washing those, and when the boy flinched, he muttered another apology,”What happened there, kulta?”

Blue eyes averted,”I tried to see Mama.”Tears threatened to fall again,”She’s really sick, and the chief blames me.”

This poor darling. He struggled to maintain his smile,”It’s not your fault.”

“It’s yours.”The child crossed his arms again.

“It’s not mine alone.”Finland said soothingly, and he relaxed slightly,”You seem like a smart boy. You know what you are, right?”

The boy nodded,”Mama says I’m the land and its people.”

“You are.”He picked him up, grabbing another cloth to dry him with,”But not just your mama’s people. You also represent my people, and Sve’s, and England’s and France’s and Netherland’s.”

That got him a confused frown,”Who?”

“We’re from across the ocean.”He bit back a smirk. What would the others have said to that question? How he missed the days before those nations had become the world powers, when the only time he had to care about England was when Denmark and Sweden returned with tribute from him. When Netherlands had belonged to Spain,”And our people look like us, which is why you look like me.”

“What about Mama’s people?”The confusion deepened.

“I don’t know.”He would have to see her for himself to decide what was going to happen. Sweden handed him a small white dress and he slipped it over the small form,”I’ll make you a deal though. Tomorrow I’ll go with you to see your Mama. I’m sure I can persuade the Chief to let us see her.”

“What if they get angry?”The boy worried.

“I can handle it.”He promised,”But let’s get some food in you. Are you hungry?”

His stomach growled in answer, and he laughed, easily carrying him in one arm while he prepared their meal. Sweden stayed in the room, watching them fondly. He blushed, knowing that he was acting like a housewife, but he liked the little boy. Perhaps he could come to represent their colony there. That was, if they won the right to stay.

The little one fell asleep almost as soon as he was done eating.

“His mother is going to fade.”Sweden broke the silence between them.

“I know.”But there was nothing he could do about it. They couldn’t undiscover two continents,”She deserves a chance to say goodbye.”

“America’s lucky to have you.”The taller man rose and stoked the fire.

“What did you call him?”He scrunched his eyebrows.

“America.”

He chuckled,”That’s the continent, Sve.”

“It is uncertain whose colony is going to remain here.”Sweden didn’t turn away from the fire,”Until someone wins, America is the best name for him.”

He made his way to the bed, and laid down, making sure America stayed on his chest.

The next day, the confrontation went about as well as he expected. The little one had to translate for him, but eventually he got permission for the child to see his mother. He was forced to stay outside the tent, but he was called in after a few minutes. He knelt by the beautiful woman’s side, placing a hand on the little boy’s shoulders.

“You are from across the water.”She smiled at him.

“I am.”He said gently.

“You will…”She coughed,”You will take care of my son?”

“I will make sure he is cared for.”He promised. Even if he had to ask another.

“Thank you.”She relaxed further onto her mat, switching languages to talk to her son. They seemed to have an argument, before America started crying again and nodded. He grabbed onto his shirt, and he decided to take him into his arms.

She kept smiling,”Thank you. I love you.”She added an endearment he didn’t understand.

He slowly walked back to their house. America buried his face in his chest,”I’m not going to see her again.”

“No.”He wasn’t going to lie.

“Are you going to be my Papa?”

“I don’t know.”He wasn’t going to make promises he couldn’t keep.

It only took a week for Netherlands to figure out they had a baby personification. Then the man came to try and take him for himself. When that failed, he burned down their house. They watched it burn from a safe distance, America sitting on Sweden’s shoulders,”What does this mean?”

“We will have to go away.”Finland bit his lip.

“Oh.”His face fell.

“I promised you would be taken care of.”He took the boy, and hugged him tight,”I’m going to go find two…friends of mine. One of them will definitely take care of you.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

It wasn’t hard to find England and France. For mortal enemies who went to war at least once a century, they spent a lot of their time together. He heard their bickering before he even saw him, and all he had to do was suggest that he’d found the personification of this part of the New World and they were already competing to see who could be his big brother.

The rest was history.

He wasn’t even sure America remembered that until modern times. After all, what was one week to them?

“I’m kind of jealous of all the kids who get presents from their dads.”The superpower had mentioned at his Christmas party.

He had laughed and reminded him of the colony they’d once had,”You can think of me as your papa if you like!”

There was a glimmer of recognition, before he laughed,”I might be able to if you looked older.”

“I’ll wear a beard!”He had laughed as well, but knew his message had made it across. That he was there for the young man if he wanted him to be. That the one week had meant something to him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Indonesia stepped outside for a smoke. Mainly to get away from the Philippines, because no one could drink like her and expect to remember it the next day, but also to admire the view. She leaned against the railing, smiling to herself. There wasn’t a lot that had changed for her country, but she could feel the nations coming together personally in a way they hadn’t in a long time. It made her happy to be able to put aside politics again.

It also made her happy to see the progress in relations. She’d caught Portugal trying to coax Netherlands onto the dance floor, when centuries ago they’d been fighting over colonies. She’d watched as Japan and America engaged in a dance battle, where in the last century it had been actual battle. She’d laughed when China literally could not speak after Russia was challenged to dance.

It had been awhile since she’d felt human with her other personifications.

Though that was the power of America, she supposed. He’d always had it in him to bring the world together in a way it’d never been before.

She took another long drag of her cigarette. The Papua conflict hadn’t come up for once. Nor had any ASEAN business. Thailand was having the time of his life at the party, while Malaysia was working to get Singapore drunk enough that he didn’t worry about what a mess the party was making. Philippines was a few shots away from drunkenly making out with South Korea…

Actually, knowing America was in there, they were one slow dance away from it regardless of blood alcohol levels.

She silently cheered on her friend. It was about time they all cut back and had some fun.

Now if only Vietnam would realize why Thailand made her smile…yet another relationship she wouldn’t have predicted a century ago but was sensing in the near future.

Speaking of, she should probably make sure the head strong young woman didn’t have her paddle before somebody got beat. By somebody, she meant the center of the Indochinese peninsula. The last thing she wanted to deal with tomorrow was a distraught Thailand moping amongst his elephants. Somehow, she didn’t think hitting him with her bamboo stick would help.

“Fancy seeing you here, Kirana.”The world’s largest archipelago turned at the sound of the familiar voice.

She smiled,”Always watching me, huh, pervert?”

“That was one time!”Australia huffed.

“Right. Only one time.”She inhaled deeply, before offering the cigarette to her long-time friend.

He accepted and the break allowed him to switch topics,”I always knew South Korea was insane, but this party…”

“He wants everyone to enjoy themselves.”She fiddled with the end of her ponytail.

“Are you enjoying yourself?”The island nation asked.

“This is the most fun I’ve had in years.”Indonesia said honestly.

“It’s still got nothing on the good old days.”Australia moved so he was leaning on the rail next to her.

“Oh?”She raised an eyebrow,”What would you know of the good old days?”

They had been friends a long time ago. Back before the Europeans had incorporated them into their empires. Back when they had simply been neighbors, friends who would go hunting and fishing with each other. She doubted he remembered it though. A long time had passed since he went to live under England’s dominion, and she had gone to Netherlands. It was hard to maintain that level of closeness when they rarely saw each other.

“Enough to miss ‘em.”Bushy eyebrows that he hadn’t had as a child waggled,”C’mon, Kirana, we used to be close.”

She felt a slight blush rise to her cheeks,”I didn’t think you remembered.”

“I thought you were deliberately forgetting.”Australia smiled sheepishly,”I know I’m not exactly the same as back then-“

“You are.”Indonesia interrupted,”In all the ways that matter.”

He held out a hand,”Then would you do me the honor of dancing with me this evening?”

She put out the cigarette,”When did you become such a gentleman?”Nonetheless, she slipped her hand into his.

“England had to rub off on me somehow.”Jack chuckled.

“Hopefully not too much.”She muttered to herself, knowing she wouldn’t be heard over the music. She accepted another drink from Maria and downed it before braving the crowd. She didn’t typically like crowds or being surrounded by people she didn’t know all that well, but if Poland was managing to have a good time she could too.

Besides, the Philippines shouted a challenge in her ear that her competitive streak would not let her turn down.

So they danced.

And they danced.

The drinks kept coming, the songs kept flowing. She’d have to thank Prussia later for being an awesome DJ. The crowd pressed them closer together, and she tried to push down the satisfied thrill at feeling his abs. From how he shivered under her touch, she knew she was going to win.

They barely got to the chorus of one of his boy band’s songs when he leaned down to kiss her.

It wasn’t long, but it was long enough for others to notice and start cheering.

There had never been a time when Australia hadn’t been fun. That was something she could say with confidence. He challenged her, liked to draw her out of her shell.

“You’re alright with this, right?”He asked.

She just laughed and kissed him again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

South Korea turned when the crowd started cheering, catching a glimpse of a blushing Indonesia and a slightly embarrassed Australia. He turned back to Maria with a grin,”Who knew?”

She gave him a blank look that he didn’t understand the meaning of, before the music started back up again and they continued dancing. It was a lot like what they had practiced, but different at the same time. His best friend wasn’t wearing sweatpants anymore. Her hair wasn’t tied up. If she was sweating, he was having a harder time telling it.

On a normal day, she was beautiful. In the club, she was gorgeous.

He shook his head at his own thoughts. They were just friends, weren’t they?

“Alright, losers.”Prussia’s voice came over the speakers,”Because a certain aristocrat requested, we’re doing a throwback. I hope you all remember how to waltz!”

That was the cue for all non-couples to leave the dance floor. Maria just turned to face him, one of her hands staying tight in his while the other went to his shoulder. He only hesitated a second before going along with it and putting his hand on her waist. Waltzing was so European, but he was a superior dancer so it didn’t matter where the dance was from!

As they spun, he noticed they were the only non-couple dancing together.

America winked at him when their eyes briefly locked.

Indonesia did the same.

Then Thailand whistled when he picked Philippines up in a spin.

Finally, Vietnam shook her paddle at him menacingly.

Oh. He understood when he was being threatened. What was he doing wrong?

Oh!

That was why Maria kept looking so irritated!

“Do you want to go on a date with me?”He blurted out, and he’d blame the alcohol they’d been downing for the past five hours for the unromantic question.

“Took you long enough.”She smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scotland rubbed at his temples, wishing the only cause of his current headache was the amazing party they’d all gone to last night.

And not because his little brother thought he had slept with his boyfriend.

He groaned, his hungover mind not even processing the words being shrieked at him. He envied the Frenchman for being kicked out of the manor immediately, even if he was lacking for clothes. He was ninety percent certain that they hadn’t done anything sexual, but everyone in their family was quick to anger, and little Arty’s accusations weren’t completely unfounded.

But the Auld Alliance had ended nearly half a millennium ago.

Even when they had each other’s backs, the alliance wasn’t anything more than an alliance until after Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake.

France wasn’t an unattractive man, even with that girly hair of his. Allistor hadn’t tried anything before then because, even in those days, he knew the continental man only had eyes for his brat of a little brother. The only time that had wavered was when the girl died at the hands of supporters of England. They may have been French citizens, but Francis blamed the death of his heroine on Arthur.

Allistor and the frog had never been serious. He couldn’t stand Francis without some alcohol.

Still, it had been a fun way to pass the time while the Hundred Years War continued for more than a hundred years.

It was nothing more than a distraction.

“I swear,”He growled,”I didn’t sleep with ya ruddy boyfriend.”

“Don’t lie to me.”England glared.

“I’m not.”He swung his legs over the side of the bed. He’d woken up in his boxers, so he was sure nothing had happened,”And I think ya should apologize to Franny.”

Green eyes kept glaring at him,”You’ve always tried to make me miserable.”

“I wouldn’t sabotage your relationship.”He glowered back.

“Wouldn’t you?”Arthur sneered.

Wales moved from his place on the wall,”Can we talk about this civilly?”

They both glared at the third member of their island. The northernmost crossed his arms,”I’m telling the truth.”

“Then why was France naked in your bed?”England demanded.

“I don’t know. Why is Franny ever naked?”He rolled his eyes. Anyone who knew Francis for more than a month would know better than to question his lack of clothing,”I’d know if we did something, and I’m telling ya we didn’t.”

The glare softened minutely. His little brother was always quick to make judgments, and he’d be the last to admit he was wrong. He softened his own glare. Yes, he was annoyed with his brother more often than he wasn’t, but he didn’t actively try to make his brother miserable. Not anymore. He especially wouldn't stoop so low as to hurt his relationship.

“Do you remember coming home last night?”Arthur asked.

“Nah.”He shook his head,”But I swear, nothing happened.”

“But you can’t be sure.”His brother looked away.

“I am sure.”Scotland insisted,”France has loved ya forever. He wouldn’t cheat.”

“If he’s loved me forever why would he sleep around so much?”England glared at the floor.

“You old romantic.”Wales rolled his eyes,”Sex doesn’t mean anything to Francis. It definitely doesn’t mean love.”The oldest of the four of them smiled softly,”He loves you.”

That made Arty blush. He eventually looked up at them, a wan smile on his face,”I made a mess of things, didn’t I?”

“You’ve done worse.”Allistor assured him.

“Fuck off.”England muttered, hitting him on the arm.

“Go apologize to your loverboy.”He hit him back.

The second youngest nodded, and left. Scotland fell back onto the bed. Northern Ireland flopped down next to him,”That was nice of you.”

“I can be nice.”He swatted at the youngest.

“But you normally aren’t.”The other red head muttered,"At least, not to Arthur."

Scotland rolled his eyes, but didn’t respond. Seamus wouldn’t understand how infuriating it was to be under the control of his little brother. A little brother he hadn’t even been properly raised with. England had been taken away by Rome when he was little while he ended up living with the Picts. He’d never tried crossing the damned wall. He’d only see his little brother on rare occasions.

When they finally began to see each other more often, he was a complete arse.

And then they fought.

They fought until they were brought together under one leader.

They fought even when they were united, but the method of fighting had changed. They couldn’t hit each other with swords so they sharpened their tongues. Wounds healed, but words were harder to forget.

“He's a massive dick.”He said to the ceiling.

Little England had grown to be the largest empire ever, but not even that had taught them how to be brothers.

Neither of them was willing to extend the olive branch, not even when the empire was whittled down to just the four of them in the manor.

If his pride as a Scotsman allowed, maybe it was time he caved.

Chapter Text

Vietnam didn’t smile much.

Not when she’d lived with China, not when she’d belonged to France, not even when she had her independence. She had to be serious to be taken seriously, and she had a lot of work to do to catch up to the rest of the world. She yawned as she walked into the kitchen. The party had been fun, even if she couldn’t handle South Korea’s…everything most of the time.

“Who gave you permission to cook?”She narrowed her eyes at Thailand, who was digging around in the fridge.

“Oh.”He turned around, scratching the back of his head,”Do you not want me to?”

She sighed,”It’s my house. I’ll make breakfast.”

Every time the Thai man cooked it was either too sweet or too spicy. She wasn’t in the mood for either. France had required all his colonies to learn to cook, probably to rub it in England’s face. She got out what she’d need for banh mi op la, which always reminded her of an omelet sandwich,”How many people ended up here?”She hadn’t checked her spare bedrooms, or the couch for that matter.

“Um…”He thought about it,”A lot?”She stared at him, and his smile widened,”I’ll go check!”

She hoped everyone was decent before the cheerfully oblivious man barged in on them. If either Indonesia or the Philippines came with their new boyfriends…it was better Somchai than her. Knowing him, he wouldn’t even notice.

Malaysia smiled at her as she walked in to grab a cup of tea,”You making breakfast for everyone?”

“Depends on how many people ‘everyone’ is.”Vietnam answered.

“Well I came here with Azwan and Ryan.”Joyah shrugged. That meant Brunei and Singapore were somewhere,”And I told Maria I was crashing here.”

“I brought Somchai.”She beat the eggs,”He’s checking the rest of the house.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”Her friend asked.

They heard a loud scream, and the former French colony shrugged,”I wasn’t going to do it.”

Laos ran into the kitchen,”Who’s screaming?”

Vietnam sighed when the two of them left to investigate. It was probably best to assume that all of ASEAN had spent the night. She hoped that they didn’t return to business straight away. She was all for getting and being serious, but Cambodia and Myanmar tended to get defensive easily. They’d all had fun the night before, it would be a shame to go right back to bickering.

They couldn’t delay business forever…but there was little harm in one day.

Singapore stumbled in, and she stared at him,”You know-“

“I know.”He grumbled, and she went back to cooking. He tried to use the dish soap to wash the marker mustache off his face, but it resolutely stayed in place. He checked his reflection in one of her spoons,”Do you remember who did this?”

“No.”She had not paid attention to him,”Though Joyah was the one trying to get you plastered.”

The young man sighed, and then sat at the counter. Australia stumbled in next, and didn’t say a word as he began making coffee. She watched him go through her cupboards, before Singapore went and showed him where the cups were. He nursed the coffee as he sank into the seat next to his fellow commonwealth member, before snorting,”What happened to your face, Ryan?”

“Shut up, Jack.”Singapore flushed,”What are you even doing here?”

“This is where Kirana brought us.”The blond grinned, then messed up the darker haired’s perfectly done hair,”Is Brunei here? I need to ask him something about the next commonwealth games.”

He scowled, hastily fixing his hair,”He’s somewhere.”He moved away from the other man before he could touch him again,”Linh, may I set the table?”

“Go ahead.”It would bother him if it wasn’t set to his standards.

That left her alone with Australia. They weren’t exactly friends, but Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore were all members of the commonwealth so she was used to the other member occasionally dropping in with them. He was also exceptionally close to Indonesia, and the Philippines. He looked at her,”So…do you want me to apologize to America for you?”

“What?”She scrunched her eyebrows together.

“You smacked him in the face with your paddle last night.”The Aussie explained, setting down the mug,”Remember?”

She quickly finished what she was cooking and made sure everything was off the heat. She closed her eyes. A lot of the previous night was a blur, but it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility that she had drunkenly lashed out at the superpower. She wasn’t what many would call a ‘fun’ drunk. And she was annoyed with America…she opened her eyes,”I do not, but I believe you.”She went back to making breakfast,”I can apologize myself.”

Vietnam had only recently put the Vietnam War behind her. It helped that his last president had ended the lingering embargoes and both had apologized, but their friendship was mostly strategic. She didn’t want to have China influencing her too much, and the superpower served as the perfect counterbalance.

It angered her that Russia and America had been involved.

If the Cold War was a lover’s spat…if more than a million of her people had died…if she was left to struggle for decades for a reason like that…

America was the one less likely to do anything about violence to his person. She had enough control of herself to not do anything sober, but drunk her with her paddle would.

Thailand came back into the kitchen,”Um…Linh?”His cheek was a bright red,”Do you have an ice pack?”

She sighed, before turning to her freezer and grabbing him some ice. She wrapped it in a dish cloth, and pressed it to his face. Somchai’s hand came up and pressed on top of hers. He pouted,”No one told me South Korea and Maria were sleeping together.”She slipped her hand out from underneath his.

“You didn’t notice?”Philippines glared as she walked in.

Vietnam sighed at her outfit, which consisted of South Korea’s shirt. It was a good thing he was taller than the rest of them or she’d be indecent. She gathered all the food onto a platter, and left the kitchen to set it down at the table. Her guests had dragged chairs from all over her house so they could fit on one table. A small cheer went up as they passed around the food.

“Thanks, Linh.”Cambodia smiled.

She nodded, then went to make a phone call.

“Hero speaking.”A voice yawned when they picked up, and she could hear South Italy’s grumbling in the background,”Wassup?”

“America.”She closed the door behind her so no one would overhear,”I am apologizing for my behavior last night.”

“Don't.”A rustling of sheets as the man presumably got up,”I knew the rumors weren’t getting it right. S’my fault for not telling you.”

He wasn’t wrong. She adjusted her phone,”Should I call back later?”

“Now’s as good a time as any.”America yawned again,”Russia and I broke up in 1918. The Cold War had nothing to do with it. I genuinely didn’t want communism to spread. If another country had been the communist superpower, my actions would have been the same. That still didn’t make all of them right, but I didn’t drag you into my personal stuff.”

Vietnam took a few seconds to think about it,”I…understand.”

“Sweet.”She could basically hear his smile,”How’s everyone doing after last night?”

Thailand opened the door, and he had somehow squeezed himself into one of her shirts. He still smiled cheerfully, and she brought a hand up to her mouth as she laughed. Green was more her color than his.

“Whoa.”America sounded shocked,”I don’t think I’ve ever heard you laugh.”

That’s because the only person that could make her laugh was Thailand. The only one of them to never fall under a European’s dominion. The one that sided with the Axis in the second world war, but decided not to deliver the declaration of war to the US. The one that would laugh off his many, many changes in leadership. Granted, if she’d had thirty in a fifty-year period, she would get used to it as well.

“It’s nothing.”She recovered, smiling still,”Just Somchai.”

“Oho?”He asked, and that sounded too much like France,”Just Somchai?”

She paused,”Are you implying something?”

“No.”It was the superpower’s turn to laugh,”I just didn’t realize there was anyone in the world that could make you sound that happy.”

Vietnam abruptly ended the phone call. Them being back on good terms did not give him the right to make that type of insinuation. She got enough of that from Indonesia and Taiwan.

Thailand beamed,”Breakfast is getting cold.”

She couldn’t help but smile a little. But who wouldn’t smile at Somchai? If there was an incarnation of happiness, it would be her neighbor.

Naturally she would like him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

France ran.

He didn’t know where he was running to. He just ran. He wasn’t entirely naked, so he didn’t need to go home, and it wasn’t like he had his keys to get into his house…not that it mattered. He sat down on a bench, relieved that the park was nearly empty. He bowed his head, pretending that the shaking of his body was due to the cold and not his own tears. He…he didn’t want to think.

He hadn’t had sex with Scotland.

He knew that. When they had stumbled home in the early hours of the morning, Allistor had pulled him into his room to threaten him. He truly was a good brother when he didn’t think anyone would notice. They’d talked until they fell asleep.

He bit his lip. Arthur had not given him the chance to explain.

Did he truly have that low opinion of him? Did he doubt his commitment? His love?

“France?”He didn’t look up, not until a coat was wrapped around him,”Have some decency.”

Ah, so he had overshot his house and was in Switzerland.

He wiped at his face,”A thousand apologies, hedgehog.”

Vash pressed a hand to his face,”You’re freezing.”He muttered, but the concern in his eyes belied the scowl,”Let’s go.”He tugged him to his feet,”I’ll make you lunch.”

“You don’t have to.”He murmured. He knew his neighbor didn’t like him and liked spending money on others less. He didn’t want pity.

“Lily would be upset if I left you out in the cold.”The neutral nation kept a firm grip on his wrist, and they quickly made their way to his house. Liechtenstein was working on some paperwork at the table, and the Swiss man left him with her while he went to grab him better clothes. He took a seat.

“Are you okay?”The mademoiselle inquired.

He managed a small, sad smile,”I do not know.”

Perhaps he deserved this. He’d always had a different attitude towards sex. It mattered less to him than it did to others. He had many partners in his life, that was no secret, but it was purely lust between him and them. Arthur was different. He loved him before they got intimate in a pleasurable way. He was wholly content with him, even if the island nation were to tell him they could never have sex again.

Had he not done enough to prove his absolute adoration?

“Is it Mr. England?”Liechtenstein asked.

“Non.”He ran a hand through his hair,”He was not wrong to make the assumptions he did…”

“What assumptions?”Switzerland demanded as he was handed a shirt and pants.

He pulled the articles of clothing on,”I fell asleep in Scotland’s bed…”He sighed.

“So?”The hedgehog scowled,”Obviously nothing happened.”

“Arthur does not feel the same.”He fumbled with the buttons of the dress shirt, his hands still trembling.

The young lady got up and did the task for him,”You shouldn’t blame yourself.”Lily smiled up at him as she adjusted the collar,”This is just a misunderstanding.”

“You don’t know how far England will take a misunderstanding.”Her older brother muttered. His phone started buzzing, and he scowled at it,”But it wasn’t your fault, France, and that’s coming from me.”He walked to another room at answer it.

France enjoyed the peaceful quiet of the house as much as he could. This was hardly the first time Arthur had rejected him, but it was the first time after he was genuine about his intentions. This wasn’t like his refusal to marry him in the Suez Crisis. This time his reasons had been proper…but he was fundamentally flawed. And now he was hiding from his problems.

Alfred was right. He should be better at running away.

Not that running saved him from this pain.

Liechtenstein answered the door when someone knocked,”Ah, Lily.”It was Austria and Hungary. She didn’t move to let them in, and he stayed in the kitchen,”Have you seen France?”

“France?”She asked innocently, bless her,”Did something happen?”

“England and he got in a fight.”The aristocrat sighed,”No one’s seen him since and Prussia’s worried.”

Was his rabbit already telling everyone they were over? He leaned against the wall, and slid down so he could hug his knees. He didn’t look up, even when he noticed the boots entering his peripheral vision.

A hand touched his,”Francis?”Elizabeta softly tried to get his attention. He resolutely kept his eyes shut, his head bowed,”Arthur would like to apologize.”

“He doesn’t need to.”He muttered,”It is my fault for being untrustworthy.”

Hungary smacked his head,”Don’t you dare think like that, Francis Bonnefoy.”

He let out a pathetic laugh,”What else am I to think?”

“Something a little less melodramatic.”The central European crossed her legs and sat in front of him. They stared at each other for a moment before she sighed,”You know, I can understand why England thought the worst.”Of course she would, she had also never liked him much, though he had always attributed that to his association with Gilbert.

“As can I.”He let out a shaky breath.

“I doubt Roderich occasionally.”She told him candidly,”He’s been married so many times, it’s hard to imagine ours meant anything.”

“I don’t think anyone would dare not take you seriously, belle.”He chuckled.

“Sometimes I forget that.”She sighed,”And it looks like England forgets as well.”She brushed some of her hair behind her ear,”A few months in a real relationship doesn’t erase centuries of watching him be with others. It’s easy to convince myself that nothing has changed…”She shook her head,”But that isn’t a reason to give up.”

He slowly smiled,”Merci, Elizabeta.”

Time was what they would always have.

He had been patient thus far. What was a little more time?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ireland stared at her brothers,”You really are an idiot.”

She was almost sad she had missed the party last night if this was the result. Though the last thing she was expecting this morning was Seamus furiously pounding on her door and demanding if she had seen France. When she’d asked why he had just groaned and said it was a family emergency, and then dragged her back to the manor.

Why did all their family emergencies involve England? Said nation glowered at her,”Thank you for pointing out the obvious.”

“Just making sure you know.”She accepted the cup of tea from Wales,”I can’t believe you thought he’d cheat on you with Alli.”

“Belt up.”The former empire muttered.

“And now no one can find France because you’ve upset him.”She finished her take on the situation. Her brother was truly an idiot sometimes. Though she was surprised it had taken this long for there to be a bump in their relationship. It was inevitable given the two of them. They’d kiss and make up like they always did, now with actual kissing involved.

“I told ya that.”Scotland rolled his eyes.

She raised her eyebrows,”No need to get your knickers in a twist.”She set the cup down,”Have you thought about what you’re going to say to him when they find him?”

“If they find him.”Arthur’s ridiculous eyebrows furrowed.

“Last I heard, Hungary was helping.”Ireland leaned back,”She can find anybody, so I’ll ask again. Do you know how you’re going to apologize?”

“Fuck off.”He growled.

“I don’t think fucking would help.”She snorted,”You did imply he is a whore.”

“I know what I said.”And the pacing continued.

She let him continue for another minute, before sighing. He could apologize, acknowledge that he was wrong this time, but that wouldn’t make their relationship any better. Ever since the Trouble had finished she’d thought relations between them were improving. If it wasn’t for Brexit she would’ve said they were the best they’d been since her independence.

She cared for all her brothers. Granted, she had a favorite and a least favorite, and the latter was Arthur, but she cared.

It didn’t look like anyone had decided to dig into why he’d been so quick to judge. She looked at Scotland, who flickered his gaze to the blond one and back to her, then raised his eyebrows. She understood. He wanted to know if she was going to ask. She scowled back at him. Like hell was she going to open that can of worms.

“Are ya really that insecure?”Allistor asked.

“What?”Arthur stopped.

“To doubt France that easily…”Ireland trailed off,”What’s your issue?”

“Is now really the time-“

“Yes.”Wales interrupted,”If we don’t address the cause it will happen again.”

“Please.”The youngest of them added,”You’ve been trying harder with America to be a better brother. Let us try being a better family.”

“We’re hardly a family.”England scoffed.

“Don’t think we don’t fucking know that.”Ireland growled, growing quickly tired of his shit. None of them were all that social, but she was probably the worst. She didn’t have that many friends simply because she didn’t like dealing with drama like this,”But believe it or not, Arthur, we do want to see you happy.”

He scoffed again,”Do you?”

Scotland got up,”Is your skull as thick as your eyebrows?”

“We’ve never acted like a family.”England said hotly.

“Is that why you always got so attached to your colonies?”Rhys inquired, causing both to freeze before they could hit each other. She hadn’t even thought of that. The brunet adjusted his glasses,”What? You try to be a better brother to them than we were to you.”

“That…”Arthur slumped against a chair,”That isn’t the main issue here.”

“Then what is it?”She demanded.

For a moment, she thought he wouldn’t tell them. They were all proud, and that led to them not sharing their emotions. He moved around the chair so he could sit in it,”France is popular.”She fought not to snort. That was the nicest way to say what he was,”And I’m the black sheep of Europe. I’m not exactly…well liked.”This time she did snort.

Rhys sent her a look. Allistor sighed,”That bothers ya?”

“It would bother you as well if you had to represent us internationally.”The blond grumbled.

“Then let them.”Ireland rolled her eyes,”They aren’t going to sabotage you.”

“We aren’t.”Scotland and Wales said together at the doubtful look on his face.

Northern Ireland leaned forward,”Does it matter what other people think? So long as France likes you everything’s fine.”

“I know that.”England snapped,”It’s just…difficult to believe he wants me when nearly everyone else that’s permanent in my life…”

“Thinks you’re an arse?”Ireland finished, and ignored Rhys’ look again,”France’s a dick, you two are perfect together.”

“Thanks.”He rolled his eyes,”That’s reassuring.”

Scotland ruffled his hair,”Don’t ya think we would have left by now if we couldn’t stand ya?”

“They all left.”

None of them needed to ask who they were. She kept her mouth shut, since she was part of the they.

Rhys sighed,”This is different, Arthur.”

“I know.”He ran a hand through his hair,”It’s not exactly easy to adjust to...”

“What? Going from practically being a married couple to an actual couple?”She couldn’t resist asking,”The only thing that’s really changed is you’re a lot more touchy.”He met her gaze and she tried for a comforting smile,”He’s not going to be mad at you, Arty. Not if you explain yourself.”

“Properly.”Northern Ireland added.

England nodded, and then the phone rang. He went to the other room to answer it.

“That was…”Wales trailed off.

“Weird?”Ireland supplied.

“Pleasant.”Green eyes rolled,”It would be nice if we could act more like a family.”

It would be.

But she wasn’t going to say that out loud.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“How does Thanksgiving work?”

America glanced up from the paperwork he had to bring home with him,”What?”

His boyfriend rolled his eyes,”Thanksgiving. You and your brother celebrate it on different days, right?”He nodded, not seeing where this was going,”I know it’s supposed to be a big family event, and my brother was wondering if we are going to celebrate both or go all out for one.”

“Oh.”Thanksgiving back when they lived together had never been a big event, but they’d had a lot less to be thankful for,”We always go big for Mattie’s.”

“Alright.”Lovino nodded,”Should I invite him and the potato over for yours?”

The superpower hesitated,”I don’t really…celebrate mine.”

“Why the fuck not?”Hazel eyes narrowed.

He shrugged,”One Thanksgiving is good enough for me.”

“Bullshit.”His eyes were almost as squinted as his brothers normally were,”Does this have to do with your mom?”

America froze,”Excuse me?”

Chapter Text

Mongolia flopped onto the couch,”Can I stay here forever, Baltabek?”

“No.”Kazakhstan said, not looking up from his paperwork. It was bad enough the rest of the stans spent their time in his house. At his answer, Uzebekistan started snickering until Turkmenistan hit him. The largest of them took in a deep breath. He liked his space, but somehow his house was the de facto meeting spot for their part of the world.

East Asia met at China’s. Southeast Asia met at Vietnam’s. South Asia went back and forth between India’s and Pakistan’s, depending on who had won the latest argument. Western Asia (it was less confusing than calling it the Middle East when they already had an East) tended not to meet up as frequently, but if they did it was at Saudi Arabia’s place.

In his case, it was a habit formed when they had all been a part of the USSR.

They were still, with the exception of Turkmenistan who would be if she hadn’t declared herself neutral, all part of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

“What happened?”Kyrgyzstan asked sympathetically.

“Nobody wants to hear that.”Tajikistan complained.

Mongolia ignored the latter,”China keeps coming to me for advice about Russia.”

“Oh no, how terrible.”Uzebekistan rolled his eyes.

Temujin glared at him,”You could have some sympathy.”

Kazakhstan set down his pen,”Your family is insane. That’s something we’ve said before.”

“Which is why I’m asking if I can just stay here for a while.”His friend smiled hopefully at him, and he sighed, before nodding.

They weren’t as powerful as the rest of East Asia, but perhaps that’s why they retained some sanity. Not that they were a replacement family. They were like the Baltics, not related but always grouped together so they got used to each other’s company.

They had their border disputes from time to time, but who didn’t?

He felt bad for his friend though. He’d always been stuck between Russia and China, both geographically and politically. A lot had changed since he'd been a preteen ruling the largest continental empire in history.

Personally, he didn’t have the time to spend running around the world getting involved in other people’s business. Neither did much of the company he kept. They had to work hard every day if they wanted to improve the lives of their people, or at least not be ridiculed by the west. They were a strategic position so that meant the west was polite to them…

But at the end of the day he depended more on himself than on the fickle powers that be.

“Hey, Taj.”Kyrgyzstan frowned at her laptop,”Did you get an email from America?”

“I was about to ask you that.”The smallest of them muttered.

“It better not be any more shit about how I should be more ‘democratic.”Uzebekistan grumbled as he checked his phone.

Turkmenistan peered over his shoulder,“It’s an invitation.”

“Which holiday?”Regardless of relations, America invited everyone to his parties with the occasional exceptions of North Korea and Russia. Kazakhstan didn’t frequent them, like he said, he liked his personal space. He opened his computer, clinking on the notification of the new email. He blinked.

The fourth of July, Halloween, Christmas, and New Years’. Those were the only four holidays that the superpower would attempt to gather the world together on. He looked to the others,”Thanksgiving?”He had heard of the holiday before, but had never personally celebrated it. He looked through the details,”A banquet sounds nice.”

He would prefer a banquet to a ball any day.

He clicked the confirmation button. They still had time until November, he would easily be able to take that day off.

“I’ll go if you go.”Turkmenistan told Uzebekistan.

“It’s free food.”Ruslan crossed his arms,”I’m not turning that down.”

“Are you going, Baltabek?”Tajikistan asked him.

“Hm.”He nodded, continuing his work.

“Kill me.”Mongolia groaned when his phone started buzzing.

“Just ask America to seat you away from your family.”Kazakhstan advised.

“Can you ask him for me?”The former leader of the Golden Horde asked,”If South Korea finds out I did he’ll force me to come to another family bonding meeting.”

“I think it’s sweet.”Kygyzstan smiled.

“It’s annoying.”Temujin sighed,”I liked it better when they ignored me.”

“No you didn’t.”The largest of them pointed out.

His almost eastern neighbor sent him a glare, to which he stared back apathetically. He was never jealous of Mongolia’s family. He had always seen Kyrgyzstan as his little sister and she was more than enough. But he didn’t want to hear him complain about having such a large family. Especially when he didn’t mean it.

Dark eyes softened,”No, I didn’t.”He agreed,”But I’d still rather sit with you.”

Kazakhstan rolled his eyes, but composed the email anyways.

He absently wondered why this holiday, before shrugging. He wasn't close enough to the superpower to guess his thought process.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Excuse me?”

Romano stared at his idiot,”You heard me.”

They’d had a few Thanksgiving dinners when they had lived together. It wasn’t big, but it was one of the meals they would pray before eating. It was only a few because he claimed was invited to eat with his president for the others. At some point, he realized that was bullshit.

He never called him out on it because they were just friends. Friends that had an agreement to ignore each other’s major issues because dealing with them meant admitting they cared more than they should.

It hadn’t been his place to deal with this back then. It was supposed to be his family’s. That’s why he hadn’t fought more against Lithuania dragging him to that meeting. He had made sure to be particularly provocative in that room to ensure his family did something.

They were dating now. That meant they were supposed to help each other with this shit.

The day after Canada had mentioned their mother, he’d opened up about his grandfather. Though it wasn’t like there was much that was unknown about Rome. He’d still shed a few tears over his residual resentment, but when Alfred said he understood he hadn’t elaborated. He’d opened his heart but the gesture was not returned.

That left him with nothing to do but dig for information himself and confront him.

Spain was as useful as he typically was. Finland was surprisingly more helpful.

Alfred had a mother. Her people had turned against him when Europeans arrived and they realized they shouldn’t trust someone with his appearance. He’d been barred, violently, from seeing his sick mother. Canada said he didn’t remember that happening, but he had gone to live with France before America chose to go with England. She hadn’t been bedridden when the northern twin had left.

It had messed him up when Rome went to face Germania and never came back.

There was no way Alfred was unaffected.

“This doesn’t have anything to do with my mom.”Alfred said tightly.

“Bullshit.”

“Look, Lovino-“

“Don’t look, Lovino me.”He slammed his hands onto the table,”We’re having this discussion.”

“We really don’t need to.”Blue eyes darkened,”Tell your brother and Germany they can come over on my Thanksgiving. Hell, I’ll invite Gilbert myself. We can have a nice family dinner. Happy?”

“You wouldn’t be fucking happy.”He glared,”What’s your issue with Thanksgiving?”

“Nothing.”Alfred sighed.

“How many times have I told you you’re a shit liar?”He took in a deep breath. If he was angry while the blond was defensive they wouldn’t get anywhere. He could reign in his temper for his boyfriend. He released it and dragged his chair closer to the superpower, close enough that he could place a hand on his knee,”If you don’t want to celebrate it, I can tell Feli to fuck off, but I want to know why.”

His boyfriend met his gaze for a tense few seconds, before averting it,”You know…”He let out a deep breath,”They teach kids that Thanksgiving celebrates how the natives and the pilgrims managed to get along…that this is a day that everyone should come together and focus on the positives in life, what we’re thankful for…”He shook his head,”As if we can just ignore that the natives were nearly wiped out.”

“That wasn’t your fault.”Romano softened his tone.

“Isn’t it?”Alfred sat up straighter,”If I didn’t exist…”

“The world would be a shittier place.”He fought to keep the anger out of his voice,”You didn’t kill your mom, dumbass.”

Playing the blame game never made anyone happy. The only way Native America would have survived European discovery…he honestly couldn’t think of one given they were violent and disease ridden. He had lived through the plague and seen it kill off too many people. He'd seen first hand how sickness could tear through a town and leave no one alive.

His boyfriend had been little more than a baby at the time. Sure, a baby that could throw buffalos, but he didn’t have the experience to change anything.

He was only a fucking child. Romano was willing to argue all day until he got that through his thick skull.

“I know…”Alfred sighed, and he wasn’t sure whether or not to believe him,”But if there’s any family I should have with me on Thanksgiving…it should be Mom.”

“So you just mope around on that day?”The Italian clarified, getting a huff at his wording that he interpreted as a yes,”You think that’s what your mom would have wanted?”

The American shook his head,”She wanted me to be happy.”

“Then let’s celebrate this shit.”He grinned,”Aren’t you the one always saying that we should try and make the negative something positive?”

It was one of his most aggravatingly endearing qualities. It was that aspect of him that had made him think, once Lovino had introduced him to all the dons, that they should form a coalition. The Commission. Because that was what organized crime needed, more organization. In that same time, he’d also looked at a global depression and decided to still host the Olympics.

Endurance was something all personifications had by default. So long as it didn’t destroy their nation or their people, they were going to survive it. They learned to stand tall when the weight of all their troubles tried to crush them.

Perseverance was an altogether less common trait, but it was one he saw in Alfred. He had the ability to move forward despite those troubles, an Atlas capable of shrugging. In many ways, he thought that was his true strength.

Alfred stared at him,”Something positive…”He suddenly smiled,”You’re amazing, Lovino.”He moved forward, pressing a kiss to his cheek,”How about we organize a feast for the world?”

That was his boyfriend.

He grinned,”Now that’s a fucking plan.”

By the world, Alfred meant the world.

He got to work on dinner as they laughed over the seating chart. He didn’t realize just how much effort shit like this took. He had to give the macho potato some credit, and that was before they got the requests. There weren’t any rejections so far, but it wasn’t like this was a normal party. Even the most antisocial of nations wouldn’t turn down free food.

He turned over in bed so he was facing his boyfriend. The American had his arms crossed behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling. He stared at him, his featured illuminated by the moonlight shining through the window. He appreciated these moments of calm, but he couldn’t ignore the aura of sadness. He moved closer, but didn’t ask.

He’d pressed enough for today...

“Why do you think she’s never visited me?”Alfred finally asked.

...But he wouldn't pass up an opportunity to put down another demon.

Romano felt his breath stutter. It was no secret that Grandpa Rome visited. Hell, the man had appeared to all the Axis and Allied powers stuck on that damned island during the war. He never stayed long, and his visits were infrequent and impossible to guess, but they happened. That alone was supposed to be impossible.

“It’s only Grandpa that does that.”He answered,”I wouldn’t think on it too hard.”

“I can’t help it.”His boyfriend sighed, closing his eyes,”You know…part of why I’m so scared of ghosts is cause I’m scared she will come back…”

“Your mother loves you.”He threw a leg over him and pushed up so he was straddling the taller man. His eyes opened in surprise, and he made sure to catch his gaze,”She would be proud of you, Alfred.”

“How?”Blue eyes clouded,”With all I’ve done-“

“I didn’t say she’d be proud of what you’ve done. We’ve all done shit no one should be proud of.”He stared down at him,”I’m saying she would be proud of the man you’ve become.”

The man he was falling in love with.

No, that wasn’t right.

“Really?”Alfred didn’t smile.

“Have I ever lied to you?”Lovino muttered.

“No.”

“Then don’t think she wouldn’t love you.”He leaned down to touch their foreheads together, closing his eyes,”As much as I love you.”

He had already fallen.

But neither of them had said that out loud.

Alfred laughed, and tilted his chin up so they were kissing. The superpower then flipped their positions, and he let out a huff as his back hit the mattress. His eyes opened to meet his boyfriend’s, and his smile now had no trace of sadness in it,”Your timing…”He chuckled, kissing him again,”I love you too.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

India watched Thailand add too much spice to the curry, and made a note to take more rice to compensate. He liked spice in his food, but his eastern friend reached near suicidal levels if left to his own devices. He was the only one in the kitchen with the man, having left the other room before Pakistan could pick another fight with him, but he pretended not to see.

If he wasn’t allowed to argue with Pakistan, then he could have this small act of revenge. Though the only reason he avoided the fight was to keep Afghanistan happy. She always hated it when they bickered.

He wasn’t one to back down once they started. He was stubborn and opinionated that way. So he left the room before the Kashmir region could come up and send Afghanistan running to Kazakhstan. The man already had his hands full with the other stans and Mongolia.

There was also the small matter of China looking for Mongolia and Imam knowing Yao was looking for Temujin.

It was strategic for him to stay in China’s good graces, but he wasn’t going to ignore his involvement in the Kashmir region either.

Was that petty?

Probably, but he was part of the Commonwealth, and all of them had learned from England how to be petty.

Though he did sympathize with the northernmost of the East Asians. Ever since the more powerful nations had shifted their focus to personal ties rather than business he’d felt a small amount of discomfort. It was strange to meet up for more than just politics.

It was also nice. With globalization and the recent advancements in technology, there was no reason for them to remain distant from each other. They no longer only met up on the battlefield or when discussing treaties. It was impossible to go a week without seeing one of the other personifications, a far cry from the years he used to spend with just humans for company.

He knew Bangladesh was enjoying the new effort towards closer relations. Granted, his foreign policy was essentially to be friendly to everyone so of course he liked this.

“Neeraj?”Sri Lanka walked in with a form,”Can you look this over for me?”

He sighed when he saw it was a budget analysis,”I’m not your human calculator.”

“But you like math.”She grinned.

He rolled his eyes,”I’m good at math. That doesn’t mean I like it.”He nonetheless went about checking it over.

He was the powerhouse of South Asia. As such, it was the least he could do to help his neighbors. He didn’t have any major problems with most of his region, except immigration issues that came up with basically every country that shared a border. Maldives preferred to spend her time with Seychelles. Nepal had been growing closer to China, but still hung around with Bhutan.

Speaking of Bhutan, the young man walked entered the kitchen.

“When’s dinner going to be ready?”He asked Thailand.

“Soon.”The southeast Asian nation beamed, as if he wasn’t about to poison the group of nations that were gathered. It was that smile that made them forgive and forget every time he messed up their food.

“Okay.”Bhutan took a seat next to him,”Did you see America’s invite?”

“Yes.”It was essentially a world meeting but with no promise of attempting to do anything serious and multiple promises of food. He’d celebrated a Japanese Thanksgiving once with the island nation, but the superpower always had an intense way of celebrating his holidays. He smiled,”I’m going to go.”

It was his kind of scene. He’d already started planning his dramatic entrance.

“Still, this is the first time he’s ever hosted a Thanksgiving dinner.”The other Himalayan nation rested an arm on the table,”I wonder what it’s going to be like.”

India grinned,”Bland, boring, western food.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come with bland, boring, western company.”Sri Lanka laughed.

“He’ll probably try to convince us to play his version of football.”He sighed,”Again.”

“Again?”Thailand asked.

“It was a challenge.”He’d tried to teach the superpower to play cricket, Australia had tried to explain his version of football, and Canada had offered hockey tips. It was…an experience.

“How much of ASEAN is going?”Bhutan asked.

Thailand shrugged,”Everyone, I think. I’ve only talked to Linh about it…”

“Central Asia’s going.”Afghanistan reported, walking in to also check on the food,”Just heard from Kyrgyzstan.”

The others soon piled in to have dinner. Somchai was the first to start eating, and he had to wonder if there was damage to his taste buds. He didn’t even flinch at the heat. Honestly, it was almost a pity he hadn’t been taken over by England. Maybe he could be like America and able to eat charcoal. He ate his own slowly, trying not to tear up at the familiar burn.

“Is something wrong?”The elephant lover asked.

“No.”Nepal coughed, while Bhutan started chugging water.

“Thank you for making dinner for us.”Bangladesh managed a teary-eyed smile.

”Thank you for letting me. Linh doesn’t anymore.”Sri Lanka snorted.

Vietnam was a smart woman. India kept eating, adjusting as well as he could so he could enjoy Pakistan’s tears. And there were tears. Oh, he was glaring at him through the tears, but he couldn’t speak and wasn’t that the true blessing here.

India chuckled,”Are you happy about spending more time with them?”

“Aren’t you?”Thailand tilted his head.

“I guess.”That earned him an elbow from Bangladesh. He groaned,”And I didn’t mean it like that.”He leaned forward,”I meant when are you going to make things official with Linh?”

That got the Thai to choke on the barely edible food. Bhutan silently hit him on the back.

“Me and Linh?”He coughed into his hand,”I don’t think she even likes me as a friend.”

Bangladesh face palmed.

“What?”Thailand continued,”She’s so serious. Which sucks because she has the prettiest laugh-“

“You’ve heard her laugh?”Nepal interrupted.

“Haven’t you?”

“No.”India grinned,”And that’s the point, Somchai.”

“A lot of women find a sense of humor to be important in a partner.”Sri Lanka teased.

Thailand blushed, and the subcontinent was beginning to understand why America did this repeatedly. He had invited Thailand over to try his hand at matchmaking. Since the dance party, he had been wanting to see if he was any good at it.

Hollywood had schooled America in romantic clichés, but when the romantic clichés were accompanied by bad dance numbers, that was Bollywood territory.

He was determined to prove Bollywood was better than Hollywood.

He was going to do that by bringing together the nations the superpower failed to.

“Do you think she’d say yes?”Thailand asked.

“Definitely.”

One for one, and he was just getting started.

Chapter Text

Thanksgiving was, as the name suggested, a time for giving thanks.

“What are you thankful for?”

That was written on a little card placed on everyone’s plate, and America expected them to answer it before they started eating.

It was a lot more difficult than any of them expected.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

China shifted in his chair, even though they had all been told to dress casually. He was thankful for many things, but he wanted to say something more meaningful than his continued prosperity and general wellbeing. He felt like the occasion called for more, and he was certain the others were saying they were thankful for the newfound loves in their lives.

He didn’t want to sound cliché, but if he had to tell the truth…

“I am thankful that we are acting like a family again.”He broke the contemplative silence, hoping that the others shared his thanks.

He had always been the one that pushed for them to be closer. His younger siblings were the ones that kept turning against him and leaving. He had waited so long for there to be a time where they could put the hurt behind them, where they would no longer see his offer of being an older brother as an attempt to sabotage their autocracy. A time like now, though there was still room to improve.

“I am too, Old man.”Hong Kong agreed,”I am thankful for your support of my relationship.”

China didn’t exactly approve, but the Nordics were not a group he wanted to mess with and it was almost impossible for him to see Iceland as a threat.

“I am thankful that all of you have found love.”Taiwan raised her glass, winking at Macau, who blushed,”Or at least, companionship.”

He raised his glass and successfully did not snort. America had been rather sly in his matchmaking, but India did not seem to care. He would stop at nothing once he found out two people wanted to be together. Yao had to kick him out of their house one day when he started on hour three of his lecture about how Monaco and Macau were meant to be based on Hindu astrology.

“I am thankful you are still single.”Macau shot back, making Taiwan stick her tongue out at him. His other province raised his glass,”In all seriousness, I am thankful for this family as well.”

South Korea rose in his seat,”To the East Asia Family.”

Mongolia copied him,”To our continued insanity.”

Japan smiled,”May we relish this contentment after centuries of hardship.”

North Korea solemnly nodded, and they began tapping their glasses to each other.

China almost didn’t realize he was crying until he was being enveloped in hugs from his siblings.

He had never been more grateful for anything in his life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’m thankful for…”Iceland trailed off.

Why was this so difficult? There were many things he should be thankful for. He could just say he was thankful for his relationship with Leon and that would be acceptable. But it didn’t feel like enough. He glanced towards his boyfriend’s table, seeing the giant hug they had going on over there. Japan was voluntarily letting all those people into his personal space.

This was supposed to be meaningful, and he’d never been the best when it came to words.

That was why he still struggled with magic.

He felt his face heat up,”I’m thankful for…”He tried again.

“You look constipated, Icey.”Denmark chuckled before getting elbowed by Finland.

Easy for him to say. He’d said he was grateful that the world was learning to have fun again. It wasn’t something common, it wasn’t too sappy that it made his brother irritated. It was the perfect thing to say.

“Take your time.”Norway encouraged.

His brother had said he was thankful that he was finally acknowledging they were related, which meant a lot considering how long he had denied it.

He couldn’t say the same thing as Norge, even if he was thankful for it too. He felt that saying he was thankful he was now competent with a weapon was too superficial compared to that.

He bit his lip, before holding out his glass,”I’m thankful that I no longer feel alone.”

Not that he’d ever truly been alone, but he’d pushed them away enough in his life that he’d felt isolated. It was his own fault…but this last year had inspired him to change.

“To never being alone again.”Sweden toasted, getting a kiss on the cheek from Finland.

“Hear! Hear!”The rest of them agreed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thailand squeezed Vietnam’s hand under the table. He had never realized how much happier he could be in life, even if she had requested they not tell the other nations about their relationship until she was certain it would last. He was fine with waiting and he was even better at ignoring India. None of them were quite sure what to do about the question they’d been given.

“I’m thankful for free food.”Laos laughed.

“I’m thankful for more parties.”Cambodia snickered.

“And more alcohol.”Singapore agreed.

“I’m thankful Australia is seated all the way across the room.”Brunei clinked his glass to the others.

“Be serious.”Vietnam chastised with a small smile,”I am thankful India is seated across the room from us.”

“To happiness!”Thailand cheered, nearly spilling his champagne.

“May we all be as happy as Somchai someday.”Myanmar did spill his drink.

They all laughed and stood to reach each other’s glasses.

It was a sort of silly thing to do, but at the Philippines cry of,”To the ASEAN Squad!”He pulled his secret girlfriend closer to him and kissed her.

He was forgetful, okay?

That only brought more cheers from their group, and they opened another bottle of champagne.

“Whoops?”He smiled, hoping she would forgive him.

She rolled her eyes,”I knew what I was getting into.”And she kissed him again.

It didn’t last long, mainly because he could not stop smiling. He laced their fingers together again, this time resting them on top of the table. Everyone settled back into their seats, and they exchanged glances.

Finally, the others raised their glasses to them,”Put all those other couples to shame.”Singapore said.

“Oi.”Philippines narrowed her eyes.

“Seriously.”Laos smiled,”I hope the best for you two.”

“To Vietnam and Thailand.”Brunei beamed.

“Vietnam and Thailand.”The others enthused, before downing their glasses again.

So much for not getting wasted at this dinner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’m thankful Bulgaria finally realized we’re dating.”Romania said, making Moldova chuckle and said nation blush.

“I’m thankful I have a house that feels like a home again.”Bulgaria managed to say through his blush, then leaned down to fix the child’s hat,”How about you, little one?”

“I’m thankful to be living with big brother again.”The boy chirped, immediately getting held tighter by said older brother.

Hungary smiled at the trio. This was a nice tradition, if a little strange. She wondered what was going on at the other tables. Southeast Asia kept shouting, the East Asian table had been hugging for a few minutes, the Nordics were already moving to get food, and she didn’t want to know who said what to make Russia annoyed at his table.

She swirled the liquid in her glass.

What was she thankful for? She would say all the lovely couples that were undoubtedly getting up to something interesting behind closed doors, but she knew better than to say that in the presence of Moldova and Lichtenstein.

Switzerland crossed his arms,”This is stupid.”

“Brother…”His little sister picked up her glass,”I’m thankful for our continued peace and prosperity.”

“I’m thankful no other countries have come to me when they have relationship issues.”Their hedgehog grumbled, completing the task.

Austria kissed the back of her hand,”I am thankful you decided to take me back.”

“I’m thankful you still love me after all this time.”Hungary returned.

Czechia raised her glass,”I am thankful no one has bothered me about Slovakia.”

Hungary wouldn’t be too sure about that.

Slovakia pouted,”Aw, I thought you said I had some good points.”That made the other young woman’s stern expression soften,”I would be ever so thankful if you agreed to go on a date with me.”

Her spa competitor dropped the glass. It didn’t shatter, but it did spill on the table,”What?”

The messy-haired nation messed up his hair more, and for a moment she thought he was going to back down. He had never been the most assertive person in the world. Slovakia managed to smile,”I do miss having you around, and I like having you by my side…it would be an honor to have you as my girlfriend.”

“Why did I think coming here was a good idea?”Switzerland muttered.

“Brother.”Liechtenstein scolded,”It’s sweet.”

Czechia blushed,”I miss having you around too, idiot.”

“Is that a yes?”Slovakia asked carefully.

“Yes it’s a yes.”

Hungary tapped her glass to Austria’s. A strange tradition indeed, but not a bad one.

Now if only they could find someone for their hedgehog.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was Latvia that messed up.

Sometimes Estonia wondered if the boy had any verbal filter besides his trembling. They had just about finished answering the question when the shortest of them had raised his glass, filled with an alcohol he was certain wasn’t champagne,”I am thankful Russia’s in a relationship with China and doesn’t bother me as much.”

No sense of self-preservation whatsoever.

“Am I a bother?”Russia asked.

“Of course not, brother.”Belarus glared at them, while Ukraine worried.

“You’ve just been less intimidating.”Lithuania explained,”It’s nice that you’re happy.”

Happy and on the other side of the continent. He certainly didn’t miss the intimidating nation dropping by his house in his free time. He was enjoying his newfound free time where he could relax with his computer and not have to worry. That was what he had meant when he had said he was thankful for the newest advancements in technology.

Russia narrowed his eyes at his southern neighbor, his aura darkening. Estonia quickly set down his glass while the stronger man leaned forward,”I sense you are not being truthful.”

Poland tensed,”You better stop Russia, or I’ll make Warsaw your capital.”

That didn’t deter him.

Estonia sighed,”Don’t cause a scene, Russia. Not at America’s party.”

That was the last thing he needed in his life.

“I have always considered you three my friends.”The Siberian nation relaxed slightly, though he could still tell he was upset. Whether this was the throw a violent fit sort of upset or something else he couldn’t tell. Which put him on edge.

“Friends don’t wish other friends to fail and have to become dependent on them.”Lithuania explained patiently,”Nor do they enjoy when the other is afraid.”

With the exception of scare pranks, but teaching Russia that was not going to lead anywhere good.

“I don’t consider you an enemy.”The longer haired out of the three of them continued,”But we don’t treat each other like friends, either. Not in a long time.”

“Then I will try to modify my behavior.”The tall man raised his glass,”Let us try to be friends.”

Estonia was still somewhat terrified, but it would be rude to turn down what sounded like a genuine olive branch. He lifted his glass,”Let us succeed in being friends.”

It wasn’t like he was the one with the problem. And if Russia was managing to keep China happy as his lover, then maybe he would be able to control himself around them to the point where he could consider his former boss to be a friend. At the very least he would have less knives pointed at him from Belarus, and the less unnecessary stress he had in his life, the better.

Friends with Russia?

A year ago he would have thought that impossible.

But crazier things had been revealed since then. Perhaps there were crazy things yet to come in his future.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

England stared at his siblings, all of them silently daring each other to go first. They had been getting better at actually talking about things beyond business, but this felt like something more. Why did Americans do this to themselves every year? Granted, they were all allowed their weird celebrations and traditions. He should be happy he was finally allowed to celebrate this one with the superpower.

“This is making me thankful I was not raised with siblings.”France broke the silence,”Can none of you think of one thing to be thankful for?”

“I’m thankful Arty took that stick out of his arse and replaced it with your-“

“Scotland.”Northern Ireland interrupted, before sighing,”I am thankful that you’ve all stopped being horrible to each other.”

“Small miracles.”Wales grumbled.

“Do we have to say something nice?”Ireland asked.

“America said it just has to be something.”England glowered,”But it’s traditionally something nice.”

Silence descended on their table again.

“Mon dieu.”France ran a hand through his hair,”Lie if you have to, but I will not tell America we failed in such a simple task.”

England inwardly sighed. It looked like he was going to have to set the example, again. Honestly, how their nation continued to function was beyond him,”I am thankful for all your support.”It was surprisingly not a lie,”We have never been the most…functional of families, but I am thankful for your continued presence in my life.”

That made them soften a bit.

Scotland crossed his arms,”I am thankful we’ve stopped the pissing contests.”

Ireland snorted,”I’m thankful for the decrease in family crises.”

Wales almost smiled,”I’m thankful that we’ve managed a year without one of you shaving a cock on my sheep.”

“There.”France drank his champagne,”Was that so difficult?”

“Yes.”Scotland produced a flask, and proceeded to refill his glass with a different liquid,”What about you, frog?”

“Is it not obvious?”His lover smiled,”I am thankful my patience has finally paid off and that my greatest love is returned.”

His siblings all made disgusted noises.

Monaco giggled,”I am thankful for the opportunity of love as well.”

England huffed. That wasn’t as terrible as he thought it would be.

If they only had to do this once a year, they’d be fine.

Maybe one day it wouldn’t be like pulling teeth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Is this really what your people do?”North Italy inquired.

“Well, mostly families with children but I thought it would be nice.”America shrugged.

Prussia looked at the other tables. Iceland was allowing himself to be hugged by Denmark. East Asia had gone from one giant hug to various smaller hugs, China still crying from happiness. He caught sight of Vietnam and Thailand kissing, so ASEAN was having a good time. France looked about ready to murder someone, and by the blush on Czechia’s face, Slovakia had finally manned up and asked her out.

An awesome night all around.

“So you just say something you’re thankful for?”South Italy asked.

“I don’t see why this is so difficult.”The superpower chuckled,”I am thankful for all that I have learned about others in the past year. It’s truly a blessing to be able to consider myself closer to more personifications.”

“I’m thankful that the interfering ways of my brother produced something good.”Canada teased.

Germany cleared his throat, the next in their little circle,”I am also thankful for America’s assistance in the events leading to my current happiness.”

“Okay.”America interrupted,”This isn’t a thank me thing. What are you thankful for, not who do you need to thank.”

His little brother nodded,”I am thankful for new friends, and expanding my family.”

North Italy bounced in his seat,”I’m thankful for pasta!”

Prussia laughed alongside the superpower. America grinned,”See, it doesn’t have to be anything serious.”

It was his turn. He considered what to say. It was an odd thing to have to announce what one is thankful for. It was like a prayer, except prayer was done in the comfort of one’s own head. He smirked,”I’m thankful for every awesome moment in my life.”

South Italy sent him a knowing look, before picking up his glass,”I’m thankful that this idiot is now my idiot.”

Another laugh, and then they were permitted to go get food buffet style. France, China, and Turkey had volunteered their services to assist the superpower and his twin in making this dinner, mostly so he had a reasonable enough excuse to not accept England’s offer of help. The food was good, conversation was even better, and he let himself enjoy the moment.

He was thankful for every moment in his life, not just the awesome ones.

But he was more thankful to see Germany expanding his group of friends. His little brother had typically reserved himself to just Italy and Austria, occasionally Hungary because those two came essentially together. Japan as well after the second world war. He didn’t have many friends. Co-workers, sure, but few actual friends.

It was his main worry in leaving his brother.

It was a massive weight off his shoulders to see him socially excelling.

“You better not go and die on us anytime soon.”South growled, leaning in closer so they wouldn’t be overhead,”Or I’ll find a way to resurrect your ass and kick it.”

“Promise?”He grinned. He’d never asked any of the magicians if it were possible to resurrect the dead, because that would mean he’d have to admit he was dying. England would accidentally tell someone the second he was drunk. Romania would feel obligated to tell Hungary. Norway might keep it a secret, but now that he was dating Denmark that wasn’t an option either.

He thought it best not to encourage hope that there was a way to avoid the inevitable.

He’d accepted his fate.

“Stupid macho potato.”The Italian grumbled, but moved back before they drew attention.

Prussia just laughed.

Besides, with all the talk about the twins’ mom, it made him sort of want to see his father again, along with all those he had lost over the centuries.

That was what he had to look forward to. Seeing them again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From beyond, the former nations watched their descendants feast.

Germania was proud of his sons, though for the memory of him he could not see what endeared his youngest to Rome’s grandson. Everything he found annoying in the former empire only seemed to make his son fall further in love with the Italian. Granted, he had not fallen in love in his time in the physical realm so he was no expert in these matters.

He was happy with his happiness, even if he did not understand it.

And he looked forward to seeing his eldest again, though there was still time yet before that day.

Rome was ecstatic about his grandsons’ lives. One had managed to get a descendant of Germania to fall in love with him, and the other was sleeping with the global superpower. The superpower who paraded so many of his symbols around. He felt bad about leaving his namesake with so many insecurities, but it had turned out for the best so he could only hope for his forgiveness.

He made a plan to visit soon and officially meet his grandson-in-law.

Hispania shook her head at her boys. She was proud that they had made it through everything and still managed to be happy and carefree. Even if the shorter haired of the two snapped from time to time. She could tell both were happy with the partners they had taken on, and while neither were empires anymore they did not seem any worse off without the burden or power.

Britannia stood next to her brother, Hibernia, watching their children resolutely not talk about their feelings. She found it entertaining how they went to such great lengths to act like they didn’t care about each other, only to end up helping each other out. She glanced over to where Gaul was lovingly smiling at her son. Perhaps young France would be of some assistance to her descendant’s plight. He was much more in touch with his feelings, almost disgustingly so.

Scandinavia chuckled at her two sons’ antics. She was glad Denmark’s perseverance had paid off after all this time. Her sons truly were loyal once they set their hearts on someone. She was even more relieved Sweden had someone by his side who understood him. They’d built themselves quite the little group, and she wished them well in all the time they still had on the Earth.

Ancient Greece laughed as she watched her son start a fight with Turkey. It always amused her to see the abrupt change in his personality whenever his eastern neighbor was nearby. Though she was beginning to enjoy the sight of him and his boyfriend together more. Japan was a choice she never saw coming when she was alive, but it was one she approved of from afar.

Native America was relieved to see the sadness that had plagued one of her sons for centuries finally abating. It had nearly convinced her to owe Rome a favor just to use his way back and reassure America that he should be happy. Canada was a little ignored, but he had not lost his good heart and kindness. Of that, she was extremely proud. She was content in how they both grew up.

It was hard for any of them to watch their children stumble and fall.

But they were thankful each day that they could watch them succeed when they got back up again.

They loved their children.