Chapter Text
A single car parked outside of the Dutch Empire's home in Amsterdam, North France stepped out of it, Dutch was waiting outside, the war was cruel, but at least they could spend more time together thanks to it. North France quickly ran up to Dutch.
"Welcome back North France" Dutch said. They hadn't seen each other since North France wrote her "constitution", which she already broke seven times, like any good fascist. "It's so good to see you"
"Good to see you too Dutch" responded North France.
Dutch opened the door, smiling "You must be tired after that long drive". North France was very tired, if not for the fact that collapsing on the Amsterdamian pavement would stain areas that aren't being used for execution and even fascists would have to do paperwork for cleaners to clean all that blood up, she'd fall asleep on the floor.
"Do you want some tea?" Dutch asked, already pouring water into her kettle, grabbing some British tea, that had probably been taken from the British territory.
"Yeah sure Dutch, whatever" North France replied, her voice almost the same as if she had been woken up because two unimportant African countries are at war. The only things she had to eat in the last 10 hours was one of the emergency baguettes she kept under her helmet and she was angry about it.
Dutch put out her fine cups, that she used for diplomatic meetings, which this could probably be described as, even though one of the participants had unkempt hair and heavy eye bags. "So" Dutch said "How is it going on in France?"
"Horrible" North France replied "The commies took Libourne and I had to drive away while the city fell to ruin, blood stained the streets and the only noises I could hear were gunshots & planes flying overhead" her eyes widened reminding Dutch that neither France nor North France actually had experienced the bad end of "modern" warfare, unlike herself, she didn't participate in the War of the Greats, nor conquered any minor nations, the civil war did do all of that things, but nobody had any war plans, it was just: "Begin war, kill all commies and try to get an at least favorable peace deal", it reminded Dutch of herself when the Russians captured Germany, just blood and screams and gunshots everywhere.
"Don't worry North France, we'll retake Libourne, capture Rome and then kill everyone, there's no other way." a promise, but it wasn't a lie, Dutch herself believed it, how were they supposed to lose if Europe, Africa, South America & Oceania all had powerful, some even nuclear fascist powers?
"Thank you, Dutch, this means so much to me." she responded, drinking some tea, still too hot and definitely too bitter, she carefully put the cup down, threw two sugar cubes in & began stirring. "So Dutch, how's it going on the eastern front?" she asked.
"We've pushed Poland & the Farmer's Union back, but Norway has already occupied Pomerania, it isn't the best, but our core territories are safe." Dutch said. She herself wasn't ready for the war, especially since she was so tired after killing so many minorities & commies, but the communists don't care about her sleep schedule, she at least had nuked Russia during the War of the Greats in the morning, fully rested to retake her territories, not a couple hours after sunset.
North France, picked up her cup and took a sip of tea, replying: "That seems bad, but once you take Kaliningrad, you'll be able to stall Rome at the Alps, take Denmark & rescue me, just like we practiced Dutch."
"Yes North France, just like we practiced" Dutch took a sip of her tea, extremely bitter, just like her.
Their dialogue continued for much longer, their teas drank & their minds cleared from the pain and anguish of the current global conflict, but finally it ended. North France still didn't have an embassy in Amsterdam, so she had to sleep in the Dutch Empire's guest room. She shut & locked the door, looking at the simple room, just a bed, desk with a chair, a wardrobe & a simple bathroom. North France unpacked her bags, removed her helmet & uniform & took a shower. After that she laid in bed & started to fall asleep, but couldn't. It wasn't the PTSD or any other mental condition, but it was herself. She lied awake, thinking about this war: it was a bloodbath, but not as bad; she heard of the horrors of the War of the Greats, cities destroyed in moments, nuclear shadows occupying every corner of Mesopotamia, Russia, China & their allies, at least half a billion gone, this was different — fewer nukes, fewer superpowers, less time, if the democracies joined, then it could even be more brutal. North France didn't even believe in their inevitable victory.
At the same time Dutch was in her own room, writing paperwork & communicating with generals, but then she looked at the clock — 11pm, which means that the front lines are stalling, not a problem to her however as she lived in Amsterdam, not anywhere near the border. She took a shower and went to bed, before that she picked up a photo, the person on it was the Organization of States, her daughter, whose life lasted just five years, and it was her fault. She was just a ploy to turn the world fascist, even though fascists shouldn't get attached, Dutch did, when it became clear, that her daughter's "policing" wasn't working, everyone left, and she died, luckily when a country or organization dies, but comes back, they retain their memories, so if they win, then maybe she could convince Ethiopia to bring her back, the war would help with this.
Both residents of the house fell asleep sad, but that's the life of a fascist — only you yourself matter, barely any other fascist actually cared about their allies, but those who did? Well, they would anything for one another.