Least and most
A/N: Human are names are used because I'm too uncomfortable using country names in this fic. Both names are common in their home country, though Nate is considered a name by itself and Nathan isn't a popular name, but I decided that England would want him to have a proper name. NZ is a native name, for reasons explore in this fic. Please enjoy and harsh critique is very welcome.
I need a beta desperately.
Australia- Nathan "Nate"
New Zealand- Aata
...
Intro
Arthur sometimes looked back on his colonies and wondered where the time had gone. He knew it sounded cliché, but it really did seem that it had been only the other day, he had founded and raised them. Now when he walked the corridors at the world summit, he was constantly running into countries that had once stood below his knee, but now could easily look him in the eyes. Some even towered above him.
He had loved some more than others, well that was an understatement. He had adored some, only seen others as an object to be used, just plain ignored others, had hated some and one in particular he had never stopped loving more than anyone he had known before.
He often compared them, he couldn't help it. He wondered what would happen if he had raised a certain child differently. He was in a meeting when he noticed that his most favourite colony was sitting across from what had been his least favourite colony. The two chatted excitedly and every now and then another nation would shoot them dirty looks for being so loud. The two were so similar sometimes that England found it scary, so full of life and friendly. It made the differences all the more jarring though.
Birth
He suppose it started with how they had come into being, Alfred had been a new start in a strange new land, while Nathan had been a prison. He remembered fighting Francis for Alfred, he had wanted so desperately that land, so full of promise. The land had been green, full of life and he had fought so hard for it and when he had won, it had been the happiest day of his life. Each time he had returned Alfred had run giggling into his arms and while he was there Arthur lavished him with attention and gifts. He was special, he deserved them.
He remembered claiming Nathan for the empire on a whim. Others had come before Arthur, but Arthur had been the only one interested in the vast barren land. He supposed his pride had played a part, wanting to own more despite the fact he had no use for it. It was only after a while that he had finally found a use for the boy, as a jail to catch the overflow from England's prisons. Each time he returned to the land with a new batch of inmates, he would have to go search for Nathan, as the boy would rather get bitten by one of his strange creatures then talk to Arthur. The time he spent with the boy was mostly him lecturing him on proper behaviour and boxing his ears for not following it.
Play
He remembered once when he had brought Alfred some toy soldiers all the way across the Atlantic, the boy had been so excited and Arthur had watched from his spot by the fireplace, while the boy had played for hours with his new toys.
He had once, out of good grace, decided to bring some toys for Nathan to play with, though nowhere near as good as Alfred's had been. Nathan's was simply a set that he had seen on sale in a shop window and when Arthur thought about it, the tiny metal figurines most likely had lead paint.
He had shoved them in the boy's hands and kicked him out the back door so he could relax in the shade by himself. He had fallen asleep quickly, but was rudely interrupted when he heard shots and had bolted out the back door to see Nathan with rifle in hand, using his new toys as target practise, surprisingly hitting his mark each time. Arthur had given him a right good smack and had taken away his new toys along with his rifle. It didn't make much difference as the following day he was playing in the dirt with the local convict children. He had thought about walking over and dragging the boy away from even daring to play with such filth, they were criminals, albeit very young ones. He had watched though, out of some kind of morbid curiosity.
"I still don't get it though, Nate? You're Kirkland's brother and he seems very important, so why would you play with us?" asked a girl, dressed in what appeared to be a sack, but was actually a crudely made dress.
Nathan screwed up his face in a look of disgust, England almost laughed as it was so close to the look Alfred used to make whenever he was very upset.
"He's not my brother! Not in bond anyway, just blood. He dumped me here alone didn't he? There's no brotherly love between us."
"That's good. I would have kicked your ass if you thought yourself as high and mighty as that pom. My ma always said the tallest poppy was the one that got cut down." laughed a boy as he tugged one of the flyaway strands of Nathan's hair.
"Like you could kick my ass." scoffed Nathan as he elbowed the boy playfully in the stomach.
The two boys started to play fight in the dust as the other children cheered on, thankfully a group of guards noticed and broke up the children before something playful turned into an actual fight.
Arthur was reminded of a time he went to visit Alfred. He told the boy to go out for the day and play with the local children, he didn't tell him he'd be watching him from a distance. He was pleased to see that straight away he went to a group of boys who were all from good families, the biggest one Arthur recognised as Jeremy the nephew of the local pastor, a very good family. The group found a porch to set up their toys and start a game of make believe, pretending to wage war with one another.
"Hey Alfred, isn't your brother Mister Kirkland?" asked Jeremy as he directed his toys to close in on Alfred's.
Arthur's heart skipped a beat as he waited for Alfred to answer, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the boy smile brightly.
"Yeah, he sure is. He put me in charge here, for when he's not around."
"That's so amazing! I wish my brother was as important." gasped another boy in amazement.
He had been pleased to see that Alfred was making the right friends, though Arthur had a sneaking suspicion that without his guidance he would have befriended the wrong type of children. Nathan seemed to reject his guidance and constantly broke the rules of class, befriending anyone who would give him five minutes of their time. It was with that the hatred he felt for his prison colony intensified, he had never liked children who didn't know their place.
Faith
Another thing that got his temper roaring was Nathan's seemingly nonexistent respect for god. He had to physically drag the boy kicking and screaming to church, sometimes even having to bribe him if he had climbed up out of Arthur's reach somewhere, usually a gumtree. The boy would sit there with a face of thunder for the first half of the service and by the second half he was falling asleep. If it wasn't for the fact that every time he nodded off Arthur smacked him across the head, the boy's snores would disrupt the service altogether.
Nathan seemed to have a burning hatred for priests as well, he would glare daggers at them every time once came to greet Arthur when Nathan was at his side. At first they had tried to greet Nathan as well, but they quickly learned all attempts would be useless. When Arthur demanded an explanation for his behaviour Nathan merely shrugged.
"They are whipping men and bloody hypocrites."
"What?"
"They pray for the convicts souls on Sunday, telling them that all they need is forgiveness for their sins. Then for the rest of the week they whip them as punishment for their sins. I thought forgiveness meant you didn't have to be punished?"
"Do not question them Nathan, they are men of god. Next time we go to church I want you to apologise and pay attention for the entire service."
"Good fucking luck, mate! You aren't here next week, so there will be no one round to make me go."
Nathan only escaped a beating because even though he was small, he was fast. He was up a tree in an instant and remained there the rest of the night while England had waited underneath for him. Eventually Nathan won when England fell asleep and Nathan climbed down before disappearing into the bush. England left four days later, Nathan still not having returned.
Alfred might have well been a saint when it came to his love for god. From the day the first church was built, Alfred was up bright and early, practically dragging Arthur to the small wooden building every Sunday. Arthur had sometimes watched as Alfred watched the words of the bible being spoken, an eager look on his face as he took in every word. Sometimes he would notice Arthur watching him.
"Arthur. You've got to listen, so stop spacing out and staring at me." whispered Alfred with a pout.
Arthur had smiled at him before once more turning his attention to the priest. He was even more pleased when Alfred began to volunteer at the church and wear a cross around his neck. Though Arthur had been annoyed when the boy had demanded they say grace before they ate dinner, every single day. He had nothing against saying it every now and then, but sometimes after a long day he just wanted to eat as soon as he sat down.
He supposed he should have told Alfred in advance that nations are exempt from some of god's laws, so they could better fulfil their duty. It started when Arthur invited Francis over for a peace talk. All had gone well until the two fell into bed together, they had only started working on buttons and ties when Alfred had walked in. The boy stared at the two in shock, before he let out a terrified scream and ran away.
Francis had laughed hysterically on the bed, finding the whole situation hilarious. Arthur ran after the boy and found him crying outside behind a fallen tree. He jumped in fright when Arthur sat down beside him, not knowing the older country was there.
"Alfred, I think it's time we had a talk."
"About how you're a faggot? How could you? You go to church every Sunday!"
"Alfred, you have to realise something. As we are nations, different rules have to apply to us so we can form alliances and bring about peace. That was merely me trying to bring peace between me and the frog."
"So every time you want to form an alliance you have to do that?"
"No, I don't have to, but it makes things so much easier and faster. If I wished I wouldn't touch him at all. Nations have formed hundreds of alliances and even married without even a peck on the cheek. When me and brother Scotland came under the same banner when Elizabeth died and James took the throne, we barely even talked, let alone something more. That was actually because we were brothers who were born from the same mother, so you can see why I didn't do anything. The same thing happened with my two other brothers."
"So does that mean I'll never have to do that?"
"Not if you don't want to, but maybe one day you'll decide for yourself that you want to take the easy option to form an alliance. Though you have to be a country first, so right now as part of the British empire you'll never be form alliances like I was."
"So god won't be angry with you? When you form alliances like that?"
"Of course not, it is my duty. Though if I did something like that with a human or another nation for something that wasn't politics it would be a sin."
"Okay." mumbled Alfred and Arthur could swear there was almost a hint of disappointment in his voice. Though he must have been imagining it.
Nathan was far older then Alfred had been when he had finally been told of a way to form alliances. Unlike Alfred, Nathan burst out laughing so hard that he had begun to cry. Then he got to his feet and practically sprinted out the door.
"Where are you going?" demanded Arthur.
"To form an alliance with Aata of course!" he had said with a cheeky grin.
Arthur dragged the boy back inside and scolded him, telling him that until he became a country he couldn't form alliances as he was part of Arthur, even though he did everything himself.
Brothers
Arthur had never liked his brothers, from the moment he was born they seemed to have it out for him. So with that he wasn't in the least surprised when some of the brother hatred had rubbed off on Alfred and Nathan.
When Arthur had first introduced Alfred to his new brother Matthew the boy had simply ignored the small boy. As time went on their differences made things difficult, Alfred was all energy a true extrovert, while Matthew was shyness and kindness, an introvert to the end. This often resulted in Alfred pushing Matthew about and taking any attention given to the boy away as soon as Arthur had sat down with the younger boy for more than a minute.
Finally Matthew had enough of Alfred and that was when the fighting had started. The first instance had been when Alfred had taken a toy out of Matthew's hands, saying that he wanted to play with it despite his brother's protests. The toy, a small stuffed polar bear had been a gift from Francis and it was Matthew's favourite. Arthur had come running when he heard the shouting.
"Give it back it's mine!"
"Well I want to play with it!"
"But it's not yours!"
"But I want it!"
The two boys were in a tug of war over the toy and before Arthur could break them up there was a sound of tearing fabric and the small polar bear toy was ripped in half. Matthew had looked down at it in despair while Alfred ran away, but he was quickly caught by Arthur.
"I didn't mean to do it! I just wanted to play." wailed Alfred.
"That's not good enough, say sorry to Matthew."
Alfred walked up to the little boy that was crying on the floor, holding the torn remains of his precious toy.
"I'm sorry Matthew."
Matthew looked up, tears streaking down his face and launched at Alfred with a scream. Arthur had to separate them by force and send them to their respective rooms without dinner. Next day when he woke up and went down to the kitchen tom prepare breakfast he noticed his sewing kit was strewn across the table. It had been easy to know who had done it, as the culprit had practised before hand on a tea towel and only Alfred would sew a giant red A into it.
He had gone to the boy's room but had found it empty. He had eventually found Alfred curled up in Matthew's bed with his brother, the younger of which was cuddling a crudely repaired polar bear while he slept.
Of course not all things ended peacefully and Arthur had remembered lots more brutal fights and it had even carried on when Alfred had left and the two were no longer boys but young men. If he had to listen to Matthew bring up burning down the white house one more time when in Alfred's presence he was going to hit the boy.
Nathan had a strange relationship with his sort-of-brother Aata. Unlike Alfred, Matthew and Nathan who had appeared shortly before or after he first colonized them Aata had been on his two little islands for a long time. Even though he was still a very small child he was truly a nation,Aotearoa. Arthur had quickly changed that, making him part of the New South Wales colony and named him New Zealand after the name Holland had given him.
When Nathan had first meet Aata things had gone well, Arthur should have known better than for it too last.
"Nathan, I want you to meet Aata. He is you're new brother."
"What are those marks all over him?" asked Nathan pointing at Aata's tattooed arm.
"That's tribal tattoos." informed Arthur.
"Oh, can I get some?" asked Nathan.
"No, it's bad enough that Aata has them and he only has them because he had them already done before he met me."
"Oh, did they hurt?" asked Nathan eagerly.
"They did a bit, but I didn't cry or anything." said Aata proudly.
"Why don't you two go play outside?" asked Arthur, trying to get the two annoying brats out of his hair. He was hot, cranky and not in the mood for them.
He had spent three more days in absolute peace before things had started getting bad. Nathan and Aata didn't fight, though they did occasionally argue, they were rivals. He would often be disrupted by a scream as one of the two lost a challenge, mostly foot races, wrestling matches or climbing trees. Sometimes the two dragged Arthur with them to act as a judge despite his protests.
He had done nothing to stop the heated rivalry between them, which reached breaking point a few years later when Nathan had ran crying to Arthur.
"You have to come quick! It's Aata, he got bit by a snake!"
Nathan had led Arthur to where the younger boy was lying on the ground, his mouth opened wide as he screamed in excruciating pain. Arthur had picked the boy up and rushed him to the nearest medic, who had shook his head and told Arthur there was nothing he could do to save the boy or relieve his pain. Arthur knew he would live, their kind only died if the nation fell, but he was worried about the psychological damage and any lasting effects.
"Fine then, just leave us be."
"Yes sir, right away." said the medic as he bowed and left the room.
Arthur looked down at Aata who was still screaming in pain, then across the room to Nathan who was sobbing.
"I honestly didn't think he'd do it. I just dared him to pick up the snake as a joke."
Arthur was instantly across the room, standing over the trembling boy.
"You dared him to pick up a snake?" he shouted.
"I didn't think he would actually do it!"
"There are no snakes in New Zealand! He probably doesn't even know what a snake is? He trusted you and you did this to him!"
"I'm sorry. I just didn't thi-"
"No of course you didn't think! You never do, because there is nothing in your head except for dirt and flies!"
Arthur knew he shouldn't have been so harsh on him, he was just a boy after all, but he was so angry that Aata was going through so much pain because of Nathan's stupidity. The next day Arthur had two colonies in the medic's house. One from a snake bite and one from being flogged until his back was raw. He left to go home to England and didn't even say goodbye, they wouldn't have appreciated it anyway.
Aata didn't recover from the snake bite for a few months and when he did his body was weak and he was more prone to suffering from illness. For the few decades he was subjected to one illness after another, he was so weak that he never grew as tall as he would have if he hadn't been ill. Thankfully Nathan was constantly by his side, trying to make up for his mistake, but never letting go of their rivalry as Aata wouldn't want to.
He should have seen that from the very second the two met that Nathan was besotted by the younger boy.
Love
Now, the area of love was the most vastly difference area between Alfred and Nathan. For both had taken very different paths with their love.
Nathan had made his intentions clear as soon as he hit puberty. He had asked Aata if he had wanted to do the thing that Francis and Arthur did. Earning a glare from Arthur, a broken nose from Aata. Of course he hadn't given up and had taken every opportunity available and when the two had become fully fledged countries had tried to convince the other they should hook up for political reasons.
Arthur had been confused, surely the other knew that his feeble attempts at courtship wouldn't work.
"Even though I frown upon this sort of relationship for non-political reason, don't you realise that you are going about this the wrong way. You don't just walk up to someone and ask them if they'll go out back with you, you have to ask them a date or something."
"Who goes on dates? You either hook up or you don't hook up."
Arthur could only hope that Nathan's way of thinking was a teenage thing and not permanent, otherwise he'd never get anywhere with Aata.
It was the day that he sent the two teenagers off to war that things changed. Both had been excited to prove themselves, but they had looked so unprepared to Arthur. Nathan had been unsure how to hold his gun and Aata had rushed out so fast he had borrowed a uniform which he had to roll up the sleeves of, as it was too big.
He really knew he should have checked things over a few times before he sent them off, he still felt bad about sending them to the wrong beach and into a death trap. Afterwards once he had finally decided that enough was enough and he got them out of there he noticed how the two almost clung to one another. He had them cleaned and patched up, before settling them doing in a cabin all three of them had to share on that damn boat.
"Aata, I need to talk to you about something." had whispered Nathan, trying not to wake up Nathan. The older was of course awake, not being able to sleep after what he had seen.
"Please, Nathan. I don't feel in the mood to have you ask me to find someplace to go for some private time. I have told you no a hundred times, it isn't going to change.
"It' not that. I've been thinking."
"A dangerous pastime for you."
"Very funny. Seriously though, war has made me think about things. Like how much I miss home and how much I love you."
There was a sharp intake of breath, most likely from Aata. Arthur knew that Nathan had never used the word 'love' to describe how he felt about Aata. He couldn't help but peek at the two who were slumped against a wall on the other side of the cabin.
"So anyway, I was thinking that maybe we should go out sometime, for a beer or something."
Aata smiled at Nathan and leaned his on the larger teen's shoulder.
"I'd like that."
Arthur smiled and closed his eyes, not wanting to interrupt the first happy moment the two had experienced in such a long time.
Alfred had taken a very different road to win his crush. Which had consisted of denying anything between them and mild bullying, very much like a child. Which was when the crush had apparently started.
Arthur really should have noticed it, the boy still hugged and kissed him when he was far too old to do such things. It carried on even after the revolution, whenever they met there would be so much tension in the air and it wasn't all from the hatred. Whenever Arthur so much as passed him a sheet of paper Alfred's hand would brush his for too long to be accidental.
It all came to a head when after the second war was over. Arthur had just sat down in disbelief, almost too shocked to move. The spell had been broken when Alfred had sat down next to him, one arm in a cast and a bandage round his head.
"I can't believe it's really all over." whispered Arthur.
"I know. I remember thinking all the way through this thing that it would never end and that even in a hundred years I'd still be in the same situation doing the same old thing, no closer to seeing the end."
"I feel so tired Alfred, my body has never hurt so much and I have not felt weaker since I was a child. I really am no longer the British Empire. I'm scared for what the future hold, yet happy at the same time."
"Why would you be scared? Only peace can happen now. No one will surely go to war now after all this. This was a war to end it all."
"But that's what we said about the last one. For all we know the next world war is around the corner. I don't trust things at the moment, they seem too good to be true. Everyone has left me Alfred, I'm so alone."
Alfred turned Arthur's face to look him in the eye with his free hand.
"Look Arty, you need to stop sulking and just be happy. You're still here and so is everyone else. We made it through and remember no matter what I'm still here for you."
Arthur looked Alfred in the eyes and smiled for the first time in years. He then leaned forward without thinking and pressed their lips together.
Alfred froze before moving against him, accepting the gesture and all that came with it. When they lay with each other early the next morning Arthur realised something, Nathan and Aata had dated while he and Alfred had hooked up. His laughing woke up the other nation, who quickly used his mouth to silence the offender.
Finnish
In the end Arthur knew he shouldn't compare his old colonies, it was unfair. He loved seeing how they had changed though.
Nathan had started out as a scrawny underfed child that used to play in the dirt with children, was a prison continent and struggled everyday to make ends meet. Nate was now a large man, all muscle and rough handsomeness. He still played in dirt with the children, but then again maybe some things never changed. He was free now and so were his people, who were diverse and as goddamn lazy as him. The wanker had also dodged the recession bullet unlike the rest of them, was most likely due to all the goddamn minerals he was sitting on that made him a literal goldmine, Arthur wished he had known about that before. Finally Arthur no longer hated him, how could he with someone who had so willingly overlooked everything bad that he had done to him in the past. Except for when sport was involved, the bastard must have cheated to win that staggering amount of medals at the commonwealth games.
Alfred had started out as a sweet innocent boy, which did as he was told, refused to talk to anyone lower then himself and had adored Arthur. He now looked like a Hollywood hunk, but had kept his dazzling bright blue eyes and knockout smile. Nowadays the only person that could order him around was his boss and all complaints fell on deaf ears, it wasn't like growth was always to a perfect being. He also had lost most of his sense of superiority with his own people, perfectly willing to talk to a family that was the bottom of the dog pile, though Arthur hoped he never reached the level Nate was at, where his people wouldn't find it strange if a politician sat down to have a drink with their garbage man. He still adored, though not in the same way he had as a child where he had looked up to him as a brother figure. Now he adored him in a special way, that could only be expressed in private. Arthur still loved him more than anyone else that had come before or ever would.
Arthur watched as what had been his least and most favourite colonies once upon a time. Things were never perfect, but he was happy with the way things were.