Suite Dreams

Going to go ahead and post this one now even though it's late for the holidays, but I'd rather start posting it now than wait for nearly a year.

I'll only be sticking to the general idea of the play (which will only be a part of the story anyway), so I hope I can make this interesting even though most people probably know the basic premise. The beginning might seem a little rushed or forced or odd, but an explanation for it will come later.

Characters, the play, and anything else copyrighted/trademarked to anyone else aren't mine of course. This isn't beta'd. America and England aren't together yet.


Why had he agreed to come to this play with England again?

America had to stifle a yawn, since the last couple of times he hadn't he'd received increasingly irritated looks from the older blond beside him and figured he'd likely be smacked if it happened again. It wasn't that he didn't like doing things with England, but watching a bunch of people dancing around on stage in leotards wasn't exactly all that riveting for him today. He would have preferred one of his Broadway plays to "The Nutcracker" – which was what they were watching right now – even if the play was among the season's most well known ones. At least people spoke or even sung in his Broadway shows.

As the play continued he couldn't help but chuckle lightly at the idea of the magical world the Nutcracker lived in which was ruled over by a fairy of all things, though he held a hand over his mouth in an attempt to silence it when England shot him another glare, likely from making too much noise and drawing unwanted attention.

Now that America thought about it, this kind of story was right up the older man's alley what with all of the magic, battles, fairies, and the like. The sudden mental image of England in the Nutcracker's place though – outfit and all – made America jerk in his seat and nearly yelp if he hadn't caught himself in time, though England still shot him a look at the sudden movement. America just gave him a sheepish, somewhat embarrassed smile and a slight shrug before turning his gaze back to the stage, England eventually doing the same after giving him one last, lingering look.

America wasn't paying much attention to the play though. 'Okay, that was beyond weird. Definitely need to stop paying attention to this play or something. Gotta think about something else. Something else...something else...um... Wow, okay, why is this so hard right now? ? Something else... FOOD! Okay, yeah, ...uh... Oh! I need to remember to pick up the rest of the ingredients for Christmas dinner. Canada said he'd be helping France with the desserts, so I need to make sure the rest of the meal is all set. Gotta remember to try and find a distraction for England too. Don't wanna see him sulking when France exiles him from the kitchen...' An image of a fuming but pouting England popped up in his mind, and he fidgeted in his seat. 'UGH! Not helping!

'What's going on? I mean, yeah, he's sitting right beside me, and he agreed to spend Christmas and maybe New Year's at my place, but Canada and France did too, so why do my thoughts keep coming back to England?' He scratched at his ear and shoulder because of a slight tingling sensation ('Someone must have opened a door on that side or something...') and looked back to the stage again to see how much longer they might have.

Thankfully the play was winding down when he really looked at it again. The Nutcracker-turned-prince was dancing with the girl before being crowned rulers of the magical kingdom. Not so thankfully America's mind decided to change the prince and girl into England and himself, and he nearly slammed his head on the seat in front of him if he hadn't slammed his hands to his face first.

England looked at him again, a mix of annoyance and concern on his face, and whisper-hissed, "What is wrong with you? ? If you didn't want to see this with me, you could have stayed home or something. Or are you not feeling well? If so, then you definitely should have stayed at home."

America was quick to try and placate him and waved his hands in front of him in an attempt at a dismissing gesture. "No, no, I'm okay. Just have a lot on my mind. Trying to keep track of everything I need and want to do for the holidays and all."

His companion just stared at him a moment longer before closing his eyes and shaking his head. "I can only imagine what you were thinking about to have you squirming about in your seat like that."

'Ahahahah, please, don't ask!'

"The play's over though, so we can leave whenever you're ready." As if to make his point England was already on his feet and lightly gestured with his coat that was slung over his arm towards the nearest set of doors.

'Oh..., right.' "'Kay." He stood up as well and grabbed his jacket before following the older man out of the theater and onto the sidewalk. "Is there anything you wanna do, or do you wanna head back since it's after eight? We could make some hot chocolate or something and watch a Christmas movie."

"That does sound nice..."


"Oh, come on! "Home Alone" is a classic Christmas movie! We should totally watch it!"

England chose one end of the couch to sit down on and held his cup of hot chocolate in both hands. It provided a wonderful source of warmth for his still slightly chilled fingers from the walk back from the theater. "America..., how can a movie that's not even twenty years old be a 'classic?' ...Though I'll admit watching the burglars falling for each of the traps is amusing."

America was already over near his home entertainment center and thumbing through his extensive DVD and Blu-ray collection. "Exactly! I mean remember the first time we saw it and the taller one fell down the ice covered stairs? We both nearly pulled something we were laughing so hard!" He chuckled just remembering it. "And then when Kevin put the tarantula on the tall guy and he screamed! That guy can yell. It's hilarious. Come on! We gotta watch it!"

England wasn't in the mood to argue right now. He'd had a nice evening watching one of his favorite plays – despite that America hadn't been able to sit through even the first half without starting to annoy him – and he had a nice, warm drink and what could potentially be an equally nice end to the day. With a slight shrug he made himself more comfortable on his half of the couch. "All right, all right. We'll watch it."

The younger man did a little jump and whoop. "Yes! Okay, just let me find it. Oh! And I'll go make some popcorn too." He was glad he'd taken the time to alphabetize his collection as he quickly found the DVD he wanted and set the case on top of the player. "Okay, be right back," and he ran off into the kitchen.

England let him go and just relaxed into the cushions, though he was tempted to grab the throw that hung over the back of the nearby chair. '...I'll just ask America to grab it when he comes back in.'

A few minutes later America half-jogged back into the room with what looked like a huge punch bowl full of what had to be at least three bags of popcorn. England couldn't help but mentally chuckle in a slightly exasperated kind of way. 'He'll likely eat all of that himself before the movie's even half over.' He then quickly remembered to ask the other to hand him the blanket from the chair as he walked by it.

After giving the throw to England America headed back over to the television and set about putting the DVD in and starting it up. As he grabbed and messed with the various remotes it took to change from the TV to the DVD player England wrapped the blanket around himself and set the popcorn bowl between them.

"America, when are Canada...and France–" he still cringed even if they did this every Christmas they could, "–coming? Weren't they supposed to be here today to go with us to the play?"

"Yeah. I think they're still supposed to get in tonight too. Bro said that he was having trouble with his bear wandering off and wanted to find a 'sitter for him instead of trying to bring him here. Though I don't know why he's bothering. I mean no one seems to mind either of them even when he travels, ...which is weird..." He shrugged it off though and let the DVD play through the previews he couldn't move through with the remote. "France... I don't know what's holding him up. He should have called if he was having problems getting here."

England shrugged in turn with a sour look on his face. "Feh... Knowing that wino, he's probably lost track of time while chasing after some poor women."

"Hahah, probably. I don't think the weather's bad over at his place or the Atlantic to affect air travel, so that's likely." He sat back and grabbed a handful of popcorn. "Man, I should have grabbed some drinks."

England took a few pieces himself. "Never mind that. You'd have a horrible time going to sleep if you'd drink any of those caffeinated beverages of yours this late."

America stuck his tongue out at him though smiled and remained where he was. "Okay, mom." The movie was staring anyway.


They had quite a few laughs at the burglars' expense even if they'd seen the movie at least once a year every year since it had come out. By the time things were winding down and the family was back home America turned to see if there was any popcorn left and found the bowl empty and England asleep against the far corner of the couch. 'Must still be jet lagged.' He smiled slightly and set the bowl aside before picking the older man up and carrying him up to the quest room he used whenever he visited this particular home of America's.

After depositing the still asleep England on the bed – and thankful that they had the habit of taking off their shoes at the door – he tucked the man in and headed off to his own room. He figured his brother and France would arrive in the morning at the earliest now and changed and settled into bed.

All in all it had been a good day. Though the odd thoughts of England he'd had earlier during the play still stuck around in his mind as he drifted off to sleep.


The first thing America could sense was that he was no longer in his bed, or at least it didn't feel like his bed. The mattress and pillows were a bit harder, and the blanket felt a bit coarser. When he moved he felt more fabric like a second blanket around his legs and found when he sat up that he was in one of his old dressing gowns like he'd worn when he was very young even though he was still his usual age.

He jumped out of the bed and found his feet hitting an old wooden floor that was slightly cold to the touch. When he lifted his head to look around him the scantily decorated bedroom he was in didn't seem familiar at all. Despite the unfamiliar environment, for some reason he didn't feel as scared as he thought he should.

Taking a look out of the door, he found himself at the end of a hallway that contained a few other rooms, though the doors to them were all shut. He didn't bother looking in them at the moment and slowly made his way down the hallway, finding a medium-sized living room at the end of it. A couch sat against one wall with a chair angled near it on one side and another couch across from it. A side table was set between the chair and the couch against the wall, and a coffee table with nothing on it sat between the couches. Within the fireplace across from the couches a fire was burning merrily away, though America found it odd he couldn't hear the wood crackle. In the far corner from where he was and to the left of the fireplace was a large decorated tree, though no lights were lit on it; it was decorated with old-looking ornaments and garlands and topped with a metal star within a golden hoop.

Stepping further into the room and over to the tree, America saw that there were several presents under the evergreen wrapped in paper that didn't really match with the almost colonial feel the rest of the room held. As he reached down to pick one up he felt the floor vibrate as a group of people heading his way. Shooting back up into a standing position, he found himself soon surrounded by a bunch of familiar faces. Although if this really was supposed to be over a hundred and fifty years ago at least, he wasn't supposed to have actually met some of them yet though he still knew who they were. If he thought about it, he wasn't even sure some of them should even exist if this was supposed to be so long ago. He was growing all the more confused as to what was going on though again not as much so as he felt he should, which in turn was just making him all the more frustrated.

Germany was being pulled along by Italy who was talking rapidly to him about something America couldn't make out, Romano and Spain following closely behind and arguing in a way that seemed to be usual for them. Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein were carrying a bunch of bags that they set down on the coffee table. Japan and China had come into the room but took some of the bags with the ones they were carrying and headed off into another hallway that likely lead to the kitchen. The Nordics and Sealand were all discussing what seemed to be the various plates of food they were carrying. Canada, Cuba, Netherlands, and Belgium were all conversing about something, the Caribbean man laughing what should have been loudly.

Despite all of the apparent noise these people should be making, America couldn't hear a single sound.