"Aren't we missing someone, aru? There should be more people at this meeting, shouldn't there, aru?"
Around the table, there was Russia, China, America, England, and two empty chairs. The first three felt as if there maybe, just maybe, there might be some countries missing. Russia sat in silence, deciding it was more fun to simply watch.
America laughed. "The hero is here! That's all that matters!"
He grinned and gave China a big thumbs up. China raised an eyebrow, but decided to drop the subject. America took it as silent agreement. The young nation raised his hand in triumph, when an earth-shattering sneeze broke the silence. It came from America's left, where a sullen-looking Brit sat with his arms crossed.
"Don't. Say. A. Word. Git."
England's giant eyebrows were scrunched up, and his eyes were narrowed. The older nation was scowling at America. Alfred's grin grew wider.
"Why are you so happy, idiot? Your economy is terrible. And you're making us ALL sick." England said.
"Ha ha! No way! China's fine. You're just old." America stuck his tongue out at England.
England shouted, "I AM NOT OLD! SOD OFF! CHINA'S OLDER THAN I AM!"
China broke in, "Hey, that was rude, aru!"
England didn't respond. He was glaring daggers at his former charge. America just laughed it off-again.
"Yeah, but he's in WAY better shape than you are."
"Thank you, America." China said. He knew, of course, America only said it to piss off England. China still felt a little sour about the Opium wars, though, so he was fine with that.
America shrugged, "It's just the truth! And England is- "
"aah…..aah…AAAACHOOO!"
England's sneeze shook the foundation of the building. Dead silence filled the meeting room. He looked and felt so absolutely miserable, even America stopped laughing. America and China both had a look of worry on their faces. Arthur actually felt a bit touched by the open concern in America's expression. At least, until he felt an icy shadow fall on his back.
"Are you alright, Arthur? You seem ill. Become one with Russia, da? You will be well cared for." England could feel Russia's creepy smile on his back.
"I'm fine!" England said. Too quickly for a certain light-haired Russian's liking.
"Are you sure?" Russia said. "The cold in Siberia is sure to kill the germs that are causing you problems."
A sinister purple aura surrounded Russia. England could feel the man's smile creep wider, and the Russian's laugh made him shiver. This time Arthur spoke more slowly. "Uh…I will be fine, Russia."
To change the subject, America said, "It's that pervert who's missing. France."
Russia stepped away, unsatisfied, but apparently unwilling to pursue the matter further. England wasn't about to complain about that, however strange it might be. It was a close call.
China stood up. He said, "France is missing? Ah, that makes sense. But then, why is there a second chair, aru?"
America took off Texas and stared at it. His glasses got a little foggy just now, and he started to wipe them. 'The other seat is for Canada.' America didn't want his brother to be sat on again.
England said, "I told America to put up the chairs. Obviously, he forgot how to count."
From the other countries' perspective, America was cleaning his glasses absentmindedly. Once he noticed China and England staring at him, he said, "Oh, yeah. I must have forgot." He laughed nervously. He put his fingers up one at a time. "One…Two…Three…oh, see! I remember now! Ha ha…"
England shot up from his seat and dragged America by the collar. "Hey! " He could have easily overpowered Arthur, but America allowed England to drag him. He didn't want to physically hurt the older man. Arthur took Alfred outside the meeting room. It was one thing for Russia to back down. Bloody hell, it was a blessing. The Englishman couldn't care less. But Alfred was not allowed to be any less than his loud, boisterous, obnoxious, stubborn, arrogant self.
"I was just joking! Are you mental?" Arthur said.
Which meant, in Arthur-speak, 'Are you okay? You don't seem all there in the head today.'
Alfred laughed-again, which was starting to really grate on the Englishman's nerves. The older nation had a major headache, undoubtably from the state of the economy. Alfred's loud obnoxiousness was a bit much for Arthur to take.
"Don't worry, I'm fine! " The American rubbed the back of his head. "I'm doing great! I'm the hero, remember!"
Meaning, in Alfred-speak, 'I don't want to talk about it. I'm not supposed to get sick or feel down.'
Arthur grew quiet for a moment, wondering how to get through to Alfred that it was ok to talk about his problems. The back of his mind told him it was a little hypocritical, considering his own unwillingness to talk about…certain things with Alfred. Hypocrisy be damned. Alfred needs to hear it.
The blond Brit took a deep breath. He started in a quiet voice, "You know..."
The younger nation in the bomber jacket perked up eagerly. "What?" He said it in such a childlike voice, like how he sounded when he was just a colony. It distracted Arthur.
Al spoke again, "What is it, Iggy? Tell me!"
How do I…ah, I know!
Arthur leaned closer to Alfred, and Alfred did the same. "You know…heroes sometimes DO get sick, or get hurt or go through tough times. As a test of character! "
"What do you mean?"
This time, Arthur got to be the one to laugh. Alfred's childlike wonder took him back to the old days, when he raised America, even if the boy was an ungrateful idiot.
"It's called character development. Heroes have to go through trials in order to be interesting ones! You should really try one of my books sometime, America. Twilight is rotting your brain."
"Twilight's a book? I thought it was a movie." Alfred said. "And it didn't have enough explosions in it!"
England's eyebrows twitched. "You don't even know your own-nevermind that. The point is, heroes have to go through trials if they want to be interesting heroes. Heroes are much more fun to watch when they succeed if there's just a little bit a doubt that they might not."
Alfred looked a bit skeptical. So Arthur added on, "Plus, it makes the villain underestimate the hero! "
Cue a big, relieved smile on young America's face. "Hey, yeah, that's right, England! I will strive to be a more dramatic hero from now on! With doubts and all! You will underestimate me for sure!"
England said, "What was that, Alfred?"
"I said the villain will underestimate me for sure!" America jumped into the air and high fived the sky.
AN: Thanks for reading.
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, or Twilight. Disclaimer is down here because I thought to myself..."If I clicked on a story, and the first thing I saw was 'I do not own Twilight', would I continue reading?" A pop-up ad for Twilight interrupted me while I was writing this, so I just had to poke fun at it.
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