Chapter 1
England's Despair

America waited patiently by the window of his home for his big brother to return. England has been away fighting France and hasn't been home for a while, but today was the day for him to return to the colonies. The American child's face filled with delight as a black horse-drawn carriage pulled up to the house. He jumped off his perch and ripped open the door to greet his guardian. What he didn't expect was to see his elder covered in bandages.

England, also commonly known as Arthur, had his arm in a makeshift brace and various bandages on his head and torso. The young tot stops in his tracks as he notices the strips of white just underneath his caretaker's coat. For once, America is speechless as he looks up at England, worriedly. Arthur gives the child a small smile and bends down to the younger's level.

"Hello, Alfred. It's nice to see you're doing well," the older nation says, idly. Alfred looks up into England's emerald orbs and blurts quietly, "Your body's been cwyin'." Alfred points to the blood that is showing on some of the bandages.

The elder's trace of a smile vanishes and he lets out a heavy sigh. England gently picks up the toddler with his good arm and proceeds to the sitting room. His sits down on the sofa with Alfred in his lap. Arthur pauses to collect his words and inhales deeply.

"Do you remember that war that has been going on? The one between France and myself?"

The toddler nods and looks up at his big brother quizzically. Arthur glances away from his charge before speaking again. "The war has ended."

Alfred's face brightens and beams in response "Weally?! Dat's gweat!" England shakes his head at the little one's response. "No, it's not." This confuses the boy. Why wouldn't it be great? The war's over. There's nothing to worry about anymore, right? That's what America thought, but it turns out he was wrong.

"I lost. I have lost the war, the colonies, you..." Arthur trailed off as fear and disbelieve consume America's features. "B-but you can't lose... Y-you can't..." The toddler's eyes began to fill with tears. "I though you were the strongest nation... You couldn't have lost!" Alfred sobs into Arthur's shoulder. He wraps the child in his arms and rubs soothing circles on his back.

"All nations will win or lose during sometime in their life. This is no exception. However, this may just be the first time I've lost something very dear to me. While I do wish this could have ended differently for both of us, what has happened cannot be changed. According to my officials, you are to live with France from now on."

"But I don't wanna go. Can't I stay wif you?"

"I'm sorry, poppet, but you can't. I wish things could have been different."

Throughout the remainder of the day, the two brothers were inseparable. When Alfred discovered that Francis would arrive at their home at the end of the day, he had been devastated. He constantly trailed behind England and latched onto his tail coat in fear that he would suddenly not be there anymore. And for once, England didn't mind. Usually, Arthur would be slightly irritated when Alfred was underfoot like he was now, but he was glad to know that his faithful little colony still choses him. Even though the two try to continue on as normally as possible for both of their sakes, there is still a somber atmosphere suffocating them. Neither of them talked about the events to come. Instead, they talked about trivial things like what Alfred did while he was away.

Eventually, like all good things, the day came to a close. The two almost didn't notice until they heard a rapping at the front entrance. Alfred jumps a little at the unexpected noise and both brothers glare worriedly at the source. Arthur sighs and reluctantly leaves his seat on the couch, leaving the storybook beside the toddler. England stops before the door and attempts to compose himself. He takes a deep breath and hesitantly opens the door to find none other than the man who was taking his heart; Francis Bonnefoy.

"Bonjour, Arthur. Where is mon petit Amérique?" Francis greets with a smug grin. Arthur's eye twitches in response, but refuses to look the man directly in the eye.

"Alfred is not yours yet," Arthur growls. Francis tuts and shakes his head slightly.

"I won this war, Angleterre. So technically he is. Where is the boy?" Francis looked at Arthur almost pityingly, but he was already getting annoyed with the Brit.

"Even though the American Colonies were already signed over to you, when the boy leaves his house, he will then belong to you. Until then, he is still in my custody." Arthur then hung his head in defeat. This is not a battle he could win. He looked over his shoulder in the direction his charge was. "Alfred, please come here," he gently called. The small tot silently obeys his older sibling and enters the foyer with the storybook in hand. Francis smirked again when his rival gave in. When the boy came into view, the smirk faded and shock overtook his features. He looked so much like his own charge, petit Canada.

The young garçon could pass for his Mathieu's twin. They seemed to both be around the human age of four and they had the same adorable face. However, Mathieu's eyes were a darker hue of bleu than the boy in front of the Frenchman. L'Amérique's hair was shorter and less silky compared to his petit frère.

Arthur bent down to his former charge's level. "Alfred, this is France. He's going to be taking care of you from now on. I want you to be a good lad and keep a stiff upper lip for me, alright." America stares at his former caretaker with tears in his sky blue orbs. "But I don' wanna go wif 'em. I wanna stay here wif you. I'm scared..."

Arthur pulls the American into a tight embrace. "There's nothing to be afraid of." Alfred burrows his head into the elder's shoulder. "Francis isn't as terrible as I always made him out to be." With this, Francis raises an eyebrow, but Arthur continues without missing a beat. "I know he will take good care of you. He even has a young boy of his own."Alfred pulls away from the embrace slightly to look at Arthur. "Weally?" Arthur gives a small smile at his reaction and lightly taps him on the nose earning a giggle from the younger. "Of course, lad."

Arthur sets the boy down as he stands and sees Alfred gripping the storybook tightly. Arthur rubs a hand through the boy's golden hair and gives him a reassuring smile.

"You may keep it if you want"

"Huh?"

"You may take the book with you if you would like. It will be something to always remember me by." The small child takes this into consideration and then nods at him, wrapping his small arms around the elder's legs.

"Oh, how touching." Francis interrupted scathingly, but he really was touched by this new side of Arthur that he hadn't even suspected of existing. The former pirate truly had a way with the boy. He leaned down and scooped the boy up into his arms gently. Alfred began to squirm slightly in his new caretaker's arms. Arthur made a motion to aid his distressed former colony, but stopped himself. Alfred was no longer his to protect, to take care of.

"Don't worry, petit Alfred. I really am not as bad as he may have told you." He looked into the eyes of his longtime enemy. "Farewell, Angleterre. I will take care of him, I promise." With that, the Frenchman turned and walked toward the carriage that brought him there, with Alfred waving sadly over his shoulder. Arthur returns the sad little meaningful hand motion. He watches as Francis places the lad into the carriage and climbs in himself. It doesn't take long to the horses to begin their trot.

"Goodbye... My son..." Arthur whispers as a tear rolls down his cheek.

Author's notes:

Bonjour, mes amis! This is technically my first fanfiction. My conspirators and I have written various things before, but none to this extent. Most of the time, our work isn't even posted much less kept. This was written by Anya and myself and Sakura was our wonderful emotional support. Sakura is currently working on a miniseries that will be posted on this account in the near future while we continue our work on the second part. This story started as a simple question and we took the idea and ran with it. I hope you enjoyed it and don't forget to R&R. Farewell, for now. ~Alice