England sighed as he got out of the car, almost slamming the door shut as he groaned for the umpteenth time, "I still don't see why you want me to see this...It's just a stupid reactor." He hadn't had his tea yet that morning because he'd run out of tea leaves and Alfred had dragged him out of his house before he could get more. He, quite frankly, needed his tea in the morning. Otherwise he was in a very foul mood for the rest of the day. Which he currently was.

America got out of the driver's side and shut the door, locking the car as he grinned at him with that silly smile he'd been wearing all morning. He refused to tell England what exactly was so amusing, only revealing that he'd love it to death. He walked around the car to England's side. "I told you, it's a surprise! It's really cool, and I'm a hundred percent sure you'll really love it!" Without asking for permission, he grabbed the Englishman's hand and started dragging him towards the gigantic construction holding an experimental reactor lab designed for industry repair and deep space exploration. The main purpose of this experiment was to create a light wave that could travel ten times faster than actual light. It was nicknamed "Porit" light, after the guy who first came up with the idea. After seventeen years of research and experiments, they were getting close to producing the first Porit light wave.

America led the British nation inside, swiping his ID, tapping in codes in high-tech keypads, going through retina scans, and finally, unlocking a door with a key on his chain. "Heh, I added the key. A bit like, 'Nah, this is nothing, we're just being all casual here' kind of stuff, haha!" He laughed, opening the door and stepping into a giant white-walled room two stories high. They emerged on the second story on a walkway overlooking the first floor, where there were two enormous generators mounted on opposite walls. America walked to a tray with protective goggles and handed a pair to England, taking one for himself. "Put these on, you don't want to look at it directly." The goggles were almost black, and when England put them on, he found that they completely blocked his vision. He was about to ask America about it when he felt the younger nation's hand on his own, holding it to the rail of the walkway. "Just keep them on, and keep looking straight ahead. Don't take the goggles off. Okay, we're ready!" He called out loudly, obviously talking to someone else. England sighed through his nose, acting indifferent although now he was more than a bit curious. He wondered why he had taken him to such a secret, isolated research laboratory holding perhaps one of the most revolutionary experimental projects in history, and it wasn't even his own! It was America's project, so why would he allow the opportunity to leak top-secret info-

England stopped in mid-thought-rant, eyes widening as he saw something growing in the darkness before him, a shifting shape with bright highlights and dazzles like a million stars around a great white light. It was beautiful, awe-inspiring, like nothing he'd seen before. Then the colors shifted, and the Brit recognized a faint pattern beginning to emerge. Staring in shock and amazement, he watched as the first-ever Porit light shifted and shined and slowly formed a rough image of the British flag.

The colors and lights put him in a sort of trance, and he almost felt like crying, it was so fucking gorgeous. He watched as the colors and lights continued to shift until finally, a single word appeared in broad, bold print, seemingly hovering in the air before them, and he felt his very heart stop.

ETERNAL.

Eternal. That one word brought back a wave of vivid memories in his mind, one of them including a rhyme that rang out in England's head...

For what is eternal

Is always of love,

And what is infernal

Fears the above.

England used to say that to America when he was just a child. After all this time...

The light show ended, and America slowly pulled off his goggles. England felt the other nation's hand grip his own once again, holding it almost apprehensively. "So...did you like it? It's just a prototype, so we needed a design to try and practice controlling it...was it good, England?" He looked at him, unable to see his eyes past the goggles which he still hadn't taken off.

Several moments passed, and finally England let out a small noise, clearing his throat, speaking barely above a mumble, "That was beautiful, America. I loved it."

America smiled widely, laughing and hugging the other man, letting himself show his excitement at the Brit's response. "That's great! I knew you'd love it! Hahaha, what'd I tell you? Hahaha!" He picked him up and spun once in the air, laughing excitedly.

"A-America!" England didn't know what to do when he found himself being lifted into the air by the other nation, spun around like a child, and he tried in vain to push himself away. "America, careful!"

The American stopped spinning and set him on the grown, laughing a bit before smiling and shrugging sheepishly. "Heheh, sorry, I got excited!" He laughed again and started walking up and down the walkway, talking excitedly about all the "cool" and "awesome" things he was planning to do with the Porit light project. He talked about spaceships and deep sea diving and splitting the atoms and he was actually getting worked up about it. England could only watch as the other nation rambled on and on as he himself just stood leaning against the rail, picturing that last word in his mind, hovering and blinking and fizzing in front of him like a million stars, shining brightly, all for him...

It made him smile.