Eyes Open

What could have been a comfortable afternoon well spent visiting the Lord of the Lake was ruined the second England felt someone coming. Visitors were never common for him; his home was the forest and it certainly wasn't a place most wanted to be. And that's how England liked it. Though, when he did rarely have a visitor, it was always either France coming to gossip, or his brothers, coming to verbally abuse him.

The green-eyed boy climbed up the nearest tree in haste when he felt the thud of foot steps coming. From behind the protection of the leaves, he watched as his fiery haired older brother wandered around the trees, looking annoyed.

"Where are you, Lad?" Scotland called out. Behind him, England watched as Wales walked after him. England rose an eyebrow when he didn't see a third brother. Where was Ireland?

England was about to leave quickly, the other two were about to leave his area after all, when he felt a hand grab at his cloak. "Bloody Hell!" he yelled out, as he heard Scotland chuckle. Ireland jumped down from the tree looking ever so proud that he'd found his little brother and Scotland and Wales walked back over.

"There he was!" Scotland said with a laugh. Ireland smirked and put England down, though kept a foot on the blond's cloak to keep him from running off.

England tried to pull his cloak from under Ireland's foot, but it wouldn't budge. With a huff, England glared up at Scotland. "What do you want, stupid?" He nearly growled.

Scotland smirked as he crouched down to England's height. "Hey now, Lad! No need to be so snappy! Can't someone visit their little brother anymore?"

"Even if they are little rodents." Ireland added in. Wales stayed silent and just watched the exchange with bored eyes.

The young nation continued to glare. "Shut it!" England began pulling at his cloak again to try to get away. He didn't want to deal with them! He knew exactly what they wanted and he wouldn't put up with it!

Scotland picked England up from the ground and held him out as if he was a pest. "That's not very nice." the redhead hummed a bit as he examined his brother. "You're very small for a nation, you know? Like an overgrown rabbit, ain't that right, Wales?"

Wales nodded in agreement as Ireland snickered. England blushed in embarrassment and struggled in the other's hold. "Put me down, Scotland! You have no right to treat me this way!"

Scotland looked amused as he pulled the struggling blond closer to him, successfully avoiding every punch thrown at him. "Hm? Don't I? All you are is a nuisance, causing so much trouble for your brothers. We're older, you're weak. We have all the right. And we always will because you're weak, pathetic, a waste of breath and space. Understand, little brother?" Scotland's words struck England right in the heart, and for a moment he froze. It was always the same words but they never ceased to affect him. Every other week Scotland would come and say them, and every time England would fall prey to them, believe them.

They were right. He was weak, he was pathetic. He'd never amount to anything and...nobody even liked him. They all hated him, even France.

He, England, had absolutely no reason to exist...

'This is how it will always be.' he realised.

England felt himself began to slouch in his brother's hold. Just like always, he would be the victim.

Something clicked in him though, something flickered in his vision. A life spent feeling sorry for himself, feeling alone and hated. A life spent rejecting everyone before they could reject him and hurting people so they couldn't him. A life spent with false power, a life spent in pain...

A life he didn't want. A life he didn't need to have..

Suddenly, England came back to reality, punching Scotland in the chin and jumping away from the other three. Without any trouble at all, England climbed up a nearby tree and stood proudly on a branch that barely towered over Scotland.

"You're all idiots!" England announced. All three stared at him in confusion an irritation. Scotland looked particularly angry, holding his chin in his hand and glaring hatefully up at him. But England didn't let it bother him.

"I'm Britain. And one day I'll be the greatest nation who ever lived! You'll see! I'll be even greater than Rome, and I'll have friends, non-magical friends, and my own colonies, and I'll be strong, and big, and, and..." The young nation trailed off, full of adrenaline as he pictured his future. He could just see it all, he'd be strong and have friends, people who liked and wanted to be around him. The ideas running through his head almost made him smile.

But he snapped out of it, and glared down at his brothers. Ireland looked shocked that he had the nerve to speak, Wales was staring up at him with a bit of curiosity, and Scotland stood smirking, seeming to be amused.

They said nothing as they began to walk away. A little boy who wasn't bothered was no fun to mess with, he supposed. As the young nation began to leave as well, he could hear Scotland comment, something along the line of, "I can't wait to see that."

'...Is he challenging me?'

The green-eyed blond told himself he wasn't excited for it. That he wasn't now awaiting the day he'd send Scotland to the ground and finally be bigger than someone.

He wouldn't be weak, he would be strong. He would be great.

He'd make his brother's, the world, proud of him.

AN: I really like this one. It feels kind of lame, but I still like it. The idea came from a few days ago when I was tutoring my mom about the past of Great Britain (She's a horrible history teacher, and I'm a future history professor ^^;). I had decided to explain the "Black Sheep of Europe" thing and it came out like "Britain wasn't very out there and was isolated because he was an island" and it kinda ended up like this story...It was an off history lesson. Title came from Taylor Swift's "Eyes Open". Has no relation to this story, I don't think, but I liked the instrumental, so voilà.

Reviews are loved, criticisms respected, and everything else just makes me happy, so go for it.

Oh, yes, and I don't own Axis Powers Hetalia/World Series.