This is actually a rewrite of my story Marriage which can still be found on this site. I'm putting it up as a new story, however, in an effort to keep up my interest in rewriting the story by reminding myself that people are still interested in this story. Also, this makes sure that anyone who reviewed a chapter in Marriage can review the rewritten chapter.

In other notes, this takes place about 200 years into the future, but the focus is not on the change in technology but rather the change in diplomacy and international relations.

It had been decades since the last serious war. All imperialism and empires were mere memories and pages in history books. America started the fad of sorts. The economic disputes between America and China had disappeared. After a transition to a more democratic government in the eastern nation, the countries had grown close in every way. They created an alliance closer than the special relationship America had with England and the UK. This, for the personifications, was marriage. America had been the one to propose. Now, citizens were expecting their countries to pair off. They participated in votes or opinion polls to influence the creation of new alliances.

The pairings the polls predicted all matched the current state of relationships between personifications. Canada married Australia as Spain married the southern personification of Italy. Her much more lighthearted sister married Germany. Liechtenstein and Luxembourg married with Switzerland's blessing. Most of the countries had married, and England had attended near every wedding. Still, she lived alone, and her citizen's never chose a clear leader in the public opinion polls.

She had finished off the last of her evening tea and ready to move onto the opinion section of the news when she heard a knock on her door. Half annoyed but still mostly curious, she went to the front door and spied Russia through the window. He seemed to have forgotten that he usually smiled, giving him an odd air of seriousness.

"Good afternoon," she greeted him politely once she had the door open. "What brings you here?"

She had received the call notifying her that he'd be in town, but she distinctly remembered that there hadn't been any sort of meeting planned with her.

"I have a matter of personal business to discuss with you. May I come in? I won't take very long," he explained.

She frowned, but nonetheless stepped aside. "Yes, come in."

She watched him carefully as she guided him into the living room. He doesn't come to her for personal business; she'd spent years orchestrating that pattern. She went to him on personal business, normally because another nation wanted to tell him off but required more finesse than America.

"Take any seat you'd like, would you like anything to eat or drink?" she asked, maintaining her guise.

"No, that's fine. I would like it if you would just sit and talk with me," he answered, taking a seat on her couch and keeping his legs in close.

"Very well," she said and took the armchair across from the couch.

"I have a proposition for you," he said smoothly.

"Your proposition is?" she asked, tilting her head.

"I would very much like to marry you," Russia answered.

England couldn't help it, and burst out chortling. "You're joking," she said, shaking her head at the absurdity.

"I am absolutely serious. With each passing day, my sister gets closer to marrying me, and I do not wish for that to happen," he answered, his tone grave.

"Why though? Why me of all nations?" she asked, rolling her eyes and finding it difficult to take his proposal seriously.

"Out of those still available, you fear me least," he said, clasping his hands together.

"That's it? You want to base a relationship, a marriage, off the fact that we don't fear each other,"

"I think it's an important base," he said, but sighed when she motioned for him to continue. "I think we could work well together. We have at times in the past."

"In a professional sense, yes, that's true," she said, considering the proposal with a bit more weight. "We don't really have anything you could call relationship outside of our duties."

"I think we could have one,"

"One what?"

"A relationship; one that isn't just professional,"

"And you think the best way to try and create one is to get married?"

He looked away for a moment, clenching his jaw. "No, it's not the best way, but our professional relationship, as you would call it, hasn't strictly stayed within neat boundaries the whole time. I ask for marriage because there needs to be some immediacy."

England actually spent most of her time forgetting the times her relationship with Russia had slid into a grey area. Some of it had to do with England still not knowing how she felt about it and more of it had to do with not wanting to deal with America if she found out. "Those instances were enough for you to decide to propose to me?" she asked.

He leaned back against the couch. "I'm not asking for everything immediately. I'm only asking to be married and live together. You can even put conditions on it if you wish. I think that if we were to live together it would turn out alright. We could even be happy, eventually."

England opened her mouth to respond but awkwardly closed it again when she couldn't find any words. It was the most she'd ever heard from Russia of his opinions of their relationship. "And what of our relationship? Do you expect anything out of that, romantically speaking?"

"If it were to happen, I don't think I would object," he said, stunning her to silence.

He had considered the possibility of falling in love with her, and she didn't know what to think. She ran a hand over her forehead. She had as few options as he did for marriage, and many a hint had been passed her way that she should consider marrying given the political climate. She tried to imagine actually living with Russia, and she couldn't really say that it would be terrible. They'd been in close quarters before though others had been involved at those times. He hadn't been the worst of them through the sheer fact that he could be quiet. On top of that, he had given her the ability to place conditions on the marriage.

She spoke cautiously, "I accept your proposal, and I want our bosses to be involved in setting the conditions. We can set our rules and ensure that both parties find them fair."

He stared at her for a moment before nodding. "Good, I can set up the meeting then."

"Is there anything else?"

"No, not unless you have any other questions,"

"Not at the moment, but I'll call you if I think of anything. I have to sort things out first," she said, rising from her seat. He stood, following her back to the front door. She turned back to him before they reached it. "There's no going back from this, is there?"

He shook his head. "I don't think so. You're having second thoughts already?"

"No, it's just sinking in," she said, moving towards the door again. As she pulled the door back she realized she didn't know how to address now that he was her fiancé. "Thanks for stopping by, I guess."

He passed her with his usual nod of farewell, but turned round to face her on the door step. He half raised his head, and she couldn't tell if he wanted a hand shake or was considering something else. "We'll sort that out later," she blurted, motioning for him to stay where he was, and quickly added a farewell just to shut the door.

She walked slowly back to her empty tea cup to rinse it out, rubbing her face and trying to calm her thoughts. After setting the cup aside she wandered her way back to reading the opinion section of the news. She noticed the bar graph immediately, eyes drawn to the title proclaiming to reveal a new preference among citizens on who she should partner with. The bar labeled 'Russia' had taken a clear lead over the competition. She flushed, considering how this new revelation might have influenced her decision earlier. She set aside the news to scrounge up dinner.

She ate distractedly, thoughts of living with Russia chasing themselves around her head. She found herself inundated with questions and pulling out her phone to call him. She almost tapped the button to call his number, but set aside her phone instead. "I'm getting married," she whispered to herself, rubbing her temples. "To Russia."

She gave up on eating after that, clearing her place before heading upstairs. She made a mental list of who she would need to give the announcement to in the morning. She also began making a list of what conditions she wanted to place on the marriage. She went to bed early just to stop thinking about it.

She walked down the hallway beside her boss at a clipped pace. Days ago, they had agreed to meet Russia and his boss at the Russian embassy. Now, they were mere minutes from sorting out a marriage. She took a deep breath before entering the room. She exchanged polite pleasantries with Russia and his boss, and they all took seats at the table. She avoided meeting Russia's gaze for the duration, keeping focused on clearly defining her conditions.

They laid out a schedule for where they would live; from the spring to fall equinox in Moscow and the rest of the year in London. They set our rules for behavior; no abuse of any sort, complete fidelity, and attempting to solve problems with words first. Their bosses proposed that they also should sleep in the same bed. England shared a wary look with Russia, but they didn't object to their bosses' proposition. As soon as they'd finished, England signed the document after Russia.

The bosses walked out of the room ahead of the nations. "England," Russia said as she was leaving the room.

"Yes?" she asked, turning back to him.

"I know I already proposed, but," he began and dropped down to one knee before her.

England's breath caught in her throat and she could feel her cheeks flushing. He continued as he pulled out a small black box. "I thought you might like this."

He had stunned her speechless again, and he opened the box to reveal a gold engagement ring with a diamond set in the center and three emeralds flanking each side. "It's beautiful," she managed to whisper as he pulled it out of the box.

"Here," he said, taking her left hand with a smile. He slid it onto her fourth finger. "Good, it fits. I guessed on the size."

"Thank you," she said as she ran her thumb over it.

"You are welcome. I'll walk you out."

That night, England sat on her couch watching as the news reported the reaction to the new alliance between her and Russia. It seemed positive overall, and she felt pleased. She kept running her fingers over her new ring, twisting it around her finger, trying to get used to it. It brought new weight to the situation as Russia would pair it with her wedding ring soon enough. She sighed and pulled it off.

I'm honestly not sure how frequently this is going to get updated, but hopefully I'll be able to keep steady and keep going with it. Please review!