The World Meeting had ended more than twenty minuets ago but Arthur Kirkland was still sat in his seat with his huge, leather-bound magic book open in front of him.
Arthur's light blond hair shone in the dying sunlight, his much darker bushy eyebrows furrowed in thought and bright green eyes only set on the stain coloured pages of his book.
The reason the British Gentleman was sat on his own trying to find the right spell to use was because Ivan had invited him out for drinks with Ludwig, Francis and Alfred; Arthur was sick and tired of his reputation of being an awful lightweight when it came to drinking so the blond figured that he would find a cure in the shape of a spell in his magic book.
Finding the right spell was another matter; there were several for never falling asleep, which could probably stop a hangover, a few cut off all emotions and senses but had a huge warning saying it might not ever fade away and not a single one to stop intoxication.
Arthur was about to give up when he came across the perfect spell; cast correctly it took the alcohol out of any beverage he would be holding, basically turning back the fermenting process.
With an excited giggle the blond Englishman propped the magic book on the table and pulled his thin wand from his sleeve; standing back a little bit Arthur began to read the ancient Latin words upon the page.
Halfway through the spell Arthur's fingertips began to glow, obviously how the magic took the alcohol away and he was starting to get very excited at the very thought that he would finally see a whole night through without the awful hangover or blank spaces.
"nearly finished." Arthur thought gleefully, the Latin tumbling gracefully from his lips.
Then it all went wrong; the main doors to the Meeting Room were noisily flung open, shaking the very window panes, a loud shout broke the last of Arthur's concentration and the very last couple of words became wrong.
A huge explosion followed, the chairs surrounding Arthur were flung across the room, the huge table was pushed forcefully through the opposite wall, while the Englishman was frozen to the spot; a whole tingling sensation engulfing his whole body and within moments his vision went white.
Alfred F Jones had been the first to leave the World Meeting, his stomach had been growling throughout the whole thing and Ludwig had banned food from meetings since Feli once tried to make a whole pasta dish during one and nothing got done.
Finishing his fifteenth double-bacon-cheeseburger-with-everything-in-it the young American's mind wondered to his favourite blond; Arthur.
During Alfred's youth he had admired Arthur, the Brit was everything he aspired to be, as he got older he was the knowledgeable guardian who had all the answers, meeting again all those years later the older blond was angry voice of reason and now there was something much deeper that Alfred felt for Arthur but it was definitely something he couldn't explain.
The young American sighed deeply, shoving a handful of fries into his mouth, after he finished eating a bunch of them were going out drinking, probably meeting up with Gilbert who definitely knew how to party hard, it also meant Arthur would be there, getting drunk off one cocktail and it all hopefully meant that Alfred could look after the older but shorter blond while he slurred his words and fell asleep standing up.
Of course Alfred constantly teased the British Gentleman about being a lightweight, secretly he found it cute when he was flushed pink and became cuddly, but for some reason Arthur had been even more annoyed when they teased him during the meeting.
"are you still going drinking?" a voice suddenly said, making Alfred jump.
Looking up from his food the American saw his cousin, Matthew Williams, sitting across from him with his own tray of eaten food and his little polar bear sitting next to him.
Alfred sometimes felt bad for not noticing Matthew at times, they had barely been separate when they were younger and both, finally, under the guidance of Arthur but for a while the Canadian had been seeing someone secretly and seemed to want to be noticed more.
"yeah!" Alfred laughed, "once Ludwig and Gilbert get started everyone's gunna be so drunk!"
a blush covered Matthew's face and a hint of a shy smile, "shame I can't hold my alcohol." he muttered softly.
Alfred snorted lightly, "never stopped Iggy."
"he's still in the meeting room." the Canadian suddenly mentioned.
The information shocked Alfred a little; Arthur would normally already be at the hotel, gearing himself up for a night on the town with the heavy drinkers, so the young American didn't understand why the shorter blond would still be sat in the empty meeting room with no one to talk to.
"let's go see him then!" Alfred exclaimed and jumped up from his seat.
Matthew blinked owlishly at him, his blue eyes much bigger and innocent that Alfred's, before nodding and following his American cousin out of the fast-food chain.
Full of excitement Alfred bounced into the hotel, took the stairs three at a time, Matthew panting to keep up and flung the meeting room doors open without even knocking.
"Iggy! We came to save you!" Alfred announced.
Alfred expected to see Arthur sat on his own with his laptop or phone out, looking like he wanted to be saved; what he didn't expect was to see Arthur casting some kind of spell, only to be knocked off concentration and the whole room was engulfed in a blinding white light.
The first thing Arthur felt was the hard floor beneath him, there was still light shining in his eyes but he could hear voices around him.
"it is a miracle he is alive." Honda's voice was the closest and Arthur felt a hand on his forehead.
There was a shuffling of feet, "but what happened?" a timid voice asked.
Finally Arthur forced his eyes open, confused that it seemed brighter on the inside of his eyelids than it actually was in the room.
Honda was leaning over him dressed as a doctor, Matthew was there too with his polar bear and Alfred suddenly appeared into view with his phone gripped tightly in his hand.
The Englishman noticed that everything around him seemed bigger but he first put it down to the magic playing with his eyes.
"ah, I am glad to see you awake." the Japanese doctor smiled softly, taking his hand from Arthur's forehead.
Suddenly Alfred was well and truly above him, casting a huge shadow over him, a worried look etched on his young face; it was the first time Arthur had noticed just how big the American was, surely he hadn't been that tall that afternoon while he sat next to him.
"are you okay Iggy?" Alfred asked breathlessly.
Arthur frowned at the nickname, hating that Alfred still insisted on calling him that, "don't call me that you git." the Brit snapped but his voice was higher, softer than normal.
"sit back Mr. Alfred." Honda told him firmly.
Once the young American was away Honda placed his large hand, "had they been that large before?" Arthur thought in a panic, on Arthur's back and made him sit up.
The blond Englishman was sat on the meeting room floor, all the furniture was pushed against the walls and the curtains burnt to ash.
"why-why is everyone so, um, big?" Arthur finally asked.
The three others exchanged worried looks, suddenly Arthur felt himself being lifted up, Matthew was picking him up like a child and that was exactly what he saw in the darkened window.
The Brit's breath caught in his throat, he was a small child again, fragile and innocent that needed protecting from the world and he felt tears well up in his, now, big green eyes.
"do not cry Arthur-kun. You just have to do a counter spell." Honda said calmly and held out the magic book.
Arthur stared at it with teary eyes, knowing it was the only way but there was a huge blank space in his mind where he could read and speak the Latin within the pages.
Bursting into noisy tears the little blond buried his face into Matthew's shoulder; he couldn't believe the spell had backfired so badly and now he was stuck as a child until he learnt to read and understand Latin again.
"don't cry Arthur." Matthew whispered, gently rubbing Arthur's back.
A memory of Arthur doing the same thing to an upset Matthew when he had come to live in America with Alfred and him from France; a strong but soothing gesture that any parent knew could calm a child quickly.
The little Englishman felt content for a moment, held gently in someone's arms, being warm and cared for; so different to his actual childhood and he wanted nothing more than to forget about his original childhood and what the spell had done.
"what's wrong little dude?" Alfred suddenly asked.
Arthur sniffed loudly, wiping away his tears with his small hands, "i can't read it anymore. I can't remember how to." he told them sadly.
The young American suddenly looked panicked, "you ain't loosing your memory are ya?" he gasped out, approaching them quickly.
"no I am not." Arthur huffed, "everything is still firmly in my head, but the spell must have knocked out the important information." a huge part of him really hoped that was all he had lost; if he lost any more of his memories Arthur was sure he would rather be dead.
"now everyone calm down." Honda said, holding up his hands firmly, "everything will be okay."
Matthew instantly nodded, holding the little blond a bit closer, the polar bear sniffing at his bare little feet, "of course it will. But, er, where's he going to stay?"
Suddenly Arthur was plucked from the Canadian's gently embrace to be snuggled by a grinning Alfred, "i'll take care of him! I'll be a total awesome parent!" he bounced the little blond till Arthur began to feel sick.
Alfred was ecstatic when Arthur didn't protest living with him till he worked out how to reverse the spell; he would show the little blond that he could be responsible and fun, after all, Arthur had managed to raise the American wonderfully.
"here we are." Alfred announced to a snoozing Arthur as he parked outside his home.
It was the same mansion Arthur had built when he became Alfred's guardian, a beautifully crafted home filled with history and love, with the beach just yards away where Arthur's ship used to dock.
Honda had been the one to phone everyone who would be going out drinking to tell them that both Arthur and Alfred had come down with something and had gone home.
The Canadian promised to visit very soon, first he had to check on his mystery love and his country.
The little Englishman had fallen asleep on the plane and hadn't woken up since so Alfred pick up the tiny blond to carry him gently into his home.
As Alfred set the little blond in his bed the American couldn't help but think if the warm fuzzy feeling in his chest was the same for Arthur when he was caring for his younger self.
Exhausted Alfred fell into bed next to little Arthur, snuggling deeply into the warmth, he was tired from the flight too so he fell asleep very quickly and didn't wake till he heard screaming.
It couldn't have been more than past three in the morning but Alfred fought the tired heaviness in his eyes to find who was screaming and finally discovered Arthur curled in the corner, shaking and crying.
"Iggy?" Alfred said softly as he crossed the room slowly, "are you okay?"
Terrified eyes shot up to meet the American's, "i-it was al-all true." the tiny blond sobbed, "i'm a, I'm a fricken child!" a howl escaped his throat and he buried his head into his arms.
Alfred sighed, wishing Matthew was here, who was calmer and slightly more maternal that the young American, but he knew how to comfort some who was crying; especially Arthur.
"come on Artie, it's not all that bad." Alfred whispered, gently touching the little blond's soft hair.
Arthur flinched away, "i don't want to be a child." he pouted, tears still pouring down his face.
The young American held back a small giggle, "so cute." he thought but didn't say, instead Alfred picked the tiny blond up and held him tightly to his chest.
"let me go." Arthur demanded but made no move to back his words up.
Alfred patted the little blond's hair, rocking them both gently from side to side, humming 'Stars and Strips', "it won't be so bad." he whispered, "i'll be here for you."
the young American never got a reply because Arthur had fallen asleep in his arms.