He walked up to a house. "Her house," he thought, opening the gate and taking his time to look at the perfectly maintained garden she had always kept. It was probably only from his nagging about how unseemly an unkempt garden was, but it was one thing that they always had time to work on together. He never kept a house key, and instead walked up to the flowerpot nearest to the front door. A slight smile appeared on his face. That girl never changed- she always had a spare key, should Nederland or Luxembourg decide to visit her.
Nederland opened the door after fumbling with the lock. God, the house always smelled just like her. It was a mix of chocolate, freshly-cut poppies, and just the slightest hint of kriek. He stepped inside, pulling off his scarf and coat, and carefully hung them up near the door. His fingers brushed against the matching scarf already hung up on one of the hooks.
"België, I'm back- just so you know." He stayed perfectly still, listening for any sounds. His eyes lit up at a noise, but then dimmed again once he realized that it was just the cat running over to greet him. "Hallo, Suzanne. You're all alone now, aren't you? I'll take you home with me as soon as I have time." He picked up the cat, adjusting the small red bow België insisted she wore. She purred quietly, licking Nederland's hand.
"It gets lonely, Nederland. I'm stuck in my house while you and everyone else I know has work. I can't do anything until the North and South get along at least a little and I have a real government. I'm happy when I get to see you, but when I don't-" Nederland brushed their lips together. "I know." The next day, he went to see her, carrying a kitten with a small ribbon tied in a bow around her neck in his arms.
He gave the cat a smile, scratching her ear until she jumped out of his arms to occupy herself with something else. After walking around the living room for a while, Nederland started taking pictures off the walls and mantel. He placed them in a small bag that he had brought in from his car. Part of him felt that, if he didn't take things back home with him from België's house, she would disappear completely. Who else would remember her, if not Nederland?
"Nederland, you have to see something," she said quietly, lifting up her shirt about halfway. A long, jagged scar, appearing to "cut" België in two was the first thing he noticed. The second was that, for once in as long as he could remember, she looked devoid of emotion. "I thought it wasn't that bad, België," he answered, tracing a finger against the angry-looking lines. "It wasn't." Her voice was flat, and she never took her eyes off Nederland. The scar ran right along where Wallonia ended and Flanders began, Nederland thought, brushing his hair back absently. She pulled her shirt the rest of the way back down and carefully fixed it again. "Broer, do you think I'll get a real government soon? I think that's why it got worse."
Nederland walked into his sister's bedroom, his eyes immediately drawn to a headband resting on the vanity. He never understood his sister's obsession with the things, even though she did look cute in them. She always insisted that they made her look less plain, and Nederland would always insist that she didn't look plain to begin with. The headband went into the bag with the pictures, along with a few more things- mostly presents that he had given to her over their years together.
He opened the front door to België's house only to find the girl sprawled out on the sofa, a few empty beer cans and other bottles on the floor. It had been a year now since she lost a permanent government, and Nederland was certain that was why he found her in such a state. He poked at the girl's cheek, sighing quietly. "België, aren't you the one that has to take care of me when I'm drunk off my ass?" He picked her up, and kissed her forehead. She unconsciously curled up into his warmth as he took her off to her room. This was becoming more and more routine, finding the girl unconscious and more than a little drunk. Nederland spent the night watching over her from the chair next to België's bed- just in case she needed him for something.
Nederland returned a few days later, just to check up on Suzanne and perhaps to take her home with him this time. The Kingdom of Belgium was officially dissolved, and had been replaced by two new countries, so his hopes that België would come back had been shattered. He called for the cat, but she didn't go to meet him. "That's odd," he thought. He promptly went looking for her, assuming she was stuck in one of the rooms of the house.
He heard a bit of noise from his sister's room. The cat was in there, but it also sounded like there were people talking. He walked towards the door, opened it, and stood in the doorway, dumbfounded. Suzanne was sitting on the floor, being petted by a teenage boy who looked remarkably like a male version of his sister. Nederland blinked, figuring it was a figment of his imagination or perhaps this was a friend of Lux's. He was about to ask what the child was doing in a home that clearly did not belong to him when a girl he hadn't noticed at first, sitting up on België's bed, spoke up.
« Bonjour, monsieur ! Qui êtes-vous ? Je m'appelle Wallonie-Bruxelles. Le garcon, là-bas est mon frère, Flandre. » The girl, apparently named Wallonia-Brussels had strikingly green eyes, medium-length blonde hair that fell into soft waves and a delicate frame, identical to his sister's around that age. It was unsettling just how much she looked like België; it felt almost unnatural. Her eyes were different, though. They were the right shape, color and just as bright, just as full of life and curiosity as his België, but there was something he couldn't describe about them. It was completely unfair that the girl had the same face as the woman he had loved most. Then again, he thought, perhaps caring for Wallonia and Flanders would help to keep België's memory alive.
Two new countries had formed because of his sister's dissolution, and the two children in front of him were the personifications of them. Nederland gave the two teens an almost fatherly smile. "I'm Nederland. Do you know who België was? I'll tell both of you all about her."
That last day he saw België, she looked happy. Happier, in fact, than she had ever seemed since her government came to a standstill. She left Nederland's house early that morning, leaving behind a note saying she had a meeting and a small plate of waffles for him. Once she came back, she insisted on a picnic and countless other things. They took a long walk around Amsterdam, neither saying a word nor really paying attention to the scenery, but just enjoying being near each other.
Author's Note: I really, really haven't written much at all lately. Earlier in the year I had read a few things about possibly dividing Belgium into two countries, so this idea popped into my head recently. Hopefully I'll stop being lazy and get on the ball with writing more things. Reviews are love, the author is an attention whore and all that good stuff. Thanks to the two and five-eights people that read my stuff!
Translation for Wallonia: Hello Mister! Who are you? My name's Wallonia-Brussels. The boy over there is my brother, Flanders.