Summary: England hates the 4th of July. He goes to a pub to drink his head off. He certainly didn't expect her to be the one to persuade the nation to go to America's party. "I think I have forgiven America. This year...2012. This is the time for change. Would you like to accompany me to Mr. America's party?"
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
Notes: I finally had the courage...but who's gonna review this story? Or even read? I love this pairing to death, but I restrained myself to make this more of a fluffy friendship. Besides, their governments have been getting along lately.
Edit: Thank you for noticing the hiccup! I fixed it~
'Great...' Emerald colored orbs groggily looked around the room. He had been woken up by the alarm he forgot he had set earlier. Looking at the date on the same clock, he groaned and swatted it off the table next to him.
'One of the days I dread the most...' he sighed, slowly getting up from his comfortable place. 'Nope, going back to sleep.'
He flopped back onto his bed, ignoring the vibrating sound that was slowly getting louder. Eventually, it stopped and was replace by an obnoxiously loud voice.
"Hey, England! Would you please come to my party? Kthnxbai!"
'What the hell...' the British nation grumbled to himself. 'Bloody git's so dense sometimes. You'd think after centuries of me ignoring this date he'd give up.'
Sighing, England decided that staying in bed wasn't really the best option anyway. Getting up, he took a look at his appearance in the mirror. Disheveled hair, dark circles under his eyes, his shirt sliding from his shoulders.
He decided to just change his clothes and head out to a nearby pub.
XxXxXxXxXx
"Argh! Where is that bloody git when I need him?" England's boss banged his head on a desk. "He can't stay like this forever! What'll people think of England when England is so...AGH!" England's boss paced around the room, biting his fingernails in anxiety. He couldn't get the nation on the phone, and one of the maids said the nation wasn't in his room either.
"Umm...excuse me." A quiet, mature voice interrupted the man in his pacing, and his eyes widened at the sight of the owner of the voice.
"If I may ask...is Mr. England is busy?" she asked softly. "I would like to speak with him."
"Agh, I've been trying to locate him. He's gone missing again." England's boss grumbled. "He hates this date the most. I guess I can't blame him, but I would like for him to at least attend ONE of America's birthday parties. We'll lose face again!"
"..."
XxXxXxXx
England had to admit, he was getting better at holding his liquor in. Well, he only had had three drinks, but he was only feeling a little lightheaded after all. The bar attendant didn't say a word about the nation that was in his restaurant banging his fist on the bar. He had gotten used to it.
"Ugh...what a stupid day. America this, America that. Bloody hell with that!" England grumbled into his arms. "Hey! Turn that television off, will you?" he demanded. It was a channel that was proclaiming rather loudly about the fourth of July and fireworks.
"Sorry. No can do. You're not the only one here." the owner replied.
"Damn git." England mumbled. The owner chose to ignore that.
"Welcome Miss!" the owner greeted cheerfully.
"Thank you." she replied back politely. England took no notice of the newcomer until she had sat down next to him.
"Excuse me, Mr. England. May I sit here?" she asked gently.
"Mmmfght." He didn't even raise his head. Frowning, she lightly placed her fingers on his ear and gave a firm tug. She got the reaction she was expecting.
"What the hell? Who the bloody hell do you-" he paused mid-sentence as he stared at the golden honey-colored orbs of the nation called Vietnam. "Oh. Miss Vietnam." his face turned red from embarrassment, probably because he yelled and cursed in front of a lady, and buried his head in his arms again.
"Life just loves to hit me in the face, doesn't it?"
"It's fine, Mr. England. I already knew about your pirate side, remember?" Vietnam reminded him. England groaned again. He certainly did. And it wasn't exactly a pleasant memory he'd like to remember again.
"Anyway...what are you doing here?" Vietnam questioned. "Hadn't Mr. America sent you an invitation-"
"I'm not going. No one's gonna ever persuade me." England mumbled back. "Not even if you-"
"Not even if I ask you politely?" Vietnam tilted her head curiously, eyes boring into the side of the nation's head.
"..." England thought about that. His and her bosses' were getting along rather nicely, in fact his boss had already set seven goals for British activities in the country of Vietnam for the years of 2010-2011.
England sweatdropped. Back in 2010 he remembered their governments signing a Joint Declaration on the Establishment of the Vietnam-UK Strategic Partnership. But refusing Vietnam's offer wouldn't hurt that proposal...right?
"I'd rather not, Miss Vietnam." England muttered.
"If you're refusing someone, at least look at them in the face."
"...I'd rather not let you see me in such a horrible state." England sighed, ignoring the fact he had sort of snapped at her accidentally a few minutes ago and shown his face then. There was a few minutes of silence, before England heard the Vietnamese sigh.
"Mr. England, please. Although I won't exactly force you to attend Mr. America's party, I would like for you to at least hear me out." she softly poked the gentleman in the shoulder, hoping he would listen to her. She took his silence as a signal to go on.
"Although I would be disobeying my and your boss' orders on forcing you to the party...well, from now on, I'm speaking my true feelings. Is that alright?" Vietnam asked.
"I'm not a child, Miss Vietnam." Finally, the British nation sat up, turning to face Vietnam. "But please do go on. I'm rather curious on what you have to say."
Vietnam smiled faintly, but it quickly disappeared. England noted she was never one to smile a lot anyway.
"I understand you and Mr. America have had quite a close history together," she began. "And I think I understand your feelings on this particular date. However, I don't think it's rather mature of you to act such a way."
"...tch..." England shifted his attention elsewhere, but he was still listening to what Vietnam was saying.
"I hope you understand what kind of responsibilities you have as a nation. Holding a grudge against someone who wanted their own freedom is not the proper way for a gentleman to act."
"Hang on a minute there, Miss Vietnam." England interrupted. "He left me...he didn't want to stay under my 'devilish' care anymore. That's why he bloody...declared war...and..." England trailed off, feeling rather pathetic when he felt tears well up in his eyes. He decided to bury his face in his arms again.
"Really? I recall him calling you an excellent father to the very end, even if you were 'bossy' at times. Mr. England, think of it as a child growing up, ready to be a matu-" she trailed off when on the T.V. she saw America spinning like an idiot and singing off-key.
"...ready to be a grown up nation and independent." Vietnam placed a hand over her heart, closing her eyes, remembering what the South had felt when-
"What would you know? No one understands the pain, the loneliness, the abandonment! Everyone hates me, can't you tell? Every one of my colonies managed to hate me and leave me, even a bloody island like Seychelles!" England raised his voice. He hated everything.
"And pretty soon, you'll probably leave me too, huh Vietnam? Aren't you only here because of our partnership?"
"No." This time, Vietnam had forced England to look at her, grasping his face between her hands and locking eyes. "Although I know agreement don't last forever, I can promise you this. Although I can't promise as the country of Vietnam, I can promise..." she paused, taking a deep breath. "As the human Lien. I will never ever leave you. Besides...I can relate to your pain." her voice dropped, but her hands remained on his face.
"You know about my country's history, yes?" Now, her golden eyes dropped to the floor, or rather at England's shoes. Both of them hadn't noticed that they were rather close to each other right now.
"..." England was silent.
"Then..." Vietnam tilted her head again. "Shall I summarize it for you? Once upon a time, there was a country. After she got taken over by the French, her country began to divide, before her eyes and inside her. Soon enough, the country herself did end up splitting into two halves: a North and a South. The two parts ended up fighting a war, and America had sided with the South. The South had fallen in love with her fellow ally. However, when he had abandoned her in the middle of war, the South was devastated. Slowly, she started to break down but tried to stay strong for her country. It was futile; in 1975 the South had lost. Thanks to the help of a certain magic-using gentleman...the North and South had been reunified into the country that you see today. However, even now I can still feel the South...both anger and sadness...whenever any mention of America is seen or heard through these eyes. However, this is the year 2012. The year of change. Mr. England...I am going to Mr. America's party. Would you like to accompany me?"
"..." at first, England had closed his eyes, taking in Vietnam's slightly shaking hands on his face. Of course. He wasn't the only country who had experienced losses. Judging by her reaction...well, he really didn't know what was more painful: love or family. But...
"Yes..." he placed his hands over her small hands, resting his forehead against hers. Yes, they were similar. Yes, they both were learning to let go of a grudge. Yes, they both had the same mutual feelings about America. Yes...they were both going to America's party.
"I'd love to."
XxXxXxX
"Oh my God!" America screamed dramatically. "V-Viet actually came to my party?"
The Vietnamese nation rolled her eyes. She whispered something to the person hiding in the shadows, before nudging them forward. America's jaw dropped at the sight of his 'brother' walking through the door clad in his usual 'gentleman' suit.
"ENGLAND ALSO CAME!" America jumped up and down. Before England or Vietnam could react, America had already charged towards them, enveloping them into a hug.
"Dude, this is like the BEST birthday EVER! Holy crap man! Th-this is the FIRST time either of you CAME to my birthday parties!" he yelled, crying manly tears of joy.
"..."
WHACK!
Vietnam had managed to reach for her paddle and smack the American on the head, England had rammed his fist against the American's ribcage.
Letting out a cry of pain, he curled up on the floor holding the respective places that were assaulted.
"Yup...best birthday ever..." he mumbled.
"Typical America..." England sighed. However, he turned a curious eye towards Vietnam. "But from the way you talked to me earlier, it felt as if you had attended his parties before at least once?"
"Không." Vietnam shook her head. "Remember, sometimes my inner South side wants to kill him. Besides, I dislike these type of flashy parties." to prove her point, Vietnam winced at the rather bright lights and loud chatter. Despite America's loud outburst, no one had taken notice of the two new and rare arrivals.
"By the way..." England cast a glance at the still writhing American on the floor.
"Nice to see ya, bro..." America grinned. "Have you finally forgiven me? You know I only wanted my freedom and everything...and Vietnam..." he didn't know what to say after that.
"Hmph." England looked towards the side and casually dropped a wrapped box in front of America. "Just so you know, you should be thanking Miss Vietnam here. She's the one who persuaded me to come anyhow."
Vietnam shrugged at America's questioning glance. "Don't ever mention it. But I'd hate for such an interesting family to break apart forever. By the way...chúc mừng sinh nhật." she bent down to lightly kiss America's cheek and placed her wrapped gift next to where England put his. "There."
Vietnam walked away, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. England and America both gawked at her retreating form, but England was the one who followed after her. After all, America was still on the floor in awe, shock, fading pain and all that jazz.
"I'm rather jealous, Miss Vietnam." England said, falling into step. Of course, he had a teasing tone in his voice but he did feel a little jealous.
"Why?" Vietnam stopped walking and looked up at England with a questioning glance.
"No reason." he turned to face the sky, now noticing they had walked onto the balcony.
"..." Vietnam studied his face, trying to decipher whatever he was hiding. Eventually, she turned her gaze towards the sky.
"Three...two...one!"
Fireworks periodically exploded in the sky, lighting up the night with dazzling colors of red, white and blue. Vietnam's golden eyes were wide with surprise. Never had she seen fireworks up close before!
"Breathtaking, isn't it? Different from what the television offers." Vietnam barely heard England's comment over the loud claps of the fireworks.
"It would have been nice to come all those years before..." Vietnam murmured. "Fireworks are so beautiful. But loud." she added curtly. England chuckled.
The colors eventually changed to green, teal, purple, and any other color that could possible exist in this universe.
"Mr. England..." Vietnam suddenly spoke up.
"Hmm?"
Taking a deep breath, Vietnam placed a hand over his that was resting on the balcony rails.
"Thank you for accompanying me. I don't think I would have had the courage to walk into this party by myself." Vietnam admitted.
"It's no problem. I guess I should thank you for helping me realize something as well..." England replied.
"And what is that? That holding grudges are pointless?" she lightly giggled, squeezing the nation's hand.
"Well, that, and something else..." England turned to look at Vietnam. "I..."
"HEY DUDES! Enjoying the fireworks or WHAT?" America placed his arms around their shoulders, laughing obnoxiously.
"...damn bloody git..."
This turned out way longer than I expected, eh?
Well...please review so that I know you exist? Oh, I know America wasn't the only one involved in the Vietnam War. I'm not dumb.