Disclaimers: I don't own Hetalia…
Author's notes: This was originally for America… or England… but then I soon found myself writing for China… xD I was listening to the song "You Raise Me Up", and well… it made me think about how China lived for more or less 4000 years… which makes him kinda like a big brother figure to the other countries, I guess… especially for Asian countries… haha~ Oh well… I'm not making any sense now, am I? xD
Title: Greetings
Summary: It wasn't so bad to receive a surprise visit for New Year now, was it? Implied China x Philippines-tan
~*~
Looking at the horizon past the bamboo forest and hills, China leaned on the fence of his home and sighed with a smile on his face. Last night was a night filled with loud colorful explosions, people cheering, and lanterns being lit, illuminating the supposed to be dark sky with bright lights. China could remember walking through the busy crowded streets, grinning in happiness at seeing his people celebrate so lively and free.
Of course, he did not miss out any of the food. With all the food he bought, it was almost as if he bought food from every stall. He even had leftovers! Nibbling on a piece of dumpling, he gave a small content smile at the peaceful morning sun. It wasn't that he hated the celebration last night, he had actually been very excited about it, but he also loved peaceful moments like these. However, it was during times like these when he suddenly felt so old…
Speaking of celebrations, he suddenly grinned, remembering that it wasn't only in his country when this celebration was being held. There was this one country who, for some odd reason, clung into some of his traditions, not that he disliked it or anything. He was actually quite flattered by it…
"China! Nǐ hǎo!"
Speak of the devil…
"Wha -… I'm surprised… What are you doing here, aru…?"
She grinned at him, glomping him as soon as the words left his lips before taking the dumpling from his hands and nibbling on it, earning her a scream of protest… "Oi… Give that back…!" You skipped away from him and sat down on the stairs, ignoring him and his protests while looking at the clouds. "Philippines…! Are you listening to me, aru?"
"Chinaaaaaaaaaa… Are you depriving me of food? I came here for you and you let me die because of hunger? And besides… I love your food…!" She told him as she continued on her small meal. "Not like I don't like Spain or America's food… but your have this certain taste to it… It's actually yummy! And besides… I missed trading with you too… I've been trading non-stop with America these days… I actually miss you, you know…"
"Phili…"
And then she faced him with the brightest grin that she could muster.
"I actually owe you a lot… You opened up to me first when none of the other countries paid much attention to me before Spain did. So I guess… I want to thank you too!"
He ruffled her hair affectionately before sitting down beside her, grinning back. "You tell me that every single year, aru…"
"Yup! And I plan on repeating it every single year! Oh yeah… Can I have a new feng sui?"
He chuckled a little before standing up to get the feng sui that she always asked him for every year. It was one of the traditions that she adapted from him… and then grabbing the gold plated cat that unusually looks like Hello kitty, he shook his head and smiled before looking over where she sat staring at the currently soft glow of the sun.
It almost seemed like yesterday when she was once just a small island nation. No… He couldn't even call her a nation back then. There was no unity between her men… almost no civilization that it was hard to even mingle with her people. When the two of them met, it did not exactly go as smoothly as he thought it would be. She was a very stubborn kid back then, and she even once thought that he wanted to take her land. She had screamed at him and told him to leave, though she was stopped and ignored by the others because she was young.
She was different from his other sibling... a whole lot different... and it made him want to watch over her in a whole different way. Little by little, she opened up to him, and then grew up to have a lasting attachment to the larger nation. He remembered when Spain colonized her, how much she suffered while demanding her freedom back. He could do very little to help, since Spain pretty much set her apart from the rest of the world to gain monopoly on her trades. And due to that, he could barely even come over to visit.
He was relieved when America came to help her out. The jolly country gave her education, and treated her almost sibling like. He was slightly jealous, but he knew there was nothing he could do. A few years later, imagine to his surprise when Japan came to visit her. Phili had been very hospitable… which was a total opposite from how she treated him all those years ago. He could only marvel at her growth, but when the conflict between her and his little brother began, he could only watch once again as she fell down, called on America for help, and then stood once again.
It did not take her long before she finally got the freedom and the independence that she sought for, and though the going had been rough,she was able to stand on your own two feet with pride. Her dream of finally becoming a free country had been realized. She had grown from that little stubborn kid into a fine grown woman…
There was bitterness at first between Phili, Spain, and Japan… but that soon came to pass, and China soon found her laughing and smiling with the two countries again. He was about to turn his back from her, thinking that you didn't need him anymore, but stopped when he heard her voice call out to him…
"Kuya China!"
She never forgot about him despite almost being no help to her during the days when she was suffering, and when he asked about it, she had answered him…
"What are you saying? You were there… You were always there…"
Finally snapping out of his thoughts, he walked back to where she sat and handed her the miniature cat, and a small bag of dumplings before saying, "Put that inside one of your stores. It'll give you good luck in business, aru…! And here's another dumpling for you. I bought too much, so eat up." She grinned happily at the gifts, placed them inside her bag before hugging him fondly.
"Thanks China! I'll treasure this!" Wrapping his arms back around her, he placed his chin on top of her head. Unlike the other countries, she did not hate the gesture. In fact, she found it sweet, and he was always finding her giving hugs and kisses whenever she meets the others. She did not care whether it was a male or a female. Everyone was equal forher … and that was one of the many things that attracted him to her…
He did not know exactly how he felt towards Phili, being a nation much, much younger than he was, but though she was young, he could see a full grown woman who was ready to face the world…
…and he soon found out that he didn't want to lose her to anyone else…
"I almost forgot!"
Pulling away and earning a frown, she poked her chin with her finger in thought…
"I don't know if I'm pronouncing it right, but…"
…and then she grinned.
"Xin nian kuai le, Wang Yao-gege!"
He chuckled. Her pronunciation did need a lot of help, but still… she was the first one who came here for him… and that was what mattered…
"Xie xie…"
END Greetings
Extended ending:
"China… you forgot the —aru…"
"Oh… Did I, aru?"
"Nevermind…"
Author's notes: I know that it's not yet Chinese New Year, but I really wanted to write something for China… ^^ Call it being patriotic if you want, I just couldn't decide on a country… which is why that happened… ^^ Oh yeah… I made a few twists in the history on purpose, so if you see something kinda wrong in there, that was intentional… I did my research too… haha~
This was done during January... but I decided to post it... seven months later? Haha~
Nia hao — Hello Xin nian kuai le — Happy New Year Xie xie — Thank you