Disclaimer: named characters in this story belong to the world and Hidekaz Himaruya Koninkrijk der Nederlanden.
The empty space at the end of the long document was staring at him, waiting. The ABC islands and the SSS islands were doing the same. No one dared to move and all was silent.
Netherlands glanced from the paper to the islands seated at the table. There were nine chairs, but only seven were currently occupied. Netherlands was seated at the head on the table with the ABC islands, Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao, seated in a row at his right. The SSS islands, Saba, Saint Eustatius and Saint Martin were seated in a row at his left. The two vacant seats at the table made Netherland's heart stir. The two he had been closest with had abandoned him.
Netherlands raised his head and inhaled deeply. He felt a bit ashamed even though he had so many things to be proud of. The flags on the walls caught his attention. He recognized his old flag, the one with orange, white and blue instead of red, white and blue. It was the first tricolored flag introduced into the world. Next to his hung a similar flag, though its blue was of a lighter shade. Luxembourg's flag.
The older nation never truly understood Luxembourg's reasoning for leaving his Koninkrijk. Netherlands was a nation who believed the power to rule had no connections to the gender of a person. When the son of king William III died, Luxembourg exclaimed a queen would not stand to be a proper ruler. It was in the year of 1890 that Netherlands was first ruled by a queen and it was the year Luxembourg divided itself from him.
After Belgium, Netherlands had hoped Luxembourg would continue to trust him and his royal family to guide the people of their nations. But it seemed Belgium had a greater influence on Luxembourg than he thought she would. She had always been a troublesome one to look after.
Aruba cleared his throat slightly, hoping to bring the great nation out of his daze. Amber eyes blinked a couple of times, signaling the older nation was back to reality again. Netherlands looked down at the document and the pen resting in his right hand. Somehow the tip of the pen had already placed itself over the empty space and was waiting for his brain to give the order to sign. It shouldn't have to be this hard. He should be happy, knowing that now all these islands were part of his Koninkrijk. However, his Koninkrijk would never be same.
The pen slowly moved upwards over the paper, shaping a big classy N, and a small scribbling underneath it followed. There, he had signed it. The ABC islands and the SSS islands were now scheduled to be disbanded as a unified political entity on 10 October 2010, so that the five islands will each attain a new constitutional status within the Koninkrijk. Netherlands was confused by it all. His boss told him this would make the islands and himself closer, but all he could feel was unnecessary stress rising already.
He had read the document in front of him, of course. Even though many things made him feel uncertain, he knew he had to sign. Netherlands just wondered how things such as a different official currency would bring them "closer". His people used the Euro, but would not be able to exchange money with anyone from the islands since their currency is the U.S. dollar.
The islands stood after the signature had been placed. All was settled and now they could go back to their own people to tell them the great news. Each took the time and courtesy to shake the hand of the great nation before leaving the room. They seemed satisfied and that was the most important.
Netherlands sat back down and leaned back in his chair, his hand blindly roaming through the pocket of his jacket. A familiar pipe made its appearance and he lit it. Small puffs of smoke soon filled the room, the scent of it relaxing the muscles of Netherlands' tense body. A small cough was heard from behind him. The coughing sounded familiar, but it was not a sound he wanted to hear right now.
The girl behind him stood by the door, waving her hand through the clouds of smoke. She seemed a bit annoyed and disgusted as she coughed again. The door was closed behind her and she leaned her body against it, her hands resting between her body and the wooden object.
"They seemed pleased."
"Hm.."
"I assume everything went well then?"
".. What are you doing here, België?"
Belgium lowered her head, a small smile lingering on her lips. She should know better than to try and pretend. Their relationship was far from the one they shared a long time ago.
"Just visiting to see how you are doing, broer."
Her voice was soft and sounded a bit sad. She knew how much this had strained him. He may not have spoken with her about it, but she was fully aware of the painful memories it had brought up. He would never look at her the same after that dreadful day, when she came to him crying and screaming. That day she fought for her people, to give them the right of their own religion and education and to make it clear that not everyone was pleased by the ruling of William I. The Belgian Revolution would haunt him until the end of time.
Netherlands continued to savour the taste and scent of the tobacco in his pipe. It was the only thing keeping him from leaping out of the chair and clutching the small girl to his chest. He missed her, but he knew they could not return to the years before 1830. She left his Koninkrijk and he respected that, he had to. And so he kept seated, not looking over his shoulder as his little sister spoke again.
"I see you are tired, so I will take my leave now. Tot ziens."
".. Hou je goed."
Belgium looked up and stared at the back of her older brother. She smiled kindly as he raised his pipe and made a waving gesture. She knew they didn't see eye to eye on many aspects, but it felt nice to see that besides all that, he did not hate her.
Translations:
Koninkrijk der Nederlanden = Kingdom of the Netherlands
Koninkrijk = Kingdom
België = Belgium
Broer = Brother
Hou je goed = Take care
Hooray! My first Hetalia fanfiction ever and it all revolves around Netherlands! I'm proud to be of Dutch origin :D
Oh and this fanfiction is just really some info about the relationships between the Netherlands and Belgium/Luxembourg/ABC islands/SSS islands. Everything you read (about the Belgian Revolution, the separation of Luxembourg because of a queen and the disbanding of the islands) can be found on Wikipedia :P
I hope it was to your liking :3 Oh and sorry if I made any noob mistakes XD