Thump. Thump. Thump.

What a strange feeling. It was as if a force was tapping against his ribcage impatiently, anxiously awaiting for an event to unfold. With each tapping in his chest, he felt blood circulating through his veins, entangling him in a tunnel leading straight to life. Air. Air filtered his lungs, and each gasping breath was met by another as soon as it was cast away though his mouth.

It was then, for the first time ever, that the country of Nakaelin opened his eyes.

The pale blue orbs were half-shut as he gazed helplessly at the world, trying to make sense of it all. At first, there was nothing but white, but as his vision adjusted to the light outside, he began to see color. The first color he saw was blue. Never-ending blue that went on forever in the cloudless sky. He laid there on his back, tall grass tickling his neck, his arms, his face. The boy was a mere child, just born. He was no infant, however. He was about the size of a three-year-old, adorned in a plain white tunic that reached past his knees. Dirty blond hair fell across his face, tampering with his sight. However, he continued to lie there, never moving a muscle.

It was not long, however, until he was found.

"So this is Nakaelin." said a voice. The boy on the ground did not move. It was his first time hearing a voice, and he was trying to register what it was. He was confused, but not alarmed. He didn't understand the dangers of the outside world, only that he was comfortable, was viewing a big thing of blue, long strands of grass were tickling his figure, and he had heard only the sound of the wind flowing through said grass until now.

The boy lay there, wondering what on earth that noise was, what those words meant. Then it occurred to him that he understood English. He understood that there was a sky and a ground, and that the noise was a person, male by the sound of it. Slowly, he was gathering his surroundings, understanding what was happening. He knew so much, and yet, so little.

He knew his name was Nakaelin. He knew how he came to be. He knew the local language. And he knew that he was a nation. It took a moment or two for it all to kick in, as would processing something after being punched in the head. Yes, the situation was quite like being hit in the head, not being able to see, totally at a lost as to where you were and what happened. But, slowly you would come to remember those things, as was the situation now.

Air flowed through his lungs, and he gasped in more, enjoying the feeling of breathing. He suddenly realized that he could control his lungs, to make them take in more and more until they felt like they were going to burst. He was conscious of his heart beat, and when he tried to control the tapping against his ribcage, he found he could not.

This annoyed him.

There was the sound of footsteps marching towards him, and still the young nation did not move. Then, something blocked his vision of the sky. It was something the nation had never seen before. The boy blinked his eyes, widened them, and then they went back to their previous half-opened stare.

The thing above him was a face. The person was of colors that the young nation had never seen before, having been just born. There was a darker golden color, bordering on brown, of the person's hair. His eyes were blue, like the sky, and his skin was pale, almost white. He adorned a brown jacket, brown pants, brown shirt, brown brown brown. It was strange, seeing another human being for the first time.

Well, more like seeing another country for the first time as opposed to a human being.

...But then what did that make Nakaelin?

"Hey there!" The person said happily. He stood with his hands on his knees, gazing down at the young boy. "You're new, right?"

The boy on the ground stared up at the other, confused. He was slowly registering the words, slowly gaining the ability to speak. Words formed deep down in his throat, and the boy replied. "Yes." His voice was small and unused, high and shy like a little mouse.

The man suddenly stood up straight. "Ahahahaha~!" He laughed victoriously. Nakaelin was confused again, but he still did not stir. "Awesome! My name's America, and you're my little brother! Ahahahaha~!"

Nakaelin registered his words, slowly. "Little... Brother..." He repeated them to himself, eyes locked on the man before him. He towered over the young boy, a large grin plastered on his face, bright blue eyes shimmering with excitement.

"You got it!" the man howled happily, laughing once more. Then, without asking permission to do so, dipped down and picked Nakaelin up. The boy blinked, as the world swirled around him, his vision changing from the sky to all around him.

He was in a field of tall grass, so tall in fact, he wondered how America had spotted him laying down. Far off in the distance, was a farm. Other than that, only a road could be found, where a truck was parked. The truck was huge and red with a decal of an eagle on the back window. Nakaelin blinked.

America settled the young nation on his back, giving him a piggy-back ride. "You can't sit around all day, little dude. Everyone is waiting for you!" He laughed his trademark victorious laugh while happily strutting to the huge truck, little brother in tow.

Upon arriving to the truck, the older country opened the passenger door and transferred the younger one to his front. "There ya' go, buckaroo." he cheered enthusiastically as he placed the young country in a child's seat in the back seat of the cab. He put on his seatbelt, and closed the door before anything could be said.

The other cab door opened, to reveal America getting into the driver's seat. He offered the younger country a gleaming smile before turning on the ignition. The truck suddenly came to life, and they drove off.

Nakaelin was still misty-minded, and didn't understand what was happening at the moment. All he knew was that this guy was his brother, and he was a country. That's all.

As they sped down the road, long fields of wheat turned to carefully articulate farms. For a while, it was just farmland, not that Nakaelin was aware that any other such land existed.

"So! You must be a tad confused there, bro." America chirped out, unfazed by the fact that he basically just kidnapped a small child. "Let me fill you in on the detes."

"Detes?" Nakaelin asked curiously.

"Details, little dude, details. What happened is that you used to be part of my country. But things started heatin' up in the ol' political scene, and one of my states declared themselves free of America. That's me."

At this point, he pointed a thumb to himself.

"But we can still be allies. So that's why I'm bringing you over to your capital, so we can work out an alliance between brothers. Sound good?"

Nakaelin did not answer at first, slowly taking in the information. This had all happened to fast, and he was completely lost. This showed in his expression, both blonde eyebrows furrowed and a frown on his pale lips. America noticed this in the rearview mirror.

"Hey, let me try again, okay? Listen up good. You used to be one of my states, as in the United States of America. Now, little man, you're not. Now you're your own country because of some issues."

"Iss... ues..." Nakaelin responded, sounding out the word.

"Yeah. No worries, you'll be filled in on the detes in a moment."

They drove on, and after a while of silence, America turned on the radio. It blasted with loud rock n' roll music, the lyrics singing about how cool their band was. Nakaelin listened carefully as America whooped with glee at the song choice and sung along.

It was going to be a long drive.

"Hey, little dude, we're here."

That was what awoke the young country. He had fallen asleep in his child's seat at the back seat of the cab of the truck. Groggily, he opened his eyes, and they widened slightly at the view outside his window.

No farmland surrounded him now. Now, he stared at a well-manicured park with tall, towering trees lining a path straight to a huge building. The building was white in color, with strong, colossal pillars guarding the entrance. It was then that the door closest to him was opened, and America reached in, unstrapped the young one, and lifted him on his back again.

America piggy-backed Nakaelin down that long walk where the trees watched them, silent and judging. Nakaelin nuzzled closer into the bomber jacket adorned by his big brother.

Then, when the two came to the building, about a thousand lights suddenly flickered. Nakaelin, confused ever-much-so, stared openly into the flashes, mouth opened slightly, wordlessly asking what on earth was going on.

"Mr. America! Mr. America!" That's all that Nakaelin would hear, besides the clicking of the cameras and the loud, annoying sound the flashes made.

"Mr. America! How are you dealing with losing California?"

"Mr America! Are we in an alliance with Nakaelin?"

"Is he our enemy?"

"Mr. America, a word or two, if you please."

"Nakaelin! Look this way!"

Then, a woman ran next to them, fixed her hair quickly, brought a microphone up to her mouth, and stared into the lens of a large camera, being held by a cameraman.

"We're live in five, four, three..." The man said, when he reached one, the woman began to speak.

"I'm here live at was used to be the capital building of California, now known as the 'White House' of Nakaelin. Mr. America," she turned to the tall, blonde country. "Care to share a few words on what's happening?"

"No thank you." America said into the camera, giving a thumbs-up while Nakaelin clutched his back. "Nakaelin has to get to his meeting now, so excuse me, guys."

The reporters ran after them, all yelling for an interview, capturing pictures of Nakaelin on America's back, looking frightened and holding onto the other country for dear life.

They went into the building, where some serious-looking men in suits guarded the doors. "Hello Mr. America." said on of them. Then, his eyes flitted over to the younger country, and he raised an eyebrow. "And hello to you, Mr. Nakaelin."

The young blonde boy sank deeper into the bomber's jacket, scared out of his mind. He didn't fully understand what was going on, and the crowd outside further upset him. Seeing this, the man in the black suit frowned at America.

"Mr. America, forgive me for saying so, but I think it may have been wiser to allow us to accompany you to retrieve Mr. Nakaelin."

"Nonsense!" America laughed his joyful laugh. "I'm a hero; saving people is what I do! 'Sides, I wanted an excuse to test out my new ride."

The man's frown faltered, and he looked exasperated by the country's response. "So be it, sir."

America, having won that conversation, continued to march happily down the long hall, escorted by the man in black, the other men guarding the door still.

America and the man walked down the long hall, Nakaelin still on America's back. "Sir," The man in black said. "It's the door coming up."

"I knew." America rolled his eyes at his companion.

When the reached the door, America grinned, and took the young boy off his back. He placed him on the ground, and for the first time, Nakaelin stood.

"Alright, little dude." America started. "In that room is a press conference. All you have to do is sit on the chair on the stage and look cool, alright? I'll handle all the talking."

Nakaelin nodded, unsure as to what a press conference was.

America led the way into the room. The moment the doors opened, the people inside went quiet. A lot of camera flashes went off, and Nakaelin kept his eyes on the floor, still a little unsure. The duo, the man in the black suit standing by the door, walked up to the stage. Little Nakaelin had trouble keeping up with America's long, powerful strides.

The older country placed himself behind a podium whilst the other did what he was told and sat in the chair. He looked up at the people, took in their faces, their clothes, their expression, and silently wondered what he looked like. He never looked into a mirror before, and the question of his appearance remained on the forefront of his brain, before America began to speak.

"Ladies and gentleman, I give you the honor of meeting Nakaelin. He is no longer a state as we all know, but rather he is a country all his own."

The people in the crowed murmured and took more pictures. They never saw a new-born country before, seeing as how two centuries went by without a new one. They speculated at the small child, but turned their attention back to America when he spoke again.

"We have prepared a document for Nakaelin," America continued, "which offers an alliance. If we cannot be with our fellow man through nation, then let it be through friendship." America sure knew how to clean up his speech at important times. This dialect was drastically different than the one before, where America used words such as, 'dude' and 'awesome.'

America took a piece of paper out of his coat, and presented it to Nakaelin. "Now, Nakaelin, do you wish to be in an alliance with the United States of America?"

The little boy was confused, as he had been since the moment he was born. He gazed around the room with wide, puppy-dog eyes, to which the people returned with interested stares. A news camera was fixated upon the boy in the chair, who slowly accepted the pen in America's outstretched hand.

It was signed with messy, kindergarten writing, but signed nonetheless. There was applause, and the little country stared around the room at the cheering crowd, then at his older brother who laughed happily. For the moment, everything seemed alright.

Little did he know, things were going to go downhill soon.

A/N: So, there you have it. The first chapter. Unfortunately, this chapter comes with no pictures. However, in the future, such a thing will exist. I beg of you, critique! Reviews are ever so welcome. Truly.