Price of Independence
Me: Hey, this is a new one-shot honoring Independence Day. It takes place before Breaking Point, and therefore, before Dreaming. And don't count on those suckers appearing. Like Cousin Diana, I locked 'em all in the basement. So, it's just me, Note and Disclaimer.
(Meanwhile)
Dianne: Battering ram?
Ash: Check.
Cordelia: Ghost powers?
Danny: I'm here.
Timmy: Fairies?
Cosmo and Wanda: Here!
Angel: Gun?
Vash: I'm holding it, silly!
Dianne: Ram it!
(Back up)
DISCLAIMER: Uh-oh. BTW, I do not own anything.
NOTE: This has slight USxUKxPhilippines and GermanyxItaly. Both human and country names are used.
2009
"Hey, Eva!" America's cry rang out through her house. Evalynn smiled as she heard her friend's yell.
"I'm coming, Alfred!"
But still…
Philippines could remember a time when she didn't need a big brother, when she was proud of herself.
APRIL 26, 1521
"LAPU-LAPU!" the young child ran to her king friend, the Chief of Mactan.
"Eva! What's wrong? You look sad, my dear country." Lapu-Lapu's eyes met Philippines' as she sobbed into his bahag.
"Spain, Magellan and the other Spanish, they're coming! They're going to take me and us and they're coming tomorrow!"
Evalynn swore she heard Lapu-Lapu curse Spain under his breath. She looked up and saw the tenderness flare into a fire, a determination to protect his people.
"Let us pray to the gods. Then, I shall call all the able-bodied men to take up arms."
Evalynn sobbed still, her tears staining Lapu-Lapu's bahag.
"Do not worry, my country. The gods shall make sure of our victory."
2009
"Hey, Eva, are you alright?" Alfred's eyes looked at Evalynn's the way Lapu-Lapu's used to.
"Philippines, you look occupied. Are you alright?" England, or Arthur Kirkland, asked the young country.
Snapping herself back to reality, Philippines looked around the meeting room. Germany ("Why did I get roped into this in the first place?!") was reluctantly cooking pasta for an excited Italy ("Yay! Pasta!"), while Arthur and Alfred, sure that she was back to reality, simultaneously returned to bickering.
"The Jonas Brothers are better than the Sex Pistols!" Yeah, but Alfred ALWAYS lapped up that old band's songs. She was the one who liked the Jonas Brothers.
"The Pistols started punk rock! Your silly Jones Brothers are sappy idiots!" So did Arthur. He always lapped up the Jonas Brothers as well.
"First, it's JONAS! Second, they aren't sappy idiots!"
"You said it yourself! Someone is a sappy idiot when he has millions of girls following him!"
"They have purity rings! They are awesome! They're the sole exception to that rule!"
Philippines sighed. Nobody seemed to remember that today was the day that she became her own country. And she swore she could see Alfred's fingers inching towards Arthur's, and Feliciano's towards Ludwig's.
Yet she remembered, she recalled Gomburza…
FEBRUARY 16, 1872
"What do you mean you'll execute them?! They've done nothing wrong!" The now teenaged-country stared at Spain.
"They have. They're leading a revolt. It's for your own good," Antonio insisted as he shook his colony by the shoulders.
"For YOUR own good, it looks like! I'm going to go!"
She stomped off, intending to go to the prison and break the priests out.
A few minutes later, she was inside the three priests' cell. Mariano Gomez looked up at the teenager.
"Don't worry, I'm going to break you out—"
"No. The Lord has willed it, my dear country." Mariano's eyes gazed at Philippines.
"Who knows? Maybe in the near future, we will inspire those to free you," Jose Apolonio Burgos added, running his hand through her hair.
"But for now, you should go. Do not worry about us. We are prepared to meet the Lord." Jacinto hugged her for the last time. Sobs erupted from the young teen.
"You look so much like Lapu-Lapu," she whispered.
2009
"She spaced out again, aru. Philippines is really spacey today." Wang Yao snapped his fingers in front of Evalynn, as Kiku waved his hand in front of Philippines.
Arthur and Alfred stopped fighting.
"Wait. What date is it today?" Alfred shakily asked Wang Yao.
"June 12. Why?" It didn't take Wang Yao an hour to figure out what Alfred meant by the question. "It's her Independence Day! Why didn't we think of it?"
DECEMBER 29, 1896
"Rizal? Are you here?" Philippines sneaked inside, needing to meet with a certain writer.
As she tiptoed, her footing slipped.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"
A calloused hand grabbed her wrist.
"Jose Rizal?" she inquired. The way Rizal's eyes stared at her was the same way Lapu-Lapu's and Jacinto's eyes did: with a fierce passion, and behind it, tenderness.
"Yes, my dear. It's me. I'll be executed tomorrow."
Rage flared inside Philippines. Spain always executed her people for no good reason! Now he was executing a writer, again for no reason!
"Why?"
"Because I have inspired the revolt. But remember, mi amiga, treasure the heroes that come and pass, for they have shaped you into who you will be."
2009
"Well, she's asleep now. Should we wake her up?" asked Wang Yao, as Alfred ran his hand through Evalynn's hair.
"Nah. I'm sure she's dreaming of the heroes she knew, the ones she remembered. Let her sleep."
And a familiar stare, that of passion and tenderness, was in Alfred's and Arthur's eyes as they gazed at the country called Philippines.
Me: Call me silly, but didn't I lock you guys up in the basement?!
Dianne: We got out.
Vash: It's a funny story…it involves a battering ram, ghost powers…it's ending with my gun.
Me: AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Timmy: I wish the readers could review right now!