"Jump then fall, jump then fall, into me, into me yeah." Sang a young girl of 16 years of age. She watched the birds outside her window jump from branch to branch in the early morning spring.

"Tetalia." She looked up to see her bodyguard, William, looking at her through the door way. He enjoyed listening to her sing. Your father wants you to meet him downstairs in fifteen minutes." Will could clearly see that she had let her desire to sing distract her. That seemed to happen when she'd rather stay home and practice.

"Fifteen minutes!" She jumped out of her seat and began rummaging through her walk in closet. "I don't know how he expects me to be ready in that short of a time." She exclaimed as she looked at a powder blue outfit.

"You've had all morning to be getting ready you know." Will said in his thick British accent. Tetalia finally settled on her pink dress. The dress started out a brilliant hot pink and then faded into a pastel pink at the bottom. It had one sleeve and yellow gold decorated the dress. She chose it because she wanted to bring out what few pink pigments were in her tan skin. She began applying her make-up.

"I wanted to practice first. I'll never make it in America if I can't really sing." Will leaned against the doorway and rolled his eyes at her statement.

"You know what I think of those American singers."

"That they're no talent, lazy, wannabes." She applied a little blush to each cheek.

"Exactly. So you should have no problem making it if talent is what they are looking for." He looked at his watch. "You've got 5 minutes." She ran to her closet and grabbed her shoes.

"Oh, what am I going to do with my hair? I wish I didn't have to go to this museum opening." She ran back to her mirror and began messing with it, trying it in different styles.

"I know this probably isn't what you want to hear but you are a public figure and as such there are certain things expected of you."

"I know. But sometimes I don't like pretending that my father and I are close. Though I do realize that if I don't it would cause the people to lose faith in his ability to rule them. When I think of that it makes it a little easier to do the things I'm forced to do." She finally settled on putting her knee long hair into a stylish low bun.

Though she said it wasn't possible she was ready to go in 15 minutes. As she descended the stairs even her father had to admit she looked like the princess that she was. Will led her and her father to the limo waiting for them and, while the driver opened the door for her father, he opened the door for her. He then hopped on his motorbike and followed as the limo began driving off.

"You were 13 seconds late." Her father informed her without so much as looking at her. He couldn't see her spirits fall at not meeting his expectations again.

"I'm sorry father. I'll try harder next time." Her face slightly reddened. She wanted to cry. Would she never please him? She composed herself as she looked out the window of the limo.

Once there Will hopped off his bike and opened the door for her. Everyone recognized him as her bodyguard on first sight. His white swordsman style shirt with black pants and a black sash always gave her away. He stood out against the royal guards dressed in black uniforms.

She and her father were greeted with flashing cameras and bombarded with questions about the new museum. As their usual they either ignored the questions or replied that all would be answered in time. Tetalia had become an expert in front of a camera and no signs of her feelings showed through. She took her father's arm and they made their way to the podium where he was to give his speech. One reporter commented on her dress to her father and he replied that she had received it last spring as a gift from the first lady in America. Will shot her a glance and to his dismay saw what he expected. She smiled and thanked the lady for her complement but had been hurt inside because her father knew only what he needed to know to keep up appearances. The rest of the day went in much the same way. When she arrived home it wasn't soon enough. She went straight to her room and collapsed on her bed. They had feasted and she had to pretend to be interested in what every eligible young man had to say. She didn't understand why but her father wanted her to be the biggest flirt in the kingdom. Will knew what was coming next. She would change clothes and lament over her relationship with her father. He wished he knew how to fix it but he knew that the only thing that would fix it was for her father to be her father or time and forgiveness. Sure enough, she finished changing and began to talk to him.

"I wish I knew why I can never seem to please him." She rested her head in her hands. "I just don't get it. I can do everything right and then he'll find something else I did wrong. Like me being 13 seconds past 15 minutes this morning. It probably took me that long to descend the stairs."

"Jasmine," He said calling her by her favorite nick name. "I wouldn't worry about it so much if I were you." He took a seat at the edge of her bed. "I know having a loving relationship with your father is something you want, is something you need but I promise you, you can still grow up and be a wonderful person even with out that. Life is full of disappointments. Sometimes things don't go the way you want and you just have to keep going despite that." She had heard him say that many times before but this time she noticed that he said that as if he had experienced it.

"Has that ever happened to you?" He looked at her for a moment. He wasn't sure if she was ready to hear the answer to the next question she would ask. Then he decided that it would be a good learning experience for her to know that not everyone is going to say what she wanted to hear.

"Yes."

"When?"

"8 years ago. I wanted to go into acting." She knew that 8 years ago she had picked him to be her very own bodyguard. He watched as his words sank in. He had never done this before and he wanted to know what effect his words would have on her. Before, he always figured that she had enough stress on her that he didn't need to burden her with his. Now, he felt it would be good for her to realize that there were other issues outside of her own.

"It's because of me that your not acting isn't it." She said sadly. In those 8 years she had grown to respect and admire him. It saddened her to think that it was because of her that he didn't have a better station in life. As a guard of the king you received awe and respect from the people but materially you were worse off than the poorest of them. The king provided you with shelter and food but it was up to you to provide yourself with everything else from the small pay you received. By the time you saved up enough to pay for your training and transportation you were required to have you were lucky to have any amount of money to your name. She also knew in his case he would have been killed if he hadn't agreed to the job.

"You can't hold yourself responsible for a decision you made when you were eight. It's alright. What's done is done."

"How can you say that? I took 8 years of your life. I know what father pays his guards and for some reason he pays you less than that. If I hadn't chosen you all those years ago you might be a famous actor by now."

"If it wasn't me you would have picked someone else. Don't feel guilty about it. I can say that because it does me no good to hold it against you. I forgave you a week after it happened. I've enjoyed something no one else has seen, not even your father, and that's watching you grow up." She smiled at his attitude about the whole situation. Still, she didn't feel quite right about it.

"I think I'm going to go to bed now."

"Alright." He stood up as she laid down and he covered her with the blankets. Aside from being her bodyguard he was also her main care giver. A task that he at one time wished he hadn't been saddled with but now he was happy with the relationship he had with her. He turned off the light and laid down on his cot in the corner.