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The Rose Seal: A Hetalia Fan-Fiction

America lay bleeding on the floor of Canada's kitchen, Matthew lay only a few feet away, slumped and broken against the fridge. America reached out for him, mustering all the strength he had to call his name. Matthew raised his head, blood was smeared down from the corner of his mouth to his chin. His eyes went wide and he coughed, blood coating his fingers and dripping down his hand to the floor. He looked at Alfred, his wide violet eyes held more fear than Alfred had ever seen in all the nations combined. They softened when Alfred called out to him again, his voice hoarse and painful. Despite his injuries Matthew managed to smile and slowly hobbled forward on his hands and knees, collapsing the moment his fingers reached Alfred's. A sob escaped Matthew's lips as he forced himself onto his back and clutched Alfred's hand, entwining their fingers. Alfred felt his own hot tears sliding down his cheeks, cleaning away the dirt and blood caked on his face. He tuned his head away from Matthew as the man continued to sob, Alfred grimaced at the sight of Kumajiro's mangled and unmoving body, a Purple ribbon had been draped over his body at some point during the scuffle and was steadily soaking in blood. Alfred turned back to Matthew and willed the image out of his mind. This wasn't supposed to happen...

A few years earlier...

"Ahahaha!" Alfred laughed as he ran down the beach, Matthew chasing after him.

"America!" Matthew yelled, reaching his hand out in front of him, "Please, I can't see without my glasses!"

Alfred raised the Canadians glasses up above his head, taunting the boy running behind him, and laughed again. He stopped, spotting something floating out at sea. Matthew crashed into the man as he stood there but Alfred only buckled enough to catch Matthew's around his waist and keep him from falling backwards.

"Look..." America said handing Matthew his glasses, he pointed at the thing out at sea with a deep frown set into his features, "Is that..." He squinted, "Mattie it's a person!"

Matthew put his glasses on just in time to see the man beside him run into the cold waters after the person Matthew couldn't quite find as his eyes readjusted to his glasses.

"Ah!" Matthew spotted them floating a bit bast the orange markers for the swimming area, "Alfred be careful!"

Alfred heard him but didn't answer, he had reached to where he could no longer touch and began swimming fiercely, he was a Hero after all, he had to save them before it was too late! He could see the person more clearly now, It was a girl, with long brown hair fanned out around her head who looked like she hadn't eaten in a long, long time. She was wearing clothes that were nothing like the casual clothes he'd seen people wearing normally in the area, they were elegant and simple. He thought that she might have been at a party when she fell into the ocean but he hadn't remembered hearing anything about missing people or even a party in the area recently and she looked absolutely starved. Alfred made it to her and was thankful she was still breathing and face up, she never would have made it otherwise. He wasn't sure how to grab her since her outfit was just a long, almost white, blue dress split all the way up to the thin beaded belt around her hips. He grunted and grabbed her by the arm pulling her back awkwardly to where he could stand and manage to pull her up with ease. He threw Matthew a thumbs up before picking her up bridal style.

"Hey Mattie!" Alfred called shaking the blonde out of his shock, "Go start the car, we gotta get this chick some help."

"Oh! Right!" Matthew rushed back to the car and dug his keys out of his pocket, he had driven them to the beach in Florida today for some down time but things never stayed too quiet when you were a nation, especially when you were with America. The energetic blonde always found some sort of trouble.

"Mattie." America stood next to Canada and held the girl like she was something precious, like. he didn't want to let her go. He knew he was holding on a little too tight but she'd be fine, "I think she's one of us."

"Really?" Canada asked opening the car and getting in, America stared down at the girl in wonder and Matthew couldn't help but feel a little jealous, Alfred should be focused on him right now and if she really was a nation she would be just fine without him making a fuss over her, "Well we should get going anyway you-"

"Can we keep her?" Alfred asked grinning at Matthew with that same old carefree smile he always had. Matthew couldn't help but to smile back and nodded, he was happy that America had said we... and asked if it was okay. They were in the process of becoming united as one nation through a plan their bosses made up, but they were still getting used to the idea of it. Of course they had always had a pretty close relationship and Matthew had no oppositions to it but he was still nervous that his neighbor to the south would try to rule him, not work with him. Another thing nagging at the little blonde nation's mind was strange ways Alfred had been acting, like insisting that they sleep in the same bed. He said it was to promote unity but Matthew thought that was total bull-

"Yipee!" Alfred shouted laying the girl in the backseat gently before sliding into the passenger seat next to Matthew and jamming one of the controls on the radio to make it go to a channel they both had agreed on, before it came on he cranked the nob to nearly silent, remembering the sleeping girl in the back seat, "I wonder where she came from."

"Maybe an island nation?" Canada guessed. There were plenty of islands out there but Alfred thought that they'd found all of the inhabited ones already. Even if they didn't what had happened to her? Why was she floating out at sea all by herself?

"Не трогайте меня " the girl muttered in her sleep. America stiffened and slowly looked back at her. Russian? The girl spoke Russian?

"Mattie?" Alfred said looking to the blonde at the wheel nervously. If she was Russian then Ivan was going to come looking for her and probably accuse them of stealing her or something, either way he'd probably be pissed. Alfred shifted in his seat nervously, he didn't need another cold war. Especially now that he was, for lack of better words, engaged to Matthew.

"Should we just take her to Russia?" Canada asked practically reading America's mind and being himself unsure of what they should do or if Ivan was the best to trust with a child. He terrorized what little Nation's he had in his grip, who's to say he wouldn't, or already hadn't, done worse to this girl? What if drowning had been his idea of a punishment? Matthew shuddered as he waited to hear Alfred's answer.

"No..." America said after a few moments of silence, "I don't think he was a very good parent if she wound up like this.

"And we would be good parents?" Mattew asked glancing at the blonde man beside him with a serious expression. He didn't want to hurt a child, dozens of horrible situations filtered through his brain of what could go wrong with her living with him and America.

"If not Iggy and Francis can raise her." America said with a reassuring smile, they weren't half bad, "They did something right raising us, right?"

"I guess." Matthew said, glad that Alfred was being responsible enough (for him) about it but worried that they might mess up and put a child in Francis' hands. France was not the best at keeping his hands to himself, Matthew would know.

"We'll be great!" America said cheering in his seat, "We're Hero's!"

Matthew laughed and pushed his glasses up, and laughed at the man beside him trying to shush himself while he cheered. He looked up in the rear view mirror to catch a glance of the still sleeping girl in the back seat, still muttering incoherently. This would be a long adjustment period for everything, new nation, new unions, and new mysteries that he knew would lead to some sort of fighting... At least he had Alfred.

Review pleased, editing rushed my apologies loves.