I don't own Hetalia. If I did, it wouldn't be as good. ^.^

The day was gray.

A chill, not exactly cold, but penetrating, had moved across the barren landscape. With it it had brought along a pale, white-washed sky, which drizzled lazily on the soggy field of wheat. Amongst the tall grains was a boy who sat unmoving; simply allowing the rain to wash away the dust that layered his vibrant red hoodie and work-worn blue jeans. In his lap sat a large wicker basket, in which a small polar bear was napping, seemingly undisturbed by the rain.

They sat there a few more moments before a soft voice called out.

"Hungry."

Canada sighed.

"Again Kumatornado?"

The tiny bear nodded.

"Rain." it declared.

Looking up, the boy seemed shocked to see the slow, fat droplets of water hitting his glasses.

"Huh, so it is." His voice was soft, only slightly above a whisper, and airy.

Moving an annoying stray curl of pale blonde hair out of his face, the boy got up, taking his bear with him.

"Better get going or Auntie Uk will start to worry. Not to mention Uncle Lithuania..." he mused and turned to where he could see a tiny farm-house way in the distance. Glancing up to the sky again a sudden feeling of dread overtook him. Canada shivered involuntarily.

"Cold?" Questioned his bear, its dark eyes trained intently on his master. He got a smile in return.

"No Kumaduro, just felt someone stepping over my grave."

"Not dead."

The boy let out a soft chuckle.

"It's a figure of speech Kuma. Come on, let's get you something to eat."

"M'kay."

The walk to the farmhouse was quiet. The occasional songbird would cry out and mice and other such vermin would shift the tall golden stalks. There wasn't much wildlife out in the day; the Kansas terrain was hot and barren, the wheat giving little relief. At night, as the sun dipped below the lip of the world, a deep cold rolled over the land, silently freezing the dew until morning. There seemed to be little relief between the two extremes.

Today, however was different. Rain was a rarity; something that Canada was very thankful for as the crops had been getting dry. If the crops dried out they would die, killing the already small amount of income that Canada and his family had.

He laughed as his bear sneezed, a raindrop plunking heavily on his forehead.

The farmhouse -his house- was small. Three rooms and an outhouse out back. The bedroom was the smallest; one bed for Auntie Uk and Uncle Lithuania and one bed for Canada. Then there was the kitchen, sporting an old wood-and-charcoal fed stove. Lastly was the family room; a window overlooking the deserted scenery, a worn armchair seated near a small fireplace, and a matching couch. The house was small and mostly barren, but it was also clean and warm, some place Canada could come back to after a long day.

Carefully opening the screen door, he paused when he heard his guardians talking.

"...no way we could pay it off in time." he heard his Uncle say in a low, hushed tone.

"Will we have to get rid of the house? Oh dear, we'll lose all our land!" cried Aunt Ukraine, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.

"No, no Ukraine, don't cry! We won't have to do that, I just may have to go and work it off for a while..."

Ukraine's brows furrowed and at first, she looked confused. The, slowly, her eyes got wider, horror etched upon her face. Canada had never seen her look as such, and gripped the corner he was half hidden behind a bit tighter. She grabbed her husband by the shoulders, forcing him to look at her. Lithuania did his best to avert his eyes.

"Please," she nearly sobbed, "You didn't...n...not the ..."

"The coal mines." finished Lithuania. "I'll be gone for a while, but it will be worth it to keep a roof over your and Canada's head."

Now Ukraine was openly weeping, her hands attempting to quell the streams of tears sliding down her face and wetting the frilly apron she had on.

Canada quickly looked away from the scene, sneaking into the bedroom and slowly closing the door behind him. His heart was beating out of its chest and cold fear coiled in his stomach.

The coal mines.

Deep, dark, and saturnine. Nobody wanted to work down there. It was where they sent people with debts so big they would never get paid off. If you went down there, the odds were you wouldn't come back out again. A dangerous combination of cave-ins, flammable gases, and black lung made sure of that. If you did, somehow, manage to make it out, well...

You were different. Canada had seen a man who made it out when in town once. His skin was yellow and black, his hair greasy and coming out in tuffs. His eyes were dull, as if all the light of life had been sucked out. He coughed and hacked, eventually spiting a slimy black glob onto the street. He did not laugh or smile, only stalked in somber silence.

The most horrible thing, above all else, was the man's arm, or the lack there of. One was just gone; from the shoulder down. The other was cut off at the elbow, a rounded pink stump left in its place . Uncle Lithuania had pulled him away quickly after that. Now thinking about it, he should have taken his guardian's worried face as some kind of foreshadowing. At the time, however, he had just put it down to the man's disturbing appearance.

Canada couldn't imagine what would happen if Uncle Lithuania went down there...

"Sad"

Canada jumped at his friend and quickly wiped away the tears he didn't even know had leaked out. Taking a calming breath, he stepped out into the tiny hallway, a smile plastered on his face.

"H-hello Auntie Uk, I'm home. Kumadede is hungry."

His Aunt, who had seemed to collect herself in the time Canada was gone, smiled warmly at his arrival

"It's Kumajiro, Canada." she giggled. "I left him some of the leftover stew from last night."

Inwardly, Canada gulped. " W-where's U-Uncle?" There was a painful twang in Canada's chest as Ukraine's face fell.

"He's in the kitchen. He's...not in a very good mood." she hesitated and , for a moment, Canada thought she was going to tell him. His hopes were dashed when instead she simply changed the topic.

"It's raining outside." she stated.

"Y-yes, it feels good. Refreshing."

"The chickens are restless; I think there's going to be a storm tonight."

The blonde's grin nearly split his face, current problem temporarily forgotten. He loved storms. He loved the thunder and the lightning and the way the wind howled against every hole in the house. It made his blood boil with adrenaline and excitement at the thought of such violent weather.

"Big." stated Kumajiro. "Still hungry."

Snapped from his thoughts, Canada stared down at the bear squirming in his basket.

"Big storm."

"Well if that's the case, I better board up the pig pens." said Ukraine, moving to the window. "You remember what happened last time, right?" Canada nodded. It had taken them all night to find those pigs, during the storm no less.

"Come and help me when you're done feeding Kuma then." Ukraine started toward the door. Canada half thought about stopping her, asking her what was really bugging her, even if he really already knew. He knew she would probably tell him. He pushed the thoughts away. He didn't want to upset her again. She would tell him in time. For now...

Well, for now they were happy.

By the time dinner had rolled around Canada had given up hope of there being any kind of storm. It was almost the exact opposite of what it would be like if one were on the way. There was no wind to speak of and the animals were all pretty quiet. The only thing that seemed to be even a little off was the air, which had turned a weird sickly green. Sighing deeply he wandered back down into the wheat field, the darkness of night already settling down upon the world. Kumajiro waddled at his side.

"Leave." he mumbled.

"Not yet Kuma."

"Why?"

Instead of answering Canada flopped down onto the ground. After a moment of silence, he asked the question that had been plaguing his mind all day long.

"What would happen if Uncle Lithuania left for the coal mines? Would he come back?"

The bear scoffed." Probably not."

"Yeah..I kinda thought so. What could do to help though? It's not like they have a lot of jobs left out there.." The odds of him being able to get a job was slim, especially considering how far away he lived from the nearest town.

"Leave."

Canada blinked in surprise. "Leave? Leave home, you mean? What about Auntie Uk and Uncle Lithuania? No, I need to stay."

Kumajiro was now pawing at his side persistently.

"A-ah! Kuma s-stop that! It tickles!"

"Leave."

"I already told you, I can't!"

"Not home. Leave here."

Canada blinked again, this time confused.

"W-what?"

"Home! Go home!"

"B-but, I thought you wanted-"

"Hooooooooooooome," whined the polar bear, how was now attempting to push the boy with his head. "Hoooooooooommmmmmeeeeee."

"W-wait- O-oaky, okay, fine. We'll go home, geez..."

Canada got to his feet, Kumajiro completely forgoing his basket and instead leaping into his arms.

"Wha-ah! Kumadingo, what's gotten into you?"

"Home!"

A harsh wind whipped through the field, slamming into the blonde's back and nearly sending him tumbling.

"Home! Home!" Kuma constantly prompted at his chest..

A roar seemed to engulf the world. It raged in Canada's ears and made his spine tingle. The hairs on his arms and back of his neck stood erect (ha-ha, laugh it up immature readers) to the sudden electricity that coursed through the air. Letting his legs work of their own accord he sprinted back to the farm house.

The wind whipped violently, tossing the Canadian and his bear this way and that, even sending them air born for a few short, terrifying seconds. His heartbeat raced and blood thrummed in his vein. What was going on? He'd never seen a storm so violent before...

Being ripped from his thoughts by a random chicken smacked into his face, Canada staggered backward. After some failed attempts, he finally was able to make it to his front door and grasp the handle with white knuckles. Wrenching it open he leapt inside, landing heavily on the wooden floors. Scrambling up, he called out.

"Aunt Ukraine! Uncle Lithuania!"

There was no response, or, at least, none that he could hear above the ever growing roar of the wind.

That roar. That roar...

Squeezing Kumajiro closer to his chest, Canada slowly turned around.

A gargantuan black funnel touched lightly to the ground in the field he and Kuma had just been occupying. It ripped into the ground uprooting the wheat and spinning it round and round, as if it were trying to weave gold into its dark depth. It decimated any trees and sheds that were unfortunate enough to be in its path. The dense, angry clouds above seemed to be egging it on, feeding it, like water slipping down a drain. The temperature had long since dropped and the slicing rain had turn into relentless balls of ice, breaking windows and denting metal as it shot out of the sickly sky.

Canada was frozen viewing the monstrosity from behind the screen. It was as if his stomach had dropped out into oblivion and all that was left was a hollow space. Half of him loved it. The fear, the absolute utter terror that something of this sheer size and power could squash your existence within seconds. That half was drinking it in, asking for more. More risk, more fear, more violence. It had needs you know. The other half was panicking, nearly out of its mind with worry at the whereabouts of his guardians. Strangely enough, the panicking half was the one that won out when the tornado turn in a different direction; his direction.

He jumped into action, grabbing the door and forcing it closed. Rushing into the family room he was about to call out for his family when the house howled and shook, the first barrage of harsh turbulence already beginning. Regaining his stance, he finally did.

"Aunt Ukraine! Uncle Lithuania!" his voice was lost within the cacophony of the storm, ripped from his throat and sucked into history. The house lurched, sending the Canadian sprawling into the kitchen and ramming into the counter. Another lurch sent pot and pan cascading on top of him. As a last ditch attempt, Canada open a now empty lower cupboard and shoved Kumajiro inside.

"NO-" the bear's cry was interrupted by the cupboard door slamming in his face.

"Sorry Kuma-" the house shook and a great ripping sound made Canada cover his ears. His stomach lurched, as if he had just jumped off of some high place. Suddenly, his body felt weightless. To his extreme dismay, things started to float around the room, as if somebody had just decided to switch off gravity. Shocked, he felt himself rise as well. He clutched the counter behind him and struggled to straighten himself.

Then, the weightlessness ended and the world crashed down around him. There was a sharp pain as, Canada knew, his head connected with the wooden floor. After that, the darkness welled up in the corner of his vision, eventually usurping it completely, letting his mind go adrift in a far off oblivion.