Cause if you really, really think about it, this is a cute couple. I OWN NOTHING. If I did, no one would know about Hetalia. Seriously. I don't have anything close to copyrights.

/=+=/

Why in the world am I here? I'm not even needed in this meeting!

She found herself standing in front of the national hall, where all the countries were going to meet for their weekly meeting (or bickering or whatever the hell it's called these days). Why she was called here, she'll never know until she goes inside the building and actually asks. Now…if her legs would just move.

Come on, legs! You can't just make me stand here! I have to go inside!

But her legs refused to move. Annoyed, she decided that she was going to force them to move whether she liked it or not (cause the truth is, she didn't want to move anywhere close to this place at all). After a few grunts, she realized that she really couldn't move from her spot. What the heck is going on?

"Hey, you!"

She heard what sounded like a gun, and immediately froze. She didn't have to be a completely isolated set of islands to know that it was definitely aimed at her direction. She slowly turned her head and saw the image of a blond man in a green military uniform holding…an AK-47?

"Outsiders aren't allowed around these parts!" His voice ran right down her spine. "Who are you?"

"I'm Seychelles! Seychelles!" She screamed in a sense of panic, her hands flying up to her sides. "A group of islands off the eastern coast of Africa, population: 84,000! It's divided into twenty-five administrative regions, eight of which make the capital section Greater Victoria! Please don't hurt me!"

"If you're really one of us, then why can't you move then?" He said. "Only people like us can move freely in this territory!"

"I don't know, I was just called here!" She answered as truthfully as her panicking mind and memory can pull out from the depths of her brain cells. "A man named Francis Bonnefoy sent me a letter and told me to come to this exact location!"

"Ah, I see…then you must be little Sesel…"

She turned her head as far as she could (without killing her legs) to see a man stand next to the one with the gun. He had semi-long blond hair and was wearing a purple cape (cloak? She couldn't tell by her distance) with bright red pants. She pouted at him.

"You didn't warn me about the security, France." She grumbled.

"I'm sorry, but I thought that you were given the bypass. Consider it a mistake on my part." He turned to the boy behind her. "Lower the gun, Vash. She's one of us."

She turned to the guy as he slowly lowered his gun. She sighed the biggest form of relief she ever had, before feeling her knees buckle and she collapsed onto the ground. Her whole body was unable to move, only giving her enough freedom to breathe. She heard Francis laugh over her.

"Don't worry, it's just another side effect of the security." He stated. "Arthur should be coming by now, and he'll get you out of this."

Make it very…VERY…soon.

/=+=/

Once she was finally freed, she then proceeded to follow France and the man named Vash through the hallways of the building. She was surprised at how fancy and beautiful everything was. There wasn't anything like this back at home, as far as she was concerned.

"Hey, France…" She turned to him. "Since when did you go by the name Francis? Other than the fact that the mail might be screened."

"It's a custom, Sesel! We're housing human beings, so why not try to become more human?" He grinned and winked. "You should take a human name as well. Switzerland did."

"Who, this guy?" She looked at the guy holding the gun. "Oh, so you're Switzerland!"

"Is she like this?" He looked at Francis.

"Well…she's been isolated for quite some time." He shrugged. "This meeting will be one smack in the face for her."

Guys… She whined. I'm right here…

/=+=/

She was the last one to enter the room. Looking around, she saw that there were at least a hundred people crowded in this one place, talking amongst themselves as if this was nothing more than a party or simple gathering. Confused, she slowly sat down at one of the seats in the table.

"Ah, so you're the one Francis was talking about, da?"

She looked up to see a young man sitting in the seat next to her. He had silver hair and a white scarf, fixing a thick brown jacket that he was wearing. Just staring at him made her sweat from the heat (and there was an AC running!).

"Um…I'm Seychelles." She forced out of her mouth. "But um…call me Sesel."

"You can call me Ivan." He responded with his innocent smile. "I'm Russia. Nice to meet you."

Russia…Russia… Francis warned her about him in his letter. What was it again? She couldn't really remember. The only thing she committed to her memory was the location of this building, since it was in a secret location to hide itself from human eyes. It probably was just a small introduction.

"Nice to meet you too…" She responded. "But…Russia. That's a really big country to run, don't you think?"

"Yes, it really is…perhaps you want to join me and help?"

She looked at him in confusion, only to see him chuckling strangely to himself. There was a weird purple aura glowing around him, and the chuckle was forming the word "kol" rapidly. She started to panic before slowly standing up and relocating herself to another empty seat five meters from him.

"Ve~…Do I know you?"

She jumped (obviously suffering from what Ivan did to her) and turned her head. The figure in front of her didn't seem anything like the freak-show that she had to deal with. He had a strange curl at the side of his face, and was wearing a blue military outfit. However, he didn't look like he should be trusted with a gun…or anything for that matter.

"No, I think this is the first time we met." She responded. "I'm Seychelles…but call me Sesel."

"Oh wow…another country! I didn't know there were more of them!" He sat next to her in a bit of a happy daze. "My name is Italy…but I'm named Feliciano!"

He even said his name with that weird Italian twist that she was somewhat expecting. She couldn't help but grin at his oblivious stare as he started talking about something that she wasn't catching. At least he doesn't seem like a serial murderer…

"Oh, you should meet my friend Ludwig! Sure, he may be a little scary and all, but he's real nice and funny!" He suddenly stated. "Oh, but he doesn't like being called that."

"No? But…" She blinked. "Ludwig is a good name."

"ITALY!"

The both of them both "meeped", Sesel quickly jumping to her feet. She turned her head around and saw a blond man with a green military outfit, looking oddly similar to Feliciano. He seemed just as scary as Russia…if not worse. OK, that's going too far, but…

"Ah! Ludwig~!" Feliciano pranced up to him. "I was wondering where you were!"

"Italy, haven't I told you not to call me by my human name while we're in this room?" He asked, trying not to sound too demanding.

"Ve~~~~…You're mean, Germany…"

Germany? She found herself freezing yet again before inching away from them. While she knew that it was about, I dunno, a hundred or so years since WWII and he probably had no say in what his boss wanted him to do, she still couldn't help but wonder if he was going to pull a gun on her and demand that she join the Axis Powers…

Please tell me he's better than Russia, please tell me he's better than Russia…

After avoiding eye contact with half the nations, she finally found herself settling down in a seat that was between two other empty seats. Sure, it would mean that more people would be focused on her, but at least she wouldn't have to deal with two crazy countries who might or might not be shoving guns in her face.

"All right then!" A man suddenly rose to the front of the room. "We'll get started with this meeting then!"

"Oh blast. There he goes again."

She turned her head and saw that it was England that was sitting next to her, drinking a cup of tea like she was expecting him to. After a few minutes, she suddenly realized that they were talking about global warming. Of course. No wonder I'm here. It was affecting her country as well. She had to be here.

It was around this time (or maybe it was later, since she wasn't really sure about the clock when it came to this timeless dimension they called a meeting room) when she was aware of the fact that someone was sitting in the chair next to her. He looked like the man that was ranting about some random plan, only he had longer hair and was dressed up in a buttoned shirt with white pants. His back was to her, so she didn't see if the faces were similar, but she was also aware of the fact that this person had a bear on his lap.

Is that a teddy bear? She blinked. Isn't he too old to have one?

Without knowing it, she slowly reached out to the figure, only to suddenly stop. It was then that she realized that the figure was see-through, almost completely invisible. She was pretty sure that no country was able to do that. Maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her? She rubbed her eyes once…twice…three times…yet the figure was still there, still somewhat invisible. It was then that she realized that he was shimmering in the sunlight, like a mirror.

Wow…I didn't know the sunlight can do this in this country…

She heard him sigh, mumble something to himself and turn to lean back on his chair, allowing her to have a full look at his face. What she saw almost made her gasp. His face did look similar to the man throwing out his plan again (according to England, this was the USA that was talking), but he looked younger…almost innocent like. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes, and she couldn't help but see how beautiful the blue was. They locked eye contact, and she could've sworn that time froze around them…even in this timeless zone.

"Who are you looking at?"

She turned her head around toward England, who held a confused look on his face. She was about to say something when she found herself turning her head back and forth to the figure in the other seat and back to England again. After a few seconds, he sighed.

"You've been zoning out for three whole minutes." He said. "Pay attention."

"But…" She blinked. "Hey, do you know the name of the man sitting next to me?"

"What do you mean? The seat's empty."

She turned back and forth for a few seconds before finding herself staring at the figure in the chair. He was about to say something when she suddenly found her arms shaking rapidly. This was definitely not something sunlight can do to people. She was definitely seeing this guy. But if England doesn't see him (and by the looks of things, no one else does), then that would mean that…

There were many things that she learned in that small conference. The one thing that stood deep in her mind was that she should never suddenly scream the word "GHOST!" when the United States of America is in the same room as you are. What will end up happing is that he will suddenly start staring at you before screaming for someone to save him and curling up beneath the table. The council had to be dismissed for the day because he refused to budge. Then again, trying to shake him or slap him (or even TOUCH him for that matter) only made it worse.

She took that as a cue to leave the room. Quickly.

/=+=/

After a few minutes of avoiding everyone that she could find, she found herself void of the company of anyone else. She tried to rub that mistake away from her consciousness as she wandered the empty hallways. It was in that wandering that she found herself in the gardens next to the building. She turned and stared at it, shocked at just how big it was.

My government building isn't close to this size… She thought. Is that just how rich these guys are?

She turned her head and walked further into the garden, keeping close to the path in front of her. After a few minutes, she found herself standing in front of a tree with a familiar figure silently sleeping front of it. She stared at the figure before realizing that it was the man from before. The amount of gazing woke him up, and before they knew it, they were staring in each other's eyes yet again. Her knees started to buckle.

"Ah…y-you're the…you're that…g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-"

"N-no, wait a minute…" He slowly stood up, his hand outreached. "I'm not a ghost…"

"B-b-bullcrap!" Where did she hear that word before? Oh yeah, that other guy that Spain called Romano. He used it every five words. "You're turning invisible as we speak!"

"?" He looked down to his hands and softly chuckled. "Don't worry about it…it happens every now and then."

"Wait…" She straightened herself. "You can turn invisible whenever you want?"

"It's weird, I know…" He sighed. "It's a…habit that I could never really figure out."

"Oh…" Now she felt bad for calling him a ghost. "I'm sorry…"

"It's OK…" He blinked.

It was then that she saw a strange form of sadness in his eyes, looking at the grass in front of them. Turning back to him, she saw that he was turning even more invisible. She felt her heart bashing hard against her ribcage, as if it was going to be the only thing that was going to prevent him from vanishing completely from her sight.

"My name is Seychelles."

He looked up at her, and she saw a bit of his figure come back from invisibility. After a few minutes of silence, she forced her mouth to continue with words that were now pouring out of her mind.

"I've…yet to find a human name, so…call me Sesel for now."

"Sesel…" He smiled. "I see you more as a Seyel."

"S-Seyel?" She rubbed her throat.

"It sounds more like 'sail'. Your country is a colony of islands, right?"

"Y-yeah, yeah it does." She blinked in surprised. "I'm surprised I didn't think of that."

"You're welcome."

"Hey, now that you know my name…" She smiled. "Can I know yours?"

He stared at her as if she was crazy, making her wonder just what was the problem. Suddenly, out of nowhere, she found the teddy bear that she saw him with crawl out from one of the bushes and toward the man. He turned to him and smiled, picking him up and chuckling.

"There you are, Kumakishiro." He said.

"…who are you?"

"Ca – na – da." He mouthed out. "That's the fifth time today…"

"That's your name?"

He jumped. Somehow, he had completely forgotten that Seyel was in the same area. They both turned toward the island nation, who was staring at them with slight adoration. Whether it was for the bear or the guy's name, he couldn't find out.

"Um…yeah…t-that's my name." He answered. "Canada. But…um…you can call me Matthew. Matthew Williams."

"Matthew." He actually does look like a Matthew.

She smiled at him, noticing that he was now fully visible in the sunlight. He did look like an angel, now that she thought about it. If he wasn't an angel…he definitely had that unearthly quality about him (well, he was a country, but STILL!).

"Hey, uh…how long did you have Kumakishiro, anyway?" She asked.

"Hm? He's Kumamishi." He responded, before thinking. "I think…a few years, actually…"

"A few years? But he doesn't remember your name."

"Yeah…it's commonplace here."

She stared at him in confusion as he squatted to his knees and let his bear (she gave up trying to find out his name) run around the meadow again. After a few minutes, she decided not to talk about what that meant.

"Are…are you related to America, by any chance?"

"Who, Alfred? Yeah, we are." He looked back at the bear. "Twins. He's the older one."

"Oh…I was wondering why you two looked similar." She chuckled. "Though I have to admit…you look cuter than he did."

His face went completely red, making himself go off balance and crash onto his bottom. Another thud made him realize that he had hit his head on the tree as well, giving him one of the biggest headaches that he had in a few hundred centuries. After a few minutes of clearing his mind, he looked up and saw that Seyel was hovering over him. He blushed again before darting upward.

"Are you OK?" She asked.

"Yeah…y-yeah…I'm…fine." He blushed, hiding his gaping mouth.

"Are you sure?" She sounded worried.

"Yeah…why?"

"Your face is red…I think you might have a fever."

He watched as a hand reached out and touched his forehead, parting his soft blond hair out of the way. Not only that, but they were actually a few feet away from each other's faces. After a few minutes, she leaned back, and he let go a breath he didn't know he held.

"I-I-I-I-I…I'm fine…r-r-really…" He responded. "Really…"

"Well, if that's the case…" She stood up. "We should go back to the embassy."

"…y-yeah…"

/=+=/

The two of them walked back into the building, trying their best to keep their attention in front of them. After a few seconds, she turned her head and noticed that he wasn't there anymore. She turned her head around in confusion, bumping into someone by accident.

"Gah!" She turned to them. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there!"

"Ow-!"

She looked up and realized that she was staring straight into China's eyes. She instantly straightened herself, clasped her hands together and semi-bowed at him, much to his amazement. However, she was just in a state of panic as of right now.

"I hope you can forgive me." She said.

"I'm OK, aru." He answered. "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine…though…" She looked around. "Have you seen Canada around?"

"…who?"

She looked at him in a sense of confusion, seeing that he was confused at the question as well. She concluded that he was a new country, like her, and that he had just come out of hiding or something up to that matter. She grinned.

"He kinda looks like America. Blond hair, blue eyes, wearing a jacket and button shirt…oh, he carries a bear around!" She smacked her hands together.

"…no, not ringing a bell, aru."

"No?" She frowned. "Oh, OK…I guess he left or something."

"Are you sure you weren't talking about Alfred, aru?"

"No…his hair is longer…" She grinned. "I guess I'll go look for him."

"I'll see if I can find him too, aru."

They both bowed at each other before China turned and headed down the halls, leaving Seyel standing there. She wondered if someone in this place knew who he was…maybe he was a complete newcomer, like her. She suddenly didn't feel as alone as she thought. She was about to head out in search when she heard hurried footsteps walking away from her current location, but when she turned around she didn't see a single soul in sight.

/=+=/

It was always like that. No matter how long or how often he would say it…

He held his bear as he stared at the sunset in front of him. He knew that, if they really did try, people would remember his name…his face…who he was. What ends up happening is that he would be completely forgotten every single day…hell, every single hour, for that matter. Not even his pet bear remembered his name.

It all just meant that…he wasn't worth remembering.

A shadow, in a way…compared to his brother, Alfred.

"That's your name?"

He felt his eyelids twitch at the sound of that voice…an innocent young girl whom he had never met before…

"My name is Seychelles!"

"Seyel…"

The name Seyel wandered rapidly in his mind. Her voice…her beauty…she was like an angel sent from heaven. Sure, the fact that she had been curious of his name was commonplace. They just met. However, he knew that she would soon forget him…just like everyone else.

"…who are you?"

He looked down to Kumokichi, looking up innocently back at him. After a few seconds, he closed his eyes and rested his lips on the top of his head, feeling hot tears going down his cheeks.

"…I don't know anymore…"

/=+=/

No one seemed to know what she was talking about.

Seyel looked rapidly around the building before deciding that she had to head off to the highest part of the place (she came to the conclusion that people usually do that when they need to think). After a few minutes, she finally found herself standing at a doorway to a garden on the second rooftop. And sitting down on the marble bench was…

"Matthew?"

He barely twitched, but she saw his eyes slowly open before he turned and locked eyes with her again. Again, time seemed to freeze between the both of them, the breeze the only indicator that something was still moving. As she stepped forward, she noticed tears going down his cheeks.

"…Matthew?" She leaned to her side. "Are you OK?"

"I-I'm fine…" He wiped his cheeks as he let his bear go. "Just…got something in my eye."

"Then…why are your cheeks swollen?"

He froze, especially when she reached out and rubbed one of his cheeks. The sunset was good enough to hide the blush on his face, but it couldn't hide the water marks that covered his face. After a few minutes, her hand lowered and they relocked eye contact.

"I asked everyone if they saw you today…they answered that they never heard of your name." She stated. "Matthew…what's wrong?"

He looked down, refusing to look back into her beautiful brown eyes again. However, the golden hair that was supposed to hide his face only succeeded in accenting the blush marks on his face.

"This had been going on for a few years…centuries? Geez, I can't even remember the exact number…" He sighed. "I know that, deep down, my brother remembers me and he thinks of me as a brother…it's the others that…I wish to befriend…"

"Matthew…"

"I'm just an object to them…something that they'll forget once I'm out of their way…" He couldn't believe that he was saying all of this out loud. "At the same time…I'm the shield for the mistakes that my brother makes. No one can tell the difference between the both of us, you know…"

"I can."

"I know you can. You weren't calling my Alfred before." He chuckled. "And yet…no one else can do the same thing…no matter how hard I try-"

A hand trailed out and pushed the hair out of his face, startling him. He looked up and saw her with tears welling up in her eyes as well. He straightened himself out as he wiped a falling drop before it fell on her cheek. Suddenly, she lunged out and hugged him, a gesture that he had never had witnessed before.

"They care for you, you know! They really do!" She sobbed.

"…it's OK. I'm used to this." He answered, enjoying the moment.

"You shouldn't be used to being alone, you know…" She said. "Even I had the company of the others once in a while."

"Composed of Francis and Arthur? I'm surprised you're still sane."

Seyel couldn't chuckle at the joke. She was just shocked at the man in front of him, able to passively push aside the fact that he was just a shadow compared to the other nations in front of him. He had to be the most normal person she ever met: shy, kind…adorable…

That thought alone threw her off him. They spent the last few seconds staring away from each other, blushes completely erupting their faces. After a while, Seyel turned her head and looked at the embarrassed Canadian. His hands were covering his mouth, further accenting the blush on his face and his narrowed eyes. He looked like a girl!

A really cute girl…but still…

He turned to her, time standing still yet again. Before they knew it, he was pressing his lips on hers. It felt right…with his hand on her cheek and the sun setting just right next to them. It felt right..it felt comfortable…it felt…

Really, really awkward.

Despite that, they were very hesitant in pulling apart from each other. Once they were a few feet away, she noticed that the blush on his face had now completely settled, making him look more like a mature young man than an embarrassed girl. His smile made her heart do massive flip-flops, possibly blocking her airway.

"U-um…" She finally found herself saying. "Was that…your first kiss?"

THAT triggered the girl blush again. He hid his mouth in his hands as he started mumbling something to himself. After a few seconds, she recognized that he was speaking French. However, it was too quiet for her to hear. After waiting on that, he slowly nodded.

"Oh…OK." She chuckled. "It was my first, too."

"O-oh…" He responded. "So…I'm not the only one…"

He looked away from here again, but she found that he was inching closer to her. She chuckled before taking his empty hand in hers, feeling the warmth of his skin. It was then that she realized that the place was getting cold. That's when she had an idea.

"Brrr…" She shivered.

"? Are…are you cold?" He asked, surprised.

"A little…I kinda wish I had a big teddy bear that I can cuddle with, like you do…"

"Oh, then-"

"I guess you'll have to do."

It took five seconds for Matthew to register that into his mind. That and the fact that she was clinging onto his left arm as if it was a body pillow. He didn't make any move to get her off, instead opting to watch her hang onto him. She did look cute from this angle…and he could literally smell her shampoo. Was that coconut?

"? Who are you?"

He turned his head to see Kumochi staring back at him, his head tilted to the side. He turned back to Seyel and chuckled a bit, before turning back to his bear.

"Matthew."

/=+=/

My god, did I just switch POVs half-way through the story? My bad! Flame/comment what you wish.