Just Another Day

Summary: Sometimes Love isn't enough, others it's all you have to keep you going. Challenges and struggles are those small parts of everyday life that just add up until the question comes. What's worth fighting for? Living for? Nyo!AmericaxNyo!Vietnam

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

'I hate work,' Emily thought to herself as she ran through the rain heading for the doors to the building where she had a meeting to go to for the new ad design from the marketing team. Just before she could reach the doors she ran into a hard muscled chest and was knocked backwards, his hot coffee being spilled out onto both of them.

"Fuck," she cursed, letting out an irritated sigh. She was already going to be late, but she idly wondered if she might have time to reach her office and grab the spare shirt she kept there for days like this anyway.

"I'm sorry, miss are you alright?" the man asked bending slightly and offering her a hand up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered with a scowl as she stared down at her watch. She glared as she read the time. "Fuck I'm late. Thanks for the hand up, but I really have to go."

She ran off into the building without a glance back, not noticing the man staring after her in amusement and slight fascination.

Emily quickly ran to her office, unbuttoning the blouse as she went, hardly caring for the propriety of it as she had an undershirt on anyway. She grabbed the bag she had at her desk and ran into the bathroom, making the change of undershirts as quickly as she possible could and throwing on the nice spare blouse as she hurriedly put her dirty clothes into the bag and returned to her desk. She dropped the bag quickly and headed straight for the meeting.

"You're late."

She had barely opened the door. "I know Lizzy."

"It's Ms. Kirkland, Jones," she threatened. "Take a seat before you have another infraction to write up."

"Yes ma'am," Emily muttered sarcastically.

Elizabeth Kirkland glared at Emily but didn't say anything. As the meeting proceeded Emily felt a headache come forth due to the indecisiveness of the marketing and advertising group.

"Enough," she said, her words slicing through the slight pause in arguments. "Ms. Kirkland I apologize that this group seems to be wasting both our times, I'm sure you have more important things to do. I will fix this mess personally and go to your office later to discuss whatever solution I have come up with at that time. You three," she pointed to Yue, Felicia, and Anya, "will come with me to hash out details."

Elizabeth Kirkland looked at her subordinate, one of few people she could consider a friend or practically a sister, and nodded before getting up and returning to her own piles of paperwork. Emily had been overworking herself lately and though she was worried Elizabeth knew it would do no good to tell the 'hero' to stop.

Emily grumbled as she thought of all the complaints she had gotten from the three, but eventually they all managed to separate the problems and individually make choices that would go well together. She rubbed her forehead with her fingers and sighed. It shouldn't take her supervising them for them to work so well together. They got the jobs because they were talented and had enough experience and skill between them it shouldn't be a problem.

After having the most irritating conversation with them and informing them of how to complete their assignment so she could present it to Elizabeth, she decided to eat out for lunch.

As Emily made her way out of the building she walked into someone again, this time managing to stay upright.

Hy stared at the woman who had walked into him twice now.

"I'm sorry…" her voice trailed as she got a good look at his tanned skin, shaggy hair, and brown eyes and promptly blushed.

"Hy," he said, introducing himself with a smile. "This is the second time we've walked into each other so I feel it's more than appropriate I introduce myself."

"Hy as in h and e or h and y?" Emily asked.

"H and y. I'm surprised you got that much. Some people like to assume it's h and i."

Emily snorted. "That would be like saying 'hi' not 'Hy'. I'm sorry about this morning, I was late for an important meeting and my boss can be a bit of a hard ass."

"For a woman you have an interesting vocabulary."

"Elizabeth, my boss/friend/older sister is always telling me I'm not lady like."

Hy smiled. "I didn't say it was a bad thing. It's interesting."

"Well, seeing as I spilt your coffee, which is practically sacrilege, why don't I take you out for lunch? I know this great place!" Emily said, trying to recover from her previous rambling.

"You don't have to…"

"But I'd like to," Emily said with a smile, cutting off his words. "Come on then."

Hy and Emily talked about a wide range of subjects from weather to favorite seasons and things they enjoyed doing. It wasn't surprising to anyone around them that the two quickly became friends and later began to date.

What did surprise the two was the intensity of things between them. Unlike with Emily and Elizabeth who always seemed to have contradicting ideas and a forcible clashing of ideas, the two were more often than not agreeable on anything except when it came to cultures.

When the first big fight happened neither were expecting it, nor were they quite prepared for the events that followed.

"It's not a matter of wanting to help or being able to, it's a matter of perspective," Emily said forcefully.

"Then why don't more people do it? You are always running off and helping others, volunteering with the firefighters, volunteering in big sister programs, helping kids with sports, and you always manage to do something to recklessly endanger yourself!" Hy shouted defensively. "You can't always help people Em."

"Yes I can, and I will for as long as I am able. Those people are good people, bad things happen to good people and the reverse is true, but if I can help make someone's day a little better, it's worth it. For me, helping people is worth everything," Emily responded sharply.

"And I just sit around and wait to find out if something has happened to you?" Hy remarked just as sharply, his eyes weary. Emily was a good person, someone who genuinely cared about others and would help with little or no regard to herself. That was something he loved about her, but it didn't make it any less difficult to watch her risk herself. He worried that one day it would be her, that she would be a victim and he'd just be waiting for news of her death, a cold finality.

"You're supposed to support me!"

"I do! I just can't watch you get yourself killed!"

"Then leave. Helping people is the biggest part of my life and if you think you are watching me kill myself, then leave and you won't have to," Emily's eyes dulled as she spoke the words coldly. She could feel her heart hurting despite her expressionless face. She could see him crumbling.

Hy stared at her. He didn't want her to change, wasn't asking anything more than for her to be more careful. She was the woman he had planned to ask to marry, to live with and spend every day discovering new things about her and falling in love with her over and over again. He wanted a family with her. Yet Emily couldn't see that she was missing the biggest part of her life, that their love and feelings meant something. Hy reached out his hand and brushed a strand of her hair back and tucked it behind her ear, resigned and hurt, but his voice had lost it's fight as he said, "I'm sorry that you can't see the biggest part of your life is right in front of you and that love, family, and friendship matters just as much. You aren't alone anymore."

Hy turned and left walking out the door without a glance back and that hurt Emily just as much as the words she said. Her eyes flashed in anger and guilt as she grabbed a couch pillow and screamed into it.

Should she run after him? Did she try to make this better? Was this for the better, this solution that left her achingly and hauntingly alone, longing for something that had just been in her reach?

Emily put the couch pillow down and looked to the picture of her deceased parents. "What do I do, mom, dad? What is the answer that I'm missing?"

"Mama!" Emily shouted smiling as she ran into her mother's arms.

"Emily," she said with a smile, catching her daughter and swinging her around in the air.

"Happy today?" Emily asked with all the curiosity of a child. Her mama had been sad lately, but she was smiling now.

"Very," her mama answered rubbing their noses together in an Eskimo kiss before pressing a real one to her forehead. "I have you don't I? You and your papa are the most important things in my life. As long as I have you two, I have everything in the world."

"Dad happy?"

"Of course little one," his voice came from behind her and she squirmed, giggling as he tickled her sides in her mother's arms.

"Papa! Stop!" she shouted, as her mother put her down and laughed as she tried running away. Without realizing it she had ended up in the street and a car was heading right for her.

"No!"

She stumbled forward out of the way of danger, but the blood on the concrete was very real and all she could see was the broken look of her mother staring at her father's still form.

Trembling from the force of the flashback she ran after Hy. Her mother always inferred that the best days of her life were with her daughter, that she had everything as long as she had love because love was the most important thing in the world. Helping people gave her purpose, but love gave her everything she needed.

Just as she got out of the building she could see Hy's form walking across the street just as a speeding car turned the corner. In a burst of adrenaline, she ran forward, pushing Hy out of the car's path and putting herself there. A smile stole over her face despite the impact and the feeling of breaking bones.

"EMILY!"

A/N: Happy Birthday Ameriko-chan! =D You get a cliffhanger and another chapter when I get the time. Hope your day was awesome though.