If you're reading this before reading my other Hetalia story, "Atlantis Found", you are about to be very, very lost, my friend.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.

Chapter 1:

The burning races along, destroying everything in its path. The bundle in her arms breathes shakily, the heat burning the very oxygen from the air it tries to breathe. She cannot breathe either, which is disorienting. To not breathe and yet remain awake. But her arms burn, wounds almost as bright as the flames that have caused them. The little bundle's breathing stops and she tries to cry, but her tears dry too quickly, and-

Atlantis sits up with a gasp, hand gripped tight in her sheets and arms tingling. Sweat drips down her back and her chest heaves from the nightmare, no, the memory, she just woke up from.

It has been several weeks since she was rescued and regained her memories, but the nightmares haven't stopped. At least this time she didn't scream and wake up Texas. He'd almost shot her when he busted in.

Atlantis shakes her head and reaches over to grab her phone, checking the clock. It's one am, so the person she's about to call should already be up, if he didn't have another late night. Her phone rings and a cheery voice answers when someone picks it up.

"Atlantis! How are you?"

"Hi, Finny." She shakes so much she can hear it in her own voice. Finland hesitates before he says anything.

"Another nightmare? According to Sweden, it's really early in America right now."

"Yeah." She sighs and slips her feet until they're dangling over the wooden floor. "And two days before my birthday too, sadly enough."

"Wait, how do you know when your birthday is?"

"I picked a random day and told anyone who didn't like it to-"

"Hi, Auntie Atlantis!" Sealand's voice comes over the phone and Atlantis cuts off what she was about to say quickly.

"Hey, kiddo. How are you?"

"Good. Is it really going to be your birthday soon?"

"Didn't I just say it was? Are your parents going to bring you to the world meeting tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but I had to promise to be nice to England, even though he's a jerk."

"Don't worry, I'll help you make him behave." Sealand giggles and Atlantis yawns, covering the receiver so it isn't too loud. "Listen, short stuff, I'm going to go back to bed. But maybe after the meeting tomorrow, I'll grab you and we can go get ice cream."

"Yeah!" Atlantis hears Sweden groan in the background and smiles. "Bye, Atlantis!"

"Sea you later." She hangs up the phone and slips fully out of bed, heading downstairs to get a glass of water. Halfway down the hall, however, she bumps into America. This would be surprising if not for the fact they lived in the same house.

"You never told me you chose a date for your birthday." He pouts and she rolls her eyes before they both start walking to the kitchen.

"I didn't feel like it. Anyway, it's not as if it's all that important anyway. I figured I'd go to the library, maybe grab a soda, and just read until it was time to start another day."

"How old are you?" America asks and Atlantis rolls her eyes.

"I don't even know anymore. I stopped counting after the first thousand years. But isn't it considered rude here to ask a woman's age?" America seems to freeze and she can practically read his thoughts.

"CRAAAAAAAAAAAAP." He groans and buries his face in his hands. "It's official, I have no tact whatsoever." Atlantis pats his shoulder as they finally arrive in the kitchen.

"It's okay. It took two rulers and a very scary tutor, who kind of reminds me of Germany in retrospect, to educate me in social skills enough that I could advise the current ruler in court. I had a bad habit of trying to banish people who ticked me off. It only worked about half the time anyway."

"Half the time is still a fairly scary amount."

"Well, I was the personification of their home. It's not like they could constantly deny me...Though to be fair, they did try."

"What do you miss the most?" Atlantis isn't expecting that question, which shows when she swivels her head to pierce America with a questioning gaze.

"What?" Though on the inside, America's squirming to get away from that stare, on the outside, he calmly takes a sip of his drink.

"You heard me. We're all centuries old. We've got steel traps for memories. What do you miss the most about your home, Atlantis?"

"I..." She pauses and glances at the soda can in her hand. "I miss... the people. I miss my kings, my queens. I miss the little beggar boy who I'd have lunch with until he became too old to even eat food properly. I miss the little princess whose hands I kissed as her father watched a volcano cause my destruction. I miss the nameless child who I held in my arms as he died and lava petrified me for God knows how long. It hurts, America. Why are people like us born? Why does it matter that our countries are personified?" She doesn't know what makes her yell, whether it be her frustration at the world or the desire to go through the proper stages of grief. But at the end of her rant, she lowers her hands which she had raised at some point and sits on a stool. "I miss the sun reflected on the ocean as the dancers practiced on the beach outside the castle. I miss the festivals that gypsies would spend months preparing for ahead of time. But those things are gone now." Opening her soda, she takes a long sip before smiling halfheartedly at America. "And in the end, we must all learn to move on or be forever broken."

"You miss your philosophers and poets, from the sound of it." America points out and she reaches over to smack him on the back of the head.

"It's not like yours were much better. At least mine is free of Roman influence. Seriously, that guy's affected everything!" They both laugh at that and proceed to stay up the whole night, talking and laughing away while the others snore on.

I'M BAAACK! Did you miss me, you beautiful people? Sorry it took so long, school thought it'd be fun to stick a straw in my chest and suck out my soul. Anyway, I went back to re-read my first Hetalia story and saw a part I missed, that said I'd be bringing Atlantis in to answer questions and compliments...Whoops? But better now than never!

Atlantis- "Hey, guys. Sorry for EOM's forgetfulness. I've been rattling around in her brain forever. Anywho, if you want to ask me something, go right ahead! Maybe I'll be a good tool to stop EOM from prattling on!"

Hahaha, isn't she a sweetheart? *Shoves her in a closet.* There, that's better. So don't forget the three R's: Read this chapter, Review, and Repeat with the next chapter!

Signing off, as always,

EOM