Title: How Does It Even Work?
Summary: England has died in an airplane crash 25 years ago. A new representative has been born just few days after the crash. Everyone got already used to this new England. Everyone, except America. He still misses the grumpy nation. And one day he spots someone who looks just like England. And what does he do? He starts chasing after him, of course. reincarnated!England, 2p!England
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
The rain was heavily pouring on the streets of London. In matter of minutes soaking anyone that didn't have a raincoat or umbrella to protect himself from the harsh weather.
That was America's case. He was wearing only a formal suit and briefcase with him. He was forced to run through the streets, because he had overslept, so he was late for an UN meeting. He could already feel how the clothes uncomfortably clung to him, making it harder for him to run. He gritted his teeth as he made his way through the crowded street.
He hated English weather, he hated the people, he hated the food. He hated everything about this nation.
No, he hated the nation.
The new representative of England was nothing like the old England.
He sighed as an memory of his past care-taker flooded his mind.
It was already 25 years since the fateful incident and he still missed the grumpy nation.
He missed how he would always argue with England, the taste of his half-burnt scones, the way he would always scold him over the smallest things...
A small smile found its way to his face as he remembered these beautiful memories. However, the smile turned into the frown as he remembered who now possessed the title of England.
This new England looked almost like the original England. Except, that his eyes were blue instead of green and his blond hair had a little pinkish tone to it.
And that's where the resemblance ends.
This other England was always happy, he was also unbelievably friendly and America had never hear him utter a single swear word.
And that guy was around for 25 years already!
He also could do perfect looking cup-cakes obviously, but America refused to ever eat one. (And he was really glad he didn't, because anyone that had done so, woke up the next day either with an unbelievable amount of cupcakes in their house, or a horrible stomach ache, that then lasted for few days.)
He also loved to wear pink clothes.
England would never wear anything pink(unless a blackmail was included).
He also never argued with France and this England didn't seem to be scared of Russia(actually, Russia looked a little scared of him for some reason.)
So, yeah, he obviously shared only looks with England.
America shook his head to chase away the memories of both Englands and then he turned his focus back on the road before him.
And for a moment the world stood still.
Just few feet before him, amongst the many strangers, there was a man.
But not just an ordinary man. This man looked exactly like England.
The sandy blond hair, unbelievably bushy eye-brows, vibrant green eyes and permanent scowl on his face.
It was England.
America was unable to move. But this can't be...right?
The man furrowed his eye-brows as he read a message on his cell-phone, obviously not happy about whatever he was reading. He put the cell-phone into a pocket of his coat and started to walk away, the action finally bringing America back from his trance.
America started to chase after the man without thinking, repeatedly saying 'sorry' as he forcefully made his way through the crowd, trying not to lose the man from his sight.
It's England, it really is...
His breathing become heavier as despite his efforts the man seemed to get more and more far from him. America growled as he quickened his pace, using any opening in the crowd to get closer to the blond, the scene strangely resembling an American football player trying to get past the enemy team to score a goal.
He didn't even realized he should be trying to get to the UN meeting, he didn't acknowledge the people he had accidentally send to the ground, neither the insult they screamed after him. All he could though of was England.
And then after what seemed like eternity, his hand finally took a firm grip of the man's upper arm, the man immediately turning around in alarm to see, who had took a hold of his arm.
And then his huge eye-brows furrowed in confusion, when he realized he doesn't know this man. "Do you need something?"
America could feel how he stopped breathing. Even the voice and accent were the same.
It surely is England!
America could feel how happiness flowed through his entire body as he took the Brit into a bone-crushing hug.
"It's really you, England!"
The Brit yelped in surprise and pain as he was unexpectedly took by the stranger into a literally bone-crushing hug. He was sure the American(as he assumed from his accent)had just broken at least two of his ribs. "Argh! Let go of me! You are breaking my ribs!"
America immediately did as he was told, realizing he forgot to control his strength. "I'm sorry, England! I forgot to control myself!"
The Brit frowned as he placed his hand over the aching ribs on his left side. "Who the hell are you?! And why are you calling me England?"
America frowned. "It's me! America! Don't you know who I am, England?"
The Brit frowned even more. "No, I don't know you. But I would suggest seeing a doctor, thinking you're a country isn't normal."
"England, stop joking around-"
The Brit was starting to lose his patience. "I'm not England. My name is Arthur Kirkland. I do not know you, so leave me alone!"
The Brit pulled away from his hold, planning to return back to going to his working place. But it seemed the American had different plans in mind.
He could feel how his wrist was firmly gripped and as he was spun around to face the American again. "You're not going anywhere, England."
"Who says so?" The Brit tried to free his wrist by pulling away, but the American's hold was firm. He tried to twist his hand and then even tried to pry the American's hand from his wrist with his free hand, but no matter how much he tried, he was unable to escape the other's blond grip.
"I say so." The American declared and the look he gave him send a chill down the Brit's spine.
The Brit tried to not show he was slightly scared by this stranger. "What do you want from me?"
The American looked a little caught of guard by the question. "Well..."
Suddenly, there was a loud DING and the American took a cell-phone out of his pocket, his eyes fast-reading whatever was on the screen. "Well, it seems you're going to a meeting with me!"
"What? What meeting? I don't have a time for this! I can't come late to work!" The Brit tried to twist out of the hold again, but neither this attempt was successful.
"No worries! Tell me where do you work and I'll take care of it," The American said, returning back to his cheerful mood he had seen earlier.
The Brit frowned. He doubted the American really could that. But he still told him nonetheless.
The American typed a text into his cell-phone and the after sending it, he shoved the cell-phone back into the pocket of his suit again.
"Alright, England, I hope you're not out of shape! We had to get to the meeting in five minutes or Germany will bite our heads off."
"Who's Germany?"
Arthur's question was left unanswered as the American suddenly started to run in insanely fast pace, the Brit looking more like if he was flying after him rather than running with him.
-O-
"Sorry for being late!"
The American finally let go of his wrist, so Arthur let himself collapse onto the floor, trying to get his breathing under control. His legs hurt like a hell and he had a feeling like if there was a fire inside his lungs.
"It's alright, Amérique. Our host hasn't arrived yet either," France said, standing up from his assigned place at the long table. America nodded as he looked over the room. Germany was yelling at someone over his phone. Italy was sleeping on the table, occasionally uttering 'pasta'. Right next to him was Romano, who was right now hitting Spain, calling him 'bastard' like he usually does. Few seats away from them was Japan, who was talking with Greece. Then there were the Nordics, of course. Denmark was saying something to Norway, who was just glaring at him. Sweden was silent and just stared at Finland, who was talking to Iceland. And he could also see Russia along with scared Baltic nations on the very end of the room. There wasn't really anybody except those.
The French nation walked over to the two of them, curiously looking at the blond, which was sitting at the floor. He couldn't see his face, but he looked awfully familiar. "And who is this?"
At that moment Arthur raised his gaze to look at the man, who was speaking to him. France gasped. "Mon Dieu! Is that-?!"
"Oh, great, a Frenchman," Arthur grumbled, forcing himself to stand up, even though all he would like to do now was just to do anything that did not involve using his legs. But he can't show a weakness to some Frenchman.
"Yup. It's England!" America declared, which earned him a glare from the Brit. "I have already told you! I'm not England! I'm Arthur-!"
"Oh, Angleterre, you have no idea how much I have missed you!" The Brit suddenly found himself being hugged by a second stranger just in last an hour.
At least this one didn't have the ridiculous strength like-Wait...
Did that guy just touch his butt?
"You bloody pervert!" Arthur wrenched out of the hug of the Frenchman and then punched him square in the face with all his strength. France's head turned to the right with the power of the impact. However, the French nation just started to laugh as he turned his head back, massaging his cheek. "Honhonhon-Angleterre, you are going so easy on me today..."
The Brit stared in confusion at the Frenchman before him. Easy? He had used all his strength for that punch!
"England-san, is that really you?" Arthur looked towards the voice, his eyes falling on an Asian man with black hair. He had an unreadable stone expression, but his eyes sparkled with something that looked like...hope? "Well-"
"Who wants a cupcake~?"
Everybody immediately turned to look at the newcomer, which happened to be no one else than the current holder of the England title.
Arthur stared at his double in surprise. He looked exactly like him, well except the hair and eye-color. However, his double was surely more extravagant, because he was wearing a purple suit, pink shirt and light blue bow-tie. Also he had a box with brightly colored cupcakes with him.
The new England looked at Arthur, obviously surprised. But just a moment later, there was a big smile on his face as he extended the arm with the box towards Arthur. "Hello, there! Would you like a cupcake?"
"No, thank you," Arthur responded, looking on his double, wondering if his day will get any weirder.
"Alright, what about you, France? America? Japan?"
"I won't destroy my refined taste buds by eating British food, England..."
"I have already eaten."
"I don't really like sweets..."
"Oh...Well, maybe next time. I'm sure at least Russia will eat some..." The new England started to go towards the Russian nation, completely ignoring the dark aura and kolkoling coming from Russia.
Arthur looked at the Frenchman and then at the Japanese. His double called them France and Japan. It seemed all of those people though they are a nation for some reason.
The Brit gave a frustrated sigh as he looked at the American. "I want an explanation. Now."
America scratched his neck nervously. "Well, you see-"
"The awesome Prussia with his bitches is here!"
Arthur glared at the newcomer, which happened to be a white-haired man, dark-haired man and brown-haired woman, who was currently holding her hand out obviously planning to hit the white-haired man with a pan, she was holding in it.
The Brit was sure it could actually kill the man, but before he could say something, the woman had already swung the pan and the white-haired male was laying on the ground, clutching his head.
"Shit! That fucking hurt, Hungary!" Prussia slowly got up, rubbing the spot on his head, where the pan had hit me. "That wasn't awesome at all!"
Arthur was shocked. How could the man even survive that?! And more importantly, how it come he wasn't even injured at all?!
"Call me a bitch one more time and it will be even less awesome!" The woman growled and then she stomped off to find her seat, the dark-haired male following right after her.
"I don't like un-awesome things," Prussia grumbled and then he walked over to the not-a-country table. He hated the fact he wasn't a country anymore, but at least he could sit with Sealand(, that boy could come up with a great pranks sometimes).
Arthur shook his head. I have to focus... "So-"
The door to the meeting room opened again revealing Lithuania with Poland along with other countries. Lithuania sighed. "Sorry, for being late!"
"We were like totally stuck in a traffic jam!" Poland added and then immediately started to search for his seat, dragging Lithuania along. The other countries, that were with them, immediately followed the example and in two minutes they were all seated in their seats.
Arthur suddenly found himself being dragged towards one of the conference tables and few seconds later he was sitting next to the American.
"Hello, everyone! Welcome at my place! I hope you enjoy your stay here and that you try some of my cupcakes! Russia said they were delicious." The new England gestured towards the Russian, which was for some reason silently laughing, looking more crazier than usually. And why were his eyes pink?
"Alright, so today's topic is economics-"
-O-
It was just thirty minutes into the meeting. But the idea of running for his dear life seemed more and more appealing to Arthur each minute.
He was absolutely sure, that all of these people were crazy. They all referred to themselves as countries!
He couldn't understand how possibly could so many people think they are a landmass but he didn't really want to risk his life to find out the reason.
He frowned as he looked at his shoulder where the American's hand was resting. The American had thrown his arm over his shoulders at the start of the meeting, claiming he didn't want him to get any 'funny ideas'.
Arthur had already witnessed the giant strength the other man possessed, so there surely was no way he could run away without getting the American to let go of him firstly.
The Brit frowned as he looked at the label with a name before him. The name 'Canada' was written there.
He frowned. How it come no one noticed that guy wasn't here?
Arthur's eyes scanned the room, looking over the room. He frowned when he made an eye-contact with another stranger, who then immediately looked away. In last few minutes he had caught five people staring at him like if they had seen a ghost.
And also the 'Russia' man was glaring at him all the time.
The Englishman looked back towards the American and was surprised to see, the man was resting his head on the table, snoring.
Arthur stopped breathing. This was his chance!
He slowly took hold of the American's arm and tried to lift it up. However, the American's grip on his shoulder was strong even in his sleep.
The Brit cursed mentally as his fingers dug in between his shoulder and American's hand to pry the other's hand off his shoulder.
Arthur worked carefully, checking all the time if the American isn't waking up. A small smile found its way to his face, when he finally pried the hand off his shoulder and then slowly let the arm fall down.
The Brit slowly moved his chair away from the table, making sure to make as little of noise as possible.
He slowly got up, checking for the last time if the American is sleeping and then he started to run as fast as possible towards the door of the meeting room.
Arthur completely tuned out that was happening around him. He didn't notice how all nations turned around to look what was happening. He didn't notice how America abruptly woke up, frantically searching where he had gone. All that existed was that door.
Just few more steps!
"Angliya~!"
However, if he gave some attention to his surroundings he would see the Russian spring from his seat as well, running after him with a metal pipe in his hand.
Arthur screamed in pain as suddenly the pipe made a contact with his calf, sending him to the ground. The Brit cursed as he tried to get up to run away from the crazy Russian, but the horrible pain in his leg made it impossible for him. He started to crawl away from the Russian, but suddenly his back hit the wall and his eyes widened in fear as the Russian outstretched his arm ot swing the pipe again.
The Brit shut his eyes, expecting to be hit again. But the pain he expected didn't come.
He slowly opened his eyes, surprised to see the American standing with his back to him, protecting him from the Russian with his own body. The metal pipe laying on the ground.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
Arthur could feel a chill run down his spine. He couldn't see the American's expression, but based on his tone, he was totally pissed off.
"Amerika, get out of the way. I have a business to settle with Angliya." The Russian's eyes were crazy, dark aura around him.
"I won't let you hurt, England!" The American declared and then punched the Russian.
Russia growled like an angry animal as he tackled America to the ground and then attempted to punch him, but the American nation was able to give him another strong punch, this time to his ribs, forcing Russia to get off him. America jumped to his feet and immediately tried to punch the other nation again, but Russia was able to catch his fist this time and repaid him by punching him into a stomach.
America hissed as his stomach twisted inside him. He growled as he outstretched his arm, turning around as fast as possible to give his hook punch as much strength as possible.
Russia was send flying into one of the conference tables, breaking it in process, the nations sitting at it jumping away.
Arthur stared in disbelief as the Russian got up like if he just didn't break a furniture with his own body and then as he picked another table and threw it at the American like if didn't weight anything.
America dodged the flying table and then launched himself at the Russian nation, tackling him to the ground once more.
Other nations immediately used the opportunity to stop the battle, immediately running to the wrestling duo and prying them away from each other, each of the angry countries held by four other nations.
Both America and Russia tried to get out of the hold, but when neither of them succeeded, they just started to scream insults at each other.
They were so focused on each other, that neither of them noticed how Arthur silently limped out of the room.
-O-
Arthur slammed the door of his flat shut and then locked it, letting himself fall to the ground when that was done. He took a deep breath as he tried to calm down his beating heart.
After escaping the meeting he had run/limped to the nearest bus station, where he then had taken a first bus that had appeared, which by coincidence actually was going in a direction of his flat. Then from the bus station he had to walk/limp for twenty minutes to get to his flat.
His leg hurt horribly, but it didn't seem it was broken. But he was sure there will be a very horrible bruise on it the next day.
Arthur rested his back against the door, taking another deep breath.
He didn't understand anything that had just happened in last two hours. The 'country' guys surely weren't normal. They were able to withstand anything without even getting scratched, things that would have at least cause a horrible injury to normal person. They were not normal, but they surely couldn't be countries right? There was no way a country could be a living breathing human being-
RINGGGG!
Arthur was startled by the unexpected noise. He slowly stood up and then he looked through the peep hole on his door and he almost got a heart-attack, when he saw who was on the other side of the door.
It was the America guy.
Arthur's breathing quickened as he tried to think of way how to escape fast. He had no idea how the guy managed to find him, but he surely didn't want to speak with him ever again.
"I know you're in there, England! Open the door or I'll take it down!"
Arthur started to panic, he run towards a window and opened it. He looked down and realized there was no way how he would be able to jump down without breaking all of his bones.
"England, you have three seconds to open the door!"
The Brit looked around his flat, frantically searching at least for some sort of a weapon.
"I have warned you! I'm taking the door down!"
Arthur's eyes finally found the weapon he was looking for and he jumped over to the table, on which the item was laying.
CRASH!
The door of his flat fell to the ground with a loud thud and America entered the flat, straightening his suit. His eyes immediately scanned the room to find the man he was looking for.
America's eyebrows both flew up as his eyes fell on the Brit. "Knitting needles?"
"-And I'm not afraid to use them," The Brit declared, gripping more tightly on the pieces of metal.
America would lie if he didn't admit, that the long metal needles looked scary(it reminded him a lot of syringes), but he was a hero, so he couldn't let some stupid piece of metal to stop him!
"Yeah, sure," America stated, snorting.
Arthur frowned. He didn't believe him? "I'm serious!"
"Sure thing, England!" America smirked.
"FOR THE HUNDRETH TIME! I AM NOT ENGLAND!" The Brit screamed, startling the American nation by the outburst. Did he really piss off Iggy so much-?
America raised his hands before himself. The Brit looked really angry right now. "Okay, okay! I won't call you England anymore!"
Arthur took a deep breath, to calm down. This wasn't good for his health. He raised his gaze to look at the blond. "Just what do you want from me?"
"Eh?" America blinked confusedly.
"What the hell do you want from me, you git?!" The Englishman asked again, the calmness from his tone disappearing.
"Well..." The other blond nervously rubbed his neck. "It's hard to explain..."
"Then try!" Arthur responded, crossing his arms over his chest.
America sighed. "You see, there's a rumor amongst the countries-That when a country dies, they can be reborn as a human-And I thought that if I spent some time with you, you would maybe then remember your past life!"
The Brit blinked confusedly. "What?!"
-O-
"So, let me get this straight," Arthur placed his now empty cup on the plate, crossing his arms. "Every time a new country is declared, a representative of this country is born."
America nodded.
"This representative can die only once there are no remaining citizens or if they suffer a mortal injury."
Nod.
"And if they die, while the nation still exists, a new representative is born."
Nod.
"And you believe that I am a reincarnation of the past England."
Nod.
"And if I spend today with you and I don't remember anything, you will forever leave me alone?"
Nod.
"Alright...What plan do you have in mind?"
-O-
Arthur stared in disbelief at the absurd amount of hamburgers the other had bought for himself. Would America really be able to eat it all?
"This can't be healthy even for a country," The Brit stated, looking at his own small cheeseburger. He wasn't really fond of fast food, but America seemed to love it.
"No worries, Iggy, I have a fast metabolism," America smiled, devouring his first burger in few seconds.
Arthur's face twisted in disgust. "Show some manners, lad."
America immediately stopped chewing, looking strangely at Arthur. The Brit raised his giant eye-brow. "What?"
"What did you just call me?" The other blond demanded.
"Lad?" Arthur answered. He wasn't sure why had he said that, but obviously it had some sort of meaning to the nation.
America smiled like if he had just won a lottery. "You have no idea how happy that made me."
The Brit blinked confusedly. Why did he have feeling like if he had just dug his own grave?
-O-
"The weather in your country really sucks, Iggy!" America grumbled, glaring at the ran clouds, hoping it would somehow scare the clouds away.
Arthur sighed. It seemed that America loved to complain about everything in his country. "At least is my country interesting."
"What? You don't consider me interesting?" America asked, interpreting the comment the wrong way.
The Brit sighed. It still was strange that America talked about his country in the first person.
Well, technically he was the country, so it made sense to talk like this.
At first it really was hard to to believe that this strange man was a country. But Arthur had seen the other wasn't an ordinary human(you know, the super-human strength) and America had also shown him photos of himself with most of the presidents of the USA.
And few photos of him and England(and Arthur still didn't believe it was his past life, even thought the guy on the photo looked just like him), most of which were quite old and in shades of grey. Obviously very old photos.
"Hey, Iggy, you still with me?"
"Yes, and why the heck do you call me Iggy? I already told you I'm Arthur."
"Well, Iggy is nickname from back when you were raising me."
Arthur raised his enormous eye-brow. "I raised you?"
"Well, yeah. You and partly France," America answered, smiling as he remembered the nice memories of him and England.
"Engwand!"
Arthur blinked in confusion as the childish voice echoed in his head. Where did that come from?
"It was always so sad when you had return back to Britain. No matter how much I begged, you would always go," the other blond frowned as he remembered these moments again.
Arthur pressed his palms against his head. His head suddenly started pounding.
"Engwand, don't go! Why are you going again?!"
"I need to return back to my country, America-"
"Can't you stay few more days? Please?"
"I'm sorry. I can't. I should have been on my way already..."
"Then take me with you!"
"No, America, you must stay here."
"But-"
"No, buts, America. You're staying here and that's final!"
"Iggy?! Are you alright?!"
A young man in blue coat before him stared down at him, bayonet in his hands.
"You used to be so big..."
"England! Answer me!"
Was that a burger on his head?
"What's wrong? It's not working at all!"
"England!"
His legs felt weak.
Fire. Screams. Pain. Hot. Too hot.
"ENGLAND!"
The world turned dark.
-O-
The Brit slowly opened his eyes, blinking. He looked around frowning. Everything around him was white. Was he in a hospital?
He slowly sat up, cringing as pain shot through his skull. He tried to remember why was he here. Have he tried to drink France under the table again?
The Englishman sighed as he tried to figure out the hazy memories. He remembered a blond figure with loud obnoxious voice.
The only person he could think of that fitted this description was America.
Why was he with America?
The blond frowned, as his head continued to pound. Why couldn't he remember what happened?
"Someone help!"
"I don't want to die!"
The Brit gasped for breath as the images of fire flashed before his eyes and the screams of terror rang in his ears just like if he was back in that fateful plane.
He remembered everything now. He was England, the representative of the United Kingdom of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
No.
He used to be England.
The Brit clutched his head. Alongside of his memories of country, there were memories of being Arthur Kirkland, both of them claiming him he was something else. He looked at his hands. The left one had a long almost completely healed cut he had got about a month ago when he wanted to try a new recipe.
If he was a country, it would already be healed.
It was strange to knew he was a mere human now. He felt more like England than Arthur. Probably because he spent centuries being a country and only two decades as a human.
What was he supposed to do now? Just continue on being Arthur Kirkland for another sixty years until he'll die? He really couldn't return to being the representative of England. There was already some other person doing the job. A very strange jolly cupcake-baking person.
He sighed. He had no idea what to do. He just couldn't imagine to going back to doing Arthur's boring office job again.
(Yes, he now even talked about himself in third person. He just had no idea who he was now.)
There was a soft knock on the door and then the door creaking open revealing very familiar American.
"America," The Brit acknowledged him and the other blond smiled kindly at him, rubbing his neck nervously as he entered the room. "I hope you're feeling better now, Arthur. You really got me worried back then."
The Englishman was surprised that America addressed him by his human name instead of some stupid nickname. But he decided he won't voice his thoughts out. The American continued to rub his neck nervously, his eyes focused on the floor. "Well, I just wanted to tell you that I'll leave you alone as I promised. But if you ever need something just call to the white house! Ask for 'Freedom burger'-" The Englishman started to laugh. "Hey, I am being serious-!"
"Freedom burger? Really?" The Brit snickered. America always had the funniest codes, but this one surely took the cake.
The American's cheeks were tinted pink. "Hey, it's not so easy to come up with a secret code!"
The Englishman grinned and America seemed he wanted to say something more, but suddenly his cell-phone made a loud 'ding' sound, interrupting his train of thoughts. "Just a sec!"
America's blue eyes scanned the screen of his phone fast and then the blond sighed. "It seems I'll have to go. It seems Russia is in crazy mode again, so...well...yeah...I hope I'll see you again someday, Arthur."
"Me too, America," The Brit said, but America didn't heard it, because he was already out of the room, probably rushing to stop the mad Russian from killing someone. "Me too."
-O-
It was about two hours later that the door to his room opened again. He expected to see a doctor or a nurse, but the person that entered wasn't either of them.
It was his successor.
The new England smiled bright smile as he entered the room, a box of cupcakes in his left hand. "It's a lovely day, don't you think?"
"It is," The Brit answered, not understanding why was his double visiting him. "Might I ask what brings you here?"
"Sure," The other male took a seat on a chair that was situated next to his bed and then opened the box with the cupcakes. "Do you want to try one?"
"No, thank you. I still don't feel well," The former nation answered, trying to think of any reason for the new England to be here. The British country sighed as he put the box away. "I would like to offer you something."
"Offer me something?" The blond male asked, wondering what kind of offer had his doppelgänger in mind.
Blue eyes met green eyes. The former England felt a chill run down his spine for unknown reason and he was left speechless when he heard the new England's offer.
"Trade lives with me."
"Excuse me?!" The Brit was sure he couldn't be hearing right, there was now way that-
"Trade lives with me," his double repeated one more time and even though it was absolutely the same thing the former England heard the first time, he couldn't believe it. "But why would you-"
"Shh..." His doppelgänger placed a finger on his lips, gesturing for him to stop speaking. The blond stopped mid-sentence and just stared confusedly into the blue eyes of the new England.
The British nation took a deep breath. "I understand that this is a really strange request but I believe both of us would be happy if we exchanged our lives."
The Brit raised his eye-brow questioningly, not understanding his double's way of thinking. "Why would you want a life of a mere human? You would only live for another eighty years, you are much weaker than a country and you can also die more easily."
The nation laughed, leaving the Brit confused. What was so funny about that?
His double stopped laughing and looked directly at him. "Exactly, because of that."
The blond was even more puzzled. "I don't think I understand."
"That's because you are still a country in your head."
"What?" The former England was confused. What did he meant by that? The British nation sighed. "Ask yourself a question: Do you feel more like England or Arthur?"
"I..." The blond wasn't sure. He knew he should feel like Arthur, he was a human now after all. But there were so many memories of being a country. Many centuries of memories. That was a lot more than two decades as a human. "I feel like...England."
"And there is a reason for that. It's because you are England. The one and only. A perfect representation of your people! I'm a mere substitute. I was born with memories of someone who had already lived. With memories that weren't mine! I was supposed to replace you. To be just like you!" The British nation suddenly sounded very sad and the Brit couldn't help but somehow feel bad for the nation. "...But I am not you."
The new England took a deep breath. "I have no idea what I am. For 25 years I have lived as the representation of England and I wasn't happy. But now when you are here it could change. So tell me..."
The former England hold his breath in anticipation as a pale hand was extended to him.
"Do you want to trade lives with me?"
-O-
America frowned as he looked around the meeting room. It was strangely silent even though all of the countries were present.
Well, except one.
Their host was nowhere to be found and from the expression on Germany's face, it seemed he was unreachable on the phone as well.
The American country had a strange feeling in his gut, he had it since yesterday meeting with Arthur and it wasn't going away. He actually couldn't even eat because of it. Instead of his usual twenty burgers for breakfast he ate only two. ONLY TWO. That never happened before!
Suddenly, the door to the meeting room opened and all countries turned to look at the newcomer.
England stood there in his formal suit, his green eyes shining with an unknown emotion and his body radiating aura of power only a country could produce.
America wasn't even aware he got up until he was holding the British nation in a bone-crushing hug, tears streaming down his cheeks. The Brit smiled as he hugged his former colony back, for once not complaining about America's ridiculous strength, because bloody hell it felt amazing to be back.
After America let go of him, the other countries proceeded with hugging him or just patting his back, all of them happy the old England was back.
-O-
"Hey, England!" England looked over his shoulder, patiently waiting for the other blond to run to him. "Yes, America?"
"I was wondering-How did you even go back to being a country?" America asked, genuinely curious.
"Well, I know you won't believe me, but no point in keeping it from you." The British nation responded, shrugging his shoulders. "We used magic to transfer the country status. I'm now a country and the other England got the life of Arthur Kirkland. But he said he plans to change his name and set up a sweet shop, so who knows what is he doing now."
America laughed. "Come on, England! This is practically a miracle! Why wouldn't I believe in magic?"
England raised his enormous eye-brow. "Really?
"Sure thing! That reminds me! I have to ask you something..." Suddenly, America's expression turned very serious. The nation of freedom took a deep breath and asked the dreaded question. "Is Hogwarts real?"
England had a giant urge to face-palm.
Updated on Nov 24,2015