Faded: mk. so this is my first APH story. couldn't come up with a decent yaoi idea so i went with this. (plus it was just begging to be written.) so here goes nothing! hope you enjoy!

Riane: TFG does not own any APH related thingies. she only owns her made up nation, Erina.

Summary: As a micronation/colony in the Russia/China border under China's rule, Erina knows nothing of the outside world except for what China has taught her. Finally deciding that she needs to know more of the outside world, China takes her to her first world conference while at the same time hoping that no other countries will try to influence her into breaking away from him.

Influencing Erina

"Ehh? But, but…gē ge*…" Erina tugged at the formal Chinese dress her brother had made her wear. "Why can't I wear mine, aru?"

China sighed and shook his head at his naïve younger sister. "Aiyah…haven't we been through this already, aru? It's so that the other countries will not try and influence you in a bad way. You don't need to be westernized, aru."

"Da…But papa seems to think its fine!" Erina pouted slightly and crossed her arms.

China's expression turned to stone. "What Russia says is nonsense, aru. You don't want another country to take you from gē ge do you?"

Erina shook her head furiously and clung tightly to her brother's arm. Even though she had a certain amount of freedom, Erina still technically belonged to China. Never once had she had a thought of breaking away from her brother to be her own self-governing nation. And despite being a little over four hundred years old, Erina still had the appearance of a ten year old. She looked so young because she had never expanded or grown in anyway, and she was already a small country to begin with. Also, she was cut off from every country save for Russia and China. Her history was relatively bloodless, mainly because the only major battle on her land had been between Russia and China during the territory dispute. However, after that was over, China had protected his sister fiercely from outsiders.

***

"Why did you have to fight with papa, da? Why couldn't you share?"

A sigh and then, "It's hard to explain, aru. There are some things that can't be shared."

"Then…am I not allowed to be shared, aru?"

"Not exactly…I just want to protect my xiǎo mèi** from certain things. Do you understand, aru?"

"I…think so, da. Dàn shi***… does that mean I can't see papa anymore?"

"You can still see Russia, aru. Just…not as often."

***

"So what is this for again, aru?" Erina looked up at her brother as they approached a building that was a bit imposing to the young colony.

"It's something to try and solve problems between the other countries, aru." China paused then added, "But most of the time nothing gets done."

Erina nodded absently and walked with her brother toward the building. Once inside, she could hear the chattering of the other countries. She stopped suddenly and just stared at the door. "Gē ge, I...I don't want to go in, da."

China turned and looked at the little colony quizzically. Ever since he had told Erina that he planned on taking her to a world conference, she had talked about the event nonstop, as if someone had announced that they would be selling mooncakes**** all year long. "I thought you were excited, aru." He held out his hand to her and said, "You can sit next to gē ge during the meeting, ok?"

Erina nodded and took his hand. "Is…is papa going to be here too?" she asked tentatively. China only nodded in response and walked her into the meeting room.

As usual, everything was chaotic. China hoped that no one would notice Erina's presence during the meeting. However, much to his dismay, the young colony had noticed her "papa" and was running over to greet him.

"Papa!" Erina pounced on Russia's tall form. She had no fear of him, mainly because she had never learned what he was capable of, and she more than likely wouldn't believe it if someone told her. ("Papa's so nice! He brings me presents when he visits me sometimes!") Russia and his ever present smile looked down at Erina. "Ahaha…hello Erina." Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania looked at Erina with a mixture of shock and awe. Didn't the girl know what she was doing?! The three Baltic nations were thrown into even more confusion when the girl was handed a sunflower before she skipped off.

"Gē ge! Gē ge! Look what papa gave me, aru!" Erina smiled and showed the flower to her brother.

China shook his head. "Aiyah…another one, aru? Doesn't he know you already have enough?" Erina only giggled and held onto the flower tightly. True, she did have a rather impressive collection of sunflowers from Russia, but she was always glad to receive a new one to replace one that had died.

Latvia walked up to China and said, "Do you know that girl?"

China scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Ah…yes. She's a colony of mine, aru."

"Ehh? But, but, surely you've told her about how Russia can be, right?" Latvia looked at China with wide eyes.

"Well…not exactly. Erina doesn't know him the way that anyone else does, aru." China gave a nervous smile and said, "She only knows that he is kind to her, aru."

Latvia was stunned. Russia? Kind to someone? "I…I see."

Erina tugged her brother's sleeve lightly to get his attention. "Hmm? What is it, aru?"

"Is the meeting going to start soon, da?" she asked, stroking the petals of the sunflower in her hands.

China sighed and smiled a bit. "Hopefully."

About fifteen minutes later, the meeting finally started with America charging in and taking over. "Alright everyone! The hero has arrived! Let's get this party started!" Erina stared blankly at the blond-haired American, a bit mesmerized by the way he acted. Despite the pre-meeting chaos, she had yet to see anyone act so rashly. She leaned up toward her brother and asked quietly, "Is this 'hero' person always this loud and rash, aru?"

China chuckled and mussed Erina's hair slightly. "Yes…but just so you know what to call him in the future, the one that's talking right now is America, aru."

"A-mer-i-ca?" Erina asked, trying out the foreign word and how it sounded on her tongue.

China couldn't help but smile at her. "Very good, aru," he complimented, patting her head.

Erina blushed at the compliment and went back to drawing on the paper in front of her. It had originally been an outline of what the meeting was supposed to go over, but she made no sense of it and decided it would be better as drawing paper. Her pencil bobbed around on the paper drawing anything from bamboo stalks to the faces of the countries sitting at the table. She smiled to herself pleased with her work. She was just about to show off her pictures to her brother when she found herself being shepherded out of the meeting room by him. "Ehh? Gē ge why did we leave? Isn't the meeting still going on, da?"

"Shí*****…but, I don't want you in there right now, aru." China bit his lip and told her, "Will you stay out here until I come back to get you, aru?" Erina pouted, but nodded nonetheless. She knew he wouldn't leave her alone for too long. "Good. Remember, xiǎo mèi, don't talk to anyone who might come outside, ok?" Erina nodded again and watched her brother walk back into the meeting.

***

"Ehh… gē ge, why am I not allowed to go out by myself, aru?"

"Be—because I don't want anything to happen to you, aru. There are many countries that will try to influence you and try to take you away from gē ge. So make sure that you're always with either me or…if you absolutely want to go out and I'm not around…you can go with Russia, aru."

"Why would they try to take me away from you, da?"

"Ah…it's a bit hard to explain, aru. Just promise that you'll not go out by yourself."

"Mmm…ok! But only because you asked, gē ge."

***

Erina sat cross-legged outside the door of the conference room waiting to be let back in. She heard the countries talking—well…maybe yelling was a better description—just inside. About ten minutes had passed since she had been brought out and things sounded as chaotic as when the meeting had started. She wondered vaguely if Mr. America was still taking charge of the meeting. She made a note to herself to ask about him later. She let herself get lost in thought, wondering about all the other countries; and of course what would be served for lunch. She was so absorbed in her thoughts, that she didn't hear the door open and, consequently due to where she was sitting, was hit in the face with the door.

"Aiyah!" she exclaimed, her hands flying to her face. She felt tears sting her eyes as the pain set in. 'Don't let them see you cry! They'll think you're weak and try and take advantage of you!' she thought to herself.

"Oh! Oh man…I—I'm sorry!"

Someone was apologizing to her over and over. She looked through her long fingers at the nation standing in front of her. Wait…she knew this country…wasn't his name…

"America!"

Yes, that was it. The new voice continued to speak as she continued to look up, a little speechless and caught off guard.

"Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to move out of the way? In case you've forgotten, there are other's here that want to get to lunch."

"Huh?" She watched America turn around and acknowledge another country. "Oh, sorry England." He stepped aside and allowed a frustrated dirty blond country brush past him, muttering something about America being a "bloody independence seeking prat."

America looked back down at Erina concern apparent on his features. "Um…hey…are you ok? Do you, like, not talk?"

Erina jumped slightly at being acknowledged again and replied, "Uh…I-I…talk…j-just…not w-with o-others, da…"

America gave her a confused look. "Oh…um, alright. Say, I don't think I've seen you around before. Are you a new country or something?"

Erina moved her hands away from her face and shook her head. "Not really…I'm not my own nation, aru. B-but my name's—"

"Erina!"

She looked up at the sound of her brother's voice. "Erina, it's time to eat, aru!" China was smiling at her, but it quickly faded as he saw the slowly blossoming bruise on her face. He took her hand and stood her up, examining her face. "What happened, aru?!"

"S-s-someone…accidentally hit my face with the door, aru," she mumbled, looking away from a positively befuddled looking America. China's fingers traced over the bruise lightly and he looked toward where she had been looking earlier. He caught America's gaze and shook his head; America only grinned sheepishly and shrugged.

"Well, gē ge will get some ice for that after we eat, aru." She nodded and took his hand, allowing herself to be led to the cafeteria. She looked behind her once and gave America a little wave before she disappeared around the corner.

*: big brother

**: little sister

***: but...

****: in China, mooncakes are only sold at a certain time of year

*****: yes

Faded: aiyah! lot's of notes here. but at least they're just alot of the same thing :P but whatever. did you like it? did it rock? did it suck? got some constructive criticism? let me know! all flames will be put out with some of China's tea!

China: eh? where'd my tea go, aru?

Faded: review! till next time!