~Arthur's POV~
I sat at my desk, writing furiously. I had to get all these papers finished before the world meeting this afternoon. One of the maids, who had been working for me as long as I could remember, shuffled in silently, placing a tray on my desk. She smiled politely and poured a cup of tea and placed an assortment of cakes on a small plate.
"You've been working very hard these past days, shouldn't you rest?" She said, in her quiet tone.
"I'm fine, thank you Eliza. I need to finish these before the meeting, thats all." I sipped at the tea and sighed, leaning back on my chair.
"Oh, well if your sure, I'll just leave you to it then!" She giggled nervously. Honestly, anyone would think she was hiding something from me. Actually, all the maids and butlers had been acting this way recently...I wonder what is going on?
"Is there something wrong, Eliza?" I asked, trying to hide my suspicion.
"N-no! Nothing at all!" She squeeked.
"Oh. Well, thank you for the tea!" I said to her retreating back. She turned and gave me a wary smile before leaving with her trolley.
Moments later~
"Yo! England! We're here!" America's loud and annoying voice boomed through the walls of my office. Sighing I opened the door to see the countries flooding into the conference room. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Eliza, trying to get to the kitchen but being stopped by France. I growled before shoving him into the conference room along with America.
"T-thank you," She said, sounding relieved that frog face had left.
"Thats okay!" I smiled and went to join the meeting.
"Shall we start then?" Germany muttered, frowning at Italy who was drawing with crayons...again.
It had been 2 hours since the meeting started and we still hadn't got anything done. I rubbed my temples and sighed in fustration. It seems Germany felt the same way, because he looked like he was going to explode. Just as he was about to say something, or rather, shout something, there was a knock on the door. My butler, Joseph entered and shakily handed me a letter,
"Oh! What's this?" I asked.
"Um. Urr-it's..." He stammered, struggling to string the sentence together.
"Well spit it out then!" I joked, nervously.
"It's a letter regarding...London's return to England..." He mumbled, stepping back.
"Who's Rondon?" I heard Japan whisper to Germany.
"I have no idea..." Germany replied. Whispers filled the room and I stood up, and left for my office.
"You'll have to excuse me..." I mumbled, as if I was in a trance.
"Yo, dude! Where you going?" America asked.
I unlocked my office door and sat down, resting my head on the table. Looking up, I saw an old, worn picture of a young girl with wavy blonde hair, piercing green eyes and a huge smile which would warm even the coldest of hearts. I smiled sadly and went to the bookshelf, and took out a large red leather book titled 'Our Photo Album' in curly gold writing. I spread the pictures out on my desk, staring at eahc one, smiling at the memories they brought back. Silent tears ran down my face, dropping onto a particular photo which was one of my favorites. It was a picture of me, London, America and Canada. I was walking, giving her a piggy back whilst America and Canada were running round my legs, chasing each other. It was next to my other cherished photo, a picture of the United Kingdom. Me, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and London all smiling, all happy.
That was before the war. I thought.
I was so deep in thought, I didn't hear the other nations enter, some with concerned faces, some with confused faces.
"England?" I heard China say.
"Hmm?" I mumbled, looking up.
"Shall we call off the meeting?"
"No. Give me a few minutes and I'll be fine."
"Okay." He nodded, before giving me a sympethetic smile, closing the door.
I wonder if she'll remember me?