Have any of you ever thought about how England and Norway are both able to see mystical creatures, and thought that maybe, they would get along? Well I have :3 Originally, this was going to be just an one-shot, and I wasn't going to do any more about it, but... I decided to make it a SERIES of one-shots instead, as the idea has grown in my mind lately ^^

So this is the first one-shot, and I don't know how many there will be ^^ It turned out quite fluffy, I think, and I'm happy with the result ^^

Let me just get a few things straight: All the stories will be entirely AU, and both England and Norway (whom I chose to call Johannes) will most likely be children in all of them. So don't start bitching about how they're "OOC", ok? ^^

(Also, it is NOT an England x Norway fic, as they are just children, as mentioned!)

I set the rating to "T" as I have a few ideas for stories that are a little more angsty or dramatic~ If warnings or certain information is needed before a story, I'll write this ^^ Also, the genres my vary, so I'll also write a bit about this before the story starts ;D

Disclaimer: I do not own "Hetalia – Axis Powers" or any of its characters.

oOo

The playground was empty. There were no traces of the light-hearted laughter that usually filled the air, or the playing children that came there. A chilly autumn wind played with an abandoned glove, and blew sand across the roads drawn in the sand box, while the evening sun cast a golden light on the scene, twinkling in the blonde hair of a single child, sitting alone on a swing.

His feet pushed half-heartedly against the ground as he let himself swing back and forward. Soon enough, he came to a stop entirely, as his quiet sobs filled the air. He rubbed his small fists against his eyes, stubbornly trying to stop the tears from falling, though without much luck.

Why did things always end up like this? He'd see the other children playing here, and before long, the wish to be included in the fun would grow too strong, and he'd head over, almost shyly asking them to let him join. It would go well for a while, but at one point or another, he'd slip up and they would start making fun of him.

It wasn't his fault they were stupid enough not to see them. He had learnt to stay quiet about his friends, but as he got more and more into the games and the laughter, he'd always say something that had the other kids blink and laugh at him. They were always laughing at him...

Just because he could see things that they couldn't. Just because his only real friends were magical creatures that no one else believed in. Just because "Arthur Kirkland" was a freak who 'thought fairies and unicorns were real'.

"Stupid Francis... stupid everyone..." he sniffled, hearing their mocking voices, and their mock fear.

Stay away from Loony Arthur, you'll be infected!

Hey Eyebrows, why don't you go take a ride on Mr. Unicorn?

Oh no, he'll be angry and send to fairies to get us!

Always mocking. Always laughing. Always leaving, so that he was the only one left with no one to play with. Sure, his real friends were nice, but it was a bit difficult to play "hide and seek" with them, or make sand castles with them, or do other activities that children generally did together.

"Hei..." The quiet, soft voice startled him, and he gasped, falling back and off of the swing, landing on the hard ground with a thud. Coughing, he blinked, looking up at the person standing over him. It was a boy, about his own age, with pale blonde hair, held back on one side by a hair pin, and blue eyes that eyed him with concern.

For a moment, Arthur just stared at him, before quickly sitting up and drying his tears, looking away embarrassedly.

"Går det bra med deg?" he heard the boy ask, squatting down and cocking his head to one side. Arthur blinked in confusion. He didn't recognize the language, as he hadn't been much outside England.

"Um... I don't... understand," he murmured shyly, shaking his head. The boy eyed him for a moment before smiling.

"I guess you wouldn't. I asked if you were all right." His English had a slight accent, but was still pretty good. He stood and held out a hand and Arthur hesitated only slightly before letting the other help him to his feet. They were about the same height, which was somewhat a relief to Arthur – everyone always teased him because he was shorter than most kids his age.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," he answered quickly when the boy raised an eyebrow in question.

"Really." The boy didn't say any more, and Arthur blushed slightly, feeling stupid. Of course he didn't seem ok, he had been crying like some sort of whiny brat, after all... Really, he was too old to cry, a big boy – Would turn six in just a few months, even!

"Yeah, really," he muttered stubbornly, bottom lip quivering ever so slightly. The boy didn't comment on it, simply walking over to the sand box, hopping up on the small ledge surrounding it and balancing, arms outstretched.

"My name is Johannes," he said. "What's yours?"

"Arthur..." Arthur answered, in truth wondering how long it would be until this boy found out how much of a freak he was and left. "Johannes... Your name is difficult to say..."

"I'm Norwegian, that's why."

"Oh..." Arthur honestly had no idea what country a "Norwegian" would come from. Norwegia? Norweg? For a moment he could picture some exotic far-away country, with giant trees and huge grass fields and... Oh well, what did it matter anyway. "But you speak English," he stated, some of his confusion slipping into his voice.

"My mother taught me," Johannes explained with a shrug, as he turned to look at Arthur, while balancing on the ledge. "Say, aren't you going to introduce me...?"

Arthur blinked once. Twice. He looked at the fairy perched on his shoulder and blinked again.

"You... you can see her?" he asked hesitantly, eyes widening slightly. He didn't dare to believe it, eyes narrowing suspiciously. "You're not just m-making fun of me, are you...?"

"She's sitting on your shoulder, looking just as shocked as you," Johannes shrugged, cocking his head again with a small smile before leaping off the sand box.

"Oh... Right, t-this is Leah," he said quickly, still unable to really believe this. Leah looked a little shy, flying up and partially hiding behind his hair as she gave a smile and small wave. She always was the one who was most wary of strangers – except perhaps the unicorn.

"Nice to meet you, Leah," Johannes said with a little giggle. He then glanced at Arthur and his smile widened just slightly, making his eyes twinkle with life. It was quite a change, Arthur noted, Johannes looked a lot more approachable when he smiled. It made the young Englishman relax ever so slightly and he allowed a smile to touch his own features.

"I thought... I thought no one else could see them," he said shyly, glancing down at his feet. "Everyone always makes fun of me and say lots of mean stuff..."

"Now we're at least two people who can see them. Don't worry, I'm sure there are more of us out there. It's a big world."

Arthur blinked in surprise when Johannes grabbed his hand, leading him over to the sand box.

"Let's build a sand castle, Arthur! One big enough for Leah to live in! You can be the king if you want."

Arthur smiled widely, enjoying the warmth of the hand holding his own.

"We can both be kings," he giggled, and Johannes smiled.

Perched on Arthur's head, playing with his unruly hair, Leah smiled warmly as she watched the two children play as if they had always been friends, while the evening sun let its last rays smile upon the no longer empty playground.

oOo

I hope you enjoyed it~ If you could leave a review telling me what you thought, instead of just adding it to your favourites, that would make me a very happy person~ ^^

Translations (though they're probably not needed):

Hei – Hi/hello

Går det bra med deg?- Are you all right?