Ah, plot bunnies, the bane of my existence, yet such a beautiful thing at the same time. I saw something kind of like this, but much different. I don't remember the name, but if I do, I will tell you. Long story short, it didn't end the way I was hoping it would, so I'm making my own, because I CAN.

Enjoy, lovelies!

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July 4th, 10pm

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England didn't even care anymore, he just didn't care. Maybe it had something to do with the weather, but rain was normal in his country. No, that wasn't the real reason. But it certainly wasn't helping his mood. He knew the real reason, but he just didn't want to face it. Today was the Fourth of July, in other words, America's birthday. He still hadn't gotten over it, and it had been over 200 years. But today it had been even worse, because today they had a world meeting. Everything just went wrong..

America wouldn't stop complaining through the entire meeting, whining about the fact he had to have a world meeting on his birthday. England yelled at him, telling him that he needed to focus on work. It wasn't like they were going to be there forever. Once again the arguments started, but everyone was taking America's side. It was okay, he was used to that, unfortunately, after the meeting he heard America talking about him.

"Why did the meeting have to be here of all places? And on my birthday?"

England knew he probably shouldn't have taken it seriously, but he couldn't help it. He knew everyone hated him for what he and his country did in the past. His brothers made it very clear they never wanted anything to do with him. The other countries like to tell him that too. They loved pointing out how small and weak he had become. He hated hearing that, because he didn't need to be told something he already knew.

Bringing his bottle of rum back up to his lips, he chugged it again. It was his tradition every year on the Fourth of July. He would stay home, get as drunk as he possibly could, and let out all his emotions. He could never tell his true feelings to anyone, they probably would just laugh at him..

England felt tears begin to fall as he thought about it. Finishing the glass of rum, it dropped to the floor with the other four bottles he had already drank. There was a huge blush on his face, but he didn't care. He brought his hands to his face, beginning to vocally sob. He couldn't keep it all in anymore. He just couldn't.

"I-I.. I t-try to c-change f-for you all," He began, now hugging himself while leaning against the front door. "I-I'm not a t-tyrant a-anymore! I-I'm sorry for what I did back t-then!" He yelled angrily. "I-I j-just.. W-why do y-you all s-still hate me? I'm t-trying m-my best!"

His thoughts went to America. Oh, his sweet America.. Did he really hate England that much? Reaching into his breast pocket, the drunk man pulled out a small piece of paper. It was extremely wrinkled and brittle, but he still carried it with him everywhere. It was a drawing that America made him when he was young. It was something he treasured deeply. But it seemed that America didn't treasure him as much as England would hope.

Not that he didn't deserve it. America probably didn't realize just how much him leaving tore apart England. It made the country wonder.. If maybe he had just agreed to America's request for independence, they'd have a better relationship. But even then, his boss at the time would have probably still said no. But even then, America would have known England didn't agree, but had no choice.

"He hates me.." England sniffed out. "They hate me, everyone hates me.. I deserve to be miserable.." He heard the noises outside had stopped. Turning to his window, he saw that the night sky and it's stars were now clearly visible. It seemed not even weather would stick around for him. He started to cry even worse, not being able to hold it in.

"I h-hate l-living l-like t-this.." He said to no one in particular. "I-It b-bloody hurts.. I-I know I d-deserve it.. B-but.." He sniffed again, looking back towards the stars with despair in his eyes.

"I wish.." England began,"I wish.. That I could be loved.." He clutched to the tiny paper still, as he cried into his other hand. He didn't even notice when he began to fade away, until he had completely vanished. The paper than had been in his hands gently floated to the ground, now lying among the glass bottles.

A few stray tears had been left on the already crinkled paper.

– – – – – –

July 5th, 8am

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"Has anybody seen England?"

That was the first question that echoed through the world meeting room on July 5th. Their meeting was going to last 3 days, and usually people didn't skip out until the third day, when the most important things had already been discussed.

Everybody looked around the room, waiting for someone to say something. Germany frowned slightly, before asking,"Nobody has seen England?"

"This does not make any sense, aru," China said after a moment. "England never misses a meeting, he never has"

"Oh Cher.." France said,"Do you think he is sick?"

Japan looked towards him and put down his neat stack of papers. "I do not think so, after all, the UK is not having any large famines or sicknesses as of late, there is no reason why he would be sick," He said calmly.

"Maybe we should have someone go check on-" Canada muttered, before being interrupted by his brother.

"HEY! I have an idea! Why don't we send someone to check on Iggy?" America declared loudly.

Germany quickly nodded, saying,"That sounds good, even though he doesn't have anything important to discuss this time, as he said yesterday he didn't, this is still out of character for him. America, why don't you and France go?"

"Bonne idee!" France happily said.

"What?!" America yelled,"But I can't! I still have to discuss global warming and how we need to make a recycle-man hero!" Everyone in the room seemed to slump in despair.

Canada tugged on his brother's shirt, before softly saying,"Brother, wouldn't the more heroic thing to do be to go check on England?"

America gasped at what his brother said, eyes widening. "Yeah!" He yelled,"It would be very heroic!" He yanked off his name tag, throwing it on the table, before yelling,"Hey! Come on Francypants!"

"Bonne Journee!" France called out happily, before getting up and following after America. Everyone let out a happy sigh of relief, realizing they weren't going to have to hear the same speech that America gave out every damn meeting. Finally, they got back to business.

It didn't take America and France long to reach England's house. France had been there many times, and America as well. Knocking on the door of the cottage, France received no answer. "England~ Mi amor, everyone is dearly worried for you! Please open the door!" He called.

There was no answer on the other side. France frowned a bit, this really wasn't England behavior. Whenever France showed up unannounced, he would usually yell very loudly, open the door and snap at him. This time he said nothing.

"Hm.. Maybe he's not home?" America guessed curiously, turning and shrugging towards France. "Mais je ne comprends pas," France replied,"He knew there was a meeting today, but he missed it. I can't think of anywhere else he would be.."

America frowned again, before snapping his fingers and saying,"I got it! Why don't you just call him?"

Why didn't I think of that? France wondered, before pulling out his own cell phone, with a baguette key chain hanging from it, and dialed England's number. The phone quickly replied with,"The number you have dialed is not in service.."

"Oh cher.. I think something is wrong.." France said worriedly,"It's telling me his number is not in service, I called him two days ago and it was fine.."

Now America seemed a little worried. He moved forward, finding that the door was unlocked. "Iggy! We're coming in!" America called, and opened the front door. He found that as soon as he pushed the door open, there was the sound of clinking glass.

America pushed the door open faster, and saw a glass bottle rolling away. That kinda worried him, England always kept his home squeaky clean, but now? The floor had several glass bottles on it, and a piece of paper on the ground.

France picked up on of the bottles, and then brought it to his nose. He sniffed slightly, smelling the alcohol, and then turned the bottle upside down, watching what was left of the bottle slowly drip down and onto the hardwood floor. It's fresh.. And considering what day yesterday was, I know when England drank them He thought.

"America, I think something might be wr-" He began, turning around to see America holding a small piece of paper, and staring at it with a forlorn expression.

France walked over and looked at the crinkled paper, seeing a childish drawing of younger America and England, together holding hands. "I can't believe he still has this," America whispered.

"Mon cheri, he has always kept that on his person.. Since you drew it," France told him, remembering when England declared he was never going to lose it. He guessed he meant it.

America sniffed and then stood up. "Then where did he go?" He demanded in sadness. France looked around, before saying,"I don't know.. But I feel like something might be wrong. We must go tell monsieur Germany, and see if anyone is willing to help is look. We don't disappear unless our country does, and we're standing on Britain soil now, so I'm not sure where he would have gone"

"Then let's hurry and go get everyone!" America yelled, running out the door. However, he skidded to a stop and then ran back inside, grabbing the small paper gently, before putting it into his bomber jacket. Then, he ran outside and went back to the meeting room with France. They explained everything to the others, and many people began to worry, everything they'd heard about was very un-England like.

However, there wasn't much they could do. They had one more meeting day, and if England didn't show up then, they'd all have to go back to their countries to check in and see if they had any work. They would have to reach out to England's siblings, whom never attending the world meetings anyways.

America felt extremely worried. Where would England go? He pulled out the crinkled paper and looked at it again. He had to wonder, was it his fault England vanished? He had only seen England truly cry twice, and both times were because of him. He felt tears begin to fill his eyes. England never really showed his emotions to them, other than anger. Was he sadder than they all thought?

Why would England leave? He just didn't understand..

And he wouldn't understand for a long time..

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July 4th, 11pm

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The matron looked outside, noticing the rain had finally let up. She was glad it did, because many of the kids were refusing to go to sleep because the thunder scared them. She told them that if the rain did not let up within an hour, they could stay up a little longer. Luckily, it stopped around the fifty-minute mark.

Turning to the six children, all of which were covered in blankets and had cups of hot chocolate. They pouted sadly, realizing the rain had let up and that they had to go to bed. "Alright everyone, remember our deal?" She asked them.

"Yes Ms. Sally.." They all said in an upset tone. They began to sip their hot chocolate quickly, trying to beat the clock that didn't exist.

She sighed, and crossed her arms over her chest. "We can always make more hot chocolate tomorrow, don't worry, but you need your sleep if you wanna grow up to be big and strong," Sally told them,"On Friday, I will let you all stay up, okay?"

The children looked down and around the room, still not wanting to accept their fate. That's when one little girl saw something outside the door. "Ms. Sally!" She exclaimed, pointing towards the styled glass door. "There's someone outside!"

"Oh no, that trick isn't gonna work this time," Sally told them. The other children turned to look out the door, and realized that the little girl wasn't kidding.

The oldest boy, William, pointed out the door,"Molly wasn't kidding, Ms. Sally! There's a little boy out there!" Sally sighed, turning towards the door, expecting to see nothing and then turn back around to see the children run away. Instead, she saw a blonde haired little boy, who was shivering and looked soaked to the bone.

"Oh my goodness!" She exclaimed, before running to the door, unlocking it, and opening the door. She quickly scooped up the child, bringing him into the warm orphanage. The other children followed closely.

After she had wrapped a towel around him, and placed him by the fireplace, she examined him. He was very small, and was probably only around 4-5 years old. His hair, though still wet, was obviously blonde. He had lime green eyes, and pale skin. "Little one, are you okay?" She asked him, handing him her cup of hot chocolate.

He looked down at it, holding it in his little hands, before nodding and looking back up at her. "What were you doing out in the rain? Where are your parents?" She asked him. The child shook his head.

"You don't have any parents?" Sally questioned. He shook his head again. Molly gasped and smiled at him. "Then does he get to stay with us?" She asked hopefully.

Sally looked at her and the other children, and said,"Of course, he's an orphan, he's got nowhere to go, so he's in our family now"

Turning back to the child, she gave him a gentle smile and asked,"What's your name, honey?" The little child scrunched up his cute little face in thought, and it was extremely adorable.

"Arthur.." He told her calmly. Sally smiled at him again, and then declared,"Well then Arthur, welcome to the Kirkland Orphanage"

Sally stood up, taking the hot chocolate, that he had sipped from, but it was obviously too much for a tiny child. "I'm going to find you some pajamas, okay?" She said, and heading up the stairs.

"Arthur!" William said happily, walking over and kneeling down to the child. "I'm William! I'm ten, I'm the oldest here" He introduced himself. Then, he introduced everyone else. In order from youngest to oldest, Molly, John, Scott, Mary, Wendy, and himself.

Sally returned with some green footsie pajamas, they were a little big on Arthur, and the sleeves were too long. He looked down at himself, before smiling and bringing his arms up, wanting a hug. Sally smiled, before kneeling down and hugging him. Very quickly, the other children joined the hug. Little Arthur smiled into the hug, feeling his heart fill with a very amazing emotion. Love.

Finally, Sally managed to put the children to bed, despite all the excitement of a new sibling. She loved her job, seeing the smile on Arthur's face made her day. Part of her wondered where he came from, and who would leave such a sweet child out on their own. But, another part of her didn't want to find out. From now on, she was Arthur's caretaker, and his mother figure. And she would take care of him for however long he was at her orphanage, the Kirkland Orphanage.

She would make sure he was always happy, and that he was always loved.

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I hope you guys all enjoyed, lovelies!

I need your help! Do you guys think there should be a ship in this story? If so, who do you think would work?

Next Chapter: Little Arthur growing up, and possibly something about America and the others