A/N Hello there! Thanks for checking out my story especially since it is my first one ^^ I know it's a bit late/early for Halloween but oh well because I used their official Halloween costumes for this teehee~
**Seeing as I have very little knowledge when it comes to Romania I have absolutely no idea if this is extremely strange and out of character from the nation and by that I mean that I don't know if Romanian people would ever act like this. I do apologise in advance heheh I just needed a flamboyant location and I wanted to include some less known characters so voila**
Any comments you have will be appreciated!
I do not own Hetalia. ^^
America woke with a start to the sound of his alarm. He sighed and sat up in bed, blinking the sleep from his eyes and retrieving his glasses from the nightstand. After stopping the obnoxious buzzing, the American jumped out of bed, quickly put on some clothes and found his way to his mailbox. He had been expecting a package for a week now. It wasn't like Amazon to be this slow! Peeking inside, he was disappointed yet again by a sad pile of envelopes and a gaming magazine. America lazily grabbed the few letters from the mailbox and yawned while skimming through them. Most of it was junk, but as he was getting ready to chuck most of it into the trash bin, he noticed a navy blue envelope peeking out from behind the various advertisements and other useless crap.
"Huh, what's this?" he asked aloud, looking at the meticulously written silver letters. Carefully, he ripped open the letter to reveal a sparkling invitation, which America unfolded curiously. As if on cue (which it probably was), a small puff of confetti exploded from the paper. Wiping the bits of it that stuck to his face, America read the elegant letter. "You are cordially invited to attend Romania's Annual Masquerade blah blah blah," he skimmed. "Masks and costumes required. RSVP by saying 'yes' or 'no' now," he read aloud. "Romania's having a Halloween party?! I'm so there. Uh, I mean, yes!" Upon hearing America's final word, an invisible pen wrote 'America: Yes' on the navy envelope, which promptly flew out through America's window. America shook his head and snickered. "Romania, always showing off. I wonder what I should dress up as?" He wondered. "Well, it's still a couple weeks away, I'm sure I'll come up with something." Shrugging, America continued with his daily endeavours, the masquerade still in the back of his mind.
As the date grew closer, America wavered between being a chainsaw murderer, a cowboy and a superhero. The superhero and cowboy seemed too obvious though, so he decided to go as the murderer and freak everyone out. Luckily, he found an old red cloak and a ski mask in his garage after a little searching around. America wondered what everyone else was going as. He hadn't seen anybody except Canada since receiving the invitation and he wouldn't tell him what he was going as.
Two days before the ball, America and Canada took a jet to Romania's house together. America was still super-hyped about the party, and not even Canada could calm him down. The American jumped around on the plane so much that the steward had to force him to sit down by threatening him with scones.
"So who else do you think will be there?" Canada wondered.
"I dunno," America shrugged. "Do you think he invited a lot of people? It seems like he went all out, judging by the invitations."
"Yeah, I mean he even remembered me so he probably checked over his list more than once so as not to exclude anybody." Canada replied.
"Probably. I'm really excited for the party! Do you think he hired a DJ?" America asked excitedly.
"America, you do know this is a ball, right? They aren't going to play 'party music'. They'll be playing, you know, waltzes and stuff." Canada explained.
"The waltz? But dude, I can't dance any of that fancy mumbo jumbo!" The American leapt up from his seat.
"What?! Didn't England teach you?"
"Uh...Well, you know, that Revolutionary War kinda got in the way of all that...heheh." America explained, embarrassed.
Canada sighed and chuckled. "Well, just try not to step on anyone's feet and hope nobody asks you to dance. I'd show you myself, but honestly I'm probably a worse dancer than you."
America flung his arms up. "Great!" he said sarcastically. "This is absurd! I wish I'd read that whole invitation before agreeing so quickly."
"I'm sure it will be fine. Plus, nobody will know it's you since we're all wearing masks, right?" Canada pointed out. "But, don't use that as an excuse to go around acting like an idiot."
"Pff, of course not!" America waved his hand dismissively. "But yeah, at least nobody will know. It will still be embarrassing for me though!"
"Yeah, but don't let it ruin your whole day. I'm sure you'll still have fun. And if you're really unsure, just come find me. I'm going as a ghost." The Canadian smiled.
"How ironic," America muttered as he the plane bounce against the ground. "Hey, looks like we're here!" He glanced out the window at the Romanian airport.
"Great! Boy, that flight sure was quick!" Canada grabbed his bag from the compartment and followed America into the airport.
"I went ahead and got us each hotel rooms." America commented, watching the people bustling around the building.
"Oh, thanks. Let's find a taxi and go unpack our things." Canada suggested. They made their way to the front of the building and managed to communicate where they wanted to go to the non-English-speaking cab driver. They checked in at the hotel, dropped off their stuff and decided to go sight seeing for a while before calling it a night. Neither of them went to visit Romania very often, so they wanted to take advantage of being in the eastern European country. While walking down the street, they ran into Spain, France and Prussia, who were also there for the masquerade.
"Well, masquerades did originate in me, so naturally, I would come." France said with a flourish.
"Yeah, and I like all the different masks! It's hard to tell who anybody is! Like we're all in disguise or something." Spain added.
"I guess we'll see you guys there, then!" America grinned.
"Not if we see you first! Kesesese!" Prussia grinned and the three of them continued down the street.
"Those three are always causing trouble." Canada sighed.
"Yeah, but they're pretty funny, too," America replied. "Hey, I'm hungry. You wanna get something to eat?"
"Sure." They had some dinner at a nearby restaurant and although neither of them were really sure what they were ordering, the food was pretty good. After that, they went back to the hotel to get some rest.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow," America yawned. "I'm beat."
"Yeah, me too. Good night!" Canada called as he headed off towards his room.
The morning of the ball, England woke up early that morning. She grabbed her glasses and blinked a few times before checking the clock. Eight-thirty. The ball didn't start until around 9 that evening so she had the whole day to do whatever she wanted. Of course, it would be helpful if she actually knew what she wanted to do. She changed her clothes and put her hair up in her normal pigtails before leaving the hotel she was staying at. She would change into her vampire costume later. On her way down, she ran into America and Canada, who were also heading to the lobby.
"Oh, hello, America, and...Canadia!" She remembered.
"Hey, England! You're going to Romania's thing-a-majig too?" America smiled.
"Yes, I happened to be free, and everyone else seems to be here," England replied. "But I must say, I'm surprised to see you here, America."
"W-What makes you say that? The hero goes to everyone's parties!" America replied, chuckling.
"Sure, but I didn't know 'the hero' could dance." She said smugly before departing.
Once she was out of earshot, America said dramatically, "She knows."
"So what? It's not like England is going to ask you to dance." Canada replied.
"Well obviously, but remember, we're all wearing masks! W-What if she does by accident?" America stammered.
"Honestly, I don't know why you're so worried about it. So what if England knows you can't dance. I mean, if I didn't know any better I'd think you-" Canada cut himself off.
"What? You'd think I'd what?" America demanded.
"Oh my god."
"What!?"
"You like England?!" Canada managed.
"W-What? That's insane! Where would you ever get that idea?" America protested, blushing.
"See, I can't tell if you're being sarcastic right now." Canada replied.
"Can we just stop talking about it?!" America asked, flustered.
"Alright, I'll drop it...for now." He teased.
"Oh, shut it! Anyway, what time's the ball start?" He changed the subject.
"Not until 9 pm. What do you wanna do until then?"
"Try to forget that whole conversation never happened." America replied bluntly.
"It wouldn't be bothering you so much if you didn't care." Canada giggled.
"I swear if you bring it up one more time-!" America threatened as they headed into the city.
At seven-thirty, America and Canada headed back to the hotel from their day of sightseeing to get ready before heading to Romania's. Earlier that week America had been looking forward to this party, but now he just felt nervous. He hoped he wouldn't get asked to dance by anybody (especially a certain British nation), that way he could avoid embarrassing himself. America buttoned up his shirt and threw on his cloak. On the way out, he grabbed his ski mask, which kind of squished his face because of his glasses, but he would sooner die than lose Texas. When he stepped into the hallway, he found Canada waiting for him. He was wearing a suit underneath a grey translucent cloth that just covered his face enough so that you couldn't tell who it was (not that anybody would have known anyway).
"Canada, where'd you go?" America teased.
"Heheh. Are you ready?" He asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be. I swear after this damn party, I am getting dance lessons." America vowed as they got in a cab. Canada gave him the address and they sped off away from the city. After a couple minutes they were surrounded by shadowy fields and mountains.
"Wow, I didn't know how close we were to the country-side." America commented.
"Look up ahead, I can see Romania's house." Canada pointed. Up ahead, wedged into a mountain side sat a large, exquisite looking mansion. The glow of the windows looked more like a lighthouse in the darkening sky.
"Thank you." America said to the cabbie as he exited the car and walked up the staircase to the large wooden door. Canada followed him and they approached the door. America knocked, and the sound echoed for what seemed like hours. After a moment, a butler appeared.
"Good evening sirs. May I show you to the ballroom?" He bowed his black-haired head.
"Yes, thank you." Canada nodded and the two nations followed the butler into Romania's home. He led them down the hall and into a large, bustling chamber, with a high white ceiling and a broad gold floor. They descended the staircase and into the ballroom. Romania had indeed spared no expense. Shimmering gold light floated about the room-the work of magic, no doubt-and a large chandelier hung from the ceiling. America could tell right away who some of the people dancing were. The cat was obviously Italy, his curl was sticking out, and the dog he was pulling towards the dance floor was Germany. Russia was a teddy bear (his scarf) and Prussia was a demon (his red eyes), but other than that, it was all guess work. Most of the girl nations had purposefully worn their hair differently so you couldn't tell who they were by their hair style.
"Wow. You were right, America, Romania went all out." Canada gasped, staring at the glowing room. Austria was playing a lovely piece on a piano set up in the corner of the room and some of the nations were dancing together.
"Yeah." America agreed, but before they could continue their conversation, somebody bouncing along in a pink dress and a feathery mask whisked a surprised Canada off to the dance floor.
"I-I guess I'll talk to you later?" Canada called, a confused expression on his face. America chuckled and waved at him. In a way, this masquerade thing was a really good idea, because it allowed everyone to do crazy things like that without involving all the history between everybody. America felt like he could tell anybody absolutely anything and it wouldn't matter because nobody knew who anybody was. They couldn't even tell each other by their accents because the mystery-loving Romania put a simple spell on his house removing anyone entering the house's native accent.
America watched Canada and the flamingo lady dance for a while before going to get a drink. While there, he noticed a nation dressed as a vampire. She had her hair in a kind of braided bun and she was wearing a knee-length blue dress and a cloak that went all the way down to her ankles. She wore a relatively simple blue mask that hid the top part of her face. Well, whoever she was, she was very beautiful, America thought. She must have noticed him staring because her peridot eyes glanced over at him.
"Yes?" She asked.
"Oh, sorry. I just, zoned out there for a second." America replied.
"It's alright." She replied quietly.
"It's so weird, I don't even know who I'm talking to." He chuckled.
"It is rather odd," Suddenly, Canada and his dancing partner twirled past. "Although, that's obviously Ukraine in the pink dress there."
"Ukraine?" America laughed. "I don't know how I missed that one."
"Yes I suppose it is rather obviously once you notice her...chest," They both laughed. The blonde vampire continued, "So, why aren't you out there dancing?"
"You're one to talk, Miss. Standing by the Drink Table," America retorted. "But to be honest, it's because I can't dance."
She looked over at him. "You can't dance? Nonsense! But wait, look, is that...Romania...and who's that he's dancing with?" She suddenly pointed at a couple dancing together in the corner of the dance floor. The hair clearly gave Romania away from the back, no matter how hard he tried to look like a bunny, and the nation he was dancing with had two braids of long, brown hair and a red cap.
America leaned over and whispered in the other nation's ear, "Don't look now, but I'm nearly positive that it's Hungary." He stifled a laugh, as did she.
"You're kidding," She whispered back. "There's no way-Did he even invite her?"
"Evidentially. Perhaps, because Austria is providing the music, Romania couldn't not invite her since she'd hear about it from Austria. But to think she would even come!" America pondered the scene when suddenly, Prussia swooped in and took Romania's place. "Looks like Prussia realised it too. Or he just wants to dance with her...Anyway, why aren't you dancing?"
"Me? I just-I don't like dancing," She replied. "Or rather, no one's asked me yet..." She added, looking down at her shoes.
"Nobody's asked you? Well that's absolutely ridiculous. I won't have it, I say!" he said in an overly posh voice. He cleared his throat and bowed dramatically, "May I have this dance?" He said gallantly, extending his hand.
"You may," she smiled and took it. Carefully, they made their way over to the dance floor and America copied the others and placed his hand on the vampire nation's waist.
"Just so you know, I really can not dance." He said, grateful that his mask covered up his blushing face.
"Here, just take a couple of steps." She pulled him along away from the edge of the floor, when he suddenly stepped on her foot.
"Sorry!" He said quickly.
But she laughed, "Pick up your feet more, almost like you're trying to reach something high up. Although I don't think you'd really have that problem."
"O-Okay."
"There, see, isn't that easier?"
"Y-Yeah, actually. I'm really sorry I stepped on your foot." America apologised.
"Don't worry about it." She replied sincerely. They passed Canada, who looked like he was about to hurl from all the spinning he and Ukraine had been doing, but when he saw America dancing he perked up enough to shoot him a smile.
"Looks like Prussia and Hungary are still dancing. I wonder what Austria will have to say about that?" America wondered as he watched the albino dance by.
"Probably some very choice words. But, the real question is, who in the world am I dancing with?"
"Clearly, I am Australia." America joked.
"Being seen in an upscale place like this? Not in a million years." She answered.
"Well, I don't know who I am dancing with either, so we're even." America smiled.
"You're so infuriating!" The vampire laughed. Suddenly, the music stopped. Everyone looked up to see Romania standing atop the staircase at the front of the room.
He cleared his throat. "Everyone, I hope you have been enjoying yourselves tonight. Yes, it is I, Romania, your host." He took a graceful bow, and Hungary took a not-so-graceful fall to the ground as she realised with whom she had danced with. Romania's eye twitched slightly as he realised the same thing, but he somehow keep his composure. "But, I believe that all mysteries end with a shocking reveal, and so, I am lifting the accent-cancelling spell I placed around the house. And while you all become re-acquainted with each other, I'm going to...step out for a minute." He glanced at Hungary, who had been revived by Austria and Prussia, and then walked quickly out of the ball room.
"I have my accent back! Yahoo!" Italy called from across the room. "Hey, you do too, Germany!"
Soon the room was filled with gasps and laughter, except for between two people. Neither America nor his partner had spoken a word since the spell had been lifted. Finally, France strutted over to the two of them.
"So, America, who were you dancing with?" he asked, giving away America's identity straight-away.
"Um, I don't know yet. And she didn't know who I was until just now!" America glared at him for a second, before turning back to the vampire nation. "Um, so, I'm America...But, who are you?"
France looked over at the mystery nation for a moment before, clearly realising who it was, said, "Oh, I guess I'll be going then." and made his way over to Prussia and Hungary. The vampire nation wouldn't meet the American's eyes.
"Well, if you're not going to tell me, I'll just guess! Let's see-" The nation shook her head. "What? Don't guess who you are? Aww come on, can't you tell me? What's gonna happen if you do? Come on, if I can dance, then you can tell me who you are."
The mystery nation slowly brought her hand to her face and took off her mask. "I-It's me. I'm England." She looked away.
America's eyes grew a bit wider. "E-England? It was you?"
"Yes, it was. But, I have to tell you something," she paused, blushing. "I-I might have, known it was you the whole time..."
"You knew? So then-all that stuff-that was all real?" America asked.
England nodded. "I know, I'm selfish and stupid and insecure and I know you probably don't feel that way about me but I thought since you clearly didn't know it was me that-" She was cut off because right then America kissed her. England's eyes widened in shock for a moment before returning his kiss and wrapping her arms around America. Only a couple people saw at first, but once Canada shouted 'I knew it!' everyone was turned in their direction.
America heard the commotion, broke away and said, "Austria, what are you waiting for, the apocalypse? A little music, please!" Austria cleared his throat and began playing Waltz of the Flowers, and England and America started dancing. Following them were Prussia and Hungary, and soon followed by everyone else. And in the twirling and laughter and music, even though Romania's spell had been lifted, it appeared that a new one had just been cast.
A/N Okay that's it for this little one-shot. I really enjoyed writing it, it was fun ^^ I hope you liked it!
Again, all comments are appreciated but please don't be harsh. This is my first story after all XD