A Fairy Without Wings

by Warnergirls2000

America is just spending another ordinary day until he sees a young woman on a building. He saves her from falling to her death, only for him to realize she is hiding a dark secret. One she will not tell him and England finds out on accident. And this secret may question the one thing he values above all else. Whether he truly is a hero. No pairs, Friendship, angst, char death. OC

Hey this is Warnergirls here! Just saying a bit about my story before you read. Yes there is a OC in it. But she has no romantic ties to any of the characters. Its purely friendship based. This is my first Hetalia fanfic and my first fanfic I've written in years. I was hesitant to post it at first. But, a friend of mine convinced me to post it. I hope I did the characters justice. Depending on how many people actually like this. I might write another fanfic. But that's a pretty big might. Right now I have a lot of things going on. So I'm not sure if that will be possible. The meanings of the words in other languages will be at the bottom. And yes I realize this is a slightly long piece. I actually didn't expect it to be this long ha ha. Guess that's what happens when you write! Oh before I forget, the reason its rated M is for the swearing and the topics I chose to use in this piece. These are controversial subjects so I don't want any hate mail or whatever. You don't like it? Don't read it!

Anyways enjoy! Feedback is much appreciated! However flames will not be tolerated at all. Keep that in mind.

A Fairy Without Wings

It was just another wonderful day in the bright and busy city of Los Angeles, USA. The man himself, America, was whistling a tune while walking down the streets of LA. He sometimes did this simply to watch people. Seeing them go about with their daily lives with smiles on their faces was what gave him the strength to keep on going on. Despite how bad things got, his family always managed to somehow pull through. He loved them. Especially during these hard times they were going through now. He knew his economy was in danger of being broken beyond repair. Still, he tried to be his overly optimistic self- even going as far to infect the World Conference meeting with more of his silly ideas. His laughter and rather upbeat attitude seemed to influence the others, and for only a brief moment they would all forget how America was really doing.

Still, he kept his smile firmly in place and would distract the others, whether it was arguing with Britain or begging Japan to loan him a new game. It was all he could do to have his friends not worry about him. His proud nature and heroic stance would not allow it!

America winced a bit at the pain shooting up his body. He took a deep breath, and then bit into his wonderfully juicy burger. He had gotten used to the Stock Market pains.

He still held scars from the recent events that took so many lives, American lives. It still hurt to think about it, so he shook it off. He glanced briefly around him and noticed several people staring up at the sky. In fact, he himself didn't notice it until realizing that he was suddenly standing in the shade- even though it had been sunny just a second ago. He glanced up and saw large, dark clouds rumbling in the distance.

A storm? Great… America looked around for a place nearby to seek shelter from the rain, but before he could even find one, the rain began to pour down. "Ahhh! Texas!" the water was dripping down his frames, causing them to distort his vision. He didn't even notice that he had run into a wall, until he began to pry himself from the cement and brick five story building. America winced at the pain, then heard a surprised noise. He looked up once more and saw a figure standing on the edge on the roof. His eyes widened slightly at the figure.

It turned and looked down upon him. He could slowly begin to make it out its appearance: A long flowing white gown, long blonde hair, and… those eyes. Blue eyes similar to his own.

"Hey!" America called as a smile began to form on his face. "Are you alright?"

The person who was staring down at America closed her eyes. "Please leave." A female voice.

So this figure was a girl. He wished he could see her in more detail, but so far he could only make out her figure. He simply shrugged at her command and stood still where he was standing.

She seemed a little annoyed that he was still there. "Why aren't you leaving?" she asked.

"Because you seem in the need of a HERO!" America said with a cheesy grin and struck a pose.

Meanwhile the girl above rose one eyebrow, although he couldn't see that from way down there. "I do not need a hero.." she mumbled to herself, lowering her head.

America couldn't hear what she said, but he saw her head lower. A prickle of fear rose within him. He had to get up there now. He was afraid she would slip and fall or her legs would give out. He yelled. "Hold on a second! Don't move!" before rushing into the building and running up the five flights of stairs to the roof. When he reached the door to the roof he opened it and finally got a good look at the female before him. Only a few feet away, she was dressed in a long white nightdress, she was bare foot and had long blonde hair which was being carried with the wind. She turned her head to look behind her as he opened the door. He could see her eyes more clearly now. A deep blue like his own, however there was something strange about them. Something he didn't quite understand.

He shook away the chill that crept up his spine and gave her his best charming smile he could muster. He started to walk to her to help her off the ledge she was standing on. But she quickly spun around.

"Stop!"

The command caused him to stop mid step and throw her a confusing look. "Why?" he asked simply, his tone still good natured.

She closed those blue eyes and tilted her head away from him, a familiar emotion across her face. It was something he remembered seeing a long time ago. And the dark emotion within him began to stir more.

She couldn't….be thinking…right?

His face lost a bit of the smile, instead a determined look crossing his mind. He took another step towards her and her eyes snapped open at the sound. The scraping of rubber against pieces of concrete. The slight splashing of water. She looked at him, and as he came closer she began to shake her head rapidly.

"Stop!" She yelled again. "Just go away!"

"No way. Not until you tell me what's going on!" America said, this woman was different. She was different than his other people. She was missing something, something that she needed. The silence between them dragged on. She sighed and finally after a few minutes of careful thought, looked up and stared at him with her eyes. Those….emotionless and….DEAD eyes…

"Do you believe in reincarnation?" She asked softly.

Now THAT threw him for a loop. He had never been asked that question before. Something like reincarnation wasn't something countries really talked about. Since well….they were more or less immortal…Only in certain circumstances did nations actually…die. And they lived for so long that sometimes no one really questioned what happened after death.

"I…." his mind totally blanked. If America was great at one thing, it was his smart comebacks and able to talk his way out of anything. Or get himself into more trouble. It was really a 50/50 situation.

But this….he couldn't think of a word that came after. And those eyes of hers were filled with such sadness..such emptiness that it drew him in. He had met several depressed people, down and out and often on the edge of insanity.

But he had never seen anyone before with such a depth of suffering. He took another step towards her and reached out his arm.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. He could see her body shift and his eyes widened as she lost her footing, falling backwards and from his sight.

From then on, everything seemed to slow as he dove after her, arms reaching out to grab her.

He grabbed a hold of her fragile body in mid air and clutched it tightly, making sure his legs were below him so they would suffer most of the impact.

Sure enough with legs bent he hit the ground with the force of intense gravity. Still tense but clutching the girl, he waited for the pain to come and his heart to stop beating so fast. He looked down at the small crater he made and sighed in relief, wincing at the pain in his legs.

"Are you okay?" He asked the girl in his arms.

She looked up at him with wide eyes. "Who…are you?"

He let out a infectious laugh. "Introductions? Why not! I am none other than Am-" Suddenly realizing he couldn't give her his actual name, he thought about his human name and nodded. "Alfred. Alfred Jones at your service."

She blinked at his name and tried to open her mouth to talk, but suddenly began to cough violently. America looked down at her, then around them as he noticed it was still raining harder. He held her tighter to his body, trying to shield her from the rain as best as he could. He looked back down at her and noticed her face was a little flushed. He frowned slightly, but then as she looked up at him, his face returned to that cheesy grin.

"Let's get you to the nearest doctor you don't look well! You can tell me your name later if you want." He noticed she was shoeless so he nodded to himself, deciding to carry her the rest of the way. As he began to run towards the nearest hospital, he felt more and more like a dashing a hero saving the young maiden from certain doom. It made his excitement rise and his smile wider.

Damn this is so fucking awesome! I got to be a real hero today! He thought with a mental laugh. The young and brave hero to save the young maiden from certain doom! Go America!

But then again…as he glanced down at her, he noticed she looked worn out, almost despondent. He had so many questions about her, like why she was standing up there. Why she said those things to him.

She really couldn't have been trying to….no…America mentally shook his head. I won't believe that someone like this could really want to die by their own hands.

He hadn't realized he was still staring down intently at her until she met his eyes. "Are you…okay Alfred?" She asked softly.

"Huh?" He asked, confused. Wasn't she the one who wasn't feeling well? Why was she asking how he was?

"That fall…you landed on your legs. There's no way someone can walk away from a fall like that.." She said, her head slowly getting fuzzy from the fever.

America blinked, then laughed it off. "Oh that! No worries dear girl. I am the hero after all! It will take a lot more than that to mess me up!" He let off another proud laugh.

The young woman felt her lips twitch into a small smile. She couldn't help it. The way he talked just made her smile. She didn't understand why. For all purposes nothing should have made her smile again. Yet…this man..

They arrived to the hospital a short time later and Alfred went to the closest Doctor and handed her off to him. But before he left she asked the doctor to wait.

"Alfred!" She called, her voice hurting as she spoke.

He turned and looked back at her. "Yeah?"

"My name..It's Cora. Cora Knightson."

She saw Alfred give her a huge smile, still drenched to the bone. "Awesome! That's like a totally perfect name for you! I'll return to check up on you! I promise!" With that, he turned and left.

All Cora could do was watch him her empty smile slowly fading. "I wonder…if that's true.." She whispered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hetalia!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Where the bloody hell is that annoying twit America?!" England huffed, tapping his finger against his arm as he sat in one of the conference chairs. "He was supposed to be here an hour ago!"

"Now now mon idiot..you need to just calm down and enjoy these moments at they last." France said, lazying about in his own chair and drinking a bottle of wine.

"This is no time to be bloody lazy France! That wanker is over an hour late! At this rate we won't get anywhere in this conference! Not that we ever get anywhere anyway, and did you just call me an idiot?!" England let out his frustration on France.

"Oh you finally realized that? vous Scone bâtard.. it took you long enough." France said with his demon smile. England was about ready to beat him into infinity.

"Halt die Klappe! Shut up I said!" Another voice growled from the other side of the table. Germany looked downright ready to torture someone. Which wasn't unheard of with him. He slammed his fist onto the table as France and England continue to fight.

"Um…if I may say something.." Japan said softly. "Maybe someone should call America-san. To make sure if he's okay.." His soft spoken voice wasn't unnoticed by the others.

"That ass can take care of himself aru. He doesn't need to be coddled over." China said with a wave of his hand.

"Yes, he is capable of taking care of himself. However, he'd better wish he was in trouble. If I get my hands on him he will become one with Russia sooner than expected." A dark aura erupted around Russia, causing the countries sitting next to him to move their chairs away quickly.

"Um….wait…guys.." A voice said from an empty chair nearby. Or at least they all assumed it was empty.

"Holy crap what was that?!" China exclaimed, jumping onto his feet and suddenly seeing a young man waving at him.

"America! There you are! Why are you damn bloody late you twit!" England ran over to the man who resembled America so much.

He suddenly shrunk away from England's words and said. "No.. I'm Canada!"

"Oh.."

"Sorry about that Kanada..um. What were you going to say?" Germany asked.

"Oh…right…you see…my brother…America said he might…run a bit late…there was another…drop in his economy…you see…so he had to stay up..late.."

"Why didn't you tell us that before aru?!" China yelled.

Canada shrunk down even more, holding his bear close. "I..tried. But none of you could hear me.."

Germany scratched his head, annoyed. "Right. Well I guess we have no choice. Until that Dummkopf gets here, we will have to wait."

Suddenly the doors burst open and the man himself entered with a large laugh.

"Hey ho all my fellow Nations! The hero has arrived! Are we ready to kick butt and take names?!" America announced with glee.

"Speaking of the hamburger loving imbecile.." France commented.

"America you damn bloody wank! Why are you so late?!" England demanded, his eyebrows more narrowed than usual.

"Don't sweat it eyebrows! I was just doing my duty as a hero! How awesome am I?" America laughed and sat down.

"America-san! You're soaked!" Japan stood up, alarmed. "You must take bath and put on dry clothes!"

"Nah don't worry Japan I'm completely fine! I'm the hero! The hero doesn't let a thing like water drag him under!" America stood proud, laughing away again.

"Canada are you sure your brother is having problems- aru? He looks very happy to me." China commented.

Canada looked at his brother. He certainly did appear more cheerful than normal. Was it because of something that happened? He really couldn't tell at this point why his brother was so happy. Lately it seemed as if his brother was struggling to keep a smile on his face. The others really didn't know on how large a scale that America was in trouble. Well, he had a feeling that China knew. But besides him, the others only knew half of what was going on in the country. Or even bothered to care for that matter.

America continued to ramble on as the meeting progressed. After a while though it became apparent he was losing energy.

Japan looked at his friend worried. If America didn't get into some dry clothes soon even he would get sick.

Finally after a sentence he said, Germany once again slammed his fist onto the wooden table, causing everyone to become silent.

"Zum Schweigen bringen! And you America! You need to leave now!" He ordered after he had told everyone to be silent.

America blinked and looked shocked at the German. Germany was always tough but he never had told America to leave the room outright. Still, he masked his surprise with a slight frown.

"Dude! I can't believe you are telling me to leave!" America huffed.

"I agree with him-aru" China added. "You are being more of an ass than usual. I'd rather eat one of England's scones than sit through anymore of your nonsense."

England spit out the tea he had been drinking at China's comment. "Now wait just a minute!"

Japan took this time to grab America's sleeve and look up at him. "America-san come for a second."

America blinked at Japan's sudden closeness. Japan himself had never been one to like close contact with others. He liked his distance. So for him to force himself to become close like this made America a little worried. His frown grew deeper. Only then did he realize that his face felt flushed, hot even. He blinked.

Another sign of the recession…..he wasn't positive, but all he did know was even with the rising temperature he was starting to feel…cold.

He cleared his throat as the others started to fight again. England in particular shouting at China for talking about his bad cooking. France interjecting for a snide comment which turned both England and China against him in a millisecond.

Italy was more or less amusing himself by making a macaroni sculpture. Russia seemed to be amused at the fighting going on while some of the others were either looking annoyed (Germany) Or quiet and staring at America (Canada). Through the confusion Japan led America out of the room.

And with a final obnoxious farewell, America left the room. The two went to another room nearby and Japan closed the door behind him.

It took America all but three seconds to turn to Japan, curiosity in his eyes. "So my buddy Japan! What did you want to talk about?"

Japan looked uncomfortable at first, shifting from one side to the other. It was if he was having a hard time deciding on what to say to Alfred.

Finally after what it seemed like forever, he finally spoke. "America-san…I think you need to get changed into different clothes and lie down." He finally said. "You are not well.."

"Ah is that all? Japan I'm completely fine! It will take more than this to beat down a hero!" America formed a fist and slammed it against his chest. He was caught off guard as he suddenly became breathless.

"America-san?!" Japan asked, worried.

"Haha…looks like I did that too hard.." He paused for a bit and smirked. "Anyway you don't need to worry about me! I'm not someone who would…who….woul-….." America blinked, suddenly seeing two Japans…then the world started to tilt a bit.

Japan watched in horror as he saw America fall to his knees and faint.

"America-san!" Japan's frightened eyes were the last thing America saw.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hetalia!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first thing America heard was voices. Soft at first, then they became louder as time passed. He frowned. He wanted to sleep a bit more. But the voices were starting to bother him.

"Bloody Hell! What did he do to himself?! The idiot!" A British voice spoke.

"England-san…calm down and please try to quiet. America-san might wake up." Another voice spoke softly.

"Da…and we wouldn't want that..would we?" A snide and highly communist voice added.

There was a slight pause and America could feel the chill in the air even without his eyes open.

"Anyway…" The British voice coughed. "I guess we have no choice but wait till that idiot wakes up."

"I hope…he's okay." A sad and soft voice almost whispered.

"Who are you again?"

"I'm Canada.."

"Oui, do not forget my petit frère…" said a certain french voice.

" Ah that's right. I apologize…now if this Dummkopf would just wake up." A slightly irate German voice made him frown.

Finally America felt himself trying to wake up. His eyes slowly began to open and he saw all his friends, the other nations around him. He blinked so his eyes could adjust properly. Although it was hard since Texas, his glasses were no longer on his face. He sat up, and instantly regretted it as he bent over, feeling sick.

"I-Idiot! Don't do that!" England hissed and grasped onto his shoulders to keep him from passing out again.

America began to laugh a bit, but it sounded weak even to his ears. "My bad! Hey what happened anyway?"

"America-san you are very sick." Japan said. "Not only do you have a high fever but your legs are also wounded."

"Legs?" America suddenly remembered. He caught the girl, Cora as she fell and landed on his legs. He waved off Japan's worried face and gave them all a goofy grin.

"Ah no worries I'll be fine! A night of rest and I'll be good. Don't look so worried." He began to try to get off of the couch he was lying on, but England stopped him and Germany stood in his way.

"Nein!" Germany growled, staring down at America harshly. "You need to rest."

"I agree-aru." China said from behind them all.

Canada nodded, although no one really paid much attention to him.

"Oui. You are in no shape to be walking around by yourself. We should hire someone like a maid to look over you…" Suddenly France eyed England with a wicked grin.

When England noticed it he erupted. "Jackass you don't mean me do you?!"

"Non..non….just thinking out loud…" France whistled, the grin still plastered on his face.

England growled as France tried to run off. America was smirking at the entire scene. The day wasn't complete without everyone yelling and arguing. Still, he was worried about visiting Cora. He couldn't go to see her with this cold, but he needed to know how she was doing.

"Hey Iggy!" He called the British man cheerfully.

"Damn it don't call me that!" Said man answered, his anger now on the sick nation.

But Alfred just laughed. "Hey I know you're my maid and all. But there's a place I really need to go to. There's someone I need to meet with."

Arthur frowned. "Can't you just call to reschedule?"

"Well….it's not that easy." America grinned with a shrug. That's when he explained to the others what had happened earlier that day.

After the tale, England facepalmed. "Bloody idiot…"

"Hey!" America huffed. "I did my civic duty as a hero!"

"Hai hai America-san." Japan said trying to calm him down.

"Veh!" Said a certain airheaded Italian. "He saved a pretty girl! That means he really is a hero!"

"Never the less." Germany interjected. "That was an idiotic thing to do. We may be immortal to an extent. But you never know when that changes. You should really take better care of yourself America. What would happen if you suddenly died? Your people would suffer much more."

America blinked, not really taking that into thought. But he brushed it off, laughing once more. "Ah don't be such a grump! Everyone knows the hero doesn't die that easy anyway! I assure you it will be a long time before I kick the bucket!"

The other nations didn't say a word, although their gazes spoke volumes.

"Anyway I promised her I would visit her and that's what I plan to do until she's out of the hospital!" America said proudly. He got to his feet and took about two steps before his entire frame started to wobble.

Luckily Canada and England got to him before he completely toppled over.

"Whoops…just a little dizzy there..haha.." Alfred mumbled.

"This is not good…America-san is no way able to travel." Japan stated.

"Oui…" said France, looking at them and frowning. "Perhaps you should rethink this…mon ami.."

"No…I promised her!" America said stubbornly.

The others sighed.

"No choice then.." England grumbled. "Canada take him back home. I shall go find this girl and explain the situation."

This earned a shocked look from Alfred and the others.

"What? It is only proper. A real gentlemen wouldn't go back on his word. However something like this is allowed."

"Oui Oui, whatever you say mon bête" France said wryly.

England shot a glare at the perverts direction. Somehow he felt he had just been insulted.

"No way Arthur!" America growled. "This is my job. I have to work through to the end. I won't let you get all the heroic glory!"

England could feel his eyebrows twitch in annoyance. "For the love of…."

Suddenly a loud thunk interrupted them all. Everyone froze and stared at what was happening. America was now on the floor, having his head slam painfully on the ground. He was currently hissing in pain. While the main focus was on the one who had dropped him. Canada.

He was on the verge of crying. Crying or getting very very mad. He sniffed and looked down on his brother, eyes like daggers.

"Then stand up." He said in his soft voice.

"Mattie…wha..?" Alfred winced, rubbing his sore head and looking up at him.

"You think you can stand up and walk there without worrying us or that girl? Then stand the fuck up." Canada said, his voice a little stronger.

France's mouth was slightly open at this.

England was trying to hold back a laugh. It was rare that Canada got angry at America.

Well not rare, but he rarely ever showed it in front of anyone.

Alfred blinked up to his brother, his jaw hanging open. The two seemed to lock eyes for several minutes as the American slowly got his mind under control. He noticed Mattie's eyes, they were normally soft and warm. But at that moment they were as cold as steel. America finally broke eye contact by sighing and closing his eyes tightly.

As if to prove his brother wrong, Alfred held a determined look as he struggled to stand up. He almost did too, before the world around him spun out of control. He passed out with Matthew catching him.

Canada turned to Arthur and nodded. "Go ahead Arthur, tell her what happened. I'll deal with this idiot." He gave England a smile as he tried to carry Alfred out of the room. Kiku quickly ran to help him, each taking a shoulder as they carried out the unconscious United States of America.

England scratched the back of his head and turned to the others. "Well, I guess that solves that. " With a goodbye he left the others to deal with the situation.

Though when he arrived at the hospital he had forgotten one important thing to ask for. The girls name.

"Bloody hell!" He cursed and pulled out his phone. He dialed a number.

"Bonjour mon lovies! This is the passionate Francis! How may I be of service to you?" An annoying voice answered.

England quietly counted to ten before his temper got the better of him.

"Listen up frog! Wake Alfred up!" England ordered.

"pourqoui?" The frog it seemed was very confused.

"Wake him up now! I need to ask him something!" England once again tried to control his anger towards the other nation.

" Okay okay. Se calmer my little sourcil." France replied in a sultry voice.

England could feel veins popping from the incoming rise of hot anger.

After a few moment a very tired and coughing "Hello." Came over the phone.

"Finally!" England hissed. "Now listen you wanker tell me the lady's name."

"Lady?" America seemed confused.

"Bloody hell you know who I mean!" England put a hand over his eyes and let out a sigh. "The girl you rescued?"

"Oh right!" America seemed excited suddenly. "She had long blonde hair…blue eyes…"

"Her name?"

"Oh, Cora, Cora Knightson."

"Thank you. Now get some rest you twit." England said in softer tone.

"Righty-o!" England hung up and went over to the front desk. He asked to see the girl and at first the woman seemed surprised, but she quickly covered it with a smile and told him what room she was in.

He found it odd, the woman's reaction but paid no heed and continued towards her room.

He knocked on the door hesitantly.

"Come in." A female voice said from behind the door. When he opened it he saw her. She was sitting up, looking outside the window when he walked inside. She was how Alfred described her. Long blonde hair, blue eyes. But she had a skinny frame. Almost unhealthy. Her skin was pure white as well.

When she turned to meet his eyes, she was surprised. "Who are you?"

He cleared his throat and walked over. "My name is Arthur Kirkland. I am a friend of Alfred." He walked to her and held out his hand for her to shake. She hesitantly took his hand and gave a nod to him.

"Why are you here?" She asked.

"It seems the idiot caught a cold. But he was so insistent on visiting you we had to restrain him. So I offered to come and explain the situation since it seems the wanker made you a promise he couldn't keep." England explained.

Cora let out a small smile. "Really? That's sweet of him. But is he okay?" She couldn't help but feel bad. He had probably gotten the cold from being out in the rain for too long with her.

"He will be fine." England assured her. "Just some rest and he should be running about playing hero in no time." He added the last part with a hint of a sigh.

Cora couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

Arthur blinked and looked at the bedridden girl. Had he said something funny?

"Sorry Arthur. It's just you looked so…weird. Saying that last line with that face. " Cora tried to explain.

"Ah I see, well if you know the idiot like I do, that fool would be better off taking things a bit more seriously." He brushed a hand through his sandy blonde hair with a sigh.

"I don't know him well yet. But I think Alfred's heart is in the right place." She said softly, gazing once more outside the window. "Still, I didn't expect him to want to visit me."

"Why not?" Arthur asked.

She paused. "Well… I am a stranger after all. He only happened upon me by chance and saved me." Her smile towards the British nation seemed forced. "I'm sure if he loves playing hero so much he would have moved on to his next person to save."

England couldn't help but be a little irritated at that comment. "Listen, when Alfred promises something he never breaks it." He said seriously.

Uneasiness crept into her blue eyes and she quickly shook her head. "No no, I'm sorry I didn't mean to say that he would break a promise….I just…" She looked down. "I'm sorry. I should have worded that better."

Arthur's face softened and he nodded. "I apologize as well. I guess I'm a little overprotective of him sometimes."

Cora nodded. "Thank you for coming over. I'm glad that he wanted to come visit me. It means a lot."

Arthur nodded. "I shall tell him that." As he stood up he noticed the girl appeared to look weaker and her pale face was becoming flushed.

"Should I call someone? You don't look well.." Arthur asked.

"Oh don't worry. It seems I have a cold too. They have to keep me here until it goes away. I have a weak immune system." She said with a shrug.

Arthur nodded. "Well if that's the case that idiot may come to see you once he feels better."

"I'd like that." Cora brushed a hand against the sheets of her bed, trying to flatten them out.

"Well then. Good day." He nodded to the girl before leaving.

"Not as awkward as I thought." He muttered as he left the hospital.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hetalia!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So what'd she say Iggy?! Tell me all the details!" Alfred asked. He was stuck in a bed of the main building they were hosting their meeting at.

Once he had seen the Brit walk in, Alfred sat straight up, calling to Arthur with excitement.

"Bloody git! Stay down!" England pushed America down onto the bed.

England took a breath and began to explain what had happened at the hospital, Alfred looking on eagerly.

"So that means I can visit her?! Woohooo!" he yelled, pumping one fist into the air.

While he was celebrating Arthur raised a eyebrow and looked at him hesitantly.

"You know..Alfred.." he started when the American interrupted him.

"Sorry Iggy! I thought for sure you'd blow it and piss the girl off so she would never speak to me again." The American laughed. "But it looks like you kept yourself in check for once! I'm proud!"

'Iggy's eyebrow twitched as this half sick wanker threw insults at him.

"Now listen here you little brat!" Arthur growled. "What did you mean by that?! I am perfectly capable of keeping myself in check unlike you! Who eats so many damn burgers I'm positive you'll die of heart disease one day!"

America let out another burst of laughter, then a cough.

England seemed exhausted from talking to America. He decided to let him rest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hetalia!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was another few days before Alfred was better and decided to visit Cora. He was super excited to see her. But a little worried once Arthur had told him that she would be in the hospital until her cold was over. A weak immune system huh? In the depth of his heart, Alfred wondered if that was all it was. He knew the girl seemed to be weaker than she let on. And also….what was she doing on that building?

That was something he just couldn't figure out. Her words she spoke that day. Were they the key? Shaking away the uneasiness, he slapped his hands against his face, causing the familiar and upbeat smile to appear.

"Alright dude, let's do this!" He said to himself. He walked through the hospital and got to Cora's room. He knocked.

"Come in." Cora said, and blinked as she saw Alfred come in with a huge smile.

"Hey dudette! How are you doing?" He walked over and sat down in a nearby chair.

Cora gave him a small smile. "I'm fine. How about yourself? Your friend Arthur came over to tell me you weren't well."

"HA! Like something as pathetic as a cold could keep me down!" He grinned and held up his arm. "I'm perfectly fine! It's you I'm worried about. You need to get healthy and prove to everyone you can be a true American!"

Cora's smile faltered. She closed her eyes and looked away to the window.

"Dudette?" Alfred asked, worried.

"Ah I'm fine Alfred." She turned back to him with a slight shrug. Her smile was missing however.

Alfred glanced at her and then thought for a bit. What would a cool hero say in a situation like this? Probably some speech to make her smile. Or maybe a dashing grin a long with a cheesy line.

….or he could just stare at her blankly like he had been just doing the past few seconds.

Quickly, he recovered his composure and met her eyes. She looked a bit confused. He gave a big grin and said, "Well I'm glad. I was able to do a heroic thing for once."

She blinked. "For once?"

"Yeah.." he laughed a bit and scratched the back of head. "Usually I cause nothing but trouble to the other nat-… friends… my friends seem to think I'm the trouble maker of the group." He scratched the back of his head, laughing nervously. He hoped she didn't notice his slip up.

She gave him a hard stare. "I can see that." A small smile formed.

"Hey! What do you mean?" Alfred asked, shocked.

"You do like to stick your nose in places.." She said softly with a grin.

"Pshaw!" Alfred gave a wave of his hand. "I like to call it helping! After all if I wasn't there you'd be dead."

"Yeah, well…sometimes you are better off…" She said so softly he almost couldn't make out those words.

"Cora….were you…" he started, when a nurse suddenly entered the room. She told Alfred that visiting time was over and he had to leave. Reluctantly he stood up and gave Cora a worried look. She gave him a strained smile and as they said their goodbyes, Alfred decided something.

"I'll come again!" he proclaimed.

"What?" Cora asked.

"It's a promise Cora. I will come every day until you are better. Is that a deal?" Alfred grinned. "After all, I have to keep tabs on my friend."

"Friend?" Cora whispered, eyes darting to the ground.

"We are friends right?" America looked at her hopefully.

Cora closed her eyes and thought for a second. "Yes, we are."

She didn't know if she would regret saying those words to him.

No…for just this once…I want to be selfish… she thought.

And with a final wave and smile, Alfred was gone. She wanted to be selfish, she wanted to hold onto this dream. This last dream she had. If not for anything else, for her own sanity. She also swore one last thing. That Alfred would never know the truth of what happened that day. Even if she had to lie to him, her one and only friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hetalia!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And so, for two weeks and going this continued. Alfred would come and talk to Cora. They learned many things about each other including Alfred's love of horror games and movies…although he would scream like a baby through most of them. He told her many things about himself. His likes and dislikes, careful to not give away his identity as a nation. It wasn't that he didn't think he could trust her. But for so long he had been used to hiding this, that he really just didn't think about telling her the truth. He not only told her about himself, but he learned a lot about her as well.

She was turning 20 soon and her favorite food was fries and crème brulee. When he asked her favorite color and movie. She would blush and mutter her answer. It seemed as if she was very into cartoons and anime. Also that she loved the color pink.

It was cute. However, the pleasant talk couldn't last. They soon started to delve deeper and some things Alfred himself was surprised at.

"I don't really believe in religion." She said softly, not meeting his gaze. It was a harmless question he asked. How she ended up giving that answer was beyond him.

"What do you mean?" Alfred asked confused.

She shifted nervously back and forth on her bed, looking down at her hands as they were clasped together.

"I'm..not like other girls…I'm..well…for lack of a better way of phrasing it. I'm a witch." She turned to him with a weak smile.

At first Alfred just stared at her, not sure exactly what she was saying.

"Um…" at first he was confused. But finally he spoke. "I don't think you're that bad Cora. You're a nice girl."

Cora facepalmed as he finished that sentence. He didn't understand at all. "No…my religion..well my belief system is one related to the Wicca belief. Surely you've heard about it?" Cora asked.

Alfred frowned and thought for a while. It was true that Wicca was slowly becoming popular in his country. He had heard whispers of it and even looked into it a bit himself. After all, it was only natural with him being the country to explore everything that his people were.

"Right…wait..what?!" He almost fell out of his seat. "You're Wiccan?!" he stared at her, surprised.

Instantly her eyes looked away, hurt. "Yes, I'm sorry….if I scared you.."

"No no! It's okay." Alfred said, trying to calm her down. The girl looked as if she was going to cry. "Really sorry, I was just surprised. I've never met a Wiccan before so…" he scratched the back of his head. "To be honest my image of Wiccan's is a bit different so it's just… I really didn't expect you to be one." He laughed a bit. "Does that mean you can do magic?"

"Sort of..I've tried a couple spells…" Cora said softly.

"What kind? Arthur that guy you met before, he also can do spells and such, but they are all creepy and dark magic stuff." Alfred shuddered. "You don't….do that kind do you?"

Cora shook her head. "No, just some healing, protection spells..mostly. Though there was this one time I tried to control the weather.." She laughed a bit. "It didn't end well.."

Alfred nodded, seemingly relieved that she didn't do any black magic like England did.

"So…what made you want to get into Wicca?" He couldn't help but ask.

Cora thought for a bit and smiled a little. "Maybe Fairy Tales…"

"Fairy Tales?" Alfred asked, this girl certainly was different.

She grinned. "Yup. You see in the past Fairy Tales were told as stories to warn children to behave. But they were really the first stories of magic in the world. Nowadays magic is just that, a Fairy Tale that no one believes exists. But I believe differently. It may not be around as much. But it's still there…whether we call it something different like energy or miracles….it's still there. I always believed in things that were considered not real. Saw a ghost once or twice too."

"A ghost?!" Alfred looked at her in awe and slight fear. "That's freaking cool Cora!"

She nodded with a small smile towards Alfred. "It was. And I wasn't as scared as I thought I'd be.."

"Awesome awesome! You're like a hero too! Standing up to those scary ghosts!" America grinned.

She let out a laugh. Soon it was time for them to part once more. But before he left she called him over. "Alfred? Would you mind if I told you a Fairy Tale next time? I promise it won't be boring." She smiled softly.

America thought about for a second and then nodded. "Sure!" And with that, he left.

When he left her smile faded and she glanced out the window. "I wonder…if I can do this for much longer…." She started to cough violently, putting a hand to her mouth and waiting for the spasms to stop. Finally once she did she pulled her hand away to reveal blood. "Has it…gotten to my lungs?" she whispered, worried.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hetalia!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Alfred returned, she didn't tell him the Fairy Tale to begin with. In fact Alfred seemed to notice something.

"Hey Cora, are you alright?" he asked, in a somewhat serious voice.

She turned to him, confused and a little afraid. "What do you mean Alfred?"

"It's just.. you look thinner….are they feeding you properly here?" he gave a childish frown and turned to look outside the door of her room. "If they aren't feeding you properly just let me know and I can have a few words! And fights with them!" With that he showed off his muscle in his right arm. Cora couldn't help but laugh a bit at the American's childish antics.

"No no, Alfred I'm fine they are feeding me." She gave him an energetic smile. One of the very first Alfred ever saw. Before, when she was brought here not even a trace of a smile could be found. But it seemed the more Alfred came, the more he could see her smile.

That made him happy. However, her condition didn't seem to be getting better. She had told him that her immune system wasn't as strong as a normal humans. But he couldn't help but feel that she wasn't telling him something. Still he shrugged off the unease. After all, Cora was his friend. She would never want to hurt him. Of that he was positive now. Suddenly he looked around the room, frowning. "Hey Cora…I was curious..why is it I never see anyone around visiting you?"

That made her eyes widen a bit. She quickly recovered and smiled at him again. However, the smile seemed pained.

"Oh, that. I don't really have a family…" she said. Alfred snapped his head back to her, eyes widened.

He opened his mouth to say something, but all he could say was, "Oh I see.."

Idiot! Idiot! I am a first class fucking idiot! America thought to himself. I should have realized that when she was alone all those days! Oh now what do I do?! Alfred panicked, trying to think up a new topic of conversation. However, he couldn't help but be curious about her past.

"Um…uh…Arthur sees imaginary things!" He said randomly. Okay, why did he say THAT?

Even Cora blinked at his announcement before she put a hand over her face and laughed a bit while coughing.

Alfred grinned and laughed a bit too. He didn't know why, but apparently what he said was funny.

After Cora calmed down she grinned. "So, Arthur sees imaginary things and does black magic huh? Quite the character this Arthur is. I only saw him for a brief amount of time, but he didn't seem the type to be like that."

"Pshaw. You think that's weird. You should try his cooking! No..wait nevermind we want to keep you out of the hospital…I swear half of his food is inedible and the other half is a color not from his world!" Alfred rambled.

"I'd like to hear more about your friends. They sound like a lot of fun." Cora grinned.

"Ah well, there is my friend Kiku-" Alfred began and before they knew it. Alfred began another long speech about the characters at the world meeting, using their human names of course. He also made sure to hide some details.

However, though his long rambling and explanation, he couldn't very well keep everything hidden. "And then there's my brother Matthew, no one really notices him and for a twin you'd think we'd get along. For the most part we do, but when I go to visit him, he gets all mad because Cuba beats him up because he thinks Canada is me…." Suddenly realizing his mistake he slapped a hand over his mouth. His eyes widened as he looked at Cora.

She, of course, was confused.

"Wait..Canada? Cuba?" She asked, obvious question marks above her head.

Alfred laughed nervously and tried to think up a cover story. After a few moments of silence however, and unable to come up with one. He resigned himself. He sighed, slapping his forehead a bit before going to her bed and sitting on it next to her. "Okay, listen Cora. There's….something I haven't told you about me and my friends. Now, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it before. But I guess, it's normal for me not wanting to talk about it. You see, I'm not really a normal human."

Cora snorted a bit and smirked. "I figured that out the day you saved me. No normal human could survive a fall like that. "

"Yeah, well.." he took in a breath and let it out. "Were not supposed to let humans know about us really. It would cause all sorts of problems and more often than not it's just better this way to have a wall. In fact, it was supposed to be that way for you too. But I can't help but feel that it's okay to tell you. I don't understand why myself…."

Cora gave a understanding smile. She knew of course why he felt that way, even if he didn't yet. She reached out a hand and placed it on his. "Alfred. I promise, I will take this secret to the grave. You don't have to worry."

He nodded slowly and began to tell her. "Me and my friends are…personifications of the Nations themselves. My name may be Alfred F. Jones, but I'm first and foremost known as The United States of America, or America for short."

Her eyes widened slightly. She had been expecting something weird all right. But this was beyond everything she even considered believing in.

"You….are…America?" she questioned.

He nodded. "Yeah more or less. I call my glasses Texas and this little piece of hair is known as Nantucket. " he grinned. "I've been alive as long as the nation has, even before that as well."

"You do realize that would make you over…." She thought for a bit.

"I'm well over 200 this past July." America grinned.

Cora's jaw dropped even further.

"Granted as a country I'm still one of the youngest. I'm nowhere near as old as England or France." He stated with some slight pride. "So I'm far from a old man!"

"Amazing…" Cora whispered, looking at Alfred.

Alfred looked surprised at her awe. "You believe me?"

"Why wouldn't I? I told you right? I believe in the unusual, like your friend Arthur." She grinned. "I think it's wonderful. Thank you for everything America." She went to bow a bit, but a coughing fit stopped her. Alfred quickly took her in his arms, rubbing her back until the coughing subsided. "No please don't do that Cora…it's okay….Calm down. Maybe I shouldn't have told you…" he didn't want to see her cold get worse because of all that information.

Even for someone as understanding as her, it was still a lot to take in.

"I'm fine…Alfred…." She said with a nod. Finally he released her when he saw that she was okay and sat back down on the chair near her bed.

"Sorry I didn't mean to make it worse." He grinned.

"No no, It's okay. I'm really glad you decided to share this with me. Speaking of. Since you told me about your friends. Can you tell me their countries?" she gave him a pleading grin.

At first he was hesitant. But finally gave in, heck what Hero wouldn't give in when a girl looked at him like that?!

"Well…Kiku is Japan, Ludwig is Germany, Feliciano is Italy..well half of Italy anyway, his other half is known as Romano, oh and I guess you already know Matthew is Canada, let's see…Francis is France, big surprise there…oh, Ivan is Russia. I'd advise you stay away from him unless you want to become one with Russia." Alfred shuddered. " Anyway, ah right Arthur is England, or Britain as he wants to be known from now on. Or you could just call him Iggy, Eyebrows or my favorite..Sconehead ehehehe…We rather call him those things to mess with his head. It's rather fun.."

"Alfred?" Cora tried to steer him back on topic. "Focus.."

"hmm? Oh right! Ha ha! Well let's see…theres.." Alfred continued his long list of countries and their human personas. It was really hard for Cora to keep track but she was happy that he seemed so excited to share this with her. That day she learned more about Alfred than anyone else probably ever knew.

Soon the sun started to set, and Alfred was going to leave soon. An emotion pulled at her heart. She didn't know what it was, a combination of fear and loneliness, but also acceptance. She looked at the setting sun and turned back to Alfred. "Thank you for sharing such an important secret with me. If you'd like, I will share one with you. A very important story in my family." She smiled sadly and looked as if she didn't want to tell him. But she felt it was only fair.

Alfred sat back, blinking. He hadn't expected this. Cora seemed so serious too, so all he could do was nod.

Cora closed her eyes and slowly began to imagine the scene. Finally she opened her mouth.

"Once upon a time, there lived a family of Fairies. Two parents, a young boy and a young girl. Now the Fairies were the royal family of the area. And to everyone else, they appeared to be the traditional family. However…one day the princess saw her parents fighting. She escaped the castle to collect some treasures. She loved to find new things that were different. She found a beautiful necklace with a stone that shone like the moon. Then when she went back to show her family, she saw…something terrible. Her father told her, if she said a word to anyone about this, he would rip off her wings. And afraid of her father's wrath, she did just that." Cora's bottom lip quivered, and her eyes were closed in concentration. She grasped her hands together and tried to focus on the rest of the story.

"The Fairy kept her word for years. She was afraid of her father. She knew he wouldn't hesitate to rip off her wings and leave her for dead. For without their wings, Fairies would be doomed to die slowly and painfully…as if stricken by a curse. Not being able to fly." She shook her head. "But, as time wore on…the Fairy princess could no longer hide the dark secret. It wasn't right. She had to tell someone. And she did…" Cora paused and looked up at Alfred who sat foreword a bit, hanging on her every word.

"And? What happened?" Alfred eyes widened slightly. "The father didn't…"

Cora closed her eyes and looked away a bit. "He did. He ripped away her wings."

"That's…..so.." Alfred clenched his teeth and looked angry.

"However, the rest of the Fairies banded together and destroyed the mad Fairy King. He was forever gone. But, they couldn't save the Fairy Princess. She died soon after, a slow and painful death.."

"That's….a terrible ending." Alfred said.

Cora smiled and turned to him. "Most Fairy Tales are like that you know. The ones told by things like Disney are versions that are much kinder. But in reality, most Fairy Tales have dark undertones and the hero doesn't always win…"

Alfred's gaze lingered on Cora as she spoke, those words seemed to stir something within him. His hero complex was crying that she was wrong. That it didn't make any sense! The hero would always triumph! How dare she say that the hero doesn't always win?!

On the other hand, his own past experiences in battle taught him otherwise. That was why he was trying to become the hero…that he wasn't before. As he fought this internal battle with himself, he noticed that she appeared to be tired. He stood up, trying to regain himself.

"You know, you really are as bad as England, so damn depressing!" he grinned. "With a story like that. You two are really pees in a pod!" he laughed.

Cora was surprised and frowned. "It's not a silly story! Its-" She broke off the sentence, afraid to say much more. She was clutching at something in her hand.

But Alfred simply laughed it all off. He didn't want to think about any of this anymore. "I'm sorry Cora. I just never did like Fairy Tales much. Arthur tried to tell me a lot as a kid and I ended up hating the ones he told me." He grinned sheepishly. "Forgive me?"

Cora huffed and crossed her arms across her chest. "No, that story is important to me…you can't simply apologize for that rude comment!" A little irritated she turned from him, looking out the window once more. She saw the sun setting and Cora closed her eyes.

Before they could say anything else, the nurse came in to shoo Alfred away. Before he was completely gone however, he shouted.

"I'll be back tomorrow!"

Cora watched him leave and her gaze turned sad. She looked down at the necklace she held, the stone in the pendent shining brilliantly like the moon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hetalia!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Alfred arrived the next day to visit Cora however, he was met with resistance.

The nurse and doctor told him that Cora would no longer be able to see anyone. He yelled at them, he fought hard to see her. But they were determined. Finally they had to call security to take Alfred outside. He could easily have taken down the man. But he also knew that doing that might cause an incident. Something he wanted to avoid at all costs.

The next day at the world meeting Alfred was furious. Even Japan could see the fury radiating off the normally cheerful country.

England and Japan carefully went up to the country.

"America-san, is there something the matter?" Japan asked nervously.

America shot him a glare, to which was broken by England slapping him upside the head. He growled and his glare switched to England, who stared right back at the younger man.

Fierce green met blue in a age old contest, neither of which willing to back down.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you git?"

"None of your business Sconehead!" Alfred shot back.

"It's obviously something for you to react like such a child!" The British nation yelled back.

"Oh excuse me for acting my age you old fart! What's your excuse?"

"Why you.."

Things looked about ready to boil over, until France appeared and smacked them both on the head.

"What the hell was that for?!" The two turned on the long haired nation.

France smirked and said. "I know you two need to let out some sexual tensions but it is not the time to, Amérique. What is the matter? You are not yourself."

America scowled and looked away. "It's Cora."

England frowned. "That girl you saved? What is wrong?"

"The hospital staff will no longer let me see her.." America growled. "And I don't understand why! I've been allowed to see her until then! I don't know why they suddenly won't let me see her and even call in the police to remove me from the hospital! Now I can't take one step into the place without being kicked out!" America started pacing, obviously very pissed off.

England watched him for a while. That boy would wear a hole in the floor if he didn't stop soon.

"Um, everyone? I might have a Id-" a voice whispered.

"Maybe one of us could go instead. Maybe they will let us in. If not we could sneak by them without anyone knowing better." Japan suddenly said.

The other three suddenly stopped and stared at Japan, who suddenly looked uncomfortable.

"Gomen, did I say something wrong?" Japan looked embarrassed.

"That's a wonderful idea Japon!" France said with glee. "And Notre petite Angleterre can do the honors of being our brave martyriser!"

"Um…."

England spun on France. "What the bloody hell are you thinking you wank!"

France grinned. "After all notre petite Angleterre. You are the only other one who knows what the belle fille looks like, non?"

"Guys?"

England growled, then saw the look in America's eyes. He looked away for a second, then finally sighed. "Fine! But after this no more of this nonsense! Got it you git?" he said to America.

America nodded. "Don't worry! As long as you figure out how to get me back in I won't bug you about this again Iggy I promise!" the nation smiled for the first time that day.

Meanwhile, the British speaking nation sighed. "What have I gotten myself into?"

And another nation sighed too, the one who had been trying to speak throughout yet no one had noticed him. "I was going to suggest that I go in, since no one really seems to notice me. But it seems I'm forgotten…again.."

The white polar bear looked up at the Alfred lookalike and asked, "Who are you?"

The lavender eyed nation looked about ready to cry. "I'm Canada…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hetalia!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I can't believe that bloody damn git talked me into this!" Arthur growled as he calmly walked into the hospital. Yet despite how calm he appeared on the outside, inside he was a little unnerved. The place was buzzing with activity. It actually wasn't hard for him to sneak past the front desk and down the hall to Cora's room.

Finally he made it and opened the door. But what he saw made his eyes go wide.

This Cora, she was much different than when he had seen her last. In fact, if he didn't know better…he would assume he had the wrong room.

"Cora?" England, took a few steps into the room, then stopped dead. She was connected to more machines than before, and her body appeared very thin and frail. Her skin was paler than before and her eyes almost held no life. But as soon as she saw him, her blue eyes widened slightly, a little of the light returning.

"What is going on?!" England demanded, alarmed by her state of health. America hadn't said that she had gotten worse…in fact he bragged to England that he made her smile more than once.

Cora sat up, not meeting his eyes.

"Why are you…are you…" Finally something clicked within England's mind. "Are you…sick?" and by this, England meant the other kind.

Cora met his gaze, that one look telling him everything.

"How…how long?" England managed to find the chair, sitting down and propping up his spinning head with one hand.

"Why didn't you tell us?!" he added. "We could have.."

"No.." Cora finally spoke, her eyes narrowed a bit. "No, you couldn't…No one could.." She took a breath. "I… I have been sick for a very long time Arthur. Even..even the doctors have given up on finding the cure." She laughed a bit, a hollow sound. "Even I have…" She stopped speaking suddenly.

England let those words sink in. "Y-you mean…that day…"

She nodded, smiling vaguely.

"Bloody hell!" he cursed. "Wait, with my magic I might.."

"No England. Don't." His head snapped up at his name and Cora put a hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry…Alfred told me..about you all…I…England your magic is the black type right? It…it won't work. Black magic can't heal what I have…I've already tried white magic…I've already tried so many times…but it's not. It won't work..it's a curse.." she whispered, shuddering.

"A curse?" Even England knew that curses were serious business. But who could have put a curse on such a young girl?

Cora, sighing nodded. "I couldn't stop him. From doing what he did." She whispered. "I suppose…this was my punishment." She fiddled with something in her hands. As he gazed down he noticed a pendent with a bluish white stone that shimmered.

"Who put you under this curse?" England demanded.

That hollow smile returned. "Would you believe me if I said my father?" England's emerald eyes widened at this.

"He told me never to tell anyone what he did. If I did he would curse me to death. That was his exact words." She laughed, gripping the pendent tightly and shaking her head. "But, I think in the end I believed that doing the right thing was worth it. So…I told the police that daddy killed mom and my brother.." A tear slid down her face.

Arthur gripped the arms of his chair tightly. He grit his teeth, afraid of what she would say next.

"They took him away…a month after, I was diagnosed with cancer…" Slowly her eyes wandered the room until they rested on the distraught nation. "It was caught too late. They tried to throw everything at it. But nothing worked. I even tried healers, witches, magic..I used everything I could. But now I was given the worse news. There was nothing they could do." She lowered her head. She didn't want him to see her break down.

"And because of that you tried to end your life that day.." Arthur whispered, understanding what she intended to do that day.

Her fractured smile appeared as she looked up over at him again. "Yeah, and your brother stopped me from completing my task."

England swore again, hand over his eyes. He leaned back. This girl was simply waiting to die, what a terrible feeling.

"Why didn't you tell him?" England finally asked.

Cora suddenly looked uncomfortable. "I….I couldn't. At first I didn't even believe he would visit me. I thought he would just go on his way. But…he came, you came. And..I felt something I hadn't felt in a long time..I was happy that someone wanted to be my friend..who would visit me. I became…selfish…"

"Wait, what do you mean? Don't you have friends?" England asked. But once he saw her face become unstable, he spoke again."You…don't have any friends?"

"When I got sick, and they knew it was hopeless, they all…" She trailed off, not wanting to remember the painful memories.

"They all abandoned you." England said in a cold tone, he cursed again. This time using words he learned from France and America.

Cora laughed a bit. "England…I mean Arthur, I can understand. They probably didn't want to feel the pain of losing someone important."

"Still, it doesn't give them the right to abandon a friend." England hissed. "Was that why you didn't tell us? You were afraid.."

Cora closed her eyes. "At first, yes. But then, when I became friends with Alfred …I realized that I had..gotten in too deep. Alfred…he can't know…he can't know I'm going to die Arthur! If he finds out…he will be so hurt and he will try to save me…but he can't!"

"Cora, blast it all!" England reached out and held her in his arms. Much like he did with Alfred as a child. Cora started to cry in his arms, England tried to hold onto her as tightly as he could. All he could think about was, why? Why did this have to happen?!

After she had calmed down, Cora pulled away from Arthur and wiped away her tears. "Please, don't tell him Arthur…I'm begging you."

"Love…you know I can't do that." Arthur said softly. "He…he deserves to know…"

"But…I can't…I don't want to see him.." Cora's voice was breaking.

"We..can't give up so easily..You have to believe that there is a way to save you.. I know let me ask some of my friends..Maybe.." Even as he spoke these words, Arthur himself had a hard time believing in them. She didn't have much time left, maybe another week or so. He had seen what sickness and cancer did to the human body. It wasn't pretty and he understood that this was just the cycle of life.

Still he didn't want to believe that this would happen. Alfred would be devastated if he found out. He could imagine how he would overreact and try everything…only for him to lose her. How England wished that he had the power to save her, for his sake above everything else.

Cora eyed him softly before smiling. "You really love him don't you?"

Arthur was startled from his thoughts by this question. "What the bloody hell do you mean?!"

"Alfred told me stories about you two." She grinned. "Especially about how much you two fight now even when before you both were so close. You really still do care about your brother don't you?"

Stumbling with his words, the Britain tried to deny what she was saying. However, he had a slight blush across his face and was averting his eyes.

Cora laughed and England blinked, looking at the girl for what it seemed like the first time. Her laugh, was this what made Alfred so happy? That sound of joy and happiness. Now he understood why the girl meant so much to him. This girl's laugh was much like America himself, the light within the darkness of their world. He himself couldn't help but lift his mouth into a smile.

"I suppose, I do still care for the git." Arthur muttered. "A little mind you, not much. Hardly anything.." he added.

"Right right!" Cora nodded. "I'm sorry.."

Surprised, Arthur gazed in her direction. "What do you…"

"I'm sorry I brought this upon you guys. Maybe it would have been better if I didn't let Alfred see me again afterwards. I just…"

"You just wanted to have friends. Something any normal human would want." England cut in, showing her a determined gaze. "Cora I swear to you, I will help you find a way to stop this. So please, promise me you won't give up yet. I know this is a lot to ask of you. But we have to try everything. Once you finally give in, that's it. You're gone. You don't want to say goodbye to us yet, do you?"

"I….." Cora looked lost. "I….don't..know..for so long I've thought nothing but when I will die. How long will I last? Now you're asking me…to keep believing that I can survive? Can you really help me?" She asked, looking at him like a lost child.

"I promise, me and Alfred and everyone will try to help you." The determination in his eyes made her body begin to feel warm.

"Is this what friendship feels like? It's been so long…I…" Her eyes widened suddenly and she doubled over, starting to cough violently.

"Cora?!" England leapt up and tried to rub her back to ease her coughing. But she only began to cough worse. "Cora!? Bloody hell! Cora hang on!" Frantic, he turned to get one of the doctors, but Cora grabbed his arm and held him back. He turned to her.

The coughing faded a bit, but he saw the blood on her hand and that made him freeze solid.

Blood…oh god….

"England.." She rasped. "I need to…ask you something….before.."

"No, don't speak Cora…wait until I get a doctor." He tried to leave again, but she held onto him firmly.

"No, please. Do…do you believe in reincarnation?" She finally coughed out, trying to keep on breathing. She had to stay conscious until he heard his answer.

Arthur looked at her, and thought about it. Finally he spoke. "I….I don't know.." it was the best he could answer. Cora smiled and coughed while laughing.

"America…Alfred….didn't know either. But I…want to believe England..I want to believe that even if I die…I can come back and meet everyone again.."

He stared at her, he didn't have time for that thought to process as he watched her fall back onto the bed, her eyes closing.

At that moment, everything spun out of control. England stood there, still as stone as the staff at the hospital swarmed the place. People pushed him out of the room, even as he yelled that he had to stay and make sure Cora would be okay. The doctors and nurses worked on Cora as she slipped into the darkness of her mind. And all Arthur could think was, is she going to die?

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed America's phone number, willing the blasted idiot to pick up his bloody phone.

One ring, twice, three times.

"Hello! You have reached the hero! America speaking!"

"No bloody time for pleasantries you yank! Get down to the hospital right now!" England all but screamed into the phone.

"Arthur? That you? What's going on down there?" America's tone of voice changed.

"Damn it all to hell! Just get down here America! Now!" He swore and hung up the phone, once more trying to get into the room that Cora was in. To no avail.

When America ran into the hospital, he spotted Britain, sitting down with his head in his hands.

"Arthur!" He yelled, almost out of breath. Japan, France and Canada had followed him after they had heard the troubling message from America. England slowly lifted his head and saw America. He got to his feet and looked sadly at him.

"Arthur what's going on? What's the deal with Cora?!" America demanded.

"America…I…." Japan noticed that England looked worn and defeated. Something that Arthur would never willingly show someone, he caught on before the others that something truly terrible was happening. His normally neutral brown eyes widened.

"Damn it Arthur stop stalling and tell me what's going on with Cora!" Alfred was starting to get pissed now.

"America…" The next one to understand it seemed was France, he placed a hand on the nation's shoulder. He turned to France, a look of pure agitation began to form. "No shut it France! I need to know what the hell is going on here!"

The silence around them was deafening.

Finally Alfred couldn't take it anymore. "Damn it! If you won't tell me than I will go see for myself!" He turned and ran towards her room.

Arthur looked afraid. "No! America don't!" He ran after him.

But what America saw when walked into Cora's room made his blood run cold. "Cora…." He whispered and England appeared behind him.

"She's….been sick for a very long time Alfred. Apparently, before she even met you."

America gripped the doorframe with his hand, the wood starting to groan and split the harder he grasped it. He spun around on the English man and grabbed him by the collar, pinning the older nation against the wall.

"You knew?! You fucking knew?!" Alfred hissed, "And you didn't fucking tell me?!" Alfred's normally calm blue eyes were raging like a sea in the middle of a storm. Arthur swallowed.

"N-now listen you twit! I only found out today!" Arthur shouted back. "I'm surprised that you didn't figure it out yourself with how thin she looked!"

Alfred's rage grew. "You bastard!"

"Now now calm down! Both of you!" France hissed, muttering some nasty words in French, he grabbed onto Alfred, as well as Japan. With the both of them, they managed to free England.

After he had adjusted his shirt and tie, England glared at America, who was staring back at the almost still form of Cora in the bed.

"She's in a coma." England continued to speak. "But..the doctors don't think she will last the day…"

"It's…that bad?" Japan whispered.

The England nation had closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. "She has a very bad type of cancer. The survival rate is close to zero. There's…nothing.."

"Don't you say that…" Alfred warned.

"America-san…"

"Damn it England don't you dare say what I think you are about to say! Cora can't die! She won't!" America turned to him, the anger had faded from his face, now there was only desperation.

Arthur didn't say a word.

"No!" America yelled. "I just saved her! I just fucking saved her! She can't die!"

"America…." England spoke softly.

"Damn it!" America slammed his fists against the wall, causing the plaster to fracture under the pressure and force of America's fists.

"She… she didn't want you to know because of how distraught you would be.." England said. "Like how you are acting now."

"Of course I'm acting like this! She…She was fine yesterday! We were joking and telling each other more about ourselves! She was fucking fine! I'm about to lose my good friend of course I would act like this!" Alfred's voice was hoarse.

Suddenly Alfred was taken back to the day she was standing upon the building. The way she looked at him.

"Wait..did…did she know…" His insides turned ice cold. "Did she know she was going to die…back…then?"

Canada put a hand over his mouth, he finally understood everything now.

"Yes." That one word syllable was the hardest thing to say.

Alfred froze for a minute, then seemed to lose all the strength in his legs. He fell onto his rear end, his back propped up against the wall and his arm covering his eyes. Suddenly he began to laugh. A crazed half hearted laugh.

"Then…then it was all for nothing…she didn't want to be saved because she knew she was going to die and I….and I saved her…..to live through more days of this hell…" America began to laugh again, the others looking on worried. I think they all were questioning the sanity of the American nation.

"This…this was in her hand." England held something out to America. It was a necklace. On that necklace was a stone. A beautiful white stone, as brilliant as the…

Alfred's eyes widened as he saw the object.

"The….story.." he muttered.

The others looked at him questionably.

Deflated, Alfred looked at the others and sighed. "She told me a story..a fairy tale about a cruel fairy king who killed his family. The princess had to make a decision to tell the others what he had done. Or keep quiet. She told everyone, even when she knew the Fairy King would rip out her wings and she would die. That necklace was exactly the one she told in the story.."

"I think..that she was trying to tell you a bit of her past. She told me that her father had killed her family and then once she told everyone. He cursed her to death." Arthur whispered.

Japan closed his eyes, France uttered a phrase. Canada still had his eyes widened in fright.

"A curse? But Arthur can't you.." Alfred started, but Arthur shook his head.

"Magic won't work with this one. She already tried to use healing magic, anything to get rid of the cancer. But..nothing worked. She had, given up all hope. She was alone here, with no one who cared for her or even bothered to visit her. I can't…imagine what that must have been like." England's voice faltered a bit at the end.

"Damn it! Did I…did I really do the right thing?!" Alfred looked on at the still form of Cora. "Was…was I really saving her?! Fuck!" Alfred could start to feel tears slide down his face. "Why can't I save her now?!" He clenched his teeth together and slammed his fists into the ground. "Why?! Why Cora?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"I…I think…" A soft voice said from behind them.

"Canada? Bloody hell, Since when were you here?" England asked, a bit startled by the boy.

"I've been here the entire time…" Canada commented, then walked over to Alfred and put a comforting arm around his brother. "Alfred…I think. I think that she didn't want you to be sad. She was scared to tell you because she was scared of what you might think…or try to do…"

Alfred lifted his tear stained face to Canada, who by this time had tears in his eyes as well.

"She wanted….you to not worry about her..even though she knew there was nothing anyone could do to save her.." Canada whispered softly.

"Still…if I had known…" Alfred muttered.

"You would have done what America?" England demanded. "What could you have possibly been able to do for her? She would have rather spent her last days seeing your smiling face and happiness rather than the pathetic face your making now!"

America shot another glare to Britain as he found his strength again. He began to stand up.

"She told me herself she didn't want you to know. She was worried you would frantically try anything to save her until you lost your wits. Do you not deny you would have done this?" England wasn't about to let him get away.

America turned on England and shot him the coldest glare imaginable. "Yes! Okay, that's what I would have done exactly!"

"Then she made the right choice." England said, his voice softening. "She wanted you to smile, till the end."

"But…I….cant…" America said painfully. He walked into her room, reaching her bed and grasping her hand into his. "Please…please. I don't know if I believe in a god or anything. But please. Please wake up Cora…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hetalia!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two days passed.

Cora was still in her coma. While she hadn't died yet, the doctors told them that she would likely not last by the end of the week. The cancer had begun to attack her lungs and liver. It was all they could do to keep her breathing.

After the initial battle with the doctors to let them stay, England finally convinced the doctors that they were all Cora had left. At that statement the normally strict head doctor met each of their gazes and finally nodded. He was with Cora from the beginning of her battle with this Cancer. He had seen the nations come and go and the look Cora had on her face as she met with them. While he at first followed her wishes to keep them away, he felt with Cora now in a coma..he could break her promise.

Several times they asked if they should pull the plug. But America insisted they keep her alive by any means possible.

He stayed by her side, a shadow of his former self. He no longer wore his trademark jacket. Now he was only in a rumpled white button up shirt and brown dress pants. His hear was disheveled and he was showing signs of fatigue. He had not slept nor gone home. He remained by her side, grasping the hand that was slowly becoming cold.

"I don't know what we should do." England whispered from outside the room. "The bloody idiot has lost it."

"Oui." France nodded. "For his sake we should..."

"Are you suggestion we should pull the plug?" Canada demanded. His frown deepened as he noticed them both looking away.

"Matthieu…I am not suggesting…"

"No, I understand exactly what you are saying. You want Alfred to snap out of this. I do too. But that is not the right way to save him." Canada said, staring hard at the other nations. "Taking away her life support will only make him angry."

"Better angry than…this.." England huffed, he crossed his arms across his chest and tapped a foot impatiently.

"Alfred needs to grieve." Canada said in a pain filled voice. "He's losing a friend…"

The others were silent as they watched on. Alfred was still gripping Cora's hand in his own. "Cora…why did you not tell me?" He whispered to her. "I want to help you. I want to save you! One of my own. You, are a wonderful human. A beautiful and strong American just liked I dreamed. But…you can't…you can't let this beat you!"

A half a hour later, America felt pressure on his hands. He blinked and looked at Cora, she was starting to wake up. He felt joy within him. This warmth spread through him and gave him extra energy.

"Cora?! Cora!" America cried in delight. Quickly the other nations ran into the room as Cora opened her blue eyes and looked at them all a slight smile forming.

"Hello…" She said softly.

England seemed to sigh in relief, but then his gaze drifted towards the heart monitor and his face turned pale.

"Cora?! I'm so happy you're awake! I have so much to say to you, but first…this is Canada, Japan and France…Iggy you already know.."

She gave each nation a look over and smile. "It's a pleasure..to meet you all. Kiku, Francis, Matthew.."

Canada gave the girl a soft smile and nodded his head.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well Cora-san."Japan said properly.

"Oui belle! It is my pleasure." France kissed her hand while giving her a naughty look. Cora blushed a bit and looked away.

"France don't sexually harass her!" America slapped his hands and mouth away from the girl. Cora couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"I think we should leave." Canada whispered to the others. They nodded in sync and everyone left but Alfred.

"It's good that Cora-san looks better.." Japan said with a small smile.

"Yeah, maybe she will.." Canada started.

"No…she won't…" England said, a hand over his eyes.

"Arthur?" Canada asked.

"…Her heart rate…it's….dropping.." England said, solemnly.

The alarm on the other nations faces made England close his eyes.

"We….we have to get a doctor." With a nod, the others ran to find the nearest doctor.

"Alfred?" Cora whispered, once the others were out of the room.

"Hmmm?" America asked, smiling softly at the girl.

"I'm…sorry I didn't tell you…I just..I was selfish. I wanted friends. I wanted someone to be around when I…but I didn't realize how much it would hurt everyone. Hurt you." She said softly.

Alfred looked down at her, tears threatening to slide down his face. "No Cora, I'm sorry I didn't see the signs. I ignored everything that was important. I should…I should have known. You said you didn't want to be saved. And I…I thought I would be the wonderful hero and save you. But you.."

"Alfred..can I ask you something?" Cora asked softly.

"Anything." He whispered.

"Do you think we can meet again in another life?" She smiled.

Alfred felt his heart drop. He clutched at her hands tighter, then heard a strange beeping noise from the heart monitor. His head snapped to the device and he turned back to Cora, panic in his eyes. "Cora…Cora!" He screamed as he saw her struggling to breathe.

Cora looked at Alfred as she felt her vision start to fade. Her only thoughts were of him and his friends.

Because…Alfred….I would be happy if…I could be your friend in the next life….

The doctors scrambled into the room as Alfred was still clutching her hand. Her hand, which suddenly felt like dead weight. Her warmth was vanishing. Her eyes were looking glazed over and even as the doctors pushed him out of the room he knew that she was gone.

He kept screaming her name, hoping in some way that his voice. His wishes would bring her back. He begged, he pleaded for anything, anyone to bring her back to life. To save her because he as a hero couldn't.

But they couldn't.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hetalia!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was another rainy day when the funeral took place. Alfred paid for it all himself. Since the girl had no family or human friends. He paid for her headstone as well. He also demanded that the nations come to her funeral. He didn't care if they had better things to do or whatever. He might have even threatened a few of them. But he was relieved when everyone came. Most of them came in black. Although some dressed in different colors, depending on their culture. Alfred was a mess through the entire ceremony. Especially when they were about to lower her coffin into the earth. He put a simple flower on the casket, placing his forehead on it. He whispered his response to her question. "I…hope we can meet again Cora…goodbye."

Once everyone was over, the Nations began to leave. Only a handful stayed. China, Canada, France, Japan, England of course, but what surprised him was Germany, Italy and Russia of all people stayed behind as well.

Germany walked up to Alfred, nervous. "Amerika, I am…sorry for your loss..she..the Mädchen must have meant a lot to you."

America nodded. "She was my friend.."

Germany looked at the nation pitifully. Then he nodded and saluted to him before turning back to Italy. Italy walked up to America and suddenly gave him a hug. America was surprised by the gesture and at first didn't know what to do. But he smiled sadly and let the Italian hug him, tears streaming down his face.

"Mi dispiace per la tua perdita. I'm sorry for your loss..." Italy whispered and then gave America a present with a smile.

"Lei continuerà a vivere dentro di te!" America looked at him questionably as the Italian ran to Germany.

Russia was next. He came up to the confused American with that creepy smile of his.

"What do you want Commie?" Alfred growled.

"Nothing." The man said simply. "Just wishing to convey my sympathies for your pain. And the fact that I am not the one causing it."

Alfred growled. "Drop dead."

The Russian man let out his creepy laugh before leaning in way past the American's personal space. "I think the one you really wish was dead was yourself comrade. Not being able to save her."

Something snapped within Alfred and he glared up hatefully at him.

The Russian continued with his arrogant smirk. "With all your boasting at being a hero and you cannot save the life of a little one."

"Shut up." He hissed, he was ready to launch himself at the Communist bastard when England and France held him back.

Canada sent a glare to the Russian who suddenly was looking sadly at the American. "Blaming yourself won't change anything.." Suddenly the Russian turned around and was gone.

America suddenly stopped struggling at Ivan's last words.

He was right of course. But he still didn't feel any better.

"Alfred.." England said gently. "We should get going soon. It's getting dark."

Alfred nodded, he looked back at Cora's gravestone one last time, tears streaming down his face. "Goodbye...Cora.."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hetalia!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been a couple months since her death and the other Nations realized that Alfred wasn't getting any better. Granted, all of them knew the pain of losing a friend. Even more so if they were human. But they had to admit. It was the first time any of them had someone die in such a manner. The only one who remotely had anything close to it was France and England.

"Damn it! That bloody Wanker is skipping out on the meeting again?!" England growled, slamming a fist on the table.

"Oui, he said he wasn't feeling well." France replied sadly.

Canada clutched the bear he held tightly, his face looking so depressed.

"Dummkopf! He cannot simply skip meetings!" Germany growled. "What is he denken?!"

"We…just need to give him time.." Canada whispered.

"He has had plenty of time! The git needs to get over and move on!" England hissed. "That girl is gone, never coming back!"

"Angleterre…" France put a hand on the trembling nations shoulder. "You and I both know this is about more than another human death. This is more complexe…"

England turned to France and closed his eyes. "I know…but he isn't the only one mourning or hurting. I can't stand this anymore. Seeing him like this."

"Oui. That girl I think touched all of us in some way. Which is why I believe time will heal Amérique's wounds. He will be okay. He is still a petit.."

England finally nodded. But still the last conversation he had Cora had still rung in his mind. He wasn't sure if he believed in reincarnation.

However, he wanted to. If only to see Alfred smile once more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hetalia!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

America held up the necklace to the light. The bluish white stone shimmered in the sunlight. Sighing he sat back against a park bench. Just like the day before he thought about Cora. At first he just missed her. She was a kind and impressive creature. And different. Very different from other humans he knew. He cracked a smile, remembering her eyes as they sparkled while talking about magic and Fairy Tales. He also remembered her laugh. He had wanted to hear her laugh more. He wanted to talk to her, to go to events with her and listen to her ideas. At first he didn't understand why he was so drawn to her. But after much thought, he realized something. From the first moment he saw her standing upon the building, he felt a connection with her. Not anything romantic or what not. But something more like a sibling bond? A friendship? No it was more than that. Maybe a part of his family? She was his citizen after all...While she had been missing the important emotion that Alfred had in spades, she did have a lot of courage. He could give her the hope and the laughter she had been missing.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder, Why?! Why had everything gone so wrong?! Clutching at the necklace, he stared at it as he remembered her last conversations with him. Had he really saved her?! He had prevented her death that day. The very same death she had wanted! She was sick, going to die. She had nothing left to live for. So why?! Why did he save her?! Was his Hero complex that overwhelming that he didn't read the atmosphere again?! Was it the right thing to do?!

He was beginning to believe that he should have just let her fall. It was, what she wanted. But instead he saved her, only for her to die painfully in a bed. Watching her be destroyed by her own body tore him apart.

He didn't know! What was the right thing to do?! Let her die on the pavement or die in a hospital bed?! What choice did he have?! Did he make the wrong decision!? Could she have been saved?! Fuck! Had he only noticed sooner! If he had only seen the signs!

But, she didn't want him to know. His stomach twisted. She didn't want him to know she was ill because of what he would have done. He would have searched for the cure, he would have done everything humanly and nationally possible to save her. Instead, she chose not to. She had already given up hope. She had given up on believing in any salvation.

Shit! He was starting to feel the sickness all over again. His stomach churned, imaging the laughing girl transform into that...that lifeless corpse..

It wasn't fair. She didn't deserve any of that. No one did. But it still happened. In his great and wonderful United States, things like this happened every day. And everyday he ignored it. He could feel when people died, know their names and ways they died. But nothing had shaken him this badly before. She should have been just another American who died. Just another drop in the bucket. But no, she was important because he had to be a hero and save her.

But he didn't save her, in fact...he had helped to kill her. He laughed bitterly. He was no hero. Not to her, not to anyone. If he couldn't save one girl. He didn't deserve to be a hero.

Not anymore.

His country was founded on freedom, on diversity, on life. He wanted all his Americans, all of his children to live like he did. Try their best, live strongly and live free! She..she tried so hard to live like that. But in the end, all that she got was death. He felt ashamed. Ashamed of those who had abandoned her, and ashamed of those who had hurt her. America wasn't perfect, he knew this. Why?! Why was this hurting so much?! He wanted to be her hero! Someone's hero!

"I am a idiot.." America muttered, still locked within the depths of despair in his mind. He felt like he was going in circles. A never ending cycle of memories he wished he could forget. He was no hero, and he wasn't sure he wanted to pretend to be the hero anymore. His facade was over, done.

The facts: Cora was dead, a curse...well Cancer killed her, She knew and met her death with grace. But...at least she wasn't alone.

He gave her something at least.

Everyone was there for her until her last breaths. He was there until she was gone.

She didn't have family or friends, so...was she happy in those last moments? England said she was. She was happy to have friends. That was the only reason she let Alfred get close to her.

So, was that worth it?..He looked up at the sky. "Cora.." he whispered. "were you happy to have friends? Did that make your last days worth it?" He closed his eyes, listening to the wind. It floated across his face in a soft caress. He smiled.

"Cora... I'm sorry...I couldn't save you." He trembled, tears falling once more. "If I could do it all over again. I would...I would save you at whatever the cost. I would have saved your life."

"Damn it.." he hissed. "I want to go back...I want to go back and fix all the mistakes I did...but...I cant! I'm so frusterated!"

It would be several years before America would smile again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hetalia!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

10 Years Later

Alfred had ignored walking down the same road to get to the World Confrence. He had taken detours, cars, even buses to avoid walking down the same street where he first met her.

But, after ten years. Memories begin to fade, and so do emotions. He had begun to feel more like himself about three years after she died. Mostly due to his fellow countries, but also a conversation with England and Canada helped him realize a few things.

While he didn't shout to high heaven he was the hero, he did resign himself that he had made the right choice to save Cora that day. In the end, she had friends. Which meant more to her than anything else. She was happy. And because of that, Alfred was okay too.

Still, he regretted not being able to save her. He later tried to find her father in prison to confront him, and maybe let out some pent up agression.

But he had learned the man died. A year after Cora did. He felt some rage that the one responsible for all of this outlived his daughter. But, he couldn't hate a corpse. So, he turned it into something positive. He talked to his boss, the president and demanded more research on how to cure the Cancer she passed away from. He couldn't let another girl go through what Cora did. He consumed his mind with it, and it helped.

He also made more friends with humans. He knew he was breaking the taboo. Nations becoming too friendly with humans was dangerous and could result in disaster.

But, after everything. Alfred wanted to take the chance. Call him a glutton for punishment.

He stopped, staring up on the roof of the building where he first saw her all those years ago. He glanced up, seeing a phantom girl, drenched and looking down at him. He smiled sadly.

He also thought about that question she seemed to ask everyone. Did he believe in reincarnation? Would they meet again?

He took a bite of the burger in his hand and started to hum a tune, he took a couple steps until he felt something run and bump into his legs.

Blinking he stared down at a little blonde hair, blue eyed girl.

"Ow..." She whined and looked up at Alfred. She gave a smile and laughed. And Alfred felt his heart leap.

"Sorry Mister!" The girl giggled and dusted herself off.

He smiled down back. "No worries! Hey! Where are your parents?"

"Dunno, lost them around here somewhere!" She shrugged and looked around.

This girl, she resembled Cora so much. Not just her appearence.

"Well then." He knealed down to her height and smiled at her. "Let's go find them. My name is Alfred."

The girl studied him for a bit, then reached out and took his hand. "Okay! The fairies told me you are a nice man! So I will believe you, even if you are a stranger! My name is Cora!" the girl smiled.

America felt his heart stop again, looking down at her and shaking his head.

It couldn't be...could it?

That smile he had long lost suddenly returned to his face. "Cora it is then. Hey you like Fairy Tales?" he asked with a smirk.

The girl looked at him for a second, then grinned. "Only the ones with happily ever after! Some of them are pretty scary you know!"

"Do you want to hear one?" America asked.

"Only if it has a good ending!"

"It does. It's about a Fairy who lost her wings, and the hero who befriended her. They lose each other, but in the end, they find each other again."

Cora...I believe...

Let's learn languages with Hetalia!

vous Scone bâtard- You scone bastard

Halt die Klappe- Shut up

zum Schweigen bringen – Silence

petit frère- Brother

mon bête- My beast

Se calmer my little sourcil- Calm down my little eyebrows

Notre petite Angleterre – Our little England

Martyriser- Martyr

Mädchen- Maiden

Mi dispiace per la tua perdita- I'm sorry for your loss

Lei continuerà a vivere dentro di te- She will continue to live within you...

That's it! I hope you enjoyed it!