The small boy stumbled and nearly fell over.
He had been walking for quite a while, though if anyone bothered to ask, he couldn't give an exact amount of time. He also couldn't tell them where he was going, as he didn't know himself.
The only question he could possibly answer was, "Why are you alone?"
The boy had been living with his mother a long time ago, in a place far away from where he was now.
He loved his mother, with her long golden hair and bright blue eyes, and she loved him.
They were always together, until one day when his mother left him alone with an old man who she called the only human they could trust.
Then she left, and didn't come back. He never knew what happened to her.
The old man seemed to know what happened to his mother, but he wouldn't tell the boy. The boy hated the old man for not telling him what happened to his mother.
Still, the man was nice to the boy for the most part, and he cooked delicious food, so the boy enjoyed living with him.
The little boy lived with the old man for what felt like a very short time to the boy, but was a very long time for the man, as well as all the other "humans". The man died, and the boy was alone in the fancy house they had once shared.
He lived alone in the house for a while, before some of the other humans made him leave. They chased him away from the house, and away from the place the house was in.
They yelled at him as they chased him, calling him a monster.
He didn't like the yelling, so he ran as fast and as far as he could, until he could no longer hear the people yelling at him.
That was a long time ago, and he knew he was far, far away from the fancy house he had shared with the old man, and even farther away from where he'd once lived with his mother.
He was hungry; he hadn't eaten anything since the day before, and all he had then was some berries.
But, more than that, he was lonely. He had never been alone for this long before.
When he was really young, he had been with his mother all the time; when his mother vanished, he lived with the old man; and when the old man died, the boy still had people around, even if he didn't actually live with them. Now, he was all alone.
He had seen people as he walked, but he never spoke to them; he was afraid that if he spoke to them, they would start yelling at him and chasing him, just like the people he used to know.
The last time he had seen people was over a week ago, and the last time he had seen a town was well over a month ago.
So, when he heard laughter, the boy was surprised.
There weren't any towns nearby, as far as he knew, and if people had walked here from a town, he didn't think they'd be laughing. He definitely didn't feel like laughing after walking so far.
But, the sound made him curious, so he ignored the growling of his empty stomach and the aching in his feet, and walked towards the sound. He followed the sound to a large meadow, full of beautiful flowers.
The source of the laughter were two people; a handsome man wearing strange-looking armor and a little boy who looked to be about the same age as him.
Both of them had dark brown hair and slightly tanned skin, and both looked very happy.
The man was playing with the boy, and telling jokes that made them both laugh.
For a moment, he was terrified of these new people. What if they were like the humans he knew, and were cruel to him?
But…they didn't seem like humans, not at all. They looked like they were human, but when he looked at them, a strange feeling coursed through him; the same feeling that he'd always felt when he was with his mother before she left. That, coupled with the fact that they both seemed friendly, helped him make his decision.
He grabbed a fistful of the flowers that surrounded him (also pulling up a few weeds in the process) and walked over to the man and the other boy.
He walked so quietly that they didn't seem to notice him until he was within a few steps of where they were sitting and talking.
The other boy's green eyes seem to light up as he smiled at him and then looked up at the man.
"Look Senor Rome," the brown-haired boy said, a wide grin on his face as he pointed in the direction of the other boy, "Another Nation."
The man, Rome's, own eyes, which were colored like amber, widened slightly at the statement the boy in his lap had made. He looked from his young charge, and back to the boy who had apparently decided to greet them.
The poor child was obviously hungry, tired, and above all else, terrified. His hands clutched a bunch of flowers and weeds, an obvious attempt to try and win over the elder Nation and the young personification in his care.
"Those are pretty flowers, aren't they, Spain?" Rome asked, the question directly to the smaller brunet Nation, though his warm smile was directed to the other child.
Spain nodded and grabbed onto Rome's hand as the older personification stood up and stepped towards the little blond boy with the flowers and weeds in his hand.
The child stepped back nervously as the much large man approached him, his eyes wide with fear. He relaxed slightly as Rome went down on one knee, making it so he was not quite so large compared to the child.
"It's very nice to meet such a nice little boy" Rome said, smiling at the blond child, before nodding in Spain's direction.
"This is Spain; I'm sure he'll be wanting to play with you soon" he said, to which Spain nodded his head wildly, a wide grin on his face.
"And, I" he continued, "am the great Roman Empire."
The boy's blue eyes widened in what appeared to be awe; clearly he had heard of the Roman Empire.
"And, what is your name, little one?" Rome asked, once again smiling at the blond Nation.
The boy was silent for a moment, as though unsure of how to answer.
He looked from Rome, to Spain (who was smiling eagerly at him), and back to Rome, who was now holding out his hand as though offering to shake.
After a second, the boy took the older Nation's hand and answered his question: "My name is France."
Disclaimer: I do not own Axis Powers Hetalia, nor do I own any of the countries depicted in this story. Hetalia belongs to Hidekazu Himaruya and Funimation Entertainment, while the countries are owned by themselves and their citizens.
This is a (very) late Christmas gift for my good friend, Emperor Itaelia. Hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed your gift to me, Itaelia.
This story is based on a headcanon of mine, in which France wasn't found by Rome before taken in by him, but instead, he found Rome (and Spain) after being forced from his childhood home.