Disclaimer: The interpretations of the countries used in this fanfiction belong to Hidekaz Himaruya. Except Prussia. He's too awesome to belong to anyone.

Author's note: It's kind of been awhile since I posted anything, hasn't it? I'm sorry. My writing muse decided to take most of the summer off (either that or my drawing muse looked her up in a closet.) Hopefully, I'll get her back now that school's started.

"Hey, Canada! Can you do me a favor?"

Canada sighed as his brother burst into his room. How was it that the only time America noticed him was when he needed something from him?

"What is it?" Canada asked.

"You heard about England, right?" America asked.

Canada nodded and hugged Kumakyo a little tighter. The whole world had heard about England's accident. Canada had been rather worried, but he and England had never been that close, so he had decided against visiting the nation that had once been his protector. England probably didn't want to see him. It had always been America who mattered to England. Only America. Canada was just another reminder of how weak England had become. And the fact that Canada so closely resembled America seemed to only annoy the older nation further.

"So, what about him?" Canada asked.

America looked nervously at the floor. Canada had never seen him like this before. No. That wasn't quite right. There had been one other occasion. Just before the beginning of the American Revolution…

"Hey, Canada?" America said.

He seemed worried about something. Canada's curiosity was immediately aroused. America was always so upbeat and happy.

"Yeah?"

"I need some advice."

"On what?"

"I don't know what to do," America admitted. "I've always been England's colony. He's always looked after me. Even though he hasn't always been the best big brother, he's done his best to care for me. But I want freedom. I want to be my own country. I can't be subject to his whims anymore."

Canada wasn't sure how to reply.

"What should I do?" America continued in a soft voice. "I want to be free, but he says I'm just being impulsive again. He says I'm not responsible enough to handle being my own country. And, if I do this, I can't go back. What if he's right? I could die."

"You've been handling yourself fine for the last few decades," Canada pointed out. "I'm sure you'd be okay."

It wasn't what he wanted to say. He wanted to tell America the real reason England wanted him to stay, but he didn't dare.

"You're right!" America realized, regaining most of his usual composure. "Of course I can handle myself!"

He left without even a thank you, but for once that didn't really bother Canada. He wasn't sure he really deserved one. As both America and England suffered throughout the war, he often wished he had had the nerve to tell America the truth. He wondered if it would have changed things.

"Can you visit England for me?" America asked quietly. "You know, pretend you're me and go talk to him?"

Canada nearly dropped Kumajelly.

"What? Why?"

America didn't answer for a moment.

"Because every time I see England, we end up yelling at each other," he said. "If he's dying, I don't want him to think I hate him. I mean, I do hate him, of course, but fighting with him while he's dying wouldn't be very heroic. But you're good at not yelling at people. No one will notice the difference."

"England will," Canada replied. "You should visit him yourself. It's not very heroic to try to send a substitute."

"Yeah, you're right," America agreed.

Canada sighed as America left as quickly as he had come. Was his brother really that oblivious? Did he really not know that England loved him? It was a question Canada had pondered more than once. In the end, he always decided that, yes, America was that oblivious. What an idiot.

XXXX

For a few days, Canada was left mostly at peace. Maybe America had a tendency to burst in and demand pointless favors a bit more often than usual, but it was hard to tell. America could be very hard to read at times.

"Hey! Canada!" America once again burst into his room.

"What is it this time?" Canada asked.

It couldn't be a lack of hamburgers or soda, because America had both in his hands. Maybe something he saw while surfing the web?

"France called!" America told him. "He said England's recovering! He's gonna be fine!"

"That's great," Canada said.

"Yeah, France said that- Oh my god! Is that a Grim Reaper costume?"

Canada nodded.

"It's for Halloween," he explained. "I figured I should be something more recognizable than a ghost this year."

"I just had a super awesome heroic idea!" America declared. "Come on! Let's go visit England! You can put the costume on while we're on the plane!"

"What are we doing?" Canada asked.

America ignored him.

"This is gonna be hilarious!"

XXXX

Later, Canada slipped into England's room dressed in his Grim Reaper costume as France (who was already in on the joke) distracted the older nation. It was ridiculously hot, the mask itched, and he'd been forced to leave Kumakida at home, but there had been no stopping America this time. Soon after Canada was in place, standing behind the headboard of England's bed, France left and America bounced into the room.

"Hey, England!" he called.

England looked towards the door.

"Hello, America."

America's cheerful demeanor disappeared. He clearly hadn't expected England to look this bad.

"You okay?" he asked.

England didn't answer.

"What happened?"

"Well, I was trying to build a super-weapon, and Scotland got drunk and well, you know how it is. I'm not sure I'm going to survive this one."

"You can't die!" America declared. "You still owe me a ton of money!"

He didn't seem to be acting. Had he forgotten that France had just told them England was getting better?

"America, I don't have much time left," England said. "I just wanted to tell you something."

"England?"

"I don't hate you," England admitted. "In fact, I-"

Canada hurriedly clamped his hand over England's mouth. The small amount of chloroform on his glove worked quickly. England was out like a light in seconds.

For a second, America looked genuinely worried. Then, he noticed that England was still breathing and grinned.

"Dude! England's finally dead!" he announced loudly. "Let's go get some drinks!"

As expected, England sat bolt upright.

"What!"

America doubled over laughing.

"I told you it would work!"

I never argued with you, Canada thought, but he said nothing aloud.

XXXX

Later that night, back at his own home, Canada sat staring at Kumamichii.

"Why did I do that?" he wondered.

"Who are you?" Kumaluma asked.

"I'm Canada," Canada replied.

"What did you do?" the bear asked.

"England was about to confess his love to America and I stopped him," Canada explained.

"Why'd you stop him?"

"Well, England thought he was dying," Canada said. "He never would have said anything if he thought he might live. Besides, who knows how America would have reacted. Being rejected by America would have broken England's heart. They'd probably never speak to each other again. I don't want to see that."

"That's not it," Kumadoom replied. "There's another reason, isn't there?"

Canada looked at the floor.

"You're right, Kumidojo," he admitted. "But it's a really stupid and selfish reason."

"It can't be that bad," the bear insisted.

"I'm afraid," Canada told him. "America, England, and France are the only ones who ever notice me. But if America and England get together, they might forget about me. I don't want that to happen. Right now, America always confides in me because no one else will listen to him. But what if England's there for him? He won't need me at all."

"I notice you," Kumado pointed out.

"You never even remember who I am," Canada reminded him.

"Well, you always pronounce my name wrong," Kumittee retorted. "Anyway, why don't you try to make new friends with other countries? Maybe people will notice you more if you try to talk to them."

"You know how much trouble I have with names," Canada said. "Remember how long it took me just to memorize the names of America, England, and France? I had their names written on my hand for decades. I still get them wrong sometimes."

"You'll never know if you don't try," Kumachiro told him.

"That's true," Canada admitted. "I should make more friends!"

"But that still doesn't solve the problem of what I should do about America and England," he realized. "I kind of messed up England's chance back there. Should I tell America the truth? Maybe I should just let events take their course. England's bound to get another chance eventually. That would probably be best."

"You said yourself that he wouldn't tell America unless one of them was dying," Kuma-um-whatever pointed out. "And there's a war on. What if one of them gets killed in action and they never know the truth?"

"You're right," Canada agreed. "I should definitely tell America how England feels about him. In fact, I'll go do that right now! Thanks Kumajiro!"

"Go for it, Canada!"

Canada didn't even notice the fact that, for the first time, they had both remembered each other's names.

XXXX

Canada burst into England's room.

"America!"

"Shh!" England hissed. "He's asleep."

Canada took in the scene. England was in a roughly seated position, propped up on a mound of pillows. Beside him, America had fallen asleep with his head resting on England's shoulder. A thick book lay on England's lap.

"He fell asleep halfway through Hamlet," England whispered. "He's never made it to the end of that one."

"That's probably a good thing," Canada replied. "He would hate the ending."

England smiled.

"You're probably right."

Canada gathered his courage.

"You should tell him!" he declared.

"What?"

"You should tell America that you love him," Canada continued, gaining confidence with every word. "There's a war on and you never know what could happen tomorrow. What if he dies thinking that you didn't care about him? What if you die never knowing how he really feels about you? What if you only work up the courage to tell him when one of you is dying, and you find out that he loves you just as much as you love him? You used to be the greatest empire in the world and now you're terrified that America will destroy you with just a single word. So what if he does reject you? At least you'll know, right? At least you won't just be sitting around moping and worrying all the time! But I don't think he'll reject you. He cares about you a lot more than he'll ever let on. He's always trying to be the hero, because he wants you to be proud of him! He wants you to love him again! At the very least, he wishes you'd stop hating him! And all you do is push him down, because you're afraid to admit that you love him!"

The words seemed to just roll right out of his mouth. He felt stronger than he ever had. And for probably the first time, another nation was really listening to him.

England laughed softly.

"I guess you know you're doing something wrong when Canada is yelling at you," he remarked. "I've never seen you so worked up."

"I'm just really tired of having to listen to him whining all the time," Canada lied. "Please promise you'll tell him."

"I'll try," England agreed. "But I can't promise anything. Do you know how hard it is to tell the person you love how you feel about them?"

"It's not hard," a third voice spoke up.

England and Canada turned to look at America.

"How long have you been awake?" Canada asked.

"Since you slammed open the door and yelled my name," America replied nonchalantly. "Here, England, I'll show you how easy it is."

He looked England straight in the eye.

"I love you."

"I love you too, you bloody idiot," England replied. "But you already knew how I would respond. That's cheating."

"All's fair in love and war," America replied. "Anyway, if you had any sense at all, you'd have figured out how I felt a long time ago."

Canada backed out of the room and shut the door behind him. Neither of them had told him to leave, but he had a feeling that was mostly because they'd forgotten he was there. He was used to it.

He turned around and immediately collided with another nation.

"Oh, sorry," the nation said. "I couldn't see you over the glow of how awesome I am."

"It's fine," Canada replied. "Most people have a tendency to not notice me."

He remembered Kuma-what's-his-face's suggestion. Making new friends. Right. Might as well start now. He looked at the silver-haired nation in front of him.

"You're, um, Russia, right?" he said.

"Close, but not quite," the nation told him. "I am the awesome Prussia! And you're Canada. That little country in South Africa?"

"Um, well, actually I'm above America," Canada corrected him.

"Oh, right, sorry," Prussia said. "I'm really bad at geography."

"Don't worry about it," Canada replied. "I can never remember anyone's name."

"Is that why you never talk to people?" Prussia asked.

Canada nodded, blushing furiously. He'd never actually admitted that to anyone before.

"Hey! I have an idea!" Prussia announced. "Why don't we stick together? I'll remember people's names and you can remember where they are! Is that an awesome idea or what?"

"You mean, like friends?" Canada asked.

"Exactly!" Prussia replied. "You catch on quick."

"But what about the war? Aren't we kind of on different sides?"

"What sides?" Prussia asked. "I don't have a country anymore and you're neutral, right? And even if we were on opposite sides, it's not like the war's going to last forever."

"That's true," Canada agreed.

"So, how's England?" Prussia asked.

"He's fine!" Canada insisted hurriedly. "He's talking to America right now, so you probably shouldn't disturb them."

Prussia smirked.

"And by talking I'm guessing you mean f-"

"I mean talking!" Canada insisted.

"I was going to say fighting," Prussia assured him. "But your interpretation works too."

"Oh."

"So are they f-"

"NO!" Canada shouted.

"Sensitive much?" Prussia remarked. "Just kidding. It's kind of cute, actually. Are they at least making out?"

Canada considered for a moment.

"Probably."

Thanks for reading.

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