'Ah, Saint Valentin. You can practically taste the love in the air. So beautiful~' France thought to himself, chuckling. He is the country of love, so why shouldn't his favorite holiday be Valentines day?
He was humming as he walked down the streets of Paris, watching the many couples go about. The holiday wasn't till the next day, but the whole city smelled of flowers and chocolate.
As he walked, he saw ten surprise gifts, seven proposals, and countless hugs and kisses. It was all simply marvelous in his opinion.
After stopping to get some lunch, he walked to his home. It was a luxurious three floored manor, with the look and feel of the Versailles. It's gardens were overflowing with roses, most of them climbing the outside of the house, the way he liked it.
He walks in the door, takes off his coat, and walks over to his office, taking note that paper chains of pink, red, and white were hung up.
"Ah! The decorations look lovely! Perfect for the party! oh ohn ohn~!" He exclaimed with delight.
He was hosting his annual 'Saint Valentin' party for his fellow countries. He had everything planned out, the food, the decorations, the music, everything planned.
It started at 4:00, so he still has some time left to get things ready.
~le time skip~
The party was in full swing. Everyone was there.
Germany was over in the sitting room with Italy, the former stuffing his face with pasta. Austria and Prussia had found the music room and were goofing off in there with Hungary. Russia was following America around as he was grabbing as many snacks as he could carry. America also remembered to grab some of his boyfriends favorites too. Though it may not seem like it, America really does care about Russia. Turkey and Greece were having an arm wrestling match, Greece having a cat on his shoulder, per usual. Japan was spectating this match, drinking some tea. China was in the kitchen making food cause he didn't like the food France had laid out. Romano was in the other room, complaining about the music while Spain sat with him trying to get him to join him in dancing.
France was enjoying the atmosphere of the party. He only had to break up one fight between Turkey and Greece, so you can tell they're enjoying the party. As he was walking around, he noticed Canada and Kumajirou were sitting alone by the wall. 'well, thats not how you look at a party…' france thought to himself, frowning. He walked over to Canada and put his hand on his shoulder.
"why aren't you enjoying the festivities? Its Saint Valentin, mon fils. You should be enjoying yourself!"
Canada just sighs and looks at the party goers with a sad smile. France frowned again. "hey, are you alright? You seem…sad." Canada sighed again and looked at France.
"I'm fine. Its just…." he faltered.
"Whatever is wrong, you can tell me."
He looked at France and cleared his throat.
"its just that…no one even notices me. So I'm gonna spend valentines day by myself….again…" he said, his head falling. Then he heard and indignant grunt. He chuckled and pet kumajirou on his head. "I didn't forget you, kumajirou."
The little polar bear mumbled something along the lines of "you better not of" and harrumphed.
The two countries chuckled at the bears antics. Then Canada fell silent again France noticed this and put his hand on the young country's shoulders. Canada looked at France and smiled. Suddenly a light bulb went off in France's head.
"Oh mon Dieu! That's it!" he suddenly yelled, making Canada jump.
"whats it?" Canada said warily
"i know how to make your valentines day much better! Ill come over to your house and we can celebrate it together! We can open a bottle of wine, watch a movie, just some father son time. Hows that sound?" he said cheerfully.
Canada looked surprised, but then he smiled brightly. "that sounds wonderful, France! I would like that very much."
France smiled hugely and suddenly grabbed Canada into a hug, him making a muffled 'oomph!'. france chuckled and then, after a good minute, released canada from his hold. Canada re adjusted his glasses and smiled brighter than he's had in a while.
Suddenly there was sounds of shuffling and crashing coming from the other room, along with some yelling and a few people canting 'FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!'
France groaned and put hid palm on his forehead. "there they go again. Ill go get Germany to break those two up." France briskly walked to the other room, Canada chuckling at Turkey and Greece's antics. He smiled to himself. 'I wont be alone this year.'
"hey kumajirou, we wont be alone this year. Isn't that great?" he asked the white bear.
"yeah that would be nice, but….who are you, again?"
Canada chuckled at the bears inquisitive look and answered, "I'm Canada, remember?"
"oh, okay."
After Germany broke up Turkey's and Greece's fight and separated them into different rooms, the party went on, Prussia starting up a karaoke contest. Italy sang a song about pasta, per usual. America dragged Russia to do a duet, and was clearly outmatched, cause Russia had an amazing singing voice. Everyone was so surprised at that, and America seemed a little down after that, but Russia gave him a hug saying that he's the best, no matter if he could sing or not. He seemed happier after that.
The party started winding down later into the evening. Prussia had passed out drunk, so Germany had picked him up and carried him. Turkey and greece had finally put up a (forced) temporary truce till after the holiday. America decided to spend the night with Russia, so he went with him. There were some playful remarks about what they were going to do, but they quickly stopped after Russia had given them "the look", as America called it, and then wrapped an arm around America and they went home.
Canada went home, put his coat up, and went to bed, quite tired from the party. He was anticipating the next day, so he had a bit of trouble falling asleep, but eventually he started snoring, kumajirou snuggled up under his arm.
~the next day~
France had woken up early, eager to spend time with canada. He got up, stretched, and set to his daily routine, which mostly consisted of fixing his hair so that way it would be perfect.
When that was done, he grabbed a bottle of wine and a bottle of ginger ale, Canada's favorite. He also picked out some movies that they would both like. After putting everything into a basket, he left his house, making his way to Canada's house.
~le time skip~
he walked up the walkway to Canada's front door and knocked.
No answer.
'hmm…that is very strange. Is he not home?' he thought to himself.
"Canada? Bonjour! Are you home?" he called out.
Silence
Getting worried, he went to open the door, surprised to find it open.
"hello? Are you here?" he called out again. This is when he heard muffled sobs coming from the other room. Now even more worried, he put the basket down and rushed into the room where the sobs were coming from. He walked in to find Canada kneeling on the floor surrounded by….valentines. There were almost a dozen of them scattered around the shivering form. He rushed over to the country on the floor, pulling him into a hug.
"shh. Shh. Mon cher, what is wrong? Why are you crying?" he said, hugging him tightly to his chest. Canada just buried his face into France's chest, sobbing. France just held him, rocking him and whispering "its okay, it'll be alright," and then singing a lullaby tat he sang to Canada all those years ago.
Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques,
Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?
Sonnez les matines, sonnez les matines
Ding ding dong, ding ding dong.
Eventually, the sobs slowed and quieted. France slowly pushed Canada off his chest, making him look at him.
" there, there, mon cher, all better?" he asked quietly.
Canada sniffed, then nodded. France smiled, then hugged him again.
"now, why were you crying? What happened?"
Canada looked away and france followed his line of sight, his eyes landing on the valentines on the floor. He reached over and grabbed them, looking at them closely. One was hand drawn somewhat crudely, with a superhero on the front, on the inside was a handwritten message, which said, "hey, little bro! I hope you have a totally awesome valentines day!
~ America"the hero"
There were many more like it, with beautiful messages written in them. There was one from all of their fellow countries. Even Germany sent him one. He looked over to Canada confused. Canada had then started to cry again.
" th-th-they r-rememb-bered me….they d-didn't forget m-me…" he stuttered out, his ability to talk leaving him as he dissolved into sobs.
France, with tears in his eyes, reached over and pulled him into another tight hug. Canada started to sob again, repeating "they remembered me!" over and over again. France, tears flowing freely, whispered, "yes, mon cher, yes, we all remembered you. You're not invisible. We all love you."
They stayed like that for a good while, crying. Eventually, the crying stopped,and then they separated. France kissed canada on the top of the head, and said sweetly " there now, got it all out?"
Canada wiped his eyes and nodded with a small smile.
France smiled back. "good. Now, lets get this cleaned up, and watch some movies with a good glass of wine."
Canada chuckled at this, then started to pick up all the cards strewn across the floor.
They spent the rest of the day watching cheesy romantic movies, France drinking wine, Canada ginger ale. When they finished the last movie, it was late, so France decided it was a good time to go home. He gathered what was left of the wine (which wasn't much) and left, saying "Au Revoir! Ill see you next time! Joyeuse saint Valentin!"
Canada waved him goodbye, and walked back inside, sighing happily. He proceeded to clean up. As he was cleaning, he found the pile of valentines. He grabbed them, then hugged them to his chest, letting one more tear fall. Then he grabbed some tacks and put them up on the wall in his bedroom. He finished cleaning up and, feeling tired, he went to bed.
The last thing he saw before falling into blissful sleep was all the valentines that his friends gave him. 'friends….I have friends…' he thought, falling asleep, feeling, for once, loved.
~la fin~