Maria's POV

I, Maria Clara dela Cruz y Carriedo, am a coward. Duwag as my people would say. I cannot bring my guts to tell Kuya Alfred what I feel about him. Who's him? Shame on you if you don't know, his name is Alfred F Jones and he represent the USA. Who am I? Well, I admit I am just a puny archipelago but my people are dominating the world slowly. I am the Republic of the Philippines. Since I got independence, Kuya Alfred would always fetch me from my house and accompany me to the next World Meeting. He would sit with the Allies, and I, because my country is one of the founding countries of ASEAN, sit with the South East Asians.

It was a usual Monday morning, papers stacked on my desk when I go to Malacañang. My phone suddenly rang, shocking me from my paperwork. "Who in the right mind would text me during work?" I muttered under my breath and pulling out my phone from my pocket. There is the contact's ID HERO. I smiled gently. If it were Kuya Francis, I would've thrown my phone out of the so-to-speak Philippine White House.

Hey, Maria! The hero's texting you again! Just here to tell you that the next world meeting would be on Saturday in my house! Get ready for the epic heroic meeting ahead of you!

Really, that Kuya Alfred. "Sure, I'll get ready for your meeting," I texted back. I took a deep breath after placing my phone next to the papers I'm signing and continued my work. "Ms dela Cruz," the president's voice dawned upon me. I raised my head and saw his reflective scalp blinding my eyes. "What's up, boss?" I asked, smiling at him. "I'll be assigning you to the decision of which side we'll be taking if NoKor (North Korea) attacks SoKor (South Korea)," he said, giving me a fatherly smile. Seriously, he looks really older than me though of course, I'm older than him. "I understand, Boss. But do we have to pick a side?" I asked him. "If there's war approaching soon, we need help, but I advise you to side with SoKor because America will be a great help," he said before leaving my office.

"Oh my mangoes.. This is a tough one," I whispered. How can I pick? Well, let's not rush things and just finish what I started. I went back to my house by 3 PM and went straight to the couch. I saw Juan (Luzon) bickering with Muhammad (Mindanao) as usual and Pedro (Visayas) only watching them with amusement. When they noticed I was there, they went around me. "When can we go to world meetings like you, Ate?" Juan asked, being the most fluent in English. "When Sealand is seen as a nation by England," I answered. "Well, imposible na yun (that's impossible)," Pedro said, sighing. "I'm going to attend someday whether you like it or not," Muhammad blurted. "You know, Muhammad, you're still grounded for making trouble in Sabah," I said.

"But Sabah should have been ours," Muhammad reasoned. "Yeah, yeah, and America is still a colony of the British Empire," I said. "It's done, Muhammad. You can't do anything because it is a truth, we cannot change it," I added. "What have you eaten and you said something serious?" Juan said, stepping away from me slowly. "Shut up, Juan. I only have a few moments to shine," I said. "And the moment was gone," Pedro said. "Shut up," I glared at him.

"Oh yeah, won't be here on Saturday," I said, turning on the TV. "Huh? Bakit naman (Why)?" Juan asked. "She has a date with Kuya Alfred apparently," Muhammad said as a revenge. "Shut up, Muhammad. Are you Maria? I guess not," I snapped. "Well, you will be with Kuya right?" Pedro said. "Yes, a world meeting. Maybe the topic is the SoKor and NoKor thing," I said. "It should be, even though I admit I don't really care about those Korean things, I don't want any war coming up. It's like repeating the Korean War back then," Juan said, holding his head. "Yeah, that war," I sighed. "We participated in that war because Kuya Alfred said we should and look at what happened to those two again," Pedro complained. "But actually, Im Yong and Im Hyung want to be one Korea again but..." "Politics right?" Muhammad looked at me. I weakly nodded.

"It's alright, Ate. One day, they'll be together again like in the old times!" Juan patted my back. "I wish," I said. We actually spent the whole day watching TV, sometimes Juan and Muhammad would fight for the remote and Pedro would strike a conversation with me. It was the typical Philippine home. It was noisy but we were happy. We live a simple life but we live happy one. "I didn't notice it was already 9 PM and we haven't eaten dinner," I said, looking to my wristwatch. "No time to cook, let's just order from Jollibee, Chickenjoy please!" Juan said.

And yes, we did eat a Jollibee dinner. "Go to sleep na ha, you need that to be more active in your island's activities," I said, before going to my own room. After washing my face and brushing my teeth, I went to bed.

The other days of the week gone by quickly that it was suddenly Friday night. "You should already sleep, Ate, you have a date with a certain American," Pedro said as he pulled my right wrist. "Yes, Pedro is right for once," Juan said as he pulled my left one. Pedro only jerked his head to ignore that remark. "Faster," Muhammad muttered, pushing my back. When they successfully put me in my bed, Juan song a lullaby. It was like:

Tulog na, mahal ko (Sleep tight, my love)

Hayaan na muna natin ang mundong ito (Let's leave this world of ours)

Lika na, tulog na tayo (Come on, let's sleep)

(Tulog na by Sugar Free)

And after that stanza, I went to sleep. Trust me, even though Juan pretend to have a stoned voice, he's a great singer. Well, it's in the Filipino blood (Getting cocky here.). After I took a bath and ate breakfast the next day, I started to pick what I'll wear. I picked a black tube top and a white long cardigan with a black skirt and brown spool heels. I put the three sampaguitas in my hair after I put my hair in a pony. I have these types of you-see-the-bare-skin type of clothes because, I live in a VERY HOT tropical country so you can't blame me. Blame global warming.

I heard the honking of a car outside my house and grabbed my bag and I literally almost tripped so Kuya Alfred won't get bored waiting. "K-Kuya," I said as I opened the door. "Ah, Maria," he said, smiling at me. He was rocking a white shirt where it is written "I am the HERO" and black pants. "Let's go?" he asked as he gently smiled at me. THIS is the reason why I like him. "A-Ah, opo (formal yes)," I answered and locked the door knowing my brothers are busy elsewhere and went in Kuya Alfred's car.

I am so excited for the World Meeting!