The Day We Met

Summary: Netherlands remembers the first time he and Taiwan met as Lars and Mei

Sometimes, when they are cuddling in bed, Lars sees Mei, and feels lucky. Then, he remembers the first time they met. Not as the Netherlands and Formosa, but as Lars and Mei. Of course, they didn't have a good impression of each other at that moment. He used to think she was a brat, and she thought he was a jerk. However that time was different.

Being the personification of a nation was hard and sometimes lonely. Some nations had a family and friends. The Netherlands wasn't an exception; he had siblings and a small group of friends. Also, it wasn't forbidden to fall in love and have a partner. Some of them had been living as a couple for decades and even centuries.

He used to be very proud and stubborn; he claimed to never feeling lonely, he thought that was for weak people. But very deep in his heart, he wished to have certain kind of connection with someone, as he read in his books. Someone with who share his thoughts, his hobbies, someone who listened to him. He had his siblings and good friends, but he was craving for intimacy and... love. Anyways, he would never admit it out loud.

Then his sister organized a party, no, worse, a costume party. He was there, no having so much fun, feeling ridiculous in that vampire clothes. He wanted to go home, clean it up and later do some work as every Saturday, but Belgium and Luxembourg were very insistent. So, he went without interest, he planned to be there just for a couple of hours.

And there he was, in a corner, thinking about the things he wanted to do. He looked at his watch. "It's time", he thought. He was looking for his siblings to say goodbye, when suddenly someone stumbled with him, and seconds later, he saw cake on his chest.

"I'm really sorry! Please, let me clean it" a sweet and concerned voice that he didn't recognize said. "Come with me" she said taking him to the bathroom.

"Miss Taiwan?" he said.

"Mr. Netherlands, I apologize, if you want I could pay you the laundry" she replied.

"No, it's fine, don't worry"

That was the first time they talked after several decades. Taiwan wasn't a brat anymore, she looked very girly and delicate, and that impressed him, at that moment she was dressed up in an angel's costume. He had seen her in meetings, of course, but he didn't pay her so much attention until this moment.

"I was about to go home anyways" he said cleaning his clothes with a handkerchief.

"I'm really sorry"

"I told you to don't worry"

She looked at him for a minute.

"It's a surprise to see you in this party, you seem very serious…" she said suddenly.

"My siblings insisted" he admitted.

"It's been a while since the last time we talked…" She smiled at him.

"That's true"

They talked for a while, remembering very old times. Then, she changed the topic of the conversation and asked him for tips for gardening, since he was known for having tulip fields, he felt happy to talk about it. That night was weird for him, not only he stayed in the party for so much more time, also he enjoyed the conversation and her company.

Some days later, after a meeting, she asked him if he would like to go eat something or just let her invite him a coffee.

"Since you didn't let me pay you the laundry, I thought this would be a good way to apologize"

"Thanks, you don't have to do it"

"But I want to"

He accepted, somehow he couldn't say no, anyways they'd be at the restaurant just for a while. It wasn't such a big deal. But later, he found himself enjoying their conversation again. It was so easy to talk with her, and funny, she was very witty.

Little by little, they started spending time together. They visited each other's country, talked after meetings, hanging out almost every weekend. And soon, they stopped using Miss and Mister to call each other by their human names instead, because now they were friends. He still had his doubts, what she found interesting on him? He asked her.

"I don't know, I like you, you are more interesting than you think" she said simply.

He couldn't complain because he truly liked to hang out with her. But then, he felt something was happening, and he found it out one Sunday, when he and his siblings were having dinner together. He was talking about his plans with Taiwan for the next weekend and that she was teaching him Mandarin.

"Now, tell me, since when do you like Taiwan?" Belgium asked.

He almost spit his coffee.

"What are you talking about?"

"Bel…" Luxembourg tried to stop her.

"Exactly what I said, since when do you like her?"

"I don't like her"

"Don't lie to me" she insisted.

He looked at her, then at Luxembourg, also his younger brother seemed interested on his answer. He sighed.

"I just… like her land, and I am interested on learning Mandarin… and she is my friend and… it's so evident?"

"A lot" his siblings said at the same time.

He felt so embarrassed.

"She knows it?"

"I don't think so"

"Are you going to tell her?"

"No way"

"Why not? You know that it is not forbidden to us to date"

"I know, but it scares me, I don't know what she feels for me, what if I lose her when she knows my true feelings?"

"I think you should tell her anyway" Luxembourg said. "It's worth taking a risk, don't you think?"

That night, Netherlands thought about it. He didn't know when his feelings for her changed. Yes, those feelings were scary, but at the same time, they were wonderful. The way she smiled, her voice, her pretty eyes, her kindness, her wittiness… he could make a long list of things he liked about her.

He enjoyed spend time with her. He could feel really comfortable with her, and she became into the person he wanted to talk with every day and share his thoughts, she seemed to understand him. Her good morning messages were his motivation, and it didn't matter the different time zones, she always sent them. And despite that, he also missed her when they were too busy to visit each other.

His chest hurts every time she was close to him. When they went out and he walked faster, she asked him to wait for her and she took his hand to make him walk at her pace. She also hugged him when they met after so much time to be away from each other. That got him flustered and he tried to hide it. It wasn't as if he had never received hugs, his sister hugged him, but Taiwan's hugs felt different, he would like to be close to her forever.

After spending days and nights overthinking about his feelings, the Dutchman couldn't handle it anymore. He decided to talk with her. She visited him that weekend; she wanted to help him with his garden. He felt his heart beating fast when he opened the door and she said hi with a smile. He was nervous.

"You look pale, do you feel fine?"

"Taiwan…"

"What was that? We are friends, remember?" she laughed.

"Mei…"

"What's wrong?" she asked, getting close to him.

"It's just that… I like you"

"And I like you too" She got closer and hugged him. "Oh, your heart, it's beating fast! Are you ok?" she put her ear on his chest.

He took a breath. It was now or never.

"Mei, you are the reason my heart beats that fast" he finally said. "I like you a lot.. I'm in love with you... but I don't expect anything I just wanted to tell you, if this makes you feel uncomfortable then…" he spook fast.

"What are you talking about? I haven't said anything yet. Lars, I like you a lot too" She giggled. "My heart also beats fast because of you" she said, placing his hand to her chest to feel her heart.

He got so flustered not knowing what to do or what to say after that confession.

"Aren't you going hug me after all?" she joked.

"Of course, I'm going to do it! You make me feel nervous!" he said embarrassed.

"It's ok, Lars. You are cute when you are nervous anyways" she giggled.

They hugged for a while. It wasn't as hard as he thought. Those feeling weren't scary anymore, but they were still wonderful.

Lars sighed, it had happened several years since that. He looked at Mei and got close to her. She was still sleeping; he wondered how would be his life, if he would ignore his siblings' invitation. How would be living a life without her smile, her hugs, her tenderness, her sweetness. Maybe he'd have a life in solitude. But no more, with her by his side, he wasn't alone.

She woke up.

"Bunny, what's wrong? It's time to get up?" she said yawing.

"It's 3 am"

"Then, why are you awake? You don't feel well? Bunny, you can't sleep?" she said, caressing his face.

"I'm fine, I was just remembering something"

"What did you remember?"

"How we met"

She hugged him.

"Bunny, I am glad I threw you that cake" she giggled against his chest.

"Me too" he said putting a kiss on her head and hugging her tightly. "My angel" he thought.

Note: I'm sorry if this fic has grammatical mistakes, English isn't my first language, also sorry if the topic is strange in some way.