Afterword on Independence

Note: This fanfiction of Hetalia crosses over with a fanfiction of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles having a similar title. Although it isn't necessary to read the other fanfiction to understand the events in this Hetalia fanfiction, you'll get to see the same events from different perspectives if you read both!

Disclaimer: Hetalia belongs to Himaruya Hidekaz while Tsubasa belongs to CLAMP.

It was Canada Day, the one day where Canada was actually noticed by the rest of the world. Well, most of them wouldn't have remembered the occasion to be his birthday, but the quiet nation was content with just being recognized as a little more than a part of the background.

Of course, this year he made sure that they would remember his party well enough to even rival America's own. (Well, it would still be a far cry compared to his brother's, but hey, even a nation can hope.)

The venue was prepared and well taken care of. Food from all over the world was taken into account for the enormous buffet. The invitations were sent and even delivered in the invited guest's preferred language. Even the drinks were hauled by the barrels so the invited nations might stay a while longer for his birthday… Though he personally asked Switzerland to oversee the security to be on the safe side ("Please, Switzerland, think of it as protecting Liechtenstein from harm"). That had been a rather difficult task in itself, but he didn't want to leave any nation behind.

And that included Russia.

Thankfully, all his efforts weren't for nothing and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Canada tried to be the best host to his party and made his guests as comfortable as he could. While there were still moments when they didn't even recognize their own host, he didn't let it bother him. They were able to saw him at least, he thought.

To keep his hands free, the nation had Kumajirou take care of the Liechtenstein and the micro-nations. He specifically assigned the bear to keep Sealand away from trouble as much as possible, or else it wouldn't have maple syrup on its pancakes for a month.

A few hours into the party, Canada was exhausted. Keeping everyone in check was a grueling task. For the first time since the start of his party, he slumped onto the nearest chair he could find. Said chair was the empty chair right next to England.

"Oh, excusez-moi," the nation-celebrant muttered without thinking and covered his mouth with a hand.

He had expected the other's banter against the language and blinked when England merely looked at him with unfocused eyes and muttered, "Oh. Hullo, Canada." The older nation didn't offer any further chitchat either as he stared off on the carpeted floor.

Canada was about to ask him if everything was alright, when a real Frenchman came up and said, "Joyeux anniversarie, mon cher Canada~!"

"H-Hello, France," the nation-celebrant stuttered just as France gave England a pointed look. He knew it was hard to avoid – almost impossible for these two rival nations – but he'd rather not have any fights on his own birthday party if he could help it. "Are you enjoying the party so far?"

The Frenchman gave England another look before replying with a bright smile, "Oui! And the Côtes du Rhône wine you brought over is simply magnifique!" he added, showing off the red liquid in his glass.

"Really? Well, I'm glad to hear that… um…" Canada faltered as England stood from his seat. For a moment, the two older nations glared at each other, the air thick with tension between the two. Still seated in his chair, the nation-celebrant made a face. Oh no, here it comes…

England's eyes narrowed further, took a step forward, and… stepped to a side. What? Canada watched, rather speechless, as England walked off with nothing more than a quiet, "I'll be heading off early tonight. Have a happy birthday, Canada…" And the nation was out of sight, engulfed by the crowd of nations before the remaining two had anything to say.

Canada looked back at the quiet France and asked, "W-What just happened?"

The Frenchman remained quiet, still looking over to where England disappeared to, before replying softly, "Today's… July 1st."

The nation-celebrant blinked at the other's strange words when a familiar laughter resounded in the room. The two nations looked to the source and saw America giving Japan a not-too-soft pat on the back in the middle of their conversation. Then, Canada understood.

It was only three more days before America's own birthday.

"I was actually surprised to find Angleterre here tonight," France muttered.

Canada looked down on the floor between his feet, a small frown settling on his face. "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea inviting England over…"

"Non, non," the older nation shook his head thoughtfully and the nation-celebrant looked at him with curious eyes. "This was a good chance for him to try and move on from the past."

"Still," Canada muttered to the floor again, "it must be hard on him, especially considering it's almost that time of the year again…"

"Oui, he must be truly sad and lonely deep inside," France replied, the most serene look on his face Canada had seen in a long time. Then, the image was broken by an all too-familiar twist of a smile as he continued, "Maybe I should comfort him, in his bed perhaps~"

"A-ah, I don't think that's a good idea, France…" Really, would England even be happy to see the other nation, and in his bed of all places?

Canada only let out a slow sigh but let the older nation rant on if only to keep him from doing anything else to the other guests. Nevertheless, he couldn't take his mind off with another certain nation and his own special day.

A/N: After much procrastinating, I've finally got the time to write the sequel to Stranger Nations! Note that since this is a sequel, it may be better to read its prequel first as there will be mention of some events that happened in Stranger Nations (like the fact that Arthur-san met the TRC gang), heads up!

Also, to make this a bit interesting, I'll put up a theme song for every chapter that seems to have an appropriate-sounding theme to it. This also means that there will be some chapters that won't have any theme to them (though you're free to suggest!) I'm actually going for a switcheroo of songs wherein OSTs and songs related to Hetalia will be for Tsubasa and vice versa. Of course, that may change depending on the chapter. We'll see...

And to end my ranting, here's this chapter's theme: a tiny sunshine (as heard in Future Soundscape)

P.S. There are links in my profile if you want to hear them - I think I forgot to mention that on the other Afterword fanfic, but readers are smart, they'll catch on :)