Author Notes:

-I'm going to finish this. I grabbed my sister and made a quick role-play event because I couldn't think of anything else to do and I hate leaving things uncompleted. What this boils down to, then, is no epic storyline for you. It's just meant to be something cute and quirky in the first place. Nothing too serious. I did put it under humor, after all.

-In a nut shell: please don't expect super awesome twists or a great plot. I just wanted cute moments with little Iggy (who I would put as an 8-year-old or younger?) and adult America.

-Also: role-play means the story is going to have a lot of dialogue and be kinda pushed forward by the dialogue, though I try to add in as many inward thoughts – and of course description – as I can.

-Granted I did come up with funny time-paradox-type headaches. So, enjoy I guess!

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A Little Problem

Chapter 2

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"Who are you?"

America gaped and felt the little flutter in his heart fall into his stomach and start twisting around to cause a terrible ache. How could England forget him? Was he stuck in some kind of time-travel hocus-pocus mess? Was he stuck going backwards? How far back would he go?

He felt the tears in his eyes and clenched his jaw in an effort to keep them back. How could Iggy forget him?

Swallowing the lump in his throat, America reached out to grasp the tiny child's hand in his own, finding it only slightly funny that England was proper even as a child. His hand is so smooth. Mine feels big and calloused now – and it's not like I'm a war-hungry nation. England had an empire at one point.

At one point, he reminded himself. When Iggy was the great Britannia Empire he was no longer a child. So of course he wouldn't have the scars or the callouses from holding a sword or other weapon in hand for years. Of course he would still be innocent and …

Holy crap! Iggy's cute and innocent now!

And the little nation was staring at him, waiting patiently for an answer. Clearing his throat, America opened his mouth – and decided to give his human name. "Name's Alfred F. Jones," he stated, shaking the little hand enveloped by his own. "You should probably call me Alfred, though."

Little England nodded and took his hand back. "Right. Alfred." America watched as the wide green eyes glanced around the apartment space, obviously curious. "You do not happen to be a nation, do you?"

With a wince, America turned back to his own bowl of food, playing with the soupy mixture but not ever picking up his spoon to take a bite. His mind was plagued with other questions. How should he answer that? What if England really was trapped in some kind of weird time vortex? What if what happened to him now would affect him in the future?

He cringed at the idea. A misplaced statement had the possibility of destroying the Iggy he knew and loved. Well, maybe, but he wasn't about to take the risk.

So with a nod, he took a breath and kept his eyes on his food as he responded. "Actually, no, I'm not, but I do know you are one." Off to the side, he mumbled, "Actually, I kind of look up to you and your country."

That much is true, at least.

He glanced up to see the little blush on England's face, probably caused from the praise. "Right. Well, I'll be needing to return to my own country now. Thank you for the food."

As Iggy hopped off the chair, America felt his eyes widen as he burst out, "No! You can't leave!"

He could notice the tensing of Arthur's childish body and he winced at having to scare him like this, at having to lie to him. "What do you mean? Are you holding me captive or something?"

Oh, perfect idea!

Throwing on the best villain face he could manage, Alfred clasped his hands together, elbows on the table, and he brought his fingers to his nose so his eyes were peeking out – glaring out as sinisterly as he could manage. "Yes. That's exactly it," he said, pushing his voice as deep as he could make it without sounding stupid. "You are my prisoner. Of war."

Got to add that last part. Makes everything cooler.

"I'm what?" Iggy exclaimed, his green eyes huge as he started to back away. "What war? I was never informed there was a war!"

Oh shit. Think of something quick!

"It's a – a war between you and – and France!" He cleared his throat, feeling the sweat forming and dripping down his back, knowing that he was lying between his teeth and good grief it should be obvious.

He gulped. Those two are always fighting, aren't they? This should make perfect sense...

To his surprise, England seemed even more shocked and freaked out. "What...what? Why am I at war with France? What did he ever do to me?"

"Oh man..." America groaned and shut his eyes, realizing he had made a terrible error.

I thought they'd always been fighting. Was there a time when they weren't? Ah, shit, why did he have to drop to so young? I don't know England's history that well!

He cleared his throat and tried again. "Well, I hate to be the one to inform you, but France hates you now and kinda wants to beat you up and take your land and stuff so -"

There was a moment of silence, and then little Iggy exploded in fury. "That wanker! I'll kill him!"

When the young England started rushing for the door, America sprang to his feet and grabbed a hold of the little arm, suddenly feeling like a terrible adult bully picking on an innocent kid. His stomach did not feel good, that was for sure. "H-Hey! You're my prisoner, remember? You aren't allowed to leave this place!"

Of course England was going to put up every kind of fight in an effort to get free. "Let go of me you bloody Frenchie!"

America blinked. Of all the dramatic ironies...He wasn't sure what he thought about being called French. Dear god but that sounded weird...

Shaking his head, he pulled on Arthur's skinny arm and crouched down to his eye level. This made him feel like a stern parent giving some kind of lecture to a child and he felt even worse because he was having to grip hard to keep the young England still. "Nope, I'm not letting you go. You aren't allowed to leave, and to be honest you got lucky to be put under my watch."

That's right, just keep making things up. He'll lap it all up 'cause he's a cute and innocent kid now. Oh man, it would be way too easy for his enemies to take advantage of this...No wonder Canada brought him to me...

"Wha-what do you mean? How am I lucky?"

Alfred grinned. "'Cause it's me and I'm a hero!"

Apparently, even little England knew how to huff and raise his eyebrows, which were still big and bushy. "How does that mean anything?"

"Well, see, a hero isn't going to keep you in a dungeon. I'll actually feed you and bathe you and treat you nice and everything." He found himself losing his thoughts in the daydream. He could imagine doing all these nice things for the adult England. "And you'll love me and we'll live happily ever after and -"

He was interrupted when Iggy pulled his arm out of his loosening grip. Thankfully, the child was just crossing his arms, like he had given up on running away for now. "If you're the self-proclaimed hero, then why are you capturing me?"

At the question, America blinked and scratched his head. "Huh. I didn't think of that." He narrowed his eyes at the new idea. "Because you're the bad guy?"

Ah, idiot! Don't make it a question. Make it a statement of fact! Statements, not questions!

"What? How am I the bad guy?"

Well, that one is easy to answer at least.

Alfred let a grin spread across his face. "Because you're on the wrong side, silly!"

To his disappointment, England didn't seem to be buying it. "What is wrong with you?" The child scoffed and started walking toward the door again. "I'm leaving. You're crazy."

Snorting, America reached out and pulled Iggy back to him. "No you're not," he said as he sat on the ground and forced the child in his lap, wrapping his arms around him and cuddling. He tried to imagine he had the grown-up England here but it was kind of difficult when Arthur's arms and body were so small and so skinny.

"H-Hey! Bloody bastard! Let me go!"

"Nope. You're not going anywhere," Alfred laughed because he finally had England trapped in his house and he could do anything he wanted.

"I said let me go you bloody wanker!" Iggy shrieked, his voice high pitched and way too adorable to take seriously even if the arms were flailing around as his struggles increased.

America kept laughing. "Nope." And he kept cuddling because damn it all he was going to enjoy this moment. After all, who knew how many more memories Arthur was going to lose before they could find a solution?

The very idea made him loosen his grip, which allowed the squirming Iggy to jump out of his grasp. "Hah! Victory is mine!"

The moment he was free, Arthur started running for the door again. America reached his hand out and missed his chance to pull the little guy back. "Ah! No, wait!"

He pushed himself to his feet and rushed over to the front door, only to find England glaring up at the door knob. For a moment, Alfred stood there and had to take a second to stare at the scene before him. Little Iggy had his arms crossed and he was clearly upset and clearly displeased. A little hand reached up, barely missing the door knob, and America grinned when he realized what it meant.

He didn't have anything to worry about, after all. "What's the matter?"

"Shut up," Iggy mumbling, starting to jump up to hit the knob, as if hitting it would help or jumping would actually allow him to get a good enough grip to turn the thing and set himself free.

He doesn't even realize it's locked...

With a smile, he shook his head and leaned his shoulder against the door, crossing his arms as he looked down and watched the little nation trying so hard to get free. "Guess I really don't have to worry about you escaping after all."

The child England glared up at him before turning around with a scoff. "You can't keep me here forever."

"Wanna bet?"

"Yes, actually," Arthur said as he spun back around to face America. "I'll bet you land - land I'll get once I'm big and powerful."

What the...

Blinking, America could feel his eyes slowly start to widen. Did the kid have any idea...? Oh man, the dramatic ironies just kept piling up. What did fate have in store for him next?

Sticking his hands in his pockets, he mumbled, "I'll win in the end, you know."

"Hah! Sure you will!" Arthur exclaimed, puffing up like he was boasting. And then he deflated and frowned. "Oh, right, you're not a nation."

"Not now," America pointed out. "But if you lose land in a bet with me..." He shrugged. "Then maybe I could be my own nation!"

Iggy scoffed and crossed his arms. "You should know it doesn't work like that."

"Well, how does it work then?" Please, do tell. None of us know.

Arthur opened his mouth and froze. His brow furrowed and then he huffed and turned away again. "I'm tired. I'm taking a nap."

Derailed conversation...successful...

With a smile, America nodded, "Okay, I'll show you to your room, then."

Granted, it was going to be his room and his bed, but Iggy didn't need to know that. He'd sleep on the couch or something. Yeah, he'd spend another night curled up on his living room couch, watching TV and dreaming about sleeping next to England. Strange to believe, now that Arthur was here in his house, Alfred couldn't do anything like he had originally planned, and whenever Iggy went back to his normal self he'd probably seclude himself away in his own country again.

Hanging his head with a sigh, America led Arthur into the bedroom, only able to smile a little bit when the child jumped on the king-sized bed and turned around to give him a nod. "This will do nicely. Thank you." He paused, his lower lip pouting out as he gave a small, confused frown. "Wait, why am I thanking you?"

With a shrug, Alfred allowed a light chuckle to escape his mouth. "'Cause that's what you always do?"

"How would you know that?" Iggy asked with a pointed huff.

Right. Come up with some answer.

Using the excuse of tucking Arthur into bed, he searched his brain for a good enough excuse that child England would believe. He could feel his own eyes light up as he smiled. "Magic," he stated simply, knowing it was the perfect scapegoat.

Iggy loved magic.

The huge eyes were a complete surprise. "What? Magic? Really?"

Oh please don't tell me...

"Wait...you don't know magic?"

He groaned when Iggy shook his head. "No, I've only heard about it in stories and such."

"Oh...Well crap." Now what am I supposed to do?

"Prove it! Show me a spell!"

Alfred froze. Iggy sounded way too excited for his own good. So, not only did England not know magic, but he had believed that Alfred could cast spells...or at least to the point that he was asking for proof. Even if it sounded more like Arthur was waiting expectantly and less like he was skeptical.

Great...

"Uhm...well..." He bit his lip and started scratching his head again, trying to make his brain work. "Actually...I'm not supposed to show uh...non-magic folk magic stuff. Kinda against the rules and all..."

And just like that, England gave in, crossing his arms and looking positively disappointed. "Bollocks."

America laughed. He couldn't help it. Iggy looked so cute when he was pouting. "Haha, just go to sleep."

That is what you've wanted to do since you got here.

"Yeah," England mumbled with a yawn. "You're right..."

Without any kind of hassle, little Arthur lay down in the bed and curled into a ball under the covers. America stayed and stared at him for a little bit. He watched the bushy eyebrows furrow even as the child tried to sleep. So, he had worried the poor kid. Nation. Whatever.

I feel like such a jerk. Why did I tell him he was a prisoner? Why did I make him think he was in a war? ...why was he so surprised to hear it was France?

With those worried thoughts, Alfred sighed and left the room, turning the lights out and staring back at the sleeping child with a heavy heart. "G'night, Iggy."

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A/N: Yeah...I put off updating because I felt like things just weren't going to be my best. I hate to be the author that's putting down her own work but dang-it-all I -know- I can do better. Ah well. I'd rather give you guys something since so many people were upset to see a long lack of updates. Hopefully it stays cute and humorous. Not sure how many chapters are in store, but it -might- reach 10. Maybe.

~~Thank you for all reviews/alerts/favorites; I appreciate them all!~~

~Reda