I was pleasantly surprised with the reviews I received and decided to continue.
And by the way, I am fully aware that the Asian countries had extremely strained relations with Japan during WWII and have been for quite some time, but I don't find that relevant in a work of fiction, so the characters will be somewhat ooc for the historical time period.
Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia or anything of the like
It was several weeks before Alfred found the Asians back at the hospital. He was slightly surprised but laughed it off. It felt better to have other people there. He'd visited everyday and sat next to the skillfully bandaged, barely breathing nation. His heart had clenched as he had tried to hold Japan's hand during one of his frequent fevers and had received only a gasp of pain in response. And even then, Japan had not awoken. Silently, he suffered.
He grinned widely as he attempted to comfort the ever-concerned Taiwan. Eventually, she smiled and he made an enemy out of every one of her brothers in a matter of three seconds. Good start, he mentally congratulated himself. Now all you gotta do is find an excuse for a hug and you'll finally meet that old guy Italy's always talkin' about.
Korea wasted no time in informing Alfred that he'd been dragged kicking and screaming to the hospital and that if he'd had his way he would have never even gotten on the plane. He also wasted no time in threatening castration upon Al's communication with his sister. The others were relatively quiet, most having been dragged along, away from important matters at their homes. Taiwan was the only one who showed any sign of concern, everyone else just looked irritated.
But he perked up as he suddenly heard a familiar voice…it wasn't China…
"Get off! Get OFF! Don't touch me! I swear, I promise, I'll do whatever you want, just please, please; not another one…I can't take anymore…" It was hoarse and desperate and followed by a horrible sequence of coughing and a cry of pain…or was that…fear. Abandoning Taiwan, he practically ripped the door from its hinges and joined China in his attempt to calm the once-samurai before him.
"Kiku! Kiku, it's okay. It's me, aniki -onii-san -gege. Please, Kiku." China suddenly snatched his brother's wrists. "Look at me."
Japan didn't. He kept struggling and trying to pull away, but then, he just stopped. China eased his grip and slowly sat on the bed beside his brother. He moved his arms to support the tiny frame and gently pulled Japan half into his lap. Slowly, China maneuvered the man to face him only to find that his eyes had closed and his breathing had slowed…he'd fallen asleep. Sighing in frustration, the raven-haired man settled his brother back onto the bed and softly stroked his hair. America stood silently at the foot of the bed, watching China with an oddly…protective, even possessive, expression. His suddenly cold eyes met China's dark brown orbs and the room lost its warmth for a second before the trademark smile spread quickly across his face once more.
"Well, then. Quite the way to wake up, huh?"
"No," China hesitated, "America, he thought I was you."
The blinding smile remained. "I know."
"That's…not a good thing."
"I know."
"No, you don't."
"Actually, China, it's you who doesn't know."
China shrank back. Rude little brat he hissed mentally before catching himself, remembering that he'd said the same about Japan what seemed like an eternity ago. America moved slowly to Japan's side and carefully stroked his long hair out of his face. Japan noticeably flinched in his sleep, but then relaxed.
"He cries in his sleep, in his fever, in his pain…he cries for you and the others…for something. I'm not sure what."
"Forgiveness?" America met his eyes again.
"No… sometimes he begs for an end. And end to his suffering. He apologizes over and over, once he just kept saying 'I'm sorry' all night. He only stopped when the nurses sedated him. I don't know if he is talking to me or calling for you. But either way, it hurts."
China looked up, surprised at the suddenly soft tone. He recalled that compared to Japan and he, America was nothing more than a child, a particularly tall and strong child, but simply a boy. He had not experienced the pain and guilt of crushing the enemy to dust. Poor thing, what a miserable way to taste the bittersweet victory of war.
He stood and strode silently to America's side and stood on his toes to ruffle his hair. The blond looked completely shocked. He looked away.
"My brother has always been very controlling of his surroundings, but you know he didn't use to be like this. I mean, sure, he and Korea have never gotten along but he'd always just taken it. I think that he had it all bottled up. I never had to punish him like I did his brothers and sisters; he was an obedient child, quiet and polite. He isn't used to punishment or consequences so he doesn't know how to deal with this but through fear."
America sighed, "I'm not mad. The war is over. What's done is done." China laughed.
"Nothing is ever completely finished." A small sound drew them out of conversation. Japan shifted slightly and moaned in his sleep. China cautiously reached out and wrapped his slender fingers around his sibling's ivory ones. The movement and sound stopped and the small form grew. America's grin leapt back to his face.
***
Korea sat in a chair by the bed. China had mumbled something about finding tea and by way of the 'not it' game, he'd been volunteered –read 'forced- to stay with the jerk until the posse returned. He glared and borderline snarled at the form before him.
"I hate you, you know." He bit out at the sleeping man. " I hate you more than I've ever hated anyone; I always have and I always will, you scum. I can't even think of an appropriate name for you…filthy, hateful people like you don't deserve names. You're even worse than amebas. They're microscopic, and they have names. No. You're not even worth as much as a microscopic being. Your existence makes the entire planet cringe. That's right, the ENTIRE planet. Yep, uh-huh. You're that filthy-"
"Man, cram it." Korea looked up to see America staring at him. "He's not even awake. If you're gonna insult someone, you may as well do it when they can hear you."
Korea laughed, "Like you have any right to tell me what to do. And by the way, people can still hear while they're asleep, so you cram it, Mister Know-It-All."
"He's your brother." Korea chuckled at this.
"He's no brother of mine."
That was the last straw. America tore him from his seat and pinned him to the wall. His usually sky-blue pools froze over in a way that would make Russia proud.
"I don't care if you hate him. I don't care if you love him. He's your brother. Brothers stick up for each other. England hates me for what I did to him, but I know that no matter what, I can count on him for support. No one even sees my brother Canada but if anyone even thinks about laying a finger on him, I swear to God I will break their face so bad New York rats will flee in terror. Now I don't know about the traditions in Asia or what you guys consider to be brotherhood but I'm pretty sure it doesn't involve deriding a helpless person who can't even breath much less talk."
Korea was suddenly sure that America only put on a friendly face and that this…beast…was the one who'd fought through a Civil war and two World ones. He felt his shoes touch the ground and slowly he was lowered back into the chair.
"A-America-sama…" Said person whipped around and darted to the side of the bed.
"Ah, c'mon man, don't call me that. Just Al's okay. What's wrong? You hungry? Something hurt?"
"He's right…" Japan opened his eyes weakly and studied America's face. His eyes had lost their ambitious gleam; only pain remained there. His voice was cracked and forced and he rested his head on the pillow as though it was too heavy to lift. "He's right. I deserve it, after all that…." America frowned. He ruffled Japan's hair.
"You know, I found out your human name." Japan didn't move. "Kiku, huh? Sounds kinda like a girl's name. Suits you though, you look like a girl."
"America-sama…please don't try to avoid it. You know as well as I that Yongsoo is right." His dull eyes focused on Korea. "And you have every reason to feel that way…" The soft brown orbs, like those of China, closed and the thin body stopped moving once more.
"Kiku-nii-chan~" Taiwan peeked her head into the room, "I heard your voice. Are you awake, nii-chan? I have tea." Her forehead creased as her gaze fell on upon her still sibling. "Weird, I could have sworn I heard him. Yongsoo, you didn't say anything mean, did you? If you did, I won't give you tea." Korea sighed and rolled his eyes,
"Because being without tea is the worst punishment this world has ever seen."
Taiwan gasped, "It is, though! Well, whatever. If you don't want it, I'm sure America-sama will take it, yes?" America laughed as he felt the shifty, narrow eyes of a suddenly great number of people fall upon his back. Well, maybe that 'Rome' guy was nice…
A/N:
Well then, round two. Somehow, my fanfiction feels really empty and plain to me…weird…I'll have to try to fix that. Anyway, I'm fascinated with the intense hate that Korea has for Japan, and hey, if I were him, I wouldn't be all sunshine and daisies either.