Sorry about the lateness! I've been busy...

Anyways, here's chapter 3!

Translations at the bottom. I do not own Hetalia.


In his room, Mathieu Lalonde smiled as he saw the e-mail from his friend. Leon, although two years younger, seemed to have known him for so much longer than the three years they've exchanged messages.

From: Leon C.

To: Matt L.

Subject: Happy Birthday!

Hey Matt!

Happy Birthday! You've graduated now! You're heading to university this year, so I wanted to get a couple more emails in before you get too busy for me. Have you decided which one you're going to?

I know you're continuing with hockey. There's no way you'd drop that. Oh well. We need to meet again sometime before you go to university. BC and Quebec aren't that far apart, right? :p

Say hi to Émilie for me, and Happy Eighteenth Birthday!

-Leon

Now smiling even wider, the Quebecois chuckled as he wrote back. He had yet to wish Leon a happy birthday.

From: Matt L.

To: Leon C.

Subject: Re: Happy Birthday!

Leon!

Happy Birthday to you too! It's so awesome that we have the same birthday. :)

Yes, I have graduated! You still have to go to high school, haha! I'm going to l'Université Laval, right here in la belle ville de Québec. I can stay close to everyone, and I don't have to live in dorms.

How did you guess I would continue hockey? Are you psychic? *le Gasp* Leon is so amazing!

Let me tell you a secret. My coach told me, the best player on my team *wink*, that we may be going over to BC for a game. I'll confirm it later, but I'm pretty sure we're coming.

Happy sixteenth birthday! Say hi to Nathaniel, Ryan, Michael, Melody and Melissa for me! (Your family is huge!)

-Matt


At the meeting

The entire room was silent, each person trying to make sense of what America had just said. If it was true, the whole incident would be over, and everything would be back to normal. Out of all the nations though, only England gathered up the courage to ask the question that everyone wanted a confirmation to.

"Found who, America?"

"Them. Canada and Hong Kong." Hearing this, China almost launched himself at the closed folder in the American's hand. Instead, the Chinese slowly walked over and gently took the beige manila away. Within the folder were a couple of sheets, but what held China's attention was not the number of sheets in the folder, but the picture of a young teenager, paper-clipped to the first page.

The photo seemed to be a bit old, but it was his younger brother, without the horrible eyebrows, he noted. This was definitely Hong Kong. "Gege! Where is he?" asked Taiwan, rapidly approaching China from where she had stood moments before.

Scanning through the papers, China replied. "Vancouver, aru." South Korea asked where that was, for he truly did not know. The reply to his question was not given by the Chinese whom he had asked, but by someone else from across the room.

"Canada," said America, before running out of the room in a blind dash. England and France quickly followed, and the Asians were right behind. All the other nations were left behind, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu.


America's secret service seemed to know this would happen. Once the countries got outside, there were two helicopters waiting for them. "Best of luck with Hong Kong, China," said England.

"You with Canada as well, ahen," said China, as he started over to the helicopter, where his family was waiting. Once all passengers had boarded, the two helicopters flew off in different directions, one headed for Hong Kong, in Vancouver, and the other for Canada, who was in Quebec City.

The pilots of both helicopters, although in completely different places, felt the same tension from their passengers. This wasn't a fear of heights kind of nervousness. It was the nervousness of an agent on their first mission. Eyes looked rapidly between the cockpit and outside the window. Knuckles gripped seats or the fabric of their pants so hard they turned white. The pilots had seen it all before. However, they wondered why their passengers would be nervous.

The ride heading towards Quebec would have been silent, if it weren't for America's constant toe tapping. He couldn't help it. He knew he should be happy. So why couldn't he shake the restless feeling? He passed it off as excitement, and went back to looking out the window while his shoe repeatedly met the floor of the helicopter.

England and France both gave knowing glances at each other. They put aside their rivalry, and kept from attacking the other. Finding Canada was more important.


In the other helicopter, the one heading towards Canada's west coast, China was trying to focus on something besides his own unease. Instead, he took a look at his family. South Korea, who was sitting beside him, was gazing off in space, uncharacteristically calm. What was running through his head, China couldn't tell. After Hong Kong had disappeared, South Korea had calmed down a bit, and was now more serious. The impact of losing Hong had changed Korea throughout the years.

The Chinese man then looked at the two younger members of the East Asian family. Macau and Taiwan were actually holding hands, although China knew it was for support, not romance. Searching for something to relieve the tension, Taiwan had probably grabbed on to Macau. When she had, Macau probably squeezed back, because he was looking for the same relief.

The empty seat next to Macau drew China's attention next. That seat could have been occupied Hong Kong, if he had never disappeared. Or it could have been Japan. But Japan would not come into Hong Kong's affairs. During Japan's many attacks on China, the Chinese personification was already experienced as a nation. However, when Japan attacked Hong Kong, the then young Asian had next to no experience. China had been truly scared that Hong would die.

After the war, Japan tried not to come close to Hong, fearing the breaking of any remaining relationship. China wasn't surprised that he hadn't come along. Maybe he just didn't care anymore.

Turning his gaze back outside, China could only think about what would happen when they found Hong.


America, England, and France, once dropped off at a local airfield, ran to a car that was parked nearby for them. They immediately drove off towards their destination, which turned out to be a normal house, blending right in with the others. It was a nice house, and France couldn't stop himself when he started gushing about how the flowers complimented the colour scheme.

America seemed to have shed all nervousness as he bounced from foot to foot. He was finally getting his brother back!

England scoffed, and moved to ring the doorbell. However, he had forgotten he was in Quebec. When he was greeted by a French speaking woman, he quickly looked at France for help. The Frenchman just smirked, and moved to take England's place.

"Bonjour, madame," said France, "Est-ce que nous pouvons parler à Mathieu?"

"Mathieu? He iz not 'ere right now." The woman looked at France. "Eh… Qui êtes-vous?"

"Nous sommes ses amis." Hearing this, the woman smiled.

"Ah, oui? Est-ce que tu cherches pour mon fils car tu veux lui dire Happy Birthday?" The blonde lady laughed. "Il devrait être de la retour. He only went to play hockey with friends, so he should be walking back."

"Merci, madame," Realizing the conversation was done, America and England started walking away from the house, but France stayed behind a bit longer.

"How did you choose ze colour scheme?" he asked.

The woman looked at the flowers on her porch. "Bleu et blanc. It matches ze beautiful flag de Quebec." France smiled, nodded and waved goodbye. So she was a Separatist. How did Canada take that? He couldn't possibly be supporting the breakup of his own country.


Mathieu whistled to his music as he walked back home. It felt so good to play hockey, especially on his birthday. He would have to email Leon again when he got home. He had confirmed with his friends that they were definitely going to BC.

As he turned the corner, he almost crashed into three men, who looked like they were in a hurry. "Désolé, les gars," he said informally, sidestepping to go around them. Mathieu continued walking, until he could see his house. About to start running the last bit in order to get home faster, he was suddenly stopped by a hand that grabbed onto his shoulder.

"Are you Matthew?" asked the person behind him. Mathieu spun around to see the three men from earlier. They probably thought he was someone else, because if they were looking for him, then they completely destroyed his name.

"Oui, I am Mathieu Lalonde. Who are you?" Right after he finished speaking, one of the men, jumped and engulfed Mathieu in a hug.

"Mattie! I am so happy to see you again! You can't believe how much I've missed you!" The teen had Mathieu in a death grip, and didn't look about to let go.

"Crisse! Let go of me!" Mathieu exclaimed, but he received no reponse. What he got, was a horrified gasp. Another one of the blond men had taken one good look at Mathieu and almost died of shock.

"Where iz your beautiful hair?" he lamented loudly, "Your beautiful French hair!" Mathieu raised an eyebrow. He had cut his hair short a couple months ago so it wouldn't get in his face during hockey. He now had it styled to a peak at the front, and thought this look suited him.

"Canada, where is Alberta*?" asked the third man, with abnormally bushy eyebrows. Mathieu was now completely confused. L'Alberta? Why would this man ask him where Alberta was?

Mathieu couldn't take it. He shoved the person who was hugging him off of his body. "Who are you?" Now it was the three men who looked confused.

"Aren't you Matthew Williams, a.k.a Canada?" The teenaged Quebecois could only look at the men with a looked that clearly asked them if they were crazy.

"Non, I'm Mathieu Lalonde, who will call the police if you don't explain why that man just came up and touched me."

America, England and France were all shocked. The file had said that this was Canada. They had all had the same feeling that this was Canada. There was no way that this teenager was not Canada. "Um, don't you know us, Canada?" England asked hesitantly.

The Quebecois shook his head. "Why are you calling me Canada? I don't know you, and I'm Quebecois. There is a difference between Canadien and Québecois."

The three personifications were completely astounded. If this Mathieu was so adamant about being Quebecois, that meant he would probably be a Separatist, a person for Quebec as its own country. Canada wouldn't be like this at all, but this was Canada, for sure.

America started to laugh. "Stop joking around, Mattie. You need to come back now. Playtime's over." Mathieu only glared at him, and started walking away. England couldn't believe it. This boy was being so rude. He had not taught Canada to grow up this way, and as much as he hated to admit it, neither had France. Grabbing Mathieu by the shoulder, the Brit turned him around and slapped him, not hard, but how he hit to discipline his colonies when back when physical punishment was still acceptable.

"You need to come back to your senses young man. I am in no mood to play games," said England as he glared right back at the teenager in front of him. Mathieu simply pushed forward and did what looked like a check to make England back off and fall.

"I do not know you, and I am not this Matthew Williams. Please stop bothering me." With that, the Quebecois walked a little further, and returned home. The three nations were left stunned and disappointed on the sidewalk. They had been completely confident that this Mathieu Lalonde was Canada. Now they weren't sure at all.


Inside his house, Mathieu took off his shoes, dumped his bag on the floor and went towards the couch in his living room. His cheek stung where the man had hit him. He honestly had no idea who those people were, or why they were looking for him.

"Mathieu!" called his mother from the kitchen. "Trois hommes ont demandé pour toi! Est-ce que tu as rencontré ces personnes ? "

Mathieu was about to reply, when a spell of dizziness made him collapse onto the couch. The last thing he saw was his mother heading towards him, looking worried while shouting his name.


When the helicopter arrived in Vancouver, the Asians quickly got in a SUV that had been prepared for them and drove to the address already loaded on the GPS. The occupants of the vehicle had to admit that America's men really knew how to prepare things, even if he himself didn't.

The car cruised through the suburbs, arriving at a rather nice neighbourhood. Taiwan, who was driving, parked the car a little way down the street, not wanting to charge directly onto a driveway. The group of four exited their vehicle and walked down the street. The houses were definitely for people who were higher than middle class. Not necessarily millionaires, but they had to be successful. The houses were grand, the lots large, and some even had gates in front of their driveway.

Thankfully, the house they needed to go to did not have a gate. Macau led the way up the walk and to the front door. Taking a breath, he pushed the intercom button with a slightly shaky hand. Instead of getting a maid's voice as a reply, the door swung open, revealing a fourteen year old boy.

"What," he said. The four Asians looked at the boy. He looked a bit like Hong, but not entirely. As the countries stared, the boy seemed to get irritated. "I'm closing this door if you don't tell me what you want."

Taiwan snapped out of it, and spoke first. "Is there someone named Leon here?" The boy rolled his eyes, and turned his head into his house.

"啊哥! Some people are looking for you!" Standing outside, the group heard the opening of a door, and footsteps coming down the stairs. As the footsteps neared, the sound of giggling children also grew louder. Happy shouts and laughs came closer and closer, until the door was pulled back by an older teen with three kids hanging off his legs. Two girls on one, a boy on the other. His hair draped over the left side of his face, hiding half of his black rimmed glasses underneath brown strands with blond highlights. Leon Cheng stood behind his younger brother, looking at the group outside. Said group looked at Leon, knowing that for sure this was Hong Kong, even though he appeared different.

"We got you! We got you!" The children laughed and chanted as they hung onto the older boy's legs. With gentle hands, Leon reached down and removed his younger brother and sisters off of him.

"I'll play later, okay?" The girls pouted, and the boy sighed, but they nodded as they returned in the house, chasing each other around. The older boy then turned to the visitors in front of his house. "Hello," he said, "Did you need me for something?"

China, South Korea, Taiwan and Macau could not believe their eyes. Was that Hong? Smiling? What sorcery was this? Hong Kong was supposed to be emotionless. And who were the kids? Honestly, this Leon looked no more than sixteen. There was no way he could already be a dad.

Leon put his hand on top of his brother's head, and whispered for him to go look after the others. The teen who had originally opened the door glanced at his older brother before disappearing back into the house. Now, only the oldest remained. "Um, hello? You guys rang the doorbell, right?" Leon laughed. "All of you look too old to be playing pranks, so you must have something to say."

After a couple seconds of silence, China broke it. "Do you remember me, Hong?" he asked.

"How am I supposed to remember you if I've never met you?" replied Leon lightly. China looked at Leon carefully, trying to see if he was lying or not. Taiwan's face radiated shock, and Macau and South Korea both wore identical surprised faces. "Anyways, my name's Leon, not Hong. There are a lot of Asians down this street. I think you got the wrong house."

Leon took a step back into his house, and started to close the door. "I hope you find your friend! Have a nice day." The door to the Cheng household was closing, and China, Taiwan, and Macau did not know how to react. However, South Korea did. He stuck his foot right in between the door and the doorframe, flung the door open, and grabbed Leon by the shoulders. His best friend, no, his brother was this close after almost twenty years. He wouldn't let him disappear again.

"HONG! You're HONG KONG! Why don't you remember?!" Leon looked completely confused, and shocked by the outburst. He appeared to be panicking.

"I'm sorry! I really don't know who you're looking for!" Leon tried to get South Korea off his shoulders but the Korean's grip only increased. China and Macau were now trying to pull their brother off of Leon, but both did not succeed.

Hearing the noise, another boy had come downstairs. His eyes widened when he saw his older brother being grabbed and shaken. "Nate! Come here!" In a second, the boy who opened the door was back, and Leon's two younger siblings were tugging Leon away from South Korea.

"Yong Soo! Stop it! STOP!" The shout came from Taiwan, who was standing outside, small sniffles coming from behind sleeves that hid her face. "He doesn't know, Yong Soo. Leave him be."

The Korean immediately released his grip, and Leon fell back onto his brothers. The two sides stared at each other before Taiwan began to speak softly. "I'm sorry for all the trouble. We'll be leaving now." Macau pulled a defeated South Korean out the door, and China followed afterwards.

Leon did not seem to be getting up, so one of his brothers, Nate, stood and closed the door. The Asian personifications started away from the house and towards their car. Once inside, China, who was in the driver's seat because Taiwan was not fit to drive, did not immediately start the car. Instead, he leaned back and closed his eyes as he listened to Taiwan's soft sobs and Korea's punches against the dashboard. He fought back his own tears and frustration and tried giving a small smile to Macau, who was sitting behind him. The glasses wearing personification tried to smile back, but it soon wavered. Macau and China looked away from each other.

That did not go how they had wanted it to go.


Back inside the Cheng household, Nathan did not know what to do. He had sent Ryan to settle the kids after the strangers had left, but his older brother was still sitting on the floor, staring with wide-eyes at the door.

"Leon! Can you hear me?" Nathan was getting scared, although he would never admit it. Leon wasn't answering him. Was this how people acted once they turned sixteen? "Leon!"

The older teen finally blinked, and slowly stood up. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said, "Just let me go upstairs and-" Leon didn't finish his sentence before he crumpled back to the ground, unconscious.

"啊哥!"Nathan quickly grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket and called his parents.


Mathieu and Leon both woke up surrounded by a white space. It was familiar. It was the same as… as… They couldn't remember. They two friends looked at each other and tried to speak, but no sound came out. Instead, a voice rumbled through both their heads.

"Let us begin. This will be the first of many. May you both be safe."

The two teenagers were confused, but before they got the chance to reach out to one another, they were ripped apart and flung into pitch black emptiness.

To be Continued!


Translations:

French

Bonjour, madame : Hello Madam.

Est-ce que nous pouvons parler à Mathieu ? : Can we speak to Mathieu ?

Qui êtes-vous?: Who are you ?

Nous sommes ses amis. : We are his friends.

Est-ce que tu cherches pour mon fils car tu veux lui dire Happy Birthday?: Are you looking for my son so that you can tell him Happy Birthday ?

Bleu et Blanc : Blue and White.

Il devrait être du retour. : He should be returning.

Merci, madame : Thank you, Madam.

Chinese

啊哥/Gege: Brother

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List of siblings (oldest to youngest):

Leon

(Leon), Nathan, Ryan, Michael, Melissa and Melody. (the girls are twins)

Mathieu

Alexandre, (Mathieu), Émilie

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*I made Canada's glasses Alberta *shot*. It's because of the oil! (Like Texas!)

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Reviews and Constructive Criticism! I would love either one or both!

Thanks for Reading!

CCM.