~Canada's PoV~
"I fully intend on it, British Dude," Alfred said as he stepped in the door, "I was just out for some fresh air. Though it looks like I've missed quite a bit." He smiled, though it never reached his eyes, unlike it had in the dream. His cornflower eyes were a mix of a long-held, lightened load and a deep sorrow. One whose reason I didn't want to think about.
"You better have," England growled, glaring at him, "Because he's your responsibility now."
"As I said before, I fully intend on it," He returned the shorter man's glare evenly, "I don't need you to tell me that, he's my-" The first man who had been in here with me slammed a hand across his mouth, cutting him off.
"I'm your what?" I asked. I saw his shoulders slump ever so slightly. I don't think anyone else noticed, though, as he quickly picked himself back up.
"America. Outside. Now." England snapped his fingers, dragging a protesting man out the door and slamming it behind him. I sighed, blowing away the curl that had been hanging in my face.
It hit me suddenly that my vision had been wavering in and out of focus all this time, but I had simply been too preoccupied to notice. I blinked, pinching the bridge of my nose in an attempt to focus them when it came particularly bad, and didn't automatically refocus. It barely worked, and I strained my eyes, trying to force them to refocus. Coming to a conclusion, I gave up.
Another name came back to me from the dream, and I called out to the one with the longer blonde hair. Something told me he was right next to the bed.
"Um, France," I said softly, "There might be a problem."
"Oui, mon petit Maple Leaf? What is it?" He looked back at me, sounding a bit surprised I had used his name. The name he addressed me with was vaguely familiar, but I wasn't going to think about that at the moment.
"I can't see."
~America's PoV~
As soon as Iggy and I had walked out of earshot of the others, he turned to me.
"Listen, Alfred. I know these past hundred years have been tough on you," I gave a short bark of sarcastic laughter and he paused before continuing, "I know these past hundred years have been very tough on you, but I cannot stress this enough. Do not force any memories onto him. Whatever your heart may say to do, don't do it." I tensed, looking down at the ground.
"Why should I listen to you? Why should I, when you and everyone else had lost hope in him?" I snapped, "I thought us Personifications are meant to stick together, but when the going got tough and you guys couldn't find the light, you just gave up."
"I know, and I'm sorry, Alfred. But I'm not saying this for me, or you, or any of us. I'm saying this for Matthew's sake. Right now he's a kid with a blank slate; he can be turned in any direction at the snap of a twig. If you mess up, we might never have our soft-hearted Canada back." It struck me how serious he was. His emerald eyes held the same stubborn glint in them as they did when I was a kid, and didn't do as I was told.
"You think I don't already know that?" I asked, sitting down on a bench and ran a hand through my hair.
"I needed to make sure, Alfred. I care about him just as much as you do."
"Well, I do already know. I know it very well. I'm not an idiot, contrary to apparent popular belief. I've dealt with amnesia before."
"Never with one of us, though. Think about it, Alfred." He sat down next to me, rubbing a hand on my back. It sent a wave of nostalgia through me, one I would rather do without, but I didn't push him away.
"What's the difference? We're still humans, too. We just stop aging at one point, and what would have killed normally wouldn't kill us." Iggy sighed.
"Think, Alfred. We are history; we're the living representations of it. What happens if one of us were to forget..?" He trailed off, looking at me. That was when everything clicked.
"A piece of history would be missing..." Iggy clapped his hands approvingly.
"Right. And if that piece were never recovered, it would start affecting the course of time." My head snapped up to look at him.
"What? How?"
"Honestly, Alfred..."
"What? I'm no sorcerer like you, Iggy."
"How many times... Nevermind. What that means is that time will try correcting what was lost; the universe would want to find that missing piece. And until it does, we'll all be stuck in one massive time loop until things are set right once again." I blinked at him, not understanding a word he had said. He grumbled to himself, before rewording his explanation.
"You know that annoying feeling when you finish a puzzle only to find one or two pieces missing and you won't stop looking until you find them? But when you don't, you take the puzzle apart just to redo it in ten years, and the cycle repeats?"
"That would be very bad..." I whispered, almost to myself as everything fell into place.
"Yes. That's why I'm saying what I am. You cannot force anything on him, no matter what your heart may say. None of your feelings, none of the memories you share." My eyes widened.
"How did you..?"
"After one hundred years you think I haven't noticed? I think everyone has."
That was when we heard footsteps coming down the hall. Iggy went silent as Japan appeared around the corner.
"America-san, England-san, you need to come back." He said. Iggy and I exchanged a glance.
"Why? What happened?"
"It's Canada-san... His vision failed."
"What?" I jumped up, "Like, blurry he'll-need-glasses failed or..?" I couldn't finish the sentence, my throat constricting at the possibility.
"No, he is not blind, America-san." I breathed a prayer of relief.
"Then exactly how bad is it?" Iggy questioned.
"I'm not sure. You'll have to ask him that."
By the time Iggy had stood up from the bench I was already sprinting down the hall.
A/N: The name America uses for England will vary between the different situations. Also, sorry this chapter was so short... I really didn't know what else to put in there. Not too mention I'm in a pretty crappy mood today, so... And for the life of me I simply cannot remember how Japan addresses Iggy and Canada... So sorry if that's wrong. And that whole 'breathed a prayer of relief' thing, just don't ask... Yeah. Self-critic A/N. XD
On that note... Hope y'all enjoyed this!