Hey there! Amazingly, I haven't forgotten anything from the last Author's notes, so I don't have much to say. But be warned – often I will forget something I wanted to say, so you'll have to check up here for the rest of the information. That is, if you read author's notes.

Disclaimer: Don't own

Warnings: Swearing, Ameripan, OOC-ness, pervy Matthew

_-_- ϔ -_-_

This wasn't exactly what I had in mind when Alfred said he had an idea, Matthew thought grimly, attempting to worm a red peg into his smallest ship. "Err… hit." He said without much enthusiasm. Alfred did a little happy dance.

"Oh yeah! The hero strikes again! I'm totally going to kick your ass, Mattie!" Alfred shouted, simple joy scrawled across his face. Matthew sighed. If his brother was this annoying all the time, maybe he didn't want to remember.

Pushing hair out of his face, Matthew meekly asked "Um… Alfred, we've been playing board games for hours now, and we still haven't thought of anything. I think we should just call it a night." The only reason that Matthew hadn't mentioned this before is that Alfred was having so much fun. Matthew hated seeing Alfred sad, because then it made Matthew feel guilty and angry at the same time, though he couldn't say why.

"Aw, come on! It's only, like, ten o' clock. We've stayed up way later, Mattie. Besides, I think you just want to get out of finishing Battleship, since I'm way better." A flash of annoyance rose through Matthew, and his usually pretty face twisted in anger. Alfred, who had been laughing, immediately silenced. The American looked nervous… no. Not nervous. He looked downright scared. Matthew blinked in confusion and looked down at his own hands. For a moment, he could see that he was holding a beautiful gold compass, words scratched around the edge. Then it was gone, leaving Matthew flustered and ever so slightly terrified.

_-_- Ж -_-_

"Japan!"

The Asian nation looked up from the notes he was reviewing. China was standing over him, expression halfway between annoyance and worry. "Ah, China-san. Is something the matter?"

"That's what I was going to ask you! You've been strangling your leg, aru!" Japan looked down. His knuckles were white from gripping his thigh, and his nails were digging into his skin. He immediately relaxed his hand, rubbing the sore spot. China shook his head. "What is up with you lately? You stare off into space and get flustered a lot more easily, aru. Are you getting old?"

Japan sighed. "China-san, you are older than I am. No, I am worried about America-kun. He hasn't sent me a text message in over four weeks. He usually sends at least twice a day. When I attempted to contact him the other day, it went straight to voicemail."

China frowned. "Did you try to go to his house, aru?"

"No, I felt that would be rude without asking his permission first."

"But aren't you dating him, aru? Surely you must be allowed at his house!" At this, Japan's face became a light pink, and he looked away, embarrassed. China rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on, Japan. Everyone knows about it, and no one cares, aru. It's not even political." When Japan didn't respond, China shrugged, dropping it.

At the head of the table, Germany was looking over a few notes. When he had organized the stack, he cleared his throat, and began to shout. "THIS IS A WORLD MEETING, SO I WOULD KINDLY APPRECIATE IT IF EVERYONE SAT DOWN AND SHUT UP!" The few nations who had been standing quickly took their seats, including China. After a few moments of everyone trying to find their notes, the room became silent. Germany looked pleased that everyone had done as he "asked" for once. "Is anyone missing?"

There were a few moments of silence as everyone looked around. Finally, someone spoke up. "There are two empty chairs next to me. I know one of them is America's, but I don't know who else is gone. The git probably dragged some poor soul off for one of his harebrained schemes." Germany scowled.

"We cannot convene the meeting without all members present! Does anyone know where America and… the other nation are?" More silence. It was at this point that China noticed that Japan had turned the color of flour.

"Don't worry," China whispered, leaning over, "America's probably just sick or something, aru. He's a strong nation. He can take care of himself. Besides, there's no way I would let America run off with all that debt he owes me, aru."

"Does no one have any idea?" Germany asked. When no one said anything, Germany just sighed, smoothing back his hair. "We must postpone the meeting until everyone is present. Someone should check America's hotel room to see if he thought the meeting was at a later time. This wouldn't be the first incident he's done something like that. Also, I'll check the members list to see who's missing. Does anyone volunteer to check America's room?"

A few people looked at Japan, and the Asian nation swallowed, raising his hand. "I volunteer."

Germany nodded. "Japan, good. If we find everyone in time, the meeting will begin at twelve o' clock instead of ten o' clock. Is that acceptable?"

France cleared his throat. "Will the meeting be running for the same amount of hours? Because I have a date I have to-" Germany's face turned bright red.

"France! I am talking about business matters, not dates! You will have to tell this person you're sorry because you will not be available due to business! Do I make myself clear?"

"Oui…" France mumbled, sinking back into his chair. Germany pinched the bridge of his nose, breathing hard.

"Japan, I will meet you in the front lobby in twenty minutes. We can then contact all of the members with the plan according to our findings." Japan nodded, still pale. He wasn't convinced by China's assurances, and wouldn't be until he saw America safe in his room.

_-_- Ж -_-_

Matthew grimaced, edging away from the muddy puddle that his brother was splashing in. "C'mon Mattie," Alfred cried, "It'll be fun! Don't be such a wuss."

"Arthur said not to splash in the puddles," Matthew said, "He said he'll spank us if we get our clothes dirty again. You know how much he hates that."

"Exactly, that's the point! Old Artie doesn't got nothing on us! Besides, what's life without a little adventure?" At this, Alfred splashed a handful of dirty water all over his unfortunate younger brother, causing Matthew to shriek, and Alfred to laugh.

"Boys, are you out there?" Called a British voice. Alfred swore under his breath.

"Crap, it's Artie. We have to go, quick." Alfred stood up, at this point completely soaked with the water. He grabbed his younger brother's hand and pulled him along, running straight for the woods behind the mansion they lived in. Matthew was about to protest when he was smacked in the face by a low tree branch. His brother was going to pay for this later.

"I think we're safe now." Alfred said after they had gone quite a ways in. The young American was resting his hands on his knees, and panting softly.

Matthew looked around. The forest was quite beautiful, not too open, but not so dense that you couldn't walk two feet without tripping on something. Green light filtered through the leaves, and Matthew felt calm. "What're we gonna to now? We can't go back; otherwise Arthur will use the belt for sure."

"Hmm…" Alfred said, seriously considering. "I know! We can play explorer!" He began to fumble with a fanny pack that rested on his left hip. Matthew was well acquainted with that pack. In it, Alfred held the rather dubious items he used on his "adventures".

Alfred pulled out a beautiful gold-plated compass. Matthew's eyes boggled. "Where'd you get that?" He asked, reaching a tentative hand out to touch it.

Alfred frowned when Matthew made his move, but didn't resist and let his little brother run thin fingers over the instrument. "Artie gave it to me. He says that one day, he's going to take me on a ship and sail me all over the world, but I'm gonna need a compass to find my way."

"Arthur didn't get me anything like that," Matthew pouted. Nevertheless, he was still entranced by the simplistic beauty of the thing.

Alfred popped open the cover, revealing the actual device. "Where do you want to go? North? We could be arctic explorers! What should we be trying to find?"

"Uh…" Matthew wasn't sure how to respond. "Maybe… maybe we could be finding an ancient Inuit walrus-tusk carving?" That made sense, right?

"No, that's too boring! It should be… an ancient cursed carving that says anyone who touches it will die a thousand deaths!"

"A walrus-tusk carving." Matthew stated, sighing at his brother's tendency to over-exaggerate things. Honestly. Even just a normal carving would be very interesting to the scientific and archeological world. Besides, how could someone die "a thousand deaths"?

If one was immortal, of course, Matthew thought, but his dream self quickly pushed that idea away. Immortality. How ridiculous.

"O…kay! That way is north!" Alfred said, pointing in a direction that looked like every other direction. Matthew decided to give his brother the benefit of the doubt and followed him into the forest. A long time passed like that, with Alfred checking the compass and leading the brothers deeper into the forest. Matthew was shivering soon, his wet clothes making the cold air even colder. Alfred didn't seem affected. Perhaps he was too excited to realize.

"A-Alfie?"

"Yeah?"

"W-we should h-head back s-soon. It's g-getting colder. A-Arthur is g-gonna worry about u-us, eh." Alfred pouted.

"Well… I guess if you're cold. The hero can't be making others uncomfortable. I guess we can head home." Alfred began walking the other way, still checking the compass.

As they walked, the woods became darker and darker. Alfred squinted at the compass face. "It's so dark. I can barely see the needle." Matthew's breath hitched. Were they lost? Had they already passed the house? How were they going to survive the night? There were wild animals and savages roaming all over. Matthew's stomach twisted at the thought of their blood spattered on the forest ground…

The Canadian sat down, tears running down his cheeks. His brother squatted by him, rubbing a hand in comforting circular motions on Matthew's back. "Hey, don't cry. Remember what Artie said? He said that if we ever got lost, there was a town just east of the woods. If we go east, we can find it. All we have to do is wait there, and England will come and get us."

"B-but what if he doesn't come?" Matthew sobbed.

"He will, don't worry. Artie always keeps his promises! Besides, he can't forget about us. We're too heroic to be forgotten!" Matthew smiled a little at that. He loved it when Alfred included him in his hero delusions, even if the Canadian was forced to play the sidekick.

"Where are we gonna sleep? It's cold out here…" Matthew whispered, shivering.

"Uh… piles of leaves are warm, right? We can sleep in one of those. Plus, if we sleep together, it'll be fine! We can't even die." Alfred stood, gathering fallen leaves into heaps, throwing away any wet ones he found. Matthew watched him, his body still shaking.

"D-do you have a tinderbox in your pack? W-we could l-light a f-fire…"

Alfred straightened, shaking his head. "Sorry, Mattie, I don't. I have a magnifying glass, but there's hardly any moon tonight. Even if there was, that'd be a bitch to try to light…" Alfred sighed, looking back down at his pile. "You wanna call it a night? I think the pile's big enough, and you look half frozen to death." Matthew nodded, standing shakily. Taking his brother's hand, they lay down, heaping handfuls of leaves over themselves. They were quickly submerged, only the very tops of their heads sticking out.

Matthew couldn't see a thing, but he blindly scooted himself towards his brother's warmth. He was glad it was dark. The blush on his cheeks was heavier than the time that France had read him that book with all the dirty things in it. He was used to sleeping with Alfred, but not like this…

"Good night, Mattie." Alfred whispered, making Matthew shiver.

"Bonne nuit, mon cher frère."

_-_- Ж -_-_

Germany tapped his wristwatch impatiently. 10:27. First America (and Canada, as he had learned) was late, and now Japan. Usually, the Asian nation was just as punctual as he was. What could possibly be holding him up?

There was a shuffling sound from one of the hallways. Germany turned. It was defiantly Japan, but something was wrong. He was paler than usual, and his black hair looked messy. As Germany examined him closer, he realized that he had also been crying.

"Japan? Did something happen?" He said cautiously. Japan sat down on one of the overstuffed sofas, looking like he was holding back from breaking down right there.

"A-America-kun wasn't t-there…" Japan whispered, his voice trembling slightly. Germany sat down beside him, awkwardly placing a hand on his shoulder. The European wasn't very good at comforting people.

"I'm sure he… he just thought it was at a later time, and didn't bother checking in. He's probably stuffing his face at McDonald's right now. Why don't you give him a call?"

"I did. It went to h-his voicemail. I… haven't b-been able t-to contact h-him for a while now. T-there's s-something seriously w-wrong…" Japan said. He straightened, trying to regain his composure. "W-Who was missing b-besides America? Their d-disappearance may be connected."

Germany decided to give Japan the benefit of the doubt. "Canada. Apparently, he's America's brother. I think you're right Japan. Canada is somehow connected with the reason America's gone, though it may be America's fault. After all, America is known for dragging people into things."

"I suppose…" Japan murmured. "Does this mean the meeting will be postponed until they are both found?"

"Yes. Though it pains me, everyone is critical to the meeting, especially a superpower such as America." Germany sighed, smoothing his already-perfect hair back. "Japan, would you mind being the one who searches for America? I have a meeting I have to attend to tomorrow in my own country."

"Ah, I would be pleased to." Japan murmured, standing. Germany blinked.

"Where are you going?"

"I am going to re-pack my suitcase, then fly out to Washington D.C. to talk to America's boss. There is no problem, right Germany-san?"

Germany frowned. "You don't have to leave immediately…"

"It would be more efficient, though. We can re-plan the meeting sooner. Thank you Germany-san." With that and a bow, Japan quickly left, almost running towards the elevator. Germany sighed, sending the pre-prepared text message to all the countries, stating that the meeting would have to be postponed even further. The German rubbed his forehead. This was not going to be pleasant.

_-_- Ж -_-_

Happy 2013 everyone! It's way too late to be a New Year's update, but this is the first time (I think- I have such a bad memory and I'm too lazy to check) I've updated in 2013.

Mattie, why are you already getting pervy thoughts at this age?

Not a whole lot of action between America and Canada in this chapter (at least not in real life). I'm sorry about the Ameripan, but there won't be a whole lot of it, but there will be more. Also, I fail at writing about Japan. I want to make him upset that his boyfriend's disappeared, but not so upset that he's completely OOC…

And yes – the compass that Matthew envisioned is the same one that is in his flashback. I also apologize for any mistakes I made while writing about the past. I'm too lazy to research too much

Bonne nuit, mon cher frère – Goodnight, my dear brother

To my reviewers:

Dark Void Princess 21: As you could probably tell, this chapter was a lot less awkward (probably because there wasn't much to be awkward about in the first place, but still…)

QuickSilverFox3: I am sooo tempted to give a spoiler here, but I know if I do, everyone's going to figure it out and be like WHAAAT before I want them to be XD

G.A-motoharu: Haha, I thought it would be so obvious, but I guess not *shrugs*. Also, your English is great for someone who's not a native speaker! I'm actually from New Mexico, so everyone thinks I speak Spanish and eat tacos all the time. (Yo soy un estudiante de español… pero, yo fallo tan mal XD)

Kira92: Holy shit, long review! (Don't worry, the review whore loves it ;D) I hope I am not killing you too much. I've always sucked at solving mysteries as well. I can't even read Nancy Drew without being surprised by the ending, and after the end of Saw, I was just like "wut."

This is a very good observation, and this is going to lead to something big ;)

*laughs* Yeah, it's more than brotherly love. I don't torture all us yaoi fangirls that much.

Hmm… I'm not sure what you mean by this, exactly, because I promise you, a lot of stuff happened in the house…

That's a good point. I hadn't even thought of that '^.^

To you too!

tantei no hime: Eheh… *scratches head apologetically* I suppose you can skip it when it comes to that…

Kouya-Kun: I do that all the time! And yes, Alfred is being strangely OOC… usually, he's about as careful as an elephant lumbering through the jungle (and about as strong).

Teh Llamainator: *snort* That… was lovely. Cuckoo is going boing-boing. I'm going to have to remember that one…