She focused her thoughts on Canada. The cute, soft spoken guy that everyone forgot about.
She grabbed the handle and pulled-
It was locked.
"What the hell?!"
She pulled again. Still locked.
There was no sigil, the damn door was just… Locked?!
She banged her fist on the door, cursing. "Oh, come on!"
She leaned against it for a moment, trying to think of what to do, when the door opened. She nearly tumbled into the room inside.
"Oh! Are you okay?!"
She looked up and found herself face to face with Canada. He smiled. "Hello Skylar. You're just in time."
He walked back into the home leaving Skylar stunned. None of the others had remembered who she was right off the bat!
She followed Canada inside. "C-Canada, we need to talk."
He looked over his shoulder. "Can if wait for a bit? The others are waiting for us."
Her mind went blank. "Others? What others?"
Canada led her to a dining room.
"Hey sky, what's up?"
"Good day, miss Smith."
"Bonjour, mon cher!"
The three nations sat at a large table all together. America, England, and France. Canada took a seat next to them. "Sit down, please! Eat with us."
France smiled at her. "You must be hungry, non?"
It was just then that it occurred to her, yes, she was hungry. Starving even. There were a variety of different foods on the table from English to French cuisine. And a mountain of pancakes with maple syrup.
"Breakfast for dinner?" She laughed.
America shrugged. "What? You don't like breakfast?"
She grinned, taking a seat. "No, I love breakfast food!"
She helped herself to some pancakes as the others passed the other platters around.
She had never felt so hungry before.
"Everything's delicious." She said after swallowing a mouthful.
England laced his fingers together. His eyes watched her carefully, smiling pleasantly. "Glad you like it, poppet. Eat as much as you like."
She paused. "Huh..."
Canada noticed her hesitation. "What's the matter?"
"What was I doing? Before?" She couldn't quite remember...
England stared at her, thoughtfully, taking a sip of tea. "If you can't remember, it probably wasn't very important."
She nodded, not quite sure. "I guess so."
The four of them sat together eating and chatting. It was fun, she'd always been a fan of the FACE family and seeing it in action was very 'squee' worthy.
Canada fiddled with the table cloth, embarrassed. "I'm so glad you could all make it. We should do this more often."
"Of course!" America grinned. "Hey, Mattie, tomorrow we should go out and play some hockey."
Canada's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Totally, dude! Hey, Sky, you should join us!"
She imagined herself sliding across the ice and making a complete ass of herself. "I- I don't think that's a good idea, I don't know anything about ice skating."
Canada blushed. "I... I could teach you. If you w... Wanted."
"Are you sure?"
Canada nodded. "Yeah, it would be fun."
England sighed. "I should apologize, Matthew. I've treated you terribly for a very long time."
France nodded. "Oui. And I know I have been quite beastly as well."
"It's okay... Don't worry about it."
"No." England insisted. "It's not okay. It was never okay to make you feel forgotten and it will never happen again."
Skylar felt wonderful. This was great! She was so happy for Canada. A happy family sitting together and enjoying one another's company... It has been so long since she'd had anything like this.
Stomach full and feeling very comfortable she suddenly felt all her strength seeping out of her. She felt tired. Very, very tired. She wanted nothing more than to fall asleep, and yet...
"Are you alright?" Canada asked.
She nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just tired."
France took her hand. "You look exhausted! You should go lie down."
"N-no. Thank you but..."
England stood. "France is right, you should sleep."
America was suddenly behind her, gently but firmly pushing her forward. "Go to bed! And tomorrow we can play hockey and whatever else you want."
She sighed. Maybe it was for the best. She did feel tired.
"Wait." Canada approached them. "Didn't you have something you needed to talk to me about?"
She paused. "Did I?"
England pulled her arm. "It doesn't matter now."
She pulled away. "No... I did have something I needed to tell Canada. But I... what was it?"
It was on the tip of her tongue... What was it? "I was..."
America pushed harder, urging her forward. Her legged bumped into a chair and she flinched as pain shot through her leg. "Augh!" She hissed in pain.
"What's wrong?" Canada came closer and looked at her leg. "Is... Is that blood?"
Her pants leg was covered in dried blood. She stared at it, simultaneously startled and sickened. How had she not noticed that? "Is that... my blood?"
Canada's voice was full of concern. "When did that happen? Are you alright?"
"I was..." Vague images passed through her mind. "In a car crash..." Slowly, they became clearer. "The second players attacked us! They took Italy's heart!" It all came flooding back to her. "Canada! We have to get out of here! It's a-"
A hand grasped her throat, squeezing.
She struggled against the hand, gasping for breath. France was squeezing the life from her.
"F-France! What are you doing? Stop! You'll kill her!"
France's face was completely apathetic his voice steady. "That's the plan."
"N-not... Fra..." She gasped out. "Cana... Hel..."
The pressure on her throat tightened.
The little strength she had drained away and soon her arms hung, limp at her sides. She couldn't get away. Her vision was blurring- she closed her eyes letting out a strangled groan.
"S-stop!"
She opened her eyes just in time to see Canada smack the fake France with a hockey stick.
She fell to the floor, finally able to breathe as the fake America stumbled away.
"SKYLAR!" Someone was beside her now...
"R-Romano..?"
Where had he been? What just happened?!
Canada stared at the fake France. "Why? Why did you do that?! Who are you?"
The fake France's face changed, revealing Canada's second player. "I'm surprised you actually had the balls to hit me."
Canada looked heartbroken. He must have realized it was all a lie. "You... But why?!"
The other Canada shrugged. "This is what you want, right? Happy fucking family? So I gave you what you wanted."
"But it... It wasn't real." Canada whispered. "None of it..."
His second player nodded. "That's right. And it never will be real. You know why? Because your so called 'family' doesn't give a shit about you. Never have, never will. No one cares about you. You'll always be forgotten and alone." His voice was just so... Matter of fact about it. Like he didn't care at all.
She touched Canada's shoulder. "Let's go."
The other Canada scoffed. "Yeah, go, see how long it takes for them to forget your name. You'll be begging to come back here. At least in dreams you can pretend that someone loves you."
The other Canada vanished.
Skylar felt dizzy, her throat was bruised and sore. As good as she had felt before was now completely flipped. Now she felt terrible and hungry as well as exhausted. She wanted to crawl into bed and cry herself to sleep.
She couldn't even imagine how Canada felt.
"He just said that to hurt you." She assured him.
Canada's eyes were on the table the group had been sitting at moments before, now completely empty. "But it was true... It's always been this way... France, England, America... I've been my own nation for years, I'm a member of the G8, and they still forget me."
What could she say to that? It was true...
"People get angry at me, or make fun of me, or forget I even exist. No one cares." He bit his lip. "My 'family'... He was right, they don't care about me... If they did, they'd be here." Canada's pale violet eyes were full of tears.
"...we are here Matthieu."
Canada twisted around, eyes wide. "France?! Wh-where?"
He caught sight of the three mochi on the ground.
His eyes widened, not having any idea what to think of the three white blobs on the floor.
"France? Is that you?"
France glances at the floor, bashfully. "As unfortunate as it is, yes. It's me..."
"America?"
America was fidgeting. "Yeah..."
"England?"
England sighed. "Yes... it's a long story..."
"Do you really feel that way?" America asked, suddenly.
Canada face went a little red. He rubbed his eyes and nodded, sniffling a bit.
"I... I didn't know... Mattie." America sounded surprisingly woeful. "I never meant to make you feel like that, bro, I just... I'm sorry man."
Canada said nothing.
"I owe you an apology as well. I took you from France... you got caught up in our squabbling and even after that... I never gave you the attention you deserved. I'm sorry, Matthew..."
France glared at England. "You have much to be sorry for." England did not respond to the callous comment and France continued, speaking directly to Canada. "Matthieu, do you remember what I said when we were in New York?"
Canada nodded.
"I meant every word."
Canada sighed. "...thank you all... For apologizing." He sighed, asking his head. "But I can't forgive you. Not that easily..."
France nodded. "I understand."
England sighed a little and America bounced forward. "I'll prove it to you Mattie! From now on I'll be the best brother ever! Hero's promise! And heroes never break their promises!"
Canada turned to Skylar. "What do we do now?"
She pointed to the door. "We leave. And I'll explain everything."