Hey guys! It is time for another chapter of Britannia! We're starting the year 1917 now where America joins the war! So you will see more of him for now on and he and Scarlett's relationship will strengthen even more. Hopefully I can come up with something good or else you guys will get pissed at me. So I was talking to my Dad and he said he might put me in a student exchange program where I would study in Japan for six months! That sounds cool but I'll be a senior next year and I have friends here so I gotta think about it. Anyway, please review or comment on the story and tell me what I can do better. I swear that the story isn't perfect so please tell me when I make a mistake. Also, do you guys think I need to change the story avatar picture? I feel like I need to but if you have any suggestions from like Pinterest or DeviantArt or even your own art that would be amazing! Finally, thanks so much for reading and here is the chaper!

Ch. 25: The Zimmermann Note

(Year: 1917)

"Wow! It feels so nice to be back in my capital city of London!" Britain exclaimed as he stretched his arms out happily, his bones popping faintly beneath his skin. Britannia stepped onto dry land after him with the same smile. She loved seeing him so happy.

"I'm just glad we get to take a little break…" She told him.

The two countries had won some recent victories against the German army and therefore pushed them back foot by foot. The Germans were now recovering from their chain of losses while the English forces could take a breather. They were pretty thinned out too but luckily their bravery shined through.

"We need to send more troops over there, but other than that we're good! Come on love, let's go have a decent cup of tea for once! Oh god, I love hearing myself say that!"

Arthur said cheerfully. Scarlett kept her arms behind her back as she walked beside the blonde man.

"Actually, I think we need actual showers before we do that. I still have mud in places I'd rather not talk about and I might as well start on the letters…" She said the last few words quietly. Britain gave her a glance out of the corner of his eye.

"Letters?" He asked in curiosity.

She nodded her head.

"I plan on writing a personal letter to every single family who has lost one of their loved ones. It's the least I could do for the sacrifice they gave for their country. I'm so proud of them." She said while holding her heart. England smiled and patted her on the back gently.

"And I'm so proud of you Scarlett. You're so kind and brave. I couldn't have asked for a better 'daughter' than you."

Scarlett wiped away a tear from her eye and giggled a bit.

"Hehe, remember when I used to call you 'Daddy'?" She asked Britain. He smiled down at the ground and nodded his head. How could he forget something as cute as that? He told her he always would and ruffled her hair, which she hated. She slapped his hand away with an annoyed look but ended up laughing after a few seconds.

The two traveled all the way to Buckingham Palace and there they were greeted by very nonchalant red-uniformed guards. Scarlett really liked trying to make them smile and she always succeeded somehow. Her secret? She rubbed their big furry black hats and acted as if they were cats. That always got them smiling at her cute blushing face. People inside the palace were surprised to see their country come in after almost a year of fighting over in mainland Europe.

"Britain sir! Oh I'm so glad you and Lady Britannia are back safe and sound! We got your letters but they're just not the same. I will start a bath for the both of you and you both will have a cup of tea waiting for you in the courtyard!" One of the butlers said with a nod of his head. Britain inhaled deeply with a smile and sighed without any stress evident on his face.

"It...is good to be home," He told the blonde girl behind him who nodded in agreement.

"I agree! I just wish I was at my actual home. I'll take a quick bath and see you in the courtyard in maybe half an hour?"

She said in a questioning tone. He nodded and they both were on their way to get totally clean for the first time in months. An old-looking man led Scarlett through the brilliant halls until they reached a door on the second level. He opened the door and presented the room to her. It was pretty big. The bathtub looked like it could fit two cars if you tried hard enough. A big window had a view of the street outside with four guards down below guarding the side entrance. The toilet and sink were both a gold-silvery color and they looked cleaner than Scarlett's hair right now.

How appealing…

Next to the toilet was a similar looking toilet but not exactly; it was probably the bidet. She turned her head up and wasn't surprised to see that even the bathrooms had sparkly chandeliers. Looking back down at the tub, it was already filled with warm steamy water. She smiled in relief as she took off her military clothes slowly. Her aching muscles made her undressing slower than usual. Once she was bare, she got in the tub and a groan fell from her mouth involuntarily. The water burned her skin in a satisfying way and the temperature soothed her muscles. She wished she could just lay there forever but she promised Arthur that she would be in the courtyard in half an hour. She grabbed the soap and washed her whole body very throughly like her life depended on it. She paid particular attention to her hair and face. She must have scrubbed for ten minutes before she felt herself completely pure again. She drained the dirty water down the drain and rinsed herself off one more time just to make sure she was clean again. Once done, she got out and put on a new pair of clothes which just consisted of a short white periwinkle dress that covered her shoulders with matching shoes. It was the most comfortable thing they had at the palace as of now. She slipped on two solid white gloves with floral designs on top of them. Lastly, she tied her hair in a pony tail with a tiny white bow.

"Holy crap! I totally forgot how good I look!"

She screamed in excitement as she checked herself out in the mirror. She looked pretty good in white. Well frankly, she looked good in every color.

Scarlett made sure her hair was dry and looking good before going down to the courtyard. The English servants had set out a small table with two chairs placed opposite of each other. A delicate glass teapot and two teacups were on the table.

"Britain…"

She whispered to herself as she saw him sitting there, sipping on his cup of tea. He had a white suit on with a black shirt under it and his hair was still slightly damp from his bath. She walked over to him with a smile and sat down, making sure the end of her dress was positioned properly before sitting.

"Have a nice bath?" He asked her.

"Oh yes, it was awesome! I feel all clean now! It was really refreshing. How about you?"

He took another sip of his tea and grinned, "Mine was rather nice once I got all the dirt and mud out of my...well everywhere I suppose! Now just having a cup of tea on a day like this is a dream come true."

He motioned his hands at the bright blue sky with the sun shining brightly above them. Scarlett was surprised that it wasn't raining but she knew it would sometime in the week. It always did. She dropped two sugar cubes in her dark tea and stirred while pouring some milk in her cup as well. The darkened color softened as she tapped the spoon on the edge of the white glass tea cup and set it down on the napkin next to it. She took soft sips every few seconds, the liquid running down her throat unopposed.

"So...When do you think this whole war will end?" She asked out of the blue. Britain closed his eyes and set his cup down, crossing his arms and putting on a "thinking" expression on his face.

"Well judging by our recent wins, I'd say it shouldn't take as long as I thought it would. However, France is still open for invasion and the old frog doesn't look that good. I'm just concluding this by the last time we saw him. As for Belgium and Luxembourg, they seem to be...okay...for now. If Germany tries to touch her again I swear…"

He gritted his teeth and tightened his fist. Scarlett rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Settle down lover boy, she'll be fine," she said. He loosened his "macho" behavior and sat back in his seat with the same gentleman-like look he always had on. The both of them continued to drink their tea before one of Britain's servants suddenly appeared from one of the doors leading to the inside. He was carrying a letter in his hand with a Royal British seal on it. It must be an important message.

"Sir, a message from Room 40."

Britain's eyes widened a bit as he took the letter and started opening it. Scarlett visibly groaned as she awaited something horrible. Room 40 is a place that specializes in encryption analysis and since they were at war it probably had something to do with that. She leaned her elbows on the table and stared at him as he read the letter.

"Please don't tell me we have to go into battle again. We just got back!" She whined. Britain shook his head and hummed in thought.

"No, but it looks like someone else will be," he said. She narrowed her eyes in confusion.

"What do you mean?" She asked. He set the letter on the table and she picked it up to read it. Her eyes went left to right as she read the translated telegraph. It basically said that Mexico should attack America, and if they did that they would be promised all of their land that they had lost the last time the two countries fought with one another. And all of this was coming from Germany and its foreign secretary. She looked up from reading.

"We need to send this to America."

"Yes, I will send it to him right now. Come with me," Arthur told her as they stood up from their "tea time" and walked all the way to Britain's personal telegraph and telephone. Each country had their own so they could communicate with each other without any normal people interfering. Britain picked up his phone and and swiped America's number quickly and carefully. Scarlett stood idly by, watching England wait for the teenage country to pick up.

"Yo?"

She heard from the other line and couldn't help but giggle. Britain gave her a look before he started talking.

"America, listen to me because this is very important. We have just intercepted a telegram from the foreign secretary of Germany."

"And?" America asked in suspicion. Britain continued,

"And it is asking Mexico that in case you ever got in a war with Germany, that it should attack you and the Germans would give them the whole southwestern region of your country in return!" Britain yelled into the phone frantically. There was silence for a few seconds before Alfred's voice was heard again.

"What? You've got to be kidding me. Do you have the telegram so I can see it?" He asked. Britain told him he did and would send it right now.

"Okay I got it. Hold on a sec." America told Arthur followed by silence. It took the American five minutes before he got back on the phone. Hopefully he had something good to say about it.

"Okay I'm on my way over there. My boss said this is basically the last straw and we will make our case in congress to make a declaration of war. They have been attacking our ships with their submarines so we're all kind of pissed over here...I will round all of my troops here at home but I will be there by myself in a couple of days. I hope you don't mind me flying there do you dude?"

"Of course not!" Britain said, almost happily. Finally America was getting in the war! This was the greatest news he had heard all day! Not only would this give them an edge but it would also almost guarantee their win in the war!

"Alright bro, I'm coming over there."

"Please hurry! I want to see you!" Scarlett said into the phone with a laugh.

"Whoa, is that you Scarlett!? Man, I haven't seen you in like two years! I won't be there in a couple of days, I'll be there tonight!"

"But that's impossible Alfie!"

You could hear him shuffling around the place from the British end of the phone.

"I don't care, I'll make it work!"

After that, he hung up the phone and the line went dead. Scarlett and Arthur both looked at each other like, "There's no way he's going to get here tonight", but knowing him he would probably prove them wrong…

Keeping his promise, Alfred arrived in Britain at about 11:12 at night on the airport runway. The only weird thing about it was he came without his plane! He literally came from the clouds and landed on the runway! What the hell!? The guards that were waiting for him fell to the ground in shock and he had to help them up.

"America sir...How in the...Where-"

"I can explain haha," he laughed. And he did. He told him that to get to England so quickly, he had to literally over-ride his engines so the plane would go faster. The turbines of his planes moved so fast at an altitude not fit for that speed and it simply blew up right when he was about to enter the country, but it was okay because he had run out of fuel anyway and the blown up parts went into the ocean instead of hitting someone in the head. The last part of his explanation was tricky. However, being the awesome country he was he dived out the plane with his parachute and swinged his body in a way that actually made him go higher with the wind. Once he got over London, he planned on just landing safely on the ground with his parachute but some dumbass bird decided to peck at it and it popped so he had to unstrap himself in mid-air and then land perfectly on the ground, which he did.

"And that is how I got here so quickly. Good thing I'm a country or I'd be totally screwed dudes!" He said loudly to the guards, putting both of his arms behind his head as he walked. The two British guards looked at each other and then continued escorting the country to Buckingham Palace where Britain and Britannia would be waiting. Once there, he set his stuff down that he had been carrying this whole time and cleared his throat. There were only a few lights on since it was so late. He looked around the grand staircase and in the rooms behind that. Nope. Nobody in there. He turned to the front door and checked the two rooms on that side of the giant room.

"Alfred! You're here!"

Alfred turned to see Scarlett at the top of the stairs with a big smile on her face. He felt himself have the same smile as she ran down the stairs and gave him a huge hug. She nuzzled her face in his neck and they stayed like that longer than any hug should be. They hadn't seen each other for two years so it was necessary.

"You look really pretty Scarlett, as always…" He told her. He couldn't see it but her cheeks were burning so much he might have been able to feel it. She thanked him as they pulled back their heads and looked into each other's eyes.

"I don't know how, but I knew you would get here tonight," she told him. He shrugged his broad shoulders and laughed nervously.

"It's a long story...Where's Britain?"

"Oh, he's probably in his study reading a book. He hasn't changed a bit."

She grabbed his hand and took him upstairs to find Arthur. She looked at him as they walked and didn't let go of his hand.

"We seriously need to catch up! So you plan on getting in the war too? How good is your army?"

"Well it's not much right now because we haven't really been doing anything military-wise. However, I've ordered for every base to gather up their troops and we'll probably have a draft in a month or two. Our declaration of war hasn't been "declared" yet but yeah I'm finally here to help...I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner Scarlett…" He apologized. Scarlett shook her head, her blond hair swinging side-to-side. She looked at him and said, "I'm just glad you're here. Don't feel bad about anything else okay?"

She tightened her grip around his hand and he nodded. Scarlett peeked her head in the only room that had light coming from it and saw Britain sitting in his chair reading his books. He was wearing glasses and for some reason he looked like he was talking to someone. America was going to walk in there causally but Scarlett stopped him and they hid behind the corner to listen to him.

"Oh God, flying mint bunny you are a card! This Oliver Twist sure wants another helping but he's not gonna get one! Haha! He's such a wanker isn't he? No? Than what word would you use hmm? Nutburger? Okay he's a nutburger! Good word! I bet the rest of you can't come up with something better!"

Scarlett looked at Alfred and he returned the look.

"Who the hell is he talking to?

"I don't know, but one time he made me take care of his invisible magic unicorn," Alfred whispered to her. She narrowed her green eyes at him and then smiled teasingly.

"What, did you feed him?"

"Well one time I set a bowl of food down on the kitchen floor as a joke but then five minutes later the food was gone so...I have no fucking idea what happened. Let's just go in there and see what happens."

He stepped into the room and Britain stopped when he saw him. He acted like he wasn't talking to anybody just then as he took off his reading glasses and stood up from the red-cushioned chair.

"Oh America! You really did make it here before tomorrow. What did you do to do that? Blow up your plane?"

"Uhh…"

"...Don't answer that. So you are planning on joining the war now?" He asked, giving him a hug. America hugged him back and told him that he was going to have troops here in a couple of months or a little bit longer than that.

"I have the best industrial complex in the world so I will also make weapons and the tanks I talked about very quickly. The Germans won't even see me coming," He told Britain with a grin. His confidence was always higher than all the other countries combined. Arthur walked over to his desk and poured some whiskey in a glass cup. Scarlett, who stood beside Alfred, was already watching every sip he took since he would probably get drunk any second now. The Briton looked at the both of them and smiled.

"Well that's good to hear. But we haven't seen you in a long time. Please, come and chat."

"Don't mind if I do," America said as he sat in the chair, intent on telling them all that has happened over the last two years…

And that is the end of the chapter. You know what, I'm so freaking tired so I'm going to cut this short. Thanks so much for reading this chapter and you better freaking review! Just kidding, you don't HAVE to but I really wish you would. Thanks and I will see you next time!