Lost

Tension had filled the room after I had asked the question. No one answered me. I started to get nervous. Is she okay..? I looked at the doctor for some consolidation.

He cleared his throat. "I… do not know where your mother is but your grandmother is here."

Grandmother..? My parents never really talked about them. I noticed the five other people in the room with me. This had to be a dream. You don't just see people looking exactly like anime characters out of the blue. I pinched my arm several times. I was in reality.

'France' came up to me. "Ma cherie… do you know who we are?"

I stared at him, completely confused. "…Hetalia cosplayers?"

"Hey hey hey, you can't be serious…" 'Prussia' stood up from his seat. 'Russia' grabbed his arm to hold him still.

"I-I'm sorry." I swallowed. Were they customers from Frosty's or the bakery?

The doctor cleared his throat. "Gentlemen, please follow me out." He beckoned everyone to go out to the hall with him. They reluctantly exited.

After a brief moment, I heard various shouting from the other side of the door. I wasn't sure what was going on. I didn't even know why I was in the hospital. My head hurt like crazy though.

Suddenly, an elderly lady walked in. She had on elegant clothing that you wouldn't usually see people wear out on the streets. She slowly came up to me. "Do you remember me, hun?"

I couldn't shake my head 'no'. "No, ma'am, I don't." She was Asian, I could tell that much.

Her eyes soften. "Poor child… you don't remember your own grandmother?"

I've never seen pictures of her. Mother never really bothered to and I never asked. "…What?"

"Hey, lady! Don't talk to her!" 'Alfred' stormed in but 'Russia' held him back. The tall one smiled at me apologetically and dragged him back out.

I stared blankly at the door. An important thought came to mind. I turned to the old woman. "W-where's my mother? What time is it? I need to get home."

She put a hand on mine and squeezed it. I gradually looked up into her eyes. She had a solemn expression on her face. "I'm really sorry to have to tell you this, sweetie… but you and your mother got into a car accident. You injured your head but your mother… I'm very sorry."

My eyes widened. "W-what?"

"She… she didn't make it."

I heard the heart monitor speed up in tempo. It was no doubt mine. I stared at her in utter disbelief. "You can't be serious…"

"It's true…" She stroked my bandaged head. "They called for me because I was the closest relative."

I winced. It couldn't be. Why were we in the car to start with when mother was too sick to get up? Maybe someone was taking her to the hospital for us... Why can't I remember anything? The waterworks came. My grandmother stood by for comfort. Why..?

Later on, they told me I've been out for a while, for 'several weeks'. I wouldn't have known that so I just believed them. All the funeral business was done in the meantime. I was discharged from the hospital two days after I woke up. I had a severe concussion and they told me I was lucky I didn't break my neck. My grandmother's butler drove me to my mother's grave. Why I was at a hospital miles away from was far from my extent of knowledge. I just guessed that I needed special medical help or something. Next, I was told to live with my newfound relative for now on. I didn't have a choice since I only knew of my mother. This grandmother was from my father's side. I didn't know he came from such a rich background.

My grandmother lived a very frugal life. I was given a large room that overlooked the garden. It was a huge leap. Before, I was barely able to keep up with the bills but now, I didn't even need to worry about working. I just hoped that this rich lifestyle wouldn't ruin me. But I couldn't get myself to enjoy anything; not with a heavy heart and something at the back of my mind continuously bugging me. I was to be homeschooled as well.

After greeting all of the mansion's staff, I wandered into the grand garden. I would have just kept refuge in my new room but the personal maid assigned to me was too happy-preppy for me to handle. I walked along the rosebushes. The blooms were white rather than red. It suited our last name- Yukibara. I went to sit at the parlor and some servant served me tea. I thanked and dismissed them. I just wanted to be alone.

Only a short moment of peace had gone by before I heard footsteps approach me from the rock garden. A guy of around seventeen or eighteen approached me with a goofy but timid smile. He had straw blond hair and olive eyes and wore a sun hat despite it being cloudy and in the middle of winter. He presented a neatly trimmed white rose to me. "Howdy, ma'am."

I reluctantly took the flower. "Hello." I carefully placed the flower on my lap. The thorns were removed in the places where it would be best to hold. How considerate…

He put his hands behind his back as if he was embarrassed about something. "I'm Oliver. I'm the gardener, and… I, uh, was sleeping when the introductions were going on so I figured I should properly come to you myself." He ducked under his hat.

It was hard to take him seriously with his southern accent and nervous tone in his voice. I forced a smile. "Thank you for that…" I set the rose next to the tea cup. "I… want to be left alone at the moment so if you don't mind…"

"Don't mind wha—Oh!" He tipped his hat at me and walked backward. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I'll just go back to—" He knocked over a flower pot. He quickly turned around and caught another one that was about to fall. He smiled at me but then he hit his head on a hanging pot.

I couldn't help but to laugh at that. He was a nervous wreck. He fixed everything in place and quickly ran off to a shed. I scoffed and sipped my tea. Weird guy… I picked up the rose. If he was the gardener like he said he was then I applaud at his skills. The plants were tended so nicely.

"Psst."

I looked up from my tea. The hiss came from the side of the mansion. I crept along the path that led out of the garden. I went up to the archway. From the shadows, I saw the America cosplayer from before. I stopped. Why was he here..?

He grinned. "I knew you'd come!" He walked into the light. It barely looked like a cosplay at all. It was just natural for him, as if he actually was Alfred F. Jones himself. "Nana, look, you can't stay here."

How does he know my name? I stepped back. "Why..? Who are you?"

His smile slightly faded. "It's me, Alfred! You know, the burger-loving loud one that was your hero after that one night?"

I grimaced. "I don't recall ever meeting you before…"

"Miss?" My personal maid, Shirley, trotted to my direction. She noticed the stranger and stood close by me. Her expression shifted from preppy to rigid. "All visitors are to enter from the front."

The guy stood his ground but I heard faint shouting coming from his pocket. He put his hand on the back of his head and laughed. "Sorry dude. I uh… sort of somehow wandered in here." He put his hands in his jacket pocket and smiled. "My bad, I'll leave now. Nice garden though!" He walked off in a hurried manner.

Shirley muttered something under her breath. When she noticed me staring at her, she returned to her uplifting self. "Miss, your grandmother wanted to talk with you about something."

"Oh, um, okay." I followed her out of the garden. I glanced behind me to see if the guy was still there. He was gone. Who was he..? It surely could not have been Alfred F Jones. What is this, fiction?

...


...

'Emergency shutdown disengaged. Proceeding to normal functions.'

"Alright, he should be done with the recalibration now."

"Thank you."

My head stopped being in scrambles. I could think straight again. I opened my eyes but squinted from the bright operation lights. I slowly looked around. It sure was a strange looking hospital. I saw Arthur sitting by me, talking about things with a man in a white lab coat.

Arthur noticed that I woke up. He got up from his seat. "Do you have the slightest idea of how much worry and trouble you'd caused us?"

"I-I'm sorry!" I stammered. I sat up but I realized that wires were connected to my chest, neck, and left shoulder. I frantically turned to the Englishman. "…Wha-what happened to me?"

"Calm down, Feliciano. You're going to mess up the cables."

I swung my head to the right and saw Yao sitting on a stool by my bed. I looked at the monitor and something was charging at 64%. I sank back into my pillow but I could feel my heart still racing. "Where am I?"

The man in the lab coat turned to face me. I gasped when I realized that it was our deliveryman, Mark. He grinned. "Hey kiddo, how you been?"

I smiled at the familiar face. "I was wondering where you've been!"

He laughed. "Sorry, man. I guess you can say I got promoted." He wore his coat proudly. "I'm a repairman now."

"Yes, a fairly good one at that." Arthur sat back down in his seat. "He fixed you up faster than we thought."

I tilted my head. "I was broken?"

"You don't remember, aru?" I shook my head 'no'. He sighed. "When you saw Nana fall, you attacked her sister but she jabbed her pocketknife between your neck and shoulder."

"And that cut through one of the main cords that connected your nervous system to your power source," Mark finished. He crossed his arms. "You're lucky your emergency shutdown program took over or else we would have had to scrap you."

"Ve…" I looked at my shoulder. I don't remember attacking anyone, but I did remember Nana falling. I immediately sat back up. "Where's Nana?! Is she okay?"

Arthur cleared his throat. "According to the Doctor…" He glanced up at me real quick and then stared down at the ground. "She'd lost her memories. From what I heard, everything that happened in the past eight months or so had been completely wiped out..."

I felt my hands tremble. "W-what?" The Englishman kept his gaze on the floor. I turned to Yao and he just nodded. I whimpered. "But she still has to remember something of us!" I looked at Mark. "Right? Right?" He put his hands in his pockets and shrugged. I only found distant looks in the three. They didn't want to answer me. I knew why. I was just hoping that there was a slight chance that things could look up. I clenched onto the mattress. "Where is everyone else?"

"They're all back at home, aru. You've been shut off for about four days."

I stared at him in disbelief. "For that long..?"

"Yes, lad," Mark replied, "Charging that power source takes a while and the emergency shutdown used up a lot of juice."

I gazed at the blinking monitor. I couldn't protect Nana. I was right there. I got too scared and clumsy. If I didn't push her sister then she wouldn't have fallen. I brought my knees up and sunk my face in my arms. I failed. I failed as her guardian. I failed as her family member. I was such a huge failure.

"Hey… don't give up so easily." Mark rubbed my back. He stuffed a tissue in my fist. "Your guys' situation sounds really tough but you're family, right?" I peered up at him. He smirked. "You just have to jog her memories. You were her real family after all."

My tears continued to fall. I latched onto him in an embrace. "Help us get her back, please!"

"Now, Feliciano, that's a bit much…" said Arthur. "He already had to spend thirty-seven hours repairing you."

Mark made me let go and handed me the whole box of tissues. He ran his hand through his hair. "This is mostly on you guys since I don't exactly know the entirety of the situation…" He crossed his arms. "But I can at least cover for you when the agency gets to you guys."

"Agency?" Yao looked up at him.

He nodded. "These snobby people in the company checks to see if the units are being handled properly. If they find you guys without your owner, you guys are going to have to return to the plant and be reset to factory settings."

"I don't want that!" I cried.

The man leaned against his desk. "I'll figure out something to excuse you guys or at least let you go with a passing mark."

"That will be splendid—" Arthur pulled out his phone and answered a call. "What, you frog?... Yes…. He'd awoken…. He did what?... Why would he do that?!" He stood up and paced to one side of the room. "He wasn't caught, right?... That bloody idiot!... Don't let him act on his own again…. Keep your attention away from a mirror once and—" He scoffed as he realized that big brother Francis had hung up on him. He let out an aggravated sigh and returned to his seat.

"What was that about?" Yao asked.

Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose. "That idiot Alfred went to see Nana at her grandmother's house on his own."

I gasped. "Why is she over there with her?"

"We didn't have a choice, aru. That granny had some sort of influence over the doctor."

I glimpsed at the monitor. It was at 72% now. Mark wasn't going to let me leave until it was completely full. But if we waited for too long, we might never get to be with Nana again! I lied down and put the pillow over my face. Please charge faster… I closed my eyes. Please remember us, Nana!


Sooooo… How'd you like the twist of events? (Don't kill me. . . if you do, there won't be any more updates ;n; ) I feel like I rushed too much for Nana's part but I wanted to get the point across that granny tricked her into living with her instead of the guys. And there is no plot hole with the time. The granny tricked her into thinking weeks had passed because of her mom being gone. It's only been 4 days.

Now, the only other Hetalia manual fic I've actually read is EliteKessu's "Why Me?" so this whole repair lab thing is from my head. . . If I copied then hey! Great minds think alike.

Anyway, thank you for the reviews/faves/alerts as always. Seeing them first thing in the morning really makes my day. ^v^

[READ MEEEEE:]

Okay! So I decided to make this a little interactive- What should the guys do to make Nana's memories come back? Leave your suggestions in the reviews or PM them to me! I'll pick the best one (and of course credit you~) and use it as the falling action of this arc.

I'm looking forward to great ideas~