Hey guy, it's time for another chapter! Finals week is over so I'm finally able to work on some of these chapters. I started a new story about Jedi Fallen Order so check that out if you're interested! Please review or follow the story! It really makes my day and thanks to everyone who has. You're awesome! Finally, here's the chapter!


Ch. 60: The Photo

(Year: 1940)

"Yes, please tell them all that this is happening. Just one day can mean a big difference between who lives and who dies," Scarlett told England on a secure, private line.

"Okay, I will. Thank you for letting me know, Britannia. We will do our best to prepare," Britain said from the other line before hanging up. Now alone, Scarlett took a deep breath, but the anxiety wouldn't leave her body. She had been informed that Germany was planning an invasion on France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and then Britain around May 10th. This was the Nazis' specialty; strike hard and fast.

She was currently in her capitol building because she didn't have a secure line from her home. The message would have been intercepted if she had sent it from there. She began pacing around and she could feel herself freaking out.

"Are you okay?"

She stopped and looked up to see America staring at her from the doorway. She knew he was coming after she told him, she just didn't know he would be here so fast. She gave a small sigh of relief and rushed to hug him.

"Alfred, I wasn't expecting you until later!"

"I came as fast as I could after you told me what was going on," he replied, hugging her tight and then letting go.

"Well, thank you for coming. I'm literally freaking out. I was hyperventilating earlier. I just don't know what to do. I can't do anything without giving myself away."

He frowned for a second.

"You told Britain what Germany was planning right?"

She nodded.

"...Then there's nothing else you can do. The fact that they know in advance is huge, Scarlett. We just need to have faith that they'll use that information to the best of their ability. Though, I don't know. I have a feeling the smaller countries like Netherlands and Belgium won't stand a chance. France might," he said grimly. She knew he was right but hated thinking about it. She liked Netherlands and Belgium a lot. The thought of them wounded or in tears at the death of their people made her skin crawl.

"Ugh, this is terrible," she muttered, bringing her hand to her face. She thought for a minute and then looked towards her president's office.

"...Maybe this should be the time I join the war..."

America's eyes widened and he shook his head furiously.

"No, Scarlett, just calm down. When the time is right, you'll strike to hurt them the most. But not now. If I could join the war I would but right now is not the time," he said, trying to reason with her. She looked down at the ground but decided he was right about that too. See, this is why she needed him to come over, so she didn't do anything reckless.

"S-Sorry..." she said quietly.

"It's okay..." he said, putting his hand on hers. She gave a small smile and walked to the doorway.

"Let's go back home. I'll relax better there."

"Okay, lead the way," he said, showing her his signature smile for the first time that day. His smile always made her feel better. The two walked out after she informed her president of what she had sent Britain. They started in the direction of the ruby red castle and walked along the sidewalk. Luckily, everything here was business as usual. You would have no idea that there was a world war brewing just across the Atlantic.

"I'm sorry that all of this is happening. If I could, I would fly over to Germany and beat the shit out of him until he ends all of this," Alfred said, shoving his hands in his pockets. Scarlett looked at him and did the same in her jacket.

"Trust me, I would too. And what makes you so sure you would beat the shit out of him? He's pretty strong," she said. He rolled his eyes and snorted.

"Psh, he wouldn't know what hit him. I think the rest of the world underestimates us in how powerful we really are. They don't lose sleep over us, but they should. I would totally kick his ass. And if he did anything to you while you were over there, I'd probably try to kill him," he said in a harsh tone. He really did not like Germany right now, nor did she. She blushed for a second and then tightened her fist.

"Thank you, Alfie, but if he did anything to me, I would be the one beating the shit out of him," she laughed. He smirked and nodded his head.

"Yep, you're right. You're the toughest person I know. You don't need me to stand up for you. That doesn't mean I can't give you a helping hand in whatever shit you're in."

She smiled and they reached the entrance to Lionheart Castle.

"And that's why I wanted you to come over. I really need someone to help me get this stuff off my mind. I feel like my hair will turn gray soon if I don't stop worrying about it. I'm just glad we don't age or I really would have gray hair. Ugh, that would look so ugly on me," she groaned as the both of them walked past the guards and entered the castle. It was quiet inside so Scarlett plopped on the couch and turned the tv on. Alfred sat next to her and they sagged into the cushion of the couch.

"I think I'm becoming depressed…" Scarlett said after a couple of minutes after watching whatever show was on in front of them. Alfred turned to her.

"Why? I mean I think I know why but tell me anyway."

"I don't know, I just feel like everything's gotten so much worse and I've been stressed and sad constantly. When I take a shower in the morning, I just stand there and think about what bad thing will happen that day. How do you stay so positive all the time? Even when you're in some deep shit, you always manage to smile," she said to him, curious about what he was going to say. He shrugged his shoulders and gave her an encouraging look.

"I find that when you keep your focus on the positive, you feel better and life in general becomes much more than you thought it was. When it feels like its impossible to not think about the bad stuff, I try to envision the positive outcome that will come out of it because I know it will be okay as long as I stay focused and get shit done. Know what I mean?" He asked her with a smile.

"Yeah, it's just hard. Typically during war, I won't even want to get out of bed. I feel like that feeling is gonna come to me soon if this all goes to shit…Which it will…" she muttered in disappointment. Alfred wasn't exactly sure what to say so he tried his best to cheer her up.

"Well, that's why you have me! Scarlett, if you ever need help with anything, you give me a call!"

She grinned and stood up from the couch.

"Alfred, why can't there be more people like you? I don't know any other country that I can call that will come help me whenever I need it. Maybe Australia but he's all the way over there. Plus one time, he accidentally brought over a huge tarantula that had gotten into his suitcase and I about died. He wasn't even afraid of it! He picked it up and started petting it!" She yelled in disbelief and laughter. Alfred chuckled and stood up too.

"That sounds like him. Yeah, Australia's one of my bros! I mean he's technically one of my brothers but bro as in one of my best friends. You take the top spot though," he told her with reddened cheeks.

"You take my top spot too," she said back to him happily. They walked to the kitchen and decided to get something to eat.

"If I had to list off my top friends I would say you, Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, and then…Seychelles is cool too," Alfred said, after thinking about it. Scarlett opened two bottles of cola and handed him one of the bottles.

"4 guys and 2 girls. No European countries?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Ehh, haven't really hung out with any of them lately since all of it's a mess over there. I would say Japan too but he's off the fucking rails right now. And yeah, just 6 countries on my list. What about you, Scarlett?"

She took a sip of her soda and tried to think of all the countries she would actually hang out with outside of business.

"Okay, so, you, Canada, Australia, New Zealand…Huh," she hummed. She didn't realize it would be such a small number. She would put Kyrovania on that list but she hasn't spoken to him for a while.

"I need more friends…" she said. Alfred shook his head and pointed at himself with his thumb.

"Nah, you only need one!"

That made her laugh because he was right.

"You're right. I just wish that more people would treat us with respect. I know we're relatively new countries compared to everyone else but we have huge economies, armies, and stuff that we've invented. It's like everyone in our circle, meaning everyone who came up under Britain, is cool and then everyone else is a jerk to us. Not everyone, but most of them," she told him. The boy across from her sighed and leaned on his palm.

"A lot of them are becoming crazy like Russia. The dude used to be all shy and quiet and then his leader brainwashed him into being this power hungry country. Don't even get me started on Germany. Fucking yikes!"

"Have we become crazy too?" Scarlett asked out of worry.

"I don't think so," Alfred laughed. They pretty much stayed the same as far as he knew. He looked at her and she had a peculiar look on her face. He thought her face was so perfect. He had no idea how she looked so perfect all day every day, at least in his eyes. She seemed very deep in thought. She then looked up with a bright smile.

"You know what we should do?" she asked as she set her drink down on the counter and ran to her office. He blinked, not expecting her to do that, and cupped his hand around his mouth.

"No, what!?"

She came back into the kitchen holding a camera in her hands. He raised an eyebrow at her and chuckled.

"A camera?"

"Yeah! We should take a picture together! We don't have that many with both of us in it so it would be cool if we both had a picture of one another. Is that okay?"

His face flushed but he was extremely happy to hear her say that.

"Y-Yeah! Sounds good to me! But wait...who's gonna take the picture for us?"

She smirked and pointed at Leon who was gnawing on a snack she had given him earlier. His ears picked up and she tossed him the camera only for him to catch it in his paws.

"Leon, of course!"

"Ha, I should've known. Is there anything that red panda can't do?" He asked.

"Umm...well he's not really good at cooking. I tried to teach him one time because I got bored and he burnt the fuck out of a chicken breast. It was kind of funny though," she replied in amusement. She walked over to Alfred and then turned back to Leon.

"Okay, Leon, just take our picture when I say so."

He nodded and Alfred and Scarlett prepared to get their picture taken. Alfred took off his glasses and dropped them in his pocket. He sometimes felt he looked better in pictures without them. Scarlett was about to say something about it but decided not to. To her, he looked good either way. She fixed her hair some and then put her arm on the small of Alfred's back. He did the same back to her, putting one hand gently on her back and then the other hand in his pocket.

"Alright, Leon. We're ready!" Scarlett said. She and Alfred gave the best smiles they could and Leon clicked the button, the camera flashing at them.

"Thank you!"

She took the camera from him and then started walking to the front door. Outside was one of her guards and she handed him the camera.

"Can you go to the shop and have two copies of this picture developed?" she asked with a smile. He nodded and said he would be back with the copies soon. Closing the door, she turned around to see Alfred putting his glasses back on.

"It's funny that not too long ago we had to resort to portraits," she laughed. He smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm glad that we're making new stuff every day. I bet you Britain feels so freaking old all the time. I bet he doesn't even know how to use a camera! And even if he does, he would not use it, out of spite."

That was definitely true.

"You're right, he would do something like that. It's weird that we see him as this old man even though he's physically only a few years older than us. He should be grateful he still has his looks; he could look like he's eighty!"

Alfred shook his head at the thought of that. Just imagining how his eyebrows would look at that age made him shiver a little bit.

"That's one good thing about being a country. We stay young forever! I'm not sure how our physical age stops at a certain number like Britain is 23, Germany is 20, and France is like 26 I think. I guess it has to do with our personalities from when we were little but I would like to know how it's decided," he pondered. Scarlett sat at her table and leaned her chin on her palm like she usually did.

"Me too. You would think we would've figured it out by now. Then again, am I really going to use all of my free time to search for the answer?" she asked. They both stayed silent before saying the same thing in unison.

"Nah!"

Alfred sat next to her.

"Any other mysteries you've been thinking about lately?"

"Hmm..." she thought about it and then stopped when she looked at him. For some reason, the past flashed across her eyes and she smiled.

"I have one. How come you stopped calling me dudette every other sentence? You used to do it all the time back then but now you don't really say it as much!"

His crystal blue eyes widened in surprise at the mention of the word.

"Now that I think about it, I don't use it that much, huh? I guess I got so busy that I forgot to keep using it? Did you like when I called you that?"

She almost jumped out of her chair.

"Are you kidding!? I used to love when you called me that! It was like a special thing that you only called me so it made me feel important..." she said, her voice becoming quiet near the end of the sentence. Alfred felt his heart rate go up just slightly.

"Scarlett, you are and will always be important to me," he laughed.

"I know and you are to me too but having a nickname makes it feel stronger somehow. I mean...You like it when I call you Alfie, don't you?"

"Heh, I love when you call me that," he said, rubbing the back of his head. She smiled and extended her arms out.

"See! It's like our thing to have nicknames for each other! I don't think I have that with any other country. The only other country that comes close to having nicknames is Australia. He'll call me 'sheila' a lot but I'm pretty sure that's just the way he talks," she giggled.

"Oh yeah, he calls me 'mate' a lot," Alfred said.

"Cute," she replied. A knock came from the door and they both looked at it.

"…Oh! Did he already get those photos developed? Has time passed that quickly?" She asked Alfred. He stood up with her and stretched his arms out.

"I guess so. Time flies when you're having fun."

"Well, I'm glad you're having fun then!" She said gratefully. She opened the front door and the same guard was standing there with an envelope in his hands.

"Your photos, Lady Britannia."

"Thank you, Thomas!"

She took the photos and he closed the door quietly. Scarlett practically ripped open the envelope and gasped at the photo once she was able to see it. It showed the two of them smiling at the camera with one of their arms wrapped around the other. The picture was surprisingly very high quality for being made in 1940. Scarlett gasped a little bit and brought her hand to her mouth. Alfred looked at her and saw her eyes were starting to water.

"Scarlett? Are you okay?" He laughed nervously. She brought the photos to her chest and smiled.

"Yes, I just love it so much! Didn't mean to get teary-eyed," she said, giving him his photo and keeping hers. He looked at the photo and found himself grinning at it. He was probably gonna keep this in his wallet. Something to remember her by whenever he couldn't be here…

"That's okay, dudette! I love it too! Thanks for coming up with the idea!"

Her heart fluttered at the sound of her nickname again! He might be the only guy in the world that actually listens to her! She was kidding but she still greatly appreciated it.

"No problem, I knew it would be something we'd both like. I'm gonna put this either next to my bed or in my office so I can look at it every single day! I have a picture of my boss there but uhh…"

She walked to her office and scooted the picture off the desk so the frame and glass would break.

"…whoops!" She yelled with exaggeration. Alfred couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Why did you break the whole thing?"

"I thought it would be funny," she laughed, picking up the large pieces of frame and glass. He helped her get everything and shook his head after throwing them away in the tiny trash can.

"You're crazy…" he joked, "…but I think the picture would go good there. I'm gonna keep mine in my wallet. Whenever I get sad or feel alone, I can just look at this and I'll feel better," he said with a smile. Scarlett sighed in disbelief at his sweetness and gave him a hug.

"Thank you, I'll do the same then."

She put the picture in a new frame and set it carefully on her desk. It shined brightly from the sun coming in through the window. She stared at it as Alfred put his own picture in his wallet to where he would see it every time he opened it.

"Want to watch tv for the rest of the day?" He asked her, putting the wallet back in his pocket. She nodded in response.

"Sure! Sounds fun!"

He grinned and went back to the living room. She could hear him turn on the television set and jump on the couch. Looking back at the picture in its frame, she stared at the both of them for a second. It gave her sort of a warm feeling she had not expected when the idea came to her. In fact, it was sort of a weird feeling she didn't normally get.

With another sigh of content, she stopped staring at the picture on the desk and finally joined Alfred in the living room to spend the rest of the day with him.


And that is the end of this chapter! Just a sweet little chapter but it's kind of meant to show that Scarlett is starting to have more feelings for Alfred/America that aren't just friendship and that will grow tremendously throughout WW2. Please review or comment and tell me what you think of the chapter or if you have any ideas for a future one. I always read them and take them into consideration! Finally, see you guys next time!