"Big brother! Why do I have to wear this when I get there?" Amestris whined, holding up the more formal then usual clothes England had picked out.
"First impressions are important, Amestris." England answered, taking the clothes from the seven year old. "You are about to meet your boss, not your friends."
"But you said the first time you met your boss you hit him in the face with a guitar-"
"That was a complete accident!" England interrupted, face turning a bright red.
"Al said you were imitating a rock star-"
"America doesn't know what he's saying!" England quickly interrupted once again, not wanting to admit that he had actually been trying to imitate a rock star as a dare since that would be saying that he wasn't a gentleman.
"Ok. But Al has got pictures-"
"Anyway! Are you ready to go?"
Amestris pouted at being interrupted, but nonetheless grinned, giving a decent imitation of a salute.
"Aye, sir!"
0o
The familiar scenery of England quickly sped by, before switching to a scenery that was unfamiliar to Amestris.
Buildings were quickly replaced by tall trees, obscuring his view so Amestris chose to look away from the window of their private cabin -Ah, the privileges of being someone important-, looking to converse with his older brother.
"Big brother," Amestris began. "How does my country look like?"
England shut the book he was reading, looking upwards, deep in thought. "Hm... well, I haven't been to your country for a good sixteen years. But the last I saw it, it was a definitely a unique country. There were many places I had never seen before."
"Really?" Amestris's eyes sparked with excitement. "That's sounds so cool! I can't wait to see it with my own eyes!"
England smiled at his little brother, glad that Amestris was so excited. Not too mention how adorable it made him look.
"Alright Amestris, but you have to remember; No using your nation name. Only give that to the Führer and his men. For the other humans you meet, only use your human name. It's been a while, but do you still remember it?" Amestris nodded in response to this.
"Sure I do! My name was... uh, was it Edward? My surname started with a 'K', right?" England smiled slightly.
"Yes, your name is Edward. And your full name is Edward Kirkland." England reminded, causing Amestris to sulk at the fact he hadn't managed to remember his surname, especially since he shared it with England.
"Soo... how long is the trip?" The younger nation asked, changing the subject.
"About a day long Amestris, if there isn't any complications on the way." The older replied, to which Amestris gaped at.
"Wait, then what am I supposed to do for the next twenty four hours?"
"You could rest up, I suppose. Or read your books."
"Darn. I finished them all fifteen minutes ago."
0o0
Meanwhile, in Amestris, a young man of about thirty years old stepped off a train in Central City, flanked by two large men on both sides.
"So, what made you decide to return to Amestris, Alphonse?" Zanpano questioned. It seemed unlikely that the young man would have just suddenly decided in the spur of the moment to return to Amestris.
"I don't know," Alphonse replied. "I don't know. But I don't know why, but I feel as if I have to be here, or else I'd miss something important."
Placing a hand over his heart, Alphonse stared out into the city, feeling foreign emotions that could have only belonged to his brother hit him. "Brother... I can feel you closer than ever... will I see you soon?" He whispered quietly to himself. "Just wait a little more, Ed..."
0o0
Back at the train, Amestris sneezed once, twice, before before he rubbed his nose.
"Have you got dust in your nose?" England asked over the edge of his book, forest green eyes looking directly at Amestris's golden ones.
"Probably." He sniffled. "By the way, how long more are we going to be on this train for? Everything below my waist feels numb."
England dug in his pocket, before pulling out a rather antique looking pocket watch out, flipping the lid open to read the time.
"About another thirteen hours."
"... Nooooooooo..." Amestris whined dramatically, sinking back into his seat. "Why's time going so slowly? I'm going to be as old as Mister China by the time we get off!"
England barely resisted the urge to smirk at the unintentional insult to China's age. "As amusing as that it, you won't be an old man. Even by nation standards, you're still a child."
"But still!" Amestris whined. "This trip is taking forever!"
"Amestris, it's only thirteen, no twelve hours. That's not even a day." England patiently explained, used to Amestris's whining even though it didn't happen often, since he was generally an angel more than half the time. The rest of the time...
England's eye twitched at the memory. The kid could be a devil when he wanted to.
"I need to go to the lavatory!" Amestris suddenly piped up, before dashing out of the cabin door, not even waiting for his brother's acknowledgement.
England blinked, still staring at the area where Amestris had been seated at no less than two seconds prior, wondering what on earth had just happened before he turned back to his book.
Amestris wouldn't run into any trouble on the train, right?
0o0
Once Amestris finished with his business, he flushed the toilet, before going to wash his hands.
As he stepped outside the lavatory, a pang of longing stabbed itself into his heart, causing him to wince and rub his hand over his chest.
For some reason, ever since they crossed over England's border, the young nation had been getting strange feelings of longing, as if someone was calling to him. When Amestris was younger, he had always been on the receiving end of the strangest feelings. However, as he grew older, this eventually faded away.
Well, until now, at least.
Deep in thought as he made his way back to his brother, Amestris didn't even notice someone calling to him until a hand rested on his shoulder.
"Chief, is that you?" A blonde man with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth asked in astonishment. The man seemed to be in either his late thirties or early forties, and he was dressed in a military uniform.
"Um... who are you?" Amestris asked warily.
"Don't you know me? I worked with you in the military occasionally years ago!" He exclaimed.
"Um... I'm really sorry, but I think you've mistook me for someone else." Amestris apologized, backing away. "I've lived in England my whole life, and this would be my first time in Amestris."
With that, he dashed off before the man could stop him.
When he finally reached his and England's cabin, he slammed the door open, scaring the living daylights out of his older brother.
"What the-?!" He spluttered, before he finally noticed Amestris, taking in his panting form. "Amestris, did something happen?"
Amestris thought about it. While the encounter was indeed strange, it probably wasn't worth mentioning to England. After all, some people do occasionally resemble their country's personification, even though it was rather rare.
"Nah, I was just trying to see how fast I could run from the toilets to here." He grinned while the Brit just shook his head in amusement before resuming in the reading of his book.
But somehow, no matter how hard be tried, Amestris just couldn't shake the feeling that he knew the man from somewhere, deep in the recesses of his head.
0o0
Mustang sat on his desk, staring at the letter he had received only three days prior that sat innocently on his desk.
Honestly, would it kill some people to be clearer when trying to say or write something?
He sighed, massaging his temples as he felt the oncoming headache. A headache already, and he hadn't been Führer for a month. Talk about breaking a record, especially since it was only seven in the morning.
Hopefully he would get his answers later, when he met this person Arthur Kirkland wanted him to meet. The way he had described the person in the letter was peculiar, with Arthur describing him as someone every leader of a country has.
Mustang had a few guesses, but none of the positions he came up with seemed to fit, much to his disappointment.
"Sir?" Hawkeye asked as she stepped into the office, balancing a large amount of paperwork in her hands. "Is everything alright?"
'You're holding a huge stack of paperwork for me to do, of course everything is alright.' Mustang moaned pitifully in his head, before answering his wife.
"Of course, but this letter is confusing me." He sighed, his eyes landing on a framed picture that sat comfortably at the corner of his desk. "Not to mention that today is..."
Mustang didn't need to finish his sentence, as Hawkeye's eyes grew sad with realization. "The day Edward disappeared." She finished.
"Yeah." Mustang nodded, eyes never leaving the picture. It was way back in 1911, nineteen years ago, when his team took a new team photo thanks to the new addition, namely Fullmetal or Edward. Edward had been no more than twelve at the time, when he was dropped head first into the military and a life of fighting, all for the sake of his brother.
If there was anything Mustang regretted, it would have been failing to keep the boy safe.
0o0
"Achoo!"
"Are you sure you haven't caught a cold?"
"Absolutely sure, big brother."
0o0
In front of a stone memorial dedicated to the Fullmetal Alchemist, there a young man stood, eyes fixated on the stone. But to anyone else, it would have appeared that his eyes were closed. He wore clothes that marked him as a citizen of Xing, if his distinct Xingese features hadn't already given away his heritage away.
"My lord," The woman beside him started to say, after observing the man's silence which had lasted for over fifteen minutes. "You've been staring for fifteen minutes. Is everything alright?"
"Yes, everything is alright Lan Fan." Ling answered. "It's just that... It's been sixteen years since Ed..." He sighed. "I wish he had used the Philosopher's Stone when I offered it to him."
Lan Fan, wishing to change the topic to keep the Emperor of Xing from feeling upset, asked, "How has Xing been?"
Ling understood his bodyguard's intentions, but he went along with it anyway, a smile creeping onto his lips. "Acting like an old man, just like always. And he looks younger than me, too! Someone ought to tell him that it's strange when he acts like an old man."
When Ling had first become the successor to the throne, his father had called him in to meet someone.
That someone, was a young man of about twenty four years old. He was dressed in traditional, silken robes of Xing, representing his high status. His dark hair which was the same shade as Ling's was pulled back into a topknot. However, despite however he may have looked like, Ling couldn't deny the enormous amount of Chi that radiated off him. The strangest thing, however, was that the Chi felt just like that of the Chi running beneath his country.
"This is Chen Jie." His father had announced. "Or less known as the Nation of Xing."
While Ling had half a mind to question whether or not his father had gone senile, he definitely couldn't argue with the powerful presence the man in front of him. The presence he radiated was in no way human, so Ling couldn't help but believe that this man, was indeed his Nation.
They had spent time talking after their first meeting, since the personification had to get to know their boss better, as Xing had put it.
Then Ling casually mentioned he never saw a personification for Amestris, when he visited the country.
Xing's eyes had then darkened as he turned his head away, eyes filling with regret. "Amestris... He disappeared sixteen years ago. And I could have done something about it, if only I tried."
Although he hadn't mentioned it outright, Ling could tell that Xing had cared for Amestris, if only subtly.
Then, they had moved onto the subject of Ling's trip to Anestris in his search for immortality, to which Xing had scoffed at the word 'immortality', shaking his head as he muttered something about foolish youngsters.
Everything went smoothly from there, until Ling had mentioned meeting two brothers who had a Xerxian ancestry. At first, Xing had only seemed mildly intrested about the Elrics, but once Ling had started to describe Edward, the nation had sat up straight, eyes wide.
"Run that by me again." Xing had commanded, face pale.
Repeating the description, Ling watched as Xing got up and started pacing across the length of the Drawing room, muttering to himself incessantly.
"What's so interesting about Ed, anyway?" Ling asked, mystified at his Nation's reaction to his currently MIA friend. "His Chi was completely normal, and there was nothing too shaking about him. Aside from his height complex and the color of his hair and eyes."
"Your friend, has the exact same looks as I remember Amestris had." Xing had replied.
Ling frowned, deep in thought. Although it was strange to think Edward might have been the missing personification of Amestris, it seemed rather unlikely. Master Alchemist or not, he had the Chi of a human. Also, hadn't Xing mentioned that when a Nation loses an appendage of any kind, it would eventually grow back? And Ling was certain that Edward was missing two limbs.
Voicing this thought, Xing finally stopped, laughing sheepishly as he stated he might have been over thinking things, before they continued chatting as if nothing had happened.
But Ling had yet to shake the feeling that Xing's beliefs had some truth to them, even after all those years of working with him.
"Well then," Ling said as he turned away from the memorial. "Let's go Lan Fan. We still have time before we're due to meet Führer Mustang."
"Yes, my lord."
0o0
"Freedom!" Amestris yelled as he decided to forgo using the train door as soon as the train halted in the station of Central City, choosing the fun way of exiting though the window, much to England's exasperation.
"Ame- Edward! Not the window, I've told you multiple times to use the door like a civilized person!" England yelled after the smaller nation, switching to his human name since they were in public.
"This is place is awesome!" Amestris yelled, apparently not having heard a single word that his older brother had said, too busy admiring his Capital as the occasional passerby shot him strange looks. Then again, England couldn't actually blame Amestris for his over excitement, seeing as how he was stuck on a train for twenty four hours, before they had to switch trains upon reaching Amestris's border and sit through another two hours of watching the scenery pass by.
Needless to say by the end of it, Amestris had been far too fidgety to sit still.
Not to mention how unhappy he had been when England made him go take a shower on the train and wrestle him into the uncomfortable clothes, before they got off the first train.
As England collected his and Amestris's bags and exited the train like the proper gentleman he was, the latter busied himself with running about like a kid on sugar as he took in all the sights.
Eventually, England decided to stop Amestris and did so as he ran by, grabbing hold of him by the back of his collar.
"Edward, behave yourself." England reprimanded the small boy, who pouted but did as England asked.
"Big brother, what are we going to do now?" Amestris asked his big brother, gripping his England's hand his own.
"We'll be going to see your Führer." He answered, pointing at the large building at the center of the city which appeared to be Central City's military HQ. "Remember your manners when you meet him, Edward."
"Aye sir!" Came the ever so earnest reply.
0o0
The walk to Central HQ was a rather uneventful one, but the people as they could see we're quite friendly. That was something that had changed in the past sixteen years, England noted to himself.
They were let past the entrance gates as soon as England had pulled out his permission, and as they walked through the building, Amestris noticed the glances thrown in his direction, making him feel nervous as he held onto England's hand tighter.
Minutes later, they stood in front of two large, grand oak doors, butterflies building up in Amestris's stomach.
"Are you ready Amestris? After all, this is the first time you'll be meeting your boss." England gave his little brother a reassuring smile.
"Kind of... But what if he doesn't like me?" Amestris asked nervously, shuffling on his feet slightly.
"He'll like you, I'm that certain. You've met many people before, and all of them thought you were adorable. I'm sure your boss will too." England wasn't joking either. Every single human and animal Amestris had met had simply loved him. Might have been because of his child appearance, but that wasn't the point. "But don't worry. I'll do the talking first."
Amestris, despite looking unconvinced, nodded slowly as England held up a clenched fist to one of the oak doors before rapping it sharply against the wood. A clear voice rang out loudly.
"Come in."
Ah, why did the voice sound so familiar?
England took hold of the door handle of one of the doors, pushing it open and stepped in, Amestris quickly hiding behind him. The person sitting at Führer's seat was a man with dark hair that hung in an unruly fashion over his eyes. He appeared to be his his mid forties at the most.
Despite his apparent aging, there was no mistaking that this man was the one England had met many years ago.
"Good day, Führer Mustang." England greeted with a slight bow.
"Yes. Good day. You're Arthur Kirkland, I believe? You haven't changed at all from fourteen years ago." Mustang greeted back.
"I tend to get that a lot."
0o0
"So, who was that you wrote about in your letter, that you wanted for me to meet? You weren't particularly clear." Mustang asked, getting straight to the point and the main reason they were having this meeting. That, and the fact he really didn't like being kept in the dark. It was annoying being the one who had less information.
"Ah yes." Arthur said. "But first, I'd need to tell you something which all country leaders must know. That's the second reason I'm here."
"What must I know? Grumman mentioned nothing of this sort to me." Mustang said, all the while trying to rack his brains as he thought back to all the conversations he had with his predecessor.
"I wouldn't be surprised. I couldn't give him my kind's secret when this countey's representation was unable to meet him in person." Arthur answered.
"Your kind?"
He nodded. "I'm what you would call the representation of a country. My official name is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northen Ireland. Us nations live as long as the country we represent exists, so we have been around for a very long time."
Mustang paused, trying to wrap his head around the idea of personified nations he had seen some crazy things before, but the idea was more absurd than the idea of a Homunculous. But the Homunculous' existence was a fact, despite how unreal it seemed. So what was stopping the idea of Personified countries?
"I see..." Mustang said, trying to keep up his calm composure.
"You have been taking this rather well." England commented offhandedly. "It usually takes me longer when I try to convince my own bosses. I'm sure Amestris is glad he doesn't have to convince you."
"Amestris? This country has this... Personification as well?" Mustang asked, curious to see who the supposed personification of his country was.
"Yes, and that's who I want to introduce you to." Arthur stepped to the side, revealing the smaller boy who had been previously been hidden behind his back, giving Mustang a clear view of him.
The Führer felt his eyes widen as soon as he caught sight of the boy's features. There was no way...
"Hello." The Fullmetal lookalike smiled, trying to look confident. "It's nice to meet you, Führer Mustang. I'm Edward Kirkland, but you may call me Amestris."
[A/N How'd I do guys? I'm not even sure whether this is good enough to be posted! Hahaha ha ha... So anyway, Mustang meets Edward/Amestris. Ohhhh... This is going to be good! If Mustang's reaction is funny, imagine Alphonse's! And Winry's! Wow, I feel so evil... Anyway, all that aside, it can be seen that I've added some OCs (No matter how much I hate them), the countries surrounding Amestris because it'd be weird if some random countries didn't have a personification to speak of. I don't plan on them having much importance in the story, but if they do, it'd be more of the, oh I'm sorry I was such an ass to you back then, kind of thing. As for the other countries in Hetalia, I might give them some screen time, but it's going to be mostly the G8+Canada. Out of all of them, it's definately the FACE family getting the most screen time. And they'll come in the later chapters, France, America and Canada.
As for Ed, he's acting OOC because he didn't have the hard life he grew up with as both a Nation and Human. Plus, he doesn't remember those lives. So basically, Ed is acting how I think he would have if he had a good childhood.
This chapter has not been beta'ed.
Thanks for reading this, guys~
~ Gwntan12]
