Summery: Wales was not ashamed to admit that he was hiding in the kitchen. These things were bad enough without having a very physical countdown, and his siblings had been hell over the last week. From Scotland's last-minute nerves and his bad attempts at hiding them to North's panicked fluttering, although at least he had not been trapped in a car for ten hours with either of them. God, he hated the M1.
"I'm sorry, but I have to ask. How can you be so calm? Your Union might dissolve tonight, your family might break apart." The attendant disturbing his hiding spot queried. Unbidden Wales laughed.
"The Union doesn't make us family. Legislation is for humans, not for us. Besides-" he shot her a soft smile over his mug, "this isn't our first union, although it is our most successful. We've been though this before, maybe this time we'll figure it all out. I doubt it. Either way, I know that whatever happens tonight, I personally will be in the same position as last night. Like I said, it is not the Union that makes us family."
OR England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales make various unions together. Then dissolve them. 10 times. (They propose a few dozen more.)
Characters: England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France.
Warnings: Trauma, violence against children, violence against family (although not exactly domestic violence, they're just a violent bunch who go to war with each other a lot), Nations dying and coming back to life.
Each chapter will have its own warnings but the big ones are colonialism and imperialism as well as period typical attitudes although most of this will be in background. I'll also put a warning for rape to be on the safe side as it will come up a few times, it'll be off screen but it will affect the decision making of the people involved in an event because that is how/why that event happened and there'll be a point later where it will have a profound effect on the characters, so nothing graphic but will very obviously have happened. The other big one is genocide and the effects there of. There's also the obvious stuff like war because unfortunately humans are not all sunshine and rainbows. If you think I'm missing a big one that should be here shout, I'll add it. I probably thought it was so obvious that it would happen that it wouldn't need mentioning.
Other: Canonverse, historical Hetalia, family fluff and drama
A note on names, I'm not doing any fancy language tricks, you're getting hello and goodbye, but names will be in the language of the POV/speaker, in this chapter Latin.
Also, there will be less human involvement once England and Wales are old enough to start doing important stuff on their own.
Enjoy.
No warnings this chapter.
Portus Dubris, Britannia Superior, Provincia Britannia, 19th November 409
(Dover, Roman Britain)
"Do you think Belgae is too Latin? I don't want to be too Latin. I like Ynys Weith but that might be too specific, the Cynwidion's might think I want nothing to do with them." Britannia Superior kicked the wall he was sat on and huffed when his brother didn't answer, still staring out at the South Sea where the last Roman ships had vanished into the horizon ages ago. "I don't want anybody to feel left out."
"What's wrong with Britannia?" Britannia Inferior asked, finally turning to look at him. Britannia Superior frowned.
"But you're Britannia, in manner and blood. You like Britannia and now we're two countries we can't have the same name."
"But why are we two countries?"
"There's two of us?" Britannia Superior tilted his head and stared at his brother. "Britannia's really big so there's enough space and Caledonia's being really annoying and saying that I'm too small to be a proper country."
"You are too small to be a proper country."
"I am not!" Britannia Superior jumped to his feet, so his brother had to look up to him for a change. "I can be a proper country. I can do fishing and arts and stuff." He raised his arms and gestured wildly. "I'll be an awesome country and my country will be more awesome than Caledonia's." He half turned and squeaked when somebody picked him up.
"There you are." Elafius pulled him up to his shoulder and blew a raspberry on his stomach causing Britannia Superior to squeal and wiggle around. "What have I told you about running around on the walls?"
"Britannia's doing it!"
"Your brother isn't running but shouldn't be playing on the walls either." Elafius directed the last bit at Britannia Inferior as he adjusted Britannia Superior on his hip opposite his sword. Britannia Inferior leaned forward and stared unconcerned down at the waves crashing a hundred meters below them at the bottom of the white cliffs.
"My mountains are bigger."
"I'm sure they are, but you should be careful in unfamiliar locations. Now we're going to Cair Ceint tomorrow so do you have your bags packed?" Elafius held out his hand and let Britannia Inferior hold it as he scrambled off the wall and then as they walked back to port.
"I packed mine." Britannia Superior told him.
"Good boy. You'll definitely be more awesome than Caledonia." Britannia Superior blushed, and Britannia Inferior used the opportunity to jump into the conversation.
"He says he wants to stop being Britannia." He said accusingly.
"Did you now?"
"We can't have two countries called Britannia, but I can't decide between Belgae and Ynys Weith."
"Tell him we won't have two countries." Britannia Inferior demanded. "We can't have two countries we'll be invaded." Elafius stopped and turned so he was looking out over the sea, Britannia Superior stuck his tongue out at his brother over his shoulder then turned to follow his gaze. It took him a minute of squinting to realise he was looking for the fires that were due to be lit on Gallia's side of the sea.
"They're not going to light them." Britannia Superior said, quite sensibly in his opinion. "There's nobody left to guide home."
"They'll light them not because there's somebody to bring home, but because there's somebody they can guide out of the dark. Which is a good example that shows how much you have to learn before you start making big decisions on your own." Britannia Inferior stuck his tongue out at his brother. "But-" both of them snapped to look at Elafius, still gazing out to sea, "I don't think any of us know what will happen next. However, I believe in you, both of you, and I think that whatever happens next you'll be together again, but you need to find yourselves first."
"That's what I said." Britannia Superior said immediately.
"I'm sure you did." Elafius laughed and started walking again. "I think Britannia is a beautiful name that symbolises a lot. So, why don't you both put it aside now and you can use it when you join together again stronger than before."
"Stronger than now?" Britannia Inferior asked doubtfully.
"Maybe." Elafius conceded.
"I can't decide between Belgae and Ynys Weith." Britannia Superior reminded Elafius before he could be distracted again.
"Didn't Frisia say he wanted the name Belgae?"
"Frisia's really annoying too." Britannia Superior grumbled. "Do you think anybody will feel left out if I call myself Ynys Weith?"
"No, I think they'll understand." Brit - Ynys Weith hummed and laid his head on Elafius's shoulder.
"Combrogi." Said Britannia Inferior suddenly. "If I'm not Britannia. I want to be Combrogi."
"Okay Combrogi, Ynys Weith, are you ready for tomorrow?" Elafius asked.
"If I call myself Combrogi and he calls himself Ynys Weith, won't he get just Ynys Weith?" Combrogi asked back.
"Is that how Nations work?" Elafius didn't sound any more nervous than before, but Ynys Weith felt his pulse jump.
"No." He said, Nation instinct to calm their people down weaving through his words. "I'll keep my land because the people are my people because they're my people not because they live on my land." There was a pause.
"If you say so." Elafius turned to the path to walk down the cliff and Ynys Weith turned around to face where they were going, catching the flicker of a flame across the sea as he did so.
"I just don't want any confusion about whose land is whose and who it belongs to." Combrogi admitted.
"There won't be any confusion." Ynys Weith stated firmly. "I promise."
Notes
Britannia – Roman province in Great Britain. Superior closer to Rome, Inferior further away (I think).
Ynys Weith – Ise of Wight; (Britannia) Belgae – roughly Hampshire, it became Wessex which in turn became England.
Combrogi - Cymry - Cymru meaning fellow countrymen, Wales in English.
Elafius was possibly maybe a real person. If he was a real person he was possibly maybe the father (or grandfather) of Cerdic, the founder of Wessex.