Chapter 5 'World Meeting'

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia

Edited: 10/08/2018

The sun had just risen in the sky when Australia had woken up. He was careful not to wake the still sleeping nation as he gathered Steve in his arms and walked out of the room to venture the house. He walked down the hall descended the stairs into the kitchen in search of something to eat, he found the plate of scones that England had made yesterday. Australia grabbed one and applied a decent layer of jam on it and took a bite. He wasn't overly hungry but he figured he should eat something, after all it would be a big day at the meeting. He couldn't wait to see what the other nations were like. After his first encounter meeting the very few nations that came to his home he always wondered what they would be like. Don't get him wrong, he loved his home and he would always prefer his land because in his eyes it was perfect, but it always interested him what the other lands were like.

After he had finished eating his breakfast Australia took Steve out to England's back yard. As soon as he was placed on the ground Steve ran over to a tree and proceeded to climb it. Australia stood underneath the trees and laughed as he watched his friend grimace at the taste of the leaves.

"No worries mate," Australia told his friend, "They aren't the type you normally have, but I'm sure you'll get used to 'em eventually"

Steve seemed to growl in annoyance but carried on nibbling on the leaves. But something rustling up in the higher branches pulled at his curiosity. He proceeded to climb the tree, he pulled himself up to the higher branches to where he saw the leaves rustling. What he saw surprised him immensely so that he almost fell from the branch he was standing on when it hovered in front of him. It was a bright green animal with wings, he had never seen anything like it before.

"G'day little fella," Australia smiled. The animal turned its head curiously at Australia, "I wonder what you are?"

"My name's flying mint bunny!" The animal cheerfully said, "I am one of England's friends"

Surprised at the sudden voice from the animal Australia lost his grip on the branch for a moment and luckily regained his footing before he could fall from the high branch.

"Oh I am sorry! I didn't mean to frighten you" The bunny apologised as he hovered closer to Australia to check to see if the child was injured, "It's just that not many people can see me"

"You can talk?" Australia asked. He was fascinated by the flying mint bunny, it was definitely something he had never seen before.

The animal giggled, "Yes. But I can normally only talk to England. You look a lot like him, are you related?"

Australia nodded, "My name's Australia and England's my Dad. He's never mentioned you though."

"Maybe because he doesn't know that you can see magical creatures. Speaking of England, is he around?"

"Yeah but I'm not sure if he's awake yet?"

"That's okay, I'll talk to him after the meeting. I'll see you around Australia" Flying mint bunny smiled before flying away.

Australia climbed down the tree, he plucked Steve from the branch he was sitting on and placed the koala on his shoulder as he walked back inside the house. It wasn't long before England descended the stairs dressed in a formal suit.

"Good Morning Australia," England greeted, "I trust you slept well?"

"Mornin'," Australia smiled, "What's with the fancy clobber?"

England blinked in a confused manner at the boy. What was Australia talking about? He was sure the child was speaking English a second ago. So Australia had to clarify what he meant.

"It is required for nations to wear such formal clothes at the meetings," England informed Australia. The older nation walked over to Australia and picking out several leaves from the boy's brown hair.

"I thought I told you not to climb that tree," England lectured, "It's very old and you could have fallen"

England went over to sit at the table to finish his cup of tea and read the newspaper that he had the fae collect when he was away.

"I only climbed up to see who was up there," Australia said, "By the way your friend said she wanted to talk to you. I think she said her name was flying mint bunny"

Australia watched in confusion as his dad almost choked on his tea at his last sentence.

"Y-You can see her?" England asked in disbelief. He looked at Australia for any sign that the boy may have been lying.

"Am I not supposed to?" Australia asked in a confused manner. Why was everyone so surprised that he could see the animal, he wasn't blind.

"I am just surprised," England said as he composed himself after the shock, "Not many nations can see magical creatures"

"I can!" Australia smiled, happy to have something in common with his father. "I have some back home. One's called a bunyip, a rainbow snake and many more"

Australia listed a couple off the top of his head. His people had often told him stories about the creatures from the Dreamtime and how they all shaped and formed his land. They also often believed Australia to be one of the things they would describe in the Dreaming. They believed he was the embodiment of the land and it's creations, his immunity to venom and healing ability further proved their tales.

England smiled softly at Australia's description of all of his magical creatures, the boy was definitely a Kirkland if he had magical creatures. England could remember the rare occasion, when he and his older siblings actually got along, that Scotland would take him to search for unicorns in the valley when he was a young child.

No stop it! He wasn't supposed to get attached to Australia. Attachment meant hurt, pain and tears. He wouldn't allow himself to be hurt again, if he grew attached to Australia then if he ended up like America did then he wouldn't be able to bare that pain again, not a second time. A part of his mind argued that he was getting attached, otherwise he wouldn't be so worried about the child being in a room full of nations that were also seeking colonies. But he dismissed those ridiculous thoughts. He was only worried about his empire, that was it. He would ignore the somewhat fondness he may have grown for the small boy. If he learnt anything from the independence war with America, it meant that attachment was dangerous.

"Hmm" England hummed dismissively, "Well come along, we must attend the meeting and we don't have all day."

As soon as he said that, England had stood up and placed his now empty tea cup in the sink and walked past Australia to gather his notes for the meeting. Australia stood confused and a little hurt. Something must have made his dad sad, he had seen the eyes that previously held the slight yet warmth that a parent does as they listen to their child. But the eyes then turned blank as England moved away, it was almost like the older nation was running from something. He would find out what it was later, after all he was about to see the other nations.

XxxxXxxx

It wasn't long after that England and Australia had left for the meeting. England had made Australia keep his demonic koala at home, not that Steve had an issue with that, he seemed content to fall asleep on Australia's pillow. While Australia was excited and adopted a care free attitude to attending the meeting, England on the other hand was anything but. England was worried about Australia, even if he did try to deny it. Australia didn't understand what the other nations were like and at the moment they were all interested in gaining more land and Australia had a large amount of empty plains to offer.

"Now when we get there you must not wander off without my knowledge, and do not go near Russia do you understand?"

"Why not Russia?"

"It's complicated," England sighed, "Just stay close to me and you'll be fine"

Australia held onto England's hand while they walked through the halls of the meeting. Not many of the nations seemed to notice him. Except for one. Netherlands looked in Australia's direction with narrowed eyes. Australia inwardly shivered, he wasn't one to be scared but he didn't like Holland when they met in Australia's home. The older nation seemed mean and he just renamed Australia and then left, Australia hadn't heard or seen him for years after that.

They had entered the room where the meeting would be held. Australia sat down on the chair next to England. Australia looked over to his Dad to see that he had begun arguing with one of the other nations, Australia was pretty sure he remembered him as France. It wasn't long until the chair beside Australia was also filled, the nation that sat down was almost transparent but he looked friendly enough.

"G'day! My name is Australia, who are you?" Australia asked the blonde nation next to him. Said nation seemed startled at first but looked down to see a small child smiling up at him.

"H-Hello. M-My name is C-Canada" Spoke the nation softly. He smiled politely at the child, happy that someone had noticed him.

"A-Are you here with someone?" He asked fearing that the young child was by himself.

"Yeah, England found me a while ago and now he's taking care of me," Australia explained, "Do you have someone taking care of you?"

"W-Well I used to live with England but I'm still under his rule. I have a brother, he's my twin but unfortunately, he isn't here for this meeting. But my Papa," Canada gestured to France, "Was the one to find me and raise me before England"

The two nations had continued to talk until the meeting started.

XxxxXxxx

After five long hours the meeting had come to an end, and Australia silently thanked that it did. Arguments had broken out several times and sometimes over the littlest things. Most of the nations had already left, but when Australia turned to England he had found that he and France had begun having another blue for the day. Those two sure did fight a lot.

"Hey Dad, can I go walkabout for a bit?" Australia asked. But he got no reply as the two older nations continued to bicker and yell profanities, and France mentioned something about the 'black sheep of Europe'. Australia jumped down from his chair and walked out the door.

He glanced back and England didn't even notice he had left, so maybe he could explore for a little while and sneak back without his father even having to know. Besides, during the meeting England didn't let him out of his sight so he couldn't go and wander around. After left the conference room he walked down the halls and glance out at the windows.

"These other nations sure are a weird bunch" Australia muttered to himself. He couldn't wait to tell Steve about them, when he had first told his friend about his enthusiasm for meeting to other the koala didn't seem as interested or share his enthusiasm.

Australia was about to head back, finding nothing really of interest in the hallways until he felt the atmosphere in the air around him change. It suddenly grew colder and he felt the presence of another nation close to him. He turned his head curiously in the direction he felt the power radiate from and his saw a tall nation approach him with a smile on his face and a large scarf wrapped around his neck.

"G'day, my name's Australia" he smiled up in greeting at the other nation who peered down at him curiously.

"Hello, my name is Russia," The other nation greeted, "Why are you smiling little Australia?"

So this was the Russia that England had told him to stay away from, he didn't seem so bad.

"Huh?" Australia asked.

"Why are you smiling at me? Nobody but my two sisters smile at me" Spoke Russia sadly. Australia knew he shouldn't be standing there talking to Russia, but he felt a little bad for the older nation. So Australia's grin widened, displaying his white teeth.

"Well if ya want, we could be mates?" Australia said. This made Russia frown in confusion

"M-Mate?"

"Mates? You know, friends?" Australia clarified. He began to wonder if anyone could understand the slang he used, so far it confused everyone he had met.

This made Russia smile happily, almost like a child. "So you will become one with Russia da?"

Before Australia had a chance to reply he heard the voice of a panicked England who had stepped in front of him, blocking Russia from his view. England's green eyes looked angrily down into Australia's own confused green ones.

"No! Australia, I told you to stay away from Russia! And I told you not to wander of on your own!" England scolded. Australia flinched at the yelling, he had never heard his Dad yell before, and it scared him a little. England then turned to Russia and glared at him.

"I don't know what you are playing at Russia, but Australia won't be part of it" But Russia seemed unaffected by the angry English nation, who just continued to smile.

England held Australia's hand tightly as he practically dragged his son away from the Russian nation. Russia smiled and waved Australia goodbye, "I shall see you again someday friend Australia"

XxxxXxxx

Meanwhile. England and France were still bickering in the conference room, oblivious to the fact that Australia had left a while ago.

"I wonder where your little shadow went?" France wondered with a smirk.

England glanced over to the chair next to him and his stomach dropped as he found it empty. He felt as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over him and he couldn't breathe. Australia was missing. How could he be such an idiot and lose sight of him? He knew the dangers of bringing Australia to a meeting at such a young age with no experience of the outside world and other nations.

He looked under the table, he prayed that Australia was hiding under there, but his panic only increased as there was no sign of the Australian. His fear started to kick in. What if some other nation had taken Australia?

"Looks like another nation left you as well," France sneered as he watched England flinch at the reminder of the American revolution.

"Shut it frog, you could make yourself bloody useful for once and help me find him" England glared at France. He would not let the French nation's remarks about America distract him, he had to find Australia before the little nation could get himself lost or hurt. Maybe he should have let Australia bring that little furry embodiment of the devil, that thing did seem pretty intent on protecting Australia so maybe it would have been able to look out for him

"Oh no mon cher, I am not getting in the middle of this. Your child, your problem" France said as he walked out of the meeting room "Au revoir Angleterre"

England rushed out of the room in search for his son, he checked each room closest to the conference room but no sign of him. It was that moment that England had realised something, he had never referred to Australia as his 'son', but even he couldn't deny that he had grown attached to the boy in the short time he had known him, even though after America he promised himself that he wouldn't let his defences down again. Australia somehow had taken down the defences he had steeled his heart with, and he had only known the little nation for a short while. That was what scared him, he had grown attached to Australia no matter how hard he tried not to in an effort to protect himself from further pain. England couldn't believe that it took Australia to go missing for him to finally realise and accept this fact

Luckily it wasn't long before he heard the familiar accent and he let out a large sigh of relief that he didn't know he had been holding. But his fear didn't subside, especially not after seeing who Australia was talking to.

XxxxXxxx

Australia sat on the couch in England's home while England stood in front of him with his arms folded across his chest. Steve had immediately latched himself onto Australia's shoulder, he didn't like to be away from Australia for too long and the animal could sense England's anger so he wanted to be close to Australia to see what would happen. While England had calmed down a tad since seeing that his son was in fact safe but his anger remained.

"I'm sorry I disobeyed you" Australia mumbled as he stared down at his feet.

"You had better be sorry, do you have any idea how worried I was when I couldn't find you? Who knows what could have happened to you if I didn't find you when I did" England scolded.

"I promise it won't happen again" Australia said. England's eyes softened as he sighed.

"Australia look at me," England waited until Australia's green eyes raised to look at him hesitantly, "When I tell you to do something you must do it, it will be for your own good. When I told you to stay close and to stay away from Russia it was to protect you. I expect you to at least listen when I tell you to be careful, had I not been there when I was you would have belonged to Russia. Do you understand what I am saying?"

"Yes," Australia muttered once more.

He bent down to Australia's level and wrapped the child in a tight hug. Australia was surprised at first, England had never shown so much affection for him before, but he soon wrapped his tiny arms around his father's neck and returned the hug.

"I'm glad you are safe," England smiled and lifted the boy into his arms and carried him to bed. The boy had a big day and was sure to be tired. Sure, enough Australia was asleep as soon as England laid him down onto his bed, he pulled the blanket over Australia's shoulders.

England stood in the doorway when Flying Mint Bunny hovered next to England and gushed at the sleeping nation.

"He is such a cute little nation" Flying Mint Bunny smiled as England closed his sons's bedroom door.

"A hand full you mean," England sighed, he already knew that Australia was going to be difficult to raise "But yes he is, it's a shame they have to grow up"

"I'm sure you will do well in raising him," the flying bunny reassured her friend.

"I raised America as my little brother and look how that ended, I don't want to make the same mistake as a parent" England told his magical friend.

That was his truly biggest worry, after all he had gotten attached to America and loved him as a brother but then he was heartbroken after the revolution. He tried to keep himself from experiencing the same pain when he had met Australia by trying to raise him but keep his emotions at a distance, but not after today. Once Australia had wandered off he had accepted the fact that Australia was his son, and the thought that losing the young nation had filled him with such fear that he knew he couldn't deny that he had cared for the child.

Awww the feels! England finally acknowledges Australia as his son yay! England was so worried about Australia when he went missing and became protective over him when he found him with Russia, which made him realise that he does care about little Australia. Even if earlier he was so determined not to, I hope I did it justice, please leave any constructive comments informing me about how I can improve. This is my first time writing the father-son relationship after all.

Clobber- Clothes

Walkabout- walking around/wandering around

Au revoir Angleterre (French)- Goodbye England

The Bunyip and the Rainbow Snake are just two of the many Dreamtime creatures that Australia has. Most of the dreaming stories are about how the land was shaped and formed etc.

The fact that Australia can see Flying Mint Bunny comes from a headcannon I thought of which relates back to the Dreamtime stories from the Aboriginals. I'm not going to go into too much detail about all of the Dreamtime creatures, so just google them if you want to know more, otherwise you can just PM and I can tell you :)

So I believe that Australia can see magic, but he can't use it like England, Norway or Romania can. Do you think this will be the last time Australia will see Russia? Will Australia keep being a hand full to raise? Please review