Chapter 12 'Back to the Outback'

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia

Edited 10/08/18

Australia was barely able to contain his excitement. He was home. He jumped off the ship and plunged into the cool depths of the water and returned to the surface, this was the ocean he was so familiar with, the one that he would spend his days swimming in. Australia rubbed the salt water from his eyes and began to swim to the pristine sandy shore, he savoured the feeling of the glittering water swirling around his small body. New Zealand had a similar reaction upon returning to his own home, it was clear that the two young nations had been far from home for too long. It had been several decades since they had been to their own respective lands.

It wasn't long before Australia reached the shore line of his home. Sand plastered to his wet body and clothes, but he didn't care, he had missed the feeling of the soft crunching of sand in between his toes. That moment where he first touched the sand in his own home he had felt stronger. That piece of him that was once missing when he had left had been returned, he was reconnecting to his land. He was glad to be home, but he would miss New Zealand and England. But England said that he would come to visit every now and again and do the same for New Zealand, and apparently his little brother's house wasn't too far away, so it wasn't all that bad.

Australia walked through the newly established houses and buildings. He looked around in awe, he had never saw his home so busy before. He continued walking until he was a few kilometres out of town, just as England instructed him to do. England had said that he had instructed for a house to be built for the Australian to live in, since he was older now he should have a place of his own. He saw a piece of paper taped to the mail box. He opened the letter and his eyes skimmed the contents and he recognised his dad's neat handwriting. The note was to wish him luck with his new house. An excited gleam flashed in his green eyes, he had never really owned his own house before.

It was a simple wooden house with a porch out the front. The back of the house had a veranda that had a good view of the town in the distance. A white fence surrounded the house, and inside the fence proudly stood a tall and shady eucalyptus tree rooted into the ground. It was far smaller than England's house but that suited him just fine, it would be easier to not get lost. It was perfect.

"What do you think Steve? Do you like it?" Australia grinned. He watched as Steve began to wriggle out of the nation's grasp and crawl over to the tree and began to munch on some of the leaves. Steve let out a squeak of approval.

Australia laughed, "You're just happy that ya get to eat the eucalyptus leaves again"

Steve growled in agreeance. Australia looked over at the fence. "Now I won't have to worry about you wandering off on your own and being attacked by anything."

Australia laughed as he closed the fence behind him, it seemed pretty sturdy which meant it was good for keeping out the dingos. Steve glared at the nation, which only seemed to make Australia laugh the glare off and opted for looking around his house further.

"Not that you couldn't take 'em on anyway."

He walked through the inside of his house and observed the rooms. The house was already furnished with the necessities, England said that he could add anything that he wished. The living room had a couch and two arm chairs with a book case that already contained some books, upon a closer inspection Australia observed that they were history and business management books. He groaned, clearly his dad still wanted him to continue his lessons. He soon discovered the inside of the house contained two bedrooms, one that would be his and a spare. A kitchen and laundry room, the bathroom and a study filled the house.

XxxxXxxx

It had been about a week until England had left New Zealand's home to travel to Australia's to visit him for a while and to handle some work while he was there. And if Australia was perfectly honest, the first couple of days had been…interesting to say the least.

Looking after England had turned out to be just as problematic as the first time England had visited his home for the first time. Back then even if his dad didn't know it, he had followed the old man around his home, he tried his best to stay hidden, but it proved to be a challenge when the older nation just kept getting himself in dangerous situations, even though half the time he didn't know it. Australia supposed nothing had changed, he was still trying to keep his dad out of harm's way when it came to his more deadlier wildlife.

His dad had a real knack for stumbling across the little buggers. While Australia knew his father was observant, but he seemed to forget how much Australia's home teemed with deadly and dangerous creatures. Australia guessed that England couldn't really be blamed for that. After all, he wasn't used to watching where he stepped every time back in his own home. Australia had lost count of all the times he had to quickly intervene and move the snake or spider before the unknowing nation could startle or brush against them.

Well, at least England wasn't standing right next to croc infested billabongs anymore. And to give his dad credit, he had started to at least remember to be mindful and to keep a careful eye out…eventually. Especially when he was tending to the garden. Australia really didn't want to deal with yet another funnel web spider incident.

His father had been taking a break from all his paper work and was doing a spot of gardening. He was pulling out some weeds and he didn't see the large black furry arachnid hiding under the plants, until his hand had come too close to the deadly spider which had lashed out in self-defence and bit his hand. Poor England had been bed-ridden for quite some time while Australia had to go to the doctors in town to get bandages and the antivenom to try and relieve his father's pain. Australia had to admit that he was very worried about England, had seen what his animals can do to humans and he assumed that most nations were like him and couldn't feel the pain from venom. But he was wrong. Australia hated seeing his father in pain, but he had little knowledge on what the venom could do to a nation, a human was a different story and it normally involved death if a bite was left untreated, he had hoped that wasn't the case with other nations either.

While England did heal thanks to a nation's quickened healing process, much to Australia's relief, it had been a while until the older nation had ventured willingly outside again. But it didn't help matters when Steve gets involved, he always loved trying to torment England. And Australia wasn't at all innocent in the whole wildlife ordeal either, while he did love to prank his father with scaring him with some of his animals he made sure they were more of the friendlier ones. It was hilarious when Australia set a wombat loose in England's office, the older nation had no idea what the thing even was. But Steve was a whole different matter, he always went out of his way to make England's day a living hell.

Like today for instance.

England was reading a book while sitting at the table and chairs that were set on the back veranda. Australia was sitting on the back step just an arms distance away. He was busy admiring a lizard he found in the yard earlier that day, he cradled the scaly reptile gently in his hands. It was just a lazy Saturday morning that for once wasn't occupied with nation studies or lessons. Steve had been suspiciously absent all morning, while England was relieved at the fact that Australia's pet wouldn't be glaring and growling at him. Australia on the other hand, had known his friend long enough to know he was up to something, he was never normally this quiet except for when he was sleeping. But the teenaged Aussie knew that Steve wasn't taking a nap because he saw him waddle out of the fence that surrounded their home first thing in the morning. In fact, it was as soon as Australia suggested that he and England spend the morning outside that Steve had gone walkabout.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of grey behind him, but what made him turn his head was when he heard the sound of an audible 'hiss'.

Australia saw a snake coiled under the table near where England's leg was. It was a taipan, one of his deadliest snakes, but it was odd to see one out his way as they mostly hung around the town for easy access to mice and rats. He noticed that the flash of grey was Steve's fur, the little bugger must have lured the snake to his house and more specifically directly under England's chair. Steve had crawled under the table behind England while it glared the snake in front of him, it was like he was daring the snake to attack. Australia watched as the snake began to coil it's body and opened his mouth to display it's sharp fangs, it was poised to strike at its target. Australia didn't have time to move the snake or warn his dad, the older nation wouldn't be able to move without seeming to threaten the snake further.

Just as the snake lunged forward Steve dived away out of the road leaving England exposed, Australia had quickly lent over and stuck his arm directly where the snake would bite. He did it while juggling the little lizard in his other hand. Sighing, Australia placed his arm that didn't have a snake attached to it, to the ground so the lizard could scurry away back to the garden.

Australia soon gave an accusing glare to Steve.

Steve!" Australia scolded, "What did I say about egging 'em on"

The little koala didn't seem to take his scolding seriously, as he just made a throaty half growl half laugh. Australia rolled his eyes at the attitude his friend was showing; the little bugger really didn't like England. Although Australia had to hand it to Steve, the snake was a real beauty. It had just shed its old skin so it's scales were a lot more vibrant and it's yellow-brownish colour was a lot more prominent.

England who had been disturbed from his readings, had looked down to see what all the commotion was about. His face twisted into panic when he saw the snake's fangs implanted deep into Australia's arm.

He watched Australia very calmly, it was like the boy was so used to this happening, grasped the snake's head and gently pried the snake's teeth out of his arm. The venom still dripped into the puncture wound and the skin around it. Australia picked up the snake and set it down at a safe distance and watched to make sure it slithered away, and that Steve was nowhere near it in case he tried to lure it back over.

"Show me," England said firmly.

Without waiting for an answer England grasps Australia's arm to inspect the injury. He, unfortunately, knew from experience the agonising pain from a spider's bite and he knew a snakes was much worse. When he was bitten by the spider he had tried to hide majority of his pain and suffering so his son wouldn't worry as much, but it did bloody hurt. He couldn't move out of bed for a whole day, even with his superhuman healing and the anti-venom Australia had retrieved it took him just over a day to return to normal. If it was a human however, it would have taken much longer if they had recovered at all from the amount of venom in the bloodstream.

Without hesitation England lifted his son into his arms and started to walk around the side of the house towards the town, luckily Australia was still little enough that he could still be carried with little trouble. Australia yelped at the sudden motion at being picked up. England believed that Australia needed medical attention, sure his superhuman healing would kick in and at least help with healing the bite mark. But it wouldn't help to subdue the excruciating pain that Australia would feel from the venom. England had always hated seeing any of his colonies suffering, so he would always try to do everything he could to lessen their pain. So maybe the doctor could do something for Australia, after all there had bound to be more than one bite from a snake occur.

"Hey!" Australia protested at being picked up, "I can walk just fine ya know, I'm not an ankle biter anymore"

Australia didn't need to be carried anymore, he was bigger now, no longer a child that needed to be carried by his father. Besides, he didn't even know why he was being carried into town anyway. When he voiced his question, England gave him an answer that he was not expecting.

"Well I'm taking you to the doctor in town. I'm not leaving you here, heaven forbid if your pain gets worse while I'm not here"

Doctor? Why would he need to go to the doctor? Then it clicked in Australia's mind. England didn't know that he was immune to venom, that a bite or a sting from one of his creatures wouldn't affect him. He supposed he probably should have mentioned it earlier.

"She'll be apples, I'm not crook" Australia reassured, "I'm just dandy"

England slowed his pace to attempt to translate what Australia had said. Maybe the young nation had grown delirious.

Seeing that what he said seemed to only convince his dad further that he was sick, he decided to try again. He wiggled out of England's grasp and stood in his father's path.

"I don't need to go to the doctor. I'm not sick or in pain"

"Don't be ridiculous," England stated, "A bite from a snake is worse than a bite from a spider. The venom probably wouldn't take affect straight away"

"Nah mate. I mean that I don't feel the pain from 'em. I'm immune to venom" Australia explained, "I realised when I was an ankle biter that the bites and stings don't affect me like it did other humans. I've been bitten by practically every snake and spider and stung by every jellyfish and stingray that you could imagine, and it never hurts."

England mulled the information over. Yes the possibility that Australia would be immune to poisons and venom wasn't an outlandish concept to believe. After all, he could see magical creatures and perform magic. It would make sense considering he lived in a death trap, and with that reckless behaviour of his.

"I figured that other nations were the same like me, but after you got bit by the funnel web I realised that it was just me"

"Here, take a gander," Australia held up his arm where the snake bit him. England observed that the bite marks where the fangs punctured had almost healed and the skin around it wasn't red or inflamed.

Although England still didn't seem totally convinced he let going to the doctors drop, for now. "Alright, but so much as a flinch in pain or I see you favouring your other arm it will be straight to the doctors and bed rest for a couple of days"

Australia grinned and gave his father a mock salute. England ruffled his messy brunette hair and retreated indoors where there would hopefully be no more snakes. It was hard enough trying to keep an eye out for Australia's dangerous wildlife, he also needed to keep a closer watch on that koala of Australia's, apparently the thing wasn't just demonic, it was also a murderous demonic beast.

"You never cease to amaze me my boy" England commented with a smile to Australia. The younger nation grinned widely at the compliment and returned to the back of the yard to retrieve Steve.

XxxxXxxx

It was the day after the whole snake bite fiasco that Australia had been allowed back outside, he had finished his studies earlier that day. And by finished, he meant skipped. So sat on the bank of a creek that ran through the area. He didn't seem to care that his clothes were painted with dirt, dust and some specks of mud. Steve was clinging to his shoulder peering curiously at what his owner was doing. Australia took Steve with him when he ventured outdoors, not only because Steve liked being outside as much as him and he wouldn't dream of not taking his best friend with him. But also because he couldn't really trust the furry marsupial around his dad without supervision, it seemed like the koala had a vendetta against the English nation.

Australia seemed to be shuffling some rocks around in the dirt and then washing them in the water, when he thought they were clean he would hold them up to the sun light. It was if he was inspecting them. Then, when he thought they were not the ones he was looking for he would place them back on the ground

His fingers then glided over the newest rock he was about to pick up. He grinned, his white teeth gleamed as he noticed the texture felt somewhat smoother than the other rocks. With his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his scar from the snake bite had completely healed from yesterday, he plunged the rock into the water. He went to work scrubbing the caked and hardened soil from the rock, he beamed when he held it into the sun. This one was perfect.

He suddenly jumped to his feet, Steve clinging onto his shoulder with a tightened grip to avoid falling off from the excited nation. He ran back to his house but as soon as he got to the front door he stopped, he didn't want to be told off by England for running inside yet again.

"Hey Dad!" Australia called out as he walked into his study which England was currently occupying. His father was doing some paperwork when he briefly glanced up and sighed in annoyance at the state of Australia's clothes.

"How many times do I have to tell you to as least try to keep your clothes clean? Especially when you wear white. You could have at least cleaned up before you entered the house. And another thing, don't think I didn't notice you skipped your studies today, for that you will have double tomorrow" England reprimanded. He then turned his attention back to the papers that he needed to send away in a couple of days.

Australia frowned at the lecture. His dad seemed to be correcting everything he did incorrectly as of late. But he pushed those thoughts aside and tried to get his father's attention again.

"Mate I found something ta show ya" Australia replied eagerly. He was really proud of himself for what he found, and he wanted England to have it.

"If it another one of your 'pets' then leave them outside," England stated, "I don't want to find one of your spiders in my tea cups"

"I told you that was Steve that released 'em in the house. I put the frogs in bathroom sink" Australia corrected.

"I promise it's nothing like that. I only wanted to give you something I found while out digging" Australia replied and stepped closer to his dad's stressed and exhausted form.

England sighed and rubbed his tired eyes, relishing in the relief from their stinging sensation from doing paper work all night.

"If I look at it will you let me finish my work in peace for the rest of the day?"

Australia nodded in agreement and held out the rock in the palm of his outstretched hand. England turned to look at the object in the young nation's hand. The Australian beamed when England took it out of his hand and held it up in the light to inspect it. England's eyes widened upon noticing that the rock contained patches of glistening gold.

"Do you have any idea what this is? What you have found?" England whipped his head back to look at Australia, who merely looked at his father like he had gone mad.

"…A rock?" He glanced over his shoulder to see Steve shrugging in agreement, clearly the koala also had no idea what England was so excited about.

Sure, it was pretty but the older nation looked like Australia had just handed him the world on a silver platter. Australia could see the emotions very clearly written on his father's face, it was a mix of disbelief, happiness and astonishment. Australia always knew England was weird, but getting that worked up over a rock? His dad had finally cracked it.

"This isn't just any rock my boy," England explained, "Where did you find it?"

"By the river. But to get the shiny ones you gotta wash the dirt off first. What's so special about it?"

Australia had pointed in the direction where the creek was that he had found the rock. He still didn't know what was so special about a rock. But it seemed to make his dad really happy upon seeing it. Did they not have rocks like it back in his home?

"This is gold, it is a precious metal that is very valuable. Many nations are quite in demand for it, as it can really boost their economy" England explained. He placed the piece of gold on the desk.

Australia gazed at the gold. He didn't know that it was so valuable, he had just thought they were ordinary rocks, albeit prettier than the rest. He listened as England went on about how the discovery of gold will mean for his and Australia's country.

But with the discovery of gold came the travels of more nations than Australia had ever had visit his home before. But with all the changes that happened with the discovery of gold, a darkness loomed in the distance.

Hey guys! So we finally get to see how England found out Australia is immune to venom. And with the discovery of gold came another event that would change Australia's history. If anyone can guess what it is, they will win a free hug from little Australia :)

"She'll be apples, I'm not crook" – "It'll be alright, I'm not sick"

"I'm just dandy" – "I'm just fine"

So please review, I get so excited every time I get an email notifying me of a new review/favourite or follower