Live for Tomorrow
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
Chapter 3: Compromise
America awoke feeling lethargic. He did not want to move let alone get up for the day in order to help fix the mess his government made that would be needed to prevent the whole 'end of the world' debacle that had led to his current predicament last time…or would it be this time? Tenses sucked when you were in the past living now even though you had lived it before and were trying to prevent the future…if that made any sense at all.
Time seemed irrelevant without England or Arthur in his life. The man had been his lifeline, his reason for living, and the only thing that really kept him going. The only thing that reminded him why he was fighting, the reason he dreamt of a tomorrow.
The spot beside him was a reminder of how cold his life was without Arthur, no England…damn he still couldn't figure out the name thing. He sighed. If he had figured it out sooner England would still be here and maybe he could have told England about everything. He shook his head. There was no point wondering about what ifs, England wasn't here and that was that. England had made his choice and Alfred…America, damn it, would not try to change that. America wouldn't try to keep the man somewhere he didn't want to be. It hurt enough without him having a chance at being rejected again.
The point was that England's scent no longer lingered as it once had. His house was bare of any object that had been deemed as the Englishman's and his heart hurt as he thought of the hours he had spent away from his house while England had returned to pick up his things and he had returned to find England's key on the table without so much as a note.
He sighed. How fucking pathetic. He was so used to companionship he felt lonely. Unlike in Spades he didn't have friends to help him through it. He wasn't friends with the nations the way he had been with the humans; hell his brother hardly tolerated him. He snorted at the thought. Who was he kidding? Canada hated him and only put up with him because he was an over-bearing asshole.
He groaned as he threw his arm over his eyes. Stupid blinding light. Stupid loneliness. Stupid heart. He had to be someone who cared so fucking much but was self-destructive. Obviously he couldn't be counted on to take care of himself because he cared about the other's more than he ever would himself. He huffed a laugh. Thank the spirits that hadn't been one of his promises. Taking care of him meant remembering to sleep, not spend hours working, and not forgetting to eat.
America threw his legs over the side of the bed and sat up, rubbing his eyes and putting on Texas. He had spent so much time working he was seriously considering taking a sabbatical. A long, nice, planned sabbatical in which the other nations would not be able to reach him under his newly recreated alias of Alfred F. Jones. After, he added mentally. He would take that sabbatical after he finished up with the meetings and work he had planned. It wasn't like the nations would worry anyway.
He stretched as he got up and began walking. He stared at his reflection. Old eyes on a young face. That was what he had thought when he had been Alfred. Apparently it was still true. His scars that ran over this body made him look a bit older, but he still was not old enough to match the eyes.
He lowered his arms and looked himself over with a sigh. He was such a mess. He sighed as he took a quick shower and dressed for the day in slacks and a tank that would be covered by a button up shirt after he had his coffee and ate breakfast.
He was about half-way done with his morning routine, or at least the one he had when he bothered getting sleep and waking up in the morning, when his phone began to ring.
"You've reached America."
"America, the meeting has been moved to later today. Are you sure you are ready for this and we won't need the extra week?"
"I've got it boss. Everything is under control. The plans have already been approved, I just need the others to agree. I'll be there in about an hour to take care of it."
"If you say so America. I'm trusting you with this."
"And I appreciate it boss. Something has to be done before this becomes a power struggle that could cripple the world and I'm doing something. I'm just trying to make this a safer world, not one that is limited and constantly at war."
"I know America." He heard his boss sigh. "I hope you are right."
With a click the phone lines disconnected. America shut his phone and ran a hand through his hair. "I hope so too."
He finished quickly and threw on the navy blue button up shirt he planned on wearing to the meeting under the bomber jacket, and he wore dress shoes instead of the military boots he usually wore with his fatigues. He hardly paid attention on the drive there, running the list of things to discuss through his head and the plans that had been approved. There was bound to be some skepticism, but if anyone was going to bear the olive branch and offer something first it would have to be him since he was currently the only world superpower.
He arrived in time to see the reclusive North Korea speaking in hushed tones with Iran, Cuba, and a few other countries who were speculating why America had called a meeting with only them and not a World Meeting to announce this 'big decision' to everyone else. He felt his lips quirk into a half smile as they stopped talking once they caught sight of his approach.
He almost laughed but instead he let his smile widen as he gestured to the door they needed to walk through to start the meeting. He was met with curious glances, skepticism, and some of them looked outright suspicious of his motives. He would have snorted at the very thought once upon a time, but he knew what could happen and that alone made this a very real problem he had to solve.
"Why are we here America?" North Korea sneered, Iran and Cuba making similar noises of agreement while the few other countries made faces but dared not to so openly oppose the world superpower.
America flashed a grin. "It has come to my attention that rising factions of various political groups in this room are becoming a threat and that under government control there has been further experimentation on nuclear weaponry and other sources of dangerous chemicals that could cause potential problems for the world. I have managed to get my government to concede a compromise, if you will, that should your nations wish to continue acting under legal jurisdiction in making nuclear and other energy advancements you work with experts in the field and have several highly trained people. As the world superpower and currently the only one with any real progress I have gotten an agreement from my own government to allow several of our own professionals to help under the clause that we are working together for the betterment of the world and will not use this as an excuse to create an ongoing war that could possibly annihilate countries in a power struggle. It is also stated under a redacted clause that should any further advancement be met it is shared as a scientific endeavor and used to show the countries abilities to cooperate."
By the time America finished his speech several nations wore looks of shock, a few had looks of admiration and others held even more skepticism than before.
"How do we know you are not trying to control or manipulate us?" asked Cuba.
America shook his head. "You don't. But I don't want to have to fight a pointless war with any of you that could result in losing far more than just the lives of our people, our fellow nations, and could probably put an end to the world indefinitely. I'm not thinking as a nation right now. Right now I'm thinking as a man, as one of my people, and I feel like I would be letting them down if I didn't at least try to make things right. This is the best I could do on short notice. I can give you some times to think about it, come up with a compromise, maybe even suggestions like sending some of your own people here to train under professionals for the cause."
"When did you start thinking like a human instead of a nation?" one of them asked, America couldn't be sure which.
"When I saw the world through the human's eyes I saw fear and I realized we're a part of that," America answered. "I looked through human eyes and realized if nations start fighting our people are paying the price, making the sacrifices for us, and I realized that us losing people we care for in a pointless war, nations we consider siblings, rival, lovers, and have formed connections with, becomes a very real possibility. I saw Canada as my brother, if he were forced to choose a side he would choose mine even if he hated it and he would die for it. I saw the possibility that even a strong country like Russia and myself could be killed by the poisoning, families torn apart by war just the same as humans. I felt responsible, but more than that I felt weak because I wouldn't be the only one at fault. If any of us went to war, how many people, nations, would you be prepared to lose in the cross fire? We may not be human, but I don't want to live constantly acting like a monster when I know we all have hearts, no matter how far they are buried. I can give you a week to think things over."
Having said what needed to be said he dismissed the meeting and left the room.
"How did it go America?" asked his boss.
"I don't know," he replied. "I don't know, but I think I may have got them thinking at the very least. We'll know by the end of the week if we've had any success."
His boss nodded. "Go home and rest up. You've been working hard lately. I've already put in your request for the sabbatical you want. If I have things my way and this goes well you'll have earned more than you asked for in time and I'd be more than happy to give it to you."
America smiled. "Thank you."
He had a week, a week to get the information from the other nations, finish up his latest projects, complete some work, and prepare for a well-earned vacation. When the week was up he would spend the week after en route to a world meeting and after that…well after that he didn't know just yet. But if he got his time as Alfred F. Jones, this time he wouldn't be a politician that much he knew.