A.N. I promised myself when I started writing that I'd never put an author's note in place of an actual chapter…oh well. Hey peoples, ((if anyone still reads this)) I'm here to offer my deepest apologies and to give a few quick announcements.

Numero uno: I'm going to start going through and rewriting this story, because I really do love this AU and I wanna complete this. I'm rewriting it because after multiple classes, I've been able to develop a different writing technique that I really like and I think it'll make the story flow better.

Numero dos: I ran across an entire notebook that was filled with different ideas, theories, and suggestions for this story and I had no way of controlling myself when I started looking through them.

Numero tres: I've been able to actually get my schedule under control ((to a degree)), and I have time, motivation, and inspiration to write for this story until it's finally completed.

With that, I'm so sorry for not updating when I say I will and I hope you'll forgive me. Because I absolutely hate to just upload an author's note, here's a very small preview of the first chapter rewritten.

Disclaimer: Still don't own it, haven't owned it, and never will own Hetalia.

Yao couldn't feel his legs anymore. He didn't know how long he'd been running, but he felt as if his legs were going to give out underneath him at any second. His lungs burned for air as he crashed through the forest, rain pelting his body and making him shiver. Adrenaline was the only thing that kept the brunet boy going, otherwise he'd have given up already.

Another gust of wind sent a wave of icy rain into Yao's face, the droplets feeling like tiny insect stings against his skin. The forest floor was muddy, making it easy to slip, but Yao had somehow managed not to fall. A loud crack of lightning followed by a harsh thundering caused Yao to falter and lose his footing. Sliding down an incline, the brunette hissed before colliding with a tall oak tree.

Breathing heavily, the brown eyed boy felt his heart beating through his chest, but he couldn't summon the energy to move yet. Waiting for a moment, Yao listened to try and determine if the soldiers were still following him. The teen stayed still against the base of the oak for longer than he would've liked, but there was no sound of men in heavy armor anywhere around him. Breathing in, Yao shivered as another blast of rain and wind battered his body.

Grabbing his shoulders for comfort, Yao tried to think of anything that could distract himself from this painful and unjust reality. Gripping his left shoulder tightly, Yao muttered to himself incoherently, "It isn't right. Why me? Why us? It isn't right."

Another gust of wind flew through the trees, but it didn't carry any rain with it. glancing up from the ground, Yao pushed his wet hair back from his face before a blast of rain snapped him back to reality. Forcing himself to his feet, the teen leaned against the oak and tried to ignore the ache that was developing in his legs. Looking around, Yao realized just how alone he really was.

His family thought him to be dead, he was being hunted by soldiers and possibly anyone who thought they could make a penny off him, and he had nowhere to go and no one to trust. A small flare of anger developed in the back of Yao's mind, making his thoughts cloudy and his actions stronger. Pushing himself off the oak, Yao pushed himself through the forest again, using the anger he bore from the situation to carry him as far as he could run.

A.N. That's all for now, but if I can get my other assignments done I can focus more attention on this! I'll take this chapter down as soon as I'm able to get the rewritten chapters ready for upload. Again, I'm so sorry for the long wait. Until next time - NekoRyuuKo