Peter looked up as his guardians entered the room followed by a teenage boy he had not met before. A wave of protectiveness washed over him and he found his face twisting into a glare. Alfred and Arthur noticed the change in his demeanor, but said nothing. After all, they couldn't blame him. They had been just as wary of the stoic young man when they had first met him. Vash looked over at Peter curiously, wondering what his connection was to Lily. He had noticed another bed in Lily's room when he had come to visit, but didn't think much of it. He felt a sting of jealousy, but knew if the boy looked so protective of his sister, he couldn't be bad.

"Peter," Arthur said, "This is Vash. He's Lily's…." He paused for a moment continued as quickly as possible to cover up his uncertainty. "Sibling from school. It's a project that pairs graduating seniors with fifth graders about to enter middle school. You missed it by a few years, but it's a great program."

Vash nodded, finding the description to be appropriate. "It's nice to meet you." He said gruffly. It was hard for him to break himself of being so stern, but knew that he needed the trust of not only Lily's new guardians, but also of this young boy too.

Peter studied Vash for a moment before saying, "It's nice to meet you too." Alfred and Arthur were surprised that he didn't make a snarky or rude comment. But, Peter's eyes were tired. He had spent a long day at school worrying about Lily and had spent much of the night awake, doing the same. He loved his sister more than anything, but she was always sick and it was exhausting. He hoped she would get stronger now that they had a permanent home and were no longer on the streets.

Vash turned his gaze to the small form laying in the hospital bed. Lily was asleep peacefully. Had it not been for the wires and the bleached white of the hospital room, it would have seemed that nothing was wrong and she was simply sleeping off a small cold.

"How has she been?" Vash asked, trying to mask the concern in his voice.

Arthur moved over to the bed and brushed a stray hair away from the sleeping girl's face. He paused to feel her forehead and let a barely noticeable smile grace his lips. "Better." He reported. "Her fever went up and down overnight, but it looks like it has broken now. And hopefully it'll stay that way. She does have asthma, but that's to be expected since…" He paused for a moment. "Since she has always been a sickly sort of child." He didn't know how much Vash knew about Lily's past, but just in case, he didn't want to disclose too much information.

Vash nodded and the room fell silent. Peter wondered why Arthur has said so much about what was going on with Lily, but the thought passed as quickly as it came.

After a few moments, Alfred looked to Peter, who was struggling to keep his eyes open. "Hey, kid. Let's head back and let Lily sleep. She may not wake up again tonight, so sitting around won't do us any good."

To his surpise, Peter didn't argue. He hopped off the chair where he had been sitting and gave Lily a kiss on the forehead before grabbing his backpack off the back of the chair.

"Hey, can I get you anything from home?" Alfred asked. He wanted Arthur to come home with them, but knew there was no point in trying to get him to leave their daughter's side.

"A change of clothes when you stop by tomorrow." Arthur said, settling into the chair Peter had vacated. "Have a good night you two. Be sure to wash up, Peter, and get to bed early." With no argument, Peter nodded.

"I love you," Alfred smiled to Arthur and moved over to give Lily a kiss on the forehead. "See you both in the morning."

Arthur nodded back and the two left the room. Vash shifted uncomfortably before saying, "I should probably get home. My parents think I'm at a friend's."

Arthur nodded and watched as Vash gathered his things. "Thank you for stopping by." The older man said. "Really, it's nice knowing someone else is looking after Lily."

Vash nodded. "I… really can't believe I've found her after all these years." He said, looking past Arthur and at his sleeping sister. "I wish she remembered me."

"I'm sure she will. She's been through a lot." Arthur noted. "Far too much for a girl her age. All we can do now is show her all the love in the world."

Vash glanced at the man and then back at his sister. "Thank you for taking care of her." Arthur nodded to him and Vash left the room without another comment.

The week went by slowly and Lily slowly got better. Arthur had to get back to class, though he hated leaving her alone, but once she became more comfortable, waking up without Arthur was not as scary as it had been before.

Vash visited as often as he could, and Alfred and Peter visited every day. Finally, Lily was discharged towards the end of the week. She had to spend the next week at home to allow her to fully recover, so Vash brought her homework over. With Arthur catching up on classwork he had missed, Alfred at work, and Peter now on the school's soccer team, Vash acted as a sort of babysitter for Lily.

Lily yawned as the older boy glanced over her math homework. Having only been home a few days, she would often get tired and take a few naps during the day. Vash glanced up as Lily rubbed an eye and knew that the tutoring for the day was done.

"Tired?" he asked.

She nodded. "I'm sorry. Did I get it right, though?"

Vash circled two problems and handed the paper back. "These two are incorrect. If you get the chance, go over them tonight and we'll correct them tomorrow." Lily nodded and handed him her other homework that was due tomorrow. He took it and placed it her folder—a purple folder with a white kitten on the front, no less—to bring the school.

Lily got up from the kitchen table to get her medicine from the cabinet as Vash packed up his backpack. As she reached up into the cabinet, her ribbon, having been loosened from wear over the past day, fell off and onto the floor. She took her medicine and picked it up. Lily still couldn't tie the bow herself and knew Arthur was still working on school work, so she didn't want to bother him.

"Vash?" she asked. "Do you know how to tie a hair bow?"

Vash glanced over at the girl and then at the tattered ribbon. He knew she still wore it, but it always amazed him how she continued to wear it.

"I do." He said. At least, he was sure he did. He tied that bow a million times, but that had been years ago. Lily smiled and wordlessly handed him the purple bow before turning around. He held it in his hands as he had many years ago before sighing and fixing the bow into her hair. Lily thanked him and ran into the bathroom to see the work he had done. She paused… something about the knot looked familiar, but she brushed it aside and went back to the kitchen as Vash was pulling on his coat.

"Thank you!" She said brightly and hugged him. Vash was taken aback by the sudden sign of affection, but gently hugged her back.

"Tell your dads I'll be back tomorrow." He said. Alfred and Arthur already knew that, but he had been saying it every day because it made the little girl light up knowing he'd be back.

"Okay!" she said and then stifled a yawn.

"And get some rest." He said more sternly than he meant to, but Lily still smiled and nodded, seeing him out the door. Once he was gone, she cleared the table of the snacks they had eaten and fell asleep on the couch.

"How's the sibling program going? Vash?"

"Vash, would you answer your mother? She's been asking the same question for the past five minutes."

Vash glanced up from his dinner at his two adoptive parents. Elizaveta looked over at him, her green eyes shining with concern. His darker haired "father," Rodrick had his lips pursed as he was trying to mask his own concern for his adoptive son.

"It's going fine."

"You've been awfully quiet, dear." Elizaveta went on. "Is everything alright? How are your grades? Is this about a girl?"

"No, no. I'm fine, Liz." Vash said. He had been adopted around the age of twelve and had never gotten into the habit of calling Elizaveta "mom" and Rodrick "dad." Rodrick didn't mind. He knew Vash didn't mean to hurt either of them and that was one of the consequences of adopting a child so late in their life. Elizaveta was a little hurt by it, but after five years, she had grown used to it.

"Are you sure?" She pressed.

"He says he's fine, dear. Let him be." Rodrick interjected. Although he didn't show concern for his son outwardly, he had noticed Vash being much quieter than usual. But he also knew that Vash was getting to be an adult and didn't have to share his feelings if he didn't want to.

Elizaveta wasn't happy with the comment, but sighed and let it go. "How is school going?" she asked in a calmer, less accusatory voice.

"Well." Vash said. "I did well on a test, and the sibling program is going well."

"Good." Elizaveta said. She paused and looked over at her son before sighing. "Vash? We need to talk." Vash looked over worriedly, hoping this wasn't going to be another birds and the bees sort of thing. "Your father and I have talked and… I'm sorry. We've checked every foster home in the state, but I don't think we'll be able to find your sister."

Vash pondered this for a moment, confused, and then remembered. He had been so caught up with Lily for the past week, he had forgotten to be upset that they weren't able to see if she was somewhere in the city. They had been notified of a little girl coming into a home a few weeks ago matching her description and Elizaveta had gone to meet her, but something had happened and they weren't able to meet up. They had been searching for Lily for years, as Vash has requested them to if they wanted to adopt him. They certainly had the money. Rodrick was top level lawyer and Elizaveta had a great job as a journalist in the city. But month after month, the search turned up empty.

"Oh. That's… okay." Vash said. "I think we should stop looking. I mean, I'm graduating soon and there's really no point anymore. I'm sure she's safe and happy."

His two gruadians exchanged a look. Over the past few years, if they had so much as mention the idea of dropping the search, they were met with either shouting or silence for days.

"Are you sure everything is okay?" Rodrick asked.

"I said I'm fine, Rodrick," Vash sighed. "There just doesn't seem to be a point anymore. If it's meant to happen, I'll see her again. If not, well… That's okay too."

Elizaveta smiled. "That's a lovely outlook to have, Vash. I'm sure that wherever she is, she's proud of you."

If only she still remembered me, Vash thought.

Alfred and Peter came home around five that evening as Arthur was making dinner. It was a simple soup; all that they could afford for now, as the month was drawing closer and the groceries were wearing thin.

Peter sat at the table and did homework until Arthur insisted it be set for dinner, while Alfred set the mail on the counter and got to work on his own cases. He was still being overlooked for the major law suits, but realized that he would have to start all over again somewhere new if he left. He wouldn't make as much money and wouldn't have the reputation to get him cases.

Arthur woke Lily up from her nap when supper was ready and she sleepily ate the majority of her soup. The small family talked about their day as they dined together, a nice change of pace from the crazy month they had. Arthur had caught up with his classwork and was back on track. Alfred was preparing for another small claims court case. Peter was playing defense on his school's soccer team, and Lily was recovering nicely from her illness.

After dinner, the kids helped cleaned up and Lily went straight to bed. Peter was allowed to stay up and watch an hour of television, and then he could read for an hour. Arthur noted as he settled down with a notepad and paper that Peter was becoming much less abrasive. He had started to calm down and appreciate the family more. Perhaps it was because he finally felt safe knowing they had a permanent home.

After Peter went to bed, Alfred came over to the couch with the mail and a notepad of his own. Arthur looked up from his second page of notes to catch a worried look in his husband's eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"We got the hospital bill."

Arthur froze. He knew this would happen, but surely their insurance would cover the majority. "How bad?"

"Eleven thousand."

Arthur took a shaky breath in and took the single piece of paper. It had been a week and their insurance certainly wasn't top notch. He had hoped Alfred's health insurance from work would be enough, or at least cover a good portion. Of course it was worth it—Lily was much healthier and would have died had they not been able to get to the hospital.

"What are we going to do?" Alfred asked. "We can't pay this. Not between caring for the kids and paying for your school."

"That's it," Arthur said. "I'll drop out."

Alfred frowned. "You only need another semester or two of classes to graduate! And you've worked so hard."

"It's not what I want, though." Arthur said. Alfred stared at his husband for a moment. Finally, after two years he finally admitted this wasn't what he wanted in life.

"I'll get a job at a bookstore or the library. It won't be much, but it'll be something. And without college bills to pay, we should get this paid off within the year." Arthur figured aloud. He glanced at Alfred. "But that's also dependent on you getting some sort of promotion or raise."

Alfred sighed. "If I leave, I'll be starting from the bottom somewhere else. And if they know I'm looking, they might use that against me. Either way I'm screwed. It's too late."

"I'll look for you, then. I'll have more free time."

"You can also start writing." Alfred suggested, gesturing to the pages of notes in Arthur's hands. "You've been outlining for years, babe. Start writing! I know I don't know how that whole process works, but you'll never get anywhere if you don't start. Look at us with the kids, how much they trust and love us now. I never thought Lily or Peter would open up, but here we are! Writing can't be much different!"

Arthur pondered this for a moment. His husband seriously just compared raising two orphans with writing a novel, but… He wasn't wrong.

"I'll think about it. For now, let me just get a new job and start looking for a new law firm for you. And until then, I can take better care of Lily until she's well enough to get back to school."

Alfred nodded and stood up, bending down to give Arthur a brief kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too, dear. Don't worry. This will work out."

Alfred smiled brightly. For once it was Arthur, not him, who was acting optimistic. Arthur was actually looking on the bright side of things and Alfred couldn't be happier. It was about time his pessimistic attitude turned around. It was the kids for sure. Even Peter brought a smile to Arthur's lips from time to time, even when he pulled a prank.

"Hey, how's Lily doing with homework and stuff?" Alfred questioned as he picked up a math book from the floor.

"Great, Vash is really a wonderful tutor." Arthur reported as he sat up and folded his top sheet of notes back over on the notepad.

"Has he… You know, told her?" Alfred asked.

Arthur shook his head. "No. I haven't really thought much on when he should. Lily's getting better, she could certainly handle it."

"What would that mean, though?" Alfred asked. "I mean, we are her legal guardians. They can't take her away. But would she want to live with Vash?"

Arthur shook his head. "I think they just want a relationship. Besides, Vash is going away to college, and Peter is just as much her brother as Vash is. I don't see a downside, except bringing up memories from the past. I still don't know why she didn't recognize him. I think she remembers the idea of her brother, but not Vash himself."

Alfred nodded. He worried for his daughter and already found himself extremely protective of her even after only a month of having her. She was his princess, his little girl. He didn't want her to be hurt in any way, but also knew that she had the chance, she needed to know her brother. With Arthur's reassurance, he felt better about the whole thing.

"I wouldn't worry, love." Arthur said, noticing that Alfred had gone quiet. "I trust Vash, and I trust that Lily will be alright. Now come on, we should get to sleep."

Soooo what's up Hetalia fandom? It's been, what? Three years? Four?

I randomly found the information for this account and realized that I literally have hundreds of thousands of views on my stories and so I started reading them. I realized that much of it is crap, but there's some good stuff. And I haven't written anything in a long time, so I figured I'd add a chapter because why pay attention in lecture when I can write?

Do note, however, that I am not in the fandom anymore. This is also AU. I don't know what the current cannon is or what the fandom is like or anything like that, so I'm writing these characters the way I remember them. Also this is more my story than anything else.

Please note that none of my stories are up for "adoption." I can't tell you how many emails I've gotten about this in the last year. Sorry, but these really meant something to me when I was a kid and call me selfish, but I feel that I'm the only one that can do them justice. They may never be updated again, but they're mine. Thank you SO much for enjoying them so much that you would want to continue them, though. That means a lot!

But yeah, if you've been waiting on me for an update for the past few years, Merry Christmas!

~Kat