As they had to walk the same way to get to their homes, there was often an unspoken 'keep at least 10 paces between us' rule between Rosa and Françoise. However, the same unspoken rule was broken easily by either one of them. On that particular day, the rule had been broken by Rosa.

"So," Françoise began, noticing the Brit next to her, "I heard that you had to see the nurse today?"

"I was hit by a basketball in P.E," Rosa said with a little shrug.

Françoise laughed. "I would hardly call that a major injury. "

"It's not like I wanted to go." Rosa scowled, tightening the grip on her bag. "Everyone just overreacted. I would have been fine, but Sakura and Anya thought it would be a good idea for some reason…"

"Oh, Anya? Since when were the two of you friends?"

"We're not, really." But saying this reminded Rosa about what Anya had said earlier, and she felt a small stab of guilt.

After that, they walked on in almost complete silence. That is, until Rosa realised Françoise was staring at her. She glanced up at her, and Françoise quickly looked away. The earlier guilt about Anya was gone, and was now being replaced by irritation at her so-called 'friends' and her rival.

"What?" she asked. "Why are you staring at me?"

"No reason…" Françoise mumbled. She seemed embarrassed about being caught.

Rosa resisted the urge to yell. She had often been told that she had a short fuse, but she had been trying to control it in recent years. Even though found this was extremely hard when she was around Françoise or Amelia.

"Look," Rosa said. "I think I have the right to know why I'm suddenly so interesting. It's not just you; Amelia and Sakura have been staring at me all day too." She stopped and folded her arms. "Well?"

Françoise sighed. "We're just worried."

"About…?"

"You. Your little episode yesterday…You were acting crazier than usual." Françoise tried adding the same sarcasm with her last sentence that she would have usually used when talking to Rosa, but she couldn't hide her anxious tone.

"You mean when I apparently started babbling nonsense?" Rosa sighed. "I told you; I can't remember anything like that happening. How am I supposed to know if it even did?"

"Why would we lie about something like that? And the fact that you can't remember it makes it even more worrying."

"So, what? You and Amelia and Sakura are watching me to make sure I don't have another episode again?" Rosa tried laughing it off, but it had a nervous edge. If what they had told her was true, then what did it mean? It wasn't just that, a lot of strange things had been happening since America and France had blindfolded her and thrown her into a van two days ago.

Was…Was she losing her mind?

A slightly heavier silence descended on them, Rosa deep in thought and Françoise still occasionally glancing at Rosa. To Rosa, it wasn't really fair. It was quickly shown that she wasn't the only 'sister' nearby, and that she seemed to at least know most of the possible ones… So why had it been her? Why had she been the one they chose to kidnap? And why was it that, apart from the dreams, she seemed to be the only one being affected this way?

Not that she wanted her friends to have to go through this. That was half the reason she hadn't told them in the first place. (The other half being the fear that they'd either think she was crazy or a freak.) But…Out of everyone, why was it her? Even if Amelia and Sakura had joined the efforts to find the missing countries, why did it feel like everyone was depending on her, of all people?

Françoise tapped her shoulder. Rosa turned, slightly annoyed that her inner monologue had been interrupted.

"What now?"

"It's just…I only saw him that meeting Amelia tried to save you from, but isn't that…?" Françoise pointed, and Rosa tried to see what had caught her rival's attention.

…France?

Either of them sure of the reason, they hid behind a nearby hedge, spying on him from in-between the leaves.

"So that really is him?" Françoise asked, not looking away. "…He's my brother?"

Rosa nodded. There was no mistaking the French nation. He was stood a little bit away from their hiding spot, turning his head with a frown as if he was looking for something. Although…There was something different about him. She wasn't sure what it was, maybe the fact that his hair somehow seemed limper, or that his clothes were clearly out of season. If he really was Françoise's brother, then Rosa would have expected him to be extremely fashion conscious.

Ah, whatever. Maybe she was just imagining it.

"So…What do you think we should do?" Rosa turned to Françoise. "He's obviously here for something. Do you think we should just go up to him and say 'hi', or…?"

"I don't know." Françoise was frowning. She was obviously thinking about something. "I…" She smirked suddenly. "I didn't realise before, but he's actually pretty attractive."

Rosa raised an eyebrow. "…Fran, he's your brother."

"What? I didn't say I liked him, just that he's…appealing."

"I'm not having this conversation with you."

"You're just jealous because my brother's cuter."

"Why the hell would I be jealous about something like that? And anyway, you've never even seen my brother, so there's no way for you to tell. Also, it's obviously not true."

"You've haven't met him either. And I can tell. Since I am the better looking one, it's understandable I'd have the better looking brother."

"Of course. Only you would have such shallow logic."

"Oh, so you're saying that I am better looking?"

"I never said that. And you didn't exactly deny the fact that you were shallow."

Their rather controlled argument would have gone on longer if a hand had not clamped down on one shoulder for each of them, and a playful voice chimed, "Found you~."

Both girls yelped and spun around. France stepped back slightly, a little startled by their reaction, but smiled.

Realising who had scared her, Rosa scowled. "Why are you here?" she asked bitterly.

"I'm only visiting," France explained. "I wanted to make sure you weren't having too much trouble with that little task Amerique gave you." He turned his attention to Françoise, and his expression turned more curious. "And you must be…"

"Françoise Bonnefoy." Françoise seemed a little nervous. Maybe she was worried he had heard her call him attractive.

France nodded. "I see…" He seemed oddly…uninterested. It seemed a little strange to Rosa. He had seemed much more fascinated by her at the meeting after Amelia had almost declared war on the world, so why…?

"Why are you here?" Rosa asked again, shaking away any confusing thoughts. "We haven't exactly started our 'little task' because we have a small everyday obstacle known as 'school'. You, of all people, should know that, especially since you took me away from my school just yesterday."

"R-Right…" France smiled sheepishly. "It must have slipped my mind… A-Anyway, there is a more important reason why I came here. I need to know…Are you sure that you want to help us?"

There was a pause.

"Um…" Rosa glanced at Françoise, who shared her confused expression. "What?"

"I'm just saying, it might not be such a good idea for you to get too involved." France sighed sadly. "I feel it was unfair of Amerique to give you such a difficult job."

"To be fair, it was more Amelia's idea than America's," Rosa said. "And it's not even that difficult. As far as I know, all we're planning to do is visit our friends' houses."

"Even so," France said, "I still think it's a bad idea for the two of you, and the rest of your friends, to get involved with this. Whoever is behind the kidnappings is obviously dangerous. We have experience with this sort of thing, but…"

"But we don't?"

"Exactly."

Françoise frowned at her brother. "So now you're telling Rose not to help."

"Putting it bluntly…"

This, Rosa thought, doesn't make any sense. France seemed to have no problem with Rosa helping yesterday, so what had brought the sudden change in heart?

"I suppose I can't change your mind, can I?" France asked sadly.

Just a few seconds ago, Rosa was inwardly complaining about having to do so much. But even though France was now giving her the chance to give up…Well, some kind of stubborn protectiveness rose inside of her. She might have been reluctant, but she really did want to help…And honestly, before France had brought it up, she hadn't really thought too much about the kidnapper(s). There was a possibility she's be putting herself in danger, but…

"I'll think about it," Rosa said firmly.

"Well, that's a start." France nodded. "I suppose that was really all I came here for. I should go; they need help at the summit…"

"Really?" Rosa was stunned. "You came here for a five minute conversation? Really?"

For a split second, France's expression seemed to darken. "It might not seem it, but this is really important, Rosa. Your choice affects how involved you truly have to be. You can just try to forget about what you have learned, and carry on with your normal life, or…"

Okay, this man's seen the Matrix one too many times… Rosa thought with a sad shake of her head.

"Well…Good luck." France waved and turned from them, walking away. They stared after him until he turned around a corner.

"Wow. He annoys the hell out of me. He really is your brother, Fran." Rosa tried to laugh, but it was forced down by a weird sense of unease.

Françoise nodded distantly. "He…Did he seem a little…'different' to you?"

"He was acting a little strange, but…" Rosa sighed. "I don't know, maybe he was just upset about something?" She glanced down at her watch and swore under her breath. "Hell, I've got to get to Amelia's house. Stupid France." In response to Françoise's confused glance, she said, "I told her I'd go to her house after school. I wanted to go home first, but, well…France. I don't have time anymore. I need to go, okay?"

"Okay…" Françoise looked at her. "So, you really are going to carry on with this. You're going to help them."

Before turning away, Rosa smiled. "Of course I am."

…This is like the ending to an episode where the hero doesn't want to be a hero anymore, but then he realises the world still needs him and he goes off fighting anyway…But it wasn't supposed to be that, it was supposed to be important, but it doesn't seem that way, huh? XD

I'm so sorry this took forever T-T I have been so busy, and I'm only going to get busier still… Well, please review and tell me what you think ^0^