Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia: Axis Powers. If I did there would be a little more BL and a little less historical accuracy 3
"Alright everybody, Siesta time" Antonio said with a wide smile, clapping his hands together happily and letting the people disperse. America's grin widened as the group began to leave one by one or in pairs of two, heading back inside. Alfred jumped up and quickly caught up with Arthur, tugging on his sleeve lightly. Arthur turned around, blushed lightly before stiffening when he realized whom it was.
"What do you bloody want?" Arthur asked slowly, his green eyes narrowed. Alfred paused, hesitating and averting his gaze. Alfred acting like he was shy? Now that was strange. Arthur's thick eyebrow rose and he crossed his arms over his chest, or he would have had Alfred not still had a grip on his sleeve.
"I…I need your help" Alfred said slowly, his mouth set in a deep frown and a light pink hue staining his cheeks. Now Arthur's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. Alfred was asking for help? It must be a sign of the apocalypse.
"What do you need help with?" Arthur frowned, tensing up further. The idea had now entered his head that most likely this was some kind of trick and Alfred was just going to do something to him as soon as he let his guard down, yah that sounded about right. But the distress on Alfred's face looked so sincere and he had never been good at controlling his emotions so part of Arthur wanted to believe that Alfred really did need his help. Alfred looked up happily and blue eyes met green.
"You're really gunna help me? I figured you'd just blow me off like you usually did" Alfred said excitedly. Arthur blushed darkly as Alfred grabbed his hands in his excitement and averted his gaze.
"First off, Gunna isn't a word. Going too. Second, You've never asked me for help before so what experience did you base your expectations on?" England frowned and blushed further when he realized that America still hadn't let go of his hands.
"Well usually you don't even let me explain my plans before you reject them" Alfred reasoned, his eyes narrowing but a smirk coming to his face as England's gaze snapped back to his. Just as planned.
"That's because your idea's are horrible and idiotic and you know it" Arthur said as he attempted to tug his hands out of America's grip, only finding them firmly locked in place.
"Oh whatever old man, you just don't understand their awesomeness" Alfred smirked widely and laced his fingers with Arthur's in one hand before releasing the other and leading him up the lawn and back towards the cozy looking hotel.
"Let go of my bloody hand you dolt!" He growled but fallowed along without too much of a struggle.
"No way!" Came the ever-confident reply.
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The Spaniard had chosen this two-week meeting place carefully, and by carefully we mean chosen by Romano. Of course, if Spain had been given the choice of where to have the meeting place he would have chosen someplace last minute and more than likely the rooms would have been tomato themed. Thankfully, the Southern Italy brother had intervened and they were staying at a very relaxing place called the Matsa.
This hotel was located in a rural northern part of Spain's land and Romano had figured that the countries would like a change of pace from the busy city of America's set of meetings. There were only 24 countries attending this week's set of meetings and so the southern Italian had figured this hotel would be perfect. Of course, it meant that he and Antonio would have to room together but that didn't bother the Italian as much as he made it seem.
The Matsa was set in a peaceful forest setting that suited most of the countries, either reminding them of home or of a place so out of the ordinary that allowed them to relax fully.
All in all Lovino was pleased with himself for finding this hotel (and Spain's approval but that was another matter entirely).
Canada had a plan, sort of. Said plan involved carefully thought out attempts at avoiding France at every possible chance that came up, not knowing if he would be able to keep himself composed if the other nation had decided to talk to him. Not a very complicated plan of course, but it was working so far for the small Canadian.
Currently, Matthew had bolted from the meeting when told he was allowed too and had headed around to the back of the building and into the thick woods with his Bear. Once there, the Canadian had wandered for about fifteen minutes off of the path, not worrying about getting lost having been in the woods all of his life and knowing how to navigate even the most complicated brush. Matthew smiled to himself as he found the perfect sunny little clearing, taking a seat easily and relaxing in the sun. It wasn't as hot as it had been in Florida and so Canada was actually quite comfortable.
He was wearing a light t-shirt with his favorite hockey team displayed predominantly and a pair of jean shorts in place of his normal hoodie and jeans. Kumajirou had refused to be seen with him if he had worn his normal flower printed shirts, though Canada couldn't fathom why.
Matthew stifled a yawn in his sitting position, deciding that this would in fact be a good time for a siesta as Spain had suggested Canada leaned back and got comfortable in the soft grass. Before he knew it he had fallen into a deep, much needed, sleep and the stars had started to come out one by one.
~:~:~:~:~:~:~
America frowned at the empty room deeply, as if it was the culprit. Matthew was missing. Alfred closed his eyes tightly and thought back to dinner and the meetings prior in the day. He could remember seeing Matthew at the meeting, his eyes still red from crying but better than he had been when it had first happened and light purple rings under his eyes from a lack of sleep. He could also remember seeing his brother dash out into the woods, opting for a peacefully alone time than dealing with other people, even if most of them never noticed him. What he couldn't remember, however, was seeing him after their mid-afternoon break.
"Damn it" He growled, pulling the door shut behind him and turning to the room across the hall where Iggy and Francis just happened to be staying.
"Arthur, open up!" He said, knocking on the door quickly and much louder than necessary. After the first round of knocks however, Alfred made sure to check his watch to make sure it wasn't too late. Thankfully it was only ten so the other nation shouldn't have been too deep into sleep just yet.
"What now?" Arthur said, an annoyed twang to his voice that even Alfred couldn't miss. America pushed aside his guilt however and pushed out his words quickly.
"Matthew's missing" He said with a deep frown, his eyebrows furrowed together and a genuinely worried expression on his face. Arthur studied Alfred's face momentarily before deeming his words to be fact and turning back into the room. Alfred heard him talking with Francis in the background but couldn't make out the words though at this point he really didn't care. He had never been on the best terms with Francis and now that the man had broken his brother's heart he treated him with even more disdain.
"Lets go" Arthur said quickly, coming back to the doorway with shoes slipped on without socks and a pair of flashlights in his hands. Having noticed that Alfred didn't have one he had grabbed an extra.
"What were you two talking about?" Alfred asked, an eyebrow raised and his worried expression replaced by one of curiosity.
"He said that he'd wait here and keep an eye out just in case Matthew happened to come back. He said he'd call one of us if he did or he heard something" Arthur explained quickly with an annoyed expression. He quickly pushed the expression aside and shook his head, focusing instead on the task at hand.
Once outside, the two rounded around to the back of the house and spread apart far enough to conduct an adequate search while still keeping each other in their sights. They could have involved other people in their search but both of them knew it would have been more of a waste than anything else seeing as they could have looked directly at him and passed him over.
"Matthew!"
"Matty!"
"Where are you Matthew?"
The two continued their calls, deep frowns coming to their faces as their search came up with nothing. Finally, the two had walked all the way down the path and back and still had found no sign of the younger Canadian. Without saying a word, the two looked out at the dense underbrush that was considered 'off the path' and let out simultaneous sighs.
This was going to be a long night.
Canada on the other hand, was just waking up. He blinked up at the stars with a very confused expression and narrowed his gaze. The stars couldn't be out; after all he had just fallen asleep. Mathew looked down at the bear curled up on his chest and wrapped his arms around the white mass before sitting up, Kumajirou not even shifting in his sleep.
Matthew stifled a yawn before rising to his feet while cradling the bear and letting him to sleep. Without another noise, the Canadian fallowed his memory back to the hotel without incident, that and managing to keep from passing even close to the very two people looking for him.
The Canadian slowly walked up the stairs, he wasn't tired but that didn't mean he was ready to deal with his brother just yet. Matthew took a deep breath before opening the door before pulling it shut with a resounding click in the silent building. Inside the room, Matthew gently set down Kumajirou on his bed before heading over to the desk where America's laptop was sitting. Just as he flipped open the lid there was a loud knock at the door.
Canada rolled his eyes; it had to be America wanting in. The elder nation had probably forgotten his key and now wouldn't rest until he had let him in. Canada shut the lid, not even having a chance to turn the computer on before standing up and heading to the doorway when another knock hit the doorway.
"God, Alfred, calm down. I'll be right there. If you didn't forget your key this wouldn't be an-"
Matthew's lecture cut off quickly. Lets just say it wasn't Alfred.
The man sitting wide-awake in the room across the hall had caught the gentle click and sat up quickly. He hadn't even considered going to sleep seeing as he was far too worried about Matthew.
Ever since Matthew had confessed to him, Francis had been a mess. His mind and heart in turmoil over just what he should do. God damn it he wished he could talk to Jeanne. Though…what Matthew had said to him did make sense and simply for that reason he was starting to sway more towards letting go, at least a little bit.
France stood up out of the chair and opened his door, narrowing his gaze at the door across the hallway. Francis looked left and then right before striding across the hallway and knocking on the door. When the door opened he let out a wide, confident smile before having the door slammed right in his face. On the other side of the door, Matthew had turned around, his back to said door and his hand over his heart. Francis frowned deeply and did the same, leaning against the door with his back and pulling out his cell phone. He flipped through his contacts and clicked the button for Arthur quickly and nearly through his phone against the wall when he heard the dial tone fallowed by the woman telling him to try again later.
"Matthew, I'm afraid you're going to have to deal with me. Just for a little while" Francis said slowly, letting out a deep sigh. He knew how Canada felt…ok maybe he didn't…but he could imagine. Canada clenched his chest tightly and his eyes screwed shut.
"Why should I do anything with you?" Despite his best efforts Canada's voice had broken.
"Because Amérique et Angleterre are out in the forest somewhere looking for you"