Discalimer: I do not own Hetalia


Chapter 2: Teaming Up

"You're serious?" Vietnam looked at America skeptically.

"Totally!"

"The beauty pageant?" Vietnam had to make sure she was hearing this right.

"Yep." America nodded eagerly.

"And you want to help me win?"

"Yes, yes, yes already! What is this, Twenty Questions?" America exclaimed.

In Vietnam's hands was a fresh cup of tea, just purchased by America as an apology for making her lose half her of her original cup. After startling her by showing up completely out of the blue, America wasted no time in buttering her up, asking her questions designed to flatter her. Had she lost weight? Was that a new outfit? What was that wonderful shampoo she was using? Then he switched to extolling his own virtues. Did she know that because of Hollywood he was an excellent talent scout? That he was a certified personal trainer? That he hosted more beauty pageants than anywhere else in the world?

Finally the small talk had given way to what America was really after. Namely, her partnership.

"Come on, Vietnam." America said coaxingly. "You are entering the pageant, right?"

Yes, she was. Peer pressure from the other female nations had almost literally forced her hand to pick up the pen and add, "Socialist Republic of Vietnam" to the entrée list.

"And you don't have a manager or anyone sponsoring you right?"

No, Vietnam was forced to admit, she did not have either.

"So let me help you! It'll be a milestone in Vietnamese-American relations! Put the past behind us and all that! Taking a new step into peace time future!"

"But why do want to help –"

"Okay, look," America leaned in close, "Honest to God truth, you're the only girl I really know on a personal level. So our last relationship didn't exactly end well. Let's get past that and focus on the now. All the other contestants are getting people to work with them, if you don't you'll be at a disadvantage!"

Was that true? From the corner of her eye she had noticed Poland laughing while a nervous Lithuania engage an annoyed looking Belarus. Were they going to help the cold Eastern European nation try to win? And there was her one time colonial master, France, handing his tiny neighbor Monaco a jewel studded necklace. Was that to give her an edge in the appeal portion of the pageant?

America saw the obvious uncertainty in Vietnam's face. Seeing her wavering, he pounced like a mountain lion on its prey.

"Come on," he said coaxingly. "You want to win, right? So let me help you!"

Vietnam looked down into her cup. America had made several good points. And if she was in thing she might as well give it her all.

"Okay. We're a team."


"Liechtenstein, are you sure you want to do this?" Switzerland asked as he handed his sister a platter of food before taking a seat across from her.

"Yes, brother I really want to!" The tiny nation said eagerly. "It looks like fun and I really think I can win!"

Switzerland eyed his younger sibling while she smiled sheepishly under his gaze. Liechtenstein had surprised him when she had immediately put her name down for the beauty pageant as soon as the sign-up sheet had become available. Rarely did she ever take an action so bold, especially without consulting him. Now in the cafeteria, Switzerland had led his little sister to a table of their own. After purchasing food for the both of them, he finally returned to press her for reasons.

"But why?"

Liechtenstein's smile faded. She fidgeted a bit before answering.

"I want to stand out more." she finally said with a sigh. Switzerland looked perplexed.

"Since when was that important to you?"

"Since the last time I talked to Russia and the only thing he remembered about me was that I made his cuckoo clocks." Liechtenstein stated unhappily.

"You shouldn't use Russia as a measure of –"

"And last week America didn't believe I was a nation because I wasn't on any map he'd ever seen."

"America is an idiot! He doesn't know any map that isn't of himself." Switzerland said dismissively. Liechtenstein shook her head.

"He really did have a map of Europe with him." Liechtenstein said. "He said England had been making him study it for a week. But I was so small I wasn't included. And it was made in China! So that means even China overlooks me!"

Switzerland was not sure how to respond to that. Liechtenstein did not expect him to though. She kept talking without giving him a chance to formulate any words.

"I want to enter." she said. "I want to win. I want everyone to see who I am. So everyone can see that I'm more than just a dot on the map. That I can stand on my own two feet!"

Finally, Switzerland laughed. Liechtenstein had actually half expected that to be his reaction, but still flushed with embarrassment. Had her attempt to sound forceful had been overdone? Did she just come across as needy and attention hungry? Maybe this was not a good idea after all. As Switzerland kept right on laughing, people nearby began to stare. Liechtenstein just hung her head so no one could see how red she was becoming.

"All right, you convinced me."

It took a few moments for the tiny country to realize her older brother had stopped laughing.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"I said you convinced me." Switzerland repeated. The laughter was still in his voice and mirth in his eyes, but Liechtenstein could now see he was not making fun of her. "If you have something to prove then go right ahead. You have my full support. I'll even help you get prepared."

Everyone in the cafeteria was treated to the amusing sight of Liechtenstein leaping across the table to embrace her brother.


"And that's why you have to help me win!" Seychelles finished dramatically.

"No." England said.

The older nation had to admit, he derived a certain amount of pleasure from watching Seychelles sputter indignantly over his blunt rejection. He had arrived late to lunch, having had to sit through interview after interview for the better part of the hour. A number of nations had volunteered to judge the pageant for reasons England could not fathom. Together with Germany they had narrowed it down to the five they thought trustworthy and rejected the rest. With that settled England had turned to more important matters. The most important matter being a cup of tea and a sandwich. No sooner did he obtain his meal and sit down did Seychelles ambush him. With theatric flair Shakespeare would have envied, she presented her case for why England had to support her.

"B-b-but why not?" she whined.

"Because I've already done my part in this brainless scheme." England said curtly. "I'm not lifting another finger to help the rest of you make fools of yourselves."

"But everyone else has gotten another country to help them!"

"Then find another country to help you."

"Ugh! You're such a jerk!"

"Flattery will get you nowhere." England said before bringing his cup to his lips.

Seychelles looked like she wanted to punch him in the face. Instead she turned away with a loud "Harrumph!"

"I should have known France was right about you not having what it takes to win this kind of thing." She muttered.

If Seychelles had been facing towards him, England would have seen the sneaky smile on her face as he spit out his tea.

"Thatfrogsaidwhat?" he exploded.

"Yeah, it's true." Seychelles said innocently. "He said you didn't know beauty from the beast and your sense of femininity was as bad as your cooking."

England slammed his fist on the table. "That snail eating bastard! He thinks just because he has Paris he has a monopoly on this pageant? He's nothing but a shrill, shallow, show-off! All style and no substance! I'll show him!"

The indignant England looked to Seychelles. "You are going to win this pageant because I am going to make sure of it!"

Outwardly, Seychelles smiled. Inwardly she was shouting, "Score!"


Two hours after the meeting had been put on hold for lunch, the nations all restlessly filed back into the meeting hall. Again England and Germany were at the head of the table. Many others had curiously changed seats. Seychelles, Vietnam and Monaco were sitting at the front of the table, a place normally reserved for the more world influencing nations. Belarus was flanked by Lithuania and Poland now. Belgium and her brother Netherlands now sat next to Spain. Prussia had squeezed himself in between Austria and Hungary, much to the annoyance of the former couple.

Nobody was at all surprised that Liechtenstein was sitting beside Switzerland. Nor were they by the fact that Taiwan, Korea, and Japan were next to each other as well.

Once everyone had settled down Germany cleared his throat.

"Several nations have come forward and volunteered to judge this event." he said to the crowd. "Out of these we have selected five." Germany went right from the list in front of him, "Greece, Australia, Canada, China -"

A clamor of confused noises filled the room at the name of the judge no one was expecting. Everyone looked over to the ancient nation for an explanation.

"It's really quite simple." China said with a touch of haughtiness. "As I am the most populous nation here, not to mention the oldest, I am naturally most qualified to judge who the world says if the most beautiful."

While that was sound reasoning, several nations grumbled that a country that used to bind women's feet until they were so deformed they could no longer walk was not the best choice to judge international beauty.

"And lastly, myself." Germany finished when it had quieted down.

Several nations snickered. Germany pretended to ignore them.

"That's just great." America grumbled to Vietnam. "Greece and Australia are okay enough. And we can score easy points from my bro, but China and Germany?" He made a face like he had swallowed something unpleasant, "No taste and weird taste – that's what those two have. Nuts." He hunkered down in his chair in deep thought, a state Vietnam rarely ever saw him in. Truly the situations where America really applied himself made no any sense to her. Suddenly, he straightened up, a smile on his face.

"But if they offer us no clear advantage, at least they don't offer anyone else one either. That's good enough, I guess. I'll just have to be creative!"

A few chairs away England and France had come to similar conclusions. No doubt they could expect some family loyalty courtesy of Canada. At the center of the table Prussia, Austria and Hungary were thinking along similar lines. In their minds though, Canada was switched with Germany as the nation they hoped to score easy points from. At the end of the table Korea and Taiwan high-fived each other while Japan sat silently but looking rather pleased. Surely big brother China could be counted on to favor them.

Meanwhile, Switzerland was trying to figure out which judge was most susceptible to bribery.

"Now that this has been settled," England finally spoke up, "The opening ceremony as well as the first contest will be in one week. More information will be sent to everyone tomorrow. This meeting is adjourned!"

Everyone was talking excitedly as they left the building once more. England barely had time to react before Seychelles grabbed his hand and yanked the larger island away with her to plan for the pageant. As for everyone else, while some groups were also rushing to plan for the end of the week, most were just happy to have a show to watch in the upcoming days and stampeded out to arrange a free weekend. To avoid getting crushed by the crowd of countries in their hurry to get out, (Other large countries like America and Russia simply bowled through the mass. God help all small nations in their way.) Canada hung around in the back and waited for everyone else to disperse before going home. Unknown to certain American, English, and Frenchman, he had already resolved not to award points according to any family bias he might have. Just because America had pushed him to judge did not mean Canada would let him dictate whatever he wanted.

Shuffling along behind everyone else, Canada was just about to turn out of the room when he noticed someone was still sitting at the table. He had to squint to see who it was. Sitting on the far end, completely opposite of the side of the room Canada was on was the unmistakable figure of Ukraine. Her arms were folded up on the table and her head rested upon them. Was she sleeping?

"Ukraine?" he called out, just loud enough so that if she was awake it he would certainly get her attention.

No response. The Eastern European nation did not stir in the slightest. Had she slept through the whole meeting? With all the racket going on Canada was not sure how that was possible, Greece notwithstanding.

He thought about going over to wake her. Would it be all right to just let her stay there? He probably would not like it if he arose only to find that everyone had ditched him after a meeting. Then again, they did plenty of times anyway, regardless of whether Canada was asleep or not. Ukraine looked so peaceful too. Perhaps it would be best to just let her rest. Canada tip-toed out of the meeting hall, letting Ukraine have her beauty sleep. After all, she would undoubtedly need in for the upcoming week.


The next day, just as England has said, everybody received a formal invitation to the Miss World Beauty Pageant. Alongside the invitation was a pamphlet detailing the exact time and location of the pageant, the names and brief biographies of the contestants, and the subject of the first event. The last page had in big bold letters:

Contest #1: Formal Wear


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