Disclaimer: Hetalia's not mine.

"Helloooo?" America flung the front door open, posing with a thumb's up. "I'm back! Boooys! Oh, Canadaaaa!" He scratched his head. Okay, so Canada might be running late, but the boys should still be there! They'd had a very firm talk with Sam and Pierre about not wandering away while their big brothers were gone. Work had been a bit more stressful than usual, waiting impatiently for the time he could return to their homey little cabin, but now he was back!

"Big brother!" Sam came racing into the living room, arms flung wide. America scooped him up and held him close, nuzzling the child's soft hair. Sam smelled like little boys everywhere, which involved a lot of dirt, but it wasn't unpleasant. Not too unpleasant, anyway.

"How is everything?" he asked. "Did you do okay on your own? Where's your brother?"

"Everything's fine," the boy said. "We did okay. Pierre's outside."

That was informative. "Okay. Big brother Matt should be back soon, too." The bespectacled nation let Sam slide to the floor. "Outside, you said?"

"Yup." Sam started feeling around in America's pockets. "He likes it out there. You brought me something, didn't you?"

America laughed. "Yeees. In my bag. I'll fetch Pierre and show you at the same time." He ruffled the miniature nation's hair and returned outside, gazing around with a hand shielding his eyes. No Pierre, so he circled around to the back. Ah ha! The boy was standing a bit away from the cabin, staring off into the distance. Was he still doing that? It was really starting to creep America out. Trust the one Canada named to be the odd one.

"Um...Pierre? Guess who's home!"

Pierre spun around, and his face broke into a grin. "Big brother!" His hug was no less enthusiastic than his brother's. "How was your trip?"

"Boring." America returned his grin. "But in our line of work, I guess boring's a good thing. That's what they say, anyway."

"Is big brother Matt coming?"

"He should be here any time now. Why don't you come inside, and I'll give you both your presents!"

"Presents!" Pierre wiggled loose, casting one last, longing glance in the direction he had been staring.

Okay, that was too weird. "What are you looking at?" America peered that way, but he couldn't see anything! Nothing worth staring at, anyway.

"I don't know," Pierre said with a little shrug. "What's in that direction?"

"Well...nothing! That's, uh, that's north. But I don't see anything. It's..." He trailed off, pursing his lips. Wait a second. This felt familiar somehow. Very familiar. How could he not have noticed before? "You, uh...you want to go that way, don't you?"

Pierre stared down at his feet. "I'd like to. I don't know why."

"And Sam is perfectly satisfied here."

"Yes..." He sounded rather disappointed.

"Ahh...Look, just wait here for now. Okay?" America didn't wait for an answer. He ran. Pierre probably thought he'd lost his mind. Once he had returned to the front of the cabin, away from the boy, America tugged his phone out and gave his twin a call. No answer. Hopefully he was on his way...

"Ohhh God..." America sat down on the soft grass, then flopped over and curled into a ball. This wasn't good. This really wasn't good. Not at all. The puzzle pieces were all snapping together. He was dimly aware of somebody else settling down beside him. One of the boys. Sam. Sam must have decided his big brother didn't look like somebody to disturb, as he simply lay down nearby. America remained silent as the gears in his head turned, reminding him of facts that had simply been mysterious but were now quite disturbing.

And that was where everybody remained when a car pulled into the drive. "I'm back!" Canada exclaimed as he slid out of the vehicle and flung the door shut. "Oh, hello. Everybody's outside. Well, you two are. Hi! Did you miss me? Where's your brother? Why is everybody ignoring me?"

"Hi, big brother!" Sam pushed himself to a sitting position and waved. "Pierre's in back, he likes it there. Big brother Al is...tired?"

Canada smiled. "Tired, huh? Poor Al." He stepped closer, and squatted beside his brother. "Hi."

"Hey..."

The northern nation's smile fell. "Are you okay?"

No, not especially. "Sam...go play with your brother, okay?"

"Yeah, sure." The boy stood, gave Canada's cheek a kiss, then ran off.

"Now tell me what's going on," Canada said, brows furrowed in worry. "Are you sick again?"

"Um..." America licked his lips. "No. Not sick. I've just been thinking, and I think I might know who the boys are."

His twin blinked. "You do?"

"Well, they appeared here..."

"Yes."

"And they're twins."

"Yes..."

"And Pierre is always looking north. He wants to go that way. Like you used to, when we were little, whenever we were in the US. Well, you know, the eventual US."

Canada's eyes narrowed as he absorbed the facts. America was kind of surprised he hadn't come to the same conclusion on his own; he was usually the smarter one, after all. Not that he would ever admit that out loud. "What are you saying? That they're...us?"

"Who else would they be? They don't look like us, but everything nation-wise fits!"

Canada gave a single nod, forehead wrinkling. "But our countries aren't in need of new nations! They have us."

"I know..."

They were silent for a few moments, lost in thought. Finally, slowly, Canada said, "There's Greece. And Egypt. And other countries whose ancient nations were replaced."

"I know," America moaned. "But we aren't ancient! The others still think of us as children."

"It doesn't make sense. Unless some sort of catastrophe is going to happen soon, and we'll be-"

"Or something like that." America curled up tighter. "This isn't fair."

"We'll think of something." His northern brother reached over to stroke his hair.

"I'll find a way to save all of us, of course." He couldn't give up already, that wasn't very heroic. America used Canada as a lever to pull himself a bit more upright, kneeling on the grass.

"All of us..." Canada swallowed. "Yeah. That might be hard. If they are supposed to be...what we think they are, both pairs of us can't stay."

America whined. "It would be totally unheroic to save ourselves at the expense of them."

"So there has to be a way to save all of us. Like you said."

He leaned against his northern brother, idly plucking blades of grass. The warm fuzzy happiness he had been feeling since finding Sam and Pierre was evaporating. The more he thought about it, the more obvious it seemed. If they had countries of their own, even tiny Sealand-esque ones, they would have turned up there. Of course they would have. But they hadn't, they appeared in America. And Pierre wasn't satisfied in the US, he wanted Canada. But what's going to happen to us? A disaster, like Mattie suggested? Or have we grown obsolete already?

"We should ask," Canada whispered.

America's head snapped up. "Ask? Ask who what?"

"Ask...Greece or someone. About what happened when he, you know, replaced his 'mother'."

"Oh, good idea. I'll give him a call."

Canada shook his head, and America paused in the middle of reaching into his pocket. "He doesn't have a phone right now. Can't afford it."

"Oh. What happens if someone needs to get a hold of him without involving a third party?" America made a face, wrinkling his nose.

Canada rubbed the back of his neck. "Er..."

And that was how they found themselves on a flight to Greece, their little brothers (they refused to think of them as anything else) once again left alone to care for themselves.

"I guess we could have called someone else," America mused, flipping through the Sky Mall catalog. "Egypt?"

"Good luck getting a full explanation out of him," Canada said.

"Hmm. Oh!"

"Yes?" Canada turned to face him, eyes brightening behind their lenses.

"Look at that Lord of the Rings chess set, Mattie!"

Canada looked away.

America shrugged and replaced the magazine in its seat pocket. It was a little hard to believe they were on a transatlantic flight just to ask Greece a simple question he may very well have no helpful answer for. But they would rest easier after they did, regardless of the outcome. And I'm going to fund a damn cell phone for him. In truth, though, it had been a long time since either of them had seen Greece—or any foreign countries, outside of necessary meetings. Exploring North America was lovely, but a trip sounded nice.

"It's been a while since I've had Greek food," America said after several quiet, contemplative minutes. "I'm looking forward to a nice big plate of pierogi."

"Um...that's not..."

"Or some blini."

"Seriously, you're thinking of-"

"What about you?"

Canada rolled his eyes for some reason. "How about some spätzle and sauerbraten?" His tone sounded a bit sarcastic.

America laughed, patting his twin on the shoulder. "Silly. That's German food." He leaned over to give him a kiss, but Canada just desperately looked down at his watch. With a shrug, America settled back in his own seat and pulled a hand-held video game from his carry-on. Sometimes long flights made Canada a bit grumpy.