Shout out to the people who commented with encouragement for this story. It means a lot to me knowing that people are interested in a story. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia, I just write about it. Abigail is my own OC. The fan characters are my interpretations of them.

Draw a circle, and there lies the Earth.

Hard rock music blasted away in Gilbert's car as he pulled up in front of the old house, though to call it a house doesn't give the building much credit. That thing was more like a mansion.

Gilbert turned the car off and walked up to the front door. He honestly never thought he'd see it again. But there he was, looking at the damned place. Once at the door, he rang the doorbell. No answer. He tried again and waited for 10 minutes. Nothing. Not even a stir of uncomfortable shifting inside.

The German-American walked back to the car and put his head in his hands. 'And now he's ignoring me,' Gilbert thought, 'Great.'

The last time he saw his little brother, Ludwig just looked at him with eyes that Gilbert knew too well; eyes that said he was a weirdo. The last thing Ludwig would probably want was to see his crazy older brother, who just happened to have confidence issues concerning self worth.

Unsure of what to do, Gilbert took his car downtown, and wandered a bit. There were many "mom and pop" stores in this town, each of them looking very different from one another. An antique shop, an Italian restaurant (though the name of it sounded familiar to him... huh), a carpenter's work shop. One that caught his eye as he walked past it was a tea and coffee shop called "A&A's". The inside looked empty enough, so he went in and sat at the table closest to the window. It was in a little alcove where he could get a good vantage point of the whole room. There were several other tables around the cafe; there was enough room between all of them for anyone to walk through comfortably while pushing a wheelchair. There was a counter, which had a display of different pastries typical for tea time, along with cupcakes. Gilbert pulled out the little piece of paper his mother gave him with the address of the house. He wondered whether or not he had gotten it right.

"Are you alright?" asked a quiet voice.

Gilbert looked up and couldn't help but stare for a moment. Looking at him with a concerned look was a guy who looked like he probably could tackle a wild bear... like a decently sized bear. Only in build though; this guys face was rather kind. He was blond, with one stray hair curling upwards and had dark blue eyes. He sported on a half apron that was decorated with steaming coffee cups. "Yeah…" Gilbert said, a bit caught off guard, "Um, I'm just going through some things right now." 'Oh, yes, that was extremely well worded, Gilbert,' the German-American chided to himself.

The guy gave a sympathetic smile, "Sorry to hear that. Days like that are awful. Um... would you like something to drink? I mean, you don't have to but since you're here..."

Gilbert nodded, "Ja, sure." He returned a smile.

"Coffee or tea?"

"Eh, I'm more of a tea person this time of day."

The guy nodded in agreement, "I am too. Anything in particular?"

Gilbert shook his head, "Whatever you think is best."

The guy smiled excitedly and went to the back. He came back out a few minutes later with a small tray consisting of a small tea pot and a tea cup that was decorated in flags from all over the world. He placed the contents on the table and poured the tea. Then he sat down and asked, "If you don't mind me asking, what's on your mind?"

Gilbert looked down at the address again, then held it up for the guy to see. "Do you know who lives at this address?"

The guy looked at the paper. "Oh, yeah. That's where my friend, Ludwig, lives. Why?"

'So he does live there still,' Gilbert thought as he said, "I went over there today, but no one was answering the door."

The guy sighs, "He must still be with Feliciano then. Why do you ask?"

"He's my brother and I'm supposed to help him out and stuff."

The guy blinked in surprise. "I didn't know Ludwig has a brother. Though he rarely talks about his personal life unless he can't help it. His father was a bit of a… mean guy."

Gilbert rolled his eyes; he hated it when people danced around saying exactly what his father was. "You can say it. Our father was a bastard."

The guy nodded, a tad bit uncomfortably. "So… what's your name?"

"Oh, right. I'm Gilbert."

"Matthew," the guy says, smiling again. Gilbert really liked Matthew's smile. It felt warm.

"How do you know Ludwig?" Gilbert asked.

"We were in the same classes together." Matthew shrugged, then he gave a thoughtful look. "Wait here for a moment." Matthew stood up and went into the backroom.

88888

Matthew took out his phone once he got to the backroom and dialed Feliciano's number. Not that anything he had to say was private, but from experience with being best friends with Feliciano, he learned that anything he might say could and would be used out of context, something he liked avoiding when at all possible, especially when he was working or when there is a hot person in front of him... or both.

"Matthew?" his father asked, looking at his adopted son in confusion, "What are you doing?"

"Sorry, it's important," Matthew said, with a guilty look on his face, "It's for the person in the shop. I won't take long."

His father nods and continues cleaning up some baking that he had done earlier.

"Matty! What's up?" Feliciano said cheerily on the phone.

"Is Ludwig still over at your place?"

"…yes…" Feliciano said slowly, "Why?"

"He needs go home today."

"But…"

"Feli, please," Matthew pleaded, "I know what you are going to say. Please trust me this once. Take him home."

"But why?"

Matthew peaked into the cafe, where Gilbert started drinking his tea. "Ludwig's brother is apparently here looking for him."

"Oh, Gilbert? He can come over to my place then and..."

"Feli, no," Matthew said firmly. He didn't like interrupting people, but he had to get this through to the Italian, "He and Ludwig need some time alone." Matthew could almost hear Feliciano pouting on the other side of the line. "If you want, you can come over to my place and stay over."

"Okay," Feliciano sighed defeatedly, "But Ludwig really shouldn't be in that big, creepy house. What if his father comes to haunt him as a ghost?"

Matthew rolled his eyes at his friend's ridiculousness, "I think that if anyone had to face a ghost, Ludwig would be the best to face it. He's brave like that."

"What about Amelia? Or even your dad? They're brave."

In the back of his mind, Matthew felt like he had a conversation before with Feliciano on this subject, "Both of them are terrified of ghosts."

"Really?" Feliciano said surprised, "I can see your dad, but Amelia?"

"Yes, she is." Matthew remembered the one haunted house that Amelia dragged him to and the whole time she was clinging onto him because the first thing that popped out had to be a ghost. What didn't help was the fact that Matthew was terrified also. They were in a bad state of mind once they got back out into the sunlight.

"But she can take care of spiders no problem," Feliciano pointed out.

"Ghosts aren't spiders," Matthew said dully.

"Whatever. I'll see you later, Matty!" Feliciano hung up his end. Matthew shoved his phone back in his apron pocket and walked back to the table where Gilbert still was, drinking the tea.

"This is awesome tea," he said as Matthew sat back down, "What is it?"

"Maple. It's actually a flavor I've been working on for a while."

"Get out. This just got even more awesome."

Matthew couldn't help but blush. He wasn't used to be complimented by anybody outside of the family… or Feliciano, although arguably he was basically family. He was around often enough.

"While you were gone," Gilbert said, "I couldn't help but look at the collection of tea cups on the wall."

"Oh, yeah. My father collects them," Matthew explained, taking a glance at part of the collection, "He has a story for each and every one of them. Some of them are made up though, just to warn you."

"Is he a good story teller?"

"The best. He always told me a story every night when I was a kid. He had the greatest voices for the characters."

"What about you?" Gilbert asked, "Are you a good story teller?"

Matthew looked at Gilbert in surprise. "Me?" Matthew said, pointing to himself.

"Ja, unless there is an invisible man sitting on the table."

"I don't know," Matthew admitted honestly. He never thought of himself much of a storyteller; then again, he never really thought himself to be much of anything.

"Then let me be the judge of it. Tell me a story."

At that moment, the door opened and an elderly couple came in. Matthew looked at Gilbert apologetically. "Sorry, maybe another time. When I'm not working… I forget sometimes that I have a job here." Matthew laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. 'Nice going,' he thought to himself sarcastically.

"Alright, but you better make the story awesome." Gilbert gave Matthew a wink.

Matthew helped out with the elderly couple; in that time, Gilbert stood up and left. When Matthew went back to clear the place up, he saw that Gilbert left a twenty dollar bill and a note saying: "I'll be back tomorrow" with his signature at the bottom.

Matthew smiled warmly at the note and glowed like that for the rest of the afternoon.

88888

Gilbert went to try the house once again, hoping things would be better this time around. He rang the doorbell and waited. After a few moments, the door opened and Ludwig appeared.

"Gilbert?" Ludwig asked, though it sounded more like a statement than a question.

"Hallo, Bruder," Gilbert said, grinning, "Wie geht es dir?"

Ludwig gave his brother a tight hug, something Gilbert wasn't expecting at all from his soldier of a brother. "What are you doing here?" Ludwig said in a very inaudible whisper.

"For you. To help you out. Mutter is coming over too, but that won't be for a few days. We figured you could use some company."

Ludwig looked at his brother, and Gilbert noticed tears in his brother's eyes.

"Come on," Gilbert said, "Let's go inside. Have you been visited by any ghosts?" He did overhear a bit of the conversation that Matthew had over the phone, admittedly.

His younger brother looked at him in disbelief. "There aren't any such things as ghosts."

"Oh really?" Gilbert grinned a bit, "Then explain that creepy feeling you get when you are getting dressed alone?"

Ludwig stopped and took a good look at Gilbert. "Are you serious?"

Gilbert continued grinning.

Ludwig closed his eyes and shook his head, but he smiled a little bit when he thought Gilbert wasn't looking. This made Gilbert feel a bit better about this whole situation.

88888

Matthew and Feliciano were up in the apartment that Matthew's parents owned, which rested above the cafe. Feliciano was looking at one of Matthew's magazines about world cultures. Matthew was on his laptop looking up the name "Williams". He should have known it was a common last name; he had kinda crappy luck when it came to stuff like this.

"So, Gilbert came over to help Ludwig?" Feliciano asked as Matthew put his head in his hands to give his eyes a break from the screen.

"Yeah..." Matthew thought Gilbert and looked down at the note he was given. It made Matthew happy that he would be coming back the next day. Even if he wasn't working... actually it would be better since then he could actually sit down and talk with Gilbert properly.

"What's that?" Feliciano asked, pointing to the note.

"Um..." Instinctively, Matthew picked up the note.

"Did he write that?"

"Uh..."

"He did didn't he?"

Matthew felt like he was being verbally pressed against the wall.

"What did he say?"

"He just told me that he would be coming back tomorrow." Matthew prayed that would be enough for Feliciano to back off a bit.

Feliciano "oooh"ed in the way that people tend to when talking about someone liking another person. Matthew should have known his friend better.

"It's not like that," Matthew said, pushing Feliciano away. Though, if Matthew had to be honest, he slightly hoped it was that way.

"Then what is it like?" Feliciano was now lying, stomach first on Matthew's bed, chin in both his hands, and feet kicking like a school girl's who was talking on the phone to her best friend.

"We... just didn't... get to talk all that much when he was there."

Feliciano pouted slightly and shrugged, "Sad. He's a fun person."

"You've met him before?" Matthew asked.

"Yeah, he was here a few years ago. I think he and his mom wanted to visit Ludwig. I happened to be there at the time, so I got to meet him too. Mr. Soldier did not look happy at all to see them."

"I'm not surprised." Mr. Soldier was Feliciano's nickname for Ludwig's father.

Feliciano looked at Matthew's computer screen. "What's that?"

"I'm looking for my birth family." Matthew scrolled down the page a bit absentmindedly. He had no idea how to sort through any of that.

Feliciano looked at his friend confused, "Why?"

"Well... I would like to know who I was, where I came from, and why I'm here." 'And while I'm at it, the answer to life, the universe, and everything,' Matthew thought to himself.

"I would think you would know all that because of the Smiths."

Matthew sighed. "They're only half the reason. There's the fact that I was in a car being driven to somewhere. Where was I going? What life was I supposed to lead?"

"Ok, so what do you have to go on for the search?" Feliciano moved so he was sitting right next to Matthew on the floor.

"Williams. That was my last name from birth."

Feliciano looked at the screen. "That isn't much to go on," he commented dully, "It's a common last name."

"I know... I don't know what else to do. From what I've heard about my case, everything about the accident got erased."

"Well," Feliciano said thoughtfully, "Kiku has always said that there is some electronic trail. Maybe he can dig up something."

"But this happened so long ago."

"Kiku is a genius. He can do anything."

Matthew knew this, but he didn't have high hopes for it. He put down Gilbert's note and picked up his laptop to message Kiku over Facebook. Feliciano picked up the note. "Oh, wow."

"What?" Matthew said, turning to Feliciano.

"He gave you his number too."

Matthew's eyes grow wide, "What?"

Feliciano showed the note. Apparently, Matthew missed the bit that the note was folded and inside the folded bit was a phone number and another note: "In case you aren't there tomorrow. ;)" "You have a fan," Feliciano says in a sing song voice.

All Matthew could wonder was what Gilbert saw in him.

88888

Arthur was going through old photos when Alfred came into the apartment. "Feeling sentimental?" the American asked, pulling up a chair next to Arthur.

"This is for Matthew. For the album that was with his things."

"Still can't believe that stuffs been at the station for 15 years."

"I can. Hidden things are easily forgotten about. I can testify from experience."

Alfred picked up one of the photos. It was of Matthew and Francis standing in front of the ocean. It was the family's first official trip together as an official family. "Remember this?"

Arthur looked at the photo for the moment. "Of course I do. I was the one who suggested it."

"Since when?"Alfred asks a bit aghast.

"Since always," Arthur said, a tad bit confused, "You just wanted to go to the park. I said that's too dumb for a vacation and suggested the beach. You agreed and we went."

Alfred stared at Arthur. "I'm pretty sure that's not how it went," Alfred said.

Arthur rolled his eyes, but didn't comment further. He knew better than to fuel pointless arguing, especially when Matthew was at home. The walls of the flat could be very thin when a fight ensues.

"Do you think his mother ever tried looking for him?" Alfred asked, looking at a different picture. That one was of Matthew and Alfred in the shop decorating cupcakes.

"Considering we have no idea what his birth family was like, I cannot say. I would think so, though. From what was left behind, it seemed like they cared for him." Arthur sighed, "Too bad Williams is such a common last name, or else I'd go looking for her."

Alfred nodded in agreement. "Perhaps Matthew will find her, seeing as he knows his name now. It won't be an easy search, that's for sure."

"Near damn impossible," Arthur muttered.

"But still is possible. Who knows? She could be closer than any of us think." Alfred noticed the box and took out the bottle decorated with maple leaves. He started laughing, "If his family isn't from Canada, they are crazy. Seriously, who has all this stuff decorated in leaves?"

"Tree lovers?" Arthur suggested.

"Yeah, but maple?"

"Everybody has their tastes." Arthur started putting pictures into the album. After a while of looking at photos, Arthur spoke up, "Do you think Francis will come home tonight?"

Alfred shrugs. "Worried?"

"I always am with him," Arthur said in a sigh.

"You shouldn't be. He's with friends."

"That doesn't help any," Arthur groans. Not that Francis' friends got into illegal trouble ever, but they always seemed to be getting into some kind of trouble.

"You shouldn't worry so much. He can take care of himself. He isn't the same kid we first adopted."

"That doesn't mean I can't worry. Adopted or not, I'm still his father and your still his dad and he is still a bit of our responsibility."

"Well, next time he shows up, you can give him a piece of your mind like you always do." Alfred smiled.

Arthur sighed exasperatedly, however that wasn't enough to hide the small smile that appeared on his face. "I think by now, it won't have much of an effect on him than it did when he was younger."

"You'd be surprised."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

Alfred doesn't answer, but instead gives Arthur a shrug.

Please comment, it helps with my writing.