When Canada slowly but surely woke up again his young brain dully noted, still with his eyes closed, the fact he was carried by someone. To be honest it was rather uncomfortable, since it appeared he was being carried with only one arm and was pressed slightly into the carrier's chest to not drop him. However Canada still unconsciously snuggled his face closer to the chest as the strong smell of tea, forest, smoke and dirt mixed with some other things filled his nose. He only stilled when he suddenly heard a grunt of pain.

It no longer mattered to Canada if it was uncomfortable being carried the way he was, because no matter how scary England could be cometimes Canada knew he was safe now. He wasn't exactly sure when he had begun to connect the nation who carried him with safety, but right now he couldn't care less. Now when he knew England was the one who carried him it however prompted another question in the young little colony's head. Why was he carried by England? Still a bit groggy he noticed England wasn't walking normally either. In fact it felt a bit jerky, and somewhere in the back of his mind Canada realized England must be limping.

"Canada?"

The walking (limping?) suddenly stopped and the unusually soft voice of his guardian reached his ears. Canada slowly forced his eyes open and turned his head from England's chest to meet very green eyes filled with worry. To Canada's surprise he then saw how England's mouth formed a small smile and how the worry in his eyes lessened somewhat. Why had England been worried in the first place though?

"Are you alright Canada?"

Again England used a very soft and gentle voice, which was rather unusual for the normally grumpy nation, but despite his confusion Canada still nodded in answer. Even though he still felt unusually tired and a little groggy he was otherwise fine.

"What happened?" he quietly asked.

At first it didn't seem like England heard him, but Canada was eventually answered when England began to walk (limp?) again.

"America made you upset and you ran away from the house," England sighed tiredly. "I swear I'll manage to teach him to read the atmosphere one day, but…
Anyway, I ran after you and caught up with you just in time to see you trip on something and fall down into the ravine. I…"

England seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if he was unsure if he should continue or not.

"You almost gave me a heart-attack, Canada. I reached you just in time to grab your arm and stop your fall, but the ground around the edge couldn't hold both our weight, and we ended up falling down anyway."

Canada's eyes widened in fear as memories quickly flashed past in his head in a rapid speed at the same time as England explained what had happened. In one of the memories Canada more felt than saw how England tightly pressed him against his chest and curled himself around Canada in an attempt to protect him as they tumbled down. He had heard England's gasp of pain when they suddenly collided with something before they once again continued to tumble down the ravine. At one point Canada must have lost consciousness before they reached the bottom though, because he couldn't recall much after that. He knew one thing for sure though - England was injured because he protected him and took the worst damage from the fall. How ridiculous it felt now to have run away just because America ate his last pancake.

It was his fault England was injured, and Canada's eyes filled with tears which quickly spilled over. England would never forgive him, and probably not America either since it was Canada's fault his Iggy was hurt. Canada was still a little angry at America, but he liked his brother who he had only known for a little more than a few months – he didn't want to leave his new home!

England's limping came to a sudden halt as he stared down at Canada with an alarmed look. "What's wrong?"

"M-my f-fault!" Canada's unusually loud voice (which still wasn't louder than most people talked) cried.

"What is your fault?" England asked him with a confused frown.

"Y-you… Y-you're hurt because of m-me. I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please d-don't send me away!" Canada cried and then more or less head-butted England's chest is an attempt to hide his crying face from the man Canada now was sure would be furious at him.

At first Canada only heard a wince of pain in reply, and to his horror Canada realised his head must have connected rather violently with an injured chest, perhaps even a broken rib. At this realization Canada began to cry even harder, now sure it was no way he would be allowed to stay. So imagine his surprise when he suddenly felt how England began to walk again and heard a soft chuckle.

"Canada, look at me."

Canada shook his head. He didn't dare to face what he was sure to be England's furious face.

"Canada, please turn your head and look at me."

The words were spoken gently, but Canada could recognize an order when he heard one. Slowly, so very slowly, Canada turned his face from the safe chest to once again meet England's eyes, only to his surprise meet a small smile and eyes which didn't look angry at all.

"It was an accident, and it was not your fault. You tripped on something, and I just decided to help you. I've no reason to be angry at you," England patiently explained.

Canada was still not convinced, but nodded anyway. He didn't want to anger England by voicing his disagreement.

"Now then, what do you say about some more pancakes? America doesn't know I have more, and this time you can have all of them. What do you say?"

As by magic all tears disappeared from Canada's face and his mouth formed a true smile.

"Yes please, I would like that very much."

In the end a worried America loudly apologized for what he did - "I'm sorry Canada! A hero should never take his bro's food!"and was even given a few pancakes from Canada. Later, after hours of playing outside with America and having to take a bath to clean himself, Canada was tucked into bed by England. The older nation winced a little when he bowed forward to place a kiss on his forehead to wish him goodnight, but otherwise England didn't show any sign of having been injured earlier that day. Just before Canada fell asleep he couldn't help but wonder why he had ever thought England was scary. England was actually kind of nice when you got to know him.

o.o.o

Author Note:

Just a short, fluffy one-shot about a young Canada and his guardian, England - because there aren't nearly enough fanfictions about those two together. I hope you all enjoyed this. /Jezzica