Yay for college destroying all of my writing time!

But seriously, here you go!

Please review because it makes me happy!

File #1: The Passing of Hollyhock

"It's 3:30, da?" Russia asked quietly, pointing at a clock on the wall on the far side of the room. China, France, and America turned their heads to look at it, then turned back to the table. The four men were silent, listening to the tick of the passing seconds.

"I'm sure he's alright. He's just late. Maybe he spilt some tea or something." America swung his feet up onto the table and began to whistle "Yankee Doodle," one of his nervous habits. "We need him here so he can sign our new trade agreement."

France shook his head. "Amerique. Please refrain from putting your dirty shoes on ze table. I imported zis all the way from Paris. You are a zavage zometimes." America frowned ut moved his feet. The whistling, however, continued, and the other Allies exchanged looks of irritation. "Amerique, if you are zat worried, why do you not go try to find him?"

With another glance at the clock, America pulled himself to his feet. "Yeah, I'm gonna go check on him."

"I'll go wiz you," France volunteered. The two headed for the door.

China called after them. "Ah! Do not leave me here alone with Russia, aru!" He stood up and stretched out a hand towards the door, but the two had disappeared. Russia chuckled darkly beside him and he sat down heavily.

"You're not alone, China, I'm here," Canada mumbled from down the table. No one responded and he sighed and buried his head in his arms.

The fluffy white bear beside his chair pawed his leg. "Who are you?"

Canada stared at him sadly, then hid his face again. "I'm Canada!" He looked at Russia, who was scooting closer to China at the table, and buried his face in his sleeves again. "this is all America's fault, eh?" he muttered, his voice muffled by the fabric.

oOoOo

America hesitated before knocking on the rich wood of England's front door. "England? Are you there?"

Footsteps shuffled past the door and disappeared down the hall. "No! I'm not home!"

"Open the door, England! We just want to check on you!" America said loudly.

"Go away!" came the reply.

America rolled his eyes, relieved that England was at least alive and seemingly healthy, then pulled a key from his pocket. "I made a copy of his house key when he wasn't looking," he explained to France before inserting it into the door and unlocking it. The two entered the house and were instantly hit by the smell of gin. "Oh, no," America groaned. "England! Where are you?"

England popped out of a room to their right, clutching an open water bottle. "How the bloody hell did you get in here?" He then noticed France. "And who brought the frog? You're the last person I want to see right now, so go away!"

"You missed our Allies Meeting and my cool presentation about the global spread of McDonalds!" America explained to England's back, as he had turned away from his visitors. "We got worried about you."

"Well, I'm fine and I'd appreciate it if you'd go away!" England's voice sounded unusually thick all of a sudden and his shoulders hunched over.

France had heard that before. "Angleterre, are you crying?" America gave a start and leaned, trying to see England's face. "What iz going on?"

America pulled on England's shoulder, turning him around and revealing trails of tears down his face. "Yes! You found me!" England gulped. "Today is a terrible day and I'm not interested in your bloody meeting!"

"What happened?" America asked, aghast.

England took a swig from his water bottle (which was not filled with water) and weaved a bit. "I don't want to tell you! You'll laugh at me!"

"No, we won't! I swear!"

A pause, then England said, "Fine! If you really must know…Hollyhock died this morning! She was so young and she didn't deserve that!" He broke into fresh tears and patted the air. "There, there, Flying Mint Bunny, I know she was your best friend…she was important to me too…"

America and France watched awkwardly as he gulped and hugged the air. "Who is, er, was Hollyhock?"

"She was a sprite."

"Sprite? Like the soda?"

"No! The fairy-like creature, you useless clod! Don't disrespect her name by comparing her to your unhealthy carbonated beverages!" England scowled at America.

Both America and France were nonplussed. "So…a fairy died?" America asked.

"A sprite."

"So…a sprite died?"

"Not just any sprite. Hollyhock."

"So…Hollyhock the sprite died?" America asked. By way of answer, England just looked at America and his eyes filled with tears again. He lurched forward and began to hug the air again. "Alright, I'm done. I don't get it," America remarked.

France pulled America to the side. "You must be careful with Angleterre in this matter. He zeez zings zat we do not."

"So he's delusional?"

"Yes."

"Oh," America looked at the sobbing England. "That explains a lot." They stared at England a little longer. "So what do we do? We still need him for our trade agreement."

England interrupted from across the room. "HOLLYHOCK! OH, GOD, WHY?"

France inched further away from England. "I zink we should humour him."

"Humour him?"

"Oui." He jerked his head towards the Brit, motioning for America to follow him. He slowly approached England with his hands folded in front of him. "Angleterre…Amerique and I offer you our deepest condolences for your loss of zis Hollyhock." Silence. He turned and glared at America.

"Right. We're sorry. Really sorry."

England snuffled and looked at the two suspiciously. "What are you two on about? You're never cared about my friends, either of you!" He took another swig of gin and his eyes began to be distinctly unfocused.

"And how deeply do we regret our rash actions! Our only desire is to be your truest support on zis sad day," France said, coming up beside England, putting an arm around his waist and holding his hand up to his chest.

America quickly and rudely inserted himself between France and England, breaking the hand-holding before England even had the chance to swear at the Frenchman. "Yeah, that's right. Tell you what. I have an idea! Let's have a memorial service for Hemlock."

"Hollyhock," England corrected, glaring at America and weaving slightly.

"That's what I said."

"No, it isn't!"

France used his hip to shove America out of the way and worked himself beside England again, once more taking his hand. "Ignore ze poor zavage," he said soothingly. "He has not been trained in ze way of ze gentleman like you and I." America angrily tried to regain his position at England's side, but was swiftly dispatched by a backwards kick from France that connected with his shin. Tears of pain in his eyes, he hobbled to England's other side. "All ze same, he has a good idea."

"Y-yeah," America replied, still rubbing his shin. "We could light a candle and say a prayer." Seeing France still holding England's hand, he awkwardly snatched up England's other hand.

England's lower lip shook. "You chaps would do that for me? I don't know what to say!" He tried to reach for his bottle of gin, but was rebuffed by the fact that France and America were currently fighting over his hands. This might have bothered him on any other day, but in his current state, he ignored it. "Alright, let's."

"I shall lead Angleterre outside and we shall find a suitable gravesite. Amerique, make yourself useful and go find some flowers!" France ordered, pulling England closer to him.

America shook his head and tugged on England's other arm. "No way! I'LL take him outside and YOU can find the flowers." France, in reply, gave him such a terrifying glare that he dropped his hold on England. "Fine, fine, I'll go." As France led England towards the back door, America dashed out the front door and stopped on the front porch. Where could he find funeral flowers at such short notice. He set off running towards the southeast, determined to complete his mission before France could pull off any perverted shenanigans. He ran until he was out of breath (which took a while, considering his breakfast of Big Macs and oreo McFlurries) and then placed his hands on his knees. He had been surrounded by bushes of random flowers for a few minutes, but as he had brought nothing to cut the tough stems with, he was at a loss as to how he could return with a bouquet. Still, he was a hero and heroes certainly weren't defeated so easily. He set his face and ventured on.

Meanwhile, France had seated England on a rock outside in the backyard and was surveying the land. "Did you have a particular burial spot in mind?" he asked.

England, still clutching his gin bottle for dear life, pointed drunkenly to a tall willow tree. "I thought mayhaps we could make a bit of a memorial under that tree. It was her favorite," he slurred, spacing out.

The two walked over to the tree together and stared at the ground. England kicked at tufts of grass with his feet, starting a small hole. France noticed a small tool shed nearby and figured that he could find a shovel inside. He had, however, just buffed his nails and did not relish the idea of digging in England's rocky ground. Fortunately for him, America burst on to the scene at that moment, clutching something that was shedding dirt with every step the young country took. "The hero's back! Hope you guys didn't start without me!" America bounded over to the tree and stepped between France and England, pushing his glasses further up on his nose.

"Amerique, what in ze heavens is zat?" France asked, looking disdainfully at the scraggly plant in America's hand.

America held it up proudly. "I brought roses!"

"Zose are not roses. Zat is a bush."

"Yeah, duh," America retorted. "A ROSE bush. For roses."

"Zere aren't even any roses on it!" France yelled, getting frustrated with America's lack of propriety.

"There will be one day!" America yelled back. England started crying afresh beside America and he dropped the bush to fling his arms around England. "Don't cry! Let's just start the ceremony." England snuffled and nodded. France began to prepare his eulogy.

"Hollyhock. Brave sprite and friend to us all. Sleep in everlasting peace. Watch over us from above and be by our sides. Frolic in the heavenly fields above, sup on the nectar of eternity, and forget all of your worries. We here on Earth shall never forget you," A breeze ruffled the three countries' hair and a bee buzzed past, adding an idealized laziness to the late afternoon atmosphere. "nor shall the lessons you taught us go unheeded. Zank you, Hollyhock, for all of that which you were. Zank you."

Beside the hole that America had dug for a grave, the rosebush was planted in softer soil. Eulogy finished, France gave England one last grope and headed silently back home to wash the dirt off of his shoes. America continued to stand beside England, who was having difficulting standing upright. A few moments passed. "I got that rosebush for a purpose," America commented suddenly. "'cuz it'll bloom every year. If I'd picked flowers, they'd have just died, too." He continued to stare at the hole in the ground. "I didn't think you'd want that."

England looked up at America quickly, surprised. He then turned his head back to the hole and fingered the hem of the coat of his uniform absentmindedly. The two stood comfortably silent, feeling the fading rays of sunshine piercing their clothes. The air was fresh and clear and the only thing obscuring England's view was the gin. America patted his friend's back and turned quietly to leave, deciding to leave the unsigned trade agreement for another day. As he walked towards the garden door, he was stopped by a call from England.

"America," England said, turning after him and looking him straight in the eye from across the yard. "wait." He walked a few steps toward America, strangely steady. "Listen. I…that rosebush…I hope you know that I always…I just…I really…" he stopped and looked at the grass, shuffling his feet, then met America's blue eyes again. "just…thank you, America. Thanks. For a lot of things."

The two stood looking at each other for a while, then America smiled, nodded, and continued on his way. I still don't know who freaking Hollyhock is, he thought to himself.

oOoOo

If you're wondering how France knew all of that happened, he had stayed behind to watch them through the windows! He's so creepy!