Chapter 5: London
After a few day of rest, England was better. He had a few headaches every now and then, America's loud voice didn't help, but over all he was better. And no matter how many times he asked the American to leave, he would go on about how he should stay longer just to make sure England didn't slip back into bad health. It annoyed the Brit but he let him stay. America quickly thought of ways to be amused while staying there.
"What's your favorite thing to do in London?" America asked that next morning. England looked away from his tea and at the American.
"Why?" He asked, it was his first thought.
"Well I've only been in London a few times and I was thinking maybe you could show me around. We could do something fun Iggy~" America smiled. England thought about it, whether he should even bring the loud American around at all. "Come on. Where's your favorite place to go?"
"The Pub." England said with a smile.
"What the hell is a Pub?"
"What you would call a 'bar'."
"Oh. Noooo Iggy that's not what I meant. Something else likeeee," America's mind wondered off. "Oh! Can I meet the queen? !"
"No way in bloody hell will you ever meet the Queen." England said. Never.
"Do you know the queen?"
"….Your asking if I, England, know the Queen…Of England…." England said sarcastically.
"…..So like….Is that a yes?"
"Yes!"
"Ohhhh…. So can I-"
"No you can not meet the Queen!" England cut him off.
America pouted. "No fair….I'll let you meet the President~"
"No thank you…" England continued sipping his tea.
"Come on. Show me around. Big Ben, Tower of London, that EDF thingy-Oh! A castle!"
"Slow it down. And the EDF 'thingy' is Energy London Eye."
"Yeah sure. That thingy."
"I'll think about it."
"Waaaattttt nooooo. Come onnnn Iggyyyy." America said and grabbed onto England's sleeve like a child. "Come onnnn pleaseeeeeeeee. We could go to a Pub laterrrrr." England looked away from pouting American, he used his cuteness to his advantage to get whatever he wanted when he was little, it should work now right? England peeked at America, who was still in his cute and childish pout, and quickly gave in.
"Fine." England mumbled. "It's still early so I'll take you to some major ones. Go shower and-" America quickly ran up to shower and change before the Brit could even finish talking. England smiled a bit and finished his tea, this would be a long day.
After the two got ready, they quickly set out for the day, America bringing his camera along. "Where do you want to go first?" England asked buttoning his coat while they walked. America looked around and thought about it.
"How bout that Tower of London thing? What's that?"
England smiled. "Oh. It used to be a prison."
"A-A prison? Like for criminals and stuff?"
"Yes. That's right." England said and then got a devilish smile. "They used to torture and kill the prisoners."
"K-Kill?" America stuttered. "A-Are there g-g-ghosts there?" He shivered a bit. England looked over at him.
"Rumors say there could be." England noticed America had stopped walking and stopped ahead. "They say you can still hear the screams of the victims, all of them crying out for it to stop and apologizing." He watched America tremble with fear as England kept going.
"L-l-lets n-not go there…K-kay?" America still trembled. England wanted to push it just a litttttle further. He walked back to America and circled around him, stopping behind him.
"At night, the ghosts wonder around London too. Just waiting for the right moment…" He started to raise his hands up "For them to get revenge on the people here. Sneaking up behind them and-BOO!" He quickly jolted his hands on America's shoulders and made him squeal and jump at it. England laughed as America shivered.
"E-England! Not funny dude!"
"Oh it was very funny." England kept laughing. America finally managed to clam himself down and continue walking.
"Pick something else! Something without dead people and ghostys in it please!" America said. England finally calmed himself from his laughter and thought more. "What about Big Ben?"
"I suppose we can go to the Clock. I know a place we can stop for lunch too."
"Awesome! Lead the way bro!" America laughed.
"Don't do that in public." England said and went for a head start. America quickly caught up though. They took a little walk, America complaining a few times about the exercise, which England automatically shot back a "you need it". But they did reach Big Ben, it was about 20 minutes away from England's house. America's face lit up when he saw it.
"Iggy! That's it!"
"Yes I'm well aware that's it."
"What? Your not excited?" America asked taking his camera out of his pocket.
"I see it almost everyday. It's not a big deal to me." England said. America signs and takes a picture of the clock.
"When will it ring ding?"
"Ring ding?" England questioned. "Well its 11:39 so in about 21 minutes." America whined for a minute and then puts his camera away. He then sits on the ground. England stares at him for a minute, what the bloody hell is he doing? "America. What are you doing?"
"I'm waiting for the clock to ring." America said staring at the clock. England stood there, are you serious?
"Your joking right?"
"Nope."
"Stand up."
"Na ah." America smiled. England got embarrassed, people were looking now.
"America. At least sit on a bench please." England said trying to ignore the stares from passing people. America looked up at him.
"Well since you said please." The American stood up and made his way to a bench, making sure he could still see the clock though. England then followed and sat down next to him. America sat like a little child, waving his legs back and forth, and then taking out a chocolate bar. "Want some?"
"No thank you." England said. This was familiar, England thought about it. There was one time America came to London, during World War Two, when they were on a break, waiting for any orders or transmissions. Most of London was destroyed though with the bombings and America had finally come into the war, after what happened at Pearl Harbor, he didn't have a choice. But they were sitting there waiting, watching people try to pick up their lives again and digging through the rubble, with no chatter at all. America got bored and suddenly took out a chocolate bar. England instantly looked over at him.
"What are you doing?" He asked. America was already biting it when England noticed.
"I'm eating chocolate?"
"Where did you get that?"
"I brought it with me from home. Why?" America had taken it away from his mouth. "What's with you? You've never complained about it before."
"I'm not complaining."
"Then what?"
"Things like that have been hard to get for a while. I don't want you flashing it in public." England said. America frowned.
"Oh. Sorry." He said putting the chocolate away then stopped. "What if…"
"What if what?" England asked. America got a smile and stood up from where they were sitting. He gave a whistle and got some people's attentions, epically the children. "Alfred. What are you doing?"
America gave a wink to England. "Just watch." He dug into his pockets and took out boat-loads of candy. "Hello people of London!"
"Alfred!"
"American soldier here! And I have a problem!" America said, a lot of the children started surrounding him with the look of the candy.
"What kind of problem?" One little girl asked. America smiled.
"Well I'm going away to fight those mean Germans. But, all this candy could get ruined. And that wouldn't be good right?"
"No it wouldn't!" Another little boy shouted.
"I was hoping you guys could keep it safe huh?" America smiled. "You guys could take it off my hands right?" All the children cheered.
"Of course! Of course!" They cheered. Immediately people surrounded the American as he gave out candy to them. Chocolate, gum, taffy, some gummy candies, and some other things. As the children, and even the adults, ate the candy they hadn't had in so long, America sat back down with England.
England sat there, not really knowing what to say, until the American handed him a piece of chocolate. "I saved one for you." England looked at him and finally took the small piece. "I know you wanted some." America smiled.
"T-Thank you." England said biting into the chocolate, something he hadn't had in such a long time either.
America waved the chocolate bar in England's face. "You know you want itttt." England wasn't amused.
"Get it out of my face." He said, then the chocolate smell set it and turned his head away. America smiled and broke the bar in half, then placed one half in England's hand.
"You know." America started. "It's okay to treat yourself once in a while." England looked at the chocolate and decided America was a little right, it's okay to treat yourself, only once in a while though. He took a bite as well as America did and they sat there relaxing.
"So why are you suddenly interested in London?" England asked after a few minutes of silence. "You've never wanted to go around London before. So what's with this?"
America licked the remaining chocolate off his fingers. "Well. Cause I've never seen anything in London. I've only been here about six or seven times really. I've always wanted to see your home."
England raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Yup. The last time I was here for more than a day was…" He stopped. "You know. WWII." England looked away.
"Oh right." He said. None of the countries liked talking about wars, especially that one.
"Everything was wrecked. I'm kinda glad everything's back to normal around here."
"Me too." England says. He looked at the clock. 11:57. "It's going to ring soon." America looked at the clock and smiled.
"Yay!" He laughed. England smiled at the American's excitement. He sat back in the bench more and watched as people walked by. He really hadn't been out much, this was the first time in years where he actually took a walk around London and even waiting for the clock to ring. He heard it at home and when he passed by, but the day the clock started, he had stayed there to watch it go off at the first hour. Days, years, after that, he would stop and watch it every once in a while. Now, he didn't do it at all.
The clock chimed. America smiled more.
"It didn't ring yet." England said.
"What? Whatda mean?"
"It was just the clock work. You'll hear the actual bell in a second."
"Oh?" America blinked.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
The clock struck 12 and rang to show it. It was loud, you could hear it all around, and America smiled at it. "That was coolo! It's noon people!" He yelled.
"America!" England scolded him. America laughed as some people gave looks to them again.
"Chill out Iggy. Just enjoy it." He smiled at the Brit. "So. What's next huh?" America looked around and something caught his eye. "Oh! What's that! ?" He pointed at something. England turned and looked in the direction.
"Oh that? It's the EDF. The Energy London Eye, what I said before."
"So wut is it?"
"It's a Ferris Wheel."
"Can we go on it? !"
"Okay-" England tried to say but America quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him. He ran, dragging England along, over to the huge Ferris Wheel. He ran fast and often called back a "keep up old man!" as England struggled to keep up with him.
He hurried onto one of capsules, dragging England along, until a few people stopped him to pay. America gave a look to England, signaling he had to pay, but the Brit was already taking out money. He paid for the both of them and America pulled him on.
"Can you stop yanking my arm?" England complained. He looked and realized America was holding onto his hand. England blushed a bit and quickly turned his face away so the American wouldn't see. America let go of his hand and jumped over to the glass and looked out.
"We're not moving yet." He whined.
"Actually we are. It doesn't stop."
"Eh?"
"It doesn't go to fast.
"Mehhh," America whined again. "Hey wait. This is the tallest Ferris Wheel in like the world right?"
"In Europe."
America squealed. "Awesomeeee!" Finally he began to notice it moving as they went up higher. England sat down as America looked out the glass. "Are we at the top yet?"
"Not even close." England said. America turned to England.
"Have a little fun will ya?" He pouted. England signed, stood up, and walked over to America. "I know it's not high yet but still. Enjoy the ride!"
"I am. I like it when your more to the top though not when your low enough to jump out and into the river."
"Can we seriously do that?" America eagerly asked.
"No!"
"Daw." He whined. The next few minutes of slowly raising up were spent with America walking back and forth and England watching him. When it was toward the middle, that's when America started to get into that. "What's those bridges! ? Oh! What's that! ? And that! ? Oh! And that thingy over there!" America pointed to a bunch of different things that England couldn't keep up with.
"Slow it down America." He said looking out. "The bridges are the Golden Jubilee Bridge and the Westminster Bridge."
"Jubilee? Heh. Things here have funny names." America giggled a bit. England smiled.
"Glad your amused." They started reaching the top.
"What's that?" America pointed.
"Wren's St Paul's Cathedral."
He pointed to another thing. "And that?"
"Cleopatra's Needle."
"And that and that and that?"
"Canary Wharf, Tower Bridge, and the Tower of London"
"T-That's the tower of London? The prison thingy?"
"That's it." England said with a devilish smile. "Their watching youuu."
"Iggy!" America said, he sounded like he was about to cry.
England laughed a bit. "Okay okay I'm sorry."
"Better be! I'll end up jumping out this thing!"
"I think it's locked first of all and why the bloody hell would you jump out?"
"Cause I run when I'm freaked out okay! ?"
"Aw. The hero is scared?"
"N-No." America stuttered. "J-Just don't do that again please?"
"Okay okay." England said. "I believe we're at the top, or very close to it."
"Really! ?" America immediately got his mind off the ghost tower and looked outside more. Finally, they did reach the top.
The sight was beautiful, you could see everything miles around. A bunch of cities and towns, how far the River Thames went, it seemed like you could see all of London and beyond. America looked around more with a great big smile seeing all of it for the first time. "England. It's beautiful. It's great." He said.
England was very amused himself. "Yeah. It really is." He smiled. This was his home, everything he worked hard to create and protect, and it was great to see it all, how far everything had really come. Even though it was something he had seen everyday, he had only gone on this Ferris Wheel once or twice since it was built, he always went on alone too and never really gave it much thought. But maybe having America with him, having him complement the city, gave him a sense a pride.
"Hey England." America said.
"Hm?"
"You really are great." He smiled. England felt himself blush a bit and smiled at the complement. You are too, America.
OOOOO
Thank you~
First off, I do not own the characters used in this nor do I own the anime they come from.
So now Iggy is all better (yay~) and it's starting to go places. I've been looking up stuff about London (really all of England) lately and added this in, their be exploring around a bit. So there's a bit of a lesson in there for ya too~ But hope you like it! : )