Thank you so much for all the positive reviews, guys! You asked for it, so here's part two!
"ARTHUR. WAKE. UP!" England yelped at the sudden pain being applied onto his stomach. His emerald green eyes shot open and he gasped for breath when all the wind had been knocked out of him.
"Alfred, what are you doing?" the old nation exclaimed, once he was able to breathe again. A young America ignored his question and simple smiled down at his guardian, still sitting on his stomach.
"Good! You're up! It's time for breakfast and me and Mattie were getting hungry!" Before England could respond, America jumped off of him and the bed, then proceeded to run down the hallway. England groaned and slammed his head against the pillow, shutting his eyes for only a few seconds more. Then getting out of bed and walking slowly and groggily down the hall and stairs. He let his feet drag against the floor as he made his way to the kitchen. He still kept his eyes closed most of the way there.
Keeping his eyes closed, he moved his hands blindly around, trying to feel for the right cabinets and drawers to open. He probably should have been paying more attention. Not a second more, he felt something sharp and pointed dig into the flesh of his palm. Again, his eyes shot open from the surprise of it all and immediately pulled his hand away from the cutting knife that was for some reason left out on the counter instead of one of the drawers.
"ACK! Dammit!" He muttered that last word, not wanting his colonies to hear. Speaking of which, the twins could be heard tumbling in from god knows where, in the large house.
"Arthur! Are you okay? We heard you scream!" America called out louder than necessary as he and his brother ran into the kitchen.
"I'm fine Alfred. Just go along with your business," England replied. He had his back turned to the colonies. He didn't want his little brothers to see the blood that was currently gushing out of his hand. He knew America enough to know that he'd probably freak out and frantically try to help, which would only cause more trouble than already done. Canada although, had only just been claimed as a British territory, and he was still getting to know the little guy. But, he knew well enough that due to his timid and quiet nature, he'd probably faint at the sight of the blood.
The old nation suddenly jumped in surprise when he heard a gasp. He turned to his side to see Canada staring with wide, horrified eyes. How he had suddenly gotten there, England did not know. He didn't even realize that he had been standing next to Alfred when they came into the kitchen.
"W-what happened to your hand? Are you alright? Did the monster get you?"
"Monster? What monster?" Alfred suddenly jumped at his brother.
"The monster in my clos—"
"What? No! Guys, there is no monster anymore."
"What do you mean anymore? Where is it now?"
"No, Alfred, it's nowhere. Canada, it was probably just a sweater or something of that sort."
"Monsters wear sweaters?" England suddenly had the feeling that he was going to have a severe headache at the end of this conversation.
"What kind of question is that?" He tried his best not to sound too annoyed.
"Well, you said that Mattie might have sawed a sweater, but I never heard of a monster who wears sweaters before?"
"Alfred, 'sawed' is not a word, and what I meant was that Canada might have mistaken a sweater for a monster."
"Sweaters have teeth and claws?"
"What? Alfred, no! I—" England stopped to sigh in annoyance, "Look, I'm fine. I just cut myself with the knife, see?" England then made the mistake of finally showing America what happened to his hand. You could visibly see all color drain from the young colony's face. His eyes wide and mouth open, he gasped and stood for only a few silent seconds before rambling in a panic.
"Oh no, Arthur! Are you okay? What happened? You're not go'na die, are you? I don't want you to die! Hold on! I can make you better! Le'me go get the bandages!" America turned to run down the hall, but England grabbed onto the collar of his shirt with his good hand, before he could.
"America, I'm fine. Calm down. I'm just going to step outside and wash my hand off. Feel free to get out the bandages for me, but I can take care of the rest myself. Now why don't you go play with Canada until I'm back and get breakfast ready?" America still held a frown on his face in worry for his big brother, but nodded.
England smiled and ruffled America's hair and let him run off, before finding his shoes and proceeding to open the backdoor. He was stopped though, by the look on Canada's face. The poor kid was shaking and looked to be on the verge of tears. England's hand could wait a few more seconds.
"Canada, what's wrong?" England asked, leaning down to the boy's level. He shuffled a bit and played with his stuffed polar bear's ear before speaking.
"…Wh-what if the monster comes back and you're not here…?" England sighed again, but in pity this time. He hated it when either America, or Canada had that kind of look on their faces. It could break anyone's heart, there's no use arguing about that. England placed his hand on Canada's shoulder before answering.
"I promise you that the monster won't come back, okay?" he said with a smile.
"B-but what if it does?" A few tears fell down Canada's face now.
"Then I'll come running back to protect you!"
"But what if you don't get here on time? And he eats me and America?" England was silent for a moment for this one. He had decided that since the kids wouldn't believe that the monster "wasn't" real, he'd answer their questions as if it was.
"That won't happen, Canada."
"But what if it does?" England was silent again, thinking. He suddenly looked back up at Canada with a small smile.
"ALFRED!" The nation called out. Canada cocked his head to the side slightly, in confusion. He didn't have much time to contemplate before his twin bounded into the kitchen.
"Yeah? What is it?" He shouted, again, louder than necessary.
"Alfred, if a monster was trying to hurt your brother, you would protect him, right?" England asked America arched his eyebrows and looked up at the ceiling before answering with a wide grin.
"Of course I would! I'd protect him, AND you, Arthur! I'll make sure that monster never comes back!" He said, puffing out his chest, trying to look tough and brave.
"You mean like those people in the stories?" Canada asked quietly.
"Yeah! I'll be just like those people!"
"Alright then, it's settled," England cut in. "Alfred's the hero!"
Aaahahahaaa~, ooooh Iggy, how you'd regret saying that so much later on in the future. :D Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! I hope to get the third out as soon as possible!
EDIT: Yeesh! What was I doing when I wrote this? I found so many mistakes, it's not even funny! /otl/ Why didn't you guys le'me know? I would have fixed it sooner! ...Well, no use crying over it now, what's done is done, and it's all fixed. ^^ Have fun reading!