America couldn't help stare at the empty seat in front of him. After he gave England his glasses back, the Brit had angrily stormed off.

America could barely acknowledge that he was alone in the café. He was too confused for that. He was absolutely, definitely sure and certain that Arthur Kirkland was England, but that conclusion just made everything more confusing.

How come England didn't remember him? Why was he blind? How come England thought he was human (and was using his human name for that matter)? How come America was unable to sense him? Maybe England was human now?

America wasn't sure how to react. He had already asked himself such questions before meeting up with the Brit, but now that he knew Arthur Kirkland was England… It felt more real. More bizarre. More puzzling.

... And he felt hope. Hope.

Who knew this blessed thing could even still exist?

He was so very happy to have England back. So very...

But what had happened to him in the last century? Were any other nations back? Should he tell the others? Should he tell his government? Seriously, why was England blind?

America continued staring at the empty chair in front of him. He wished he's stopped England from leaving, but England was long gone. Nothing could be changed now.

Shaking his head, as if humouring himself, America got up, finished his coffee and left too.

Despite the harsh cold of winter, he felt brilliant and warm.

If that guy was England (and America knew that Arthur was England, no doubt about it, he just needed more proof), then there was finally a chance of finding out what happened to the other nations and where they were.

And once they were finally all united again...

... Perhaps then he'll be able to smile again.

"Idiot wanker..." Arthur muttered to himself, holding the rim of his sunglasses tightly, as if another moron would come along and randomly pull them off.

Arthur hated not wearing his glasses. He didn't know why, but not wearing them… He felt vulnerable. Maria and Jack thought that was weird, but Kiku and what's-his-name (ah yes, Mattie) felt the same way about their glasses.

Also, Feliciano insisted on wearing a hat at all times and Lilli hated not wearing her scarf, which usually covered up half her face(or so he was told).

Arthur continued walking.

He'd soon be home and then he could forget that... That that meeting had ever happened.

That... That idiot had made him think about his unknown past… And it frustrated him. After a year of trying to figure out who he and Lilli were, Arthur had finally accepted that they would likely never know and, more importantly, that not knowing was fine.

They had a good life. They had supporting friends and a new family… The past was the past and they didn't need it.

Lilli didn't need to know the truth.

... He shouldn't need it either.

But just when he had thought he'd finally given up...

Enter that bloody wanker.

A strong wind blew, and Arthur tugged his scarf over his face again.

Oh well... He was sure he'd forget about it all soon enough.

Then he could go back to his nice, pleasant life, without any weird men that tore your sunglasses off.

America threw the front door open and shouted "I'm Hooome!"

There was no reply.

There never was one.

Tony had left about a decade ago, for unknown reasons. America suspected a civil war of some sort… But he had no proof and wouldn't ever know, unless Tony told him…

Assuming he ever saw Tony again.

America took off his coat and scarf. At least it wasn't too cold in the south of the good ol' USA. Still pretty cold though…

He walked over to the fridge, but frowned at its contents. He needed to go get some groceries, soon.

Aside from the odd pieces of food, there wasn't really anything substantial in there...

While Alfred desperately looked for something to eat, he sorted out his thoughts.

There were a few things he needed to do.

Firstly, he needed to convince Arthur Kirkland that he was the personification of England. Explaining that was going to be so much fun.

America took out the only edible-looking thing in the fridge, a week(?) old pizza and put it in the microwave.

… Secondly... Proof. I need more proof… he thought, tapping his fingers against the counter, impatiently. He needed to meet Mr Kirkland again, soon.

The microwave beeped and America took its contents out.

He took a cautious bite from the pizza, before properly eating it. Still tasted good enough. He walked into his living room and threw himself on the couch. He sighed, deeply.

At least finding the Brit wouldn't be too difficult. It wasn't like there were that many English Arthur Kirklands around and with the president being more than happy to keep his nation from getting "moody" again...

Arthur had not slept well that night. Why that meeting had bothered him so much, he really didn't know.

Probably because that bloody git tore off my glasses without asking or...!

He tried not to think about it anymore, with only a little success.

Arthur sat alone in the living room, listening to the TV.

He had been sent home early from work. His co-workers noticed that he was finding it difficult to concentrate and kept messing things up. Mr. Connors decided that Arthur was too unfocused and must be ill. After a lot of arguing, they eventually convinced the Brit to go home.

But Arthur wasn't ill.

His dreams were bothering him. A lot more than usual. Unlike the usual rhythm of one bizarre dream per night, he'd had multiple dreams in one go, and they'd really messed him up.

Again, no memory of them, other than that they were incredibly strange.

Perhaps that Jones fellow triggered something...

Sighing, Arthur took a sip of his coffee. Really, he'd prefer tea, but they'd run out. Again. He would have to complain to Maria. She continually forgot to buy tea.

Arthur lolled his head a little bit. He was bored.

Lilli was still at school and wouldn't be back for a while. Maria and Jack were working. And nothing was on TV or the Radio! And he could not be bothered to use the internet.

He grabbed a cushion and attempted to balance it on his head.

The doorbell rang.

Startled, the cushion fell to the floor and Arthur hurriedly felt for it, before throwing it in the hopeful direction of the sofa.

Who was that? Was it Lilli? Maybe he lost track of time and school had already finished? But didn't she usually have her key with her?

Arthur got up and felt the living room clock. No, it was nowhere near three o'clock. So it wasn't Lilli.

… So who was it?

Arthur grabbed his cane, in case of danger and slowly opened the front door.

"Arthur!" a happy, unmistakable American greeted him, pulling the shocked Brit into a hug.

Arthur was momentarily stunned and dropped his cane.

"What… What the bloody hell are you doing here!?" Arthur demanded, finally recovering from the shock. "Get off me!" he then yelled, pushing Alfred away from him. The American laughed. It aggravated Arthur.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing. Say, this is a nice place you've got here," Alfred continued, walking past Arthur, into the hallway.

"H-hey! You can't just barge in uninvited!"

"But Arthur, I just did," Alfred replied, innocently. Arthur's fists clenched.

"Get out now, or I call the police. Government official or not, you have no righ-"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything. Just thought I'd, you know, drop by."

"God, what are you? Some kind of criminal? You can't just-"

"I already told you, I'm the hero. There are no criminal heroes, are there?"

Arthur frowned, increasingly angry and uncomfortable and just a little bit scared. A complete stranger had found out where he lived and had barged into his home. He was terrified.

Arthur quietly reached for his cane on the floor, but found that Alfred was standing on it.

"You wouldn't attack me... Would you? I really do mean you no harm," Alfred said. Arthur almost believed him.

"I… I was just getting my cane. I need it to see where I'm going, idiot," Arthur partially lied. Alfred got off the cane.

"Arthur, I swear to you, I really do mean you no harm. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Stop calling me Arthur! Just… Just stop calling me anything! What do you want!? Why are you in my home?"

"I wanted to talk to you!"

Arthur's frown deepened and he had to force himself not to hold his cane defensively.

"… Why?" he asked.

"Because… You remind me of someone I once knew… And it's possible that you're him."

Arthur was silent.

"You think you… You think I'm someone you knew?" Arthur asked.

"Yes. You have the same name and same face… I'm sorry I took your glasses off, but I needed to know," Alfred was choosing his words very carefully. This meet-up wasn't going well and he wanted to avoid it going from bad to worse.

"I…"

"Arth- Mr Kirkland, is there any chance… Is there any chance you might not be the man you think you are?" he asked.

Arthur was silent. Alfred remained quiet, waiting for a reaction, an answer. Arthur still said nothing. Alfred swallowed nervously and opened his mouth to speak.

The Brit closed the front door.

"We better sit down for this," he said.

The two had settled down in the living room. Arthur had made Alfred a cup of coffee. The two hadn't spoken a word yet. Since being invited in, everything had been uncomfortably quiet.

"So… You think I might be… The Arthur you once knew?" he asked.

"Yes. I'm actually pretty certain, but… Well."

"But if you think I'm… whoever this other Arthur Kirkland is… Why didn't you say anything last week?"

"The Arthur me and my friends knew, wasn't blind. At least, not when we last saw him. When we found out you were... We assumed you couldn't be... But... Well. I had a hunch."

Arthur was silent.

"So… I assume you suffer from amnesia?"

"Yes. I can't remember anything from before a year ago."

"A year ago?"

"Yes… Did I disappear a year ago-"

"No. You've been missing for much longer than that."

"I was a teenager when I disappeared?" Arthur asked, alarmed. Alfred bit his lip.

"… Yes," he lied. "Which brings me to my next question… How old are you?"

"I … Well, I think I'm twenty-three. Fairly certain… Which can get confusing, since I haven't celebrated a birthday yet… I could be twenty-four now… Still feel like I'm twenty-three though…"

"Well, you're the same age as my friend's."

"Alfred… Did you really know me?"

"I told you, I don't know. I'm pretty certain, but… I've been wrong before."

"… Well… "

"Do you still lie about your favourite type of tea being Earl Grey?"

"How did you know that?"

"I'm very certain that you're him."

Silence.

"… So… If you knew me and I knew you… Who were you, to me?"

"Me? I was a…" Alfred paused and looked away. "… We were friends. Of sorts. It was complicated. Really complicated. I mean, there were others that had it more difficult than us, but... Communication was a huge problem."

More silence.

"... Could you tell me what your earliest memories are? Please?"

Arthur frowned. His grip on his cup of coffee tightened. "Fine, I'll tell you. But I can't remember much..."

My eyes flinched. There was a sudden, horrible light, all around me. I wanted to block it out, but I couldn't move. I didn't feel strong enough. I felt nothing. I was completely numb.

My head hurt and everything was spinning. I opened my eyes, but I couldn't see anything. The light grew brighter, but I couldn't see.

I didn't know what to do, I felt helpless and confused. I could start feeling pain as the numbness ebbed away and suddenly, the mist and confusion was lifted and everything was suddenly too clear and loud. I could smell. I could hear. It was too noisy. Too loud. And everything smelt terrible, it was such a nightmarish stench, it lingered in the air, in the clothes, in the hair... Everywhere.

I felt something land on me. It was heavy. It hurt. I tried to scream, but my throat was too dry and sore. I didn't react. I think I heard a younger, female voice groan in pain. Then I heard a gasp. Shortly after, I heard a loud clunk, as if something had been thrown open. Then I passed out again.

When I next woke up, I was in a bed. My fingers twitched, but I couldn't move my arm. I wanted to see what was wrong with it, but I saw nothing.

I was scared and confused. I remembered nothing and I slowly realised that this wasn't normal.

I wanted to speak, call for help, but I still couldn't. I soon, involuntarily, drifted back to sleep.

I drifted in and out of sleep several times, each time I woke up alone, at least, no one came up to me or talked to me. I grew more and more distressed...

Eventually, I woke up with someone else present. I was partially relieved to know I wasn't alone, but the confusion and fear remained.

They didn't notice that I woke up. They continued talking. I listened in.

"The police have come up with nothing. I'm afraid that we'll never know what happened to them until they wake up."

"Well, at least they're being looked after now…" a female voice muttered.

"It's so expensive to keep them here though," another voice complained.

"Yes, but if we don't pay, who will? They don't seem to have any connections with anyone. They're all on their own."

"I'm sure someone will eventually come for them," the first voice reassured.

"But who? As far as we can tell, they're two nobodies that probably got mixed up in some bad business."

"… That is a possibility," the first voice agreed.

I was confused by what they meant with "them", but remembered hearing someone groan when I couldn't, back when I woke up in that horrid place.

"I'm sure that the two will be grateful for all the care you've been providing them with," he continued.

"I suppose," said the other male voice. The woman gave a soft mumble of agreement.

"We should leave them now. They obviously aren't going to wake up any time soon and until then, we can't do anything," the first voice said.

I didn't want to be left alone again. So I attempted to speak. I coughed instead, but it was better than nothing.

The three seemed surprised and I heard them come over.

"Hello?" the first voice asked. "Are you awake? Can you speak? Are you in any pain?"

I didn't know what to say for a moment. I cleared my throat.

"Water…" I managed to choke out. I heard some shuffling, before I felt the rim of a cup, held to my mouth. I drank some of it.

"Thank you…" I said.

"How do you feel?" the first voice asked.

"I don't feel well…Where am I?" I asked.

"You're in a hospital," the first voice replied "I'm Dr. Slodon, your doctor. You're safe here, nothing can happen to you. We've tended to your injuries, you should make a full recovery. Do you perhaps know why you had to be taken to a hospital?"

"I… I don't know. I was... hurt? Did I hurt myself?"

"You're hurt, but I'm afraid we don't know why. But don't worry, you're safe here."

He kept reassuring me that I was safe. I liked that. Because I really didn't feel it.

"So... You don't remember how you got hurt?" he asked.

"… No… I… I can't remember anything. Don't you know anything?"

"I'm afraid not. We were hoping you could tell us… What do you remember?"

"I… I remember briefly waking up in a… smelly place."

"Anything else? How about where you live? Your job? Perhaps your childhood? Anything?"

"… No… Nothing. I… I can't remember anything, but… waking up."

"Do you remember your name?" Dr Slodon asked.

"No- No wait... I… I remember something..." I tried to sort my mind and remember something, anything, other than what I remember since waking up.

"... Arthur Kirkland..." I said, but then felt a twinge. "No... That's not my name... Well, it is, but it doesn't feel like my real one..." I muttered, frowning.

"Well, Arthur Kirkland is a good start. Perhaps he's a friend of yours," Doctor Slodon said, comfortingly. I managed to smile.

"Tell me, do you recognise this girl?" he then asked.

"I can't see anything," I said, quietly.

"Really? Let me see." I felt someone gently grab my face and tilt it back. A light shone in my eyes and I tried to close my eyes, but couldn't. Dr Slodon let go of my face, muttering apologies.

"I'm sorry for not having noticed this earlier. You're blind, Mr Kirkland. Do you know if…"

"No. I don't know if I was blind before."

"All right. Thank you, Mr Kirkland."

"Then Lilli woke up, she turned out to be unable to speak, and after a lot of talks with the police and the hospital, we were both dismissed as new citizens of the US. Maria and Jack took us in... Jack at first insisted it was just until I could support myself and Lilli, but we became like a family, so even though I could support myself and Lilli... We've stayed. The place I woke up in was a dumpster, which is where Maria found us. She says we were everything short of being battered, bruised and broken. Apparently, I had been holding Lilli tightly, as if she were my only hope or something. It's been roughly a year since then."

America was silent.

It seemed England wasn't the only, possibly-no-longer missing nation.

But Arthur's story indicated furthermore that this was England, as Arthur had noted that Arthur Kirkland didn't feel like his "real" name.

But the mystery deepened. How had the two ended up beaten and broken in a dumpster? And how come Liechtenstein likewise had a disability?

At least some of my questions are answered... Even if they've created more.

"Alfred?" Arthur asked, noticing that America had fallen silent.

"Hm, what?"

"You... You were quiet."

"Sorry, I was just thinking about what you said. It makes sense… But it still doesn't tell me what happened to you." Or the others.

"... So, can you tell me who I am? I'm not really Arthur Kirkland, am I?"

"Huh, wha'? Oh yeah, your name isn't Arthur Kirkland." America replied offhandedly, still deep in thought.

"So what is it?" Arthur asked, increasingly curious.

"Hm?" America asked, still not focused on the matter at hand

"What is my name?" Arthur repeated again.

"Oh, right. It's England," America replied dismissively, his thoughts still revolving around the nation-nap mystery. There was a long silence, that America failed to notice.

"What do you mean by that?" Arthur asked, lowly.

*A nation can sense when another personification is in their country. Of course, this kind of cancels out when everyone is in their country. They can't specify who is in their country either... So yeah.

Chapter 3 - Edited.