Then I was Young and Unafraid

Green eyes lively, England stepped into the home already seeking out his reason. "Where is the lad?" He inquired, pulling his coat off.

Taking it Switzerland jerked his head toward the dining room. "Eva is stuffing him full of sweets again," he told the other blond.

"America and Hong Kong both had quite the penchant for sweets as children too." The messy haired man chuckled.

The landlocked nation made a disgusted noise, but any smart remark was stopped with a quick, quieting glare from Germany. He then waved for both of them to come "If you'd come this vay..."

Sending Vash a final quizzical glance, England followed "Of course..."

Coming into the dining room, they found Liechtenstein had taken the young Austrian in her lap and was reading to him again from the book Ludwig had bought for him a couple days earlier.

"...And they all tumbled down." The teenager finished with a flourish as she put the book down next to the pair's empty dishes.

"That one again? It's so morbid." Germany sighed as he took a seat himself.

Fingers running through Austria's limp locks, the girl shrugged and smiled. "He likes it," she supplied; "Don't you Roddy?"

A small smile overcame his crumb-covered face. Reaching around, Germany cleaned up his mouth with an errant napkin from the table. "The least you could do is look presentable for our gast, hm?" He grumbled as the boy fussed.

Once his face was crumb-free, the brunette pouted slightly and murmured "Sorry."

England smiled from where he stood not far off. "It's no problem lad," he winked. "I've dealt with messier children!"

The boy actually grinned. The green-eyed man putting him more at ease than any of his neighbors had in the days he'd thus far spent with them. Climbing down from Liechtenstein's lap, he went and tugged at the British man's sleeve.

"Are you the one vho they called to fix me?"

Gaze soft, the man scooped Austria up into his arms. "I'm certainly going to try," he answered; "What do you think of that?"

"Vhat do you mean 'vhat do you think of that?'!" Switzerland snapped. "He doesn't get to think! He needs to be fixed!"

Green meet green. Bouncing the boy on his hip, England chided his fellow nation. "Magic is a tricky thing, it very much is attune with our being and with that of the world around us. If he is nervous or does not want to be 'fixed' as you so bluntly put it, it could very well go horribly wrong if I were to even attempt it."

The Continental nations quiet. Never had they thought about how the magic worked. Only that England could use it and correct what was wrong with their neighbor. It had never felt as if it couldn't be controlled. All the lore, literature, and films always made it seem as if magic was controlled solely and completely by those who wield it.

"Now you're getting it!" The Englishman muttered as he turned a smile once more on the boy. "So, lad, how are you feeling? Do you like it here so far?"

Austria looked between them and England. "Meinen Schweiz is better," he eventually answered. "I vant meinen schweiz back...if I let you fix me, vill I get him back?

"'back' is relative, but in a sense, you would have the Switzerland you remember returned to you."

A determined looks crossed the gentle-face. "Then you can do your magie."

Smile so very soft, England puts the boy on the table and begins to mutter to himself as take outs a wand from his back pocket. Pausing mid-wave to inspect the boy's eyes he mumbled; "...how did you find a fairy, lad? You can't even see them..." Arthur's eyes gave a faint glow. "...Wishes are tricky magic, I'll have to change the wish..." The blond stilled; a hand on the brunette's face and the other holding the wand as his eyes light up like a lantern. "Yes, yes, yes!" He chanted. A moment later, the man fainted and if Germany hadn't been ready to spring forth at any moment; he would have hit the ground.

Slapping the other nation's cheek, he growled; "England!"

Blond lashes fluttered open. "So sorry," he mumbled. "Wishes are tricky magic...they can't really be 'fixed'. However, Austria should be himself again in a little over three weeks."

Switzerland shouted without words.

"Halt den Mund!" Germany snapped. "A month is nothing!"

Austria, from where he was on the table looked around dazed. "Germany..." he called quietly.

"Ja Österreich?"

Purple eyes focused on him in a way that hadn't in several days. "Vhy...vhy am I sitting on a table at Schweiz's home?"

"Vhat do you mean?" The blond man demanded.

England winced as he pulled away, "...Bugger, I worried that this would happen;" he sighed.

"You vorried this vould happen? Vhat is 'this'?" Ludwig questioned.

Austria, for his part, was staring horrified at his hands. "V-vhat happened?! Vhy am I a junge!"

Ignoring Germany, Arthur put a hand on Austria's knee as he attempted to steady himself. "Calm down lad, you just had a bit of a mishap with a fairy..."

"Fairies aren't real!"

A bushy eyebrow twitched. "Is that so? This isn't enough proof for you?"

Tears were sprouting in purple irises. "This is just a traum-it's not-it's not real!" He muttered to himself as he began to snivel into his knees.

"Österreich-"

The boy threw a plate at them. "Nein!" He shrieked, flopping onto his back where he began to yell; "Nein! Nein!"

England picked him up. Bouncing on the balls of his feet, he kept a strong hold on Austria as he continued to cry and lash out. "Calm down lad..." he soothed, "Your friends will get you all straightened out if you calm down..."

The boy didn't really become any calmer, he simply lost the energy to scream anymore and as the blond continued to bounce; Austria dozed off. Looking over the tiny body, he remarked; "I think it'll be best if I tell you what to expect and then you can explain it as you will to him when he's awake."

Collapsing into a chair, Germany bobbed his head in agreement. "Danke."

"No problem," he replied with a quick grin. "Now..."

There we have it! A bit of the Austria we are familiar with was returned! What do you think of that?

To reviewers, pirateANDelf, Onyxlark36, and Esta Bondevik; thanks so, so much! It means a lot to get reviews. Also, we're doing fairly well on that one goal of mine...remember ten reviews by chapter five means the eleventh review will get a one-shot of their choosing!

Thank you everybody for reading and pretty please review!

P.S. check out the poll on my page, it's actually a pretty important question for me!

Words:

Ja-Yes

Nein-No

Junge-Boy

Gast-Guest

Magie-Magic

Traum-Dream

Danke-Thanks

Österreich-Austria

Halt Den Mund-Shut up

(Meinen) Schweiz-(My) Switzerland

*Thanks times a million to Mite for the corrections of my German!*