1965

As her ice cream melted, Vietnam watched two children play under the sun. They were both girls, singing happily. Somehow, the happiness was drowned in fear when a foreigner approached them with a basket of flowers.

He held out the basket, smiling and offering his flowers. The two girls ran away, calling him a thief.

Vietnam ran up to the enemy, holding up a rifle. "You don't belong here, American."

"I'm not your enemy. I'm merely a friend of yours."

"You're a threat, now get lost."

He dropped the basket of flowers, sadly looking into her eyes. "I'm sorry that you think that. It's sad that we're not friends anymore. I do try to get along with your people but they just run away."

"Exactly, you're a threat!" Vietnam snapped, pushing him back with her rifle. "Go run back to where you came from."

"I come from America, but here I stand, in a land of communism and barbaric people, with the one and only love of my life."

"Call my people that again and I'll kill you!" Vietnam warned, then slapped him. She made sure she slapped him hard enough to anger him. "As I told you, get lost!"

America gave her the eyes of evil intentions, but didn't say anything. He kicked the basket of flowers at her, then left.

Later that day they met once again, but it was less safe. Too many unknown enemies bordered the village, but at the same time, it would be easier to escape trouble. The moon was at its peak.

America was sitting on the ground with a letter in one hand, a pen in the other. He looked miserable and cold, which made Vietnam feel guilty. She wanted him to go back to his own country to be safe and away from the hazardous surroundings of war.

She crept up to him, then asked, "Are you alright? Do you want to take shelter with me?"

He looked up at her, then folded the letter up. "I thought you said I was a threat."

"Well, what are you doing?" Vietnam asked, feeling awkward.

"I'm writing a letter to England." he said, looking back down. "He's probably awake right now, wondering if I'm okay..."

Before she could reply, he began to cry. "I want to see him, but I can't afford to leave my soldiers stranded in this unfamiliar place. We have so many disadvantages here."

"I'm sorry you're so distressed." Vietnam sat herself down next to him, then wiped away his tears. "You're free to leave anytime. I'm sure your troops will do just fine."

"You're so nice. Why can't you be like this all the time?"

"I'm sorry that you don't know the definition of war." she said coldly, then looked up to the stars.

Unfolding the letter, America read, "Dear England, I want you to know that I'm perfectly safe and I haven't yet witnessed any battles. We've just talked it out."

Vietnam sneered, then wrapped her arm around him. "He's not an idiot. He knows what war is like, so I suggest you restart that entire letter."

"I'm out of paper..."

"Then leave it. He already knows you're okay. If you really are worried, I'll make sure you're okay." Vietnam didn't know how she felt about what she said. It didn't sound promising, but she hated seeing her friend in such a bad state. She held him closer to her, and for once, she didn't fear him.

Something told her he wasn't the the faithful type though, and she began to regret what she said. "As long as you do the same."

"I will."

China and Japan were always fighting. Japan was clearly jealous of his brother's power. Somehow, China always sounded more angry. When they got into the quarrel, Vietnam tended to side with China. She tried not to embroil herself in their arguments, though usually she'd get involved.

"You lost the war! You're a fail, Japan!" South Korea said, stupidly joining the conversation.

China was too mad to reprimand South Korea. "Japan, you need to stop concentrating on power all the time and just be happy that you're one place below me!"

"Do you think you're on top of the world? Honestly, you act as if you're a god."

"Everyone know I'm catching up to America!" China shouted, then grabbed Japan's collar. They fought for a minute before Vietnam broke them apart.

"You two needs to pull yourselves together! Japan, China is advancing and everyone already knows he's number one on the economy list. After all, no inexperienced, lying cult can stay number one forever."

"But if he's convincing enough to trick some dumb fuck into a billion dollars worth of debt, he must know real power."

In that moment, Vietnam wanted to stab Japan. "Face the facts, Kiku Honda! You're only going to get worse if all you're looking for is power!"

She stormed out of the room. Her brother had horrible gluttony when it came to having all the power. It reminded her of Russia and Germany back in the 40s.

Vietnam found her bed, then threw herself on top of it. Curling up in the sheets, she began to wonder why America had all the power he had. She felt envious of him, and vowed to torture him if she ever got the chance. Maybe write him fake letters of hate from the other nations, or continuously dump his head in water until he gave her all his money.

Even if she did steal all his money, contrition would catch up to her after a day or two.

Taiwan entered her room, holding up some money. "Want to go shopping?"

"You know what. I haven't done that in forever, so if I said yes, would you help me choose what to wear?"

Taiwan squealed in happiness, then rushed to Vietnam's closet. She sighed, then said, "You're clothing...it's not very fashionable. Don't worry though, we'll fix this closet."

She went to her own room, then brought out shorts, a crop top, and a kimono. "Put it on and we can head out!"

Vietnam tried on the outfit, but felt like the outfit revealed too much. "Perhaps a less... oh alright."

Taiwan helped her pick out some outfits, each being very pricey. They were fashionable and made Vietnam feel confident.

The mall itself was very beautiful. She hadn't been to one in ages, and it was all such a throwback. Taiwan suddenly grabbed her phone and posed with her, smiling. She snapped a picture, then hugged Vietnam. "This has all been so fun."

"It has been. Thanks."