Disclaimer: I am not awesome enough to own any of the Hetalia characters. I only own Victorea, Mrs. Mervosa, the four orphans, and the father and mother of Alfred and Matthew (and sorta Artie).

Victorea took the bus home, as usual. It wasn't anything different, but she felt like she could throw up. Asking a favor of Mrs. Mervosa was signing a pact with Satan. Victorea was lucky that Mrs. Mervosa allowed her to go to Church on Sundays. She didn't know what type religion she practiced.

Maybe Satanism, she thought with a small chuckle.

She was the last person on the bus every afternoon, and the first one on every morning. This was good, considering she didn't want anyone to find out where she lived – someone might know who ran the orphanage and maybe try to get her out of it; which wouldn't have bothered her before so much if it weren't for her new friends. She had never had friends before. So if she were moved to a different orphanage, it would most likely be away from the school she loved so much. She didn't understand how having friends could make such a difference in her life, but it did.

The bus stopped off at what appeared to be nothing, snapping Victorea out of her thoughts. The bus was on a small dirt pathway that formed a "U", just barely large enough to fit the bulky vehicle. At the curve of the "U", the bus driver had stopped, and Victorea thanked the elderly man as she did every day, and walked to the very tip of the "U", hearing the bus drive away but not looking back, knowing full well that the driver was a little confused as to her location of departure. Nobody seems to know that there is a house back here – a very large one, at that – so the bus driver seems to think that she lives in the woods. She giggled a little at the thought.

She walked through the trees for a few yards, and found what she was looking for – a small dirt path only big enough for one person to walk on. She followed the path, admiring the nature around her. The path went along for about a half a mile or so, so she made due with the time by smiling at the deer and squirrels and thinking about random things. She liked to be alone outside to think, it was something she deeply enjoyed for reasons she could not explain.

And this time her mind wandered over to Arthur. She usually let her mind wander to think about whatever it wanted, but she was wary about this topic of thought, so she tried to think of something else – the daisies flowing in the wind, the birds singing, anything. But her mind wandered where it wanted to. Why did she want to think about him so much, and why was she afraid to?

Stupid brain, she thought darkly.

But she gave the organ what it wanted, and let it think about him. She liked his accent. She liked all of the accents of the students at her school, they were all unique to their country. But there was something about his accent that she really liked. A smooth British accent that really only cracked when he was yelling at Francis or Alfred. And she liked the way he called her "love." She had never heard him call anyone else that. She dismissed the blush creeping along her cheeks as she thought of his bright, grass-green eyes as the heat of the late May sun.

Late May, Victorea stopped in her tracks for a moment, before continuing, shaking her head slightly in surprise. My birthday is tomorrow. I must've forgotten. Today is the 29th.

….

"ALFRED FRANKLIN JONES YOU BASTARD!" Arthur screeched at his half-brother, chasing him around their large living room. "GIVE ME THAT BACK OR SO HELP ME GOD –"

"Awww, come and get it, Artie!" Alfred laughed manically, using his superior strength against Arthur. He was holding a book.

Matthew sat on the couch silently, watching them with a detached interest as they squabbled. This was an everyday occurrence, really, so it wasn't anything important. Kumajirou was propped next to Matthew as he raised an eyebrow at Alfred – he had stopped and merely held the book up high, out of Arthur's reach. Arthur struggled as he tried to reach it, with Alfred standing almost completely still, a wide smirk on his face.

"Alfred! Arthur! That is enough!" A male voice boomed from another room, and everyone froze, eyes wide. Alfred quickly dropped the book, and Arthur slowly reached down to pick it up, as if the slightest noise could set their father off. When he yelled, he meant business.

Arthur slowly walked back to where he was sitting, a large armchair, and opened the book up again. Alfred sat on the couch next to Matthew, with Kumajirou between them.

"So…" Alfred began, kicking his legs up and down childishly, "What do you think we should do for Victorea when she comes over?"

"What?" Arthur looked up from his book, a look of surprise on his face. "I thought Victorea had to ask first. Did she confirm?"

"Well, no," Alfred rubbed the back of his neck, "But she said she didn't have a phone available to her, so she couldn't confirm it. The only way we'll know is if she…I dunno, shows up or something."

"Dammit, Alfred!" Arthur put his book down on the end table face-down and open. "You should have done something! She could write a letter to us or something like that!"

Alfred laughed at the idea, all three of them knowing full well that writing was not an option. But then his face changed dramatically as he stopped laughing abruptly and appeared horrified at something, staring at the wall.

"What?" Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"Uh oh, Alfred," Mattie seemed a little scared, too. "You forgot to give her our address, didn't you?"

Alfred nodded, looking ashamed. "Son of a bitch, how could I have forgotten that?"

Arthur cussed under his breath at his brother's stupidity.

"Well, I know her address, at least," Mattie said simply. Both of his brothers turned to look at him, and his twin poked him in the side to tell him to continue. "Well, Gilbert rides her bus, and he likes to talk to the bus driver, and he said that he was confused that she had to get dropped off at the Leander Curve."

"The Leander Curve?" Arthur tilted his head. "Isn't that just a big dirt road?"

"I think so," Mattie confirmed. "Gilbert said he asked about it a little more, because he was curious about her, too, and he said that he just dropped her off at the farthest point of the turn, and she walked into the woods on her own. He said that he didn't think there was any house there, so it must be really new."

Alfred thought about this. "Well, maybe we can go to her house and ask her about coming over!"

Arthur was beside himself at this. "Are you kidding? Go to her house uninvited, to ask her about coming here?"

"Why not?"

"You dolt, that's impolite!"

"We all know that you want to see her real bad, dude. It'll be fine," Alfred said, a small smirk gracing his lips.

Arthur blushed a little at this. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you do, Artie!" Alfred seemed to be enjoying this. "You liiiiiiiiike her, don't you?"

Mattie rolled his eyes. "We better get going, then."

"Right," Arthur agreed, ignoring Alfred's cooing and singing, "Arthur and Victorea, sitting in a tree…"

"Can you drive us, Arthur?" Mattie asked politely.

"Course, I didn't get my license just to show it off," Arthur walked over a little to the hallway, calling, "We are going out for a drive, we'll be back soon!"

There was a pause, then, "Alright, you be safe!"

"We will!" Arthur called back. Then he turned to his brothers, both of whom were already at the door, Mattie hugging Kumajirou and trying to silence his twin's singing of "First comes love, then comes marriage…"

….

Victorea reached her orphanage, sighing. It really was a lovely place, just not with lovely people.

The house was a two-story Arcachon villa that was really beautiful to look at. It had white, almost marble walls with a brick design on the top floor's walls, a patio on both floors that stretched over the front of the house, a brick-red roof, and white shutters. All around it were trees and bushes, and the lawn was very well-trimmed. (1)

She sighed before walking into the building, walking up the steps to the large wooden door. She knocked, waited, and when nobody answered, she let herself in. This was the typical thing for them, because they said that Victorea was not worth answering the door over, so Mrs. Mervosa said to just walk in.

The inside of the building was grand, as well. A large living room with no ceiling so that you could see upstairs, and a large staircase that wound a little to go upstairs. There wasn't a lot of furniture, mostly a large couch with a side table on one side, a lamp on the other, and a coffee table. There was a bookshelf full of books that lined the wall, and on the other end was another door that led to the kitchen.

"There you are," a woman hissed as she walked down the stairs. Victorea knew that there was nothing upstairs but a hallway that led to the other orphans rooms, four of them, and Mrs. Mervosa's room. Victorea slept in the barn.

The woman was tall and thin, with a permanent glare set on her face. She was wearing a red dress with a green amulet necklace, and her shoulder-length hair was beginning to grey from its original black, but she was rather pretty, if you exclude the hate in her brown eyes and her constant scowl. That was Mrs. Mervosa.

Victorea only nodded in her direction, she was ordered not to speak unless told to by Mrs. Mervosa and Mrs. Mervosa only – the woman couldn't stand her accent.

"I want you to clean the floors downstairs. You did the upstairs yesterday, is that correct?"

Victorea nodded again.

"I couldn't tell. Do them again, as well. And when you're done, you can go out to the barn."

Victorea bowed her head to the woman in respect, trying to hide a smile. She loved the barn. There were no horses in it yet, but she imagined there were.

Before Mrs. Mervosa left, Victorea remembered what she needed to ask. "Mrs. Mervosa?"

The woman turned back to Victorea and scowled, her voice shaking a little as she asked, "Yes?"

"I was wondering if I could go to a friend's house later tomorrow, if that's alright with you."

She glared at Victorea for a long time. It felt like forever. Victorea could see a reason why Mrs. Mervosa would want her to go, and a reason why she would not want her to go. If she left, she would be out of their hair for a while, which is what they like. But she might want Victorea to stay and do chores, so it was very uncertain.

"Let me think about it for a while, alright?"

Victorea held back a sigh of relief. She was afraid she'd be punished. She nodded once in her direction, and stood there until she left, which was polite to do (at least, Mrs. Mervosa thought so). Then she walked to the kitchen area, which was a typical modern kitchen, and went to the closet that had all of the cleaning supplies in there. She grabbed the bucket, a cloth, and some Pine sol. As she filled the bucket with water, she decided that she didn't mind the chores that were always given to her as much as other people would. Sure, she'd rather do something else, but this was at least productive.

….

"Are we there yet?" Alfred mock whined. He wasn't being serious – the ride was only ten minutes long – but he liked to get on Arthur's nerves. It was really easy, anyway.

"Yes, Alfred," Arthur hissed between his teeth, his grip on the steering wheel of his black PT Cruiser making his knuckles white. "We are here."

"Wait, really?" Alfred looked quickly out his window – Arthur stuck him in the back with Matthew in the passenger seat – and sure enough, they were turning into the Leander Curve. The dirt crunched under the tires as the car made its sharp turn into the abandoned road.

"So you said it was right at the end of the "U"?" Arthur asked as he stopped the car at the curve of the road.

"Yes," Mattie answered. "You can even see the tracks left by the bus."

It was true – the tire tracks were from the bus, unless there were other people who had to make a turn here.

"Okay, so…" Arthur looked around. "Where do we go from here?"

Alfred pulled out his iPhone and began typing in it quickly. Arthur was about to scold him for pulling it out when he held it up to the both of them. It was Google Earth, and Alfred had pulled up a picture of the Leander Curve. Arthur raised an eyebrow, and Alfred scooted in a little closer so he could see the screen too, and scrolled up a little. A large house sat in a clearing not far from here.

"That was a bloody brilliant idea, Alfred. I'm impressed," Arthur crossed his arms.

Alfred beamed. "A hero never gives up!"

Arthur rolled his eyes and looked at the map again. "We should start walking then."

"Alright with us," Mattie piped in quietly ("us" meaning Kumajirou and himself).

So they began their walk through the woods.

….

Victorea was continuing her chore, her knees and one hand that she used to prop herself up with hurting a little, and her back aching, but she didn't mind. She continued to think about the story of Cinderella as she worked, imagining her happy ending. She hummed happily to the song she loved to hear as a little girl from her mother, "Sing Sweet Nightingale," which also suited the situation, seeing as the scene that Cinderella was singing this in is similar to Victorea's situation. She smiled at the idea. She's like a princess.

Before she could finish the otherwise short song, she heard a knock at the door. That's unusual. Nobody usually knocks on the door unless someone is here to adopt, and that has only happened once, and Mrs. Mervosa nearly sent the couple running when she glared at them, because they wanted to pick Victorea instead of the other four girls.

"Girls!" Speaking of the devil…Victorea thought. "Get ready! We might have an adoption! You know the rules!"

There was no noise heard other than Mrs. Mervosa's heels clicking on the marble stairs, but Victorea guessed they were in their rooms, and that they heard. Victorea didn't speak, because she knew that Mrs. Mervosa didn't want Victorea included in her pampered girls show, but she looked at the evil woman, and she flicked her hand at her to tell her to keep going with what she was doing.

Victorea looked down at her clothes. She had her apron on, so if it was an adoption, the people wouldn't guess she was available. Oh well, she thought, continuing her working. I'll have my chance eventually.

The doorbell rang again, and Mrs. Mervosa straightened her dress and combed her fingers through her hair before opening it. Victorea didn't bother to look to see who it was, in case she would get yelled at, but when the person spoke, her heart both dropped into her stomach and leaped into her throat. It was a weird feeling.

"Hello, madam. We're just here looking for Victorea."

It was Arthur.

Oh no.

There was silence for a moment, and Victorea could almost feel the angry electricity crackling through the air. Victorea cannot have guests over uninvited, and Mrs. Mervosa never confirmed whether Victorea could go to their house or not. This is bad.

"Victorea?" Mrs. Mervosa said through gritted teeth. Victorea finally looked up, and was surprised to see not only Arthur, but Alfred and Matthew as well. They were all looking past Mrs. Mervosa at her, appearing shocked and scared. It must come as a shocker to see their friend being enslaved, but they also looked afraid of the woman standing in front of them. When she called Victorea, she did not look back at her. She never looks at Victorea directly unless being punished. She believes that Victorea is lower than her, therefore Victorea does not deserve the respect.

She gulped.

….

The woman standing in front of Arthur looked like she wanted to transform into a lion and swallow the three of them whole. Something about her appearance chilled Arthur to the bone, and when she called for Victorea, it sounded like she wanted to spit.

But what was really strange was seeing Victorea. She looked like a slave.

She did not speak, but he could see her slowly get up. She looked terrified. "Who are these boys?" Victorea shuffled her feet, again saying nothing. "Are these people your friends you asked me about earlier?"

"Yes, ma'am." She was shaking.

"And did I approve of your offer to spend time with them?"

A pause, then. "No, ma'am."

"So why are they here?" She did not look at Victorea, but continued to glare at each one of them, as if sizing them up.

Victorea shuffled her feet again and mumbled something.

"Speak up!" the woman shouted at her, finally turning.

Victorea looked momentarily stunned, before looking at the floor again, saying, "I don't know, ma'am."

"You. Don't. Know?" she practically hissed.

"Um, madam? If I'm not interrupting anything," Arthur interceded. The woman – probably Mrs. Mervosa, if he remembered correctly – turned back to glare at him. Victorea behind her looked grateful. "Victorea did not know we were coming. We were never given a phone number or e-mail, so we couldn't know if and when she was arriving. We're sorry if we caused any trouble."

Mrs. Mervosa looked at them again for a moment, thinking. Then, she smiled. It looked painful. "Well, alright then." Behind her, Victorea looked completely taken aback. It appears that she doesn't smile often. "Victorea?"

She barked the command like a dog, and Victorea immediately walked over next to her. She said nothing, but looked at Arthur, Alfred, and Matthew pitifully, as if apologizing. She looked like an abused puppy.

"Get yourself ready. You are allowed to spend the entire weekend with these boys." All four of them blinked in surprise. The whole weekend? This can't be good. Victorea was a little hunched over, nodding once. Before she could pull away to get ready, however, Mrs. Mervosa snapped, "Pull yourself together!" Victorea straightened her back, a blank expression on her face. Like a trained abused puppy, then.

"I want you to understand that when you get back, your chores will be tripled. Is that clear?" Her smile faltered into a frown again.

Victorea nodded.

"And that while you are gone, the other girls will have to do the chores. Is that clear?"

A look of terror crossed her face, but she nodded. Arthur didn't understand why that was so bad. Triple the chores would have been the bad one, but letting his siblings do his work was never a problem for him.

Mrs. Mervosa turned to Victorea and looked her deeply in the eye. Victorea kept her composed posture, but her eyes gave away that she was petrified. "Then do as I ask."

"Y-yes ma'am," Victorea nodded.

"DO NOT SPEAK UNLESS NECESSARY!" The woman screeched, and Victorea backed up a little, nodded once, and practically ran into the house and into another door that was open, revealing a kitchen. The woman watched her go, then slowly turned back to the three. Her voice was much quieter in comparison to her yelling. She did not bother to smile. "Have a good day."

And she slammed the door shut, inches away from Arthur's nose. There was the faint clicking of heels for a while, then faded away.

There was a long pause before Alfred said, "Well. That was something."

"She was something." Matthew muttered, shaking a little. Alfred put his hand on his twin's shoulder and rubbed a little.

"How can Victorea live with that wretched bitch!?" Arthur hissed under his breath, just in case the woman was still at the door. "When I get my hands on that…that…" His fists were shaking.

"Dude, calm down. I know she's a bitch, but we can't do anything about it." Alfred rolled his eyes. "Honestly, why are you getting so worked up over this?"

Arthur's fits unclenched, and he looked at the door, surprised. "I don't know." He squinted. "She was rude. She had no right to just slam the door in our faces and…And look at us like we were nothing b-but dirt under our shoes and…And she should not have yelled at Victorea! Victorea had nothing to do with this, and she got yelled at for answering a fucking question!"

The twins exchanged a glance, knowing that that was what really got on his nerves. But before Alfred could start his singing again, the door opened again, and Victorea walked out, turned, shut it quietly, and then smiled softly at the trio of boys. "Sorry for that. We should be leaving, before she changes her mind."

"A-alright," Arthur stuttered, surprised at her behavior. It was as if nothing happened. And as he led her to his car, he wondered what she really went through.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I'm sorry this is late again. I had finals to study for :P

But I'm done now, and I'm getting my surgery July 8th, so during my recovery, I can write a bit more.

I'm still open for requests on a "Lazy Day" chapter. I will call any chapters that have no significant meaning to the original storyline a "Lazy Day" chapter, because it will probably be a character or two doing something lazy like taking a walk in the park or something like that. I'm open for requests as for what you want to see in these chapters (please keep them rated T though). I would love to include not only Victorea, Arthur, Mattie, and Alfred, but if you guys want to see some action from some of the other Hetalia characters, please let me know :)

So we learned more about Victorea's life at the orphanage, and I hope you are at the edge of your seats right now wondering about her :) More will be revealed during her stay at the boy's house, I will tell you that much.

Have a wonderful day!

~Dreampainter

I got this design off of a Wikipedia page, and I'll give you folks the link to it so you can get a better picture of it:

wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Villa_