Faded: finally! Chapter 3 of this dang story!

Riane: about time...

Faded: oh shut up. Anyways, I'd like to say congrats once again to akatsukigirl1230 for getting the correct answer to my little contest in the last chapter. Feel free to go check out the one-shot I wrote for her!

Riane: it's russiaxchina loveliness! :D

Faded: yep. So anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter!

Riane: TFG does not own APH in any way, shape, or form. She only owns the made up country of The Republic of Erina.


China & Erina

"We're home, aru." China nudged his sister lightly to wake her up. She stirred slightly, but didn't open her eyes. He sighed and smiled to himself; it was no surprise that she had fallen fast asleep, after all, he had woken her up early to get ready for the meeting.

He carried Erina to her room and tucked her into bed. He hoped he had done the right thing by bringing her to a meeting. He had always warned her that other nations might try to take her from him, but that was honestly the last thing on his mind. What truly concerned him was that someone (read: America) would plant the idea of independence in her mind. China had always given his sister certain freedoms, but it bothered him to think of her as being completely independent. He hated thinking that she would rebel in the same way Japan had, leaving him with another inerasable scar. Not that it really mattered anyways; Erina had always been an angel of a little sister.

***

"Gē ge?" Erina looked around for her brother. It had been a few days since the meeting and he seemed busier than usual. While it was normal for her brother to be working extra hard after a meeting, she had hardly seen him at all the past few days.

She walked into his bedroom wondering if he was perhaps still asleep. "Gē ge?" she called again, looking for any sign of him. She found a note addressed to her placed on his pillow. She read over the hastily written Chinese and sighed; her brother had gone out to run some errands and would be back in about an hour and half. Erina helped herself to some left-over chow mein that was in the fridge and ate it slowly, waiting for her brother to come home.

America & England

'Rrrring…rrrring…rrrring…'

America fiddled impatiently with his tie, waiting for someone to pick up before he lost his nerve and hung up himself. So sure, their relations had finally patched themselves up through the fact that their two bosses got along great; but, that didn't mean he enjoyed having to call England up for advice.

'Rrrring…rrrri—'

Finally.

"What is it now, America?" England asked the (not) slight irritation in his voice quite obvious.

"Hey, Iggy!" America greeted. "Wait…how'd you know it was me?"

"It's called caller ID, you git," England replied, not surprised when the American didn't understand. "Now what is it that you want?"

"Oh! Umm…" America thought for a moment, almost forgetting why he had called his not big brother up. "Oh yeah! What do you know about that kid that was with China at the meeting the other day?"

England paused, trying to piece together what America was trying to say through his terrible grammar. "Are you referring to the girl who tried to throw one of your hamburgers in the trash?"

America nodded excitedly until he remembered that England couldn't see what he was doing. "Yeah, her. Is she China's colony or something?"

"I'm not exactly sure, America," England told him. "That was my first time seeing her as well. Why don't you just ask China?"

"Hey! That's a good idea! I'll go visit him right now! Thanks Iggy!" England merely grunted and said goodbye, before completely hanging up. America stood and grabbed his jacket; it was time to pay his old ally a visit.

America & Erina

'Knock knock!'

Erina looked up from practicing her writing. Was China back already? She peeked out the window and saw not her brother, but America waiting at the door. She had been told not to let strangers in the house, but America wasn't a stranger to her. Well…maybe he was a bit strange, but he wasn't someone she didn't know.

'Knock knock!'

Deciding that it was ok, Erina opened the door. "Ni hao (1), Mr. America," she said, bowing to him.

America jumped slightly at the sound of her voice. "Oh! Hi…um…oh yeah! Erina! Hey, Erina!"

"Do you want to come in, aru?" she asked, standing to the side.

"Sure, thanks."

Once America entered the house, Erina immediately assumed her duty as a hostess. "Would you like something to eat or drink? Oh, and please take off your shoes. Gē ge is very strict about that, da."

"Oh, sorry." America slipped off his shoes and placed them by the door way. "Um…actually, I was wondering if I could talk to your—" What was China to this girl? Brother? Father? "If I could talk to China."

"Oh, gē ge is out running some errands right now," Erina told him, picking up her pen and continuing to practice writing Chinese. "Are you sure you don't need anything, Mr. America, aru?"

America shook his head. "You don't mind if I wait here till he comes back, do you?"

She paused in her writing. "No, it's ok. Please make yourself at home, da."

"Kay…" America seated himself on one of the chairs and watched Erina work. How could a girl her age not want any kind of freedom? She seemed content to stay under China's rule, with only a limited amount of freedom. Had he been like that when he was with England? America couldn't remember; the only thing he remembered from being a colony was finally breaking away from England's rule. Was that why he felt connected to this girl? It was possible, he supposed; she was very close with China, just as he had once been close with England.

"Mr. America? Are you alright, aru?" Erina was looking straight at him with unwavering brown eyes. She was slightly concerned for the older man who had been watching her. His face had held that same said look as when she had left her first meeting with her brother.

"Hmm? Oh, I'm fine." He smiled weakly and sighed.

"Oh! I know! I'll show you around, da!" Erina beamed at him, unable to hide her excitement. She stood up and grabbed his hand, dragging him toward her room.

"Wha? Are you sure?" he asked, marveling at how strong the tiny micronation was.

She nodded happily and pulled him into her room. "This is my room, aru!" she said with a bright smile.

The room was painted blue, with splotches of yellow here and there. Hanging above the window was a flag; it had a square of red and yellow in the upper left corner on top of the blue base, and taking up the rest of the flag was a simple yellow crescent moon. In one corner of the room was a table with a vase of sunflowers on it. A bed was pushed up against one of the walls facing out the window.

"It's very, um…colorful," America told her, surveying the room. "But don't you have a desk or table or something to work on?"

Erina shook her head. "I usually work on my lessons at the kitchen table, da." She took his hand again and led him outside.

"H-hey, I can walk, you know!" America told her indignantly, trying to pry his hand from Erina's death grip on it.

"Hmm? Oh, duí bù zhù (2), Mr. America. I was just kind of excited. We don't normally get visitors, aru." She blushed slightly as she let go of his hand, feeling more than a little embarrassed.

"Heh…it's fine. Though, I am wondering where you got so strong," he asked, following her through the corridors of the house.

"Oh, that? Well, both papa and gē ge taught me how to do martial arts. I even beat my friend Georgia one time!" she answered, smiling. "But I'm only allowed to do it if I'm in trouble or if it's just for fun, da."

"Oh, well that's cool."

The two of them finally reached the outdoor gardens. America was in awe at the sight. There were orchids, bamboo plants, and lotuses all over the place as well as other plants that he couldn't name. Hell, China even had a koi pond in the garden! Erina skipped over to the pond and gazed down at fish swimming around. "Ni hao, xiǎo yú (3)," she giggled, sprinkling some food into the pond for them.

"So, um…do you like living with China?" he asked, glancing back at the sprawling one story house.

She nodded happily. "Yes. Gē ge takes very good care of me, aru." She sat on the edge of the pond and kicked her feet back and forth idly.

America looked thoughtfully at her. What did she know about being independent? Or, for that matter, what did she know about the rest of the world? "So…you must spend a lot of time with him, huh?"

Erina nodded again. "I've been with gē ge my whole life, da." She paused before adding, "Oh, but I was with papa for a little while too."

"Um…papa?" he asked hesitantly.

"Uh-huh! He gave me the sunflowers that are in my room. And he also gave me one when I went to the meeting, aru!"

America's face visibly paled as he made the connection. "Y-you mean…Russia?! He's your…your dad???"

Erina shrugged. "Um…kind of? I'm not sure. I've always called him my papa, da."

America shook the (more than) slightly disturbing images from his head. Ok, so Erina was close with both China and Russia; that cleared a little bit up. But why didn't she live on her own? That was the next thing he wanted to find out. "Alright, then. Well, then maybe you can clear something up for me. Were you, er…'created' or were you on your own before?"

Erina tapped her chin as she thought. "Hmm…well I used to be on my own, but I was even smaller than I am now, aru. But then both papa and gē ge found me, da. They were both very nice to me and said that if I went with them they would protect me, aru. I wanted to stay with both of them, but I guess I couldn't do that because they started fighting, da. I didn't understand what they were fighting about, but when they were done fighting, I was told to go with gē ge. It didn't make sense to me, because while they were fighting I stayed with papa, but he said to go with gē ge, so I did, aru."

America grew even more confused. So she had known independence, but she had willingly given it up to be protected. Still, she had obviously grown and had been taught how to fight. Why did she still feel the need to stay with China? He had a million more questions, but none the little micronation could answer. "Hm…well thanks for answering my questions, Erina," he told her with a slight smile.

She grinned widely. "Not a problem! We should probably go back inside, though, in case gē ge comes back and wonders where I am, da." America nodded and followed her back in the house. If China was back, he definitely had questions for the older nation.

About ten minutes later, China returned home carrying bags of groceries. "Welcome home, gē ge!" Erina greeted happily, hugging her brother around the waist.

China smiled and placed the groceries on the kitchen table. "Hello, aru," he said, patting Erina on the head. "Were you a good girl, aru?"

She nodded. "Oh, there's someone here to see, aru," she said, pulling him into the living room.

"Aiyah, no need to pull me, aru," he teased, following her.

"Hey, China!" America greeted from his seat on the couch.

China's smile faltered slightly. "Ah…what brings you here, aru?" he asked, addressing the blond nation.

"I wanted to talk to you about, uh…something," America answered, his eyes darting to Erina.

China nodded, understanding. He turned his attention to Erina and said, "Why don't you go play in your room, aru?"

Erina nodded, and waved to America before skipping off to her room.

China & America

Once Erina was out of earshot, China turned to face America. "I'm assuming you wanted to ask about my sister, aru?"

America nodded. "Yeah…how long has she been under your care? She seems really young."

"Despite her appearance, Erina has been with me for quite some time," China told him. "Almost four hundred years, aru. The only reason she seems so young is because her, well…territory, I suppose, is small and she has been very isolated, aru."

"Isolation, huh?" America questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Was that your doing, or was she always like that?"

China's mouth turned down into a frown. "She's a very shy girl, aru. Not very good at warming up to people, aru." He crossed his arms and looked straight at America. "If you'll excuse me, I need make sure Erina has finished her lessons, aru. I trust you'll be able to find your way out, aru." Without another word, China turned and disappeared into one of the rooms.

America sighed to himself. China clearly didn't want to let the girl go, but America himself knew that the older nation would have to sooner or later. And then there was Erina herself; maybe he would help her see the perks of being independent. When he left, America was satisfied with what he had found out. The next thing to do, was to inform the other nations.


Translations:

(1)— Hello

(2)—I'm sorry. (formal)

(3)—Hello, little fish.

Faded: uh-oh! 'Merica's gonna go tell everyone about Erina! This won't end well!

Riane: that's fer damn sure.

Faded: so, since I'm running low on creativity, anyone wanna toss me some ideas for the next chapter? The only thing that matters to me is that idea is at least decent and perferably during a UN meeting.

Riane: so get those brains going, dudes! She's desperate!

Faded: that's true...Anyways, drop a review or and idea. I'm open to pretty much anything. Till next time!