Ten Song Drabbles: AmericaxEngland

1. "Another Christmas Song" by Stephen Colbert

Arthur Kirkland sat on the couch next to Alfred F. Jones. He looked at the garish colored lights that hung outside the window, and all across the American's front yard. The inside of the house was no less vulgar. England sighed.

His young lover had dragged him over to watch Christmas specials. After the Muppets' Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and a Dr. Who Christmas Special, Arthur thought he had had just about enough.

He almost gagged as Alfred pulled out another DVD, "God, Alfred, I can't watch anymore."

"Awww, no, one more. Please!" America flashed him a look, and Arthur was amazed that the boy could actually pull off a grin and puppy dog eyes at the same time.

"Ugh, fine." England muttered.

And, America slipped A Colbert Christmas. After the first few minutes, and a very odd Christmas song, England had to admit, he was enjoying it.

It was satirical, clever, and very funny. Although it was mocking America, so he was unsure why the young man liked this one so much. "Alfred, you do realize this is satirical, right?" He wanted to make sure.

"Of course! This would totally not be awesome if he was serious."

Arthur nodded and returned to watch the screen. "I just didn't think you'd take criticism well."

"I can take criticism." Alfred complained.

"Whatever. And, by the way, it should be 'If he were serious."

"Hey, stop correcting me! My English is fine."

"I thought you could take criticism." Arthur rolled his eyes under think eyebrows.

"Whatever." Alfred muttered and crossed his arms across his chest.

England sighed, and Alfred's pout earned him a kiss.

2. "Sixteen Going On Seventeen" from The Sound of Music

"I'm seceding from you!" America yelled through the rainy night. "I'm my own country. You can't control me anymore."

England fell to his knees into the mud. How had this happened? What had gone wrong? Only a short while ago, America had kissed him. Not as a brother, but as a lover. It was only a few years ago during a humid summer. How had that beautiful moment spiraled into this?

He thought that as America grew, the boy would stay his brother. Then they had kissed, and he thought that as America grew, they would share a mutual love. Then the boy grew up, and he discovered it was all wrong.

Arthur looked at the man he just could not shoot, raindrops mixing with tears.

"You used to be so big." The American looked at him for a moment, and then turned and walked away.

In a voice inaudible over the rain, "And you grew up too fast."

3. "Piddle, Twiddle, and Resolve" from 1776

"Sir." John Adams looked at his country square in the face.

Alfred looked into the short man's eyes. He knew what was coming. It had been coming for years, ever since the end of the French and Indian War.

"The people want independence. If you don't stand in, Congress is never going to make a decision."

He swallowed hard. True, he loved the idea of being free, being his own country. But, he loved England. He loved Arthur. The blond closed his eyes, thinking about the night before, and what the two nations had shared. A warm summer night, and a soft kiss, and something very special that made England a little uncomfortable and thrilled at the same time. How could he say he wanted to leave after that? But, what could a nation do?

"Sir?"

"We must give the people what they want."

4. "Pretty Women" from Sweeney Todd

At lunch, Arthur had an odd sense that Alfred was not paying attention to him. The tall American kept looking straight past England's shoulder.

"Alfred!" Arthur snapped, finally. "What the hell are you looking at?"

Alfred flushed, realizing he had been caught, "Oh, um, nothing..."

The Briton cocked a rather large eyebrow in disbelief. "I don't believe that."

The younger nation looked at the table and then back up, "Well, there's a pretty girl at another table."

Arthur turned bright red in anger. Alfred was checking out a woman, when he was on a date with him. Mumbling curses, he turned quickly around to see who the little hussy was. He looked around, but the only woman he saw looked like she was celebrating her golden wedding anniversary with her husband. Jesus, if it was her, he was going to have a fit. "Who the hell are you looking at?"

"Well, you can only see her back. She's the blond with the blue top over there..." Alfred pointed.

Arthur looked and turned an even brighter shade of red. "YOU BASTARD, THAT'S FRANCE!"

5. "Dulcinea" from Man of La Mancha

Yes, it was shocking, but Alfred actually loved musicals. After a moment, Arthur was not all that surprised. After all musical theatre was a thoroughly American art form. However, Arthur was not totally sure how deep this love went until a cool, autumn night, when Arthur was asleep, but awakened by a rock being thrown against his window. Groggily, he stumbled out of bed and opened the window.

There, on the ground below Arthur's second story window, was a grinning Alfred holding a guitar, "Alfred, it's two in the morning for heaven's sake. Why the hel…"

He was silenced by Alfred plucking the guitar, and beginning to sing, "If I reach out to thee, do not tremble and shrink from the touch of my hand on thy hair. Let my fingers but see, thou art warm and alive, and no phantom to fade in the air…"

He had a remarkably lovely baritone voice. Arthur was truly stunned. No, it was not exactly nice to be woken at two in the morning, but the sweet voice, on a cool night, with the bright stars and moon, it was indeed romantic. He recognized the tune, but could not quite place the song.

Alfred continued, somehow climbing the tree, while still playing, "Dulcinea! Dulcinea! I have sought thee, sung thee, dreamed thee, Dulcinea!"

Now Arthur recognized it. The song was sung to a whore a crazy man mistook for a courtly maiden. As pretty as the song was, he was not so sure he appreciated the comparison. "Why you…" Arthur picked up a spare pillow and threw it at the American. He expected it to simply bounce off and hopefully get him to quit playing.

He did get Al to stop playing, however, with a scream Alfred also fell out of the tree. That was not intentional. With a few choice words, Arthur ran down the flight of stairs. He threw the door, and there was Alfred, grinning and leaning against the door frame.

Arthur took a step back, breathing normally after seeing Alfred was alright. "You git, you had me worried sick there. I thought you got hurt or something."

"Nah, I'm fine. Though I can't say as much for the guitar." He pointed outside to the guitar, which had met a seemingly painful end.

"Honestly, I don't really care about it."

"You're paying for it, you know?"

Arthur rolled his eyes, "Oh fine," In his complaints, Arthur missed the mildly predatory look in Alfred's eyes, "How much did that piece of crap cost you?"

He would have continued, had he not found his back pressed against the wall of the hallway, and Alfred much closer than he had remembered. With a grin the American said, "I don't mean like that." And he slammed his lips against Arthur's, slipping in his tongue as the smaller man gasped.

Several moments later, Arthur pulled back for air, allowing Alfred to rest their foreheads against each other's "Does that cover my debt, then?"

"Not yet." He grinned and pulled the older man up the stairs to the bedroom.

6. "Finale" from Into the Woods

Usually, only Arthur could see the faeries and unicorns, which was often a problem for him. However, there were a few areas, English woods, where the magic was so strong that others could see or hear the magic creatures. Arthur decided to drag his ridiculous, beloved American to one such area on a warm summer night.

"Iggy, do we have to?"

Arthur rolled his eyes, "Al, please stop it, we're almost there." Alfred paused and looked around, and Arthur asked, "What is it?"

"Well, it's kind of getting dark, and…"

"Are you afraid of the dark?"

Almost too quickly Alfred defended, "No! O-of course not! I'm a hero after all." It was too dark to see, but Arthur was almost sure Alfred was blushing.

Arthur smirked, but walked back, taking Alfred's hand in his, "Then keep me safe, hero." He pulled the young man along, and how could Alfred say no to that?

They reached a clearing, and Alfred was about to ask why they were there, but Arthur held up a silencing hand. "Listen."

Alfred was about to protest, but then stopped. The woods that had been filled with only cricket chirps suddenly seemed to be filled with a soft music. His mouth fell open. Small orbs of light filled the air and circled the two blonds. The faeries joined, dancing in circles around them.

Alfred's eyes grew so wide, it looked like he would burst. "Holy shit, this is amazing."

Arthur laughed, "I would have rather skipped the profanities, but I like the overall reaction."

"Oh sorry. But wow, this is awesome." America's voice held a hushed tone, Arthur had seldom ever heard.

"I know, that's why I brought you here." He walked over to his love and gave Alfred a kiss, just enjoying the magic of the woods.

7. "In the Same Boat #2" from Curtains

It was June 6, 1944. The waves crashed around the boat. Arthur was fairly sure he was going to be sick. If not from the waves, he made himself sick with the thought of what they were sailing to.

He looked over to the American, sitting a few feet away from him. Alfred's mouth was set into thin line, and he looked forward without seeing a thing. It was no secret, that Arthur had needed help in the war, and he was so grateful the the United States had finally joined him in the war, but still, he felt guilty. Even if countries couldn't die, they were going to what would assuredly be one of the most bloody battles in the war. And while he and Al wouldn't die, they could very possibly get harshly injured, and they would be watching the deaths of so many of their men, of their citizens. That would be so painful, watching the deaths of their people. Arthur could tell that Alfred was already dreading it.

"I'm sorry." The Briton choked out, voice a bare whisper.

"What?" The voice shook Alfred out of his reverie.

"About this. Dragging you into the war. This battle…" His voice trailed off into nothing. Green and blue eyes met for a moment, before Alfred dropped his gaze and shook his head.

"It wasn't you. It was Japan. We needed to fight back."

"Yeah. But, I didn't want you in this hell." Arthur replied wryly.

"Doesn't matter. We're in the same boat, now."

8. "Serenity" by Charles Ives

It was quiet. Alfred sat on the couch in front of the fire. Arthur lay on top of him, sleeping, resting his head on Alfred's chest. Outside it was snowing, but inside it was quite warm. On the end table by the couch, there sat a mug of hot chocolate and a cup of tea.

Alfred's arm was crossed across his chest, under Arthur. The American looked down at his lover, sleeping quite peacefully. He was lovely. Alfred always thought Arthur was beautiful, but like this, when his face was calm, when it was not contorted in frustration over one thing or another, when is mouth was relaxed, not pressed into a hard line in anger, not screaming at someone, it was possibly the most perfect thing he had seen, other than perhaps Arthur's smile.

However, at the moment, Alfred had one problem.

Arthur resting on his arm was cutting off his circulation and causing his arm to fall asleep.

Slowly, Alfred attempted to release his arm, but just as he seemed to get it free, Arthur shifted positions, successfully trapping the limb in question yet again. The Briton wrapped his arms around Alfred and mumbled something that sounded like, "No…muffinpuppy."

"What the…?" The nonsensical mutterings confused Alfred like crazy. But with a sigh, Alfred resigned himself to keep the peace, and avoid any anger that might result from an untimely awakening.

He just had to hope he would regain feeling in his arm again soon.

9. "I Miss the Music" from Curtains

Outside it was snowing. It was December 24th.

Alfred was in his house. His house, now. It was 1789, and was now his own country. He was proud of himself and his people. He really was.

But, for some reason he wanted to cry. Shaking his head, he forced the thoughts from his head, and he walked to the window. He knelt on the window seat, and pressed his forehead against the cool glass.

Unbidden, memories of songs came into his mind. Traditional Christmas carols, England would sing to him as a child. "Good King Wenceslas," "O Come Immanuel," "We Three Kings," and others. He missed them. Oh, God he missed them. He could sing them himself, or even with some people who lived nearby, but it was just not the same. He did not want to think about those times, but Christmas was a time for family. Francis was okay, but he was not really family. Matt was not paying attention to him, and the less he said about England, the better.

He took several deep breaths, taking in the cold of the window, and blinked back tears. Oh, well. In his determined optimism, he was sure things would turn out for the best.

As he stepped away, and he thought he heard Finland's sleigh bells in the distance.

He should get to sleep.

10. "Walk Like A Man" from Jersey Boys

Arthur stepped out of the bomb shelter and collapsed. He pulled himself off to the side of the road and emptied the contents of his stomach. He looked around at his city, so beautiful, that was now so devastated. Tears filled his eyes.

He was also in pain. He just could not seem to stand up, let alone walk. Each time he tried, a sharp pain laced through his entire leg, and he fell back down. Blood from cuts on his arm and chest made his shirt stick to him, and his head was throbbing so hard, he felt like the bombs were still echoing around him.

With great effort, he pushed himself up into a sitting position, leaning against a wall. If it did not hurt his chest, he would have had to laugh about this. He, Arthur Kirkland, the Great British Empire, was slumped against a wall, next to a puddle of his own vomit, and without the strength to stand. The indignity was so godly painful. He had to laugh. If he did not at least try to laugh, he would not even be able to cry. It would be too much. He leaned back, letting his eyes fall shut.

Later, perhaps moments, perhaps hours, perhaps days, he felt a hand on his face. His eyes shot open, and he found familiar, blue eyes looking into his.

Alfred stroked the bruised cheek lightly with his thumb.

"You're here?" Arthur choked out in a low whisper.

Alfred nodded slowly. "I'm here." The younger man's voice hitched slightly, and Arthur saw a look in his eyes, one he recognized. It was determination. Granted, he had not seen it so powerful since, well, since it had been turned against him. But, it was unmistakable, and right now, it was welcome. "And we're going to take these bastards down. I promise you, we will."

"We?" A small, half-smile appeared on the injured man's face. A large eyebrow rose slightly.

"Yeah." America nodded again. "Come on, let's get you up." He helped England to his feet, wrapped an arm around his waist, and helped the man walk.

England reached an arm around America's shoulder. He was walking. Yes, he was limping and leaning on another for support, but he was walking. At least he was walking.

Song Reactions

1. Help me.

2. Um, okay…Is it not obvious that this was the hardest song for me?

3. Best one ever!!!! For those who weren't sure, this musical is about the writing of the Declaration of Independence. Perfect? Yes.

4. I can work with this. I think it turned out well.

5. Classic musical theatre is perfect for Al. Wow, this one turned out so long...

6. A musical about the magic of the woods. Yes!

7. This is such a fun song, but I want to make the thing serious. Okay, D-Day. Did the ending make any sense?

8. I think this can work, maybe.

9. This actually works well.

10. In theory, this should be very good. I wanted a happy ending, but that didn't work.

A/N I'm sorry, but I had a lot of trouble with some of these, which is why it took so long. I still hoped they turned out somewhat well. I worked on this a lot on the plane home for Christmas, which is why I think a few of them turned out Christmas themed. Anyway, please read and review.

Also, if anyone wants me to continue, please let me know. I might try to do other pairings, or even the same pairings with other songs, if you, the readers, so wish. If anyone wants me to go on, please let me know.