Alright, lets do this.
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Matthew groans as he hears his alarm buzzing that it is time to get up. He throws out an arm and swats at the bedside table till he manages to hit the snooze button. Sighing at the new found silence he snuggles back into the blankets wrapped around him but it is short lived as he finds himself getting prodded through them.
"Matt, you need to get up. You have a meeting this morning."
The only response Matthew gives the one prodding him is a groan followed by rolling over and back into his bed.
"Mattie, you can't just stay in bed."
Matthew feels someone tugging at his blankets and grips them tighter, "Don't wanna."
A sharp yank and Matthew finds himself curling into a tighter ball the blankets no longer covering him.
"I'll get the water from the ice bucket next."
Grumbling unhappily, Matthew sits up a bit his eyes just cracked at the annoyance that had stolen his blankets and was now threatening to douse him. "Aren't you supposed to be the one needing dragged out of bed?" Matthew manages to roll out of the bed, grabbing his glasses from the bedside table and pushing them onto his face. He then stumbles his way to the bathroom to get ready.
"I wouldn't need to drag you out of bed if you would just get up on your own." Gilbert, Matthew notices, is already dressed and ready for the day. It earns him a scowl from the older looking man.
"I have never been able to figure out how you were always such a morning person. I remember knowing you from, well from before all of this and you always seemed like the kind of guy that would goof off and sleep in."
While Matthew brushes his teeth Gilbert thinks about what he said before shrugging. "I raised Ludwig didn't I? I think I was more of a military man than I let on honestly. It just seems to natural to wake up with the sun."
Matthew's glare is weakened by the toothpaste foam around his mouth. "Yeah, yeah whatever." He spits and rinses before wiping his face then closing to door to shower.
Matthew did make it to his meeting in time thanks to Gilbert's prodding. He still couldn't understand his ability to function so early in the morning but brushed it off as being one of the shadows of his former life. To be honest it worried the Canadian. It seemed that as Gilbert got older he was becoming more and more the man he remembered Francis introducing him to. How much longer would it take the other nations to find them out.
Pushing his worries to the side Matthew steps into the meeting room.
The meeting lasts a few hours. They discuss various world issues and decide to stick to the plan for that afternoon, throw a party to let everyone meet the states and the Canadian region. They broke for lunch and Matthew heads up to his room and finds Gilbert fidgeting with the remote while watching tv.
"Well you seem rather nervous."
Gilbert turns and looks at his guardian, placing the remote next to him on the bed. "Well shouldn't I. After yesterday there's no guarantee..."
Matthew holds up a hand to stop him. "Gilbert I doubt that Russia would be stupid enough to try anything in a room crowded with other nations. Besides, you'll have me, Alfred, Francis and Ludwig nearby to help you out if anything goes wrong." Matthew smiles at the boy before, reassuringly.
Gilbert sighs and rubs the back of his head before seeming to relax and turning back to the tv, turning it off. "You're right."
The party was being held in the conference center's main ballroom. It was a large space with plenty of room for the nations in attendance to mingle and interact. When Canada and New Prussia entered they saw that Alfred was keeping close to his states, especially Hawaii and Alaska. When Alaska saw them enter she waved them over to her group.
"New Prussia, Canada over here."
They head over and begin to make small talk. It isn't long before New Prussia feels eyes on him and he looks around. He frowns when he doesn't notice anyone watching them and tries to let it go.
The next hour goes by without any problems. New Prussia still feels like he is being watched but is never able to locate the source of the feeling.
After another hour America is beginning to laugh at the now piss drunk England while France tries to lead him away.
"You ungrateful little brat. Why I ought to take you over my knee like I did when you were little."
America guffaws at the threat as the now angry drunk struggles to lunge at him.
"Let go of me you bloody frog, I need to teach that brat a lesson he won't soon forget."
Francis sighs and then catches sight of New Prussia. While everyone else was watching the spectacle that was England and America it seemed that New Prussia was dealing with something else. He was standing next to Alaska and Canada holding his head in his hand as though in pain. He shakes his head as if to clear it and then looks up with unfocused eyes and in a rather authoritative tone shouts, "What the hell is wrong with you America. Stop acting like this is some joke. This is war dummkopf!"
The room seems to freeze and refocus on the albino, who is just now refocusing his eyes and realizing what he said. His eyes widen and he takes a step back but finds himself backing into a large body that is suddenly behind him. New Prussia turns and looks up at Russia and swallows.
"Hmm, what a strange thing to yell at a party, da?"
No one makes a single move to help the small boy as Russia reaches out to him, grabbing his arm harshly and dragging him over to America, England and France. Of the three America seems the most shocked at having heard that from the small region. America is also the first in the room to snap out of his seeming trance when he sees Russia dragging the wincing boy over to him. When they get to him he grabs Russia's wrist and forces him to let go of New Prussia. Once the Russian has released him, New Prussia looks up at America. He doesn't know what to make of the look in the other's eyes. Suddenly New Prussia feels a less menacing presence behind him but before the new person behind him can do or say anything America speaks up.
"Outside, now." He starts for the door and at first New Prussia doesn't follow but he knows this is most likely the end of this. When he turns to follow he sees it was Canada that had come up behind him.
"Sorry." Unspoken was the 'I blew it.' as he followed America into the hallway liked a kicked puppy.
Alfred didn't stop when they got out into the hallway, he kept going until the reached an open meeting room and leads Gilbert into it. Once both are inside he closes the door and then locks his blue eyes with the red eyes of the other.
"I think you know why we're here."
Gilbert nods. He knew, he remembered. He remembered training Alfred in the Revolutionary war. He had gotten so caught up in the memory he had gotten earlier that he had just voiced what he had shouted at the young nation during training.
Alfred seems to struggle with himself for a moment before running a hand through his hair and looking at the boy again. "Gilbert, you aren't going to be able to hide this any longer. Russia probably has strong suspicions if he hasn't already figured it out. Hell Ohio and Hawaii pretty much figured it out."
Gilbert startles at that, "Wha what?" A deer caught in the headlights is exactly what Gilbert looks like at that moment as he swallows the lump in his throat and looks at Alfred.
"I'm not going to hurt you for hiding from us. I was surprised when I found you in Mattie's house without him and I jumped to the worst conclusion. You helped me win my independence Gilbert, you're not a bad person. And despite that I sided with the others when we made the decision to let you die... I regretted doing so almost immediately when I saw how you took it. Hell, how your brother took it. I'd go back and change my vote if I could but I can't. I don't know what Mattie did or how, but I'm glad he did whatever it was. And I'm sorry. Not that that matters much now."
"It matters a whole lot. To me anyway. Though you may try saying it to Ludwig. Matt and I only just told him that Matt saved me." Gilbert seems to have relaxed and Alfred reaches out and pulls him into a headlock giving him a playful noogy.
"Ha! Alright then. We should be getting back, Mattie's probably starting to worry that I'm beating you up again."
Matthew had never been so nervous before in his life. He really hoped that Alfred wasn't going to hurt Gilbert. Though that seemed to be the least of his worries as suddenly he also began wishing for his invisibility back because suddenly he was being bombarded with questions from all the other nations about what was going on. Matthew was very thankful when Alfred's states stepped in along with Francis and surprisingly Ludwig and a suddenly sober Arthur. They all but built a wall between him and the clamoring nations.
"Enough!" The German's booming voice cuts through the din and the gathered nations quiet down. "Now I know you all must have questions, but please only one at a time. And raise your hand for permission."
Several hands shoot up. Trying to go for the safest question Ludwig calls on Roderick.
"I think the question at the front of all our minds is why did New Prussia sound so much like the old Prussia? He even spoke like him."
Ludwig turns to Matthew and receives a nod from the other. "That is because they are one in the same."
The nations begin to clamor into an uproar once again but Ludwig manages to bring them once again to quiet. "Are there any other questions?"
"Yeah I, like, have one. Like, how did you do it? Isn't he, like, totally supposed be dead. He,like, totally doesn't have a country anymore."
Matthew swallows when he feels everyone looking at either him or Ludwig, though Ludwig is looking at him. Taking a deep breath he explains. "I gave him New Prussia and made him my region. I knew about America's states and I thought there was nothing stopping me from doing it. I I screwed it up though and that's why he doesn't remember a lot and is so young."
"Doesn't remember?" Ludwig shoots the Hungarian a quick glare for speaking without permission, but she just shrugs it off.
"Er, yeah. He has partial amnesia. Every now and then he'll remember something. That's probably what happened just now. He remembered something, probably from when he was training America during the Revolution." Matthew glances at Arthur in apology for bringing it up.
Just as more questions are about to be asked the door is flung open and Alfred bursts in smiling like always with Gilbert being pushed before him like a plow.
"Hey everyone the hero has returned!"
Alfred doesn't notice the awkward stares at first but Gilbert sure does and casts his eyes about for Matthew or Ludwig or someone. Before he can locate one of them though he feels himself getting picked up in a tight embrace.
"Gilbert!" As he is swung around his captor is spouting off an insanely fast speech in Spanish. Gilbert catches nothing but his name being said several times. He begins to feel dizzy from the spinning and his vision fades to leave him standing on a hill looking down at a battlefield, he looks to his side and see Francis and the man swinging him around. He feels himself smile and the other two smile back at him. He can feel the camaraderie, the friendship.
"To toni, put me down. I'm getting dizzy." The Spaniard blinks and set his smaller friend down. "Not awesome." Gilbert sways a bit, but Alfred steadies him a bit.
Chuckling Alfred begins to help Gilbert make his way over to Matthew and his group.
"You told them?" It was more a statement than a question but Gilbert was hoping that just maybe they hadn't."
Matthew nods. "Oui." Matthew catches to worried look and quickly reassures him. "They took it rather well. They were more curious as to the how than the why."
"Oh."
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Crappy ending I know but this just kept going and going, like a bloody energizer bunny.
Ah I did get a very nice comment about how I could have given Northwest Territory the name Midwest since they are the same area of the US. I could have done this but I had two reasons not to. The first is that at the time of the American Civil War Ohio probably would have been more involved than the rest of that region. And for the sake of the rivalry with South I wanted her to more or less represent the North. If not in being the actual embodiment than by being the one holding the grudge. Reason number two is just selfish. I'm an Ohioan. Whoot State Pride! Sorry guys.
I will do an epilogue for this and I have a few side stories for this authorverse that I will be posting. One is already up. Its The Alaskan Purchase. Read it, love it.