Britain moaned as he felt hard tile under his head. Muffled voices reverberated throughout his head around him.
"It's them! It's really them!"
"Dios Mio, it actually worked?!"
"Da-ze! You bet it worked; this kind of tech was created in me after all!"
They only proved to be more headache inducing than the hard floor. He slowly opened his eyes to bright lights and a very white ceiling; if it weren't for the smell of burnt metal and paper, Britain probably would've thought he was in a hospital. He let out a groan as he put a hand on his head and slowly sat up. He blinked to clear his vision to see his companions waking up in a similar manner.
"Ah fuck, my head…" Romano moaned.
"My little tomate!"
The poor Italian didn't even have time to breathe before he was tackled by a being with scruffy brown hair and green eyes. "What the-Spain?!" Romano choked out as the breath was literally squeezed out of him.
"You're back! You're safe! I was so worried about you!" The Hispanic nation gushed.
Russia shook his head to clear it as Ukraine slowly jogged up to him and hugged him gently, mindful of his condition. "Oh Russia; you were missing for so long!" she sobbed. "I thought I had lost you and Belarus!"
"Aniki~!" Korea sang, bounding over and practically landing on China. "I'm so glad you're back aniki!" He was closely followed by Taiwan and Hong Kong, nearly burying the older nation in a dog pile.
"Oh, Mr. Austria!" Liechtenstein ran over to Austria and gently but lovingly threw her arms around his neck. "I'm so happy you're not hurt; Switzerland and I were so worried!"
Switzerland, standing behind his sister, crossed his arms and turned red. "I was not worrying over anything." He fixed Austria with a glare. "But if you disappear like that again I will personally shoot you in both legs so you can't even move, got it?"
Britain drew his gaze away from the tiny reunions and looked around. They were in a lab apparently…a lab that looked very familiar. But what made him worry was that their Digitalia were nowhere to be found! "What the bloody hell is going on here?" Britain finally demanded.
"We rescued you! What else?" Korea answered.
"Rescued us?" France asked. "What did you do?"
"You all have been missing for months!" Ukraine exclaimed. "After we found out that you all had been last seen here, we came running."
"Korea was able to fix that machine to bring you all back." Taiwan finished. She then looked around and her smile became a frown. "But it looks like we weren't able to bring you all back…"
At this, Romano shot to his feet. "You mean you brought us back without the others?! What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Spain put a hand on his shoulder, "Romano, there was nothing we could do-"
"Like hell!" Romano shook Spain off facing his angrily, "You fucking left them there! We were so close to saving them and you went and left them behind!"
The nations were all silent before Liechtenstein asked, "What happened to them?"
The seven nations tensed as the last image they saw of the Digital World flashed before their eyes and refused to go away. "Could you…give us some time alone?" Russia said softly. "Please."
The firmness and softness in Russia's voice made no one question the request. They quietly filed out and Britain's fingers brushed his Hetavice. He unclipped it from his belt and stared at it, his thumb rubbing over the small America flag.
He could see the other nations clenching their fists or silently mourning, brooding, or both and he himself clenched his Hetavice in his fist. Not only had they lost Alfamon, Felimon, Kikumon and the Digitalia they had grown so close to, but even if they had managed to awaken the original nations, they now had no way to get back. They were stuck there…probably forever. He turned to leave the laboratory before a shockwave of power blasted out from behind him, sending him and the nations flying through the air.
"Bloody hell…not again…" Britain muttered as his vision went blurry and then black.
"Britain? Hey Britain dude! C'mon man wake up!"
That voice…
"Romano? Wake up fratello!"
"Russia, please wake up! Wake up so we can become one!"
No…
"China-san? Please wake up China-san?"
It can't be…
"Austria, are you alright? Can you hear me?"
"Hey France? France? Are you in there?"
"West? C'mon West, I know my awesome voice will wake you up so do it already!"
Britain forced his body to wake up and cracked his eyes open to see a pair of blue eyes covered by glasses and a mop of golden hair. Britain's breath hitched. "Alfamon?"
Alfamon smiled, "Dude, do you see any wings on my back?" he asked sarcastically.
Britain felt his heart stop. He sat up and took in the man kneeling in front of him. Sure enough, no brown wings adorned his back. "America…" he breathed.
America grinned, "Good to be back British dude!" The other nations awoke to the same amazing sight; the nations were back. America, Italy, Japan, Prussia, Canada, Hungary, and Belarus…they were awake. They were here. They were alive.
"But…but…how…how did you…?" Romano stuttered, grasping his brother's shoulders.
Italy giggled, "The Digitalia silly, they did it!" The nations still looked confused.
"We remember everything, everything the Digitalia saw with all of you." Japan clarified, helping China up.
"But how did you get back?" Austria asked.
"Oramon hooked us up." Prussia said.
Hungary nodded, "After we woke up and got out of the pods-"
"You don't want to know how that worked." Prussia interrupted, resulting in Hungary taking a swing at him.
"Anyway, the portal had already disappeared when we got out." Canada continued for Hungary. "Then Oramon spoke to us and managed to talk to the Digital Core."
"He can talk to the core?" Russia asked.
Belarus nodded. "Yes; the Digital Core created a portal for us to get back here."
America snorted, "I know it sounds cliché and way too convenient, but Oramon saved our asses back there so I don't really care."
Britain shook his head, shaking off the last bits of shock of seeing the real America right in front of him. Alfamon and the others had actually succeeded in awakening the nations. They were gone…they had been reverted into data once again, to save the nations. "So…Alfamon…" Britain trailed off.
America smiled gently and tapped his temple, "He's in here. They're in all of us." He said. "They're just…not physical anymore."
Japan smiled and nodded, "Like Oramon said, they are a part of us, we are them and they are us."
"We can't survive without them, and they can't exist without us." Hungary added.
"We just can't live at the same time." Italy added.
Britain let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. The Digitalia weren't gone. They were still here; as the nations. Different beings, yet one and the same. Britain looked at his Hetavice resting in his palm; the only part of the Digital World that came back with them to their world.
"Do you think we'll even see the Digital World again?" Russia asked.
America shrugged and kicked the broken machine, "I'd have to fix this damn thing up and work out all the kinks; wouldn't want another accident."
Japan stepped up, "I'd be more than happy to assist you America-san."
America grinned, "It'll take a while, but I don't think the Digital World is gone forever."
Italy threw his arms around his brother, "Ve~ let's go home fratello. I haven't had pasta in two years!"
America stretched, "Yeah, I could go for some Mickey D's, and it's been so long since I've been outside!"
"You were outside in the Digital World…" Canada pointed out.
"That was Alfamon, I was stuck in a pod all that time!" America shot back.
Britain sighed as he pocketed his Hetavice, following the other nations out of the lab to be tackled again by the nations waiting outside. Had he waited a second longer to put it away, he and the other nations probably would have noticed the small flash that came from its screen.
At long last… their Digital Journey was finally over.
Final page count: 94 ; Final word count: over 50,000
OH...MY...FUCKING...GOD...I DID IT! I FINALLY DID IT!
So much writers block and chapters and it's FINALLY DONE!
Thank you all SOOOOOO much for joining and bearing with me on this ride! I really hope you enjoyed it! I may do a sequel to this (and get it started right away if you vote for it; poll's still tied BTW) but in the meantime, I will bask in this victory!
Again, thank you all so much for reading my story that took over three years to complete! See ya all next story!