America stared at the room number for a long time. He had heard from Germany where exactly Canada was staying at and before he went to Guangzhou, he decided to visit his brother. With a bouquet of flowers in hand, America turned the door knob and peered inside.

The room was dimmed and America could hear a faint buzz of the machines around Canada. Canada turned his head slowly to look at America in surprise. "Hello," he said in his quiet voice.

America gave Canada a smile. "Hey. Um...I got you flowers. I don't know which ones you like so uh, sorry 'bout that."

Canada shifted, sitting upright. "It's fine, America. Just set them over there." Canada nodded to the table at the end of his bed. America gently placed them on the table and came around to sit down by his brother. "I heard that you're going to Guangzhou." Canada said.

America nodded, shifting around in his seat. "Yeah. Germany says that we were supposed to go an hour before but I wanted to stop by and, ah, chat."

Canada smiled warmly at America. "I'm very glad to hear that you want to talk to me." He watched as America picked at a stray thread from his sleeve. "What do you want to talk about?"

America slowly looked up at Canada, and Canada was taken aback. He had known his brother to be rather loud and boisterous at times, but there wasn't any sign of his upbeat personality. America looked much more subtle, almost solemn. "Can I...talk to you?"

Canada nodded. "What do you want to talk to me about?"

America sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Dude, you know how many people I can talk openly to?"

Canada shook his head.

America adverted his eyes. "Well, not many. England will tease me. Germany will just offer me beer. France will do who knows what. And other people won't know what to do actually." He frowned, hesitating. "I think... the only person I can really talk to is you."

Canada couldn't help but flash a look of surprise onto his face. "I... see. I'm glad to hear you can talk openly to me, but..." Canada frowned as America bit his lip nervously. "What's wrong?"

America debated whether or not he really wanted to talk but after seeing Canada's gentleness he found himself on his knees, burying his head into the bedsheets next to Canada. He told Canada how he really was worried about Dark America and how strong he could be. He was terrified at the thought of his darker self destroying the countries around the globe and how dangerous Dark America could be. America told Canada how bloody his past was and how he had hoped that everything he did was out of justice and yet everything still returned to haunt him.

America told Canada that this was the first time in a very long time since he felt a little frightened.

Canada sighed heavily when America finished his rant. "It's hard to imagine someone like you can have such a painful past."

America gave Canada a serene look. Then he smiled weakly and shook his head. "Everyone has a painful past, bro. It's just that, well, I don't know about you but I get on a lot of people's nerves. Some of them have a grudge with me right now actually." America tugged at his collar anxiously as he lifted himself back up into his chair. "The thing is, what do I do?"

Canada gazed outside the window pensively. It was mid morning, and in the distance he saw German troops marching around in search of Dark Germany. They had no luck yet and by the way they moved Canada could tell they were somewhat more cautious than usual.

Looking at the blue azure sky, Canada said, "We all know how to weaken the doppelgangers, don't we?"

America stared at him. "Come again?"

"We all want happiness, right?" Canada asked. "We want to fly into the air and soar, free from sorrow, poverty, hunger, and anything else that hinders what makes us happy. The happiness we want is warm and comforting like the sun but also high spirited and light like the clouds. That happiness is the opposite of hate, the opposite of the doppelgangers themselves. We chase them in the shadows, but what we need to do is to step out into the sunlight and wait for them to come."

America smiled at Canada and chuckled lightly. "You've been reading Japan's haikus, right?"

Canada returned America's smile. "I think that you should embrace your past instead of running away from it."

"I'm not running away." America said, a little defensively. "I'm just advancing in the opposite direction."

The two brothers grinned at each other. "My mistake. You should start to embrace your past instead of advancing in the opposite direction." Canada corrected. "So...don't be afraid. Your history is who you are, right? So runn- I mean, advancing the other way is like you're not accepting yourself."

America considered his brother's words and nodded. "I see. So there's no other way, is there? I just have to deal with it, don't I?"

Canada flickered a ghost of a smile at him. "About time you learn you lesson, don't you think America?"

America groaned. "What's the moral?"

"Mind your own business."

"But that's not what a hero does!"

Canada raised his eyebrow. "There is more than one hero, you know that, right?"

Silence. Then America stood up and brushed the dirt from his knees. "Thanks bro," he said to Canada. "I better get going. Guangzhou, huh? What an adventure."

"Fit for a hero." Canada said earnestly.

America gave him a broad grin. "Yup! A hero like me!" Then he laughed a real, genuine laugh. "Get better soon, okay? Next time, we'll go somewhere and you can see how heroic I really am!"

America waved at Canada as he left the room, and Canada closed his eyes, leaning back in his bed to rest.

"Where were you?" Hungary asked America in front of Germany's house. She and Korea were leaning against a car when America jogged up to them. She, Korea, and America were to investigate the Guangzhou hideout and she was ready to go.

America ran to the car and flung the first door open, sliding into the driver's seat. "I went to visit Canada." he said cheerfully. Ignoring the look of confusion on Hungary and Korea's face, America turned the engine on and beckoned for the two to get in. "Right, so here's the plan-"

"We're not backing you up all the time, da-ze." Korea said at once, wagging a finger at America as he slid into the passenger seat. "The plan is to wander around Guangzhou until a doppelganger finds us."

"We'll let him or her take us and hopefully lead us to the hideout." Hungary said, slamming the back door shut. "From what Germany told me, this hideout is probably some kind of prison."

America stepped on the pedal, making the car lurch forward. Within seconds America sped down the streets while Korea pointed behind them, saying, "America, Guangzhou is that way, da-ze!"

"I knew that!" America spun the car around so violently that Hungary and Korea were flung to the side of the car while America barely managed to stay still by tightening his grip on steering wheel. Excitement and eagerness restored, America let out a whoop. Korea fastened his seat belt hastily before giving him a curious look. Then Korea laughed and joined in as well.

Hungary glanced between the two and sighed. "These two are so troublesome," she mused to herself.