A/N: Thanks to all my wonderful readers, followers, and reviewers! You all really encourage me to keep writing. Anyway, sorry I didn't update sooner. I meant to have this chapter up by Friday, but life got in the way and it wasn't completed until later today.

So, I hope you enjoy!

Chapter Six

Sunlight danced cheekily on the surface of a wide, flowing river that wound its leisurely way beneath an overarching canopy of tall, ancient trees. If Margaret looked up, she could see the sky, a deep and startling clear blue, peeking through the green leaves above her. It was an undisputed fact that the park was by far the most beautiful place to be found in the small town of Aucilla. This place Margaret now enjoyed as she sat alone on a park bench near the riverside. The quiet, the peace, the solitude- they were all things she needed desperately. Shutting her eyes, she leaned back in her seat and listened to the soft babble of the rushing water.

As she relaxed, her mind wandered as aimlessly as the river before her. She did not mull over the many, many worries that had plagued her ceaselessly over the past few days. It would be a futile effort. She was well aware than no new answers could be reached. There was nothing she could do but live her life as she normally would, and act as if nothing had changed. What else was she supposed to do? She did not know the first thing about being a personification. She did not know how being Washington D.C. could affect her. She did not know if it even would. There were far too many questions, and no way to answer them except through the trial of experience.

After all, she was now guideless. Margaret had not seen any sign of either Rome or Native America since that fateful day her life was turned on its head, however much she hoped and waited in vain. She had been left high and dry, and it was that realization more than anything that began to wear her down. Stress and sleepless nights had taken their toll. Exhausted physically and mentally, she had sought a last-ditch escape from the suffocating atmosphere of her home. Her parents were tense and stressed over something they would not talk about in front of the girls, and Kate was… no help, whatsoever. She was far too busy gallivanting off into the sunset alongside her peers to bother with someone like Margaret.

Realizing that she had utterly failed to prevent her troubles from creeping back into her thoughts, Margaret took a deep breath and opened her eyes again, blinking in the light. She exhaled slowly, before reluctantly standing and casting a final, longing glance at the river. If only she could be so free as to ride the water's currents wherever they may go; maybe then the unknown would hold no fear over her.

Really, it was only chance that she retraced her steps along the same path he came down. It was pure, unadulterated luck that she rounded a bend and found him standing there. He stared at her blankly in shock, before his face stretched into an impossibly wide grin.

"I found you!"

She blinked, surprised by his triumph.

"America?" Her voice wavered in trepidation.

"That's me. And you're Washington D.C." America declared, coming forward in a few quick strides to stop in front of her just beyond arm's length.

She gulped, resisting the urge to take a step back. This was America. THE America. What was he going to do? What should she do? He stood so much taller than her that she had to look up, wide-eyed, to meet his cheerful blue gaze.

"How did you know?" she finally asked, voice soft in awe.

America's smile lessened somewhat, and his expression grew more serious.

"I'm your country, and you're my capitol. I recognized what you are the same way you recognized what I am."

Margaret continued to stare blankly, and America scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"…Sorry. I'm doing a terrible job of explaining this… Okay, let me try again. As personifications of the same land, we have a sort of connection. It's an instinct that tells us both who the other is."

It was true. Even just standing here, looking at him but not touching at all, Margaret could still hear in the farthest corners of her mind's subconscious the new, strange voice that shouted insistently, "America, it's America."

"Freaky…" she muttered to herself quietly. Unfortunately, not quietly enough, as America easily heard.

The nation threw back his head and laughed- a loud, real, boisterous laugh.

"I know, right?! It's like the freakiest thing ever… But darn useful, I gotta admit."

Margaret chuckled along with him, set at ease by his friendly nature, and smiled brightly for the first time in… well, a long time. However, her grin was short-lived as she suddenly remembered that, to her horror, she'd completely forgotten the manners her mother had pounded into her head from an early age.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, sir," she said nervously.

America's lips quirked in amusement.

"Hey, no need for all that 'sir' business."

"Oh. So what should I call you, Mr. America?"

America blanched. "Not that! God, that makes me sound old… My name's Alfred. Alfred F. Jones!"

"That's a nice name," Margaret remarked. "What's the 'F' stand for?"

"Freedom, of course!" he winked cheekily.

"My name's Margaret Leon," she told him shyly.

"Margaret…" America said slowly, trying out the name.

Margaret had one overwhelming question that she desperately needed answered, but still she hesitated. Gathering her courage, Margaret squared her shoulders, and decided to simply come out with it.

"What's going to happen to me?"

"Well… life's going to be more complicated for you, I'm sorry to say," America replied as his manner shifted from carefree to somber. "I guess for starters… maybe we could get to know each other? I would always like a new friend."

Despite her apprehension, Margaret smiled at him.

"I'd like that too."

"Great! You know, it took a lot of work to track you down after you pulled that magic disappearing act," America said conversationally. He turned to walk down the path, and beckoned for Margaret to follow. Easily falling into step beside him, Margaret chuckled sheepishly.

"Heh… Sorry about that. Believe it or not, I used a magic compass."

"Oh, I believe it. To trace you back to this town, I had to get the help of my fath- friend. He's my friend." America faltered, flustered by his slip of the tongue. "Um. Anyway, he's England, and uh- he's really good at magic. He did some sort of track-y thingy that traced your transport-y thingy… I think."

"Well, I don't understand all this magic stuff any better than you do," Margaret revealed. "They only thing remotely magical I can do is use my compass, and that's only because I was shown how to use it."

"Where did you get it?" America asked curiously.

"Well… Rome gave it to me."

"…Hold up! You mean Ancient Rome? As in the Great Roman Empire?"

"That's the one."

"What did he say to you? Why a magic compass? Also, why didn't I get one?!"

Margaret smirked slightly.

"He was the one who told me I'd become a personification. He gave me the compass, and then later Native America showed up and taught me how to use it."

"So that's why you were in D.C. that night," America realized.

"…Yeah," Margaret said awkwardly. Glancing away, she added quickly, "I'm really, really sorry! I didn't mean to vanish… well I did… but when you shouted for me it was kinda too late. The magic was already working."

"Don't worry about it. We met again anyway, didn't we?" America reassured her.

"By the way, how did you know I was at the park?"

"I actually didn't. I just came here for a bit of a breather, if you know what I mean. England and Canada both came with me to Michigan and… well, they're family. I love 'em, but sometimes…"

"I know how you feel. I actually came here for a similar reason," Margaret admitted softly.

"Oh, you have a family?" America tried to smile, but it seemed a bit strained to Margaret. Almost worried. "As in, a human family?"

"Of course I do," Margaret replied cautiously. "Why do you ask?"

"It's just… never mind." But America's eyes had darkened significantly, and Margaret had caught on that something was amiss. Disturbed, she stopped in her tracks. America stopped too.

"What is going to happen to me?" she demanded, fear lending her unusual audacity.

"Nothing! Nothing's going to happen. I'm not going to do anything to you, if that's what you're thinking," America said fiercely, glowering a bit.

Margaret flinched slightly, subconsciously taking a step away from him. The nation's regard immediately softened as he noticed her unease.

"It's just… I'm worried, okay? It's dangerous, and painful, and stupid to live with a human family," America told her bluntly.

"They are my family," Margaret responded coldly, her previously meek will hardening. She could be Washington D.C., if that was what the world wanted from her. The one thing she would not do was leave her family.

"I know, I know… Just be careful, okay? That's all I ask," America said in a placating tone, raising his hands slightly in surrender. "For now, anyway," he added internally.

Before Margaret could think of a reply, her cellphone rang.