:: flash back ::

"Albion, we are coming over... all of us ... we need to talk" The voice on the other end of the phone was drenched in a thick Welsh accent, worry and nervousness danced with the words as Arthur stood stiffly waiting to see if his, relation? was going to say anything else

"Albion, you still there?" the man asked again, his worry getting stronger when the Englishman didn't reply. finally Arthur managed to gather his bearings long enough to answer the question.

"I am still here.. Cymru.. when are you all coming over? so I can get the rooms ready" Arthur knew that the rooms were all already made up, they always were, just in case, he did manage to get some quests to come along to his home. England realized that, for the first time in centuries, he had spoken his twin's name, one of his blood brothers had actually said his name, his real name.

"As soon as possible really... will they be ready by next week?" the question had made the Brits heart race... next week, next week he might have a chance, next week could either make him or destroy him all over again.

"y-yeah ::cough:: yeah they will be ready by then... do you need my address or-" his voice faded off as he thought of what to say, luckily the Welshman on the end of the line chose that time to speak again

"oh good, Erm we already know where you live so it is ok, found out from Queeny so... see you then Albion?" his last question sounded awkward, like this was too good to be true for any on the united kingdom family members.

"yeah I will see you then... Cymru" with that both men hung up and went to do their respective things, neither knowing that the other was feeling the same about the arrangement for the following week

~one week later~

upon waking up, once again at 5am for some unknown reason, Arthur slowly began dressing in his normal attire for days off; a plain dark green long-sleeved top and dark jeans. once the young man had, had his breakfast, a bowl of cereal (even he couldn't burn that), the news finally kicked in. today was the day, his blood brothers would soon be at his home, the fate of their last bond would be put to the test today. He was fucking terrified, sure he had fought wars, he had nearly died many times before, but that was different, they would have ended him straight off of the bat but this, if this went wrong he would lose whatever he had left.

just as he was about to leave the house for some fresh air, his door bell rang, its chiming sound echoed within his head as fear attacked his system, like a slap to the face it hit him. making a plan Arthur shouted from his position in the hallway.

"Come in, the door is open!" as he shouted this he ran around the corner, entering the kitchen before the door could even be cracked open. Three men entered through the front door, a long blonde haired boy at the lead followed by a nervous looking red-headed boy, whose eyes kept flicking from one side of the hall to the other. finally a tall, proud looking red-headed man strolled into the home, his judging green eyes scanned the hallway first, moving along toward the front room he stared once again. noticing there was no-one there to greet them the three men spoke between themselves on who would be the one to do the shout out. fortunately by the time they had decided who would be the spokes person Arthur's voice came, with a nervous shout, from the kitchen

"would any of you like a drink?" it was a simple and short question but it was still enough to chip away at the ice within the house. Cymru stood there gathering the orders from the two red heads beside him before shouting back;

"can we have two beers for Shawn and Alba and may I have a cup of earl grey tea please" his voice was collect and calm as he motioned for his brothers to sit down on the couch behind them, listening as the man in the kitchen quietly repeated the orders back to himself, the clattering of beer bottles and tea cups could be heard, before the door between the kitchen and the living room was gently pushed open by a small blonde boys back, it had been years since the brothers had seen one another, if it hadn't been for the fact that the man before them had thick eyebrows and bright green eyes they probably wouldn't have recognized him as their brother. So much had changed in Arthur's appearance within the time of the brothers separation, he had grown so much taller than he had as a child, his skin seemed to glow in the light a shimmering shade of white, almost as though he had put makeup on his arms and face.

Arthur slowly moved around the table, so that he wasn't stood next to the three gaping men as he placed the drinks on the table and slid them across. Even after all these years he could still tell each one of them apart, knowing who ordered which drink he gave the men their respective drinks before leaving the room once again to shut the back door, unknown to the three men in front of him Arthur had stepped outside to try to gather his nerves before collecting their orders. upon returning, the three men stared at Arthur, waiting for the boy to sit down, their faces unreadable as they sat in silence. finally England had had enough waiting and decided to break the silence once more.

"so, why did you all want to see me?" he questioned, his voice monotone as he gazed into his tea-cup, camomile just the drink he needed. This time it wasn't Cymru who answered his question, like all the times before, but it was Alba.

"we thought it was about time we all had a sit and a chat" his voice was deeper that it had been the last time they had conversed, but it was still drenched in his broad Scottish accent making his words sound rough and hurtful. Arthur knew what he meant by all of them, considering Arthur had already seen Alba a few years prior to this when the war with America was lost, though he would rather forget that ever happened.

"so what is it you wanted to talk about that had to put you all through the hassle of travelling from your own homes to this place?" England's voice was tired and empty as he spoke the words, truly believing that he wasn't worth the trouble of tiring the travellers out, especially after what he had put them all through. He also avoided calling the building he lived in his 'home', it wasn't what he would call home at the moment it was just a lonely building that held his possessions and shaded him from cold weather nothing more, nothing less.

Alba raised an eyebrow at the question, giving the blonde a look that said 'did-you-really-just-ask-that?' though he didn't say it, it would have been awkward and may have ruined his plan.

"Look Albion" he started, trying to ignore how Arthur flinched at his old name "we have all been talking and, well we kinda wanted to see if we could make this work again... the whole family thing, try and be the way we were before that Rome-bastard came and ruined everything" his voice sounded desperate, as if he didn't want to hear any type of negative answer, but at the same time it had a hint of anger like the mere mentioning of Rome could have given him enough rage to fight a full army. But for Arthur this was like a dream come true, he was going to get another chance, he may get his dream yet. he knew it would take a while for them to be used to one another again but hopefully they could make it work, he believe that but he could help but feel responsible for breaking this family apart, he had hurt them, he hadn't tried hard enough to fight against Rome, he had ruined them... why did they want him back

"but I have hurt you all... even after Rome left I still acted different I helped tear your bonds apart I-" he was cut off by the sound of a cup being slammed down on the table and the thundering sound of angry steps as his twin stomped over towards him, his eyes blazing with anger as the Welsh man leant over his small form.

" You didn't do any of that on purpose though!... Don't you dare say otherwise that Rome bastard locked you away when we were small, you were ordered to rage war against us like we were against you! YOU ARE OUR YOUNGEST BROTHER AND MY TWIN! don't you dare think you ain't part of this fucking family!" his words were both sharp and caring, the rage behind the words hurt more than any of the family members wished to admit but the words were loving and nourishing, the exact thing that Arthur had been wishing for all these years yet dreaded hearing all the same. he just didn't expect them to come in this form and from an angry Cymru.

"I am sorry Cymru, but it is the truth whether or not I did it on purpose is beside the point the fact is that I did it, that I went through with it is enough to convince me... I am also sorry that I have wasted your time, I would like to accept this offer but I think you would all regret it.." with that Arthur took his leave, heading to the one place he thought safe; the woods. leaving his shocked brothers behind, unsure of what had just happened, had the offer been accepted or rejected? would they be a family again or have they finally fallen apart?...

"Arthur! come back!" a deep Irish voice shouted, cracking due to both lack of use and the many emotions the speaker was feeling as he gave chase of his youngest brother. "I lost him once I ain't losing him again god damn-it!" he shouted as he ran out of the door leaving the two men behind him as he went. Alba glanced towards Cymru noticing the tears that were cascading down his pale cheeks.

"we-we've lost him...we've lost him again big brother! it took us ages to find him and now we have lost him again!" he wept as he launched himself into the Scottish mans chest, big comforting arms wrapped around his trembling figure in an attempt to calm him down.

"not if we don't let him... come now, if we hurry we can catch him and convince him that we really want him back in the family " gently he grasped the small boys hand before dragging him out of the house, both of them running at top speed chasing after the red-head in front of them, racing to catch their chance of having a family again. quickly they caught up to Shawn , who pointed to the yellow flash in front of them, at the sight Cymru quickly picked up speed as if powered by the hope of having his family back, to have his twin by his side not as a fellow country but as his family, his brawd.

"ARTHUR!" both Cymru and Shawn shouted as they watched the figure jump and spin around to see them, he was about to run off once again but was unable to as Cymru launched forward, tackling him to the ground, hugging him and holding him as close as he could, never wanting to let him go again.

"Don't go... please, fy brawd" the Welshman whispered into the crook of his twins neck, his arms wrapping around his chest, legs resting either side of his hips as he begged his twin not to leave him again. Arthur realized it wasn't just him who was effected by his brothers' absence, Cymru seemed to have been hit hard by the whole experience... it probably didn't help that he didn't tell anyone where he lived, so he disappeared without a trace.

reaching up Arthur shyly wrapped his thin arms around his twins body, hugging him softly before strengthening the hug, leaning upwards to bury his own head in the others neck, unshed tears gathering in his eyes as he relished in his twins love and warmth.

"ok... ok I won't leave you again... brother, just please stop crying I don't like seeing you cry, I'm sorry, I am so sorry Cymru, brother.." they both stayed there like that until their tears dried and sleep took over, nether remembering the two red-headed bystanders, but it didn't matter they were going to be whole again. Truly become the UNITED kingdom.

:: end flash back ::