Before this all began…

North Korea sat on tree stump. His delicate fingers worked the keys and the holes of the metal instrument in his hands. A sorrowful song lifted up from it, skittered through the trees and off into the heavens. He had his eyes closed and seemed oblivious to the world. The only things that were real to him was the flute at his lips and the scent of the forest around him. He had no sheet music. Even if he did, it would not matter since his eyes were closed. The solemn song was being played completely by memory. When the last moments of the song came, the final notes did not want to leave. Yet, leave they did. He lowered the flute and opened his eyes.

He was facing south. Even though he could not see it, he knew that if he walked straight long enough he would come to his brother's house, the home of South Korea. It hurt every time he looked that direction. Soon, the pain would go away. He already knew how.

He cleaned his flute before putting it away. The cleaning was quick, but surprisingly thorough. His passion was the old instruments and classic arts. He was not interested in those barbaric pop songs his brother liked. In general the modern arts were inferior to the ancient ones, though he did have a secret love of James Bond movies.

With the case in hand, he rose from his seat. He was wearing his uniform. Gone was the image of the musician, now he was the soldier. He turned around and walked. It would not due to be late for his meeting with China.

He wanted to live together with his brother again. Of course it had to be under his roof. China wanted Taiwan to move back into his house. He had also called two other nations to meet with him: France and Spain. He pressed his thin lips together. North Korea had figured out exactly what buttons to push to get all three of them to join him. This was something he knew he could not do alone.

The second he would go to get his beloved brother, that idiot America would have to butt in. Of course Japan would let him do whatever he wanted. That traitorous bitch that called herself Vietnam would probably even let America use the old bases in her lands. She was supposed to be on his side. Yet, there she was threatening to let America use her resources if he tried something.

His knuckles turned white around the black handle of the flute's case.

Yes, that stupid teenager of a nation. That is why he needed China, France and Spain. Oh, North Korea knew that he could barricade his lands up and America would not be able to take them. The problem is that he would need support to force his way to South Korea's home. He did not care what it would take. He would plunge the world into war if he had to.

Family was far more important than something as little as war.

He would save South Korea from the West. He would save him from his own childish joy at life. He would save him from the traitors that called themselves the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Japan and the Republic of China.

The corners of his thin lips turned up into a smile. Everything would be alright. After all, he knew just how important family was to China, France and Spain.

xXx

Author's Notes: I find it funny how everyone seems to forget that North Korea is one of the countries in the Militarily/Economically Aligned Nations. Anyways, this chapter was a bit of a flashback to before everything started. Boy, for being an England centric fic there sure isn't much of him lately, is there?

If anyone is confused about the Republic of China, that is Taiwan. Hetalia has a small consistency problem. You see originally Yao was depicted as the Republic of China. However in later strips all symbols associated with him being the Republic of China were removed or replaced with the ones from the People's Republic of China, which did not exist until AFTER WWII. Later, Himaruya created Taiwan which represents the Republic of China. This creates an inconsistency as she is the Republic of China, yet Yao is shown in the WWII strips.

However, there is an easy solution to his. Despite claims to the contrary, the natives and pirates that lived in Taiwan continuously pushed off attempts to control the islands by mainland China. It was only about eight or so years that China actually controlled Taiwan before handing the islands over to Japan. If interpreted in Hetalia terms as China just handing her home over to Japan and the girl staying with him, she can easily be both the islands and the Republic of China historically. Yao would be Ancient China as well as the Communist forces during the Chinese Civil War.

Sadly, I don't think the historical status of Taiwan will be addressed very much in Hetalia canon because it is still a real issue in Asia. In fact, the Chinese Civil War never ended and technically China and Taiwan are still at war with each other.