Lapses in Memory

Every time Hungary looked at the photograph, she could almost swear she knew him. But every time she got close, the name would slip away leaving her confused and slightly annoyed. There were other things to take care of though. A Nation's work was never done.

She still managed to buy another bag of birdseed though. She loved watching for that little yellow bird that had seemed to take a liking to her bird feeder. It appeared less and less these days. It must be getting too old, poor thing. She dearly hoped the cute little thing would come back next year.

Sometimes a song reminded him of someone he once knew. Austria had learned to shake off those feelings with effort. But they never ceased to bother him. He always felt like something important was missing, something he should not be able to live without. It would get so bad that at times he would stop playing piano and go to his trunk with a nagging feeling. In the trunk was a coat, blue with bright red and gold embellishments. It was soft to the touch like something else...something...

Red.

And then it was gone.

Germany was always bothered by the constant feeling that he should not be alone. He would make comments to his companion only to be surprised when he received no snarky reply. It was always the same. He had come to fear snow because the white reminded me of...someone... He never touched red wine. The color always made him uneasy.

When he was having a particularly bad day, he would pull out an old, discolored photograph with creased and smudges on it. It was himself and another man he swore he knew but for the life of him could not remember. They both wore the same black and silver stylized cross around their necks, the same ones he wore currently. It was the only piece of jewelry he could never seem to give up. He had tried once but it nearly tore him apart. It felt like he was cutting out his heart and handing it to be probed and toyed with by some uneducated idiot.

No one ever made him feel this way.

So who was this person?

A Nation?

A human?

It was mild nuisance only. It was not something that normally bothered Russia. Humans came and went and he could hardly be required to remember the name and face of every single one. But for some reason, this one face bothered him like no other. Usually, a walk outside was enough to distract him but other times...

He would never seen snow the same way again.

Why?

A/N: I am so ashamed of my long, unexplained absence. Chalk it up to intense college classes and very little free time. Sorry. I am planning on updating lots of my fics later in the next few months if I can but... I gotta pass my classes first.