Quick warning. The nations phobias, motivations, and rivalries will be heavily history based. There will also be several headcanon related fears and reasons behind certain actions. So some of these chapters may start out, or become rather dark. But I will try to keep the endings much more light-hearted if I can. This chapter will be an introduction, but the next ones will be based on the nursery itself. So if you have any requests or things you want to see, then don't be afraid to say so!
This was something I once had a blog for, in which I wrote headcanons and stories for each character, talking a bit about what their pasts, regression spaces, and caregiver spaces were like. I wrote alongside Papa-Matthew, a very close friend of mine who I adore~ This story is written with the intent of continuing to write out these ideas and keep the nursery going, both for me and for her! I hope you enjoy these stories!

To live, is to suffer. To get where we must be, we must experience some form of suffering. But we as humans are comforted, knowing that they will be an end someday. We have goals to reach and ends to meet. Not all suffering lasts forever, all will come to an end. But for nations, it is not the same.

From the day they are born, to the day their empires fall, nations must be strong. They have to keep their people safe and well by building up their governments and economies. A piece of the world quite literally rested upon their shoulders. They had to build everything from the ground up, and either watch it prosper, or die. For hundreds of thousands of years, this continued on and on and on. It certainly took it's toll on those who had to suffer. While they did have goals to reach, just like regular humans, there was no end goal, other then to raise thier empires properly. There was no end. Not until they failed. Their empires falls. And the nation dies. As awful as it sounded, for nations, death was truly the only escape.

Every now and again, the nations gathered for meetings. Sometimes, the others didn't get a chance to see one another too often between those meetings. It wasn't too surprising to see a nation rosy-cheeked and smiling one month, and then suddenly grow pale and ill the next. Whenever anything went wrong in the world, it brought pain and stress to one or more of the nations. Things were not well. Not in the slightest.

Antonio was the first to realize this. He hated watching his friends feel such pain and sadness. He didn't want to see them suffer any longer. It was his idea to start the nursery in the first place. He knew that some of his friends had little spaces, just as he did. But they mostly kept it hidden from the others. Every now and again, they would play w ith one another. But something simply felt...off. Antonio wanted the others to have this well. This little time was what helped them to relax and feel happy, especially after a stressful and awful day, and he knew it would benefit the others as well, so very much. But how could he get something started for them?

With time, he had an idea. He had come across an older building for sale, that was about the size of a small school house. Upon having a look and inquiring about it, he discovered that it used to be a kindergarten a few years back. Upon entering, there was a large room that served as the classroom. It was big enough for several people. A few doors were in the room, leading to a small restroom, a kitchen, and then two empty rooms to fill with what they pleased. It took him some thought, but soon enough, he purchased the building. He had an idea. He knew what he was going to do.

It took a very long time to set everything up and to gather some members. But with time, patience, and a little help, Antonio had everything ready. What he had created, was the Nursery of the World. A nursery for age regressors to play and be taken care of. The most difficult part however, was selling the others on the idea. He had to do a bit of searching, and had to be persistent. But he was delighted to discover that there were more age regressing nations then he had thought! They all struggled a good deal, and they all needed some sort of outlet. It turned out that this outlit was a bit more common then he thought~ In the beginning, he had gathered up 12 members, including himself. Alfred, Arthur, Feliciano, Francis, Kiku, Lila, Lovino, Ludwig, Matthew, Roderich, and Yao. All of them regressed for their own reasons and had their own motivations behind why they did what they did.

Alfred was the youngest of the group that had been gathered, besides his brother. With his nation rapidly growing and expanding, he was made to grow up quickly, and take on many responsibilities as he did. While he was able to experience and have a childhood, he was still very much a child still. He wasn't ready to grow up. He wasn't ready to have to hold such a large chunk of the world on his shoulders. But he didn't have a choice. It hurt him, and made him upset. He had not been given much experience or guidance, as he was given these tasks and responsibilities fairly soon. And after the Revolutionary war, he was on his own. He no longer had Arthur to help him and take care of him. He was his own nation. While he was happy to have such independence, he quickly found himself growing overwhelmed. He knew that people were not happy unless they had power in his home. But while he had that power that everyone craved, he was not. Being little helped him to be a child again, even if it was only for a moment. It really made him happy and relaxed him.

Unlike Alfred however, Arthur's childhood was a bit more difficult. He had a lot of pride over the fact that he was the ruler of such a large empire, and he felt ready to take it. But he was knocked off his pedestal rather early by his elder brothers: Scotland, and Ireland. They made him feel lowly, and were often cruel in an attempt to make him stronger. But it only proved to bring him pain. As he grew, those scars and feeling of inadequacy never left him. While he still held so much pride for his empire, he found himself full of doubt. Every time he failed or his people were tormented, those feelings rose to the surface once again. Unfortunately, his nation was no stranger to death and tragedy. He had seen more death then he knew what to do with. It led to plenty of fear and paranoia. He couldn't even listen to the fireworks with Alfred any longer without having a panic attack. When he was little, he could have a moment to finally push it out of his head, and finally feel safe.

Feliciano was generally a happy person, and most people treated him as thought his head was filled with air. But it was not true. In fact, he had quite a good deal to worry about. Some of which being his own lack of strength. He knew he wasn't the strongest, nor was he the bravest. But he simply wished that he would at least been shown the smallest bit of respect. He was forever being scolded, belittled, and even kicked around. People took advantage of him, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get out of that cycle of bullying. He vowed to do his very best, ever since he was young. But even then, people like Roderich and Francis would take advantage of him and take things from him. A life filed with manipulation and never being good enough led to a good deal of doubt. Sometimes, he even began to question whether or not he should had ever been a nation. that perhaps the world would be much better off if he had been born a human instead. Or...perhaps not ever born in the first place. But as a little, he didn't have to worry about that any longer. No one took advantage of him or hurt him for not being strong. He could just be happy~

Like Feliciano, Francis was also a generally happy person. Or, that was the aura he let off anyhow. He wanted to fill the world with love and happiness, even if it was not always accepted by others. Which was why he was considered the Big Brother of the world. He cared for many nations: Canada, Britain, Italy, Seychelles, Monaco, America, and so on. It was a bit hard giving his heart out and not always getting it back, sometimes even getting it broken. But he knew it had to be done. But the reason for this, was because he knew just how much hatred and sadness there was in the world. No one was happy, and no one could get along. Throughout his long life, he himself had been subjected to such despair, and was forced to watch others suffer the same. Sometimes, those memories and the knowledge of how broken the world was proved to be too much to bare. And he found himself falling into a deep depression. It wasn't uncommon for Francis to not seem like himself some days, and sometimes even suddenly disappear. He would find things to be hopeless, and couldn't make himself go outside, or sometimes even leave his bed, to see anymore sadness. But by being little, he was able to surround himself with what he loved most: happiness. Radiating from both himself, and from the ones he loved.

When Kiku was small, he was an only child for a very short period of time. But as time passed, more and more siblings were added to the family. Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Out of all of his siblings, besides Yao, he was the oldest. He was taught from early on how to be a big boy and take care of his little brothers and sisters. He was not to cry or fuss or complain. He had to mind the little ones as Yao cooked or cleaned or sometimes even while he went to the market. He was scolded for their misdeeds as he was supposed to be the responsible one. It was not fair. But he was not allowed to complain. When he grew up, after he betrayed Yao in the Sino-Japanese war, he left home, and was isolated from the family for a long time. But even after he had been forgiven and things were back to normal, Kiku was not. He was as stoic as he was as a child, and was afraid to express how he felt, for fear of inconveniencing or troubling others and being scolded. He kept to himself. Being little however, he was able to get that childhood back, and create newer and happier memories as the little boy he was never allowed to be.

Lila had always wanted nothing more then to be strong, just like her big brother. Even since he had saved her when her nation was in the midst of a depression, she had looked up to him, and wanted to prove to him that she could be just like him. But in doing so, she had to make a few sacrifices. She couldn't wear her dresses or pretty frilled socks. She couldn't go to collect flowers or play with what she wanted to play with. While she wanted to be like him, and did lean towards more masculine things at times, that wasn't who she was. She liked both things. but forcing herself in only one direction for so long took it's toll. She wanted to be herself, but worried that if she did, she wouldn't be strong enough. So she forced herself to keep on one path. When she gets to be little however, she was allowed to do whatever she pleased, whether she wanted to be a little tomboy, or a princess. It was okay. No one was going to think of her differently.

Since he was small, Lovino had been taught just how mean people could be at times. Not only that, but he came to learn just how terrible it felt to be pushed aside, or not wanted. He remembered when he and his little brother had been under Roderich's control for a time. Roderich had considered Lovino unruly and too difficult to deal with him. So he had been passed off to Antonio while he was still young. But during that time, it was so painfully obvious how much Antonio preferred his sweet and obedient brother over him. It was painful. But that wasn't the worst of it. Even Grandpa Rome seemed to prefer Feliciano over him. It wasn't fair! When the Roman Empire fell, he remembered that Felicano had been a mess, crying and pleading for him to come back. But Lovino had not. He had not grown attached to his Grandfather and didn't feel too much during his death. Of course, he felt extremely guilty afterwards. But all of this preference and being pushed aside, left him with many self-esteem problems and issues with trust. But as a little, he was never pushed away or treated like a problem. He could be himself, and not have to worry about being hurt ever again.

While Ludwig only had one nation, it felt like he was raised a dozen. Whenever something went wrong or someone was in trouble, he was the first one they ran to. He was the one who was expected to fix everything. So when he failed, he not only put himself at risk, but he was putting their nation, and thousands of innocent people in danger as well. Despite only having his land, he worked harder then anyone else. This led to many sleepless nights, and days spent in a rush and never having the time to slow down. He tired to make others understand the importance of hard work and have them take over their own responsibilities But when he felt that things were beyond ones abilities, or he didn't trust them to take things seriously enough, then he would take it on himself. He had managed to make himself ill a few times from being careless, and had even suffered a stress induced panic attack in the privacy of the meeting room after hours, and was caught by none other then Matthew. It was difficult and he just wished people wouldn't have to keep coming to him. When he was little however, he finally had a chance to be still. Nothing left to worry about, and no one to make him do things he didn't want to do.

Speaking of Matthew, his struggles were ones that were not often seen, or even really considered by the people around him. Ever since he was a little boy, he was always craving and fighting for some form of validation and affection. But it was often his big brother that took the spotlight from him. The one person who payed attention and showed him affection he remembered, was his papa Francis. But when he was still small, he was taken away from him, and the rest of his childhood was spent with Arthur, who, while being rather kind, still had Alfred as the apple of his eye. He never found that fair, but he couldn't bring himself to fuss or complain. Since those days, he still had trouble getting any form of attention or affection. When he did get it however, that often ended a bit poorly. He would try so hard to earn that affection, rather then simply take it. He grew so upset over his mistakes and mishaps, and would strive to do things perfectly for the person he loved. This often took a large blow to his self-esteem and led to plenty of self-doubt. But as a little, he didn't have to fight for attention or worry about not being good enough. He could be hugged and touched all he wanted.

While Ludwig no doubt worked the hardest, and a lot of the nations had trouble with accepting mistakes, it was Roderich that took those mistakes the hardest. He was afraid. Afraid of failure. More then anything, he wanted to prove to others that he was strong and could do well on his own. He wanted to show Elizabeta that he didn't need the Austro-Hungarian alliance to be powerful, and he wanted to prove Gilbert wrong as well. He wasn't as weak or powerless as he made him out to be. He kept the bar of expectations high for others and was often scolding them for their mistakes. But for himself, he placed that at right out of his reach, always pushing it higher. He had to be perfect, he had to be strong, and just being himself was never enough. But in doing this, he caused himself much grief and anxiety over such things, and even managed to give himself a few panic attacks when he found himself in a situation he could not control. Or even worse, when that situation was caused by his own foolishness. As a little, he didn't have to hold himself up so high any longer, and he didn't have to try so hard. He could just be himself.

Finally, there was Yao. He was the oldest of the gathered nations, and it defiantly showed. As an older nation, he had a bit more trouble doing the things he could do with ease as a younger man, and he often had to rely on help. Throughout his long long life as a nation, he had seen many many things. Much death and destruction, things that could sometimes not even compare to what Arthur had experienced. China was a large and heavily populated place, so he defiantly still had plenty to do. But it was taking its toll as his life winded down. Frequent dreams of the past, paranoia, and sometimes even stretches of time where he was too afraid to step out of the house. Who knows what was next? He had raised many children during his time, but now, they were all grown up and faced issues and struggles of their own. He did his best to help them, but often could not. So now, he had to watched half a dozen loved ones suffer just as he did. He couldn't protect them. And it's slowly beginning to break his heart. But being little lets him let those things go. He can get rid of his bad memories, even just for a moment, and be happy. No more war, no more sadness, and no more death.

With the group formed, the nursery was put together, they were introduced to everyone's little sides, and a schedule was put out. Every week, the group would meet, and at least two caregivers were chosen from the bunch. It usually differed, depending on who was willing to volunteer, or who needed to be cared for the most. But everyone got a chance to be a caregiver. It was structured much like a kindergarten, with a daily schedule printed out and set in place with playtimes, snack time, nap time, and even some periods where they got to sit and learn with one another. It gave off a wonderful vibe and brought everyone to an environment they had not seen before, as none of them had ever gone to school as children, but had heard plenty about it. They planned out filed trips, holidays, sleepovers, and even birthday parties! Things were looking so exciting.

Before long, the nursery ballooned from 12 members, to 18! Vash discovered where Lila had been spenidn her time, and after a few arguments with the others and some prompting from Lila, he joined too. Ivan came next, discovering the wonderful little place. He was a little hurt that he had not been told about it too, but he soon became a part of it. And finally, Elizabeta and Gilbert joined together. Ludwig told Gilbert after he had gotten together the courage, only to discover that Gilbert had a little space as well! Gilbert was given permission to tell Elizabeta, and now the two of them were members as well. Not too long after came Natalya, and then Hercules! 18 nations all came together to be together and heal and play.

With everyone together and everyone here, the nursery was prospering, and everyone was happy. Now, that didn't mean adult issues didn't slip in every now and again. Sometimes members could not show up because of things they were forced to take care of, and sometimes a day was even cancelled if something big was coming up. Sometimes adult thoughts and rivalries wormed their way into the nursery, making the others upset. But the problem was soothed as soon as humanly possible in order to make everyone happy. The nursery was a blessing to so many nations. So many games to play. So many friends to meet. So much fun to be had.

And many stories to be told.