A/N: This chapter was heavily inspired by "Cleaning out the Storage", America's flashback episode. Hence, this is a lot darker and less humorous than previous chapters.

Adult characters:

Holland/The Netherlands (Pieter van der Waals) – Much like his long-time rival England, he was once a powerful, expansive empire, who also fought alongside the Allies in the Second World War. More recently, however, he's begun to concern himself more with his own continent, occupying his time more with his siblings Belgium and Luxembourg than his former colonies.

...

Enjoy!

...

Australia stood at the entrance to the home of his northern neighbour. No longer donning his business suit from the day before, he was instead cloaked in khaki. Kevin still loyally clung to his back, however, looking up lazily as Australia lightly struck the front door a few times. In a few seconds, the door unlocked, revealing Timor's face and figure. "Ah, Australia, you're here!" The young woman dragged Australia inside by his wrist, not missing a beat. "Come on in!"

The male nation obliged, allowing himself to be pulled across the threshold. "So, Timor..." Australia began, before his mobile started ringing. The tune of "Advance Australia Fair" sounded out throughout the house for a few brief moments as the khaki-clad nation fumbled through his pocket. He looked at the caller ID as he drew the phone in front of his face. "Just a tic, Timor." Hitting the answer button on the phone, Australia raised the device to his ear. "G'day, Johnny Turk! [1] How've you been, mate? ... Yeah, she's good. No problems there. ... What? I don't know, I'm a tad busy at the moment. ... Maybe some other time. My shout. ... Yeah, you too. See you, mate."

"Who was that, belu? [2]" A look of curiosity tinged with the slightest hint of jealousy revealed itself on Timor's face.

"Just an old mate of mine, Timor," Australia replied coolly. "Turkey. Met him back in the First World War. Nice guy; bloody vicious fighter, though. [3]" Australia's thoughts began to drift back to memories of the First World War. The trenches, the cold, the first ceasefire where he met Turkey face-to-face for the first time... These were distant memories; though, to Australia, it was also as if they had occurred just yesterday.

"Australia, are you okay?" The woman tapped on Australia's shoulder, snapping him out of his nostalgia-rush.

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that..." The nation smiled sheepishly as he spoke, embarassed. "Anyway," he continued, cleaing his throat, "Do you mind if you show me around the place a bit? I'll be able to get a better handle on the situation that way."

The woman nodded, taking Australia's hand. "Sounds good to me."

...

The two had been working together on cleaning up for nearly two hours now. Australia noted everything he could about the house - for nations, how one's land and people did was reflected both in their body and in their home. Her kitchen and dining room were relatively well-kept - indicitave of a functional democratic system, from what Australia knew. However, the living room - the symbol of her economy - looked to be in much poorer shape. Then again, he'd seen worse, having visited Nauru's quite often. Suddenly, a call came from the bedroom. "Australia!"

Swiftly, the nation got up from the living room floor, moving towards the other. "What is it, Timor?"

She merely pointed to the ground a few feet away from both of them. "I found this..."

"This is..." Australia pulled the item up from the clutter on the ground. It was an Owen gun [4]. He read the serial number on the receiver of the weapon: 00001. "No way..." Australia found himself spacing out again, his mind wandering back to events nearly seven decades ago.

...

Australia found himself lying among the dense foliage of Timor's land. Alongside Holland, the two waited, binoculars raised, waiting. The pair had heard rumors amongst the native Timorese population that an attack on the village below was imminent - a reprisal for guerrila activity by the natives and colonists, no doubt [5]. Soon enough, the Japanese appeared. Leading them was a young-looking officer clad in white - a strong contrast to the blackness of his hair and eyes. The two immediately recognised the man for who - or rather, what - he was. "Showtime, Australia."

"About bloody time, too." With Owen gun in hand, Australia stood up, dashing behind a tree he could use as cover. "Let's see how you like this, you Jap [6] bastard," Australia muttered to himself, setting his weapon to semi-auto. He opened fire, one aimed shot after the next, his rounds finding their mark on the bodies of Japan's soldiers. One bullet grazed past the shoulder of the enemy nation himself, but it was not a direct hit.

Grinning, Holland raised his weapons - two Bren light machine guns [7], one in each hand. As an empire, his immense strength meant the weapons felt more like feathers in his hands. "Afscheid, oen! [7]" A hail of bullets descended upon Japan and what remained of his soldiers, who had begun to return fire. However, it was too late for them - the damage had been done, and the two attackers had already begun their flight.

"How irritating," Japan remarked, rubbing his shoulder. "And such dishonourable tactics... [8]" Drawing his officer's katana, the nation in white - along with his remaining comrades - began their pursuit of the other two countries.

As they left, a young girl emerged from one of the houses, spared - for now, at least - from Japan's vengeance. Looking up, she caught a glimpse of the two fleeing nations as Japan gave chase. "Obrigado... [9]"

...

Australia now found himself propped up against a tree. Holland kept a lookout while Timor tended to the wounds of the huge southern nation. "Diak ka lae? [10]"

"Yeah... I'm fine..." Looking up from where he lay, he placed his hand on Timor's. "You know... You shouldn't be helping us... The Japs'll kill you if they ever find out... [11]"

The smaller island nation shook her head. "You came to help my people, Australia. Your soldiers fight to keep them safe... This is the least I can do." With that, Australia relented, allowing the girl to tend to him once more.

...

Months passed. Though Australia and the Netherlands had fought long and hard against the Japanese, their bosses finally made the decision to pull out. They were needed elsewhere, they were told. Holland stood on the deck of the HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes, calling out to Australia, still on the beach. "Move it, Australia! Japan's going to be here any second!"

"Just a second," came Australia's gruff reply. He turned back to face the woman before him. "Timor..."

"Please... don't leave me, Australia." Tears welled up in the nation's eyes as she spoke, despite her efforts to hold them back. "Favor ida keta ba lae... [12]"

Australia shuffled uncomfortably in position. "I'm sorry, Timor... but my boss's word is final. I want to keep up the fight, but they say I'm needed elsewhere. I'm sorry..." Knowing that he had no choice, and not wanting to let Timor see the tears in his own eyes, Australia turned and bolted for the ship, dropping his Owen gun in the process.

As the larger nation ran towards the Dutch boat, she called out to him. "Promise me... Promise you'll come back for me!"

As Australia boarded the ship, he turned back to face the woman he had left behind. "I will! I promise you! [13]" As the two looked at each-other, and as the ship began to pull away, a figure clad in white emerged from the jungle. "Timor! Behind you!"

Timor turned just in time to witness the steel of Japan's weapon streak towards her. She had no time to dodge. [14]

...

"Australia?" Back in the real world, Timor began to shake Australia's shoulder. "Australia! What's wrong?" Noticing a single tear rolling down Australia's cheek, her worries intensified.

"I'm sorry..." Snapping back to reality, Australia put down his old weapon, he moved towards the other nation, wrapping his arms around her in a hug. "My bosses... have always been making me abandon you. Always making me betray you. First in 1942, again in 1975... " His blood boiled at the memories of the latter year - how his boss had told him to abandon Timor, to let Indonesia take what wasn't hers - and after all Timor did for him in the war, too [15]. Maybe it was just the hero complex he had from hanging around America too much after the Second World War, but deep down, what happened that year never sat right with him. "Never again."

Timor smiled as she looked up to the nation who had her in his arms. "Thank you, Australia." She wrapped her own hands around Australia's body, returning the hug.

Looking down into the darkness of the other nation's brown eyes, Australia decided it was time to tell her. "Timor, I-"

"I know." Placing a finger on Australia's mouth to silence him, Timor moved in, her lips locking with his.

...

[1] - Johnny Turk was the generic term for a Turkish soldier used by Commonwealth soldiers in the First World War.

[2] - Belu - Tetum for 'friend'.

[3] - Australians respect Turks, mainly due to the way their confrontation against one another played out in the First World War. Though the Turks fought hard, they also fought fair - this is one of the biggest reasons why they are also the only former enemy Australia honours with an official war memorial in the Australian capital, Canberra. To this day, the two countries maintain extremely good diplomatic relations with one another.

[4] - The Owen gun was a uniquely Australian weapon of the Second World War. With a top-loaded ammunition magazine, select-fire capabilities and legendary reliability in the jungle, it was a strange, yet widely-loved weapon of the Australians.

[5] - The Dutch and Australians weren't the only ones fighting the Japanese on Timor. Guerrila activities were carried out by the natives and colonists, as well.

[6] - Jap is an English ethnic slur for the Japanese, prevalent during the Second World War. Though it is considered offensive these days, I decided to use it in this story to maintain historical accuracy.

[7] -Dutch for "Farewell, blockhead!". It's quite difficult to find decent Dutch pejoratives on the Internet, you know...

[8] - The Bren was a light machine gun used by both the British Commonwealth and by the Netherlands during the Second World War. Much like the Owen, they loaded from the top.

[9] - The Australians and Dutch, horribly outnumbered, fought using guerilla tactics for most of the Battle of Timor during the war. For nearly a year, an entire division of over 10,000 troops of the Japanese Imperial Army was tied up on the island.

[10] - Tetum for 'thank you'.

[11] - Tetum for 'how are you?'.

[12] - Due to the guerrila activities of the civilians on Timor, as well as their assistance to the soldiers of Australia and the Netherlands, many villages and settlements of the natives and colonists on the island were targeted in reprisal attacks.

[13] - Tetum for 'Please don't go yet'.

[14] - The Australians never actually returned to Timor during the rest of the war, though it was eventually liberated after the final Japanese surrender in August following the American atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

[15] - Unfortunately, when the Australians and Dutch withdrew, reprisals against the civilian population on the island intensified. Between 40,000 and 70,000 civilians were killed between the time of the Dutch-Australian withdrawl and the final surrender of the Japanese.

[16] - When Timor declared independence from Portugal in 1975, Indonesia annexed the territory. Australia's government allowed this to go ahead unchallenged, under the pretense of preventing a communist government from arising in Timor. Many of the Australians who had an idea of the island's history in relation to the Second World War were not pleased.