Loss

Summary: Virginia was not the first colony England found in the New World. Before 1607, in 1585, there was a small colony named Roanoke Colony that was located off the coast of present day South Carolina. What happened to Roanoke Colony? What was the tiny colony's faith? One-shot.

Disclaimer: Himaruya-sensei created Hetalia. The only thing I own in this fanfic are my OCs Roanoke Colony and Virginia.

1587

England was to leave the island today. He had a war to fight and his people needed him now. He had stayed here too long. The trip was supposed to only last several months, but it took longer than England originally intended the visit to last.

"Father," Three years old Virginia tugged on England's shirt. "When will you return?" The child carried some of England's physical traits. She had his soft hay blond hair that was kept short. The little girl wore a small dress that was covered with an apron to keep her clothes from getting dirty, although living in the wilderness has made cleanliness almost impossible and impractical. Her wide pale green eyes stared at her father, who looked ever so solemn to leave his child.

Virginia was not human. She was just like England. She too, was a personification of a mass of land. She wasn't a nation, but she was a colony. She represented the Roanoke Colony, an island that was located in the Virginia region. The region was named in honor of Queen Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen. Virginia was named after both of them. A tiny island located off the coast of the New World, she was fathered by England and was raised by the colonists who had settled there since 1585. Her mother died of childbirth. The cover story was that Virginia was an orphan and that she had lost her parents during the first harsh month of the settlement. England did his best to visit his child as much as possible. As much as one could in an era when traveling from one continent to another could take up more than a month to get to. Roanoke Colony was originally supposed to only act as a military base to search for resources, but Virginia's birth had made England began to grow more attachments to the colony. She was his first child.

England bended down on his knees to allow his eyes to be at the same level as his daughter. "Soon, Virginia." He tried to smile, refusing to allow Virginia to see his tears. His thick brows hid his eyes when he tilted his head down. "It won't take that long to get rid of that Spaniard." He and Spain were currently in a war (1). England thought that it was rather arrogant of the Spanish nation to make a move of getting into a war with him.

"That scary man won't hurt you, right?" The colony cried.

England brushed Virginia's tears. "All will be well." He told her. "I promise."

"What if Spain tries to get me?" She asked in between the tears. The Englishman's horror stories of Spain's deeds had frightened the child. Spain already had control over a dozen colonies in the New World. How frightening indeed!

"He won't." England said. "I'll get him before he tries to get anywhere near you." He hugged Virginia.

"You promise, right?" She asked again.

The English man comforted her. "Had I ever broken a promise?" She shook her head.

"Be careful of the Croatans," England warned her. "You don't know what those savages may do to you." Virginia just nodded her head to show understanding to the warning.

"What shall I do if those Indians were to take me away?" She innocently asked the English nation.

England thought for a moment before answer, "If something does happen to you, be sure to make a cross sign on the tree trunks if you were taken away by brute force." It would be a sign. "It will tell me what has happened to you. Do you understand?" He asked the child. She nodded again.

The nation stood up again. He needed to leave now. His departure was to be due in a few minutes. England kissed the colony on the head and began to leave.

"Wait! Father!" The toddler shouted when she saw that her father was going. She ran after him and hugged him by the leg. She barely stood up to his knee. "Don't leave!" She didn't want to be lonely again! She felt so weak and lonely when England wasn't with her. "Can't you stay?"

"I can't, honey." England tried to reason with her. "I have business to attend to."

"You won't forget me will you?" She tearfully asked. She was so small and he was so big! She was just a tiny colony!

"I won't forget you," England kissed her on the head again. "I'll be back. Promise. Stay with the villagers. Don't wonder off, eat and sleep well, be a good Christian, and don't forget what I told you earlier." He told the colony.

This time, England really did leave, and walked to the island's coast where his ship was waiting for him. As England stepped onto the ship's deck, the sea maiden began to roll. He saw Roanoke Colony ran beside the ship. She cried out. "Farewell Father!" She was still sobbing. "Be safe!" She struggled with keeping up with the ship's pace. Her tiny face peaked at the man on the ship.

"Good bye!" She shouted. "I'll wait for your return!" Her eyes never let the ship out of her sight. The colony kept running to keep up with the ship until she could no longer run. When the ship was long gone, she was still having tears falling down her pale cheeks.

England stared contently at the endless sea ahead. He was afraid of looking back. He was sorry of having to leave his daughter on an untamed island full of beasts and other inhumanly beings. "Good bye Virginia." Arthur quietly said. His eyes were focused on the cerulean blues below. "I won't forget you." (2)

1600

When England came back from the war, the first thing he had in his mind was that one, he had defeated Spain, and two, he needed to see Virginia. It has been years since he had left the island. She would be six years old this year. When the English nation left the colony, she was still a baby. England felt guilty for leaving a child on a wild island with little to shelter her from the dangers.

As soon as he was done with his usual business, England was already on his way to Roanoke Colony. When he arrived to the tiny island and fought his way through the forest to the settlement, the first thing he noticed was… the place was empty. Wooden houses were set up with their leaky roofs sitting on top. The windows were still intact with the houses, but the doors were all left wide open. Many of the houses were empty. There was nobody inside. There was no broken furniture and the houses for the most part were in good condition. Where has everybody gone? England searched through the village, hoping to find anyone who was still there.

"Hello!" England shouted out; his men were right behind them. "Is anybody home? Anyone?" He went through the messy debris. "Hello?"

Like England, behind him, Sir White was calling out for his granddaughter.

"Virginia!" Both England and the man called out. "Virginia!" (3)

"Virginia?" England's voice grew hoarse. "Where are you? Virginia?" He found her doll lying on the ground. "Virginia? Roanoke Colony?" He cried.

"Have you seen her yet?" One of the men asked Sir White. The man shook his head.

"Look at this!" Another man cried out. He pointed to a tree trunk nearby. The tree was chopped off. The tree trunk had markings set upon them, in capitol locks, it said CRO. In another trunk beside it were the words, C-R-O-A-T-A-N. Croatan? What did it mean? There were no cross markings on the tree. The colony wasn't taken away by force. So where were they? Where was Virginia? His little girl?

"They may have retrieved to Croatoan Island…" England found himself mumbling. But why? What has caused the whole settlement to run off into that island? What force has caused them to move off like that?

His child. His only child. Lost. Disappeared. From the face of the earth. Why? England cried. Why? A man can lose many things in his life. A man would lose his house, his money, his wife, his property. There were many things a man could lose to make him go mad. However, to lose a child was like to lose one's heart. To lose one's heart by tearing it out by brutal force. To lose one's child was like losing one's self. Because the child was his very own blood and flesh. His child was his own. His child was a part of him. They have only known each other for a brief period, but their blood linked them together. England had never felt such a strong bond before. Virginia… what happened to her? What has happened to his little girl? When could England hear her cry, 'father' again when in need of him?

"We will search for them." Sir White was very determined to find his grandchild. "We will search for them tomorrow."

England and his men never got to search for them. Because when they tried to, a Hurricane struck Croatan Island. The chances of Virginia surviving was slim. In the next few months, she along with Virginia Dare and the other colonists, were declared dead. England wanted to know what was the faith of his daughter, but there was no spare evidence of what became of her. Roanoke Colony has ceased to exist. (4)

1650

After the disappearance of his daughter, England withdrew into depression. He felt empty inside, like someone had opened up his body and had carved his heart out. His colony was gone. His child was dead. He was sure of it! When he came back to England, the nation was forced to give up on the project for colonies in the New World because he had debts to pay for the war between him and Spain.

"Father," She called out to him. "Are you at peace?" England was in deep thought when he was interrupted by Victoria. In 1607, the London Company had decided to explore the New World again in order to find gold. In high hopes, the company sailed to the coast of present day Virginia to find the precious metal they have learned to love. England could have cared less for gold. He was already rich in treasures. Gold seemed impractical to him at this point. He had lost something that was worth more than gold. Gold was replaceable. His child was not.

"I'm in good health." England tried to swallow his mixed emotions. The girl looked at him with curiosity.

Victoria. She was only three or four when England found her in the heart of the forest where his men were digging for gold. She was sleeping until she noticed his presence. England had mixed feelings for the child. Victoria looked exactly how England would have imagined Virginia to look like if his daughter was to be older. Both Virginia and Victoria shared the same looks and personality. Both were very cheerful and enjoyed exploring the new land. Victoria was the personification of Virginia, the Colony. Victoria was currently wearing a simple blue dress and was now up to England's elbow by height. Her hair was tied into a tight bun that was covered by her white bonnet.

England bitterly named the newfound colony after his dead child. Her human name was Victoria, in order to distinguish them apart. The two of them looked too similar. When England first found Virginia, he insisted that she would call him father. He missed Virginia. He had still haven't gotten over the death of his colony. When he first settled upon the virgin land and created Jamestown, he along with John Smith went into search for information of the faith of Roanoke Colony and her inhabitants. Their search was fruitless. There were claims that the lost colonists had intermarriage with the natives, but there was no solid evidence for that. After the search, many more theories of what happened to the colony popped up like pesky flies. England was too wary to listen to them all. Victoria was now seven years old in human years in the middle of the seventieth century. When England asked the child of her parents, Victoria admitted that she didn't remember much of her past before England found her. For some reason, England found himself sad and disappointed.

"Has America's boy been bothering you lately?" England asked Victoria.

The blond girl just puffed out her cheeks. "No." She looked like she was trying too hard to hide her true feelings. "It's just stupid Maryland…" (5)

"He keeps harassing you and pulls your hair." England noted. The stupid boy kept stealing his daughter's tobacco trading business! What a rude boy. England was not so fond of the boy. He didn't like him for being so close and flirty with his little girl. He silently cursed America was having kids with eccentric personalities. England didn't find Alfred until a few years later after he found the Colony of Virginia.

"He's not that bad," Virginia blushed.

"Really?" England asked. "Because I caught him pranking on one of my men." England's mind kept pulling towards calling Victoria Virginia. His mind could not adjust to calling her by her human name. She looked too much like Virginia.

"Can we talk about something else?" Victoria tried to change the topics.

England sighed. "I supposed that can't be helped." If only America had tried harder to take care of his kids instead of dumping them under England's care.

"Don't you have a meeting with Alfred?" The Virginian girl reminded him.

"Yes." England warily said. He promised Alfred that he would come visit him too. Alfred was very attached to him. The American boy was like a lost puppy. The tall man quietly groaned at the thought of the questions Alfred could throw at him. When could he get his tea? When could his colonies get their clothes? Maybe if Alfred wasn't so dependent on him, England couldn't have to focus so much on the boy.

"You'll come back, right?" Virginia asked again.

England stopped his tracks.

"You won't forget me will you?" She asked. The words came out of her mouth so easily.

"Virginia?" England choked out.

Victoria didn't answer. She only stared up at her father. How strange it was that she suddenly seemed to be at England's eyelevel when England was still taller than her by nearly two feet. Her bright green eyes matched his.

Her question still bounced off inside his skull when he was sitting inside the horse carriage to reach to Alfred's house.

You won't forget me will you?

I won't forget you, England breathed. He could never forget her.

1776

In 1776, the Colony of Virginia automatically took side with the United States of America when America and the rest of the colonies had create the Constitution of Independence in protest against taxation without representation. When the parchment arrived to the English man's doorstep, Virginia's name was clearly written near the top of the page.

The question arose from England's whisper. "You won't forget me will you?" The question left a bitter taste on the man's tongue.

Author's Notes:

(1) - The Anglo-Spanish War was 1585-1607.

(2) – Roanoke Colony is present day Roanoke Island off the coast of South Carolina the Virginia Region. It was found in 1584 and was officially settled in 1585. When its founder left the island, news of the colony ceased, causing it to gain its status as the 'Lost Colony'.

(3) – In 1587, Virginia Dare was the first English child to be born in the New World. Virginia who represents Roanoke Colony was loosely based off of her.

(4) – What became of the colonists remains a mystery. There are many theories of what happened to them, but none of them have solid evidence to support them.

(5) – In less than two centuries, in July 16, 1790, Maryland and Virginia have a cute kid named Washington D.C.! -gets shot- Both of the states gave up parts of their land to create the federal district that was once the property of the Washingtons who were thought to be one of the first families to settle in Virginia. At the time, America had no official capitol and had to keep moving its government location because of political issues. In modern day, both Maryland and Virginia work closely with D.C. Isn't that cute? The district was not official opened until 1802.

For those who are curious, this is Virginia's full name: Virginia Elizabeth Kirkland. Victoria's full name: Victoria Rebecca Kirkland. Virginia the colony was named after Queen Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen, because of the virgin land and prior to the Virgin Queen's death in 1603. Virginia was found in 1607 when Jamestown was settled by the company men that were led that John Smith.

After Notes: This one-shot was very lazily done in less than 3 hours. This is very loosely based off of history, so it's not very technical. There you go, Virginia was not England's first colony. Many people assume that she is his first, but she isn't. And you get to read about an unsolved history mystery. What did happen to Roanoke Colony? What happened to her inhabitants? Nobody knows. The island is still there today. I think you could still visit there for tourism. Looks like I won't be able to sleep tonight after typing this depressing one-shot.

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