Author's Note: This is a oneshot written for sillyputtie at the hamburger-st America-centered fanworks exchange on livejournal. Hope you enjoy!


Wish Upon a Well

By Everything is Magic


He'd been planning it for months. First, he took England to the happiest place on Earth. Second, he was a total hero and paid for the trip, in addition to letting England have priority on which parts of the parks they visited each day. Third, after four awesome and totally romantic days that had blown England away, he was ready for the main event.

He was going to propose to England.

And there was no way that England could turn him down! He was being the best boyfriend ever on this trip. Just the day before, he'd agreed not to go on Mission Space for a third time because England really wanted to go back to Magic Kingdom and ride Peter Pan's Flight (England liked the part where they flew above starry London. America liked how small the 'pirate ships' they rode in wore, because it gave him an excuse to cuddle England). When England had seen a Beauty and the Beast tea set he liked, shaped like Mrs. Potts and all her teacups, America had bought it without a second thought. England had blushed and thanked him, but then had looked at him suspiciously and asked if America was going to end this vacation by asking if he'd loan him a large sum of money or some such. America had assured him that he would not, and that he just wanted to treat his boyfriend. He could tell that England was really touched and excited about the tea set, because later in the day, he hadn't even protested when America wanted to go to the French Pavilion so he could get photographs with Tiana and Naveen.

America had booked them a room at the nicest hotel in the park, the Grand Floridian. The real reason he'd chosen it though was because he thought it was way stodgy. The theme was Victorian, and everything was all tea and crumpets and flowers and chandeliers and totally England. When England had expressed his delight with the chosen resort, America couldn't stop grinning.

It was day four now. They were only halfway through the vacation, but America had decided to propose then so they could spend the last half of it as not just a couple, but a soon to be married couple. Or so he hoped. He shook his head. Of course England would say yes. But nervousness was still pooling in his gut. He was a hero, and heroes shouldn't be so worried about saying four simple words and holding a ring out! England loved him, and he loved England. There was no reason for him to say no… right?

Plus, he'd just finished taking England to this amazing restaurant. It was so perfectly England that it had had a Queen Victoria room. They'd dined there, and there were personalized menus and a long-stemmed rose had been placed on England's side of the table by the restaurant staff. All the waiters and waitresses wore Victorian era clothing, and England hadn't been able to conceal how much he liked it. America was glad, because even though the food was amazing, he'd never been hugely fond of restaurants like this, where they served you tiny little foofy servings of things. Yeah sure, it was like ten of those in a meal, but if he wanted one thing that small, he'd order off a kid's menu.

But England had loved it, and when America had caught him holding the rose between his fingers and smelling it out of the corner of his eye, he'd only kind of teased him (trying to be the best boyfriend ever, after all!). And when they'd gone back up to the room to change out of their suits and into more casual attire, America had kissed him and told him how sexy he looked, because England always looked unfairly good in a suit. Seriously, he had no idea why England didn't realize how cute he was, because he was… so damn adorable.

That led to where they were now. America had insisted they go back down to the park for the fireworks, and that's where the final phase of operation Most-Heroic-Proposal-Ever was going to unfold. All he'd had to do was tell England that the Wishing Well beside Cinderella's Castle was a great spot to see the fireworks at, and he'd gotten them to the location he'd planned.

Cinderella's Wishing Well was in a small area that was really easy to miss, which was awesome because that meant that no one else was there at the moment. There were a few benches and some potted plants and bushes, old fashion lamped posts, and cobbled granite beneath their feet. The well itself was a small affair, with sculptures all over the base featuring characters from the story. America thought it was really kind of romantic and right up England's alley. He'd always loved fairytales, so he hoped he'd appreciate the spot.

The nerves were back. He gulped. England was standing next to him, and in the light of the fireworks, America could see a small, gentle smile on his face. Tentatively, he reached over and took his hand. England's eyes widened for a moment, but then he squeezed back.

The fireworks were amazing. According to what he'd read online when booking the trip, it was the biggest show they'd ever had. And when it came to fireworks, bigger was always better, or at least America thought. And even England appreciated them!

But the show was winding down now, and he still hadn't proposed yet. He took a deep breath, running over his plan for the millionth time. England glanced over at him, his expression curious, and it struck him, more than ever before, what exactly he was doing.

He was asking England to marry him. Asking the other nation to tie his life with his forever, because marriage was totally forever (or at least he thought it was, because that's how it was in the movies he made, especially the Disney ones! And happy endings were the best kind of endings), was a pretty damn big deal. But England had… always been there, at the forefront of his life. Even when they hadn't spoken much, when their relationship had sort of sucked, he thought about him more often than any other nation. And he didn't want that to ever stop, didn't want England to ever stop being that huge part of his life. If anything, he wanted him to become a larger part of who he was. He really, really loved him. Seeing England smile at him, laugh with him, kiss him, care for him, made him feel like he could leap up and touch the stars, could grab onto the tail of a comet and soar across the sky.

His palms were starting to sweat, dammit. He closed his eyes, exhaled, and turned to face England. He smiled. "Hey England?"

"Hmm, what is it America?" England queried. America noticed in the glow of the lights that the sun he'd gotten the past few days had caused tiny freckles to appear on his cheeks. He smiled inwardly at that.

"This is a wishing well!"

"Indeed it is," England countered, looking a bit bewildered.

America scratched the back of his head, a nervous habit. "So uh, you should close your eyes and make a wish…"

England blinked. "That's… it's not a real wishing well, America."

America frowned.

"I mean I'm quite sure no fairies have blessed it and…"

Was England's crazy obsession with his invisible friends really going to hinder his awesome proposal? "Well… maybe you can just pretend? Here, I'll make a wish first!"

America took a quarter out of his pocket, closed his eyes, and tossed it in. My wish is that England says yes…

England chuckled. "All right, I suppose."

"The money goes to charity!" America offered.

He nodded. "You're so daft…" He closed his eyes, and America slid a quarter into his hands.

"Make a wish, and you're not allowed to open your eyes until I say so," America commanded, his voice shaky and anxious.

England scowled and crinkled his nose in a way too adorable manner, but he complied. He whispered something under his breath and dropped the quarter in the well.

In the meantime, America fumbled around in his jeans pocket, having never found it half this difficult to pull something out of his freakin' pocket. Stupid nerves. They were so unheroic!

When he finally managed to secure the ring box, he exhaled in relief. He opened the box, put on his best smile, and tried his damn best to ignore the way his stomach twisted and did flips and the way his-

"You can o- "

His sweaty hands were making it difficult to keep a grasp on the box. It flew out of his shaking fingers… and fell into the well with a quiet plop.

"WAIT, DON'T OPEN THEM. KEEP THEM CLOSED!" America yelled, panicked.

He furrowed his eyebrows together. "America you-"

"J-just keep them closed! Make another wish. You don't even have to pay for this one… it's… buy one get one free wish night. Awesome, huh?"

"…I suppose."

He was keeping his eyes closed. America stepped over the tiny fence around the well and squinted down into it. He could see the box on the bottom, a few feet down and on top of piles and piles of coins. Steeling himself, he shoved his arm down into the water.

Dammit, not long enough! He cursed inwardly. He took his glasses off and shoved them in his pocket, forcing his entire front end into the well now.

America was sure he looked really unawesome with his legs sticking out a Cinderella well, but damn if he cared right now. He had to get that ring!

A bit of water shot up his nose and he winced in discomfort. He pushed himself further down into the well and felt around. There. He snatched it up, and shoved his body upward and out of the well.

He didn't think about the concrete rim until he smacked his head on it. "Shit!" he exclaimed out loud, the back of his head throbbing in pain.

"America what is that splashing and- what in the bloody hell are you doing?" England asked.

At least he still had his eyes closed.

But America's upper half was soaking wet now, his head was killing him, and there was probably a big ugly goose egg forming back there right now. Plus, England likely thought he was crazy or something. And who wanted to be given a wet engagement ring in an equally wet box?

Well…

He wiped the ring on his still dry pants. He could fix that, at least.

A part of him thought that he should just abandon the proposal right here and now, but another part, the totally heroic part, told him to go forward. If England loved him enough to marry him, he'd love him even at his least awesome and heroic, right? And even a sort of lame America was still cooler than anyone else to him, wasn't it?

If you're such a hero, get some balls! America berated.

He held the ring out, got onto one knee, and steeled himself.

"England, you can open them…"

England did so, and his green eyes immediately grew large. "You took a swi-"

He cut himself off when he noticed what America was holding out to him. America smiled tentatively. "It was supposed to be way cooler than this. I planned forever and… I didn't mean to jump into the well and stuff!"

"G-git…"

America grinned at that, his confidence boosted by England being so… quintessentially him. "England, will you marry me?"

It was like England kind of froze up, which really freaked America out. And he'd cupped one of his hands over his mouth. America cringed inwardly, not knowing if England was touched or trying not to laugh at him. It was only when America noticed, in the corner of England's eyes, the beginning of tears, that he spoke again.

"Are you—"

"No, I'm not crying!" England retorted. "I just… this week, everything… how good you've been and- it was all leading up to this, wasn't it?"

America bit his lip, sheepish. He nodded.

"You honestly want to- with me?" England wiped below his eyes with the ball of his palm and shook his head. There was a fierce blush on his cheeks.

America sort of… nudged up the box, as if to remind England that he didn't have an answer yet. Also, the ring was really great, America thought. He'd spent forever picking it out, so England needed to take a good look at it.

"Of course I do," America replied, and his voice was… a bit raspy. He was honestly finding it difficult to swallow.

England reached down, offering America a hand and pulling him up to his feet. America was about to say something, when England threw his arms around him, squeezing him in a tight embrace.

"Stupid, stupid America. Sopping wet for God knows what reason and proposing marriage," England said, and America could hear that he was choked up, even if he couldn't see it because his chin was resting on his shoulder. "Does it even need saying?" He let out a watery chuckle. "Well I suppose it does. Bloody hell, yes."

America let out an audible cheer, a 'whoop' or a 'woohoo' or… something in between the two, he had no idea. And England leaned up and captured his lips in a kiss, which America returned eagerly, both of them strong and assured in their actions, filled with the rush of love and the joy of each other. Neither of them cared that it was a very wet kiss. America was soaked from the well, and England was crying, and America realized that he was crying too. They tasted each other, the salt of one another's tears and the inside of one another's mouths, and it was perfect.

In the midst of their kiss, America slid the band onto England's left ring finger, and England kissed him even harder once he registered that he'd done so.

America would have to make sure that England noticed that he'd had the inside of the ring engraved later. Ferhþ efenhléoðor; Old English meaning forever united.

At this moment in time though, with the finale of the fireworks playing out behind them, in the biggest theme park in the world, they saw nothing but each other.


Notes:
1- The Happiest Place on Earth, is of course, what Disneyworld calls itself.
2- America wants to go on Mission Space at Epcot, and England wants to go on Peter Pan's Flight at the Magic Kingdom.
3- America also wants to go to the French Pavilion, part of Epcot's World Showcase. I've heard that this is one of the best places to see face characters from The Princess and the Frog.
4- The Grand Floridian is the most high-end resort at Disneyworld. It's also done in a Victorian style, both architecturally and as far as interior goes.
5- At the Grand Floridian is the restaurant, Victoria and Albert's, where America and England go. It's also Victorian-era themed, and is formal dress only.
6- Wishes is the nightly fireworks show at the Magic Kingdom.'
7- Cinderella's Wishing Well is a little off the beaten path at the Magic Kingdom, so most people miss it. It is a very popular proposal spot though. And yeah, it is shallow enough for America to do what he did. It's not really a well.