A/N: Sorry for the late update. We had some kind of writer's block and the usual laziness... Well, anyway here is the next chapter!

Disclaimer: We do not own Hetalia.

-1946-

The shrill jingle of the doorbell resounded in my ears as Francis pressed a button. Not satisfied enough, he also knocked on the door. What an impatient idiot. For some reason, I just found myself in front of a grand manor, which I was quite familiar with during my childhood days. The white brick walls were still standing strong and magnificent. The huge garden beside the house was well-taken care of, knowing its owner. It was breathtaking to look at, especially the flower bed with all its blooming glory.

The house has aged in the course of long years, but it is because of its age that makes the house incredulously beautiful and splendid. Sadly, since my liberation, I was not able; or should I say was not allowed to visit here again. I haven't planned to visit this house again for years, decades even but I want to ask myself why the hell. . .

"Anglettere, we've come to visit you!" Francis shouted.

. . . Am I here. . .

"Coming! Please wait for a while." somebody shouted in reply from the house.

. . . Standing in front of the house of my former caretaker, whom I abandoned and in return, denied my very root of existence?

"I'm sincerely sorry it took so long for me to answer the . . . door. . ." Liliane trailed off as she saw Francis' face. She glared at him with her red ruby eyes, and tried to shut the door. I didn't exactly see her face but I knew she glared at Francis, I just knew.

Francis, however, was able to jam his foot between the doors before Liliane could completely close it.

"What the hell do you want?" she asked sharply; her ruby red eyes were reduced into slits. All propriety and decorum that I know Liliane possess were thrown out the window. Well, maybe she changed. It's been years after all.

Francis forced his way to open the door, and unfortunately for Liliane, Francis was stronger than her. As the doors were fully opened, Francis grabbed one of the fisted hands of Liliane and kissed it. I pity her.

"Don't worry, mon cher. We mean no harm this time." He purred. Liliane pulled her hand away from Francis with a revolted face. After being kissed by Francis? Who wouldn't have a revolted face? Not me.

"W-we…?" Liliane's face turned from pink to red with anger. Uh-oh. Big sis. . I mean Liliane is going to explode. Wait a minute. . . . . Why am I being ignored? I'm a hero! I shouldn't be ignored. Ah damn it. At least she isn't lashing out on me.

"Yes. The awesome trio plus one is here for an awesome visit. Hey, miss beautiful, where're the twins?" Gilbert asked as he made his way into the house.

"T-twins? You stupid mongrel! Come back here! You stupid frog! Let me go!" she struggled against the strong hold of Francis. Gilbert was already climbing up the stairs. Fortunately enough, Liliane doesn't seem to notice me. Yet.

"Je suis desole, mon cher. Mon ami Gilbert entered without being invited, though we doubt we'll ever be invited." Francis was still holding her, afraid to let her loose.

"Lo siento, Liliane. Gilbert, wait for me." Antonio said apologetically as he followed Gilbert upstairs.

"Found ya, you lil' chunks. The awesome me has arrived!" shouted Gilbert enthusiastically from the second floor.

"Ah! The bird man and his blasted sidekick! Patrick, the stupid fellows have arrived! Commence attack!" Edward shouted somewhere upstairs. Wow. Reminds me of the old days when we used to. . . . . Nevermind.

"Roger that!" Patrick shouted, and with the breaking sound of a vase; the battle commenced. I wonder how Arthur's house survived after all these years with those chaotic twins.

Liliane struggled harder, and shouted, "Let me go! Let me go! I demand you to let me go! Patrick!" she finally wailed for help. Hey, I'm a hero! Shouldn't I help? . . . Nah. If I know, she'd only slap me too. And I do know after all.

"Retreating from position. Edward, hold strong. I must save the old lady in distress!" Patrick ran down the stairs towards Liliane and fired at Francis. . . . with a water gun. Francis yelped in surprise and, as Liliane was finally freed from him, got slapped. Ouch, that gotta hurt.

"Madame! That hurts!" Francis exclaimed as he was rubbing his cheeks. I tried to hold in my snickers as I saw Francis' ridiculous face.

"Serves you right! Now get the hell out of this house!" and that was when I laughed out loud, and the attention of the three people near the door turned to me. Damn me and my mouth.

"He-hello." I tried to greet her nicely. Liliane's eyes dangerously squinted at me. Her mouth opened but no sounds came out.

"Y-you!" she finally said, "How- what the-" and then she laughed evilly and turned back to eye Francis, "Heh. . . I see. As expected for someone as thick faced as you, Mr Bonnefoy," stressing his surname as if to mock him. "But I've never thought that you're so thick that you're able to come here together with that man," Liliane said sharply as she pointed at me, "here, of all places, Mr. Bonnefoy." She turned her eyes to me again.

Francis tried to say something but he thought otherwise. And he looked kind of pale too. The power of Liliane's glare is kinda scary. Though I wouldn't admit that out loud.

She then glared at me. And if looks could kill, I would be dead right now and my lifeless body will be thrown somewhere along the ditch. I remember her labeling me the most insufferable man she'd ever known. And yet I also remember her to be the most lovable sister I've ever met. At some point, I noticed her ruby eyes soften, with the same gaze she would give me when I was a child; the eyes of my lovable big sis. But the gaze disappeared as if it was not there at all; it hardened again. I felt the atmosphere becoming heavy. . . heavier and heavier until I couldn't bear it. I tried to say something. . . to apologize or what. . . but . . .

"Edward! The boss is out here!" Patrick suddenly shouted, destroying the heavy and awkward silence. Nice save, now Liliane glared at Patick. I don't think I could take any more of the silence and Liliane's glare.

"Will you stop shouting? You're going to disturb the whole neighborhood you idiot! Great, here comes another idiot." Liliane scolded Patrick. But I don't think he cared at all.

"Coming! Don't yeh do something reckless without me!" Edward shouted back. As he came towards us by the door, he said, "Liliane, hide behind Patrick and me. We'll deal with him. Now Patrick, fire!" and that's how I got my precious bomber jacket wet. My jacket. . . My precious jacket. . . A nerve popped. The game, hence, began. . . again.

"Patrick! Retreat, retreat. D' boss has awakened!" Edward shouted as he ran towards the staircase. My eyes twitched.

"The distressed?"

"Leave 'er alone! She's an amazon, she can handle on her own!"

"Roger!"

Liliane gasped in disbelief. "What?" she protested indignantly.

Liliane looked taken aback by their betrayal. She was about to give them a piece of her mind but they were at the stairs already. I am going to be generous and give them a few minutes to run away. . .

NOT!

I followed suit and grabbed a water gun lying on the floor. I fired. Bull's eye! Hahahaha. They ran into a room, which I guessed was the living room. I opened the door widely, causing a vase to fall down. Oops. I think I slammed the door to hard. I ignored it, I was too busy looking for the twins.

I was careful not to step on puddles of water. What a mess! I saw a wall of furniture stacked up in the middle of the spacious room. I crept behind the wall, planning an ambush against the twins.

"Here comes the hero!" I exclaimed and laughed my signature laugh until I saw the twins shaking. . . . . . . staring at Gilbert and Antonio, who were lying on the floor. With their hands and feet tied together. And a cloth covered their mouths. Uh-oh. . .

A foot was stepping over Gil's chest. I turned to look at the owner of the foot when I saw the narrowed emerald eyes of the sandy-blonde man. I gulped and laughed nervously.

"H-hi… Iggy…"

"Why, hello Alfred."

Busted.

One thought entered my mind. Cookies.

I love cookies.

Even before hamburgers existed, I already love cookies. So I would always eat them whenever I see cookies sitting idly on the table.

It hurts though.

Hurts what? My teeth, obviously. When I eat too much and forget to wash my teeth before sleeping, one or more of my teeth would end up hurting like hell.

The addiction is just too much.

I'm telling you it is! Even though it hurt like hell after one of my teeth fell off, I still ate cookies.

There were other things that could hurt aside from my teeth. To be caught on act is one of them. Getting caught stealing cookies from a cookie jar hurts, especially when the one who caught you was Arthur. He does things that I wouldn't imagine from a kind brother like him.

Which is exactly what's happening to me right now. Not being caught on stealing a cookie jar, being punished I mean.

This is 'unawesome' as Gilbert would say, to tell you the truth. Kneeling on my knees is. We're not little children anymore! And I won't even get a cookie to make me feel better after this.

"Then don't do something that is so childish!" Arthur exclaimed, as if he read my mind.

"It ain't my fault! I'm just the hero!" I protested. After all, it was them who started it. I glared at the twins who were also kneeling along us.

"Not us." The twins chorused with their hands in the air defensively.

"I'm innocent." Antonio said sincerely. Of course he's innocent, he always is.

"Not the awesome me." Gilbert piped in. The twins were about to shout at something to Gil when Arthur exploded.

"Stop! All of you are at fault! And you!" he seethed, "You, frog, are the most responsible for them. Have sense, won't you?"

"Mon che-"

"Shut your frog mouth up!"

You're wondering how he became this angry, though I know you already have an idea. Well, as I've told you a while ago. Patrick, Edward, Gilbert and Antonio started a water fight, rearranging the Arthur's furniture into a defensive wall. The whole living room was a mess; even I can tell you so. As expected, the floor became slippery wet so wet that Arthur slipped. He got angry because of the noise, angrier because of the mess, and angrier because of the humiliation. Yep, Gilbert and Antonio laughed at him. And therefore, the two of them got tied up. And if it was even possible, he got angrier when I banged the door open causing a vase near it to fall, fall down, break, shatter, and die.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see the old man slip and I didn't have a camera. Antonio just told me what happened before I came in. So here we are kneeling in front of him, accepting each and every shout and threats and insult he's throwing at us. This. . . . all of this would not be happening to me if I hadn't agreed to Francis. I remembered how it all came down to this.

I can still remember Francis and his friends inviting me yesterday to come and drink with them the next day somewhere around the corner. It did not occur to me that that corner would be as far as London, which is definitely not a walking distance, let alone a car distance from D.C. I can dumbly remember being knocked asleep in my bedroom which was some hours ago. And I also remember, somewhere along the way, hearing the engine noise of a plane which I ignored as I continued sleeping. I can remember, the moment I was fully awake, the trio's stupid grins as we rode a cab on the way to the British's home.

"Well?" prompted the Briton, disturbing my thoughts.

"I'm. . . We-we're sorry. . ." I said sincerely, flashing him my "kicked-puppy" look. It always had an effect to Arthur, though I don't really know what exactly does, it has helped me a hundred times before. Even now, I could see hesitation in Arthur's eyes. Success!

"G-git. . . As if I could be persuaded. . . by that. . ." the last part came out as a whisper.

"Come on, mon cher. . . I'm sorry as well." Francis added, laying it thick on his "sincere" voice.

"Hey, an awesome sorry to you from the awesome me." Gilbert tried to lower his voice.

"Us too." The twins tried to copy my puppy dog eyes but of course, only a hero like me could pull it off! Or not. .

"Lo siento, Arthur." Antonio said with his most heartfelt tone.

"You. . . People. . ." Arthur sighed, "Alright, alright. Get up."

"Thanks." I mumbled.

"Right. So have the four of you eaten lunch yet?" he asked.

"Now that you've told us about it, we haven't. We forgot in the middle of excitement? Hahahahahaha. . . Ah. . . so no. Not yet." I stopped laughing when Arthur scowled.

"Come on then, gits." Arthur led the way towards the dining room.

"Who cooked?" Gilbert asked immediately.

"Fred." We sighed in relief. Arthur was out of question, as well as the twins. Liliane is the greatest cook but she might poison us in anger. So Fred is the best choice.

"How rude can you lot be? First, you came here uninvited. Then, you disturbed my work along the way, almost destroyed my house, and now belittling my cooking?" Arthur mumbled to himself, though I heard it.

After lunch, we decided to stay in the living room that was now newly cleaned.

"Well, that was tres bien, Frederick. Thank you for the meal." Francis complemented Fred as they sat on the sofa.

"You compliment too much. But I say thank you as well." Fred

"No, Fred. It was really great~!" Antonio piped up.

"Good thing you did not inherit Arthur's unawesome cooking skills." Gilbert stated frankly.

"B-belt up! My cooking was not that bad." Arthur protested.

"HAHAHAHA. Iggy is still in denial."

"Shut up git."

"What are we going to do next?"

"Monopoly!"

"Sweet!"

"Birdman and sidekicks, you're going to join. Damsel in distress could join if she wants. Fred. . . nevermind. Idiot boss could go to hell, and Arthur should just go away!" Patrick said and then laughed in harmony with Edward. They ran inside and grabbed the box of monopoly.

We moved the couches together and placed a table in the middle. Francis, Antonio, and Gilbert sat on a long couch as Patrick and Edward sat on the other couch on the opposite side. Arthur and I settled reluctantly on a loveseat, while Frederick and Liliane sat on our opposite side. Frederick stood up and said he would bring something to snack on.

"Beer."

"Wine."

"Rum."

"Coke."

"Juice."

Frederick sighed and just called for a maid to prepare the requests, as well as some snacks, and then sat beside Liliane.

"I'll have the cannon!" "Battleship!" the twins said and grabbed their pieces.

"Tch. I'll just have iron then." I said and then grabbed my piece.

Arthur picked horse –he said he'll join even after the twins violent reactions–, Francis picked the thimble, Gilbert had car, Antonio chose top hat, and Liliane chose dog. Each of us rolled the two dices; Liliane won first, then me, Edward, Arthur, Gilbert, Patrick, Antonio, and lastly, Francis. About five minutes after the game started, the maid entered and left us with the snacks and drinks. Due to the persistent coaxing of Gilbert, I ended up drinking alcohol together with my coke. I wasn't a heavy drinker like Gilbert though, that one and a half hour after I was still sober. The game ended with Liliane as the winner, the leading one anyway. Frederick decided to call it a day, and all of us but Arthur went to their respective bedroom. I, instead, followed Arthur. Arthur went to a counter, which was designed like a mini bar, in the living room. He sat on one of the stools and continued his drink (rum), while I sat beside him.

"Drink?" he asked as he offered a glass of rum.

"A little bit, I guess." I said and accepted the glass.

We drank in silence for a little while. Arthur broke it.

"Why are you and the trio here?" Arthur asked, his gaze probing me.

"I really don't know." I said truthfully, "I was just dragged by Francis here. I didn't even know we were coming here."

"The frog just can't stop poking his nose in other's business, can he?" Arthur drank his rum.

"Today was swell, it's not that bad. I had fun anyway." I tried to placate him.

". . . I guess so." He placed his glass down.

Silence. Freaking silence.

"Arthur-" "Alfred-" we said simultaneously.

"You first." Again, and we laughed. How embarrassing.

"You go first Alfred." Arthur finally said.

"Well. . ." I started, but in truth I have no idea what to say. I pondered for a while, but Arthur was not patient.

"Well? You're taking a da-" I cut him off before he could finish his sentence.

"Imsorry." I blurted out without thinking. My eyes widened and so did Arthur's.

"W-what?" he asked.

"I said. . . I said. . . Well. . . I just told you. . . uhm. . . I'm sorry." I apologized as I scratched my head.

"For what?" Arthur prodded me.

"For everything. For being born, I guess." I lowered my voice and avoided his gaze. I don't know what's happening right now.

"What's with that statement?" He said in a confused voice.

"Well, it seems like you really dislike me for a very known reason, which I am sorry for but not, and lots of other reasons."

"Huh?"

"I know it's still a peachy subject for the both of us, though I would really appreciate if you won't ask me 'why just now?' or something like that. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is. . . I am sorry for leaving you but I am not sorry for wanting freedom. I wanted to be an independent nation, but I did not wish for our relationship as siblings to end-"

"It's impossible, you do know that."

"I know. I know. That's why I was having regrets that I know I should not feel."

"You need not to. It's my fault as well for not accepting it wholly. But being siblings would be. . . impossible."

Once again, silence consumed us.

". . .but I guess there are other things that we could be other than brothers-"

"Really?" I looked at him again. Did we really have a chance to be nice to each other again?

"-which I would still have to think about. Give me some time, Alfred." He wants time? Okay, I'll give him that.

"But we're just going to be friends, right? It's like the alliances we had." I said out loud.

"It's different. Friendship and the like involve emotions that alliances need not to have. I'm afraid that I'm not ready to invest in such matters . . . with you. Give me time. But let me tell you this. . . I have forgiven you a long time ago, it's just that. . . I guess I'm stubborn, or something like that." He finished off lamely.

"Thank you. So what were you supposed to say before I apologized?" I was curious after all.

"Well, I guess for the time being, I'm willing to act civil with you." He stated before finishing his rum off.

"You've been doing so, it's just that you're description of civil is calling people gits, being sarcastic, and beating the hell out of them." I smirked at him.

"It's not like that at all!" He slapped the counter.

"It is!"

"It's not!"

"It is!"

"Stop! Well, let's just call it day for now." Arthur said as he stood up.

". . . Ok. Good night, Arthur." I also stood up as he was walking away already. Arthur stopped in the middle of the room and replied in a low voice without looking at me.

"Goodnight, Alfred." He walked right out of the room and closed the door gently. I was left there. Staring at the door.

Wow. I can't believe it. I had a conversation with the old man. And we didn't kill each other. Wow. Cool.

A/N: Reviews are very well appreciated. XD