Disclaimer: Do not own hetalia!

"Hey, Mina, time to wake up!" China said as he gently shook her shoulder. She yawned, and let go of Shinatty-chan to rub her eyes. "The world meeting is in two hours. After you get dressed we can get some breakfast."

"Alright," she said, sitting up, but then remembered, "But I don't have anything else to wear. We couldn't bring anything with us when we came here."

"I figured as much since you don't have any luggage, aru," China nodded, a small smile on his face, "So I went out this morning while you were asleep and bought you this!" He held up a black, long-sleeved mandarin dress with black tights to go under it.

"Wow, it's so pretty! Thanks!" Mina gushed, eyes twinkling. She jumped out of bed immediately to take her new outfit and went to the bathroom to change. When she came out, the sleeves were much to long for her arms, but China said it was supposed to be like that.

"Now you match me," he smiled, indicating his white mandarin collared jacket with black slacks. "Oh, and don't forget this," he added, placing a black cap that sat perfectly on her head between her two buns. China stepped back for a moment to get a better look at her whole uniform. "Something's missing...Aha!" He walked over the decorative vase that sat on the table and picked out a large, pink flower. After cutting the stem shorter, he carefully stuck it into Mina's left bun. "There!"

Mina bounded to the mirror to see herself. The flower really did add a splash of color to her outfit, and it looked adorable. She beamed subconsciously; back in her time period she would never be able to get her hands on such nice clothing, not to mention having the time to even think about fashion. "I love it," she flashed her ancestor a toothy grin. Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Mina let Japan inside.

"Ready?" he asked. Japan wore a white suit over a light blue dress shirt paired with a navy tie, and Mina could help but notice how neat and slick it looked on him.

China nodded. "There's a tea shop near the conference center that I'd like to try, aru."

"Okay, let's go!" Mina bubbled, excited for big day. Before she had met China, there had been a terrible case of butterflies in her stomach, but getting to know her ancestral nation made her feel optimistic. The three took a taxi to the tea shop that China had mentioned, called the Lucky Cat, and decided to sit down at an outside table in the morning sun. China went to go order their food, leaving Japan and Mina together at the table. Mina noticed that the Japanese nation didn't speak as much, but was content with peaceful silence.

"You don't seem to like me very much," Mina said softly after a moment. It wasn't completely true; Mina didn't actually think that he had an ill will against her, but she wanted to force him to open up talk to her.

Japan blinked, and shook his head. Politely, he said, "That's not the case at all. It's just that..." He trailed off, unsure if he wanted to explain himself to her for fear of being rude.

"You're unsettled by our presence," Mina guessed sincerely.

"You said you came from five centuries in the future, correct? If you're China's descendant...if you came here to meet us, then that means we've...passed away by then, doesn't it?"

Mina didn't answer, but stared down at the table. Japan sighed, but then to her surprise, he smiled. "I don't blame you at all. I suppose we've been around long enough. I'm definitely not as young as I used to be."

Even though he was trying to cheer her up, Mina still didn't know how to answer to this. But luckily, she was saved from having to reply when China returned with their tea and hot cakes. He also brought with him a bundle of grayish paper filled with words and black and white pictures. She wanted to ask exactly what it was, but was embarrassed to. Fortunately, Japan asked him, "Is this today's newspaper?"

China nodded. "It's mainly about American affairs though." Curiously, Mina read the headline on the first page. "Unemployment Increases as Economic Depression Worsens," it read.

"Economic Depression?" Mina read aloud in puzzlement.

"Yes," China frowned sadly. "One of the worst ones the world has seen. Worse than the Great Depression. Europe's economy has also slumped. Even Asia has been hard hit."

"That'll be one of the major topics covered in today's meeting," Japan said, "Maybe everyone will be serious this time."

"Sounds like you don't find these meetings particularly enjoyable," Mina titled her head to the side.

"Enjoyable? They're not even helpful, at all really," China shook his head wistfully, "Honestly they are a waste of my time, aru."

"But this one might be different," Japan said tentatively. "And it's mandatory for the G8 anyway." He checked his cell phone for the time. "We should go soon."

The other two nodded in agreement, China sipping the last of his tea, Mina swallowing the rest of her hot cake. Despite what China and Japan were saying, Mina knew that this meeting wouldn't be a waste of her time.

Ryker had just finished putting on his slick red tie when the door bell rang. Since America was still in the bathroom brushing his teeth, Ryker took the liberty of answering the door for him. When he opened it, he found himself staring at a nation that looked so extremely similar to America, Ryker rubbed his eyes to make sure that his vision was alright. It was; the only differences between his ancestral nation and this one were his violet eyes and curl instead of cowlick. He also had a humbler, more modest atmosphere about him.

"A-America?" He stammered, looking down at Ryker in shock. "What happened to you? Did Britain cast a spell on you or something? Don't worry, if we get to the meeting early enough, we can convince him to change you back before it starts! You definitely can't host the meeting looking like this..."

"What?" Ryker asked, confused at first, but then realized why this nation believed him to be America. "Oh, I'm not him. I'm Ryker!"

"Huh?"

Before Ryker could explain, America came up next to them, "Hey bro! I see you've met my little bro!" The other nation just looked from Ryker, to America, back to Ryker.

"We...have a little brother now? He's a new country?" His voice was wary and surprised.

"Well, sorta," America tried to explain, "He's from the future, so he's not a really a country yet."

"Nice you to meet you," Ryker smiled politely.

"Oh, nice to meet you too, Ryker, I'm Canada," the other nation nodded, still regarding him carefully. Then he turned to America, "You can explain this to me on the way to conference building. You don't want to be late when you're the host."

"But if I go on time, my entrance won't be as noticeable," America chuckled.

Canada sighed, "Seriously, Al. Any meeting but this one..." His weary tone made America's cheery expression fade in a regretful one, puzzling Ryker.

"What's so special about this meet?" Ryker asked, knowing that the war crises weren't scheduled to happen yet, but worried that Myles's information was inaccurate.

"...Global affairs aren't their best right now," America said reluctantly.

"That's why we should go now," Canada pressed anxiously. "Is he coming?" He gestured to Ryker.

"Yep, I promised he could sit and listen," America nodded. Canada glanced at the young nation for a moment, but then decided there was no time to spare contemplating it.

"Alright, let's go."

If it weren't for Germany, Italy and Kiera would have slept right through the meeting. But since he was always on top of things, he made sure the two were awake on time and ready to go. After a quick stop at the cafe for coffee and breakfast, during which Italy was describing what life was like in Venice to a fascinated Kiera, they headed straight for the American conference building. Not surprisingly, they were the first to arrive, and so Germany began preparing by laying out his papers at the head of the table and planning what issues would be discussed first. Meanwhile, Italy was able to snatch a pen and one of his pieces of paper, and used the back the teach Kiera how to play tic-tac-toe.

A few minutes later, Britain and Myles entered the long conference room, and they greeted each other cordially. "Good to see you again, Myles," Kiera said happily. Myles nodded and returned the compliment, smiling broadly, but Kiera noticed something off about him. Sure, there was a distinct smile on his face, but his eyes weren't reflecting that smile at all. They seemed urgent, panic-stricken even. Kiera wanted to ask what was wrong, but knew Myles was keeping this a secret for a reason. Moments later, Japan, China, and Mina floated in casually.

"You two look nice today," Mina told Kiera and Myles as the older nations exchanged formalities. "Your dress is pretty, green looks good on you, Kiera! And that suit makes you look official, Myles."

"Thanks, you look pretty authentic yourself," Kiera grinned, though Mina wasn't exactly sure what she meant by that. When Myles glanced at the door once more, he was relieved to see Ryker and America enter.

"Who's that third nation with them?" Mina whispered.

"What third nation?" Myles asked, confused. But when he looked harder, he saw that there was indeed a third nation behind Ryker, who bore a striking resemblance to America. "I don't know," he shrugged.

"Hey guys!" Ryker bubbled excitedly as he joined their conversation. "This is way cool!"

"So who are those three?" asked the nation that looked like America, "More future nations?"

America nodded. "Yeah, we'll do a huge introduction when everyone gets here so we don't have to repeat ourselves!"

"Okay, but before we do that," Myles began, "Before the meeting begins, Kiera and I have to go to the bathroom, so we don't have to go during the meeting." Kiera blinked, surprised, but then caught on and nodded quickly. Myles threw Mina and Ryker an expectant look.

Mina took the hint. "Yeah, Ryker and I will go to, just to be safe," she added.

"Alrighty, its down the hall to the left, first two doors on your right," America said, and the younger nations quickly left the conference room and stopped just in front of the bathrooms.

"So what's this about?" Kiera inquired, raising an eyebrow at Myles.

"Wait, you mean you don't actually have to go to the bathroom?" Ryker asked. Mina rolled her eyes.

Myles took a deep breath and took out Britain's journal from inside his blazer. "After I fell asleep last night, Britain must've written in his journal."

"You mean that journal?" Mina asked, pointing to the one in his hands.

"No, I mean his current one. I guess this one is the same journal...but I mean he wrote in the one he has presently. So not this exact one," Myles explained.

"Oh okay, isn't that a good thing though? Since he wrote his account and preserved the history of what happened during this time era, we were able to go back in time to stop it, right?" Kiera frowned, not liking Myles's disparaging expression.

"Well, it is a good thing that he's keeping records of what's happening, but...the journal's changed," he said grimly.

"Changed?" Ryker echoed. "How?"

"He wrote about us! We're in this journal now," Myles exclaimed, "Because we came back in time, we've already changed the past. And so his journal's written accounts have changed."

"So his journal entries don't match what they did before? They aren't the same ones we read before we time jumped?" Mina asked for clarification.

"Yes," Myles confirmed. "They tell a completely different story."

"So did we do it already? Did we stop the nuclear war?" Kiera asked eagerly, "Did we changed the past just by being here?"

"No," he muttered, crestfallen, "We've sped up the process. War is declared next week."

"What?! We've made it worse?!" Mina gasped in alarm. "H-how can that be? We haven't done anything really, not yet at least!"

"I'm not sure. I read the new passage that describes today's meeting, and there's going to be a really hostile argument. I...I think we influence it somehow. This argument was recounted before, but it was solved. But now that we're here, it becomes inflamed."

"So...in the old reality, the one that existed before we set out to change the past, this argument is solved, but now that we're here, it pretty much blows out?" Kiera asked slowly.

"Time travel is so confusing," Ryker groaned, his shoulders slumping.

"What should we do?" Mina quivered, "Should we not go to the meeting then?"

"Then what would we tell the other nations? America really wants to introduce us," Ryker frowned. "And besides, the argument happens whether or not we go, so we should be there to do everything we can to keep it from worsening."

Everyone considered this for a moment. "Yeah, I think we should go for it," Myles nodded in agreement. "Our ancestors would want us to attend anyway."

"Okay, then we've still got this!" Kiera smirked enthusiastically. However, Myles didn't exactly share her optimism.

"But this means that we can't use the journal to know in advanced what's about to happen because of the chance that we might change something," he said, disheartened.

"But it proves that the future's not set in stone," Kiera insisted, trying to lift their spirits. "It means we can still change things for the better!"

"Yeah, wasn't the point to change the past anyway?" Ryker added thoughtfully, "We can still use the journal until it changes again. We just need to make sure we can change it to the point that the war stops."

"Right," Mina concurred. "If we only have a week, then we need to be extra vigilant and work carefully."

"Y-yeah," Myles nodded, trying to conceal his doubt, but Mina could read his ambiguous eyes. She was about to ask him what he was thinking, but the Kiera suggested they return to the conference room so they wouldn't miss anything.

"The meeting doesn't start for another seven minutes," Mina told her frankly.

"That's true, but that does mean that's when the arguing starts," Kiera replied with a frown. Mina nodded. That made sense, as long as there were nations in there, the disputes could start any minute now.

"What does the journal say about today's meeting?" Ryker asked, as Myles reread the entry more carefully.

"Britain wrote about our brief introductions to some of the major nations, and then the meeting begins like a normal one. For the first part, the only difference is our presence," he answered, but then his eyes came across a puzzling sentence. Frowning, he continued, "Here's the argument that wasn't recorded the same as in the previous reality strand...only, Britain doesn't go into detail about what it's about. He just says how obnoxious everyone was being and how no one was willing to compromise. It's very vague. But in particular...he becomes extremely angry with America and Spain, whoever that is."

"America? How could he be mad at America?" Ryker repeated dubiously, "He's awesome!"

The other three exchanged glances, not sure what to say to him. "W-we should get back now," Mina recommended. The others nodded uneasily before they headed back to the conference room, where their ancestors plus Canada, Germany, and Japan were conversing lightly. The four young nations took their place next to their respective ancestors, just as a few more nations, all dressed tidily in suits and ties, ambled in.

"Fratello!" Italy exclaimed at once, jumping to hug another Italian man who seemed to be his twin.

"H-hey! Get off me!" cried Italy's "fratello," who was flustered and annoyed. His golden eyes reflected his irritated expression, and Kiera noticed right away that he too had a curl atop his head.

"Calm down, Romano, be nice to your brother," said a cheerful, green-eyed nation with messy brown hair that had come in with Romano.

"Fratello! Guess what!" Italy bubbled, but then didn't leave his brother anytime to guess, "We have a new little sister!" He was practically leaping up with excitement at his own announcement as he pulled Kiera over and presented her to him. In her own enthusiasm, she beamed up at her other older brother, the southern part of Italy, waiting for his reaction.

"What the hell? That's impossible!" Romano sputtered as he met her eyes that so resembled his. This wasn't exactly the kind of reaction Kiera had expected, since Italy's personality seemed to contrast that of Romano's, but then the other green-eyed nation piped up exultantly.

"Wow, you're a girl-version of Italy? Nice you meet you, I'm Spain, but Romano calls me Boss, so you can too, if you'd like," he smiled delightfully. He spoke with a quaint accent that intrigued Kiera, as did those stunning green-eyes she had yet to get over.

"You are not my fucking boss anymore! And I do not call you that," Romano fumed, but his refute was just ignored.

"And I'm Kiera," she laughed as she shook Spain's hand. Meanwhile, Myles observed their encounter, wondering what was so "obnoxious" about Spain; he appeared to be sociable and friendly, as far as Myles could tell.

As Kiera, Spain, and the two Italian nations engaged into a humorous conversation, in which Spain was telling Kiera about the other two when they were toddler nations while Romano rebuffed everything that was said, more nations began to file into the room, waiting for the meeting to commence.

One nation with long, wavy blonde locks floated in with quasi-graceful steps, and immediately went to Britain and Myles when he locked eyes with them. Britain groaned involuntarily, making Myles curious to see who this nation was. "Well who do we have here, mon cher?" he asked in a dreamy voice.

"France, you frog, don't you dare even think about corrupting my new little brother," the Brit retorted snappishly.

"New little brother? How come you always get the new ones? You got America last time, I think it's my turn, is it not?" the Frenchman smirked haughtily, giving Myles a strange yearning look.

"I shudder to think how any nation raised by you would turn out," Britain shivered involuntarily, bringing Myles closer to himself and away from France subtly. Myles found that comment a bit harsh, but said nothing. He knew from Britain's journal that he and France had been competitive rivals since both nations were very young, a notion that Myles tried to imagine for himself. In the future, he had struggled just surviving in the contaminated environment, and hadn't even had neighboring countries to rival with. Obviously, he still had a lot to learn about foreign politics.

Concurrently, China caught sight of a few nations in particular, and took Mina by the wrist, "Let's go meet some of our family, aru."

"Okay," she squeaked in surprise as he led her to a group of nations that had begun to gather near the back of the room. Mina soon realized that all these nations in this cluster had similar, distinct features. Darker colored hair, oriental outfits much like hers, culture varying from the European nations. So this was the Eastern family of nations.

"Ni hao," China said after he cleared his throat to get the others' attention. Their conversations faded, turning their attention to their elder nation.

"Who's that with you, China?" one of them, a girl with long, flowing dark brown hair and one wild curly strand standing apart from the rest, asked. In her head, Mina took note of her gorgeous, pink qipoa and long, white skirt.

"Everyone, this is Mina, the newest addition to the Asian nations," he answered, half-smiling. Politely, Mina gave a quick bow of her head, and there was a collective intake of breath, out of shock, but was soon replaced by kind, welcoming smiles.

"This is Taiwan," China introduced, indicating the girl with the pretty qipoa, and then gestured to the others, "And Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Macau and Hong Kong."

"It's been a while since we've had any new nations in the east," Vietnam speculated, then added, "But it's a pleasure to have you here." When she shook her hand, Mina found that she like this nation; she was calm, intelligent, yet still polite and independent, just like Japan, and just like Mina strove to be.

"If you want to have fun, just holler, da ze!" The one called Korea declared exuberantly, "And we can do all the coolest things together! I hope the old man here hasn't sucked all the kid out of you yet." He laughed, and Mina couldn't help but giggle along with him. China just rolled his eyes and chose not to acknowledge that last comment.

"I think it would be a great idea if we all went out to eat tonight," Taiwan suggested earnestly, "You know, like we used to!"

A small smile grew on China's lips, and he glanced down at Mina, "I agree, it would be a good experience for Mina to get to know all of you better."

"I'd love to!" Mina beamed optimistically, "I can't wait already!" And she really couldn't. These eastern nations already seemed to be pleasant people, congenial and diverse. Their culture fascinated her, which was only natural, since these were the nations that had previously inhabited her land. In the future, she never had access to any records of her land's history, before her own existence, and the only history she ever learned was what the journal had recorded, which of course was one-sided and only from Britain's point of view. But now she could share eastern traditions with her ancestral nation and his neighboring countries, and no longer would she feel that lonely cultural void.

While the four juvenile nations and their ancestors were socializing with other nations, Japan decided that he couldn't wait until after the meeting to talk to Germany. The blonde nation had been shuffling through papers at the head of the table, organizing global issues to be discussed, and jumped a little when Japan tapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Ja? What is it, Japan?" Germany asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I...I need to speak with you, about the young nations," he said in a low voice.

"What about them?" Germany asked, searching the other's dark eyes, and find concern well hidden beneath them.

"It's just..." Japan started, trying to phrase his worry without sounding paranoid or cagey. "You do know what their presence here means, don't you?"

Germany narrowed his eyes with a knowing look. "What do you mean?" he asked slowly, but Japan got the feeling he knew the answer.

"I know you don't want to think about this, but you have to face it sooner or later," he sighed, "If they're the personifications of China, Italy, America, and Britain, then that means...it means that their time is limited."

The blonde pursed his lips. "Not necessarily. Mein bruder still walks the Earth. Actually he should be here any minute now."

"You and I both know that Prussia is a special case," Japan pointed out, "And even if all four of them shared his situation, then why would their descendants come back in time to meet them?"

The German nation threw a fleeting glance in Italy's direction, and for a brief moment, Japan caught the flicker of uneasiness in his blue eyes. "You're right...of course you're right. But...if they've...passed on by the time those kids come to be, then does that mean the rest of us have ceased to exist as well?"

"I don't know, honestly. I assume so, given that the children didn't know who we were."

"Then, we could ask them, couldn't we? How it ends?" Germany suggested, furrowing his brows, looking past his Japanese friend and at Kiera, who was busy laughing with Italy.

"But would you really want to know?" Japan shook his head. "Would you want to know how you die?"

At this, the German paused, and pondered the question for a moment. "If I knew, then perhaps I could prevent it from happening." Germany again shifted his gaze to Italy as he spoke, and Japan could see how much the prospect of the nations' demise troubled him, though he tried to hide it.

"I suppose," Japan titled his head to the side, "But for some reason I think knowing can only make it worse. Everything has to have an ending, doesn't it? Maybe it's inevitable."

"Inevitable?" Germany repeated, frowning, "I guess so, but I don't see how we can fade so soon. The economy is bad, that's true, but we can always recover, we've done so in the past. I don't know about you or the others, but right now I still feel robust, like I can last longer, unless there's some sort of untimely disaster."

The thought made shivers run down Japan's back. Disaster...he didn't like the idea. "We should talk about this later," he said quickly, "The meeting's going to start soon."

"Right," Germany nodded. But as Japan walked away to his seat, the blonde couldn't help but brood over their conversation. As an immortal entity, he didn't think about death too often, it just seemed like something he wouldn't encounter for a long, long time, so he didn't need to worry about it. But with the arrival of the young descendants, that encounter appeared to be scheduled for a lot sooner than he ever imagined.

From the Author: This is finally the last chapter of the introduction! We can finally plunge into the actual plot :) I can't wait! Anyways, thanks for reading and please review! I hope you enjoyed it! Until next chapter!