Hetalian Protectors

An Invitation

Canada's POV: "No. I'll go." I gazed up at her, meeting her stare. She looked shocked. I gradually rose to my feet. "If it'll protect England then I'll go. But you have to swear one thing."

Her mouth opened slowly, almost as if she still couldn't believe what I'd said, "And that would be?"

"You have to bring me back as soon as I want to come back. If you agree to that I'll go wherever you want."

"Deal." Her voice was firm again and a smile grew over her face suddenly giving her a younger look to her. "I'm glad you agreed!" She turned and proceeded to walk out the door, making me rush catch up before anyone came looking for me.

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Japan's POV:

"I... Scarlett..." She started crying harder, and I knew this was only a dream for her. She didn't know it was real. Didn't know that she had confessed to the real me. She thought she'd wake up without me. And maybe... that's exactly what was going to happen. Because under the cover of night I could pretend to know nothing of my past, but during the day I had to face what happened and I could never express my feelings to her knowing what had happened. I was too afraid to. Too afraid to lose everything all over again.

I really am pathetic, aren't I?

*****

Scarlett' s POV:

It was warm outside despite the winter that was obviously on its way. The leaves that remained on the trees fell slowly and gracefully to the ground, the sound of a flute accompanying them on their decent. Poking my head around the corner, I spotted Xiao Mei sitting with the instrument pressed to her lips. Wang Yao and Kiku sat on either side of her, just enjoying the day, whilst Wang Jia Long and the others were off in the yard, kicking around a soccer ball. Occasionally, someone would 'score' and Jia Long would shout about something being rather unfair, resulting in a judgment call from Wang Yao.

Chuckling, I watched them for a bit, enjoying the peacefulness of the situation. Yong Soo soon spotted me, though, calling to me, "Scarlett! Come outside and play with us! You can be my goalie!" Smiling gently, I thought about it, but my hand gradually reached for my side, my fingers finding the bandages there.

I shook my head at his request. "Sorry, Im Yong Soo. Maybe later. I'm making a snack."

His face fell for a moment before he nodded, a beaming grin overtaking his face, "Can I have some when you're finished?"

"You don't even know what it is that I'm cooking!" I stepped out onto the porch, letting the sunlight touch my skin for the first time in a while, my hands ending up on my hips.

"It doesn't matter! Your cooking is the best!" He stated simply, shrugging away my words.

My smile grew larger, "Why thank you, but I think Wang Yao makes better food than I ever will." I glanced towards the older nation, my eyes widening as I spotted the almost angry look on his face. I tilted my head in confusion, changing my gaze to Kiku. His eyes grew wide at my questioning look and he turned his head so that he was looking at the ground. A pang shot through my heart, but I merely shook it off. He'd been doing this a lot recently. The sound of a ringing phone caught my ear, making me glance behind me. Sending one last look at Wang Yao, I stepped back into the house, walking over to the phone on the counter.

Hitting the answer button, a light blue hologram appeared before me, Kyoko's frantic voice coming across before her image had even finished forming. "Scarlett is that you?!" I blinked, surprised at her worried tone, before answering.