Beyond the Illusion Part 7/?
Title: Beyond the Illusion
Characters/Pairings: America, England, France, Japan, Canada, Russia, various others
Word Count: 1,246
Rating: PG
Summary: When a nation feels stressed, overworked, and backed into a corner, he has the option to let it all go for awhile. Start a new life as a human, with no memories of the past. It happens automatically, as if by magic. But nobody knew this could happen until one day, America mysteriously disappeared after running out of a meeting. After two and a half weeks of searching the country, they finally found the right Alfred F. Jones in the form of a 10 year old boy. But how can they get him to remember that he was once the United States of America? How will they change him back? And, more importantly, does he even want to be changed back?
Part 1: Part 2: Part 3: Part 4: Part 5: Part 6:
Alfred diligently licked the ice cream that was dripping down the cone on all sides, being careful not to miss anything. He was sitting on a park bench in between Francis and Matthew, who were both delicately eating their ice cream with a spoon. But that was the boring way to eat ice cream; eating it out of a cone was much more fun, plus you got to eat the cone when you were done. Alfred smiled. It was a beautiful, sunny day outside, and he was glad to be enjoying it, instead of being stuck in school. Here he was, outside, sightseeing, playing in the park, and enjoying a snack with his brother, all on a school day, and he wasn’t about to get busted for playing hooky. This was the best day that he had had in a long time. So if being a nation meant that he could have more days like this, free to do whatever he wanted, well then he couldn’t wait to be changed back to his immortal self! He turned to look up at Francis.
“Thanks for taking me out today!” he said cheerfully. I had a lot of-” He stopped in mid sentence. Francis was staring at him, and he was smiling, but it was sort of a sad kind of smile. “Are you ok, Francis?” he asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Yes, of course; I’m fine,” he assured the boy. “I’m just… happy to see you. We were beginning to think we would never see you again, and yet here you are. I missed you, and so did Matthew over here; isn’t that right?” Matthew said nothing, but nodded, taking another small bite of his ice cream. “Now, we’ve got to get you back to the Capitol Building before the meeting starts.” But Alfred wasn’t ready to go just yet.
“What about Arthur? Did he miss me?”
“Of course he did, Al… probably more than anybody else. Probably more than everybody else combined.”
“Really? It doesn’t seem like he likes me. He gets real angry and yells at me a lot.”
“Ahh, but that is just his personality, my dear boy… Arthur has a very short temper and he blows up at people all the time. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about them though.
“So I didn’t do anything wrong?”
“…No! You didn’t do anything wrong,” he said calmly as he ruffled Al’s hair. Alfred smiled again. His dad did that all the time. “Arthur has yelled at everybody at one point or another… even me.”
“Especially you,” Alfred corrected.
“I suppose you’re right,” Francis said with a smirk. “Perhaps that was a bad example. What I should have said was that he’s even yelled at Matthew before.” Alfred gasped.
“Whoa! Really, Matt?!”
“Yes, he has,” said Matthew quietly.
“But you’ve always been the good twin! What did ya get in trouble for?” Matthew opened his mouth to answer, but Francis cut him off.
“Matthew can tell you that story later, ok? We really have to go now, or we’re going to be late, and then mean old Arthur is going to yell at us both!” Alfred and Francis both laughed at this as they finished off the rest of their ice cream.
“Ok,” Alfred said reluctantly. “But can I do the monkey bars one last time? Pleeeeaaaaaase?!” Francis sighed.
“All right. But then we’re leaving, understand?”
“Got iiiiiiit!” he shouted while running towards the playground. Yup, Francis was definitely his dad; Dad had always been the easier, more fun parent.
****************************************************************************************************************************************************
“I don’t know how you managed to mess up my one instruction, Francis, but you did!” shouted Arthur. “I said don’t be late, and of course, you show up over an hour late! Would you mind telling me why?”
“We got a little sidetracked," said Alfred, stepping in for Francis. It wasn’t his fault.”
“Thanks for trying to help me out, Al, but I can handle it,” he said gently to the small child who was riding on his back. Then he walked over to a chair and carefully sat Alfred down in it. Matthew slipped into the room a moment later and took a seat next to Alfred, who was covered in bandaids… he had three on his right arm, one on his cheek, and one big bandage on each knee. He also had a bloody, bruised lower lip. And yet, he was still smiling.
“What happened to him?!” Arthur demanded, once he got a good look at Alfred. “What did you do, Francis?!”
“Nothing! He… he fell off the monkey bars, and he was crying,”
“I didn’t cry!”
“…Right… so I picked him up and cleaned him off. Luckily, one of the mothers had a first aid kit, and she let me borrow it. She was very attractive- she gave me her number…”
“Francis!”
“Sorry… Then I went to a nearby convenience store, while Matthew watched him, and I got him a small bag of ice for his knee and a popsicle. So, while he was eating the popsicle, I checked to see if anything was broken, which thankfully, nothing was, and when he had finally finished his treat and calmed down, I let carried him home on my back. Oh, and we stopped to get a cookie on the way back too.”
“It was chocolate chip!” Alfred chimed in. All of the other nations turned and stared at the grinning, bruised child who was supposed to be heading the meeting they were about to have. Arthur too shifted his attention to Alfred, temporarily letting Francis off the hook.
“Oh was it?” He asked. “Alfred I told you and Francis what time to be back, so what were you doing playing around when you were supposed to be on your way back here?”
“I’m sorry… I just wanted to get some fresh air- I’d been stuck inside for hours!”
“And was it your idea to stay late, wasn’t it? You didn’t want to come back did you?”
“But it’s such a nice day outside! Can’t we just have the meeting tomorrow?”
“No, Alfred, these are important matters we have to discuss, and they can’t wait. Plus, we’re going to see about changing you back today, so
we have to get started as soon as possible, but just so I know, how did you fall?”
“Well, I was… sorta… climbing on top of the monkey bars. To get a good view!”
“Alfred!”
“And it was a good view! Until I lost my balance that is…”
“Al, that’s dangerous; you’re not supposed to do that! Especially not while you’re still mortal! If you fell the wrong way, you could have… broken your neck, or cracked your head open! You could have died! And if that happened, I- I… Promise me you won’t do something stupid like that again, at least not until we find the spell to change you back.”
“Arthur-”
“Promise me.” Alfred rolled his eyes and sighed.
“Ok, ok… I promise.”
“And you won’t go anywhere alone either, and always make sure someone know where you are at all times. We can’t take any risks.”
“Yes, MOM,” said Alfred sarcastically. A grin broke out across his face, as Arthur turned red and clenched his fists.
“Don’t call me that. Ever.”
“Yes, ma’am… sir.” Wow, worrying about everything, that stern tone of voice, and severe over protectiveness? Alfred was starting to see it now. Maybe Arthur really was his mother.
Characters/Pairings: America, England, France, Japan, Canada, Russia, various others
Word Count: 1,246
Rating: PG
Summary: When a nation feels stressed, overworked, and backed into a corner, he has the option to let it all go for awhile. Start a new life as a human, with no memories of the past. It happens automatically, as if by magic. But nobody knew this could happen until one day, America mysteriously disappeared after running out of a meeting. After two and a half weeks of searching the country, they finally found the right Alfred F. Jones in the form of a 10 year old boy. But how can they get him to remember that he was once the United States of America? How will they change him back? And, more importantly, does he even want to be changed back?
Part 1: Part 2: Part 3: Part 4: Part 5: Part 6:
Alfred diligently licked the ice cream that was dripping down the cone on all sides, being careful not to miss anything. He was sitting on a park bench in between Francis and Matthew, who were both delicately eating their ice cream with a spoon. But that was the boring way to eat ice cream; eating it out of a cone was much more fun, plus you got to eat the cone when you were done. Alfred smiled. It was a beautiful, sunny day outside, and he was glad to be enjoying it, instead of being stuck in school. Here he was, outside, sightseeing, playing in the park, and enjoying a snack with his brother, all on a school day, and he wasn’t about to get busted for playing hooky. This was the best day that he had had in a long time. So if being a nation meant that he could have more days like this, free to do whatever he wanted, well then he couldn’t wait to be changed back to his immortal self! He turned to look up at Francis.
“Thanks for taking me out today!” he said cheerfully. I had a lot of-” He stopped in mid sentence. Francis was staring at him, and he was smiling, but it was sort of a sad kind of smile. “Are you ok, Francis?” he asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Yes, of course; I’m fine,” he assured the boy. “I’m just… happy to see you. We were beginning to think we would never see you again, and yet here you are. I missed you, and so did Matthew over here; isn’t that right?” Matthew said nothing, but nodded, taking another small bite of his ice cream. “Now, we’ve got to get you back to the Capitol Building before the meeting starts.” But Alfred wasn’t ready to go just yet.
“What about Arthur? Did he miss me?”
“Of course he did, Al… probably more than anybody else. Probably more than everybody else combined.”
“Really? It doesn’t seem like he likes me. He gets real angry and yells at me a lot.”
“Ahh, but that is just his personality, my dear boy… Arthur has a very short temper and he blows up at people all the time. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about them though.
“So I didn’t do anything wrong?”
“…No! You didn’t do anything wrong,” he said calmly as he ruffled Al’s hair. Alfred smiled again. His dad did that all the time. “Arthur has yelled at everybody at one point or another… even me.”
“Especially you,” Alfred corrected.
“I suppose you’re right,” Francis said with a smirk. “Perhaps that was a bad example. What I should have said was that he’s even yelled at Matthew before.” Alfred gasped.
“Whoa! Really, Matt?!”
“Yes, he has,” said Matthew quietly.
“But you’ve always been the good twin! What did ya get in trouble for?” Matthew opened his mouth to answer, but Francis cut him off.
“Matthew can tell you that story later, ok? We really have to go now, or we’re going to be late, and then mean old Arthur is going to yell at us both!” Alfred and Francis both laughed at this as they finished off the rest of their ice cream.
“Ok,” Alfred said reluctantly. “But can I do the monkey bars one last time? Pleeeeaaaaaase?!” Francis sighed.
“All right. But then we’re leaving, understand?”
“Got iiiiiiit!” he shouted while running towards the playground. Yup, Francis was definitely his dad; Dad had always been the easier, more fun parent.
****************************************************************************************************************************************************
“I don’t know how you managed to mess up my one instruction, Francis, but you did!” shouted Arthur. “I said don’t be late, and of course, you show up over an hour late! Would you mind telling me why?”
“We got a little sidetracked," said Alfred, stepping in for Francis. It wasn’t his fault.”
“Thanks for trying to help me out, Al, but I can handle it,” he said gently to the small child who was riding on his back. Then he walked over to a chair and carefully sat Alfred down in it. Matthew slipped into the room a moment later and took a seat next to Alfred, who was covered in bandaids… he had three on his right arm, one on his cheek, and one big bandage on each knee. He also had a bloody, bruised lower lip. And yet, he was still smiling.
“What happened to him?!” Arthur demanded, once he got a good look at Alfred. “What did you do, Francis?!”
“Nothing! He… he fell off the monkey bars, and he was crying,”
“I didn’t cry!”
“…Right… so I picked him up and cleaned him off. Luckily, one of the mothers had a first aid kit, and she let me borrow it. She was very attractive- she gave me her number…”
“Francis!”
“Sorry… Then I went to a nearby convenience store, while Matthew watched him, and I got him a small bag of ice for his knee and a popsicle. So, while he was eating the popsicle, I checked to see if anything was broken, which thankfully, nothing was, and when he had finally finished his treat and calmed down, I let carried him home on my back. Oh, and we stopped to get a cookie on the way back too.”
“It was chocolate chip!” Alfred chimed in. All of the other nations turned and stared at the grinning, bruised child who was supposed to be heading the meeting they were about to have. Arthur too shifted his attention to Alfred, temporarily letting Francis off the hook.
“Oh was it?” He asked. “Alfred I told you and Francis what time to be back, so what were you doing playing around when you were supposed to be on your way back here?”
“I’m sorry… I just wanted to get some fresh air- I’d been stuck inside for hours!”
“And was it your idea to stay late, wasn’t it? You didn’t want to come back did you?”
“But it’s such a nice day outside! Can’t we just have the meeting tomorrow?”
“No, Alfred, these are important matters we have to discuss, and they can’t wait. Plus, we’re going to see about changing you back today, so
we have to get started as soon as possible, but just so I know, how did you fall?”
“Well, I was… sorta… climbing on top of the monkey bars. To get a good view!”
“Alfred!”
“And it was a good view! Until I lost my balance that is…”
“Al, that’s dangerous; you’re not supposed to do that! Especially not while you’re still mortal! If you fell the wrong way, you could have… broken your neck, or cracked your head open! You could have died! And if that happened, I- I… Promise me you won’t do something stupid like that again, at least not until we find the spell to change you back.”
“Arthur-”
“Promise me.” Alfred rolled his eyes and sighed.
“Ok, ok… I promise.”
“And you won’t go anywhere alone either, and always make sure someone know where you are at all times. We can’t take any risks.”
“Yes, MOM,” said Alfred sarcastically. A grin broke out across his face, as Arthur turned red and clenched his fists.
“Don’t call me that. Ever.”
“Yes, ma’am… sir.” Wow, worrying about everything, that stern tone of voice, and severe over protectiveness? Alfred was starting to see it now. Maybe Arthur really was his mother.