Brotherhood (New Zealand Countryhumans)

Snakes

New Zealand's POV:

"Why? I thought you wanted to come home." Tonga asked. He seemed upset.

"It's complicated." I mumbled awkwardly, not really wanting to tell him the truth.

"Oh, come on. We've missed you! This is our chance to get you back for good! Besides, you have missed out on some new family members," He smiled. "I'm sure they'd like to meet their older brother."

Older brother. That's right. I was their older brother. I was always the older brother. It was my job to look after them. But, now I'm the younger brother. My new brothers protect me, like I protected my other family. It's been so long.

"I would love to meet them all, but, I don't think I would be welcome," I sighed as leant against a tree.

"What do you mean? Of course you are welcome. You helped build Oceania." He said in a confused tone.

"Last I saw Maori, I... wasn't very nice to her." I managed to get out.

"It's doesn't matter what happened, Maori still misses you, that's why she went looking for you. I mean, Tuvalu ended up saving her," Tonga explained. But as soon as he said that, he stopped.

"What? Is something wrong?" I asked, concerned by his look.

"Oh, never mind, America is probably looking after her." He sighed.

"Tuvalu, I don't remember seeing her." I said.

"Wh-what? But, she came with me... uh." Tonga's face went white.

"You lost her!" I shouted.

"No! She isn't lost. She has to be around here some where, we might need to retrace our steps though." Tonga thought aloud.

"We shouldn't go back, Dad must be patrolling by now. If we go back, we risk getting shot," America explained.

"Wait, weren't you keeping an eye on the others?" I asked.

"Relax, they're playing a game, they're just behind the bushes." America shrugged.

"Go get them, take them back home, I'll go find Tuvalu." I said to America and Tonga.

"What if you get hurt?" Tonga asked.

"I have a bullet-proof vest, I'll be fine." I explained.

"I'll come with you, maybe Nada's cooled off by now and will come with us peacefully." America said as he placed his arm around me. It felt awkward, but I agreed.

Tonga went to find the others while America and I walked off to find Tuvalu.

America seemed to be acting off. I knew he was listening in and I had a feeling he wanted to ask something.

"We can talk if you want," I offered as the quietness settled in.

"Why are you reluctant to go back? When you first moved in, you literally jumped out of a second story window to try and go back. What changed?" He asked. I was a little taken aback.

"Oh. Um... I... I don't have an answer." I said honestly. He looked a little concerned. I noticed he was eyeing the scar on my wrist. Instinctively I hid it with my other hand, feeling uncomfortable.

"You looked after all of them?" He asked again.

"Kind of. I looked after most of them with my sister." I explained.

"Do you ever feel bad about failing to look after them?"

"What do you mean by failing?"

Australia's POV:

I felt tired. I barely had the strength to walk. Every step I felt like falling asleep. I had never been this tired before. Neth held my hand as we walked down the hallways to the breakroom. I was too tired look at anything, my eyes were half closed the entire way.

I heard the sound of a door being push open, and I made an effort to open my eyes. Neth led me inside and told me to sit down on a couch. I did, but I didn't realise someone was already there.

"Hallo," He said as he shuffled across. I slowly nodded my head in acknowledgement.

"Sorry Deutschland, he's a little tired this morning," Neth said on my behalf.

"That's okay, did you want a pillow." He offered as he pulled one from behind his back. I took it gratefully.

I didn't know why I was so tired. I couldn't even remember getting here. Everything seemed blurry. Something happened yesterday, but I couldn't quite remember what it was. My eyes started to close again, but I was quickly woken up a bit more by Neth placing a warm mug in my hands. Looking down at the purple mug filled with hot chocolate, I quietly sipped it.

"I made one for you too, did your father leave you here?" Neth said as he seemed to hand a grey mug to Deutschland.

"He told me he was going to the bathroom," He quickly explained.

"Oh, Netherlands, I'm surprised you're here," Someone else walked in.

"Oh, Germany, I was just talking to your son. I have a meeting today," Netherlands responded.

"I see you brought your little one. But wasn't their two?" Germany asked. I didn't register what he said right away, but I suddenly felt unwell.

"Oh, I wouldn't talk about that right now. Australia is still adjusting." Neth seemed to mutter cautiously.

I felt dizzy, there was something I was forgetting. There were two. Two of us. It was me and... I closed my eyes, to help me remember. But, I just fell asleep.

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in an odd place. The ground was grass, but the walls were concrete. A dirty mattress sat in the corner. On the mattress was someone, lying face down and whimpering.

I walked over and patted them on the back reassuringly. They rolled over on their back and looked up at me. It was me. I looked miserable. I stepped back, but I felt something crunch underneath my feet.

"You killed him!" The other me shouted as I looked down at my feet to see a sticky red stain.

"No! It was an accident!" I shouted back. The other me got to his feet and started running at me. He seemed far away. I took another step back, only to hear another crunch. Looking down at the ground, the blades of grass turned into little snakes, slithering beneath my feet.

The other me was getting closer, but I didn't want to move in fear that I would hurt another snake.

"Over here!" I heard someone shout in the distance.