Stepping Into His Shadow _-CountryHumans AU-_ (Gloved Hands BOOK 2)

1. Ponamu

America slowly and shakily made his way down the stairs, breathing in the air of a place far from home. The airplane behind him, his hand luggage in his arms, he waited for his little sister New Zealand, or Kiwi, to catch up to him. She was only six, but his parents said it was best if she experienced something amazing with her big brother.

He turned around, only to see Kiwi stumbling on the steps. He sighed and walked up to help her down, she nodded in appreciation.

"So why are we here?" She asked, her accent pretty clear. America set her down before he spoke, looking over to the setting sun.

"We're here to find one of my old friends. I don't think you remember them, though," America stated, Kiwi nodded and followed him into the airport. After doing what they needed to do, they soon left, seeing somebody holding a sign with 'America + New Zealand' on it. This was the guy.

"Hey," America waved, he turned around and shook their hands. "I'm America, this is New Zealand, except she prefers being called Kiwi." The man crouched down and shook her hand too, she smiled and giggled at something he said.

"Well, my name's Thailand. It's nice to meet you both," Thailand grinned, leading the small group to a silver car. They got in, America in the front seat, and Kiwi in the back.

"So, do you know somebody called Russia?" America asked, hoping to get his first lead onto finding him. Thailand shrugged, his eyes not seeming to look away from the road.

America sighed, he was so good at telling if someone was lying or not when he was younger. He couldn't really do that now, instead he wasted his childhood away getting into trouble with his friends. Well, a few of them, anyway.

He couldn't remember why he met up with Syria, Turkey and Spain, but after that, be realised they were actually pretty cool. They were like, his second friend group. And he hung out with them quite a bit.

America heard Kiwi unzip her bag in the back, he looked over, only to see her pull out some candy that the people on the airplane gave her. Eh, nothing too exciting-

"'Merica, do you want one?" Kiwi asked, waving a piece of candy around. America found her kindness adorable, she seemed to share pretty much everything with her friends and family.

"Why not?" He responded, taking one. She giggled a bit, unwrapping a lolly and stuffing it into her mouth. America did the same, they were, quite surprisingly, nice.

He looked to his surroundings in front of him, they were driving along a beach. The water sparkled, it looked incredibly blue, people on the beach making sandcastles. He loved the hills and mountains that were right next to the bay, that completed the picture. America was tempted to take out his phone and shoot a photo, but he decided otherwise; he wasn't bothered to dig into his pocket and do so.

The car slowed and came to a halt, America and Kiwi got out. Thailand waved them goodbye, driving off and making a U-turn to go back to the airport for his next customer.

America turned around, he saw Kiwi crouching down beside the water. He walked over to her at a steady pace, taking a quick look at what she was staring at. America was surprised, she'd found a chunk of green stone.

"Ponamu!" She exclaimed with a grin, picking it up. America was confused, what the f u c k was Ponamu?

"What's that?" He asked, trying to act cool. She looked at him with an 'are you retarded?" kinda face, putting the flat sheet of the green stone up to the sun. The light shined through it, it illuminated a lime green colour. America was amazed, he'd never seen anything like it.

"Ponamu is green stone in English, it's highly prized and you normally find them in rivers," She explained. America was taken aback, he couldn't believe she'd found something that was actually worth something.

"What're you gonna do with it?" He asked, crossing his fingers that he'd get some money. What? She said it was for a high price?

"I'm gonna craft a koru out of it! Did you know korus mean new beginnings? Like, when the ferns die, a koru takes their place," Kiwi said, jumping up and down slightly. America was gutted, he wanted to sell it.

But then, on the other hand, it felt like the world was trying to tell him something. New beginnings. Maybe it was trying to tell America that he could start again with Russia? He wasn't too sure.

"Look! Kayaks! Can we go on them? Please?" Kiwi asked, America rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm not too sure if that's a good idea, Kiwi. It's nearly 6 in the evening and you go to bed at 7," America said sadly. She outed for about a minute, before America began to drag her to a small house on the coast.

"That's where we're staying. We can go kayaking tomorrow, I promise!" America grinned, Kiwi looked alot happier once he'd said that. America breathed a breath of relief, he hated seeing Kiwi upset.

Once they'd come to the door, America dug the keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door. They opened it up, to find a lounge with a huge sofa and glass covering the wall opposite of it. There was a small TV and a radio, a bookshelf propped up against the other wall. Kiwi jumped onto the sofa and laid down, letting America explore the rest of the house himself.

He went to the next room, which was a pretty fancy kitchen, the next room after that was a bedroom with a bunk bed.

"Jesus, Russia. How'd you afford this?" He asked anyone who was listening under his breath.

He dropped his suitcase and hand luggage onto the floor, looking out of the window again. The sun was setting behind mountains, and to be completely honest, it was one of the prettiest things he'd ever seen.

Once the sun had set and the stars were out, he decided it was time to go to bed. He was jetlagged, so was Kiwi.
He got kiwi onto the top bunk, she fell asleep almost instantly. However, it wasn't like that for America. He looked at the bottom of the top bunk, pondering in his thoughts.

Why did Russia even leave I'm the first place?