The Fake Smile He Wears

Chapter 6

"Thanks Alfred, really though. No one here really understands what it's like to lose their love just like that. Sometimes, I can hear her voice. Telling me to move on. I've tried so much. I just can't. There's no one else in this world like her. No one can replace her." France whispered in the silent room. He wants to move on, but how?

"I know Francis, I know. It's hard for me to move on too. I can't stop thinking about her sometimes. She's always trying to get me to find someone else. She wants me happy. But how do I be happy, when
I'm not? I don't know what to do anymore. I want someone to make me happy again. But I don't know if anyone can. I don't know if I can be repaired." America whispered back. His broken heart out for the whole world to see. The invisible scars lining his heart now visible. But there were still more invisible scars they still can't see. Still so many.

"I'm dearly sorry for interrupting, France, America, but may I continue the reading?" Liechtenstein stuttered. She was scared, she had always been. She's a smaller country, and anyone could just trample her, just like that. She had been through many terrible things. She was just scared. Scared of what everyone else can do, when she had no power.

"Of course you can. You don't need to be afraid okay. I may be a big country, but you're also a country. We're on equal footing here. We're all equal no matter how big or small." America said cheerfully. Lily was smiling really big now. She feel appreciated for the first time. It was a great feeling. She used to be scared, that if she did the wrong thing, she would pay. She never felt equal with the rest, even with her big brother. She felt reassured now. Even with all the other small countries. Everyone just seemed to forget her. And it her hurt, being forgotten all the time. When she was just like them, a country.

"Thank you very much sir!" Liechtenstein exclaimed. Her confidence now shot through the roof.

"No problem." America said with a big grin. Making other people happy made him happy.

"Thank you." Switzerland said in a monotone voice. Trying to not seem happy. A smile was creeping up on his face. Most looked surprised, after all the Swiss was famous for never smiling, and remaining neutral most of the time. He looked over to America to see him smiling like a fool. It seemed like a real smile, but even he couldn't tell. When you've hidden your real emotions and yourself for almost your whole life, you can fool anyone. It's a sad fact. But even regular humans can do it. A lot of them do. He snapped out of his thoughts and looked back at his little sister, before seeing her expression soften as she made a sad face.

"He knows he's the next Roman Empire. That's why he's going to heroically save them all before the next fall of Rome." Liechtenstein read.

"Do you think about this kind of stuff all the time?" Finland asked seemingly out of nowhere. He had worry written all over his face.

"Yeah, actually. I think about this kind of stuff daily. I wish I was a small country or just a regular human in fact. They're lucky. They can be free from the responsibilities and burden I have to carry. If a human or small country make a mistake, they wouldn't care as much. But when you're a global superpower like me, make one mistake the whole world knows, they'll all yell at you. Why can't I be allowed to make mistakes? Even if we are countries, we're all human inside. We all have a heart, a soul, and a mind. Why do you all forget that? Why can't we be nice and friendly like a big family? It sometimes feel like I'm the only who noticed. It sometimes feels like I'm the only that has all of this stuff happen to me. I know that being a superpower is great and all, but I'll never get a break. But then again when do I ever get a break? Life just loves throwing things at me." America rambled, and chuckled near the end. He sighed. He was so tired. Tired of trying. Tired of living. Tired of everything. But he was really tired of being tired. His mind was so complex, he could barely comprehend it himself. If anyone could read his mind they would probably go insane. That's when Russia spoke out of nowhere.

"I do too, дa. I wonder all the time what have we become. I wonder if we had done the right thing. I wonder what has this world become. I just wish that we would just try to understand and love each other. We're all unique and special in our own ways. Why do we always have to bicker and yell, when we barely understand each other? Most of us don't know what the other has been through. He could've been through hell for all you know. Look at Америка. He's shattered and broken. He's done with life. He's tired. He's depressed. And we didn't even know. What kind of messed up family are we? Don't judge a book by it's cover. You know that quote? Probably. We all judged Америка by his cover. We never tried to actually read him. We all just assumed things. He actually read us all. He knew who we were when we were pretending to be someone else. He helped us when we needed us. And what did we do? We harassed, insulted, and abandoned him, when he in fact needed us the most. No one here is free from guilt. We all judged too quickly and never saw the broken heart he had. It's our job now to make it up. We have to fix him." Russia said in a playful, almost creepy voice. A creepy smile present on his face. He seemed happy, as if he's been waiting to say this. Alfred seemed to be a bit more cheerful now. His smile however slowly twisted into an insane one, a creepy one that could rival Russia himself.

"Thanks Ivan. Really though. No one has really stood up to me. It kind of makes sense though. You were after all the only one who remotely was suspicious of me. Of course you threw your suspicions away as you thought they were wrong. It's funny how much a mask can really hide. You all thought that my smiles were genuine. Ah, what fools you were. It's quite a disappointment. You've all lived for quite a long time now, and can't even tell a fake smile from a real one. A fake personality or a real personality. Such a shame. You know Ivan, I was almost worried during the Cold War. Good thing I put in more effort. You're the only one I have actually had to try a bit more than usual to win the war. Your tactics were great I congratulate on that, but you should've kept your secrets a bit closer to you don't you think. I know everything about all of you in fact. Don't get on my bad side, no one has, yet. But those who do won't come back alive. I know everything, I know your weaknesses, everything. This is warning. Consider yourselves lucky that you're still alive." America said with an insane smile. The others took note to never get on his bad side or anger him at all. Russia just laughed, but internally he was scared just like the others. He was reminded of the Cold War. It was a huge chess game really. Whoever made the right moves would win, simple like that. He knows that America knows all of this. He knows that they were all scared of him at the moment. He knew. That's why America is so scary, he knows everything about them and he can read them all like a children's book. He knows what their feeling, everything. Their mental state. He knows it all. Before no one really feared him, but now that he showed this side of himself, he's even scarier than Russia. And that's saying a lot.

"Who wants to read next?" Liechtenstein asked quietly, seemingly unaffected. Inside she was scared too, but she knew it was just another side of his real personality. He can be scary and mean if he wanted to. But he choose to be cheerful, nice, funny, and he choose to be the punching bag of this world. He was just trying to scare them. But he was also trying to get a point across. The America you knew isn't me. I'm someone to be feared. That was what he was trying to say. She knew that he didn't want to be feared. He wanted to send people running and see who would stay. To see who cared enough. To see who would stay with him through the thick and thin. She knew that America deep inside is at the core of his personality is a broken hurt little boy. That's all he really was inside. He's still that little boy inside. He's still the small broken boy England found.
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Translation
Америка- America
Да- yes
Cliffhanger. I'm mean like that. :D Hope you like the chapter today. I'm going to take break for a bit only for a week though. I'll still be writing so I can get a head start, I want to write as many chapters as I can so I can be a bit less stressed. Sorry if you were disappointed. After all I'm human I can't please everyone. The next chapter should come on the 3rd of January. Author-san out! Happy Holidays! ❤️✌︎