A/N: I am FINALLY freeeeee from my real-life issues!

I was actually free 10 days ago, but since I had been putting off watching My Hero Academia since August (because of said issues, yes, they were there since then), I could finally watch it now, and I… sort of binge watched it three times. Then read the manga. Then read fics. Then watched some reacts and other videos related to the show. It was fucking epic. I don't regret it one bit. :'D That show touched my heart on a personal level. I might write some stuff on AO3 one day.

Anyway, I can finally get started with this little story arc. Two or three chapters, tops. I have some sweet plans for this one…

Thank you all for all the reviews (and all faves and follows)! I had some really good conversations and read some good constructive criticism that I took into consideration.

Also that playlist! That view boost on it, I was really NOT expecting that. Seriously. I know I literally kept adding shit to it every single day, I had time to watch a few videos here and there all the time, some podcasts and longer stuff in the weekends, but not so much for writing, because I really need to get into the mood, to get a good rhythm going, and that takes some extra time, which I did not have. Still, I hope it at least kept you lot busy enough.

Either way, I hope the wait wasn't too long. I'm not even sure how many stuck around after 5 months of absence.

But I'll be back to updating more regularly now. :)

News Feed

Chapter 27

Children & Adults (I)

Blackpool – North of Liverpool (UTC +1) 10:22 a.m.

Flying was not pleasant.

At first, Wy was fascinated with the things. She had never seen them up close before. Only saw them in the distance, far into the sky. She hadn't heard much about them, either, but their shape reminded her of the birds singing from the trees in her backyard.

However, it didn't take long for Wy to make a 180 turn just a little while after taking off.

Flying was just not pleasant… at all…

She felt uncannily uncomfortable and anxious, in a way that was very difficult for her to express with words, and it only got worse and worse as the flight went on.

Her father told her she just missed home. Being so far from it, at her age, for the first time, would probably be uncomfortable for a while. But he assured her she would get used to it and wouldn't feel like this again.

It didn't make it any better.

So she chose to sit over him, since his presence was the only familiar feeling she had – besides her brother, but she wasn't sitting on him, he'd probably just push her off anyway.

Her father told her that Hutt was just too proud to share space; daddy, on the other hand, didn't mind holding her close.

Wy sat with him the whole time, even after the gnawing feeling in her gut diminished to a minimally bearable emptiness.

But it was nearly a whole day flying. Apparently, they flew over an ocean and a whole continent. The 20 hours were spent sleeping, eating, talking, and failing to pry that hand-held game from her brother before her father convinced him to share it for a little while – which proved to be extremely difficult, proving the older Nation's earlier assessment of the boy.

Because of that, by the time of their landing, she could walk on her own without clinging, despite the still present discomfort. She assumed she would be fine as long as she stuck close enough to her family.

Leaving the plane and walking on land felt just as strange, although not hollow like flying. There, she was at least close to something.

Wy looked around the airport as they walked, holding her father's hand and staring curiously at the new sights, wondering.

Her own little home had one feeling to it. It was… home, for the lack of a better term. Outside, it was all her father's presence, and at her brother's, there was another different aura to it that belonged only to her brother.

Besides the immediate visual differences, this place felt different, the aura around it was different, the land was different, and the air was different.

It was somewhat dreary if compared to home, as if it was perpetually on the edge of rainy. The air wasn't as dry as Sidney's and the aura on the land was unfamiliar. It was like meeting someone new, and she wondered if she would get the same sensation wherever she went in the world.

She still couldn't sense anything outside of that, though. This was something that actually bothered her for a long, long time.

The 'humans'.

Her father had told her that this is what they're called, but also told her not to worry herself too much with why they were called differently for now. They're citizens, people who belong to a 'Nation', such as herself.

It was… confusing.

Wy turned to her father, who she still followed closely as he led her. He had a different… feeling, when she compared it to anyone else. He was bigger, she'd say. Or maybe stronger was a better word. He was scary at first, too.

That last feeling numbed down with time… After that, she could barely understand why she was so scared in the first place.

She turned to her brother following behind, eyes glued to the phone, as usual… He was also bigger, just not nearly as much. It wasn't even close. When compared to her dad, he was so tiny that she was never really scared of him, which is why she had no problem challenging him from time to time.

Even if he was pretty mean.

Both felt unique. She could distinguish easily. She could even distinguish stress, if it was just strong enough and if she was just close enough.

Then she turned back to the 'humans', as did her thoughts. The ones she lived with, she liked them, they felt… warm – they were all very similar, not individually distinct like her father and brother – and she was learning to distinguish between all the signals she got from them.

As her father taught her, she's reading their emotions, and she had to learn to associate each signal with each emotion, and she had to do it on her own, as every Nation had a different and unique experience that he couldn't quite explain, not in any way that taught her how to associate each accordingly.

She was learning fairly quickly on her own.

But then, there were these humans around her. There was… nothing. She couldn't catch any signal at all. She tilted her head, brows furrowing in thought.

They were weird to her…

Why were the ones she lived with and these in front of her so different, and yet, had the same definition of 'human'? Most importantly yet, why were they – all of them – different from her and her family to begin with…? Why the differentiation?

Even the ones who belonged to her father – and how they 'belong', anyway? – she couldn't really recognize like that. These were the same, if not even more invisible to her senses.

Then, her father's mood suddenly changed, like a slight chill running through her hand holding his. Wy looked up and turned to where he was staring. She saw a human walking up to them, in dark formal clothing and polished looks.

Her father turned back to her and her brother, his expression strained. "Alright, kids. I'll have a chat with that bloke over there. You two behave and stay within my range, you hear?" With that, he let go of her hand and left them alone.

With her anchor of familiarity gone, Wy took a step closer to her brother. "Who's that?"

Hutt looked up and narrowed his eyes at the man, and then shook his head. "Probably some government official. Nothing that concerns us." He walked off, Wy gasped and followed closely.

"Daddy said to stay close." She couldn't help but comment. She wasn't sure he should be walking off like that…

Hutt scoffed in that haughty manner of his, nose in the air. "His range is pretty big. We're fine."

She walked behind him, unaware of where he was going until she caught a smell in the air, cheese and caffeine and sugar if she had to guess, and they soon found a small station that sold coffee and small baked goods.

"Oh, I want one!" Wy chirped with her eyes twinkling, closing in and leaning over the glass, standing on her tip-toes to see better.

"Do you have any money?"

She turned to him and her smile diminished. "It's with daddy."

Hutt gave her that mean grin. "I'll pay for you if you can reach the counter."

Wy looked up and measured the distance. She was too small to reach it and even jumping seemed off limits… "I can't reach that high…!"

He waved it off. "Sure you can. Just jump."

"No, I can't!" She crossed her arms.

"I could when I was your size." He crossed his arms as well, staring down at her.

"You're lying!" She stared back heatedly.

"I'm not."

After a few seconds, Hutt had his fun, amusement obvious on his face as he rolled his eyes at her. "Alright, fine. Pick something, fast." With that, he took some notes from the pocket inside his jacket and leaned over the counter.

He wasn't tall enough to lean too comfortably over it, but he could reach it just fine.

Wy huffed and turned back to the glass. "Cheese puffs!" She called.

Hutt nodded just as an attendee came to get their order. She couldn't quite see said person from that angle…

Wy shook her head. She's got her victory over her brother for once, at least. Well, she admitted, he kinda let her win, but a win is a win. The battle over with and nothing else to do, Wy turned and walked a few steps away, looking at her feet.

Then, she saw a shadow approaching and she froze when she couldn't sense anything. There was something behind her, and she didn't know… Something… behind…

"H-Hey, excuse me-" An unknown man.

She looked up quickly and something in her head snapped. Before the man could say anything else, she squeaked a high-pitched noise and ran back to Hutt.

Her hands trembled as she pulled at his jacket, and he seemed startled, nearly stepping away. "What is it now?" He sounded exasperated.

She didn't want to speak and just shook her head.

What was that, she didn't know… It was terribly uncomfortable, her legs acted out on their own, and that's all she knew of that. She was surrounded and for a second of distraction, she had forgotten.

She couldn't sense them, but they were there…

Hutt sighed loudly, then turned to look, and so did Wy, finding not one stare, but several. It didn't seem to have the same effect on her brother, because he quickly smiled.

The man who had approached her was accompanied by a woman, which distressed Wy even more because she did not see that there was another person so close.

"I-I'm so sorry, we-I didn't do anything, I just wanted to ask something-!"

Wy whined and hid further behind Hutt, avoiding the sight of the people around her.

Hutt didn't seem to notice. In fact, he didn't seem bothered at all.

"No problem, it wasn't your fault. But we can't talk to strangers, so, bye~!" Then he turned back to the counter to wait, expertly ignoring the world around in the way he usually did.

Those two backed off, one with a phone in hands. She saw a flash from the corner of her eye and hid again.

Wy remained partially hidden, focusing on her brother's presence and on her wild heartbeat, but briefly looked up again, only to see what she could identify with either bafflement or surprise, or maybe something else similar.

Another flash somewhere.

"…And all of that was recorded…" Hutt glanced at her. "…You'll have to get used to that." It was all he said as he was handed their order – by an equally wide-eyed woman – a medium cup of coffee for him, and a small paper bag of cheese puffs, which he handed to her.

She took it and followed him closely towards an empty table, her shoulders hunched as she sat with her back to the stares. She noticed her hands were still shaking slightly. "…Why are they staring…?"

"You made too much noise, obviously. And, of course, we're a novelty. " He took a sip, not caring in the slightest.

Wy took one ball of cheese to munch on, eyebrows creasing at her brother's words. She understood that it was difficult for humans to notice her when she was too quiet, but…

He understood that she was confused about something and shrugged. "Humans aren't actually supposed to know we exist, but since two months ago, this is the new norm of modern politics, so… you're just not very lucky, being born nowadays."

Wy frowned. She didn't know about any of this… Her humans at home didn't like talking about 'politics', and usually said she was a little too young to be dealing with this stuff.

Daddy also said the same.

Wy continued to eat, hesitating, with the same thought floating in her mind. She couldn't tell if there were any stares at this point. She couldn't tell who was behind her, and… that was unnerving.

Why couldn't every one of them be like the humans at her home…? Or a better question yet, why were they so different from her and her family to begin with…?

She decided that since Hutt was older, maybe he knew. "Why aren't they like us?" She could distinguish her father and her brother. She could feel it, they existed, and so did the humans she lived with… They weren't like these humans…

She wasn't looking. Part of her could say they weren't there at all, but she knew they were.

If she weren't looking at them, or hearing their voices, then it was like they didn't exist at all… And yet she knew they were right there…!

"Huh?" Hutt looked at her as if she were an idiot, but it was like he did that on principle, because that only lasted for a second before he turned to the humans as well, now considering her words. His brows furrowed as he turned to her again, his tone calm and quiet. "Father said they were here first, so… Why aren't we like them?" He shrugged.

Wy tilted her head again. "…How are they?" She didn't know how to better phrase this question.

"Hmmm…" Hutt pushed some hair behind his ear. "Well, the humans who live with me said that they can't tell anything apart from themselves. Not like we do." At her confused look, he rolled his eyes dramatically with a sigh. "That means they can't fell the place they call home, they can't sense the people around them, or anyone's emotions. They can only perceive themselves, their own emotions, basically. They can read other's emotions based on body language cues, facial expression, and tone of voice, but they can't…" He stopped to think for a second. "…feel the world around them like we do. If you take the five basic senses from them, they'll be in a void, because they don't have that last one we have, the one you sense things with, like… that aura of sorts, you know?" Hutt sat back down, eyes back on his phone again.

Wy blinked at him. Not able to feel the emotions of those close to them? Not able to sense the aura of the land and their home? But…

Her brows knitted upwards. "What about the ones I live with?" They could tell, right? They were special, she felt it.

Hutt shrugged once again, without looking at her. "They perceive you differently, not like you perceive me and our father. It's different. You just have a connection with them because they call your home their home, but they're no more special than these humans around us. If they leave for good, you won't be able to tell anymore."

Her shoulders dropped. "But that sounds so…" Empty.

"Yes. Seems awfully miserable to me… I guess we're lucky to not be like them…" Hutt's tone became a bit soft, but he shook his head and went back to ignoring her, eyes on the phone.

She could tell he closed himself off.

It seems she knew next to nothing about the world outside of her home. What she now knew made her anxious. She didn't know her own kind, much less another one. The more she learned, the weirder and scarier things were.

So she waited anxiously for their time to leave, ignoring the creeping feeling on her back, having eaten all the puffs by the time her father approached them.

"Alright, kiddos, we have a ride… it seems." He didn't look very happy with that, although he didn't look angry either. He blinked as he eyed their lunch, and then turned Hutt. "You exchanged currency back home?"

"Of course." Hutt chirped with a smile but didn't comment any further as he stood from his seat, still holding his coffee.

Wy still kept seeing occasional flashes from somewhere, and a quick look was enough to spot a camera, those big ones she sometimes saw on TV. Her eyes wandered to see if attention was still directed at her, and immediately turned away again, clutching the empty paper bag as she followed behind.

From the corner of her eye, she suddenly saw a small smirk on Hutt's face. "You owe me money, by the way." He said. She didn't like his tone…

Wy narrowed her eyes at him. "That wasn't your money. It was daddy's." And he had said she didn't need to pay anything back.

Hutt shook his head. "Nu-uh. It was mine."

Instead of arguing, she immediately turned to who knew better. "Daddy!"

Her father turned to shrug helplessly at her. "It was his, actually. He has tourism."

Wy turned to glare at her brother. That's why he accepted buying for her…! "you snake…"

Hutt preened under her insult and poked her on the forehead, hard enough to make her stumble away a bit. "You should watch who you do business with."

Wy crumbled the paper bag into a ball and threw at his forehead as retaliation.

It didn't hurt him but he did look surprised, then he scowled. "Brat…!" He approached to loam over her, cup of coffee raised for an offensive move.

Wy backed off, feet apart and fists up, readying herself to dodge-

Hutt was grabbed by the jacket and she was pulled off the ground by the arm. Their father stood taller than both. "Enough of that, this is an airport, not the outback. You two behave."

Then he let go of them, Hutt huffing and adjusting his clothing, Wy falling back on the ground on her feet easily and crossing her arms.

Their father glared at both for a few extra seconds, then turned to Wy. "You pick that up." He pointed at the ball of paper.

Wy pouted but did as told. Her father nodded in satisfaction and continued on his way.

As soon as he wasn't looking, Wy followed and stuck her tongue out at her brother, and he crossed his arms, muttering something that sounded like 'crass' as he followed as well.

Wy was never doing business with her brother again.

Sealand narrowed his eyes, raising the remote to change channels again. Now, it was back to the news channel, where he'd started many minutes ago.

With a loud sigh, he sprawled himself on the couch in boredom, ignoring the droning from the TV. As usual, there wasn't much to do at his father's home, whichever home it happened to be. The man couldn't even bother to have a game console…

One would think that there would be some polite courtesy and the man would give him something equivalent to spend his time with, since smartphones were off limits.

Sealand couldn't use the phone because accessing the internet wasn't really allowed during family meetings, which was just painfully boring, at least while he had no one to play with. He was hoping Hutt would arrive soon, so he would have something to do.

But even then, he still wasn't allowed to leave the house, or play with guns, not even BBs, or play with other weapons, so… None of the fun stuff was allowed, and it has been this way for quite a while.

Now he was just killing time.

But killing time was killing him instead, with the fact that there was absolutely nothing to do…!

News grew old fast. It was fun at first, seeing them talk about Nations, but eventually, the novelty wore off for him for him. It was much more fun to simply go back to Reddit and reveal himself to his many online friends.

Of course they didn't believe him at first, so he streamed his home for them, showing he was actually in the famous and very real country of Sealand. Since there were some doubts, he showed himself as well, and the bright colors that were natural to his kind served their purpose.

He quickly became popular.

Apparently, he was cute. Sealand scoffed. He wouldn't classify himself as 'cute', he's served the military after all, and so, he's a veteran soldier.

Soldiers aren't 'cute'.

While sprawling himself further on the couch and sighing out loud for the eleventh time that hour, Sealand heard knocking on the door. He blinked, and then sat up, muting the TV and looking in the direction of the archway that led to the hallway and the stairs.

Sealand couldn't hear anyone coming.

His father was still upstairs, possibly reading, and Uncle Wales was probably busy with something else in the backyard or in the kitchen.

So he left the couch, going out into the hallway and out in the adjacent room, looking towards the door. Clearly, someone was behind, but not a Nation, that's for sure. He looked to the kitchen door to the left.

No one was coming.

Back into the hallway, no steps coming down the stairs.

Sealand shrugged and walked up to the door, opening it himself.

He found a tall suited man looking at his phone – everything kept reminding him that Sealand wasn't allowed to do that – who then turned to look down at him, blinking in surprise.

Well, since Sealand was the one there, he might as well deal with it. "Hello. Can I help you?" He greeted politely.

The man blinked again but quickly recovered and gave him a smile, phone pocketed. "You must be… Peter Kirkland, no?"

Sealand narrowed his eyes lightly. He's been told to stick to human names, especially with strangers… "Yes?"

The man continued to smile, his tone mildly chipper. "I wish to speak to your father, however… since you're here, maybe I could ask you how you're doing?"

Sealand raised an eyebrow. Not what he was expecting… "I'm doing fine."

"Really…" The man nodded, leaning closer to his level with hands on his knees. "Is your father treating you well? Is… everything well here?"

The man kept diverting his eyes as he attempted to formulate this question, although if he wanted information, there were better ways to try and pry it from someone. His tone made Sealand think that he was attempting to keep things innocent and simple, as if a more direct dialect would spook Sealand into running off, but it was just coming off as strained.

…This man wasn't very good with children, Sealand concluded.

Either way, if he wanted to know how his father was treating him, he didn't see any harm in saying it. "He's a jerk, but it's fine." Sealand shrugged. "Although, I wish he had some video games for me to play, but I guess that's asking for too much." He put his hands inside his hoodie's pockets and rolled his eyes with a dramatic sigh.

The man nodded, apparently interested. "Ahh, jerk how?" He leaned just a bit closer.

Sealand leaned away in response. "Uhm… Well," Jerk how…? He scratched the back of his head in thought. There were plenty of ways in which his father was a jerk, from the way he spoke to him sometimes, to even ignoring him or not taking him seriously, but did this man want to hear all of it?

Sealand couldn't pick just one event to summarize everything.

But before he could voice these thoughts, he heard his uncle from behind. "Peter!" Then he was pulled away by the forearm, which didn't hurt, but still surprised him. His uncle, Wales had pulled him away from the door, his expression somber.

The suited man stood straight. "You shouldn't handle children so roughly, Mr. Kirkland."

Wales narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms, having already pulled Sealand behind, which indicated he wanted him to go somewhere else. But he was curious…

"He's not a normal child, in case you forgot." Wales responded, his tone soft, which was usual for him, but still left no room for challenges as he continued. "May I ask what is a UN official doing here this early?"

Sealand's eyes widened a bit, and he took a step back, hiding further behind the older Nation. He didn't know he was talking to one of those people.

His father really didn't like them. Often spoke ill of them, sometimes warned Sealand, cautioned him against trusting them or any promises they could possibly make to him, should he ever come into contact.

Always trust family and citizens before any other human or Nation, he said.

"I'm sorry, I do realize this is a bit early, but I require having a word with Arthur Kirkland. UN business, same as last year." The man shrugged blithely. "So, may I-" He gestured to the door and took a step forward, to come in, and Wales took a step aside to stand in the way.

"You may wait outside." Wales droned. Without turning away from the man, he spoke to Sealand. "Peter, go fetch your father."

Sealand took steps back, looking back and forth between the two, before finally running upstairs. 'What's going on?', he wondered to himself, going straight to the study.

It was also a library, but Sealand rarely read books these days… The internet was more entertaining.

No internet, though…

When pushing the door open, just enough to peek inside, he spotted his father leaned back on the chair by the desk, rather inelegantly with his feet propped over it, which is something Sealand rarely saw…

His uncle probably wouldn't enjoy waiting for so long, so he hurried in. Just as he reached the older Nation, England took off an earphone and turned to him with a tired look. "What is it now?" His tone was also tired.

Sealand pointed back at the door. "There's a UN guy downstairs." England's eyes widened. "Uncle Wales is keeping him at the door."

With no further exchange of words, England adjusted himself properly and took off the other earphone, leaving it with the smartphone by the desk, then briskly made his way out and downstairs.

Sealand briefly glanced at the phone, but shook his head and followed his father. It probably had a password, anyway.

"You should stay out of sight." Sealand heard from him and stopped at the stairs.

England usually told him to be careful with UN people, as well as EU higher-ups. He was a jerk but he at least took care of him and has quite literally never told him a lie, as far as Sealand was concerned.

That said, he felt inclined to listen to England whenever he was this serious… But he was still curious. So he walked down the stairs with more caution but didn't go further into the hallway that led to the sight of whoever was at the front door. He stayed there and leaned close to the wall.

On the opposite end of the room, he saw his uncle going through the door that led to the kitchen, and could already hear his father speaking up. "-just spout your rules and leave, then."

Sealand could almost feel that animosity in the air, so if he had to guess, he'd say his father probably had his arms crossed and had a scowl firmly on his face.

He imagined that official still had that same forced smile. "No time for chit-chat then. Fine." Sealand heard him clearing his throat and began with a haughty tone. "On request of the United Nations, I am here to remind you of the rules once again this year."

Ah. Sealand knows there are rules, but he's only ever heard of such from his father. Not… 'UN officials'.

"Family congregations are to be strictly limited to once-a-year events. As you've picked the 10th of July for this year, this will only be allowed again after 11th of July of 2016."

Sealand frowned. So it wasn't an arbitrary date his family picked whenever they felt like it…?

"Non-familial congregations are limited to once every five years, which you've already used in May, despite the limited number of guests, and since it wasn't of UN demand, then it will be counted as normal, another gathering will only be allowed again by May of 2020."

Sealand had to wonder why they weren't allowed to meet more often. Did Sealand himself fall under that category? He didn't know. All the Nations he ever met like this were family, which he met with every year.

"Such gatherings, either familial or non-familial, may not last more than three days."

So his family didn't decide that either…

"Further commitments of those present to the rules passed forth by the UN council, Nations may not exchange contracts, have monetary transactions, or use the Internet for the duration of the event,"

Aaand there it is. The reason why Sealand couldn't use his phone at family reunions… Sealand grimaced and held back a scoff, least it attracts attention.

The man continued to list rules. "-Nations shall refrain from keeping weaponry in the vicinity of the event, inviting third parties to the event, or leaving the perimeter of the event-"

That was why no one could invite anyone, why Sealand and Hutt couldn't go out, and why reunions weren't as fun as they used to be, back when Sealand and Hutt could actually play in the parks nearby and do whatever they wanted to do, or play with weapons…

Is all the tedious stuff caused by these people…?

"UN officials will be stationed outside of the perimeter, however, Nations may not refuse to cooperate, should they deem necessary to question or intercept any activities. I believe that is all. Are we still in agreement over this?"

"…" A sigh followed by silence.

"Are we in agreement or not?"

"…Yes, yes. We are." It came out as a gritted response, as if the man were holding himself back.

Sealand wanted to peek and puffed his cheeks with the effort of keeping himself still. He didn't want to be seen, as he was told to stay out of sight, but…

After a second of meager struggle, he peeked.

His father indeed had his arms crossed and stood exactly where Sealand had guessed. His posture wasn't as straight as he expected, though.

"Be sure that the rest of your family adheres to the regulations once they arrive."

"…Yes. Thank you for reminding me, as you people do every single year." England waved the man off with his usual sarcasm-laced droning. "Now get out."

The man's smile widened, seemingly satisfied, and he leaned to the side, only to spot Sealand behind and give him wave.

England uncrossed his arms and leaned closer. The man immediately backed off, startled, a scowl threatening to interrupt the smile as he walked away. England closed the door, seemingly forcing himself not to do it too harshly, and after a few tense seconds, he turned to Sealand with a deadpan.

Sealand squeaked. "Sorry!" And he ran to the living room further inside and hid behind the couch, as if it would help him.

He was hoping England would go back upstairs, but he followed him instead. Apologizing again wouldn't make a difference, so Sealand peeked from behind the couch and waited for the scolding.

Instead of berating him for disobeying orders, England sat on the couch heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing before looking at him again. "You see why I tell you not to trust these people?"

Sealand's eyes wandered away. Okay, so… he wasn't being scolded. That was a relief. He moved from his spot and sat on the other corner of the couch. "Alright, the guy was weird…" Stress taken care of, curiosity made a come-back. "Why do they give us so many dumb rules?"

"That is a good question." England crossed his arms. "There are plenty of rules for our kind, which is why you should stay out of the sight of those who make those rules. As a Nation, you may have a natural desire to have some kind of power, however, the moment you do, you'll become a target, and you're too weak to handle that, which is why your country is not to be recognized as a real entity, even though you exist."

At the mention of his utter lack of recognition amongst the grown-ups, at being called weak, it was enough to ruffle his feathers and Sealand narrowed his eyes, lips curling. "But I can be just as good as anybody! You were my age once as well, so why-!"

England patted him in the head, just firmly enough to push his head down, stopping his rant before it could go on. "You don't know what you're asking for, lad. You're safe as you are right now, so it's best you remain out of the way."

With that, England stood and walked away, going back upstairs again.

Sealand huffed, ruffling his hair as if to rid himself of hsi father's touch, then leaned back on the couch, hands inside his hoodie's pockets.

What did those people have anything at all to do with being a real Nation who wasn't continuously looked down upon by everyone else in the family?

Did he mean to say he wouldn't be safe from 'enemies' if he was recognized? Was it from those people? They're an international entity, best at deciding who's worth listening to. Was that dangerous?

Well… What if he didn't want to be 'safe'? What if he wanted to be part of something bigger?

…What if he wanted to help and be useful?

He's been in the British military; he's even fought pirates to save his home once! He had history too! He wasn't just a useless kid!

He could fight!

But still… Sealand wasn't a fool. He knew there were constraints in his goals.

For one, he couldn't expand his homeland. The fact that it wasn't even actual land apparently made him a bit more vulnerable than other Nations his age… So… Sealand bit his lower lip at the thought. He couldn't quite grow up and stand up to the older Nations by himself. He's stuck with his current size and wasn't as tough.

For two, he didn't have an army, his home was too small for that, so he couldn't fight anyone on that scale.

For three, his monetary-needs pretty much depended on his father.

In short, he was asking for a privilege he was utterly unable to fight for, simply because of where he was born. All the older Nations had to fight for it, to prove they deserved to be heard. But of course, Sealand could do little other than ask to, at the very least, be treated as a voice that mattered, even if just a bit, even if always under the shadow of his family.

All who were pretty powerful on their own.

His family would occasionally listen to him, but only because they were family, and maybe even because of pity.

But they'd never broadcast that to other Nations or to outside entities like the UN.

That last one… He could probably accept being left out.

Despite his family's habit of not taking him seriously, he wasn't childish enough to think they didn't care – well, Sealand certainly hoped that was the case – and if they wanted those people away from him, maybe there was some merit to that…

He'd choose to trust family once again…

But he figured that sooner or later, he'd have to choose for himself.

"…What's wrong, bucko? You've been quiet for hours."

Hutt turned away from the car window and the passing scenery at the question. Australia, whom he occasionally called 'father', was giving him a rather quizzical look. "Just thinking too much. Nothing I wish to share at the moment."

Australia raised an eyebrow, but nodded slowly. "…Okay. Just don't close yourself off too much, alright, kiddo?"

Hutt nodded back with a sigh, turning to the window again, crossing his arms and legs. He could tell his silence bothered the older Nation. Hutt wasn't so quiet last year. But he didn't want to unload his thoughts on the man.

He'd probably just talk to Sealand instead, the two being closer in age.

Sealand is technically his uncle, but Hutt effectively treats him like a cousin. They play like cousins, talk like cousins. Sealand only brings up the uncle-thing whenever he's trying to get an edge in an argument.

Hutt usually ignores it.

Blinking, he discreetly turns to Australia and Wy.

Of course, she snugs very closely to the older Nation and seems pretty content with that.

He couldn't say he liked her very much. He wasn't sure why. Maybe he preferred being an only-child. Maybe he was a bit jealous of how much attention she got from his father. Maybe she just annoyed him on a personal level. He admitted it could be any of these, but either way, he preferred to not spend too much time with her.

So, he'd probably just ignore her as soon as they got to their destination, which was… right then and there.

The car stopped and Hutt wasted no time opening the door and walking out, taking a second to stretch his calves.

They had parked just outside the propriety, a few meters down the pathway. The house wasn't so close to the urban areas.

Australia and Wy were right behind, his father being the one to pick her up and place her down outside. Hutt held back a sound of aggravation. He wasn't treated like that at her age. Why was his father pampering her so bloody much?

"Always protect your new sister, alright?"

He held back a scoff at the memory. What does she need protection from?

The moment she makes a single noise of distress, his father is there to make everything better. He's there to give her comfort or money. No need for anyone else to get involved.

Besides… Hutt never got that. Australia taught him that he needed to figure out how to take care of himself without relying on him, and Hutt had always thought it was cool. It was cool and respectable that he had his own money, he was proud of it.

Quite proud.

But Wy always got everything handed to her.

Hutt turned away as Australia kneeled next to Wy, talking about how she should behave while interacting with the rest of the family. He didn't need to hear any of that, everyone was already fairly familiar with him.

So he walked down the path, and as he approached the gated space, he recognized one of the people there.

Three of them were suited men he didn't know, and one was his granduncles, Scotland, who seemed to be pointing and ranting at one of the men in black suits. As he approached, he could hear it his granduncle's brash tone, distinct as it was with his accent.

"-and if you even dare to come in without a decent justification, you can be bloody sure you'll regret it! Council's decision be damned!"

The man he was pointing at backed away slightly. "…We understand, sir."

"Ye better hope so!"

Scotland and England don't get along, not even with each other's citizens. This immediately came to mind when seeing the scene.

Scotland was apparently too busy to notice him or if he did, decided to wait until the argument was done. Either way, Hutt ignored the eyes on him and cleared his throat once he stopped near the elder Nation.

Scotland turned to him casually, anger vanishing from his expression. "Good day to you, lad." He waved with a smile.

Hutt nodded in greeting. "Hello, having a nice chat here?"

Scotland scoffed. "Ha! I wish. Come on in then, is your father coming soon?" He beckoned Hutt to follow and both entered the propriety through the gate, leaving the men in suits behind and ignoring their stares.

"Yes, he has a… 'surprise' this year around."

"Oh?"

Hutt shook his head. "Nevermind that. Where is everyone?"

Scotland pointed behind him with a thumb. "Just inside. It seems only your uncles from across the pond aren't here yet, but I'm sure everyone will be here by dinner-time."

Hutt nodded. "Alright, thanks, I'll go find Sealand. It's good to see you again, Uncle."

Scotland ruffled his hair. "Same here, lad."

Hutt nodded, adjusting his hair meticulously. He doesn't like having it ruffled like this, but Scotland was the only Uncle who completely ignored that. He was too chipper and smiley for Hutt to get angry, though.

Before he could go inside, the gates opened once again. Hutt sighed as he walked up the stairs to the porch and all the way over to the door, but stopped, glaring glassily at nothing for a few seconds before he turned to watch.

"And good day to you too, Au-What is that?!" Scotland froze and pointed downwards with wide eyes.

As usual, Wy hid behind Australia. If Hutt didn't know any better, he'd say she was afraid of her own shadow. But he knew out of experience that once she was simply familiar with someone, she became spunky.

Australia rubbed the back of his neck, grinning sheepishly. "Aah, yeah, this happened…"

Scotland laughed loudly. "How!"

"I got a big territory, things just happened that way!" Australia didn't seem bothered.

Scotland laughed a bit more before he crouched to Wy's level. "Hello, lass. I'm your granduncle, Scotland, nice to meet ye." He gave her a friendly grin and offered a hand to shake.

She leaned ever so slightly from behind her father's legs, then looked up.

Australia nodded. "It's okay. Everyone's family here, remember?"

Only then she accepted the handshake, nodding and then backing off again. Scotland chuckled and stood with the grin of a dork. "Oh, adorable little one…!"

Of course, everyone always melts for her.

"What's her name?"

"Wy."

"W-Why…? I just want to know…"

"No! Her name, her name's Wy."

"Ah. I feel like this won't be the first time you make that correction."

Sigh. "Agree…"

Hutt rolled his eyes and opened the door, leaving them to their conversation. Once inside, he could breathe in the familiar sent of the house.

He actually really liked this home. It was the one England usually picked for reunions such as this, and it was also the spot of Hutt's first visit abroad many years ago. It went through some renovations since then, but it had a feeling of being a solid structure in his life. Considering how much the world had changed in the last few decades, and even more so in the last few weeks, it was something Hutt appreciated at this point.

The first room was a bigger area with decorations but not much else other than the piano in the corner.

It had the hallway at the corner ahead and to the left, and to the right, there was a door that led to the kitchen, which led to the dining room, which in turn led to the backyard. In the hallway, there was the entrance to the living room, bathroom, and another door to the backyard, as well as the stairs that led to the study, and everyone's bedrooms.

Nothing was modernistic; in fact, anyone could accurately say it was an old man's home, just from looking at the decorations, walls, floors, rugs, or whatever else.

Hutt actually liked it a lot. It gave him a sense of comfortable nostalgia.

Then, Sealand suddenly poked his head from the hallway. "Why are you just standing there?! Come on!" And with that, he was gone again, just as quickly as he came.

Skittering off like that… Blinking, Hutt followed him into the living room more calmly. "I'll have you know, I was simply appreciating the structural design of this place."

"Yes, yes, whatever." Sealand waved him off.

Hutt's brows furrowed as he gave him a small smile with gritted teeth. This shorty… Always dismissing whenever Hutt used a more flowery vocabulary…

Sealand grinned. "I've been waiting for you." He patted the seat next to him, a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

Hutt sat down, frowning. "What are you planning now?"

"Shh, don't be loud…!" Sealand waved his hands in an attempt to make his point. "Let's get down to business right now. You know how we're not allowed to leave, right?"

"Right." Hutt tilted his head.

"So, it's not our family that decided that."

"Huh? But I thought-"

"Right! I did too…!" Sealand leaned in to whisper. "But it's not! It's those guys outside…!"

They're usually there every year, a near constant for the last two-to-three decades or so. He always assumed they belonged to the local Nation, that is, their grandfather. The older and elder Nations never really talked about it…"The government?" Hutt raised an eyebrow.

"No, they're not British government, they're UN…!" Hutt gaped slightly and Sealand grinned. "They're the ones who make the rules, and dad doesn't like them, so I thought…" He clapped his hands softly. "maybe he wouldn't be too mad if I disobeyed them." He finished with a wicked smirk.

Hutt nudged his chin in thought, keeping his voice low and eyes narrowing. "Hmm… You want to sneak out?"

Sealand nodded enthusiastically, crossing his arms. "Go out like we used to."

Well… That would be fun, and he wouldn't have to deal with his sister for a while. "But won't they notice if we're gone?" He questioned first, pointing at Sealand.

That didn't seem to detract his uncle/cousin in the slightest. "They get drunk every year on the first day, remember? I also feel like everyone's extra stressed this year, so that means…"

A smile was slowly creeping on Hutt's face. "That means they might even sleep a little bit…"

Both snickered.

They heard the kitchen door opening, and Hutt immediately recognized Granduncle Wales approaching. He showed up by the archway with a tray of snacks.

He gave him a serene smile. "Hutt, it's good to see you again…!" His tone was airy, like he remembers it being. "Here, you can have some rarebit, dinner won't be ready anytime soon, to be honest." He put the tray on the coffee table in front of them.

Sealand perked up and took one, it was basically toast with posh cheese. "We need Canada here, he's a quick cook!" Sealand spoke while munching on the food.

Hutt was a bit more refined and simply nodded while he ate.

Wales scratched his cheek with a sheepish smile. "That's what I'm waiting for." He kept the smile, but seemed to fidget on the spot for a second, blinking at the window.

Hutt already knew what he would ask. Sealand had a much smaller range for this sort of thing, so he's not surprised he didn't notice it while distracted.

"Is there… someone else with your father out there…?" Wales asked Hutt, his smile straining ever so slightly.

Hutt stared at the TV with a deadpan and nodded.

Sealand raised an eyebrow and turned to the window as well, eyes narrowing as he focused. "Oh, yeah… Now that you mention it…"

Rolling his eyes, Hutt swallowed his food before speaking. "Dad will explain the surprise."

Both Sealand and Wales followed Wy with their eyes through the walls, until finally, Australia came in through the front door. Wales shook his head and left to greet them.

Sealand turned to him, blinking. "What's the surprise?" Before Hutt could even open his mouth, Sealand spazzed off his seat. "No, wait, don't spoil it! I'll just go see!"

Once left alone, Hutt let out a sigh, taking another rarebit to munch on and leaning back on the couch. It was quite probable that everyone would be paying a lot of attention to his sister today.

Just another reason to go somewhere else.

A/N: Just starting off with this family reunion by focusing on the kids for a little while. Introducing them, let's say!

I really like writing from the POV of non-humans, especially when they're this young. There are so many interesting thoughts to highlight. Hutt and Sealand are pretty much already used to humans at this point, both are around 30-to-40 years old or so, but Wy is really just less than a year old, so it's natural that she would be questioning these stuff.

I think I made each of the kids' personalities and reasons distinct enough this chapter. It will continue next chapter.

So, I made it like a sixth sense, added on top of the primary five senses we have. The one that Nations use to sense everything around them, and I put this as their primary sense, and the other five as secondary. They have a range if space around them where they can sense the presence of other Nations, and the size of that range varies from Nation to Nation. Last chapter I also mentioned that young Nations are scared of everything new around them, and now I had it from Wy's POV. Fun to write, added a lot of things and new feelings in the last proof-reading, though.

Anyway, I think I made my dislike for the UN quite obvious this chapter. Yeeesh, I really don't like them, not a fan. :I They just keep making dumb decisions, not to mention all the scandals involving UN Peace-Keepers sexually abusing kids in their missions. Nothing is better at proving to me that they're a bunch of phonies than their ridiculous decision to have Saudi Arabia in the Human Rights Council. Not to mention their overly hostile stance towards Israel. It's like they think Israel is somehow worse than Pakistan and North Korea. There are 190 members of the UN, and less than half of them are free countries. Many of them are responsible for the most horrible crimes of our time, and yet, somehow, 85% of their UN resolutions against countries are against Israel, and the other 15% are… for the rest of the world…? Gee.

So… After WWII, the winners established the UN to prevent further catastrophes from happening again. "To reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights in the dignity and worth of the human person in the equal rights or men and women and of nations […]" (Quite the convenient wording for this fic here. :D) In the course of the years, many new states joined in, but few were democracies. What matters now is not human rights, but political interests.

And here's the strange but fascinating kicker. The Arab League, Islamic countries, and non-aligned movements can create a voting block of 124, while everyone else, all democracies such as the US, can only form a block of 69. Automatic majority against the free countries. They easily prevent actions against oppressive regimes, because many of these are oppressive regimes as well, so they won't turn against themselves. Just the Human Rights Commission had been historically ruled by an overwhelming majority of non-democratic abuse-riddled countries. Irony. It was chaired by Libya's Kadafi back in 2003. A righteous individual telling the world how to make it a better place. Ha. Murderers and terrorists get applauded in there.

No reason for me to ever trust it. It's a corrupt institution, and dare I say, a pretend-version of a 'World Government'. It should be, at the very least, reformed. Although, it could be disbanded as well, considering how useless it manages to be.

I have little time remaining to write for now, it's late. So I'll leave it at that for now. I wanted to make my bias very clear right off the bat here.

So, until next chapter, hopefully here a lot sooner. o/