Carmen's Palace Mansion, 1492

Carmen was rocking the cradle with her three little ones. She was humming a beautiful tune that nobody could quite place. England and France watched from the doorway, smiling at her and their children. It was going to be six months in a few days that they had their absolutely adorable babies. Prussia and Scotland gently slapped England's back and Portugal rubbed France's back.

"Jou did good, broha," Prussia smiled at his newest nephews. He loved them so much, his eyes were softer around them. Everybody noticed, especially Austria and Hungary. Prussia adored them and did everything he could to amuse them. He even let Gilbird peck his head for two hours straight because it made them laugh.

"Ay! He's right lad! The three of them are gonna be wee troublemakers! Just like you were!" Scotland jested, making the others laugh and England blush. Scotland had become a lot gentler upon the arrival of his nephews. He was more enthusiastic, especially when he was telling them his old fairytales.

"Stuff it, Allistor! You'll wake them up!" England whispered yelled. The group quieted down and continued to watch Carmen rock the New World Triplets. Francis slowly approached the cradle and brushed Canada's hair from his face. The gaze he gave his sons was nothing short of sparkling. You could feel the love from his eyes, and his cheeks had the warm glow of a proud papa.

"Zey truly are precious, non? I will never let anyzing 'appen to zem," France cooed. England also walked up to the cradle, brushing his gloved hand against America's hair. The fierce pirate was all mushy now that he had blood sons of his own. Yes, his multiple colonies were precious to him. But, England MADE these children. They were a part of HIM.

"It's a miracle," England started. The two other parents stared at him in confusion, "the frog and I can finally agree on something,"  Francis smiled and hugged England. The other nations left the parents be with the babies, heading to their respected rooms to prepare for bed.

"Dad," a small voice said from the doorway. England turned and saw toddler Hong Kong standing there, with his kitty plushie, rubbing his eyes. A toddler Australia was next to him, along with toddler Philippines, and Seychelles. Child Brazil, India, and Monaco were also there.

"Yes, Leon?" England walked over and knelt down to the group of children. That's when he noticed all the children were there: all of South America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Central America were there in their pajamas.

"We behaved nicely today. Can we sleep in here with our baby brothers?" Hong Kong clasped his hands together.

"Please, dad. We promise not to fight. We'll be good," Australia also clasped his hands together. All the children followed the example, Philippines adding puppy dog eyes. It was super effective of the now soft-hearted scallywag.

"Alright, everybody go fetch a blanket and pillow from your room and pick a spot. I don't want any fighting, or you won't be allowed to do this again," England replied sternly, but there was still love in his voice. The children colonies cheered happily and hurriedly went to get the needed items. France and Spain laughed softly as within a minutes all the colonies had lined the nursery. Spain, France, and England went around kissing the children goodnight.

"Goodnight!" Carmen whispered to the colonies.

"Goodnight Mami!" all the colonies whispered back. Even though the three empires didn't birth the children, when the New World triplets were born they all became a family. Spain gently shut the door and went down the corridor with the two men. But she felt funny like something was off somewhere. The men noticed the uneased expression on her face and walked up to her.

"Carmen, love, are you alright?" Arthur asked gently. Francis rubbed her back gently as Carmen began to breathe harder.

"I feel like something is going to happen. Something is not right," Carmen began to shake. Just then, the other two felt a wave go through them. The felt the same uneasiness too. England went to the nearest guard with a powerful glare.

"Increase security around the perimeter, leave no door unguarded. Do you understand?" Arthur commanded in his pirate voice. The guard saluted and nodded.

"Yes, sir!"  the guard replied as he marched off to tell the chief of Arthur's command. Arthur oversaw the guards getting into their new positions before heading to bed. The whole house was peaceful as everybody fell asleep, unaware of three foreign intruders watching the large home.

1:24 AM

The intruders observed the guards for a few hours before making their move. They climbed the tall Aleppo Pine tree that rested on the border of the estate. They settled onto the sturdy branches and began tying a rope onto their arrow. One the intruders sneakily shot his arrow with the rope attached, the successfully planting the pointed head below the nursery window. One of the other intruders tied off the ropes onto the tree to make a tight and sturdy path. The three intruders stealthily walked upon the tightrope, as if they were made of air, opening the nursey window quietly and sneaking inside. 

They spoke a foreign tongue to one another in a hushed tone, realizing that there were more children in the nursery. But they had a mission to complete, so they approached the cradle anyway. They took a minute to admire their targets as they slept. They nodded to each other and each of them picked up one child. Alfred whimpered a tiny bit, making Hong Kong and Cuba awaken. They both saw the three strangers holding their little brothers.

"¡Pare! ¡No toques a mis hermanitos!" Cuba yelled loudly as he went to attack one of them. That woke up India, Brazil, and Australia. They all saw what was happening and reacted immediately. Australia let out a battle cry as he jumped onto the back of the one holding Canada. Brazil was holding onto the leg of the one holding Mexico. India instantly left to go get their parents as all the kids began to wake up and attack. Seychelles and Philippines ran and headbutted the two holding Mexico and Canada, Monaco instantly swooped in and took them in her arms. Hong Kong, Australia, Cuba, Ivory Coast, Peru, Brazil, and Madagascar were all trying to stop the man holding America. But with a mighty and unknown force, all the kids were knocked back. The man looked to his companions and yelled something as they heard footsteps approaching and America began to cry. The three men ran to the window just as Carmen, Francis, and Arthur got to the door. They witnessed America crying as the figures disappeared out the window. By then, all the other nations were awake.

"Artie?! Vhat ze hell is going on?!" Prussia asked as he kept up with Arthur. He was running like a madman down the staircase.

"Some people broke into the nursery! They have Alfred!" Arthur screamed as he busted down the door. He then turned to a guard, "someone just grab them! Now!"  Allistor and Gilbert ran straight for the gate, seeing a glimpse of a figure running away. Netherlands, Luxemburg, Hungary, and Switzerland were all there running as well.

"Drop my nephew or suffer the consequences!" Hungary yelled as she ran with her sword. Austria and Belgium were in the nursery, trying their best to calm down the children. Romano and Italy were furious but too scared as they cuddled into Ireland and Portugal's arms. Prussia was almost there they were cornering the group of kidnappers into a cliff. The three stopped and looked down at the rough waters below and turned to look at the group of angry nations running towards them. Prussia and Spain were in the lead as Alfred's cries echoed loudly. The three looked down and nodded in unison. Prussia was just about to grab Alfred's blanket when the three intruders jumped back and off the cliff. Spain's eyes widened in horror as Alfred's screeches of terror fell fainter until a splash was heard. She fell to her knees at the cliffside and clenched the grass.

"N-no..." her baby and the mysterious men were gone. She didn't see them. Tears flew down her cheeks and she began to tremble horribly, "NO!" Spain cried loudly. Netherlands knelt to her side as tears welled up in his normally stoic eyes. He embraced Spain tightly as she cried. Scotland did the same for England and Prussia for France. Hungary was hugging Luxemburg and Switzerland as the two men collapsed. They were at that cliffside for what felt like hours, just staring at the rough tides that took away their innocent little sunshine.

When they finally regained some sort of composure, they began to head back to Spain's abode. The silence was poison to them, as they all hoped that Alfred would be coming back home with them. But they failed, their baby was gone. When they all entered the house, Portugal, Belgium, Ireland, and Austria were waiting by the fireplace. They all stood up and faced them, gawking at the horror in all of their faces.

"V-vhere is Alfred?" Austria asked shaking. Switzerland went up and hugged him tightly, trembling as he began to cry again. Belgium went to Luxemburg and Netherlands, trying to comfort her brothers.

"What happened, Arthur?" Northern Ireland, his big sister, asked. Ireland, his big brother, was also curious. The two saw how Scotland was holding England as the tear streaks down both their cheeks.

"He's gone," Scotland began. The others looked confused, so he explained more, "We were able to corner them on the cliffside. We were right there, but they jumped back and took Alfred with them. They jumped off the cliff into the water, with Alfred crying in their arms," Scotland broke again and fell to his knees. Prussia began to cry harder.

"I vas right zere! I had him! But zey jumped avay from me! If I vas only a little bit faster," Francis shook his head at his albino companion.

"Non, Gilbert. Jou were amazing. Zey were just cowards," France tried so hard to keep himself together. But alas, he cried again. Everybody cried. They lost their youngest family member. The morning began and the kids all came down to eat breakfast. They all sat at the table with hopeful smiles on their faces. India looked around, as did Brazil.

"Tia, where is Alfred?" Brazil asked, tilting his head. India noticed how all the nations had red, puffy eyes. They had been crying, which only meant one thing in India's mind.

"He's gone," India replied, knowing none of the nations could speak. Brazil looked at India in confusion, "how did that happen?" India asked the adults. France, England, Spain, Scotland, and Prussia were a total wreck and began to cry again. Hungary frowned and faced the children.

"Children, the people who took Alfred last night jumped off the cliffside. Alfred was in their arms as they did so. I'm afraid to inform you that Alfred most likely drowned with his kidnappers," Hungary wiped a tear that fell from her eyes. Saying that sentence hurt her. Monaco and India began to cry as well, some of the younger nations still didn't understand.

"So? He can still come back!" Australia yelped. India put his hand on Australia's shoulder, shaking his head.

"Jett, when someone drowns, it means that they inhaled too much water instead of air. Then they die and leave behind their life on Earth. Alfred isn't coming back, he can't. Once you die, it's impossible to come back," India wiped his tears as he explained death to the toddler. Venezuela and Bolivia shook their heads, the girls didn't want to believe it. Philippines began to cry and ran into Carmen's arms.

"Mami! That isn't true! He will come back! Right?!" she questioned her saddened mother. Carmen just embraced her tighter and shook her head.

"No princessa. I'm sorry, but your kuya isn't coming home," Spain cried. All the children bursted into tears, not a dry eye in the house. That's all it was now, a house. It wasn't a home without Alfred.

What the family did not know... Is that Alfred was alive... The intruders jumped off the cliff and into the water but used their magic to teleport. They were now on the shores of their home, a rough woodland area. The three culprits began to jump through the trees and landed back at their tribe. More Natives welcomed them back.

"Cherokee, Navajo, Apache. Welcome back," Sioux said. Iroquois. Cheyenne, Yakama, and Ute also approached with warm faces. But the smiles fell upon seeing only one baby boy.

"Mother asked for all three," Ute explained with a stern expression.

"We were close, but the pale faces' other children alerting them of our presence. We barely escaped as it was. The pale faces' ran to catch us and corned us on a tall cliff by the sea. We jumped and teleported back here by the skin of our teeth. At least we were able to retrieve one of them," Apache explained. Cherokee was still holding Alfred, who was softly whimpering.

"Mother wishes to see our completed task, is she here?" Navajo asked with arms on her chest. Just then a woman with long black hair and smoldering brown eyes appeared.

"Mother, we are sorry that the mission partly failed. The pale faces' children awoke and proved a challenge in terms of escape. We were only able to leave with this one and barely got out. Please accept our apologies," Cherokee gently handed the baby to Native America. She gazed down at Alfred, who opened his sapphire eyes. He smiled and cooed, playing with some stray hairs that hung around Native America's face. The elder nation smiled at the child.

"Maska, I will name you Maska. My youngest son," Native America cradled Alfred in her arms as he began to fall asleep again. The tiny Alfred closed his eyes, sucking his thumb sweetly. This was his family now.