When my father burst into the room, everyone instantly got quiet. It didn't take a genius to see that Father was mad.

Both his hair and his tie had somehow become a mess overnight, which was odd because Father never let his outfit become anything other than crisp. His eyes had a fire in them, burning so brightly that I could tell he wasn't just mad, he was extremely pissed off, and if I was lucky I would get to watch him yell at someone who wasn't me.

He grumbled something about Ireland, Scotland and beer, before finally looking up to see all the people at the table.

"What the bloody hell are you all still doing here?!" Father exclaimed, frustrated.

"Mom told them they could stay over." Canada answered, his voice shaky.

Father whipped around to stare at Canada, and my brother cowered down under his glare. They stayed for a second, before Father sighed, and looked away. "Of course she did." Then he turned to Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Brazil. "Finish your breakfast and then get out."

The distant family all nodded, eyes wide in fear, before trying to eat their remaining food as fast as they could.

Father didn't sit down, he just stood in the same place staring at them, which only made them eat faster.

I shared a glance with my brothers, all of us thinking the same thing.

What was he mad about this time?

There was a moment where no one spoke, and the only sounds in the room came from the scraping of silverware against the plates.

It didn't take very long for our family to finish their breakfast, especially since my father was basically forcing them to hurry up. When they were all finished, they practically ran out of the dining hall, eager to get out of my father's sight before he exploded on them.

Once they'd left, Father finally sat down in his usual spot at the head of the table. Luckily no one had sat in his seat, they would have had their head chewed off before they even saw it coming.

A best passed before Australia cleared his throat and spoke.

"So, Dad, what... happened?" There was definitely some hesitation in his voice, but I had to give him props for asking.

"Your uncles Ireland and Scotland are complete and utter fools." Britain said, clearly not in the mood to talk about it.

More silence.

Clearly Father noticed this, and he looked up and snapped at us, "Don't just sit there like statues! Talk!"

We still didn't talk.

Father sighed, rather loudly and frustratedly. "America. Tell me, did you meet anyone at the ball? Anyone catch your interest?"

"Yes, actually." I answered, thinking back to those amber eyes yet again.

"There you go! I knew you'd find someone eventually." Britain smiled, and looked over at Australia, probably to criticize him for leaving the ball as early as he did.

I couldn't focus. My father, King Britain, had found my efforts at the back acceptable! And not only that, but I had impressed him, even when he was so angry at his brothers he could probably stab them.

I felt like I was floating.

I had made my father happy with my efforts.

For the first time in two years, Father hadn't looked at me like I was a disgrace to the family name.

The whole rest of breakfast I couldn't focus. Even when my mother came in and Father started arguing with her about letting our family stay over. I only focused on the conversation when I hear the names Spain and Mexico being thrown around.

I zoned back in to find Mother was talking.

"...Don't you see? He thinks it will be best for his daughter!" Mother insisted.

"We have enough people to take care of now, we don't need any more!" Father argued back.

I leaned over to Australia, who sat on my right. "What's going on? I wasn't paying attention."

Aussie rolled his eyes, before explaining the situation. "Spain asked Mum and Dad if they'd allow Mexico to stay with us for a little while her siblings all come home with him."

"Why?" I asked, slightly confused.

My brother just shrugged. "Not sure. I think Mexico wanted it? Dunno why. You'd have to ask her."

I sat back in my chair, thinking. Why would Mexico want to stay with us?

Once again, I tuned back into my parents, who seemed to have finished their argument, and were instead huffing at each other.

"Excuse me, Mother, Father," I said, standing up. "I was wondering if I might be able to leave, I have some things to attend to."

Both my parents looked up at me in surprise. I never had 'things to attend to.'

"Yes, America, you may leave." My father answered in a rather unsure manner, acknowledging my very formal statement.

"Thank you." I smiled. I caught my brothers' baffled gazes, but I didn't comment and let the hall without another word.

As soon as I left the room, I ducked down a hallway towards my room. But about halfway there, I stopped.

I needed some time alone to think and get my thoughts in order. My mind had been racing ever since the ball began, and I wasn't sure what to think anymore.

So I changed my course and headed toward the

garden instead.

When I arrived, there was a slight breeze and the trees all around started to move gently, producing a soft sound.

I sighed, and started to comb through the tangled web of my mind.

I thought about all the new people I had met, all the old friends I'd seen, and all the people I hadn't personally known, but seemed to be close to people I did know.

In the first category fell Japan, her brothers North and South Korea, China, and Ukraine. All of them seemed really nice, except for North Korea and China, but I'm sure if I got to know them better, we'd be buds.

There was also the mysterious man that tried to sneak in through the garden. There was something about him that I found intriguing, and I just wanted to learn more about him.

In the second category were Germany and Poland. I hadn't seen them in years, and in that time they had gotten a lot more friendly toward each other, even to the point where they were now in a relationship. I had to admire their courage, I don't think I would have done what they did considering how much Germany's dad hates Poland. But there was something about them that was bugging at me, even still, and I wasn't quite sure what it was.

Also in the second category was Phil, but I wasn't ready to think about him. Sometimes I wished that we could just go back to how our friendship was before the incident that happened two years ago, but the mistakes that were made were just too big. There was no coming back from something like that.

Lastly, in the third category, I placed two people. The man I saw Mexico with, who had strangely appeared in my dream, and whoever New Zealand had fallen for. I didn't know exactly who they were or what they looked like, but I did have a fuzzy image of him standing with a person wearing a green and red mask that I didn't remember seeing at all, so I figured that must have been it.

At some point, my thought shifted, and they became a lot less focused. I thought about Japan, and how she seemed pretty nice. I thought about how her brother North Korea seemed to really hate me in particular. And then again, my thoughts changed again, and I found myself thinking about the man again.

I remembered every detail of the scene, the way his eyes sparkled in the dim light, the way his mask shimmered.

Time flew past, and before I knew it, London was coming to get me.

"Your highness, your father wishes to see you." London said, in only the most professional sounding voice.

"Alright, thank you." I stood up straighter. "Where is he?"

"He's in his office, sir."

I groaned inwardly. Of course he was. I thanked London again, and made my way into the castle. Why'd Father have to meet me in his office?