October 7, 1763

Thirteen Colonies was walking down from his room, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He hadn't put his hair up yet, and it fell loose around his face, and he kept having to push it out of his way.

Dodging around British East Florida, formerly known as Spanish Florida, the newest personification his father decided to have a kid with, Thirteen Colonies made his way to the dining room, where there was usually food allowed for the colonies, provided no one had done anything wrong in the past few days.

'There will be food. Quebec has been excellent in the past couple of months, and you'd think he was always Britain's son.'

'Doesn't that have something to do with Britain taking him into that room alone after he joined us?'

'I think it has something to do with Britain getting rid of all the Frenchmen there and letting Scotland's people move that.'

'Or that fact that Quebec started calling him dad really quickly.'

'Whatever it is, Britain's happy about Quebec, and nothing we could do will ruin that mood.'

"Good morning, Father," Thirteen Colonies said as he entered the dining room, causing the debating thoughts to stop. His father wasn't eating anything but looking over a document. Dominica shot him nervous glances as she tried to eat her breakfast. Britain looked up when he heard Thirteen's greeting.

"Good morning, Thirteen. Put your hair up so it doesn't get in the way. I let you have it long, so the least you can do is wear it properly and not make a fool of me. I have things to do today, but you'll be with England today, who will be helping you continue learning how to ride a horse properly. A basic skill you really should be better at by now." Father said with a judging tone as he said the last statement.

'I think we ride horses very well.'

'Aside from that one time.'

'It wasn't that bad though. You know how Britain is.'

Thirteen's cheeks burned with embarrassment as he quickly sat down, combing his hands through his hair.

"Yes, Father." He muttered.

"Now, something else you should know. Parliament is creating a new act to help protect the people who live in the Thirteen Colonies from savages and other dangers," Father said. While Thirteen was excited that his people would be given protection and grateful for his father's ensuring it, it was more proof that his father didn't think he could care for himself.

'I'm sure it's not for that reason.'

'Or it's for that exact reason.'

'Has he ever trusted us to take care of ourselves? It's probably another law that shows how damn cont–overprotective he is.'

Thirteen pushed those thoughts away. Father probably wasn't doing this because he didn't think Thirteen could care for himself. They just left a war; Father's trying to make things safe. Father ensures the empire is safe, including the Thirteen Colonies.

Regardless of how Thirteen felt about it, he knew the answer he should give.

"That sounds great, Father. I'm sure my people will love it." He replied with a smile. Father smiled and walked out of the room, giving Quebec a cheery hello and shoulder pat as he walked it. Quebec gave a soft smile at that before walking over to Thirteen.

"Hello, Colonies," Quebec said, sitting down.

"Good morning, Quebec." Thirteen said, staring at the few pieces of sausage before deciding he didn't feel like eating, and just started running his hands through his hair, trying to fix whatever problem his father had found. "Do you know where Uncle England is? Father says I need to spend the day with him."

"I think he's still asleep? I'm not sure." Quebec said, "I..."

Quebec trailed off and shook his head. Dominica muttered something under her breath in French, and Quebec shot her a wide-eyed look.

"Dominica, are you trying to get in trouble?" He asked. Dominica looked up at him, some kind of angry sadness in her eyes, and Thirteen, sensing trouble, quickly shot up from the table.

"I have to go find Uncle England now." Thirteen blurted before rushing out. No way was he getting caught up in that mess.

"Hello, Thirteen." Thirteen heard Uncle England say as soon as he exited the room.

"Uncle England!" Thirteen said cheerily.

"You seem eager to leave. Is something going on that I need to know about?" Uncle England asked. Thirteen shot a nervous look towards the door before he nodded.

'Don't tell him.'

'We have to! You know what will–'

"I think Dominica said something rude about you in French, or she said something in French. Quebec started lecturing her on it when I left, though." Thirteen said. Uncle England smiled.

"Quebec did that? Britain was right." The faux-nation said, "How odd. Well, I won't do anything about that now. Disciplining colonies is something your father is better at. Besides, this is a good chance to test whether or not Quebec is acting. Thank you, Thirteen."

Thirteen beamed at the expression of gratitude. He received it so rarely from his uncle, and he craved it.

"However, this will not get you out of today's lesson. Now come along." Uncle England said. Thirteen's smile dropped some, but he nodded and followed England outside.

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After another humiliating lesson from England, Thirteen Colonies found himself in Britain's library, full of books and treasures Britain had discovered in his various colonies. Typically, Thirteen came here to read a book and hide away from everyone when things became too much.

But he wasn't here to hide away this time. Instead, he was here to do the same thing he had done for the past few months: teach British East Florida English.

Languages were the one thing Thirteen felt he was good at. He always seemed to understand the vast majority of languages he encountered. Thirteen and his father had never been able to figure out why, but nonetheless, his father used it to his full potential and had Thirteen teach any new colonies English.

Thirteen liked it. He felt valuable and talented, and his father always looked so proud when the new colonies began dropping their old tongues for a proper language. His skill had even gotten his father to tell Thirteen he was proud of him!

"Remember, Flori, you don't need to add the 'the' in front of words in sentences." Thirteen reminded his student. British East Florida tensed at that before relaxing some.

"Yo sé, pero...I don't..." British East Florida waved his hand, a non-verbal sign Thirteen had come to understand as British East Florida conveying that he had things he wanted to express but didn't know how–either in English or in Spanish.

"You're fine. Take your time." Thirteen said gently. British East Florida nodded before he began flapping his hands around, something that had always helped him think.

"Good afternoon, Thirteen, East Florida," Thirteen suddenly heard from behind him. Thirteen quickly poked British East Florida twice, a code they had developed that meant British East Florida needed to act normal before he got in trouble. British East Florida quickly stilled and returned his gaze to the book.

"Good afternoon, Father. What did you do in Parliament today?" Thirteen asked him, curious about the new act his father had told him about and hoping to keep his father's mind off of British East Florida. Father smiled.

'Probably politics.'

"We officially organized Quebec, British East and West Florida, and Grenada. We decreed that all settlers are banned from settling past the Appalachian Mountains, in the land we acquired from the French." Father said, nodding to British East Florida when he said the shy colony's name.

'Banning settlers? But what about the ones that already live out there?'

'I'm sure we just don't understand the full contents. Perhaps it'll make more sense if we hear the entire bill.'

"Thank you, Great Britain, for organizing me." British East Florida said, his accent still strong but his English confident, which seemed to make Thirteen's father happy.

But Thirteen wasn't focused on that news. Thirteen was focused on the news about the mountains. Was this the new act to protect Thirteen's people that his father had talked about? How was this supposed to protect them?

"Is this the act you were talking about to protect my people? If so, I'm afraid I don't understand how it will protect them. What about the colonists who need materials or need to go past the mountains for their jobs? What about the colonists who already live there?" Thirteen questioned, careful to keep his tone neutral and ensure he did not anger his father.

"This act should help decrease violence from the Indians and the French that live in the area so that I can avoid another costly war. This will also encourage people to move north and south into Quebec and both Florida's lands. They need your people to help strengthen them. You don't want them to be weak and sick, right?" Father asked.

'But what about the people that live there?'

'Or the land that is already settled past this line?'

'And Quebec and British East Florida aren't even sick!'

"What about people who have moved past the line, though? I also know people who have claimed land past the mountains, probably passed your line. What about them? And you gave that land to my people, and now you're just taking it away?" Thirteen questioned again, knowing he was pushing things.

But these were his people, and Thirteen wanted to know if this would affect them negatively, especially those who had already taken advantage of what his Father and Parliament were banning.

"They will be moved to existing settings east of the line. And I may be taking away some land, but it's for the better. It's to help prevent a war, which is much better for the Thirteen Colonies than more land. This will hopefully help prevent more conflicts like those in the Great Lakes region. It may seem absurd, but I am doing this for the greater good, and it will turn out better in the end. Now I suggest you return to what you were doing and stop asking these stupid questions." The Empire said.

Thirteen bowed his head and nodded, hands shaking slightly as he realized he had gotten away with those questions without being hit.

'You got lucky. I think he's in a good mood.'

"I understand, Father. I'm just not sure if my people will. They won't like this, but if it does benefit them, they'll like it. My people are smart, and they respect you." Thirteen told his father, throwing in the compliments in the hopes of soothing any irritation.

'Most won't like it.'

"I'm sure you can make them understand, right British East Florida?" British East Florida nodded, and Thirteen's father smiled.

'We probably won't. The people affect us, not the other way around.'

"I suppose so. Thank you for the protection, Father." Thirteen said as he watched his father leave before relaxing, not noticing how tense he had become.

Thirteen knew that most of my people wouldn't like the proclamation. He knew they wouldn't follow it, but he wouldn't tell his Father. He didn't want to get his people in trouble for refusing to follow a law that even he found a bit ridiculous. Thirteen knew this law was to prevent conflict, but he felt there could be better ways of doing it.

But it's just an act, and he was sure this would blow over. They would deal with this, and things would work out in the end, just like always.