A/N: So this was like written a while ago so I thought that I should published it because why the heck not! Every single one of the chapters consist of about 600-700 words, not really long but short enough for a quick read.

Disclaimer: Hetalia and the characters all belong to Hidekazu Himaruya

Enjoy everyone!

Dutch braids—Netherlands

Softening calloused fingers ran through the still brightly fair hair, watching it gracefully fall in between Madeline's fingers. The small girl in front of Madeline giggled as she fiddled around with the tulip flower in her hand. Her foremost favourite flower, her mother had said that these her nation's national flower. Her mother had been eagerly raising a lot of these flowers in their temporary home in Canada.

Though she's never seen what her country looks like, Madeline had claimed that it was one of the most beautiful countries she's ever seen and Margaret, couldn't wait to see it in person.

The young princess shifted in her seat impatiently as Madeline hummed in that French song that Margaret wasn't truly familiar with. Madeline gave a pat on her head to indicate that she was done with braiding her hair.

Margaret tugged at the braid that ran down her head into one braid, it was tight but not enough that it hurt. She ran her fingers through the small bumps—it reminded her of the train that she rode with Madeline recently.

"Where did you learn how to braid like this?" questions Margaret.

Fingers gently tried their best to smoothen the small strands of hair trying to come out of the braid. She gave a small tug before answering the Dutch princess, "A dear friend of mine used to do the same braid on me when I was a child. He taught me how to do a Dutch braid, and guess what?"

The young princess glances around the manor, fair eyes widening in eagerness to listen to the forbidden secret that Madeline was about to tell. She leans in even closer if possible, looking giddy as Madeline lowly whispered as if someone would hear them. She continued in a low tone, "The man who taught me how to do a Dutch braid is a citizen of yours."

The young princess squealed happily, within a couple of minutes, the energetic princess stood up abruptly. The young girl got up, sprinting pass Madeline back to the manor at the top of her lungs, yelling, "Looks beautiful! I'm going to show mama!"

Madeline whisper-yelled after the young princess, telling her to be careful.

Madeline touched the same braid that she had done just this morning. A fond smile on her face, highlighted by the purple reddish sun setting behind the night sky, she paced herself a little faster back to the manor. It wasn't safe to stay outside for so long.

"Mon ami, this is mon cher Madeline," Francis bend down, showing off his new small colony to a very tall man with spiky hair, though half of his face was covered by his scarf, Madeline had the feeling that he was scowling underneath. Her initial impression of him was that he was a very scary person to be around.

Netherland's stern face never changed, but nonetheless, France, who very much like many other colonizers had been too busy to deal with a youthful barren land like Canada (which Madeline herself hadn't known of).

More often than not, Madeline found herself in the companionship of the Dutch man, contrary to his looks, he treated her fondly and habitually braided her hair whenever Francis had been too occupied by his work to even pay a single attention to his colony.

Madeline had been sitting by the fireplace in her Papa's home in Paris while Lars, she learned his name was, sat behind, gently combining through her messy golden locks. Followed by endless amounts of tugging and pulling. It had taken a while before the older man finished, but patience came with a reward—he looked satisfied at the production.

Lars pulled out a piece of glass, showing young Madeline the Dutch braid that cascaded down her back.

Madeline was pleased with the result and ran towards her Papa's office with Lars in tow to show her new hairstyle. She even went as far as to ask her papa to be her new model so she could try to learn the Dutch braid in person with Lars guiding her from behind.

"Just wait for me Lars," She clenched the braid in her hand, a fierce look on her face. "I will come save you."

Notes:

I did insert some historical information there, although the timeline isn't accurate—for instance, the Princess had gone back to Netherlands when the war ended, and she was around the age of a toddler.

Basically, I altered the timeline a little bit, you don't need to inform me because I already know.