As you all probably already know, today, July 1st, is Canada Day, which also makes it his birthday. So, in honor of Matthew Williams, the ever amazing Canada, I present to you all this birthday fic!

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Hetalia, hence, fanfiction

Forgive and Forget

"You…you remembered?" To say that Canada was surprised that England was holding a present out at him was an understatement, and his look of surprise caused one of confusion to appear on Arthur's face.

"Of course I remember, Matthew, I am the one who raised you." The look of surprise was quickly replaced with a smile, although internally Arthur was chastising himself for not paying Matthew enough attention.

Matthew laughed a little, although it failed at covering up his discomfort as he spoke again. "Yeah, but Alfred took up a lot more of your attention, so I figured-"

The Canadian cut himself off short when he noticed the homicidal expression on his former guardian's face. What had he said wrong…

Oh. He mentioned America. It was almost sad that even over 200 years later, England couldn't stand anything to do with America in the two weeks leading up to the nation's birthday.

"I-I take it back, eh. Just-" Just don't kill me, Matt wanted to say, but he refrained in an effort to not get England mad at him.

The older nation sighed. "No, no, it's fine. I apologize." Matthew couldn't help but noticed Arthur didn't specify what he was apologizing for, but he didn't want to press the subject.

"So, aren't you going to open your present?"

"Oh, yeah. Thank you."

England smiled. "You haven't even opened it yet. Thank me after you see it."

Canada recognized that smile as England's 'I'm proud of myself for making something by hand' smile, and immediately feared for his stomach.

Swallowing the nervous lump in his stomach, Canada slowly opened the box to find that it was, in fact, not a censored, inedible "food item", but a sweater.

A handmade sweater, Matthew quickly figured, although it didn't look handmade. It was a sweater version of the current Canadian flag, and, as such, fairly simple in design. The sleeves were red, the body white, and a red maple leaf had been sewn into the center.

A smile quickly spread over Canada's face, as his eyes lit up. "Thank you so much, eh, this is amazing!"

Arthur found himself turning a bit pink at the compliment, but smiled nonetheless.

"I'm glad you like it. Only the best for you, Matt."

"M-me?" It sounded almost incredulous, and England once again felt a pang of guilt.

"Of course you, who else?" Canada bit his tongue a little, but it was obvious what he was thinking; the name 'America' hung between them, it's presence in the air as noticeable as Alfred's own.

England looked away a bit, seemingly embarrassed, before speaking. "I'm… sorry, I haven't been the best father to you, Matt," Sorry I kept mixing you up with your brother, or forgetting your existence at times. "And I'm sorry that I've done things that made you upset," I had no idea invading Egypt would make the tension between us so thick, or was it there all along? "But I hope that you can forgive me."

England still had his gaze focused on the floor, and so he missed the smile that worked it's way onto Canada's face.

"Of course I can. I already have."

England looked up, his facial expression betraying his shock, and Canada simply laughed.

"Now, come on, I bet you've never seen a real Canadian birthday celebration before, eh?"

The end

A/N: I know the plot is overdone, but I hope you all enjoyed it nonetheless. Happy Canada Day to all you Canadians out there!

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