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Time period: 2011 (in case that wasn't clear?)

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The King and I

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"America!"

Halfway down the hall, hands in his pockets, America stopped and turned around. The latest World Conference had just let out, and as other nations filtered past, he caught sight of a light brown head of hair making its way toward him. "Hungary," he said, a little surprised. They didn't often talk, one-on-one, but he flashed her a smile all the same. "Hey. What's up?"

"I have something to give you," she said, coming up beside him.

America blinked. "Give me?" he parroted. "What?"

"This." And suddenly, she grabbed his collar and yanked his mouth down to hers. America let out a noise of muffled surprise (nothing even close to a squeak, he emphatically insisted), and barely had time to register the feel of her lips on his before she broke away with a resounding, wet smack. Hungary grinned and straightened his tie. America stared at her, mouth open and still burning from her kiss.

"Um," he said. He blinked at her. Then furrowed his eyebrows at her. Looked around for England or Prussia or, hell, even Canada, wondering if they'd put her up to this as some sort of dare or bet. None of them were to be seen in the now-empty corridor. He looked back down at her, brain still broken. Hungary smiled cheerfully up at him. "Um," he began again, "I mean… What was that for? I mean, not that I'm complaining! But, um…why?" He scratched the back of his neck and felt even more confused than when he had started.

Hungary laughed like horses and sleigh bells, and clasped her hands in front of her skirt. Capricious and take-charge one moment, and demure and lady-like the next. "Well, to tell the truth," she confessed, "that was meant for your Elvis Presley. But since he isn't around anymore, I figured you were the next best option."

America blinked dumbly. "Huh?"

Hungary laughed again and pulled out her smart phone. "Here," she said, and proceeded to type something in. A moment later, she turned the phone around so he could see. On the screen was a black and white video, and Ed Sullivan was saying, "…as you probably know, after he leaves here tonight, with Colonel Tom Parker, who's done such a magnificent job as his manager, Elvis Presley is out to Hollywood to do his new Paramount picture…"

"Oh!" America exclaimed, glad that something finally made sense. "Oh, I remember this! 1957! It was his last appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show! Man, Ed was great, wasn't he?"

Hungary grinned at his exuberance and simply nodded in agreement. The video of Sullivan was still playing.

"…But because he feels so keenly, this young man feels so keenly about Hungarian relief, he urges all of us throughout the country to remember that immediate aid is needed, so long before his benefit show is put on, he wants to remind you to send in your checks to your various churches, Red Cross, et cetera. And now he's gonna sing a song…uh…he feels that this is sort of in the mood that he'd like to create: 'Peace In the Valley.' "

Hungary stopped the video just as the opening guitar—and the audience's screaming—kicked in, and turned a soft, enigmatic smile on America. "I didn't get a chance to see it when it originally aired, because of, well…" She trailed off, because the answer was obvious. "But," she went on, giving her phone a little demonstrative shake, "internet age and all that." She tucked the device back in her purse and smoothed her skirt before looking back up at him. She shrugged a little apologetically, as if she was suddenly at a loss for words. "I guess I just wanted to say thanks. As long ago as it was, it still means a lot to me, and I'm still very grateful."

America blushed at the sentiment—and at the woman in front of him. Despite his best efforts, his mind kept going back to the kiss she'd planted on him. "W-well, if you ever want to express your gratitude again… I mean…you know…feel free to?"

Hungary laughed again and curled her hand around his arm, steering him towards the exit. "You know, we never do talk much, you and I. I understand that, back before planes, you used to ride with the cavalry?"

"Yeah!" he said, bolstered by her interest. "All the time! I haven't done it in years, though."

She shot him a mischievous, almost challenging smirk as they ambled down the hall. "Well, we'll have to change that, won't we?"

America grinned back, and suddenly couldn't wait to dig his old spurs out of the basement. A little less conversation and a little more action, indeed.

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A/N: Been going over some old plot bunnies, and it occurred to me that, you know, not everything has to be a full-fledged one-shot. Ficlets are okay, too! Especially if they get some of those plot bunnies out in the open, instead of leaving them to rot on my hard drive, like this one.

So yeah, I've had this idea since, well, probably 2011. I first heard about it on NPR, actually, and filed it away for later research. But yeah, basically, after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was put down, Elvis (who generally kept his music and his politics separate) was ALL ABOUT Hungarian relief. In his third and final appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, in January of 1957, he asked that Sullivan urge viewers to make donations, and then, instead of singing one of the crazy rock'n'roll numbers he was known for, sang the previously-mentioned gospel song, "Peace In the Valley." This resulted in 26 million Swiss Francs (6 million US dollars) being raised, which, adjusted for inflation, would equal about 44 million US dollars today. Hungary obviously didn't know about this at the time (Soviet Russia was not a big Ed Sullivan fan, to say the least), but what with the dawning of the internet and video-sharing sites like youtube, it has since come to light. So on March 1st, 2011, Elvis Presley was posthumously made an honorary citizen of Budapest, and a public square was named after him. (FFN doesn't like links, but if you do a youtube search for "Elvis Presley Hungarian Revolution," you'll be able to find a couple videos about it, including his performance of "Peace In the Valley.")

In other news, yay! I finally wrote an AmericaxHungary fic of sorts! :D