It's twenty years after the devastating end of the third world war, when many countries were destroyed. The surviving nations are surprised to discover those that were lost, reborn as humans.

For the sake of this story, let's assume that the nations have never had additional human names before.

Disclaimer: Hetalia's not mine.

It was Friday night, and that meant one thing: movie night for a pair of best friends and college roommates. They had met their freshman year of high school, drawn together by curiosity as well as their shared heritage: both were native-born Canadians, yes, but both were the sons of parents from countries that no longer existed, who had fled during the war. Even their parents had become friends, sharing terrifying stories of watching their homelands die...

It was amazing how many others like themselves they had met since starting college.

"I don't know why I always let you choose the movie," the petite Asian man sighed.

"Because I pick good ones, Kiku!"

"You pick movies that scare you, Alfred-kun." Kiku had grown up bilingual, his parents refusing to let their Japanese culture die along with their country. His best friend found the honorifics adorable, so he continued to use them.

"I am so not scared!" Alfred hit play, and picked up a bag of chips. His own family had not had as far to flee, nor as much of a culture shock, originating from the USA. He had read about the States. It sounded pretty awesome.

"You are."

"Nuh uh!" The tall young man tugged hard on the bag, managing to get it open as well as send chips flying. "Oops."

Kiku picked a chip out of his hair. "So what if I told you I was staying the night elsewhere?"

"Uh..." Alfred froze. "You're not, are you?"

"No. But the thought scared you."

"Shut up!" He crammed some chips into his mouth and focused on the movie that was starting. As the night wore on, Kiku couldn't help but notice his friend scoot ever closer. It was how their movie nights always worked out. It baffled him that Alfred only liked to choose movies that creeped him out, but he had long since grown used to it.

"S-so. Whatcha doing tomorrow?" Alfred asked, peeking at the movie through his fingers.

"Going home for the weekend."

"Oh, that's right."

"And you?"

"I have a date." He gave Kiku a winning smile, lowering his hands. "A lunch date."

"Ahh. With whom?"

"Beats me. It's a blind date. Antonio's setting me up with someone."

"Guy or girl?"

"Girl this time." Alfred tended to prefer boys, but he wasn't all that picky, really.

"Maybe it's that new girl I've seen him hanging out with. Have you seen her? She has huge..." Kiku gestured toward his chest, cheeks tinged with pink.

"Cans?" his friend supplied, nudging him. "No, it's not Katyusha. I don't know who—oh my God, did you see that?" He hid his face behind his hands again.

Kiku gave Alfred an encouraging pat on the back. It was going to be another long night.

The date was not meant to be. Alfred had sat eagerly at one of the diner's outdoor tables, drumming his fingers on it as he waited, sipping at the glass of water and enjoying the beat of the summer sun on his shoulders and head. Time passed and he started to slump in his chair, rolling a salt shaker around. He kept shooing his waiter away with a "No no, she's coming," that grew less confident each time.

He was resting his head on the table by the time Antonio's call arrived to let him know his date couldn't make it. No shit, Antonio. Despite the disappointment, he was still hungry. Alfred summoned over the smirking waiter to let him know he had changed his mind, he would be eating now, could he bring over a nice big burger, medium-ish please, there's a good fellow.

He finished the burger (that didn't take long at all) and was working on his fries when a newcomer to the diner caught his eye. It was a young man Alfred could swear looked familiar. He didn't seem to notice he was being stared at as he weaved through the busy maze of tables seeking a place to sit. Once he did, his back was to Alfred, but that was okay. He had already figured out why he looked so familiar. Well, seeing as how he had nothing else to do and nobody else to talk to, Alfred rose and wandered that way.

"Hey, man," he said, and the stranger jumped. "Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."

The other fellow muttered something to himself. It sounded like "That voice..."

"Here, turn around. I thought you looked..." He scooted the young man's chair around until they were face to face. "Yeah! You look just like me!" He grinned in delight. "How cool is that? Are you my long-lost twin? Were you adopted? 'Cause I'm pretty sure my parents are my real parents, and...Um. Are you okay?"

His double was apparently even more shocked than he was! His mouth dropped, his eyes were wide as saucers, and his light skin seemed to grow even paler.

"Pretty shocking, huh?" Alfred agreed. "Mom never said anything about that. And like I was saying, I'm pretty sure they're my real parents, 'cause they resemble me, you know? And there's pictures from when I was born. Well, not as I was being born, that'd be gross. But afterward, when she's holding me and stuff. But that sort of thing probably happened. It was right after the war, and they were refugees, and probably couldn't afford two babies...You don't look okay. Do you need some water?" His doppelganger was just staring at him. "You look like you've seen a ghost! I know this is shocking, but...You're not going to pass out on me, are you? Is the heat bothering you? Don't die or anything. I think I remember CPR." He smiled, leaning closer. "It'll be okay. I'm totally a hero."

And with that, his possible-long-lost-twin's eyes grew even wider, then he toppled out of his chair in a dead faint.

Just a short prologue-ish chapter for now. :)