Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia or HetaOni.

By popular demand, I present the epilogue. It is written in 3rd person limited, meaning its from the point of view of an invisible person that doesn't know what is going on inside the minds of the nations themselves. Again, thank you for reading this story all the way to the end and I hope to see you all again soon!

2 months later…

It was very early in the morning. The sun was just peeking over the horizon. Japan could see it from the window above his head, even as he scribbled the last of what he was writing on one of the many papers in front of him. "Finally, it is all finished." He sighed in relief and organized the papers on his desk before finally getting up and stretching, his vertebrae crackling.

No one has had it easy since the escape. While the nations were stuck in the mansion for 4 days, time was righting itself from all of the loops. When they got home, they found that 2 weeks had passed. Paperwork was piled up, nations fell into slight setbacks (some into major ones), bosses threw fits at the poor nations for disappearing so abruptly. Not to mention how sick most of them got when the weight of their nations came down on them so abruptly. Others had to set time aside to take care of the sick.

However, for the first time in 2 months, they all were caught up, healthy, and had a free day. Japan was the last of them. When they heard from their bosses to take a day off, there was only one way they all could agree to spend it. Japan smiled as he walked out of the room, remembering the preparations and planning, phone calls and abrupt visits from Italy or Russia (poor China, his door never had a chance), and all the chaos in between before they could finally get to where they are now.

Japan walked down the hall from his study to the last door there. He opened the door to a partially darkened room and could just barely see the shapes of 4 queen-sized beds, all full. No one seemed to respond to the sudden open door, so he backed out of the room and headed downstairs. He almost ran into a tall blonde man on the way, though.

"Oh, hey Japan! Finally done?" America grinned. Japan put a finger to his lips to signal silence and half whispered his answer.

"Yes. I'm headed down to start with breakfast."

"China got a head start already."

"Heh, of course. Wouldn't expect anything less." Japan chuckled.

"Should I wake the others?"

"Er, yes, but do so gently." Japan advised. "Some of them didn't get here until very late, so they'll still be tired." America nodded.

"You can count on me." He saluted before walking around Japan to get upstairs. Japan went down and headed to the kitchen, already sensing the smell of food and hearing China muttering to himself as he got closer. He rolled up his sleeves and went in to put himself to work. Meanwhile, upstairs, America was standing outside of the guest room door. Tentatively, he opened the door and stepped in. It was dark aside from some faint light through the blinds of the only huge window in the room. Like Japan, he saw just faint shapes of the beds.

He stepped lightly as he crossed the room to the window, not letting anyone wake up juust yet. On one of the end tables, he spotted an empty plate with a spoon. "Perfect" He thought as he grabbed it carefully. He went to the window and, with one flick of the wrist, pulled the cord to open the blinds. The morning sun burst in. America then grabbed the spoon in his free hand and began banging on the plate. "RISE AND SHINE, LADIES! TIME FOR BREAKFAST! I WON'T ACCEPT ANY OBJECTIONS! C'MON, SLEEPYHEADS, GET UP! UP! UP!"

"BLOODY HELL WILL YOU SHUT UP!" A shorter blonde man sleeping alone in his bed screamed at him.

"Veh!" A yelp sounded as a light brown haired man fell off the bed in surprise. His buff bedmate sat up straight as an arrow before glaring at America.

"America, that was not necessary."

"Sure it was, Ludwig! Japan told me to wake you guys."

"You didn't have to be so loud, though." His brother chided from the closest bed to him, rubbing an eye. His albino bedmate was groping for his watch.

"And so early! Mein gott, it's 4:30 in the damn morning!" He grabbed a pillow and threw it over his head. America shrugged nonchalantly.

"Take it up with Japan, not me. Now move it! We're burning daylight and the others will be arriving soon!" He strolled out of the room, passing two glaring Italy brothers and an exasperated Germany.

"I suppose it can't be helped. Alright, everyone up! Let's shower and get breakfast!" Germany announced, getting up from the bed and dragging Veneziano off of it with him.

"Nooo, I wanna sleep some moooore!" He whined. Meanwhile, his brother yawned and nudged his bed partner.

"Spain, get up."

"Mnurg." He grumbled and pretended not to notice. Romano kept nudging him until Spain lazily smacked at Romano's hand.

"Come on, you bastard! I'm hungry and wanna shower."

"Muhhh, just go on, I'll catch up." Spain yawned and buried his face in his pillow. Romano scowled and sighed. He'd have to fight dirty, it seems. He leaned in near Spain's ear and murmured in a sing-song tone.

"If you get uup, I'll let you shower with mee~" He leaned away and waited. He counted to 10 before Spain bent his elbows and rose up, looking annoyed and a bit impressed with the Italian's tactic.

"You don't fight fair, Lovi." He mumbled. The Italian scoffed and slid out of bed to head to the bathroom, not even looking at Spain and yet knowing he was right behind him. Meanwhile, Canada was trying to kick Prussia out of bed as well and had to promise him stacks of pancakes to do so. England was the last to leave; he had tried to fall back asleep but America scared the sleep out of him and made him hungry with the mention of food.

Within half an hour, everyone who was already in the house was down in the kitchen and either helping with breakfast or kneeling on the floor at the table to wait for it. Canada made pancakes, as promised; Spain made churros and coffee; Germany made sausages; China and Japan made eggs over rice and some fish. The others sat at the table and chatted idly.

"Japan, are you sure you don't want me to help? You're probably tired from all that work." England frowned in worry. Japan was quick to shake his head.

"I'm all right! This is no problem for me at all, so don't worry about me."

"Okay… if you say so…"

"Loviii, do you want to be my special helper?"

"What am I, 5?" Romano eyed Spain weirdly when he suddenly turned his grin away from the Spanish pastries he was making and toward his lover.

"I'm just wondering if you want to help. We haven't made churros together in a long time, yah know?"

"I dunnooo. This morning, I could've sworn I heard you two in the process of filling a tube with white stuff." Prussia snidely murmured, making Veneziano almost choke on his coffee. Romano turned red, but otherwise ignored him and got up to help with the cooking. Just as everyone was about done and putting food on the table, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it~!" Veneziano jumped up and ran to answer the door. He came back moments later with France and Russia.

"доброе утро" Russia waved.

"Bonjour, mon amis." France greeted. "We were afraid we were too early."

"No, you're right on time. We're just about to eat." China announced. France licked his lips and went to find a seat. He sat between Gilbert and England. Russia took the remaining seat next to China's empty seat. The food was in place and everyone dug in right away. Conversation and laughter filled the air as everyone indulged in sweet breakfast pastries, coffee, pancakes, and even some scones (made by Japan). The hottest topic around the table seemed to be a game Japan was planning to develop.

"I plan to make it similarly to our recent adventure, but it would be more open with a medieval style to it." Japan explained.

"Oh, if you need any help with references to that period in time, you can always ask us."

"Yeah, no one knows more about the Dark Ages than these old farts." America dodged the scone England threw at him, but everyone at the table still shared a good laugh.

"No, no, that won't be necessary." Japan chuckled. "I have everything planned, including all of your characters and the monsters. I just need to make it in the RPG format."

"RP—?"

"Role-Playing Game."

"Will I have to die over and over again?" Italy pouted, but his voice was playful.

"You'll have multiple lives." Japan went on to explain his ideas for the game, but had to stop, claiming some things still had to be kept secret. Normal conversation continued until the food was devoured.

"Now that we're done eating, let's head to the amusement park!" Prussia exclaimed. "We gotta get there before it gets packed!"

"Yeah! Everyone got their swim stuff?" America asked.

"I don't feel like swimming while there, so no." England, China, Russia, Canada, and Japan shook their heads.

"Our stuff was still upstairs, I think." Italy recalled.

"I'll get them." Germany stood and headed upstairs.

"Get mine too, West!"

"Don't forget mine, Rotten Potato!"

"Fratello, you promised to be nice!"

"I AM being nice." Veneziano pouted at his brother, but didn't argue further. The table was cleared and dishes washed before all of the nations rushed like bats out of hell to get to their cars, clocks already reading that it was 6am. Japan gave them all the address to the amusement park they were going to: Summer Land in Hachioji, Tokyo prefecture. Those who had GPS punched it in. Those who didn't would follow them or ride with them.

Within 2 hours, they arrived at the park one by one. When they were all together, they bought tickets (letting Japan do the talking, although England and America tried in broken Japanese) and went their separate ways once they were inside. The people who were swimming went to the bathrooms to change and went to check a map. "Okay, we are right here, so the indoor area should be a little ways west of here. To the northeast are the roller coasters where America's group went. We are to meet in 4-5 hours at the front desk south of us. Directly north of us is—"

"Just give me that!" Romano snatched the map from Germany. "I swear to God, listening to you give directions… indoor wave pool is that way, slides and some leap frog shit are over there, normal pool is there, front desk is behind us." He thrust the map back into Germany's hand, turned, and walked toward where he said the normal pool was. Everyone watched him go for a long moment.

"Veh, Luddy! Let's go to the wave pool!" Veneziano chirped, tugging at Germany's arm. Ruefully, the man let himself get pulled away. Only Prussia, Spain, and France were left alone.

"Hey, how 'bout we go check out the slides before joining Lovi at the pool?" Spain suggested.

"Japan told me that those slides were terriblement rapide." France told his friends darkly. They exchanged looks before running at full speed toward the tall water slides.

X-X-X

"Here's our first stop!" America grinned up at the huge roller coaster casting a gigantic shadow over the group. They were standing right at the back of the considerably fair line leading up to the ride.

"Wow. Japan, you weren't kidding. This ride is huge!"

"Yes. It is known to be one of the biggest in my country."

"The one in Vegas is bigger."

"This isn't a contest, America." Japan huffed before he could stop himself. He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, no probs, Kiku." America smiled nervously, holding up his hands in defeat. Even if the Asian man was small, he can be scary when he's angry.

"Um… does this have to be our first ride?" Russia asked suddenly. He sounded strangely timid.

"Of course! What better way to loosen up than to go on the biggest ride we can find?" America laughed. Everyone else ignored them, but Canada eyed the Russian in concern. This was the first time that the timid blonde saw nervousness on the bigger man's face. It was quite possibly more scary than his most intimidating smile.

"Cool, the line is moving fast!" America practically squealed. He loved roller coasters almost as much as fast food. Just his luck, the person just in front of him boarded the roller coaster and it started up. "We'll be able to sit together, too!"

"Try to contain your excitement, America. The ride only lasts 2 minutes."

"Hey, a 'coaster is a 'coaster, Iggy. So shut up."

"Now, now—" Japan soothed the now enraged Brit. He looked to China for help, but he was too busy texting. Russia was still eyeing the roller coaster warily and Canada was chiding his brother for being so rude (although his voice was too soft to be heard). During all the commotion, the roller coaster came back and was ready for boarding. America jumped into the first seat and Canada slid in next to him. Behind them sat England and Japan. China slid in behind them and looked to see Russia standing back.

"Ivan, come sit before it gets taken." China waved him over. Russia shook his head.

"I, um, I'll catch the next one. You go ahead."

"Russia, what's the matter with you?" The other nations eyed him strangely. Russia looked away, making an annoyed face but also blushing really hard.

"Nothing! Just go on without me." He ordered. Concerned, Canada got out of his seat and went over to the Russian. China joined him.

"Russia… are you afraid to ride the roller coaster?" Canada timidly asked.

"Aha, Canada, you're so silly. Like a powerful nation like I could ever be afraid." Russia scoffed, still not meeting their eyes.

"Ivan." China put his hands on Russia's shoulders. "It's alright to be afraid, you know. Everyone gets scared sometimes. It just means you're normal."

"N—normal?"

"Yeah, man." America's voice came from behind them. Canada turned to see his brother frowning at the huge Russian who used to be his worst enemy some years ago. "I'm scared of spiders and I'm not ashamed of it."

"Spiders?"

"Yeah, he makes me kill them for him." Canada rolled his eyes. Russia actually cracked a little smile.

"…Okay, I guess I'm a little afraid."

"No worries, we'll be with you every step of the way. It's not as bad as it looks." Canada reassured.

"First time is always the scariest, dude." America assured. Russia looked at each face, then behind them at England and Japan, then nodded. China grabbed his hand and they all went on the roller coaster just in time for it to start up. There were very little twists and turns, but it was very quick and abrupt. In two minutes, they were back on the ground. The entire ride, Russia screamed and clung to China. Despite the lack of air flowing to his lungs, he didn't mind it. It was all worth it anyway, because the minute Russia's feet touched the ground, he demanded that they go again.

X-X-X

"Veh, Luddy, it's gonna start again! It's gonna start again!" Veneziano bounced in the water excitedly before giving his German boyfriend a hug. Germany sighed and patted Veneziano's back. He had to sit through two artificial waves from the indoor pool already. The majority of the population in the pool were kids with parents. They were a lot less loud and cheerful than Veneziano was. Although, to be fair, no one can break through a sound barrier like the Italy Brothers.

Like Italy said, the waves were slowly forming from the deeper end of the pool. Some of the people in front were already bouncing. That was Veneziano's favorite part about the pool—bouncing. Lots of people gave the couple weird looks because it's not every day that you see a grown man squealing like a child to being pushed through the waves. 'Flying in water', as the Italian put it. Germany just watched, letting the waves hit him. More than once, he was asked to join in, but he declined. He claimed it was a problem with his ankle, but Vene knew better and accepted that Germany just isn't a silly type of person.

Thinking of this made Germany feel guilty. His boyfriend had been through so much—first the mansion incident, then he became the first to get a terrible cold—so of course he is trying to raise his spirits and everyone else's. Yet, his own Luddy won't play along and chooses to remain stoic. Germany watched the waves, thinking. There had to be something he could do to make up for it. As he looked ahead, he saw a father bouncing his son in the water.

When he saw the biggest wave appear and heard Veneziano squeal that it was coming, the idea came to him right away. He smiled to himself and inconspicuously moved to stand behind the Italian. He didn't noticed, posed for jumping on the final wave. When it was just feet away, Germany put his hands on Italy's hips. "Ooo!" The Italian yelped in shock. "Luddy, show some decency! There are people around!" Oh the irony.

"Just wait, Feli." Germany murmured. Just as the wave came close, measuring up to their chests, Germany lifted Italy up and jumped. The wave crashed and sent them both floating back so far, they ended up on the shallow end. Germany hurt his butt landing on the pavement, but his heart soared at the melodious sound of Veneziano's laugh.

"Luddy, we flew so far back! A-and we did it together! That was so much fun, wasn't it?" Veneziano rolled so he was looking down at Germany, his whole being lit up.

"Yes, Italy, that was… nice." Germany smiled up at his boyfriend. Feli's eyes softened and he leaned in for a kiss. Just as their lips touched, another wave crashed into them and sent them afloat. Germany cleared his throat and helped them stand. "Come on, let's go back outside and see the rest of the water park."

"Veh, yeah!" Vene cheered and started chattering about the rapids he saw on the map as they left the indoor pool area.

Meanwhile, as the couple left the indoor pool, the three friends laughing uproariously left the slide area to go to the main pool. "Brr, it's freezing outside of the water." France shivered.

"Yeah, let's go back in. Anton, let's do a group cannonball!" Prussia nudged his friend.

"You two go ahead, I'll be right in." Spain was looking toward the lounge chairs, specifically at a person he recognized right away to be his former henchman laying back on one of them. His friends hummed in understanding and made their way to the pool while Spain went toward the chairs. He stopped right in front of him and stood there smiling. "Hola, Lovi~"

"Hm?" Romano's eyes were closed, which was hard to tell due to the sunglasses. He opened one and recognized the Spanish dork blocking the sunlight. "Hey Spain." Spain lit up at the acknowledgement and right away tried to come closer to give Romano a kiss. He only took two steps before the Italian held out a hand to stop him. "Ah—ah—ah—two steps back, bastard."

Spain frowned in confusion, but did as he was told. Romano lowered his hand and said nothing more. "It's kinda hard to kiss you when you're all the way over there."

"Kiss me when you're dry. I don't want to get all wet."

"But… don't you want to go into the pool at least once?"

"No. I didn't come here to swim; I came here to tan. Now, either sit or go back into the pool." Romano closed his eyes, effectively ending the conversation. Spain pouted and looked toward the pool. There were only a few people around on this side, since this is the deeper end. It would be the perfect place to just relax and talk while swimming. France and Prussia were already getting in the pool off of the diving boards, which actually gave him a great idea.

Careful not to make a sound, he crept to his boyfriend's side and knelt down. He then leaned in and started nudging and nuzzling at his neck and just under his ear. "Mnn, S-Spain, dammit. You're still wet; get off." Romano groaned, but made no attempt to stop him. Spain smiled and carefully slid his hands under Roma and stood up slowly while scooping the Italian up in his arms. His eyes shot open and he looked up at the Spaniard in confusion. He winked mysteriously before strengthening his hold and jogging toward the pool. "Spain? Spain. What are you—S-Spain!" He sped up slightly and bent his knees to jump right at the edge of the pool. "Wh—?!"

"CANNONBAAAAALL!"

"YAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Spain tucked in his knees and clung to his screaming lover as he jumped into the pool with a great big SPLASH. While Romano was still in shock, Spain opened his eyes to see him and put a hand on the back of his head to bring him close and kiss him. It took a minute, but Romano responded to it with the smallest hint of enthusiasm. With what little air they had left, they let it out as they kicked up to the surface, though the kiss only broke as their heads broke through the water.

They both leaned against the wall of the pool to catch their breath, coughing a little. "Y—you… are so… stupid."

"M—maybe, but at least I got my kiss." Spain smiled brightly. Romano rolled his eyes and tried his best not to smile more than the little twitch at the corner of his mouth. His hand went up to push his hair plastered to his face when he realized he was missing something.

"Aw hell, my sunglasses! That was my favorite pair!"

"Mmm." Spain hummed, pulling Romano closer to hold him. Romano tried to wedge him away.

"Dammit, you bastard, those glasses cost $190!"

"Why waste so much to cover your beautiful eyes?" He sighed. "When we go shopping, I'll buy you a new pair."

"You fucking better." Romano grumbled, not looking at him but accepting his hug and the kisses pressed to his cheek ruefully. At least, until Prussia and France made their way over and started teasing them.

X-X-X

Time passed by quickly and the clock soon chimed 3pm. The pool group dried off and changed while the roller coaster group walked all the way across the park to reach the front desk. When they were all together, they got to their cars and headed to their last stop: the mall. They first stopped by the Japanese market and got all the ingredients needed for dinner. Then, they went from shop to shop to look at clothes.

England picked out a nice suit for himself and a cute pair of pajamas with the Power Rangers on them for Sealand. Everyone picked out a yukata for themselves, all different colors but a few matching another person's. They got other clothes, most of which scrutinized by the 'fashion police' consisting of the Italies and France. By the end of the trip at 6pm, Italy convinced Germany and Prussia to get matching ties ("Veh, see, Gilbert? This one has little birds on it!"); Romano got Spain NOT to buy a rainbow wool beanie ("You look like a gay thug. Put it back."); and France almost got away with convincing England to get a white naughty angel cosplay ("You always go on and on about turning into an angel, though!").

When they returned to Japan's place, everyone got washed up to cook in the kitchen. Every single nation cooked their very best dishes using the finest and freshest ingredients (courtesy of Japan's garden). It was a long process, but by 8pm, the food was done and everyone sat at the table to eat. There were hamburgers, pasta, wurst, wine and beer, a platter of sushi and paella, tea and scones that were actually edible. The vast array of dishes from all over the earth mixed on everyone's plates and were devoured quickly and happily. In between, a conversation was always fitted in and many a lot of yelling and laughs echoed in the dining room.

Within half an hour, they were done and washing the dishes together. There was a bit of splashing that resulted in a water fight (England won that time), which also had to be mopped up. When everything was clean, Italy and Romano disappeared for a long moment and came back with huge grins on their faces. Italy went up to Japan and handed him a little box. "What is this?" Japan looked curiously at them.

"It's our gift to you! For putting this together, inviting us, and just being a wonderful ally." Veneziano answered brightly.

"Everyone pitched in a little, but it was our idea and don't you forget it." Romano smirked. Japan chuckled and opened the little box. Inside was a key to a car, but he didn't recognize it as one of his country's cars. Before he could ask, he felt Veneziano grab his wrist and drag him toward the door. The rest of the nations followed close behind, excitement in the air. They stopped right on the porch where, in plain view, was a car. It was sleek and black with black and white tires and a slight gold lining, similar colors to Japan's old uniform. It looked Italian in design, but there were also features that suggest German and Russian make. He even saw a bit from his country's car manufacturing.

"Russia and I got together to come up with this, but everyone helped make it." Italy explained to his speechless friend. "Now you won't have to use your boss's car anymore!"

"We also guessed you were tired of getting rides from Italy." Germany chuckled. Japan turned to look at them, smiling with a hint of tears in his eyes.

"Thank you. Thank you all so much. This… this is more than I deserve." He murmured. Veneziano reached out to hug his ally.

"Veh, you deserve it, for being such a good friend, for supporting everyone and saving everyone's lives."

"You are the real hero here, Honda." America winked.

"Yeah, who knows how much longer we would've been trapped in that place if it weren't for you?" Everyone said words of agreement. It became too much and Japan started crying into Italy's shoulder. It was then that everyone just fell silent and moved into a group hug. When Kiku finally calmed down, they all broke away and moved inside.

"So, now that that is done, we should go take a bath, change, and get our futons ready." Germany suggested. Everyone agreed and were on the move right away. Some went to the bath out back to relax a while longer, some just went to change into pajamas. Japan got out the huge blanket he got for the occasion and Canada and America helped carry the array of pillows to the bed room. America moved the beds out and Japan and Canada set up the blanket and pillows. Everyone shuffled in and settled against the pillows to get comfortable. Some brought the beer and wine left over to drink before bed. The clock struck 9:30 pm when Japan stood up before everyone and asked for silence. "I thank you all for coming here to spend this day with me. We have not been together like this since our time in the demon house and I am happy to be here on a happier note again."

"Hear, hear!"

"As you all know, by this time tomorrow, we will all have to go back to our homes. Work will continue on as usual, meetings will be held, and old habits will come back. However, despite all of that, there will be no part of us that will forget this. We are immortal, but thanks to our great adventure, we have learned to treasure each memory—for one day, it could be lost forever.

"We have planned this day to keep our spirits up for escape, and I truly believe that our escape hasn't been real until now. Now we are all together, connected like never before, and we won't have to look over our shoulders any longer. You all call me the hero, but in all honesty, I couldn't have done it without any of you.

"Yao, you have kept me calm the most throughout this catastrophe. Ivan, your power and strength saved me and everyone else, and even through the pain, you managed a smile. Alfred, you are the real hero, for you did everything in your power to make sure everyone could escape. Arthur, without your magic and knowledge, the time loops could've continued or ended with Italy's death. Francis, you healed both the body and the heart for each and every one of us. Matthew, your problem solving opened doors otherwise invisible to us. Gilbert, your enthusiasm gave us the will to keep fighting. Ludwig, without you, we wouldn't have ever been safe in that house. Feliciano and Lovino, you both made the ultimate sacrifices for us. Antonio, your courage and strength brought the madness to the end.

"We will walk out of here tomorrow and go back to being an Ally or an Axis or back on the side lines, but no matter what happens, the Pact of the HetaOni House remains intact. Deep inside, we are the humans who worked together and defeated a great evil. I thank you all from the bottom of my own heart. It has been an honor going through this journey with you." Japan bowed and the room burst into applause. Some nations had to take a breather because they started crying during the speech. They had one last round of drinks before Kiku shut off the lights and slipped in between America and England. Everyone slept in a great clump; back to back, hand in hand, in each other's arms. Like Japan said, tomorrow is when everything goes back to normal, but no one will forget their pact. On the outside, they're immortal and reflect the idea of their countries. On the inside—and this is still widely forgotten—they are only human.

X-X-X

So now we are saved

The great evil is gone

Our saviors hold us close

And our hands are linked together

But as we go on with our lives

Thinking our troubles are over

Do you ever wonder

Is this really the end?

Translation:

доброе утро- good morning

Bonjour, mon amis- hello, my friends

mein gott- my God

terriblement rapide- frighteningly fast

The poem at the end is a continuation to the one in chapter 3.

One last thing before I am gone. I have set up a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) for this fic on my tumblr. If there was something you didn't understand in the story, you can go here and I have most likely answered your question. If I have not, please feel free to ask me on my tumblr or on here. I'll either add it or answer you directly. I'll be adding to the questions often. It is not necessary for you to read, however, if you prefer to make your own assumptions.

Just go to my tumblr (romanatty) and add /post/37967984080/a-hue-of-crimson-f-a-q to the end of the url

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