A Mari Usque Ad Mare Chapter 2
Title: A Mari Usque Ad Mare
Author: me
Characters: Canada, America
Summary: compilation of stories focused on Canada and his relationships with other countries.
Netherlands<3
Netherlands looked completely haggard with his cheeks sunken in, and stick-thin arms.
The war had taken its toll on Lars.
Matthew knew he shouldn't have been surprised, yet he was. Shaken to his core, to see a person who use to be as vibrant and colourful as the northern lights reduced to a mere shadow of himself by the occupation and violence. When Lars saw him and smiled, it brought a hint of life back into his worn face. There was still part of the man Matthew knew and for that, he thanked every divine being out there. Matthew left his marching troops, shouldering through the joyous crowd towards Lars. He was soon enveloped in a hug from the older nation.
"That took long enough. I was waiting for you," Lars teased, poking Matthews cheek, "Let's go somewhere more private."
Matthew nodded, letting Lars lead the way. The screams and shouts faded as Lars led them farther. He eventually settled on a staircase, leading up to what once was a park but now was nothing more than a few snapped twigs and some over grown bushes.
"How are you? I haven't you in a while Matthew."
Lars sat down on the stairs, his knee touching the Canadian's.
"I'm fine, just a little tired. The war finally seems to be coming to a close."
Matthew tried to sound optimistic.
There was a pause before Lars spoke again.
"How are my princesses?"
Matthew stopped to think.
"Princess Beatrice and Irene are doing well. They curl up against Kumajiro in front of the fireplace often. I think my polar bear likes them more than me. And when it snows they burst out of the house without any warm clothing or warning really. Just scream 'it's snowing' and off they go. They've developed a fondness for pancakes and pizza too." Matthew laughed softly, glancing at Lars. A small smile graced his mouth and his eyes were warm.
"Princesses Juliana has become good friends with my neighbour. They go grocery shopping sometimes." he paused, "And Margriet ...Margriet is beautiful. She's so curious for someone so small. She pulled on my curl once." He shuddered at the memory.
Lars didn't say anything.
"Lars?" Matthew nudged him with his shoulder. He sighed.
"It's just, I wish I was there to see all of this. They're my family yet..." Lars trailed off. Matthew didn't know what to say so he just let silence settle over them.
"Oh! Ah..um, here." Matthew dug out a booklet from inside his jacket.
Lars looked at it curiously and began to flip through the pages, smiling at some, laughing at others.
"They' re photos. I thought you might feel this way so I tried to take as many pictures as I could. I hope this helps, I mean, I know it's not being there but it's better than me talking. A picture is a thousand words after all. And ..and..."
Lars placed a finger over Matthew's lips gently, silencing his babble with a simple smile.
"Thank you. For everything,"
Lars reached forward, and cupping Matthew's head tenderly, he softly kissed his forehead. The blush that adorned Matthew's face as they pulled away brought guffaws from Lars.
"Since we're exchanging gifts. Here. I found this when I was waiting for your troops to come." He brought out a blood red tulip from within his pocket and gently handed the fragile flower to Matthew.
"It was just there amidst these broken blocks of cement. It reminds me of you, you know. Bringing colour, and joy back to such a desolate place."
Matthew delicately stroked each petal, so scared that, with a careless rough movement, the flower would tear into pieces.
"I guess you like it. One day, I'll show you a field in full bloom." Lars turned towards him, fiercely saying, " However many you want just tell me and I'll give it to you. It's the least I can do after all you've done for me."
"Thank you Lars." Matthew breathed.
He suddenly stood up and pulled Lars to his feet.
"Come on! What are we doing moping around? We can't miss the celebrations."
This was suppose to be a happy day. Why sit around and sulk about the past.
With the tulip in one hand, and Lars' hand in the other, Matthew journeyed back to the parade, just wanting to be immersed in the festivity and rejoice the beginning of a new chapter in both their lives.
After reading Tatterdemalion's stories, Lars is now synonymous with Netherlands for me.
Just something cute and touching. To show appreciations to the pilots who dropped food for them, the Dutch people would paint "Thank you, Canadians." on their roofs.
I love Netherlands/Canada. Totally canon and I hope Himaruya draws something for them. _