Hetalia - Polar Opposites Chapter 4
Title: Polar Opposites
Author: Robin Gurl
Characters: France, Britain, America, Canada
Pairings: Maybe future UK/US and Franada (MAYBE)
Notes: ..first time writing FACE .. er it's NOT nor will it be FRUK. They get along to take care of Alfred and Matthew.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
Polar Opposites
Chapter 4
By Robin Gurl
(Soo after a DEAR FRIEND sent me a wonderful video with a doujin on it called America’s fever, I got sorta jump started to update….hehe. man that art is just beautiful, feverish Alfred is such a kink of mine. ^^; Alright, so today I had a sort of panicky day, we had a lot of tornados appear and wound up down stairs in first main huddled in a hallway for quite a long time. I panic easily and to calm my self down I write hurt/comfort. So this chapter maybe a little dramatic but hey I’m not the hospital because I hyperventilated, right? Um I did use Matthew a lot in this chapter and I’m actually quite pleased. :3 Thanks to a good friend who let me write it to her out on chat. )
I do not own Hetalia
Arthur awoke with a stiff back and noticed he was still in the twins room, he shifted a bit stretching then glanced to the windows. They were still closed because the twins were unable to withstand the bright sunlight, it hurt their eyes and made it hard for them to sleep properly. He saw sunlight through the tiny cracks in the shudders and realized he must have stayed there all night.
He stood up trying to crack his back into place and walked closer to the giant king sized bed. He’d gotten this bed a long time ago during his empire days, obviously the uses for it were obsolete now in his old age, but he was glad he hadn’t changed to a smaller one.
The twins fit perfectly on it. In their sleep their bodies looked almost one as they fleshed against one another. Matthew’s head as curled up on Alfred’s neck, while Alfred lay his head on Matthew’s shoulder. Their arms wrapped around the parts of one another that had been closest last night.
He leaned over the mattress and placed one of his hands on Alfred’s cheek stroking it then doing the same to Matthew, “My poor boys, don’t you worry we will find out what is wrong with you, I promise.” Neither of them made a noise in return but he hadn’t thought they would. He straightened back up trying to regain composure as he did he smelled a wonderful aroma that sort of smelled like breakfast.
“Bonjour, mon lapin.” France appeared in the doorway smiling cheerfully. In his arms was a giant assortment of breakfast foods. They looked to be from America as well as European.
Arthur was too exhausted and worried to yell back at him for the nick name. Instead he just smiled, “Good morning. Is all of that food for them? I don’t think they’ll be up to eating much in their condition.”
“Most of it is for us, actually. I brought them some bread and juice to try.” He sat the tray down at the foot of the bed and smiled, “We ‘aven’t had a meal like this in a long time, too bad the boys are still out…”
“I was thinking Francis, maybe we should call Otis.”
The Frenchman stopped dishing out eggs onto Arthur’s plate and gave him a look of horror, “He’s still alive?”
“Of course he’s still alive, he was a country once. He just merged with Britain a long time ago.” Arthur said rolling his eyes. “I’m serious, Francis.” He sat back down in the chair and leaned over burying his face in his hands. “I have no idea what is wrong with them, the economy made sense at the time but now that Matthew is here and just as bad as Alfred, I just don’t know.”
France sighed and put the plate down at hearing Arthur’s voice crack. “Anglietere,” He started standing. He walked over to him and awkwardly rubbed his back, something he hadn’t done since the boys were very young. “They’ve been ill before..”
“What kind of statement is that, Francis?” Arthur asked glancing up with wet red eyes. “Of course they were ill before, we kept them on the ship with us, but it was never this bad. You saw Matthew, he couldn’t even walk up the stairs without being helped.”
“Arthur, we’ve known about their ability to feel one another since they were born..”
“That’s what you are chalking this up to? Twins feeling each other?” His voice got louder as he got frustrated, his eyebrows furrowed with that angry tone in his voice.
“Shh, don’t wake them.” France motioned for England to follow him out the door and into the hallway. “I am not chalking anything up, I’m just saying that we’ve watched one fall ill and the other fall right behind because they were in the same room. Remember when the twins were nine and Matthew had the flu, you tried your best to keep Alfred in the other room but then he went into Matthew’s bed room and fainted?”
“Of course,” Arthur hissed back blushing bright red. “I get your point but even if part of it is their ability, I don’t buy that it’s all of the problem. According to Alfred, Matthew was feeling ill long before he got here. What if it’s something like the black plague all over again? What if they are dying, Francis and so are their people? I may despise how American’s act but that certainly doesn’t mean I want them dead.”
“Arthur Kirkland,” France started raising his eyebrows, “Listen to what you are saying. You’ve been in that room for far too long. They aren’t dying, their people aren’t dying, and they are just a bit under the weather.”
Arthur glared at Francis before sighing and leaning against the wall. “I…I just don’t know what to think any more, I guess I’m not thinking rationally anymore.”
“And that is why you need to rest, oui?”
“There is no way I am leaving the boys, I am fine.” The British man exclaimed.
“You look ragged, mon lapin, seriously go get some rest. I will stay with the twins until you return. I doubt they will awaken before you return. If you would like I could make you some Earl Grey and bring it to you?”
Arthur sighed and resigned to the fact that Francis was correct. He felt exhausted, and right now he knew he was no help to the twins if he didn’t get some rest. “Yes, yes you’re right of course…yes, that would be lovely, thank you. I will go to the guest room down the hallway and take a short nap.”
*~*
Unknown to the other countries, Matthew and Alfred had both woken up and while too weak to sit up, they had heard every word. Matthew bit his lip and looked nervously at Alfred, “We did it again, eh?”
Alfred pulled the covers up over the two of them and he sighed sleepily, “We did what?”
“We worried, Father. Papa hasn’t been able to force him to do a thing for a long time. Oh Alfred, we should have stayed at home.” Matthew’s voice was weak, barely there but Alfred could understand him completely.
Their hands intertwined and Alfred relaxed at feeling Matthew’s face being near his. “Aw, it’ll be ok, ya know Iggy, he o..over reacts about well you know everything..” Even though he said this, he felt bad, he hadn’t meant to cause problems. “It’ll be ok, Matty, I think they’d want us here instead of being at home alone..”
“Yes but….father didn’t look well, what if we made him ill?” Tears were forming now in Matthew’s eyes and he could only curl closer. “I don’t like this, Alfred..”
“It’s ok, I hate it too..” Alfred admitted wincing as a headache caught him off guard. His vertigo was making it hard for him to keep his eyes open.
“You’re in pain.”
“It’s ok- just a bit dizzy.” Then he let out a moan laying his head back on his pillow, his grip on his brother’s hand grew weaker.
Matthew watched as sweat started to bead down Alfred’s forehead, he sat up unsteadily and tried to reach for the bowl of water, Arthur had been using last night to wash them down. “Hang on, alright?” His finger tips touched the bowl and he reached a bit further weakly trying to grab the cloth. He got it but knocked the bowl over, it spilled onto the floor. In his fogged mind though he didn’t care and instead put the dripping cloth onto his brother’s forehead. “There,” He whispered soothingly.
Even as he said that he could feel Alfred’s anxiety was growing, his own was getting harder to contain as well. He didn’t know what it was but he wanted to be anywhere but in here alone. The fear seemed to be sucking the air right out of his lungs. “Where do you…you think Papa went..?”
Alfred forced his eyes to open at the tremble in his brother’s voice, it hurt so bad and made the headache worse but he was worried, “Mattie, c’mere, it’ll be ok…he probably went to make Iggy some tea..”
How was Alfred hiding his fear so well? Matthew shook his head and pulled his knees to his chest letting go of Alfred’s hand. His breathing was labored as he tried to calm down, that was when he realized, Alfred was too ill to be able to do anything about the anxiety. He was too weak to let it out.
“Mattie, just breathe, it’ll be ok.” Alfred tried to reassure him but he was unable to sit up. Instead he just reached out and grabbed the nearest body part, which happened to be an ankle. He squeezed it weakly, “Seriously, dude, it’ll ok…” He felt a darkness trying to take over and he tried to fight it. “I’m…I’m..here..”
Matthew fearfully glanced down at feeling his twin’s presence in his mind weaken. “Alfred? Alfred, are you asleep?” Panic gripped his mind and his stomach tightened as he shook his brother weakly. He reached out blindly for the one thing that could calm him down and it wasn’t there. “Kumajiro…?” He whispered realizing it wasn’t there. His knees went down and he looked over the side of the bed and saw nothing. Tears started to stream down his cheeks as he stood up nearly falling over and tried to run to the door way. Alfred was…was…he didn’t know..but it wasn’t good and Kumajiro wasn’t there...Papa and Father had left them …he ran out in the hallway and collapsed to the ground, slipping on the hard wood floor. “Papa…Papa..” He whispered over and over again.
Right now he felt so very alone and so very tired. He wanted his life back, his family back, he wanted Kumajiro back, most of all he wanted his twin back. He heard hurried footsteps from the opposite hallway and glanced up weakly wiping his eyes with his red sweatshirt even though the tears just kept coming.
“Matthew, what the bloody hell are you doing out of bed?” The voice. It was father. He watched through watery eyes as Arthur knelt down and pulled him close.
“Father..” He whispered trying to hold back his cries. “You left us.”
Arthur sighed and pulled Matthew closer to him stroking the blonde hair, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have.” He spared a glare down the stair way where he knew France was, even if he was down there because of the tea, he shouldn’t have left them. He noticed the blonde hair was sweaty and pulled Matthew away long enough to survey the situation, the boys eyes were red from crying, his cheeks were stained with tears and red from fever. The Canadian nation was also heaving, breathing harder than he should be.
“Kumajiro…he’s missing…” Matthew suddenly said choking on another sob. “And..and Alfred…he won’t talk to me…I can’t breathe…it’s hard to breathe.”
“Calm down, Matthew, take deep breaths, you’re having a panic attack. I’m sure your bear is up in the room and Alfred is probably just sleeping.”
“No!” Matt exclaimed panting as Arthur wiped more tears away. “I looked, he wasn’t there. But Alfred…somethings wrong with him, usually…usually I can feel him very strongly….it got weaker earlier….”
“Francis, get up here now. Leave the tea.” Arthur suddenly shouted standing up. “Stay here, Matthew, Francis will be up shortly. I’m going to go check on Alfred.” France may have scoffed at the twins special abilities, but Arthur knew better. Too many times had he shrugged it off when they were children and learned the hard way to listen to the instincts.
As he entered the master bedroom he heard muffled footsteps from down stairs then a clammering as France ran up to gather Matthew in his arms. His heart was pounding as to what he could have prevented if he hadn’t listened to that frog, France. He couldn’t rest, not with Alfred as sick as he was. He shouldn’t have listened to him. He ran to the bedside and saw Alfred was limp laying on his head, eyes closed. “Alfred, lad, are you alright? Are you just sleeping?” He got no response, not even a moan.
Numbly he reached forward and placed two fingers to Alfred’s neck and the other hand went to Alfred’s forehead. He felt a weak pulse and let out a visible sigh of relief nearly collapsing onto the floor himself. He was really getting too old for this excitement. The only thing he could think of was that the fever was too high. “I’m here, Alfred, I’m here, I’m not going to leave you again.” He whispered as he threw the covers off the sick body. Then he awkwardly gathered Alfred in his arms and stumbled to the bathroom putting him into the tub.
“What are you doing?” Francis exclaimed his arms full with Matthew.
“No time to explain, put Matthew in bed and come help.”
Matthew paled and buried his face in France’s neck whimpering with fear. France stroked the blonde hair as he lay Matthew on the bed as gently but quickly as he could, “Rest, mon chouchoute, I’ll be back.”
There was still no bear for Matthew to cling too but right now he just wanted his brother. He reached forward weakly and grabbed the pillow that Alfred had been sleeping on and clung to it crying into the pillowcase.
*~*
Alfred’s head rolled to one side as Arthur tried to make sure if he did turn the water one he wasn’t going to drown. He then reached over the unmoving body and turned the faucet on.
“Alright now what is wrong, you nearly scared Matthew half to death.” Francis said walking in and rolling his sleeves up.
“Scared him to death? Alfred scared me to death, I thought he was dead. You may laugh at their ability to feel one another but damn it, I’ve seen too much between them to not believe it. Matthew told me that he could no longer feel Alfred, when I came into the room he was unconscious, obviously at first I thought the worst but, bloody hell..” He went quiet as he waited for Alfred to at least respond. The water coming out of the spicket wasn’t warm at all.
Francis got on the other side of the tub and cupped some of the water splashing it onto the young man’s face. This time they got a response. Alfred moaned weakly slowly coming to, his eyes opened to slits and his vision cleared. France watched as Arthur’s eyes watered and a few tears slipped down. He could have sworn he heard a “Thank God” before the former Empire slid down looking exhausted. He turned back to Alfred and saw the boy looked positively confused, he was shivering but his complexion wasn’t as red as before. “Take it easy, petit, your fever just got a bit too high, oui?”
“I..Iggy…you..you ok?” Alfred asked weakly trying to sit up. Unable to do so he reached out of the tub with one dripping arm and patted the blonde hair that came up just above the tub.
Arthur lifted his head unable to hide his emotions and just smiled weakly towards the American. “I swear, Alfred, if you ever do that me again…” He trailed off to tired to think of what he would do.
“Sorry, dude..” Was the only response he got. He watched as France stood up to go the linen closet. That was when he realized Matthew was alone in their room. “You..You gotta go back to..Mattie…”
“Calm down, Alfred, Matthew is in bed probably asleep. As soon as I help Arthur get you out of this tub and wrapped in a towel, I will go see him, oui?”
“No, go. Seriously, dude…he was cryin’ earlier…I couldn’t help him…” Alfred whispered his eyes darkening. “I..I think I scared him too…”
“I’ll go see him, you dry him off, alright?” Arthur stood up still a bit weak at the knees and walked back into the bed room, his sweater and pants half soaked in water. “Matthew?” He saw the bed was empty, quickly he scanned the room and saw Matthew was in the corner huddled as close to it as possible. His knees were up to his chest and his face was buried in a pillow. “Matthew, what are you doing all the way over there? The bed is a lot warmer.”
Matthew shook his head not moving. Arthur walked over and knelt down stroking the sweaty blonde hair, pushing the curl out of the way. “It’s alright, Alfred is fine, we’ve got his fever down, now we just have to keep it down. Go ahead, try and feel him again.”
Matthew seemed to obey and finally pulled his face from the pillow, his cheeks stained with fresh tears. He didn’t verbally respond however and only buried his face back into the pillow.
“Come on, lad, let’s go back to the bed. Here let me take the pillow-“ Arthur stood up and tried to take the bed pillow out of Matthew’s arms but was quickly pushed away. He sighed and knelt back down, “Alright you can keep the pillow, but really you need to be in bed.”
Once again Matthew didn’t respond to him at all. His blue eyes were glassy as he stared over the edge of the pillow down at the floor before clenching them shut again.
Frustrated and worried Arthur got up and walked over to Alfred’s side of the bed figuring if nothing else he could wash him down but saw the over turned bowl and then figured the cloth was somewhere in the midst of the tangle of sheets. “Stay right there.” He said then walked back into the restroom to see Alfred sitting naked on the toilet seat, shivering with a two towels around him. Francis was drying his hair with a third. “Oh, I forgot clothes.”
“Where is Matthew, is he sleeping?” Francis asked finding it strange that Arthur just walked in as he did.
“No, he’s not speaking to me at all, he’s just in the corner hugging a pillow.” Arthur sighed, “I tried to convince him to come back to the bed, I even told him Alfred was coherent again.”
Quietly Alfred spoke up in between his chattering teeth. “Where’s the bear?”
Arthur stopped mid step and cursed, “He told me about that earlier we’ve got to find that bear.”
“This time stay with Alfred, go get him some clothes. I will go and try to talk to Matthew.” Francis said sighing leaving before Arthur could complain.
Once they were alone there was an awkward silence as Arthur looked through the closet. He pulled out a white robe and smiled, “This ought to do for now, let’s get this around you before you get even sicker.”
Alfred blushed as the towels were removed leaving him naked on the toilet seat. Then he felt something soft be draped on him and he weakly stuck his arms through the right holes. He let Arthur pull the sides to where one was over lapping the other then he tied it closed. “Thank you.” He said softly.
“You’re welcome, now let’s get you back to bed.” Arthur said as he combed his fingers through Alfred’s hair gently getting it back to a presentable state.
“Hey…um…we’re sorry for worrying you.” Alfred whispered out of no where. He hugged Arthur weakly burying his face into the damp sweater vest.
Arthur’s eyes widened and he at first shook it off, “It’s alright, it was no big deal.”
“But it was,” Alfred responded looking up at Arthur in between the two arms that were drying his hair some more. “We heard you and Papa outside.”
“Oh, that.” Arthur stopped messing about with Alfred’s hair noticing he’d messed it up again. He gathered the towel into his arms and slid to the floor. “I’m sorry you had to hear us arguing, but you know me, I’m a worry wart…or as you would like to put it ‘the boy who cried wolf’…I can’t help it though, you and Matthew are what keeps me together now a days, because lets face it Britain isn’t the greatest country anymore, you are quickly taking that place if you’d just get your budget straight, and well I’ve done some things I’m not proud of, but all of that doesn’t matter when you two are here at my home.” He found himself blushing as he continued figuring it was time the lad knew at least a bit of what was going on. “When I can’t protect you, Alfred, I feel like I’ve failed you. I feel terrible that I left you alone so much when you were younger that you can’t bare to be apart from anyone for very long. That’s why I’m not giving up this time, I won’t back down, I will make it up to you. You’ve just got to stop scaring me like that.”
Alfred stared wide-eyed down at the once great empire. “Iggy…” He started sighing and reached out and put his hand on Arthur’s head again. “Sorry, dude…I didn’t mean too scare ya like that…really I didn’t. I don’t remember much of it. And Britain is still a great country, I mean you’re the British Empire, you’re one of the only countries left with a queen…I know you don’t think you’re that great…but you’re still great to me…” He smiled sheepishly, blushing. “Why else do you think I try to be the hero? You are so cool dude, to go through so many changes and still be strong…”
Arthur looked up again, his eyes widening. Even though Alfred still looked sick there was a hint of life back in his eyes that Arthur had missed. He didn’t bother telling Alfred that there were numerous countries who didn’t follow America’s example of government, instead he just stood up and stretched. “Can you walk back to the bed or do you need help?”
“I think I need some help, I’m feeling lite headed again.”
Arthur nodded and helped Alfred stand, taking most of the weight onto his own. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you, I’ve got enough strength for the both of us.”
Alfred just smiled sleepily laying his head on Arthur’s shoulder, “I know you do.”
*~*
France was annoyed at himself for missing that one big factor, of course Matthew was upset, the bear that he held dear since he was born was no where to be seen. He knew he wasn’t going to get Matthew back into bed without the bear and knew it was useless trying to take the pillow away until he found his son’s missing companion.
He had just finished searching upstairs and saw nothing, no bear. He then decided to walk down the stairs and check the first floor. He was sure Matthew had it with him when he got off the plane and into the car because he’d made sure of it. Yet, where did he drop the bear and why?
Then it hit him, when they were trying to get Matthew upstairs, his worry for Alfred must have been the only thing on Matthew’s mind. He started down the stairs hoping he’d find the bear in time before Matthew went into his own world completely.
This had only happened once when the boys were teenagers and somehow Matthew wound up losing the bear at the park with the other boys. It had taken them three days to find the stuffed polar bear and during those three days, Matthew hadn’t eaten, barely slept and was with drawn, he didn’t speak at all and stayed just like he was now, curled up in the corner of the room clutching a pillow.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs he was excited to see the bear lying on it’s side. “You do cause a lot of problems, you know?” He said picking the white stuffed bear up and hurrying back up the stairs.
*~*
Alfred felt horrible that he could do nothing but watch as Arthur tried to calm Matthew down and to at least look at him. He knew it was useless, when that bear was gone so was his brother. He was weak and felt very tired but he didn’t want to sleep again until Matthew was back in his arms.
“Come on, please, Matthew, you’ll catch a greater chill out here, let’s at least go back to bed, alright?” Arthur pleaded again, he even motioned towards Alfred, who was half coherent but still there. “See, your brother is back in the bed.”
Matthew didn’t look like he was going to respond at all, all hope was lost when he just buried his face into the pillow further again. In the past ten minutes his own fever had risen and he wasn’t feeling well, but he wanted his bear and wasn’t going to relax until it was in his arms.
He felt hot then he felt cold and knew somewhere deep down that Arthur was right but he didn’t care. He didn’t even look up when he heard footsteps enter the room. He felt a familiar hand as it stroked his hair, “Je l'ai trouvé, mon chér.” (I found him darling)
This time he did lift his head and saw Papa there with Kumajiro in his arms. He weakly reached out and took the bear from France hugging him tightly. As he did his eyes started to shut and he fell forward panting, “Désolé, papa, je suis si fatigué.” (Sorry Papa, I’m tired..)
France caught him and gave a look of relief to Arthur who stood up dusting his pants off and walked over to Matthew’s side of the bed and started to reorganize the sheets. France then turned back to Matthew and gathered the feverish country into his arms and gently carried him over to the bed. “Il va bien, chérie, tu venais ici avec Alfred et de repos. Je ne te quitterai pas.” (It is alright, darling, you just lay here with Alfred and rest. I won't leave you.)
Arthur watched as France delicately covered Matthew up then turned his attention to Alfred making sure he was alright before turning back to Arthur, “I am going to go call the doctor before this gets any worse, oui?”
“Yes, yes, it’s for the best, I’ll stay here and watch them.”
(Omg. xD haha. That was a long one. I hope everyone liked. If you did please comment and tell me how I did. The French came from Google Translator.)
Author: Robin Gurl
Characters: France, Britain, America, Canada
Pairings: Maybe future UK/US and Franada (MAYBE)
Notes: ..first time writing FACE .. er it's NOT nor will it be FRUK. They get along to take care of Alfred and Matthew.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
Polar Opposites
Chapter 4
By Robin Gurl
(Soo after a DEAR FRIEND sent me a wonderful video with a doujin on it called America’s fever, I got sorta jump started to update….hehe. man that art is just beautiful, feverish Alfred is such a kink of mine. ^^; Alright, so today I had a sort of panicky day, we had a lot of tornados appear and wound up down stairs in first main huddled in a hallway for quite a long time. I panic easily and to calm my self down I write hurt/comfort. So this chapter maybe a little dramatic but hey I’m not the hospital because I hyperventilated, right? Um I did use Matthew a lot in this chapter and I’m actually quite pleased. :3 Thanks to a good friend who let me write it to her out on chat. )
I do not own Hetalia
Arthur awoke with a stiff back and noticed he was still in the twins room, he shifted a bit stretching then glanced to the windows. They were still closed because the twins were unable to withstand the bright sunlight, it hurt their eyes and made it hard for them to sleep properly. He saw sunlight through the tiny cracks in the shudders and realized he must have stayed there all night.
He stood up trying to crack his back into place and walked closer to the giant king sized bed. He’d gotten this bed a long time ago during his empire days, obviously the uses for it were obsolete now in his old age, but he was glad he hadn’t changed to a smaller one.
The twins fit perfectly on it. In their sleep their bodies looked almost one as they fleshed against one another. Matthew’s head as curled up on Alfred’s neck, while Alfred lay his head on Matthew’s shoulder. Their arms wrapped around the parts of one another that had been closest last night.
He leaned over the mattress and placed one of his hands on Alfred’s cheek stroking it then doing the same to Matthew, “My poor boys, don’t you worry we will find out what is wrong with you, I promise.” Neither of them made a noise in return but he hadn’t thought they would. He straightened back up trying to regain composure as he did he smelled a wonderful aroma that sort of smelled like breakfast.
“Bonjour, mon lapin.” France appeared in the doorway smiling cheerfully. In his arms was a giant assortment of breakfast foods. They looked to be from America as well as European.
Arthur was too exhausted and worried to yell back at him for the nick name. Instead he just smiled, “Good morning. Is all of that food for them? I don’t think they’ll be up to eating much in their condition.”
“Most of it is for us, actually. I brought them some bread and juice to try.” He sat the tray down at the foot of the bed and smiled, “We ‘aven’t had a meal like this in a long time, too bad the boys are still out…”
“I was thinking Francis, maybe we should call Otis.”
The Frenchman stopped dishing out eggs onto Arthur’s plate and gave him a look of horror, “He’s still alive?”
“Of course he’s still alive, he was a country once. He just merged with Britain a long time ago.” Arthur said rolling his eyes. “I’m serious, Francis.” He sat back down in the chair and leaned over burying his face in his hands. “I have no idea what is wrong with them, the economy made sense at the time but now that Matthew is here and just as bad as Alfred, I just don’t know.”
France sighed and put the plate down at hearing Arthur’s voice crack. “Anglietere,” He started standing. He walked over to him and awkwardly rubbed his back, something he hadn’t done since the boys were very young. “They’ve been ill before..”
“What kind of statement is that, Francis?” Arthur asked glancing up with wet red eyes. “Of course they were ill before, we kept them on the ship with us, but it was never this bad. You saw Matthew, he couldn’t even walk up the stairs without being helped.”
“Arthur, we’ve known about their ability to feel one another since they were born..”
“That’s what you are chalking this up to? Twins feeling each other?” His voice got louder as he got frustrated, his eyebrows furrowed with that angry tone in his voice.
“Shh, don’t wake them.” France motioned for England to follow him out the door and into the hallway. “I am not chalking anything up, I’m just saying that we’ve watched one fall ill and the other fall right behind because they were in the same room. Remember when the twins were nine and Matthew had the flu, you tried your best to keep Alfred in the other room but then he went into Matthew’s bed room and fainted?”
“Of course,” Arthur hissed back blushing bright red. “I get your point but even if part of it is their ability, I don’t buy that it’s all of the problem. According to Alfred, Matthew was feeling ill long before he got here. What if it’s something like the black plague all over again? What if they are dying, Francis and so are their people? I may despise how American’s act but that certainly doesn’t mean I want them dead.”
“Arthur Kirkland,” France started raising his eyebrows, “Listen to what you are saying. You’ve been in that room for far too long. They aren’t dying, their people aren’t dying, and they are just a bit under the weather.”
Arthur glared at Francis before sighing and leaning against the wall. “I…I just don’t know what to think any more, I guess I’m not thinking rationally anymore.”
“And that is why you need to rest, oui?”
“There is no way I am leaving the boys, I am fine.” The British man exclaimed.
“You look ragged, mon lapin, seriously go get some rest. I will stay with the twins until you return. I doubt they will awaken before you return. If you would like I could make you some Earl Grey and bring it to you?”
Arthur sighed and resigned to the fact that Francis was correct. He felt exhausted, and right now he knew he was no help to the twins if he didn’t get some rest. “Yes, yes you’re right of course…yes, that would be lovely, thank you. I will go to the guest room down the hallway and take a short nap.”
*~*
Unknown to the other countries, Matthew and Alfred had both woken up and while too weak to sit up, they had heard every word. Matthew bit his lip and looked nervously at Alfred, “We did it again, eh?”
Alfred pulled the covers up over the two of them and he sighed sleepily, “We did what?”
“We worried, Father. Papa hasn’t been able to force him to do a thing for a long time. Oh Alfred, we should have stayed at home.” Matthew’s voice was weak, barely there but Alfred could understand him completely.
Their hands intertwined and Alfred relaxed at feeling Matthew’s face being near his. “Aw, it’ll be ok, ya know Iggy, he o..over reacts about well you know everything..” Even though he said this, he felt bad, he hadn’t meant to cause problems. “It’ll be ok, Matty, I think they’d want us here instead of being at home alone..”
“Yes but….father didn’t look well, what if we made him ill?” Tears were forming now in Matthew’s eyes and he could only curl closer. “I don’t like this, Alfred..”
“It’s ok, I hate it too..” Alfred admitted wincing as a headache caught him off guard. His vertigo was making it hard for him to keep his eyes open.
“You’re in pain.”
“It’s ok- just a bit dizzy.” Then he let out a moan laying his head back on his pillow, his grip on his brother’s hand grew weaker.
Matthew watched as sweat started to bead down Alfred’s forehead, he sat up unsteadily and tried to reach for the bowl of water, Arthur had been using last night to wash them down. “Hang on, alright?” His finger tips touched the bowl and he reached a bit further weakly trying to grab the cloth. He got it but knocked the bowl over, it spilled onto the floor. In his fogged mind though he didn’t care and instead put the dripping cloth onto his brother’s forehead. “There,” He whispered soothingly.
Even as he said that he could feel Alfred’s anxiety was growing, his own was getting harder to contain as well. He didn’t know what it was but he wanted to be anywhere but in here alone. The fear seemed to be sucking the air right out of his lungs. “Where do you…you think Papa went..?”
Alfred forced his eyes to open at the tremble in his brother’s voice, it hurt so bad and made the headache worse but he was worried, “Mattie, c’mere, it’ll be ok…he probably went to make Iggy some tea..”
How was Alfred hiding his fear so well? Matthew shook his head and pulled his knees to his chest letting go of Alfred’s hand. His breathing was labored as he tried to calm down, that was when he realized, Alfred was too ill to be able to do anything about the anxiety. He was too weak to let it out.
“Mattie, just breathe, it’ll be ok.” Alfred tried to reassure him but he was unable to sit up. Instead he just reached out and grabbed the nearest body part, which happened to be an ankle. He squeezed it weakly, “Seriously, dude, it’ll ok…” He felt a darkness trying to take over and he tried to fight it. “I’m…I’m..here..”
Matthew fearfully glanced down at feeling his twin’s presence in his mind weaken. “Alfred? Alfred, are you asleep?” Panic gripped his mind and his stomach tightened as he shook his brother weakly. He reached out blindly for the one thing that could calm him down and it wasn’t there. “Kumajiro…?” He whispered realizing it wasn’t there. His knees went down and he looked over the side of the bed and saw nothing. Tears started to stream down his cheeks as he stood up nearly falling over and tried to run to the door way. Alfred was…was…he didn’t know..but it wasn’t good and Kumajiro wasn’t there...Papa and Father had left them …he ran out in the hallway and collapsed to the ground, slipping on the hard wood floor. “Papa…Papa..” He whispered over and over again.
Right now he felt so very alone and so very tired. He wanted his life back, his family back, he wanted Kumajiro back, most of all he wanted his twin back. He heard hurried footsteps from the opposite hallway and glanced up weakly wiping his eyes with his red sweatshirt even though the tears just kept coming.
“Matthew, what the bloody hell are you doing out of bed?” The voice. It was father. He watched through watery eyes as Arthur knelt down and pulled him close.
“Father..” He whispered trying to hold back his cries. “You left us.”
Arthur sighed and pulled Matthew closer to him stroking the blonde hair, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have.” He spared a glare down the stair way where he knew France was, even if he was down there because of the tea, he shouldn’t have left them. He noticed the blonde hair was sweaty and pulled Matthew away long enough to survey the situation, the boys eyes were red from crying, his cheeks were stained with tears and red from fever. The Canadian nation was also heaving, breathing harder than he should be.
“Kumajiro…he’s missing…” Matthew suddenly said choking on another sob. “And..and Alfred…he won’t talk to me…I can’t breathe…it’s hard to breathe.”
“Calm down, Matthew, take deep breaths, you’re having a panic attack. I’m sure your bear is up in the room and Alfred is probably just sleeping.”
“No!” Matt exclaimed panting as Arthur wiped more tears away. “I looked, he wasn’t there. But Alfred…somethings wrong with him, usually…usually I can feel him very strongly….it got weaker earlier….”
“Francis, get up here now. Leave the tea.” Arthur suddenly shouted standing up. “Stay here, Matthew, Francis will be up shortly. I’m going to go check on Alfred.” France may have scoffed at the twins special abilities, but Arthur knew better. Too many times had he shrugged it off when they were children and learned the hard way to listen to the instincts.
As he entered the master bedroom he heard muffled footsteps from down stairs then a clammering as France ran up to gather Matthew in his arms. His heart was pounding as to what he could have prevented if he hadn’t listened to that frog, France. He couldn’t rest, not with Alfred as sick as he was. He shouldn’t have listened to him. He ran to the bedside and saw Alfred was limp laying on his head, eyes closed. “Alfred, lad, are you alright? Are you just sleeping?” He got no response, not even a moan.
Numbly he reached forward and placed two fingers to Alfred’s neck and the other hand went to Alfred’s forehead. He felt a weak pulse and let out a visible sigh of relief nearly collapsing onto the floor himself. He was really getting too old for this excitement. The only thing he could think of was that the fever was too high. “I’m here, Alfred, I’m here, I’m not going to leave you again.” He whispered as he threw the covers off the sick body. Then he awkwardly gathered Alfred in his arms and stumbled to the bathroom putting him into the tub.
“What are you doing?” Francis exclaimed his arms full with Matthew.
“No time to explain, put Matthew in bed and come help.”
Matthew paled and buried his face in France’s neck whimpering with fear. France stroked the blonde hair as he lay Matthew on the bed as gently but quickly as he could, “Rest, mon chouchoute, I’ll be back.”
There was still no bear for Matthew to cling too but right now he just wanted his brother. He reached forward weakly and grabbed the pillow that Alfred had been sleeping on and clung to it crying into the pillowcase.
*~*
Alfred’s head rolled to one side as Arthur tried to make sure if he did turn the water one he wasn’t going to drown. He then reached over the unmoving body and turned the faucet on.
“Alright now what is wrong, you nearly scared Matthew half to death.” Francis said walking in and rolling his sleeves up.
“Scared him to death? Alfred scared me to death, I thought he was dead. You may laugh at their ability to feel one another but damn it, I’ve seen too much between them to not believe it. Matthew told me that he could no longer feel Alfred, when I came into the room he was unconscious, obviously at first I thought the worst but, bloody hell..” He went quiet as he waited for Alfred to at least respond. The water coming out of the spicket wasn’t warm at all.
Francis got on the other side of the tub and cupped some of the water splashing it onto the young man’s face. This time they got a response. Alfred moaned weakly slowly coming to, his eyes opened to slits and his vision cleared. France watched as Arthur’s eyes watered and a few tears slipped down. He could have sworn he heard a “Thank God” before the former Empire slid down looking exhausted. He turned back to Alfred and saw the boy looked positively confused, he was shivering but his complexion wasn’t as red as before. “Take it easy, petit, your fever just got a bit too high, oui?”
“I..Iggy…you..you ok?” Alfred asked weakly trying to sit up. Unable to do so he reached out of the tub with one dripping arm and patted the blonde hair that came up just above the tub.
Arthur lifted his head unable to hide his emotions and just smiled weakly towards the American. “I swear, Alfred, if you ever do that me again…” He trailed off to tired to think of what he would do.
“Sorry, dude..” Was the only response he got. He watched as France stood up to go the linen closet. That was when he realized Matthew was alone in their room. “You..You gotta go back to..Mattie…”
“Calm down, Alfred, Matthew is in bed probably asleep. As soon as I help Arthur get you out of this tub and wrapped in a towel, I will go see him, oui?”
“No, go. Seriously, dude…he was cryin’ earlier…I couldn’t help him…” Alfred whispered his eyes darkening. “I..I think I scared him too…”
“I’ll go see him, you dry him off, alright?” Arthur stood up still a bit weak at the knees and walked back into the bed room, his sweater and pants half soaked in water. “Matthew?” He saw the bed was empty, quickly he scanned the room and saw Matthew was in the corner huddled as close to it as possible. His knees were up to his chest and his face was buried in a pillow. “Matthew, what are you doing all the way over there? The bed is a lot warmer.”
Matthew shook his head not moving. Arthur walked over and knelt down stroking the sweaty blonde hair, pushing the curl out of the way. “It’s alright, Alfred is fine, we’ve got his fever down, now we just have to keep it down. Go ahead, try and feel him again.”
Matthew seemed to obey and finally pulled his face from the pillow, his cheeks stained with fresh tears. He didn’t verbally respond however and only buried his face back into the pillow.
“Come on, lad, let’s go back to the bed. Here let me take the pillow-“ Arthur stood up and tried to take the bed pillow out of Matthew’s arms but was quickly pushed away. He sighed and knelt back down, “Alright you can keep the pillow, but really you need to be in bed.”
Once again Matthew didn’t respond to him at all. His blue eyes were glassy as he stared over the edge of the pillow down at the floor before clenching them shut again.
Frustrated and worried Arthur got up and walked over to Alfred’s side of the bed figuring if nothing else he could wash him down but saw the over turned bowl and then figured the cloth was somewhere in the midst of the tangle of sheets. “Stay right there.” He said then walked back into the restroom to see Alfred sitting naked on the toilet seat, shivering with a two towels around him. Francis was drying his hair with a third. “Oh, I forgot clothes.”
“Where is Matthew, is he sleeping?” Francis asked finding it strange that Arthur just walked in as he did.
“No, he’s not speaking to me at all, he’s just in the corner hugging a pillow.” Arthur sighed, “I tried to convince him to come back to the bed, I even told him Alfred was coherent again.”
Quietly Alfred spoke up in between his chattering teeth. “Where’s the bear?”
Arthur stopped mid step and cursed, “He told me about that earlier we’ve got to find that bear.”
“This time stay with Alfred, go get him some clothes. I will go and try to talk to Matthew.” Francis said sighing leaving before Arthur could complain.
Once they were alone there was an awkward silence as Arthur looked through the closet. He pulled out a white robe and smiled, “This ought to do for now, let’s get this around you before you get even sicker.”
Alfred blushed as the towels were removed leaving him naked on the toilet seat. Then he felt something soft be draped on him and he weakly stuck his arms through the right holes. He let Arthur pull the sides to where one was over lapping the other then he tied it closed. “Thank you.” He said softly.
“You’re welcome, now let’s get you back to bed.” Arthur said as he combed his fingers through Alfred’s hair gently getting it back to a presentable state.
“Hey…um…we’re sorry for worrying you.” Alfred whispered out of no where. He hugged Arthur weakly burying his face into the damp sweater vest.
Arthur’s eyes widened and he at first shook it off, “It’s alright, it was no big deal.”
“But it was,” Alfred responded looking up at Arthur in between the two arms that were drying his hair some more. “We heard you and Papa outside.”
“Oh, that.” Arthur stopped messing about with Alfred’s hair noticing he’d messed it up again. He gathered the towel into his arms and slid to the floor. “I’m sorry you had to hear us arguing, but you know me, I’m a worry wart…or as you would like to put it ‘the boy who cried wolf’…I can’t help it though, you and Matthew are what keeps me together now a days, because lets face it Britain isn’t the greatest country anymore, you are quickly taking that place if you’d just get your budget straight, and well I’ve done some things I’m not proud of, but all of that doesn’t matter when you two are here at my home.” He found himself blushing as he continued figuring it was time the lad knew at least a bit of what was going on. “When I can’t protect you, Alfred, I feel like I’ve failed you. I feel terrible that I left you alone so much when you were younger that you can’t bare to be apart from anyone for very long. That’s why I’m not giving up this time, I won’t back down, I will make it up to you. You’ve just got to stop scaring me like that.”
Alfred stared wide-eyed down at the once great empire. “Iggy…” He started sighing and reached out and put his hand on Arthur’s head again. “Sorry, dude…I didn’t mean too scare ya like that…really I didn’t. I don’t remember much of it. And Britain is still a great country, I mean you’re the British Empire, you’re one of the only countries left with a queen…I know you don’t think you’re that great…but you’re still great to me…” He smiled sheepishly, blushing. “Why else do you think I try to be the hero? You are so cool dude, to go through so many changes and still be strong…”
Arthur looked up again, his eyes widening. Even though Alfred still looked sick there was a hint of life back in his eyes that Arthur had missed. He didn’t bother telling Alfred that there were numerous countries who didn’t follow America’s example of government, instead he just stood up and stretched. “Can you walk back to the bed or do you need help?”
“I think I need some help, I’m feeling lite headed again.”
Arthur nodded and helped Alfred stand, taking most of the weight onto his own. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you, I’ve got enough strength for the both of us.”
Alfred just smiled sleepily laying his head on Arthur’s shoulder, “I know you do.”
*~*
France was annoyed at himself for missing that one big factor, of course Matthew was upset, the bear that he held dear since he was born was no where to be seen. He knew he wasn’t going to get Matthew back into bed without the bear and knew it was useless trying to take the pillow away until he found his son’s missing companion.
He had just finished searching upstairs and saw nothing, no bear. He then decided to walk down the stairs and check the first floor. He was sure Matthew had it with him when he got off the plane and into the car because he’d made sure of it. Yet, where did he drop the bear and why?
Then it hit him, when they were trying to get Matthew upstairs, his worry for Alfred must have been the only thing on Matthew’s mind. He started down the stairs hoping he’d find the bear in time before Matthew went into his own world completely.
This had only happened once when the boys were teenagers and somehow Matthew wound up losing the bear at the park with the other boys. It had taken them three days to find the stuffed polar bear and during those three days, Matthew hadn’t eaten, barely slept and was with drawn, he didn’t speak at all and stayed just like he was now, curled up in the corner of the room clutching a pillow.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs he was excited to see the bear lying on it’s side. “You do cause a lot of problems, you know?” He said picking the white stuffed bear up and hurrying back up the stairs.
*~*
Alfred felt horrible that he could do nothing but watch as Arthur tried to calm Matthew down and to at least look at him. He knew it was useless, when that bear was gone so was his brother. He was weak and felt very tired but he didn’t want to sleep again until Matthew was back in his arms.
“Come on, please, Matthew, you’ll catch a greater chill out here, let’s at least go back to bed, alright?” Arthur pleaded again, he even motioned towards Alfred, who was half coherent but still there. “See, your brother is back in the bed.”
Matthew didn’t look like he was going to respond at all, all hope was lost when he just buried his face into the pillow further again. In the past ten minutes his own fever had risen and he wasn’t feeling well, but he wanted his bear and wasn’t going to relax until it was in his arms.
He felt hot then he felt cold and knew somewhere deep down that Arthur was right but he didn’t care. He didn’t even look up when he heard footsteps enter the room. He felt a familiar hand as it stroked his hair, “Je l'ai trouvé, mon chér.” (I found him darling)
This time he did lift his head and saw Papa there with Kumajiro in his arms. He weakly reached out and took the bear from France hugging him tightly. As he did his eyes started to shut and he fell forward panting, “Désolé, papa, je suis si fatigué.” (Sorry Papa, I’m tired..)
France caught him and gave a look of relief to Arthur who stood up dusting his pants off and walked over to Matthew’s side of the bed and started to reorganize the sheets. France then turned back to Matthew and gathered the feverish country into his arms and gently carried him over to the bed. “Il va bien, chérie, tu venais ici avec Alfred et de repos. Je ne te quitterai pas.” (It is alright, darling, you just lay here with Alfred and rest. I won't leave you.)
Arthur watched as France delicately covered Matthew up then turned his attention to Alfred making sure he was alright before turning back to Arthur, “I am going to go call the doctor before this gets any worse, oui?”
“Yes, yes, it’s for the best, I’ll stay here and watch them.”
(Omg. xD haha. That was a long one. I hope everyone liked. If you did please comment and tell me how I did. The French came from Google Translator.)