A/N: Hello everyone! This is officially my first ever completed fanfiction! ^^
It was written for an English exam about a month ago, within a 90-minute time limit, so it's not exactly very well-written... I'm planning to rewrite it soon though!
Without further ado, let the story begin! :D
He felt a soft, tingling sensation on his nose. Tilting his head upwards, the young strawberry blonde boy realised that it was snowing. Under the vermillion sky, a tiny snowflake caught a ray of light from the setting sun, shimmering brightly against the silvery backdrop. "Snowflake," he breathed as the icy crystal gradually and lightly landed in his palms.
A melodious chime of laughter sounded from behind, and he whipped his head around him alarm, only to find his best friend standing there. "Arthur!" he cried, half from relief and half from delight, embracing the other blonde in a bone-crushing hug. Arthur, being the taller one, reached out to ruffle the golden locks in front of him, smiling affectionately at his best friend. "Alfred," he started, but was interrupted as Alfred noticed all the bags that he was carrying, who proceeded to yank at them and ask urgently, "What's the matter, Arthur? Why are you bringing so many things with you? Are you leaving me?" Surprised that Alfred was able to observe this so quickly, Arthur dropped his smile and nodded mutely, a silent confirmation of Alfred's last question. "Yes, Alfred. I...I'm leaving," he said in a hushed voice, staring at the icy pavement beneath his shoes, not daring to look at Alfred.
Horrified, the shorter blonde stood agape, unable to process the information for a moment. Then, as realisation hit him, he rushed forward and gripped Arthur's shoulders. "Why?!" He shouted. "Why are you doing this to me?! You promised!"
Not expecting such a violent reaction, Arthur stumbled but managed to catch himself before slipping. "I'm sorry, Al," he said, the nickname escaping his lips. "My dad is sentenced to jail because he was caught and accused of being involved in drug trafficking, and since no one could reach his estranged 'wife', they are sending me to live with my grandparents in England."
"England?! But that's on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean!" Alfred exclaimed in shock. "I'm sorry, I cannot help it…" Arthur whispered, "I'm afraid it's goodbye…" "No!" Alfred yelled before the other boy could leave. His lips quivered, tears threatening to pour (spill) from his eyes, yet his gaze still held a steely determination. "Look at me, Arthur! Promise me that if you come back to America, you will come and find me, okay?!" Arthur looked up, and leafy green met sky blue in an emotion-filled gaze. "Alright," he sighed, "though I can't really make any empty promises, the future is a fickle man...if it makes you feel any better, I'll remember you, alright?" Alfred nodded fiercely, clinging onto his only hope. "I'll wait for you and never forget you so that we can play (our special game) together again!" Upon hearing those words, a wistful smile graced Arthur's pale face, and he nodded sadly. "Sure, Alfred. I'll see you again. Goodbye…"
As Alfred gazed after Arthur's lonely figure in the snow, trudging towards the other end of the snow-covered path, he could feel an aching hollowness in his heart. Unbeknownst to him, his best friend felt the same, as his footsteps echoed in the painfully quiet wintry air.
Twenty years passed in the blink of eye. No one would have imagined how technology advanced so rapidly, nor would anyone have envisioned how what humans were capable of doing. Arthur was now the captain of a spaceship named "Britannia Angel", working on board as the commander of the spacecraft, which was now usually used for patrolling the twenty-third district of the Milky Way, and occasionally, for cosmologists to carry out some scientific research that Arthur never understood. Eyeing the image of the Earth, he suddenly remembered that today was the day when a group of young cosmologists were scheduled to board the spaceship, and that would be...in two minutes, the clock in his head told him flatly. Bursting through doors, the blonde man barked orders to some of his subordinates, and rushed to the boarding area to welcome the guests, not even bothering to try and tame his wild, tousled hair before he went.
A familiar figure appeared before his eyes after being introduced as to the crew as the lead scientist of the group of cosmologist. Strawberry blonde hair, sky blue eyes, and that unmistakable grin...Arthur's eyes widened as he realised who the young man before him was. "Al...Alfred…?" He whispered uncertainly. The blonde's eyes, blue like the summer sky, lit up (brightened) and he dashed forward, embracing Arthur in a bone-crushing hug, just like all those years ago. "You still remember me?" Alfred asked, beaming brightly. "Of course I do, you stupid git," Arthur said as he pinched Alfred's cheeks playfully.
"Do you still remember the game that we used to play?" Arthur asked Alfred that night, in the living area of the spacecraft. "I do," the other man replied, "but what does that have to do with anything?" Arthur smiled nostalgically as he felt Alfred's puzzled gaze on him. "Well, you see," he began, "I used to bring a deck of cards, and after flipping over the first card, we would take turns in guessing which card comes next. As far as I remember, neither of us ever got a correct guess," A deck of playing cards materialised on the coffee table in front of them. "What I meant to say, Alfred, is that this is just like the future."
"Huh?" Alfred made a noise of confusion, and Arthur sighed. "You never do learn, do you? Well let me explain, then."
"Perhaps this is a lame excuse of a clichéd simile, but I do believe in so. The future is unknown to all of us; it is so unpredictable that it holds infinitely many possibilities. When I left, twenty years ago, we both believed that I would return to America some day, and I can visit you and rekindle our friendship. Yet in fact, I never got a chance to come to America again, not even a holiday. And who would have thought that we would meet again under such circumstances? Even more, who would have ever predicted that technology has advanced so much that humans have colonised the Milky Way, and we could make things appear and disappear with just a thought or a flick of your fingers, just like magic? No one, Alfred. Just like we never knew which card was going to come up next, we will never know what the future is like. Future is a mysterious man that we could never hope to understand; he is not known to men, not fathomable by anything, not comprehensible by human minds; and the future holds many possibilities, infinitely many, every single one that we could ever think of, and every single one that we have never imagined. Do you understand now, Alfred?"
"Yeah, I guess so," Alfred nodded thoughtfully, "but you sound like a wise old man now… Hey hey hey I was just joking!" He laughed as Arthur punched him half-heartedly in the stomach. "You're right, Arthur," he mused, "who knows what the future holds? We can hope all we like, and just wait and see how everything turns out!" Arthur nodded in agreement, inwardly smiling at how optimistic Alfred still was. Not that he was complaining; in fact, he believed that this not-so-little ball of energy would be bringing him much laughter and entertainment for the following months, and hopefully, even years.
As the two friends clasped their hands together by the window, staring silently into the vast space of the universe and the mesmerising stars, blinking and glowing brightly against the darkness, they knew that whatever the future holds, they would always be by each other's sides, through ups and downs, hopes and heartbreaks alike, forever until the end...
A/N: Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you've enjoyed it! ^^ Please do tell me what you think about this fic, comments are always more than welcome! I'd really appreciate any feedback! :D
Also, please don't hesitate to tell me if I have made any mistakes (grammatical or not) because I care an awful lot about it even if I sometimes do make quite a lot of them... ._. Constructive criticism is also welcome because I need some suggestions on how to rewrite this! :P
Okay anyway thank you so much for reading this (crappy?) fic! It means a lot to me if you would take some time to comment and let me know your thoughts as well! Until then, see you later! ^^
(P.S: sorry if there's any formatting problem, the formatting on is a pain )