Joan

A/N

So I'm absolutely obsessed with the head cannon that Canada can see ghosts, so this story was created! Well, the title is pretty straight forward. Five ghosts Matthew will meet, and then I'll throw in a bonus if this story gets enough popularity. I will update based on how many reviews/follows I get. Well, enough talking. Buckle in, because it's going to be a wild ride!

Joan of Arc

For the short period of time Matthew had lived with Francis, he had so far adored him. Francis was always smiling, he smelled of French wine, and he taught Mathew how to cook. He really couldn't have asked for anything more.

But even Matthew, as young as he was, had to admit, he really didn't know too much about Francis. He knew that he hated a man he called "Angleterre" (and sometimes "Black Sheep" and "Bastard"). He had two other friends he consistently went out drinking with. He also had a book he kept hidden on the bottom shelf that Matthew wasn't supposed to look at. And that was really all Matthew had to say about his older brothers past that he had attempted to piece together.

Except the book, of course. Matthew was absolutely convinced that all of his questions would be answered if he just opened it and took a peak. But whenever he brought it up around Francis, he was quickly discouraged.

"Francis," Matthew asked him while eating breakfast one morning.

"Why can't I look in the book on the bottom shelf? What's inside it?"

The corners of Francis' mouth quickly down despite his attempts to smile.

"Ah, Matthew, that book is a story for another day."

Matthew, however, wouldn't be persuaded.

"But Francis", he whined. "Can't I just look? For a little bit?"

"There are things in there that you wont quite understand just yet. You can look when you are older, I promise you."

And that was the end of the discussion. Matthew didn't mention the book for a while (in order to avoid a full-blown argument), but he never completely forgot about it.

So when, a couple of months after this discussion, Francis told Matthew that he was going out with his friends and he wouldn't be back for a couple of hours, could you really blame Matthew for letting his curiosity get the best of him?

He waited for a full ten minutes to make sure that Francis wasn't coming back before he made his way to the bottom shelf in the living room. He took the dusty leather-bound book and sat in one of Francis' oversized armchairs. He blew the dust off of the cover, took a breath, and opened the book.

And he was immediately disappointed. To be honest, he wasn't sure what he expected to find. He was greeted with old letters that had been constantly folded and re-folded. He could make out a few of the words, such as "God", "Amor", and "Jeanne." The rest was too faded to read clearly. Matthew sighed, came to terms with the fact that he wasn't about to find anything incredible, and shut the book, only for a small photo to slip out from the pages. He picked it up and observed.

The picture depicted two people, a man and a woman, standing side by side, both smiling and in love. Matthew recognized the man almost instantly. It was Francis, yet he looked somehow younger. Matthew could never picture him being any younger than he already was, but he had more pressing matters to focus on. The woman. He had never seen her before. She was young and blond. And pretty. Very pretty. Matthew tried to memorize her face. Caught up in a trance, he didn't notice the voice coming from across the room. Nor did he notice the figure coming closer and closer until it was directly next to him.

"Looking at my photo?"

Matthew nearly fell out of his chair. It was over. Had been caught breaking the rules and looking in the stupid book. He looked up.

"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done it, please don't be mad-" it took him a few seconds of babbling to realize that Francis wasn't the figure he was looking at. It- or she, rather- was a woman. A pretty blond woman that Matthew could have sworn that he had seen before. The mystery woman spoke again.

"The picture. Do you like it?" Matthew looked from her eyes to the photo in his hand, then back to her, then back to the picture. Realization dawned on him as he nearly fell out of his chair again.

"... This is you."

The woman looked surprised to hear him respond.

"Yes, it is."

"...You're very pretty."

The mystery woman smiled and laughed.

"Thank you, that's very sweet of you."

"Um... Miss? Who are you? Did you know Francis?"

She looked sad, but smiled for Matthew's sake.

"Yes, we were... friends."

"Oh... why aren't you friends anymore?"

Before he received his response, he heard the front door open. Matthew and his mysterious new friend looked at each other in shock before he stuffed the photo into the book and practically threw the dusty item on the bottom shelf before standing up and turning to greet Francis.

"Francis!"

"Ah, Matthieu! Were you... talking to someone?"

Matthew beamed.

"Yeah, I was talking to this lady..." but when he turned around, she had completely vanished. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, but to no avail. Where had she gone?

"...who? What lady?"

"I...uh..." Matthew had heard stories of people seeing things that weren't really there (like that Angleterre-black-sheep-bastard guy), and the last thing Matthew wanted was to be placed under that category, so he quickly covered his trail.

"Oh... I guess it was a dream."

"Ah, tired? Well, I suppose it's late... how about you go to sleep?"

Matthew couldn't be happier to agree and rush off to his room. Maybe it was a dream after all...

He didn't see the mystery woman again for a solid few weeks, and he honestly assumed he had fallen asleep while reading a book and dreamt about the woman because she was in the photo. So when he was waken up in the middle of the night by a voice he hadn't heard for weeks, he nearly screamed.

"Shh child, don't be afraid... Your'e safe."

"I don't understand... who are you?"

"I... it's so much more complicated than that."

Matthew nearly screamed in frustration.

"Can't you give me a name?"

"...Jeanne d'Arc."

In his state of shock, Matthew couldn't help but be blunt. He had heard the name on only one occassion, but he was pretty sure of one thing.

"But you're dead." The lady, this "Jeanne" woman, flinched slightly.

"Yes."

"So you're a... ghost?"

"Yes, child."

Matthew began to hyperventilate, sure he was locked into some sort of nightmare.

"But you can't be a ghost, you're standing right here... I don't understand. How can I see you?"

"Some things can't be explained that simply, dear."

Matthew didn't have the energy to fight her. He wanted to go back to sleep and realize this was all a dream in the morning.

"Why are you visiting me?"

"I was checking up on Francis, and then you saw my photo, and started talking to me... Could you blame me for being curious?"

"I... I don't know. I just wanna go to sleep. I don't want to be like the eyebrow man."

"I'm sorry, who, dear?"

"The eyebrow man. He sees stuff that isn't there, and everybody thinks he's crazy for it."

"Oh... you mean Arthur."

"Is that his name? Who is he? And how did you die, if you don't mind me asking? Are you here often? And how did you know Francis?"

Jeanne smiled at the child's sudden burst of energy and questions, but she knew the longer she stayed, the more complicated the situation would become (not that it wasn't complicated enough already).

"Well, I must be going."

"Wait, you can't leave now! I have so many questions!"

"Shh, child, you don't want to wake up Francis. Don't worry, I'll always be with you... I must be going now."

"But wait..."

"And please, don't tell anybody you saw me here. I don't want anything to be difficult for you, it seems that Francis really cares for you."

"Ok, I won't!"

"Promise?"

"Yes, I promise!"

"Then, goodbye. Until we meet again!"

"Jeanne, don't go..." But the woman disappeared before his eyes. Matthew looked around his room to make sure she was definitely gone before he went to sleep, but he didn't sleep a wink, nor did he mention his encounter to Francis the next morning, or week, or year. Besides, nobody would ever believe him...

But she was only the first ghost Matthew met, and there were many more to come.

A/N And that's the chapter! As always, criticisms are always welcome! My other story will be updated next Friday if anyone's wondering. Thanks for reading!