The Frenchman woke that morning, startled from his sleep by a nightmare. He looked around the room in a slight panic, and, after reassuring himself that he was alone, took a few deep breaths the calm himself.
"C'était un rêve..." Francis ran a hand through his hair, pushing his bangs out of the way as he sat up. Although it had been a dream, the events which occurred within the dream were a memory of his from a while back.
It was still dark in his Parisian home, so he looked at the alarm which displayed the date as well as the time. It read 4:27am, July 28th, 2014. "No wonder zat's what I dreamt about..." Francis laid down and tried to fall asleep again, but to no avail. He sighed and glanced at the clock again. He considered calling England, wanting to talk to someone. Despite them being rivals, they were good friends, and England usually took his calls, no matter the time.
He was sure that the Brit would answer, so he picked up his phone and punched in the numbers for the man across the channel. After listening to the phone ring for what seemed like forever in the pre-dawn gloom, he heard a click as the phone was answered, followed by a grumble of "what the bloody hell do you want Francis."
Francis rolled his eyes at his rival's typical response. "J'ai fait un cauchemar..." He saw no reason to hide why he called, having known the other nation far too long for it to be held against him. He heard the other sigh as if the idea he was calling because of a nightmare was childish, only for the British man to respond with a hesitant "me too..."
"What was yours about?"
"Ludwig..."
"Oh...mine was of la guerre..." He took another deep breathe before continuing. "I was stuck in ze middle of No-Man's Land...my men from ze trench were eizer dead ou dying...et I was trapped under barbed wire zat was blasted by a shell... I could see ze boche soldiers approaching from ze ozer side, et 'oped zey would just pass me by..." During the retelling of his dream, the images returned to his mind.
He had watched helplessly as the Germans walked among the bodies, looking for survivors. He prayed they wouldn't notice him. Much to his dismay, a few soldiers were heading in his direction, having seen him struggling a few moments before. They shot him three times in the stomach, leaving after thinking he was bound to bleed out. He put his hand over where they had shot, recalling the searing pain from the bullets lodging themselves inside him. During this, Francis almost missed Arthur's quiet response.
"Hm ... I can sympathize ... I suppose"
"Ouais...I can't believe it's already been 100 years...I still remember en juin of zat year quand Austria et 'ungary's archduke was assassinated...I expected a war, just not one to zat scale...I don't zink anyone was..."
"You've definitely got that right..." He trailed off.
"It's also 'ard to believe zat was l'Allemagne's first war...it was a terrifying ordeal..." Francis paused, thinking about the four horrible years of the war, and how different it had been from ones previous. "La Grande Guerre...it was supposed to be ze 'war to end all war', only to be bested 25 ans plus tard..."
"indeed...reckless child..." The Brit snorted quietly.
"Oui...'oo would 'ave expected 'e would become Europe's economic strong'old?"
"For now." Arthur challenged, definitely more awake-sounding now. Francis laughed lightly.
"I didn't mean anyzing by zat, I was just-" his sentence was cut off by a yawn, big enough to make his eyes water.
"I know... I know...now...how's about we get some sleep now, shall we?"
He nodded, despite the fact that England wouldn't be able to see it. "Ouais...merci Cher..."
"De rien..." He hesitated for a while, and then "Je t'aime..."
Francis smiled as he settled down in his bed to sleep. "Je t'aime aussi mon petit lapin." Francis hung up, and was soon back to sleep.
TRANSLATIONS:
C'était un rêve - It was a dream
J'ai fait un cauchemar - I had a nightmare
la guerre - the war
ou, et - or, and
boche - A nickname the French used for the Germans, meaning 'blockhead'
en juin - in June
l'Allemagne - Germany
La Grande Guerre - The Great War
25 ans plus tard - 25 years later
Ouais...merci Cher - yeah...thank you dear
De rien - you're welcome/ it's nothing
Je t'aime - I love you
Je t'aime aussi mon petit lapin - I love you too my little rabbit