PROMPT:
America and the Marquis de Lafayette being friends during the Revolutionary War. They could disobey orders together, wax on liberty and equality together, and infuriate General Cornwallis together. Romance/sexual tension would be undesirable for this anon.
Bonus 1) George Washington is there/has a cameo/is mentioned.
Bonus 2) France is there/has a cameo/is mentioned.
Bonus 3) Actual historical happenings are referenced/referred to.
Hmmm head canon...that Lafayette and America acted like brothers. If one of them had an idea, the other would make it happen with them. So they would have gotten into trouble together and helped each other out if they got sick or injured. I don't really have a head canon because the history makes it all very obvious how they would have gotten along! Lots of historians see the relationship between Lafayette and Washington as father and son but I think the documentary covers that too. So if you do a little research, you should be fine! =)
The Marquis de Lafayette set aside his quill with a sigh. Adrienne would not be happy to hear that he had been shot at the Battle of Brandywine. The cause was surely just and worth all manner of sacrifice, but Adrienne did worry. He heated some wax and sealed the letter, setting it to one side of his desk. At the door came a knock—a familiar code that set a smile tugging at the Marquis's mouth.
"Come in, Alfred," he called, and Alfred came in. His usual good humor seemed a bit disturbed. Worry wrinkled his brow, and he hung back at the door, unusually reticent. If the Marquis had been able to properly stand, he would have embraced him and kissed his cheeks to cheer him, as he usually did with friends.
"Are you all right?" Alfred asked. The Marquis shook his leg with a snort.
"I managed the retreat, and I'll soon be back in the thick of it," the Marquis answered, grinning. Alfred looked unconvinced. "There's nothing to worry about, Alfred."
"If you think I'm the only one who's worried, you may be underestimating General Washington," Alfred replied, sitting as the Marquis gestured to the bed. "He's taken a liking to you."
The Marquis was personally rather touched to hear this; he held General Washington in the greatest esteem. It was true that General Washington had taken him into the small group of trusted fellows he called his family, but the General was not one for ostentatious displays of affection.
"I will prove to you both that I am truly in good health," the Marquis insisted, but Alfred was pulling a package from his coat, turning it over in his hands. "What have you got there?"
"If you're really feeling better, I suppose that you don't need this," Alfred smirked. The Marquis was torn between curiosity and stubbornness; the package was wrapped in a coarse cloth and rather small. The Marquis held out his hand and waited. As expected, Alfred was unable to resist, and grinned as the Marquis began to open the bundle.
Into his palm rolled a small locket; within was a portrait of Adrienne opposite his two young daughters, Henriette and Anastasie, both still babies. He ran a finger over the glass, a wistful smile on his face.
"I've written her a letter," he told Alfred. "I've already sealed it, or I would tell her about the wonderful gift I've received from my dearest friend."
Alfred blushed, but the concern seemed to drift, forgotten, from his expression. The Marquis much preferred to see Alfred grinning.
"I thought it'd cheer you up while you're resting," Alfred said. "I'm glad you like it."
"I am sure that Monsieur Bonnefoy will find it an especially romantic notion if I carry it into battle," the Marquis mused, almost laughing. Alfred did laugh—the boisterous sound seemed to the Marquis well-befitting such a hopeful nation. The Marquis had often wondered what it would be like to be ageless, to be a manifestation of a land and its changing peoples. What would happen to Alfred were the war unsuccessful? No—surely liberty would prevail in the end, no matter how long the struggle endured.
"The hope you inspire for liberty and equality will spread throughout the whole world," the Marquis said, trying to blot out the unfortunate thought of his best friend vanishing.
"I hope so," Alfred said. "But equality's a long way off even here." Alfred shared his opinions on the slave trade, though others resisted such change. "It'll happen, though," Alfred said, squeezing the Marquis's shoulder. "I'll see it through."
"Don't talk as if I'm dying," the Marquis replied, grinning. "I'm just twenty!" He knew that, to Alfred, they were all of them dying, and much too quickly, but he felt that he was in the prime of his youth. "I have another fifty years in me yet."