He was falling.
He hit the water.
He was still falling.
Arthur had been sitting in his favorite spot He was sitting on his favorite branch, in his favorite tree,over his favorite pond, in his favorite clearing. He was reading one of his favorite books. He had sit in the same spot a hundred times before, but this time was different. This time the branch snapped.
The limb splashed below him as Arthur fell. He hit the water and continued to fall. He thrashed his arms furiously but to no avail. There was just no way around it, he couldn't swim. He squeezed his eyes shut as he sank, cursing himself. He should have known better, but he had sat on that branch so many times before.
As he was running out oxygen he was barley aware of another splash come from the shore. He was sinking, then he was rising. He sputtered for air as his head broke the surface and he was hauled up and placed on the shore. Now that he wasn't choking for air he slowly opened his eyes and was met by the sky blue ones of his savior. Francis.
"Are you okay, lapin?" He asked as he pulled himself out of the water to sit by the shaking young boy he had dived in to save. "Mon cher..." He was cut of by the young boy throwing himself on him in a hug, sobbing at the same time. Surprised, Francis hugged back holding him tight. He could tell that the fall had really shaken the poor kid up for he would under normal circumstances never have hugged him, or shown his tears. Noticing now how cold he himself has in spite of the hug he figured that Arthur was just as cold, if not more.
Arthur was crying, then he was rising yet again as he was lifted into the older boys arms. "I think we can both agree that if we stay out here much longer we'll both catch cold." Francis said as he started walking in the direction of civilization. As they made there was back Arthur looked up to see Francis' face. When the french boy looked down to meet his gaze he looked away and blushed. "Thank you." He mumbled.
"What was that, cher?" Had he heard right?
His blush deepened. "I said thank you frog, for saving me." The last part trailed off into a quiet whisper. The taller blond's lips curved into a small smile. He leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of the smaller boy's wet head. "You're welcome, mon amour." Arthur just scowled.
As they neared town Arthur had fallen asleep In the french boys arms. Smiling at how cute he looked when he slept, his smile faded at the thought of how lucky he was to be there to save the small child. What if he hadn't been there, no, he didn't want to think about it. Carefully he leaned in and whispered in the young boys ear, not caring if it was heard or not, "Arthur, mon petit lapin, I promise to always be there to catch you if you fall, Je t'aime." He smile again, glad he had gotten to say it out loud, even to a deaf ear but then, just barley loud enough to hear, "I love you to, git. Thank you."