Prologue
"Why?"
"I told you already, you daft. I need some alone time, that's all."
"Oh, please. Hey, where are you going?"
"Wherever I want to, you noisy little git! Now back off!"
America scratched the back of his head, unable to quite accept England's short explanation. "Alone time?" he thought confusedly. "Yeah right, like he doesn't have enough of those already."
As America pondered over England's mysterious vacation plan somewhere, England already dashed off the meeting room. He walked briskly, checking the contents of his folders to make sure that every single paperwork from the world meeting was there. He wouldn't be able to handle it if his effort at noting every single word from the presentations at the meeting were wasted away because of his own mere carelessness. "Unlike that brat America, at least I have responsibility," he grumbled as he inserted the card key to open the door to his hotel room.
It had been three days since the start of the yearly World Meeting; every single representative from all countries in the world gathered in the hosting country to discuss about current issues such as global warming. Last year, it had been America's turn to host the World Meeting, yet this year it was England's turn to be generous and be a good host. Despite the fact that he hated to have so many strangers cooped up in his beloved London, England became an extremely hospitable gentleman for his guests; providing exclusive facilities such as five-stars hotels and a grand hall for the meeting. After all, he didn't want anyone to think that he was inhospitable.
While he packed his bags and suitcase, England thought about the past three days. It was spectacularly tiring, having to organize all those countries' facilities. He had to organize the hotel, the meeting room, the food... But in exchange, the meetings had been quite pleasant. He had successfully ignored a certain American's jibes and teasing and had made several new friends and deals with other countries. The deals matters the most, of course, but it is always nice to have new friends, especially since he rarely had new ones.
Now that all those tiring World Meeting business is done, it is time for him to finally relax. For the sake of the meeting, he even had to stay at the hotel to make sure that everything goes on as planned, despite the fact that his home was located in London as well. England zipped his travel bag; it was finally time for him to go to the special place he had planned to visit after all the World Meeting shit.
I'm all at sea
Where no one can bother me
Forgot my roots
If only for a day
I inhaled the clean, warm sea breeze. The wind whipped my choppy hair off, it felt really nice. I stared up at the sky; an endless dome of atmosphere decorated with patches of soft clouds. The sun shone brightly; its light warming up my body from head to toe. I closed my eyes for a while, enjoying the relaxing atmosphere with glee. Far below me, the endless beach of Cornwall stretched like a blue and white ribbon. I'm home, at last.
Just me and my thoughts sailing far away
Like a warm drink it seeps into my soul
Please just leave me right here on my own
Later on you could spend some time with me
If you want to
All at sea
Once every year, I came back to this beach; my true and only home. Sure, I love to stay in London, but the city life was never really fit for me. It was too busy, too tiring, and – particularly – too cooped up. I felt like I was caged in there; yet, as my country's representative it is my duty to stay there all year to help with my government. But thankfully, I could always go back here once every year.
I had a vacation home here in Cornwall; in some obscure beach in the coastal line. It was always just me; alone, free, not bounded by restrictions of my duties. I can do whatever I like, and nobody can mess around with that. Nobody even knew that I had this house, except for some trusted friends like Kiku. Of course, I never told Alfred about it. I told him once when he was little, but he must've forgotten about it. If he had remembered about this place, even my last hiding place will be useless.
It's not like I really don't want him to know about it that badly. In fact I had thought about showing him this place; to share my one precious thing together with him. But not now; not on my special day. Today, all I wanted is to be alone and enjoy the sea.
I'm all at sea
Where no one can bother me
I sleep by myself
I drink on my own
Don't speak to nobody
I gave away my phone
I stared at the wide night sky above me; a million stars twinkled like shining fireflies. The summer breeze blew gently, carrying a dozen smells with it – fresh new grass, salty sea water... I inhaled the content of the glass within the grasp of my hand; the delicious taste of ale caressed my tongue delicately. Sighing contently, I sat on the soft patch of grass, watching the sea splashed and whirled below the rocky cliff. Sprays of sea water burst up high as the waves collided with the rocks below, filling the air with the delicious smell of sea water.
Suddenly, something vibrated in the pocket of my pants. I rummaged my pocket and pulled my phone. It was one of those new types of phones – the ones youth nowadays called smartphone. The title perplexed me, since how could a mere phone be smart? A phone can only be as smart as its user, that's for sure. Anyway, my boss had given me one of those on my last birthday. It was called... Blackberry or something like that, I forgot. I would be much happier if he just gave me a new set of teacups or maybe one of those knitting books, but no. He had to gave me that damn phone that I don't even like.
Right now, the phone was buzzing like an angry wasp. Sighing impatiently, I pressed the button to check what the hell made the thing all buzzing like this. Oh, somebody had sent me a message through BBM – BlackBerry Meddlesome or something like that? It was Alfred aka HamburgerHERO. God, I hate his username.
HamburgerHERO:
Iggy where the fuck r u?
I sighed. If I answered the message, Alfred will probably – no, he definitely will – bombardier me with more questions, so I merely shut down my phone and shoved it back into the depth of my pocket. I was tempted to throw it over the cliff, but I knew my boss would kill me if I did. I chuckled as I emptied the content of the glass. I burped contently as I lay down on my back on the warm grass. I slept with the lullaby of the waves and the caress of the gentle sea breeze.
Like a warm drink it seeps into my soul
Please just leave me right here on my own
Later on you could spend some time with me
If you want to
All at sea
I'm worried. Arthur had not answered my call, my messages, and my text messages for more than eight hours. This just can't be. Did something happen to him? I tried to ask his boss, but I was unable to ask him about Arthur since my boss had hissed at me first to mind my behaviour and stop acting like a big baby.
"Arthur is a country like yourself, Alfred. He had his own business to mind about," my boss had said impatiently. "In fact, there must be times when he got irritated by you childish behaviour too. So let him be; he's probably off somewhere for vacation."
I pouted crossly; no one in this world deserves to call me a baby, including my own boss. I am not a baby! I am a hero! And a hero should help people in need, like Arthur! But was he really in need? Maybe he is on vacation after all? But why won't he answer my calls then? Something must have happened to him!
While I brooded over it, I accidentally bumped onto Japan, who was walking to the opposite direction from the end of the corridor. Weird, I thought I only bumped to him lightly, but Japan actually fell sprawled on the floor. Feeling guilty, I reached my hand to Kiku and pulled him up briskly.
"Are you okay, Kiku?" I asked, my cheeks reddening in embarrassment. God, what kind of hero who bumped into people carelessly like that?
"Yes, I am okay, Alfred-san. Are you..?"
"Yes, I am pretty much okay," I grinned widely, covering traces of my concern over Arthur.
Kiku frowned at me, and said, "No, you're not. I can see that."
"Oh."
"Pardon me. I shouldn't have said that to you," Kiku blushed slightly as he dusted his shirt awkwardly. "I should get going... My flight will take off in a few hours..."
"No, no, it's okay. Look, do you know where Arthur is?" I blurted to Kiku just as he was about to dash off somewhere.
"Arthur-san?" Kiku furrowed his eyebrows as he pronounced Arthur's name in that funny way of his. Suddenly, a look of understanding passed his feature briefly. "Umm, sorry, I don't know. I really should go now."
I frowned, and pulled my best kicked-puppy look. "Aww come on, tell me, Kiku! Aren't we friends?" I pouted, feigning teary eyes. "Tell me where Arthur is!"
"I'm sorry, Alfred-san. But that thing is a confidential business between Arthur-san and me. He asked me personally to never speak of it to anyone," Kiku said stiffly, brushing his jet black hair awkwardly. "Now, if you'll excuse me..."
As Kiku dashed off, I stared at his back regretfully. I can't believe that Arthur had told Kiku about his whereabouts, and Kiku won't tell me about it either. Suddenly, my phone started to scream my favourite ringtone – a song called Hamburger Street – causing me to break off my ponderings. Oh it was a text message from my boss. He said I could take my time in England for a while. Go on vacation, perhaps. He already returned to America, but he already left me some money on my hotel room in London.
As I was about to text him back to say that I'd rather return to America as soon as possible than staying in this gloomy country for any moment longer, suddenly I realised that there was a new message on my BBM. I must've didn't heard it because of my short conversation with Kiku. I pushed the buttons on my phone swiftly; only to find out that it was a message from Arthur, aka ArthurKirkland. Geez, his username was so... Business-like.
ArthurKirkland:
Alfred, I'm off on vacation. Don't call me or message me or text me. Thank you.
Oh, great. He really is on vacation after all. And I am on vacation too. That means I'm free to search for Arthur in this wide island of Great Britain.
Now I need you more than ever, I need you more than ever, now
You don't need it every day
But sometimes don't you just crave
To disappear within your mind
I watched as the beautiful scenery of Cornwall beaches unfold before my eyes. It was beautiful; fine golden sand stretched for miles, kissed by sparkling blue waves and the hot summer sun. The train sped past the unbelievably amazing scenery; I never thought that England had places like this. I always thought that England was only a place where it rains all the time.
I cursed myself for my stupidity; England is an island after all. It's common sense that it must have beaches like this. After about 4 hours of trip from London, finally the train slowed as it entered the train station. You might've wondered why I chose this obscure village in Cornwall of all places in The Great Britain to start looking for Arthur. Well, I don't know about that myself. I just felt that somehow, this is the place where Arthur will always be whenever I need him.
As the sound of the whistle faded and the train sped off, I found myself standing on the platform of the train station. I'm practically nowhere; I've always had trouble with directions, especially when I'm stranded in another country beside my own. But strangely, I was not worried about getting lost at all; somehow, I knew that even when I'm lost here, I will be okay. I didn't know why, but this place felt like home to me. It felt familiar somehow.
Just as I was about to get off the train station to find my way to the nearest village, suddenly an incredibly familiar voice greeted me.
"Alfred..?"
You never know what you might find
So come and spend some time with me
We will spend it all at sea
I can't believe that git actually managed to find me here. Here, of all places! For God's holy sake, had I not chosen an obscure enough place for my vacation? Perhaps I should've chosen somewhere near Timbuktu next time!
I continued to grumble and mumble as Alfred followed me awkwardly, staring at his feet as if he never found anything as fascinating as his toes. "Why are you here, Alfred?" I barked at him irritably. "I thought I had said that I'm on vacation right now?"
America flinched at my harsh voice. Good, after so long of him looking down at me, finally it's my time to look down on him instead.
"Well, I was sort of... Looking for you..." He said in a tiny voice, fidgeting as he did so.
I sighed exasperatedly. But one thing tickled my mind. "How did you find me here?" I asked him curiously.
Cautiously, as if he was afraid that I might bark at him again, he said, "I don't know, I just felt that this is the right place to look at."
I cocked my left eyebrow. Well, well; that obnoxious git actually remembered something after all, eh? Maybe he's not as daft as I thought. "Well, since you're already here, you might as well stay at my vacation house," I said absentmindedly.
"REALLY?" he shouted so loud that I nearly tripped myself on the rocky path.
"Yeah, now stop yelling, you git. I came here to find peace, not to listen to your whining," I grumbled slightly, but a smile started to form on my lips. Around us, the sea breeze started to blew gently, messing up my choppy hair. The sound of the waves in the beach down below the cliffs accompanied our footsteps as we walked toward a white cottage on the end of the short cliff.
Like a warm drink it seeps into my soul
Please just leave me right here on my own
Later on you could spend some time with me
If you want to
All at sea
"Now, Artie. Would you mind telling me why you've chosen this place for your vacation?"
I cocked my eyebrow. We were sitting on the soft grass patches that I sat at last night after we had a nice meal at the village. The sun was shining brightly, and down below the sea water splashed merrily. I closed my eyes, enjoying the peaceful surroundings around us. "I don't suppose you remembered anything about my history, do you?" I taunted Alfred, smiling slightly.
"No way, I'm not that stupid!" Alfred pouted childishly, his sky blue eyes were as clear as the summer sky above us. "I knew that you were a pirate once, and that your empire was one of the greatest in the old world."
I smiled at his answer. "Now, that's the answer, Alfred," I said calmly.
"Huh?" he stared at me confusedly.
"Ever since I was little, the sea had always been a part of me," I explained as I stared dreamily to the distant crashing waves in the middle of the sea. "I was born an island nation, that's to start."
"Then?" Alfred asked inquisitively, his sky blue eyes stared at me.
"Back in my youth, like you said, I was a pirate. That made me exceptionally close to the sea," I continued my explanations. "And, as you know, my fleet once roamed the seven seas in this world. We were the ruler of the sea, once."
I stared back at Alfred; my emerald green eyes met his sky blue ones. "Do you understand now, Alfred?" I asked calmly. "When I came here, I could feel a little like in the olden days, back when I was still young. You might call me an old man just to joke, but I am old. Sometimes, it just feels good to reminisce about your youth, you know?"
"But you wouldn't understand, I guess. You're still too young. You're just a spoilt brat, that's what you are," I grinned tauntingly at him.
His face blushed like a boiled shrimp, and he started yelling. "I am not a brat! I'm a hero!" he shouted as his blush grew redder.
I laughed as I continued to tease him some more. For once I felt young again, especially because I had this little spoilt brat beside me. Hell, who wouldn't feel a lot younger whenever he was around? I laughed loud as Alfred pouted childishly. I lied down on my back as the sea breeze once again whirled all around us, carrying memories of distant past – journeys and forgotten days from the old times, and somehow I felt ready for whatever that might came for me in the future. Especially with that childish brat who will always be bothering me by my side.
A/N: Constructive critics greatly appreciated, and no flaming please. This is my first songfic, so I would be very grateful if you point out my mistakes here and there. Thanks!
By the way, the song I used for this fic was Jamie Cullum's All At Sea. Love his songs! ^^