Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Kuni no Alice series. I do, however, own the concept of Brie who will be an upcoming character in a Hetalia/Kuni no Alice crossover I'm planning.

BTW, Brie is an abbreviation for this person's actual name, which is Gabriela. Can you guess which nation she represents?

Hint: she is one of Spain's former colonies.

Of Selfish Love

"The kind of love you demand from others, Alice, is selfish."

There was no trace of emotion in Brie's voice when she told Alice quite frankly what she thought of Alice's opinion on love. No accusation. No anger. Just a neutral tone of voice; the kind you used whenever you were repeating facts from memory or stating observations of no importance. Though to say that Brie was being callous would be false since there was also a gentleness underlining her words. It was a truth, but no one said the truth had to be told without tact.

Yet to the girl that the statement was directed at, it still felt like a slap to the face.

Despite seeing the hurt and betrayal in Alice's beautiful turquoise eyes, Brie continued on regardless of the fact that what she was about to say could destroy their friendship no matter how short lived it was. Red-brown eyes stared on ahead at the first foreigner as Brie spoke again.

"Wanting to be considered special by someone isn't unusual. Especially in the eyes of the person they love. No one wants to be second best, after all." And there was nothing wrong with that; in fact, settling for second best when it came to the dating scene was considered blasphemy because women deserved to be number one in their boyfriend or spouse's respective eyes.

Or that's what they said anyways; Brie wouldn't know because she had never been on the dating scene before. Not once in her centuries long existence and she didn't think that was going to change any time soon.

"But to want to be so special in that person's eyes to the point that they can't live without you?" Brie closed her eyes. "That is so selfish; why would you wish such a fate on someone? Particularly if that someone is the person you love above all else in the world?"

The grief of losing a loved one was no foreign concept to her; particularly when she hadn't even gotten over losing someone she came to cherish as a good friend during that incident years ago. But should she fall one day, Brie knew she would want her friends (the few she had left) to move on and continue with their lives. To keep her in their memory, but not be weighed down by the guilt of her being dead.

But that was exactly what Alice wanted.

For someone who claimed that she wanted nothing to do with love because of a past incident involving her ex-boyfriend falling head over heels in love with Alice's older sister Lorina (who she frequently described as being perfect), Alice was someone who strongly craved and desired love with a passion that Brie had seen in only few others. To the point that the love she wanted over anything else in the world was pretty much a curse.

What Alice desired above anything else in the world was co-dependence on a very unhealthy level.

Brie's head jerked harshly to the side as Alice's palm made contact with her cheek. Because she was expecting that and pretty much deserved whatever retaliation Alice decided to throw at her for her criticism, Brie did not bother with avoiding the slap. When Brie looked at Alice again, ignoring the stinging sensation on the side of her face, she was greeted by the sight of tears spilling from the first foreigner's eyes and an angry glare.

"Take that back." Alice snarled, raising her hand again; a silent threat that she would hit Brie again if she didn't do as she said. When Brie didn't say anything, Alice followed up on the silent threat.

"You can hit me all you want, Alice." Brie said, her fingers lightly stroking the swollen area where she was hit a second time. "But I will not take back my words. Any of them. Loving someone is natural. But wanting them to remain in love with you after you're gone and wallow in grief for the rest of their lives until they're nothing but a shadow of their formerselves?"

A sad smile crossed Brie's face.

"You can be very cruel when you want to Alice."

And I'm done!

This bunny came to fruitation in my head after reading a post on tumblr and has been bothering me since then. So I decided to get onto the computer and type this up for your entertainment.

I guess you could say this would be someone calling Alice out on her high standards of love and romance.

Tell me what you think!