Synopsis/Summary: Alfred has fallen ill to a mysterious disease and inevitably dies from it. Ivan can't seem to let him go, and Matthew finds it painful to see Ivan's futile attempts at bringing his lover back.
Please Don't Leave Me
Dreary rain pitter-pattered on the roof of the ebony limousine as Matthew stared up at the gray skies, wondering if farther above that…that was where his brother was. Letting out a soft sigh, he pulled his phone out from his pocket and dialed a number he knew by heart.
There were three rings before the line was picked up, "I-Ivan…"
"Yes, Matthew?" A sleep voice answered. Matthew inhaled shakily, wondering how to break the news.
"It's…it's about Alfred," He said, barely above a whisper. He could feel the tears coming on once again.
It was silent for a moment before a concerned voice replied, "…What about Alfred?"
This is it, Matthew thought as his mouth moved on its own accord, "He's…he's dead. The disease got him, Ivan… I-I'm sorry."
"You need to stop this Ivan! Just let him go already!" Matthew cried, tugging on Ivan's arm. The larger male pushed him away, throwing the papers on the ground and destroying the glass pencil holder that had been sitting atop the desk.
Their funder had withdrawn the money for the research! How dare they? It wasn't fair!
"I cannot! I've come all this way…" Ivan barked, unable to hold his anger as he kicked at the desk chair. Crashing could be heard as it collided with some unidentifiable office appliance.
"Ivan! Alfred's dead! We can't…it's not-" The shorter reasoned. Matthew knew this obsession with bringing Alfred back to life was already past its unhealthy level. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes as he pathetically gripped Ivan's arm.
"No! His brain functions are still working! He isn't dead, Matthew!" Ivan argued back, his violet eyes flashing dangerously. A year of depression over his lover's death was enough! He couldn't accept the fact that his beautiful sunflower was dead… He just couldn't.
Ivan was expecting to wake up one morning with Alfred by his side, curled up against him and grinning at him with sleepy eyes… Or he expected Alfred to just sit up from where his cold body was lying in the testing room and laugh, saying, "Jokes on you!"
But no…the fact that without that life support machine, Alfred's heart wouldn't be artificially beating was the truth. The truth…that hurt Ivan so dearly was that the slack face of his lover would never twist into a gleeful smile ever again. Nor would those mesmerizingly blue cerulean eyes would ever open again.
It was as if the sun had been sucked right out of Ivan's world the day Alfred F. Jones had left this plane of life a little over two years ago.
"Ivan…" Matthew whispered as he saw the glistening trails of tears appear on Ivan's face. The older man stood there, shoulders hunched over and trembling as he cried.
"Please…please… Just…just another year. I'll find a way… I'll find a way to bring my Alfred back."
Six months had come and gone. Matthew stood outside of the office, the door slightly ajar as he fixed his lab coat. Within the room, Ivan lay with his head resting on his forearms – sound asleep. Matthew stared at the other sadly before turning away.
"…Don't you understand, Ivan? He's never going to come back… But I'm right here."
When Ivan was younger, he used to suffer from nightmares quite frequently. Actually, he always had…up until he met Alfred. That was when the nightmares had stopped, and when he had actually felt happy for once in his life.
However, Alfred was gone now and as Ivan awoke from another night spent in the office of the bankrupt laboratory, he was recovering from yet another nightmare. The dull ache was in his chest again, right from the moment when he awoke… Many doctors wouldn't be able to identify what kind of pain this was, and many would just pass this pain off as some sort of nerve malfunction.
However, Ivan knew just exactly what kind of aching throb this was.
It was the ache of a heart missing its other half.
"Alfred…why did you leave me?"
Three years had come and gone in the flash of an eye. The aching throb was ubiquitous, as always, in both men as they stood in the building. Ivan stood over Alfred's still form. His skin was cold to the touch, and the blue eyes that used to be so full of life were now blank slates.
Emotionless. Dull. Lifeless…
Ivan leaned down to brush his lips against Alfred's slack ones in a parting kiss that made up for the farewell he had never been able to utter. Tears were threatening to fall again; however, Ivan pulled away before they could use gravity to their advantage and spill from his eyes.
"Matthew…" He called, taking a fleeting glance at the other before focusing his attention on Alfred's body. Wires and tubes lay in hazardous coils and piles on the cold, tiled floor of the testing room.
"Yes, Ivan?" Matthew's hesitant voice answered from the doorway.
Ivan inhaled shakily, going over his decision once more in his head before he said in a shaky voice, "S-shut the programs off…"
Matthew was taken off-guard by Ivan's sudden order. He stood, dumbfounded and flustered for a moment before replying, "W-what? But, but Ivan…That would mean-"
"I know!" Ivan said, harsher than he had intended to say. He exhaled deeply before continuing in a gentler voice, "I know what it means, Mattie… I know…"
"I-Ivan…" Sad eyes stared at Ivan as he pinched the bridge of his nose, willing the burning sensation of tears to go away. A tense silence dragged out between the two as Matthew stared at Ivan, and Ivan attempted to compose himself again.
"…It's time to let Alfred go… He belongs elsewhere now…" Ivan finally said. There was an obvious strain in his voice as Matthew watched him. A melancholic smile founds it way onto Matthew's lips as he gingerly took steps towards the other man.
"Ivan…" Matthew called softly, "Just because you're won't see him again doesn't mean he's not with you. In spirit, he'll be right beside you." He placed a hand on Ivan's forearm in a soothing manner as he looked up to the glassy violet eyes of the other.
"I know, Mattie…" Ivan replied, barely above a whisper, "I know…but thank you. Thank for your words and for being here with me when everyone else has left me…"
"Always, Ivan…" Matthew hugged Ivan carefully, "Always."
"I love you, Ivan," Alfred could feel his last remaining breaths seeping from him as he clutched the bed sheets of the hospital bed that had kept him confined for the past few months. Tears were in his eyes as he looked up at Mattie, who watched him with sorrowful eyes, "Tell him that for me, Mattie? Please?"
Matthew nodded, tears in his eyes as Alfred smiled up at him. The light in those baby blues seemed to fade as he uttered his final words, "See you…in the next life."
"-sia! Hey! IVAN!" Jolted out of his dreamlike-state, the world's largest nation opened his violet eyes to see America sitting in front of him with a grin on his face.
"Dozed off again?" The blond-haired nation asked with a soft grin tugging the corners of his lips up as he leaned down to kiss Ivan gently on the side of his face, "Don't turn into Greece now! I don't want Japan falling for you when you're mine!"
Ivan smiled warmly at the other nation, relieved that all of the horrors he had just witnessed had merely been a dream, "I would never do so intentionally, мой подсолнечника."
"Are you implying that you're too damn irresistible?" Alfred asked playfully as he sat down in the other's lap, "Because I can turn that thinking right around!"
"Whatever you wish, дорогой," Ivan whispered seductively into the other's ear, causing America to outright shudder involuntarily. The larger nation looped his arms around America's waist, burying his face into the worn leather of the other's bomber jacket, "я тебя люблю. Пожалуйста, никогда не оставишь меня."
A/N: Okay...so I was inspired to write this by this lovely piece of fanart here: h t t p : / / w w w . z e r o c h a n . n e t / 5 6 6 3 6 7
And yeah...I really don't know what else to talk about with this. ^^;; So I guess...I'll just go onto the translations? Okay, just to be clear! I have no experience in the Russian language whatsoever. It's beautiful, and I really wish to learn it. However, for now, I had to rely on the unreliable Google Translator. Therefore, if any of you lovely readers speak Russian, please tell me if I screwed up on something so I can fix it! Please and thank you!
Translations:
мой подсолнечника - My sunflower
дорогой - darling
я тебя люблю. Пожалуйста, никогда не оставишь меня. - I love you. Please don't ever leave me.
Well...R&R is ever so wonderful, so please do so! And if you haven't seen already, check out my Hetalia drabble series too! I'm taking requests via PM! Anyway, thanks for reading!