This was originally written for the Sweethearts Week Challenge on LiveJournal. What can I say? I love AUs, fantasy and Hetalia, so I decided to do this one. It was inspired by Hetalia Fantasia fanarts for most part (including Arthur's cloak, because in my option it looked soooo cool on him ^^;). Although I have to say this was not as much competing on my part as it was an excuse to write something once in a while and have some fun. But I still hope I didn't do too badly.


"It's starting to get dark. Maybe we should stop for today."

As the voice reached the ears of a young man walking on the track in a forest with tall and thick trees, his thoughts were broken, and for the first time in a while he began paying attention to his surroundings again. He always tended to drift off when walking in the silent forest with his companion like this. And indeed, the Sun had already begun setting, the fireflies had started gathering and the air was getting chillier.

The mean in question was rather youthful, probably less than 20 years of age, and not with too bad looks. His eyes were clear sky blue, and his short and straight hair dirty blonde. His hair looked slightly unruly, and his bangs were definitely too long and swept away from his face onto the left side of his forehead. One stubborn strand stuck upwards where his bangs parted from the rest of the hair, pointing towards the skies in a way that defied gravity. The youth was tall, had board shoulders and his slightly tanned skin spoke of that he spent most of his time outdoors. His clothes included a simple parchment-yellow shirt, deep blue jacket which he hadn't buttoned, dirty blue pants and boots. His name was Alfred Jones, and he was a traveller, a people's helper. A "hero" some, including Alfred himself, would say.

Alfred turned to the man walking behind him, the one who had spoken. In the dark he had to strain his eyes slightly to see him properly, as Alfred's eyesight wasn't the best. His companion was, despite obviously being a few years older, slightly shorter than him and somewhat considerably thinner. The colour of his hair was a clearer blonde than Alfred's, but the hair itself was such a ruffled mess that it looked like it hadn't been brushed for weeks. He also had the thickest eyebrows ever seen, but his incredibly green and alluring eyes almost completely made up for these faults in his appearance. He wore otherwise similar clothes as Alfred, except for that instead of a jacket he wore a very dark forest green cloak, a wizard's cloak. To Alfred, his companion was simply Arthur.

"You're probably right." Alfred agreed, setting his bag down on the ground from his back. He heard Arthur do the same with his own. Without any further words between them, they sat on the ground as Arthur began digging through his pack, and took a small jar out of it. It was labelled "Fire Powder", and as the name would suggest, it created fire on the ground technically out of nothing. It didn't even need wood to burn. Depending on the amount of it used, it burned from three to twelve hours. Arthur opened the jar, took some ember red Fire Powder into his hands and scattered it carefully on the ground. In seconds there were flames. Satisfied, he began closing the jar, but then stopped in the midway, sighing.

"We're running out of this stuff again. We'll have to get more when we get to Romanum. If only you let me use the fire spell-"

"No." Alfred said firmly, starting to go through his own things for some food, and finding a few sandwiches. He threw one over to Arthur and began munching on his own. It sure was nice to eat once in a while. "I am never going to let you set our whole surroundings on fire again."

"It was only that one time! And I managed to stop it before it hurt us, didn't I?!" He paused. "And don't talk with your mouth full. Just because we're in forest and alone doesn't mean you have to forget your manners."

"Yeah, you managed to stop it alright. After all the trees around us had burnt. No more fire spells." Alfred finished his sandwich quickly, and swallowed. "And yes, Mother."

Arthur gave him a glare, taking a bite of his own sandwich, before beginning to dig through his things again.

Honestly speaking, Alfred didn't understand why Arthur was so keen on becoming a wizard. He was so much better with music than he was with magic. As if to prove that, Arthur just then found what he had been looking for and took out his loyal guitar, which through its enchantment grew into the right size from the original tiny size it had been in Arthur's bag. Arthur took it on his lap and stared to play a soft melody with it. He did this every night when they were out like this, it was just another one of the many unspoken agreements between the two young men. Arthur's music was so calming and beautiful, it always made Alfred forget all the troubles in the world. Arthur really should be trying to become a musician rather than a wizard. But not the way he had been when they had met – waitering in a bar while playing and singing a few pieces here and there to earn more tips – but to just travel like this. The only difference would be that when they'd reach a town, everyone would welcome them and invite Arthur to play in their houses for the night.

Sadly, Alfred realised Arthur would probably have to do more singing in bars once they reached Romanum City. They were almost completely out of food, they needed to stay somewhere while they were there and they needed to buy supplies for their next task as well as more Fire Powder. And he doubted the man who had given them their newest assignment was willing to pay in advance. Most weren't. He took a mental note to search for a job himself too, this time.

"What is our task in Romanum going to be again?" Alfred asked, remembering it.

Arthur's playing ceased. He gave Alfred a glare and sighed. "God, you're hopeless. The tasks are for you, and yet I'm the one who always has to remind you about them!"

Alfred just grinned brightly. "Well, I can't be bothered with things like remembering the tasks! Besides, you're far better at remembering things and stuff. Isn't that how we've always done things? You come up with plans, and I carry them out."

Arthur gave another sigh, but said nothing more. Then he took a piece of paper out of his bag, reading the words on it briefly, to make sure he remembered the words on it correctly.

"Some nobleman in Romanum needs help apparently. Something about a missing brother or something." Arthur simply said, putting the letter away and taking up his guitar again.

Alfred smirked at him. "Do you think he'll pay us good?"

"Well, Alfred. Not good." Arthur fixed his language, sounding once more like Alfred's mother rather than a man only four years older than him. And Alfred just grinned. "And maybe, he might. If we find his brother that is."

"Come on, Artie,"-the nickname earned him another glare-"we've been in this business for two years now, and have we ever failed?" Alfred stated, his grin never fading, ever the optimist.

"Maybe not, but there's a first time for everything, and at least I hope this time we'll have at least some clues. The last task took us almost four months and I for my part don't enjoy living with just bread and water and never getting to sleep in a warm bed through most of that time." He played a few notes on his guitar, as if trying out the next song. "You should know when to give up on tasks."

"Aww, but don't you think it was worth it? I bet they had given up all hope, but we found their son! And plus, it's a great quote for recommendation, don't ya think? 'Never failed a single task'!"

"They couldn't pay us enough to eat even for a week even though we opposed all sorts of weather and bought all the needed supplies ourselves. And I hate having to work in bars to buy even bread and tea for supper. You wouldn't believe the things people do to me there."

"Hey, just bread and water would be okay. I don't even like tea."

"It's more nourishing than bare water, you git." Arthur scowled.

"Money isn't everything, Arthur."

"I know it isn't." And the tone in Arthur's voice told Alfred he really did, and that he'd better not question it. "But once...just once I'd like to go to sleep without having to worry about what we're going to eat the next day, or that are we even going to eat at all."

Alfred felt a little guilty at that, even though he knew he shouldn't, and lowered his head. He knew he hadn't chosen the easiest way of life, but that had never meant Arthur had needed to follow him around like this. Alfred did admit he enjoyed the man's company, and it was a lot better than travelling alone, but he just couldn't understand why Arthur was still by his side like this. Their tasks were never quite easy; they often faced danger and, like Arthur himself had stated, went hungry. Still, Arthur stayed and never said anything to even suggest that he wanted to leave, just that they could've chosen an easier way. Alfred never understood it, but then again, it was just one of the many things he didn't understand about the mystery that was Arthur. Because that's what Arthur was to him: a total mystery.

Alfred himself had grown up in the quiet countryside, far away from most civilization, in a small village. He had lived there in a small hut with his mother and little brother, farming the small piece of land they owned. They had been rather poor though, hardly had enough to eat, and eventually his mother had been forced to give up one of her children. It had been Alfred's brother Mattie, who Alfred couldn't even remember that well, to be given up. Alfred had been five then. He could no longer remember his brother's face, just the hot tears streaming down his face as he ran and Mattie's screams of "Al!" from the cart that took him away.

It had been by then that Alfred had realised such a life was not the one right for him. His mother, too, had since then always told him to leave the place he had grown up in when he got old enough, and Alfred had. His mother had died when he was sixteen, having been sickly for quite some time, and after the proper burial ceremonies, Alfred had fled.

He had went his way alone for the first year, travelling and doing tasks of helping people whenever he could, eventually deciding to make a living out of it. Then, on the night he turned seventeen, he had decided to celebrate his birthday with a pint or two in the bar of the city where he had been staying in at the time. That's where he'd met Arthur, a waiter and a part-time musician training to become a self-taught wizard. And right when he'd looked into his greener than green eyes, Alfred had known Arthur needed his help. He had come back the next day, and asked Arthur to leave on the road with him, even though he himself couldn't quite name why. And as surprised as he had been, and as long as it had taken Alfred to convince the other man, he had left with him.

Already during their first days together, Alfred had realised just how big of a mystery Arthur was. He was, putting it in the nicest way possible, a very clumsy with the magic he was trying to learn. You never knew when his spells might work and when not, and if they did work, you never could be sure what they would do. One time when he had been trying to summon fire on the mountains, it had started snowing instead. And he could play guitar, among with piano and harp, like an angel. This was quite odd, because those were the instruments of the rich and noble families. Unless you were a musician's child, it was highly unusual for you to know how to play even one of those said instruments. Arthur also knew the poisons and antitoxins like the back of his hand, which had proved to be quite useful. Whenever one of them had got hurt, Arthur had always managed to find the right herbs to cure the wounds quicker and spare both of them from infections. That also was nothing a child of a lower class would've known. There was also that one time, when Alfred had accidentally found a silver pendant among Arthur's things, which had had his name engraved on it. Arthur hadn't told him what it was, just that he had got it from his mother.

The pendant had been silver, the most valuable substance known in this land. It was clear Arthur wasn't some poor man looking for his luck like Alfred was. So who was he then? Alfred didn't know, and he'd never asked. He was expecting Arthur to tell him when he was ready. Still, it sometimes was quite frustrating that he didn't really know anything about the man who was supposed to be his closest companion. Hell, he didn't even know Arthur's last name, or if he even had one.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Arthur's voice broke through Alfred's musings. He felt his cheeks flush slightly, having been caught spacing out. He hadn't even noticed Arthur had started playing again, this time a softer, sadder melody. For some reason it made Alfred think of his childhood, of Mother and Mattie, and their little village. But before he could go back into thinking, Arthur cleared his throat, reminding him the shorter man was still waiting for an answer.

Of course, Alfred couldn't say he had been thinking about Arthur. That would've sounded odd no matter what way he would've put it. So he put in a little white lie. And it wasn't really a lie, he had been thinking about it too, just not when Arthur had asked:

"Err...just pondering about my childhood. I guess I can kind of understand the feelings of that guy who sent us that assignment. I used to have a brother too."

Arthur playing stopped right there, and he looked into Alfred with a surprise. "You did?"

"Yeah. His name was Mattie, but we were so poor that eventually Mother just couldn't feed us both, and she had to give him up. I still don't know whatever happened to him after that."

"I'm...sorry, I guess?" Arthur said, clearly a little lost in a situation like this, feeling awkward and not knowing what to say. But for some reason, Alfred only found him endearing like this.

"Naw, don't be sorry. I can't really even remember what he looked like, I was so little then. But I just hope that wherever he went and ended up, he's happy." He laughed humourlessly. "I sometimes wonder if Mother sent him, and not me, away because she loved him more or less than me. In a way it was an act of love and kindness, since he wouldn't have to go hungry again, but...Mattie wasn't very happy about leaving, as you can probably guess. It did take him away from us, his family, after all."

"Have you ever wished that you, you know, could see him again?" For some reason, Arthur's voice was trembling slightly as he said this. It was really so slight that if Alfred didn't spent so much time with him every day, he probably wouldn't have heard it.

"Well, obviously. It was one of the reasons I began travelling in the first place." Alfred admitted. "But of course I didn't realise how big this world really is, and Mattie could technically be just about anywhere. And I don't even know if he remembers me anymore, or if he hates me because he got sent away and I got to stay but...I still hope I could meet him somehow, someday...because, you know, we're a family?"

For some reason, those words made Arthur smile quite sorrowfully. His eyes looked a few shades darker as well. Alfred had seen him like this a few times before, like when he had asked him about that pendant of his, and they always gave him the unexplainable urge to hug him.

"Family, huh..." Arthur murmured so quietly that Alfred was quite sure he hadn't been meant to hear that, so he had the decency not to say anything more. Thus, he just waited for Arthur to get himself back together in silence.

In a moment, the green-eyed male did, but from the next words from his lips, Alfred knew this conversation wasn't over yet: "It's great you still care about him so much, even though you don't even know him...my brothers and I never got along like that."

It was Alfred's turn to be surprised. "You've got brothers too?" He hadn't really meant to ask, but the knowledge of that had caught him completely off-guard. The fact Arthur had told him about it was even more shocking.

"Yeah...I have four. But we don't get along nor see each other."

Arthur was obviously uncomfortable about this conversation, so Alfred felt he needed to put an ice-breaker in: "Wow, you've got a big family...do they all share your eyebrows?"

Arthur blinked, and his began face turning several shades of red with embarrassment and fury.

"Y-you git!" he yelled and threw his backpack at Alfred, who easily docked it. "L-let's not talk about this anymore, okay? It's late and we need to sleep and wake up early tomorrow!"

Alfred couldn't argue with that, and hadn't been planning to, so he began digging through his backpack for his sleeping bag, and after finding it, he laid it on the ground. He took off his shoes and slipped inside it, seeing Arthur do the same on the other side of the fire, but he was resting on his side, not facing him.

"Well, good night then, Arthur." Alfred wished him.

"Yeah...good night." Arthur mumbled as an answer.

Alfred laid back, and supported his head with his arms, looking at the stars in the clear sky above through the thick tree branches. Yes, Arthur was a mystery, but Alfred knew by now that it was his job to figure out that mystery. Wasn't that what heroes like himself did? They helped people like Arthur, who were obviously in some sort of distress. And it wasn't like he was in a hurry. He had all the time in the world to figure out the mystery that was Arthur.

Subconsciously Alfred began humming a lullaby his mother had used to sing to him and Mattie as small children, and he hardly realised Arthur didn't tell him to cut that out before he was near the end. And even then, Arthur didn't sound to be too serious about his demand. His voice was shaking again when he did, and looking back later, Alfred realised he had probably been crying.


Heh ^^. Writing this was kind of awesome actually, and to be frank I'm pretty happy with it. I just love AUs so much! This could easily be turned into a longer story, before or after these events, but if I know one thing about myself it's that I'm bad at committing myself to a longer story. So this is probably all. I hope you enjoyed it anyway, and that I got the characterizations okay. And yes, a random ending is random ^^;.

Yeah, Alfred didn't have glasses even though his eyesight is bad. He simply can't afford a pair. And Arthur plays guitar just because I find guitar-playing men extremely attractive XD.