This fanfic is about the marriage of Mary I or England and Phillip II of Spain. It was almost the anniversary of the event, so I decided to write this fic for it (since I've been wanting to write Spain/England for quite a while). Anyways, I hope that you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
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It had all happened on a very similar 25th of July, only then it was 1554. Today it was the anniversary of that day, when Mary the First had married Phillip of Spain, soon to be Phillip the Second of Spain. I can still remember everything that happened that day, the peaceful and slightly tense atmosphere, the celebrations that took place, the music and even the smell of expensive aromatic herbs that seemed to follow me around throughout all of that day. I had tried to forget everything about that day several times already, but with no result. It seemed like every time that I looked at the Cathedral of Winchester all the memories would come flooding back, rendering me unable to forget a single detail.
It still seemed like it had all happened yesterday. I could still feel the nervousness that I had felt then and even taste the flavour of the delicacies that had been served. It really seemed like it had happened yesterday, in every sense of the word. I let out a loud sigh as I tore my eyes away from the imposing and magnificent cathedral. Why was I here anyways? I had better things to do than wasting time here while remembering old times! I sat on a nearby bench, knowing that I wouldn't be able to get all the events of that day out of my mind for quite some time.
At that time Spain was the greatest country in the world, and had many lands in the New World and in Europe, the Empire on which the sun never set. His armies were the strongest and most envied, and his power was comparable to that of the very Roman Empire. I, on the other hand, wasn't that powerful yet. I was just a growing power, like all the rest. A power not to be underestimated, but that wasn't nearly as powerful as I would be in the future. The Italian Wars(1) had been going on for quite a while then, which had seen the unlikely alliance of me and Spain against many other countries, in between which was France. The Tudors governed England, and Spain's Tercios(2) were one of the most feared military units in the world. The marriage had happened for numerous reasons, and I couldn't forget a single one of them. It had been a political marriage for Phillip, like all marriages usually were at that time. However, for Mary it had been mostly about love.
I sighed again, taking a deep breath. I looked again at the cathedral and closed my eyes, managing to ignore the constant walk of tourists around me, and allowed myself to be taken back to that day by my memories.
-.-.-flashback-.-.-
I was standing quite near the royal pair in the cathedral, surrounded by many English nobles. On the other side were the nobles that had accompanied Philip, wearing expressions that betrayed none of their inner feelings as the vows were spoken by Philip and Mary. I was trying to be as concentrated as possible on the pair directly in front of the altar, desperately trying to seem and look calm, and failing miserably due to the stares that the green-eyed Spanish country constantly gave me. He hadn't had to come here! Why did he have to be here? We weren't enemies, but it was known that we weren't friends either. He had told me as soon as he arrived that he wanted to be present at the future king of his country's marriage, which was completely unnecessary. I clenched my fist suddenly, annoyed at Spain's continuous stares. Couldn't the bastard just keep his eyes for himself?
Mary's expression as he said "I do" was one that showed the deep love and devotion that she harboured for the heir to the Spanish throne. It was something that deeply contrasted with the expression that the Spanish man had when he said those very same words. She was obviously in love with the man, something that hadn't changed no matter how many advices I had given her about marriage and society along with reasons not to marry the heir to the Spanish throne. She had instead remained incredibly keen in taking the sacred vows that would bind her to him and him to her for the rest of their lives, even though it was painfully obvious that for Philip this was only a political marriage. He had even stated that he didn't have any carnal desires for her. It was as if she didn't see this, as if the child that I had watched transform into a fully grown woman was so hopelessly in love with the man that she was completely unable to see the truth of the situation. All of this had made me incredibly motivated to protect her from any damage that she could suffer from him, damage that could only come in the form of the heart-breaking truth. Spain would pay if any of this happened to her.
As they kissed I looked in another direction, not being entirely comfortable with the situation. The air that filled the cathedral was strangely cool, cool enough to make a shiver go down my spine. I had a strange feeling about what this marriage would implicate for my country, for me. Surely nothing good could come out with allying with the biggest empire on earth, especially when he had internal problems and almost constant wars to fight. I suddenly felt his glaze on me again. Before I could stop myself I looked back at him, with eyes that told how annoyed I was. Instead of looking away he smiled at me. I looked away and almost growled, not really managing to get the deep green colour of his eyes from my head. Didn't he understand? After the kiss broke Mary gave Philip a look of happiness, one that she immediately gave to me as well. I only smiled, ignoring
Before I knew we were all out of the cathedral and in the midst of the banquet and celebration that had been planned for that day. Delicacy after delicacy were still being served after hours had passed since the start of the celebrations, and I knew that if my stomach would end up bursting if I ate everything that was served for me. Instead I only ate the food that was absolutely necessary to not seem impolite. Music filled the exquisitely decorated room, and couples now danced at the middle of it, Mary and Philip amongst them. I looked at them with boredom from where I sat.
I had slowly shifted as the banquet advanced towards one of the corners of the room, in an attempt to become unnoticed by everyone. It had been working until now perfectly fine, and I had no intention to change this. I could still feel, however, Spain's eyes on me. How long had he been watching me? I didn't really care as long as he left me alone. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in, trying to forget about the green-eyed country completely. I remained like this for several seconds, maybe even a minute, until I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"What-?" I said, annoyed, as I abruptly opened my eyes and moved the other person's hand from my shoulder, who turned out to be Spain.
"England, no, Arthur-" I immediately heard him start to say as I glared at him "May I dance with you?" He asked, after a moment's hesitation.
"No" I immediately answered. "Why should I dance with you?"
He smiled in a strange way "Why not?" he just asked.
I immediately started to recite all of the reasons that I could think of, but the other man just took my hand and almost dragged me to the centre of the room, where the other people were dancing. I didn't find strength in me to push the other man away, and suddenly I found myself dancing with the other man. I slowly became aware of the intoxicating perfume that he wore and the lingering touch of his hands as we danced, surprised by the expertise with which he danced the typical English dance. Slowly I started drowning in the perfume and forgetting the stares that some of the nobles were giving us and everyone else.
The world was suddenly only him and the way in which he looked into my eyes. The only thing that I could smell was his intoxicating perfume, which probably had been brought to him from the new world, and I could feel my heart starting to race with each and every touch. I was torn apart by a feeling of peace and one of discomfort caused by the other man's proximity as I quickly became completely unaware of time. It was almost like a dream, one that I woke up from when he stopped dancing.
I looked at him almost softly, questioning him with my eyes as to why he had stopped dancing. He just gestured around himself, and I only realised then that, not counting a few servants that went in and out of the room constantly, we were completely alone. How much time had passed since we had started dancing? I blushed at this realisation and wondered just what the other people had thought and what they would say. I tried to say something, but only managed to stutter instead. I gripped Spain's shirt for a second before stepping away from him, still smelling his intoxicating perfume all around me.
"I have to go" I just said as I took another step back.
I broke eye contact and started to turn around, shouting to myself mentally how stupid this had been. It surely must have been the alcohol. Yes, the alcohol was definitely behind all of this. All of a sudden I felt his grip on my hand before I could exit the room, only to be followed by a pair of lips crashing against my own. I tried to push him away, but he stubbornly refused to be separated from me. I ended up closing my eyes and giving in to the kiss and quickly started kissing back, which-
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My thoughts were abruptly ended when I felt someone sitting right beside me. I turned around and looked at the person, only to find that it had been Spain who had just sat beside me, ironically.
"Why are you here?" I immediately asked him as a blush appeared on my face. Spain never visited me unless it was absolutely necessary. Centuries of fighting against each other had ensured that.
He smiled and leaned back a bit, placing his hand over mine. "Do you remember that day Arthur?" He just said.
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(1)- The Italian Wars (link without spaces) edia wiki/ Italian_Wars
(2)- Los Tercios (link without spaces) wik i/Tercios