Michelle stood on the shore, sand in her toes and the sunshine glistened on her bronze skin. Michelle gazed out upon the great blue ocean and sighed. Michelle had never left the comfort of her beautiful tropical island. Her friend, Francis who she had known since she was young, would always come back from his wonderful adventures and brought back trinkets and gifts from faraway lands. While Francis traveled, Michelle had no choice but to stay and watch over her grandfather's shop. Even after her grandfather had died, she continued to work there because she felt that he would have wanted that. Michelle didn't want to be stuck on the same island all her life. It was the same boring scene, the same dull blue sky, the same stupid palm trees, the same dumb old island! Even though she thought this, she still loved it, but she felt there was something else for her out there, beyond this island. The island began to bore her, and she needed to get away.
"I'm back, Mon Cher!" called a familiar voice who she hadn't heard from in months.
"Francis!" said Michelle running to hug her blue eyed friend. "Francis, how was your time in Hungary?" said an excited Michelle.
"C'est était magnifique! I even met a few girls or two! There was this one girl, I think her name was Elizabetha, she was-"
"Mon Dieu, Francis. Can't you just tell me about your trip and not about all the girls you have flirted with?" interrupted Michelle.
"Tu sais, I wouldn't have to flirt, if a certain someone would marry me…"
"Not this again!" thought Michelle. Ever since they been friends, Francis was always interested in her. He said he wanted her to be his bride because she was the most beautiful, but Michelle knew he wanted her because she was the only girl to reject him, and that made him chase after her even more.
"For the last time, I am not marrying you. Anyway what did you bring moi?" Michelle asked eagerly.
"You will marry me, you just don't know your love for me yet…" he said reaching into his beige satchel made of leather.
"Here, mon amour!"
It was a beautiful sunset orange flower hairclip.
"Why Francis, It's beautiful!" exclaimed Michelle.
"Not as beautiful as you, Mon Cher. It's supposed to represent ze country's famous lake. Or that's what Elizabetha told me…"
"Merci!" Michelle said while she gave Francis a hug causing him to smile. " Oh, how I wish I could go on fabulous trips like you, Francis!"
"Why don't you come with moi? I am going to England to deliver a shipment to a family "friend". It will be fun!" Francis suggested.
"I can really come? Mais, what about my store? I can't just leave it unattended."
"Aucun souci! I'll have a friend of mine to watch it for you when you're gone. He is a really fabulous salesman."
"Merci, Francis! Merci!" Michelle thanked him.
"Let's hurry then. Ze ship is going to be leaving in an hour. It's going to be a two-day trip, Mon Cher!" This was the chance Michelle had waited for!
"Oui! Let's go, mon ami!" smiled Michelle.
Arthur sat in his favorite red velvet chair sipping Early Grey, his favorite tea, and was reading his favorite book,Sherlock Holmes. He was completely at ease until…
"Arthur! Arthur! Guess what! Guess what!" shouted a boy, about the age of twelve, wearing a white and blue trimmed sailor suit.
"What is it, Peter? I'm a bit busy at the moment." said an annoyed Arthur.
"You don't have to be a jerk, you know… Mom and Dad said we're going sailing again next week!" exclaimed Peter.
"What! Again? We just got back from the last trip! Tell Mother and Father that I'm staying here this time!" yelled Arthur. It was true. They recently got back from sailing a month or two ago. Arthur's and Peter's parents are apart of a group of sailors who travel on the seas trading and doing business with other wealth sailors.
"But Arthur…"
"No buts. I. AM. NOT. GO-ING! And that's final." stated the uptight Englishman.
"Fine, I'll tell them. Meanie…"Peter muttered under his breath.
"DING DONG! DING DONG!" chimed the doorbell.
"What now?" thought Arthur. "Hold on I'm coming!" Arthur yelled getting up from his comfortable chair.
"DING DONG! DING DONG! DING DONG!" continuously went the doorbell.
"I SAID I AM BLOODY COMING!" shouted Arthur. He opened the door to see a tall man, about the age of twenty, with Texan style glasses and wore jeans and a brown jacket with the American flag on it. He had dark blue eyes and blonde hair with an oddly shaped cowlick at the peaked.
"Hey, Dude! I was bored, so I'd thought I'd come visit you! Isn't this great?" The man was no other than Alfred Jones, the most obnoxious man Arthur had ever met while taking a trip to America.
"Alfred." Arthur sighed, "Come on in and make yourself at-" Alfred shoved his way past Arthur heading straight to his fridge.
"DUUUDDEEE, do you have any hamburgers? I'm starved." said Alfred searching through the fridge. "When isn't he starving…"thought Arthur.
"No! Why on Earth would I have hamburgers! They're diabetes on a bun! Here, have a scone." Arthur offers handing Alfred a burnt looking biscuit.
"No, I want a hamburger! Besides, the scones you make are always burnt and taste like I'm eating charcoal." Alfred protested.
"My scones are delicious! All those hamburgers must have messed up your taste buds!"
"It's more like you don't have any." pointed out Alfred, who had been a victim to Arthur's "Unique" cooking.
"Alfred! Alfred! You're back! You're back!" exclaimed the blonde haired boy in the sailor suit rushing to hug Alfred.
"Hey there little Pete! Guess what I brought you from New York!" Alfred said pulling out a small green statue holding a torch. "It's called the "Statue of Liberty"! It was a gift given to the Americans by the French! ISN'T IT AWESOME?" beamed Alfred.
"Speaking of the French… Peter, I'll be out for a moment. I have to pick up a package from someone…"Arthur said trailing off.
These two days on the ship were amazing according to Michelle. She, Francis and the ship's crew sang, danced, and ate wonderful food. Michelle only hoped that the country of England would be just as great and wonderful as her time on the ship. They arrived at the dock first thing in the morning. It was filled with passengers going here and there and it full of fishermen and merchants selling items and goods. Everything was so new to Michelle.
"Come on, Mon Cher! I have to deliver this shipment to this place. If I don't, ze person will be very angry~" chimed Francis.
"I'm coming! I'm coming!" cheered Michelle still looking at one of the merchant's stands. Francis carried the big heavy crate while Michelle held the note stating the meeting place for the drop off.
"By the alley, near the docks… It should be right here." Michelle said still reading the nicely handwritten note.
"Hello, Frog. Did you bring my shipment? I'm very busy and I do not have all day to waste away like you do, flirting with the local ladies." spoke a man with bright emerald eyes and messy blonde hair, wearing a pale green sweater vest.
"Bonjour, plain Jane, still looking as ugly as ever I see. I've brought your stupid shipment of your nasty tea." insulted the wavy blonde Frenchmen.
"I swear, if you wasn't a family "friend" and the only connection to the port, I wouldn't have to look at your pathetic old face, you Git!" shouted the Englishmen. The man, then, looked over Francis' shoulder seeing a beautiful girl who looked like she was in her early twenty's. "Who is this?" the twenty-one year old said still staring at the tan girl in the frilly sky blue dress with red ribbons tied to the ends of her pigtails.
"Ah! This is MY BEAUTIFUL fiancée, Michelle." Francis said smirking.
"Fiancé?" the man said with a hint of disappointment in his voice.
"Non! I'm not his fiancé! We're just will close friends. Anyway, Ravi de vous rencontrer. (Nice to meet you.) I'm Michelle Mancham and you are?" Michelle said holding out her hand.
"I am Arthur Kirkland. I am very pleased to meet you, m'lady." he said kissing her hand.
"Arthur, are you trying to steal MY girl? Naughty, naughty~" teased Francis with a hint of jealously in his voice.
"U-uh no o-of course not! I'm just…um…being a gentleman! That's all! Not that you know anything about that!" stuttered Arthur, whose face was now as red as a tomato. Michelle only giggled, but she, too, could feel her cheeks reddened.
"Come on, Mon Cher. Let us go. I can't stand being near ugly so long. My beautiful face might catch it." insulted Francis. "Arthur wasn't ugly. In fact, he was really handsome," thought Michelle," Especially his emerald green eyes. I feel as if I could get lost in them and…" What was she thinking! She couldn't fall for someone she just met! "And besides it seems that he and Francis don't seem to get along very well either." she added.
"Hello? Michelle? Didn't you hear moi? I said LET'S GO!" said Francis eager to leave the presents of certain Englishman.
"Oui. I heard you. I was just hoping to stay a bit longer…"
"Um… Michelle? You don't have to listen to that old man. I-if you l-like, I-I could show you around and…"
"Oui! I would love to!" Michelle said without a second thought.
"Old Man? I'm not old! I'm young and gorgeous still! I'm only twenty-four! Michelle don't go with that-" But she was already gone with Arthur. "Fine then. I will let her go with him for now. But she will come back to moi!" Francis thought to himself. Just then, three young beautiful English girls pass by him. "But until then… OH, Mesdames~"
"Hey, do you mind, if I go home and drop this crate off? I don't want to be carrying a crate the entire time I'm showing you around London." asked Arthur struggling with the crate of tea.
"Oh, non! Not at all! And I actually don't mind seeing your home either." smiled Michelle.
"Um…Sure. You can see my home as well." blushed Arthur. They eventually came up to a gorgeous white mansion with neatly trimmed rose bushes and magnificent fountain in the center of the enormous courtyard.
"Wow!" was all Michelle could say. She was at a loss for words. Arthur dropped the crate at the doorstep feeling relieved to have both of his arms again.
"Well just let me open the door and…"
"DUDE! What took you so long! Me and Peter had to play checkers until you got back. He kept checkmating me!" whined Alfred. "Ugh! I completely forgot about HIM!" Arthur thought.
"And who is this hottie you came back with? Is she your-"
"N-n-no! She's just a friend! I just offered to show her around London!" yelled a blushing Arthur.
"Cool! Can I come? It's boring here."
"No! You cannot-" But it was too late. Alfred was already walking with Michelle back to the gate.
"By the way I'm Alfred! If you need any help, I'll be there! I like to help anyone in need!" Alfred said greeting Michelle. "Great, so much for getting to know Michelle better…" Arthur thought. "Hey, wait up for me!" called Arthur catching up to the two.
"This is…um really BIG clock thing!" stated Alfred, knowing only American history and knowing nothing of British history.
"You mean Big Ben." corrected Arthur.
"Yeah. That's what I said!"
"You said no such thing!" argued Arthur.
"Sure I did. Right Michelle?" asked Alfred smiling at Michelle.
"Umm…"
"You don't have to answer that idiot. You'll might loss brain cells…" Arthur joked.
"Hey, I'm very intelligent! Like that huge Ferris wheel over there is called London's pinwheel!
"You mean London's Eye. Honestly if you're going to be the tour guide, at least get the names right!"
"Nag, nag, nag! That's all you ever do. Is this how you treat your best friend?" protested Alfred.
"Friend?" Arthur never had a friend before? He has been sailing with his parents ever since he was young and never had any time to make friends. But he did somehow make an enemy, Francis "the Frog" Bonnefoy. He and Francis hated each other ever since their first meeting, when he was six and Francis was nine. They did not know why they hated each other so much. Maybe it was because they were complete opposites. Either way, they could careless about the other.
"Man, I'm hungry!" Alfred eventually said two hours later. "I'm going to that burger shop over there! So you two "love birds" can talk to each other!" Alfred teased, giving Arthur a wink, which meant "Good luck, bro."
"Just leave already and stuff your face with that greasy slop!" shouted an embarrassed Arthur. "He maybe a loud, obnoxious idiot, but he's not that bad of a friend. I suppose…" Arthur thought.
"L-love birds?" asked Michelle a bit red in the cheeks.
"Don't mind him. He's completely nut burgers anyway. He believes in ghost and aliens." laughed Arthur. Michelle giggled too. She then sighed and began looking at the sky.
"I'm so glad to be away from the island I lived on for so very long. I have never left it until now. I always felt trapped because the store I work at always kept me from leaving. I thought I might spend my entire life there without leaving even once." Michelle said, looking up at the clouds.
"What's so great about leaving your own home? I traveled ever since I was boy, It begins to because less interesting after a while. I couldn't hang out with the local kids because every time I turned around, it was time to leave again. I couldn't make any friends because of it," explained Arthur," Not that I minded the loneliness and solitude…" When Arthur was little, he create imaginary friends so he wouldn't be so lonely. Flying mint bunny was one of many of his "mystical" friends.
"But, mon ami, it is not true! You began losing interest because you had no one to really talk to. Traveling is always interesting as long as you're with someone you care about!" stated Michelle.
"You don't say…"wondered Arthur. They sat in silence for a while looking at the clouds. They both wanted freedom. "Hey, um… Michelle? I know we just met a while ago but… No. It's nothing."
"Oui? What is it?"
"I was just wondering since you seem to love to travel, maybe you can come with me and my parent sailing. So maybe I too can be interested in traveling and seeing the world again, like when I was a boy. Because I thought maybe…we could become friend or something…"
"Um, I don't know. I'll come but only if my friend, Francis, can come along as well, because I only just met you a few hours ago." suggested the young island girl.
"Francis! No! I'll NEVER let that scum on the-" he began to hiss but realized it was the only way to hang out with Michelle a little more. "Fine. The frog-I mean Francis can come too. I suppose…"he said frowning.
"Merci! I cannot wait for it already! When are we leaving?" asked the excited ribbon haired female.
"Next week. Until then, we need to start preparing for the voyage. A-and maybe we could get to know each other a bit better…" explained a blushing Arthur, not knowing a certain American had come behind him.
"DUUDDDEE! You're leaving next week? Why didn't you tell me sooner? I WOULD LOVE to come too! We could have a PAR-TAY!" exclaimed Alfred.
"Alfred, YOU CAN NOT-"
"But Arty…" whined Alfred with a puppy dog expression on his face, "I'm your BEST FRIEND! You wouldn't leave your BEST FRIEND would you?"
"Ugh, Fine. You can come too... Now I have to tell mother and father about the few extra passengers…" Arthur finally said, failing to resist his friend's puppy dog eyes.
"GREAT! This is gonna to be SO MUCH FUN!" shouted a victorious Alfred. "Soooo… Did you and your "girlfriend" make out when I was gone?" teased Alfred making kissy faces.
"N-N-NO! OF COURSE NOT! I mean she's not my girlfriend! DID ALL OF THOSE"HEARTSTOPPERS" STOP YOUR BRAIN FROM FUNCTIONING?"
"Dude, chill out I was just joking. And hey, don't diss the hamburgers! They're fun and delicious and are 100 times better than anything you'll ever cook! Your cooking is terrible! You can't even make eggs without burning them!"
"For your information, tons of people enjoy my cooking! They say that it's so flavorful, they can't take another bite because it's so good."
"Umm…Guys?" Michelle said quietly.
"HAHAHA! It's sooo terrible, they can't even take another bite without barfing!" laughed Alfred. The two continued to bicker until they got back to the mansion. It was night, and the stars twinkled while the moon glowed. The trio was greeted at the door by a certain wavy haired Frenchmen.
"Bonjour, mon ami! Did you have fun with ze stiff?" greeted Francis.
"Oui, I saw sooo many things and learned so much! He even asked me to go traveling with him, next week!" exclaimed Michelle. Arthur blushed while Francis was turning another kind of red.
"Is this true? You asked MY girlfriend, who you JUST met in ze morning, to go traveling with vous?" yelled the jealous Frenchmen.
"Francis, lower your voice. You're coming too, of course! So relax, Mon ami. Also I AM NOT YOUR GIRLFRIEND, or wife or whatever. I just… I just don't see you that way. And I'll never will…" Michelle said calmly.
"You spend one day with…with this raide, and now you're in love with him! YOU'RE SUPPOSE TO LOVE MOI! NOT-NOT THIS BORING OLD STIFF! I WOULD RATHER LOSE MY GORGEOUS FACE THAN GO ON A TRIP WITH HIM! AND I FORBID YOU TO GO WITH HIM!" yelled the jealous Francis.
"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO FORBID MOI! SOUC LE BLEU! I HAVE NEVER MET SUCH A JEALOUS MAN LIKE YOU, FRANCIS! AND YES, I DO LOVE HIM MORE THAN YOU! HE'S LESS SELFISH, SWEET, AND INTELLIGENT UNLIKE YOU, WHO IS A NARCISSISTIC JERK THAT THINKS HE IS EMPEROR OF ALL OF FRANCE!" shouted Michelle.
"WELL, I NEVER! Fine! Fine! Stay with this lame plain Jane! You will never see me or your precious store again! I'll make sure my friend burns it down!" yelled Francis. He walked up to Arthur and told him "I hope your happy!" before storming off cursing in French.
"GOOD RIDDENCE, YOU WANKER!" yelled Arthur, "I HOPE YOU'LL FALL IN A POND!" Arthur turned to look at Michelle and noticed tears beginning to form in her brown eyes.
"I've just lost my best friend… And my wonderful store…"Michelle said trying not to cry. A tear fell down her soft cheek. Soon a waterfall poured out of her amber eyes.
"Hey…relax. I will go to your store and fix it. And you may have loss a friend, but you have gained another." Arthur calmly said. He reached out and hugged her in a gently and warm embrace.
"MAKE THAT TWO! "Shouted Alfred, unaffected by the argument.
"Merci, Guys." Michelle said, wiping her tears. She rested her head on Arthur's shoulder and soon they went inside to plan for the voyage. The trio have fun waiting and preparing for the trip. With Alfred and his goofy ideas and constant teasing of Arthur, Arthur complaining and blushing whenever tease about his secret love for Michelle, and Michelle giggling and curiosity about foreign European things. They all got along with each other on the trip, even with Arthur's and Alfred's silly arguments over nothing and Peter butting in calling his brother a jerk and laughing with Alfred. Eventually Michelle went back to her island, a year later, and saw her store(or what had been her store) in a pile of ashes and burn gravel. She decided not to rebuild it but made a shrine for her grandfather instead. She finally felt free. Freedom from being tied down so long. Freedom from her so-called friend Francis who didn't truly care for her the way she had wanted. Freedom from the loneliness she had held in her heart for many years. She got to share this feeling with her new husband, Arthur, who too, was as lonely and caged in as she was. But his loneliness was he's own fault unintentionally. It wasn't until he set eyes on Michelle, that he realized that he had caused his own isolation and his own stubbornness had cost him many things that he could have experienced for himself. On a trip to Belgium, he proposed to her with a 1.05ct blue diamond ring to thank her for freeing him and loving him with all the love and beauty of a butterfly taking wings. She accepted because she loved him truly with all her heart. Alfred was the best man at the wedding and often suggested that they should serve hamburgers and glow in the dark cake at the reception. Arthur and Michelle quickly declined to Alfred's strange food idea. Alfred eventually went back to his home in New York to become a successful inventor and married Lien, a girl who actually puts up with goofy and chaotic ideas. He still keeps contact with them and visits whenever they are in town. As for Francis, He was heartbroken after Michelle rejected him and wanted his hated enemy, who he despised so much. He continued to flirt and hit on girls until he later found his true love, Joan who he loved so dearly until he lost her after she was murdered by a criminal who broke in their house while he was away taking care of some business out on the dock. He had never been the same since the accident. As for Arthur and Michelle, Arthur brought his own ship to travel the world in with Michelle so they could be free and never be tied down to anything anymore. The two sailed the world together, forever free…