"You are my sunshine…my only sunshine…"
The sounds of gunfire had grown distant, and the man curled up beside him hardly even flinched, his head cradled in Arthur's lap. He'd lost track of how long they'd been there, how long it had been since Alfred had come to find him, to make sure he was okay, and they had been sitting in the bed in a building that was gutted by flames from the bombings. Alfred's shoulder was wrapped in bandages, having been hit by a beam when he went in to save Arthur, and it was still healing despite their quick healing abilities, and Arthur was stroking his hair to sooth him despite his own pain. Arthur sighed softly, seeing Alfred flinch as he brushed over a cut from a piece of debris. Alfred occasionally sung/mumbled lyrics under his breath, Arthur recognizing the lyrics from Alfred singing them before, since he'd seemed to like the simple tune quite a bit. Arthur cleared his throat, his voice raspy from the smoke.
"You make me happy when skies are grey…"
He heard Alfred chuckled softly, one blue eye cracking open from underneath the lens of his glasses.
"I've been singing it so much even you picked up the lyrics?"
"Git, you've been singing it since it came out." Not that Arthur was actually complaining-Alfred had a good singing voice, rich and lighthearted just like the nation himself. Alfred just laughed, closing his eye again and adjusting slightly, wincing as he jolted his injured shoulder.
"Yeah, s'pose I have, haven't I? I dunno, I kinda like it…it's just such a pretty little tune."
"I suppose it is." Arthur said, nodding and poking his forehead, smiling a bit since Alfred wasn't looking, opening his mouth and singing softly, Alfred joining in, his voice a bit slurred by sleep.
"You'll never know, dear, how much I love you…please don't take my sunshine away…"
Arthur noticed that Alfred had drifted off when he finished the last line himself, smiling fondly and stroking the boy's hair still even though he was already asleep. He watched him, the locks of gold still almost seeming to shin despite the ash and other grime that clung to them, and even though they were in a war zone, even though he could still hear the bombs going off distantly, in that moment there was just him and Alfred. He sighed softly, looking up and looking out at the ruins of his most treasured city. Technically, Alfred wasn't even supposed to be there-his country hadn't officially declared war yet, though they'd been thinking on it, and discussing it. Alfred was going to get reamed by his President, and Arthur had told him as such, but Alfred had just shrugged him off, saying that Arthur being safe was much more important. Arthur's cheeks turned pink just at the thought of it, how Alfred had flown over in Josephine, his personal fighter plane that he was extremely proud of. He'd gone directly to Arthur's house, only to find that the bombs had already hit his area-both had suspected it was purposeful-and had pulled the Briton out just in time, only the idiot had managed to get hit. Arthur had to admit, he had started to panic when he saw the blood, even though Alfred had laughed and said that he was alright, that heroes sometimes got hurt when they saved people or something along those lines. Arthur had helped him into a building nearby that was made of brick and seemed rather sturdy, and had already been ravaged by fire, and that was where they were still. Alfred was sleeping soundly now, his gentle snores the only sound aside from those of the bombs and occasionally screams or other sounds of destruction…for some reason, Arthur felt the urge to protect Alfred from this, even though he'd already participated in several wars, including one against Arthur himself all those years ago…and yet a small part of him wanted to shelter him, to keep his former colony smiling like he always had, not the tense or sometimes downright fake smiles that he had been seeing lately. He…he wanted to protect his little ray of sunshine.
"My sunshine…my only sunshine…" Arthur whispered to himself, Alfred fidgeting in his sleep but he didn't wake up, instead he just curled up closer, his fingers curling into Arthur's jacket slightly which made Arthur smile fondly and ruffling the boy's hair carefully. Alfred was still such a child-only a few centuries old-and he had grown up so fast. Arthur may have been known to tease him, to make remarks regarding his behaviour and scold him for things, but in his mind Arthur could only see him as that little blonde cherub that he had first taken in, the one who had rebelled, who'd raised a gun to him, who'd still looked like a child then, a rebellious teenager…everyone always said it was like he'd never grown up, but Arthur didn't agree. As naïve as Alfred seemed, he wasn't stupid, and Arthur had seen him be completely serious at times, even as early on as before he had split from him. America had grown fast, and Alfred had as well, but while his country was slowly starting to fall out of what they called the "American dream", Alfred was still just as optimistic, hopeful, always dreaming of new things, always reaching higher and higher into the sky, always wanting more. He brushed the bangs back from Alfred's forehead, hesitating for a moment before he pressed a light kiss there, letting his lips linger for a moment before he pulled back, his ears bright red. Alfred had always had a special place in his heart…and he realized that was why the song had attracted him, why he had so quickly latched onto the lyrics. He looked down at the slumbering nation on his lap, his lips quirked up in a sad smile, thinking of those bright smiles of Alfred's, the ones that were growing few and far between these days, but when he did smile it never failed to lift Arthur's spirits, even if he would never tell Alfred. He…he loved the younger nation, he loved his brightness, his insatiable curiosity, always pushing further, his laughter, his energy…he loved every single thing about him. Alfred had always been his light, the one thing that cheered him up when nothing else could…he was Arthur's sun. His smile grew a bit more morose and he stroked Alfred's hair sadly, glad he wasn't awake so he couldn't see the shimmer to Arthur's emerald eyes.
"Please don't take my sunshine away…"