A/N: So, this is my first fanfic written for Hetalia that Iv'e posted here and there a couple things I wanna say before you start reading: I know Switzerland's human name is 'Basch' not 'Vash' but it was just easier to write like this. Another thing is that I chose the name Elsie for Liechtenstein the creator of Hetalia was planning on useing Elise for one of the names, not Lili or Lilly or anything like that. If I messed up or have any typos, please notify me so I can fix the problem ASAP. Another thing is even if I don't get reviews or faves, I'll keep on wrinting, not stop just because I don't think people like my story. although, they do motivate me, I'm gonna keep writing this story until I finsish or I have to stop for some absurd reason. If you want, I can also link you to my deviantART page where this will probable updated more often.
As the Italians say, Hasta la Pasta! Actually I don't know if they really say that but I watch too much Hetalia, so...
~Shea,
GENERAL POV
The sounds of birds chirping and horse hooves trotting on the forest floor were the only noises that were heard as Elise and her
brother rode their horses through the woods. It was something that Elise often enjoyed doing with her brother. She'd do
everything with him if he'd let her.
Sometimes Vash just needed to clear his head by riding horseback with his little sister and having a calm picnic up on a hill. They
had taken a slightly different rout this time, which proved to go a lot faster then their old way.
The two were just finishing up with lunch and were beginning to pack up the picnic blanket. They exchanged mindless chitchatt as
Elise picked the basket up and dusted the front of her dress off with her hands.
The sun was just beginning to set over the far off hills as the two decided it was time to head back home. Vash hurried to help his
sister back onto her horse before mounting his own . He had a meeting to be at in about an hour, and getting back home would
take up about half of that time.
As they began riding back to their house, Elise noticed something she hadn't on the way up.
"Vash?" She called up to her brother, who was now a good 20 feet ahead of her.
Vash halted his horse and turned around to let Elise catch up. When she was close, he asked what it was she wanted.
She almost didn't want to ask him anymore, seeing as he looked almost annoyed with her. She was going to shut up all together
when Vash flashed her a look that said 'It's fine, what is it?'
"Um, well, I saw these apple trees back a bit, a-and I was wondering if we could..."
Elise stopped herself. She'd hate to inconvenience him if he had somewhere to be any time soon. She desperately yearned to go
back and pick some, but she didn't know what to do.
"Could...? Could what?" He asked, trying not to grow impatient.
He really couldn't be late for this meeting...however, once he saw the look on Elise's face, he almost smiled. She was, no matter how he put it, adorable. He could only guess that she was going to ask: if they could go back and pick some apples. He really needed to say no, but the thought of how cute she'd look if she got her way made him feel a bit guilty for even considering turning her down.
Unfortunately, the meeting was not too far away from starting without him, and he had to be there as soon as possible. But...the
look his little sister had on her face was just unbearable. It would be inhumane to say no to such a face. He doubted even Ludwig
could do it.
However, he still had to make it to the meeting. Neither of them had to say a word to know what the other was thinking.
Elise then smiled happily and said,
"It's alright! We can always come back another time..."
Even though her expression said she was smiling, her eyes gave away the fact that she was genuinely disappointed. Vash
inwardly smacked himself. Why couldn't he let her go, just this once...?
Elise had already begun to move ahead when he quickly changed his mind and stopped her.
"Wait, uh," he said. "You can go back if you want. I only have a few more minutes before I have to be at the conference, so I won't
be able to accompany you. I'll be back home in a couple hours... Just, take this with you if you do decide to go!" He quickly added
as he reached into his military uniform and pulled out a shiny black hand gun, one of the many he kept on his person.
Of course, she didn't know how to use it, but he'd feel a lot safer knowing she had it with her to defend herself. He hated leaving
Elise alone, but he could tell this was something she really wanted to do, with or without him there with her.
He tossed the gun to her, and she caught it before he looked down at his pocket watch. He didn't have much longer. So before
she could say anything else, he trotted off, leaving Elise alone.
ELISE'S POV
Elise stared at her brother as he made his way back to their home, then looked down at the object she now held in her hand.
She'd never even held a gun before, let alone shot anyone, whereas for Vash, he didn't think twice before taking someone's life.
She wished he could've stayed with her and picked apples together, but he had somewhere to be and she didn't want to
disappoint him. With a sigh, she turned her horse around and headed back to where she saw the fruit.
A few hours later, Elise was sure she'd picked every last apple on all the trees in the area. Luckily, she still had the picnic basket
with her, and it was now filled to the brim with bright red, crispy apples just waiting to be baked into a pie or a crumble.
After feeding one to her horse and closing the lid of the basket, Elise mounted him again and started heading in the direction her
brother had gone. It had only been a few minutes before Elise had acquired a slight dilemma - there was a fork in the road in front
of her now.
She stopped for a second to think about which one looked like the way home, but she thought about it for no more than a minute
before she began to get very frustrated.
Great. I'm going to be late if I chose the wrong one and make my brother worry! Elise contemplated which way to go for a couple
minutes. She looked for the hoof prints of her brother's horse, but there were no tracks that could be found anywhere nearby.
Elise took a deep breath in, out, in, out, then, finally, she decided on going left. Always go left, right?
VASH'S POV AFTER A COUPLE HOUR TIMESKIP
It had been an hour since he'd returned. It was so unusual for Elise to be this late, but there had to be some sort of explanation!
No way would his sister ever be late. She probably just got distracted by some rabbits or something along the way (Hopefully not
Magic Flying Mint Bunnies like his English friend...).
Sure, he'd given her a gun, but he doubted she even knew how to fire it properly. He hated even exposing her to such things. The
longer he could keep her from doing anything close to what he did almost on a daily basis the better. He'd hate to put her through
any situation where she'd ever have to actually kill someone.
Vash continued to pace across his living room, contemplating whether or not he should go look for her. If he did, there was always
the possibility that she'd return while he was out. But if he didn't...Vash didn't even want to begin to imagine what could happen to
her. If any of the other representatives of larger nations - Francis Bonnefoy, for instance, or any of the Bad Touch Trio for that
matter - got a hold of her, Elise, is innocent little sister, could possibly be in a lot of trouble.
Just thinking about what he'd do if anyone, namely Francis, tainted his little sister's pure body sent him into a rage. It would be like
splattering ink on his snow white beret - stained and unable to be undone. He quickly made a final decision - he'd go look for her.
He was fuming with rage as he swiped his shotgun up from the coffee table and threw on his coat before heading out the front
door.
He slammed it behind him, straightened his beret as he stormed back towards the forest path.
ELISE'S POV
It was beginning to grow dark and there was still no sign of Vash or her house anywhere.
What if I come back and he's already out looking for me? Then what? Or what if he thinks something happened to me? I'm so
sorry! Please forgive me! Please! She inwardly pleaded to her brother as if he could hear her.
Her horse had by now started to slow down and she knew that they were both getting very tired. Elise also knew she had three
options: Either keep searching, go back and take the other path, or stay put and wait until the sun came up.
None of the options seemed very appealing, but they were all she had to work with. Elise looked down at her tired horse from
where she sat on his back.
"What do you think?" She asked him.
Unfortunately, unlike Sadiq's horse, hers couldn't talk back. Elise went through all her options again. Of all her choices, staying
put until sunrise was the safest option, considering she still carried one of Vash's guns. But, it was more than likely that the other
path was the one he had taken to get home.
To keep searching, though...it was defiantly risky, but she didn't want to have to use a gun, or risk going back after all this time
and finding out it was the right way after all.
Elise waited a little longer where she sat mounted on top of her horse. Finally, she made her decision - she'd keep searching for
him. Just for a little while longer, then, if she still didn't find him, she'd go back to where the road split.
She...couldn't...keep...going...
Elise was exhausted after a while longer of aimless wandering. No matter how far she went, all she could see in any direction was
the forest. Why was it so big? Every once in a while she would dismount her horse so he was never pushed too hard, but they
seemed to go a lot slower when she did so. She'd never really been lost since Vash had found her in that back ally - starving,
tired, and lost.
Elise dismounted her horse once again and sat down on the dirt path instead. It was no use. After searching for this long and not
finding anything was too much for Elise's petite body to handle. She had already eaten a couple apples from the basket, but that
didn't help any of her fatigue to leave her.
All she wanted to do now was lay there and sleep. She was too tired to do anything else besides that. Eventually her eyelids grew
extremely heavy and they began to close fast before she could stop them. They shut so fast that she didn't even notice when a
dark figure begin to approach her...