La Vie En Rose-
France x Fem!England
Part 4 of the Liebesleid Arc
...
United Daily News, April 19, 2068
The unnamed illness spreading throughout Europe is still rapidly claiming more and more victims. Almost all the countries in Europe have been affected by this epidemic. France and England are already next on the list to go, and their governments have started working side by side in hopes of increasing the chance of survival for both countries, as what the former Austro-Hungarian Empire has done. At this rate though, these two countries may not survive the night.
-Alfred Bates, reporter and correspondent, United Daily News
...
Alice Kirkland, the personification of England, shut the tattered newspaper angrily. Ridiculous!
"The news has gone bloody nutty since that epidemic came by. Why, I can survive this! And without that Frog's help. I am Queen of the Atlantic Seas! I have gone through worse, this will all pass by, surely...surely, I won't die, I have gone through worse, surely, I will survive...surel-"
"You're muttering again, mon amour. Don't let that become a habit. Besides, why are you still awake? It's 11 in the evening." Françis Bonnefoy, the personification of France, interrupted with a teasing smile on his worn but still dashing face.
Alice started indgnantly. When had he come in?
"I most certainly was not muttering. A lady such as I does not mutter." She retorted.
Françis folded his arms. "Ah, but mon petit lapin*, you just said you were a queen, not a lady." 'Checkmate.' A smirk appeared on his face again.
'If only I could wipe that disgusting thing off your face, maybe you would be less insufferable.'
An awkward silence had settled.
Françis whispered quietly, "You do know that we won't survive this, don't you?" A sad, sorrowful smile replaced the cocky smirk he wore seconds earlier.
"Yes we- I can. Hmph! Maybe you won't."
She turned her back on him, but still felt his eyes intensely gazing at her-and suddenly felt herslef being lifted up.
"Françis, you bloody frog, what are you doing? This is inappropriate! Unhand me at once!" Her hands struggled to release herself from his grip.
"Come on, dance with me...just this once, before we go. I want to die without regrets." Françis murmured in her ear.
"I can't dance, or have you forgotten the infernal thing-the wheelchair?" A lone tear escaping from her glazed eyes and running down her cheeks.
"Sigh, I do, that is why I am holding you up. Come on, dance with me." A plea...a desperate plea.
"Don't let go."
"I wouldn't dare." He embraced her, placing her weak, spindly arms on his shoulders, guiding her lifeless legs in a gentle waltz. He sang quietly while they danced to their demise.
"Quand il me prend dans ses bras, il me parle tout bas, je vois la vie en rose..." Françis slowly rocked the weakening nation, and Alice was taken back to the times of old, of wars she fought against him, or wars fought with him. They never had the time to dance before...
"Il me dit des mots d'amour, Des mots de tous les jours. Et ça me fait quelque chose..." He felt his strength slowly slipping...
"Françis..."
She began singing with him, weak as she was.
"Hold me close and hold me fast, the magic spell you cast, this is la vie en rose..."
She embraced him tightly, her heartbeat wavering.
"When you kiss me, heaven sighs, and when I close my eyes, I see...la vie en rose.."
A perfect duet, a melodious harmony of two voices, singing about the love they never could have. A tale telling of wars, and battles, of love and times gone by, of kings and queens, of laws passed, people dying, people living. History.
Their waltz slowed to a pause. They knew it was coming, it was inevitable. They would die soon. They would die with the coming of dawn, poetic wasn't it?
They shared one single kiss before their bodies gave out. One single kiss, that held the love they had that would last a lifetime and many more.
They closed their eyes, still in each others embrace, on the carpet of the floor, the clock still ticking as if nothing happened. Smiles graced their faces, a peaceful death.
...
United Daily News, April 21, 2015
An unnamed couple was found dead yesterday. The male, 26 and the female 23. Coroners suggested they died of an unknown cause, at about 11-11:30 pm yesterday. Coincidentally, this was the time the republics of England and France officially dissolved. Which country is next?
-Jennylyn Santos, correspondent, United Daily News.
...
"Je vois La Vie En Rose..."