Not your enemy
Author's note: Hey, everyone. Zell here. No, I'm not dead. No, I have not abandoned FFN. I have been taking a break because a wonderful thing called life got in the way. But now, summer is a week away (for me), so I'm posting a oneshot that I've had in my head for awhile. A friend introduced me to RomaHeta, and I've thoroughly enjoyed it, to be honest. Pondering over the events of a certain episode, not to mention my recent fondness for the couple represented in here, led to it. Just a warning, this is rather sloppy. Well, I'm tired. So don't flame.
Enjoy!
"I never thought that Matthew, of all people..." Arthur trailed off as he looked helplessly at Francis, Yao, and Alfred. The four were seated around the square table in their small cottage.
For the past few hours, even though they agreed that they'd try to get stronger for the next confrontation for the most recently infected country, no one had really done much except talk amongst themselves. Alfred could feel himself growing exhausted with Arthur's endless laments that Matthew, of all people, didn't deserve the fate he'd received. Being a rather hyper individual, Alfred knew he had to burn off the pent-up energy inside him before he totally flipped. Finally, after waiting for Arthur to stare off into space once more, he stood up and walked off. Francis and Yao didn't object, mainly because Francis was pondering how sexy he looked wearing nothing but a rose, while Yao was at least attempting to be a loyal friend to Arthur.
"I hope Matthew snaps out of it on his own," Arthur mumbled.
"Mmm, I really should wear a rose more often," Francis said dreamily.
"You idiot, aru! Arthur wasn't remotely THINKING about roses, aru!" Yao snapped.
Free from the let's-try-not-to-be-too-awkward-even-though-we-feel-that-way trio, Alfred immediately walked over to Roderich. And regretted it. Roderich most certainly didn't want to talk. He wanted to bore Alfred to death with his violin-playing. In Alfred's opinion, while Roderich played well, he'd rather talk than listen. So he wandered over to Vash and Lili. Also a mistake. They didn't want to talk either. They wanted to bankrupt him.
Well, there was always Gilbert, Ludwig, and Antonio. Alfred walked over to them. Antonio was standing next to Lovino's bed, nervously tapping his foot and humming. Gilbert was standing next to Ludwig, fidgeting with a pair of earmuffs he'd nagged while at Ivan's castle.
"Nice earmuffs. Can I have 'em?" Alfred asked. Gilbert ignored him and tried them on.
"You know, star patterns really suit you!" Alfred announced. Gilbert continued ignoring him.
"Hello? Anyone home?" Alfred half shouted. Gilbert smirked, pointed to his earmuffs, and shrugged.
"Oh, please! I bet you can hear me just fine, you bas-"
"Alfred!" snapped Ludwig. "He's just being a pill to get attention! Leave him alone!"
"Fine," Alfred sighed. Out of all the others, Ludwig was definitely the worst off. There were dark circles under his eyes, his brow was creased in obvious worry, and he had barely moved since Kiku had last called them. He was kneeling by Feliciano's bed, obviously half-mad with fear for his friend. Alfred could already tell any conversation with Ludwig would go absolutely nowhere, so resorted to patting him on the back and walking off.
Everyone else was being hard to deal with, so Ludwig walked over to the last place he ever expected to go.
Ivan, who was also in a comatose state, wasn't alone either. Natalia stood next to his bed. Unlike Ludwig and Antonio, however, she displayed no sign of fear or even emotion. She simply stood there, stock-still, staring straight ahead. Her knife was sheathed, her bow was straight, and her eyes were unblinking. Alfred thought to himself that she seemed like a statue of a girl rather than a real one: unruffled and perfect. If only real girls were like that. Not for the first time, Alfred found himself wondering why she was so ignored by her fellow personified nations. She was so beautiful, so determined, so loyal, so fierce, so... indomitable. She'd won Alfred's undying admiration earlier that day by not only willingly taking a blow for her brother, but for bouncing back and making a full recovery in less than an hour. Her willpower was incredible.
And she held a good place in Alfred's book for something else...
Alfred raced up the corridor. He had to hurry and complete his mission. The others were relying on him. Ivan wouldn't be held off forever, he knew. He had to take this opportunity-
Oh, crud. A certain young woman named Natalia was going to keep him from that. She was standing at the end of the corridor, eyes glowing, knife unsheathed. To run into her, now of all times. At best, she distracted him. And now, after she'd demonstrated what she was capable of with that darn knife...
Well, really, the reason she and Ivan hadn't been taken down earlier was that Alfred, the great hero, had held back on her. She had that effect on him, the one that was both a blessing and a curse. Well, a curse, in this case. She would never see him that way, and besides, was his one true weakness. And now he was hurtling towards her entirely too quickly for his liking.
But then, something amazing happened. Seeing who it was, her eyes suddenly seemed to dull and she sheathed her knife. The second Alfred finally skidded to a stop, she calmly stepped aside, her eyes never leaving his.
"Go," she ordered coldly. "Now."
"B-but-" just a second ago, it had seemed like she was ready to attack him. And now, it was gone.
"I am my brother's ally. I'm not your enemy," Natalia said, her voice softening just one degree or so. "Now go, Alfred."
He had, stopping only once to see she had returned to her post of guarding the doorway, not bothering to give him a second glance.
The situation puzzled him, to be honest. Well, she was standing there now. Why not ask her?
"Hey," he said as casually as possible as he stood next to her.
"Oh. Alfred," she replied calmly, her tone devoid of emotion.
"Natalia," he replied. "There's something a little personal I need to ask you."
"Fine. It's not as though I have anything better to do."
"It's about when you let me go that time. Why?"
"What do you mean?" She turned to face him. "I already told you."
"For some reason, I doubt your story."
"Huh?" surprise lit her face and became clear on her face. The mask had broken.
"You looked like you were about to severely maul me or something until you realized who I was," Alfred began.
"An old habit," she replied coolly.
"You've never acted that way before."
"I felt bad for hurting you earlier."
"No, Natalia. Tell me the real truth. The real reason you let me through," he demanded, his tone becoming suddenly firm. "Where's the love and utter obsession you've displayed for your brother other times?"
There was no response.
"Natalia, tell me as though I am a friend," he pleaded. "I really want to know. Don't you love your brother?"
After about three minutes of silence, during which everyone except Ludwig slowly lost interest in whatever they were up to and started watching the two, she spoke.
"I do. But not in the way you are thinking of. The reason I always want to marry him and am so protective is that... well, you've seen him. He needs someone to watch out for him. Older sister tries, but the two of us have always been much closer. And to be honest, I'm much better with a knife," she said softly, her eyes dropping to the floor.
"Natalia, forgive me for asking, but there must be someone you do feel that way about," he pressed. "Maybe he would be willing to help you protect Ivan, so you can drop that obsessiveness. It doesn't suit you."
"I do feel that way about someone. I've dropped hints, but I don't think they like me back," she said tightly.
"I'll beat the living daylights out of them if you want, Natalia. I owe you something for sparing me," he replied. "Besides, I know how you feel. I've always wanted to kiss the girl I like, but she's oblivious to me."
"You owe me?" Natalia asked. He nodded. "Very well. There is something you can do for me." All of a sudden, she leaned in and stood on her toes, gently placing her lips on Alfred's. For a moment, he was stunned. However, just after the shock passed, he realized the girl he loved was kissing him. Natalia was kissing him. Thoroughly ecstatic, he put an arm around her and kissed back.
For about five minutes, everyone watched. Then, however, Gilbert shouted "Hip, hip, HOORAY!" and started clapping.
"Gilbert!" snarled Ludwig as the two pulled apart, blushing. "For shame."
"Well, look at the bright side, West. Maybe Lovino or Feliciano will be startled awake!" Gilbert pointed out.
"GILBERT!"
Everyone else, however, had started clapping.
"Thanks, sweetheart," Alfred mumbled, his cheeks a violent red. "Couldn't you have picked another time?"
"No," Natalia mumbled back. "I've wanted to do that since I first met you."
"Well, care for a redo?"
"You were just complaining!"
"Hey, the damage is done. They'll talk. We'll go out. Our countries will form an alliance. And all that jazz."
"If you insist."
As the two kissed once more, this time throughly enjoying it, both could sense that somehow, no matter how tough the going was about to get, they'd have one another.
And they knew that that made everything okay.