[AN: I do not own Hetalia: Axis Powers or anything affiliated with Hidekaz Himaruya. I do however own this Isle of Man OC: Gillian Kirkland]
Their raised voices could be heard throughout the whole of Europe. Even all the way in the darklands of Siberia, faint yells and angry growls were heard. Once again, two Kirkland siblings were having an argument. They all had gotten used to it over the centuries but this time, it was between two siblings who normally didn't argue as loud; England and Manx.
The two blondes glared at each other, wildfires appearing to burn harshly in their forest-green eyes and red hand and fist imprints on their cheeks. "Why don't you go piss off?!" Arthur growled, eyes narrowing at the girl who had fallen on the ground opposite him. "If I pissed off, you'd cry at how everyone leaves you" Gillian snarled, baring her teeth slightly at the male.
"I'd do no such thing! Piss off!" Arthur hissed, pouncing on her and grabbing her neck. "You would! Don't lie!" Gillian snapped, rolling them over and pulling at his hair. "Then why don't you do something useful?! You're so useless, you don't do anything to contribute to the family!" Arthur yelled, punching her cheek and making her fall off of him.
Gillian fell silent and put a shaky hand to her possibly bruising cheek. She looked down, tears slowly rolling down her cheeks and landing on the floor with an almost-inaudible thud. "Of course you're going to cry. You're so emotional, I don't want to deal with you. When I wake up tomorrow, you better be fucking gone" Arthur said with a slight smirk, hauling himself off the ground and going upstairs to his room, slamming his door behind him.
Gillian, however, had not moved. A million thoughts were running her mind but his words echoed in her head, getting louder each time. She covered her ears and shook her head, denying the claims fueled by his drunk fury but it was futile. Nothing could block out those words "You're so useless, no contribution to the family".
Oh but she had done so much for the family and sadly, no one knew what she had managed to do. Not even her closest friends knew, it was that much of a hidden secret.
*Flashback*
Her pained cries echoed throughout the forest. The men who were with her kept their groans of pleasure as quiet as possible. They found it endearing. This little girl had sacrificed herself to them so her older brothers and little brother would be spared.
The Saxons were cruel and sickening men and a proof of that was how they left the physically 5 year old Gillian to make her own way home. After their mother Britannia had disappeared, Manx had taken the role of Mother and Protector.
And protecting was what she was doing. Protecting her brothers from the savage Saxons who were attempting to invade their homes. In protecting her family, she had lost her innocence to a band of tyrants.
This whole ordeal continued with all who attempted to invade the United Kingdom region and Manx grew up to be the woman she was. Unafraid to go down without a fight, sacrificing her time and life to the brothers who had shown no sign of gratitude.
*End flashback, time-skip to a week later*
Arthur was wandering around his home aimlessly, looking for Gillian who had disappeared on him while he had been out with America and Prussia, two people that he felt like hanging out with that day; a mistake he never planned to make again.
A note written on mint-coloured paper lay on the ground in front of him. The British man stared at the note momentarily before bending down to pick it up again.
"Dear Arthur, by the time you get to read this, it may be too late to change my mind on my final decision. Before you do anything drastic, please take the time to read my story" the note read.
Arthur noted that it was unsigned but there was only one other resident within the household...and that was Gillian. Fearing for her life, Arthur began searching for any notes that could hint him as to where his sister was.
He opened every door there was along the hallway and scanned the room for any sign of where Gillian could be but all to no avail. That was until he spotted another mint-coloured note that appeared to be smudged around some of the letters.
"It all began when Mother left us and our region began getting invaded. I heard all about them first and contacted them. I told them to come and see me because I wanted to negotiate with them. I gave them my innocence in exchange for the lives of you and our brothers to be spared. They agreed to my negotiation and took it as they pleased" this note read, making Arthur scrunch the ball up in rage.
"You stupid bitch...why a negotiation like that?" Arthur growled, throwing the scrunched note to the side and continuing down the hallway in search of another note. In all honesty, he regretted opening that liquor cupboard that night.
His footsteps echoed as he walked down another hallway, the one that would lead him to the observatory. He didn't know what made him choose that particular hallway but his gut had told him it would lead him to Gillian.
Another note lay on the ground and it seemed to be burnt around the edges. Was she messing around with magic when she did this? Something was off-putting about this note.
"Whenever someone planned to invade, they got a negotiation from me that they took greedily. All who were supposed to invade our region, removed what was left of the shreds of innocence that I managed to keep. I participated in all your wars, I cooked food for every sibling and looked after them like Mother would..." the note read and Arthur felt a tear roll down his cheek.
He wiped it away quickly. He was the United bloody Kingdom, he doesn't cry. Not even unconsciously but this was his sister, and her life was far more important than his reputation. He threw away the note and began walking faster towards the observatory.
Arthur had to save her before she threw away all she had worked for. His heart was a train racing down the traintracks, he was that nervous. His forest-green eyes were welling up with tears, blurring his vision. He couldn't explain why but the thought of not having Gillian with him made tears want to overflow and roll down his cheeks like a never-ending waterfall.
What appeared to be the last note seemed to be blood-stained and smudged with tears thus making Arthur want to scream.
"This is the last note, my dear brother. I thought that I would let you know that what you said hurt me. I had done so much for you and our brothers, and to be called useless and a non-participant in our family just killed me on the inside. I'll see you at the observatory" read the note.
Tears threatened to spill over Arthur's eyes but he shook his head in denial and began to run towards the observatory, hoping that he wouldn't be too late to convince Gillian that he was sorry. The hallway, to him, seemed endless and that time was not on his side.
He pushed open the steel doors of the observatory to spot Gillian standing on the balcony ledge and looking out into the distance. "Gillian...!" Arthur yelled, slightly panting and staggering towards where she stood.
Gillian turned and smiled down at him apologetically. Her song was ending, her soliloquy nearing its end and her life would disappear to be lost into the footnotes of a history textbook ; the one thing that she had loathed from the moment she could speak and express her thoughts.
"All this time...you protected us, you saved us..." Arthur panted, looking up at her with sad eyes in an attempt to coax her down even though he knew all too well that sort of thing was something she never fell for.
"Always brother, I never told anyone. No one needed to know what I had done because no one would listen to me anyway" Gillian said, sitting down on the ledge and cupping his cheek gently.
"I would've listened...you're my precious Isle of Man...and I hurt you like I always do. Please forgive me." Arthur said, clasping his hand over hers and squeezing it lovingly. He had to save her before he lost the one person who had always been with him.
"I'll always forgive you, brother. You deserve a second chance" Gillian said with a sad smile and kissing his forehead softly as she normally did. "You always forgive me...I always get second chances, I don't deserve them but you seem to think I do. You have no idea how much that means to me..." Arthur said, holding her close and trying to lure her away from the ledge but Gillian knew he was going to do that so she hooked her legs around the ledge.
"Brother, I want you to promise me one thing before my life draws to a close" Gillian said, cupping his cheeks and staring deep into his identical eyes. "I'll do anything for you, sister" Arthur said, holding onto her hands like a lifeline and as if he didn't hold on to her, she would fade in front of him like how he saw Prussia fade when his state was dissolved.
"Promise me that you'll look after our brothers, protect them but you don't need to go to the lengths that I went to. Promise me that you'll be happy and not mourn my loss" Gillian said, letting go of his face and standing back up again.
Arthur reached out towards her hands desperately, trying all he could to bring her back to him but she shook her head and so, he lowered his hands to his sides and his face, like his heart, fell and sunk into a deeper position than it was before.
"I promise you, sister. As I said, I'll do anything for you" Arthur said, biting his lip and trying not to let his tears fall. This was it, this was the beginning of the long road that was to come.
"Thank you brother, it's very appreciated" Gillian said with a smile before falling backwards off the ledge, plummeting to her death. Arthur rushed out of the observatory and down the stairs to the front door in a frantic attempt to catch her when she fell. He couldn't lose her to something he had said when he was drunk and he refused to have her blood on his hands.
He ripped the wooden front door off it's hinges and quickly ran over to where Gillian would land in hope that he could catch her...
But it was too late.
She had landed on the ground with a loud resounding crack of her bones that echoed in his head and around the forest in which they had their home. Arthur shook his head and tears began to spill as he dived over to her partially limp body and held onto her.
"B-brother..." her weak voice rang out making Arthur hold onto her tighter. "W-what is it, sister? Another complaint?" Arthur laughed bitterly, his voice cracking as he sobbed and trying to make light of the situation.
Gillian smiled weakly up at him with half-lidded eyes and cupped his cheek shakily. "I-I love you big brother~" Gillian giggled with a pained smile, making the blonde male break on the inside. "I-I love you little sister~" Arthur sobbed, his hold on her becoming shaky and slippery.
Gillian smiled at him, the pain finally taking its toll and her body became limp in his grasp. Arthur having noticed this, held her close to his heart and screamed bloody murder, tears falling endlessly.
He screamed and screamed until he couldn't scream no more. Nothing made sense in his world anymore. He just wanted to disappear and join Gillian because his life had lost the one thing that had promised to be eternal.
"I dinnae know why ye come here every fuckin' day...the lass did nothing fer us" Alastair said, staring at his sister's grave blankly at the inscription on the specially-designed headstone. 'Gillian A. Kirkland, Sole Protector of the United Kingdom'.
Arthur stood up and glared at his older brother. His eyes flashing angrily at the disrespect of their late sister. "You have three seconds to fucking take that back" Arthur snarled, his temper flaring and his aura matching his foul mood.
"Give me one good reason to, lad" Alastair hissed, narrowing his eyes at the younger who had decided to pick a fight with him. That was the worst mistake that the Scotsman made that day.
Arthur punched his older brother in the jaw, knocking a tooth out and pushing him away. "Get lost and don't fucking come back until you learn how to have respect for the dead" Arthur snarled again making Alastair snarl in response before hauling himself off the ground and storming away.
Arthur clenched his fists and sat back down, facing Gillian's grave. "Love, I'm sorry you had to see that...if you can" Arthur sighed, unclenching his fists and placing a hand down on the dirt that separated him and her.
He stared into the eyes of the picture that was on the headstone reaching his hand out to gently touch the roses on her grave but to add to his sadness, the petals fell onto the moist dirt.
Her ghostly presence hovered above him and wrapped her arms around him. He held placed his hands where he imagined where Gillian's hands would be and squeezed gently. The ghost smiled softly and squeezed his hands back, sending slight tingles up Arthur's arms.
And as the sun lowered into the horizon from the beach cliff that the Manxwoman was buried on, Arthur heard a soft voice on the wind say "I'll always be with you, even if I'm gone".
The End.