Title: Until We Meet Again
Summary: Everything ends one day. Alfred, Arthur, and the dissolution of the United States of America. Part of my Akashic Records 'verse.
"So this is the end."
The sky was bright, so, so bright. It was fitting for such a joyous day, the day of reckoning which both had awaited with tremors and paid with blood of their people. Cloudless, save for a few rebellious white tufts here and there, the sky burned azure with the blazing sun, mercilessly showering the world with a light so bright and piercing that the shadows it casted sank deep and dark.
Arthur turned away from the too bright sky to look beside him.
"Yes," he stated simply, for there were no other words left to say.
Alfred grinned, a smile fit for a sun god; bright and flashy and piercing. His sky-eyes were half covered by his hand; the shadows drawn by his fingers fell like velvet ink on his face. He had gotten paler, Arthur noted absently, knowing that it is to be expected from a fading Nation such as himself.
He knew this would happen. It didn't lessen the hurt.
"Hey," Alfred called out. When had he looked away? "Can you hear them? I think they're celebrating."
You can't possibly hear them, Arthur thought, shaking his head wordlessly. Alfred was laying on the grassy fields near Virginia, close to where he had found and lost Alfred, while Arthur sat up next to him as if on vigil by a grave. It was on the whim of the dying Nation that they came here. Something about going full circle; everything began here, he had said, so it might as well end here as well.
"Oh? Maybe it's just me…" Alfred closed his eyes, dropped his hand to the side of his head, and tilted his head to the side, as if focusing on a particular delicate strain of music. "I can hear them…Some of them are sad, they're still sorta clinging to me, but I can't hold on to them. Some of them are really happy and excited about this new global Nation. A lot of them have mixed feelings."
He opened his eyes, eyelashes fluttering briefly as sky-eyes focused on him. Alfred had smiled again.
"What do you think, Artie?"
Unearthly, shadeless green eyes locked on those bright blues. The former Nation pursed his lips in an imitation of a frown, but he was too numb to lent it much feeling.
"First, it's 'sort of'. Second, my name is Arthur. Third…" He trailed off, not knowing what words to describe this…this feeling of…sadness, and understanding, and empathy, and soberness. It made a potent mix of numbness.
Alfred smiled dimmed slightly, no longer the blinding, piercing reflection of the sun, but instead the forthcoming warmness of dawn.
"Good, I was getting worried you know. You're not usually this quiet." He gave a small laugh. "Normally you'll be nagging me up and down about this and that. Smile, why don't you!"
"Is that what you want?" Arthur asked, and there was something in his chest drawing his heart like a fish on a hook, pulling at it relentlessly to the point of tearing.
He tilted his head towards him, whispered, "Yes."
Arthur smiled.
"That's better…" Alfred sighed. He was getting closer to the end, Arthur knew. The other asked softly, "Will you continue to smile after I'm gone?"
"Of course I will, git," he said, the endearment synonymous to 'darling' and 'love' by now, "I've seen people die, Nations fall, Continents crumble, Planets burn, and entire universes end, yet I'm still here. I am still living, and not merely existing. Do not worry for me, dearest, because though I will mourn for you, I will no doubt move on and smile once again."
"That's good, that's the Artie I know," he murmured, relief palpable in the air between them. "You're gonna be there in my next life, right?"
"Of course I will, without a doubt," the immortal being stated quickly. "I've waited for you for centuries, and I can wait for you for centuries more."
"And if I'm a major dick?"
Arthur frowned. "Let's hope you're not, but yes, even if you are the most insane, annoying, barbaric, murderous, or evil being in the universe, I will still love you. I've loved you for too long for that to change."
His eyes fluttered once, twice, close to drooping. Alfred sighed. "I'm glad."
He reached for the dying Nation's hand, gripping it tightly. Alfred eyes opened once more to the former Nation.
"What's it like to live forever?" Alfred asked. "You count your years by the universes you've seen end, and belong to a race that lives beyond the boundaries of Reality, and yet you still chose to be here in this mortal world. What's it like for you to live forever?"
"Grief," Arthur answered softly, bending down to place a light kiss on top of his hand, "and love. It is not so much unlike mortals, though I need to remind myself that constantly. You, Matthew, Francis, Meri, Gabriel, Antonio…each and every one of you reminds me of my reason for staying here."
"Aww…not just me?" He gave a mock-pout, which the other kissed away.
"Darling, as much as I love you, you are only one person in a very, very wide world," Arthur murmured, a soft smile on his face. "That does not mean you're any less special to me, love."
"I can live with that…" Alfred said, his voice becoming a hoarse whisper. His eyes fluttered. "Hey…is it…I guess this is it."
And they were back to where they began. He stated simply, "Yes."
"It's not so bad…Hey, I guess this counts as a happy ending?"
Arthur remained silent, looking at him curiously as he combed his lover's hair. Somewhere, he knew, fireworks were being prepared and a crowd was counting down the time until one Nation died and another was born.
"I've always wanted a happy ending…you know, like those heroes get…" Alfred said, relaxing to Arthur's touch. His eyelids slowly drooped. "For a while, I didn't believe I can have it…Nations aren't saints, after all…but…"
He tilted his head back, eyes wide for a moment, those sky-orbs drinking in the sight of Arthur. His smile was resplendent, the last glow of the sun before it sank into the far distant horizon.
"Yeah…" He said softly, "This is the best happy ending I could get."
In the distant, fireworks bloomed and people cheered. In a grassy field somewhere in Virginia, one Nation breathed his last; dying with a smile as he faded away into the night and the stars he loved so much.
And Arthur, left only with the bomber jacket to mark his passing, finally cried.