Sleeping Sun

After the initial euphoria of freedom the blast that followed the destruction of parliament left Arthur feeling very…off. He lay on the ground dazed, a far distance away from the blazing ruins and the panicking civilians, his stomach and legs aching, his head throbbing, and his entire body feeling so terribly cold.

"Iggy!"

"Arthur!"

Voices were yelling over the pandemonium…two familiar voices and Arthur struggled to focus as they drew closer with each passing second. The sound of echoing footsteps ceased beside him suddenly and soon the disorientated nation found himself pulled into a set of strong arms whose warmth was still not enough to shake the icy sensation from him. He blinked when he felt someone place a hand to his forehead and looked up to see two nearly identical faces peering down at him in concern.

His brothers… here to save him, the way they seemed to constantly do nowadays. The plan had worked, but once again he lay in failure…unable to do anything but let the younger nations pick up the pieces. It was pathetic, really. He was the once strong empire, the survivor, the victor…and most importantly the elder brother. He was the one who was supposed to be looking after them not vice versa, but oh…look what the years had done to him. At least he should be thankful he had them at all instead of no one, should he not? It was cold now as the last of the rubble was carefully cleared off of him, most likely due to the setting sun on the horizon, but the arms that held him were warm and gentle, so very warm...

His brothers were still smiling down at him a look of almost playful exasperation gracing their features. Suppressing a sigh, Arthur licked his lips.

"D-don't just give me that…idiotic look, git…I'm freezing," He addressed the younger man who was holding him, muttering around a tongue which seemed terribly thick all of a sudden. Damn…he didn't want them to worry, but…hell…

Mustering his mental reserves against the pain, he tried to move away from his brother's arms and sit up. It hurt so damn much.

"Woah! Hold your horses there old man!" Alfred said worriedly. "You dumbass. You've got a pretty bad broken leg; so don't even try to move!"

Arthur stared blankly up at his brother's face, which seemed rather blurry. A broken leg? He'd broken limbs before. It certainly didn't feel anything like this. "Just…my leg?"

"Yes," Matthew answered exasperatedly. "And you hit your head on something too. You had us all worried, but Kiku will be back here any minute now to patch you up."

Was that so..? It would make sense…yes, that was the reason he felt so light headed. How embarrassing…Alfred was never going to let him live this one down. "I…apologize, for worrying you. I'll try to be more careful next time," The Englishman mumbled in a half-hearted attempted at sarcasm and twitched slightly, though he heeded his brothers warning not to move. He wasn't in a rush; he could wait a few more minutes for Kiku.

"That would be nice," Matt said dryly, a teasing smile gracing his features.

Arthur allowed his head to fall to the side slightly into Alfred's chest. There was something wrong here, he thought fuzzily, but he was so tired it was hard to think of it. "I'm cold," he said again. "And tired…How much longer?" he whined breathlessly.

"Geeze...Iggy! It's barely been a minute! Just rest meanwhile, kay?"

It was wrong, something was off; Arthur knew it in his very bones. But with Matt smiling next to him, and Alfred holding him softly, everything had to be ok. His brothers will protect him. They wouldn't lie to him; if there was truly something wrong, they would tell him. "I…suppose I shall…close my eyes for a moment, alright? Be sure…to wake me when…when...it's time to go home…"

"Of course! Have a little faith, old man," Alfred said, happily, determinedly, as he did every time while Matthew nodded carefully holding onto Arthurs hand.

Everything was fine.

Arthur allowed his eyes to fall shut, his cheek pressing lightly against the warmth of Al's chest and his cold hand clasped tightly in Matt's own. His breathing evened out peacefully, a small smile drifting on his face.

The twins never moved from their spots, only watched helplessly as their brother relaxed, his breaths coming less and less often, until his body finally went still.

Alfred felt a yawning hole tear inside him, his brother slowly stiffening in his arms, and he pulled him closer, tighter as the spell of silence broke and Matthew began to weep, collapsing onto his brothers with a moan of pure agony. Together they could feel how the dead body slowly became colder than ice, while the blood dried and caked. The wind that teased through their clothes and fluttered their hair was warm but that warmth didn't reach them. How could it? How could anything in this world possibly be warm or bright or beautiful when their beloved, precious older brother, the man who had raised and protected them all their lives, lay dead, his body practically torn in half?

Alfred couldn't move, because the tears that so desperately wanted to fall wouldn't. He couldn't cry…couldn't not when Matthew wouldn't stop, even after his sobs grew choked and hurting. He just couldn't cry. How could he when he couldn't even begin to force himself to believe what had just happened and the ache inside of him grew and grew until it was a scream that tore its way out of him, one that cried unto the heaven's, to everywhere on this earth and off.

It wasn't fair.

It was finished. The battle was over…but so was everything they had hoped for, worked for, dreamed of, and imagined in the centuries they had lived. Arthur was gone. Their brother was dead…and there was nothing anyone could do about it. The only thing left to comfort themselves with for the rest of their somewhat eternal lives was that Arthur had died with a smile on his face, safe in the knowledge that they were going home. Together.

As the sun set over the ruins that they had created they knew this pain was a small price to pay for that.

What is this? I really have no clue at all. Plot? There is none really… My scanner [like everything/everyone else around me] is having issues and kind of broke down on me so I thought I might focus my frustrations back on the love of my life…writing fan fictions! However, it's taking me a bit to get back on a roll with it. I'm currently writing up updates for most of my FMA stories but have been itching to write something [decent] for APH lately…I have plans for a few plot-filled Hetalia stories but this...Yeah…for those of you who know me you can't say you didn't see this coming…brotherly love and character death. Yep. That's my drug. I torture them with my sadism and you with my fluff. BTW this story was based on something I read a long time ago and the title is taken from a song by Nightwish. [I suck at titles…]

So say tuned in for more~ APH fans!

Don't forget to drop in and review if you have the time, but before you do let me answer this: I don't support/ship USUK, MapleTea and/or Americest. I just DON'T. I personally think they're sick incest pairings and therefore IDON'TSHIPTHEM. I have my rights just as you do. So if you're a fan of these pairings then that's fine, just please, please don't push them on me. Don't ask. Don't mention. If you don't like. Then don't read.

Other than that if there's anything else you don't like 'bout this story flame away! [But it'd be nice if you'd leave some constructive criticism…I need it!]

Thanks and hasta la pasta!

-Faith

PS. I take requests!