disclaimer: i think you can discover what is mine by a little logic. Right? Right.
i have something to say about this chapter.
theme 5 is what I like. theme 6 is Vietnam-centric completely and why did I do this? them 7 is awkward. theme 8 is fluff - without war.
i'm sorry for the quality.
thanks for all review, fav+ and alert.
5, Seeking solace
When night comes, he loves her fiercely, his love, his gestures guided by a desperation that burns like fire. It's like every part of him has some connections to fire slowly engulfing her. I'm killing them, I'm killing them. He's still young, he's seen and suffered wars, but still too young in comparison to her, and she, the older one, doesn't know what to say. It's war, and it's raining blood. Their moments together feel like borrowed time and space, a hopeless fight against the inevitable, a hopeless struggle against making the same mistakes. He loves like the bombs that are dropped down her land, there's a certain destruction, a terrifying threat beneath the tender caresses and kisses. It starts clumsy at first - if her face wasn't so tense, she would chuckle at his concentration – he awkwardly and hesitant and treats her like she's glass. But then the kisses get rougher, the gestures get bolder, his hands fly over her body and all she can feel is fire and fire, shot through her vein, make her unable to refuse the call. I will keep my promise. I will protect your trust. He always says that to her in the moonlight, as his fingers running through her black hair and limbs tangled together, while the war rages outside and the fate of her country hangs on balance. It's the only moment that she lets herself forget about being North or South. He's with her until the sunrise. We're on the road to ruin, she thinks, and you're too young, America, too young compared to me. You shouldn't cling to someone like me. She just doesn't have courage to let him go entirely.
6, Break away
There are times that she doesn't feel like Vietnam, Lien wants to break away from everything. Too much pressure is put on her shoulder, what's with the war between two world powers, keeping herself from going insane, keeping herself from following Korea's step. She's tired of being a proxy war in the cold war, of being torn between two nations who wants power. She curses them when she feels like human, cutting her hands until they bleed and China has to stop her from torturing herself. She's breaking – do they not see it? Both Russia and America are blind by power, China will say if she asks, but they're not her most dangerous enemies. Her brother will look pointedly at her and says: "Little sister, your strongest opponent is yourself." And Lien watches her wounds heal, hearing the voices of her citizens, they're calling to her, they want to protect her. They're her blood and flesh, her children.
"You're protecting whom you care about." Lien hears Vietnam whisper in her ears.
"I don't care anymore." She says, clenching her hands and feels the warm liquid beneath her skin escaping. "I don't want it. I just want to go away."
And she picks up her guns and goes outside.
Keep counting the day until this war is over. Don't you dare forget what you've done.
(- except that she's Vietnam before she's Lien, so breaking away is out of question.)
7, Heaven.
"Hey, Alfred."
America lifts his eyes from the laptop screen to look at Vietnam, who is sitting near the window, playing with the rose petals. Throughout the year, America has learnt to use her tone of voice as an indicator of expression, since her facial expression hardly changes at all. Whenever she calls his human name, it means she is in relatively good mood, her tone will be a bit pleasant, sentimental and thoughtful.
Like now.
"What's up?" And America will not be himself if he doesn't make use of the opportunity.
"Where do you think we'll go after we die?"
Of all things she can ask, it is the least he's expected. This question is a bit far away, isn't it? Because they're cursed with immortality.
(the first rule of immortality is dying, and they've already done that but America has no idea if that black and white place is the one she's looking for.)
"Why do you ask that?"
"I don't know." She shrugs. "Perhaps I've lived too long and wanted to know if there is something nice after I rest." The way she takes death is so lightly. He can't really have any saying in that, because it's what they all prepare for. Nations can't die, but it doesn't mean they will not disappear. They may be replaced in the future.
But -
She hasn't lived a enough peaceful life.
"I'll think heaven." He replies, cautiously. "At least, this is the nice place for people. But do you think you'll be comfortable?"
A pregnant pause and her voice is so soft that he almost misses it:
"No."
8, Innocence
(gakuen au)
"You work too much." Alfred tells her, voice so serious that Lien almost smiles. "Aren't those assignments frustrating?"
"Only to you. You don't like doing it."
"No one does." She raises an eyebrow at this, and he places his hamburger down. "Lien, you should ease up a bit. It'd be nice to take a break, we can go somewhere simple and… innocent." She wonders what's with the pause.
"What do you suggest?"
"You know, talking about childhood memories, seeking for the innocence you once held."
"It's surprisingly deep of you."
"Hey!"
"It's good, actually, I can use that for my English assignment."
"What? How does it come back to study again?"
"Alfred." At least he's succeeded, she's in good mood. "If you want to take a break, wait until weekend. We can catch the bus and goes to a farm far from the city. It will certainly recovering my memories, as you put it."
"Eh? That means we're coming to your house?" He isn't nervous, he's just excited, and it's not because she decides to take a break, it's because he wants to see where she grows up. "Of course I'll go!"
"Great." She says, and stands up. "Then I'll ask Arthur and Feliciano too. We may see if my siblings will visit."
He's forgotten that she has a big family.
And she's gone, too search for the ones she's mentioned. Alfred chews his hamburger sullenly. The more the merrier? He's very disappointed when she said she'd ask them.
notes: please don't favorite without review.
