AN: HI AGAIN, HOPE THAT CHARACTER LIST WAS HELPFUL. NOW FOR THE ACTUAL STORY-YAY! FULL SUMMERY AFTER THE DISCLAIMER. AGAIN I URGE YOU TO REMEMBER THAT THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE EXACTALLY LIKE THIS MOVIE, AS YOU SAW IN THE CHARACTER LIST THERE ARE ADDED CHARACTERS. BUT I PROMISE YOU WILL MOST DEFINATLY REGONIZE SCENES FROM THE MOVIE, PLEANTY OF THEM.
PLEASE ENJOY AND REVIEW.
DISCLAIMER-OKAY, WE ALL KNOW I DON'T OWN HETALIA AXIS POWERS, THE CHARACTERS IN IT OR THE MOVIE TITANIC (EVEN IF I HAVE PLAYED AROUND WITH THE PLOT)
SUMMERY-Life can work in mysterious ways, it can change course suddenly and without warning but somehow the pieces all fit together in the end. When three people, a young man, woman and a little girl end up on the largest moving object of their time, it seemed as if the hands of God had put them there and was trying to place them together, like three pieces of a puzzle. It almost seemed to work, as quick and powerful bond formed between the three, one that seemed unbreakable. However not even God could foresee the little surprise Mother Nature had in store when the mighty ship TITANIC hit an ice berg. As forces beyond their control try to tear them a part, will fate deal them a deadly blow or will the pieces fit the way God wanted them to?
THE PUZZLE
CHAPTER ONE-SOUTHAMPTON
In the year of our lord nineteen hundred and twelve, on April the 10th a momentous event was unfolding. In the coastal city of Southampton, in a tiny damp country known as Great Britain the largest moving object in creation was about to make her maiden voyage, the RMS TITANIC. People were beginning to line up at the docks as early as 9:30 in the morning, some were passengers over whelmed with excitement as they waited their turn to load the massive ship. Others simply wanted to see the ship in person, see her take off on her maiden voyage. As the time edged closer and closer to departure time the dock was crowded with people. Shouts and cries of glee filled the pale blue sky as all eyes staid glued to the massive ship before them. It was truly quite a sight, for no other event was capable of pulling all walks of life together. Everyone from the poorest of the poor third class to richest of the rich first class were drawn to the spectacle that was TITANIC. How could they not? There was not one person that it did not seem to touch. To the rich and elite it was a beautiful playground, a floating castle where they could flaunt, show off and relax. To the thousands of poor immigrants that were the bread and butter of the mighty ship it was so much more. It was the ship of dreams, and the very idea attracted them like flies to honey.
However no matter how important the immigrants were to the profits of the TITANIC and White Star Line, they were still nothing more than little rats. They might have not wanted to believe it, but that fact became cruelly apparent to one young family. As they stood there waiting for their turn to board the ship, they were suddenly startled by the sound of loud car horn. They turned and much to horror a gleaming red car was close to hitting them. The family jumped out of the way quickly, walking away as not to see the rich passenger who came close to running them over.
The red car stopped and the driver hopped out, walking around to open the side door. Out of the car appeared a young beauty of 20. She wore an elegant white dress and delicate purple heels that added three inches to her 5'3 frame. Her long, thick russet hair was stubbornly pinned to her head and covered by a white house. All morning she had been fighting a dull migraine from the pins pushing into her skull, but at least she looked like a doll. The once vivacious and outgoing woman stood prim and perfect, expertly masking her dread as she stared at the gleaming ship. Elizaveta Héderváry did not see either the ship of dreams or a beautiful playground. She saw a cage, a cage that was would take her another one in America.
"Miss. Héderváry?" a soft, sweet voice asked from behind, pulling Elizaveta out of her solitary thoughts. She turned around and couldn't help but to smile. In front of her was a tiny little girl, who despite being eight years of age appeared to be only five. Her long dark brown hair was tied in a simple tail with a pale blue ribbon to match her dress. Even under her white hat one could clearly see the child's round, deep blue eyes. What one could not help to notice, and that included Elizaveta was how sad and distance they were. Her thin, almost hallow face seemed bright and happy enough. Yet even as she smiled shyly it seemed fake, giving her the presence of being a child years younger and older than her real age. Yet this girl made Elizaveta momentarily forget all her troubles and dark thoughts, for that small child always seemed to brighten her mood. She was the only person that could manage to get a true smile from the young woman.
Elizaveta took the child's little, gloved hand and knelt down to her level, mindful of her white dress. "Katie you silly girl, you don't need to call me Miss. Héderváry, because if you keep doing that I'm going to keep calling you Katherine." Katie's small smile went away, and her eyes widen in horror at the thought of constantly being called by her full name. It was enough to send a chill down her spine, for the only time she ever heard her full name was when she was trouble. Katie shook her head quickly and replied in a whisper, "Please don't. I'm sorry Liza." Elizaveta's smiled widen at the sound of her child-hood nickname. She gave the child's hand a gentle squeeze and rubbed her arm. The woman couldn't help to notice how thin it was, how she could practically feel bone. She forced that fact, and the image of Katie practically swimming in her pale blue dress in the back of her head. Yet her stomach still twisted slightly, her mind momentarily wondering what was happening to her little friend.
"That's much better. You look so pretty today. You're Mama and Papa would be proud to see how big and beautiful you're getting." Elizaveta said, causing Katie to look down her black shoes. Elizaveta quickly realized why her words caused the child to turn into herself once again and quickly placed her hand on Katie's other shoulder, using the other to gently stroke the child's cheek. She opened her mouth to say she was sorry for bringing up her late parents when a loud, gruff voice called out "Katherine!" Katie jumped and turned around, her blue eyes wide and her mind wondering what she had done wrong.
Standing before her was a round; brick faced man of average height. He wore a crisp suit, and in a strange sight was not wearing his trade mark puke green beret. His hands were in his pants pocket, and instead of eyeing the ship his black eyes were directed at Katie with the most annoyed glare. The child once again shriveled inward, averting his nasty eyes. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!" He barked, causing the child to jump once more and force herself to look at the space between his eyebrows. "I'm sorry Uncle Albert." She said daintily, causing Albert to cross his arms over his chest. "That's more like it." He huffed, walking around them to get a better view of the ship. Katie stood frozen for moment, silently wondering how she had managed to behave badly one moment after stepping out of the car. Her chest tightened, as it always did after Albert spoke to her and her eyes began to well, a huge no. She swallowed and forced her tears back behind those sad orbs, letting numbness sink in. Silently, Katie was grateful they were in public, for he had no choice but to hold back.
Almost immediately sensing the child's distress, Elizaveta gingerly placed her hands on Katie's boney shoulders, carefully spinning her around. She looked the child straight into her melancholy eyes, trying to ignore her stomach twisting as she smiled sweetly. "Don't pay any attention to him little honey girl." Elizaveta said softly, stopping to watch Katie's eyes flicker with delight at her sound of the pet name given when she was four. Elizaveta felt she could have melted when Katie's grayish skin blushed and that small smile returned once again. She leaned in close to the little girl, her lips twisted into a devilish smile. "He doesn't matter. This week is just going to be just you and me, and we are going to have so much fun on this ship."
Oh how those words enticed the young girl. Her body practically tingled with anticipation. A sincere large grin replaced her shy smile and her eyes grew wide, glowing the way a child's eyes should. Elizaveta's own smile grew larger at the sight and she felt a strange warm, tingly feeling in her chest. She couldn't explain that strange feeling. It seemed to occur since Katie had entered her life about two months ago, when her family offered the daughter of their decease friends and her Uncle a chance to travel with them back to America on the TITANIC. She couldn't understand or ever begin to explain the strange feeling, but she always felt light as air when her chest buzzed with warmth. So she thought nothing of it, or how much it increased when Katie asked in a breathless voice, "Really? You mean it?"
Elizaveta couldn't contain herself for one more moment, that warm tingly feeling so intense she couldn't contain herself. She wrapped her arms tightly around Katie, pulling her close so they were cheek to cheek and began to tickle the girl all over as she exclaimed, "Of cores I mean it!" Elizaveta got just what she wanted, to hear the child laugh not a prim little giggle but her loud, wild laugh that she loved so much. She didn't care how silly they looked in their nice dresses, about to fall on the ground in a heap of laughter. She just loved the wide smile on Katie' face, feeling her squirm around and hearing her laughter rising high into the blue sky. "Stop Liza, stop!" Katie cried, tears of laughter spilling out of her eyes. "I don't think so." Elizaveta proclaimed, giving the child a quick peck on the cheek just as a horrified voice broke their silly moment. "Elizaveta, what on earth do you think you're doing?!"
Elizaveta suddenly stopped her tickling, letting go of Katie and standing perfectly straight. She tried to ignore her burning face and stay as prim as possible as she looked her mother directly into her judgmental green eyes. It was said that Mrs. Héderváry used to be a breath taking beauty just like Elizaveta, right down to their thick russet hair. However despite Mrs. Héderváry age of 40, the woman appeared to be an entire decade older. As she stared at her daughter with cold, harsh judgment there was no trace of similarity. Her narrowed, icy emerald eyes were enough to make the usual iron willed Elizaveta crumble. To make matter worse the handsome middle aged brunette man next Mrs. Héderváry was smiling his usual plastic and blissful smile. Nothing could match Albert's look of shock and disgust though, almost as if he could not the thought of his niece showing any happiness what so ever. Was it any wonder that Katie coward behind Elizaveta, clutching her dress for dear life?
"Well Elizaveta, explain yourself!" Mrs. Héderváry snapped, causing Katie to jump slightly. Elizaveta swallowed and batted her eyes, trying to quickly decide whether or not she should come up with a little white lie. However before the young woman had a chance to "explain herself", her father let out a loud chuckle and walked over to his stunned daughter. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close, claiming in his usual carefree manner "Oh come on Juliska, Liza wasn't doing anything wrong. She was just playing with Millie, and after all there's nothing wrong that considering" Mr. Héderváry began, suddenly interrupted by Mrs. Héderváry's mortified glare and snake like hiss, "Sebastyèn! It is not proper to mention such private matters in public." Mr. Héderváry quickly threw his hands in the air, completely ignoring his daughter's almost pained expression as Albert shot her a sinister look, waxy smile and all. "Alright. Alright. I'm sorry my sweet, you are correct as usual." He replied, walking back over to his wife and hooking his arm in hers.
"Well we must be off, don't want the ship to leave without us!" Mr. Héderváry proclaimed, easing the tension among their odd group. Elizaveta let out a sigh of relive as she took Katie's tiny hand, smiling a warm smile. "Come on little honey girl. I promise this week will be amazing." She claimed happily, leading the child through the crowd and up to the large ramp that would lead them on to the mighty TITANIC.
For the first time Katie enjoyed her first true view of the mighty ship. If Elizaveta was not holding her hand, she would have frozen from being so stunned. To her young eyes the ship seemed to reach towards the clouds. It was the beautiful sight she had seen in short life, a steel castle that sparkled and danced in the sunlight. In fact, to the Catholic girl the sun soaked ship appeared a beckon of hope, a god-sent miracle to return to America once again. Oh how she wanted to tell Elizaveta of the wonderful miracle God has given them. However another one of Albert's rules was that she was not allowed to mention religion or even utter the word God unless it was Sunday, so she kept silent on that matter Instead she pulled Elizaveta's dress and said excitedly, "Liza this ship is so big! It looks so long that a body could walk to New York."
"Oh I assure child it's not that long, but I promise to get you there safely and quickly." a deep baritone voice chimed, causing Katie to stop in her tracks. In the time she was admiring the floating castle the group had not only completed the journey up the ramp, they were standing in front of a towering figure with icy blue eyes, and it easy to tell he had at least shoulder length hair hidden under his cap. Not only was Katie utterly intimidated by his sheer size, but of all the uniforms to be wearing he had on a clean Captains uniform. "Good day Captain Adler." Mr. Héderváry chirped happily, giving the Captain's hand a good strong shake. "Good day Mr. Héderváry." He said politely, almost as if he was trying to whatever true feelings he had. "I still can't believe this will be last voyage. I don't know if I'll ever trust any captain as much as I trust you." Elizaveta said, causing a warm smile to appear on his face. "Thank you Miss. Héderváry, it gives great comfort to know I have done my job well." Captain Alder tipped his hand, gave a bow and officially welcomed them on to the TITNAIC.
Meanwhile down below three young men were racing their way through the crowds, dodging horses and buggies and angry by standers as they made their way towards the ship. Each were dressed in very similar, simple clothing that consisted of nothing more than a shirt, suspenders, sturdy shoes and a worn jacket. They had nothing but canvas sacks in their hands. Yet you couldn't find a more diverse trio of friends. The two running the fastest, almost in a neck to neck race were total opposites and were the closest of the trio. Both were tall and handsome, but one had messy dark hair with large green eyes and olive colored skin. His smile was excited and care free unlike his best friend. As mentioned before he was also tall, but had more of a muscular build than his Spanish friend and his smile was anything but free and innocent. Instead his lips were twisted into a child, devil like smirk. Yet that nor the reason he was running so fast were why people stared. The alabaster man had hair that was so blonde it appeared white to most people and his eyes were the most usual shade of crimson red. That didn't stop the German (or Prussian as he liked to be called) from living life to fullest, and on that beautiful April day he was determined to continue living to fullest in America.
"Come on Frenchy you're slowing us down!" The self-proclaimed awesome man called back to the one straggler. A pair of blue eyes glared at him, as the person they belonged to tried to keep up. Though he was just as tall as his two friends, he was the lankiest if not most feminine of the three and always had trouble keeping up with them. "Oh oui Gilbert it's all my fault, it's not like you could slow down!" Gilbert laughed his trade mark wild laugh and proclaimed as loud as he good, "Yes Francis but the awesome me has the tickets!" Francis let out a huff and somehow was able to force himself to run faster, the thought of America seeming so close willing him to move . "See mi amigo that wasn't so hard!" Antonio claimed just as they reached the third class loading area. Gilbert couldn't dyne the relief and excitement he felt, reaching the ship just a minute before it was going to sail away. No one would ever believe him, how he managed to win three tickets and just barely arrive on time.
Or at least it seemed that way. Just as they ran up the ramp the passage to freedom was about to be close, causing Gilbert to panic just a little. "Wait stop! We're passengers!" He cried, causing the officer to stop. The trio skidded to a halt in front of the young man, dressed perfectly in his White Star Line uniform. His spiky blonde hair was spilling from underneath his cap, and not even the largest hat rim on the planet could hide those thick black eye brows. He eyed the three suspiciously and took their tickets. They waited with bated breath as he quickly examined the tickets and looked at them once more with those piercing green eyes. "Have you three been through the inspection que?" He asked, his thick British accent filled with doubt.
"Yes we have. Anyway we're totally awesome Americans right guys?!" Gilbert asked, his two friends silently grateful that he was born and spent the majority of his life in America. The young ship officer continued to eye the trio as Antonio and Francis nodded in agreement, wide and dubious smile plastered on their faces. The officer opened his mouth to question them, when a voice from inside the ship cried "Oh just them on Kirkland! We have to go!" Officer Kirkland let out a huff and returned their tickets. "You got lucky. Welcome aboard." The trio wasted no time running in, and as Gilbert ran past the officer he cried "Thanks a lot eye brows!"
"Oi! I'm going to throw you overboard just for that!" Officer Kirkland cried as he closed the portal to freedom, but the trio didn't notice. They were far too busy romping through the narrow hallway, practically shouting with joy. "We're the luckiest son of a bitches you know that?!" Gilbert cried, causing shouts of ecstasy from Antonio and Francis. The three were so excited they knew going to their room was no option at that moment. No they ran to the open deck and were greeted by a most wondrous sight.
Down below them, like little ants were the large crowd of people waving a cheering, saying their final goodbye to their loves ones and the ship. They couldn't see from their view high above the crowd, but a lone man was filming the ship's departure for prosperity. It was enough to make a man go mad, which is exactly what happened to Gilbert. The over confident young man, fueled by the joyous shouts of the people below leaned agent the railing and began waving. "Good bye losers!" He cried, causing strange looks from his two friends. "Gilbert what are you doing? Do you know anyone down there?" Antonio asked, somehow still smiling despite the confusion he felt. "No of cores not, that's not the point!" Gilbert exclaimed, continuing he cries of farewell. Antonio, not knowing what else to do shrugged and joined in. "¡Adios mis amgios! ¡Me techo mucho!" Francis, feeling as if he was the most mature simply leaned agents the railing and shouted "Au revoir!"
Then, just as men on the dock finished releasing TITANIC from the ropes that held her to the dock, a loud and proud whistle escaped from the steam stacks. The crowd and passengers erupted madly as the giant was slowly pulled out of the dock by at least three powerful tug boats. The trio staid on the deck the entire time, watching the people of Southampton drifting farther and father way. Gilbert couldn't contain his excitement and let out a loud chuckle as he placed each arm around a friends neck. "Well guys we did it, we're going to America!"