Arthur leaps to his feet as a figure enters the large meeting room. The figure is tall, thin and so pale they're almost sickly. His clothes are casual; boots, jeans and an over-sized red hoodie.
"Canada! Matthew!" the Brit exclaims, "You're alive?!"
'Matthew' looks up at him, huge blue eyes brimming with tears, "I-I'm not Canada… I'm America…"
Ludwig hadn't asked any questions when Alfred had peeled off his prized bomber jacket and slid it onto Matthew's unmoving body. In return, Alfred hadn't asked any questions when Ludwig had taken up his gun and silencer, taken the keys to Kiku's prison from Alfred's belt-loop, and left. Ivan had already gone to find shovels.
A scream suddenly confirmed that Ludwig had succeeded in his task. Arthur and Francis follow a garbling noise, which turns into a flow of desperate, panicked Chinese. They find Ivan attempting to annex Yao, who is trying to charge at Ludwig, who is standing over Kiku, who is laid on the floor with a pool of thick red blood slowly spreading underneath him.
"What the hell is going on here?" Arthur demands.
"It's pretty obvious, ain't it?" Alfred says, "Japan killed Feliciano, so Ludwig killed Japan, and now Yao wants to kill Ludwig."
"But you can't just kill a nation with bullets!" Francis exclaims.
"You can if you force them to give up their land." Ludwig deadpans.
Arthur scans the body, the legs and arms made pouris and bloody with bullet wounds. "You kneecapped him. You tortured him into giving his country to you."
"I think we should all calm down, da?" Ivan says, voice rising.
Giving a shriek of misery and anger, Yao presses a heel back into Ivan's knee. Ivan falls back with a pained yell just failing to cover the sickening snapping sound. Yao freezes, torn between fussing over Ivan and avenging his dead brother. He eventually settles with getting Arthur to help him drag Ivan up onto his one good and sitting the injured ex-nation on the table.
After Arthur cuts the lower half of the trouser leg away to clearly reveal the break, and Yao fusses over Ivan like a mother hen, Ludwig pushes crudely between the nations, demanding Arthur fetch a first-aid kit. With Yao glaring death at the back of his head, Ludwig grips Ivan by the ankle and, without so much as a warning, snaps the mangled bone back into place. Ivan gives a yell of agony, throwing a sharp punch on reflex at the crown of Ludwig's head. Ludwig gives a grunt of pain, and clamps his hands around the break, despite Ivan repeatedly clubbing him on the scalp.
Arthur dashes in with a first-aid kit, throwing the box open onto the desk next to the now-cursing Russian. He takes up a roll of basic cotton bandages, unrolls them quickly and, with the expertise of a long-time parent, wraps the bandage tightly around Ivan's shin, Ludwig inching his fingers out of the way. "Looking after all my colonies made me pretty, uh, adept at fixing injuries," Arthur jokes awkwardly, "Australia got injured the most often, but America always made the biggest deal out of even the tiniest of injuries."
"South Korea," Yao mumbles, "South Korea often got injured. Usually by his twin; they never got along."
"Kids, eh? Who'd have 'em!" Arthur gives a forced laugh.
"Gee, thanks Dad," a voice snaps from the door. Alfred leans against the doorframe, twirling a shovel idly in his hands.
"Alfred… I was only joking, lad…"
"Whatever," Alfred cuts him off and holds out the shovel to Ludwig, "Feliciano and Mattie deserve a burial, at least."
"I will help," Ivan says bluntly, leaning back over the table to snatch the shovel from Alfred's hands.
"You're not going anywhere, aru!" Yao attempts to pin Ivan to the table. Ivan shoves Yao off and forces himself to his feet, leaning on the shovel like a cane. The shovel is a little too short for this job, making his prominent lip making exaggerated.
"Dude, what happened to you?"
"Yao kicked me."
Alfred eyes the accused ancient, and simply spits; "Cunt."
Yao, Francis and Arthur stare after them in shock as the trio leave, Ivan hobbling slightly behind the tense German and the teary-eyed American.
Alfred, Ludwig and Ivan walk to a large clearing a short walk from the building. Alfred has carried Matthew, Ludwig has carried Feliciano, and Ivan has struggled after them with two extra shovels as well as the one he is using as a cane. Alfred and Ludwig settle their loved lost ones down side-by-side at the foot of a maple tree.
"Ivan, you shouldn't be here," Alfred insists, "You're injured. You can hardly walk- how are you supposed to dig? And, besides, Russia had almost nothing to do with Italy or Canada."
"It is my fault Matthew was poisoned, and my fault he couldn't help Feliciano when he wanted to. And, besides," he glares pointedly at Alfred as he copies his words, "I had relations with Italy during the World Wars, and we are both known for our Mafias and underworld. Canada and Russia were once connected by a land-bridge, we are both known for hockey and winter-sports, and we are both underlings of General Winter; I have a lot more in common with your brother than you think."
Alfred pulls a face. "But still, your leg…"
Ivan holds up a hand to silence him. "I am helping. End of discussion."
By this time, Ludwig has dragged the tip of his shovel through the ground to form a large square. He digs the shovel into a corner and pulls up a mound of earth, throwing it to the side. Alfred follows suit, starting on the opposite corner. Ivan digs up a third, not yet questioning the fact that the square is much too large for two people.
Half an hour later, Ivan has dug up less than a third of either Alfred's or Ludwig's efforts, but stubbornly refuses to give up.
A branch snaps, and all three whirl at the sound, shovels raised in warning. Yao steps out of the overgrowth, shovel in hand, Kiku strapped to his back. Alfred's eyes narrow at the Asian duo, bouncing the shovel in his hands.
Yao sighs, "I know he did a bad thing, but he still my little brother, aru."
The trio ignore the Chinese man as he starts digging a short distance away.
Within two hours, Kiku has been buried and a bouquet of chrysanthemums has been placed on the freshly churned earth.
"Do you need a hand, aru?" the question is aimed more at Ivan than Alfred and/or Ludwig, but all three glare at him. Yao grabs Ivan by the arm and begins attempting to drag the hulking Russian towards the hide-out building. "You're going to hurt yourself, aru."
Ivan simply shrugs him off. "It's almost finished anyway. I'll be fine."
Yao eyes him. "You'll come back now, or I'll tell your sisters, aru. They won't be happy, will they, aru?"
"Fine. Tell my sisters." Ivan snaps, "Be sure to start with you kicking me and breaking my leg."
Yao scowls, his mouth opening and closing a few times, making him look comically like a fish, before he turns on his heels and storms off.
"Smooth," Alfred comments.
Ivan gives a small, genuine smile, "Spasibo. But, comrades, I have a question. The grave we've dug is very big. Too big, I think. In actual fact, it appears to be twice as big as necessary."
"That's not a question," Alfred says, voice hostile, as Ivan pauses.
"I know, Alfred. My question is; are you sure?"
Alfred and Ludwig share a look. Alfred nods instantly, determined. Ludwig pulls a notebook and pen from the inside pocket of his jacket. He writes quickly, without giving himself time to think. He finishes, rips it out without checking it, folds it roughly and hands it to Ivan. "Make sure this is delivered to Lovino Vargas; representative of Italy. New Japan is Yao's and Germany is Gilbert's."
"Comrade, I am not well," Ivan says, refusing to take the note, "I am old, injured and dying; I may not be able to get it to him."
"But you're gonna get better," Alfred says quietly.
"Why do you say that?"
"Did you ever think about how your sister will cope with this war? With representing and looking after such large amounts of land and citizens? How they'll cope with your death?"
Ivan's face falls, "No… no I didn't…"
"That's okay, dude," Alfred smiles, "You're a pretty okay guy, Ivan. Your sisters love you, y'know. Whenever I talked to either of them, they always had so much to say about you. They need you, Ivan, to help them and they need you to end this war. Can you do that, Ivan? For me and Mattie, for Feliciano and Ludwig? Make the world a better place? Can you be the hero?"
Feliciano and Matthew lay side-by-side in the huge grave, their cold hands clasped into each other's. Ludwig sits at the other side of his maid-boy and Alfred sits by his twin, each clinging to the respective corpse's free hand. Ivan gives them a soft, sad smile goodbye as the now ex-nations raise the guns to their heads and pull the triggers.
Ivan takes his time filling the grave, singing a song about circles and the Earth to himself.
When he returns to the building, he is instantly bombarded with questions, which he answers as quickly as he can. As Arthur and Francis break down in tears over the loss of their sons and Yao begins making phone calls confirming that he is the new representative of New Japan, Ivan peels the bandage away from his fixed nose and walks away without a limp.
Upon arriving in Italy, he calmly requests to see Lovino Vargas; representative of Italy. When asked his name, he responds with; "Ivan Braginski; representative of The United States of America and Canada."
Shorter and less funny than the last chapter. There's an epilogue after this, which is happier, honest! Well, not at first, but oh well!
I don't own Hetalia
-Laurel Silver