Matthew Williams' home was absolutely beautiful. It was constructed out of wood; cedar shingles were set tightly onto the old-style log house frame. A large deck overlooked a beautiful lake, and behind the house stood the great Rocky Mountains. Maple trees, pine trees, cedar trees – even trees that had names you didn't even know were clustered around the area, and large, evergreen forests were everywhere you looked.

"Wow," you said when you and Matthew got out of his truck. "You live here?"

"Yeah," Matthew blushed and scratched the back of his head. "It's nothing too fancy, but it is home. Come on," he walked up to the front door and beckoned for you to follow. "I'll show you where you'll be staying."

The two of you walked inside the house. Not surprisingly, the inside of the house was just as beautiful as the outside. Real hardwood floor overlaid every inch of the house, and the occasional rug was placed to give the room more of a homey feel. To your left, there was a living room equipped with leather furniture, a real wood-burning fireplace, antlers mounted on the walls, and a coffee table in the middle of it all holding a large, silver cup.

You pointed questioningly to the cup. "I know that. Is that...?"

"Yeah, it's the Stanley Cup." Matthew smiled. "It's one of the most famous Canadian items ever. It's the greatest prize in hockey, and being as I'm Canada, I get to keep it sometimes. It's a good deal, eh?"

You nodded, unable to stop Matthew's small, innocent joy flood over to you. "Yeah, I think so too."

"Here," Matthew began to walk straight ahead, to where a wooden staircase started. "Up here is a guest room you can use. I put in a few things that are important to our friendship, just so you might remember."

A large smile appeared on your face. Matthew was just the sweetest guy!

"Thank you so much." You said, starting up the stairs with him. "It must be kind of weird for you... you know, having your friend totally forget you."

"It's okay, really," Matthew said, guiding you down a hallway once you two reached the top of the stairs. "I mean, I want to do all that I can to help you. And even though I'm sad that you got hurt, I'm not angry about it." Matthew's eyes met your own, and as you looked at him, you could see that he was telling the truth.

"Thanks," you said, feeling really appreciated for the first time you could remember.

Matthew blushed and looked down. "It's no problem." He whispered. "Now, um, your room is over here." He quickly began to walk down the hallway, with you following closely behind. When you two finally reached the last door, Matthew opened it, saying, "I'll give you some time to get settled. If you need anything, I'll be downstairs." And so, the sweet but shy man left, leaving you alone in the guest bedroom.

"Wow," you said, looking around the room with wide eyes. "Matthew hadn't been kidding when he said he'd put out stuff for me to remember."

The room was fair-sized, and the walls and flooring were of the same style as the other rooms. The only difference was a queen-sized bed in the middle of the room, and a wholly-covered-in-stuff desk on the right wall.

You walked towards the desk, curious to know what was on it. You saw many items: books, papers, knick-knacks, a hockey glove, a photo album, a stick that looked to be from a maple tree, and a very old, leather-bound book entitled The History of Amadallo.

Naturally, the book was the first thing you grabbed.

"Alright," You walked over to the bed and sat on it, then began flipping through the paged of the book. "There has to be something in here that will help me remember. There has to be!"

You got past the preface pages and reached the table of contents. The first few chapters looked roughly like this:

I. Discovery
II. Amadallo's Early History
III. Struggles
IV. The Amadallen-French Alliance
V. Early Victories

You weren't in an immediate rush to discover anything specific; after all, you didn't even remember your origins. Being as those were the facts of the matter, you decided to start on the first chapter.

The book stated that the island country of Amadallo had been discovered and claimed in the mid-1500s by the country of Scotland (now a part of the United Kingdom). Amadallo's early days were rough, but even so, the harsh weather patterns and various attacks by European countries caused the little country to become strong. Even though Amadallo had ties to Scotland throughout its early history, it was still quite independent, and prospered well until a disease spread throughout the land. People, animals, and crops died, causing a great loss of wealth. The disease didn't last long, but even so, it had done enough damage to cause Amadallo to suffer. For a while, it looked as though the island country wouldn't survive much longer. But then, the country of France stepped in to help. After receiving a large amount of aid from the French nation, Amadallo soon proposed the idea of an alliance between the two countries. And so the Amadallen-French Alliance was born.

You paused your reading, puzzled. "So I had an alliance with Francis Bonnefoy, yet no one mentioned that?" You thought that was strange, but even so, you kept reading.

As Amadallo's ties with France strengthened, the country's ties with Scotland began to weaken. When the United Kingdom was formed, Amadallo lost nearly all ties with Scotland for a while. But even so, Amadallo was doing well without Scotland. With the help of France, Amadallo was prospering again, even becoming to be known as one of the richest European countries. Unfortunately, all of that changed when France and Amadallo began to discuss the possibilities of a marriage contract. At the beginning of the talks, both countries seemed to think that the idea was a good one. At the last minute, Amadallo decided that she wanted to keep her independence. The French government did not take that news well, and invaded Amadallo, severing all bonds of trust between the two nations for centuries to come. Amadallo ended up winning the fight against France, but had been enemies with the country ever since.

So that was why no one had said anything to you about Francis. They must have wanted to protect you from a country that had the opportunity to attack you while you were injured.

But if that was true, why had Francis been the first one to visit you in the hospital?

You closed the history book with a frown and laid it next to you on the bed. You had expected the book to answer your questions; and it had answered a few. But, yet again, you were left with more questions than answers.

"_, I'm making dinner downstairs in the kitchen." Matthew's voice echoed up at you from downstairs.

"I'll be there in a minute." You called back. Casting one last glance at The History of Amadallo, you stood up and exited your room.

Author's Note: I finally worked up the time to get a chapter for this story done! Tell me what you think, and forgive me for not giving you all more history. Did you like this installment? Who else wants the Stanley Cup in THEIR living room?