CC101: Hey guys, sorry for lateness of chapter. Love family canning day... I am so sick of tomatoes!


Arthur turned around so he could see where they were heading. Slowly the dock came into view. Standing, waiting was the King of Spades. Behind him were the forty men, all armed and ready. Two of the men helped Lithuania tie up the boat when they got in range.

When Alfred saw Arthur, a huge smile threatened to split his face in half. Then he noticed that the Queen was crying. His thoughts turned to the worse. Was Arthur abused on the ship?

When Arthur saw Alfred go from a smile to a frown, he forced back the rest of the tears and forced up a wall that would protect him if necessary. That would be later. "Hello, Alfred."

The King picked him up from the boat. "Oh my God are you ok?!"

Arthur would have said, "I'm back with the very person who hates my soul". Instead of that, he responded with "Of course I am. Nothing bad happened. Why do you ask?"

Alfred looked over the Brit. He seemed to tell the truth. Leaning in the King kissed his Queen's cheek. "You're my husband and Queen. I have the right to worry." This was part actual worry and part of keeping up the charade around their people. "You weren't hurt? At all?"

Arthur cringed at the words that were whispered to him, and forced a smile. "Of course not. He was very kind, and treated me, as I was the most beloved person on the planet. He was very hospitable." If he was going to be treated, still, as their relationship was just a charade, he would hit Alfred where he knew he would have to hold back his behavior.

Alfred's eyes slightly narrowed. He would talk to Arthur about everything later. He then gave a bright smile. "I am glad that you are safe. Yao and I were worried about you."

Arthur smirked. He could see the king trying to hold back his comment, and the queen felt a bit proud of himself. "Oh were you? Did you not know?"

Alfred tilted his head. "Hear what?"

"I had a friend, America, who needed help with a few personal family issues. I was giving him some advice on how to handle the issue."

"What does that have to do with you being capture?"

Arthur surprisingly was prepared for a question like the one asked. "His soldiers mistook me for someone else and believed I was a prisoner. Luckily, he recognized me so I wasn't in too much trouble."

Alfred thought about it. "I see." He snapped his fingers. Flora was presented to Arthur. "I found her waiting on the shore."

Arthur's face lit up in a grin, and he reached a hand over to pet in between her eyes. She snorted and rubbed against his hand. "I've missed you, old girl," he whispered to her, placing a kiss against her nose. Flora gave another noise, and nodded her head vigorously.

Alfred got on his own horse, a stallion named Night Runner. Inwardly he frowned, Arthur seemed happier to see Flora than him. Well that was understandable. "Let's go back to our camp. We have everything ready for your arrival."

He turned to Lithuania, who was still waiting in the boat. "Tell your Master thank you for looking after my Queen."

The bird in the boat flew over to Arthur and sat on the Queen's shoulder. Arthur gave a quick pet to Freedom, and hastily scrambled into the satchel attached to Flora's saddle. When he found a blank piece of parchment and an ink pen, he scribbled a quick thank-you to America. He handed it to Lithuania, and whispered into his ear. "Give this to America and tell him I give him my utmost thanks."

He patted his shoulder and smiled before picking Illumi up and placing him in the bag attached to the saddle. He pulled himself up on Flora, gave her a comforting pet, and clicked his tongue to start to follow the king. On the outside, he seemed perfectly fine. However, inside of him, he was aching to leave the only person to ever treat him as if he was something.

Alfred was silent on the trip. He was thinking about everything Arthur said. Sighing he ran his fingers through his hair. He had an apology gift for Arthur but he could tell that this was not going to be easy. Eventually, they hit the tent site. Pulling the reins on Night Runner, Alfred dismounted and went to help Arthur. It was a tradition for some reason.

When Arthur noticed Alfred approaching him, Freedom retreated to a tree branch just nearby. The shorter male knew what the king was coming towards him for. It was something he always did for him. However, this time, Arthur dismounted Flora on his own, taking her reigns so he could walk her. Illumi wormed out of the pack he was in, jumping off and trotting ahead. The queen looked over at the king, reading him and letting him know that he would not be needing his help as of right now.

Alfred sighed, this was going to be a terrible night. Feeling slightly rejected, he went to the nearest man to take his horse. He went back to the royal tent.

The royal tent was large and blue. Inside was not very fancy despite them being royalty. The bed was several sleeping bags with pillows. The only other furniture was several cheats and a large wooden table.

In said table was half of his apology gift for Arthur. A vase full of beautiful Spade roses.


Arthur led Flora to the stables, another one of the men taking her for him despite his protests. Freedom landed atop the stables, and Illumi pounced into a bale of hay nearby. The queen, checking to make sure his pets were all in at least in sight, made his way to the tent that he had seen Alfred disappear into.

Alfred must have left because he didn't see the younger. What he did see was a vase with a note leaning against the glass. The flowers were those of their kingdom, the Spades roses. Each petal was shaped like a spade, and they were a solid blue close to violet hue. Arthur picked up the notes in front of him, curious as to what it was for.

Dear Arthur,

I know you are angry with me. You have every right to be. I was very cruel. I also know I have a long road to forgiveness. I hope you like the flowers.

I am sorry,

Alfred

"Oh, Alfred..." Arthur lifted the flowers out from their vase, mindful of the thorns, and took a sniff from them. They smelled of home, of mornings alone, of Alfred. The queen sighed, feeling the tears poke at his eyes, and he fell down upon a sleeping bag bed. He turned so that his face was stuffed into the pillow to suppress his sobs, and fell asleep a while later.

Soon after, Alfred came back. His hair was slightly wet from the bath he took in the nearby river. The King noticed the dried tears. Feeling a boatload of guilt, Alfred got on the opposite side of the 'bed'.

They hadn't shared a bed since their wedding day night. He remembered how awkward it was. The King had never shared his bed with anyone. Slowly, Alfred drifted to sleep, Arthur on his mind.

When Arthur next woke up, he almost forgot that he was with Alfred instead of America now. He rubbed his eyes, foggy and surrounded by dried water, and he shuffled to his feet and outside. It was dark, so he must have slept past dinner. In addition, his stomach was growling and warning him of the low supply on food.

He made it to the glistening river, and cleansed his face with water. He dried his face off with a cloth he had brought, and frowned at his reflection. He wasn't surprised that he wasn't happy, but he was shocked that he still ached for Alfred's attention. He still loved him, even though he tried to force himself not to. He ached in fear, part of him afraid of Alfred, and part of him of his own love.

The night was quiet. Then all of a sudden, everything came to life. Arthur grabbed his dagger and retreated to the opposite side of the river. The freezing water seeping into his clothes. The Queen recognized one animal call. The Spade-crested raven was unique to the Spades Kingdom. It was all black with a grey Spade on its chest. The bird only gave that call when a predator was near.

Arthur tensed as the bushes started to shake. Raising his weapon, Arthur was ready to fight the big, brown...groundhog. Standing up strait, he relaxed. Then rushing through the bush a common bear charged at him. Suddenly the bear stumbled into the water. Two arrows pierced the bear. One was in his eye; the other was in his throat.

A rather high-pitched scream left Arthur's throat unknowingly, and he stumbled backwards, tripping over his own feet and into the shallow water on the other side of the river bank. He scrambled back, even when the bear fell forward and blood started to fill the water. The groundhog gave a quiet, small snort and trotted forward, drinking a bit of water before sauntering back into the woods.

Arthur panted hard, trying to catch his breath as he gazed up at the person who had saved him.

Alfred rushed over and slit the bear's throat just in case. This caused more blood to mix in with the water. Then he turned back to his frozen Queen. His breathing was deep and his clothes looked a bit ruffled.

"Arthur are you ok? Are you hurt?!" The King asked concerned about his husband.

Arthur shook his head, slowly standing up on wobbly feet. "N-no, I'm fine." He rubbed his upper arms through his robes, shivering at the chill that passed over him.

Alfred put his weapons away before picking Arthur up in his arms. "Cuddle me. If you don't warm up, you could get hypothermia."

"A-ah!" Arthur's cheeks blew up in red, and he held onto Alfred's jacket, instinctively moving closer to him. "B-but...don't you..."

The stronger of the two started to walk back. He quickly maneuvered his way through the forest. "But don't I what?" Normally he would continue Arthur's sentence with something crazy, but he was still trying for forgiveness. He really didn't want to dig himself into a deeper hole.

Arthur pushed himself out of the arms, dropping to the ground but able to crouch back on the ground on two feet. He stood up straight, staring straight into the shocked pair of sky blue that were Alfred's eyes. "You hate me," he seethed, all of his anger at Alfred fueling together and functioning as one. "You see our marriage as nothing but political, as if it was supposed to happen and it's nothing special! You deemed me the most annoying person, you've insulted me, and you called me a bitch! Stop acting like everything is perfect and we're perfectly fine even though it's not! So please, tell me why you are acting so fake!"

All the guilt that Alfred had doubled. It made him sad that Arthur thought so little of him. Although, Alfred could admit he deserves it. The American also knew this would be a long, hard, and painful road to forgiveness. However a hero never gives up and gods be damned if Alfred does.

His blue eyes were down cast. "I-I was angry. I never focus on my words." He looked up at Arthur now, his heart pounding. "I am not trying to pretend everything is perfect, I am trying to fix the mistakes I made.

"W-well, y-you can try harder!" Arthur could now feel the tears cascading down his face hastily, and he didn't bother to wipe them away. "I really like you, Alfred; I ache for you every day. Whot you told me that day shattered me! That's why I ran away, to get away from you so you could be happy! I thought...my presence was whot made you so mad, my existence! I just want you to be happy, Alfred! That's the only thing that matters to me, your happiness!" The queen broke down and collapsed to the ground, sobbing, relieved that he had confessed everything he that had hidden from him.

Alfred stared at Arthur. What should he say? How should he respond?! His mind was being overloaded with questions and realizations. For a minute or two, he just stood there, shocked. Never in a million years would he have guesses that Arthur liked him. In their early years, it always seemed that Arthur hated him so eventually Alfred started to return the favor. The King slowly bent down and hugged the other. His voice was high. "I don't know what to say. I-I am sorry about the yelling. I can only say that I never truly hated you."

Arthur didn't return the embrace of arms, but he didn't refuse it either. He let his body go limp and his loud sobs to ring around the area. He didn't know if he should listen or ignore Alfred's words; they sounded so real yet so unbelievable.

Alfred's hand moved up and down Arthur back. He tried to think of something to say but nothing really came to him. Eventually, he picked Arthur back up and carried him to camp again. "Shhh, you need to stop crying." Alfred said gently as they neared camp.

Arthur barely made out what he had said, and stuffed his face inside the king's jacket, trying to quiet his sobs the best that he could.

Alfred quickly got them back to the tent. Setting Arthur down on the bed, the younger got out extra blankets from the chest next to their bed. Alfred went back to Arthur giving him the extra warmth. "You need to take you wet clothes off as well. When I give you the dry clothes, put them on fast and then use the blankets to cover every patch of skin."

Arthur wiped away the water that had soaked his cheeks and nodded, sniffling before undressing and taking the offered clothes. When he was in the dry clothes, he slipped into his sleeping bag and draped the blankets on and around him, curling into them with a quiet sigh. He looked up at Alfred sadly; tears still welled up in his eyes, waiting for him to speak.

Said person could feel Arthur's eyes on him. Alfred knew that Arthur was waiting for an answer. His mind was trying to sort everything out so he didn't say something stupid. To buy himself time, he undressed himself and put on something comfortable.

Arthur blinked, figuring that Alfred did not want to talk to him, and turned to his other side, encasing himself even more into the blankets. He let the few tears that were left fall off and onto the pillow beneath his head. Hopefully, they could talk in the morning and have a few things sorted out.

"...thank you, Alfred..."

Silence ruled for a while.

"You are welcome." Alfred whispered back as he curled into his own blanket.


America sighed as Lithuania came back. He was standing on the edge of the deck. Watching as the other men helped the boat up, the Chess King gave another sigh as his servant came up to him. "What happened?"

"Arthur said to tell you thank you. As did King Alfred, if a bit ruder," Lithuania answered. "The King seemed to worry about him. Arthur also gave me this." He handed the paper to the taller blond.

America quickly grabbed the paper and read it. Smiling he looked at the docks that were out of his sight. "Oh, Arthur…"


Freedom and love are what you make it

-Arthur