[A/N: Hello again! I'm glad those of you that reviewed liked parts 1&2! Those that didn't, it still made me happy to see my story get so many visitors XD Well here are the next two parts like I promised but I added a short little epilogue to the end. I felt like something was missing so I wrote it! Tell me if you like it or not 'kay? Well on with the last parts of When You're Gone!]
Rating: K+ or T
Characters: Canada, Prussia, OC New Prussia, America, mentions of England and France
Genre: Tragedy, Family, Hurt/Comfort, and a bit of Romance
Summary: When Prussia finally disappears as a nation and a person, Canada is left with the pain of knowing he'll never return. However, Prussia may have left something behind for Canada so that even when he's gone, he'll still be with him.
Disclaimer: I only own the plot.
Part 3
I've been talking to Ludwig more and more since Prussia…died?
We've been talking about what could've happened to him and about his promise. He's the only one I've told about what Gilbert said. I got the feeling that he understood but I'm not sure why. Maybe Prussia said something to him too.
When I tried talking to Heracles, Feliciano, and Gupta, they just didn't seem to understand. They lost family members, I lost the love of my life. I think that pretty much explains it. Whenever my 'family' visited (i.e Alfred, Arthur and Francis) they just responded with 'It must be tough' or 'It'll be okay'. It didn't even feel like they were listening to what I was saying, but instead visiting me so that they didn't feel guilty. I hate thinking like this but I can't help it. No one seems to understand but Ludwig and even he doesn't really get what I'm feeling but at least we can provide each other with better feedback than 'My condolences to you'.
Today I'm visiting Ludwig again. He called at about five in the morning with a surprisingly eccentric voice.
"Canada!" He started off. It seems that with the loss of Gilbert, Ludwig gained an increased memory. "S-something very…strange has happened! You must come over right away!"
When I asked the typical follow-up question of 'what happened?', he tried to respond but then Italy suddenly appeared and the conversation ended shortly after I heard the words "Ve~Doitsu what's that?"
I arrived at about 5 in the afternoon the next day their time. Ludwig had sent a car for me and I was driven to his one of his many houses, this particular one being Berlin. I noticed something was off before I even set a foot in the house. For one thing, I heard the voices of Ludwig and Feliciano shouting things from inside of the house. This wasn't uncommon but it was what they were shouting that made me confused. From what I could hear, they were talking about Gilbert. I opened the door (surprisingly unlocked) and followed the voices to backyard.
"Ludwig, what is—"I froze. In Ludwig's backyard, Prussia's flag was fluttering proudly in the wind but that wasn't the strange part. It was hovering in mid-air – just out of reach – and…wait, were those words on the flag? I started walking slowly to the mysterious flag, not even caring about Ludwig and Felicano's confused reactions. I couldn't help, my legs just seemed to move on their own. When I reached the flag, I was able to make out the word much more clearly than before. I stood staring at it for a few seconds before the word finally registered in my mind. It read the single word 'Promise'. The last word that he said to me before he died. The word that I keep hearing. What did this mean?
I didn't realize that I was crying until I felt the wet tears running down my cheeks. More questions started popping into my head the longer I stood, reading the single word over and over again. Is he coming back? Is he really fulfilling his promise? How did this flag get here?
"W…what is trying to tell me?" I barely muttered out in my teary voice. I fell to the ground and this time the tears were accompanied by shaky sobs, shaking my whole frame. I felt Feli's arms around me and whispering soothing words to my in his native tongue. I was feeling so many things. Confusion. Anger. Denial. All of the emotions that I felt when Gilbert first died came rushing into me as well. But…there was something else. I didn't know what it was or how it related to anything, but I still felt it. Now, I think I know what it is. That emotion might've been…happiness.
Part 4
It's been one year and three months since Prussia left. All of the attention that was focused so intently on me has finally died down to sporadic phone calls and visits. Everyone's concern of my how I'm coping with the disappearance of Prussia morphed into random conversation starters.
"Hey Canada, too bad about…uh…"
"Prussia. He was Prussia."
"Oh yeah, Prussia…So how's it going?..."
They had forgotten about him.
I knew it would happen eventually but it still doesn't take away the fact that the same man that everyone used to be talking about – whether it was in kind or otherwise – has changed into a name spoken and answered with 'Who?'.
Even Spain and France seemed to forget all about him too. The self-proclaimed 'Bad Ass Trio' was turned into a duo and they acted as if nothing had happened after the initial shock wore off. That lasted all of about two months. I'm pretty sure they were hanging out with Denmark much more recently. I hope he enjoys being a replacement even if none of them really realize it yet.
Of course Germany didn't forget. How could he with the flag still waving in his backyard even after a year?
We still talk, although not as much since we wanted to try and go back to coping with things on our own again. It's nice to have someone to share all of the memories with but sometimes, there are those memories that you just want to keep to yourself. It was an unspoken agreement and he seemed to be doing well.
Today I decided to go out for a walk in one of the vast fields near Ontario just to relax myself. Work was pilling up on me, America had decided to visit this week for no apparent reason, and I was just getting tired of it all. I missed the walks Gilbert and I used to take in this same field. The ground was soft – but not too soft – and we had picnics sometimes when we both needed a break from it all. He once told me that he would bring me here and give me an 'awesome' present.
'I'm gonna make something really awesome for you Mattie, it's gonna be, like, a surprise present for the future so make sure you don't peek on it, kay?'
After he said that, he started coming here by himself and only telling me after he had left. He left before he was able to give me the present. I wonder what it was?
The wind blew gently throw the tall grass and a took a deep breath of my nations crisp, fresh air, effectively clearing my mind from any hectic thoughts. I closed my eyes and laid down on the ground with my arms creating a pillow behind my head. Everything was so relaxing here…
I wish I could just stay here forever without any worries or people constantly asking for things that I can't give them…
"Daddy?" A timid voice asked warily from somewhere near my head. My eyes snapped open and got up quickly. However, I didn't realize that the question-asker's head was right above mine which promptly resulted in a shared moan of 'Oww!'.
"S-Sorry about that. Are you okay?" I asked after assessing the damage to my head. I looked over to the person and observed that he was a child that looked to be about 5 or 6 years old. He had pure white, wavy, shoulder-length hair and mysterious red-violet colored eyes. He was very pale, almost as much as Gilbert. Speaking of Gilbert…he looked a lot like him… Despite the fact that he was a child, he seemed to carry himself in the same way as Gilbert too.
"I-I'm f-fine. I'm sorry for being i-in your w-way sir!" The little boy apologized hurriedly. I smiled a little and patted his head.
"There's no need to apologize, it was me that was being careless. The important thing is that I didn't hit your head too hard, right?" I said. He looked back up at me with those fascinating eyes and smiled back at me. We stood there for a little while, just looking at each other. It might've been strange to someone else but I felt this strong connection to this kid. Why did he look so much like Gilbert? Why did he call me daddy? Wait…why did he call me daddy?
"Hey…why did you call me daddy before?" He blushed an adorable red at the question and shifted his eyes to the side.
"U-Umm…you just l-look a lot like the person my other d-daddy used to show me. I'm sorry if I made you mad!" He apologized again. He apologizes too much, I wonder if he gets that from someone…
"Who's you other daddy?" I asked, confused.
At this his eyes seemed to lose their shyness and took a brighter glint.
"My daddy is awesome! He played with me and told me that I was awesome and that the person that he loves is Mattie and that he's awesome too! He told me that Mattie was my daddy too but I've never met him, I've only seen pictures of him…but you look so much like him, I-I thought you were the other daddy…" He trailed off, the blush returning to his snow white skin.
I stood shocked at the news. There were few people that he knew that considered themselves awesome as well as most of the things around them. America, Prussia, and Denmark and he pretty sure America and Denmark weren't in love with him…hopefully…Anyways, this meant that he was this boys father right? How was that possible? Unless…
"U-Umm, what's your name?" I asked tentatively.
"Daddy told me that I was New Prussia the last time he was here! But he hasn't been back in a long time…" New Prussia's eyes turned downcast at the last statement.
New Prussia? Was…was this the 'present' Prussia was talking about? How did he even do this?
"New Prussia…I have a few questions to ask you okay?" His little head bobbed up and down in a 'yes' manner.
"Alright so what is your Daddy's name, the one that told you about Mattie?" I asked first.
"Daddy never told me…he said that Mattie would tell me when I met him." He answered sadly.
"Do you remember what he looks like?" I asked.
"Yes! Of course I remember what Daddy looked like!" He stated proudly.
I took out my phone and opened up the picture I took of Gilbert when I first met him. He told me to never erase it so that whenever I look at, I can remember 'the most awesome moment of your life'.
"Is this him?" I asked while holding the phone to his eye level. He looked at it for a few seconds before his eyes widened and he alternated between gawking at me and the picture.
"H-How did you get that picture of daddy? Do you know him? Where'd he go?" He asked with pleading eyes. I wish Prussia hadn't made me have to tell him all of things were still too hard to tell myself. However, it had to be done.
"New Prussia…I'm the Mattie that your daddy was talking about. His name was Gilbert and he didn't tell you this but you're a part of a place called Ontario. It's something called a province and it's a part of me. It's really hard to explain but it means that you can do things that other people can't. I know you might not get it but…I had to tell you." His eyes were as wide as saucers by the time I finished talking. He just stood there, standing and looking up at me for a few minutes before blinking and then the tears showed up.
"Y…you're Mattie? You were the person that daddy loved so much?" I nodded my head to confirm what he just said.
He sniffled a few times before holding his arms up at me and I took that as a signal to give him a hug. I bent down and scooped him up in my arms, hugging him close to me.
"You are so lucky. You had an awesome daddy. I can tell that he loved you very, very much." I whispered to him as I stroked his head in a hopefully soothing manner.
"W-why did d-daddy leave? W-why did he leave if he l-loved me so m-much?" He asked, his face still hidden in my shoulder.
I started crying again when he asked me this. He asked me the question I had been asking myself ever since Prussia first left. How was I supposed to answer him if I didn't even know the answer? I guess the only option would be to tell him what I had been telling myself.
"H-He didn't leave because he wanted to New Prussia. Never think that he left you because he didn't love you. He loved you and me very much. I don't know why he left, but he will always be with us in our hearts." I said as strongly as I could. New Prussia wiped away the tears on his cheeks and smiled up at me, eyes shining with hope.
"I love him too. And I love you too new daddy!" He exclaimed excitedly. He buried his head on my shoulder once again only this time with happiness rather than despair. I tightened my grip on him and smiled happily for the first time in a while.
Everything was going to work out. Even though it was only going to be the two of us, we would make this 'family' work.
"Thank you Prussia, for keeping your promise…" I thought to myself as I looked up at the sky.
Epilogue
"No. Fucking. Way. We both have mini Prussia's now bro!" Alfred yelled from his seat across from me. I sighed for the thousandth time in the past hour and absently stroked Alexander's sleeping head.
"Alfred, please don't compare King of Prussia and Alexander to each other. Your insane little town is nothing like New Prussia." I commented with a slight frown. Honestly, King of Prussia is more like Prussia than Alex is as much as it confuses me to admit it.
It's been about three months since New Prussia and I were united. Since then, I've given him the name Alexander with a little help from Germany on German names. I've also told some of the others about little Alex too. Germany almost burst into tears, France practically had a heart attack and so did England but he was more quiet about it than France. This brings me to the present which is America, the last to know which made him angry for a few seconds before he came to the whole 'We both have mini Prussias!' conclusion. Apparently Prussia had left a 'mini-him' in America a while ago. I didn't really care, especially after America tried to explain to me how awesomeness needed to be spread around the world. I had stopped listening about 10 seconds in.
"Whatever Mattie, this is still really awesome! Oh I know! We should set up a play-date! You want to be a great parent right Mattie? Of course you do, just like your amazing brother!" He proclaimed. I sighed again and let him rant some more about parenthood. Honestly, how are we related besides our proximity to each other? I thought about this question for a while before I noticed that America had gone silent.
"What's wrong Al?" I asked with an arched eyebrow. It took a few seconds for him to answer.
"It's just…I'm happy for you Mattie, really happy. After all of that shi—stuff that you've been through, I'm glad you have awesome little Alex to make you feel better again. I hate it when you're sad Mattie even though I might now show it all the time. Sorry about that by the way…" He confessed warmly.
"…Thanks Alfred." I said back with a smile. I guess we were brothers after… "I wonder if he's ever going to come back…" I thought out loud. Alfred looked up at me with an unrecognizable glint to them.
"He already has bro." He replied mysteriously.
I tilted my head in confusion at what he said. What was that supposed to mean?
Even though I wanted to ask him what he meant by that, I already knew he wasn't going to answer anything.
"Well while you think about that, I'm gonna head back home! Tell NP I'll see him later too! Bye bro!" And with that, America's heavy footsteps faded into nothingness as he walked out of my house.
I frowned a little at America's sudden nickname for Alexander before carefully picking Alex up and taking him to his bed. I made sure to tuck him in and put his stuffed yellow bird plushie in his arms. Lastly, I bent down and kissed him gently on his forehead.
"Sweet dreams Alex." I whispered in his ear.
"Mmm…'Night birdie…" Alex muttered under his breath. I almost didn't catch it. Almost.
I widened my eyes in shock before pulling back a little bit.
"D-Did you just call me birdie?" I asked the seemingly unconscious figure. There was no way. Was this what America meant? It didn't even sound entirely like Alex's voice…
Alex's head turned to me and his eyelids fluttered open slightly before closing once again.
I swear on everything that I saw the same shade of red that Prussia's eyes were.
How exactly did Prussia keep his promise?...
[A/N: Didja like it? Well I won't know unless you review! Hehe, if you liked this one, check out my others and I'll be posting more in the future so add me to your alerts to (only if you want to though) Bye~!]
