Chapter 9: Problem.

When I sat on the couch I knew I wouldn't be able to get off again without help. Still I wasn't going to let on how bad it was if I could avoid it. When Angleterre came home I was already in a lot of pain, pushing that aside I looked over at Mathew and he nodded taking his sign to leave.

"Francis? Why are you sitting on the couch?" I could tell that Angleterre was confused so I had to come up with something to explain it.

"I'm just a little weak." I told him with a smile as he walked over to me. "Peter took his toll on me coming out."

It wasn't a total lie but it also wasn't the total truth either. A half lie, but I didn't want him to worry as he so often did. Still I couldn't lie to him either. He would need to know. I knew that my body conveyed how afraid I was, but not for me. I knew how he was, how he'd blame himself, how he'd think it was his fault. I was scared for him, not for myself.

"Francis?" When I felt him sit next to me I sighed and prepared my speech.

"You must listen to me. It's important." Knowing I didn't often talk like this I saw his eyes widen at that. "I made a choice mon amour, a choice with drastic consequences."

"What choice?" He was looking at me now but I could no longer look in his face.

"The choice to stay with you." I replied softly.

"How's that a drastic choice?!" I knew he was scared and that's why he was yelling.

"Mon ami." I looked at him and raised a hand towards him. "I'm no longer a country representative." At this he backed up and I attempted to stand up pushing my body to do so. "I'm no longer immortal."

I reached towards him to comfort him but he was mad and I didn't take into account how much slower I would be due to the mortal body. His punch which I could usually avoid I couldn't this time and was sent to the floor before I began coughing. It was hard to get any breath and I noticed liquid coming out but the getting air was all I was worried about at that moment.

England POV

I hadn't believed Francis when he told me but seeing him coughing and gasping for air I walked over to him. If this was a joke I was gonna kill him. However when I saw him coughing up blood and having issues after the coughing was done I knew.

"Not a joke!" I thought quickly and called China, then telling him I had an emergency and hanging up I rushed over to Francis.

"Mon amour…" He wheezed while he tried to talk. "I'm fine."

"Shut your bloody trap!" I was scared and that made my temper really short.

I drove like a madman to the hospital hoping against all hope I had just hit Francis hard, and that what he had told me about being mortal wasn't true. I had just gotten him back; I didn't want to lose him now. However my hope was dashed when China told me he was dying. That he had become mortal and all his organs were failing at once. There was nothing more that he could do.

I leaned against the wall and slid down it. Francis was dying and I couldn't do a thing to stop it. It tore me apart inside and I wanted to break down and go back to a time when things weren't so hectic. Seeing Alfred and Mathew coming to find out what was wrong with their papa my tears grew a thousand fold. Only strangely Mathew was seemingly unphased.

"Dad." His voice sounded weak and even I got worried for him.

"Mathew, what's wrong?" I asked and fighting my own tears walked towards him.

"Papa isn't just dying." At this I was shocked I hadn't gotten up the courage to tell him yet so how did he know? "Papa gave up his country status for you, because he loves you. His boss told him that he had to divorce you and take Sealand or he was fired, and Papa quit because he valued you more than his own life." At this Mathew must have noticed the look in my eye because like Francis he began to speak quickly. "Dad he didn't want me to tell you! He wants to spend the last parts of his life with you! Please listen to me!" I shoved Mathew off my arm.

"I have listened to you." I growled at him my glare on full tilt now. "I think it's time I show Francis' boss exactly how I feel about this bloody treason."

I stomped out of the room closely followed by Alfred. Mathew complained as we walked but I ignored him and headed to ready my forces for war.

"I'm helping too." I turned to look at Alfred and nodded no.

"Not this time." I told him sternly.

"I'm helping. And you can't stop me. He's my Papa and I'm not about to let him die without trying to help." I blinked at how alike to me he sounded. "Now stop wasting time and let's go!"

I blinked as Alfred stomped out of the hospital and I knew for what purpose. As we prepared for war I wondered what Mathew was doing? Hearing a sound I looked up towards the nearby hill and raised an eyebrow when I saw Spain with his army, and Prussia dragging Germany along, meaning Italy was in the fray dragging Romano to it as well. Japan appeared at the top of the hill too and I blinked as China stood next to him. I couldn't understand it, what was going on?

"Francis always helped me when I was in trouble; it's only fair I return the favor." Spain replied and I couldn't believe what that meant.

Francis, I had always seen as weak and useless because he could never seem to actually fight a war. True he had beaten me once but it was like he only did it to prove he could not that he actually would. But the very man that I felt had been useless as an ally, turned out he wasn't. I always thought his ability to make friends across countries had been a curse but now I understood its strength.

If you had friends, they had friends, who had friends, who had friends. Being the way Francis was he had created a safety net for me without my ever realizing it. By making friends he created a bonded gang of friends and countries that would help him when it became obvious he needed it. Knowing that made me want to fight to reinstate his status as country representative even more.

I smiled and turned to face France's boss and charged in. I wasn't going to stop until France was saved. The only way that would happen was if Francis was the country's representative.

Mathew POV

I sent out word to all of Papa's friends as soon as Daddy and Alfred were gone, but I stayed by Papa's side. I saw him connected to so many different machines and I felt terrible for taking away his love by telling him the full truth. I didn't know if Papa could hear me in his weakened state but even if he couldn't it would help me to get it off my chest.

"Papa… I told Daddy aboot you not being a country representative anymore." I paused and tried to swallow the lump in my throat. "I tried to stop him from going into a battle but I couldn't. I knew he'd probably fail even with Alfred so I called your friends and told them too." I gasped when I felt a hand come over my own.

"It's alright." Papa sounded so weak and my heart broke for him. "It's not how I pictured it, but it's alright. You did good."

I hugged him at that and cried while he rubbed a hand over my back.

England POV

The fight started out on a losing side. While we may have had more countries on our side, all of our bosses had come to order us to do various different things. We were all afraid to lose our country representative status and so we had to back down for the moment, but suddenly our bosses were on the losing end. Why?

Because the people of the countries began to throw things at them and say who they wanted to be the leaders of their country. Who the people wanted to be the representative gave me the strength to charge at our bosses and once I did, it was like a wave. Alfred followed suit and then Spain, and soon our bosses were the ones that had been removed from their ranks. However all of this took five months and while we had won and were no longer under anyone's orders I wanted to run as fast as I could back to Francis.

His people had chosen him to be the country representative again but it was a chance that we had been too late. So as we all headed home that night it was dead silent. No doubt of people wondering the same thing. When we arrived however no one looked happy when we mentioned who we came to see. Angry I asked what had happened before the nurse told me the news.

"Mr. Kirkland, he began to crash quickly about a week ago. He had to be taken to the ICU and while he is alive it's only just barely." I felt my eyes widen.

The nurse showed me to his room but I took one look at him and I couldn't look anymore. He was so weak and attached to so many machines, he was dying and what had I done? I'd started a war. Not spent the time needed to say goodbye to him. Probably because I didn't want to think it was a possibility. But seeing him like this. It became clear to me that I was the fool.

Prussia and Spain went in and talked a bit with him. The fact he could still talk only made it worse for me. He'd been there the whole time I was in the war. Probably no doubt wishing he could spend his moments with me. This alone made me unable to stay and I rushed out of the hospital crying.

I went home but it didn't feel like home and cried into the pillow on the couch. I don't know how long I lay there feeling like an ass before I heard a knock on the door.

"Go away!" I shouted at it and was grateful when it was silent for a moment, until I heard the sound of a key in the lock and looked at the door thinking I was imagining it.

When I saw Mathew entering the house I groaned and curled in a ball. At the time it didn't even register to me that I had never given Alfred or Mathew a key to my house. All I was worried about was how I felt.

"Daddy?" I growled into the pillow hearing his shaky voice and fighting my body which wanted to stay where it was and my brain which wanted to find out what was wrong.

…My Brain won the argument.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I slowly sat up.

"Papa… He asked me to give you this." Mathew reached into his coat pocket and pulled out an envelope. "He said I should be near you when you read it or read it to you if you can't yourself."

I turned away, I knew it was likely the last thing I'd ever here from Francis and knowing that made it all the harder to bear. "I can't." I managed to get out after a few hours of fighting myself to read it.

"Let me." Mathew took the envelope and letter and slowly opened, like he too was having trouble with it. "Dear Arthur Kirkland." I couldn't help but smile through my tears it was so like Francis to be formal even in a letter that was likely the last thing he would ever get to tell me. "I don't have much time. I don't mean literally, I mean you're fighting a war and are likely to be home soon. But I have a feeling this is the last letter, because there's only one thing left to tell you." Mathew swallowed hard at this. "And it isn't to go down memory lane, or make you buy a lamp… you can take care of yourself without any help from me." I broke down at this and heard Mathew sobbing too. "It's to tell you how much you moved me, how you changed me. You made me a man by loving me Arthur and for that… I'm eternally grateful. Literally." Mathew took a deep breath and continued reading while I cried. "If you can promise me anything, promise me that whenever you're sad, or unsure, or you lose complete faith, that you'll try and see yourself though my eyes." We both cried hard at that. "Thank you for the honor of being my husband." At this I blinked and my crying was silenced by pure shock. "I'm a man with no regrets. How lucky am I? So here it comes, the big one… Don't be afraid to fall in love again Mon Cheri. Watch out for that signal when life as you know it ends. P.S. I will always love you." As Mathew finished I looked at him and hugged him before I stood and grabbed my keys.

"Where are you going Daddy?" He asked holding his phone.

"To fix a mistake." That said I rushed to grab my jacket and to the door as Mathew texted someone on his phone. "Well come on boy! You're coming with me."