Chapter 9

Aluetta

~o~

For the next week nothing happened. No one called or visited and the attacks on the Yukon seemed to have receded slightly. His mind was clear though his fever burned on and he used the time to rest.

He continued to dream though. It seemed unavoidable, that dream, and it still didn't seem quite complete. There was a haze about it that made it impossible to make out all of it.

Other then that he slept soundly with nothing to wake him but birdcalls and an angry bear with an empty stomach. To tell the truth, Kumajirou seemed to enjoy having his master home. He slept in as well, although not as long, and he seemed much happier not having to travel all the time. So Matthew came to expect Kuma to wake him up in the mornings. Until one day.

He was woken by a phone call. At the sound of the ringing phone he started awake and looked around himself confusedly. Light poured in through the windows. The sun had been up for quite some time.

The phone rang again and he looked around himself for where it could be. Soon enough he located the source of the sound. For a moment he considered not picking up. It wasn't like it could be anyone important. But curiosity got the best of him and he reached for the phone.

"H'lo?"

"Hey –uh – Mattie!"

Alfred. What could he possibly want this time? Probably money. He sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Hey Al, what's up?" He glanced at the clock. 11:12.

"The sky? So anyways, I need to talk to you."

Matthew yawned. "Al, I'd love to meet up with you, but–"

"Great. I'll meet you in an hour for lunch."

"But–"

"See you soon!"

"Wait! I…" The dial tone replaced his brother's voice and he sighed. It was too early to have to deal with this.

Although, he had to admit, a certain excitement filled him. It wasn't often they got together and it was much too cold out to be playing baseball, which Matthew despised thanks to his brother. They would probably be going to a McDonald's or some equally greasy fast-food place, but at least he wouldn't be getting hit in the crotch with a speeding leather ball.

So he got up, had a shower and got dressed in blue jeans and his favourite red hoodie. After he got dressed he checked his fever. It was relatively high, but he would live.

When he got downstairs a few minutes later he found a rather irritated polar bear sitting in his kitchen with an empty food bowl in between his paws. He paused and looked the bear in it's glaring eyes for a long moment. "Would you like me to feed you?"

Kumajirou snuffed, not bothering himself with the words.

Matthew couldn't help but smile. He picked up the bowl and filled it. A mix of tuna, salmon and other various fish. Kuma ate it in three bites, barely tasting the food, and then left to go sleep it off on the couch in the living room. Matthew followed and sat down next to him. He put a hand on the bear's hard head and looked out the window across from him.

Blue skies shone through, punctuated by clouds rushing by on a fast wind. That same wind rustled the orange leaves of the trees that he could just see from his spot on the couch. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, easily picking out the taste of autumn on the air. His beloved country preparing itself for the long winter that would no doubt come. Every year there was less snow, but it only made his enjoy it all the more when it finally did arrive.

He leaned his head back to rest on the back of the couch. His eyes were so heavy. He was so tired.

There was a knock at the door and Matthew sat up with a gasp, his eyes blinking open. He looked up at the clock. 12:20. He must have drifted off. There was another knock, more insistant, and he jumped to his feet to answer it.

The door opened to reveal Alfred, his fist posed to knock again. He looked surprised for a moment, but he brought down his fist and smiled. "Hey, Mattie!" he said brightly. "What took you so long?"

Matthew apologized and bid him come inside, but his brother refused. "Come on dude, I want to get going," he whined. "I'm hungry."

"I tried to tell you, Al," Matt replied. "I'd love to have lunch with you, but I really don't think it's such a good idea."

Alfred pouted. "Aw, come on Matt. I need to talk to you about something important."

Matthew sighed and looked back into his warm house. His stomach was still a bit touchy and he really wanted to stay where it was warm and private, but it might do him some good to eat something. So he sighed with resignation and looked back to his brother. "Fine, where are we going?"

Please don't say it please don't say it please don't say

"McDonald's!" Of course.

"Fine, just let me get my coat." He moved back inside, gesturing to America to follow. The blond waited by the open door as the other put on his down-filled jacket, argued with a polar bear that was flatly refusing to leave the house and then they were off.

Autumn was well underway and they shoved their hands into their pockets to keep warm. Most of the trees were bare, but it would be a while yet before there was any snow, so his house was surrounded by gnarly brown trees that reached for the sky and did nothing to block out the drone of cars passing by.

It was a nice day, he had to admit. Few clouds blemished the sky and the sun was warm on Matthew's face, but the cold wind kept most people indoors or in their cars rather then walk. On the short trip to the nearest McD's they saw few people actually walking and Alfred complained constantly to the point where Matthew was seriously considering breaking out his hockey stick.

But they survived and when they arrived at their destination they found the restaurant near empty. Canada took a seat near the window while his brother went to order them something to eat. He came back with three Whoppers and a large order of fries. He dropped one of the Whoppers in front of Matthew and set to eating his two.

Matthew looked at his 'food'. Just the sight of it made his stomach churn warningly. So he ignored it, and Alfred, and looked out the window instead.

The sound of chewing continued across from him, oblivious to his discomfort and disgust. Conversation was kept to a minimum, which suited the Canadian just fine. At one point Alfred went to get a drink and he came back with a massive cup of soda.

Matthew waited for him to go back to eating, but he didn't. Instead, he looked over the table at him.

"Aren't you gonna eat?" he asked.

Slightly surprised, Matthew turned to him. He glanced down at the burger, untouched and still wrapped in grease-soaked paper. Filled with disgust he shook his head slightly.

Alfred's brow furrowed. "Well, why not? Not like it'll kill you or anything."

Matt shrugged and gave a wry smile. "I don't know. I guess I'm just not as hungry as I thought I was."

Alfred tilted his head slightly and gave him an odd expression that Matthew couldn't quite figure out. "You sure? I bought that for you."

"Yeah."

There was that expression again. Not complex, just different. But it soon vanished and Alfred shrugged and reached over to the food. "More for me I guess."

In a few minutes he was done and the two left the fast food place, one pleasantly full and one feeling sickly. They decided to go for a walk seeing as it had warmed since they had entered the restaurant. They went to a nearby park that was nearly as empty as the McDonald's they had been to. Above head a flock of geese, flying south, honked noisily and below foot colourful leaves crunched as they walked.

Between slurps of his drink Alfred talked about his recent doings and Matthew listened, enjoying the company. Listening to his brother blather on about nothing in particular made the pain in his stomach a little more bearable. But he couldn't help but feel that something was bothering the older nation. Something in the way he spoke and acted. He wondered what he had wanted to talk about.

When they reached the other end of the park Alfred threw out his now empty drink cup and they turned around to walk back. The trees here had more leaves then Matthew's did and they struggled against the wind, twisting and turning wildly.

Halfway back they stopped for a moment for Alfred to try his shoe and Matthew looked up to watch them in their mad dance. He wondered at their determination. There was movement at his side as Alfred stood and looked up as well.

They stood in the hush and watched a single leaf struggle for its hold on a twig.

"Come on," he muttered. "Don't give up. Just keep holding on." Matthew smiled as his brother whispered encouragement to the little maple leaf.

The wind won though, and the leaf was pulled away from its perch and when the wind died it drifted slowly to their feet where it lost itself amid the foliage that had already fallen. Alfred bent over and picked it up. He held it out in front of them. It was rather pretty, red and orange shot through with golden yellow veins and browning at the tips.

"Dammit," he muttered and Matthew looked at him curiously. Alfred's happy demeanor had disappeared and he looked disappointed. "Why couldn't you just hold on for a little while longer?" He dropped it and they watched as the little leaf swayed back and forth before a sudden gust pulled it away and out of sight.

They looked after it, comfortable in the silence.

Another gust ruffled their hair and Matthew reached up to push his glasses up onto his nose. A shot of pain went through his belly as he did and he grimaced.

The look did not go unnoticed by Alfred. "You okay?"

"Yeah."

The silence grew slightly less comfortable.

"No you're not." Matthew looked at his brother and raised his eyebrows, taken aback by the sudden change in mood. "I know what's going on Matt. My people in Alaska can't stop talking about it. Why didn't you tell me?" He didn't look angry, just disappointed again, but Matthew felt it all the same.

"Is this why you came to see me? What you needed to talk about?"

A nod. "I wasn't concerned at first. I knew you could take care of yourself. But," he looked up locking eyes with Matthew. "Then I found out just how bad it was. It got to that point where I couldn't ignore it anymore. And I can't just forget anymore either. So the next time I ask if you're okay, tell me the f*cking truth."

"I'm sorry," Matthew said weakly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked again with more irritation.

"Because it wasn't you're problem. I didn't want to get you involved."

"This is bigger then you Mattie. And yeah, it is my problem." He turned away and started walking away. Matthew paused for a moment before rushing after him, running to catch up. Once he did Alfred began to speak again. "We both signed NORAD, for God sake, this has always been my problem."

"He's a part of North America to."

"So what? That doesn't change a f*cking think, Matt, and you know it." He glared at his Northern brother angrily. "I still… It's my job to protect you. I'm supposed your hero."

"But you said yourself that I can take care of myself," Matthew argued. "And I can. I just have to–"

Alfred stopped and put out an arm to stop him. The he turned to Matthew and gave him a scathing look. "No. If you could defend yourself then you would still be the second largest country in the world!"

He remembered that?

"I can defend myself! I just need more time." He stopped. That had been what Gilbert had said to him. More time. "Prussia's getting me use of the German army. He just…" The more he said it, to himself or anyone else the more foolish it sounded. "He said he just needs more time." Ridiculous.

"Matt?" Matthew looked to find his brother's anger had been overcome by a tired worry. "How long has he been telling you that?"

Matthew couldn't reply. He didn't know how to. He had always been suspicious. Too afraid to let himself hope that he didn't let himself see either. There wasn't an army coming and there never had been.

He walked over to a nearby bench and sat down on it, not bothering to brush away the leaves that were already there. He leaned his elbows on his knees and looked down at the gathering of autumn leaves that had been blown into a drift by the wind.

Alfred came and sat next to him, slinging an arm around the younger's shoulders and looking at him with that odd look again. The look was full of anger hidden away by worry. But there was something else there to; lurking in the cracks that Matthew just couldn't figure out.

"Look," came Alfred's tired voice. "I can help you. I can get you the resources you need, you just have to ask."

Matthew shook his head. "No. I can't let you get dragged into this too."

"Dragged into what?" some of the anger was escaping. "It's just a war. It's not like I haven't been through a ton of them myself. What makes this so different?"

He shook his head again. "I don't know. I just can't let you risk so much over something so trivial. It's what my people want."

"What? For their country to be destroyed? For everyone to die, just so they can be a part of something else?" Alfred furrowed his brow. "I'm sorry Matt, but I really can't understand. You've been through so much and you fall to something like this? I mean, what the hell? Why aren't you fighting back?"

Matthew tried to think of an answer, but all that came was nothing. "It's complicated."

Alfred sighed heavily and stood up. "Look, I don't know if this is some sort of pride sh*t or something, but I'm just going to assume you know what you're doing." Matthew looked up in surprise. "So I'm going to go. If you need something – anything – then just ask me and I'll come help. But promise me you'll ask. I can't help if I don't know how." He rubbed the back of his head with his hand and bit his lower lip. "I'll see yah 'round."

He set off down the path. That was it? As easy as that? It didn't seem quite right. After a few seconds Matthew stood up. "Wait," he said. "Why don't you stay with me? There's plenty of room and I really don't mind."

Alfred turned back to looked at him with icy blue eyes. "No thanks," he said. "You have enough to worry about without me in the way. Besides," he added. "I have stuff I gotta do. Just remember to ask if you need something, 'kay?"

"Right."

A gust of wind bore away their voices and replaced them with silence as Alfred walked away leaving his brother alone again. Matthew sat back down and put a hand to his aching belly. He wondered why Alfred had just walked away after all that? He wondered why he suddenly seemed to care so much about something he had never been faced with before? He wondered what Alfred had meant when he had said it was bigger then him?

But the wondering produced no answers and just gave him a headache. The screams in his mind welled up again and he grimaced. They seemed louder after that period of grace.

Something moved in the corner of his eye. Matthew glanced down to see a maple leaf trapped between the seat of the bench and the metal frame. When he reached down and pulled it free he realized it was the same leaf that he and his brother had been watching only minutes ago.

With one finger he traced the golden veins that spread out through the papery surface. It was nearly winter. What would happen when it snowed? Last year the fighting had continued through the cold and he had no respite. This year would probably be no different. Had it been a year already? It seemed so short. It was amazing so few people had noticed.

It occurred to him that he should have told Alfred not to tell anyone about any of it. But he had a feeling that he wouldn't. Besides, he would probably just forget about it anyways. He had probably already forgotten.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden noise, harsh and high. He gritted his teeth and let go of the leaf to cover his ears, but the screeching continued in his mind, destroying his ability to think at all and pounding his ears and brain. He tried to shout to Alfred, but the man was too far away and Matthew's voice was too quiet. It grew in intensity and started something in his stomach. A fire was burning in his belly, spreading out to consume him.

The pavement of the park walkway came up to meet him as he fell to his knees. He couldn't decide whether to cover his ears or his stomach. It didn't see to make a difference either way and both pains grew. They were unbearable. What was happening? He had never had this before, the intense pain and noise.

And just when Matthew thought it couldn't get any worse it stopped.

The sudden silence seemed much too empty. His stomach ached, but nothing like it had been. What was it? He let himself fall onto his side and just felt the cool, rough pavement against his cheek. Wind ruffled his hair weakly and he breathed heavily feeling suddenly… lost.

What was that?

He couldn't be sure. Whatever it was had happened a very far ways off and it was like nothing he had ever heard before. One thing was certain though. The territories were gone and he couldn't help but wonder who would be next.

Hey guys!

Short chapter, I know, but it was getting so bi-polar I had to stop. And ff is giving me issues so that's why there's no A/N on the last chapter. This one I had to write on the actual chapter rather then by editing.

Now, NORAD is a pact signed that basically insures the alliance of certain countries to defend North America. Aluetta? Not as happy as you might think. The whole song is actually about plucking the different parts of a duck (or goose, can't quite remember)

Please review. I would love to here your comments, suggestions, predictions et cetera so feel free to click that little link down there. Right there. It says "review", you can't miss it. No, I'm not desperate, I just like reviews.

Don't own Hetalia… or NORAD, just the story.