Hey guys! Welcome to Britannia-Hime Epilogue- Part 1! The Part 2 will be out soon but I wanted to get this out first so as to not rant on for too long and to kill the suspense.

Now I know the original request was to see how a love story involving these two would work in the 21st century and I said I'll try and do that in another life but think about it- Igiko is immortal. She couldn't have another life. So, I came up with this instead. But please remember as you're reading this: Igiko is im-mor-tal. It'll save you a lot of grief and tears in the long run. Have I said too much?

This will have a happy ending, though the cliffhanger at the very end of this Part may make you think otherwise.

Tanoshimu!

"Princess?" Asked the chirpy Italian.

Feliciano walked into the familiar royal chamber- the princess's bedroom. Dotted around the room were various moon flowers, lunar roses and tsuki lilies but also many strange celestial adornments which officially classified the room as 'out of this world'. He glanced about the room, taking no notice of these things since they were normal to him. He was looking for something different- a person.

And he didn't have to look far. All he had to do was look to the huge window on the back wall, made safe only by a single railing dividing the room from the rest of Tsuki-no-Miyako. Sat by this window was Princess Igiko Kakurando- their mighty and beautiful ruler.

She was staring upwards, up into the sky. Up there a single captivating sphere hung gracefully- a sphere known as Earth. Feliciano, unlike most other moon people, had a little soft spot for the Earth because of its magnificent shape. A perfect circle- just hanging up in the sky, his affection was rivalled only by the usually melancholic Princess Igiko- who seemed to love Earth with all her heart... Or at least... Something very precious upon its surface.

"Ve... Staring at the Earth again Igiko-sama?" Feliciano asked.

"So pretty... And peaceful up there..." She whispered. "I wish... I wish that I could walk upon its surface once more."

Feliciano bit his lip and frowned. Next Friday was approaching fast, and that marked the date of when she had first left for the moon, nearly a thousand years ago. 1100 years had passed and still she had not forgotten it, and neither had she forgotten her beloved Alfred- her one and only true love.

"Well, if you draw a circle..." Feliciano began, pulling a scroll and feather pen close to him and beginning to draw. "It's the Earth see?"

Igiko turned to look at what her trusty servant had drawn. It was indeed a circle- a completely perfect one at that and as Igiko stared at it- she gradually found herself staring at the Earth.

"We can also draw in those bits of land- the continents as the humans call them!" Feliciano explained.

Then he began to roughly, yet still accurately and with great detail, draw in the land masses, starting off with the tiny island nation England, before moving onto Ireland right next to it. After that he sketched out the border of France that touched the sea, and went down to carefully draw Spain, and after that- the boot-like country of Italy. With this one he really took his time, for the shape looked so pretty and admirable that he just had to get it as close to perfect as possible.

Before long, he had drawn the whole of Europe-going very slightly into Asia. He added in Greenland and Iceland, he sketched out the wide plains of beautiful Africa, he etched in the slender figure of South America and then he drew in a large yet still unrecognisable shape slightly to the south east of Greenland (Igiko had no idea which country it was) and finally he drew in the country underneath it.

Igiko studied this globe carefully. Of course it only showed bits of each continent but that was to be expected. Still, she frowned in confusion and very slight annoyance.

"You... You missed out Japan." She muttered.

"Oh! Ve~ I'm so sorry Princess! Please forgive me Igiko-sama!" He wailed.

"It-it's fine..." She stuttered.

"...Why do you like Earth so much miss?"

"Well why do you?"

"Well I like it because it's a circle- my favourite shape but you... You have a special reason right?"

"Yes... It's not just that I like Earth. I really do, don't get me wrong. It's not just because of that one country- Japan. It's because of a single person: the Emperor of Japan- Alfred..."

"You really care for him don't you?"

"Yes..."

"And you love him too don't you?"

"With all my heart. I'd give anything to see him again."

"But Igiko..."

"Zen vhy don't you go und see him?" A voice asked.

Igiko looked up to see Lord Roderich standing there in the doorway in his official robes and behind him was Lady Eliza. They were both nobles in the moon kingdom who lived in the castle with Igiko.

"What do you mean?" Igiko asked.

"Vell you can go to Earth und if you find someone you love, I'll allow you to stay zere." Roderich explained.

"R-really?" Igiko gasped.

"Really."

"Oh thank you so much!"

Then Igiko immediately set to packing. As she passed Roderich in the doorway, he could not help but see the ecstatic smile on her face. It wasn't often that people got to see her smile. And when they did it was usually forced and fake. But now she was smiling for real- a both pleasing and upsetting sight. Only once she had left the room and was far down the hallway and out of hearing range did Feliciano speak.

"Sir? I didn't realise the Emperor was still alive. How did you know about him?" Feliciano asked.

"It's true. Emperor Alfred is dead. It's distracting her from her duty as ruler and she refuses to marry any men from the capital. If she faces ze truth finally zen maybe she'll focus more on her duty. I just vant her to move on." Roderich sighed.

"Didn't she give him ze elixir of life zough?" Eliza asked.

"He burned it. Ze human did not zink zat life vas vorth living vithout her and so he refused immortality." Roderich explained.

"He must have really loved her... I wish he was still alive." Feliciano whispered.

Later...

"Right so ve vill send you down now." Roderich explained.

"Okay." Igiko whispered.

"I trust you are fine vith ze human clothes zat Feliks got for you? He said it vas 'vicked' und 'hipster' and should help you blend in on Earth."

Igiko had been dressed in a ruffled short pink dress with thin red straps and a ribbon in her hair on her left side to match. Her high-heeled shoes were red also and her hair was down and waving towards the ends.

"Tell him I said thank you." She instructed.

"I vill do just zat." Roderich nodded. "Now grab onto Feliciano's curl: he vill be your guide and escort on Earth."

"Thank you so much for this Roderich." She smiled.

"My pleasure. Now go." He smiled back.

She carefully grabbed Feliciano's curl between her thumb and forefinger- which made him flinch but also made the scene disappear in a flash of white. When the light cleared, she found herself outside an old Japanese-looking temple in the midst of a lush green forest. She was all alone, except for a light brown tabby cat with a spiral curl down at her side.

"Feliciano?" She frowned. "Is that you?"

"Ah look at me! I'm a cat!" Feliciano mewed. "I guess I take a different form in this world!"

"But what about me? Why aren't I a cat?" Igiko asked.

"Well you were born here, plus you're royalty as well."

"I suppose..."

"So... Where's your Alfred?"

Igiko hadn't thought about that. Where exactly was Alfred? In a palace somewhere? Or perhaps he was away on business. Igiko had no way of knowing, so she'd just have to wander around for a bit until she found him.

So she did just that: she walked and walked in a leisurely fashion with the small tabby cat trotting happily at her side- struggling to keep up in places. On the way, Feliciano kept meowing the word 've' every now and then like he usually did as a human but in slightly more meowy cat-type sort of tone. Eventually Igiko let out a sigh and stopped, sticking out her foot in front of her feline friend to stop him as well.

"Okay Feliciano. We need to talk. You need to stop saying 've' all the time- it's un cat-like." Igiko explained.

"Okay! I got it Princess!" Feliciano purred.

"And another thing, stop talking. Humans are going to be scared of a talking cat." Igiko sighed.

"Ve~? Why?" Feliciano mewled.

"Well it's unnatural here. At home it would be fine, but here-"

Suddenly she stopped for a huge weight had just stumbled into her. She fell backwards over a nearby root and hit the floor with a large thud. Feliciano instantly ran to her aid and- resisting the urge to howl out with a human exclamation- he licked her face in a cat-like manner, pausing to act what he thought was cat-like every few seconds.

"Ve- meow!" He meowed, almost resorting to making his favourite cute sound.

"Oh dude I'm so sorry man!" The stranger gasped.

Igiko looked up and then she saw him. The stranger- a young blue-eyed man with dirty blond hair and a cute cowlick- was staring down at her in awe, looking completely speechless and amazed. She was staring back of course, for this was the man she had been searching for: after centuries of wait, she had finally found Alfred.

"Oh erm... 'Scuse me miss..." He coughed, now blushing.

He gave a quick glance to her lower half before looking away in embarrassment and she too looked down. Her dress was spread out everywhere, billowing out from when she had fallen. Realising that this was a rather undignified position she quickly sat up, pressing her knees tightly together and placing her hands tidily in her lap.

"Er who were you talking to before?" He asked.

"Umm... My cat." She quickly explained.

"Your... Cat?" He frowned.

Quickly she picked up Feliciano by the stomach and thrust him out in front of her with his front paws sticking out over her warm hands. His eyes were shut (no change from his normal form) and he looked confused as to what was going on. Alfred's face lit up at that point and he instinctively took the cat from her and placed it on his shoulder.

"Aww this guy's too cute!" He beamed.

He began to scratch under Feliciano's chin and Feliciano, enjoying this new sensation, couldn't help but purr happily. Igiko bit her lip, trying her hardest not to say something. After all, Feliciano was naturally a moon being and changing so easily into his new state.

"What's his name?" He asked.

"Feli. It's short for Feliciano." She explained.

He looked back at the girl on the floor and reluctantly pulled his hands away from the purring feline. Then he offered out his hand to her, in order to help her up and she continued to stare into his eyes as she was being pulled.

"Err... There something on my face? 'Cuz I'm sure I cleaned up after lunch this time!" He laughed.

"Th-this time?" She stuttered.

"Yeah. So what's your name?" He asked.

"You... You mean you don't know?" She whispered.

"'Course I don't. I only just metcha after all."

"I... I'm Igiko. Igiko Kakurando."

"Cool, that sounds Japanese. So, you from around here then?"

"Well... I'm actually from very far away. But when I was younger I lived in Japan, so you could say I'm from around here yes."

"That's awesome! Me, I come from America. I'm just here on business. I'm Alfred by the way. Alfred F. Jones."

"It's a pleasure."

"So where d'you live? Is it far from here?"

"Well I don't really live around here. In fact you could say I'm a bit lost."

"Dude no way! If ya want, you can come stay with me- my holiday cabin isn't far from here. And I can't just let a girl wander round lost- it's un-heroic!"

"That would be very kind. Thank you."

Alfred led the way like some shining beacon of light. He obviously knew the way well and so Igiko kept him in clear sight, but was still far enough behind to have a hushed conversation with the celestial feline hanging on her shoulder.

"Ve~ so why doesn't Alfred remember you princess?" Feliciano mewed.

"You don't have to be so formal here on Earth. Just Igiko is fine. And I don't know. He's the same person I'm sure. I did give him the elixir of life, remember?" Igiko whispered.

"M-maybe it isn't the same person? You sure that's him?" Feliciano asked.

"I'm positive. After all, who else could it be? Looks the same, sounds the same and acts the same. Only the clothes are different. More modern, naturally. Then there's that obsession with the word 'hero'. It's a little different but that's Alfred alright. It couldn't be anyone else could it?"

"Well... Maybe it's a reincarnation? So it could still be Alfred, just in another body and timeline!"

Alfred's reincarnation. Could it be true? But what if it was just a descendant of Alfred, that was another possibility. Then again, Alfred had no siblings (she was certain he didn't) and the only other way his genes could be passed down was by Alfred actually reproducing himself.

Would he... Really have done that?

He wouldn't, that was impossible. After all, time and again he had sworn his undying love for Igiko. It never would have disappeared just like that. Also, if this man was a descendant of Alfred, then surely he'd be Japanese. Igiko wondered about this for a few moments and then decided to inquire about it.

"Am I Japanese?" He questioned upon being asked. "Dude no way! I'm full American bro, well I think I am. Then again Americans were originally a load of foreigners so I guess not. Dude I really hope I'm not a limey!"

"A limey?" She asked.

"Yeah you know, British. They're crazy man. Really stuck up and all that. I'm glad we're independent, I really couldn't cope with those guys breathing down our necks every second of the day."

"What do you mean, 'independent'?"

"Dude y'know, the American Revolutionary war, where Americans separated from the English and we beat their ass to become independent."

"That's harsh!"

"Dude, they started it."

"Well I'm sure they had a reason!"

"Doubt it."

And so their argument went on like that. It wasn't until the petty fighting ceased once they had reached the cabin did Igiko notice that it was so much like the banter she had experienced with Alfred- her Alfred- centuries ago. Conversations that would start off with 'marry me' and eventually become a heated verbal battle.

But Alfred of course wasn't thinking of this as he fumbled with the keys for the cabin. He was instead thinking of how exceptional an arguer Igiko was, how he hadn't had a good fun fight like that since... Well since he'd forgotten his brother's name. And even that wasn't very fun, just some weak fighter throwing but not landing playful punches.

"Kay then, here we are Ko!" Alfred declared as he walked in.

She began to follow, but then stopped in her tracks upon hearing the nickname 'Ko'. Alfred looked back and frowned but Igiko merely looked to the floor and stared down hard.

"Could you... Could you use an honorific? Call me Ko-chan." She whispered.

"Why should I?" He smiled.

It reminded her of that time: when Alfred had wanted her to use an honorific, and she had refused. Now she was the one taken back by the rudeness, but she didn't let it dishearten her. Instead she continued as if he hadn't been rude at all.

"Well... Because I like it. Someone very dear to me uses that nickname." She explained.

Alfred's smile dropped. "Someone dear? Like a family member?"

"Well... More than that really..."

"A... A good friend...?"

Igiko still stared, a blush beginning to form on her delicate youthful cheeks. Alfred didn't really want to voice the next suggestion, but really he had to.

"A... An old boyfriend?"

Still Igiko said nothing but that just confirmed Alfred's fears for him. He stared at the beautiful girl standing in the doorway.

"I-I'm sorry I didn't realise." Alfred muttered.

Igiko wanted to ask what exactly he was sorry for but Alfred gave her no time to answer for he shut the door behind her and gestured to the other room.

"You can sleep in there alright?" He explained.

Instinctively, Igiko went into the room she had been allocated to and shut the wooden door behind her. The room was very, very messy. Certainly not a fresh guest room like Igiko had expected. In fact, with the state it was in and the scent she could smell, it looked like Alfred had been sleeping in there beforehand.

But if that were true then... Igiko had to check to be sure. Slowly and silently she opened the door a tiny bit and peered through the crack in it. Through the slice of vision she had, she could see Alfred pulling off his brown scruffy bomber jacket and beginning to remove the rest of his clothing. For this, Igiko shied away, not wanting to watch the man undress. After a few minutes she looked back to see him topless and plumping a pillow in place at the head of the sofa. He lay down and took a deep breath before shutting his eyes and drifting off.

So he had sacrificed a comfortable warm bed, in a rather cold area of Japan at that, just so she could be comfortable. But... Couldn't he have made her share a bed with him? Wasn't that what human friends generally did? Why didn't Alfred just do that? There was a reason stopping him, and Igiko was stood there wondering why.

"Ve~! That was very gentlemanly letting you use the bed! But Alfred's not a very tidy guy is he?" Feliciano purred.

"Yeah... Not very tidy..."

Later that night...

The cell phone placed upon the table at the head of the sofa began to ring its shrill loud tune. Alfred groaned with annoyance, after all he had just been awoken from his sleep. But still he managed to wake himself enough to lazily paw at the table behind like a half-asleep cat and a playful moving object. Eventually he picked up the phone, yawned and picked up his head a little to answer it.

"Mm hello?" He moaned sleepily.

"Don't tell me you 'ave been sleeping all zis time. After all, you 'ave a lot of work to do Monsieur Jones."

That voice. Immediately he sat up properly on the sofa with his back straight and eyes wide. It was Francis Bonnefoy. In some ways you could call him Alfred's boss, but to Alfred it didn't feel like it. Francis was the nicest person where he worked and he was always so kind. Okay so he would have to put up with the occasional flirting but Alfred never really caught on to that kind of stuff and so Francis didn't do it as much as he did with other workers.

"Hey Francis, sorry I haven't gotten round to business but I found this lost girl..." Alfred explained.

"Ohonhon, and I zought I was ze dirty one..." Francis chuckled.

"Shut it Francis. She was lost and I just had to help her y'know? Also... I feel like I've met her before. Then again I think I would've remembered someone like that..." Alfred muttered.

"So she's pretty?" Francis asked.

"Francis. She's... She's beautiful! I mean like I've never met someone that gorgeous." Alfred sighed.

"Ohonhon... Per'aps I will 'ave to come over and see..." Francis smirked.

"Lay off it man. Besides I think she has a boyfriend, so there's nothing I can do."

"'E doesn't sound like a very good boyfriend if 'e is not zere when 'is damsel is in distress."

"Yeah..."

The last part sounded a little cruel to Alfred. One would have expected him to go along happily with Francis's comment, but he didn't. In fact he felt a little defensive about Igiko's alleged boyfriend. Surely he had a reason for not being there? Surely there was a perfectly good reason.

"Anyway, 'ave you got ze items yet?" Francis asked.

"Haha... Yeah about that..." Alfred laughed nervously.

"Mon Dieu! You still 'ave not found zem? Really Alfred I can only cover for you for so long and-"

Then Francis stopped speaking all of a sudden. The silence was scary, and felt like it was right out of a horror film. And, if there was one thing Alfred was scared to death of, it was horror films.

"F-Francis? You okay?" Alfred stuttered.

"Darn, it's Ivan. I zink 'e 'eard me. I will 'ave to go now, but you need to-"

His voice trailed off and in its place came a new, yet still foreign, voice. The man sounded like a Russian speaker, and not only that, he sounded eerily happy.

"Oh dobroye utro Alfred. I had no idea you were up. What time is it over there?"

"Uh..." Alfred began, sweat dropping.

"Because if you have the time to talk to one of my other pawns, then I'm sure you've found the items, da?"

"Well I uh..." Alfred muttered.

"That is not good. If I do not have items by tomorrow, I will send someone to have you removed."

"'Kay..."

"Well, see you round! Fufufu..."

Then his boss, Ivan Braginsky, promptly hung up leaving Alfred in stunned silence. Removed, he presumed that meant fired. The man's English was never that good. So Alfred had the rest of that day to find the items.

The five items that Ivan was seeking were museum pieces. Ivan had been looking for them for quite a long time and had hired Alfred to search for them since he had claimed: "Don't worry! I'll find 'em alright! After all, I'm the hero!" Boy what a mistake that had been. He really needed to stop saying things like that.

Sighing as he rubbed his temples, Alfred eventually got up and went onto the balcony to mull things over. There he found himself face to face with a beautiful mountain- Mount Fuji. It was just a few minutes until sunrise and the dark night still dominated but Alfred could still vaguely make out the great mountain. He leaned on the railing and sighed, not caring about the cold night air on his exposed skin or the misty fog coming from his mouth as he breathed.

"Mirroring water, sparkles with the golden sun. Shining like your hair..." Another voice whispered.

Alfred turned to see Igiko further up the balcony with her delicate hands lightly placed upon the thin railing. He beamed and walked up to her as she stared up at the still barely visible moon.

"Hey that's cool! It's a haiku right?" Alfred smiled.

At this, Igiko smirked slightly. If he only knew, it was actually one of the haikus that her Alfred- Emperor Alfred- had written, describing her. It wasn't a surprise that Alfred liked it. After all, if it was as Feliciano had suggested and it was in fact Alfred's reincarnation then of course he'd enjoy his own work. Igiko then looked down to the small rows of cherry blossom trees below, recalling yet another one of Alfred's poems.

"Cherry blossoms fall, like pink dancers from the sky. Just for you, they dance." She sighed nostalgically.

"Hey you're pretty good! Did you make them yourself? They're really pretty!" Alfred beamed.

Igiko shook her head. "No... Someone else wrote them for me. Someone I used to know."

"Was it... That boyfriend again?" Alfred muttered.

She looked back up to the moon and sighed. "If you only knew..." She whispered.

Then her eyes shut and she fell against Alfred, falling neatly into his arms.

"If you only knew..."

He hugged her tight in his arms and breathed in calmly. Through closed eyes, he caught a heavenly aroma. Cherry blossoms? Then he opened his eyes again, for the sun was beginning to rise. It's enchanting light shone its beams everywhere but, as it caught Igiko's hair, it sparkled. Alfred could have sworn that Igiko's hair was sparkling.

Deciding this was just an illusion brought on by lack of sleep, he carried her bridal style into his bedroom and lay her down to sleep. He looked outside once more, catching the last glimpse of the celestial almost transparent moon. Igiko, the cherry blossoms, the moon... Why did all this strike an odd familiar feeling in him?

Later...

"Y'know you're lucky..." Alfred muttered. "This is the last of my fish."

"Meow!" Feliciano mewled.

"And it's not that much. I'll see if I can scrape some off my tuna pasta." Alfred smiled.

"Meow! Meow!" Feliciano whined, jumping up and pawing at Alfred's leg.

"What? You wanna try the pasta?" Alfred frowned, to this Feliciano purred and started rubbing up against his leg.

"Y'know you're a weird cat." Alfred laughed. "But at least you're friendly, nothing like my dog: Ludwig."

"Nya?" Feliciano asked as Alfred placed the tuna pasta on the floor.

"You'll have to meet him someday. I bet you'd get along like a house on fire."

Feliciano gave a mew of gratitude and then hungrily tucked into his delicious meal. Alfred smiled down at him and then looked into the bedroom where Igiko slept. He frowned and bit his lip- sure he had to find those rare items, but could he really leave Igiko all on her own? It didn't seem right.

Suddenly the phone began to ring and Alfred looked at the caller ID on the screen. It was Francis yet again but it wasn't Ivan so it probably wasn't serious. So he walked into the bedroom, choosing to ignore the phone and stay at Igiko's side.

Meanwhile...

"Damn it..." Francis cursed under his breath.

The phone went to answer phone after ages and ages of ringing. Francis tried again a few more times after that to get through to Alfred but all ended with no avail.

"Please pick up Alfred..." He prayed inwardly. "Ivan is on 'is way to Japan right now and 'e is going to more zan just fire you..."

Deciding he would never get through to Alfred at this point in time. He placed the cell phone onto his desk and stared upwards. Above his desk was a collection of many pictures, most of them being fine women he had been with but roughly in the centre was a picture of him and his hand around Alfred at an old Christmas work party. He sighed nostalgically and wished deeply for his friend's well being.

"I 'ope you are alright..."

"Y'know Ko-chan, that cat of yours is kinda strange. I mean it eats pasta and follows you about everywhere. Kinda strange don'tcha think?" Alfred laughed.

"Haha... Yeah, strange..." Igiko laughed nervously.

Igiko wasn't exactly paying attention, she was more drawn by the fact that Alfred had called her Ko-chan like requested. It felt just like it did in the old days.

"Here we are then!" Alfred declared.

Igiko gasped at the sight. They were at Lake Saiko, one of the five lakes at the base of Mount Fuji. The sight was simply beautiful, she had to stop a moment to sit down and playfully dangle her fingers and, as she slipped of her high heeled shoes, her toes in the perfectly refreshing beautiful blue water. Even Feliciano couldn't help but playfully paw at the water with glee as he meowed with content. Alfred was happy he could have shown Igiko this sight, but then another idea, an even better one than bringing her to Lake Saiko, formulated in his head.

"Come on Ko-chan, let me show ya something." Alfred suggested.

"Okay, let me just get my shoes on..." Igiko began.

"No need!" He beamed.

Then, just as Igiko had picked up her high heels, Alfred too picked up the young maiden- bridal style no less and began travelling further down west of the lake. When they had finally walked quite a way down, without Alfred getting tired as well, he placed her down and there they had a spectacular view of Mount Fuji itself.

To Alfred, it was a breathtakingly beautiful mountain. But to Igiko, it held certain sentimental value. It reminded her of a brief description of the wedding she could have experienced with Alfred, if not for the cruel twist of fate.

"Hey Kiku! Sup buddy?" Alfred yelled.

Igiko snapped out of her small trance, for just a short distance away from them and holding a camera was another man- black hair, brown eyes and a rather serious and standoffish look upon his face. Apparently, Alfred didn't seem to mind.

"Oh, Alfred-san." The man whispered.

"Yo Kiku I told ya to call me Alfred-kun! It's way more personal!" Alfred laughed.

"I see. Well forgive me but I would prefer to be more porite and honourabre." Kiku apologised, bowing slightly.

The man's humility was adorable. Alfred's outgoing peppiness and the man's quiet disposition did not match at all, but they surprisingly seemed to work as friends and Igiko found it cute how they worked together.

"Aww dude, way to cramp my style." Alfred whined, putting a friendly arm around Kiku who flinched at the awkward contact.

"S-so Alfred-san..." Kiku began. "Who is your friend? Is it perhaps a girlfriend or..."

"H-hey Kiku don't be like that man!" Alfred laughed nervously.

"Nani? Rike what?" Kiku tilted his head.

Alfred was uncomfortable, that was plain and clear. Igiko found this extremely cute though. It was odd to see him this cute and sweet and quite frankly, Igiko liked it.

"He-hey Kiku? How about we forget that and I'll tell you about another one of those haikus?" Alfred suggested.

Alfred? Writing haikus? Igiko's smile suddenly dropped. Could it be...?

"Beautiful pure snow, captivates me as I write. To me, you're much more." Alfred whispered, staring at the top of Mount Fuji where the snow dusted across the top like icing on a cake.

Was this possible? Alfred was reciting the first haiku he had ever written for her, word perfect- almost one thousand years after he had originally sent it to her. Was this coincidence? Fate? Was he the real Alfred or not? He had to be if he knew that, after all- every haiku and letter he had written were safely in Igiko's care and had been that way the past thousand years. The only two living people that would know about them were Igiko and Alfred- he had to be the emperor she was once in love with.

"That is very pretty." Kku admitted.

"Yeah I know right?" America beamed. "It kinda just came to me in my sleep one night and when I woke up I just had to write it down y'know?"

"I...I really liked it Alfred..." Igiko piped up.

"Really? Wow, that means a lot... Comin' from you Igiko." Alfred laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head and looking away with a slight blush.

"F-from me?" Igiko stuttered.

"Yeah... 'Cuz... Well... You're pretty special Igiko. You're special to me."

"I'm... Special to you?"

They stared deeply and intently into each other's eyes, completely forgetting about Kiku watching them. He was definitely the worst when it came to lovey-dovey awkward scenes like that involving him but when it came to sensing the mood and refraining from speaking, that was where he excelled and he did so wonderfully for the next few minutes, taking advantage of the affectionate cat at his heels by crouching down to stroke him gently.

After the awkward moment had finally been broken by Kiku wanting to go home, the two had been left in a weird silence that neither one of them seemed to want to break. Eventually though, with his inability to read the atmosphere, Alfred broke it.

"So! You ever had any interesting relationships, Ko-chan?"

"Well I uh..." Igiko murmured while the blush on her face grew. "Apart from him there aren't any others really worth mention to be honest."

"I see." Alfred nodded.

"What about you? Any relationships you want to talk about?" Igiko inquired curiously.

"Oh well there are a few..." Alfred laughed. "Let's see... There was Francine, but she was a little too snobby and kept looking at other men too much so I had to dump her. I remember Gillian of course, but her ego was too much to handle- kept clashing with my epic heroism, see? Also, she overused the word awesome."

Resisting the urge to comment on how Alfred overused the word hero, she eagerly nodded- urging him to carry on.

"Then there was Isabel Ferna-whatever."Alfred continued. "She was a little too dim, she couldn't really read the atmosphere, you get me?"

There were obvious flaws and contradictions in pretty much everything Alfred was saying, but Igiko held her tongue still while the peppy American continued.

"Then there was Anya. She was creepy- kept laying curses on me and saying things like 'kol' over and over. Really creepy." Alfred explained, adding a small shudder. "Oh then there was Madeline. She was pretty, nice and quiet at first but then she got scary. She began to point out all my flaws constantly and randomly produce hour- long rants on the spot about all my flaws. It was pretty frightenin' for me."

"So you dumped all these girls?" Igiko asked with innocent wide eyes.

"Well, yeah. I've never really met anyone I've really really liked... 'Till now." Alfred whispered.

Igiko opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. What exactly did he mean?

"What do you mean?" Igiko asked in a low whisper.

"Well... We'll talk about it inside okay?" Alfred smiled.

"Okay!" She smiled back sweetly.

Alfred opened the door for her sweetly- like a gentleman, bowing as he did so and smiling in the process. She curtseyed, lifting the frills of her cute stylish dress before heading inside with Feliciano trotting at her heels...

And that was when it happened.

BANG!

All of a sudden, a loud sound reached their ears and a small agile object fired straight into Igiko's chest. Alfred was left speechless, gasping at the scene as Igiko fell to the floor crying out in pain because of the bullet that had pierced her chest.

~End Part 1~

...Please, don't kill me. I promise you the ending will be happy but this is- after all- a Tragedy fanfic.

Don't ask about Feliciano. It was a random idea. I think the girls Alfred dated are self explanatory: they're the female equivalents of Igiko's suitors. The items, as you've probably guessed, are the items that Igiko once sent her suitors to find.

What will happen to Igiko? How will Alfred react to this? Who shot the princess!

Review, and soon you will find out.

Sayonara minna-san!

~Neko