1916, WWI

There is no color here, only greys, and blacks, and washed out shades of horizon blue.

"For the price you're giving... The quality-"

"They're not going to need to last that long." And for once, Spain doesn't know how to respond because there is no optimism in this.

France silently wonders how many colors will have to be ruined before the world becomes nothing but a death-stained canvas.

"Do you think that they hate us," he gives England a sidelong glance, "since we cannot die at the hands of mere men?" Evening is falling, and the orange is too close to red. England's head shakes dully.

"Who has the energy for hate in this place?" It is true, France concedes, but he believes he would rather have hate than this nothing. He watches England's eyes from a distance and tries to remember how they used to be bright.

"Green is a beautiful color," he mentions. He means to say safe color, but he doubts that would mean anything to the other.

England pauses, and thinks that if they're going to lose everything anyways then none of it should matter. And yet he insists on using borrowed words.

"Do you permit it?" he says dryly, and France understands.

They're running hand in hand into No Man's Land.

"We are forlorn like children, and experienced like old men, we are crude and sorrowful and superficial—I believe we are lost." -Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front

A/N:

Inspired by Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, & All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque.

Historical Notes:

Horizon blue is the color of the French uniform that replaced the original red & blue one (the one worn in the series).

When France was hiring Spain to make them more uniforms during the war, the Spanish mentioned that the uniforms were going to have to be very low quality for the price they were paying. A French general responded by saying that the uniforms would not need to last that long (because the soldiers were dying so quickly).

No Man's Land was a term used to describe the space between two enemy trenches. They were filled with mines, barbed wire, & so many dead bodies.

~Jasmina Lejandra