Again, sorry for the lateness. I got behind schedule when my brother refused to yield control of the computer, EVEN THOUGH THERE'S LIKE THREE OTHER MONITORS IN THIS HOUSE HE COULD HOOK IT UP TO!

Ahem.

As always, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

-TClemens

Al felt lighter than air as he walked out of the conference room for the last time. They'd just finished the concluding session, which meant he could be done with putting on a charade for all the other nations. He felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest, and he could now be free of the stares and hushed gossip for at least a year.

He was so excited to get out of there that he left with not so much as a goodbye to his brothers, only stopping as he opened the door to wave to Mattie, who happened to be the only one paying attention to Al.

Yup, he was finally free. He was beaming ear to ear as he opened the front door, and if not for a gust of freezing wind, he would have thought it was springtime.

He looked up as he skipped down the steps to see Lily waiting for him. For a split second it felt like a cloud had passed over him, and the thoughts that had pervaded his happiness for the past couple of days ran through his head. Al snapped himself out of it, and shoved those thoughts deep, deep down. Al wanted to make the most of today, no matter what tomorrow or the next day might bring. A part of him was longing for the carefreeness of their strolls through New York, and if he played his cards right, perhaps he could get a taste of it today.

"Excited for our fun day?" Al said, taking Lily's arm in his.

"Of course. Where are we going, anyways? I realized I forgot to ask," Lily replied.

"Well, that's a surprise! There'd be no fun in it if it wasn't," Al replied light heartedly. "What, don't you trust me?"

"I don't know if I should," Lily kidded. "But your charming flyboy ways leave me no choice."

Al laughed, and lead the way through the winding streets and bridges, stopping every once in a while to make Lily laugh by pretending to be a random person on the street. Al was finally starting to feel like himself again.

Finally they made it to their destination, and Lily gasped.

"What is this place? It's beautiful!"

"This is Dam square. It's a decently well-known historical spot in Amsterdam. Now, I know it's a bit cliche, but when I brought you with me here to Amsterdam, I had every intention of treating you like a princess," Al began.

Lily raised an eyebrow.

"So I figured," Al said, pausing for suspense, "that it was only right to take you to a palace. Welcome to the Royal Palace of Amsterdam!"

"That building right there?! We get to go inside?!" Lily exclaimed with excitement.

"Yup. So long as you don't mind looking at some old architecture and dusty furniture for a little while."

Lily beamed ear to ear, and they made their way towards the building.

"So how old is this building anyways?" Lily asked Al quietly as they strolled through.

"Well, I don't know the date exactly, but it used to be an old town hall when Napoleon breezed through and made his younger brother king here, and in typical French style, he redid the place as a palace. When Napoleon got booted out and the Dutch king returned, he decided to just keep it the way it was and live here," Al explained.

"Does the royal family still live here?"

"I think so."

"Man, that would be weird," Lily mused. "People always poking around your house. I don't know if I could stand it."

"Well, in a house this big, and with how much they charge for entry, I doubt they mind it too much," Al reckoned.

"How do you know so much about this anyway?" Lily pondered.

"Well, it's part of the job, I guess. It really helps knowing a bit of the history and culture when you're trying to schmooze a little bit. Plus, I find it interesting, so that helps," Al replied.

"Huh. You really are a jack of all trades, flyboy."

"Yup, pretty much." Al leaned down and pecked her on the lips, and they continued wandering through the palace.

In a way, Al got his wish; it truly did feel just a little bit like the good old days, just touring around with Lily. They spent a while at the Royal Palace, and then cruised over to the Nieuwe Kerk next door. It wasn't Al's first time at either place, but the city of Amsterdam had just done some renovations on the church, and Al made a mental note to compliment Ned on them next time he saw him.

Lunch was a quick affair in between touring, strolling, and market perusing. Finally, unfortunately, dusk fell, and their day began to end. Still, Al took her to a nice place for dinner, and to top things off, they got a table right next to a window with a beautiful view of a canal.

Lily set down her menu, and looked out onto the canal wistfully. "It's hard to believe we're going back tomorrow. Still, it'll be good to get back, right?"

"Hmm." Back home. As lovely as today was, that destination was looming overhead. No matter how much he wanted to just forget this trip and return to the hustle and bustle and wild fun of the city, he knew he couldn't just go back to the way things were. Francis was right; he had a decision to make, and he couldn't put this one off no matter how hard he tried.

Suddenly a little stressed, Al let a sigh escape him.

"Everything okay, flyboy?" Lily asked, pouncing upon the slight hint of discontentment.

"What, can't a guy relax?" Al responded, getting defensive. Immediately he saw that was a mistake, as a look of hurt came upon her face. "No, wait, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's just been a long week with work, and I'm a little worn thin. I'm glad it's over, especially now that I can spend more time with you."

Lily hid behind her menu, so Al reached across the table and took her hand in his. "Look, I know you're sad you've got to go back to that diner," he began. " I mean, a break from Florence is paradise for anybody! But hey, at least we can catch up on what old man Timothy's been up to, right? Don't you miss him, and how he'd chat with you for hours during your rush hour?"

Steadily her form began shaking behind the menu, and when she set down her menu again, Al could see she was laughing.

"You're something else, flyboy," she noted, dabbing her eyes on her sleeve.

The rest of dinner went well thanks to Al's quick wit and charisma, and after one last nighttime stroll down the canal lined streets of Amsterdam, Al and Lily arrived at their hotel tired and happy. The air almost felt a little bittersweet as they said goodnight one last time in that dim hallway.

"Well, I hope you had a good time," Al said weakly.

"Ooh! I almost forgot. Stay here," Lily blurted, as she scurried into her bedroom, leaving Al to stand alone, puzzled.

She reappeared with something in her hand. "I wanted to get you something to thank you for taking me, so I browsed around at one of the markets, and saw some cookies I knew you'd like. I mean, after all, the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach, but I figured you'd appreciate the tin as a momento," Lily rambled nervously as she handed it to him.

Al turned it over in his hands. It was a small tin with an intricate blue and white pattern on it, depicting sailboats and windmills and tulip fields. It was beautiful, especially with the stroopwafels contained within.

"I know it's not much, but-" Lily was cut off mid sentence by Al pulling her into deep kiss.

He pulled away, Lily looking a little confused at the sudden action. "I love you, doll."

"I love you too, flyboy. I'm glad you like it," Lily said. "Well, we better get some sleep, we're gonna need to get up bright and early."

"Alright, well sleep tight, doll"

"Goodnight!"

Al closed the door behind him, and flopped tiredly on his bed. He had been on the verge of tears when she gave him that tin, and kissed her to cover it up. Every little thing like that just made what he had to do all the more heartbreaking and frustrating.

He began to worry about his current predicament, and tiredly ran his fingers through his hair. He then looked down and realized that he'd just stress eaten half of the cookies. He closed the tin and tossed it onto a pile of his clothes that he decided to pack last minute tomorrow. He changed his clothes, and then drifted off to sleep.