Chapter 9

Alfred was so confused by his emotions and the fact that his precious Arthur was back in some sort of way that he forgot what was going on around him as he tried to kiss Arthur.

America had been the patient party in this whole conversation now that things had been explained as to how this all came to be. But as he saw Alfred going to kiss Arthur that's where he drew the line. To him that might be this Arthur speaking at the moment but that was still England's body and he didn't want anyone else, even someone that looked like him to do the one thing that he had wanted to do for centuries.

With one quick move he pulled England away from Alfred and held him protectively in his arms and glared dagger like eyes at Alfred. "Like hell dude! This might be your Arthur right now but this is still my England's body. And there is no way that I'm going to let you kiss him whilst I'm standing right here."

With one quick move America turned Arthur around so that they were facing each other. "And you what have you done to England? Where is he? Tell me!"

Arthur brushed off America hands from his arms and looked him clear in the eye. "Calm down America, your England is safe and still in here." Arthur indicated to his head happy to see that America calmed down even if it was only a bit as he told him that England was safe. "You could say that he is in the same state that I was in for centuries, asleep but awake to what is happening at the same time so he's been listening to what has been said between the three of us. I 'm sure that I'm going to have to answer at least half a dozen of his question when I speak to him myself; and seeing how this is his body I can't exactly stay as the dominant personality for much longer." Arthur turned back to look at Alfred sensing that he fearing the loss of him once again and with a smile on his face. "Don't worry my dear Alfred even though I won't be won't be able to speak to you again I will still be here helping the three of you. Now please as soon as you are able to go to Diamonds and get my body back I do not want to think about what that perverted git has been doing to it over the years."

Alfred at the thought of Arthur leaving him again panicked and once again closed the distance between him and Arthur but not to envelope the other in a hug but instead once he reached the smaller blond he connected their hands with their wedding rings on them; as he did so small engravings appeared on the rings. On Arthur's ring the name 'Alfred' appeared and on Alfred's ring was 'Arthur'. Alfred was delighted to see these names appear on the rings as it had been years since he had last seen them and seeing them again brought back the happy memory of when he first saw these names on their wedding day; he clasped Arthur's hand with both of his as he looked the other clear in the eye showing just how determined he was. "I promise you Arthur I will do whatever it takes no matter how long to get your body back from Francis so that we can be together again for the rest of our lives."

Arthur smiled being happy to see the engravings on their wedding rings that he had enchanted himself to appear every time that their hands were linked together. He placed his free hand over Alfred's clasped ones as he continued to smile at the other. "I know you will my love just don't do anything too reckless and get hurt. I don't won't you to get hurt because of me; I don't think I could live with myself if that happened." Arthur looked at Alfred with eyes full of love for the other blond but at the same time they hid the sadness that he felt from being apart from him for years.

Without even thinking about his actions once again Alfred pulled Arthur close to him and brought their lips together in a kiss that was filled with the love that the two have for each other.

America couldn't believe what was happening right in front of him. That was England that Alfred was kissing not Arthur. In one quick move America pulled England away from Alfred as he glared daggers at the other after he had told him not to do what he had just done. "Dude what did I tell you. He's not your Arthur!"

America would have continued to shout at Alfred if it wasn't for the fact that he felt England go limp in his arms. In a quick and panicked motion America looked away from Alfred and looked at England in the hope that the other nation was still conscious; but hope was short lived when it was confirmed that England was indeed unconscious in his arms.

As America held England's now lifeless body in his arms as he cupped one side of his face hoping that he could do something to wake the other up. "England! England please wake up. Come on please, please." Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes as England refused to wake up no matter how much America tried to get him to wake up.

When England opened his eyes he found himself lying on the bed of Alfred and Arthur's room. He looked around the room trying to find either Alfred or America but as he did so he couldn't see them. The only person that he could see shocked him. Sitting by the window was an exact look alike of him. England had a million questions run through his head as to what was going on around him, but before he could even voice any of his questions the look alike spoke first.

"I know that you probably have some questions that you would like some answers for England and I'll be more than glad to answer them." whilst his look alike spoke he didn't stop looking out of the window of the room.

It was at this that England remembered part of the conversation that he heard in his sleep and knew who the look alike was. "You're Arthur aren't you?"

At this Arthur looked in England's direction and smiled at him. "I am indeed England and to answer what your next question might be we are in the corner of your mind that I inhabit."

"Why am I here though Arthur?" England asked as he swung his legs over the side of the bed as he waited for an answer.

Arthur sighed as he looked away from England, his face downcast. "The reason is because you deserve some answers for what you have been put through because of me. And you should be remembering the conversation that I had with Alfred and America sometime soon."

After Arthur had said that England remembered the rest of the conversation that had occurred whilst he had been asleep. His fingers ran through his messy blond hair and his eye became focused on the floor as he processed the new lot of information that was rushing through his mind. "So this is all because of Francis? I should have guessed from what he said to me when I first met him."

Arthur copied England's movements as he sighed, but instead of letting his fingers run through his hair he instead gripped his blond hair. "Yes he is all to blame for all of this and once again I apologise for involving you in all of this. It was not what I had planned to happen."

England quickly looked back up from the floor and looked directly at Arthur. "Then why didn't you just use your magic to get back here after you ended up in my world?"

Arthur looked England in the eye for the first time since the other had woken up in his little secluded corner of the nations mind. "You should know just as much as I do that dimensional travel is not that easy, and that it takes a lot out of you. After I arrived in your world my conscious was knocked out for quite some time and when I woke up again I barely had enough magic to keep myself from not becoming part of your conscious. It was only recently that I finally had enough magic to get me back here."

England gripped at the sheets of the bed he was a little desperate for answers and was hoping that Arthur could give them soon. "Then when you did get enough magic back why did you bring me along with you? Why didn't you just come back here by yourself?"

Arthur looked down towards the floor of the room his hair covering his eyes whilst doing so. "Trust me England I had thought about coming back here without involving you. But I feared that the same thing would just happen again and that some random person would find me and then I would be even further away from Alfred and my Kingdom; at least with you here I was able to return to both of them whilst trying to come up with a plan to get my body back."

There was a brief pause of silence between the two of them before one of them spoke again and it was England that broke the silence between them. "So what's the plan then?"

Arthur looked to England shocked by his sudden question. He thought that this had to be some sort of joke but as he looked England clear in his eyes Arthur could see the determination and drive that filled the second pair of green eyes in the room.

Arthur turned to face England showing just as much determination in his eyes as the other did. "We need to infiltrate the Diamonds castle, make our way to the dungeon were my body is held. Once I'm near my body my spirit can jump from your body and then back into mine, it might leave you feeling light headed for a little while as you adjust to no longer having two souls in your body."

England was glad to hear that Arthur had come up with a plan but he had some questions about the plan that he needed some answers to. "And just how am I going to get into the dungeons let alone the castle I don't know the layout of it?"

"I can help guide you but Alfred will be better help than me. For this plan to work he needs join us; he can get us around the castle and I'll handle the dungeons, working together this plan should work."

England had to admit that it would probably look strange him walking around the Diamonds castle by himself trying his best to find his way around, with Alfred at his side it would not only be easier but it would look more believable with the two of them but he had to admit there was something or rather someone that wouldn't be ok with sitting on the sidelines. "Ok I'll admit that does sound like a good idea having Alfred with us but what about America? He isn't going to be happy sitting on the sidelines with all of this going on and you know that just as much as I do."

Arthur sighed as he leaned against the sofa once again running his hand through his hair with a sigh. "You're right he's not going to be happy sitting on the sidelines during all of this; but I can't see how the plan is going to work with him so he's just going to have sit this one out."

England straightened his back as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Then I'm not going through with the plan without him."

Arthur was shocked by England's response; it was something that he hadn't expected the other to say. He could only hope that he could convince England that it would be best that if America stayed behind whilst he, England and Alfred go retrieve his body from Diamonds. "But . . . But I just said that the plan won't work with America being involved. He has to stay behind for it to work. If he joins then there is a chance that the plan will fail if he joins us."

England's expression hadn't faltered since he first declared that he won't go through with the plan without America being there. He remained determined to change Arthur's mind about denying America from joining them on their recovery mission to get Arthur's body back from Francis. "Like I said earlier you know he isn't going to be happy to be forced to sit on the sidelines. And I haven't taken part in any sort of espionage type of mission without America for over five decades; and I don't plan to start to now." England could see that Arthur was about to give a counter argument to what he had just said, but he just held up one of his hands to show that he hadn't finished talking just yet. "You might be adamant that this mission will fail if America joins us; but what I am saying is that it will fail if America doesn't join us. Trust me when I say this Arthur we will fail if we don't bring America along with us."

Arthur and England both continued to argue for a while both giving good reasons as to why America should or should not join them on the mission to recover Arthur's body from Diamonds; each of them gave good points for their side of the argument.

After a good few minutes had passed Arthur heaved a sigh of exhaustion as he ran both of his hands through his hair. "Ok, ok fine! America can join us but you." Arthur looked at England and pointed at him with an annoyed and exhausted look on his face. "You have to think of a way for this plan to work with him being involved." As soon as Arthur finished talking he covered his face with the palm of his hands.

England was delighted that Arthur had finally agreed to let America join in; he sat with pride and delight as looked back at Arthur. "You won't be sorry about this Arthur America will be a big help to us." England couldn't help but slouch a little as a thought crossed his mind. "I guess if this works then you'll be back in your own body. I have to say even though I didn't know that you were living inside a part of my mind I'm . . . I'm going to miss you a little bit."

At what England said Arthur looked back at him with a look of sadness being hinted in his eyes. "I know what you mean; I'm going to miss you as well." Arthur looked back out the window again for only a brief moment before looking back to England with a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I have to say that I had a lot of fun being with you as you grew up; your pirate days being the best."

England smiled as he remembered his days on the high seas, the salt water spray hitting against his skin, the thrill of the adventure from every time he set sail on a new journey. "Oh yes I remember those days, they were some of the best days and I do miss them at times."

Arthur smiled to as he remembered the shared memories of England's pirate days. "They truly were some of the best;" Arthur's smile faltered as called up another shared memory of England's. "Although just like you I was heartbroken when America declared his independence, it felt like I was losing Alfred and nearly destroyed me."

There was a brief moment of silence as both Arthur and England remembered the pain and betrayal from that fateful day. Arthur was the first to clear his throat and to get the two of them to stop thinking about the painful past and back on to the task that needed to be accomplished. "Ahem as painful as those memories are we have to put them aside and focus on getting my body back from Francis."

They both nodded their heads in agreement for focusing purely on getting Arthur's body back.

But just as England finished agreeing with Arthur when he felt a surge of pain rushed through his head. He gripped the side of his head as the pain grew worse, his vision became bleary and he could barely hear what Arthur was saying to him. But even with this he was just able to hear one last thing from Arthur.

"It looks like our time is up England. Tell our plan to the others and please tell Alfred that I hope that we can be together again soon." With that Arthur was no longer in England's sight instead an overly concerned America came into his sight.

"A-America . . . ow why the bloody hell does my head hurt like the last time I went out drinking with that dammed frog."

It didn't take long for America to put England in a bone crushing hug as tears threatened to spill from his tears but this time out of happiness that England was ok. "Oh England I'm so glad that you're awake. I was so worried that you wouldn't wake up."

England tried his best to push America off of him so that he could have a chance to breath. "A-America get . . . off me."

It took a little while for America to finally let go of England and as a blush spread across his face he couldn't help but scratch the back of his neck. "Sorry about that. Are you ok England?"

"I am." England looked to both America and Alfred and stood up from where he had been on the floor of the room and dusted off some imaginary dust off of from his clothes. "And I have a plan . . . Well Arthur and I have a plan."

A/N: ok so firstly this is actually a week late to be updated mainly due to the fact that real life got really busy and . . . well . . . I kind of forgot about it. but here it is and I hope that you like it.

so this one might be a bit of a filler chapter but a kind of necessary filler. the next chapter will be the beginning of the big rescue to get Arthur back from Francis. I have to say that i'm looking forward to finally getting to write this part and I hope that it turns out as good as it is in my head.

favs, follows and reviews are all welcomed, please let me know what you think of this so far.

till next time gxgirl-93 out