Chapter 12: A Night in Paris

The streets were lightened up by the street lights that lined the pavement and the air was filled with the scent of sweet pastries and cigarette smoke. Even though it was past midnight, people were still out on the streets: laughing, shopping, and drinking wine. Though the night was lively all around, France was silent and François was passed out in the back of the car drunk.

Earlier on in the drive France had given his new companion a bottle of wine that he was drinking since she had told him about the shortage of everything in her world, though the sudden achievement of wine may have been too much for her to handle. Now France was left driving in silence, trying to not be distracted by the lights as he drove down the lively streets.

Around two in the morning France had finally reached his home, but François was still passed out in the back and showed no sign of waking. He didn't want to wake her, so, as lightly as possible, he pulled her out of the back and carried her to the door. He tried to kick the door open but totally forgot that it was locked (leaving him utterly embarrassed). After taking a few minutes to fumble around in his pocket while still awkwardly holding a drunken François in his arms, he found a key and let out a sigh of relief. Finally opening the door, he stepped in and put François on the white couch and looked at her.

As he watched the woman sleep, his mind began to race with everything that was happening. Only one week ago he was fighting with the allies about whose movies were the best and now he was looking after someone who was fighting a global war that apparently was so extreme that even the smallest of things like wine and bread were limited.

France yawned and took one last look at Françoise then headed to bed, trying to think of his next move.

The morning came and François had woken up with a slight headache. She looked around the strange home, first in confusion, and then she had the realization that she was in the house of France. She rubbed her tired eyes and got off the couch when she suddenly smelled something delicious coming from the kitchen down the hall. She followed the hypnotizing scent until she found herself in the doorway of a luxurious kitchen where France stood in it with his purple oven mitts on.

"Ah mademoiselle, you're awake early I see." He took off his mitts and walked over to her to kissed her hand which slightly caught her off guard.

"It smells incredible in here. May I ask what you're making?" Françoise cocked her head to the side, trying to catch a glimpse of what was baking in the oven.

"Can you guess?" He asked playfully.

France smiled and motioned her to follow him to the oven. The smell of dough and chocolate was so overwhelmingly welcoming that her mouth began to water. "Pain au chocolat?"

"Ah I see you are accustomed to the French cuisine…though that isn't surprising regarding who you are."

François turned to him with a face that was mixed with distraught and joy. She remembered when she would make delicious pastries like this and drank wine at her own leisure. This pained her to think of it but she refused to be any more of a worry to her host than she already was so she just put on a face of gratitude; France could see right through it.

"Actually, it's been a while since I've smelled anything so delectable."

She crouched down to look at the pastry as it baked; its chocolate oozing out of the sides and sizzling on the hot metal. "I'm excited to try it."

France looked at her with a bothered face. Never before had he seen a French woman so excited over a simple pastry. She seemed so fixated on the oven that France began to wonder why she was so excited. With this he made it a goal to talk to her about the world she lived in over breakfast just so that he could grasp the issue they were really in.

The timer went off and France took out the pastry while François watched excitedly. The smell of the sweet chocolate and flaky dough as they simmered and mixed together was driving her insane but that was momentarily forgotten when France began setting the table. He poured coffee for the two of them, set two small bowls of fruit and set two plates right across from each other. Then in the center of the table he put the pain au chocolat and cut it into slices.

François watched in awe as he did this with lightning speed. Before she even caught on to what was going on she found herself being led to a chair by France.

"M-Merci Monsieur France, but you know you didn't have to go through such trouble." she tried to talk elegantly but her anticipation to eat the pastry he had baked was almost exploding out of her.

France smiled back and placed a piece on her plate, being careful not to hit her coffee.

"Ah nonsense, it is no trouble at all!" He was quick to reply. "The dough was already made and besides, it's more fun to eat with a companion." He put a piece on his own plate.

François looked down at her pastry in awe. She was almost afraid to eat it since it was so perfect looking.

"Aren't you going to eat?" France asked with a worried yet still calm tone.

"Oh, of course," she looked down at the plate.

François picked up her knife and fork and cut a piece, watching as the chocolate slowly spilled out onto her plate. She slowly put the piece in her mouth and chewed it while being watched by France. At first there was no reaction on her face then all of a sudden her eyes widened and her face lit up. It was as though a flavor bomb of chocolate, hazelnut, flaky and buttery dough, and sunshine went off in her mouth. Her mind was going through a point of shock and her entire body was at a stand-still, allowing the knife and fork to land on the plate in a loud CLANK. Every memory of eating something as wonderful as this raced through her mind in a matter of seconds. It almost brought her to tears, but whether they were going to be tears of joy because of the food or pain because of the memories was left unknown to her. As all this was happening to her, France watched in horror.

"François, are you alright?!" He jumped out of his chair and stepped toward her, examining her face in fear that he may have accidentally poisoned her.

He grabbed her by the shoulders, finally throwing her out of the state of mind. She took in a gasp and closed her eyes.

"My apologies, but your cooking is just incredible." She began eating normally as France sat back down and looked at her with intrigue. He knew his cooking was good but he didn't think it could actually paralyze a person.

"May I ask you a question?" France asked halfway into breakfast.

"I don't see why not." François answered back as she sipped the coffee.

"What exactly is going on in your world?" His question caused a strange hush in the room. It was as though even the birds stopped chirping to hear her answer.

François put down the cup and cleared her throat. "Well..." she began.

"Right now all the countries of our world are fighting against an enemy whose one goal is to destroy, kill, and conquer. We call them Kaydoms though don't ask why."

"Go on." France's head rested on his hands.

She took another sip of coffee. "Well, when they first came all the countries thought they could deal with it on their own, though after months of fighting the invaders killed off more than a quarter of the world's population. That was when we decided that we would have to band together to beat them. Colonies and refugees were set up around the world, food and supplies were all packed up and put in storage for later use, and energy fields were created to keep the people hidden and protected."

She wiped her eyes, trying not to let out a tear.

"During one of our deliveries we got to visit the engineering and natural sciences lab in one of the American colonies. While checking in on that, we were attacked by some of the invaders and ended up falling through a teleportation device that was created to find more allies in the universe."

"So that's how you ended up in our world?" France pieced together.

"Yes, and we need to return as soon as possible. If the major countries aren't there to take care of deliveries and battle plans, the world may end up falling into chaos. Also…" She trailed off.

"What?"

"Also, if we don't leave soon the Kaydoms may get through to your world and attempt to destroy it like they did ours. I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing I was the cause of a multi-dimensional war."

This was followed by an eerie silence when suddenly France got out of his chair, walked up to François and hugged her causing François's face to redden in surprise.

He let go and looked into her watery eyes. "Well I won't stand knowing that there is a beautiful woman out there in danger. Consider me an ally until the very end!" His voice was poetic yet valiant.

François looked at him and allowed the tear that had been fighting to get out fall down her cheek. Her head fell on his shoulder and he could feel a relieving smile grow on her face.

"Thank you, Monsieur France."

Sort of Spoiler alert: Next up, the Japs. :) Thanks for all the encouragement you guys have been giving. It actually really helps me a lot. *Hugs*