This story is called "Witch Hunt" and this pairing was requested by a lot of people: a guest reader, another guest reader named bluewolf21, Canadatheninja, and yet another guest reader. I believe a couple of these people requested France and Fem!UK, so don't worry, I'll do that one too. In this, Francis is the witch and Arthur is the hunter, because I thought it would make it more interesting.

Arthur Kirkland, the famed witch hunter, rode into a quaint little town just as the sun was rising. This town, it's name long forgotten, had sent for Arthur to help with a little problem, and promised to brief him when he got there. Arthur dismounted his horse in the town square, ignoring the crowd gathering at his arrival. He looked through the people until he saw a man that looked like Ludwig Beilschmidt, the man he was supposed to meet to get the details he needed.

"Excuse me, but are you Mr. Belischmidt?" Arthur asked politely.

"I am. And you are Arthur Kirkland, I assume."

"The one and only." Arthur extended his hand, "Nice to meet you, sir."

Ludwig hesitated, then shook the Brit's hand, "I'm glad you're here. Come, I'll show you what you need to do." He led Arthur into a house that he assumed to be Ludwig's. Ludwig saluted an albino man sitting in a chair as a sort of hello, and the albino man, upon seeing Arthur, got up and went into a musty looking back room, coming back with rolled up pieces of parchment.

"Danke, Gilbert." Ludwig said as he opened up one of the parchments, revealing it to be a wanted poster with a fairly attractive, slightly girly-looking man if it wasn't for the stubble on his chin. Arthur wondered how the person who drew this made the man look so good.

After studying the poster for a moment, Arthur spoke, "I assume this man practices witchcraft."

"Ja, and because of this, he is very well hidden. I have heard of your talent to see past the enchantments people like him cast to keep themselves from being found."

"Well, I wouldn't say talent. All witch hunters are trained to do that..."

"But out of all of them, you have killed the most witches. That's why I am hiring you." Ludwig gave the poster to Arthur and opened up the other parchment, a map of a woodland are next to the village.

"My scouts tell me they have picked up traces of magic in this area over here," Ludwig placed his finger on the far corner of the map, "but find that they cannot get past here. You will go to this place in the forest and bring him back here, dead or alive. Will you take the hunt?"

Arthur rolled up the map, "I never turn down good work. I'll leave right now." He turned to leave, then thought of one last thing, "Oh, and Ludwig?"

"I tried to read the name on the poster, but it was written rather messily. Can you tell me his name?"

Ludwig sighed and looked away, "His name is Francis Bonnefoy."

It had been two hours since Arthur had journeyed into the woods, and Arthur knew he was close. He could feel it. He could literally feel it, because he was toughing what he knew to be a magical barrier witches use to keep people out. This one wasn't particularly powerful, though. Maybe it was designed to let certain people in? Arthur shrugged and took out a vial. That was a mystery to solve later. Arthur navigated around the barrier, keeping his hand on it so as not to lose it, until he got to the place where the magic felt the strongest. He looked down. A rose was planted at the very source of the magic. It must be the object the barrier was drawing its power from. Arthur opened the vial and tipped it until a single drop fell on the rose, causing it to wilt and shrivel until it was a small, dark, unrecognizable mass.

Arthur smirked triumphantly as the barrier faded away, revealing a simple cottage no more than ten feet from him, with a garden in front that his target was tending to.

The hunter didn't hesitate and drew his crossbow, aiming for the man's head. Before he could fire, the man, Francis, spotted him and yelped, taking off behind the cottage out of Arthur's line of sight. Arthur swore and ran after him. He got to his destination only to find that the man he was after had disappeared.

"Where are you, coward? Come out and fight-" Arthur was cut off by a blow to the back of his head. He fell to the ground, and the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was Francis standing over him with a shovel in hand.

When Arthur awoke, he was immediately blasted on all sides by his senses. The smell of something good cooking wafted over to him in thick clouds. He could hear someone humming in the background. Maybe that was the person cooking? Arthur suddenly noticed the throb in the back of his head, and the little adventure from that day came back to him. He sat up quickly, only realizing his mistake when a dizzy spell hit him. He closed his eyes and waited for the sensation to pass. When it did, he opened them back up and looked at his surroundings. He was in a bed in a dimly lit, one-room house that he assumed was the cottage he had seen while on the hunt. Arthur looked around and saw a perfectly normal home, the only out-of-place thing being an open cupboard filled with what suspiciously resembled potion ingredients. His gaze fell on the fireplace, the cauldron boiling in it, and the one stirring the cauldron, the one Arthur had been sent to kill.

The one that turned to look at him and smiled.

"You're finally awake, mon ami. After a while, I was worried I wouldn't see your pretty green eyes staring back at me again. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Francis Bonnefoy, but you already knew that." he gave Arthur a flirty wink and turned back to the cauldron, humming once more.

Arthur blushed and wanted to give this overconfident witch a verbal beating, but instead it came out as a simple question, "You're not going to eat me?"

Francis chuckled and looked at him again, "Of course not, lapin. You read far too many fairy tales." He left the cauldron (with the spoon still stirring it by itself) and sat down on the bed behind Arthur, "Now let's see how that bruise is doing..."

Arthur turned quickly and smacked his hand away, "Then why did you hit me on the head with a bloody shovel?"

Francis huffed in exasperation, "You were trying to kill me, what else was I supposed to do?" He parted the Brit's hair to check on the lump. Arthur let him.

As Francis examined Arthur's head, Arthur asked questions, the first of which being, "What's boiling in that pot over there, some new-age poison I've never heard of?"

Francis was taken aback, "It's soup."

"Oh, then you're pretending to check my head so you can hit a lethal pressure point?" Arthur inquired skeptically.

"Non, just making sure you don't have a concussion." Francis answered as he finished, "Which you don't."

"So you don't have any secret plans to kill me that I should know about?" Arthur asked nonchalantly.

Francis sighed, "Lapin, there's something that you need to know. I've never killed anybody. But if I wanted to kill you, it would be in your sleep, and I would simply use a spell to shut your body down so you wouldn't suffer." He crossed from the bed to the cauldron and looked in, "Looks ready." he ladled some soup into a bowl and gave it to Arthur, "Eat, get your strength back up."

Arthur ate in silence for a little bit, then came to a realization, "If you haven't killed anyone, the you're not evil."

Francis gasped in mock shock, "No, really?"

"Then why did Ludwig send me to hunt you down?"

Francis smiled sadly, knowingly, "First, tell me the bullshit reason he gave you."

"That's because he sent you to exact revenge on me for him because he doesn't want to face me himself," Francis murmured angrily, "Not after I supposedly cheated him..."

Arthur cocked his head curiously, "What happened, exactly?"

"I suppose you do deserve to know, since Ludwig decided to go and drag you into this." Francis paused, as if debating how to tell his story, "I used to be adored by the village. As a practitioner of witchcraft, my specialty was, and still is, spells that allow people to find the truest of amour. I don't force my 'target', I guess you would say, to fall in love, I simply reveal a hidden attraction that's already there. Townspeople came to me every day for help with their love problems." He stopped to take a breath.

Arthur nodded, interested, "And I suppose Ludwig came to you at one point?"

Francis sighed, "Oui. He had been in love for a long time. I had seen it on his face whenever I went into town. I also knew that the love of his life loved him back. It was obvious to everyone except for the two of them. So when Ludwig came to me, hoping to finally be with the one he loved... I refused him."

Arthur's eyes widened, "Why?"

"Because I pull back the curtains on love that is too shy to show itself. I can't pull back curtains that were never there in the first place." Francis took Arthur's bowl and dropped it in a pot of warm water, "Ludwig didn't understand that, and went home very angry with me. I thought nothing of it, until the next time I went into town."

"What happened then?"

"I found out that Ludwig spread all these rumors about me, each thing I supposedly did getting more and more horrendous. The townspeople who believed him started a riot when I arrived. The ones who didn't, the ones who were my friends, helped me get out of that accursed place alive. They still help me by bringing me essentials that I can't get for myself anymore. You noticed the barrier, I assume? I created it to let only them in."

Arthur nodded, burdened with this new knowledge, "I see... I'm sorry this happened to you. You seem like a good man."

Francis beamed, "I try my hardest, non? Anyways, this must have been a lot for you to take in. You should rest."

Arthur crossed his arms, "I've had enough of rest, especially after what you just told me. I should go give that wanker a piece of my mind." He stood up from the bed, but his legs almost buckled under from lack of being used.

Francis caught the Brit before he fell, "Easy there, cher. This is why I said you should rest. Besides, Ludwig's not worth the effort."

"But he used me! He sent me to kill an innocent man!" Arthur cried as he tried to struggle out of the slightly stronger man's grip.

Francis hugged Arthur closer, "So what? You didn't kill me. That's all that matters."

Arthur stopped fighting him and wiped away the beginnings of a tear, "You're right. I'm sorry for being so childish."

"It's fine, I understand. Now, after that little tantrum you threw," he chuckled when Arthur glared at him, "you definitely need to sleep. Now lie back down while I clean some things, and try to calm yourself a little."

Arthur did as he was told, grumbling some insults under his breath as he slid under the covers. After about half an hour, he was disturbed by someone crawling into bed with him. Arthur grumpily turned over and found himself face to face with the French frog himself.

"What are you doing?" Arthur mumbled.

"Getting into bed with you." Francis answered as he pulled the covers up over the both of them.

"Why?"

"Because," Francis wrapped his arms around the smaller one, "This is my bed."

Arthur groaned, "Fine," he pushed Francis away, "but keep your hands to yourself."

Francis decided to respect Arthur's personal boundaries and not try again. He stayed awake until he heard Arthur's soft snoring, then fell asleep himself, the corners of his mouth twitching up in a slight smile.

The next time Francis woke up, he opened his eyes expecting to see Arthur's sleeping face. When he didn't, he got out of bed hurriedly, thinking he would see the cottage deserted. What he saw, though, was the British man rummaging through the cottage.

When Arthur noticed that Francis was awake, he stopped looking and spoke quickly, "I'm sorry, I was hoping to leave before you woke up. I'll just find my crossbow and then I'll go." He started his search again, going faster and faster, thinking he may have offended his host, who he had stopped thinking of as his captor for quite some time.

Francis didn't know what to say at first, but after standing there for a couple of minutes asked, "Are you sure you want to leave?"

Arthur looked up at him, "Of course I'm sure. I don't want to overstay my welcome."

"Oh, you haven't. It gets lonely being here by myself." he sat down in a chair near where Arthur was looking, "You know, you can't go back to the village or the society of hunters who trained you. I know how the business works. Because of your refusal to kill me, you have officially gone rogue.

Arthur didn't look up this time, "So?"

"So, not only will Ludwig be after you as well as me, your society will have a price put on both of our heads."

"And what do you propose we should do about it?" Arthur asked through clenched teeth, his search still turning up fruitless.

"Well, they'll only know you didn't get the job done if they ever see you. If they don't, they will assume I killed you."

"What if they think you're holding me hostage?"

"Arthur, you of all people should know that witches you practice dark magic don't take hostages unless it is absolutely necessary. And everyone is convinced that I practice dark magic."

Arthur gave up the search and plopped down on the floor, "So what you're saying is, you want me to live with you?"

Francis nodded, "If you don't want to, I understand, and I'll get your crossbow for you."

Arthur thought about it for a moment, then decided Why not?

"Thank you, Francis. I'll be sure to pull my weight."

Francis smiled at his good luck, "Welcome to the household, Arthur."

It had been about a month since Arthur had started living with Francis. Everything had been going smoothly so far. Francis had introduced Arthur to some of his old friends from the village, who then filled them in on what was happening. Francis's prediction had been correct, as Arthur was presumed dead. Ludwig was currently trying his hardest to find another hunter, but after Arthur's "death", no witch hunters wanted to take the job.

And Arthur was helping Francis tend his garden, debating how to tell the Frenchie that he loved him.

He didn't feel that it was rational for him to be in love with Francis. He was a witch, a French one no less, that Arthur had known for only a month. Was it possible possible to fall in love in only a month?

Arthur wiped his brow and decided to risk it, "Um, Francis?"

Francis looked up from his work, "Hm? Do you want to take a break already?"

"N-Not necessarily. I just have something I need to tell you..." he trailed off when he saw Francis's expression, "What's wrong?"

"I know this would happen eventually. I knew you would want to leave," Francis went into the cottage and came back out with Arthur's crossbow, "I understand. It gets boring staying in one place with just moi." He tossed Arthur his weapon.

Arthur caught it, "Francis, I-"

"Non, it's okay, you're not hurting my feelings, if that's what you're worried about-"

"Francis!" Arthur shouted, "I'm not going anywhere. I... I love you too much to leave you."

Shocked, Francis stared at him. "Arthur, do you mean that?"

Arthur took Francis's face in his hands, "Now, would I have said it if it wasn't true?" And kissed the other man lightly. As he was about to pull away, he felt a hand on the small of his back, keeping him there as Francis deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue into Arthur's mouth, gaining dominance. Arthur wrapped his arms around his newfound lover's neck and tried to gain back the upper hand, but was stopped when Francis pressed on Arthur's back, sending shivers up his spine.

Francis broke the kiss only to say with a smug smile, "Try as you might, mon amour, you won't win a war like this with me."

Arthur smirked, "Well, I can still try." He pushed Francis to the ground, kissing him once more. Gradually, Arthur moved down from his lips to his jawline, and slowly down to his neck...

Until they were interrupted by someone clearing his throat. Arthur and Francis looked up to see Antonio and Feliciano, both friends of Francis.

Arthur got off of Francis, who stood up, "Do you mind?"

Antonio, unfazed, answered, "We wouldn't have come if it wasn't important. Ludwig has found a new hunter."

Arthur quirked up and eyebrow, "Really? Who?"

"All I know is that his name is Alfred."

"Alfred..." Arthur trailed off, "I should've known he would take a job like this..."

"Friend of yours?" Francis inquired.

"I trained the bloody git."

Francis nodded, "Okay, we're not panicking. Ludwig doesn't have a map anymore, because he gave it to Arthur. He's probably forgotten where we are by now."

"That's the other problem." Antonio said, panic in his eyes, "Lovino told Ludwig everything. Where you're hiding, how to destroy the barrier, even that Arthur is still alive."

Arthur even started feeling the panic by this point, "What?"

"Ludwig tortured him!" Feliciano cried, "Please don't be mad at Lovino! Ludwig forced him to tell!" He started sobbing.

Antonio tried to comfort the fragile Italian, "Don't worry, Gilbert stayed behind to stall Ludwig as long as he can." Then to Arthur and Francis, "That gives you some time to get out of here, si?"

"But mon ami, he'll know someone warned us ahead of time. You'll be the prime suspect."

Antonio smiled, "It will be well worth it to know you are safe. This town owes you a debt for the services you have done. They seem to have forgotten that."

Arthur was struck with a brilliant Idea, "Antonio, Lovino said that I was still alive, but did he tell what condition I was in?"

Antonio thought for a moment, then shook his head, "I don't believe so. From what I know, Ludwig stopped the interrogation after that."

"Well, then what if I stay here? You can beat me up a little bit and make me look like I've had a terrible time. Make me look like a hostage. They'll take me back to the village, clean me up, and let me be on my way." He looked at Francis, "Then I can meet up with you... At the port. We can get out of this entire country, to somewhere we are not fugitives."

Francis nodded, "You have quite the devious mind." he smirked, "So I'll see you on the other side?"

"Of course. Now go."

Francis picked up a bag he had packed with all the essentials "just in case" he had said, and started walking in the opposite direction of the village.

When Francis was gone from sight, Arthur turned to Antonio and Feliciano, "Well... Let's hope I am a convincing prisoner."

Arthur lay on the ground about a half hour later, looking dirty, beat up, and starved. Antonio and Feliciano even bound his hands for good measure to make absolutely sure the coming cavalry bought it. He lay completely still as he heard footsteps on the soft ground.

Antonio and Feliciano, hiding in the bushes, took that as their cue to play their part.

"Help, somebody, please!" Arthur heard Feliciano yell.

Then came the gruff voice of Ludwig, "Feli, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, thank goodness you're here," Antonio said, "When we heard you were going to start the hunt back up for Francis, we decided to go ahead and investigate a little bit. You know, make sure it's safe."

"S-Si, so we came here, and apparently he found out you were coming, so he was dragging Arthur along in an attempt to escape with him. B-But when he heard you coming, he abandoned Arthur and ran in a random direction." Feliciano finished out the explanation.

"Iggy?" Arthur knew that voice belonged to Alfred (as if the old nickname didn't give enough clues), "Iggy?! Dude, are you okay?" Alfred propped Arthur's head in his lap and took out a small hunting knife, cutting the ropes binding Arthur's wrists.

Arthur was ready to play his part, "A-Alfred? Wow, it's been a b-bloody long time, h-hasn't it?" he started hacking, and to his satisfaction it sounded real.

"Shh, Iggy, don't talk. I've got you covered." Alfred took a case of water off of his belt and it out to Arthur, who drank it down, "Hey, do you know which way Francis went?"

He's long gone by now. Arthur thought.

"N-No. He just left me here. I haven't moved since he dropped me."

"That asshole. Don't worry, I'll find him." Alfred stood up to go look around.

Arthur felt himself be lifted up, and someone whispered in his ear, "Did the bastard get away?" Arthur looked up to see Gilbert and a very bruised, battered Lovino, who had been the one to whisper, were carrying him. He smiled at both of them and nodded slightly. Relaxed and happy at the success of his plan, he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Arthur woke up surrounded by warm water, then felt more warm water being poured on him. He opened his eyes and realized that he was in a bath. He looked up to see who was cleaning him, and met Alfred's eyes.

Alfred blushed, "Sorry about this. Ludwig wanted me to get you cleaned up."

"It's fine, old chap. Lord knows we're used to each other from the good old days." They both turned somber as they remembered when they used to hunt together, and the falling out they had when Arthur told Alfred he wasn't ready to go out on his own. Now Arthur could see how wrong he was.

"Why did you come here, Alfred? I didn't think you would take any hunt I get involved in."

Alfred went to get Arthur's clothes, not looking at him, "I thought you were dead, and... It made me realize how much I wished I could fix things. I figured that if I never got the opportunity to do that, at least I could avenge your death." He handed Arthur his clothes, "Hurry up, man, we don't want to be late for the burning."

A flash of worry shot through Arthur as he got out of the tub and put on his clothes, "Burning?"

"I thought you would know. We caught Francis! He almost got away, but I nabbed him. Now we're burning him at the stake. Best way to kill a witch, right?"

Arthur, now fully dressed, shot out of the door into the town square, "No, no, no, please don't let this be happening..." Sure enough, it was happening. There Francis was, standing on top of a pile of wood, tied to a long vertical stake. There was a crowd around him, yelling for the "witch" to be burned. Arthur scanned the crowd until he found Ludwig, then ran to him in a last-ditch effort to save his love.

"Ludwig!" Arthur called, "Don't do this! It isn't right!"

"He has committed many heinous crimes. He must be punished." Ludwig muttered with no emotion.

Arthur glared with a fire he had never felt before, "He's innocent. You know he is."

Ludwig held his gaze, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Knowing that talk would be useless, Arthur tried to shove his way past the crowd. Key word, tried.

Alfred caught up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, "Iggy, why are you so against this?

"Because I love him!" Arthur shouted, shoving Alfred away. He broke through the crowd and climbed up the pile until he was right next to Francis.

"Amour, what are you doing?" Francis whispered.

Arthur, with tears in his eyes, took out his knife and began cutting the ropes keeping his lover in place, "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm helping you escape."

"Arthur, look around. Guards are grouping up everywhere. They'll never let me go alive. I don't want you dead as well."

"I may as well be if you leave me here." Arthur told him through clenched teeth, sawing at the bindings harder.

"Listen to me. We don't have much time. I need to ask some things of you," Francis continued even as Arthur was shaking his head, "Take care of the cottage for me, will you? And the garden. And make sure that my friends, Antonio, Gilbert, Feliciano, all of them, make sure they don't get lonely? I wouldn't want them to stop being their amazing, outgoing selves in my absence."

Arthur sighed, his breath shaky, "You git, aren't you scared at all?"

"Non. I'm not afraid of where I'm going. My one regret is that you can't come with me." He leaned down as far as he could bound and kisses Arthur's cheek, "Je t'aime."

"No... You asshat... You can't leave me alone, I love you too much for you to leave me..." as the guards dragged Arthur off of the pule, he fought back cursing and struggling to no avail. Ludwig lit the bonfire.

Francis only let himself cry as the flames licked at his legs, beginning to devour him.

Author's Note:

And that's that. I hope you liked it. I know it's a little cheesy, but all love stories that involve magic are. This story was inspired by the song Witch Hunt from Vocaloid, and also by the movie Hansel and Gretal: Witch Hunters, with my own little take on magic thrown in. Anyways, I'll get up the next pairing as soon as I can. When I do, I hope to see you next chapter.