A/N: The idea for this came to me late late one night while I was flipping through Rockets' Anthem book. So therein lies the inspiration~

There was once a little boy trapped in a tower. His name was Arthur. That was all he knew. He didn't know how he got there, or why, only his name and that he couldn't leave. There were no doors in that tower, and a jump from the window would surely kill him. He didn't try. It was lonely for him, but deep in the forest that he was, no one ever came around to see him.

The tower was old. About fifteen meters high, the stones large and covered in moss around the base. There was only one window, but it was big and facing north. That ensured Arthur got plenty of sunlight, but the sun never really shone directly into his room. The tower was situated in a small clearing in the forest, with about ten meters from the base of the tower to the forest on all sides. Scattered around the edge of the forest were small, smooth stones, but Arthur had no idea what they were there for or what they did, and after a few years he lost interest in finding out.

It was also a magic tower that he was trapped in. The magic gave him food and water and books, it taught him to read and write and speak, but it wouldn't let him out. Arthur had long ago given up crying and begging the air for release. He had imaginary friends, unicorns and fairies and even little dragons that he played with, but he longed for a real friend. A human friend. Still, he was alone.

When he was nine, his pleas were answered. Arthur woke up one morning to a shout of surprise. A shout that had come from outside the tower.

"Whoa! What is this place?"

Quickly rushing to the window corner, Arthur peeked out. Another little boy was stood in the grass at the base of the tower, eyes so wide as he looked up that Arthur could see they were a brilliant blue. As he watched, the strange boy tapped at the stones of the tower, then walked around the base to see if there was a door. Once he vanished from view Arthur had to stifle a cry, so afraid he was that this new boy would just wander off. After all, the tower was seemingly empty, so who would stick around for long?

But a couple of moments later, the blue-eyed boy reappeared from the other direction of the tower and stopped again where he had started from. He looked up again.

"Hello? Is anyone friendly home? I don't wanna get eaten!"

Arthur had to stifle a giggle at the words. Eaten? Eaten by who? He certainly wouldn't eat this boy! "I'm here!" he called back, and leaned out the window so he could be seen.

The other boy's eyes widened even more at the sudden face. "Whoa- Do you live here?"

"Yes!"

"But-" His brow furrowed and he looked around again. "But there's no door! How do you come out?"

Arthur's face fell. "...I don't."

"What do you mean you don't? You gotta come out! I wanna play with you!"

"You said it. There's no door. I'm stuck here. I'm sorry I can't play with you..."

"Oh." The other boy looked stumped for a moment. His face crinkled up as he thought, trying to find a problem to this situation. "I'm Alfred!" he called up again a couple of minutes later. "And I'm gonna get you out of there!"

The conviction in Alfred's voice almost made Arthur believe him. But there was no way out. He had tried everything. Or, everything that a nine year old boy could. His expression crumpled, and he shook his head. "You can't."

Alfred waved the words away. "What's your name?"

"Arthur."

"I'm gonna get you out, Arthur! You'll see!"

Arthur couldn't help scoffing at that. "You can't! How old are you, even?"

"I'm eight! And a half! And I'm lost! But I'll make it so you can come down and play with me!"

"How can you do that if you're lost?" Arthur tilted his head to the side, grinning when Alfred mirrored his expression.

"I'm gonna find a way out! And then find a way to help you!"

Thinking about the situation, Arthur nodded. "I can help you with that!"

Before Alfred could question him, he ran away from his window and started digging through an old toy chest of his. Every toy the magic had given him he kept in there. After a few minutes of rooting around, he found what he was looking for. A stick of magic chalk. He had drawn lots of things in chalk a few years ago, and he knew the stick was magic because the drawings never faded, no matter how hard he tried to scrub them away to make room for new ones. As he was trotting back to the window, his eyes fell to a new object on his night table. A bag of seeds sat there that definitely hadn't been there before. Attached to the bag was a slip of paper with black scrawls on top of it. Arthur's eyes widened when he read them. He quickly copied them down to another piece of paper before picking the seeds up and taking them to the windowsill with him.

"Took you long enough!" Alfred told him. He sat on the grass, a pile of torn-up leaves and grass stems on his lap.

"I was getting some things!"

"Some things?

"Yes! For you!" Arthur held out the piece of chalk out so Alfred could see. "Please, magic, show him the way home and back here. Please, please, I want a friend..." He saw the chalk shine for a moment and sighed with relief. The magic would help him with this little thing, at least.

The chalk dropped from his fingers, landing at Alfred's feet. The younger boy picked it up, examining it and drawing a mark on the tower. It shone out a brilliant white, and the rest of the chalk started glowing again. The blue eyes widened and followed the white light when it zipped form his hands and into the forest. And suddenly, a path was highlighted for him. A path from the tower to his home a couple of miles away.

"What was that?" he asked, voice breathless and eyes still wide. They shot back up to Arthur's grinning face up in the window.

"Magic!"

"Magic?"

"Yeah! It gives me food and water and books and chalk! Oh, and it gave me this!" Arthur dropped down the bag of seeds next.

It landed in nearly the same spot as the chalk, and the bag stayed firmly closed. Alfred picked it up and looked at the paper. Then he opened the bag and took out a fistful of the seeds. He allowed them to run through his fingers and back into the leather before looking up. His fingers clutched the paper again.

"What's this say? I can't read..."

"Oh!" Arthur rushed back and grabbed the copied slip of paper, along with some of the books he had learned with. "It says 'Rose Seeds. The more love and care you put into them, the bigger the rose bush will grow.' Or something like that. And here!" He tipped the books over the edge as well and watched them thump at Alfred's feet. "So you can read!"

Alfred's eyes widened when he saw the books, and he touched their covers reverently. "I- I can have these? Really?" They would become precious to him.

"Yes! The magic can make me more if I need them!"

Nodding, Alfred looked at the rose seeds again. He gripped the bag in his hand with a wide grin. "I'm gonna give these all my love and care!" he declared. "They're gonna grow to the sky and I'm gonna get you out of there!"

As Arthur looked on with hope-filled, shining eyes, he knelt down in the earth at the base of the tower. Already supple fingers dug enthusiastically through the dirt and soon enough had a hole big enough for all the seeds. The bag was upended into the hole, and Alfred tossed it aside to cover the seeds up almost in a frenzy. When he was done he sat back, watching intently and expecting the rose bush to grow right then and there.

"Alfred!" Arthur cried down, giggling again. "It takes time!"

"Oh." Alfred looked up at him, a small grin spreading on his dirt-streaked face when he saw Arthur's own. There was already a part of him that had tied itself to the trapped boy. That part yearned to see Arthur free, to be able to be close to the other boy and really play with him. "I'll come back then! I don't know when, but whenever I can! I won't leave you, Arthur!"

Arthur nodded, glad that Alfred was so far down that he couldn't see the tears shimmering in his eyes. "I know. You should go home now!"

"I will! But I'll be back for you, Arthur! I promise I'll get you out of there!"

Years passed. Eight of them. True to his word, Alfred never left Arthur for more than a week. Though they were stuck on different levels, they talked almost constantly and Arthur would occasionally give Alfred small trinkets or new books. The blue-eyed boy had a whole trunk at home full of them. His mother, though they were poor, never took anything away from him and after a while stopped questioning where he got everything. He treasured all he got from Arthur as though it was the most precious thing on Earth, same as he did with Arthur himself.

Alfred's attraction to Arthur changed, though he never realized that it was now edging towards romantic, and that was part of the problem with the rose bush. It had grown to a normal, healthy size with the bond of friendship that had developed between them, but that simply wasn't enough. It hadn't grown any taller in a couple of years now, and though it produced some of the most beautiful roses Alfred had ever seen, the flowers wouldn't get Arthur down.

The standstill was starting to crack through Arthur's hopes. He had been happy, so happy that there was progress and that there was even the slimmest chance that he could get free, but now that chance had all but vanished. He had let hope have too strong a hold in him, and now he was paying the price.

"It's useless!" he screamed at Alfred one morning, seventeen and fed up with everything. "There's nothing to be done! I'm never leaving!" Tears flowed down his face, and after another few seconds of staring at Alfred, he vanished into the tower and slammed the shutters closed.

Alfred was left in shock for a few moments. When he finally snapped out of it, there was silence. "A-Artie?" he called up tentatively. No answer.

The anguish on Arthur's face was burned into his mind. Alfred never wanted to see it again. He wanted to take it away, make sure Arthur never felt that way before. He wanted to show Arthur the world, take him places, introduce him to his mother and brother and everyone else he knew in their town. His arms ached at the thought of finally holding Arthur in them, giving him a big hug because damnit, he deserved that much and more after seventeen years cooped up in a tower. Alfred wanted to, no, needed to be the person to give Arthur that. He wanted to keep Arthur safe and make him happy, show him all the joys of life, hold him and never let go- Oh.

Alfred's cheeks burned red. He remembered how his mother had spoken about his father, and how from her words he knew she had loved him very much before his death. The same thoughts were running through his mind now. His eyes fell to the rose bushes surrounding the tower and he jolted. Love. Love, the paper had said. Love and care would make the roses grow. He had given them care, but without love they could never grow high enough.

Hands trembling, Alfred knelt before the bushes and took one of the fat flowers into his palms. "Please..." he whispered. "Please grow." He tried to put as much of the feelings inside of him into the flower. "I need Arthur. I need to hold him. I need to show him happiness. I- I think I might love him. I want to be with him. Please, magic, please..."

Nothing happened.

Defeated, Alfred gave the rose a soft squeeze and shuffled away. He had really thought that with this new revelation the bushes would just spring up. He called for Arthur again, but there was no answer. He wiped away his tears as he left.

That night, the rose bushes glowed pink.

The effect of Alfred's words became cumulative after that. Each time the boy returned, the roses were higher. Arthur, however, wasn't convinced. Alfred never told him of his feelings, and though his heart leapt whenever he heard Alfred calling his name, Arthur's pessimism never allowed him much hope. The rose bushes would stop growing again soon, and he would die in that tower while never having stepped foot on the earth.

"Arthur."

The word surprised him, and he stiffened from his seat on the bed. That was Alfred's voice. Except it was said softly, and there was no way Alfred could be in his room. So his mind was playing tricks on him now...

"Arthur, turn around." The voice was deep now, and at eighteen, Alfred had much matured. He was a handsome boy, with a handsome body that turned heads, but he had eyes for one person only.

Slowly, Arthur turned around. Alfred sat on the windowsill, legs swinging inside and a small smile on his face. He gasped. Roses and rose bush branches surrounded the outside of the window. It had really grown that high. "A-Alfred?" he breathed out, standing and walking around the bed towards his friend.

Alfred stood as well, meeting him halfway across the floor and crushing him to his chest in a tight hug. His nose was buried in the crook of Arthur's neck, and he breathed in the scent deeply. "Arthur..." he whispered, and his voice was hoarse.

The green-eyed man was in shock. Eventually he managed to bring his arms around Alfred's torso in return and cling to him tightly. "A-Alfred... Oh God, Alfred..."

Finally pulling back a bit, Alfred nudged his nose against Arthur's temple. He closed his eyes, content to simply stand there and soak in the feeling.

"But how?"

"Love, Artie. The roses just needed to feel some love."

Arthur's eyes blew wide, and his breath came in short bursts. He only just suppressed a shiver when Alfred's voice sounded right in his ear.

"Arthur. Can I kiss you?"

The elder could only nod. Alfred cupped Arthur's cheeks in his warm, big hands and held him softly in place as he leaned in. Both of them melted into the kiss, eyes sliding shut and bodies moving closer together. In that moment, they were lost to the world and lost in each other. But they had found themselves, and Alfred had finally found a way to Arthur. When they broke apart, Alfred rested his forehead against Arthur's and smiled.

"Arthur?"

"Mmm?"

"I told you I'd do it."

A/N: So much sap. And it could probably be longer/more detailed, too. But I figured I should post something to let you guys know I'm alive. University's just been a whirl and I've kind of lost a lot of motivation. I'm hoping that improves, soon. There are still so many things I want to write... Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this!