Thousand Years
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia. Word in normal font are in different language, words that are in italics are in English.
A blind date, seriously, when this night ended horribly at least he could blame Sharon and Monique for this. He didn't date, he didn't want to, why put himself through that heartache again? At least the show tonight had gone well and there would be plenty of alcohol at the after party tonight that if he really didn't want to remember the night he wouldn't have any issues. He didn't even know the poor bastard's name just that he was supposed to meet him at the cocktail bar at the after party. "Francis, there's someone here to see you." His make-up artist Denise said popping her head into the small dressing room he was using to change. He didn't really like having his own dressing room, he'd much preferred the idea of the communal one with most of the other actors as he had in previous productions he'd been in, all as minor characters or as background people pulled in as an extra. Charles and Sharon had been the ones to convince him that he should use the dressing room.
"Who?" Francis asked with a frown, none of the other actors needed to announce themselves before they came in, and Sharon loved to use that to her advantage. And no one that he knew had come to see him in Copenhagen.
"An Alfred F. Jones, he's got a press pass." Denise said ushering in the honey blond man, Francis couldn't stop himself from laughing at his cousin who was wielding his badge with furor.
"Let him in, Denise." Francis said smiling at Alfred's familiar presence.
"You haven't changed a bit." Alfred said matching Francis's smile with his own. He slid his press badge back into his pocket looking a bit sheepish as he did so. "I wasn't sure they'd let me in by just telling security that I was your cousin." Francis snorted, he was a stage actor not a movie star, paparazzi weren't going to try to sneak into his dressing room after a performance to take pictures of him to sell to the highest bidder.
"I thought you were back in Moscow." Francis commented as he used baby wipes to remove the pound and a half of make-up used on stage. Alfred shrugged as he pulled a stool out of the corner to sit on.
"A new development, plus the guy I'm writing the article for threatened to not pay me. I'm an idiot but I'm not stupid." Francis snorted but didn't make a comment on the subject. And Alfred grinned his impish grin that was infuriating and charming at the same time. His cousin hadn't aged a day since the last time Francis saw him.
"You were brilliant up there tonight. You should try out for a movie."
"I'm a stage actor, Alfred, not a screen actor. They are very different." Francis said, they'd had this discussion before in high school whenever Alfred would go see the plays he was performing. Francis loved being on stage, how every night was a different performance, a different audience and a different reaction. When you did movie acting you had to wait months before the movie was even seen and even then you don't get the whole satisfaction of hearing people clap for you at the end of the performance.
"I know, I know, I just have always wanted to be able to walk away from a movie and boast that my cousin was playing Superman or Bilbo Baggins or some other action hero." Alfred said.
"Well you can boast that your cousin was in an international production of Hamlet." Francis suggested but Alfred didn't seem to be thrilled by the idea. "You haven't spoken with your brother have you?" Alfred shook his head.
"No, not in a couple of months. He and Gilbert were having relationship issues though." Alfred sighed wistfully. "Do you ever miss it, home?" And Francis knew that the American born wasn't talking about his Parisian apartment, but to Canada and the small town they'd grown up in, where their family still lived. Francis tried often not to think about Canada, too many memories he didn't want to ever think about again, but there were also years of good memories.
"Yes." He whispered, he missed his Maman, and his soft spoken cousin Matthew, and Gilbert and Antonio, the garden out behind his house that had been the setting for many of his adventures with Antonio and Alfred; fighting dragons amongst the lilies and finding dwarven halls in the azalea bushes.
"It was our Shire." Alfred said fondly.
"Our what?"
"Our Shire, you know Lord of the Rings, where the hobbits are from." Francis nodded, Alfred was a Tolkien fan just as his brother loved Star Wars, and the two of them could turn play grounds into a dark cave where Rancors and dragons who stole dwarven gold lived. Alfred had once proclaimed that the small woods behind his and Matthew's house was Fangorn Forrest where Matthew would protest and say it was the forest moon of Endor, this argument continued well into when they were both in high school.
"Yes, I know." Silence fell over the room and then Alfred spoke again on a very different topic.
"I saw Arthur about a month ago."
"I know, Monique told me."
"He didn't recognize me, I don't know what's wrong with him, but you said it yourself I don't look any older than I did three years ago. But there was no hint of recognition in his eyes." Francis frowned, Arthur wasn't one to play mind games with anyone, if he had seen Alfred and known who he was Alfred would know, the fact that Arthur hadn't made him concern.
"And you are sure it was Arthur that you saw?"
Alfred didn't protest, he didn't get angry that Francis was doubting his abilities to recognize people, he just nodded and responded with a simple one word yes and that was all the proof Francis needed that Arthur was in Copenhagen, somewhere working at a café and happy, and that was all Francis needed to know.
The after party was full of Copenhagen's rich and elite that the bigwigs in the acting company wanted to impress by throwing such an elaborate party and hoping to somehow get their funding for more shows. And Francis, being the star of the show had to endure being pleasant to all the wealthy elite, it wasn't that Francis didn't like rich people. That would be hypocritical as his father was from a wealthy French family that owned a few vineyards in southern France. But still, it didn't mean the Francis had to find them pleasant, it probably had been no accident that Dalton had broken his leg when he did avoiding this whole mess. "Hey, Francis," Sharon said bounding over with her fiancé John right behind her as well as a two other men. One was short, shorter then Arthur had been with amethyst color eyes that were more purple then Matthew's, and golden blond hair just a shade lighter than his own, there was no denying that this was Sharon's beloved younger brother Tino. The man beside him reminded Francis of a lion, he was a giant of a man, he'd probably tower over Ludwig, and he had cold blue eyes and a face that would intimidate most if Francis hadn't spent his childhood with Ludwig.
"Sharon, John." Francis acknowledged,
"Francis, this is my brother Tino; Tino this is my co-actor Francis, he played Hamlet." Sharon said, "And this is Berwald, my brother's giant of a boyfriend."
"Ah, sorry, so you're the one we set up on a blind date?" Tino said in impeccable French. He must have attended the same boarding school Sharon had. Sharon often spoke in French to Francis in order to practice what she had once spoke constantly at a boarding school in France where her parents had sent her as a teenager.
"Yes," Francis replied,
"Well, he's waiting over there for you." Tino said pointing towards the bar where a lone person sat, back turned to Francis with straw blond hair and a short stature. Francis felt his breath hitch as he recognized the color of sandy hair; it was Arthur's hair color. As if in a trance Francis walked over, he barely felt his feet touch the floor of the hotel ballroom, he could no longer see any of the other guests it was just him and the man that looked like Arthur.
"Arthur?" he asked ghosting a hand on the man's shoulder. He turned around and emerald green eyes met sapphire, it was Arthur, it was his Arthur. Francis felt his heart leap in joy, and it began to beat so fast that he was sure that the other man could hear it. To Francis it was as if the past three years had never happened, as if Arthur had never left him.
"It's you, the man from my dreams." Arthur said, and Francis only saw the hint of recognition in Arthur's green eyes. What had happened to Arthur these past years that would make him forget him and Alfred and maybe everybody else too. He looked healthier then Francis had ever seen him, he had filled out and was dressed nicely, was that an Armani suit? He also looked happier, the darkness that had always been on the edge of Arthur's eyes were gone and there was no hint of the past that had once haunted him. This was a whole Arthur, an Arthur that Francis had always hoped for.
"Arthur? W-what happened to you?"
"I- There was a car accident, a young man walking across the street was hit by a driver on their way to work. The young man suffered from severe brain trauma and lost his memories. That was about three years ago." Amnesia. The word hit Francis like a speeding train. Arthur was suffering from amnesia, he couldn't remember him, or Alfred, or Canada, to Arthur he was a perfect stranger, and this Arthur Kirkland was a perfect stranger to him. "All I could remember was you, your soft voice whispering my name." Francis felt himself choke; he wanted to reach over and hug the man, pepper his face with kisses and promises to never let him out of his sight. That he would always protect him, but he held back he couldn't rush into this. This Arthur didn't need protecting from the dark world he had been exposed to; this Arthur couldn't remember the chilling events of the Russian Sunflower.
"You- you look well." Francis finally said when he found his voice again, he smiled at Arthur trying to elevate some of the tension that had built in the younger man's stance.
"Francis, I don't know what I did to you in the past. I don't remember it, but I am sorry, I must have caused you a lot of pain." Arthur said reaching up to touch Francis's stubbly chin as if being compelled by some unknown force and Francis relished the touch, feeling those soft fingers touch him again. It had been so long, so very, very long.
"Yes." Francis saw Arthur visually wince and quickly began to retract his words. "But it doesn't matter now, you are here."
Arthur had a pensive look before he spoke again. "My name is Arthur Kirkland. I like tea, Doctor Who, and drawing . In the past three years I have had no successful dates, and I'm blaming you. Every time I would try your face would pop into my head and I would feel as if I was cheating on someone. I never knew if it was you or the other guy though that I was cheating on." Francis let out a half laugh wondering if he should feel flattered that even amnesiac Arthur couldn't forget his face even while on a date. He held out his hand for Arthur to shake.
"Well then, its nice to meet you Arthur Kirkland, I am Francis Bonnefoy. I enjoy long walks on the beach and romantic dinners." He gave Arthur a wink and felt his own heart leap at the sight of Arthur's smile. He never though he would ever see it again. "In all seriousness though, I enjoy acting hence my job, I like to cook and I'm an amateur expert on wine. My grandfather owns a vineyard in Southern France." Arthur nodded. "So does this mean I can buy you a drink now?"
"Well finally he shows that he knows how to treat a date."
"I'm French," Francis flipped a piece of his long blond hair behind his shoulder. "It's in our blood."
"Yes a Frog it would seem." Arthur commented offhandedly. "Rum and Spetzi mix please." He said to the bar tender at the cocktail bar.
"Vodka shots." Arthur gave him a disbelieving look.
"I never took you as a vodka drinker. You look more like a wine or champagne fop." Francis snorted.
"Wine and champagne never could take the edge off when I need it to. Vodka is much better for that." Francis said, "So tell me Arthur, what did you think of tonight's performance? Be as honest as you want, you won't hurt my feelings, I've heard it all." He asked quickly changing the topic, it did no good to dwell on unpleasant memories not when they'd just met. Later, when they were once again more comfortable with each other.
"To be honest, it was amazing, I've never seen anything like it. Was that your first time in lead role?"
"Yes," he admitted slightly sheepish about it. It really hadn't been that good, it was his first time playing a lead he had originally been the understudy which meant that he hadn't even had a role to begin with.
"You have a career ahead of you." Francis nodded and picked up the vodka shot that had just been slid towards him.
"Here's to the future." Francis said holding up the shot glass, Arthur smiled and raised his own glass before they both downed their drinks. Francis made the universal motion for another shot and leaned over to kiss Arthur's lips.
Time stand still,
Beauty in all she is,
I will be brave,
I will not let anything take away,
What's standing right in front of me,
Every breath,
Every hour has come to this…
One step closer.
I have died everyday waiting for you,
Darling don't be afraid
I have loved you for a thousand years
I'll love your for a thousand more,
All along I believed I would find you,
Time has brought your hear to me,
I have loved you for a thousand years,
I'll love your for a thousand more.
Author's Note (the part of the story where the author comes out and write a silly note): February and March are awful times for me to be writing cause I'm so busy. I don't see myself updating again till April, sorry guys. But who knows I could get extremely inspired and somehow during the extremely busy March that I have I'll find time to write yet another chapter. I really want to thank all my reviewers; you guys are awesome and extremely encouraging. Please don't kill me for my cliffhangers, though I do believe that every author truly enjoys deep down leaving their audience in a state of wanting more. It's how we keep you guys hooked, remember the queen lady from 1000 Arabian Nights or whatever… I haven't actually read the tale myself… I probably should. Enough of my ramblings, thanks for reading and don't forget all flames are sacrificed to the llama gods.