With his hood pulled over his face, Arthur walked down the streets of the town. He was scared of moving here by foot; when he was up in the saddle of his horse, he felt much safer. If any of these suffering people curled up against the cold walls of the buildings around them would find out that he was the prince, they wouldn't be too happy to see him there.

For over a month now, he had come to the city every single day to look for Francis, but he didn't find him, not anywhere. It was like the man had just disappeared from the whole world, though that was something Arthur would rather not think about.

"Sir, please, wait!"

Arthur turned around as someone grabbed his shoulder to stop him from moving, and for a moment he let his hopes get up, even though it was painfully obvious to him that voice didn't belong to his beloved one. It was a rather young gypsy woman, and even though Arthur wanted to continue on his search, he decided to stop and listen to her.

"Let me read your future", was all she said, and didn't wait for any kind of answer before taking the Prince's hand tracing her fingers along the lines of his palm.

"There has been a great loss in your life... There's a piece of you missing...", she said, and Arthur felt almost terrified. He had never been one to believe in things like this; this had to be something she said to everyone, right? It was only a coincidence that it happened to be true on his part. Still, he heard his own, unsure voice mutter; "Go on..."

The gypsy woman ran her finger along some of the longer lines of his palm, frowning slightly. "You are searching for something... Something that you have already found, but you haven't realized just how close you are to what you are searching."

Arthur stood there with his eyes wide, hand still frozen in air as the gypsy let go of it, and he was nearly trembling as he handed her a few coins as a thank you.

Ever since that one night he had rode through the city, one of the beggars he had seen was way too often in his dreams. He never saw the man's face; only the hair that was golden underneath all the dirt. In his dreams the man was always silent. He tried to walk to his other side, to see his face, but he always turned around. But now, even though he couldn't see the face, he knew who he was.

What a fool he had been.

Fighting back the tears that threatened to fall down his cheeks, he ran around the town, trying to find that man he had seen back then. Trying to find Francis. He couldn't forgive himself for being so blind for so long. If something had happened to Francis during this time, if he wouldn't find him anymore... He didn't know what to do. It felt so horrible to know just how close he had been to the other, yet now, he was so far.

The darkness of the night fell over the town much quicker than ever before, or at least it felt so. Arthur was searching everywhere, he walked through every single alleyway he only found, he looked at every single person he saw until he was absolutely sure that they were not Francis. He ignored the darkness, the coldness, and just walked and walked and walked. He was losing his hope, but he wasn't going to give up. He couldn't. He had this horrible feeling inside him, that if he didn't find Francis today, he might not ever see him again.

It was past midnight when he finally let his tears fall, the reality hitting him hard; there was no way that he could find the other anymore. He had wasted his chances. Now openly sobbing, he let himself slump down on the street, for once not caring if he got his clothes dirty or anything like that. His mind was filled with sorrow and regret, there was no room for worrying about other things right now.

As he pulled his knees to his chest and buried his face against them, he didn't see the figure that was at the other end of the street, blue eyes practically glued to the curled up Briton. He didn't bother to react to the footsteps that were coming closer, he wasn't sure if he even heard them, and so he jumped slightly as a pair of arms wrapped around him.

"This is not a place for a prince, mon cher", Francis whispered quietly as he pulled Arthur close against his shaking form.

Arthur just stared up at the Frenchman, eyes widened in shock. The man was so horribly pale, his skin sickly grey. As he reached his hand to touch Francis' skin, it was easy to feel that he was burning with fever, and it was no surprise that the man was freezing.

"F-Francis...", he whispered, feeling like his voice was stuck in his throat. Even though he knew that he had a high risk of getting whatever the disease that was wrecking Francis was, he buried his face into the man's neck, crying against him. "I-I'm so sorry... I saw you that one night, and I... I didn't recognize you, and now... Y-You are ill and I... I c-can't help you...", he whispered, and rambled on and on, until silenced by a soft kiss to the top of his head.

"It's alright, mon amour, everything's alright...", he whispered quietly. Of course, the memory of Arthur just riding away still hurt, but he understood now that it hadn't been on purpose. It made him feel guilty, too, to think about all the nights the other must have wasted just looking for him around the city, when he had been purposely hiding away from everyone.

"It's been difficult... All these years apart from you, mon cher, but still, I don't regret anything... Each moment we spent together when I was still your servant, each of them was worth all this suffering. I would not trade away the love we had for a happier end, Arthur", Francis whispered in an attempt to comfort the still crying Briton, his arms tight around him, keeping him close against his chest.

"And I'm happy, mon petite, I'm so happy... I could not wish for anything else; I got to see you before I'm gone...", he murmured quietly, resting his head against Arthur's as he buried his face into his hair.

Arthur was slowly able to calm down enough to speak, his arms wrapping tightly around Francis. He could only guess who harsh the illness had been to the Frenchman; the strong form he was so used to was long gone, and he was almost shocked to feel bones beneath his clothes, the other so fragile and weak.

"No... It's not alright at all... I should have found you sooner, I should have... I should have known you when I saw you, and I should have saved you...", Arthur whispered, pressing a small little kiss on the man's neck, feeling the warmth coming underneath his skin, feeling how cold Francis felt. "How... How long do you think...?" He couldn't finish the question, there were no words that he could say without bursting out into tears when it came to his beloved one's death.

Francis sighed, and his arms tightened around the Prince. "Just stay with me tonight."

And he stayed.

Both of the m fighting the cold of the night, they stayed right there on the street, hugging each other tightly, holding onto one another so desperately. At the beginning of the night, the sweet words of 'I love you' where whispered every now and then, but as it got later, or earlier rather, they didn't speak anymore, Francis was too weak for that, and Arthur didn't want him to strain himself anymore.

No matter how tired, neither was able to fall asleep. There was that sense of finality in the air, they both knew that there was no time together after this night. It was all they had.

Before the sun started to rise, Arthur felt the arms around him lose their grip, and he bit hard down onto his lip, eyes squeezed shut. It took all his self-control not to cry as he slowly got up to his feet, pulling the taller man's body into his arms. Even though he had become so skinny thanks to the illness, Arthur, who had never done manual labor in his life, had trouble carrying him, but it didn't matter. It would all be over soon.

He walked towards the river than ran through the city, slowly and carefully; he didn't want to drop the lifeless body in his arms. But as he reached the edge of the street, where the river started, he didn't stop. Without any second thoughts, he just stepped over the edge, letting the eager flow of the water swallow both his and his lover's body.

And in the end, they were finally together.

This time, I really don't have an explanation for why it took me so long to put up this final chapter. I was just being lazy, so sorry about that!
Anyways, thank you all who read through this, favorited and reviewed c: I hope that you liked this last chapter (and the whole story in genera)!