The end!

Gilbert knelt in front of Old Fritz. He didn't know what to do with himself anymore. Matthew was still going to be sacrificed in the morning, which if his internal clock was still working, was just a half hour away. Fritz listened to everything that Gilbert said, pity decorating his features for the poor boy in front of him.

"Now they're going to sacrifice him when dawn comes," Gilbert finished off.

"And you're still here?" Fritz asked. He also didn't want to see Matthew punished for a causeless feud. "Go and save him!"

"I can't! They won't listen!" Gilbird flew up and landed on his shoulder, and Kumajiro came forward and sat in his lap. They tried to be comforting, but they just made him miss Matthew even more.

"I should have listened to Ludwig and just settled down. Me and Matthew never would have met and none of this would be happening," Gilbert muttered pitifully. He just wanted to go and hide himself. "I just feel so lost," he whimpered.

Lost, that word ringed a bell in his mind. Like there was something that he should be looking at but he wasn't. Gilbert chirped on his shoulder, trying to help his master and friend remember what was on the tip of his tongue.

"Lost...I'm lost Gilbird," he voice strained. Tears began to prick his eyes, but he pushed them back, this was not the time for him to burst out crying.

Kumajiro suddenly pawed at his knee, bringing his attention downwards. That little bugger had Gilbert's bag in his mouth, and when he got Gilbert's attention he set the bag down and started looking through it. Gilbert just watched the bear, curious to what he was looking for. Kumajiro suddenly brought his head out again, something circular and hard in his mouth.

"What 'chu got there?" Gilbert gently pried the object out.

"The compass." It was the compass that Matthew had given him. What had he said about it? It was meant to help people find their way when they get lost. Maybe it could help him!

"It helps people find their way when they get lost!" Gilbert exclaimed, standing up. In the center there was an arrow, spinning around. It didn't want to stop. Suddenly he noticed that there was light filtering through the branches of the tree.

"Sunrise!" The arrow stopped, right to his village.

"It's not to late to get what you want Gilbert," Fritz said, but Gilbert was already gone, running through the trees. He had one shot, and only if he got there in time.

"Hurry up men!" Alfred shouted. Every man went behind him followed like sheep, each with a gun or some weapon in hand. Some of the men even had cannons before them.

"This is going to be our day!" Alfred screamed to the heavens. His men shouted behind him, eager for the fight of war and bloodshed.

"This is the morning," Ludwig announced. "Bring forth the prisoner!"

Matthew was brought forward, hands tried but this time instead of men handling him, they had a rope around his neck to make him move. He struggled vainly, tears not stopping themselves from falling down his cheeks.

"No please don't do this!" he pleaded. Matthew was ignored, like every other moment in his life. He tried falling and not getting up, but two men just came forward and carried him up to the cliff where his execution was to take place.

"No! I'm sorry please just stop!" Matthew struggled, oh how he struggled, but they just wouldn't let go. His comfort, yet what also made him more upset, was that he didn't see Gilbert anywhere in the crowd. He thought that Gilbert might have shown up, but he also didn't want Gilbert to see something like that. More tears gathered and feel out of Matthew's eyes.

"I...just...have to...try," Gilbert said aloud to himself between panting breaths. Gilbird flew over head, making sure that Gilbert stayed on the right path. Kumajiro ran at his feet, keeping even pace with Gilbert.

"Come on Gilbert, you can do this!" Gilbert sprinted even more, his own words fueling his strength. He headed right for where he knew that they would execute Matthew, he himself had seen many a prisoner be brought to death of that cliff. Gilbert could hear the drums of war sounding in the distance.

Matthew was brought to his knees, hands forcing his head against the solid, red stained rock. Matthew felt bile rise in his throat at the thought that other people had been killed right where he was. He could see Ludwig being handed a staff, with a large rock shaped like a ball on the end of it. That too, was stained red.

'At least it'll be quick,' Matthew thought. His eyes closed, he didn't want to see that staff brought down.

Ludwig raised the staff. The action that he had done to many times to count. Yet sometimes the staff felt heavier in his hands. He couldn't ignore the way that the boy in front of him had cried and pleaded with them, only to be ignored by him and everyone else. In front of him, he saw the boys friends appear, one in particular looked just like him.

"No!" Ludwig thought that it was that man down there who screamed, but it wasn't. Gilbert had screamed, pushing his way through the crowd.

"You can't kill him! I won't let you!" Gilbert cried out, throwing himself over Matthew. Matthew himself let out a relieved sob, pushing himself against Gilbert. Gilbert covered Matthew with himself, making sure that Ludwig couldn't hurt the other without hurting himself first.

"Move bruder," Ludwig huffed out.

"No! I won't let you hurt the one I love," Gilbert yelled so everyone could hear. Alfred's men below began to lower their weapons. Every person's attention was riveted on the scene before them.

"Look what you are doing brother! You're going to hate on each other and spill more blood?" Gilbert was yelling at everyone now. By now, almost all the weapons were pointing at the ground instead of at each other. He could feel Matthew trembling underneath him, still he couldn't let Matthew up and out, this might not turn out like he wanted it to.

"This is the path that I chose, are you going to stay on your path of hatred?" Gilbert asked.

Ludwig stared at his brother, he looked up from the two together, looking at the strangers that invaded their Mother Earth. The men down there looked about as confused about this battle as he was. His own men were waiting for his word, arrows knocked and ready. He had the power in his palm, and he needed to make a decision.

"My brother is right. This is not the time for hated," he announced. He lowered the staff, and motioned for his men to do the same.

"Release him, and let there be peace between us!"

Someone came forward and broke Matthew's bonds with a knife. He ran straight into Gilbert's arms, relishing in the warmth and the scent of the man he never thought that he would see again. Matthew was still bloodied, bruised, and sore, but he couldn't bring himself to detach from Gilbert. It wasn't like Gilbert would have let him go anyway. Alfred's men and Ludwig's men watched them, relishing in the peace and love that was there. Alfred on the other hand, did not buy any of it.

"Now men! Attack!" Everyone turned at his shout.

"No!" Arthur said defiantly.

"Say what?"

"They do not wish to fight Alfred," Ivan said, stepping behind Arthur. Alfred stared at them like they had grown an extra head.

"They took my brother! They were going to kill him! And you expect me to sit here and do nothing?" Alfred yelled, leaning down so that his face was right at level with Arthur's.

"Alfred F. Jones, I have put up with a lot for you. But they don't want to fight! They let him go, and look he's happy up there with them, now come on, put down the gun and we can all be happy, right love?" Arthur said gently, as if Alfred was just five years old and he couldn't understand why he couldn't have a cookie when the other kids did.

"No! I won't let them get away with this!" Alfred screamed, cocking his gun and aiming right at Ludwig.

Matthew saw. He was still in Gilbert's hug, but he still saw what was happening. He saw the yelling and he saw how Alfred aimed his gun. Without a second thought, Matthew pushed himself out of Gilbert's arms, and into the path of the bullet. It tore through the side of his stomach, tearing flesh off of his skin.

"Birdie!" Gilbert dropped to his knees next to Matthew, grabbing and cradling him.

"Alfred! You shot him!" Arthur screeched.

"He...he ran straight into my way..." Alfred whispered. No one heard him though. In less than a minute he was bound and gagged, unable to do anything else.

Matthew was laying on the cliff, blood beginning to pool around him. Every part of his being hurt.

"I love you Gilbert," he whispered. He briefly saw Arthur enter his vision before everything went dark and he entered a world where pain couldn't reach him.

Matthew considered himself the luckiest man alive. The bullet that hit him ran straight through the fleshy part of his side, tearing skin and muscles, but not hitting any vital organs. Their ships doctor had told him that as long as he didn't move to much then he should be fine in just a couple of weeks. Now Gilbert had brought him to see the ship off, they were all going back to England while Matthew stayed here.

"Matvey are you sure you will be alright?" Ivan asked. Gilbert held him in his arms like a man does for his bride. Matthew long since stopped being embarrassed by it, Gilbert wouldn't carry him any other way.

"I'll be fine Ivan, you have fun with Yao. Don't get into to much trouble," Matthew said teasingly, ignoring the way his side hurt with every word. The doctor said that he shouldn't move, but he had to see his friends off.

"Aiyah! Do not give him ideas!" Yao said out of no where, throwing a bag on one of the last rowboats that was there. Matthew chuckled while Ivan smiled that smile that always donned his features.

"Goodbye Matthew, I hope that everything works out here for you," Arthur said. Ivan and Yao were rowing away, waving to them in the distance.

"I hope that everything works out with my brother," Matthew said. Arthur chuckled.

"You know how he gets. Always riled up about something that doesn't need him in it." Matthew chuckled. That was his brother down to a 'T'.

"Well Arthur I hope you find another love interest," Matthew said with a wiggle of his eyebrows. Arthur blushed, trying to stutter out some reply.

"It's not...me and your brother...we aren't like that!" Arthur finally got out. Matthew burst out into laughter.

"Don't worry, mon ami, you have me now," came a French purr. Francis swooped down and put his arm over Arthur's shoulders, tucking the man close in by his side. Arthur blushed even deeper, but didn't push Francis away.

"You have a good time here lad, we'll come back as soon as we can," Arthur announced as he put the last of the items in the rowboat and started to sail away. Gilbert and Matthew both waved.

Matthew and Gilbert watched until the boat disappeared beyond the horizon. Matthew's friends were on that boat, but he held back his thoughts of them. He had a new life here with the man he loved and a whole new group of people that remembered him without being reminded. They were his new family, people who were happy and welcoming him into his life.

Matthew Williams couldn't be happier if he tried, and that was all he wanted.

Fin~

So that's the end. Let me know what you think and everything!

I can't believe it's really over. What do I do with myself now? *internal panic*