Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.

"Miscalculations"

Upon entering the English port, Arthur did not hesitate to turn his restless crew loose upon the town. "Gentlemen, I'd say you've each earned yourself a free round at the pub!" There was a hearty cheer amongst the crew members, which brought a subtle chuckle to Arthur's lips. "Now get off my ship! Tell Mrs. Price to put your evening on my tab, and I'll be around later this evening to take care of the bill."

At his command, the crew of the Wicked Thorn hastily made their way to shore, eager to get a good pint of ale in their hands. Within fifteen minutes, all of Arthur's crew had vacated the deck per his order, except his first mate, William Hannigan, who lingered momentarily. "Captain, sir, are you coming onshore? I can watch the ship if you would like to regain your land-legs."

Arthur almost smiled at the sincerity of his first mate. "That's quite all right, William. I have some maps I'd like to look over before I begin to make my rounds. You shouldn't have to hang around the ship when you could be reuniting with your wife and children, or having a round at Mrs. Price's place. Go on, I'll follow in a couple of hours."

William appeared to take his plan at face-value, accepting it with a slight nod. "Yes sir, thank you, Captain. Just…try not to work too hard; you deserve a break too, Captain." With those words, William Hannigan followed his crew-mates onshore to reacquaint himself with home.

A sigh of relief escaped Arthur when he finally found himself to be alone. He took a moment to lean over the railing, taking in the sight of England—home. Without a second thought, he dropped the façade he had been enforcing for the past several months. There was no point portraying strength in the face of England; she would not be fooled as his crew had been. As the mask of indifference fell from his features, he closed his eyes, embracing the comfort of the beautiful isle as the sun set on the horizon. Here he would no longer have to feel weak; he would be stronger. Arthur felt as if the presence of England would heal the wounds he had tried forgetting; she would mend the anguished memories he had adamantly told himself no longer existed.

With his first smile since before the incident, Arthur turned from the English shore and retreated silently to his cabin. It wasn't that he didn't want to rush onshore and reunite with friends over a pint of ale; Arthur simply felt that his crew deserved the first taste of home, and not himself. He didn't want his men to hold a single thought of obligation toward their captain tonight; they deserved a night of complete freedom from their ties of the sea. As their captain, Arthur was determined to give his men that gift. It was because of that determination that he forced himself to sit at his desk and review the maps he discussed with William. Several hours flew by before Arthur had even realized it; he had been entirely consumed with planning their next journey, even if it would not commence for at least a month.

As the time neared midnight, Arthur pushed his maps aside, sinking low in his chair to stretch his stiff limbs. Looking around his cabin, he noticed the not-quite-empty liquor bottle sitting on the table as the pale moonlight caught the glass through the porthole. One drink will not do any harm…after all, tonight is a night of celebration. I am home. Arthur deliberated the alcohol for only a moment longer before he rose from his place behind his desk and made his way toward the liquor bottle.

With practiced motions, he poured a generous amount of the liquid into a glass at sitting near the bottle. Arthur moved to the porthole where he could see the English shoreline in the soft moonlight. To England, and moving forward—to strength. "Cheers," he toasted with a dignified smirk. Arthur brought the glass to his lips, the liquor passing smoothly through down his throat.

"If you are going to take up your glass in a toast, mon cher, you should have at least asked me to join the celebration."

Arthur's eyes went wide at the intruding, yet all-too-familiar voice. No. He's not here. He can't be here. The sea captain did not trust himself to turn around; instead, he stood frozen with his brandy in hand.

"I must admit I am a little surprised. You have returned to your precious Angleterre, and what do you do? Sit in your stuffy cabin and mope." The velvety voice chuckled before continuing, "Of course, you have always been quite pouty, Arthur. You are lucky that you are cute, mon cher, because nobody likes an ever-present rain cloud." The voice chuckled once more as he quit his teasing. "I have missed you; welcome home."

Arthur heard the solid click of boots on the wooden floor moments before he registered that his jaw had indeed dropped open into an undignified gape. No. He can't be here… Arthur's thoughts stopped as he felt gentle hands trace his hips, turning him ever-so-slowly around to face the source of his voice. Unwilling to accept that he was here, Arthur closed his eyes, using every scrap of force he possessed to keep them secured.

"Arthur, what are you doing?" The voice scoffed lightly, moving his right hand to brush lightly against the sea captain's cheek. "Regardez-moi. Look at me." He placed a chaste kiss against Arthur's motionless lips. "Mon cher, what is it?"

Unable to find the strength to enforce his resolve to ignore the presence of the man before him, Arthur opened his eyes apprehensively. As his emerald eyes locked with the sapphire gems before him, the forgotten glass he had been holding slipped from his fingers, colliding deafeningly with the wooden floor.

The shattering glass—an all-too-familiar sound—pierced Arthur's ears. He had heard that sound thousands of times in the past months, replaying in his mind. Glancing down, he took in the sight of the shattered glass. Silently, he allowed himself to slide down, kneeling once again before broken glass on his cabin floor. A sharp shard dug cruelly into his shin, and he felt warm tears pool at the corners of his eyes. Weakness consumed him; Arthur fell forward, his hands digging into even more glass and beginning to burn as the assembling brandy infiltrated the fresh wounds. "Shit." It was not the broken whisky glass he was seeing before his eyes, but rather the ship in the glass bottle that had shattered only months before. "Shit."

Upon viewing the scene with uncontainable worry, the man standing above Arthur did not hesitate to drop to his knees before the seemingly broken captain, ignoring the pain of the jagged glass that littered the floor. He took Arthur's face in his hands, trying to get a clear view of his dampening brilliant eyes. "Arthur, mon amour, do not cry. I am here." He drew Arthur into his arms, attempting to smooth his unruly hair as a display of comfort.

It was several moments before the situation settled in Arthur's mind; however, when it did, he simply broke. Everything that he had been working to forget over the past months was kneeling before him, trying to comfort him—undeserving as he was. Unable to even think anymore, Arthur abandoned the entirety of his pride as an Englishman and turned his tear-brimmed eyes up toward him. When he spoke, his voice was sparse and dejected. "F-Franc-cis." The sea captain let the familiar name fall from his quivering lips before turning his head into the Frenchman's chest, clutching his cloak tighter in his hands, and forsaking all attempts at holding back his tears.

Francis did not know what to think of the weeping Englishman in his arms. He did not know what had happened to make Arthur upset. Although Arthur disliked the Frenchman's teasing comments—especially when he was irritated—the Englishman generally had cute, snappy retorts ready to fire back. This time, however, he had done nothing. Something had to be deeply affecting his blonde captain…but what could have broken him so violently? Francis placed a kiss to the blonde tuft of hair tucked securely against his chest. "Hush now, mon amour, I am here."

A/N: Yay! I was finally able to introduce Francis. I love writing his character; he's so much fun. Anyway~~I hope you liked this next chapter-hopefully enough to review, since I didn't get a single review for the last chapter. To everyone who has reviewed or subscribed to this story, thank you! xo