Slight plot development and character development, with some brotherly love and Alfred's hero complex showing through. Thank you for the reviews, they mean a lot!

Disclaimer: I do not own, Hetalia.

(Normal Point of View)

It's been a few days since Alfred's release from the mast and he has gone back to work with the other crew. Arthur has been keeping an eye out, watching for Alfred to slip up at any moment. Still Alfred may be an obnoxious idiot but he's a nice and kind individual, he made friends or at least gained respect from the others. He worked hard, he at least made things easier for the other crewmen so they were pleased. Yes, Alfred once released from his bindings he worked like a mule, never stopping no matter how much work he has already done. He had abundant energy but slept like a rock at night, Toris who allowed him to stay in his room on the floor new that well. Luckily Alfred wasn't too bad a snorer, there were moments Toris was awoken aburptly by his mumbling but it was never bad.

Toris and Alfred seemed relatively close, much to Arthur displeasure, he eyed them when they talked idly and made sure to bark at them to get back to work. As captain he needed to make sure his first mate was doing what he was supposed to and that his crew were busy as well. Yes, to Arthur it annoyed him but he rationalized that he was just making sure he had a tight ship. That was all.

Still for some reason Alfred found comfort in Toris, at night when he was on the floor and Toris was soundly in his bed, Alfred would ask him to tell him about his mapping, about the stars he knew so well. Toris would start talking, glad he could talk about something he was interested in with someone else. Alfred would only mumble a response not exactly understanding all Toris was explaining. He liked it though, Toris in a way reminded him of his brother, of Matthew who could so easily look at a map or book and understand its contents. Matthew who was quiet and calm but when he got on something he was really interested in, his mouth wouldn't stop running and that glow in his eyes would almost burst out. Alfred remembered that, not exactly what his brother said, no that usually flew over his head, it was his excited expression.

So when Toris would go on like that, ramble about all the details of the sea and sailing course, it was a lullaby for him and he could imagine Matthew's over excited face that he usually never saw. He could fall asleep to that, he usually did, right in the middle of Toris's speech.

One night Toris finally worked up the nerve to ask Alfred a question that has been plaguing his mind for a while now.

"Why didn't you just escape?" Toris said hands placed on his stomach as he looked over to Alfred laying on the floor.

"Hm? Oh...I don't know really." Alfred said softly growing sleepier.

Toris turned over on his side and blinked quizzically at the man before him. "What does that mean? Honestly Alfred you're densest person I've met." Toris said softly but with a small smile. Yes Alfred was more then strange to him.

"Haha yeah! Well...I forget but when I heard he lost it and was going to rape that girl...something told me to stop him." Alfred said looking up to the ceiling then to Toris.

"Why didn't you stop me or everyone else?" Toris asked confused by the mans priorities.

Alfred let out a sigh. "I hate to admit but...I knew I couldn't stop all of you guys and since you never killed anyone I had no reason to stop you." Alfred said spacing out again at the ceiling trying to figure out his own self.

"Do you like the captain maybe?" Toris asked softly as he twiddled with his fingers and hoped he didn't anger the other man.

"Hmm...Yeah for some reason, I really like him." Alfred said with a soft gaze.

"O-Oh...why though...all he's done to you..." Toris asked not understanding one bit this man's affection.

"It's hard to explain...his guts...I mean his ability to take charge or never let anyone stand in his way. The amount of pride he carries, it's something I admire, I guess." Alfred said trying to piece together his words and afterwards let out a loud yawn.

"I see, that makes sense but why were you so focused on stopping him?" Toris asked hoping to get more out of the boy before he passed out, which would be any minute.

"Haha! Well you know how he keeps saying things like, 'I'm above you' 'I have more class' 'I'm a higher breed of pirate'?" Alfred said suddenly lighting up and looking to Toris.

"Uhh...Yes?" Toris said with a nod.

"And you know how he dresses so fancy all the time and makes sure to be clean?" Alfred added and swirled a finger around in the air.

"Yeah, sure but what-"

"He's just better then that, so when I heard that he was doing some stupid pirate thing I had to stop him. I felt it here." Alfred then used his thumb to point to his heart.

"You're heart told you?" Toris asked.

"That or my soul...it told me to get my butt out of that cell and stop him from being the man he isn't." Alfred said with a chuckle.

"Amazing..." Toris said simply.

"Huh? What me? Haha Thanks! You're pretty cool too, I mean you have great aim with those pistols." Alfred said sitting up suddenly.

"Huh? You think so? Thank you, Since I'm not too good physically I just focus on sailing and my aim."

"Hey don't worry about the physical part, I'll kick anyone's ass who gets too close okay?" Alfred said with smirk and thumbs up.

"Hehe, thanks. I think we should sleep now, another big day tomorrow." Toris said with a small smile.

"Yeah, see you in the morning." Alfred said and turned off the oil lamp in the room.

"See yah." Toris said and relaxed back in his bed and closed his eyes to drift off into sleep.

"Hey Toris?" Alfred whispered suddenly.

"Mmm?" Toris responded lazily.

"I want to fight that Ivan guy." Alfred said softly.

Toris sat up in his bed briskly and looked on, horrified at the man on the floor.

"W-Why would you want to do that!" He yelled out in surprise.

"He looks tough, I want to see if all this pirate work has build up my muscles!" Alfred said happily.

"Alfred...just don't, go to bed and never think of that again." With that Toris went back under his covers to sleep peacefully, for a moment Alfred tried to whine and call his name but he ignored it tell the man fell asleep.

The next morning, Alfred woke up bright and early like he usually did and decided to pay a visit to his beloved captain. He went over and knocked on the captains door softly and found it slide open letting in a little light in the dark room. He stepped in and looked around to see his captain sleeping peacefully in his bed, he chuckled to himself as he noticed how big his eyebrows looked when his eyes were closed. He walked over closer and called out his name.

"Ar~Thur~" He whispered with smile.

The man did not move and Alfred walked closer and for a moment took in his sleeping form, the man before him was peaceful and content not the fierce captain Alfred knew.

"Arthur~ Wake up." Alfred said after his moment of staring.

The man groggled and turned around despite Alfred's voice. Alfred pouted a bit and walked till he was right by the side of the bed. He reached over and shook Arthur who in turn whipped back around rather violently and grabbed Alfred by the collar.

"Woah!" Alfred let out in surprise and brought his hand to where Arthur was grabbing him. He stared surprisingly into the smaller man's eyes who took a moment to register who was in front of him.

"Y-You?" Arthur let out a gasp then seemed to relax, he let go of the man before him and let out a sigh. Arthur sat up in his bed and held his head in his hands for a moment, Alfred sat down on his bed and waited for him to say something. Arthur said nothing but kept his hands where they were, Alfred outstretched his hand but Arthur shot out one hand and slapped it away.

"I...I need you to go." Arthur said.

"No." Alfred retorted simply.

"Damn, prat leave!" Arthur retorted shooting up to glare at the man before him who stared on.

"No." Alfred this and smiled softly.

"Do you want to be tied up again, don't make me repeat myself!" Arthur snapped. "Get off my bed!"

"Hey, you know it's been a while since I checked your side! You should let me see it!" Alfred said with a smile.

"No, it's fine now, I don't need you to see it!" Arthur said, holding his head trying to stop a migraine forming.

"Just a check!" Alfred chirped.

"Can't you see I'd rather be alone right now?" Arthur asked completely astonished by the blondes lack of understanding.

"Huh? What's wrong, Artie?" Alfred said leaning in closer.

"Nothing, just leave! We're going into port today, all you need to do is stay in Toris's room." Arthur said sharply before getting up.

"Hey, did you have a bad dream? You can tell me. I want to know!" Alfred said rushing to the shorter man's side.

"Bloody hell! Do you ever shut up?" Arthur snapped as he tried to get himself dressed. Alfred looked and noticed that his side was for the most part healed up rather nicely, the scab was almost gone and would leave a rather impressive scar on the pirate captains side.

"I can tell from here it's healed up well enough! I'm glad!" Alfred stated and put both his hands on his hips to let out a laugh. "Guess I am a doctor after all!"

"Like hell you are! I would have been fine even if you didn't help." Arthur said while looking in his closest for a coat. He adorned his black one today, this one had gold lacing and a ruby pendant to add some color.

"No way, you're crazy to think you would have been fine with the way you were treating it. You passed out remember? Oh yeah, like I said before, did you have a bad dream?" Alfred said the last part outstretching his hand again to emphasize he was open to what his captain had to say.

"It's non or your concern." Arthur said and walked to the door.

"So you did." Alfred added making Arthur stop before his door and let out a sigh.

"Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you." Arthur said then opened the door and walked out leaving Alfred behind.

Alfred waited for a moment before walking out too, the moment he opened the door he knew something was wrong, outside he could see a huge cloud of smoke growing in the distance and from how Arthur was too transfixed he knew that that was were they were supposed to go for their black market dealings. Alfred walked over to stand beside Arthur to look more on the growing black smoke, he glanced to Arthur who held a mix of anger and disbelief. Arthur turned without looking at Alfred and walked up to grab the wheel he seemed to be on his guard more now.

As the day progressed more and more men were up staring at the black cloud in pity and disbelief. There all seemed to be a heavy atmosphere around the entire ship but Alfred was still too oblivious to it. He looked and turned to Berwald who had Tino by his side, he asked what was with everyone but Berwald just stared at him more intensely then usual. Which didn't help Alfred at all, still he could feel any more questions now would probably give him the same results with everyone else, he would just have to wait and see.

As the ship drew closer Arthur slowly began turning, he made up his mind they weren't going to make port there but wanted to see for himself the damage. All the men gathered to the side to see what was supposed to be a lushes sea fairing town, engulfed in flame. The city was painted with reds, oranges and yellows that turned into a black sky. Arthur gave the ship over to Toris and walked to the side to get a better look, his eyes widened for a second before he clenched his fists harshly. There on the dock was a pirate flag, waving black with skull and cross bones. It was slightly burning now as well but Arthur only knew one pirate that would cause this much destruction.

"Antonio..." Arthur hissed out.

The group sailed past and continued on there way but sailed past more cities that were burning down, Alfred stared horrified his whole body paralyzed.

Toris gave the wheel back to his captain and went to Alfred.

"His name is Antonio, a Spanish Pirate, he's actually the tamest but when he's angered he loses control." Toris said biting his lip.

"What angered him so bad to do...this?" Alfred seethed.

"He only has one treasure, and that's Lovino." Toris said simply.

"So someone kidnapped him?" Alfred asked.

"I'm not sure but it's the only thing that would make sense. He's looking for him and if he can't find him or get any information where he might be he'll burn the city to the ground." Toris said and he too was clenching his fists.

"What a bastard!" Alfred said and gripped the railings tightly.

"Yes, it's up to the captain though what we do from here." Toris said showing a rather serious side to him.

Pirates usually kept out of each other's way, territories were usually given with exception for simply traveling and short-short resupply stops. Since Antonio was in Arthur's territory and was in fact burning down his cities, that meant that Arthur had the right to stop him, by any means. Thankfully, Arthur designed his ship for speed and durability. Antonio's ship was a bit more luxury cruiser type but compensated with having more canons. A firing machine was what he was good at and more men too, still their skills weren't remarkable, Arthur picked his crew for not just strength but talent. Yes, there was probably going to be a confrontation, if anything he needed to be paid for all the cities that Arthur usually did trade in.

Captains Log, Arthur Kirkland, Monday 11th.

I'm going after Antonio, for whatever reason he has been burning down towns and ports. He's probably looking for his play thing, the Italian man Lovino with the rude mouth. Why the man likes him I'll never know, still he needs to be stopped and raided. I'm going to strip him dry of any money, goods, weapons he has. Though I get the feeling another pirate fiend is all the cause for this, I can't be certain and will have to do one thing at a time. First things first, find Antonio, make him pay.

I don't think I should write this , actually I know I shouldn't write this, not here...well not anywhere. I had that dream, well that memory. It repeated so many times last night. That scene, the feeling of everything escaping my grasp...everyone just turning away...This is pointless, I'm done writing. I have other things to focus on, like where my damn tea is! Toris better not be talking to Alfred again.

Alfred's Journal away from Journal, Monday 11th.

I'm so frustrated right now it can't stand it! I need to go help those people, I want to go stop those fires, lets go find the guy and make him pay! This is when I hate being on a pirate ship, no one is going to help those people who lost their homes, their lives! I want to jump off this boat and swim to shore to go help those people, don't think I can't! I just know though...it's too far gone...everything is in flames. There is alway this nagging feeling in the back of my head when I see another burning town. It says "go check! Go see if someone is alive, there might be one person who needs your help! Go! Go! GO!" It pulses in my brain. It's hard, I can't do anything, if I go and start swimming I'm too far away, it would take an hour or more to get there then that one person I could have saved would be dead by then! Mommy...Daddy give me strength. The burning in my chest wont stop, I can feel regret washing over me. I need to breathe but all I just breathe in smoke.

(Normal Point of View)

Alfred went down into the kitchen where he was sure no one was there, he sat down and tried to calm himself down but his heart ached as he thought of what a horrible person he was to just sit and watch the flames dance and mock him as they engulfed more and more. He let out one tear, and then they wouldn't stop, he cried for all the people who died who lost everything, then everything else he's been holding in. He cried he wasn't with his brother, he cried because he didn't know when he was going to ever return, he cried he was stuck on a pirate ship and he cried for Arthur, remembering the form clutching his head in his bed earlier that day. Arthur looked as if he wanted to cry too. All his frustrations were finally being let out, which felt good when he finally gained control of his emotions and stopped crying.

"Alfred?" A soft voice came.

"H-Huh! I'm up! Man I slipped!" Alfred stood up quickly and gave his biggest grin to Toris who just entered.

"Were you crying?" Toris asked noticing the red eyes and damp cheeks.

"What? why would you even-? No!" Alfred said trying to deny as best as he possibly could but failed miserably.

"It's okay, I mean you've been through so much, I'm astonished it took you this long to let it out." Toris said trying to comfort the man.

"N-No it's just all the smoke in the air! Haha." Alfred said still trying to deny it.

Toris sighed. "You don't need to be so strong."

-I hope you enjoyed this chapter, Arthur's past plays a lot into his personality and his 'control issue' but it's not some super drama. Alfred is trying to read the atmosphere when it comes to Arthur but fails. Still, he's trying.

So I guess for a reminder.

Alfred is 17

Matthew is 15 turning 16 soon.

Arthur- 21

Toris- 20

Tino-20

Berwald-21

Ivan- 19

Yao- 20