Alfred huddled in the ditch that the countries had dug. He shivered in the cold midnight air. Beside him, Arthur was turning restlessly in his sleeping bag. Alfred shivered more and buried himself deeper in his sleeping bag. It reminded him of when he foolishly entered World War I. His soldiers had dug trenches, just like the Europeans had and he stayed with them. He looked at the several nations who were in the ditch with him and England. Canada, Alfred's little brother, was curled up in a ball at the very edge, with no sleeping bag or even a blanket. He was shivering so badly. Japan was trying to sleep not too far from Canada. North Italy was right at Alfred's feet, and Alfred was trying to kick his head as he looked around. China and France were lying at the other end of the ditch, awaiting proper burial. Alfred shook again. Next to North Italy was Spain, who was hugging a shaking South Italy. Alfred concluded that Russia and Germany were on patrol at the top of the ditch. Alfred shivered again and England tapped his shoulder.
"Here, twit. You almost forgot this when we left…" England said, handing America the scarf that he and Sakura shared.
"Thanks… Arthur…" Alfred said as Arthur finally fell asleep.
Alfred closed his eyes as he started to cry. He pulled the scarf around his neck, inhaling Sakura's scent.
"Sakura…" he whispered, his voice lost to the wind and muffled by the scarf as he sobbed quietly.
Things went on as normal in the months following Kyouya and Sakura's tearful goodbye to each other. Sakura hung out with Haruhi, Hikaru and Kaoru and school and things were pretty much filtered back to normalcy. But the one day that Sakura decided to stay after to be tutored by Hikaru was the day that the normalcy ended. Lita hung up with Arthur, who sounded panicked. She frantically dialed Sakura's cell phone and Sakura picked up after the first or second ring.
"Lita, what's wrong?" Lita could almost hear Sakura's frown.
"Oh my god! Sakura, thank god you picked up! You have to come to the airport. Now!" Lita said, panicking.
"What's wrong?" Sakura asked, the panic rising in her voice.
"It's Alfred. He jumped in front of Arthur to protect him and was shot. He's hurt really badly! The doctors said he might… die…" Lita said, gulping before choking out the word 'die'.
Sakura gasped, "Alright! I'm coming. I'll run. The school is close to the airport."
Sakura hung up and grabbed her books, shoving them into her schoolbag and running out, tears falling from her eyes and her hands and voice shaking as she said, "I'm sorry Hikaru. I have to go. My friend is dying… I hafta to see him…"
Hikaru nodded wordlessly and Sakura nodded back, running out the door. Haruhi saw Sakura running down the hall and gave her a look that said 'What's wrong?'
"Alfred… He's hurt badly…" Sakura choked out before continuing her run down the hallway.
On the plane, Sakura couldn't stop worrying about Alfred. Is he going to be okay? Oh my god, what if he dies before we get there? I knew I should have chosen him. Why didn't I choose him? He means everything to me! She took his letter out of her carry on and held it to her heart, sobbing.
"Oh god, Alfred, I love you… I love you so much… So much more than you'll ever know…" Sakura said, crying herself to sleep.
Lita looked at Sakura, who was crying as she slept. Lita took Arthur's letter out of her carry on and read it over. She held to her heart briefly and closed her eyes. She opened them again and stroked Sakura's hair. Secretly, Lita was worried about Arthur. Is he alright? He hurt as bad as Alfred? Oh God, please let them both be okay!
Lita and Sakura entered the military hospital in Washington D.C., the capital of the U.S. Sakura laughed through her tears. That's my Alfred. Live in his country, die in his country… At the end of her thought, she burst into a heavy batch of tears.
"Ve~? Sakura, are you okay?" a familiar voice asked.
Sakura looked up, "Feliciano!"
Feliciano went over to Sakura and hugged her and she sobbed on his shoulder as he patted her back. Lita gave a small smile to Ludwig, who had just come out of a nearby room. Lita sat down on a couch, wanting to pace nervously back and forth, but didn't, for Sakura's sake. Sakura wiped her eyes, pulling away from the Italian's hug and sat down next to Lita. Ludwig put his hand on Sakura's shoulder. He had a look of sympathy and… was that anger(?) on his face. Sakura looked at him and asked him 'What's wrong?' wordlessly. His eyes said 'I'm just angry at myself. I should have done something…' Sakura smiled sadly and put a hand on Ludwig's shoulder 'He wouldn't have listened to you anyway…' Ludwig shrugged, amusement also creeping on his face 'You're right. He is stubborn anyway…'
"Um, Lita and Sakura? Alfred and Arthur are awake if you wish to see them," the nurse said, looking at the two women on the couch.
Sakura looked at Lita, who stood up calmly. Sakura shakily stood up, her body violently trembling. She wasn't sure if she could take seeing Alfred hurt so badly. She looked at Feliciano and Ludwig, who were talking quietly. She felt someone squeeze her hand and looked over. It was Lita, who was smiling sadly. 'I'm here for you' Lita mouthed to Sakura. 'Thanks' Sakura mouthed back as they both entered the room reeking of antiseptic. Lita walked over to Arthur's bedside. Arthur heard footsteps and looked up. He smiled weakly at Lita, who sat in the chair beside his bed. Lita smiled back, just happy to see him alive. She stroked his hair quietly, just letting time pass. Arthur sat up more, wincing as he did.
"You're okay…" Lita said, still stroking his hair.
"It's okay. Are you okay?" Arthur asked, his voice hoarse.
Lita nodded, kissing his forehead, "As long as I'm with you, I have no reason to be afraid or lonely…"
Arthur smiled, sitting up as much as he could and kissing her lips once, "I love you, my beautiful Lita…"
Lita smiled, kissing back once and holding his hand carefully, "I love you too, my brave Arthur…"
Sakura ran over to Alfred's bed, kneeling on the floor. She started to sob and Alfred opened his eyes. He saw Sakura sobbing into her hands. He had a look of clear confusion on his face. Why is she crying? Wait, why is she here? I thought she hated me?
"Sakura?" he whispered quietly.
"Alfred!" Sakura whispered, looking up as tears still poured down her cheeks.
Alfred sat up, wincing as he did so. Sakura cried more and Alfred took her hand, squeezing it as hard as he could.
"Hey." Alfred said hoarsely.
"Hey." Sakura replied, still crying.
"Don't cry…" Alfred said, reaching over to her and wiping the tears from her eyes.
"I'm such a jerk! Alfred, I'm so sorry! Can you ever forgive me?" Sakura said, hugging him as gentle as she could while still trying to hug him tightly.
"Why are you sorry? What are you talking about?" Alfred said in confusion, hugging her tightly back despite his confusion.
Sakura looked in his eyes, tears still streaming from her own, "Oh, Alfred… I love you so much! I'm so sorry for hurting you! I realize now how stupid…"
Alfred cut her off with the most passionate kiss, no, the only real kiss, he had ever given anyone in his life. Sakura kissed back just as passionate, her heart racing. So, this is what true love is… they both thought. Alfred pulled Sakura as close as he physically could, considering his condition. He didn't hold back while kissing her. Their lips melded together perfectly as their tongues joined in the graceful dance. Alfred and Sakura never wanted their passionate kiss to end. But alas, they were both human and they separated for air. They both panted lightly and Alfred pulled Sakura close, feeling her familiar warmth that he missed terribly. Sakura ran her fingers lightly over the bandages wrapped around Alfred's entire chest.
"Oh Alfred. You blockhead…" she laughed through her tears.
"Yea… But hey, I was doing my job…" he replied, wiping her tears and swiping away his own.
"Being a twit?" Arthur asked.
"No! Being a hero." Alfred corrected quietly, not willing to argue with Arthur.
Arthur sighed, "Well, no matter what you say, you'll always be the idiotic, twitty little brother that I hate…"
Alfred chuckled, "You know you don't hate me."
Arthur laughed a little, "You're right. I don't love you either… It's kind of in the middle of hate and love."
Alfred chuckled again, pulling Sakura closer, "Works for me."
Sakura giggled and sat on the side of Alfred's bed and stroked his hair, "Alright, enough love. Go to sleep."
Alfred held her other hand, "I don't think so. Someone has to keep you company, love."
Sakura giggled and kissed his forehead, "You really should sleep, though…"
Alfred laughed and squeezed her hand, "Well… only if I can have another kiss… then maybe I'll go to sleep…"
Sakura giggled and bent down. Alfred captured her lips with his and once again, passion was released, though not as much this time. It seemed like they had been kissing for hours before Arthur cleared his throat and Sakura pulled away, putting her forehead on Alfred's. Sakura giggled and Alfred chuckled.
"That was a little more than I needed to see…" Ludwig remarked as he and Feliciano entered the room.
"Eh? What did you see?" Feliciano asked Ludwig, looking confused.
Ludwig opened his mouth, then wisely decided against it, sighing, "Nevermind…"
"That was a smart move, Ludwig." Lita remarked.
"Yea…" the German said, sitting in a chair against the wall.
Feliciano shrugged and bounced over to Alfred and Sakura. He looked at Alfred, who gave him thumbs up. Feliciano smiled.
"So, did you make your decision?" Feliciano asked Sakura.
"Yea. And I'm really glad I did. Cause I made the right one…" she said, snuggling her head on Alfred's shoulder that was not bandaged.
Alfred kissed her head and she kissed his, whispering 'I love you' in his ear. He whispered 'I love you too' in her ear and Feliciano smiled widely. Feliciano turned around to give Ludwig thumbs up, but the German was fast asleep, snoring a little. Feliciano chuckled and plopped down next to the blonde, resting his head on the wall. Soon, the Italian fell asleep too. Lita chuckled and looked at Arthur, who looked tired.
"Why don't you sleep, Arthur?" Lita asked, kissing his head.
"Because I don't want to be lonely…" Arthur said, kissing her softly.
Lita kissed back softly, giggling and hugging him as they broke apart, "Aww, honey. I'll make sure you're not lonely anymore…"
Arthur wanted to reply, but was really tired and just said, "Yea…"
His eyes drooped and he fell into a quiet slumber. Lita smiled at her sleeping lover and kissed his lips softly before dozing off silently beside him, her head resting on his chest. Alfred chuckled and brought Sakura closer to him. Sakura chuckled and rolled her eyes, sitting in his lap. Alfred blushed. Her position wasn't compromising. It was just a little awkward, considering the circumstances.
"Sakura?" Alfred asked, looking at her.
She didn't reply. He frowned, then heard her light snoring and sighed in relief, tightening his arms around her waist. He kissed her lips lightly and laid his head back, falling into a deep slumber himself.