Arthur awoke feeling a serene warmth enveloping him. He opened his eyes and met closed ones. He smiled to himself, memories of last night going through his mind. But ever so slightly his smile faltered. Not only had he thrown himself into his own demise but he had dragged Alfred down as well. He brought the sleeping body closer to him almost in fear of Alfred disappearing.

"I have done wrong to you my beloved. And now we must both face the consequences of my actions." Arthur whispered in Alfred's hair. It was enough to make the younger stir.

"Arthur." Alfred said groggily. He never wanted to leave the warmth of Arthur's arms. It felt so wonderful. He wished he could stay this way forever. He also highly doubted that he would be moving a lot any time soon. Thank god for the holidays.

"Yes, I'm here love." Arthur smiled.

"I don't wanna do anything today." Alfred buried his face into his makeshift pillow of Arthur's chest.

"Neither do I. But I know you will be hungry soon and Yao. . . oh god YAO!" Arthur sat up quickly and reached over to look at the time. Alfred, alarmed by Arthur's reaction tried to sit up only to feel an awkward pain.

"He will be here soon." Arthur was beyond worried. If Yao found them like this who knows what will happen.

"So?" Alfred asked. Wasn't Yao the one who mentioned 'lovers', "Isn't he fine with it?"

Arthur looked over at Alfred with worry etched all over his face, "Alfred that is not what I am worried about. For one I had never told him of my feelings for you and if he saw us," he pointed to Alfred and back to him, "like this he'll have my head!"

"There is no need to worry about that your highness, aru." A familiar voice spoke from the door way.

Arthur froze and slowly turned while Alfred pulled the blanket over his head.

"Y-Yao, well, um, good morning." Arthur babbled. 'I am dead.'

"Good morning to you as well your majesty. Alfred I can see you shaking from under those covers. The baths and full and warm and breakfast will be done soon, aru." Yao said nonchalantly.

"Wait, you're ok with this?" Alfred removed the covers so his face could be shone but other than that he really didn't want to move.

"Just because some people are too dense to realize such obvious matters doesn't mean I don't." He said with a mysterious smile. "And as for you Mr. Jones your bath will include oils for you little problem."

Alfred blushed and hid underneath the covers once again.

"Wait, you mean that everyone…?"

"Aiya! Heavens no. Luckily for you I don't like to gossip. . .a lot, so no one else knows about this little happening besides me. But I'm pretty sure some maids have already expressed their little fantasies concerning the both of you. So even if they did find out it wouldn't be a shock." Yao quickly explained, "But as you know things will become a little difficult. Let's hope your future partner will be willing to share."

"Ah, yes." Arthur agreed, "Well Yao will you leave us to, um, look proper?"

"Of course and please don't get distracted, aru." Yao smiled mysteriously and left the room.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Alfred asked while genuine confused. Arthur blushed and looked away.

"Uh, absolutely nothing." He knew what Yao meant, "Well we should get ready don't you think, love?" He kissed Alfred's forehead before standing up and heading over to his closet.

Alfred smiled as he was kissed and agreed but couldn't help it as his eyes slowly gravitated towards Arthur and his….

"Alfred? You should get out of bed before the water turns cold." Arthur came out with a bath robe for himself and Alfred.

"Uh yeah. Thanks."

The bath was a bit awkward since Yao actually filled up the tub with warm water, bubbles and rose petals. The area was surrounded by scented candles.

"That's the last time I let Yao talk to that Diamond frog for more than five minutes." Arthur grumbled.

The bath was mostly uneventful save for Alfred using the bubbles to create a wig and beard and proclaimed to be Santa Claus.

Alfred dried himself and slowly put on his clothing. Last night's events were still causing him mild pain.

"Alfred, are you alright?" Arthur asked concerned.

"Yeah, nothin' to worry about." Alfred smiled. He twitched slightly from the pain but his smile never faltered.

"You better hurry or there won't be any more food for you." Arthur joked.

"Don't say that! I'll die!" Alfred exaggerated.

Arthur just laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~UKUS~~~~~~~~~~~

"Arrrrrrrrthuuuuuurrrrrrrrr! I'm bored." Alfred complained for the umpteenth time.

"Well with that horrible limp you aren't going anywhere." Arthur stated as a matter-of-factly.

"What if I ride a horse?" Alfred asked thinking he outsmarted the prince.

"Unless you want to know what it feels like to be torn in half, that is a horrible idea." Arthur replied.

Alfred stared wide-eyed, "But, but, but I'm booooooooooored." Alfred whined dramatically.

Arthur sighed heavily and put down the novel he was currently trying to read, "Alright we'll go for a blasted walk but if you start complaining from the pain I am not carrying you back."

"You are so mean." Alfred pouted as Arthur smirked.

Terrified whinnies and cries were heard from horses as they ran for all their worth. Men and women were screaming at them to go faster as the darker figures approached at blazing speed.

"We must hurry! They are almost upon us!" yelled one of the soldiers.

"DEAR MOTHER OF GO—AHHHHHHHHHHH!" One of the dark creatures appeared right in front of them and attacked the lead rider. Its long claws tore up the body of the poor horse. It opened its jaws and ripped the head off the knight as the others rode past.

"ROBERT!" The female rider cried out.

"There's nothing else we can do for him! We need ta' get back to the castle quickly! There are only a few of us left. We need to warn the prince!"

The female rider nodded, "Yes, but I fear we won't be the ones delivering the message," she then put her fingers to her lips and whistled.

Suddenly a great bird appeared, "Aquila! Take this message to the prince! GO!"

The bird beat its wings powerfully and ascended into the sky as quickly as it could. All that could be heard was the tearing of limbs and screams of pain.

It was snowing softly outside. The snowflakes were enormous and fluffy. All Alfred wanted to do was lie down in the snow, and then shove Arthur into a pile of it but that could wait another day.

"Hey Arthur?" Alfred asked.

"What is it?" Arthur replied.

"Is that, is that one of your pet birds the 'ceilings' or something like that?"

Arthur stared at Alfred with contempt, "They are called the Caelum, and if you paid any attention to your studies you would know that. And yes that is one of them but why is it here?" Arthur took of his scarf and wrapped it around his arm to create a make shift barrier from the bird's claws.

The bird landed gracefully bearing the message on its left foot, meaning it was urgent.

"What is it? What does it say? Can I see it? Arrrrrtiiiiiiiie!"

"For all that is good and holy Alfred. . ." Arthur gave him a stern glare rendering Alfred speechless.

"All I wanted was to know what is was." Alfred mumbled.

Arthur ignored the comment and began to read the message.

"Oh no. . . "

We have found out their location, the barrier has weakened by the Karrah mountainside. But there are more creatures than we had imagined. They have amassed forces greater than there were before. They were biding their time. Not only is the kingdom of Spades in jeopardy but so are the kingdom of Diamonds, Clubs and Hearts. The kingdoms must come together to defeat the monsters.

If you receive this through Aquila there is a high possibility that we have perished.

"You mean they are?" Alfred asked terrified.

"Alfred get inside the castle."

Hahahah so yeah I really don't have a reason to even be asking for forgiveness now DX I blame the internet, tumblr, calculus and Rick Santorum. . .ok I lied on the last part. But really? I have just been very lazy and pretty much tossed what I had written since I realized I had gone off on a tangent XD. Thanks for all the reviews though :)

Thanks for the reviews: Kats With Shamrocks (although I'm not sure what you meant XD), AutumnLavelle (you are the rhyming queen), Terezi (thank you :D), IceQueenMirrorQueen (you'll get more soon XD), MrsPhantomhive (glad you loved it), FurinWon (It's ok I'm not freaked out ;D) and l Ashuri l ( do you need some tissues? XD).