Armor was digging into his stomach and neck. He was pretty sure that it would break skin sooner or later, but it didn't matter. Arthur was kissing him, Arthur was alive, the vision hadn't come true. He wanted everything else to disappear. He didn't want to wake up to a war the next day. He didn't want to stop being able to hold Arthur and love Arthur. Not again.

The scream was still fresh in his memory, and Alfred broke away for just a small moment in time to stare at the person he loved so dearly in his arms. "I am so, so sorry," he bawled, wishing that mere words could erase everything that had ever transpired over the months he'd been gone.

Arthur cupped his cheek, and had a sort of expression on his face that spilled thousands of emotions at once. He looked thoroughly depressed, his eyes holding some sort of torture in them that Alfred couldn't even begin to comprehend. Arthur's cheeks were covered in still-spilling tears, and he uttered a sentence that Alfred was sure he wouldn't ever forget.

"Oh, love. You don't understand how much I forgive you."

They sat there, in each other's arms. Every so often they would share a kiss, but it was not rushed. It was only there to remind the other that the world had not quite ended.

Alfred felt as if he had grown wings. Ever since the expectation of the crown had been placed upon his shoulders, he'd feared the world. He feared being tied down, being a disappointment. It was on this Eliza's magic had feasted, driving it so deep into his heart that the love was pushed out. But the magic was foolish. Love did not exist only in the heart. Alfred's entire soul ached for Arthur, his mind thought of him constantly and his arms waited so impatiently for the waist they fit perfectly around. All those months, perhaps even years, Alfred looked over the one thing in all of Deck that set him free.

"Listen."

Suddenly, Gilbert's voice filled the room. It shattered the heaven the two Royals had created. They looked up at the Joker who certainly hadn't been there moments before, tear-stained and drowsy. Gilbert gave a half-hearted smile.

"I think it's great that you guys are in love, whoop de doo for you. Really, this solves a lot of problems that would have been tricky to handle. But the thing is, your Kingdom is about to hit the wall running and quite possibly explode, 'cause Clubs isn't wasting any time, and you guys are cuddling."

Arthur couldn't help himself. All his heartache had been banished so suddenly, and there wasn't much he could do to stop it. He laughed. A large, booming laugh that filled the entire room. Alfred was so caught off guard that he literally stared, a dumb smile plastered on his face.

"Well," Arthur snorted. "We should put my King in some armor and see if his strength lives up to the rumors."

…

It was so strange. Alfred entered the room no one, and exited the room a King, a loved one, and a trusted friend. Suddenly he was thrust back into the life at the castle. Had it not been for the echoing, empty halls, the abandoned kitchens and lonely barracks, Alfred would have thought he was fourteen once more, and nothing but a Royal Guard. Matthew and Toris returned, both bowing to Alfred with various solemn expressions. As fantastic as it was that the Royals seemed comfortable with each other once more, there was a war to be had.

"Your Majesty," said Matthew. He had trouble letting the words past his lips. Alfred was his brother, the same brother that was afraid of ghosts and climbed peach trees.

"Your armor is waiting," said Toris, smiling at the sudden change in attitude of the two Royals. He'd heard rumors about the time room, how one could go in a person and come out as someone else, but he never really believed it.

Now he was seeing it.

They fitted Alfred into the metal. The King (Alfred shivered at the title) was quite at home in it. It was something he knew, something he could handle. It wasn't grand or Kingly. It was just armor, and it let Alfred feel that perhaps everything hadn't changed.

Arthur was standing in the corner. The events of that day were finally starting to seep in. It was wonderful, beautiful, and lovely. It was, quite literally, like falling in love all over again. But the war was looming over his suddenly filled heart, and he frowned.

One thought in particular festered at the back of his mind, a thought that didn't even belong to him. It was Eliza's, and Arthur couldn't quite bring himself to stop staring at Gilbert. The very man who called him "Eyebrows" and laughed and hung upside-down from chandeliers was the man who lost everything in his vision.

Gilbert noticed. "Am I too handsome for you?" He asked, a half-serious smirk on his face.

Arthur didn't say anything. There wasn't anything for him to say. Instead, he hoped his expression would give away his thoughts.

It did.

"Eyebrows..." Gilbert sighed, all of his luster falling from his body. "It happened a very long time ago."

Arthur shook his head. "It couldn't have been more than a few years ago."

Gilbert shifted, looking very much human on the cold stone. "I'm a Joker. Time does not work the same for us as it does for you. I want it to be a long time ago, and so for me, it is."

Arthur nodded. These matters were far beyond him. He only hoped that Gilbert understood his pity.

Alfred was fitted quite quickly, and Arthur was back in reality. He watched as a sword was pressed into Alfred's hand.

"Care to spar?" Toris asked, with no air of a soldier to a King, but rather a friend to a friend.

Alfred grasped the sword, he felt his hand fit around the hilt as it always had, and he smiled just slightly. "It'd be my pleasure."

They quickly cleared the room, racks empty of weapons pushed to the walls along with the three bystanders. Both Alfred and Toris looked completely confident.

"Start whenever you please," said Alfred, with a short dismissive wave that fitted a King.

Toris looked offended. "My goodness! I would never think to go before my ruler!" He placed a hand to his heart, his chain mail clinking. "After all, we have-" but the sentence was never finished, because his arm swished up, and the sword was flying to Alfred's neck so quickly his life flashed before his eyes.

BANG

Sword hit sword, and Alfred was relieved that his old reflexes hadn't escaped him. "Dirty," he commented, smirking.

Toris did not waste time with an answer, instead choosing to pull back and rake his weapon downward.

Alfred twisted his wrist easily, catching the enemy sword on the underside and forcing it back up, farther, and over both of their heads. Then he twisted his wrist once more, and slammed the sword down so fast and to powerfully that Toris cried out.

Alfred hadn't intended that at all. He was shocked at his own strength. He was going to apologize, but Toris swapped hands. He spurred forward, forcing the weapon towards Alfred's stomach.

Alfred side-stepped and twisted so he was behind Toris. His leg shot out, trying to trip the man, but to no success, for the brown haired man whirled around with new found vigor and pressed Alfred so quickly that his arm was a blur.

But the fight hadn't even begun.

Alfred paid attention to his own body. It felt as if it was controlled by someone else. He felt something other than excitement running through him, and with a jolt he realized what it was. Magic.

He was a crowned Royal, he'd seen his vision, and now he had the powers of the King of Spades. He let the feeling overwhelm him. Energy blasted up his spine and down his arms. The sword was no longer a weapon, but instead an extension of himself, and he watched Toris' expression fall to fear.

No one would ever quite agree on what happened next. Out of the five men present, all of them seemed to have seen something different.

What Toris saw was a flash of white light and Alfred's blank, unseeing eyes. Then he saw his sword shatter. It was as if the metal had transformed into thin ice, and it broke into fairly good sized pieces, leaving Toris grasping only the hilt.

The room was completely silent as everyone gathered their wits.

"Gentleman and Eyebrows," Gilbert said, face aghast. "I introduce sir Alfred, King of Spades."

Special thanks to Rexlover180 for being my beta!

Hello to all! I hope you're all having a awesome holiday, and that you got a ton of presents if you celebrate Christmas. Happy New Year as well!

If you'd like to give me a little present, then please leave some critique! Or any guesses about the story at all. Where it's going, why who did that. I'll be happy to answer questions as well!