I estimate at least two more chapters, including this one. So the Christmas arc is coming to a close~!
/= [DAY 98] =/
"Hm…I have gifts for Feli-chan, Al-kun, Gil-chan, Ki-chan, Li-chan…Lovi-chan I have especially…who else…?"
Charice continued to skip down the aisle marking down basically every person on her list (and there was a LOT of them) until she couldn't really think of anyone else. And for some reason, she went through about two long pages worth of names. After a few minutes, she turned a corner and saw a rather surprising sight: Antonio was trying to talk to Rizal. She began to get scared as she followed them silently.
She didn't hear much of their conversation, even though it was mostly Antonio trying to find something her brother would talk about. But no matter what, he kept his mouth shut and refused to make eye contact. Still, Antonio continued to try. Charice could literally hear the sympathy that was leaking out of his words. After a few minutes, Rizal finally stopped. Charice's heart began to soar as he made eye contact with the Spaniard.
"Leave me alone. You won't sway me that easily."
"I'm not trying to be manipulative, Rizal-"
"Don't you DARE try to be casual with me." He spat. "I'm never going to forgive you. It's as easy as that. And if you try to hurt my sister in any way, I will reenact the war we had together. I will make sure that you bleed."
Antonio was shocked as Rizal turned and headed out, not once looking back. After a few minutes Charice allowed herself to walk forward and touch his shoulder. He turned his head around with a blank look on his face, still covered with tears. It was strange seeing Antonio cry like this. She'd seen it before, but…
"Antonio?"
"Don't worry…I'll be fine." He held his head and laughed. "I just thought that…enough time had passed for us to put this all behind…"
"Yeah…well, not yet…" Charice sighed. "Maybe never."
"Hah…and now I know why Lovi-chan calls me an idiot."
The Spaniard sighed and turned around to walk in the opposite direction, causing Charice to turn and follow him. They continued to walk in silence for a few long minutes, Charice watching his back for quite some time. For some reason, she had a flashback of so long ago…back under Spanish rule. It was just after Rizal had won their independence, and Antonio…no, Spain had come to tell her the news. The look on his face was just like it was now, without the tears. If she could close her eyes, she could remember that memory that he showed her back when they were saving him. How Rizal had talked to him and struck him dead in the heart.
"You never cared for anyone…not even yourself…"
How that shattered the mask on his face forever. The pirate that he was had fallen apart afterwards, turning into what he was now…at least, that is what she wanted to assume. Even now she could see the old pirate robes on the fragile form, flying through the wind. For some reason, she found her hand reaching out to hold the robe…and instead lightly took his hand. Antonio turned around in shock.
"Charice…?"
"Are you…going to be OK, Antonio?"
"Yes, I will be fine. It's common for nations that I ruled over to hate me like this. Really, I should have seen this coming." Antonio rubbed his head. "But the truth is…Rizal makes me extremely worried."
"Why?"
"Because you forgave me…and he didn't." He shook his head. "I do not wish conflict between you and your brother if it had something to do with me."
"Well then, I'll talk to him. He'll listen to me."
"Not in the least. He'd only think that I swayed you to believe that…and it would make my situation worse." Antonio smiled. "But thank you for caring about me…really."
"It's fine…it's just that you were stupid back then…stupid with a lot of money and power. And like anyone with money and power, you wanted to expand. Me and my brother suffered during the crossfire." Charice stated. "I already burned through my hatred…so I can forgive you now. In the name of the Lord."
Antonio was silent for a few long minutes before smiling softly and chuckling to himself. Charice could only blink.
"Wow…I never thought that you would remind me of Feliciano. Just as naïve."
"Just as sheltered, I guess." She blinked. "OH CRAP!"
"What?"
"THAT'S who I forgot! I forgot to get you a present this Christmas! Shit, what the heck is out there you would want…?"
"It's fine…" Antonio smiled, holding her shoulder. "You forgave me for everything I did to you. This is something that…I've been wishing ever since my empire fell apart. I've conquered so many countries…I've hurt so many people…and yet you're the only one who looked back at me and smiled. I don't know how, but…thank you."
Charice could only laugh at the irony of this moment. Here he was: the man that made her suffer for three hundred or so years, and then she turns around and cheers him up. No wonder Rizal can't understand this. Hopefully, he would.
/= [DAY 99] =/
The Glee Club had a strange meeting that day. This time, Charice was the one who was running it. And she had Lin Yi bring up a few boxes of costumes for when the people came in. Strangest of all, she didn't charge for anyone who wanted to come in.
"What's going on?" Alfred blinked.
"OK, I wanted to do something really fun!" Charice clapped her hands. "You know that thing in Pokemon Black and White where Trainers just randomly dress their Pokemon up and force them to dance?"
"Oh, yeah!"
"Exactly!"
"Awesome!"
"All right, I have approval!" She turned to the microphone on the stage. "All right, everyone! I'm going to start now!"
The room sank into silence.
"This time, I'm the one doing the planning and I have a really fun thing for everyone! OK, I'm going to need four volunteers from the Glee Club…let's see, uh…Alfred, we already know…Feli-chan…pfft, Lovi-chan-"
"I'M NOT FUCKING PARTICIPATING!"
"Too bad, you are! And uh…oh! Ludwig! Awesome! And now I need four volunteers from the audience…let's see, uh…Magnus, why not? Um…no, Gilbert you're in the club! I'm going with Ion this time! And uh…Anri and Sun Tam! Awesome! All right, I need all of you on the stage!"
They looked worried but did so anyway.
"All right, I need one person with the audience to pair up with a person from the Glee Club! The kid from the audience, you're going to dress up your partner with anything that you have. Lin Yi brought boxes of clothes and costumes as you see fit, but feel free to experiment. Glee Club! You're going to come out with these new costumes, stupid or not, and the four of you are going to improv a song from an instrumental piece played by Roderich!"
"Why the fuck would I do that?"
"Ve~~~this sounds fun, fratello!"
"All right, off you go!"
Anri dragged Lovino off the stage, making everyone laugh and join them. Yong Soo was chosen to entertain the audience with his own music as she sat down next to Arthur, who was calmly drinking tea from a cup that he apparently had on him for some reason.
"What's so fun about whatever you did?" He asked. "It's dress-up and improv."
"Well…I gave them water for them to drink in case they were hungry."
"…and…?"
"It's alcohol."
You can just imagine the results.
And by the way, Sun Tam had Ludwig and she had him in a frilly pink dress.
And Yong Soo had a camera.
And Kiku.
And Elizabeta.
/=+=/
100th Day is end of the Christmas arc! Vote on your favorite Asian now!