Disclaimer: The Hetalia characters and their personifications belong to Hidekaz Himaruya. 日丸屋 秀和

What Not to do if You are a Knight by Gilbert Beilschmidt:

46.) If she says "yes, sir" and nods seriously, it means she will follow commands. If she says "yes sir" and hugs you innocently, it translates to: "that's cute but I do what I want."

It's a Plan

She awoke on the cold stone floor, but she herself wasn't cold.

Gilbert's large arm was draped around her as she cuddled against him.

From what Elizaveta could tell, it wasn't quite dawn yet. She rolled over and propped herself up on her hands so that she was looking down at the still-sleeping Gilbert.

He awoke to two GIANT green eyes staring down at him.

"JESUS!" he jumped. "What the hell, woman?!"

"What's the plan?" she demanded.

He rubbed his eyes in an exhausted manner. "It's not even the crack of dawn. I haven't had a chance to THINK about it yet."

"Well, help me think about it now. We have to go soon."

He sighed and sat up so they were face to face.

"Plans don't just fall out of the sky, Liz-"

A loud, unexpected banging upon the door interrupted their conversation. "Hey guys!" cried a Spanish accent. "Guess what! We have a plan!"

The young man and woman inside the room looked at each other with a mixture of surprise and confusion before responding.

"Is it a good one?" Elizaveta chirped.

"...It's a plan!"

Down at the breakfast table, the group convened.

Elizaveta stayed particularly close to Gilbert, mostly because she felt the stinging death-glares directed at her from the other female in the room.

"So, what do you think?" Antonio asked once he finished detailing the scheme they had concocted the previous night.

Gilbert did not answer for a long time. He sat with his hand on his chin, brow furrowed, staring at the wooden surface of the table before him.

"I think," he began, "that this plan has a million holes in it and a very slim chance of success..."

At his words, the desperate crowd instantly appeared crest-fallen.

"...but," he went on, "we've been in tighter situations before. I'm in."

"Me too," Elizaveta asserted bravely.

"Oh no!" Gilbert warned, turning his body suddenly to face her. "No, Liz, you've never been in an actual battle before. You don't have enough experience. If we do fight, I'm not gonna send you out there to get killed."

"Then let me be an archer. I'm still a great shot. I'll stay on the battlements with Francis."

"Oui, we could always use more hands in a battle like this."

"Besides, you need my planning skills," she added resolutely.

Gilbert looked back and forth at all the faces and then sighed defeatedly, "Fine, but promise me you'll stay safe... . If we do this, do NOT leave those battlements. Capiche?"

She hugged him. "Yes, sir."

"Alright, ALRIGHT! Can we please get a move on now? We're wasting daylight!" broke in a certain Italian.

With that, their far-from-satisfactory game plan was officially set into motion. What little supplies they had was packed up and readied for departure and soon they set out with their meager team of animals, beginning (at long last) their journey back through the woods, back through the fields, back over the crumbly stone bridge that barely remained and back through the dirt-covered roads of the village towards the Great Romulus's Castle.