A/N: Due to snow, I am home! I live in the south, one little flake of snow gets school canceled here, yo.
roxasinumiku: Thank you, I'm glad you think so~!
zoewinter1: Just the fact you love it at all is good enough for me~
Ramengrl: Really? Huh, I coulda sworn "mein Vater" was also acceptable... ah well, I can confirm your statement tomorrow! My German teacher will know, she speaks it natively(she's a first-gen American). Thanks for the correction~! And thank you for liking my story! I was actually thinking that, I like the idea but I haven't quite decided on it yet... (Spoiler alert, later on there won't be a need for the letters... Hey, I did say in the first chapter there'd be Spamano, did I not? Heh)
Maple Pegasus: First of all, that is an epic name of epic proportions. Second of all, I know that feeling! I find stories just to lose track of them because, like the silly thing I am, I don't put stuff on my alert or favourites. Hooray for amazing PruCan fics! Now if someone will direct me to an amazing PruCan fic... Haha, thank you, Maple!
QuirkyRevelations: I did! And I've updated again, hurrah! I'm glad you're enjoying this story! There's three or four different ways this can go, but don't worry, I'll avoid the darker paths~ I'm trying my best not to rush into the romance, so I'll try!
After writing this chapter I'm going to write a non-AU kinda-angsty tragedy one-shot (maybe a one-shot series so I can give it a happy ending) that has been stuck in my head for the past few days. So yea.
SS Out~
"Gilbert brings up a good point, mi amigo..." Antonio started, looking at the letter. "Remind me again why we hate Islanders?"
Francis frowned in thought. "Well, zey are smelly and don't know 'ow to 'ave fun and... well... Actually I don't know either," he finally said, looking at Antonio. The Spanish Mainlander frowned in thought and looked at the letter in his hands again.
If he was honest with himself, Antonio had to admit he never really, truly hated Islanders. He just thought they were... different. The way Gilbert wrote about them, though... they sounded just as human as he was. Ah well, Islanders were Islanders and Mainlanders were Mainlanders.
"Well... I really don't know what to tell him," Antonio finally said, setting the letter down on his night table.
Gilbert stretched as he sat at the table with his brother. Their father was already out, probably by the mines, as the brothers ate breakfast.
The elder Mainlander had woken up at an ungodly hour; before sunrise. He hadn't been able to get back to sleep, so he decided to go outside and watch the sun rise, wondering if it was as amazing as the sunset.
It was.
That day he decided to eat breakfast, so when Ludwig woke up the two headed to the hotel cafeteria together, where they ate a nice breakfast consisting of eggs, bread and jam, sausage and various fruit. There were choices from many Mainland sections, including scrambled eggs, bacon, and something called grits, but Gilbert felt safer sticking to his traditional German breakfast. Plus he honestly wasn't too hungry.
Then, once again, Gilbert headed to the village, wanting to see his new friend Birdie.
When he arrived in the village, a glance around told him not many people were outside, though the doors were wide open. He spotted Arthur and walked over to him.
"Hey, Briton," he teasingly called, grabbing the Islander's attention immediately. "Vhere's Birdie?"
"Birdie?" Arthur repeated, not sounding impressed. "If you mean Matthew, he's working right now. You know this by now, you incompetent git."
"Well, ja, I know zat, but vhere is he?" Gilbert repeated, then clarified with, "vhere does he vork?"
"Um... on Lovino's farm," Arthur answered slowly, observing the Mainlander. "Why?"
"Just wanting to know," Gilbert answered with a shrug. "Zat's vhere zat rail bridge leads, ja?" he ventured further, pointing over to the little wooden station.
"Yes... why?" Arthur tried again, becoming suspicious. "Are you going to walk out there? Because, you know, if you fall into the water from the middle of the bridge, there's no way anyone would get to you in time, before something like a shark or the current got you."
"Ja, like ze awesome me vould fall," Gilbert laughed, heading to the farm train station.
"We can all dream," he heard Arthur mutter as he got back to work. Gilbert slipped into the station and looked around, noticing no one was inside guarding or anything. He shrugged slightly; it was just easier for him this way.
He studied the rail bridge for several moments, eyes calculating. The proud Mainlander would never admit he was a bit afraid... but honestly, he wanted to see what the farm looked like.
After standing there pondering for a few minutes, he summoned up his courage and started walking out on the bridge. He refused to let himself turn around, pushing himself onwards. The further from the Island he got, the more excited he got. He was walking not only on a train track, something his father had told him countless times to never do, but he was walking on a train track bridge.
Ten minutes later, though, the excitement had worn off and he was tired of having to watch his feet. He kept walking, though; he could see he was closer to the farm than the main Island by then.
The moment his feet hit solid ground, all of the unease he had unknowingly had disappeared. He grinned victoriously and strutted out of the loading station and out into the bright sunlight...
And stopped. And he stared.
The farm Island wasn't exactly pathetic; there was a large enclosure of farm animals, a shelter for them in the back, feeding and watering troughs and such, plus an orchard on the other side. There was also a healthy, thriving farm that a lot of care and consideration went into. No, it wasn't the plants or animals that got his attention.
It was the humans' resources.
The house was hardly more than a small shack, probably with only one room, maybe two at the most. It seemed to be falling apart and the roof severely needed to be fixed, and, well... actually, a new house needed to be built. On the other side there were two sheds, one slightly larger than the other. He assumed one was for tools while the other was for storage- God knows they didn't have enough space in the little shack of a house to store anything.
In all, the scene made him kind of... sad. No one on the Mainland- hell, even on the main Island- lived in anything that looked like that.
"Hey! What the fuck are you doing here?!" an enraged voice shouted, catching his attention. He looked over towards the field, where three boys- two auburn-brunette-ish haired and one blonde-haired- were walking over. The three held buckets, of what Gilbert wasn't sure.
The albino noted it was the darker Italian-sounding boy who spoke to him. The mean one. He glanced at the house and the sheds. He could now understand why Lovino had such a nasty attitude.
"Ve~ Hi Gilbert!" Feliciano chirped.
Gilbert could not, however, understand why that one was so damn happy. Didn't he realize he and his brother were living in something that resembled a shed more than a house?
"Hallo," he greeted, glancing over at Matthew, who looked genuinely surprised to see him. "So zis is ze farm, ja?" he asked, if only to break the falling silence.
"Ja," Lovino mocked, setting his buckets down and opening the gate. He let his brother and Matthew out first then followed, Matthew closing the gate after him. "You're right in time to go the fuck away."
The Mainlander ignored the irate little Islander farm-boy and instead chose to observe what was in their buckets. In all three buckets were dark red berries. "Vhat are zose?" he asked curiously.
"The fuck do they look like? They were berries growing in my fucking field," Lovino hissed, stalking over to the shack-house.
"They're poisonous berries, Gilbert," Matthew explained. "If the animals ate them, they'd die. It seems no matter how much Lovino pulls the bushes up, another one grows in its place every year."
"Huh... zat's unfortunate," he commented, watching Feli skip over to Lovino to dispose of the poison berries. Matthew went to do the same. He followed. "So vhat do you three do on zis farm?"
"Fuck off, Mainlander," Lovino growled while walking away to the orchard, leaving Feliciano and Matthew standing with Gilbert.
"Veeee, we feed the animals! And we tend the crops! And we go check the orchard and make sure nothing bad happens to the trees and pick fruit!" Feliciano answered, skipping over to Lovino.
After the twins were out of earshot, Gilbert turned to Matthew. "Okay, I understand him being mean, but vhat is vith Feliciano zat makes him so happy?" Matthew shrugged.
"They deal with their situation in different ways," Matthew answered simply.
"Vhy hasn't zeir vater replaced ze house... shack... zing?"
"Their father isn't around," Matthew answered quietly this time. "Both he and their mother died. Their grandfather raised them, but he works in the mines now."
"Vell... vhy hasn't anyone else?" Gilbert asked, trying to figure out why the twins were forced to live in such sad conditions.
"The only people strong enough in our village are Mainlanders," Matthew answered, shaking his head slightly. "Everyone else is either too weak, too young, or too busy. There's a lot of work to do, and building a house, especially on the Islands, takes time and skill."
It was then that something occurred to Gilbert. He had noticed it when he first walked through the village, but he hadn't been able to place a finger on it. Hell, he hadn't even noticed that he had noticed it...
The doors were always open with women- mothers- cooking or cleaning or preparing something or gardening. Younger, unmarried girls ran around the village, as did young boys, delivering things to these mothers. The only teenagers he's paid any attention to- Matthew, Arthur, Yao, and the twins- were all very, for lack of a better word, feminine looking. Even Elizaveta looked stronger than them. Gilbert finally realized what was wrong with the village, the thing he hadn't realized he'd noticed until right then...
Where were all the fathers?
"-ert? Are you okay?" Gilbert blinked out of his thoughts and looked at Matthew. Matthew's brows were furrowed slightly, showing his worry.
"Birdie, I have one more question," he said, not answering Matthew's own question. Matthew raised an eyebrow in an "I'm listening" way. "I see mothers, girls, und children, und frail looking teenagers everyvhere in ze village. Vhere are all of your Väter?"
Matthew was silent for several moments. "The mines," he finally answered, very simply, before he started walking in the direction Lovino and Feliciano were. "Five years ago every strong boy and man thirteen or older was taken to work in the mines. Please don't ask again."
Matthew's words had been on Gilbert's mind all day. Finally Lovino had successfully chased Gilbert off the farm Island- he looked like he was about to push the Mainlander into the ocean!- just before lunch, and Gilbert was spending time with his brother.
He didn't understand just why anyone would take childrens' fathers like that, or wives' husbands and mothers' sons. Thirteen? Much too young to be risking your life in a mineshaft.
Without even realizing it, Gilbert had relayed everything he had seen and learned to Ludwig, and Ludwig looked disturbed by this knowledge. "Zey could catch zeir death like zat," Ludwig told Gilbert, clearly worrying.
"Ich kenne, Ludwig. But zere is really nozing ve can do," Gilbert replied, taking a drink of lemonade. All Gilbert meant was that they really couldn't do anything, but Ludwig misunderstood it as saying he didn't care.
"Look, Gilbert, I know to you zey are just Islanders but to me zey are human lives und zey need help," he said sternly, staring his brother in the eye. Gilbert was a bit surprised.
"Ludwig! I vasn't saying I didn't care," he whined. "I just really don't zink ve can do anyzing about it."
"Zere is alvays somezing ve can do," Ludwig shot back, not even apologizing for misunderstanding.
"Like vhat, ve build zem a new house?"
"Yes. Exactly like zat."
Gilbert paused. It had actually crossed his mind, but... "Ze mean feisty one vould fight you tooth und nail about it," he pointed out.
"I know. Zat's vhy I vill ask Feliciano about it instead. Und you can try und talk Matzew into talking Lovino around to it."
"How vill ve get ze vood...?" Gilbert asked. He knew it sounded as though he were looking for every excuse not to help the Islander farmers, but that was a legitimate concern.
"I can buy it, unlike you I actually saved all my money Vati gave us for chores," Ludwig stated, smirking a little. "I don't care vhat you say, Gilbert, I vill help zem. I'll build it vith my own bare hands if I have to."
"You're just saying zat because you have ze hots for ze little ditzy one," Gilbert huffed, but immediately started running away when Ludwig made a move to strangle him. "Ha! Can't catch me!"
"Get back here!"
Matthew sighed when he got back to the village. Ludwig was attempting to strangle Gilbert, and from what Arthur said, it was the seventh time since lunch five hours before. The younger brother had the elder in a headlock on the ground.
The blonde walked over to the two Mainlanders and knelt down so he was level with them. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked softly, but it still caught both of the Mainlanders' attention.
"Oh, hallo Birdie," Gilbert choked out as Ludwig released him.
"Hallo, Matzew," Ludwig greeted, standing up. Matthew also stood up and offered a helping hand to Gilbert, which the recovering Mainlander gratefully took. "Gilbert told me about his visit to ze farm. I can honestly say I did not approve it."
"Lovino didn't either," Matthew laughed slightly, watching Gilbert rub his throat. "He nearly tackled Gilbert into the water by the time lunch came around."
"Oh? Gilbert said he chose to come back himself."
"No, Lovino chased him all the way to the bridge with a shovel, yelling in whatever language he and Feliciano can speak."
"Italian," Gilbert cut in. "He vas shouting in Italian. Vhich, may I add, is a Mainlander language." Matthew shrugged.
"All Islanders have Mainland roots somewhere," Matthew said. "Some more recent than others. Of course a family that lives separate from everyone else would retain their Mainland accents more so than those of us who mix together."
"Artie has a strong accent," Gilbert pointed out.
"Arthur's parents also happen to have been Mainlanders," Matthew shot back. "They chose to stay here after Alistair- Arthur's oldest brother- was born... considering they'd be forced to leave Alistair here if they left."
"Zen vhy isn't Artie's Vati here?" Gilbert asked quizzically; he knew the soldiers wouldn't actually take a Mainlander to the mines.
"After a few years, their status was legally changed to Islanders," Matthew answered quietly. "Apparently if a Mainlander stays here for a certain number of years, they're considered Islanders. It's an... unfair system, but we're used to it."
"How long have Elizaveta und her husband been here?" Gilbert questioned.
"A few years, but they manage the Mainlander hotel," Matthew explained. "They're immune to that law."
"Ah..." The three fell into a rather uncomfortable silence. Then it was broken by a familiar British accent.
"Matthew, mate," Arthur called, appearing beside Matthew. "I have to go do some fishing out by the- why is that freak staring at me with that grin?" he cut off, watching Gilbert.
"Briton!" Gilbert exclaimed and laughed as Arthur raged, shouted that he was not a Briton, and stomped off. "He denies it but now I know it's true! By my standards he's a Briton! Even if he is an Islander, but still, his parents were Britons... Und I know it~!"
"Arthur doesn't know." Gilbert blinked, his laughter trailing off. His expression displayed his thoughts clearly; what? "As far as Arthur knows, his parents were born here just like him and all his brothers."
"Vhy do you know zat und he doesn't?" Ludwig questioned.
"They told me because they were friends with my parents. They raised me, and Arthur's father told me stories about my parents," Matthew told them, smiling slightly. "I was born here, too, but they couldn't stay. They had another son on the Mainland, so my birth mother left me with Arthur's parents."
"Vhy did zey never come back after getting your brother?" Gilbert demanded, eyes flashing slightly. To him it sounded more like abandonment.
It didn't help that Matthew simply shrugged. "I don't know. My father- well, Arthur's father never told me why they didn't. I'm not sure they were able to. Or maybe they didn't want to subject my brother to this life." The three fell silent for several moments.
"Vhat about Feliciano und Lovino?" Ludwig finally asked. "Do you know anyzing about zem?"
"No, I didn't know they existed until five years ago, when their grandfather was taken away," Matthew answered. "And frankly, they don't know either."
"Zat's just cruel, not telling people vhere zey come from," Gilbert complained. "I vant to know."
"But you can already tell by the accents," Matthew pointed out.
"True..." the albino sighed. "Okay, let's get away from sad backstories! Birdie, I have decided to accept your offer and if it bores me I vill make it verbally noticeable!"
Matthew smiled slightly while Ludwig looked confused. "Good. I have a few things to take care of first, but I should be done before a half hour's up."
Hey Franny, Toni!
I don't have much time to write this. I mean I could just write it before going to bed, but I might be too tired. I decided to accept Birdie's offer to show me around having fun on the Island!
Oh yea, do you like Matthew's new nickname? Ja, he's Birdie. He had a funny expression when I said his name, my accent messed up the "th" in his name, it was funny!But I gave him the nickname Birdie since my accent won't mess that up and make me laugh!
Before I forget, some of these people's stories are fucking sad. Both Birdie and Arthur could have been Mainlanders, and something tells me everyone in this place could have been in some way. Apparently Arthur's parents decided to stay after a son was born on the Island and never even told the guy! And Birdie's parents had a son on the Mainland and just abandoned Birdie here. And the farmers- Birdie's mean friend and the Italian-Toni- know hardly anything about their own family history, though they know at least their grandfather is Islander.
And the house the farmers live in is more like a shack. Ludwig is plotting ways right now to build them a new house on his own since no one else can. I'd help but I'm hanging with Birdie! In fact I gotta go meet him now, so I'll cut this letter short. I hope whatever Birdie is showing me is actually fun! I'll report back tomorrow, with a detailed letter about everything I've learned! Haha!
Stay awesome, mein Freunde, and I will too! Gilbert!
-To Be Continued-
Woohoo for backstories! And I explained some backstories because they are important to the characters' changes in opinion. Minus Ludwig's, of course, but he was of the correct mind from the beginning.
I'm gonna go ahead and tell y'all that both Yao and the Vargas twins are SEVERAL generations from being Mainlander, only Arthur and Matthew are could-have-beens. And that's simply for a future plot device. Trust me~
Ya know what, I think y'all can guess what the German words mean...