A/N: Hello, everyone. Um, long time no see! ...

Okay I am sooooo so so very sorry about this two-year hiatus but shit got real and I had things to do and just, well, yeah. I'm so sorry.

I cannot promise that this will be updated regularly, and "The Search" probably won't be updated for a while now. It's been so long that I have sort of forgotten the direction these stories were going to take, but I'm determined to make it work. I reread my stories and realized I wanted to continue them at any cost, but I find "Two Weeks is all it Takes" more intriguing than "The Search" right now, so I'm going to focus on this one instead. Admittedly that could be because I'm in a PruCan mood but hey!

I hope my writing has improved since two years ago...

Gilbert dropped the letter into the mail box before rushing out to meet Matthew, who was waiting beside the cliff. He crossed the thin, frightening bridge without any hesitation, having already grown used to it, and headed towards the Islander. With a glance at the cliff, he scoffed.

"I am not jumping off of ze cliff," he stated, crossing his arms. "I do not have a death vish."

Matthew rolled his eyes. "The cliff isn't all that high and there are no rocks at the bottom, it's perfectly safe. Unless you land wrong."

"I am not jumping off of ze cliff," Gilbert replied. Matthew shrugged slightly.

"Scaredy-cat. Alright then, you can go through a beach and swim all the way to the canal, what I need to show you is down there though," Matthew told him before turning around and, without any hesitance, leaped off of the cliff and into the water.

Gilbert huffed and glared at where the Islander had landed, the water still rippling, and was still glaring when the blonde resurfaced. Matthew looked up and called, "Still just standing there?"

"I am not a scaredy-cat!" Gilbert called down with a childish pout. "Zat is Francis' job," he added under his breath.

"What was that? I couldn't hear under the sound of your fear!"

"Vhat?! Oh now you are getting it!" Gilbert declared before leaping off of the cliff, just as Matthew had.

It took him approximately half a second to realize what he had done. The feeling of being weightless came over him for a few short, fleeting moments, sending his heart racing and adrenaline shooting through his veins, and then he was falling down, the water rushing towards him. He let out a strangled yelp as his body cut through the air, and just barely he managed to get his eyes shut and plug his nose before he landed in the water.

He didn't flail while in the air and landed feet-first, and he felt the water swallow him with absolutely no resistance. Then he released his nose, blowing some air out to keep water from rushing in, and began swimming up to the surface again. When his head broke through the water, he wiped his soaked hair out of his eyes and opened them, looking up at the cliffside.

After a few seconds, he looked at Matthew. "Mein Gott zat vas fun! Let's do it again!" Matthew began laughing at that. "So, uh, how do ve get back up?"

"You don't know, eh?" Matthew smiled before pointing to the cliff's wall. "We climb."

Gilbert looked at the cliff wall with a slight frown. "How do you do zat?"

"Never been rock climbing?"

"I have," Gilbert quickly told him, "But, vell, not real stone valls. You know, ze kind vith ze fake protruding stones..." The Mainlander trailed off when he saw Matthew's blank expression. "Vell, I suppose zat's a no?"

"Come on, I'll show you how to climb the wall," Matthew told him, swimming back over to the wall. "By the way, are you able to open your eyes under water?"

"Of course! Vell, maybe not ze ocean Wasser, I've never tried zat..."

"We'll assume that's a no then," Matthew laughed, reaching up and finding a hand hold. Gilbert observed him as he began climbing up the wall, making mental notes of where he put his hands and feet. "I can grab you some goggles."

"You have goggles?" Gilbert was legitimately surprised.

"Of course, sometimes I need them, though not for going under water," Matthew laughed, already halfway up the stone wall. He paused and looked over his shoulder. "You coming?"

"I vas vaiting for you to get to ze top," Gilbert grumbled, swimming to the wall. Quickly he located the protruding stones and carved-out sections that Matthew had used and started climbing up after Matthew. The Islander, unsurprisingly, got to the top before he was even halfway up. Now, though, Gilbert had no idea which spots Matthew had used and stared at the area just above him for a few moments.

"Birdie!" he called, looking up, and saw the blonde head poke over the side of the cliff. "I have no idea vhere to grab next."

Matthew looked like he was about to laugh, which should have irritated the Mainlander much more than it did. "Use your judgment, Gilbert," he called down. "Treat it like you would that rock climb wall you told me about."

"Ja, I vould if zere vas a harness!" he called back, but continued climbing, pausing every time he moved to analyze which handhold to grab next. Before he knew it, he found himself pulling himself back over the cliff's edge.

From around Matthew's legs, he caught sight of a single Mainland soldier watching them. He gave the soldier a grin and lifted one of his hands to give a cocky wave, not realizing he inadvertently removed one of his supports; his lower half was still dangling over the edge, and his arms were the only things keeping him up.

Matthew realized what was happening a moment before Gilbert did, as Gilbert's single arm braced to the left of himself- and not a good center of balance- gave way under the Mainlander's weight. Gilbert's eyes widened as he found himself falling in a way he knew would injure him, as he would undoubtedly fall too close to the cliff wall and hit the water on either his stomach or back, and opened his mouth to cry out , but Matthew jerked into action faster than Gilbert thought was possible.

His right hand clinging desperately to the dusty clifftop with absolutely no real hold and his left hand clasped in smaller, surprisingly-soft hands, Gilbert found himself dangling from the cliff and mentally cursing the soldier.

"Vell zis is fun!" Gilbert ground out sarcastically, trying to find a foothold. A glance at Matthew's face told him that the Islander wouldn't be able to hold on for too long; the fall had been too unexpected and Gilbert's hand was sweating pretty badly.

"No time for sarcasm...!" Matthew told him. "Arthur!" he called out, obviously hoping his friend- brother?- would come help.

"On ze ozer hand I zink it is ze perfect time for sarcasm," Gilbert bit back, still trying to feel around for a foothold. He knew he wouldn't find one, he was too frazzled.

Matthew chose to ignore Gilbert in favor of calling to his friend again, and Gilbert looked towards the soldier again. The soldier was watching with a blank expression, not even moving forwards to help. In fact, he had a hand on his gun.

'Oh mein Gott,' Gilbert suddenly thought, his eyes widening. 'If I fall, he's going to shoot Birdie. He'll use my death as a fucking excuse to shoot Birdie. Mein Gott, I can't fall, mein Gott."

"-bert, grab my hand! You Mainland wanker, grab my bloody hand!"

Gilbert was pulled out of his thoughts as he realized someone new was above him, one hand on the wrist of his left hand. It was Arthur, he quickly realized, who actually did look afraid. Gilbert had a feeling he had noticed the soldier as well and was more concerned about Matthew than he was about Gilbert.

On the other side of Matthew, someone else was reaching over to grab his right arm, probably to help Matthew hold him up. It was Yao, and somehow Gilbert wasn't surprised. It took him a moment to notice Islanders hurrying over to try and help in whatever way they could.

And all the while, the Mainland soldiers simply watched.

Gilbert bit his tongue before letting go of the cliffside to grab Arthur's hand, and Arthur quickly wrapped his other hand around the older man's arm. Gilbert barely noticed another Islander grab his arm in order to help, and together the four pulled him up. When he was over the cliffside more, Yao and the other person moved and wrapped their arms around his abdomen, enabling the Islanders to pull him all the way up onto the land.

The albino was all too happy to just fall on the ground where he was, and Matthew and Arthur both seemed to feel the same way. Gilbert just barely saw the would-be Briton's eyes flick over to the Mainland soldier, who finally removed his hand from his gun.

"Whot the bloody hell were you two doing?" Arthur hissed.

"I would like to know that too, aru!" Yao cut in, fidgeting with his hands and glancing nervously towards the soldiers.

"We were just cliff diving," Matthew told them. "I don't know why Gilbert lifted one of his hands."

"I vas going to give ze soldier behind you a sarcastic vave. I notice zey veren't doing anyzing to help me," Gilbert glared towards the soldiers, but the soldiers were no longer watching them. They had all moved along. "Fucking useless, ze lot of zem."

"Gilbert!" The not-German-I'm-Prussian looked over towards the bridge where Ludwig was running over to him. "Vhat ze hell vere you doing?!"

"It vas an accident!" Gilbert immediately defended himself before pausing. "Vell, kind of an accident. But everyzing is okay, zese guys saved me!"

It took Gilbert a moment to realize what he said. Matthew, Arthur, Yao, and a complete stranger had saved him. "Und ze Mainland soldiers simply vatched, vaiting for me to fall..." he said quietly, but Ludwig still heard it. "He vas going to-"

"-use your fall as an excuse to shoot someone, probably me, yeah," Matthew cut in with a nod. "We know. It wouldn't be the first time."

"Which is why I want to know why you wankers were so bloody stupid to do it!" Arthur whisper-yelled. "You know what could have happened, Matthew!"

"It vasn't his fault," Gilbert defended the lighter-haired man. "I'm ze one who tried to be cocky."

Ludwig raised a brow at him and Gilbert quickly realized he had just taken responsibility for his actions. He sent his brother a glare, one that read "say it, I fucking dare you." Ludwig said nothing. Right then, anyway.

"Still," Arthur sighed, his shoulders sagging, and Gilbert realized he hadn't been just worried or scared.

He had been terrified.

Gilbert remembered what Matthew had told him about Arthur, how his family had been given Islander status and his father- and, presumably, more than one brother as Matthew had said oldest- had been taken to the mines. Arthur didn't have any sisters, Gilbert knew that from the lack of blonde females, and he didn't seem to have a mother either.

No, Gilbert suddenly realized, it didn't seem like Arthur had anyone. Anyone but Matthew. And maybe a small blonde brat that Gilbert often saw with the children, who had bushy brows. But that was all.

He thought about how he would feel if his entire family was gone, and all he had was Ludwig. Yes, he realized, he would be terrified at the thought of losing him. He would be scared to be all alone.

"Whot are you staring at, Mainlander?" Arthur demanded, and Gilbert realized he had been staring at Arthur.

"Nothing," Gilbert answered, shaking his head and pushing himself up. He glanced around, seeing most people had returned back to work. Not far away, he saw a basket had been dropped and fish scattered along the dirty ground.

Just that morning he would have felt disgusted at the sight. Right then, though, it only made him sad.

Matthew and fish. That was all the bushy-browed man had. Matthew and fish.

That night, Gilbert stared up at the ceiling while laying on the bed. The alarm clock flashed "11:37" on the side table. His mind kept going over what has happened earlier that day, how the Islanders had quickly moved to his aid while the Mainlanders simply waited for him to fall. How the Islanders acted more human than the people who were supposed to protect Mainlanders.

It was all really sad, to be honest. He sighed and sat up, glancing over at his blonde-haired blue-eyed brother, who was fast asleep. "How can you sleep?" Gilbert grumbled, climbing out of bed and pulling his night slippers on.

Whatever Matthew had originally wanted to show him was put off for another day, as neither of them wanted to jump back down just in case. And it wasn't just in case he fell again. It was those damn soldiers. Just watching them. Waiting for any excuse.

Gilbert found himself starting to understand the Islanders' perspective better. He was beginning to hate those soldiers. Was that how the Islanders thought all Mainlanders were? He sighed as he left the hotel room, carefully closing the door, and went towards the stairwell. He didn't want to wake anyone up by using the elevator, after all.

When he reached the ground floor, he noticed the lights were on and someone was sitting behind the counter, reading. It was a tall, pale man with glasses, reading what looked like a book about music. Gilbert wondered briefly if this was Eliveta's husband, then realized it must be; they ran the hotel, after all.

The man- Roderich, was it?- looked up when he heard Gilbert's steps and raised one impeccably-plucked brow. "You are up late," he observed. "Vhat can I do for you? Are ze pillows not up to par?"

"Nein nein," Gilbert shook his head, noting the accent. "I vas just vanting to write a letter. You are Roderich, ja?"

"Roderich Edelstein, ja," Roderich confirmed, setting his book down to grab some paper and pen for the hotel guest.

"Austrian?"

Roderich stilled for a moment before saying, "I am Austrian, ja. But before zat, I am human." He handed Gilbert the paper and pen, then returned to his book. Gilbert knew the conversation was over, but he couldn't help but add one more thing.

"I know. I am too." He turned and walked to a table, feeling the eyes on his back- undoubtedly the man was surprised. He probably didn't hear that often from guests, and it was probably all the more surprising coming from someone like Gilbert. Undoubtedly Elizaveta had already warned him what she overheard about Gilbert.

He didn't mind, though. After all, just that morning he would have scoffed and declared that he was Austrian, a Mainlander, and that was what mattered.

Just that morning he didn't realize just how human the Islanders were.

He stared at the paper for several silent moments before he uncapped his pen and began to write, his hand slowly moving across the paper, lacking the energy it usually was full of.

Francis and Antonio,

I almost died today. Birdie never showed me what he wanted to show me. I went cliff diving for the first time ever, and I climbed a real rock wall because I wanted to do it again. It was so much fun- so exhilarating! I felt free, and, well, it was awesome.

A soldier was watching us and I got cocky. I almost fell, but Birdie caught me and his friends helped me up. The soldiers did nothing to help. They just watched. I saw one of them had a hand on their gun. Birdie looked so scared, and his friend Arthur was too. I didn't know what to do.

Arthur dropped his fish in the dirt. He saw the gun too. If I fell they would have shot Birdie, guys. I was almost an excuse to murder someone. These people don't really have anything. Arthur's dad and brother- brothers, maybe- were taken away and he doesn't seem to have any mom or sisters. He almost lost everything he had left. Birdie and fish. And a little brat who doesn't seem to like him. That's all that he has.

What do I do? I can't help but hate those soldiers. I like Birdie, he's cool. And all of the other Islanders tried to help as well. None of the Mainlanders even tried. It feels like every moment I'm here, I start seeing things from their perspective. I'm starting to hate those soldiers.

Did you know they drink rainwater because they have no fresh water and the Mainland won't send them any? That the farmers here live in what is basically a shed and get to keep hardly anything that they grow or raise? That the only things the Mainland sends is to benefit the Mainland? That there's no passenger train between the farm island and the village island, so they walk on the train bridge? That soldiers come in and just take men away to the mines? That some people don't even know that they could have been Mainlanders? The situation here isn't very good. These people live in fear, and still they make the best of it. They love life here. They love the sea and the fresh air, they love doing work and simply living, they love swimming and climbing trees, they love their life here.

I'm starting to think that we were the problem after all.

It's midnight and I'm sitting in the hotel's lobby writing this because I can't get past this. The hotel owner hates me after talking less than a minute to me. I asked if he was Austrian, and he said that he is human first and foremost. He and his wife are advocates, I think. They try to help the Islanders as they can. I guess it's just not enough. I'm such an ass.

Do you know what's unfair? Everything. But something else that's unfair is the fact that if I chose to stay here, there's a point at which I would never be allowed to leave. That I would legally become an Islander. Only the soldiers and hotel workers are exempt from this.

I think I know why Birdie's parents never wrote to him. I think they did. The letters just never got to him. Islanders can't use the mail system, after all.

So ja, I almost died today and the only people who helped were the Islanders. Birdie was concerned for me, Arthur was concerned for Birdie, and everyone else... well, it was probably a mix. We didn't do any more cliff jumping. Birdie was afraid about the soldiers.

I hate those soldiers. Guys, how can just a few days and a near death experience change my mind so drastically? I always thought that everyone else was right, that the Islanders were sub-human and deserved to be treated this way, but they're more human than anyone else I've met.

Verdammt, I miss you guys. If you were here, you could help me! Why aren't you guys responding, anyway? These letters take less than two days to get to you! Does the office just block all letters to the Islands?! If you haven't written, fucking write already and help me, I feel like I'm losing my mind! Nothing is like what I was told. Everything here is beautiful and amazing and the people are kind and hardworking and they don't smell bad, Francis, but it's terrifying because of us Mainlanders! We are the problem and I don't know how to fix it! Just write back and tell me what the fuck I should do or give me advice or something, I'm having an internal crisis over here!

Sorry, got a little frustrated there. Seriously, write back. Tomorrow, Birdie will show me what he wanted to show me today, and I'll write again to tell you all about it. If I had a waterproof camera I'd take pictures, but it's underwater and Birdie says it's pitch black in there anyway. I wonder what he could possibly want to show me if it's pitch black. I bet it'll be interesting.

-Gil

I know the letter is very un-Gilbert like but it IS midnight for him and he IS going through a very confusing time, being very OOC is a good way to convey to your friends that you really need help.