A/N: Hey guys! I was wanting to work on this day before yesterday while I was stuck at school for 4 1/2 hours after my class ended, but a friend of mine decided to stick around the entire four hours and, still, I get anxious and nervous writing in front of anybody.

Anyway, next week I start more classes and I'll be stuck at school at least 4 hours on Tuesdays, maybe six, so I'm hoping to get some writing done in those times.

I was wanting to post this yesterday... I started writing this after I woke up, I had a very fuzzy head and sore throat and stuff like that. I paused halfway through and later discovered I had a fever and slept it off, so I got about halfway through this chapter while sick, so forgive me for any mistakes.

In case you're wondering, I didn't do review responses in the last chapter since those reviews were two years old.

QuirkyRevelations: I've honestly always wanted to continue it but I got so busy with school and a few other things, but now I'm back and so the story continues! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! Yeah, the Mainland soldiers are a major point in the story, I might go into why they act like they do later, or I might just leave it up to the readers' imagination. :)

Zoewinter1: Well I'm certainly glad you think so! I was trying my best to write in the way I think an excitable and rather egotistical person would when going through something serious like this, I thought I had failed but I'm glad to know I didn't! Thank you!

Guest: I'm certainly glad you think so! Thanks!

"Francis! Zere is a letter for you!"

Francis looked up from his book and smirked. "See, Toni? I told you 'e would send us letters today, ohonhon~" he chuckled, slipping a bookmark- which was shaped like a very beautiful, very voluptuous, very naked lady- between the pages and setting the book down.

His friend sat up from where he was reading a sports magazine. "Actually, Fran, amigo, I am the one who said he would."

"Same difference, no?" The blonde waved a hand dismissively as his mother, a stunning brunette lady who didn't look a day over twenty-six despite being almost forty, walked into the room with not one, but two letters in her hand. "Maman?"

She gave her son a brilliant smile and handed the letters over to him. "Sorry, two letters. I saw ze second one after calling for you."

The Frenchlander nodded in understanding and accepted the letters. "Merci maman~"

Once the lady left the room, Antonio dropped himself on the bed next to Francis and peered over his shoulder. "Which one are we supposed to read first?"

Francis studied the two letters before noticing a small difference. One was obviously stuffed in there, as though the sender had been eager and not very careful as he shoved the letter in. That was true Gilbert fashion when he was in a hurry and didn't have time to be careful.

The second one, however, was folded neatly and perfectly flat, as though each motion had been slow and deliberate and careful. Nothing was out of line, even the writing was neater despite definitely being Gilbert's. Usually, when they received letters from the not-German-I'm-Prussian, there was something out of line, though not as extreme as the first letter. That sent alarm bells through Francis' head and he frowned.

"Let's read zis one first," he decided, setting the neater one down. "It looks like 'e was in a 'urry."

Antonio nodded in agreement, not noticing the worry in his friend's voice, and read over his shoulder. After he finished reading, he smiled. "So he accepted the Islander's proposal! I wonder if the other letter is telling us what the Islander was showing him?"

Francis nodded, though he was distracted. What could an Islander possibly show Gilbert that would make the Mainlander so excited?

"Though it is kind of sad, the living conditions there," Antonio continued, frowning at the second half of the letter. "Poor Matthew, being abandoned by his parents."

"And zis Arzur boy, does not even know he could 'ave been a Mainlander! Ah, so tragic," Francis sighed, setting the letter aside. "Let us read ze ozer letter and see if anyzing interesting did 'appen, oui?"

He picked up the letter and opened it swiftly, pulling it out with too much ease for being a letter from Gilbert. His eyes scanned over the page, reading the letter much too easily for comfort. When he looked at his friend, Antonio was still reading the letter with wide eyes.

"Surely he misunderstood the situation...?" Antonio suggested slowly, softly.

"I 'ave a feeling 'e did not," Francis replied, looking back at the worrying letter.

"No, I guess not. I sent a letter the day after he left."

"Oui, as did I."

"And one yesterday."

"Ze same for me."

"Did he really not get them?" Antonio asked, starting to fret himself.

"It would explain why 'e never actually responded to ze letters," Francis deadpanned, his gaze at the letter turning into a glare. "Ze Mainland soldiers are zere to protect ze Mainlanders, not punish ze Islanders. Zey were going to let Gilbert fall just so zey could shoot an Islander? I find zat 'ard to believe, but for some reason I believe it, Antoine."

"Me too, Franny, me too."

Francis frowned. "Perhaps we were going about zis ze wrong way, Antoine. Instead of sending a letter to Gilbert, we should send one to ze 'otel."

"But I thought the hotel didn't accept personal letters?" Antonio furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Zey do not," Francis confirmed. "But I never said we would be sending a personal letter, now did I?"

Antonio's brow furrowed in confusion before he finally understood. His eyes widened in surprise. "You want to make a reservation!"

Francis looked up from the letter, and Antonio could clearly see one thing; Francis was more than worried, he was more than mad. He was angry. "If zey have been removing letters to ze Islands, it would explain a lot. Perhaps all letters to anyone but to ze 'otel managers are blocked, in which case Gilbert's letters can get out, but our letters cannot get in."

"In which case the only choice we have is to go to the Islands," Antonio concluded, a tired look in his eyes as he realized Francis was right. There was no other way to contact Gilbert. "Alright. Let's make the reservations."

Francis nodded, looking back at the letter. "Zough zis "Matthew" make me curious... Didn't Alfred's mozer say zeir ozer son was named Matthew?"

"Are you suggesting we bring Alfred with us?"

"Bruder, wake up! It's almost noon!"

Gilbert jerked awake, shocked by the sudden shout. "Saywha'?" he groaned, sitting up and looking around. The alarm clock said it was 11:20 AM. He groaned and let his head hit the pillow. The Mainlander hadn't gotten to sleep until the sun had started rising around six, and five and a half hours was so not enough sleep for him.

"Get up, zey will stop serving breakfast in ten minutes."

That got Gilbert's attention and he stared at the ceiling, debating with himself. Then he said, "Not hungry," and rolled over to go back to sleep.

"Oh no you don't, you child," Ludwig huffed, pulling his brother off of the bed and onto the floor with one swift tug. "Get up. veren't you supposed to meet zat Islander, Matzew, by noon?"

Gilbert blinked as he found himself on the carpeted floor, staring up at the ceiling again. "Oh yeah..." He grinned and pulled himself up from the floor. "He even said he vas going to leave ze farm early so he could show me zat zing..."

"Zing?" Ludwig raised a brow at that. "Und vhat "zing" is zis?"

"I don't know, I zink it is somezing under ze wasser. He asked me if I could open meine Augen under ze wasser," Gilbert explained, grabbing some clothes from his suitcase to pull on.

"You do realize ocean vater stings, ja?"

"Ja ja, he said he vould lend me some goggles," Gilbert grinned, ignoring Ludwig's amused expression. "If a letter comes for me, Luddy, vill you hold onto it?" he suddenly asked.

"Ja, of course. Just don't get yourself killed today."

"Trust me, ze only vay zat vould happen is if zose Mainland soldiers decide zey do not like me."

Gilbert felt Ludwig's eyes on him as he dashed out of the room and towards the elevator, not caring that the cafeteria was at the top of the building as he had no plans to go there.

Stepping into the elevator, Gilbert went down to the ground floor. Behind the counter was Elizaveta, and Gilbert paused to speak to her.

"If a letter comes for me just give it to mein Bruder, Ludwig. If it is from Francis Bonnefoy or Antonio Carriedo, it is for me!" he added, heading towards the door. He thought for a moment that the woman called for him, but he dismissed it in favour of dashing down the front steps and towards the bridge.

If he had stayed, Elizaveta would have informed him that there was no need to await a letter; the mail had already run and she had already received something from Bonnefoy. But it wasn't a letter.

Matthew glanced at the sky, a bit alarmed to realize there was less than half an hour until noon. It took at least fifteen minutes to walk the train bridge, ten if you ran the whole way, and he still needed to eat lunch before he was supposed to meet up with Gilbert. He sighed, looking over towards Lovino.

Lovino wasn't in the best mood, probably because he had been able to wring the fact that Matthew planned on showing the tunnels to a Mainlander out of the blonde as well as leave early. The fact that Matthew recounted the events of the day before to him definitely didn't help. No one liked being told that their best friend nearly got shot because of some Islander said best friend found interesting.

Taking a deep breath and mentally preparing himself for the yelling complaints, Matthew called out, "Lovino, I'm going to head back now!"

Much to his surprise, Lovino only said, "Don't try to fucking kill yourself today, bastardo."

Matthew blinked in surprise then smiled slightly. "Don't worry, Lovino~"

"I'm not fucking worried!" the farmer quickly shot at him, but the blonde was already leaving the field to hang his tool up. Matthew laughed softly, a sound the farmers in the field would barely hear on the wind, and headed to the shed.

He stretched and started walking towards the "train station" but paused as he noticed something along the horizon

It was the... train cart? Matthew stared in confusion as it approached the station, piled high with wood and stones secured with a rope. It didn't make sense to Matthew- the train cart only ran on Monday and Wednesday, not Friday.

Matthew sighed as he waited for the cart to stop at the end of the rail. "Just glad I wasn't walking on the bridge, eh," he muttered to himself, jumping up onto the rail after the train cart stopped. He knew the walk across the bridge was only about fifteen minutes, twenty if careful, and the train cart would stay at the station until someone on the farm Island sent it back, and considering Lovino and Feliciano weren't expecting it, that could be a while. So he should be safe. He hoped.

He stretched and walked along the bridge, enjoying the ocean breeze. Yes, how could anyone hate life there? Besides the Mainland soldiers and the fact that they were practically slaves and everything they did was for the benefit of their oppressors, life there was paradise.

Well... kind of. It wasn't like the Islands didn't have their own problems outside of the Mainland, they just never had time to deal with said problems. None of them minded, though. After all, whatever happened they would deal with together as one people.

"Excuse me, sorry," a voice spoke up, startling Matthew. He was about halfway across the bridge and found himself face-to-face with Ludwig.

"O-oh! I'm sorry!" Matthew apologized, stepping to the side enough for Ludwig to get by. The bridge was just wide enough for two people to walk side-by-side, if they were careful, but Matthew would prefer if the Mainlander didn't stand so close to the edge. He knew he himself might have a chance at surviving but he had no idea how Ludwig would fare.

"For ze record," Ludwig started as he passed, "Gilbert is already standing beside your house. I zink your friend, Arzur was it, is suspicious of his intentions."

Matthew was a bit shocked. "But I said meet at noon, not half noon."

"He seems eager to see whatever it is zat you are vanting to show him," Ludwig said with a shrug. "Have a good day, Matzew."

"Um... you too, Ludwig," Matthew replied, watching the Mainlander continue along the train bridge. He was jogging along the bridge, which rather surprised the Islander, but he decided not to question it and continued back towards the main Island.

When he reached the Island, he slipped out of the "station" and headed towards his house on the cliff, where sure enough the albino Mainlander was waiting. As soon as Gilbert spotted him, he grinned and waved. Matthew couldn't help but smile back... but at the same time he couldn't help but glance over at the nearby soldiers.

None of them were watching him.

Matthew let out a relieved sigh and headed up the hill to his house. "You're here early."

"Ze awesome me is never early or late," Gilbert declared with a smirk. "Vhat vere you vanting to show me?"

"I need to eat lunch first," Matthew laughed a bit, heading inside the house. Gilbert, curious, followed.

"So if you vere raised by ze almost-Briton, vhy do you not live viz him?" he asked, glancing around the house. He realized quickly that this was the house he had observed first, where he had been able to see directly into the bedroom as it was on level with the hotel island's cliff.

"I'm seventeen," Matthew said simply, as though that explained everything. Gilbert just looked at him. Matthew rolled his eyes in response. "On the Islands, most people move out of their parents' house when they hit sixteen. Arthur only stays at the fishery because it's his job and he has to care for his little brother."

"I didn't know you could build houses," Gilbert commented, gazing around the house.

It was rather impressive, for an Islander's home. As he had observed the first day, there did seem to be a "downstairs" hanging off of the side of the cliff. He could just see the beginning of stairs disappearing under the floor. Above the "downstairs" seemed to be a sitting area with a lone, bare bookcase sitting in the corner, next to the hole the stairs made in the floor. To the left of the door was a small kitchen area, the woodstove right next to the door. A crudely-made fridge was against the wall, and a wooden chest was to the right of the fridge. A table with only three places to sit sat, shoved against the wall, to the right of the door. His arm almost brushed against the back of the chair.

He couldn't see the bedroom, but he knew it was down the stairs.

The house was small enough that it would take him five steps to reach the stairs. Eight to reach the other side of the house.

"I didn't," Matthew said, bringing Gilbert out of his observations. "It used to belong to a family friend. He was taken with Arthur's father and brothers. He had no spouse or children, and he died in the mines a year after being taken... so when I turned sixteen, the others decided I should take this house, since no one would be returning to it."

Gilbert listened quietly to this and looked around the house again, seeing it in a new light. Built by a family friend who didn't get to live his life there. He could see it.

The sitting area looked like it could have been a bedroom of some kind. He remembered Arthur's house, where the sleeping quarters were in view of the front door. It wouldn't surprise him at all if Matthew's "living room" was originally meant to be sleeping quarters... and the downstairs part meant for a child's bedroom.

"He was engaged, though," Matthew mentioned, opening up his chest and rummaging through it. He pulled out a pair of goggles. "She died, too, barely a month after we received the news."

"How?" Gilbert asked, though something told him he already knew.

"The soldiers," was the simple, expected response. "She loved him very much, and she blamed them for his death." There was a brief pause. "We all do."

Gilbert watched as the blonde set the goggles down on the table and then went to the fridge. Remembering that Matthew still needed to eat, he sat down in one of the chairs.

"Vhy does Arzur have drei Betten?" he asked. Matthew looked confused for a moment, before he seemed to realize what Gilbert was asking.

"That third bed isn't mine, if that's what you're thinking," Matthew told him. "We brought my bed to this house. That third bed is there, in hopes that at least one of his brothers returns. Or even father," Matthew added quietly, turning to the stove to light it.

"How many brozers does he have?"

"Three, not including Peter. Alistair, Connor, and James- age order, all older than him. Alistair was eighteen when he was taken, Connor almost sixteen, and James was fourteen."

Gilbert frowned in thought. "Zat isn't a very large age gap between Arzur and... James, vas it?"

"Twins," was the very simple, blunt response.

"Oh..." Gilbert blinked, rather surprised. He hadn't thought that the irate almost-Briton would have had a twin. "Vhy are such young boys being taken to ze mines?"

"Because there aren't enough strong, adult Islanders," Matthew told him. "We're all still waiting for the day they begin taking the strong girls and women, too. I think they only leave them be so they can produce more children."

This made Gilbert frown as he watched the blonde man cook... something, he wasn't sure what, on the woodstove. Whatever it was, the simple look of it made Gilbert even less hungry than he was before.

"Vell zhat's horrible," Gilbert muttered. Matthew glanced over at the Mainlander, furrowing his brow a bit, but Gilbert ignored the look.

"So, vhat are you vanting to show me?" Gilbert asked, picking the goggles up and playing with the straps and putting them on his head.

"Under the island there's a series of tunnels," Matthew answered.

"Vait, tunnels under ze island? Und you vant us to svim zrough zem? Excuse me but I do not vant to drown."

"You won't drown," Matthew laughed. "The tunnel has several air pockets and even some underground caverns."

"Und how do zey have oxygen?"

Matthew shrugged a bit, grabbing a wooden plate to put his food on. "They just do."

Gilbert still looked very unsure about it. "So you have done zis before?"

"Every other week," Matthew confirmed. "With Arthur and Lovino. Sometimes we drag Yao along but he finds it all pretty stupid, so, eh..."

The Mainlander watched as the blonde Islander sat down to eat the food that Gilbert was, frankly, too afraid to ask the identity of. It was nothing that a Mainlander would eat.

After several moments of silence, in which Matthew began eating his small meal, Gilbert finally said, "Alright zen, I vill svim zrough zese tunnels vith you. But if I drown, I vill haunt your ass."

Matthew smiled, amusement dancing in his eyes, and nodded. "Alright then."

Gilbert couldn't help but give a grin in response to that smile. It was such a gentle, soft smile, and Gilbert just couldn't picture this person doing hard labor. It was no wonder he was never carted off to the mines.

"Alright zen, it is a deal!"