Francis woke up in a panic and looked around the dark room, confused by his surroundings. Tears prickled his eyes as he slipped out of the bed and padded to Arthur's room. He knocked and waited, listening to any sound from inside. Hearing none, he knocked again and waited once more. A few minutes passed with no movement on the other side of the door so he pushed the door open, light pouring into the room from the hallway through the cracked door. The light fell across the man sleeping in the large bed causing him to stir.

"M-Mr. Arthur?" Francis called, voice shaking. "P-Papa?"

With a groan the man sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Are you alright, Francis?" he asked, still half asleep. Soft whimpers reached his ears and he fully opened his eyes to see the boy clutching the door with tears running down his face. His demeanor quickly changed. "Oh, dove," he whispered, tone softening and opening his arms. "Come here." The boy released the door and ran to the bed, quickly climbing onto the covers. Arthur pulled him into his lap and held him tightly as the boy cried into his shoulder. "What has upset you so, dove?"

"I-I had a n-nightmare..."

"Do you want to tell me about it? Would that help you feel better?"

"O-Okay…" He took a few deep breaths to regain control of his voice. "I-I was sleeping in Maman and Papa's house. Then I woke up and smelled smoke. The house was on fire so I ran to Maman and Papa's room. They were sleeping so I shook them until they woke up. Maman grabbed me and we all ran out of the house. But I wanted the teddy bear Papa had just gotten me so he went back in to get it." Francis choked on his words and took a few minutes to speak again. "He came back out with my bear but he was…he was on fire. Maman was upset and laid with him until they both…until they both…"

Tears ran down his face again and he didn't finish. Arthur rubbed his back, trying to comfort him.

"It was just a nightmare, dove. It's over now. Put it out of your mind."

The boy shook his head.

"No…it wasn't…"

Arthur tried to grasp what he meant. 'Not a dream…? Then what…?' He suddenly understood and held the boy tighter. 'That nightmare was a memory. A memory of the night his parents died.' He swallowed dryly. 'Such a horrible event. That must have been incredibly traumatic for someone so young.'

He kept being blindsided by how much he didn't know about someone he had met centuries ago.

"Dove, why don't you sleep here for the rest of the night?"

Francis nodded.

"Yes please," he murmured.

Arthur carefully moved the boy off of his lap, laying him down and tucking him in tightly before laying down himself. Wiggling a little, the boy adjusted himself so he was resting against Arthur's side. He curled up to him, placing his head on Arthur's stomach, and closing his eyes.

Since the nightmare incident, Francis had stayed close to Arthur's side. Arthur did not mind, instead he was glad as he wanted to keep a close eye on the boy. The two spent several days no more than two rooms apart.

One night, over a week later, the two were in the basement room where Arthur studied and practiced his magic. They were both squeezed into the comfortable armchair next to the small table. Francis had fallen asleep some time ago, pressed against his side. He didn't blame the boy, reading for hours out of thick, complex books was not the most interesting activity.

Through hours of later night reading, he had searched half of the tomes he owned. Yawning, he turned yet another page. Peering down at it he paused and his eyes widened as all sleepiness was lost.

Tempore Mutationem

'Age reversal…could this be it? Could I have finally found the answer?' He closely read the page, translating slowly from Latin to English with his tired brain. 'To reverse the clock on a person's age brew kohl and honey in donkey milk. Let sit for eighteen moonrises. At the dawn of the nineteenth day add three materials to the mixture and mix quickly until fully combined. The three materials added must be representative of the person wanting to be changed to prevent changing the wrong person. The affect will not wear off until the person is given another dose of the same potion.'

Taking a deep breath, he felt relief at finding a possible solution. He just needed to figure out what three materials someone used to make the original potion and test them.

A small note at the bottom of the page caught his attention.

'Only the person who laid the spell can remove it.'

He closed the book and put it on the table.

'I need to figure out who cursed Francis so I can get them to reverse it. But who could have created it? And why? And when…?' Dozens of thoughts whirled around his head until one new one crossed his mind. 'Is it possible that they meant to curse someone other than Francis?'

He couldn't think of any reason to target the other nation but that didn't mean there wasn't one. Looking at the boy he silently vowed to figure out all the answers to his questions and return the boy to his normal, adult self. No matter how long it took.

AN: Italics- speaking in French or internal thoughts

No Italics- speaking in English