67 → 31_days - December 2

[paella]

Title: Meet Me Halfway
Day/Theme: December 2 - if the ground should come alive
Series: Axis Powers Hetalia
Character/Pairing: France, England
Rating: PG
Summary: France finds England hidden amidst his fields.

France was new, he was young. Everything was still such a wonder to him - all the trees and animals and new words he called them as he formed them with his clumsy mouth. Everything still felt so new to him, even the land he was growing to call his own. So maybe, that was why he was so surprised when he found another child across the sea from him.

Oh, he had neighbors - he had long gotten used to hearing Spain's laughter next to him, and the roughhousing of Prussia nearby. He'd heard of all these other strange nations and places, but this child was new to him.

The child was scruffy and looked almost wild when France discovered him - although he could still see a mark that Rome had left here and there. He merely sat amidst the fields that covered his land, his strange mop of hair poking over the wild grasses with a curious look. (France would've almost called him a rabbit with the way he would sniff around.) He spoke to the air and still had that touch of magic to his ways - something France could feel his grip slipping on as he grew older with the slow march of time. But the strange child stared at him - stared at him with wonder and curiosity and almost amazement.

France sat with him amidst the flowers, and listened to the child speak of his already torrid history - his constant fights with his elder brothers, the way Rome had forced him to learn such strange (but sometimes useful) things, and the way the fae would still chase him far into the night. He smiled and laughed though, so surprised to see another one of him.

"I had thought that maybe Rome had taken them all!" he had said, laughing as he braided one flower into another. France could see the shadowy form of a fairy on the child's shoulder, grinning at him as he stared.

"Rome is dead," France said simply, remembering all too well the slow decline of the older nation, even across his lands. He'd seen some of the brutal fights between Rome and Germania, even if he was far too young at the time to remember some of those details.

The child merely rolled his eyes and laughed, sounding far too haughty for his youth. "I know that. But I haven't seen anyone else - other than my stupid brothers - for so long! It's almost nice to see someone else!" He looked almost flustered for a moment, but then he grinned again, the dirt smeared all over his face contrasting with his smile.

France smiled back, agreeing with the smaller nation. With all the ruckus his neighbors had been making recently, it was nice to have simple time with another one like him - without all the fighting and hair pulling and bruises everywhere.

"So, what's your name?" the child asked, that curiousness back in his eyes.

France paused, thinking it over for a moment before answering. "You can call me François."

"Fran... cis?" he parroted, stumbling over the word as if it was a strange thing. "Weird. Rome called me "Britannia" or "Albion" or something, but you can call me Artorius!" he said, obviously proud of the name, although he tripped over the Latin - it sounded more like "Artur" to France. "I'm gonna be a great king!"

France couldn't help but burst out in laughter - maybe the child would be, but seeing that mussy little face so determined when he hardly reached his waist was hilarious. Artorius pouted, flailing his arms in protest (and France could just barely see the fairies all scurrying around him in a huff).

"I will be! I'll be the greatest empire on earth! Even better than that stupid Rome!" he said, stomping his foot down. France laughed, agreeing halfheartedly with the child - never suspecting he'd see that come into fruition in his lifetime. Or of the wars they would fight, or the bitter enemies he would quickly become with that goofy kid lost in the forest.

But, even as the world changed and so many of their kind came and went, he could still remember those days they spent, lost in England's fields, dreaming of things that would never come to pass.

Britannia and Albion - Both were Roman names for England - the latter being the name they originally used before they called most of the island Britannia as a whole.

Artorius - The Roman equivalent to the name Arthur. It's also a common theory that a Roman general with the name may have been part of the basis for the Arthurian legends.

Comments

[abarero]

Oh how I love tough widdle!England here! He's so determined, which of course France finds humorous at the time. This is such a lovely little glance into their strange neighbor friendship and I really like the narrative here. It's almost got a fairytale/legend tone to it, which is very fitting.

♥

[paella]

Thanks! I'm really glad you enjoyed it~ This was my first time really writing the either of them, so I'm glad it sounded all right. :'D And, lmao, I see England being such a little prat when he was young. Even if his brothers were probably the cause, pffft.

And you know, I hadn't even meant for it to sound like a fairy tale, but I'm glad it does! Fits the image I had well. XD