Hetalia - Axis Powers 1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Hetalia does not belong to me.**

Chapter 1

It had been a long day. A long, long, long day and all he had really wanted was a drink; a nice, warm beer in his favorite pub to help him relax and thaw away the winter cold. But no. The pub owner had decided to be a total jackass and throw him out. So maybe he had been a little drunk, but it was only a little bit. The albino German that had been sitting next to him was so drunk that the only word he would say was "awesome", and he didn't get kicked out. He also didn't call the owner an asshole in every language he knew or chucked his cellphone at him when he said he had enough.

Ok, so maybe Matthias had gone a little overboard. Today was just one of _those _days, so he had every right to be a little ticked when his alcohol was taken from him. And that asshole owner kicked him out. Him! A fine, well-paying costumer, who had regularly visited the little pub, was now forced into the snow like some old mutt. If that was how the pub was going that treat their customers, then they really didn't deserve Matthias's awesomeness anyway. He would make them ever regret kicking him out. Yes, he would… … … he just didn't know how yet.

Matthias grumbled as he walked. He pulled his clothes tighter against his body to conserve heat, but they were too light, made for fashion and not the deep cold of the Danish winter at night. Even his signature black coat, which was his heaviest layer and had seen many a Danish night, wasn't keeping out the chill or staving off the snow.

"Damn the cold." He muttered through chattering teeth. "Damn that pub. Damn that asshole owner." He lifted his head, smiled to the sky and flipped it off. "Damn everything!"

The cold must have taken offense from being told to go to hell because Matthias could have sworn the temperature dropped by about 10 degrees. He groaned and rubbed his eyes. The alcohol was causing the edges of his vision to swim and all he could make out was the brown bark of the trees against the whiteness of the snow.

He stumbled forward and gravity began to take him until he desperately grabbed a trunk of a tree nearby. His breaths were uneven and shaky and his head felt like it had been put in a blender. Alcohol fought for control of body and threatened to make him go unconscious.

Matthias shook his head and kept trudging on. His feet felt like they had cinder blocks attached to them and the snow kept tripping him up. Every 10 or so minutes, the dizziness that invaded his mind forced him to pause and breathe

"Where the hell did I leave my car?" he growled and stopped. Snow was everywhere, coating each surface in pristine white, and making every thing look the same. There was no way he was going to find his way through the forest, even his drunken mind could tell that.

He sighed then reached into his pocket for his cell phone. He dug in each one for the cell, but every time they turned up empty.

"Where…" Then he realized that it was back at the pub because he had thrown it at that asshole owner.

He turned around and searched for the light of the pub that would lead him back to civilization. Fear gently began to creep into the back of his mind as he realized that the light was nowhere to be found. He whipped his head to the left and the right turning to find some sign of human life. All he saw was the clawing branches of the trees against snow and ice.

His mind began to race as full-blown panic over took his drunkenness. He could see the next day's newspaper, declaring him a missing person. He could see, his cousins' faces overcome with grief when they learned that he was gone. He imagined his own body getting picked apart by wild animals as it lay in the snow, waiting for some lonely hiker to find it frozen in three years.

No! He couldn't let that happen. He just couldn't. He would find his way back to the pub. He would call Berwald to come pick him up, and laugh about the whole situation with Tino over a mug of hot chocolate. That's what he would do.

Matthias looked at the direction he came from and prayed that it would lead him back. As he walked, the sky grew darker and the air grew colder. The powdery snowfall that had just barely been sprinkling was evolving into a raging snowstorm. The wind tore at his clothes and the cold leaked through his skin, freezing him to the bone.

He kept walking, forcing his legs to move. His breaths were getting shorter and he could begin to feel his blood freezing. What little strength he had left buckled and he came crashing down to his knees. He wanted to scream, wanted to cry, wanted to yell for help until his lungs were raw, but the only sound that left his throat as a small whimper. He hauled his body to a tree and curled against it, trying to conserve the little bit of warmth he still had.

Matthias never thought he would die like this. He wasn't one to even think about death, but when he did he imagined himself having a hero's death, full of drama and fanfare. He wanted himself to die strong, fighting, kicking, laughing at death in the face.

A quiet death scared the shit out of him. He didn't want to think of himself weakened and fading from people's memories. Thinking that one-day they would forget him completely, now that was enough to keep him awake at night. With a dramatic death, people would remember his valor or maybe even his recklessness. The important part was that they'd remember. With a quiet death, however, people would pity him and think of how far he had fallen. Then, eventually, they would just forget.

A tear slipped down his face and froze against his cheek. He couldn't help it, and he weakly chuckled to himself. He was a drunk crying mess, after all. He curled tighter into himself, and felt exhaustion begin to roll over him in waves. As his eyes grew droopy, panic festered in the back of his mind. _Don't close your eyes_ it screamed _If you fall asleep now, you won't ever wake up! _

He pushed those thoughts aside. He just wasn't going to make it out of this one. Slowly, he lifted his eyes one more time to take one more look at the world. The earth was white and pure; it was hard to believe something so innocuous looking like snow could kill him. The snowfall had covered his steps and made the forest floor look flawless and untouched. The dark wood of the tree bark deeply contrasted with the purity of the snow, black against white, opposite perfections

"Well," his voice was soft and exhausted "at least it's a nice place to die." He was about to close his eyes, even though he knew that he'd never open them again. Sleep was just too inviting, too warm and nice to pass up. Suddenly there was a quick movement and sleep's temptation shattered.

Immediately , his head snapped up and adrenaline pumped back into his veins. Thoughts about wolves and bears and tigers and getting eaten crowded his head. Panic rammed against his skull and screeched in his ears. Desperately, his eyes scanned the trees for whatever was going to eat him. Until he saw him.

All Matthias could really see was his outline; slim and light, draped in a heavy dark-colored coat that stood out against the snow. Half of his body was hidden behind a tree like he was peering curiously at Matthias and he stood as still as a statue.

"Hey," Matthias croaked, then he took a moment to find his voice. "Please, could you help me?" He sounded pitiful, like a kicked puppy, but this man was his only hope of surviving.

The man carefully took a step forward towards Matthias. He almost glided across the snow, each footstep was so soft that it was like he was walking on glass. As he came closer the wind didn't seem to roar so much and the snowfall became a gentler sprinkle. Without the snow flurrying, Matthias could easily see his savior.

The man was smaller than him and moved like water, like a ballet dancer, like a bird about to take flight. The thick black coat seemed to swallow the lithe body, and the hood, lined with white fur, covered the man's face keeping it away from prying eyes. The man stopped about ten feet from him and froze again as if he was expecting something.

Matthias couldn't help but stare. The man was breathtaking, even when his body was covered in heavy fur. His movements portrayed beauty and flowed together, a river of elegance in simple footsteps. Matthias was absolutely transfixed, completely forgetting about the cold and his eminent death. Slowly, he pushed himself up and rose on shaky legs.

Immediately, the man tensed and moved a foot back.

Matthias gently raised a hand. "Please, I won't hurt you." He spoke softly, trying to keep the man from fleeing. He felt like he was talking to an animal, a creature that would escape and never be seen again.

The person didn't move and Matthias searched to meet his eyes, but the hood still blocked his gaze. He slowly took a step forward and the man remained still.

"Please" he said, "can you help me?"

The man stood for another minute before bolting towards the woods.

"Hey!" Matthias shouted and took off after the man. He ran, dodging trees and feeling warmth seep back into his arms and legs. The man always stayed a few paces ahead of him, but never let him fall to far behind. If Matthias stopped, the figure would too, looking back at him and waiting for Matthias to give chase again.

"Where are we going?" Matthias yelled, the cold wind pricking against the back of his throat. The figure paused on top of a small slope and swept a finger forward in the direction they were heading. Matthias resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Of course, he knew that they were going that way, but to where?

Matthias trudged his way up to the man and he was surprised when the man didn't flee. When he was almost right beside him, he finally saw their destination.

It was a small cabin, built completely of wood except for a stone fireplace that snaked its way up one of the sides. It only looked big enough for one or two people, but right now that would suit Matthias fine.

His companion walked forward and began leading Matthias up towards the cabin. He silently hoped that they weren't breaking and entering, but his savior didn't seem like someone who would force his way into a place. The man went into the house and paused waiting for Matthias to come inside.

The cabin only had one room, he realized. There was a fireplace in the corner, already filled with flames as if it had been expecting company. The flames danced for Matthias, greeting him with warmth and the smell of crisp pine. The light from the fireplace cast across the room, bathing everything in a slow yellow glow, and throwing shadows in strange places. Across from the fire was a forest green sofa that was worn, but well-loved, twinkling in the firelight. In the corner of the room, was a small wooden table complete with carved wooden chairs that fit neatly together. On the table was a lone green candle whose tiny flame burned innocently. The place felt strange, foreign, but entirely inviting.

Matthias turned to his host, only to see the man about to run off into the forest again.

"Wait!" he shouted and grabbed the man's wrist. The wrist was delicate in his hands and he could have probably broken it with a tight squeeze or a strong twist. As soon as he was touched, the man whipped his head back, causing his hood to fall away from his face.

It was like he was staring into the Northern sky itself, a dark blue canvas that possessed deadly beauty. The man's eyes captured Matthias and held him hypnotized. They weren't like anything he had ever seen before or would ever see again. His eyes were two captured gems kept hidden by long, pale, dusty lashes that brushed against his cheek when he blinked. They were wide and open with the shock of being grabbed, a slight panic hidden in their depths. He couldn't look away though. Those eyes were so visceral and promised secrets that had long been swept away with the passing of time. His hair was a light blond, a faint gold that had been kissed by the cold, and it curled ever so slight, framing his face.

There was something off, though. Something that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He felt it when he first saw the figure, and when he entered the cabin and now looking into the man's eyes. Everything, it was just too beautiful, a pretty sheen to create an illusion. He felt fear trickle down his back and settle itself in the pit of his stomach. The man was too striking. The house was too convenient. The situation was too whimsical. Things didn't happen like this, people didn't emerge from the woods except in storybooks and usually if they emerged they weren't…

Matthias's mind raced ahead to the stories that he had been told as a young child growing up in Odense. Fairy tale creatures gathered in his mind, until suddenly the words tumbled out of his mouth.

"What are you?"

**A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you for reading. This is my winter fiction for this year and a sort of Christmas present to ya'll, so I hope you enjoy it. The next chapter is going to be up in a few days. I already have it written, so there won't be much delay on it.**

**Please Review! ^_^**

**Keep Writing,**

**Silver**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, only the story idea.**

Chapter 2

The man's stare widen and he pulled against Matthias's grip, trying to escape again. He could see obvious fear leaking into the figure's eyes, making him look like a caged animal. Matthias didn't release him and instead pulled him further into the house, closing the door.

Once the door was fully shut and he was sure the man couldn't make an easy get away, he let go of the wrist. Immediately, the man jumped away and looked wildly between him and the door.

Matthias rose he hand gently, copying the movement he did when he first saw the being, and spoke in a soft voice. "Shh, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just a little curious."

The figure stared at him with unflinching eyes, but his body remained tense and his movements were jumpy. He stood as far away as he could from him too and never let him out of his line of sight. They stood like that for a few minutes, until Matthias was fed up with the stare-off.

Matthias sighed and unceremoniously sat down of the floor. He carefully kept himself in path to the door, but tried to make himself as least threatening as possible. Sitting was definitely less scary than standing right? At least, he hoped so. The tactic worked a little bit because the being lowered his guard, just a smidge, and braved a few glances away from Matthias. Eventually, the man must have begun the feel bored too because he also sat with his legs elegantly folded under him. They continued their stare-off, but the figure's glaze was slowly becoming less fearfully and more curious.

"I told ya I wasn't going to hurt ya." Matthias broke the silence. The man's face immediately tightened and his eyebrows quirked with disbelief at Matthias's little statement.

"Well, I haven't hurt you yet have I?" another look incredulity flashed.

He pouted and put his chin on his hand, leaning forward. His mind searched for something else to say.

"What's your name?" he asked, deciding to start simple rather than question whether the man was human or not.

The man's face narrowed in mistrust and curiosity and he seemed to mull over whether or not he should answer.

"Lukas." He finally said in a voice that seemed to settle in the air.

"Lukas," Matthias repeated, feeling the name on the roof of his mouth and tip of his tongue. It was light, airy, a caught whisper, just like the man himself. Now his savior had a name, a very human name. Why did Matthias ever question his humanity in the first place? Of course he was human! There wasn't any way he couldn't be. Magical creatures didn't exist he knew that.

"Why will you not let me go?" Lukas broke the pause, startling Matthias with his question.

Why didn't he let him go? The man had saved him after all and now Matthias was holding him captive for no reason.

"I guess…" he started. "I guess I just wanted to know who you are?"

Lukas's more relaxed expression immediately became wary.

"You did not ask who I was when you grabbed. You asked what I was."

A shiver ran through his spine and he thought he felt the temperature dropping slowly. The atmosphere of the wooden cabin was getting tenser by the minute and warnings in the back of his head were beginning to fire one-by-one.

"What do you plan to do to me?" Lukas said. His eyes burning, his voice frigid.

Matthias couldn't help the fear catching in his throat or the tightening of his stomach. "Please, no, you have it wrong." He held up his hands, like that would prove his innocence. "I haven't planned anything! I don't ever plan, I promise!"

Lukas's head tipped to the side ever so slightly, but his menacing gaze remained fixed. "Then why do you ask what I am?"

Matthias ran a hand through his hand and looked at the ground. "Well, it's just…" He sighed, thinking about how stupid he was going to sound. Then hesitantly, he brought his gaze back up to meet Lukas's. "I didn't think you were a human."

He was surprised when Lukas didn't burst out laughing or at least scoff at him. He had expected to be called an idiot, but Lukas didn't make a sound. He didn't look the least bit surprised or offended, either. He just looked anxious, wary and curious enough not to run away.

"You aren't human, are you?"

This time Lukas didn't tense; he just gave him an uncertain look, before slowly shaking his head.

Matthias was silent. He couldn't find words to say and he wouldn't even he dared say anything. The man, his savior, Lukas wasn't human. His brain processed the information, unable to wrap itself around the fact. He wasn't human. He was not human. That meant he was something else, something else that wasn't supposed to exist. Something else that could be dangerous.

Very carefully, Matthias asked the question that he been burning in his mind since he had first seen the man.

"What are you?"

Lukas looked away and his question was met with silence.

"Well, if you really don't want to tell me, then I guess it's alright. As longer as you don't try to eat me or anything." He chuckled nervously. "You won't eat me right?"

A smile momentarily drifted across Lukas's face, then like the fleeting life of a snowflake, it was gone.

It had been a small, tiny smile, but a smile nonetheless and within that smile was such emotion, Matthias had seen anything like it before. With the smile, that snowflake smile, Matthias felt his heart shatter and swell, breaking and filling, being held captive and being set free.

"You are quiet." Lukas voice cut into his thoughts and instantly pulled him back to reality.

"I'm sorry. I was just thinking." Lukas snorted. "What?"

"You do not seem like the type who thinks very much."

Matthias laughed and leaned back, putting his weight on his arms and looking at the ceiling.

"You sound like Berwald when you say that." He said lightly.

He wasn't directly looking at Lukas, but out of the corner of his eye he could see Lukas peering at him curiously.

"Who is Berwald?" he asked quietly, in his light, wispy way.

Matthias sat back up and scooted himself closer to Lukas. Lukas tensed a little, but almost instantly calmed, his weariness replaced by gentle curiosity.

"Berwald is my cousin. We grew up together, but we kinda hate each other." He paused.

"Well, hating each other isn't the right way to say it because we don't really hate each other. We fight all the time though, like cats and dogs, but when it really comes down to it we're like brothers. I know that he would do anything for me, even if he really doesn't want to do it. He's like that, always thinking of others before himself. You wouldn't know that just by looking at him, though, because he's one scary looking guy. His face always looks like this." Matthias tried to interpret Berwald's scowl for Lukas. "And he always speaks like he's mad at you, plus his accent is so thick that you can hardly understand what he's saying. But once you get to know him, ya can't help but love him."

He finished and the room fell into a comfortable silent, only interrupted by the hushed crackle of the fire. The flames still danced in their fiery home, red bodies twirling, twisting and twining together. He felt himself relaxing and reminiscing about Christmas memories as he breathed in the fire's pungent smell. Fire always smelled like Christmas to him. Like Christmas and like family all brought together to celebrate and cherish each other.

After another moment, he slowly rose and stood up, stretching his back. Below, Lukas carefully eyed him in case of any sudden movements.

"Come on, let's move to the couch. I'm sure it's a lot more comfortable than sitting on the floor." Matthias said as he offered a hand to Lukas.

Lukas carefully regarded his outstretched hand and hopeful face, before pushing himself up and pretending not to notice Matthias's crestfallen look.

They went to the couch and sat down next to each other. Lukas stared into the flames as if they were some kind of strange animal he had never seen before.

"I've never asked you, but is this your house?" Lukas looked at Matthias and shrugged.

"I do not know whose house this is. I just knew that it was here, so I brought you to it." He said nonchalantly.

"So we're breaking and entering! That's illegal."

"Perhaps it is for humans." Lukas smirked a little and leaned more into the couch as Matthias stared at him with wide eyes.

Lukas flicked his eyes between Matthias and the fire, not quite giving either his full attention.

"Do you realize that you have not told me your name? It is quite rude of you, especially since you are the one holding me captive and I have already told you my name."

Matthias looked at him blankly for a second, processing the words for a minute. Then he blushed as red as the fire.

"My name is Matthias. Matthias Køhler."

Lukas snorted.

"What? Is there something wrong with 'Matthias'?"

"It is a stupid name, but that is why it fits you."

"Stupid? It's not stupid." He paused. "I'm not stupid."

Lukas smirked a little before turning fully to Matthias and locking on to his eyes. "Do you not realize the very vulnerable position you have put yourself in? I am not human. I am not a being governed by human laws and human conscious. I could kill you in a moment if I wished to, and, trust me, I do wish to. I just have not decided when yet."

He meant it. Words weren't needed to show his seriousness. It was evident in all parts of his tone: the pitch, the timbre, the tiny lit at the end of his sentences. The voice of the frost-laden wind on scathing iron ice.

It shook Matthias. It chilled him. Those eyes slicing into his soul as ruthlessly as the Artic night.

"Then why haven't you?" The words tumbled out. He almost slapped his hand over his mouth. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why the hell was he questioning living? He loved living and would like to stay alive a little longer.

The being blinked, his face losing its threatening glare and the confidence in his eyes wavered. Suddenly, it all seemed to shatter like ice. The threat in his eyes, the danger in his voice, the intimidation in his body language, it all seemed to fall away at once. His tired eyes slid to the ground. He stared at the rug with a beguiled look as if he had gone into some kind of trance. Then, he spoke slowly.

"I don't know. I just do not feel like it right now I guess. I have plenty of time to do it later" He coughed out a chuckle, and kept staring at the floor.

He's lying. Matthias knew it, he could faintly see it in his eyes. But about what, he didn't know.

Matthias looked around the room again. It was still as welcoming as it had been when he first walked in. The table and chairs were still neatly in place with the tiny red candle burning steadily as if it had just been lit. Who had lit that candle anyway? The fireplace was just as beckoning. The wood kept burning, the flames forever dancing, their bodies endless bent in silent tangos. They just kept dancing. Dancing and dancing and dancing, cursed by their tiny red ember shoes. Forever.

After what seemed like hours, Lukas sighed, his voice came out like the whine of a cello, a single beautiful, haunting note. He was leaning forward with his arms rested on his knees and shoulders rolled forward. Suddenly, Matthias thought, he seemed very sad. Not a temporary sad or a hurt sad, he was a hopeless sad. A beautiful, broken, hopeless sad.

"Human," he started, then he paused. "Matthias," The word sounded strange with his breathy voice. " You can go. I'm letting you live. I'm not going to kill you tonight." Their eyes met again, navy artic night against azure day.

Matthias stood to leave and began heading to the door, but he stopped a few feet from it. He looked back at the man who had saved him. Lukas was still on the couch with his eyes transfixed to the ground. He looked beaten as if he knew the world was going to crash in at any moment and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Where was the curiosity? Where was the anger? Where was the threat? Where was anything?

"Lukas, what's wrong?" Matthias dared to ask. Lukas remained frozen. "Lukas?" Matthias tried again.

"Why do you care?" His voice cut, slicing through the homey fire glow. "I gave you permission to leave. I gave you permission to live, so go. Live. Do whatever humans do."

He was avoiding the question. "What's wrong, Lukas?" He said again, his tone a little more forceful.

Lukas raised his head and tentatively met Matthias's eyes. The great, threatening fervor was long gone, leaving a destroyed remorse in its wake. "Nothing is wrong. Everything is in order, the universe is just as it should be."

He wasn't lying or being sarcastic. He was stating a fact.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Matthias asked mostly just going along with what Lukas said.

"Yes, it's a good thing. A very good thing." Then, Lukas dropped his head again as if to say the conversation was over.

Matthias turned to the door. It wooden slates created a barrier to the outside world. Outside was the world, cold and real, cruel and beautiful. Inside, was this homely little universe, a seemingly perfect space with carved chairs, innocent blue candles, a jumping, dancing fireplaces. And this ethereal being that sat on the couch, that destroyed the laws of the universe with his very existence.

"Will you be okay if I leave?" he asked one more time, trying to coax an answer from his silent savior.

He said nothing for a long time, then breathed out one tiny syllable. "no"

**A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you for following up with this story and spending time on my writing! Hopefully, you are enjoying the fiction and will keep reading. Originally, I had planned to release this yesterday, but I just didn't. If you all have time, I'm shamelessly self-advertising my other writing! So please if you're interested go read it!**

**Thanks again and please review!**

**Keep Writing,**

**Silver**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, only the story idea.**

Chapter 3

The veil of silence fell again, suffocating the fireplace's warmth and the homey feel. Matthias looked back at the door. Suddenly it seemed impossible to leave. Impossible to leave Lukas sitting on the couch with his head hung. Impossible to leave his savior exposed and vulnerable.

Matthias strode back to the couch and sat down heavily. The fire's heat was becoming increasingly suffocating and it seemed to slither down his throat.

"I was drinking in a bar before I you found me. Truthfully, I thought I was going to die out there in the snow." He said, not really knowing what else to say.

"You were about to die. The cold was beginning to slow your blood down and your heart rate was becoming weak. If I had not warmed you, you would have been dead in half an hour." Lukas said, his tone vacant and emotionless, completely empty.

Matthias just stared. … How? How could Lukas know all that when Matthias was lying in the snow? He hadn't touched him, hell; he hadn't gotten within one meter of him, so how did he know that his blood pressure and heart rate were low? He really wasn't human. No human could do that.

Lukas's eyes flickered up to Matthias's. His small bow-shaped mouth was bent into a slender frown and the bottom lip quivered ever so slightly. His fingers nervously tapped on the cap of his knee, perfect oval nails cascading in an incessant pattern.

"You are quiet again," He whispered.

"I'm sorry. I was just thinking." Matthias's voice was quiet, too. Lukas didn't make a snarky comment or say something about his intelligence. The atmosphere was oppressive and humbling, forcing them to keep their voices low and throaty.

Moonlight fell through the single window of the house, dousing its corner in blue glow. Objects radiated and shined, as if gilded in silver. But, in reality, they were just objects. Still just ordinary objects. The fire's light stretched to meet the moonlight and they collided, making a battle front. Warm yellow against cool blue, waging a silent war in the back of the house. This fact unknown to the human, but strikingly urgent to the being.

"I don't understand." Matthias said. " What's going on? I can't help you if I have no idea what's going on?"

Lukas looked at him; his eyes almost seemed to pity him. "You cannot help nor can you change what is going to happen."

"But what is going to happen!" Matthias shouted. Lukas jumped back immediately, skittering away like a forest animal. He was so different from before. Why was he so different?

Matthias's heart pounded in his chest, his blood flowed hotly through his veins. Something was wrong. So terribly wrong.

"Please, Matthias, just leave. It would be better for you." Lukas pleaded.

Matthias watched his savior carefully. His body language was flighty and quivering like a small animal's. But the movements still held the being's supernatural grace and his power leaked through them. He was sure that Lukas possessed some kind of power, something scary and beautiful that could kill him in an instant, but he wasn't showing it. Something was scaring him, Matthias realized, something that Matthias didn't understand, something he wasn't sure if he wanted to understand.

"Lukas," he said. "Calm down. Everything is going to be okay. Everything will be alright."

Lukas met his gaze, his eyes clandestine and guarded, hiding emotions that that brimmed under the surface. His body shook slightly as if he had the chills; his breaths caught in his throat and came out erratically. He looked like he was going to have a panic attack at any moment.

He stared at his hand. His eyes were focused on it. He kept looking at it as if it was completely foreign to him. It looked like it was terrifying him. Then he quickly mumbled something under his breath in a strange language and his body seemed to instantly still. Suddenly, he was as pacific as a glacier and his eyes became frigid again.

A chill rippled through Matthias, sending ice coursing through his veins. Cold gripped his lungs, squeezing them, tightening around them like a great snake. The frost dug its fangs into him, sucking the warm marrow from his bones. His mind flashed back to when he was lying in the snow. He was helpless and pitiful, again. The darkness was returning, again. He was dying, again.

Cold.

Panic.

Dark.

Death.

Cold.

Panic.

Dark.

Death.

Cold!

Panic!

DARK!

"MATTHIAS!"

Matthias's eyes shot open. Lukas's face was right in front of his, contorted in worry. His fingers were clenched around Matthias's shirt; his knuckles were taut and white.

"Lukas? What happened?"

"I almost killed you again, idiot." Lukas released his shirt and settled back into the couch. The cushions whined and bent to accommodate his weight. The glow of the fire washed over him, bathing him in a full body halo. He looked like an angel, a pure creature that had been cursed to this brutal planet, an innocent lost in the throws of fate.

"You're not very good at killing things, are you?" He gave a huge toothy grin.

Lukas stared at him as if he'd grown another arm.

"… What?" He looked so confused.

Matthias burst out laughing. The sound ricocheted around the room and bounced against the wooden walls. It was light and fluid and brilliant and it awakened the room. Everything seemed to be right again, everything seemed to be safe. Lukas looked at him with a simple expression of content as if the worries of the world didn't affect him at all.

The fire was settled in its place. The flames resting now, taking a break from their enchanted dancing. Tiny ballerinas resting their bloody feet before they had to pirouette again.

There was still something wrong. Matthias knew it. But he wouldn't ask, he wouldn't force Lukas again. He wouldn't break this perfect atmosphere. Lukas would tell him eventually, before this was night was through.

Matthias relaxed deeper into the couch. How had he ended up here? With this person? He had expected to die and now he was meeting possibly the most amazing creature on this planet. What would Tino and Berwald think of Lukas? Would they even meet him?

"Hey Lu, when all this is over, how about you come and meet my family?"

Lukas blinked and his head tilted.

"Really?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah!" Matthias said loudly, his smile widening. "It will be great Lukas! I'm sure Tino and Berwald will love you. And they have this son named Peter, who's still pretty young, but I'm sure he'll like you, too. Oh, and you can see my house and maybe I could make you dinner. Then, …" Matthias was rambling, his mind was wandering through all the possibilities. But, then, he looked at Lukas.

Lukas sat on the couch, silent and unmoving. His face was turned towards Matthias, but his eyes weren't concentrated on him. He was someplace else, Matthias realized, he was lost in his own imaginations.

"Lukas?" he asked quietly.

The being's gaze immediately refocused on him. He thought for a moment, and then spoke quickly and quietly as if he was being cautious.

"I've never been in a human town before. You're the first human I've ever met. "

Matthias's blue eyes widened. "Really? Oh, then I have so much to show you. There's so many people I'd like you to meet. Maybe you could even stay for a while. Yeah! I have an extra room that…" His voice trailed off and his thought becoming lost in the winter air.

Lukas was giving him that pitying look again. He looked him the same way he would look at a child who didn't know the ways of the world and was naïve to reality. He knew something, but he wasn't telling the Dane. Suddenly, he felt like a fool. Who was kidding? This beautiful being, his savior from the snow, didn't belong with humans. He was too wild, too visceral, too ethereal. Too inhuman to be in humanity.

Lukas sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The light glinted against his blonde tresses and the pin in Lukas's hair, making it shine like gold. He seemed to stop at the pin, his fingers resting on it for a few seconds.

"Where'd you get that pin?" Matthias asked. He didn't really know why he asked, but the words seemed to rush out of his mouth.

Lukas looked into the fireplace, thinking about the answer before saying it.

"I found it on the body of a woman, who had frozen in the snow."

_What!_ Matthias almost yelled, but he caught himself before he did. He waited instead, anticipating that Lukas was going to say more.

"She had died from the cold, much in the same way that you were going to die. I found her long after she had died; her body did not even hold warmth anymore. She was curled up into herself. Ice was covering her hair, the frost had turned her fingers blue and her beauty had been swallowed by death."'

He paused, then continued, his voice low and melodic.

"I had never seen death before then and she was the first human I had killed. I was ashamed with myself; I was devoured by the guilt in the same way a wolf gnaws at a bloody bone. I took the pin to remember her, but her death and petrified face continued to haunt me. I did not know of humans before her, but I learned of them soon after. She does not disturb me any longer, after all her death has just became one of many."

He was finished and stared into the glowing flames, enraptured by distress created in his own mind. The firelight licked his face gently, like the comforting kiss of a mother, and smoothed his already beautiful features.

"I am sorry." He whispered, the swell of the Northern wind leaving his lips. "I should not have told you that."

Matthias was quiet. He wasn't sure what to do. He felt like he should comfort Lukas somehow, but at the same time he was anxious. Unease had wedged itself in his mind and was bouncing between the vertebras in his backbone. The instinctual fear for his own life was growing stronger by the moment and becoming hard to ignore. But he had no reason to fear the being. Lukas hadn't hurt him.

_Yet._ Whispered the tiny voice in the back of his head.

No. Lukas wouldn't hurt him. Lukas was no danger. Lukas was his savior.

The assertion comforted him; at the same time he felt like he had taken a snow leopard for a house cat.

He settled further into the couch and risked a glance to his watch. It's shiny glass face read: 4:24 am. Early morning, too early for the sun, but too late for the hideous acts of night. A gentle, buttery time where moon prepared for her descent and the sun for her rise.

In the tiny cabin and its solitary universe, the fire glimmered again, danseuses lining up for rise of the curtain, embers licking at their heels.

**A/N: Happy New Years, everyone! Here's a chapter to kick off your 2015. Thank you all for the response that this story has been getting. It's really just a short side story that I didn't expect anyone to read. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up in a few days. **

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Keep Writing,**

**Silver**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or its character, only the story idea.**

Chapter 4

When Matthias was a boy, his father introduced him Hans Christian Anderson. His old man, being the proud Dane he was, had practically bottle-fed him the stories to the point where he almost had them memorized. He used to imagine that Anderson's world lay right beneath his own. Whenever he saw ducklings, he looked for the ugly one that would someday become a swan. Whenever he gazed into swirling waters, he would hope to see a flicker of a little mermaid's golden tail.

Though he soon realized the world didn't work like that. Fantastic creatures only existed in the pages of a book, and they only came to life in his head. He was a dreamer, a romantic, a fantasist, and the world hated that. It tried to kill that part of him and exterminate it like it was a disease to be cured. The world forced him into reality, a reality that was as hard and cruel as tundra's winter.

But now he was here. A character in one of Hans Christian Anderson's tales meeting an irrational, wild, extraordinary creature.

"Hey, Lukas" he said slowly. "All I want is a yes or a no." Matthias paused and Lukas's eyes curiously rose to meet his. "Can I ask you what you are yet?"

The being's eyes slid away. They looked everywhere. Everywhere but at him. Then, Lukas gave a barely noticeable shake of his head. The fire seemed to dim.

"No," he whispered. "please, no." another breath. "Just not yet." His head hung in shame, and his eyelids half-covered his eyes. A shadow had cast over his face, making it into a half-moon. One side as light as new fallen snow, one side dark, cold and chilling.

"Hey," said Matthias as he scooted closer to his hunched savior. Lukas didn't shy away this time. The moon grew larger. "Hey, hey. It's all right. I know you will tell me when you're ready."

Lukas finally raised his head and his sharp, iron eyes met Matthias's. The being's stare bored into him and he felt a chill whisk through his blood.

"How do you know I'm going to tell you?" He asked, his voice dripping with confusion. "Why do even trust me that much? I've already told you I'm a killer." His eyes searched Matthias's, looking for some kind of fear, understanding, or even some kind of reassurance.

Matthias leaned back into the couch and let out a large, heavy sigh.

"You know Lukas. You keep telling me you're a monster, or a killer, or something like that, but you have yet to show me it. So I guess what I'm saying is that I don't really believe you." Matthias tilted his head back and gave a small smile to the ceiling. Beside him, he could feel Lukas's stare and utter disbelief.

He felt his heart sinking, like it was being dragged down into a deep, dark ocean. What kind of life had Lukas lived? What kind of life would force someone to believe they are a monster?

_Maybe it's because he is a monster._

Then, he heard a small sound, a tiny, blissful laugh that chimed like a dozen silver bells.

"You are an idiot, you know." The voice was tiny and fragile, like a snowflake against a windowpane. His head snapped to Lukas.

He was leaning forward with his elbows rested on the top of his knees. He had drawn his face into his hands and was holding his head. The light outlined his face, giving his profile an almost golden gleam.

Matthias first noticed the tear in Lukas's eye. It hung on his lower eyelash and threatened to spill over and onto his cheek. But for now, it was just a tiny orb of silver that was barely clinging.

Then Matthias noticed the quivering of Lukas's bottom lip. It was shivering like a leaf. It was trying to hold back a sob.

"Lukas," Matthias said while getting closer to his savior. " Why are you crying?" Slowly, he reached up his hand, daring to touch Lukas's face. He brushed against the teardrop and wiped it away, so it could never tarnish him.

"Because you are an fool, Matthias, a wonderful, glorious, fool." Lukas met his eyes and a snowflake smile graced his lips. "But that is exactly what this world needs. Promise me that you will never stop being a fool and that you will never stop hopelessly believing in people, because without hopeless believers no one would ever believe in anyone."

Matthias blinked and felt the need to take a step back. Nobody had ever said something like that to him. Nobody had ever called his imaginings anything but useless daydreams.

Suddenly, Lukas's eyes went wide. He looked widely around like a trapped animal. Everything became cold and even time seemed to freeze for an instant. Shivers raced up. Gelid ice shot into his veins. Matthias's spine became laced with cold, steel, panic.

"Lukas?" he asked questioningly. "Wh, What's going on?" He heard the controlled frenzy in his voice, causing his words to come out in a shaky mess.

The being didn't say anything. He kept looking blindly into the air as his frosted breath rose around him. His eyes were looking, but they were not seeing. He reached for Matthias, his hand scrambling to touch the other's arm. When he finally found it, he latched on to it, holding it like it was his only lifeline.

The air was suffocatingly cold and it seemed to pierce Matthias's lungs every time he took a breath. He felt the feeling rush out of his fingers and toes as the air turned his blood into ruby ice. He desperately tried to move them, but they didn't. He body wasn't listening to him anymore.

"Lukas, please, you have to stop." He said through chattering teeth, but his savior didn't make a move. He was staring at the fire.

The fire in the fireplace quelled, becoming low, hissing embers. The air was smothering it, too. The dancers howled in pain as the air became dangerous around them. The cold was quenching its life, slowly, surely, unrelenting.

Then, Matthias felt the being on his arm shudder.

"Lukas? Lukas!"

Lukas's shudders didn't stop. They got worse. His body was contracting and writhing as if he was caught in the throws of a nightmare. His breaths were short and ragged coming out in quick bursts. Pain bled through every one of his actions and Matthias could only hold him helplessly.

Then, the being became still and slumped like deadweight.

"Lukas!" Matthias nearly screamed. Was he? Was he? No. He couldn't, right?

A fresh wave of panic hit him, but this was unlike anything he had felt before. It hurt more than anything he felt before. This hurt filled him entirely and became him, breaking apart his mind and his heart.

Desperately, he forced his hand to move and his fingers to obey him. He put there against the other's neck and searched for a pulse, a sign, anything. Then, he felt it, faint, but definitely there.

Darkness had engulfed the room, gilding it in murky, leaden shadows and blocking out all that was right. In the fireplace, the embers clung to the last of their heat and their glow diminished. What used to be the bodies of the dancers were now thin ashes, grey backs hunched over in the paralysis of death. Without the fire, everything had become heavier and familiar shapes seemed to sneer at Matthias from behind murkiness. The only light in the room came from the yellow candle on the table with its guileless flame and from the moonlight streaming through the glass window. They were the sole fighters against the darkness now.

Matthias hugged his savior closer to his body as if he could drag him away from the shadows and the shade. As if he could save him from unknown demons.

Something was so wrong as Matthias had no idea what. He wanted this being to trust him and tell him on his own time, but at some point he was going to have to demand answers.

Anyways, this situation was really beginning to freak him. No, who's he kidding. This situation was scaring him shitless. If this was a Hans Christian Anderson story and he was the main character, this was the time something bad happens and someone dies or a deadly secret is revealed.

But, thankfully, this isn't a Hans Christian Anderson story.

Matthias looked down into his arms when he felt Lukas begin to stir. Immediately, he felt his heart struggle in his chest, like it was caught in an animal trap.

He opened his eyes and ice, cold daggers toned down by confusion blinked up at Matthias's. In the darkness, his eyes were even more piercing, like two ice shards. Light seemed to glint off of them.

"Wha-" He began. Then, he stopped. He remembered.

Every ounce of confusion and sleepiness was gone in an instant. He practically jumped off the couch and began to look around wearily as if he was expecting an attack in a moment. Or maybe he was.

Matthias watched from his seat. Lukas hadn't looked back at him, and it was almost like he had forgotten he was there. His savior was pacing before him, his steps silent and soft, but all his muscles were tense and taunt. His graceful movements were now controlled by instinct and need. They were all primal and visceral without the steady composure of polished logic. He looked more animal than human. He looked like the wild, vicious creature that he said he was.

Cold was heavy in the air and the temperature was dropping steadily. Matthias felt the now familiar sting of frostbite licking at the edge of his body. It was both numbing and burning at the same time, and he desperately tried to push the feeling down.

"Lukas?" he began hesitantly. "I think you need to calm down." His words were shaky as his teeth started chattering. He grit his teeth and tried to remain as calm as possible.

The being whipped around and through the darkness his eyes glistened dangerously.

"Please, Lu. I don't know what your doing or how your doing it, but you need to stop." Slowly, he posture began to relax and the cold eased.

"Why don't you come back over here? We can sit just like before and talk and I can light the fi-"

"No!" His voice was iron-sharp and sliced through the room. "No fire. Do not light it again." The chill returned full force and frost covered the windows.

Matthias shook at the command. Lukas had never sounded so threatening or so savage. He still tried to desperately remain calm, but his heart rattled against his ribs. But he had to get Lukas to listen to him. He just had to.

"Alright, then. No fire. But I still think you need to come over here." He had attempted to make his tone stern, but it barely came out as a feeble request.

Lukas turned away from him and into the darkness, becoming bathed in its shadows. He began pacing again, like a wild cat caught in a cage. Matthias tried to reason with him again. But he ignored the human.

Matthias sighed and leaned back into the couch, carefully trailing the being with his eyes. Every one of my muscles were telling him to flee, to run out the door to get away as far as he could. But he couldn't. He knew he couldn't, not when Lukas was so obviously terrified. So he stayed.

Slowly, the cold was lessening and a comfortable warmth came back to the room. Lukas stopped pacing and silently slipped on to the couch where he was before.

There was a long silence that drifted between them. The mood is the air was tense and palpable like any sudden movement could set it off. Matthias risked a glance to his savior and saw that his head was hung, refusing to meet his eyes. It seemed like there was an ocean between them. The water was deep, vast darkness. The shores were two slivers of silver on the very edge. And they were two people on rim shouting to each other, but barely hearing. Their voices were whipped away by the wind and taken to a place where only the heavens could hear them.

"I'm sorry, Lukas" his apology was soft and battered by the air of the room. "But I need some answers if you want me to stay."

He watched the other, looking for some kind of sign that he had been heard. The being's body was stiff; he slowing raised his eyes to meet Matthias's.

For a second, he feared the worst. His savior was going to tell him to go. To leave. To get away and never come back. To acknowledge his own stupidity and naivety to go back to harsh reality.

"Alright" Lukas said, his voice low and stern. "I am called a snow spirit, but that is not what I truly am. I am the death that the snow brings, the chill that traces down your spine, and the last breath you give before death takes you. I am the cold of winter, which takes life away."

**A/N: Hello everybody! Sorry for such a long wait on this chapter, but I've been extremely busy and took a hiatus from FanFiction altogether. (as most of you know it can be very addicting) I'm super excited for this chapter because Nor's identity is revealed! But if you think that's all I have planned for this story you are very wrong. **

**Alright, as always PLEASE REVIEW! That's the only way I get feedback from my readers and know if the story is any actual good.**

**Keep Writing,**

**Silverwind10123**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I don't know whether anyone is still reading this story, but it felt wrong not to keep going. I'm sorry for the long wait to those who have kept with it. Hopefully, this chapter is satisfying. I had a brilliant push of motivation to finish this chapter and have rushed it out to you folks. It's not as thoroughly proofread as it should be, but I'll go through it with a finer comb later. For now, read and enjoy!**

Monster is a relative term. It takes on multiple personalities and is different for each person. For some, their monsters are physical, corporal beings that haunt in the wakening hours. For others, their monsters are intangible and lie at the edges of their mind waiting for a lapse in reality, in which they can strike. To different people, monsters take on different forms. For Matthias, his monster was one shared by almost every living being, and that monster was death.

Death was a subject that Matthias preferred not to dwell on. He pushed it to the back of his mind along with any thoughts of running away or suicide. Just like any other person. He didn't want to die. So he did not think of death. Like a child, he thought that if he didn't acknowledge, it wouldn't be real. It was a subtle way to trick himself that death would never come.

But here death stood before him. His grim reaper and his shining knight all bundled into one. Death in its most beautiful form. He still couldn't believe that Lukas was death or a monster. After all, death doesn't save people, and monsters don't become afraid of being alone. They don't have a heart. Yes, Lukas was not human, that fact was obvious from the first time he saw him, but that didn't necessarily make him a monster.

"_But it does" _said the voice in the back of his mind, that insanely practical part of his mind that was still telling him to run. He should listen to that part. If he did he wouldn't have almost died in the first place. But, then again, if he had listen to that part he never would have met this beautiful being.

Logic be dammed.

"Ma, Matthias?" Lukas's voice broke him out of his thoughts. The stutter gave away his nervousness, but other than that there was no emotion in his face. No, maybe there was. Matthias hadn't seen it before, but Lukas's fingers were twitching ever so slightly and there was a tiny crinkle in the corner of his eye.

"I'm here." He said, not really knowing what else to say. Lukas's eyes burned into his, trying to tempt him into saying more. He was so unsure and that tormented Matthias, but he didn't say any more.

Lukas sighed, apparently giving up as he slumped into the couch and folded in on himself. "You have to say something Matthias." He mumbled, not meeting the other's eyes.

There was a long silence that filled the room. It seemed to settle on everything like an invisible dust. The space was dark and still, but not like it had been before. The night had passed and now the days were bleeding together, one into another. A whole new day was about to begin, another sun was about to rise, and with it another chance of dawn. Hopefully, Matthias thought, this day would be different from all the rest. Maybe with it he could leave behind his past, and maybe Lukas would help him do that.

"To be honest, I don't know what to say." He said very carefully. "But I know that this doesn't make you a monster. You can't choose what to be born as, but you can choose what you become. You shouldn't be ashamed."

Lukas shifted in his seat, turning his body more towards Matthias's. He looked confused.

"I am not ashamed. I am what I am and I do not know being anything else. I do not know human emotions like you do." He paused and bit his lip, unsure about what he was going to say next. "It is strange. I'm proud of what I am. I'm strong and I can do whatever I like because I am not bound to the human civilization and its laws. But at the same time, I would like to be bound, just to be able to experience things humans experience.

I know that I am death and humans fear me for that. Every living being fears me for that. I also know that it is foolish for me to wish I was not death. I cannot change fate after all. I am lucky I was not born as a weak creature, but sometimes I just wish…"

His voice trailed off and became lost in the silence. Matthias couldn't help but stare. That was the longest he had ever heard Lukas talk and he almost couldn't believe it. Lukas was keeping all this bottled to himself? Honestly, Matthias didn't know how to help his savior because it was just as he had said. He was what he was, he couldn't change fate.

"Lukas, do you wish you could be human?" He asked with baited breath.

Lukas snorted. "No, I do not. I wish for some of the things that humans have, but does not every creature. Humans, after all, seem to be the most blessed among us. You have hopes and dreams and families to rely on. From your very birth, you are possibility and have the ability to churn your own path in this world."

He looked out towards the window and silently tracked the silver moon's shadow. "You do not already have your place decided."

Matthias was silent. It wasn't that he didn't have anything to say, he just didn't know what to choose to say. He wanted to ask what Lukas meant by his speech. He wanted to ask why Lukas didn't seem like he was living his own life. He wanted to ask why he thought that humans were so great when they caused so much cruelty. Most of all, he desperately wanted to ask what was wrong. But he said none of those things, despite all that he said what he thought was most heartbreaking.

"Lukas, do you not have a family?" he practically whispered and drew even closer to Lukas. He thought that Lukas would just move away or shift uncomfortably, but instead he leaned into Matthias. Idly, Matthias wondered if Lukas had ever been touched before.

Lukas took a long moment to answer. "I had a brother once."

Matthias waited because Lukas' tone told him that he would continue. He was just taking his time and gathering his memories. Matthias didn't mind, he could spend hours watching Lukas' face. As he thought of his brother, his face was slowly melting, just the way night metamorphosed into day. The little edge of a smile that Lukas had begun to take on when Matthias spoke was slowly transforming into something more beautiful. It was becoming fuller and filling with more emotion than Matthias had thought possible.

It wasn't flooding or overpowering, but a complicated sort of emotion that in itself a paradox and capable of being both delicate and strong. Once again, Matthias saw his savior in the snow breaking logic and changing everything he thought he knew. He could help but wonder why Lukas would ever think himself a monster. Monsters don't care like this; they don't have this fierce a love. Monsters were made when someone was bereft of emotion and, even though he tried to hide it, Lukas had more complicated emotion than Matthias thought possible.

"His name was Emil and he was a spirit like me, though he was a spirit of ice and not Winter's death. Us spirits, we do not often meet, and when we do we very rarely interact for more than a few seconds. But when I found him…" He trailed off and got caught in a memory again, before slowly continuing.

"He was so small and fragile. He was alone and looked terrified because of it. We are all born alone, that is the way nature intended us to be. But that moment when I saw him huddled and afraid, I questioned nature and rebuked natural order. I took him as my own and called him brother. I decided that he did not deserve to live alone and because of that he did not."

Lukas was silent again, staring into the darkness. He wasn't looking at anything and they were a vast amount of vision in his eyes. His memories were replaying themselves over and over again. Only the happy ones, though, the darker ones would come eventually.

Matthias shifted and Lukas just sunk deeper into his side. Very slowly, Matthias wound his arm across Lukas' shoulders and brought him in closer. It was an innocent touch, just something to show that he was hear and he was listening.

"I don't know where Emil is now." Lukas said so quietly that Matthias almost missed it. His voice was like a snowflake that only lived for a minute. "I woke up one day and he was gone." His voice teetered. "I searched and searched. I scoured this whole forest. I cried out his name until my voice was raw, but…"

Under his arm, Matthias could feel Lukas shuttering with emotion. He took a deep breath and collected himself enough to talk again. "I almost wish that I had found him dead because then I would know what his end was. But I did not find him, which means he might still be out there somewhere and alone. He has never been alone before, I never let him see that curse because I knew how terrible it was. What if now that is the life he lives? What if he is looking for me and he is lost and terrified? Matthias, what if he forgets what it like to be next to somebody? What if he forgets like I did?"

Throughout his confession, Lukas had slowly been getting closer and closer to Matthias. At this point, he had practically molded himself into his side and was clutching his hand like it was a lifeline. Maybe it actually was. The trembling had started again, but now Matthias could feel the violent tremors racing against his side like they were his own. The temperature had begun to drop too and Matthias could feel the deep familiar chill settling itself against his bones.

He ignored most of that though and instead one phrase kept replaying itself in his mind: _What if he forgets like I did? _With every word of that phrase, with every meaning that it brought to his mind, Matthias felt little pieces of his heart breaking away. Lukas had been so alone that he had forgotten what company felt like. Matthias couldn't imagine that. He couldn't imagine living and knowing that nobody cared about him. He couldn't imagine being trapped in his own head with no one to communicate to. He couldn't imagine the way that Lukas' mind must have twisted over itself and craved for another. To know that his only purpose in life was to bring death and to curse others with loneliness and deprivation of loved ones. No wonder, Lukas had thought himself a monster.

That had been Lukas' entire life before Emil and when Emil had disappeared that was the life that Lukas had been cursed to live again. Nature had started his life out cruelly and twisted it to be crueler still.

Matthias wanted to say something, but he knew an "I'm sorry" wouldn't cut it. "I'm sorry" is such a useless phase. It held none of the comfort that Matthias wanted to give and was cold and flat against his tongue. Also, he was angry. He didn't know who to be angry at or what to curse for giving Lukas such a heartbreaking life, so he silently swore at everything. He threw profanities at fate and wailed damnation against the heavens. He cursed nature and nurture and the universe and the earth. He told whoever was listening up there that they were wrong and that Lukas deserved better. He was too perfect to be sentenced into being a monster. He was too brave to be expected to live without a heart.

In his head he said all these things. Outside of his head, in the cabin, he said nothing because, for the moment, words didn't belong in the air. So instead, Matthias moved his hand from Lukas' shoulders and into the small of his back. He began rubbing circles and feeling the shift of Lukas' muscles under his palm. He provided as much comfort as he could, because he knew that he deserved it.

Around them, the atmosphere of the cabin shifted and became warmer. The table and chairs seemed to take up space again. On top of the table, the white candle burned with a tiny flame. It was small, but filled the room with light because of how much darkness swirled around the pair on the couch. The fire flickered and the brightness rippled like the surface of water. It spread itself across the beings on the couch, human and spirit. Almost like a blanket. Almost like it was trying to keep them safe.

**A/N: I'd forgotten how much I loved writing in this lyrical style… It really is very refreshing to come back to this story and bring it to life once again. I hope that there wasn't a huge discrepancy between writing styles from then and now (do remember that I've picking up this chapter after over a year of not working on it). As always please review and tell me whether you think I should continue and whether you are enjoying the story so far.**

**Love you all,**

**Silver**


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Hetalia - Axis Powers, Fantasy, Romance