Be Well, My Darling (Fruk)

10

December 24, 1914

"Dear Arthur,

I know this letter is sudden, but it will be Christmas soon, and I was promised this letter would reach you on time. Assuming this letter reaches you on Christmas eve, it will have been forty-five days since I last saw you.

This may sound forward, but I think of you daily and your well-being. In fact, the other day, I saw a small bunny, and it reminded me of you. Not because of the reason you would think, but because it looked like the one you saw when we were kids. I wish we were still kids.

I miss how we lied to each other about who we were. I miss sneaking outside of your room during the middle ages; I miss pretending we were a family with Alfred and Matthew; I miss you because you have always been here for me, even at my worst. We have both done each other wrongly and shown affection toward each other that no one will know about.

No one will know the way we have treated each other. Only how we treat each other in front of others. I regret that I sometimes enjoy mocking you, but I do it with love.

Despite all of this, I think I will miss you for a long, long time, or at least till I see you again. I worry about if you are eating properly, if you get enough sleep, if you have been drinking enough water; I worry about you endlessly because you are careless. You may always annoy me for bothering you, but I do care.

As I write this letter to you, I am caught in tears. I constantly think of the day you will go away, knowing that you warned me of the price I'd have to pay for having these sinful feelings.

Yes, you read that correctly.

I suffer continuously from these unspoken feelings that drive me crazy, but life's full of flaws, and I think I will care for you for a very long time. I have done everything I know to try and make things right between us, but it seems as if I may be too late. This war is terrible, and despite not being able to die, I am worried that I might die before I see you again.

Do me a favor, don't worry about me. Between the two of us, you have always been the smartest and the strongest (mentally, we both know I am the strongest nation between the two of us.) As I said, I want you to be well. It would make me happy in this terrible time if you found happiness in something, anything to help you get through this tough time.

Enclosed is something extra; I hope you enjoy it.

Be Well, My Darling.

Without Love, Francis."

I held the letter close to my chest, feeling the tears fall from my cheeks down to my neck.

That idiot...

I looked inside the envelope, seeing a small photo fall out.  The back of it read, "Don't do anything perverted to this photo." With a heart next to it. Seriously? As if I would do anything indecent like that. I flipped the photo around, expecting to see something of him; it would be the only explanation for that silly message.

However, to my surprise, it wasn't. The photo was a bit older; it was the one we took during the party after the Entente Cordiale was implemented. Looking at our awkward postures and still faces made me smile. That night, we did something indecent, something I didn't want to remember.

It was a drunk mistake; it wasn't like we enjoyed it; I knew he absolutely didn't. We were very drunk, and something like that would never happen again, not in another century! Times change, but not in favor of people like us.

Yeah! A mistake!

As if any of that was good for me!

"Hmmm?" I hummed. There was small writing at the bottom of the photo, and I looked at it closely. "Go easy on yourself and others," it read.

Go easy on myself?

"That idiot," I whispered. He always loved to do things he knew would get in my head. I wasn't entirely sure what he meant by that, but I was not going to think hard about it.

I began to hear coughing coming from all around me and was snapped back into reality. I was on the Western Front, which was on the borders of France. I was away from my dear friends and was alone to fight against Mr. Germany head-on. I hated it.

It was supposed to be Christmas, but everyone looked sad and miserable; only people like me were to blame for their anguish. These innocent humans are also only doing what they are told.

My face began to soften as I had this weird feeling deep in my stomach. I had only one instinct, and it controlled me. I could not explain what it was, but it urged me to do something. It had nothing to do with what Francis said in the letter; it was all me. No one else but me.

I stood up quickly, catching the attention of the nearby soldiers. They looked at me, confused and worried, but I had to stay focused; I had only one chance to ensure this worked. "Sir? What are you doing?" One asked. However, I ignored him.

I could hear gasps grow louder as I began to move up one of the ladders to look over the trenches. I couldn't die, so I didn't care if I were to get shot down. I threw my hands up as if asking for no one to shoot. Many people saw this, and shouting commenced.

Across no man's land and around me...people yelled to take action. On my side, people begged me not to surrender; some called for me to get down from where I was, while on the other side, I could hear them preparing to open fire. But they didn't yet...

"HEY! GET DOWN!"

"DON'T SHOOT!"

"MR. ENGLAND!"

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!"

Then...

Silence...

It grew silent once I exposed myself in front of both sides.  "This is me going easy on myself, so don't get mad at me later," I whispered to myself. For obvious reasons, I said that to Francis, even if he didn't hear me.

On the other side, I watched how Mr. Germany held his gun up, pointing it at me.

"Mr. France...I think I'm going to miss you for a long, long time," I whispered to myself. I was going to miss him dearly, and I look forward to him getting upset with me later. Being worried about me and being the one to lecture me for once. For once, I was going to act on emotion, worry him, and make everyone's day a bit better.

"Mr. England? What are you doing? Do you surrender?" Germany asked. I put my hands down, shaking my head. "No, but I figured we could use a break...at least for today...you are a young kid, away from your brother; let me make it up to you this Christmas. Would you like to join me for a snack? or maybe a quick game?" I asked with a smile.

His eyes widened as he slowly put his gun down, but he still had it ready to shoot me. "What? Are you insane? This is war," he spoke. He still looked like a kid whether he wanted to ignore it or not. Maybe the same age as Alfred. "I know, but maybe we both can be insane for today? How about it?" I asked. I reached my hand out to him, and everyone watched.

"A temporary truce?"

"Precisely!" I stuttered. I was still a bit scared of what he might do.

"Oh...okay..." he spoke softly. His men looked at him, shocked, as he approached me. "Thank you...I know the last time we spoke to each other was rocky, but we learn to put things behind us...for today, we are human, just like everyone else around us, and you are my friend," I smiled. That alone was hard to say, especially knowing how brutal the Rape of Belgium was.

I reached my hand out for him to grab, and he did so slowly. He looked at me in shock and amazement, so much I could see his face turn red. "I was only doing what I was told...I didn't mean any harm against you and Mr. France; I didn't want to get in trouble—"

"Don't worry; all is well...Franci—France isn't upset. He knows how our governments can get at times. How about we relax for today?"

"Oh...okay..."

I smiled at his agreement, and he turned to his men with a smile. He gestured for them to come forward, and I did so with mine. "Merry Christmas," I smiled. Both our sides came closer, soon talking to each other in excitement and happiness.