"There... There's something important I have to tell you." Silence fell between them. There on the roof, even the noise of the streets sounded distant and unimportant. Arthur felt a million words rush to his lips, though none managed to spill over, and the silence lasted a while longer than he would've liked it to."Actually, several important things," he mumbled, trying to fill the quiet with something else. "For starters, my name."
Kaesha tilted he head in confusion, neither encouraging nor discouraging her teacher. She wasn't sure what to make of this sudden confession, and so she opted for staying quiet for the time being. Realizing she wasn't going to say anything, Arthur continued.
"When we first met," he began, "You asked me a question. Do you remember what it was?"
Kaesha paused to think. "Do you mean... When I asked you your name?"
"That was it," he nodded. "I told you it was Arthur. You know what you said then?" A small smile played at his lips, and he answered the question for her. "You asked me if it was Arthur Kirkland."
Kaesha laughed, though awkwardly. "Oh yeah, I remember that." She was quiet for a moment, then looked back at him with her innocent eyes. "But why are you bringing this up now?"
Arthur said nothing for a moment. He hadn't let go of her wrist, and didn't plan to, though he loosened his grip a little and let his gloved hand slide down to hers. She watched him, so distracted by this movement she almost lost his next words. "Because I lied to you. My name is Arthur Kirkland." There was another pause, and Arthur thought maybe she didn't believe him, or she was upset he had lied.
Though when he looked at her, her mouth was hanging open and there were lights in her eyes. "Really?!" she exclaimed "That's so cool!" Arthur couldn't help but smile at her reaction, a reaction only she would produce, and he squeezed her hand a little tighter. She was the only person he knew that would believe him in an instant like that, no matter what he was telling her. "I knew it!" she went on, " the moment I saw your eyebrows, I knew it couldn't be anyone else!" Arthur decided to pretend he hadn't heard that part.
"Wait, so if you're really England, does that mean the other counties exist too?" she asked.
"Of course they do." He smiled, "You've even met one of them."
"Oh, so that was America who came to our classroom that one time!" She laughed, "I had a feeling it was."
She already knew? He thought dismayed.
"Anyways," he continued, "That's not all." Although, really it could have been. He had told her the truth about his identity, and the others didn't know any more than that (or so he assumed). But there was so much more to this story, so much more to their story, it seemed right that she should know everything. It was her past after all.
"In the past," he began slowly, "Nations couldn't have children- well, not in the way humans do anyways. Nations are typically born as the spirit that comes from the unity of a peoples, so we don't have parents or children. But about twenty years ago, that changed, and nations gained the ability to birth human children. How, or why it happened we don't know, but it did anyhow, and became quite popular. We could have something of a family, something that resembled the normalcy of mortal life."
Arthur paused for a moment, gathering his next words. A chilling breeze swept over the rooftops, pulling with it a grey cover of clouds that blotted out the light from the stars. Kaesha was watching her teacher intently, trying to make sense of his strange story, and the unmistakable doubt clouding his eyes. Arthur didn't miss her inquisitive look, but elected to ignore it and continue.
"But then something happened," he went on quietly, so she had to strain to hear, "A sickness swept through the children, a sickness we had not seen before and couldn't cure. The victims became horribly weak and were constantly coughing, even to the point of coughing up blood. It seemed they all got sick overnight, and got worse by the hour, not one of our children was healthy. And it wasn't until the sickness claimed seven of their lives that we found its source"
His voice had become quiet and dark, almost strained one could describe it. "It was purely their existence. Because they were human, but their parents were something else. We figured the only way to cure them was to restore the natural order, to wipe their memories clean of us, and give them a new start at life. And so, that's what we did. I erased all their memories with a spell, and sent them to different families all over the world."
"And did it work?" Kaesha asked caught up Arthur's the story.
He smiled, but only slightly. "It did. You're living proof of that."
A confused frown crossed her face, before a burst of realization "You mean I'm-"
"One of those children, yes." He interrupted, too anxious to see her reaction.
Her mouth was slightly open as she tried to take everything in, tried to understand her family wasn't really hers, there were holes in her memory, some stupid little show her friend made her watch actually a reality... She looked back at Arthur's anxious face, her favorite character who had come to life before her, and came to a conclusion that she figured would have to be enough right now.
"So you're the one who cured all those children?" She asked.
He nodded.
"Then you're the one who saved my life?"
He nodded again, slower this time.
She smiled then, the same bright, sincere smile that filled Arthur with warmth. "Then thank you for saving me."
Arthur froze, again unable to believe her acceptance and evaluation of his story. All he could think was She's such a good person, over and over again, and that thought filled his head, drowning out everything else. That thought had always been there since the day he met her and every day after. It's why he liked her really, why he only grew founder of her each time they met. And in his frozen, mindless state, somewhat drunk off her smile, he made his next move (perhaps something he wouldn't have done otherwise). As if his body was moving on is own, he leaned forward and brought there lips together, planting a soft, quick kiss on her lips.
Snow began to fall around them.
~~~
AN: Hey, sorry I suck at writing romantic stuff, it's why I decided to write a romance story! :D
