Two Worlds (Hetalia X Reader)

20. Stay Awake

You wake with a scream, heat racing and limbs flailing.  Even though your eyes are open, you are unable to focus on your surroundings. 

"(Y/n)!" Soft hands hold your arms as you fight against the blankets.  "Hey calm down!  What happened?"

As soon as you recognize Gilbert's voice, your heart rate slows.  "Gil!" Your eyes finally focus on his worried face and you throw your arms around his neck.  "Pease don't let me go back to sleep." You cry into his neck.  The underside of your chin hurts from where Allen had punched you and the back of your skull aches from where it had hit the back of your head.  The trauma must have been what knocked you out.  "Where's Arthur?" You needed to talk to him.  He'd know what to do for sure. 

"(Y/n), you've been gone for a week." Gilbert pulls you away from him and forces you to look into his eyes.  He brings a hand up and wipes tears from your cheeks.  "What happened?" His worry is obvious. 

"I was in a coma." You move your hand up and place it over his.  "Someone who I thought  was my friend put me in it.  Now.  Where is Arthur."

"He's asleep.  It's well past midnight." Gilbert nods towards the darkened window. 

"Wake him up." You push the blankets off your knees and free yourself from Gilbert's hold before slipping out of his bed.  "This is really important.  All of our lives depend on it."  

***

Everyone was crowded around you.  Elizabetha had wrapped a blanket around your shoulders and Roderich had brought you a cup of tea.  Arthur sat on an armchair across from the loveseat you and Gilbert were sharing.  Everyone else was standing around the living room.  Everyone but you were in their pyjamas. 

"Can you explain to us what happened?" Arthur asked calmly. 

With a nod you proceed to tell them everything.  You tell them about meeting the curator at the art center and that his name was Roussel.  You make sure to look Gilbert in the eyes when you say this.  Perhaps he was related to Willow in some way.  Gilbert pretends not to notice but the spark of hope in his eyes is obvious. 

You tell them about throwing your notebook into the river that ran behind your house and going to the art store the next day.  That's when you met Ethan and when he gained your trust.  He brought you to dinner, walked you home, brought you the hospital after Gilbert and Arthur broke your arm.  Gilbert's grip around your waist tightens as he relives that painful memory. 

And you tell them about Ethan putting you in a coma.

You tell them his side of the story while looking Arthur directly in the eyes.  He seems confused for a moment before recognition sparks.  "How is that possible?" He gets on the defensive.  "That was over four hundred years ago!"  

You frown.  "He seemed to be my age." There's a pause in which you and Arthur seem to stare through each other.  "He did say something about turning back age..."

"My god." Arthur puts his face in his hands.  "It all makes sense now."

"What are you talking about?" You feel like you are getting side-tracked but the way Arthur is mumbling to himself and rocking back and forth is making you worry.

"I met him again back in World War II and I thought I had recognized him..." Arthur pulls his hands away from his face.  "But I was certain that it was a doppelgänger or something like that.  I should have seen the magic he was keeping."

"But he doesn't have any substantial magic of his own." You counter.  "Apart from rejuvenation and borrowing... that couldn't be very obvious... could it?"

"He has more power than he thinks he does." Arthur shifts uncomfortably in his chair.  "He thinks he is borrowing all these powers, but in reality he is replicating them.  The only way he 'borrows' them is keeping them long enough to replicate them.  I realise how wrong I was now, but that is why I didn't save his sister.  I knew he was so much more powerful than she was and that's why I kept quiet."

"How didn't you recognize him in the war?  If he's that powerful, you must have seen something." You say.

"I didn't want to see it.  I refused to let myself believe he was still alive.  And all because not long after I offered to help him, I saw how much of a monster he was." Arthur looks like he is trying to hold back tears.  "But please, (Y/n), finish telling us what happened."

 You watch Arthur warily for a few moments before continuing.  "I met another man.  He looks exactly like you." You nod at Arthur.  He said his name is Oliver."

In a matter of seconds, the room flies into a frenzy.  "France." Ludwig snaps.  The Frenchman stands at attention.  "Call in the rest of your allies.  We all know this is going to be a war.  Britain, do all the preparations you deem necessary to keep them at bay for as long as possible.  Italy, Japan and I will prepare our strategies.  The rest of you, call in as many countries as you can for backup." He looks to you then Gilbert before leaving, his allies trailing behind him.

Once there is only you Arthur and Gilbert remaining in the living room, Arthur speaks to you once more.  "Keeping them at bay is all up to you, (Y/n)." He says, standing up.  "You cannot, under any circumstance draw them another portal."

"But Ethan has already replicated my ability." Your heart rate begins to pick up once more.  "He could draw them a portal at any given moment."

"Not unless he's seen it." Arthur raises his thick eyebrows.  "And he isn't aware he still has your power in him.  He believes he borrows and returns.  He has never noticed what he keeps.  And Prussia, keep (Y/n) awake for as long as you can." With that, Arthur leaves the room.

"Gil." You turn into Gilbert's arms.  He hadn't been this quiet for this long since the day you met him.  "I love you." You mumble.  You meant it with all your heart.  Perhaps it had been the fact that you were being held captive in your world or that you had fallen into a week-long coma, but your feelings for him had come to light. 

He holds you tighter in his arms and brings his lips to yours in a heated kiss.  When you pulled apart, Gilbert looked like he was ready to cry.  "I love you too." He whispers, his lips ghosting over yours again.

"Maybe after this all blows over, you can come to my world and we can find Willow." You mumble as you pull him into another hug.  "I was thinking you might need some closure."

He holds you tightly against him.  "Thank you," He kisses a line up your neck.  "But you are all I need." His hand creeps under the hem of your shirt and up your bare stomach. 

You tangle your hands in his hair as he begins kissing across your collar bone.  His fingers slip under your bra and knead the soft flesh of your breasts.  You pull his head away from your neck and bring his lips back to yours all while slipping a hand up his shirt to rest on his abdominal muscles.  They were well defined under your fingers. 

Gilbert pulls his hand from your chest and begins to try and yank your shirt over your head but you hold him back.  "Wait." You say.  Gilbert looks at you with hurt eyes.  "Maybe we should bring this somewhere slightly more private?" You suggest.