Once Upon A Time | A Hetalia x Reader

Ch 10: Away from Home

[ REVISED ]

"You're leaving already?" Dana asked, baffled when I announced my plannings.

"... I'm obliged to. I can't stay here forever, especially when I know that there are people who are going to march here and take away more lives that I don't want to live to seeing."

"That's a shame," she quietly whispered, averting her doleful gaze. "it would have been very lovely for you to stay a bit longer."

"You and Yukina should come with, then! Or at least escape from this place. Luciano and his army may be willing to slaughter everyone in his path, a-and I..."

"as much as we'd love to, we can't." Yukina spoke up, smiling a morose smile. She looked into my eyes, where I clearly saw the cloudy and opaque look to them. But I could sense her noncholance when I brought up the fact that Luciano may come to kill her.

Did she want to die?

I looked to Dana for some reaffirmation. She merely smiled, in which never really did reach her eyes at all. As if telling me that she was just forced to be stuck here in a little home, waiting for her time to be up.

It made me wish that she would stay alive. Her smile reminded me that things will eventually kill you when you were forced to one spot. Whether it ends up being physically or mentally. Either one would be exhausting.

"Why can't you leave? Is it because of your-"

"here," Yukina abruptly interrupted, handing me a couple of dusty books she probably found in a storage area. "for when your bored or whatever."

"Um, thanks..." I mumbled, feeling as though I should've been grateful when I hadn't immediately displayed it.

Dana hugged me gently. "I hope you'll come visit soon. And when you do, promise me you'll find your parents safe and sound! It's weird to think a daughter has three pairs of parents, but who bothers ... Just be alive and well when you meet them, okay?"

"yeah, oh, and by the way, make sure to get a partner too."

My eyes widened. "But--"

"No buts!" Both girls said to me, breaking into grins, subsequently.

"It would be nice if it were a man who you would love to be with. Someone who is perfect for you." Yukina pointed out.

"We'll support you and the person you'll be with." Dana added, nodding as if to agree with her own statement. "And as the youngest sister in the family, I will take care of you and your husbando when you're older!"

I looked over to Yukina instinctively, and spotted an irk mark upon her already vexed features. "Oi, you better not be dating any boy behind my back," Yukina said to Dana. "And where'd you learn that word--?!"

Alfred soon peeked his head through the doorway.

"The horses are ready for travel, (Name). Have you bid your goodbyes to your 'sisters' yet?"

I turned to him with a smile. "Um, yes! But I will be there in a moment."

Then I looked back towards Dana and Yukina and nodded as if to tell them, 'I'll be off.'

"Good luck on your adventure!" Dana chirped. "We hope that the neighboring kingdom will accept your request to wage war on Sir Luciano."

Then I looked towards Yukina and grinned. She responded with a corresponding gesture and bid me farewell with a wave of a hand.

As I turned to leave, I hesitated.
The uneasy feeling I felt was evident ... but I had to shrug it off, and continued on my way to Alfred.

-=-

Alfred met up with Arthur moments after we left. Arthur immediately smiled brightly when he saw me with the horses.

With the cloak draped upon me and the hood up above my head, it made it more difficult to distinguish me as a person with a more important background, mindlessly wandering around the precinct and upon the throngs that are present almost every noon.

Arthur was one of the people who knew my background, but of course not as clearly as Alfred. Still, I felt ... wary of his presence. Arthur was someone that I could trust, but I strongly believed that it should take time for me to get to know him enough to the point that he deserve.

"(Name)," Alfred called to me. As I turned to face his general direction, he waved me over. I trudged onwards, all the while dragging the leash that kept my horse near me.

Once I was much closer to him than where I initially stood from, he continued,

"ready to go?"

The very statement made my heart race. I was beginning to have second thoughts, thinking if I needed to pack any more food, or make sure that I had enough cloaks to spare me a winter. But knowing that I will eventually drown myself in concern and the continuous dread that is my insecurities, I nodded. 

I nodded, delightfully. Even ecstatically. It was as though I was trying to steer myself towards more pleasant thoughts, more optimistic mentalities, more than anything that was offered to me (which is, if you guessed correctly, concern and insecurities).

"Yes," I meekly replied. "I'm ready to go."

-=-

"Memories can fade away in the meantime. Within the time occurencies, forgetting a precious memory is like losing a sacred soul in your life."