Dark Waters

Chapter Twenty Two

Chapter Twenty Two

Matthew blinked awake looking around in confusion. He didn't immediately recognize his surroundings, but when he did he was even more confused. He was in their room in the scout headquarters. His mind was clouded and hazy trying to remember the last thing he'd done. He could clearly remember living in the Atmos for decades with Gilbert. He remembered them ageing and dying.

"Birdie?" Prussia asked arms tightening around his waist. He sounded like he was about to cry. The Canadian wanted to cry too just seeing him beside him again. The albino reached out and traced along his neck and jaw before cupping his face. He smiled brightly holding back tears. He was so happy he could actually see every detail of his face again. "I love jou so much."

"I love you too." Matthew said rolling on his hands and knees over the Prussian. He leaned down kissing him desperately. He had just watched him die and was terrified this was just a dream. The physical contact made him realize it was real. The albino was here and alive and young again. They broke apart and Canada buried his face in Prussia's chest. Both of them were crying with joy.

"Did jou have a dream about ageing and the Storm Hawks?" Gilbert asked after a while of quiet. They were still just holding onto each other. "That we vent to the Atmos?"

"Yeah." Canada said biting his lip. "Was it a dream?"

"I don't know, it felt so real." Prussia said shaking his head.

The last thing the albino could remember was being old and sick. He could remember Matthew being there the whole time. He was mostly blind and couldn't really see him, but he was there. He could remember falling asleep then nothing. Judging by the blond's reaction he could remember the same things.

"Kuma?" Gilbert asked spotting a ball of white fluff at the end of the bed.

Canada looked down seeing him too. The cub blinked awake slowly and looked up at them. He quickly toddled his way up to them and snuggled into the blond's hair with a whine. He ran his hands through the bear's fur happy to see him again.

"Where are we?" Kumajirou asked looking around the room. "How'd we get here, Nat? This isn't the terra."

"No, it's not." Matthew said with a sigh. He was still confused, but happy. "What day is it? What year is it?"

Gilbert shifted slightly under the blond. He sat back so the Prussian could sit up. He didn't really want to get up and leave Canada's side. He leaned in giving him another kiss before slipping out of bed. The Canadian quickly followed him not wanting to be far from him as well. Kumajirou stayed curled up in his arms as they walked over to look at the calendar.

"It's the morning of the expedition." Prussia said looking over at Canada. He noticed the burn scar on his neck. He knew for sure it hadn't been there before they left. He lifted up his own shirt seeing the small scar from the scrap metal. "It had to be real."

"It definitely felt real." Matthew said reaching out and tracing the albino's scar. "Were we meant to live out our lives there then get sent back here?"

"I don't know." Gilbert shrugged. He looked around the room again. He was so happy to have his vision back. He immediately spotted something familiar on their bedside table. Matthew followed his line of sight seeing it too. "The discord crystal?"

"Dimensional discord! It knew we weren't supposed to be there." The Canadian gasped remembering an excerpt he read centuries ago. "It must have been what was causing us to age. It knew we weren't going to leave again. It's meant to remove other entities that aren't supposed to be in the world and send them back to their own."