His Queen and her gift…

He flicked on the switch, the light bulb blinking into life, as though it had just awoken from a long slumber… and it had been quite a while since he had come down here.

England glanced over all the boxes, each all organized with the stuff it needed to be with. He sighed as he dragged the new boxes that were to be brought down. He quickly passed the boxes that held his bad memories, such as the American Revolution, the World Wars; other times when everything fell apart and when he lost those he loved dearly. He lingered by the boxes that held those odd precious memories that he never wanted to forget: the first bottle of Port his dear friend Portugal had given him, the robe Hong Kong had given him when the boy invited him to one of his new family's first gathering (he was scared of being alone with the other Asian countries after so long and wanted the brother he was more used too to help); those other memories and gifts he held, and though didn't seem all that important- they were.

He paused when he passed that era… he loved that era so much, but… it had brought so much loss to him… his pirate days…

His old Captain coat and hat lent against the large chair he had requested people make him out of the wood that was left from Spain's Armada (ok, he may have gone a little over the top with that, but he was such a sore winner). And sitting happily on that chair was a small box.

England put the boxes he was carrying next to the chair and picked up the small box. It was made of a dark ebony wood; he slowly opened it to reveal those two precious, precious earrings.

They were emerald, fine and perfect without blemish, and they were circled by the richest of gold's, and stretched up and further still until it ended with the hook that fit perfectly in his ears. He sat back on the chair they had been sitting on and lent forward just looking at the earrings.

He remembered how he had been given them perfectly…

"Eng… I mean Arthur!" He heard his Queen call as she ran over to him, he stopped and turned hands on his hips, smirking- amused.

"Your majesty! You simply shouldn't be running at such dangerous speeds for such a lowly mutt as me," he bowed, slightly mockingly, but he just had so much fun teasing his newest Queen and she knew he meant no harm by it.

"Eng- Arthur!" She caught herself again, only royalty and a few others were allowed to know of his existence, or at least that's how things had become.

"What may I be of assistance today, your majesty?" He questioned, not yet rising from his bow; felt the light hit on the back of his head.

"Enough of this foolery Arthur."

"If that is what her majesty insists!" He raised back up, his smile highly amused and his eyes gleaming with the same mirth.

"But really, your majesty, what can I your humble mutt do to be of assistance today?" he looked down at his precious Queen, his red coat hanging limply off his shoulders.

She shook her head and quickly undid the emerald earrings that rested in her ears. They were worth a fortune and were an heirloom from her family.

She reached up on tiptoes and switched the silver hooped earring he had to the gold and emerald ones she owned. She pulled back and smiled at England once she was finished.

"Your majesty?" He questioned, uncertain.

"I heard that the reason pirates have earrings is so that if they ever wash ashore dead, the earrings will supply the money for their funeral…" She paused pressing a kiss to each ear and looking England directly in the eyes. "Let's hope you never have to use them, shall we?"

He felt the tears slipping down his cheeks and the sobs escaping his throat against his will. He slumped forward, his eyes shut tight, letting his head rest against those beautiful and old earrings.

"Why… did you have to leave me Bess?"

A/N: I found out that pirates got their ears pierced to pay off for a burial, thus my mind instantly thought of Queen Liz the first giving England some expensive earrings JUST in case! I was totally going to wait to add this scene into my story "An Empire" seeing as it's the WHOLE of the English history, but the idea wouldn't leave me alone thus I made this… I don't think it turned out as heartbreaking and beautiful as I see it happening in my mind- but I do like it. (By the way England was being totally cheeky and theatrical, because William Shakespeare would be alive thus his actor-ish side is coming out stronger than ever)!

Read and review! (Also it's now totally my head cannon that he wears those earrings through major sea battles… just in case you wanted to know that)