Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.

Author's Note: This is the day in which Arthur took hold of Matthieu. I wrote this when I was younger(twelve), but I thought it would be a fine second chapter to this story.

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"Matthieu, please." The Canadian shook his head. "Matthieu." Whimpers this time, a squeeze.

Francis sighed as the impatient huff behind him sounded, wishing that he could simply whip about and punch the vocalizer in the sneer. But, he didn't want that to be his son's last memory of him. "Matthieu, please.. Pa- Francis needs his leg." The tears began, streams of unhappy moisture sliding their way down a face bloated with puppy-fat. It almost had Francis weeping, but he didn't want to break his self-made promise. He would not cry. Not in front of Matthieu, and never in front of Arthur.

"P.. Papa," croaked the small boy, hardly larger than a baby. "Papa, non.. T-take us..home.." Matthew's voice broke rather pathetically, running into incomprehensible sobs. The form behind Francis scoffed. "Can we hurry this along, wanker? I haven't the time or patience for all of this rubbish." Oh, how the Frenchman longed to silence that grouchy tone and erase the sure smirk from that Brit. "Désolé, Angleterre. I suppose you would not be able to recognized the loving bond between a papa and his child."

Ignoring Arthur's attempted swipe to his head, Francis crouched down to hug Matthew. Predictably, the colony liberated the Frenchman's trouser leg to instead lock his thin arms around the elder's neck and cling. "Papa, non! Please! Matthieu be good! Please! Non, non, non, non!" It was one of the rare times that the boy ever threw such passion into his demands, and it summoned tears to the man's eyes. His son was begging him to keep him, to not send him off with this strange man. And yet there was nothing to be done about it.

"Matthieu.. Papa is terribly sorry." The screams raised into hysteric pitch as Matthew's grip became iron. "Please! Désolé! Désolé! Désolé! Désolé, Papa!" Apologizing for something that just was not his fault. And all the Frenchman could do was hold that wracking, tiny form, smooth back mussed locks, fiddle with Matthew's favorite white gown. Hold him and wish that they had more time.

"Frog, would you hurry up, for Christ's sake? You should have accomplished this pansy rubbish hours, nay, days ago! I gave the date!" Matthew couldn't take it. The small colony raised his voice and began to shriek at Arthur, his face a blotchy red. "Non! Mon Papa! Je te hais!" Arthur would never take that standing down. Reaching out, he roughly tugged Matthew away from Francis' arms. "No control over your colony! Can't even teach them manners, frog? This one should be bloody thankful that I'm taking him before he can be become another French-infested barbarian!"

The boy screeched and thrashed himself about, twisting in the Brit's grip wildly in desperate attempt to see Francis. "Papaa! Please! Non! Non!" he gasped, reaching tiny hands out towards the defeated figure. The more he delayed, the more difficult it was. Steeling his heart and deafening his ears, Francis turned. He did his best to drown out those pitiful wails, wails of Matthieu, the pleas of his son, eyes blank towards the ground. He found himself wishing that it would simply open up and eat him.

He didn't think about how those same desperate hands were the same that clutched his on strolls. How that wild hair curled so beautifully when he brushed it correctly. How that strained voice was typically so quiet and soft, only needing a mild pitch to gain Francis' loving attention. No, he didn't consider the clothing, and just how long he had spent on making it for the boy. How those red cheeks were red with happiness not too many months ago.

Francis just waited until the two other blonds had disappeared, along with the sun and it's warmth. When, finally, the Frenchman looked up to where Matthew had been hours ago, he could only release a hoarse 'Je t'aime' before turning the opposite direction to return home. He did not look back.

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed! Feedback is appreciated.