What's this? ItalianCrybaby and YamiyoDarknight aren't dead?!

What? And they even wrote a new chapter for L'erede?! Unbelievable!

Soo sorry we haven't updated in a while. We have both been so busy and it's been hard to find time to write with each other. But we promos that we will finish all the stories we have started, it just might take a while.

We hope you enjoy this update.

ItalianCrybaby: Antonio, Father, Arthur

Yamiyo: Lovino, Mother, Matthew, Alfred

Neither of us own Hetalia.

"Ok wait a minute… Can you try explaining the canopy thing to me again? What is it supposed to symbolize?" Antonio questioned Lovino.

His lover.

His intended.

His groom to be…

Antonio couldn't stop smiling ever since his dear dragon agreed to marry him. But there were still things Antonio needed to learn about. Like, exactly how dragon wedding ceremonies worked…

He wanted to learn as much as he could about dragon wedding ceremonies and other traditions they had. So this led him to ask Lovino a million and one questions about every last detail he needed to know before they were married.

"Do you have nothing up there in that head of yours?" Lovino asked, heaving a sigh. "I can only say these things so many times before they get old. The canopy symbolizes the connection between land and sky. Dragons are linked to both of them." He paused, letting Antonio absorb the information. "Not only that, but we use fire to mark our mates; a symbol of how we are bonded. No pair has a matching bond mark. They show the traits of the partners, how they feel about each other."

He hesitated a bit. "To be honest, that's the part I'm worried most about," he muttered. Shaking his head, he leered at the man questioningly. "Did you get all that this time?"

"I believe so…" Antonio nodded in understanding. "But I'm still a little confused about the fire part. What do you mean you use fire to mark your mates?"

"Well, you know. We brand each other," Lovino replied. He let a small flame escape his lips, letting it dissipate quickly. "We have to do it in our human forms since our scales are resistant to fire."

"Oh…" Antonio's voice grew small. "We're supposed to burn each other?"

"Agh! Jeez! Don't make it sound like we're purposely maiming each other!" The dragon scoffed, brows furrowed with irritation. "Do you honestly think I'd try to do something to hurt you? It's not meant to hurt anyone. Just mark."

"Sorry I didn't mean it like that!" Antonio quickly tried reassuring Lovino. "I know you wouldn't have me take part in any traditions that would have you try to hurt me but it's just…" Antonio trailed off.

"Just what?" The dragon asked.

"… I can't breathe fire." Antonio said sadly. "How can we complete the ceremony if I can't mark you as my husband?"

That caused Lovino to stop. He hadn't thought about that. Somehow the thought of marriage had occupied his mind more so than the thoughts of how to actually go about going through with it. "... I'm not sure."

Antonio frowned. The fact that he couldn't perform a simple wedding task didn't sit well with him.

"Would the marriage still be considered binding if I couldn't do that?" Antonio asked.

"W-well... I don't know..." Lovino confessed, frowning. "I've never been involved in a wedding before. I'm sorry."

For the first time in days, Antonio felt worried. In the Kingdom of Hetalia, if a wedding ceremony could not be completed then the marriage would not be legally binding and the couple wouldn't be recognized as a partnership before the eyes of the kingdom…

Would the dragon elders refuse to recognize his and Lovino's partnership if Antonio couldn't complete the ceremony? Would they call off the wedding if they found out beforehand that Antonio was incapable of following their traditions?!

"Jeez! Don't look so worried!" Lovino grumbled, slipping his hand around Antonio's to squeeze it softly. "We'll figure something out. Have faith in me, will you?"

"I have faith in you." Antonio cupped Lovino's cheek gently. The worry was still in his eyes but it had lightened up ever so slightly. "I really do. It's just that, I don't know how I'll be able to breathe fire. It's not like I will somehow magically learn to…"

Antonio trailed off again. His eyes grew wide when an idea struck him…

"You have that look in your eyes again," the dragon commented with a scowl. "What brilliant scheme has your mind come up with?"

"Scheme? What would make you think I have some kind of scheme?" Antonio asked innocently. The bright look in his eyes did not waver.

"You have that look that says you're going to do something stupid again," Lovino scolded. "The last thing I want you to do is get yourself nearly killed again."

"Don't worry. I wasn't planning anything." Antonio lied. "I was just thinking of how nice it would be for us both to be home right now." Antonio smiled brightly and wrapped his arms around Lovino. "We should go there right now~!"

"Why? We're safer up here and you're not healthy enough to go anywhere." Lovino shook his head firmly. "You're not well. You're probably still recovering."

Antonio pouted. He needed Lovino to take him back home or he couldn't put is new plan into action.

"I'll be fine, Lovi." Antonio promised. "It's not that long of a trip. Plus I think I left the stove on… you don't want our beautiful home to be burnt to a crisp now do you?"

Lovino glared. "We have barely used that stove after you knew I'm a dragon. Besides, I doubt the thing could sustain a fire that long."

Antonio thought hard for a moment. Wondering how he was supposed to convince Lovino that they should go home.

After a moment of deep thought, Antonio hung his head with a defeated sigh."I guess you're right." Antonio mumbled sadly. "I guess it's ok to stay up here in the cold thin air. Even if it does make me feel light headed and…" Antonio gave a fake weak cough "I'm sure that's not another cold I feel coming on. I'm sure it's just my imagination."

Lovino paled slightly, eyes widening. "You're not feeling well?" He asked, voice slightly shaken. "Why didn't you tell me that? If you'd said that I would've taken you back by now!"

Antonio gave a strained smile. He felt guilty for lying to Lovino and making him react this way, but he had to do it. He has to put his plan to action and surprise his fiancé. "I just didn't want to worry you." Antonio replied.

"Too late for that," the dragon sighed. "Fine. I'll go and tell the Elders that we have to go so you can recover more. I'm sure Romulus will let us go if he knows it's about your wellbeing. Stay here and wait for me alright? I'm the only way you're getting down these mountains."

Antonio sighed in relief before pulling Lovino into a quick kiss.

"Thank you, Lovi." Antonio said happily as he pulled away. "You're too good to me."

Lovino smirked. "You're damn right I am. Be good while I'm gone. If you get bored, feel free to beat up the potato bastard." He gave a small wave and then trotted off out of the room.

Antonio couldn't help but admire Lovino as he walked out of the room. The two thoughts running through Antonio's mind was "It should be a sin to look that good" and "I am the luckiest man in the world".

It didn't take long before the chestnut-haired male came back. "I talked to them and they said we can go back. I'm ready to go when you are. You don't think those stupid bugs got to the tomatoes, do you?"

Antonio stiffened and his eyes grew wide. "My tomatoes!" He cried in fear. "I forgot all about them! I was concentrating on getting here!"

"I'm sure we can take care of them again." Lovino reassured. He stopped and looked at Antonio shyly. "Maybe... After everything is settled we can ask about staying there... The mountains are too cold for my liking anyways."

Antonio immediately stopped distressing and looked at Lovino. His face softened into a smile. "I think that'd be a wonderful idea. Besides, we can't grow tomatoes up here in this climate."

The dragon smiled softly. "Yea. Life would be pretty unbearable without them, wouldn't they? I don't want to be harassed by them any more. But, I guess we should go. Come on, tomato lover. We'll get back before nightfall if we leave now."

"Alright, Lovi." Antonio intertwined their fingers. "Let's go home."

Lovino nodded and led the way to the entrance. "I'm going to try and fly faster so you're not in the cold for too long. We don't need you getting sick again." He shifted into his dragon form and lowered himself to the ground. "Climb on and let's go."

Antonio climbed weakly, but eagerly, onto Lovino's back. Once there, he hugged the dragons neck lovingly. "Ready~!"

Heaving himself back to all fours, the dragon gave a snort before leaping into the strong blizzard winds. The small, shabby home sounded better and better the more he thought of it.

He wanted to go home.

The flight back home was lovely. Although the blue skies were a beautiful sight unlike anything the human eye has ever seen, Antonio couldn't take his eyes off of the dragon. The sky paled in comparison to the colors of Lovino's scales. The dragons powerful wings beating on either side of Antonio were breathtaking and created a calming rhythm.

Oh, how he longed to stroke those beautiful wings…

When they landed, Antonio hesitated on climbing off. For he knew Lovino would immediately transform back into his human form.

"Kinda nice knowing I wasn't flying to keep someone alive this time," the dragon commented while stretching his wings out in the open. "We might have to do this more often so I can get my wings to be stronger."

"That sounds lovely, Lovi~." Antonio said as he landed on his feet. "Haha! Get it? Lovely Lovi? They sound similar!"

"I'm getting married to an imbecile," the dragon sighed, shifting back to his human form. "Only you would think to say something like that. Now let's hurry up and check on the plants. I'm hoping they didn't get attacked."

"Oh Lovi~. You knew what you getting into when I asked you to marry me." Antonio laughed as he lead the way back to their little shack. "Let's go see how our tomato garden is looki…"

Antonio stopped walking. His gaze was fixed on a carriage parked in front if the house. The sight of it sent a chill down Antonio's spine. Lovino stopped next to Antonio, confused.

"What's wrong? Why'd you-" He looked at the carriage, and back at his fiancé. "I'll take that to be a bad thing." He took Antonio's hand into his own, "Come on. Let's go take care of it. I'm sure it's something we can handle. If not, then I scare the bastards away."

Antonio shook his head and remained rooted to the spot. "I don't think that's a good idea." Antonio said in a strained voice. "Maybe if we take a walk in the woods for a while they'll go away."

"I highly doubt that," the dragon sighed. "It's not gonna go away forever you know. You can abandon the problem now, but it'll come back again and again, later. Stop being stubborn. You had us fly all the way over here anyways." He tugged on the man's hand, dragging him forward with him. "You act like you have to deal with this alone."

"Lovino…" Antonio pulled the dragon to a stop again. "I… Thank you. I know I won't have to face them alone but… I don't want you to be surprised or thrown off when we go inside. So I might as well tell you now. That's my parents' carriage."

"Wait, you mean the ones who threw you out because you didn't want to kill dragons?" Lovino asked, raising a brow. "Well, then. I guess we'd better brace ourselves for the storm that's going to happen. . . I don't think they'll be too happy knowing you're marrying one. We're still going, though. I'm not going to let them stop me from doing what I want."

Although Antonio felt anxious about facing his patents, he was somewhat relieved that he didn't have to face them alone. The poor man stole a kiss from his lover.

"Thank you, mi amor." Antonio smiled gently. "I won't let them tell me what to do either. You're my life and I won't stand for any sort of their disapproval. I love you."

"There you go! Now you're getting it!" Lovino praised with a mischievous grin. "Worst case scenario, we ignore their stupid whims and do what we want anyways. A couple of humans can't tell me what to do. And since you have me to protect you, they can't tell you what to do either."

"Right." Antonio couldn't help but laugh. Feeling more strengthened by his lovers words, Antonio was now pulling Lovino towards their home. "Let's go and get this over with."

"And then we can check on the tomatoes. Those stupid leaf-footed whatevers better not have touched them." Lovino huffed, following closely along. "I'll make them suffer."

The couple continued to hold hands as they approached the shack's door. With one last deep breath, Antonio swung open the door.

The dragon immediately started to regret making him and Antonio go through with it. The overly sweet voice that greeted them sent him into a bad mood.

"Antonio, dear! We haven't seen you in so long! I was wondering where you were; we've been waiting for you for quite a while now. You weren't mucking around in the dirt and mud again, were you?" A dark-haired woman cooed, rushing over to Antonio (though noticeably not making any move to touch him in any way). "You look awful! You weren't sick, were you? This is why we keep asking you to come home!"

Lovino scowled, biting his lip before he said anything he might regret. These were Antonio's parents. He had to behave... Somewhat.

"Hello mother." Antonio gave his mother a strained smile. "I'm fine. I'm just getting over a slight cold."

"You're lucky it wasn't something more serious." Antonio's father spoke from the chair he was sitting on. He made no move to get up and greet his son as he continued to speak, "You need to use your common sense and dress warmer for this type of weather."

"Your father is right! What if you were to get yourself fatally sick?" Antonio's mother scolded, hands placed firmly on her hips. "You'd die and then what?"

"I wouldn't be so careless to let him get to such a state," Lovino cut in sharply, making his presence known to the two figures. "He hasn't done anything to kill him that I couldn't prevent."

"And who are you exactly?" The woman asked, disdain clearly heard in her voice. "You don't look like you're doing much better than he is."

Lovino scowled, eyes narrowing.

"You should know it's shameful to live off of other people." Antonio's father said disapprovingly to Lovino. "Especially when said person can barely support himself."

"Don't talk that way to him." Antonio nearly growled at his father. "Lovino isn't some random homeless person from off the street. He is my fiancé."

Lovino blushed slightly at the mention of them being engaged. "I'm not living off of him anyways. We work together to get things done around here."

"F-Fiancé?! You can't marry another man, Antonio! That's wrong! It's disgusting!" Antonio's mother protested, backing away from the pair. "How can you even expect to have an heir without a proper wife? I knew that letting you go would cause problems! This has done nothing but ruin your common sense!"

"Well excuse me, but I happen to think that we do fine together! He would've been a screwed up mess if he'd stayed in that loony bin you call a home!" Lovino snapped, bristling angrily. "He's at least happy out here with me!"

"You will hold your tongue when speaking to a person of higher status." Antonio's father narrowed his eyes at Lovino. He finally rise out of his seat to approach the dragon. "Don't you realize that I can easily have a filthy commoner like yourself locked away for acting like an incompetent little-"

"That's enough!" Antonio bellowed at his father. He moved so that he was standing in front of Lovino. "I won't have you talking to Lovino in such a horrible manner. He easily has a higher status than you. You're the one who should be acting respectful towards him!"

"Higher status than us?" The woman echoed incredulously. "He doesn't look any more than to be a street rat! He's filthy!"

"I could easily have all of you killed if I wanted," Lovino replied evenly, voice icy. "Even if I were to be of a low status, it wouldn't matter. My kin is incredibly protective of one another."

Antonio's mother glared at him with distrust. "Violent whelp, you should learn to have manners. You speak in such a vulgar way."

"I speak more eloquently than you," Lovino retorted. "My race is much more refined than you humans, Antonio being an exception. He's been kind to me for so long. I've nothing against him."

"You. . . what are you saying exactly?" The woman asked, seeming to catch on to what was being implied.

The room was silent for a few moments as Antonio's parents let this new information sink in. Antonio's father seemed to understand before his wife did.

"He's a dragon?!" The older man finally thundered. Antonio only glared at his father, and that was enough to answer the man's question. "My son got engaged to a god damned dragon! What the hell is wrong with you? What would possess you to do such a thing?!"

"His name is Lovino." Antonio hissed. His face became dark at his parents reaction. "And he, unlike you, has been there to help me when I needed it most!"

"Dragons are beasts!" Antonio's mother protested, scrambling next to her husband in an attempt to get him as at away from Lovino as she could. "Why would you even want to associate with one?"

"I am not a beast!" Lovino snarled, taking a menacing step towards the woman. "And neither is my kin! Don't you dare talk about them that way! My name is Lovino and I am the grandson of the Golden Elder. You will speak to me with respect!"

"You think that your heritage makes you something special?" Antonio's father scoffed. "Vermin will always be vermin. You and your kind are nothing but nuisances to us. We may not be able to kill you because of this ridiculous new law, but that doesn't mean we can allow you to marry our son."

"And what the hell makes you think you have any say so on who I marry?" Antonio spoke in a dark tone that made his father take a step back in shock. "I think I've made it clear before that I have no intention of doing what you want of me. You're the nuisances. Not Lovino. And if you dare aim any death threats towards him it will result in me running you through with-"

Antonio cut himself off as he stumbled to his knees. His breathing was harsh and his face felt warm.

'Dammit…' he thought to himself. 'I got over excited and made myself weak again.'

Lovino was immediately at his side, argument forgotten as his worries spiked. "Are you alright?! The flight didn't bother you, did it? Dammit, don't get worse please? I'm already worried enough about your condition." He rubbed his lover's back gently. "Can you stand?"

"I-I'm fine." Antonio breathed out, hoping ease his lovers worries. On wobbly legs, Antonio stood up again. This time he leant onto Lovino for support.

"He's most likely faking it." Antonio's father spoke again. His face showed no concern for his son. "He doesn't like what we have to about his wellbeing so he's acting like an over dramatic teenager to rush us out."

"How dare you!" Lovino hissed, bearing his fangs. "You're lucky that I didn't chase you out as soon as we got here! He could've had me get rid of you if he wanted, but he chose to listen to the bullshit that you've been spouting nonstop! He's not so petty that he'd fake being ill to get out of dealing with bastards like you! He's got more manners than both of you will ever have! Don't you dare insult him in front of me, especially when he has done nothing wrong! You can say whatever you want about me; my kin and I are used to it. But if you speak badly of him, then you'd better sleep with one eye open. I won't hesitate to make your life miserable."

"Lovi…" Antonio looked at Lovino with adoration. He felt touched by the dragon's words and he wished his parents weren't here so that he could show Lovino how much he appreciated the dragon for sticking up for him.

"He is my son. I'll speak to him however I see fit." Antonio's father argued. "You're threats don't scare me, foul beast! If anything you've made me come to realize that I've been much too lenient on him. Living on his own has done nothing but made him more disobedient. I won't stand for his disobedience anymore! He is coming home with us!"

"I'd like to see you try!" Lovino shot back, a low growl coming from the base of his throat. "You try anything and you'll be out of here before you can even touch him! I will always protect him and someone like you wouldn't ever be able to stop me!" He let his draconian features show and wrapped a wing protectively around Antonio.

"Dear, I don't like where this is going..." Antonio's mother uttered weakly, fear showing on her face.

Antonio's father took a step back in surprise but he quickly rightened himself again.

"I can handle this." He told his wife. Looking at his son, the man snapped his fingers at Antonio. "Come here now. We are leaving this place. If you have any pride at all, you'll forget all this nonsense and never speak to this beast again."

Antonio glared at his father and weakly shook his head. "You don't control my life…" Antonio spoke as loudly as he could with his weakened voice. "You've already sent me out of the house. I am my own man and I choose to live my life with Lovino."

Antonio's father did not like that answer. His face turned red with anger.

"Fine…" the man fumed angrily. He took hold of his wife's hand and pulled her closer to his side. "Rot in this hell hole for all I care. You'll never amount to anything making the choices you've been making. If you ever see us on the street, you are forbidden to speak to us. You are no longer our son."

"Well good. I'm sure the Council isn't going to want to deal with low lives like you anyways," Lovino scoffed, helping to pull Antonio to his feet. "He won't be rotting away. He'll be a leader in the shared Council the kingdom and dragons are making. So unlike you, he'll be doing something worthwhile."

Antonio blinked in surprise. "Wait… what?" Antonio questioned. He never heard of a dragon council.

"What on earth are you blabbering about now?" Antonio's father couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

Lovino looked at Antonio apologetically. "I was planning to tell you when we got here but these bastards kind of fucked that plan up, so unfortunately you have to find out like this." He glared at the older man and continued, "A council is being formed that will consist of dragons and humans who have been specially selected. They will govern the land together so that both races will be treated equally. We have the cooperation of the king as well as the two elders. Antonio was chosen to be a leader and will be helping to make this land safer for everyone."

"G-govern the land?!" Antonio's father sputtered in shock.

"And they've chosen me?" Antonio asked in disbelief. His face broke out in a wide grin. "Does that mean I'll be working alongside of you?"

"Of course you'll be working with me," the dragon answered. "You don't think the Elder's grandson would be left out of this, do you? Besides, I have to make sure that you don't make any mistakes."

"So what do you have to say about your "rotting", "disobedient" son now, huh? He's not so worthless now, is he? Unfortunately for you, I think we will comply with your wishes to never speak with you again. Why would we want to involve ourselves with unsupportive jerks like you?"

Antonio's father began to look pale. "Antonio…" the man spoke his son's name for the first time that night. "You know we didn't mean any of this harshness. W-we only want what's best for you. You understand that. Don't you?"

"No." Antonio replied. "You've only been concerned about what's best for you. You have never cared about what I've wanted. And I think it's best if you both leave now and keep your word of never speaking to me and Lovino again."

"B-but we're your parents!" Antonio's mother protested. "You can't just oust us!"

"You had every intention of abandoning him, but now that he's worth something to you, you want him back," Lovino stated coldly. "We're done with you, so if you wouldn't mind, fuck off before I toss your sorry asses out."

Seeing that there was nothing they could do to sway the couples opinion, Antonio's father began ushering his wife out the door.

"It doesn't matter." He spoke begrudgingly. "We don't want to rely on a dragon to help us with our status anyways…"

"If anyone was helping someone, Antonio was helping me," Lovino shot back. "Making snide comments while you're running with your tails between your legs isn't making you look any better. Maybe I can have Matthew make a note of your behavior to the king, hm? Maybe he'd like hearing about how you've been treating your only son."

"The King thinks highly of my family." Antonio's father nearly snapped back. "We've been donating to the knights funds for years. He wouldn't turn on us so easily."

Although Antonio's father talked a big talk, he didn't look like he was too confident with the words he had just spoken.

"Yes, but I think he'd trust Matthew's words over yours. Why would he want money from a greedy family anyways?" Lovino replied evenly. "He's not stupid. He seems to be a good judge of character from what I've heard."

Looking as though he couldn't bear anymore of this (and fearing that he would dig himself into a deeper hole), Antonio's father walked out the door with his wife in tow. Antonio and Lovino remained where they were and listened to the sound of the two riding off in their carriage.

"Huh… they didn't even bother saying goodbye." Antonio noted. He looked at Lovino with a relieved (yet tired) look on his face. "But at least they're gone now."

"It's their own loss," Lovino said softly. "They lost out on a wonderful son who has more worth and kindness than they could ever hope to possess. We don't need them. We have each other." He pressed a kiss to his fiancé's cheek. "We'll do better without them."

"Good. 'Cause Lovi~ is all I'll ever need." Antonio turned his face so that he could press a real kiss onto his lovers lips.

"You really need to stop calling me that," Lovino sighed, kissing back. "But it's nice now that it's quiet. No shouting. I never want to hear shouting again."

"I know you secretly like that nickname." Antonio said confidently. He stroked one of Lovino's wings fondly as he looked at the scales. "You can't hide those things from me."

"I do not," the dragon denied, flushing red slightly. "You're just using that as an excuse to keep calling me that. And who said you could touch my wings? I don't remember giving you permission."

"But you're my fiancé. So I can touch you wherever I want and vice versa." Antonio claimed. While keeping eye contact with Lovino, Antonio leaned into the wing and pressed a soft kiss onto a scale.

Lovino's wings twitched at the contact. "Fiancé or not, you still need my permission. You're just lucky I love you, otherwise your hand would be missing."

"Alright alright, I'll stop then." Antonio smiled and stopped stroking Lovino's scales. "By the way, thank you for all the things you said to my parents. I don't think I could've handled talking to them if I had been on my own."

"Like I would've let you handle this alone. Like I told them, I will protect you to the best of my ability. You did the same for me. You saved my life and you went after me when I had to go back (though you nearly killed yourself because of that). I'd do anything to make sure you stay safe." Lovino's face reddened more. "Or something..."

"You already do too much for me Lovino." Antonio said softly. "You've saved my life in more ways than one and have brought so much happiness into my life. I too would do anything to make sure you're safe and, most importantly, happy. Because you've done the same for me countless times…"

Antonio continued to smile at his beautiful dragon but his face looked more and more tired as the days excitement and activities began to wear down his already weakened body.

Lovino was silent for a few moments. "Well, now that we're here and settled down, you need to rest. You said you weren't feeling well, so I want to make sure you don't get worse. Go to bed." He placed his hands firmly on Antonio's back and started pushing him to the bedroom. "Sleep and start recovering."

"Aww but I want to stay with you." Antonio complained. He looked at Lovino with puppy dog eyes and said, "Will you at least come to bed with me?"

Lovino bit his lip before pushing Antonio forward more. "Yea, yea. Keep going. You know I can't leave you alone anymore. The last time I did, you went and tried to scale a dangerous mountain. I have to keep my eye on you."

"Thank you my Lovi~." Antonio beamed as they entered the bedroom. "And don't worry; I won't do anything that dangerous again."

"You'd better not," Lovino warned. "I'd have to hurt you. Now stop babbling and go to sleep. I'll keep you warm so you don't get sick again." He pushed Antonio onto the bed and then settled down next to him. Pulling a blanket over them, the dragon tucked the cloth around his lover before scooting close to him. "If you start feeling bad again, let me know and I'll figure out what to do."

"Thank you Lovi." Antonio kissed the dragons cheek and wrapped his arms around the other males smaller frame. "I love you."

"I love you too, you mushy bastard," Lovino mumbled. "We'll check the tomatoes tomorrow. Make sure they're okay. It feels like it's been forever since I had one."

"I'll make sure to pick out the reddest juiciest most perfect tomato especially for you, my love." Antonio said to Lovino before giving him a goodnight kiss on the forehead.

"Goodnight, Lovino…"

"Lovino is definitely going to kill me…" Antonio thought as he walked toward the castle. He knew it was a bad idea to sneak off while the dragon was still sleeping (especially since he was still sick) but this was the whole reason why Antonio wanted to come back right away. Hopefully Lovino wouldn't be too upset with his fiancé since he left a note for the dragon to find…

Oh, who was Antonio kidding? Lovino was going to be furious even after he does find the note. But this was supposed to be a surprise for the dragon and he didn't want to back out of it now.

"Halt!" A voice called out to Antonio, which made the man jump.

Antonio turned to see one of the Knights coming towards him.

"I'm sorry sir, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave the castle grounds." The knight spoke again. "The King is far too busy to deal with the villagers today."

"But I'm not here to see the king." Antonio replied. "I just wanted to see if I can talk to another knight. His name is Arthur Kirkland."

"Arthur Kirkland is no longer a knight." The man said harshly. "He has lost that privilege and he is the reason why our King has been so busy. So if you're quite done wasting my time, then I'm going to have to ask you to lea-"

"I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that," a soft voice cut in. "He's a friend of two people I know, and I'm sure he isn't here to cause any trouble." The blonde with violet eyes stepped over to Antonio and smiled. "Hello. Sorry if you had any trouble. Everyone is kind of in an uproar right now. There's been a lot of bad things going on, so it's a bit of a mess here right now. I'm sorry to tell you though; the guard is true in saying that Arthur isn't a knight anymore. He isn't even here."

"What?" Antonio despaired. "But he needs to be here. I need to talk to him! It's really important."

Matthew hummed, in thought. "Well, he might not be here, but if you really need to speak to him, then I suppose I could take you to where he is currently staying. I should warn you that my brother is rather protective of him right now."

"You'd be willing to take me to him?" Antonio looked at the violet eyed male with hopeful eyes. "Is he somewhere nearby?"

"Of course I'd be willing to help you. You're a friend of Francis and Lovino," Matthew answered with a warm smile. "I know that Lovino won't open up to just anyone, so I know you have to be a good person."

Antonio's eyes widened when Lovino was mentioned. "You know my Lovino?" Antonio couldn't help but inquire.

"Most of us dragons do. He's the Elder's grandson. But I like to think we're friends. I'm also the one who helped get the healing potion so you didn't die. Lovino might not say it clearly in front of you, but he was extremely worried about you. I don't think I'd ever seen him so scared in my life." Matthew shrugged slightly. "I don't think anyone sees how caring he can be, but you're the only one he really shows that side towards."

"So you're another dragon!" Antonio said in awe. "That's amazing. I didn't think I'd see any-"

"If you two are going to leave I would suggest that you do so now." The forgotten knight made his presence known again. The man looked quite irritated as he spoke, "As I've told you before, the castle grounds are off limits and the person you are looking for is clearly not here. So leave."

"You do realize that I could tell the king about how you're ordering me around," Matthew warned sharply, giving the guard a stern glare. "Watch how you speak to me." He turned back to Antonio with an irritated sigh. "Let's go. I don't want to keep hearing him snip at us. I'll take you to them." He shifted into his dragon form and lowered down for Antonio to get on. "It shouldn't take long to get there."

The irritated knight backed away. Fear had now settled into his eyes at the sight of Matthew's dragon form. (The threat hadn't sat well with the knight either.)

Antonio hesitated. Leaving the kingdom would make Lovino even more upset if he found out… but Antonio had already come this far. Why not go a bit further.

"Thank you, Matthew." Antonio said to the dragon as he climbed onto his back.

"Don't worry. I'm a careful flyer; I won't let you fall," Matthew reassured as he began flapping his large wings. "It wouldn't do either of us any good. Out of curiosity, why are you looking for Arthur?"

"He's really good at magic and creating his own spells." Antonio answered as they made their way up into the sky. "I need to know if he can teach me a fire spell for when I marry Lovino. We'll be following the dragon customs for the wedding, so it's important that I learn how to breathe fire… or something similar."

"Oh?" Matthew mused with surprise. "A fire spell, hm? I can't say I've ever seen one, but if Arthur can teach my brother potions, I'm sure he can teach you a fire spell. I must admit I'm surprised Lovino agreed to marriage. He always seemed like the idea of it terrified him."

"Hmmm… Maybe that was because he hadn't found the right person." Antonio said a little uncertainly. He was hoping that he had somehow changed Lovino's view on marriage. He didn't want the dragon to be anxious of their own wedding.

"I think the only reason he said yes was because he found the right person," Matthew replied softly, glancing back at Antonio. "I don't think he would have said yes if he didn't truly love you. Didn't he run away from the arranged marriage because he didn't love who he was being made to marry?"

Antonio smiled appreciatively at the dragon. "You're right. Lovino didn't like Potato Lizard, but I know that he loves me." Antonio replied happy. "And I know I love him with all my heart."

Matthew snorted with laughter. "P-potato lizard? You can't be talking about Ludwig, are you? He would give him that kind of name." He laughed again. "He always did give amusing names to people he didn't like."

"Who's Ludwig?" Antonio looked confused. "Lovino never mentioned him before… he was never mean to my Lovi was he?" Antonio's expression looked dark when he thought of someone wrongly mistreating his Lovino.

Matthew rolled his eyes. "Ludwig is the one that Lovino was supposed to marry, and no, I haven't heard of him ever doing something like that. He's not a cruel person. I can't see him ever hurting someone without good reason."

Antonio pouted. He didn't know what to think of this 'Ludwig'. On one hand, he didn't sound like a bad dragon so he shouldn't hate him. But on the other hand, the dragon almost married his Lovino, and Antonio couldn't stand the thought of someone else taking his beloved Lovi away from him forever.

"Well, we're here," Matthew announced, descending onto a rocky ledge. He waited for Antonio to climb off before shifting to his human form. "I'm going to go ahead and tell my brother you're here to ask Arthur for his assistance, so could you wait here a minute?"

"Sure. But uh… could you maybe not mention that it's me right away?" Antonio asked. "Arthur and I never got along very well and I'm afraid he won't let me see him if he knows it's me."

Matthew paused and cocked his head. "If you feel it's necessary, I can withhold that detail. I'll just tell them that someone needs his help. He'll be sure to come out then. I wasn't aware that you two didn't get along, so don't blame me if he gets mad." He shifted into his human form and gave a small wave. "Just sit tight and I'll bring him out," the blonde said before turning and going into the cavern.

Antonio waited outside of the cave feeling anxious. What would he do if Arthur refused to help him? What would he do if Arthur didn't have a fire spell?

Little did Antonio know, that wondering if Arthur would help him or not should be the least if his worries. The biggest obstacle came from an angry shout from inside the cave.

"Hold on Al! I told you he was okay! Have I lied to you about stuff like this before?!"

"I don't care! With all the shit that's been going on, we can't trust anybody! Arthur got hurt the last time he tried to help someone, and I'm not going to let it happen again!"

"And I told you that I know him! Does that mean nothing to you?!"

The two voices kept going back and forth, and they got louder as the came towards the entrance of the cave. Matthew and another blonde came storming out, the other male not looking happy at all.

"Damn it Al! You really need to start listening!" Matthew snapped.

Ignoring him, Alfred stalked over to Antonio and grabbed him by the shoulder roughly, pushing him back. "What do you want with Arthur?! If you're planning to trick him into another bad situation, I won't hesitate to kill you where you stand right now!"

Antonio's first instinct was to push Alfred back, but he remembered that he needed this dragon to approve of him so he quickly pushed that instinct aside.

"I'm not here to trick Arthur." Antonio quickly defended himself. "I just need him to teach me a spell. One spell and I'll be out of your hair. It's extremely important that I learn it, and he's the only one that can help. Believe me when I say I wouldn't even be here if there was someone else who could help me. "

"Yea well Arthur was tricked into believing someone needed to be healed," Alfred shot back, not looking any more appeased than before. "He was nearly killed! The last thing I would do is let something happen to him again!"

"And I'm telling you that I wouldn't have brought him here if I didn't trust him!" Matthew cut in, yanking his brother away from Antonio. "He's looking for Arthur to help him because he's trying to marry one of us! He's marrying Lovino!"

That made the blue dragon stop. "What?"

Antonio huffed in irritation. Who knew people could be so slow?

"I'm engaged to Lovino." Antonio said slowly and clearly so the blue eyed dragon could understand him. "I wanted to be respectful to his heritage and follow your traditions for the wedding ceremony. But in order to do that, I have to learn how to breathe fire. I was hoping Arthur could teach me how to do that."

Alfred frowned, seeming to have been thrown off, let go of Antonio and crossed his arms. "Sorry. . . After everything that's been happening recently, I've been so obsessed with making sure nothing happens to him again." He smiled sheepishly. "I hope you can forgive me for actin' like that. You can come on in and talk to him. I hope he can help you. That might just be something we'll have to learn for ourselves."

The irritation Antonio felt before had now entirely dissipated. "It's ok. I understand." Antonio offered the dragon a sympathetic smile. "If something bad happened to Lovino then I would want to be protective of him too."

Alfred grinned and Matthew had a look of irritated resignation on his face. "Let's just go, alright? I'm starting to get tired of all the shit you're pulling, Al. You do realize I have to fly all over the place since I'm acting as a messenger between the Elders and the king, right? The least you can do is make everything else easier for me."

"Sorry Mattie! You should know how I am by now!" Alfred apologized. Matthew rolled his eyes and walked back into the cave. "Come on, dude. If anyone can teach a spell, it's Artie." Alfred gestured for Antonio to follow and trotted cheerfully into the cave.

Antonio eagerly followed the dragons into the cave. He felt relieved that he was finally getting the chance to learn what he needed to know.

"Alfred, are you quite finished with your little tantrum?" An irritated voice called from deep inside the cave. "I'm starting to grow weary of all of this 'protection' you insist on… What is he doing here?!"

As Antonio fully entered the cave, he saw Arthur's irritation quickly turn into anger. In any other situation, Antonio would have sniggered at the way Arthur's bushy eyebrows furrowed in anger. But Antonio needed to play nice. He didn't want to sabotage his chances of getting help from the grumpy ex-knight.

"Hola Kirkland." Antonio said with a strained smile.

This only seemed to irritate the man more. "Alfred, I thought you were being over protective. Why is this potion sabotaging dolt here?" Arthur turned to question Alfred angrily.

"Are you still mad about that?" Antonio inquired. "That was ages ago. We were only kids! And I only did that because you ruined my tomato garden."

"I ruined your garden because you had purposely left my sword outside to rust in the rain!"

"You jinxed my ponytail off when you were trying to invent new spells! That had taken me months to grow out!"

"Well, you-"

"Both of you shut up!" Matthew shouted. "Honestly! First Lovino and Francis start bickering when the healing potion was being made, and now I have to stop you two?! Grow up, would you? Don't make this any harder than it has to be!"

Both immediately stopped their bickering and looked down bashfully.

"Sorry Matthew." They said in unison. This caused them to both look at each other in irritation, but neither bothered to start another fight.

"So…" Arthur began. His glare did not waver. "Matthew says you need my help. What exactly would make you stoop so low that you would even bother asking for my help and, more importantly, why should I help you?"

"I'm… getting married." Antonio answered hesitantly. He tried to choose his words carefully. "I'm engaged to a dragon and I'm following their traditions for the ceremony. In order to do that, I need to learn how to breathe fire-"

"Impossible." Arthur cut in. "Humans are incapable of breathing fire. Only dragons are able to do so."

And just like that, Antonio's hopes plummeted. It looked like he had come all of this way for nothing.

"Aw come, Artie. Don't just kill the idea like that!" Alfred whined, slipping over next to Arthur. "When we get married, you'd have to use fire too otherwise the ceremony wouldn't be complete. . . Wouldn't that be really sad? If we couldn't marry just cuz you can't breathe fire? I think we should help him."

Arthur turned a dark shade of red at that. "W-what?!" Arthur exclaimed. He looked at Alfred like the dragon just grew a second head. "Wh-when have we ever discussed the possibility of marriage! Plus, fire is extremely dangerous! Even I have trouble control it."

"So it's still possible for humans to magically create fire?!" Antonio perked up.

Arthur cursed under his breath when he realized he had let the cat out of the bag. "Yes." Arthur said irritatedly. "It is possible but very hard to control. I've lost count of the times I've accidentally burned myself trying to produce it."

"If it's possible then I need you to teach me!" Antonio said in a pleading voice. "Please! I need to do this. I need to learn this for Lovino."

"Why do you say that like you don't wanna marry me," Alfred asked, pouting like a child. "I didn't think it was such an impossibility. . . Was I wrong to think that?"

All anger and irritation left Arthur's face. His eyebrows furrowed upwards in concern as he looked at Alfred.

"I never said it was an impossibility." Arthur said in a much calmer voice. "It's… it's just that it was brought up so suddenly and… and…" Arthur stopped talking. He looked unsure of what to say. Or maybe he was just hesitant to talk about such a personal matter in front of other people. But for whatever reason it was, it left the entire cave silent.

The silence made Antonio feel more on edge. Would Arthur help him? Would he refuse?

With a great sigh, Arthur turned to face Antonio. "Alright…" the green eyed man said evenly. "I'll teach you the spell."

Antonio couldn't believe what he was hearing. His face brightened as his happiness became overwhelming. Unable to stop himself, Antonio rushed to give Arthur a bone crushing hug.

"Oh thank you thank you thank you!" Antonio exclaimed. "I can't tell you how much this means to me!"

"Ow ow ow! Get off of me!" Arthur struggled to get free of the man's hold.

"Okay, okay," Alfred cut in, prying Antonio off Arthur. "I'm glad you're happy, but you're not allowed to touch him."

"Good lord, Al. Just cut the crap already," Matthew groaned. "Look, I'm going back. I still have things to do, and I don't think they'll be happy over there if I'm gone for too long. You'll have to take him home when you're done; I've got to go." Without another word, the blonde left in a flurry of scales and wind.

"He's gotten really impatient lately," Alfred commented after a moment of silence.

"It's understandable with everything he's been through." Arthur replied quietly. The ex-knight took a deep breath before facing Antonio again. "I hope you're ready for this." Arthur said in a serious tone. "This spell will require your full attention. Even the slightest distraction can make the flames go wild."

Antonio nodded eagerly. "I'm ready." He assured the man.

Arthur looked doubtful but didn't voice so. Instead he walked towards the entrance if the cave and motioned Antonio to follow.

"Then let's go and get started…"

Yay~! Antonio found someone to teach him how to magically create fire!

But a certain someone might not be too happy when he wakes up and finds his sick fiancé gone O_O

Thanks for reading this chapter. If you like this story then be sure to check out Yamiyo's other stories. The link to her FF is on my profile.

Please let us know what you think of this update by leaving us a review. n_n

Oh! And just something a little random that I would like to share, this chapter makes me extremely happy considering the events that have taken place in my life just yesterday. My dad is not living at home with the family right now for reasons that I find to be very selfish (won't go into to much detail there) and I have a friend that I have been getting a lot closer to lately. This friend and I are not in a relationship (although it looks like it may be going in that direction with his daily texts and flirting) but I was very surprised when my dad voiced his disapproval of my friend yesterday. Apparently my mom told my dad we had been texting (she is happy for me) and this made my dad very upset. My father is like Antonio's parents in a sense because he is all about jobs and having money and a higher education. My friend and his family are not very well off but he is an extremely hard worker and does volunteer work to help others. Rereading this chapter I have written with Yamiyo made me feel better today because (like Antonio and Lovino) I could not care less about my father's shallow views. If this friend of mine ever wants to be in a closer relationship with me I would accept because I like his personality and kindness. I wouldn't let something as trivial as his working status deter me from speaking with him.