A/N: This chapter is undergoing reconstruction. I'm having a head-ache, yes, but because I really want it up asap, I posted this [very] short draft. I might fill another eight hundred words in tomorrow, but that's a maybe. For now, please enjoy.

Disclaimer: Gilbert sings a part of 'Little Things' by One Direction somewhere here. Do check it out so you know how slowly and intimately he sang it.

"It was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up,

They meant we were supposed to be together…

And I knew it."

~Sleepless in Seatle

Chapter Five

Hours. Days. Leaves fell, and seasons changed.

Alicia and Gilbert brought together two old families, which got Ludwig to go all the way to Spain just to watch over his big brother. Lovino and Antonio returned to the hacienda in Zaragoza just to make sure the Aragonese woman was all right. At first, it seemed like there was no actual reason for that – Alicia wasn't sick. There was nothing wrong with her. It was Gilbert who needed more help since he had been dying. However, one Spring afternoon came a shock that the Prussian wasn't expecting.

Lovino had gone out shopping for food with Alicia, leaving the brunet to his best friend. However, after a suspicious phone call, Antonio rushed to the hospital with the albino walking and following after him.

"Look, Toni," the Prussian began explaining, "I know you're worried about me too, but I'm not staying in this hell-hole, even if you say it's the best hospital around."

Antonio stopped in his tracks only to look at him, and smiled wearily, "Ah… If only that were the case." Then, he continued walking briskly, with the albino following after him.

At first, Gilbert didn't understand what he meant. But the moment they entered one room, and found that Alicia was sitting on a bed, hands connected to an IV, stroking the Italian's head as his head rested against her bedside, he felt his heart skip a beat, "Alicia!"

He ran towards her bedside and Lovino looked up at them, "Alicia, what's wrong? What happened? Why are you here?"

At that statement, the Italian looked at his mother, "… You didn't tell him?"

"Tell me what?" Gilbert looked at him worriedly, before he turned back to his lover, "What's wrong? What happened? A-Are… Are you sick?"

"Gil, please, calm down," she said, attempting a smile and looking straight at him, "I'll answer all of your questions, but please calm down."

Antonio took this moment to pull Lovino out of the room, glancing back once to look at Alicia. She gave him a reassuring nod, and the two other Romantics left them. Gilbert sat on the chair that Lovino relieved and looked desperately at her, "Please, Alicia…"

She sighed and looked at him, "I'm sorry. I've been waiting for the right time to tell you this, but…" she bit her lower-lip nervously, "I'm dying."

In that one moment, everything in his world stopped. He dared to hope that it was all just a sick joke. It was almost like someone dropped a bomb, and they didn't know when it was going to explode. The agony of waiting was far too much. He didn't know if there was going to be a punchline. But Alicia's amber eyes were filling in tears, and worry began to pain him. She was telling him the truth.

"Y-You're what?" he breathed out, "N-No… No. T-That… That can't be." He reached out to gently stroke her cheek.

Alicia sighed. "Do you know how our old greats died? People say they just... Disappear?" she closed her eyes tiredly, "Your father, mine... It was abrupt." She opened her eyes and looked at him, "Their bodies got eaten out much faster, so they immediately disappeared. But my hundred years of sleep was supposed to be my death. And I fought it, I wanted to live," she sighed, "So the death that was supposed to befall me in the instant of the end of the Wars of Succession began to slowly sink into me."

"B-But you've still got land!" he tried to argue, "Y-You… You can't die before me, that isn't fair!"

"Shh, calm down," she sat up to wipe the tears from his face, "P-Please… Let me try to explain as best as I can." She drew a deep breath, "My brother was resurrected into two forms when Castillo La Mancha and Castillo Leon were reinstated. Chances are, I would be too. That was how it was supposed to be. It could be immediate, or it could take years," a small frown befell her, "Please calm down, dear. I'm still alive. I will for a bit." But his cries brought Antonio and Lovino back into the room.

"This isn't fair," he muttered, looking at her with tears in his eyes, "Why can't our lives be normal? If we were human we could do anything. Nothing would hinder us 'til death do us part. But our lives of nations are killing us."

"We could still do anything, if we wanted to. And the same thing will keep us apart. Death." She pressed a soft kiss upon his cheeks. Her lips had grown rough and dry. But she meant for it to be comforting.

It somehow added to his misery, and tears rolled down his face. He loved her soft lips. "At least we'd die around the same time…?" He looked at her desperately.

She smiled a little, nodding and wiping away his tears with her free hand, "I'll try to make it happen." Lovino was seething by the time he and Antonio had seen this, and wanted to say something, but the Spaniard gave him a look, and he understood. Antonio, himself, was holding back tears. But the night was spent by only Alicia and Gilbert in a mix of mourning and comfort only they could understand.

The next morning, Gilbert slept a little more than he usually does. Antonio and Lovino had come back to check on Alicia. The Prussian eventually woke up and smiled upon seeing his brother with them. They spoke with each other in German then the albino went to see how Alicia was doing: "Alicia?"

She had the Italian's face buried in her shoulder, but she smiled brightly up at him. Her face had regained colour slightly, and her only previously dried lips had begun to look soft to touch, "Yeah, Gil?" she asked, "Sleep well?"

He nodded and lit up seeing she looked better. "Are you feeling better?" Maybe their stars had aligned and she wouldn't die.

"A little," she smiled, "Especially if, by better, you mean I feel like I won't die today." She was much calmer about her death than anyone was. At this, she felt Lovino's tears against her shoulder.

"Maybe you won't die at all." He said with some hope it his voice as he smiled at her.

She smiled, "Maybe," she shrugged, "I'm still not sure." Lovino muttered something in his native language, to which Antonio laughed, "Don't be over-dramatic, Lovi. She'll still be okay."

"What'd he say?" It was too soft for him to hear.

"He said, 'We can't sit here and deny reality.'" Alicia translate loosely, "Ah, pero eso sí que es." She smiled a little.

"It is what it is."

Alicia returned lively and well after three short-days that felt like years. Gilbert was almost sure that it was only but a little bit of malfunction in her health, and she would be completely all right. But the young Aragonese woman certainly didn't show signs of it being temporary.

At first, it was little things. She woke up earlier than everyone else, making sure she made food or doing some other measly house chore. Then, they became bigger things to occupy her in the day such as cleaning the stables, watering and tending to the plants – and they were all almost as though to prove that she was indeed still alive. And it wasn't just her that she wanted to believe in it… She wanted Gilbert to believe in it as well.

"You don't have enough time."

It was the first thing that the Englishman said to him.

They were sitting in the living-room, and Alicia had tired herself out so much that she fell asleep with her head on the Prussian's lap. It was then that Arthur decided to take a look at the young lady whom he had considered a daughter even while on the days of ships and armadas only to find that the young albino had taken her heart away with him. At first, Arthur didn't seem too pleased, seeing as Gilbert didn't have that much of a good reputation when it came to women either, but there was something in the way he looked at Alicia that told the Englishman something important: there was something there that wasn't there before. However-

"I know I don't," said the Prussian, "I don't even know when I'm-"

"I meant about her." The Brit continued. He knew that the albino wasn't going to just open up to him in a snap. But he was also stubborn as hell - he was the freaking British Empire! – and, he cannot accept the fact that the only girl who isn't ashamed to have asked for his advice may end up loveless. His face looked like it was holding back emotion, and his emerald eyes hinted a grief that was close to that of loss, "She doesn't have enough time."

"Nonsense," Gilbert wanted to think that she was okay. She was, "We have time…" He gently stroked her hair, brushing bristles of her raven locks away from her eyes, "We can do whatever we want to."

Arthur still didn't seem pleased with his answer, so Gilbert sighed, "Look," he started to say, running a hand in his snow-white hair, "You can say what you like, and choose to see what you want to, but this is who we are. Me and her, this is us. I'm not used to doing it this way. I've never gone with the wind, gone with the flow. I like having plans. I used to plan my entire life to the rim. But Alicia opened the door of new possibilities to me, something more that I've never seen before. But it's uncharted area for me. Nobody's loved me like she has, more than she ever has."

"So, are you telling me that you're scared?" Arthur asked.

A strained chuckle escaped Gilbert's lips, "Scared?" he asked the Brit, "I'm terrified." He looked down at the lovely woman who was lying peacefully upon his lap, pink lips slightly parted as she exhaled, but a smile of comfort playing upon her lips as she stayed where she was, "Look at her. She's beautiful. I used to watch her from a distance, I didn't mind loving her from afar because I knew that Francis was taking care of her…

"Except, Francis wasn't taking care of her, I found out. She cried over him, complained, mourned and grieved, and I wanted to take it all away. I wanted to save her the misery, and I wanted her to be mine. I told myself I would never take her if she was Francis, but the truth is, I've been madly in love with her since all those years ago." He drew a deep breath to explain himself, "Once upon a time, a feisty pirate-girl found me along the shores of Catalonia. She was lovely, didn't take no for an answer and I swear on my once-broken heart that I thought she was an angel. I wanted her – oh, how I wanted her. And fates became kind and gave her to me… But I was dying, and I didn't want to hurt her now that she is mine. And now… they want to take her away again…"

It was almost as though Arthur felt the same sorrow, because he could tell that the albino was holding back his tears. With a heavy sigh, he handed the Prussian a small, sealed envelope, "I think you'll know what to do with this, then."

Gilbert was surprised. But he reached out a weak hand to take the envelope. The seal was that of a long time ago, when the two kingdoms of Spain had not yet united. He should know – he made sure they never did. Something was inside it, though, like a ring. Wait- "What is this?" he asked the Englishman.

"Her brother, Juan of Castile, made me promise that if she ever wanted to get married, to give that to the lucky bastard as long as it wasn't Francis." Arthur shrugged, "He hated Francis."

"Everybody went through a phase of hating Francis." He chuckled softly. He looked at the front of the envelope. In sharp, thick cursive, there were only two words.

Para siempre.

"What do these words mean, Arthur?" Gilbert asked. To him, it seemed important. The Englishman smiled because it was.

"Forever."

That night, when Alicia had woken up and wandered off around the house, Gilbert tore open the sealed envelope to find a simple, white-gold band. It had three small stones embedded in it, yellowish in colour, almost close to the amber shade of Alicia's eyes. He didn't know what to do with it yet, so, he kept it within his pocket.

Forever?

The concept seemed foreign to him. He used to have forever. And so did she. For a long time, he wanted to know how that would feel – a love that lasted forever. And in the short span of time that he spent with her, she made it seem real. She showed him a kind of love that he couldn't see. It made him open his eyes, it made him believe that, maybe, it was possible to be that much in love with someone. Just, maybe. And, maybe, she showed him what living really was for. He didn't want to hide anymore.

"Stars, love?"

Alicia chuckled as he found her gazing out with a deep, faraway glimmer in her eyes. She looked up at him before she looked back up at the dark sky littered with thousands of glittering lights, "You got it."

He stood behind her in the small gazebo right within her own hacienda, "Just as beautiful as I remember."

"They are." She agreed, smiling up at the wonder of the stars.

But that wasn't what Gilbert was looking at. Instead, his crimson eyes were affixed on soft, graceful, raven-coloured locks that complimented a well-chiseled face, and beautiful, honey-colored eyes that saw the wonder in everything. Her tan skin showed hints of red in the moonlight, and he was glad to note that her lips were still pink, and not dry and lifeless as compared to when she had been in the hospital. Just the very sight of her took his breath away, "You are."

Her eyes widened, and Alicia looked at him, almost shocked where the statement came from. Her cheeks gained a rosy-red colour, and she chuckled softly, "What?" She asked him, almost sure that it was only in her head.

"You're beautiful." Gilbert smiled at her, then slowly took her hand to pull her close, "Come on. Dance with me."

"Here?" she laughed a little at his suggestion, but still locked her arms around him, "We don't have any music."

"Sure we do~" he said, holding her close to him. Her warmth gave him hope. The sound of her laughter made him feel alive. And as they took a step left, and another to the right, swaying to the wind in the night, Gilbert couldn't help but stroke her hair and sing softly in her ears:

"You'll never love yourself half as much as I love you," To this, Alicia chuckled. They both know it to be true.

"And you never treat yourself right, darling, but I want you to." He could see the tears in her eyes now.

"If I let you know," They stopped swaying, but Gilbert continued to sing, "I'm here for you…"

"Gil…" She was saying.

But the albino pulled away and smiled, gently stroking her cheeks, "Maybe you'll love yourself like I love you."

And the tears came pouring, and Alicia could only wrap her arms around him, "I'm scared," she admitted in between sobs of worry and frustration, "I can't… I can't…"

"Shh…" He kissed her forehead tenderly, and only pulled her closer to him, "You can. Because I'm going to be here for you every step of the way." He reassured her.

He felt her grip on him tighten, and she buried her head in the crook of his neck, "Don't leave me." She whispered.

Gilbert knew where her fears were coming from. She was dying. It was easy to be left behind and to be forgotten. But he knew that someone like her would be leaving a mark in more than just an old personification such as him, "I'll never dream of it, love," he said, "You are the greatest, most amazing thing that's happening to me."

"B-But you said…" her brows were still strewn with worry, "Y-You could feel it… A-Almost like how I could feel it. Do I deserve it?" she asked, "Do I deserve you getting torn from my arms because I didn't find you sooner?"

"Oh love, don't think of it like that." He held her close and buried himself in the scent of her hair, "I thought you like a challenge? This is just a challenge for us. The fates know we love each other. Of course it'll look for ways to tear us apart."

She smiled at his words, then pulled away. He wiped away her tears, and she leaned into his touch, "T-Tell me," she said slowly, "Tell me that you love me."

"In how many languages do you want me to tell you?" He asked her, their foreheads touching slightly.

"Mm~" she nuzzled him gently and cupped his face in her hands, "German? Spanish? How many ways can you say it?"

"In German, it is… Ich liebe dich," he said to her, smiling at her warm hands, "You say, 'Te amo.'" He added, "I can even say it in the language of love, if you want me to."

She giggled, "What?" but he only pulled her close and she couldn't help but melt and wrap her arms around him once more, "The language of love?"

"Yeah." He said, slowly nearing her as he recited from the top of his head, "Doubt thou the stars are fire, doubt that the son doth move-"

"Doubt that truth be a liar," Alicia continued, knowing just where he got it from.

"But never doubt I love." And with that, he leaned down to give her a kiss.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey…"

"Don't stop."

They were huddled together that night, under the covers and arms wrapped around each other. Gilbert curled up around her as though protecting her from whatever harm may befall them that night. But her voice, and her song was the only sound to him that was pleasant, and he wanted more.

"Okay," Alicia said with a soft chuckle, "You never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."

Gilbert waited in anticipation, eyes opening to meet her amber gaze.

"I… I don't think you'd like the continuation of that." She said, a sad sort of smile playing upon her lips.

"I haven't heard it before." The albino admitted, "Sing it for me?"

She held him closer, but did as she was asked:

"The other night, love, as I lay sleeping,

I dreamt that you were at my side.

But when I woke up, I was mistaken.

Please don't take my sunshine away…"

To that, the albino reached out to cup her face into his pale, trembling hands, "You are my sunshine," he said to her softly.

Her reply was just as soft, "And you're mine."

"I promise," he said firmly, trying his best not to cry again, "You aren't going to lose me. So please fight it for me?"

"With every ounce of my being, I will," she smiled at him and embraced him, loving the warmth that they both shared, "Besides, I'm not very good with good-byes."

"Well, this isn't good-bye," he said, kissing her forehead, "Just good-night. And I love you… So, so much, Alicia."

There was a soft chuckle from his arms, "I love you more."

A/N: Okay, that's enough drama for one night. I don't want to cry writing this anymore, so I'll cry writing eight hundred more words tomorrow ^_^ Thank you for reading!