((Salutations everyone! Welcome to chapter 12! I do hope you enjoy this, because I had fun writing it~))

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, or any of its characters! I also do not own The Parent Trap in any way!

-Arthur-

It was in the late evening, and I was currently sitting on Alfred's porch, trying to read a book I had brought from home. Key word would be trying. The sun was setting slowly and the only noises heard were birds chirping in the distance. Everything was just so peaceful that it screamed it was a perfect time read right now. Yet, as much as my eyes ran over the words, I just couldn't focus or understand what I was reading. My mind just seemed to be scattered with what has been happening the past few days...

Before I could even go into depth, all the thoughts I had went into a halt as I heard the low rumble of an engine coming below the porch. I stood quickly, then walked over to the edge, finding the familiar faces of the twins and Alfred slowly getting out the of the buggy. "Back so soon? Did you have fun?" I asked in light surprise, furrowing my eyebrows with a small smile. Why were they back already? Did something go wrong?

One of the twins, which I immediately recognized as Alice with her glasses, came up the steps carrying her backpack, stopping before she went into the house at my question. She started with a deep sigh. "Not exactly..-"

"-We've been punished through the end of the century!" Amelia cut in dramatically, hosting up her own backpack out of the buggy while pouting. I looked over to Alfred who was grabbing another bag with a stern frown on his face. "Starting now. Go." He paused his movements to point where Alice was standing, and I noticed then that there seemed to be a missing person. "Where's Francine?" I questioned next, leaning on the porch railing.

"Oh, we played a couple of harmless tricks on her... and she kinda freaked out a little..." Amelia said explained quickly, moving ahead of Alfred to reach Alice on the stairs. He scoffed in turn at her explanation, reaching into his pocket. "A little?" Moving up the stairs to face me on the porch, he showed what appeared to be a ring. Glancing once at the girls briefly, he locked eyes with me. "We broke up."

I blinked in surprise when he pocketed the ring again, frowning deeply. "Oh, jeez... Alfred, this is all my fault. If I hadn't suggested she go..." I trailed off, trying to look more guilty than I felt. I didn't think I was doing such a good job when he calculated me with suspicious blue eyes. "Tricked her would be more like it..." He mumbled, glancing between the twins and I. "Like Father, like daughters, I guess." He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

Inwardly wincing at the fact that he was sometimes a bit more clever than I took him for, I put a hand on his shoulder. "I really am sorry, Alfred.." I tried again, hoping he wasn't too mad. I mean, with the combined sabotage of the girls and I, we really killed his relationship. It wasn't something to be proud of. "We are too Dad, really." Amelia pitched in after, though her face said otherwise. Alfred sighed again at us and pointed to the house. "Up to your room. Now."

The girls quickly left after the command, leaving us on the porch. Only taking a moment to visibly make sure that the twins were gone, Alfred broke his stern face and smiled. "I gotta remember to thank them one day." He said softly, glancing at me, then to the house.

I rose an eyebrow at him in mild surprise, folding my arms. "You're relieved?" I asked, watching him closely. He glanced at me again, smile dying down on his face. "I think I am.." He muttered, brushing me off after that, not wanting to explain. "I'm also starving. Feli around?"

I shook my head. "He and Ludwig went off on a picnic around noon...yesterday."

Alfred stopped in surprise and chuckled. "Well then, who would've thought! My nanny and your butler!" I hummed in agreement as he was left in the thought for a moment, taking the chance to collect my book and drink.

When I neared him again, he brightened a tad. "So... How 'bout I make us something to eat?" He suggested casually, brushing a hand through his hair while heading to the house. "You know how to cook now?" I asked in mock surprise while following. He laughed at my question, not answering until we got inside the house.

"Of course I know how to cook! If anything, it's yoooo- Nevermind! How about some pasta?" He offered quickly, putting on a wide grin as he escaped into the kitchen; probably to avoid my unimpressed glare at his cut off insult. I rolled my eyes lightly at his actions, following after him with a light shrug.

"Pasta sounds good..."

~A while later~

"Wow, smells good in here!" Alfred chirped as he stood next to me, watching the stove in interest. "Really? I'm just boiling water." I responded with a raised brow, forcing myself not to hit his shoulder as I adjusted the temperature with a small frown.

"Oh. Then it must be you..." He said back happily, moving to a shelf.

I was thankful then that he was busy pulling out two wine glasses, or else he would have seen me blushing like a kid at his little line. For some stupid reason, I managed to walk right into his wicked charms as much as possible, causing me to act like an idiot in love.

Clearing my throat to rid myself of those butterflies that grew in my stomach, I turned to face him. He was looking at me again, holding one of the glasses and acting perfectly normal. Brat... "So, what are you in the mood for? Red or white?" Alfred asked after a moment, twirling the cups slowly.

"I think red." I shrugged after a moment of thought. He paused at the answer before gesturing me closer. "Follow me..." Was the only instruction before he left, leaving the kitchen. I hesitated a moment, quickly commanding myself not to assume weird things, before heading after him.

Keeping right on his heels, he led me around the house until we went down some stairs into what looked like a cellar. It was very spacious and lit by beautiful looking lanterns. The light brown walls were lined with multi-colored wine bottles and ladders rested on them, library style.

"This is where I keep my private stash." Alfred spoke up as I gawked in silent awe. "Did you know I also collected wine?" He asked next, leading me around. I shook my head. "I didn't." He grinned and leaned against a rack with green colored bottles, staring at me with fondness.

"Yep. I'm a man of limited interests."

I quickly removed my eyes from his figure at his words, deciding to look around some more. I could feel my cheeks warm up again as I followed him over to another rack, watching as he easily pulled out one to show.

"Here's a 1921 Burgandy... They say the rain that year made this the best Burgandy ever harvested...!" He explained, a normal grin back on his face. He suddenly flinched and looked at me with excitement. "Oh, wait! I think you'll appreciate this one." As he put the bottle back, he led me over to a spot, pulling out another for me to read.

"Vi Day, 1946... Incredible." I breathed out, lightly tracing the cover in astonishment. He nodded and put it back, pulling out another. "Yeah, I love that. I think this was the one my parents served at their wedding... Maybe the one Mattie was conceived off of." As he snickered lightly to himself, I nodded in interest before spotting a lovely bottle with a white label a moment later. "What's this one?" I asked, moving closer to it. When I got there, I dusted the label gently, finding the words underneath.

"Where Dreams Have No End... 1983." I read quietly, feeling a small tug of a familiar emotion in my chest. "Yeah.. That one actually took me years to track down." Alfred lightly cut in as I straightened up to look at him. "Why? Where's it from?" I asked, noticing that he had somewhat of a bittersweet smile on. He locked his blue eyes with mine at the question, smile growing. "It's the wine we drank at our wedding. Heh... I now have every bottle ever made..."

I flinched lightly in surprise when the feel of full recognition came over me. Yet, instead of focusing on the sudden warm feeling coming over from the memory of the wine bottle and where it belonged, I brushed off what he said first. "You do?" I asked, trying to tear my eyes away from his. It was proven to be difficult as he nodded once, his sweet smile growing again. "I do."

"Can we open one?" I asked, a little lost in thought, as a brief memory of Alfred dressed in that suit he wore when we got married flashed through my vision. It lingered only a moment, bringing another feeling of warmth as I remembered how happy we were when we said those words to each other.

"You're the only one I'd drink with, Artie." Alfred's voice cut in again, making the hazy illusion disappear. I blinked once, trying to focus more clearly again. When I looked back over to my ex-husband, he was now looking down at the bottle he was holding, gently removing the dust that it had collected over the years.

I continued to watch him silently as faint, small, memories from the day we met, married, then split came flashing to the surface.

*Insert dramatic, lengthy, flashback of when they first met to divorce.*

-Alfred-

As the silence carried us on, I finished my awkward dusting to look over to Arthur again, hoping to try and talk some more. Yet, I flinched in shock as I noticed that his green eyes were full of almost falling tears. "Hey... You okay?" I asked gently in concern, catching his attention.

Arthur coughed sharply and rubbed his eyes, waving me off immediately. "Ah...Just got a little dust in my eye...!" He tried passing off, using a chipper tone. I frowned at this, moving closer to him. "I can offer you a clean sleeve, or a shoulder-" I cut off as he moved away quickly at my offer, waving his arms for me to stop.

"No, no. I'm fine, now. Really!" He said quickly, looking up to me with what I recognized as a fake smile. "All better..!"

While I felt the brief annoyance of his stubbornness, I moved closer. "You don't always have to be so brave, ya know." I tried again, watching as he avoided eye contact, looking at the floor with sad eyes.

"Oh, but I do, actually..." He muttered softly, holding his arm tightly. I was then briefly reminded why I admired his strength, but at the same time hated it. Nothing would ever get across if he could't trust to lean on me. Even if he didn't want to explain, I was fine with him just using me as a rock to hold on to. When he looked back up, the sharp sound of a door opening was heard, causing us to both jump in light shock.

"Anybody home?" A faint returned Feli asked, making it clear that I wouldn't be able to talk with Arthur anymore. I looked at him once more, watching him clear the remaining tears he had shed. I hesitated a little before nodding to myself and looking towards the stairs. "Yeah... We're on our way up."

I put the bottle I still had in my hands away and gestured for Arthur to follow me again. He did without question and we made our way up the stairs again, not a single word uttered.

"Welcome back... How was the picnic?" Arthur greeted, suddenly in a great mood, when we caught sight of Feli and Ludwig. The two were both close to each other, hands held and bright expressions on. "Who knew the man wanted to eat in L.A.?" Ludwig started happily, patting Feli's head affectionately. "We drove eight hours to have a picnic in a city with no parks..."

"But what a town!" Feli said next, almost jumping in joy. "We saw a lot of things! From beaches, to some mountains- Did you know Luddy has really never seen those kinds of things? We also went around and found out that Luddy has the same hand size as John Wayne, and that-" As the talkitive Italian went on about the trip, Ludwig continued in a slower pace.

"He's a lot to handle... Yet, it still was a lot of fun. How was the camping trip? Aren't y-"

"Hey, aren't you guys early from the camping trip? Are we interrupting anything? We are. Let's go give them some privacy Luddy." Feli spewed out, grabbing Ludwig's arm and pulling him back to the door. Arthur quickly stopped him, a tight smile on his face. "No, no! You're not interrupting anything! Are you hungry? We were just making some pasta!"

I blinked in surprise at Arthur, instantly wishing he wouldn't have invited them. I already knew we wouldn't be able to talk, but I still wanted to spend some alone time with my favorite Englishman. Feli didn't catch the look I gave him and started to jump again. "You don't mind? We would love to!" I inwardly face-palmed as Ludwig glanced over to me for some confirmation. "No, we wouldn't mind at all!" Arthur chirped back again, flicking my arm as he passed to go into the kitchen.

"Hm... Oh, yeah! It's totally fine!" I commented after catching the hidden meaning of the touch, watching as Feli quickly left to go set the table. Ludwig gave me another glance, moving after Feli when I gave him a thumbs up. Yet, after making sure he was gone, I turned and let out a long sigh.

There went my last chance to be alone with him...

~The next morning~

The next day seemed to come faster then I wanted it to and everything seemed to go in a fast pace. During the dark thunderstorm that appeared in the morning, ironically mirroring my current mood, everyone was saying their good-byes.

"You be good, stay safe, and take care of each other." I gently said to Alice as I hugged her tightly. We would of course meet up again for Thanksgiving, but that was still a long away from now. It almost felt like forever when we had just got all back together...

Alice let go after a few moments of the hug, forcing a smile on and sucking in a deep breath to visibly calm herself. "'Course, Dad. I'll see you soon so don't be too sad!" I nodded in return and watched as she opened up an umbrella, waiting for Amelia as she said her good-byes with Arthur.

It was a hard thing for me to just stand still when that time was up and Arthur came over to me with another tight smile on. "Well, it seems like we're really off this time!" He spoke casually, watching as the girls walked together in the rain to the taxi, arm in arm. I inwardly scoffed and glanced at him, wishing that somehow, he didn't have that wall over his heart. "Yeah..."

"You take care of yourself, alright?" He said next, moving in to give me a brief hug. I nodded again, returning it half-heartedly. "You do the same, Artie." With only a short, crisp nod from him as a last response, he opened his own umbrella. Giving me once last brief look before muttering a goodbye, he fled to the taxi.

It was almost like the past had come up for a brief time as he disappeared into the vehicle, leaving an empty feeling in my chest. The girls had already said goodbye, and Amelia had quickly come back with Feli to where I was. We didn't say anything and in heavy silence we watched the car drive slowly away.

We still didn't say anything when it finally went out of sight, only letting the dark sound of the rain talk for us.

Only a few minutes later, Feli was the first to leave his spot, claiming that something in our house needed to be cleaned, leaving me with Amelia. More minutes later, she left next, looking like a kicked puppy and muttering something about school going to start soon and needing to prepare.

I barely glanced at her as she left, simply feeling the same emotions from when Arthur first left.

Yet...as much as it was the same, it was actually different. Instead of that lost feeling of wondering how I could fix this that I dealt with back then, I felt something inside that told me I had a solution and that I needed to go.

'...And you never came after me.'

His words suddenly echoed deeply in my mind, causing something in my mind to snap. My reaction was instant. Moving back quickly, I almost ran into the house, on a new mission. It took only a few minutes to gather up Amelia and Feli before we were in the car, speeding over to the airport for the Concorde.

I had decided that enough was enough. No matter how stubborn he was, or how messed up our relationship came to be, I wasn't going to let him go this time. I wasn't willing to stand around helplessly and hope for a better ending. It was time I did something to fix this once and for all.

I'm a Hero after all and Hero's sure as hell don't just sit around and let their damsel's leave them a second time!

~Timeskip~

When we arrived at Arthur's place, we found that no one was home. Amelia wasted no time at all after the discovery, commanding us to wait in some hiding spots. We did as told and waited for at least 30 minutes before finally hearing the front door softly open.

"Hello? We're home."

At the faint call of Arthur's voice, I could feel my determination kick up a notch, making me a bit restless as light footsteps made their way to the study Amelia was in.

"Hey there, stranger." Came the nice greeting. There was pause and a small rustling of paper before Amelia spoke up, her tone hiding excitment. "Hey, Father! Did you know that the Concorde gets you here in half the time?"

"Uh, Yeah.. I've heard that..."

More footsteps were heard and Alice let out a gasp of surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, it took us a while after you left to realize that we didn't want to lose you two again."

"We?"

As if that was a cue in a movie, I appeared from where I was hiding near Amelia, startling Arthur. I nodded once before locking eyes with deep green. "We. I made the mistake of not coming after you once, Artie. I wasn't planning on doing it again... No matter how brave you are."

Arthur seemed to look panicked as I slowly made my way over to him. It was as if he was desperately trying to put up another wall when he spoke in a troubled tone.

"A-And I suppose you just expect me to go weak at the knees, start to cry hysterically-" He took a moment to pause and take in a shaky breath, trying only once to shake off me off as I took a hold of his arm to pull him closer. "-And say, 'Oh, we'll figure this whole thing out.'... A bicontinental relationship with our daughters being raised h-here and... there, and...-" He paused briefly again to notice that I was holding him close, still trying to fight tears that were close to falling on his flushed face. "-And y-you and I just picking up where we left off... and... And growing old together- Come on, Alfred. What do you expect? To live happily ever after?"

As he waited for an answer, I gently cupped the side of his face so he could face me. Softly wiping away a tear that had fallen, I nodded. "Yes. To all of the above." I let out a small, sharp laugh, bringing our faces closer. "But you don't have to cry hysterically." He only shook his head as tears freely went down, giving me a bittersweet smile. "Oh, yes, I do..." Was the last quiet remark before our lips finally met.

((Heyo everyone! They are finally together! :D Wooo! The story is finally complete! Now what's next is the epilogue and bonus chapter for that lil cheat flashback up there! Finally, after this lovely journey, I hoped you enjoyed, because I loved writing this!))

As always, Review! I love knowing your thoughts!

[6-9-17: To those interested in those last two chapters. They may never be written. I apologize, but it's been years and as much as I feel bad for leaving this story not fully 'complete' this is it. Thank you to all that read and liked this! It's been an honor~]

-RickyDew