The humming had turned faint as Arthur's eyes flickered open, adjusting to darkness. Shock numbed his body, bruised, bloody, broken- raggedly he breathed, choking up red blood, vision blurred. Thick and heavy metal structures loomed above him. Though every part of his body burned, Arthur tilted his head, barely making out light above him, and felt hot moisture staining his cheeks.

Chest heaving for breath, Arthur gave a hoarse cry, ears so damaged that it sounded muffled. He squeezed his eyes shut, laying limp in a shallow puddle of water and blood, feeling hard rock digging into his back, scraping his arms. The metal screeched above, sliding down ever so slowly toward Arthur, ready to crush him.

Something started to glow, so near to his face that Arthur opened his eyes slowly. The core lay right beside him, emitting a brilliant blue light, a lamp in the dark.

As Arthur stared at the core, Gilbert's words filtered into his mind. Destroying the core, he had said, would destroy the past. All of the past, Gilbert had stressed. All of the past, Arthur's mind echoed.

I know you fear the future. But the people you know, and the people you see here will live on, in the next life and the next- a never ending universe for us all. No matter what we remember, what we forget, Arthur, we all will be together- always. Do you understand?

Only now did it become clear what Arthur was doing. He wasn't just clearing the past- by destroying the core, he'd destroy this world. The universe was timeless: the next world awaited everyone. There was still hope. He'd see Alfred, and Yao, and Francis, and Ivan. Because no matter what they would remember, what they would forget, they would still be together and finally happy.

Gritting his teeth, Arthur pushed himself onto his side, crawling, dragging his broken body across the jagged ground. The core glowed brighter as his aura neared, as if it could sense him. Trembling hands grasped across the ground, fingers wrapping around a large stone.

Screaming, Arthur struck the core with the heavy stone, agonizing, searing pain shooting through his entire body. Again, he hit the core, and again, crying out desperately, "Come on, you son of a bitch! Come on!"

He wouldn't be able to keep the attack going for long. The gigantic metal beams were nearing, and if he didn't pass out first, he'd be crushed, and everyone would still be stuck in this world with memories of a blood-stained past.

Every strike sent tremors through his body, fingers bleeding, scratched up from the jagged rock. Every time the stone struck the core, it shuddered itself, resiliently glowing. Arthur wasn't sure if he was sobbing, screaming, or both, throat raw as he choked on more blood. One last time, he slammed the ragged stone against the core-

Everything went white.

—

In the spring, the train stations were full, bustling with people headed every which way. Young and old stood on the platforms under the canopy, waiting for the train to pull into the station, holding crumpled pink tickets, spring breeze whisking their hair and coats to and fro. A certain soccer team stood amongst the crowd, talking and laughing, waving at the small children who stared in curiosity at their white athlete uniforms.

However, among the group of athletes, one was missing. He was usually late, they chuckled as the whistle of a train blew. The steam engine pulled into the station, hissing with the strong smell of smoke. As passengers finally exited on the other side of the platform, the doors on the entering side opened. The large group piled into the black train, handing their tickets to tired man collecting them, including the soccer team who still lacked a certain player.

As the last of the people crowded into the train, a young man came racing through the doors of the station out onto the now empty platform, holding up his ticket and calling out, "Wait! I'm coming!"

His team, in the train, slid up the windows, laughing, "Come on, Kirkland!"

Just as he neared the train doors, another body collided with his, sending him with an undignified cry to the wood platform. The doors closed and the train started to roll off, his teammates shouting jovial farewells and laughs of good luck.

Whoever had knocked him down started profusely blabbering apologies. The soccer player on the ground stared up at him, observing the brown box-shaped glasses, the neat clothes, the black Nikon camera hanging around his neck, and smiled.

"That's quite alright," the athlete stated, staring into relieved blue eyes. The photography student reached out his hand to help the other off the floor.

Their hands clasped, and the photography student asked amicably, "What's your name?"

"Arthur," the athlete replied, dusting off his white uniform as he returned to his feet. "Yours?"

The student smiled, as radiant as sunshine, Arthur thought, and replied, "Alfred. Alfred Jones."

Eyes bright, Arthur noted that the train was long gone, the smell of smoke still lingering. For some reason, it didn't matter anymore. "Well, thank you for helping me up. I must be going- can't miss our first game." He waved and turned, securing his black sports bag across his shoulder, smiling to himself.

However, just as he reached the terminal doors, Alfred called out, "Hey, wait a minute." Arthur turned, eyebrows raised curiously. Alfred's forehead crinkled, tilting his head. "Have we... have we met before?"

Arthur smiled, shaking his head. "I don't think so. Take care, Alfred." He turned again and set his hand on the door handle, ready to catch a cab and bribe him to speed to Wembley Stadium. But again, Alfred's voice rang out.

"Wait," he repeated. Arthur wanted to feel exasperated but didn't, turning around to face the photographer. He let out a small, nervous laugh, the breeze sweeping his hair to the side. "I-" he endearingly broke off with an awkward chuckle, making Arthur laugh softly. "I feel like I've known you my entire life, a-and there's a Starbucks right around the corner, and I think your accent means you like tea, and I owe you for making you miss your train." He paused, ran a hand through his untamable hair, and then grinned.

The breeze swept Arthur's hair away from his face, and he let go of the door handle slowly, an uncontrollable smile spreading across his face as he gazed at this strange, lovely man who nervously held out his hand and invited him to Starbucks and could tell he adored tea.

"I'd love to, Alfred."

Ending is up to interpretation. My thoughts are that this new Human AU universe Arthur and Alfred live in is the world we are living in now. Haha, not to be one of those "HETALIA IS REEEAL!" people, but... ok, I'm totally one of those people. By the way, Arthur's death scene was based heavily on Juliet's death scene from LOST. Check it out if you want to get an idea.

Everyone who reads and reviews are very, very dear to me. Those of you who have commented several times, I thank you exceedingly.

So, I'm off to brainstorm my next story. I have a few ideas jotted down on my profile page, but I can't really decide which one I want to do next. Feel free to PM me and help me choose!

As Francis would say- Au revoir!