Hi! This is my first posted fanfiction (Besides that Warriors one, but that was super short) so be easy on me! There is no exact pairing here, yet there's a little FrUK hint down there. All you USUK and anti-yaoi fans, just ignore it! I swear, USUK is like the SasuNaru or AkuRoku of Hetalia! Not that it's bad. ANYWAYS, enjoy! Oh, yeah, and America and Canada are probably about 7 years old in appearance here. Just so you know.
Oh, and this story was inspired by this: .com/watch?v=_tDFsqYe-W0
Watch that before reading this! It will really set the mood!
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia: Axis Powers. If I did, Canada would be the main character, as well as he would be a girl, England would be drunk 24/7 for my amusement, America would be fat, and a lot of other messed up things would happen. XD
Arthur continued to read the pages of the old book, while sipping his tea occasionally. The thunder roared from outside of the window, as the rain continued to tap on the glass, while the lightning flashed and lit up the country's face once in a while. But, even though it was a stormy night, it was a peaceful one. Arthur had long learned to cope with storms like these, anyway. The warm aroma of the tea filled the room, providing a comforting atmosphere. The children had gone to sleep quite a while ago, so Arthur didn't have to worry about the two twins, mainly Alfred, disturbing his reading time. Or so he thought. Soon, little 'pitter patter's of feet was heard from down the hallway. Some people might have mistaken the soft noise for being just the water tapping on the window, but Arthur knew better. The feet came to a stop, and the older nation felt the presence pairs of bright blue and violet eyes watching him, debating when to speak or not.
"Daddy?" a voice finally spoke up, causing Arthur to lift his head from his book to look at Alfred and Matthew, with Matthew having his face stained with tears and Alfred shaking like he just saw a ghost.
"Hmmn?" Arthur mumbled, raising his bushy eyebrows at the two children.
"Umm…" the older twin started, and then paused like he was afraid to say something, then whispered in Matthew's ear about something. Matthew shook his head in response, while burying his face into his bear's soft fur. "Come on! I can't say it! I'll look like a wimp!" Alfred quietly complained to his brother, causing the younger twin to shake his head even more. "Fine! I'll do it! 'Cause I'm the he-" Loud thunder suddenly interrupted the little American's brag, the sound causing Matthew to clutch Kumajirou into more of a death grip than before. Alfred just started wailing.
"DAAADDDY!!!!!!" The older twin ran right into Arthur's arms. "I'm scared! I'm scared!" Alfred snuggled into the Englishman's blouse. Matthew was now running towards his 'father' as well, spitting out French words that neither of the other two nations in the room could comprehend while sobbing madly.
"J'ai peur! J'ai peur! Je n'aime pas les tonnerre!" The little Canadian sobbed into Arthur's chest while abandoning a now jealous Kumajirou on the ground.
'"Okay, I understand. But it is way past your bedtime, and you should be asleep by now."
"But, we couldn't!" Alfred complained. Another loud roar of thunder rumbled outside, causing both of the twins to jump.
"DADDY!!!" both of them wailed at the same time.
"Je veux dormir! Je veux dormir!" Matthew quietly mumbled into his hands, continuing his loud sobs.
"Fine. I'll help you back to bed," Arthur sighed. So much for his reading time. He was soon dragged off his chair by the twins quickly rushing back to their room, like a monster was going to catch them if they didn't make it in time. Alfred was loudly singing his own made-up theme music along the way. It was amazing how quickly the American could go back to his usual self after crying like the world would end in twenty minutes. There was no extremely loud thunder rumbles on the way there, so it gave some time for the two twins to regain their composure, and for Matthew to stop sobbing uncontrollably and muttering that horrid French that Francis had taught him. Francis… Arthur shook the man from his thoughts. Once the trio had arrived at the room, Alfred let go of Arthur's hand and ran forward, making a jump stop before tumbling onto his and Matthew's shared bed. Matthew cautiously let go of Arthur's hand as well before picking up his bear. He hugged it tightly before slowly getting into bed with it.
"Story," he grumbled into Kumajirou's fur.
"What?"
" I wanna story." Matthew repeated, while lifting his head off of his bear's fur.
"Yeah! Story, Daddy, Story!" Alfred cheered beside his brother while sitting up and jumping up and down. Arthur sighed. He turned around towards the messy pile of picture books, looking through them.
"Which one?"
"Dunno."
"You have to give an answer or else you won't get a story."
"Fine. Mattie, you choose." Matthew looked up from fiddling with the blanket edge, and slowly got out of bed. He reached for a book that had a navy coloured cover with gold trimmed edges.
"This one." Matthew stated as he tossed the book to Arthur's hands. It had, "Collection of Children's Stories" written on it. Arthur flipped to a random page, which was titled, "Little Red Riding Hood".
"Okay, but right after I'm done, you have to go to sleep. Once upon a time there was a dear little girl who was loved by everyone who looked at her, but most of all by her grandmother, and there was nothing that she would not have given to the child. Once she gave her a little riding hood of red velvet, which suited her so well that she would never wear anything else; so she was always called 'Little Red Riding Hood.'"
"Eww, when did she ever wash it?" Alfred commented, but was ignored by the older nation.
"One day her mother said to her: 'Come, Little Red Riding Hood, here is a piece of cake and a bottle of wine; take them to your grandmother, she is ill and weak, and they will do her good."
"How will wine help her get better? Does she wanna get drunk like Iggy gets?" Alfred interrupted again, and received a glare from Arthur. "Sorry,"
"Anyway, back to what the mother was saying. 'Set out before it gets hot, and when you are going, walk nicely and quietly and do not run off the path, or you may fall and break the bottle, and then your grandmother will get nothing; and when you go into her room, don't forget to say, "Good morning", and don't peep into every corner before you do it.'
'I will take great care,' said Little Red Riding Hood to her mother, and gave her hand on it. The grandmother lived out in the wood, half a league from the village, and just as Little Red Riding Hood entered the wood, a wolf met her." Matthew gasped and sunk into the sheets at the mention of the meeting of the wolf. "Red Riding Hood did not know what a wicked creature he was, and was not at all afraid of him.
'Good day, Little Red Riding Hood,' said he.
'Thank you kindly, wolf.'
'Whither away so early, Little Red Riding Hood?'
'To my grandmother's.'
'What have you got in your apron?'
'Cake and wine; yesterday was baking-day, so poor sick grandmother is to have something good, to make her stronger.'
'Where does your grandmother live, Little Red Riding Hood?'
'A good quarter of a league farther on in the wood; her house stands under the three large oak-trees, the nut-trees are just below; you surely must know it,' replied Little Red Riding Hood.
The wolf thought to himself: 'What a tender young creature! what a nice plump mouthful - she will be better to eat than the old woman. I must act craftily, so as to catch both.'" Both of the twins gasped, and Alfred squealed in excitement.
"Eat them! Eat them!" Alfred chanted, and got a second glare from Arthur. "Sorry," he apologized again, cowering under Arthur's icy glare. Suddenly, another loud thunder clash sounded outside, and the rain started to pour harder onto the window. It continued to rumble loudly while the lightning flashed brightly through the window. Matthew started crying again, while Alfred buried his whole body under the blankets. Crap… Arthur thought. He looked at the two twins and sighed as he closed the book. The next part of the story with the wolf eating the grandma wouldn't help them at all, and another story would just cause them, or at least Alfred, to whine about what the ending for the last one was, even thought they knew. He sighed again and ran a hand through his hair. Another loud boom of thunder sounded outside, and now Alfred started to cry as well.
"I *sniff* wanna sleep! I *sniff* want the rain to go away!" Alfred sniffled from beneath the covers. He then reached over and cuddled into Arthur's lap, with Matthew soon joining him. The thunder boomed once again, making Matthew wail as loud as he could, which was, strangely, quite loud. Now Matthew was clutching onto Arthur's neck and trembling like he was a leaf on a trembling aspirin tree. Unintentionally, Arthur opened his mouth and started singing softly.
"Little child, be not afraid, the rain pounds harsh against the glass. Like an unwanted stranger, there is no danger, I am here tonight," Arthur sang as he stroked Alfred's hair softly and whipped away his tears. Alfred giggled a little, and a sly smirk spread across his face.
"What?" Arthur questioned suspiciously, waiting for some insult about his singing voice to fly at him. Alfred giggled a little more.
"You have a pretty singing voice," Alfred smiled more, and wiggled around in Arthur's lap.
"Continuez, s'il vous plait," Matthew muttered, still whipping away the tears at the corners of his eyes. Arthur sighed and brought both of the twins back into their beds.
"Only if you go to sleep right after." The twins slowly nodded and pulled the covers over their bodies obediently.
"Little child, be not afraid, though thunder explodes and lightning flash illuminates your tearstained face. I am here tonight," Arthur continued, still hearing the thunder rumble softly and lighting flashing slightly through the window. Another loud thunder rumble was heard, followed by more loud crashes, causing the twins to start to sniffle again. "And someday you'll know that nature is so this same rain that draws you near me. Falls on rivers and land, and forests and sand, makes the beautiful world that you see. In the morning…" Arthur's continued singing caused the crying to quiet down a little. Arthur smiled and continued to stroke Alfred's hair.
"Little child, be not afraid, the storm clouds mask your beloved moon. And it's candlelight beams still keep pleasant dreams. I am here tonight. Little child, be not afraid. The wind makes creatures of our trees and the branches to hands They're not real, understand. And I am here tonight. And someday you'll know that nature is so, t his same rain that draws you near me. Falls on rivers and land and forest and sand, makes the beautiful world that you see, In the morning…" Arthur paused and thought a little before continuing onto the next verse. The rain still knocked onto the glass quietly and the shadows of the trees danced on the window, causing an array of hand-like shadows to appear in the dim-lit room. "For you know," Arthur paused once again, "Once even I was a little child," The Brit stopped and looked down to the floor. He thought back of when he was sung this same lullaby, when he was scared of the loud noises and lightning strikes. When he needed someone to hold him and comfort him from the large shadows of the trees in the window. Arthur looked up to the ceiling and breathed in slowly.
"Why'd you stop?" Matthew and Alfred looked up at their guardian with hazy eyes. Arthur slowly breathed out the air he just had taken. Memories clouded his mind again.
"And I was afraid," The sound of thunder rang loudly outside of the house again, yet the twins remained calm.
"…But a gentle someone always came…." Francis… Arthur looked down again and paused for the millionth time. "To dry all my tears, trade sweet sleep for fears and to give a kiss goodnight. Well now I am grown, and theses days have shown rain's a part of how life goes. But it's dark and it's late so I'll hold you and wait, till your frightened eyes do close. And I hope that you know, that nature is so, this same rain that draws you near me, falls on rivers and land, on forests and sand, makes the beautiful world that you see…In the morning…"
"Everything's fine in the morning…" sang Alfred and Matthew softly, yet slightly out of sync.
" The rain will be gone in the morning…" the three of them sang, and Arthur stopped while the twins' eyes closed as they fell into slumber. Arthur smiled and looked at the young and peaceful faces while pride and love welled up in him.
"Goodnight," he whispered softly, while getting up and slowly closing the door.
But I'll still be here in the morning…
Oho! Now wasn't that cute? Anyway, I would like to say my thanks to the person who made that video!
Oh, and Vienna Tang owns the song Arthur is singing. It's called Lullaby for a Stormy Night, like the title of this story.
Now, PLEASE REVIEW! I'll give you cookies!
-RawrersIishscary