The Secrets Hidden Within The Dairies Of The Nations

Dull

The first thing he heard as he entered the memory was the sound of an old camera flashing.

Alfred tilted his head to the side in confusion as he stared at the memory, he could see a younger version of himself, a younger Matthew, as well as Francis and Arthur. But everything was moving faster then it should be, it was almost like someone had hit the fast forward button. It wasn't until Francis and Arthur started fighting that he even realized what memory it was. 

The very first time Arthur had hit him. 

He numbly watched as Francis stormed away before everything started to return to normal speed. He wondered briefly if the reason everything was in fast forward was because he couldn't remember what the two men had been fighting about. It was almost like the memory was skipping what he couldn't remember. 

He kinda wished he could study the implications of that, did time truly warp how our memories were shown? If someone tried to read his mind would this memory appear like this? Or would they see it differently? What if it was Artur who saw it? He knew what the fight was about so would he be able to see it normally? 

He quickly shook his head so that he could refocus on the memory. As he did he saw his younger self whispering with Matthew, before Matthew nodded and chased after Francis while little Alfred approached Arthur. 

"Daddy?" Little Alfred said softly as he approached the furious Brit. 

Alfred flinched slightly at the title. 

"Not now Alfred" Artur said dismissively as he continued to glare down at the ground. But little Alfred just kept pushing. 

"Daddy, why did you make Papa sad?' He pressed causing a scowl to appear on Arthur's face. 

"None of your business Alfred" He growled softly. 

"But Daddy you always say it's wrong to make others sad, so why did you make Papa sad?" Little Alfred pressed even further causing Arthur eyebrow to twitch slightly. 

"Drop it Alfred" He growled once again. 

"But Daddy making others sad is wrong" Little Alfred said stubbornly. 

"Just stop" Alfred mumbled softly as if that would somehow stop his younger self from pushing the angry Brit any further. 

"I'm warning you, Alfred, just let it go" Arthur seethed but his anger went right over little Alfred's head. 

"But Daddy-" Little Alfred began only to be cut off as Arthur finally snapped. As quick as lightning Arthur had struck little Alfred across the face causing his head to snap to the side. 

Alfred flinched violently at the sight. 

Little Alfred just blinked a few times in shock before he turned to stare at Arthur with an unreadable expression before he turned and started walking away. Stopping briefly to pick up his pet bunny. 

Alfred sighed as he stared at his younger self's retreating from, his thoughts had been in complete turmoil to the point where he didn't know how to react. So he just didn't. He shut down completely and just walked away. 

Later when what Arthur had done finally registered with him he had broken down and he had sworn to himself that he would never do anything that would cause Arthur to hit him ever again. He hadn't exactly done a good job of preventing it, however. Because this may have been the first him Arthur hit him but it wasn't even close to being the last. 

He never told Matthew or even Francis what Arthur had done, he didn't really know why maybe he believed he had deserved it, but he had a feeling that Matthew had known. The Canadian had never said anything but sometimes he would get this look in his eyes whenever he stared at the bruise as if he knew what or better yet who had caused it. 

The memory became fuzzy before refocusing, he was once again back in his old room. His younger self was sitting on his bed and staring blankly at the wall, there were dried tear tracks on his face and the bruise on his cheek was becoming quite dark. He turned away from himself when he heard the door open. 

Arthur stepped awkwardly into the room and approached little Alfred who just continued to stare at the wall. 

"Alfred can you look at me?" Arthur requested stiffly. 

Little Alfred slowly tore his eyes away from the wall so that he could look at Arthur. 

"I wanted to apologize for earlier" Arthur said awkwardly as he shifted from foot to foot. 

"It's okay Daddy" Little Alfred said softly. Arthur nodded slightly with a relieved expression on his face. 

"Right well this is for you" Arthur stated as he held out a small jar. Little Alfred just stared blankly at it. 

"It's for... um..." Arthur trailed off before he tapped his own cheek causing a brief flash of understanding to appear in little Alfred eyes before reached over to take the jar from Arthur. 

"Thank you" Little Alfred said softly causing Arthur to nod before he awkwardly coughed into his fist. 

"Well, dinner will be ready soon, be sure to clean yourself up before then" He said stiffly before he turned on his heel and walked out of the room. Little Alfred just stared at his retreating back with a pair of eyes that in that moment became one shade duller. 

Alfred stared sadly at his younger self before he reappeared in front of the now faded outdoor. He sighed softly before he marched over towards the next door and walked right in without bothering to see what kind of light was seeping out of it. 

The first thing he registered as he walked through the door was the sound of three people laughing. Himself, Matthew and- 

To be continued~