Chapter 12
"Bloody Americans, bloody Americans, bloody Americans." You bounce up and down on the bed in the room you were sharing with three other people. Your parents had the connecting room and were currently going for a parent's lunch out at the restaurant at the end of the ship. Or stern.
"Damn you Arthur, now she's mimicking you!" Alfred shouts from the large arm chair across from the also large flatscreen TV screen.
"At least she has some sense of taste that you obviously lack. Isn't that right Y/N?' Arthur cooed towards the seven year old you.
You smile at him, giving him a thumbs up.
Arthur nods.
"I can't believe Mom and Dad took you in." Alfred grumbles turning the TV off.
' I'm not a stranger/No I am yours'
"I can't believe I'm related to you." Arthur replied, giving you a wink with his emerald green eyes. You reach up trying to touch his bushy eyebrows.
"Caterpillars, caterpillars!" You shout with joy trying to touch them, Alfred burst out into his obnoxious laughter at this.
Arthur's brows twitched at that, his wild blonde hair getting in the way of his death stare towards Alfred.
You were the neutral party.
'With crippled anger/And tears that still drip sore'
"Where's Canada?" You whisper turning around in circles.
"Who?" Alfred goes obnoxiously.
"I'm right here!" Matthew shouts in his quiet way, Arthur rolls his eyes.
"I can't believe they let you become personifications." Arthur muttered, massaging his temple.
"Me neither bro, but I'm still the hero!"
"Obnoxious as ever." Arthur sighs handing you to Matthew so he could go over and argue with Alfred.
"Thanks for noticing me sis." Matthew whispers, you nod happily.
"Oh, dude, Sir Bushy Brows is here!"
"You bloody American!"
"I'm happy Arthur joined our family though he's usually away doing work. He's four years older than Alfred and I and is our cousin. But he's already part of the family."
'A fragile frame aged/With misery'
Suddenly a loud blaring sound races across your room. Alfred, Matthew, and Arthur all look up suddenly.
"This is an emergency evacuation. I repeat. This is an emergency evacuation." A voice blares across the loudspeakers.
"Grab the emergency life jackets." Arthur orders, Alfred complies without a fight.
You look around the room, your childish brain trying to figure out what is going on.
"Matthew, open the door, I'll take care of Y/N." Matthew nods as America comes back out with life jackets.
"Dude, I could only find adult sizes."
"We'll have to take the risk that Y/N doesn't fall out." Arthur replies sliding the orange vest onto you, you could easily slip out if you wanted to but Arthur tells you to hold tightly onto the vest.
Grabbing the emergency bags all rooms were supplied with, Arthur turns to instruct Alfred and Matthew to grip the flaps and not let go.
"Y/N is too big with the jacket for her to run easily or for you to pick up." Alfred notes, Arthur turns around giving Alfred a glare, but your little group already knows Arthur's decision.
Helping you back out of the vest, Arthur grabs your hand.
"Don't let go." He says sternly. His emerald eyes clash with yours and you nod.
'And when our eyes meet/ I know you see'
"Let's go." He says stepping out of the ship. Everyone picks up the pace, Alfred and Matthew holding to the backpacks straps and you holding Arthur's hand.
Arthur spots a sailor directing people towards the bow.
"Sir, what is going on?"
"Where your parents?" The man snapped back ignoring your group and moving away to help the richer passengers. You feel Alfred tug on the back of your shirt.
"Matthew and I are going to go find Mom and Dad." He whispers, Arthur hears him and turns around in rage.
"For the love of all that is good we aren't splitting up."
"So you don't want to save them? That's because they aren't your parents."
"That isn't the point! This is a very dangerous situation!"
"We don't have time to argue guys." Matthew says trying to break them up.
"Well if this idiot-" The both start to yell at the same time. The ships suddenly starts to tip and you fall down and start to slide towards the edge.
"Y/N!" They scream rushing after you; you start to slip off the edge
Arthur reaches out and you reach forward your fingertips brushing. You scream as the ship rocks again and you're falling.
'I do not want to be afraid'
"Y/N!" Alfred yells making a movement as if to jump off after you. Arthur holds him back with a shake of the head.
"Alfred, we can't-"
"She's my sister you bastard. I'm going after her!"
'I do not want to die inside just to breathe in'
You hit the water with a loud smack, your limbs flailing as the cold water starts to encase you. Your eyes get heavy with a sudden urge to go to sleep.
'I'm tired of feeling so numb'
You want to cry out.
You want to scream.
You just want it all to end.
You want to go home and sit on your large couch for a family of six and watch a movie.
Fight for the popcorn.
Laugh together.
Cry together.
Be together.
"When this ends, will everything still be the same?" You wonder. The darkness starts to seep in as the light from the sun becomes a round dot in your vision.
'Relief exists I find it when /I am cut'
Alfred
Matthew
Arthur
Mom
Dad
Is something going to happen today? Is this why this is happening?
Is this what people call fate?
'I may seem crazy/ Or painfully shy'
There's a splash, and you wish childishly to see the bubbles rising up. Overcoming the cold water around them. And act you knew you were never going to be strong enough to do, you always had something pulling you down.
'And these scars wouldn't be so hidden/ If you would just look me in the eye'
You feel like you're floating in space, just drifting along in nothingness. Wishing for someone to show up already.
'I feel alone here and cold here/ Though I don't want to die'
A hand grabs your arm and starts to pull up, your eyes pop open as you see Alfred grab you and start to pull you to the surface.
Your mouth opens in a small 'O' and the water rushes into your mouth. You start to cough trying to get the water out of your body, Alfred speeds up his efforts.
'But the only anesthetic that makes me feel anything kills inside'
Your face breaks the water as your body instinctively gasps for air. You then start to hack out the water that had gotten into your lungs. Curling into a ball from the pain, Alfred grabs you and keeps you floating on the surface.
You watch out of the corner of your vision as he gives Arthur and Matthew a thumbs up.
"Y/N, get onto the life ring."
"What about you?" You cough, wrapping your arms around one edge as Alfred holds onto the other. He had taken off his life jacket in order to get to you.
"It's fine, Matthew and Arthur or going to get into one of the lifeboats and persuade them to come save us once they're lowered."
"What if you freeze to death like in that one movie?'
Alfred laughs at you, you glare in response.
"This isn't The Titanic, kay? Dudette, seriously it's the middle of the day. Besides, I'm the hero!"
"Good for you." You reply a smile on your face, he was a hero. Your hero.
"I hope Mom and Dad get off."
Alfred gives you a sad look.
You give him a quizzical response in return, the ship groans as the bow rises higher into the air. It was already half way down.
You watch as it starts to sink, more people jump off into the water and the lifeboats are being dropped barely full.
"Y/N! Alfred!" Matthew shouts. You turn towards them to see a boat full of adults.
A large man pulls you out of the water.
He sets you and Alfred in the front along with Arthur and Matthew, including two other boys. One was blonde and the other an albino. You shift away from them trying to get closer to your family.
"Here." The man who pulled you out offers. It was a light blue blanket, taking it gladly you wrap it around yourself. The man also offers Alfred one which he takes gladly.
"So vhere are jour parents?' The man asks with his thick accent. It seems like they're waiting for help from neighboring ships. Some fishing ships that were in the area where going around saving people.
"They were in the restaurant when the ships began to sink." Arthur says, turning around to make it obvious that he was the oldest.
"Ahhh, an unlucky place to be."
"Out of all the people, why them?" Alfred moans his face in his hands.
"Matthew," you mutter leaning back towards him, "what's going on?"
"None of the people in the restaurant made it out. That's what someone told Arthur when he asked what boats the people from the restaurant were on."
"What?" Your voice cracks; you stand up suddenly causing the boat to tip. You lose your balance and fall back into the ocean. Two hands reach out and grab you to keep you from sinking. It belongs to two boys you didn't know.
They start muttering things in German as they pull you back out.
"Our Mom vas down zhere too, ve understand." The blonde goes, handing you another blanket.
"I'm an idiot." You mumble, staring at your feet. "What if-"
"Hey, don't say vhat if. It's zhe now zhat matters. Nothing else."
You look at the boy with his blonde hair and his baby blue eyes.
Wait a second...
"Y/N!" He suddenly shouts. You blink in shock. How did he-
Lunging forward, he grabs your shoulders and starts to shake you.
"Y/N!" He roars with more energy than you would expect from a boy. You look around to see if anyone was going to stop him. But everyone was frozen, as if time had stopped.
As if the memory had stopped.
"Y/N? Y/N." He pulls you into a hug, your face being buried into his chest.
"Come back, mein Gott, please come back."
You push him gently away from you.
"Don't worry Ludwig," You said staring at the young blonde whose face was slowly changing to that of a man, he was older now. And you could tell that you've grown up too.
"Y/n..." He wraps you into another hug, you freeze up, your fingers twitching as if wishing to hug back.
Wake up you idiot, you aren't dying today, it's too early.
You wrap your arms back around him, hugging him tighter and tighter until everything else just fades and it's you and him.
"I'll come back. Every single time I will come back."
He's trembling under your touch and you start to realize how important the last few weeks had become for you. For both of you.
"I promise."