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Different Hearts, Same Love	By : FlayraDowitcher Category: +G to L > Hetalia: Axis Powers Views: 1597 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia. I am making no money off of this fic.

Chapter List
- 3
- 4
- 5
Chapter 4

Francis felt hot, as though his entire body was on fire. There was a great pain in his arm, which throbbed and stung constantly. The images in his mind were not making sense and it was hard to understand why he was feeling this pain. He was unable to tell if his body was moving or laying flat. He almost seemed to be moving in circles. His mind and body seemed separated from one another, leaving him with only excruciating pain. Nothing but heat, pain, and darkness accompanied by soft sounds of a voice. It sounded like the noises were coming from him, but he was unable to tell. Suddenly, an extreme cooling sensation lowered his body temperature, making him shiver with relief. The extreme heat was gone and now the pain was bearable. There was someone or something stroking him along his chest. But he had fallen asleep before he could decipher an answer.

When he had awoken again, his vision had come back and the pain turned into a simple throbbing. His arm was numb, but now he was aware of what had happened. It had been an orange spider that bit him. That was his first thought before he noticed the warm body beside him. Francis closed his eyes and smiled, wondering just who it could be beside him. Was it a beautiful woman? Was it a handsome male? He felt the weight on his arm so he lifted his hand to rub the other's back. Muscle. It was a man. Francis gave a little moan of delight and forced his body to roll over onto its side to face the other. Opening his blue eyes slowly, Francis looked upon the face of the man, and frowned. Green eyes opened to look right back at him.

"Oh, it's just you." Was Francis' simple reply, accompanied by a little moan of disappointment. "I thought you were some handsome man."

Arthur's cheeks puffed angrily. "You are such an ass! I'll have you know that I laid beside your pasty ass like this to keep your body from going into convulsions!" He had lifted himself up onto his elbows to look at Francis.

"Mmm…I thank you for that, but I wish you were a supple woman instead, or at least an extra feminine man."

Arthur had to admit it to himself that he was rather insulted by Francis' comments. Should he care about what the noble snob said about him? No, he shouldn't, but that didn't stop him from feeling a little hurt. Arthur knew he was not the world's most handsome man, but neither was Francis. The other man only thought that about himself because it had been fed to him. However, Arthur realized that he had to hide his body from Francis immediately before the other fully noticed him. He gripped his fur cloak and wrapped it around his shoulders to conceal himself. It was too early for Francis to see the markings on his body and Arthur wanted to avoid any suspicious questions. They were only tribal markings from his clan, but it was still suppose to be a secret.

"I bet you're hungry." Arthur said. "I have some wild boar meat that's been dried. Would you like some?"

"Sure. Wild pig. Yum." Francis replied with a forced smile, never expecting the piece of dried flesh to come flying at him. It had landed on his chest so he used his free hand to remove it. Trying to eat the meat while lying down was proving to be an annoyance so he turned to Arthur. "Could you help me sit up?"

"Figure it out for yourself," Arthur snapped.

"Come on, you're not mad at me about what I said earlier? Are you?"

"NO!" Arthur looked at him, fuming. "Why would I be?"

Francis shifted a bit on the bedroll. "I can tell by your face. Look, I'm sure you're very attractive to other…mountain men. And how often do you say how ugly I look?"

"Well, I speak the truth!"

"This argument is stupid. Just help me up so- AH!" Arthur had gripped Francis' hair and yanked the man up in a rough manner. "THAT HURT!"

"Good! It was supposed to!" Arthur shoved the meat in Francis' mouth before the man could say anything more. "Shut up and eat!" He shuffled into his pants quickly and crawled out of the shelter. 'I can't wait to kill him!'

/

A day and a half later, Arthur would not allow Francis any more means of rest. He knew that Francis' bite would be fine now, but the other man did not know that. Francis was holding his arm where the bandaged bite was and whining about how it felt like it was going to fall off. Arthur was finding that Francis' whining voice was growing more nerve-wracking by the moment. With each step Arthur literally felt his face growing red, starting from his neck and moving upwards. When it reached his ears, he thought steam would leak out and give his anger away. Instead, the familiar sound of a breezy whisper made all his anger dissolve. He paused in his walking and listened to the trees surrounding him. Francis bumped into him, but Arthur did not move. Only his green eyes shifted to the sides as he began to decipher the language of the trees.

"Ow! Arthur, why did you stop?" Francis held his nose, rubbing it.

"Be quiet…I'm listening."

"Listening to what?" Francis gazed at Arthur's back. When Arthur did not answer, Francis looked over the man's shoulder and saw what lie ahead. A hollow of haggard trees formed a long arch with a path going through it. Francis pursed his lips together and looked around; noticing another way that was filled with beams of sunlight through the treetops. "Arthur?"

"The trees are whispering…" Was Arthur's soft response and he spoke as if in a trance.

Francis raised an eyebrow. "Whispering…trees?" He shook his head. "Okay, unicorns are more believable than 'whispering' trees! Slow down on the wild mushroom intake."

Arthur pointed ahead of them to the dark hollow. "We have to continue on this way. Let's go."

"Wait, hold it. Don't you see how dark and dreary that way is? Let's stick with happy sunlight, okay?" Francis gave him a charming smile that Arthur ignored.

"The trees are telling me this way is safer." He listened again. "I can't quite make out why your way is more dangerous, but the trees insist we go this way."

"Okay, you're just insane." Francis threw his hands up. "You can go that way and walk to your death because the 'trees' told you to. Me, I will listen to my own conscience and reason, and go this way." He pointed to the sunlit path.

"Francis, the trees wouldn't lie." Arthur narrowed his eyes at the other. "I know you think I'm insane, but I do see and hear a lot of things that you don't." This was something he did not want to reveal to Francis just yet, but it had slipped his mind while listening to the trees.

"Yes, I'm sure you do." Francis, while now believing in unicorns from seeing one, chose to be skeptical of Arthur's current confession. The man lived in isolation in the woods with only trees and plants for company. "Now, if you don't mind, I will be heading this way." Francis spun happily on his heel and made his way to the sunlit woods.

"And just how do you plan to survive on your own?" Arthur hissed at him, hands planted firmly on his waist. He sneered when Francis chose to ignore his words and continue on. Arthur, if he did not need Francis, would let the man go off on his own rather than follow him. He hurried behind Francis and attempted to talk the nobleman out of going this way. The trees were already howling and groaning in his ears, for Arthur's choice. "Francis, we should REALLY turn back. The trees aren't happy and they are even frightened!"

Francis laughed. "Frightened? These big, tall, massive trees are scared? Of what, exactly? What did your sap-happy friends tell you?" Francis mocked the other.

"I was unable to make the whole thing out clearly…but they are insisting there is something 'bad' this way and they are trying to help us."

"Arthur, you are one strange fellow." They continued forward. "All we've done is head straight, so this path is also straight. If we took the one the trees said to, we would be heading in a different direction. Right?"

Arthur slapped a hand to his face. "Just…stop talking. Your stupidity may be contagious. And you mean to say 'north', not straight! That's how idiotic people talk when they- Francis?" Arthur noticed Francis had stopped along the path. "Francis? What are you looking at?"

"A-Arthur…?" Francis' blue eyes were wide as he looked all around them. "Please…these things hanging from the trees…please say they are some sort of animal?"

Arthur knew now what the trees were speaking of, and why they were all so frightened. Hanging from the branches of a dozen trees were dead bodies; the corpses having been there for a while. Studying the first set of bodies (and holding Francis' hand) Arthur noticed each had a hole in their chest where the heart should be. Upon further inspection, the backs of their skulls had been cracked open and the brains removed. Arthur moved forward through the curtain of corpses with a shocked Francis squeezing his hand following closely behind. Many of the bodies were old, but Arthur could see that a tiny handful had been maimed only recently. Arthur felt a tightening in his chest as the trees bearing the bodies groaned mournfully, both for the victims and themselves. Even though Francis could not see them, the faint glow of a fairy or two fluttered around the bodies.

"Arthur…what is this?" Francis asked, his voice shaky. "Who would do this? And why?"

"I…don't know. I do know this, however," he looked down at his feet, which were now standing in muddied blood that only he could see "these earthly grounds are drowning in blood. We should go back. Now."

"B-But we can't just leave all these people here! There are even women and children strung from these trees! Don't you think we should cut them down and…I don't know, try and bury them?"

"You speak nonsense. Morally, that would be the right thing to do. However, these bodies must remain here, as they are."

"How can you be so cruel?" Francis spun Arthur around to look at him.

"It's not like I don't want to bury them!" Arthur shoved the nobleman away. "It is more the question of WHO did this, WHEN they did it, WHY they did it, and IF they are here now. If we were to move all these bodies, then the people who did this would know someone was here and become highly suspicious. We already have a plague on our hands. We don't need to be followed by…by whomever did this." Arthur grabbed Francis' face in his hands. "THIS is why the trees were telling us to go the other way! It may be dark and scary, but that hollow path can't be ANYTHING like what we are witnessing here! Now let's go back!"

Francis looked at the mutilated corpses, feeling more sorrow and grieving than he ever had before. Never had heard of such strange brutality, much less seen it with his own eyes. "Why, Arthur? Do you have any idea who would do this? Do- wait!" Francis noticed something on the hand of a corpse. "Those spots!"

"Spots?" Arthur looked at the hand.

"Yes. I've seen those spots before, on the bodies of the sick people with the plague! I think…they may be called 'blood dots', or 'blood specs'. Something like that. It's the first signs of catching the plague." He looked to Arthur. "But why would they be hanged like this? With their brains and hearts cut out? I thought you said there weren't any cities or towns in these parts?"

"There aren't." Arthur responded softly. "Which leads me to believe that these people were BROUGHT here. By who or what, I can't be sure. The trees don't even know. Our best bet is to leave this place right away. Let the spirits of the forest tend to their souls."

Francis nodded and took Arthur's hand as the man lead him away from the gruesome sight. Arthur knew that the mutilated bodies were a form of ritual sacrifice. It held no ties to his clan, but it was something he had never witnessed before. Francis had been correct about the 'blood specs' on the bodies, which meant that the people held the illness first. Removing the heart was a way to free the soul from its shell, the body that held many impurities. The removal of the brain was still a mystery to him for he could not link it to anything he had ever learned. At least they had made it out of the path and back to the forest fork.

"Arthur, I need to know. I said I would learn, but I can't learn if you don't tell me more about the woods. Why were those bodies there? Why were their hearts cut out?"

Green eyes bore into blue. "I don't know why the bodies are there. I can only assume a form of ritual healing was conducted. Maybe something to help purify and cleanse the earth of this plague! Although…it may be more of a sacrifice, since the heart was removed." He put his bag down to rest momentarily. "Some people believe that the heart is the soul of a person. If something bad happens to a person, such as illness or a wound and appears fatal, the heart will be removed to cleanse the soul. It is believed that if you remove the heart from the impure body, then your soul is free of earthly dangers. Your death issue is not carried on into the afterlife."

"Seriously? Hey, no one where I come from believes that! Removing body parts is just…it's just idiotic and primitive!"

"I didn't say it was correct, Francis!" Arthur hissed. "Many people believe many different things! What we need to do is get out of here! Get as far away from here as possible or else we'll get caught."

Francis' eyes widened and he hurried past Arthur. "Let's get a move on! Come on!"

Arthur followed behind the man with an amused smile, never having thought the man could move so fast. Without any hesitation, Francis walked into the dark hollow and stayed on the path. However, Arthur could see the man was still frightened for he was looking all around, cringing every so often at a strange looking tree. Arthur felt the devilish need to tiptoe behind the blonde and shout 'boo' to scare him, but thought better of it. The last thing he needed was to give Francis a heart attack and carry him all the way to the clan gathering. He should be grateful that the nobleman was putting forth an effort at all in moving quickly. The question Francis asked took him off guard. "Excuse me?"

"I said, 'what are these trees saying'?" Francis looked back at him over his shoulder. "Anything?"

Arthur scoffed. "Ha! So now you believe me?" He puffed his chest out in pride. "I want to hear you say it."

"Say what?"

"Say, 'you were right, Arthur. I'm sorry I misjudged you'." Francis shook his head and glared. "Alright then," Arthur smirked. "I won't let you know what the trees are whispering. And keep in mind, these trees may not be as nice as the others." He had to stifle a laugh at the look of pure look of horror on Francis' face.

"Fine!" Francis had to stop still and force the words out. It felt as if his mouth had a mind of its own for perfect lips just would not part to say the words. He glanced behind to see Arthur with a smug grin and tapping his foot. Francis managed to open his lips, but his teeth remained tightly together. They would grind and shift against each other, echoing in Francis' ears. Finally, he fisted hands into his luscious blonde locks and yanked hard, speaking the words. "You were right, Arthur. I'msorryImisjudgedyou!" He said the last part quickly and felt as though his stomach would twist itself so tight that it would explode inside and kill him.

"Thank you, Francissssss." Arthur grinned at him, saying the name in a sing-song tone. "Now then, do you have something to ask me in return?"

A grumble, then, "What are the trees saying?"

"Nothing. These are dead trees and they don't speak. HA!"

Francis' jaw dropped open and his body remained frozen as Arthur skipped by him. He had been TRICKED! Tricked by the one person he didn't like! "I don't like you!" Francis hollered at him, thrusting his nose in the air and Arthur's only response was a laugh.

"Serves you- AHHHHH!"

"Arthur?" Francis looked forward and gasped when there was no sign of Arthur. "ARTHUR?! WHERE ARE YOU?" He gasped. "The trees must have eaten him!" Francis carefully backed away from the nearest tree. "Nice tree…"

"FRANCIS!"

"Ah! Arthur? Where are you?"

"I'M DOWN HERE YOU MORON!"

"Down where?"

"Oh, for the love of- I FELL DOWN A GAME HOLE YOU NUMBSKULL!"

"What's a game hole?" Francis moved forward, following the sound of Arthur's voice.

"IT'S A DAMN HUNTERS' TRAP FOR LARGE ANIMALS! GET ME OUT!"

Francis saw a black hole in the path before him and cautiously tip-toed over, peeking down inside. He smiled when he saw Arthur knee deep in mud. Arthur glared up at him and Francis just bat blonde lashes. "So, you've finally decided to look up to me!" He chuckled.

"I really do hate you." Arthur sneered. "Get me out of here! I've got mud in my boots and it is quite unpleasant!"

Francis decided to push his luck, knowing he had the upper hand. "You know, you've been awfully mean to me. Maybe I should leave you down there to think about what you've done."

"What?! How dare you! I saved your life from a spider bite! Stop being an ass and get me out!"

"Hmm…I do have to take a leak…do you like golden showers?" Francis grinned, enjoying the look of extreme hatred, anger, and horror all mixed into one on Arthur's face.

"If you do, so help me, I will- " Francis cut him off.

"I wouldn't actually do it. Besides, you smell enough as it is, so why would I want to add urine to it?"

"There is no one I could hate more in this world right now than you. For the last time, get me out of here! Go into your back sack and take out the rope that is in there."

"Will do!" Francis put down the sack and rummaged through it, finding the coil of rope. "I got it!"

"Good! Now, tie one end to the nearest tree and throw the other end down to me! I will pull myself up."

Francis uncoiled the rope and started to tie one end to a tree, but with the bite on his arm, the pain was hindering him. He grit his teeth while trying to make a firm knot. With the pain becoming unbearable from the pressure, Francis figured when Arthur's weight would pull on the rope, the knot would tighten itself. Confident in his solution, Francis tossed the rope down to Arthur who grabbed it.

"Is it tight?" Arthur asked, giving the rope a tug.

"Yes! Start climbing!"

Arthur gripped the rope and began to pull himself up but realized his calves were stuck in the mud. He tried to lift them, but the mud was thick from the heavy rain a few nights ago. Gripping the rope firmly, he used all his strength to pull himself up, only feel the rope loosen in his grasp. With a yelp he stumbled forward into the dirt wall of the hole, now covered in wet mud. Climbing up would be nearly impossible now, and he cursed Francis for being so useless. If things could not get any worse, Arthur felt himself begin to sink slowly in the mud. While he tried to steady himself on the dirt wall, his hands just slipped through the earth. "FRANCIS! HELP!"

"What's going on?" Francis looked down at him with the rope secure in one hand.

"I'm sinking! You have to pull me up!" Arthur picked up the other end of the rope but knew it was going to be a hassle due to the wet mud coaxing his hands. The rope would likely slip through his fingers. He had to give it a try. "LIFT ME UP! PULL!"

Francis braced his feet on the ground and gripped the rope, pulling it taunt to lift Arthur. The ache in his arm began again, but he tried to ignore it. Arthur was proving to be heavy and the dirt beneath his feet was not helping. He could hear Arthur shouting his name and telling to pull harder. His arm started to throb painfully and for a moment he let go of the rope, but quickly caught it again. There had to be something else he could use to pull up Arthur, or something that could at least aid him. Francis looked around and realized he could use the trunk of a tree to shoulder the weight. "Hang on, Arthur! I've got an idea!"

Going to the nearest tree, Francis threw the rope around the trunk and held the other end. He lay the rope over his shoulder and use the good arm to pull the weight. From the hole, he heard Arthur shout 'I'm free' and the weight became slightly lighter. Francis gave a little smile and continued to pull, until Arthur cried out for him to stop. "What's wrong?" Francis called.

"Stop pulling for a quick moment! I need to try and wrap this rope around my waist!" There was silence for a moment, then "I can't do it! My hands are too wet! Francis, do something!"

"Okay, okay! Give me a minute!" Francis secured the end of the rope by shoving a heavy rock onto it. He ran to the backsack and looked through it for something else to use. If Arthur could not hold on to the material of the rope, then he would need something else to use. The wild man carried everything it would seem, so there had to be something. Francis' hands landed on something cold and when he pulled the object from the sack, he saw it was an iron hook. So that's what was so heavy in the sack! "We can use this! Arthur! I have an idea!"

"It better be good!"

Francis grinned down at him. "I'm going to tie this hook to the end of my rope up here! We'll switch ends! Take the end with the hook and latch it on to your belt or wrap it around your waist! That way, I can pull you up much easier!"

Arthur blinked. "That's a brilliant idea! Hurry up and do it!"

Francis nodded and kicked the rock away, quickly tying the rope through the loop on the hook. Tying the rope was much easier on his arm without the added weight. Once secured, Francis tossed it down and pulled the other end up. He watched as Arthur looped it around his waist, and then went back to the tree to anchor the other end. When Arthur shouted 'ready', Francis started to pull. It was much easier this time around to lift Arthur out of the mud. He looked over at the hole to see a mud-covered blonde head begin to appear. With a bright smile and beads of sweat on his brow, Francis said, "aren't you a sight to see! Very alluring!"

Arthur panted as he crawled along the ground, pulling himself up from the hole. "You could…never pleasure nor flatter me enough to ever be hypnotized by your words."

Francis let out a puff of air as well, relieved that the hard work was over. "Whatever. But you have to admit that if I weren't here, you would have been fossilized in that mud!" He grinned.

Arthur just raised a muddy brow of annoyance. "Yes. It was a good idea. But the score is still me, ten, and you, one." Francis wiggled his shoulders at Arthur with a snobbish look.

"I believe a 'thank you' is in order?" Francis leaned forward and cupped his hand around the shell of his ear.

"Ugh…" Arthur rolled his eyes. "Thank you for saving my life, Francis."

Francis gave a deep, courtly bow. "It was an honor to aid in your rescue, Arthur."

Arthur looked at the man bowing before him in the polite and respectful noble way. He felt a tad bit flattered by the motion from the other man for only nobles and royals bowed to each other like that. Instead of gloating, like Arthur thought Francis would, the man was showing him respect. Arthur had to turn away to hide the faint blush across his nose. It had been too long since he had been with another male, so he blamed the blushing on that. "Let's hope you're as useful for the rest of this trip as you were just now." He cleared his throat. "Let's get moving. I need to find a place to wash the mud off."

Francis smiled and gasped excitedly. "Please, allow me to bathe you properly!"

"No! I'm just washing the mud off my face, hair, and hands!" Arthur started to walk away and Francis lifted the sack to quickly follow.

"Why won't you bathe properly?"

"It makes my body stronger so it can fight of diseases. If you clean yourself ALL the time, your body does not build up the necessary power it needs to combat illness."

Francis scoffed. "I can see that being an issue if people lived in the conditions that you do. Where I live, everything is clean all the time. Houses, people, animals, servants, everything! 'Dirty' things do not pass through our city, so it is not as important to us. Being clean can keep you just as healthy as being…dirty." Arthur did not respond. "In a way, maybe the body needs both filthiness and dirtiness to even everything out. A little bit of both to help." He smiled. "That actually sounds reasonable. Wouldn't you agree?"

Arthur gave a little smirk and nodded. "It does make sense. You're slowly beginning to prove yourself less stupid."

"A compliment coming from you." Francis decided to take a chance and asked, "all sexual joking aside, why won't you allow me to see you naked?"

Arthur let his head fall back and he groaned. "I don't want to show you my naked body! There's no reason for it!"

"I just worry that you are hiding something from me. You speak to animals and tress, you see things other people can't…is your body covered in snake scales or something?"

Arthur knew this would come up eventually and he had to make up a lie. Luckily, he could use the story of his former lover to help conjure up the lie. Francis had wanted to know his back-story anyway, so Arthur decided it would be a fair payment for the nobleman saving his life. Also, it may help to keep Francis' mind off of the corpses they had seen earlier. The sight even bothered him, but that was for another time. "I suppose I'll tell you because you saved my life back there. Let's rest for a bit." The two sat down on the ground and shared their canteen of water.

"So, what's your story?" Francis asked. "I'm listening."

Arthur cleared his throat. "To answer your previous curiosity, yes, I did have a lover. Many years ago. I was seventeen and had been living on my own for a few years prior."

"Ah, I thought so. That bed was too big for just one person."

"Well, he and I made the bed together because my first one was too small."

"So it was a man, then." Francis smiled.

"Yes. It was a man, who will remain nameless. He was my first and we would do 'it' every night after our day of chores. I had gotten very…used to him being with me. However, he-"

"Did not share the same feelings of commitment as you did." Francis finished for him and Arthur gasped softly.

"How did you know?"

"I could tell by your face and tone of voice. You are, by nature, a very dedicated and loyal person. I can see it through your weird ways of loving nature and holding true to your ideals. This guy was your first and only, I'm assuming, as well and first loves are hard to forget."

Arthur looked away. "How would you know about love? You believe in free love and lust."

Francis shrugged his shoulders. "Did you ever think that may be because I have yet to actually 'fall' in love? I haven't felt anything towards anyone. I've never felt that 'spark'."

"Hmph, because you don't give it a chance. Surrounding yourself with people and having sex does not give you the time to get to know one person."

"True, but I've heard a lot of people talk and I'm very open about my feelings." He smiled. "Now, we trailed off a bit. I shouldn't have interrupted you. Please continue."

Arthur grumbled, but did so. "I'm not a very open person in general. It takes some time for me to get used to a person. I didn't like when HE left me. Not for another person, but just for adventure. He did not want to take me with him, nor did he want to be tied down to anything. I let my guard down. I left myself open to more hurt and my heart was poisoned once again." He gave Francis a serious look. "Now my heart is black. The poison is protecting it. I will not give in to anyone or anything. I will never have a relationship again and I don't feel comfortable showing my body. It was hard enough to do it the first time with HIM."

Francis narrowed his brows. "So, you're giving up just because one loser walked out on you? I'm sorry, but you're not the first and will not be the last person whose lover will walk out on them. It obviously wasn't meant to be."

"Why did I even tell you this? You don't understand!" Arthur bared his teeth at the other.

"Of course not, because I wasn't there! However, I do understand feelings better than you do. I'm much more willing to forgive and move on, but you continue to wallow in self-pity. You did nothing wrong, it was on the other man's end. Can't you look at it as a learning experience so you know what to recognize in another relationship?"

Arthur ran a hand through his hair. "I don't want that feeling of emptiness again. It was a waste, that relationship. I'm content in my own company."

Francis smiled then, and covered Arthur's mud covered hand with his own. "It may not be me whom you fall in love with, but I promise that I will make your black heart turn a passionate red once again."

End Chapter 4 TBC
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Different Hearts, Same Love