Chapter 50: Beauty of a Bond

"Scusa? Did you say something?" Romano asked, looking over at me. I shook my head, returning to the present.

"N-no..."

"Liar." Luciano muttered softly, but he knew better than to press the topic. Only he and Yang knew what had happened.

Feliciano glared at those eyes. "You! You've been watching me, haven't you?! Think it's funny, do you?! Watching me fail again and again! Are you some new Thing?"

I flinched. How could I have been so cruel?

"You had no way of knowing... it was a natural reaction." Luciano soothed.

"Was it a Thing?" China asked, but I shook my head.

"No... she wasn't." I smiled softly as my past self took off after the whiteish silver blur.

Eventually, Feliciano found himself in a beautiful clearing. There was a glade with crystal clear water, and a small brook that bubbled into it. The stones at the bottom were smooth, and several koi swam around.

The grass blew softly in the breeze, and the flowers danced in the sunlight as it filtered down through the trees. The place had a sort of serenity to it that promised safety.

"Where is this?" France asked in awe.

"Is... is this kind of place really on the Mansion's Grounds?!" Feliciano gasped, temporarily forgetting his objective.

"It is beautiful." Hungary smiled softly, as she admired some flowers. "It reminds me of your meadow back home."

"Holy Rome's." I corrected.

"I beg your pardon?" Austria turned to me, confused.

"It's not my meadow... it's Holy Rome's Meadow. And this... this is Our Glade." I sighed.

"'Our' Glade? Like you and Acel?" Prussia spoke up.

"No... mine and..." My breath left me when I caught sight of her stepping out from around a large bolder. The other nations noticed my pause and followed my gaze.

She stood there, in the warm sunlight... A wolf... at first glance she looked white, but on closer inspection, her coloration would make her a silver wolf. Her eyes were a deep sapphire blue, which contrasted drastically against her white fur, making her look almost possessed. She stood at a good height—maybe 3 or 4 feet—and she looked to be fully grown.

"It's her... she's your Bonded." Asher realized as he drank in the image of what was, essentially, his baby sister.

Romano's head shot up at that. "She's your Bonded?" He asked, and several nations also blinked in surprise.

"Wait! You met your bonded in a place like that?!" Germany grimaced. "What awful circumstances."

I didn't say anything. I watched as Feliciano sat there, crouched in the grass, transfixed by the wolf who was cautiously approaching.

They were a breath apart, now, and neither seemed to know what to do. Feli put his hand up, allowing the wolf to make her choice. She hesitated only a moment before she bumped her head to Feli's hand.

There was a spark. A slight hiss in the air, as the wolf let out a yip of pain and surprise, and Feli 'eep'ed as he lost his balance and fell on his butt. "What the...?!"

"You are...?" Feli's head whipped up.

"Wh-who said that?!"

"Me..." The wolf stepped forward.

"You...? Wait! You mean?!" Feliciano blinked in shock. For a moment, the image of Lovino Bonding with Asher II was shown, making Asher hum with pride.

"I am your Bonded." She said.

"I see... then you'll need a name..." Feli thought. "Silver. I'll call you Silver." He smiled.

"Silver... yes... I like that name." The newly dubbed Silver gave a wolfish smile as she snuggled up to Feliciano. "You will always have me by your side." she promised.

She promised... I felt tears prick my eyes. She lied. Yang was the first to realize my thoughts were heading down a dangerous path. He gently elbowed Luciano, and nodded his head towards me.

"Oi... We're here, Felice." He pulled me into a hug. In that moment... to see her again... hear her voice... and realize that she was gone... it was too much.

The first sob escaped through clenched teeth. The dam broke, and several more sobs followed, as I finally let some of my grief out.

"What...?" Romano and Flavio whipped around in concern as the nations all turned. In all these memories, I hadn't broken down once. Not even during That Loop. Or the First Loop. But seeing this seemingly happy memory was the final straw that broke the camel's back.

My sobs were half whimpers and whines. An odd mixture of human and wolf, and Asher was the first to understand what had occurred. His ears went flat, and his tail drooped. The sudden pride and excitement he'd felt when he'd realized that he was a big brother was abruptly snuffed out and replaced by guilt, dread, and grief.

"No..." He whispered as a few whines escaped him. A specific whimper from me confirmed his fears. In that moment, he didn't care that it was a memory. He didn't care that it had already happened, or that we'd yet to officially see it.

Asher threw back his head and howled. The Howl of Mourning rang through the air, low and heavy, and Romano's eyes widened in sudden realization.

"You mean... she's dead?" He gasped. I nodded my head, too incoherent for words. Prussia's eyes went wide with horror, as he held Gilbird closely to him.

Canada wished for Kumajiro so he could reassure himself that his bonded was still alive, too. America winced. Spirit was his bonded, and he didn't know what he'd do if he'd lost him.

France whimpered lowly as he thought of Pierre, and what he'd do if he lost his little friend.

"You... lost your Bonded?" China, unlike the others did not look at me with pity. I saw an understanding in his eyes... a pain that I'd only seen in the mirror.

"You too, huh?" I turned to face him fully. The other nations—Japan and South Korea in particular—turned towards China in surprise.

"He was the best panda, aru~" He smiled wistfully, a familiar look of ache on his face. "He gave the best hugs, and the two of us snuggled together all the time..." He gave me a sad look. "I understand, Italy."

"As do I." England spoke up suddenly, further surprising the 1Ps.

"I'd say we both do, to an extent." Oliver amended.

"Wait... even you?" Louis looked at 2P England with sorrow. He thought to his own little birdie at home.

Oliver concentrated for a moment, before a brown, chocolate-colored winged bunny became visible on his shoulder.

"AH!" America pointed to a mint-colored winged rabbit sitting on England's shoulder. "What's on your shoulder?!" He cried out, and several nations rubbed their eyes.

"This is Flying Mint Bunny." England huffed, as his bunny crossed his arms.

"And this is Flying Choco Bunny~" Oliver sang happily.

"Wait... I thought you said...?" Jason lifted an eyebrow.

"Our Bondeds died a long time ago... During wartime, just like a nation, our Bondeds become mortal as well." England started.

"And after a fairly nasty attack... they died. Unlike nations, they weren't 1P and 2P, so my bonded survived longer, but... he still died in the war..." Oliver looked down sadly, and many 2Ps were shocked to see a tear fall to the ground.

"That's when we realized that... perhaps... their spirits were still alive somewhere..." England smiled softly as he scratched Flying Mint Bunny under his chin.

"And with a tad bit of tricky spellwork, we were able to call back their spirits and bind them to us~ Willingly, of course." Oliver grinned.

"Of course, there was a time limit... we only had 48 hours to do so before their spirits would be lost." England continued, "I'm sorry." He looked at China, who'd been looking hopeful.

"So... you lost them, but found them again?" I asked. A part of me was bitter towards the entire situation. Silver died, but they get theirs back?! How's that fair?! But I mostly felt happy for them. Nobody should have to suffer that kind of loss... I locked eyes with China, and I knew he agreed.

"I'm sorry." Luciano apologized mentally.

"You're an idiot for apologizing again. Her death was not your fault. And beyond that, you shouldn't feel guilty for your bonded being alive." I mentally reprimanded him.

"Yeah! Ying's right." Yang replied aloud, causing several nations to blink in surprise.

"Wait! Can the three of you all communicate mentally?!" Markus looked between the three of us rapidly.

"Yeah. What, you thought that Ling couldn't hear me?" Yang laughed.

"...Ling?" Flavio mouthed, looking at Luciano.

"Don't ask." My 2P sighed. "Yeah. He's annoying, but he can access the link just the same as you two can. But he's sort of got his own channel. Can't risk anything, you know? If knowledge you aren't supposed to have is leaked... It wouldn't end well for us." Luciano shuddered.

"To put it lightly." I grimaced.

The memory finally faded away as the two sat on the grass and talked. I was simultaneously happy that the memory was over, and saddened that she was gone. It was like losing her all over again, in a sense, and I had a feeling that her death would be even harder to take than Acel's death had been.

Asher pushed his nose into my hand, trying to give me the little amount of comfort he could. "Thank you." I spoke in the Wolf Tongue, and he just gave me a low whine.

England and Oliver shared twin looks of guilt. "Don't you two go feeling guilty just because your bondeds are alive." I shot them a glare. "I'm serious. I'm honestly glad that you found them again." I smiled.

"Yeah! Losing a Bonded is one of the hardest things, aside from losing..." China stopped himself and shook his head. "I'm glad you have found a way to bring them back and live together again, aru!" He grinned.

I knew what he was going to say. Aside from losing a child. I knew because on several occasions—loops, mind you—he'd confided in me just how much losing his kids—Japan, South Korea, etc...—had hurt him. How much he felt like he'd failed them. Especially Japan.

As the familiar darkness encompassed us, I thought back... what was the next most memorable loop? The image of France's horrified face stuck in my mind, and I realized what was probably coming up next. If my hunch is correct... I eyed the Frenchman who was poking an irate Flying Mint Bunny. Then I'll need to keep my eye on him... I've no idea how he'll handle this now.

With that thought at the forefront of my mind, I allowed the next memory to start.

A/N: Whoo! Another update! That's 2 days in a row, people!! And I've written this literally in less than a day. I wrote for a couple hours before work, (7am-9am, cause had work at 9:30am-2) and then for the last hour and a half, I've been writing, too. (2:30ish-3:40) I have work at 4:30pm and get off at 9.

So, Silver has been introduced. (See why I couldn't update before finishing H:IS?) And the mystery of Flying Mint/Choco Bunny has been answered! What do you guys think of that? Also, China's lost his bonded, which is why he's so 'obsessed' with Pandas. Because they remind him of his bonded. *Sad smile*

This entire chapter, and a majority of the last one was written while listening to the song "Hated by Life Itself". Take a listen. It's a pretty good/motivational song. I love it.

Also, we've finally reached Chapter 50~! Whoo hoo! Who brought cake?

The picture up at the top (For Wattpad and Quotev) is what Silver looks like, by the way. ^^

Words: 1,801

Pages: 4

Posted: 03/21/2019