A/N: New chapter. Hope y'all enjoy. :)

France-1770

The halls of the estate were luxurious, wide and grand with high ceilings decorated in ornate architecture and walls covered with beautiful paintings and plush tapestries. A young man, dressed very smartly in a beautiful lavender coat, dark breeches, and a powdered wig wandered about the halls, making his way aimlessly with clearly no purpose or direction. He looked to be about thirteen or fourteen years old, the beginnings of adulthood finally starting to show on his still rather childish face. Pausing momentarily, he looked about the large hallways, before walking onwards, his brow furrowed.

The young man had come to the estate for a rather lavish social event, one where all of France's elites would be mingling with some very special foreign guests, or so he had been told. As it were, it was his first time at this particular venue and he had arrived an hour or so early. With nothing better to do, he had taken to wandering about the halls of the grand palace, enjoying the beauty and splendor of the estate. However, he was becoming quite bored and soon found himself yearning for some interesting company to pass his time. He turned a corner, his dark eyes lighting up when he saw another young man, sitting alone on a bench outside a set of rather impressive-looking doors.

The young man quickly hurried over to the other, a small smile tugging at his lips, "Hello, monsieur!" he called out as he approached, "Are you here for the social event that is to occur this evening?"

The other man, a young blonde also looking to be around thirteen or fourteen with bright blue eyes jumped up, clearly startled. He was dressed much plainer than the other and looked horribly out of place in the grand halls of the estate, with a simple, dark coat and his blonde hair pulled back into a messy ponytail.

"Um, yes I am" the blonde man responded to the other, speaking slowly in very heavily accented French and stumbling over his words, "Why do you ask?"

The other man shrugged, "I am horribly bored and realize the event is not to start for some time. I came early, unfortunately and have nothing to do in these rather grand halls. Would it be too problematic if I troubled you for your company?"

The blonde man smiled, a warm and inviting expression, "Of course not. I am terrible bored myself. My older brother is currently attending a meeting" he said, jerking his head towards the door, "And I was instructed to simply keep out of trouble until he was finished."

"Why do you not attend the meeting too?" the young man sat down next to the other, "Surely you are old enough by now to engage in the family business, whatever this may entail, Monsieur."

The blonde chuckled, "Oh goodness, no. It really is not my place to attend such meetings, Monsieur…?" he looked inquisitively at the other man, "But before we get to our stories, I believe a proper introduction is in order? You can call me Alfred."

"Then you may call me Gilbert." The man in the lavender waistcoat dipped his head politely, "So, Monsieur Alfred, what sort of business is it that your brother is invested in? I suppose it has something to do with the French government; he would not be attending such a meeting in such a location otherwise."

"Well, yes, Artie, that's my brother, works in the British government." Alfred nodded, "He manages negotiations between the British and other major powers, including France…currently I believe they are having some annual European meeting in there." Alfred said, once again jerking his head towards the door.

"And you are in the business as well?"

"Somewhat" Alfred shrugged, "I am, I mean it is all very important to me because it directly impacts my livelihood, but I do not have a say in what happens. That is for Artie to decide."

"Well that is rather preposterous." Gilbert shook his head, "Why does your brother have such control over your happiness? Come, you are an adult it is time for you to forge your way in the world free of his influence."

Alfred laughed, "Oh, Monsieur Gilbert you do not understand." He said, shaking his own hand, "I know I appear an adult but I am still so very young and inexperienced, or so Artie tells me. And really, he knows what is best. He has had many dealings in this business and knows how to play the game. I, on the other hand, do not."

"So you should be in that meeting now, at the very least, learning how to play the game." Gilbert insisted, "It is not right for one individual to have completely control over another, no matter what blood bonds may hold them together."

"It is far more complicated than that." Alfred laughed, "It..it is supposed to be this way. Artie knows what he's doing. He'll always choose what's best for me."

"I must disagree with you on that statement." Gilbert shook his head, "And even so, is it not your right as an individual to choose your own path, no matter what mistakes they may hold? Build your own future with your own hands?"

"Not quite." Alfred's expression was somewhat melancholy, and for a second Gilbert was struck with the notion that Alfred, despite his youthful appearance had seen far more than any man Gilbert had ever met. His eyes, a beautiful shade of blue, while still radiating with youth seemed simultaneously aged beyond measure.

It was a rather strange and contradictory combination but the expression was gone a second later, leaving Gilbert back on the bench with only a young man his age.

"Monsieur Gilbert are you okay?" Alfred asked, looking rather concerned.

"I am completely fine." Gilbert assured Alfred, snapping out of his thoughts and shaking his head slowly, "Come though, these halls are rather stuffy and it is a wonderful day out. What say you and I take a stroll through the gardens of this estate?"

"I think I would like that" Alfred said, smiling and standing and following Gilbert through the halls.

"…I'm quite serious, there was a werewolf loose and I was quite determined to catch it!"

"Really?" Alfred was staring at Gilbert in open amazement as the two wandered the gardens of the estate, "Why would you go after so dangerous?"

"Because that's what a hero does." Gilbert insisted, "A hero goes after the beast, determined to save and protect those he loves and all he cherishes."

"Are you a hero?"

"I'm going to be" Gilbert nodded, sagely, "I'm just waiting an opportunity to prove myself. I never caught the werewolf, but I'm sure something will present itself."

"And then you'll be a hero?

"Yes." Gilbert smiled, "Being a hero is a very admirable but dangerous thing. A hero has to be willing to put everything on the line, his life, love, happiness to protect what he finds important. And I'm going to do that."

"What are you going to protect?"

"I don't know yet" Gilbert frowned, "I'll know when I see it. I will find a cause that I believe so firmly in, one that is supported by men of great character and then I will know it is time. And no matter the cost, no matter the sacrifice I will see to it that what I believe in comes to pass. That is, after all, what a hero's final goal is."

"A hero, huh" Alfred said, thoughtfully, "I…I think I would like to be a hero too, you know."

"We should become heroes together then." Gilbert said, smiling, "I will make this promise to you now, as a hero. I promise, should anything happen to you, I shall do all I can within my power to aid you."

"That is very kind of you." Alfred nodded, "But, come I must repay you somehow for such a promise…"

"There is no need, it is what a hero does" Gilbert replied, "Actually, I make this promise to you not as a hero, but as a friend."

"We are friends then?" Alfred cast Gilbert a sideways glance, his blue eyes searching the other's face.

"I would prefer to think so."

"I think I would too." Alfred smiled, and Gilbert was struck with how open and honest the simple expression was, "And I shall tell you what; we will both become heroes. I will give you a promise in return for yours. I promise you that I will become a hero and as a hero I shall do all in my power to ensure the world is a better place, since that is what heroes do, is it not?

"Yes, you understand, Alfred." Gilbert nodded a smile blooming on his face as well, "I am glad you do, the world could always do with more heroes."

Alfred nodded in return, his smile growing, "I think I shall enjoy being a hero, making the world a better place."

"It will be difficult" Gilbert cautioned.

"Yes, but I will fight for what I believe is right."

"No matter the enemy?"

"What do you mean?" Alfred paused, looking confused. The two had made their way onto a very small bridge on the path that crossed over a tiny trickle of water. A large and beautiful window, taller than both of them was on their left and a set of fruit trees on their right.

"Well" Gilbert stopped too, frowning, "Who's the person you love most in the world? Who do you trust more than anyone else?"

"Well…that'd have to be Artie." Alfred responded, "Though I rather do like Mattie too, he's also somewhat of a brother to me…we've been getting closer you know."

"Fine, let's use Artie" Gilbert said, "What if Artie told you to do something, asked for something of you and you knew, with all your heart with all your being with everything that he was asking the wrong thing. That what he wanted, well, it was bad."

"But Artie wouldn't do that." Alfred pointed out, "Maybe Francis would or Antonio, but not my Artie. That's why he's my big brother."

"But what if it happened, hypothetically what if Artie did do that." Gilbert pressed.

"I don't care much for hypothetical situations." Alfred frowned, "But…if he did…well. I owe Artie everything, you must understand. He protects me from the world, makes sure I'm cared for, makes sure none of the others hurt me, so why would he ask me to do something that I thought was wrong? You are suggesting a near impossible situation. I mean..." Alfred bit his lip, looking down, "At least I think it should be near impossible. He's been a bit harsh in the last few years, we haven't seen eye-to-eye on some issues and have started fighting but I'm sure it is something that will blow over, or we can talk it through."

"That is why it is a hypothetical, Alfred" Gilbert said.

"Fine, fine." Alfred frowned, "Well…Gilbert, I did make you a promise to do what a hero would do. And a hero would put aside even the ones he loved to fight for what was right…so, in your strange, hypothetical situation that wouldn't ever happen, well, I don't think it will happen mind you, I…I suppose I would have to fight Artie and stop him."

"I wonder if you would." Gilbert said, smiling at Alfred.

"What does that mean?" Alfred bristled, "I would. Really, Gilbert I would."

"Your French has improved rapidly since we have begun talking." Gilbert suddenly said, staring hard at Alfred, "I just noticed that."

"It has?" Alfred frowned, "Well. You're correct, I suppose it has hasn't it?"

"Is French your native language?" Gilbert asked.

Alfred laughed, "No, and if Artie heard you asking that he would be livid."

"It is English then?"

"No."

"Well what is it?"

"I don't know." Alfred smiled and shrugged, seemingly completely undisturbed by the fact that he did not even know his native language.

Gilbert stared openly at Alfred for a few moments, trying to determine if Alfred was lying or joking but seeing the open honesty on the other's face shrugged too, "You are a strange individual, Alfred." He said, "I find you rather interesting you know. I cannot get a good handle on you, but I think I like you. We are friends, after all."

"And I find you rather fascinating as well." Alfred responded, "You know it is odd, I generally don't feel this kind of bond, this attraction with people outside the colonies. It really is rather strange."

Gilbert opened his mouth to respond, but a loud cry suddenly startled them. "STOP THAT DAMNABLE BIRD!" someone screamed and the two looked up, to see, much to their surprise, a small, yellow, and rather fluffy bird flying towards them at a speed that seemed far too fast for such a small creature.

Without thinking, Gilbert quickly jumped up in an attempt to catch the bird. However, Alfred had the same thought in mind apparently and the two, instead of catching the tiny animal knocked into each other and became entangled in each other's limbs, flying off the small bridge they had been standing on and into the large window.

There was a loud CRASH as Alfred and Gilbert went barreling through the window. Glass exploded around them and surprised screams sounded from the room the two had crashed into. Gilbert sat up slowly, wincing as he felt smaller pieces of glass imbed themselves in his skin and looked around. Many unfamiliar faces were staring at him with a mixture of shock and amusement, and Gilbert smiled apologetically around the room. They seemed to be wealthier individuals, their dress for the most part speaking of great power and rank. A soft groan caught his attention and Gilbert quickly turned to see Alfred sitting up slowly, rubbing the back of his head. He shot Gilbert a small and guilty smile despite a small cut he had on his face before also looking around, the smile quickly sliding off his face.

"Alfred do you know these fine individuals?" Gilbert asked softly as Alfred's gaze seemed to fix on a young man in particular with rather thick eyebrows, unkempt blonde hair and brilliant green eyes who was staring at Alfred with his mouth slightly open. The others in the room were all looking at the two, a few with scandalized expressions on their faces but most smirking or grinning, their gazes flickering between Alfred and the man with the eyebrows Alfred was staring at.

"Ah…" Alfred said, "Um. Some of them."

"Alfred F. Jones." The man with the impressive eyebrows stood slowly, speaking English, his voice low and threatening, "What in the name of the King and all that is holy are you doing."

Alfred winced, and shot a small, guilty smile to the other man, "Ah…Arthur..." Alfred said haltingly, slowly rising to his feet and dusting off the glass that had stuck to his clothes, "Well, you see, I was just…well there was this bird, it was an accident you see…"

"Monsieur, I beg your forgiveness", Gilbert spoke up suddenly as he jumped to his feet. Though the men were speaking English, his rudimentary knowledge of the language as well as the tones that the two were using was enough to give him the general gist of the conversation. He ignored stares from the people in the room and the messy state his clothes were in, quickly composing himself, "This whole incident is my fault. I dragged Monsieur Alfred into this mess."

"And who are you." Arthur asked in heavily accented French, the furious expression never leaving his face.

"This is Gilbert, Artie" Alfred said, holding his hand out to the young Frenchman, "We were just talking, honest, you said I needed to talk more with the aristocracy of Europe."

"Gilbert is a horribly informal way of addressing this young man, Alfred." Another voice spoke up, and Gilbert looked over at the table to see another man, with blonde hair tied back into a ponytail and stylishly dressed in a dark blue coat with gold buttons stand up, "This is Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette. He is a young aristocrat, entering into the Royal Army this year, if I am not mistaken. This is Arthur Kirkland, Monsieur Lafayette. He is…well I suppose you could say at the moment a guest from England in our country."

Alfred's eyes widened as he tried to mouth the name back, "Can we just stick with Gilbert?" he asked, staring at his friend.

"You cannot just call him "Gilbert" Alfred!" Arthur cried, shaking his head as some of the people in the room began laughing and whispering among themselves, "Come, child I have taught you better than this! You cannot be so informal at these events."

"I do not mind Monsieur" Gilbert smiled at Arthur, "I have taken a rather strong liking to Alfred and do rather prefer some informality at times." He turned to the man with the blond ponytail who had been whispering something to his neighbor, a pale man with white hair, red eyes and a cocky smirk on his face, "Though you know of me, I am afraid I have not made your acquaintance yet monsieur?" Gilbert asked.

"Of course, I apologize" the man said, straightening before bowing deeply with a flourish, "I am Francis Bonn-"

"You two can have your introductions later" Arthur interrupted Francis harshly, "What I want to know is what exactly Mr. Lafayette was doing with Ameri-my charge."

"It wasn't his fault, Artie, honest!" Alfred protested, shaking his head, "It was mine. Well not entirely. There was this bird and this guy was trying to chase it so we tried to catch it for him and we kinda messed up and went crashing through the window…" Alfred trailed off, his cheeks colored a dark pink in embarrassment, his hands fidgeting with the cuffs of his sleeves, and his eyes fixed to the floor, as though he was trying to avoid the stares of all the other individuals in the room.

Arthur shook his head, "Alfred, I asked you to keep out of trouble while I was at this meeting, is that so difficult? I cannot watch you while I attend these meetings and you should be old enough to watch yourself."

"Why do you not just have Alfred attend the meetings?" Gilbert spoke up, looking inquisitively at Arthur, "Surely he is old enough by now, he must be at least 14, to see the manner of your trade? I acknowledge I do not fully understand the manner of your work, Monsieur Kirkland, but even you must see the folly in keeping one as old as himself away from the business I do not doubt he is set to aid you in? Furthermore, this business impacts him so he should have some say in it, is that not correct?"

Gilbert had been completely serious when speaking, but apparently some found his questions amusing as a small ripple of laughs went through the room at his suggestions. Though the laughter seemed to embarrass Alfred further, Gilbert held his head high, staring coolly at Arthur and a few of the other individuals who laughed louder than their neighbors, in particular the pale man with red eyes who sat next to Francis.

"Alfred, despite his appearances, is not old enough to attend such a meeting and furthermore, Mr. Lafayette, it is not his place to attend such meetings. His position requires different obligations and duties." Arthur's voice was clipped and tense, and unlike some of the individuals seated around him, he wore no semblance of a smile,"You would do well to keep yourself out of matters that do not concern you Mr. Lafayette."

"I am a friend of Monsieur Alfred" Gilbert responded, levelly, "Therefore what concerns him concerns me."

"I can assure you that this matter is completely between Alfred and me and you really should stand down, Mr. Lafayette." Arthur's voice was completely calm and cool but the underlying threat was terribly obvious.

"I cannot while you abuse my friend, Monsieur." Gilbert said, matching Arthur's tone and glare despite the height difference.

"It looks like our Monsieur Lafayette has a bit of a fight in him, Monsieur Kirkland" Francis spoke again, smirking widely as his pale neighbor cackled, "But then he is from France and faced with one as uncouth and uncivilized as yourself, I suppose even such a young boy will defend what he believes to the end."

"You would do well to stay out of matters that do not concern you as well, frog" Arthur quickly spat back, glaring at Francis, "Or is this a thing in your country? To become involved in issues that you have no claim to?"

"Only when it involves one as wonderful as yourself, my dear rosbif." Francis smirked, "Then I always have a claim to it."

"Messieurs" Gilbert interrupted, partially because he was not fond of being ignored and partially because it seemed like the two men were about to lunge for each others' throats, "Let us remain civil here. I believe we were discussing Monsieur Alfred's attendance of these meetings?"

"Gil, please drop it." Alfred said, softly, putting a hand on Gilbert's shoulder, "I told you, Artie's my brother, he knows what's best, he doesn't abuse me or anything like that."

"But you told me so yourself." Gilbert protested, "You said that the matters which are dealt with at these meetings impact your livelihood and happiness as well. You are old enough to be a man; you have a right to take part in these discussions. To deny you this is undoubtedly abuse of the worst kind. Remember what we said about being a hero?" he asked, "Even if it's against someone you love?"

Alfred bit his lower lip and frowned, "Gil, it's fine. Really. It is. Artie's right. I'm holding to my word. I do not think he is wrong here. Like I said, you do not understand my relationship with him. So, really, yes it is okay."

"No, Alfred it isn-"

"And I suppose we are not going to get anywhere with this meeting?" Francis suddenly interrupted Gilbert, "We were pretty much at an impasse before Messieurs Alfred and Lafayette decided to drop in on our meeting, mostly of course due to the pig-headedness of our dear Monsieur Kirkland, and I sincerely doubt that a destroyed window and a wayward charge are going to improve the matter."

"I second Francis' proposal" Francis' pale neighbor waved his hand, smirking broadly "As much as I'd love to give our dear old "Artie" a lecture on how to properly manage his colo-I mean charges, I'm famished."

"You can't even manage yourself properly, Gilbert" Arthur said, haughtily, "I don't want to hear such blather coming from you of all individuals."

"I don't know I haven't crashed through many windows in some time."

"The fact that you cannot even deny ever having done so speaks volumes." Arthur responded quickly.

"Alright, alright, enough with the bickering, come we are civilized individuals" another young, tanned man with green eyes, dark hair pulled back into a ponytail and an easy smile held his arms up, "This meeting's over, let us get something to eat. How shall we take care of the…mess though?"

"I will take care of it" Arthur said, quickly, "Alfred is my responsibility so I am responsible for this mess."

"Nonsense." Francis laughed, a light tinkering sound, "Come, we'll have the servants take care of it, we cannot have you missing our dinner and social events. I know how you deprive yourself of proper food and entertainment and would not want you to miss an opportunity to experience both."

"Belt up, frog" Arthur said, glaring at Francis, "Come along, then Alfred. Mr. Lafayette, I would prefer if you left us alone."

Alfred shot Gilbert an apologetic smile before hurrying to catch up with Arthur who was already striding out of the room.

"Well you certainly managed to get under our dear Artie's skin." Francis suddenly said, smiling at Gilbert, as the other individuals in the room slowly began filtering out, laughing amongst themselves at the spectacle they had just witnessed, "I congratulate you for that. We all love to see him squirm for all the pain he's caused us."

"Are you not friends?" Gilbert looked inquisitively at Francis, "And I did not mean to. I just believe Monsieur Alfred is being treated horribly unfair."

"Friends?" Francis chuckled, "Oh, my dear boy, Monsieur Kirkland does not have friends and had he any, I would certainly be the last person he would ever consider a friend. He has charges to keep him company, not friends. And quite frankly, Monsieur Alfred has been afforded many luxuries that few of his standing are granted. I suppose you could say Kirkland has a bit of a soft spot for the boy. He seems to be a wonderful child, but I do not doubt he is horribly spoiled."

"He is not a boy, could you not tell?" Gilbert responded, frowning, "Well not for long, anyways."

Francis looked curiously at Gilbert, "What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"I don't…know." Gilbert frowned, "There was something about him that seemed…well it seemed off. I could not say what it was; it was almost as if he wasn't, well this is going to seem strange but it seemed as if there was something brewing in him. Something big. Something waiting to explode, coiled deep within him. It's only a matter of time before something gives." Gilbert shrugged, "What am I saying. I have only spoken to this man for a few hours and yet I feel as if I have known him for my entire life."

"You are an interesting individual" Francis said softly, "Not many can read others so quickly."

"I generally cannot" Gilbert responded, "And I could not read Alfred at all, he confused me actually. Just…I could tell that much. And monsieur." Gilbert looked quickly at Francis, his dark eyes scanning the taller man, "I could say the same for you."

"The same…?" Francis asked, a small frown tugging at the edge of his mouth, "No, Monsieur Lafayette, Alfred and I really are not similar. Well we are, in a way, but we are at such completely different positions in our lives to really be considered similar."

"No, see that is where you are wrong." Gilbert shook his head, "Something is brewing within you as well, I can tell. I can't say what. But something is going to change for you. Big change. Ah well, we shall see in the coming years, shall we not. I feel like we will be seeing each other more in the future. In the meantime I believe there is to be a banquet and I am rather famished. We never did catch that damnable bird that caused such a problem, what a strange looking creature it was too, yellow and fluffy. It did not really seem suited for flight, but I suppose it managed."

With that, Gilbert strode out of the hall, Francis trailing behind him and staring at the man with an intrigued expression on his face.

And that's that. I WAS going to do Madison next but I suddenly had this idea for Lafayette so yea this happened. I'm still going to do Madison though! Lafayette was fucking AWESOME, a French aristocrat who also lost his parents at a very young age. He was left with a ton of money and married to another aristocrat (she was somehow related to the King, idk how exactly) by the time he was 14. I was reading on him and they started talking about how he had this huge "hero" complex so I was like "Well maybe THAT'S where Alfred gets it from." America owes him since he contributed so much (financially and in terms of the aid from the French), and his relationship with Washington was totally precious. Washington saw him as a son, since he didn't have any and Lafayette saw Washington as a father, going as far as to name his son "George Washington". (from what I understand Washington's "sons" included Lafayette, Hamilton, and Laurens). Anyways he was one of the strongest links b/w the French and American revolution so yea he was kinda fucking awesome. Though I don't think him and Napoleon got along well. I called him "Gilbert" through most of this b/c that was what his friends and family called him, I believe.

And it's 1770 so yea there was some dissent in the colonies but I don't think Alfred himself would really be upset with Arthur till a few years later.

And I'm totally taking some suggestions that were thrown at me as well as some others I've thought about so that should be really exciting! Thanks for reading, and reviews and comments are always appreciated! They're seriously the best motivation you could give a girl. :)