So, I'm back for one last chapter. A while ago, pokedawnheart asked about doing a chapter in Alfred's POV since this was all in Alice's POV. I was actually thinking about that before, and they just made me want to write it more. I'm sorry this took so long.

I just want to say thanks to everyone who read this again. I really liked this story and it makes me so happy that there's just a few other people that loved it, too. It makes me so excited when people say that they like my stories, because I really just write them for me and I always am shocked when others like them so much. Thanks to everyone and I'm glad you could all enjoy this story with me! So here's the last little chapter, it's not much, but I liked the ending.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

The dragon was just as human as the rest of them...

"Come on, Matt! It'll be fun!" Alfred shouted loudly, trying to drag his brother down the dirty backroad.

"No! I don't want to. Wait! Alfred!" The other boy stopped his struggling for a minute. "There's stories about a witch living back here." He whispered, Matthew was always sort of timid. Probably because Alfred was so loud in comparison, the twins really couldn't be more different personality wise. Everyone always thought that Alfred made up for Matthew's quietness. Although, they looked almost the same. Same golden hair and blue eyes, Matthew's always looked purple though.

"You know that's just a myth! They're trying to scare you!" The boy retorted, rolling his eyes.

"I don't want to, okay? I'm going home, you can go explore all you want." His twin ran away before Alfred could try and pull him back. The seven year old huffed and kicked a rock. It wouldn't be as fun without Mattie. Why'd he have to be so lame?

He glanced back down the road. It was dusty and barren, the woods surrounding it. Later down, the path in faded into the trees. Alfred looked back from where they had come. Their house was just a little past around the corner. It was getting later, but his parents would be okay if he explored a little, right? They were always saying how adventurous he was. Alfred chose the forest path and started to run down it.

He had been walking for a while, finally exhausted from running so much. The child was starting to get nervous. The woods were weirdly quiet, he didn't like it. No birds or wind or anything. It was unsettling. Plus, he was lost, too.

The road had dissolved to dust and he hadn't noticed. By the time Alfred had stopped running, he was lost among the green. Alfred really wished Mattie was with him, at least they'd be lost together. The boy jumped at the odd leaf arrangement to his left. It almost seemed like a person. He didn't feel that alone anymore, shivering even though it wasn't cold outside.

"Hello?!" He yelled into the trees. "Help me! I think I'm lost!" No response, he was starting to panic. Alfred started to pick up his pace, screaming for someone to hear him, turning around and backtracking. He was more lost than he had been before. The real panic was setting in now. Then the child backed into into a brick half fence. Alfred screamed and tripped over something, maybe a root.

He turned to look at the brick, but instead noticed the house behind it. "Whoa.." The boy mumbled, looking over it. The outside matched the brick color, and the roof and shutters were grey. It had to be at least two stories, maybe more. For a kid who has lived in a small village house his whole life, the forest house was shocking and huge to him. There was a pretty garden of strange flowers and fruits. Vines climbed the walls and the sun shined through the trees. Just a few rays hit the bricks, but it was mostly hidden in the forest's shadows. He suddenly realized something. If there was a house here, then someone probably lived here.

Alfred climbed the wall and fell onto the other side. He started sprinting to the house, shouting at it. The door opened before he even made it to the porch. A woman stood there, she was pretty, long whitish blond hair and piercing purple eyes. "A child?" She asked, she looked innocently curious. Alfred didn't know that she wasn't, not yet.

"I'm lost! Can you help me? I can't see anything but the trees." He started to near her, but suddenly lost the feeling in his limbs. Alfred struggled, but he was frozen in his place. He started to cry in his panic.

"You shouldn't run around places you don't know, little boy," She smiled, almost sweetly, but he could tell it was fake now. Too late for him. "Hasn't anyone told you? Witches roam these woods." Alfred started yelling, still crying and still frozen. "And I'm one of them."

The pain was dull at first, not even noticeable in his mind. But it got stronger, burning. Alfred felt like he was burning, he wasn't cold anymore. He was sobbing, begging for her to stop as she began speaking. "For punishment of betraying my privacy, you shall be cursed as a dragon. For half a day you must be human, and the other half you must be dragon. This should show you, child, don't wander these woods." The pain became so strong, his vision was dotted until he woke up.

Alfred jerked awake from the nightmare. Not fully a nightmare, more like bad memories. It was all true. It was about dawn, still snowing, he could tell from the balcony opening. Alfred rubbed his eyes, trying to forget the past memories. The floor he slept on was extra hard, the witch could've at least put another bed in here before locking him away with her.

Her. That's what he usually called the sleeping girl downstairs. Alfred stood from the spot on the floor and stretched. He was human at the moment, but Alfred checked anyway. Sometimes he woke up and he didn't know what he was, those were the scariest mornings.

He could go and fly around some, wake himself up a little, or he could go check on her. He decided on the latter, she was always his first priority, and left his room. He didn't know why he had to protect her, but he knew he had to. Something told him. It was like his dragon instinct to collect shiny things. She wasn't shiny, but she was beautiful, if that counted.

Alfred walked down the stairs in silence, hearing the creaking of each step. He reached her room and opened the door barely. Just in case she was awake. She wasn't. She never was, the mystery girl.

Alfred stood in the doorway and surveyed the room. It was getting dusty, he guessed it would after two years of being untouched. He finally allowed himself to look at her.

She was pretty, peacefully sleeping there. Well, it wasn't really sleep, but he felt better if he pretended that's what it was. She had blond hair that was placed around her perfectly and a golden dress ironically. Alfred wondered what color her eyes were. He'd never know.

When someone came for her, he'd be killed. That's what the curse said. Alfred didn't want to die, but he wouldn't leave her, even if he could escape the shield. In the beginning he did. He wanted to leave so badly, he tried so hard to break it, but in the end it all failed anyway. Then Alfred did what he didn't expect.

He fell in love with her.

He didn't even know her name, it was stupid and crazy. But after two years of protecting her in this castle, Alfred fell in love. How could he not?

And maybe he wished she would wake and he could talk and laugh and do something than watch her suffer. He wondered what she looked like awake, alive, instead of this sorry state she was in. He wondered what color her eyes were.

It was snowing outside, but he wasn't cold. Alfred hadn't been cold since he was seven. Always burning, the pain had lessened slightly over the years, or maybe he just had become immune to it.

Alfred left the room. He didn't like looking at her, it made him uneasy. He wished she'd wake up. Not just because he loved her, but because he didn't want her suffering. Was she? The witch had a talent for making her curses hurt. Was her curse as horrible as his? He had been burning since he was seven. Was she?

The dragon-human sat in the kitchen eating a can of cold peas. The food here really was amazing. Alfred played with his fork.

He could wake her up.

No.

He couldn't wake her up, that's not what was supposed to happen. There's going to be a prince and and he's going to die and she'll be happy somewhere else. Alfred didn't even meet the standards of the curse. He had to love her and deserve her and basically be her soulmate. There's only one soulmate in the world for everyone, and there's no way he could be hers.

There's no way he was that lucky. This argument with himself was becoming more and more frequent.

Yet even though he argued and debated and fought with himself, every time Alfred saw her sleeping there, he wanted kiss her. Just to try, just to see.

Maybe this hopeless love he had for her was something more. Or maybe it wasn't. At least he'd know then.

He couldn't wake her up.

If he tried and she didn't wake up, would that harm anyone? Then he'd know if this love meant something or not.

He could just try.

Alfred stood and abandoned his can, he returned to her room. She hadn't moved. She never moved. He neared her wearily, he was going to do this, he was going to kiss her. This would be his first kiss, would it be hers?

Alfred took a deep breath and rest his hand on her cheek, tilting her head slightly. He lowered his lips to hers and kissed her. It was nice, for her being unconscious. After a while, Alfred broke away. For some reason he was disappointed she didn't wake. He had wished they could be more than just the dragon and the princess.

Then she moved more than he had ever seen her before, turning her head in his hand and he ran.

Completely bolting from the room, shutting the door on his way out and sprinting up the stairs to his room. Then Alfred ran out the balcony and transformed into his dragon form. He flew up the the spiral roof of the tower and curled up there. It wasn't cold despite the white world made of snow. The roof was fairly comfortable, gave him someplace he could get away. Out here he could forget about her, usually.

How did he convince himself to do that?! She woke up! Did that mean his love meant something? But now she's awake! This was horrible!

He couldn't meet her. He decided that he could in no way ever meet her. She'd freak out. He's a dragon! This wasn't any better than before.

Time passed slower than it had before. Alfred snuck downstairs every night to get food and stayed human during the night. Weird how he used to do the opposite. He spent a lot of time on the roof, it was the farthest he could be from her. Then she started to come outside.

It was still snowy when he first saw her awake. She was on the ground and staring at him in shock, in horror. Alfred knew that look too well. She was bleeding too. He wished he could just fly down there to her and patch her up. But that wasn't an option. Alfred returned his gaze to the sky, trying to forget her below.

After that she kept coming out. Sometimes he'd watch her, she seemed more at ease now. Almost peaceful. Not trapped under a sleeping spell, but still trapped here with him. He wished he could go sit next to her down there.

Alfred wondered if she hated him. Maybe she hated dragons, or hated the fact she was awake now. Maybe she just wanted to be rescued by her prince. If he had left her alone it would've be fine. He wouldn't ruin her fairytale anymore. He would ignore her and his speeding heart, the warmth he felt finally that wasn't from the burning, but instead his love for her.

The winter finally gave away to the spring. Alfred still felt like he was burning, despite the weather. Rain had been more frequent lately, too. Lightning was getting close to the tower. It was a extra bad rainstorm. Alfred was watching from the balcony.

The lightning hit that tree and before he knew it, he had dived down to catch it. If he hadn't it would've hit the tower. It would've killed her, and he couldn't let that happen. He loved her after all.

The tree stabbed him, he couldn't fly away, he was grounded. She'd find him. But the world was getting dark. He couldn't focus between the blood and the numbness and the burning.

When he awoke again, she was there.

He saw her watching him, the wind playing with her hair and the grass beginning to grow back from the frost. Her hair was blond and long now, tied up in pigtails with innocent ribbon that were tied in innocent bows.

She looked so confused, puzzled, but fear was not in her eyes. No fear, she said silently, she was not scared of him. Emeralds.

Her eyes were green.