Bonus Chapter – Gilbert's Story

"Gilbert, please… Please don't go…"

"Blackbird…" Gilbert sighed. "Don't beg me… I can't stand it when you beg."

"But I will beg, Gilbert, I will! I'm begging you not to go to Spain! Not without me!"

Gilbert swallowed and took his lover's soft hands into his own. Planting a kiss on the pale knuckles, his crimson eyes locked with gorgeous amethyst, and his heart sunk slightly in his chest.

"Wait for me…" he whispered, pressing his forehead against the shorter man's. "I promise you, Roderich, that I'll return in a couple weeks. Two weeks. I promise…"

"Gilbert…" Roderich breathed, feeling his eyes sting, but refusing to let his tears fall. "Take me with you… Please…"

"I'm sorry…"

A silence drifted between the two men as they held each other's hands tightly.

"…Do you promise it'll only be two weeks…?" Roderich asked after a moment.

"I promise…" Gilbert breathed, wrapping his arms around the slender frame of the aristocrat. Grinning a bit, he added, "I'll be back in no time. You'll see!"

"I trust you…" the aristocrat stated, a small smile of his own forming. "Be safe…"

"I'm the great Gilbert of Prussia! There's no way anything can happen to me~"

Roderich just laughed and pecked his lover on the cheek.

"Blackbird…!"

Gilbert awoke with a jolt as the word escaped his mouth. He looked around in confusion, temporarily wondering why he was in the back of a farmer's cart and why he was moving at a steady pace along the countryside. It didn't take long before he remembered hitching a ride with the generous old farmer to Innsbruck.

"Ah, so you're awake, are you?" the farmer asked, sneaking a look back at his albino passenger. "Were you having a dream about blackbirds?"

"…Something like that…" Gilbert responded, staring out at the landscape. "How far 'til Innsbruck?"

"About a half day's journey, I'd say. Speaking of, I never asked you when I first picked you up. What's yer business in Innsbruck, anyway?"

"I have a…friend…there. I only have a short amount of time, so I need to fix some things between us before I head back to Spain."

"Spain, eh? I never assumed you t'be a Spaniard! 'Specially since you speak fluent German!" the farmer said, grinning a bit.

"Well, Prussia is my home—it's where I was born and raised. I just work in Spain, I guess," the pirate replied.

"Oh? What kind of work?" the elderly man inquired, all in innocent curiosity.

"I'm a...sailor."

"Aaah, a man of the high seas! I respect that, lad."

"Danke," Gilbert said before muttering under his breath, "Though there's really nothing respectable about what I do."

"What was that, son?"

"Ah, nothing! Just muttering to myself~"

"Best not make a habit out of that, boy," the farmer warned. "If you do it too much, people'll start takin' ya to be a madman!"

"I'll keep that in mind."

Silence drifted between the two men as the farmer's horse continued to pull the cart along the endless dusty road. Gilbert sighed and sprawled out across the empty wooden buggy. His crimson eyes turned upward towards the vast blue sky, and he watched the clouds roll by and change shapes in the summer breeze. Days like this reminded him of the past, when he and Roderich would go for walks through Innsbruck and the surrounding areas. He remembered how they would occasionally go on picnics and do nothing but stare at the sky after they ate, hand-in-hand and very much content with being together. The thought of t hose days being over tugged at his heartstrings, and he couldn't help but let his usually bright eyes mist over with unshed tears. Oh, how he missed those days…

"Are you alright?"

"Huh?" Gilbert quickly wiped at his eyes and popped his neck. Looking at the farmer, he quickly replied, "Of course I'm alright! It's just…it's just really dusty! Yeah! I have really bad allergies, so sometimes my eyes go all wonky an' shit on me."

He sniffled obnoxiously and cleared his throat to add to his lie.

"I see, I see. Well, the best cure for any ailment is sleep, I always say! We still got a bit of daylight left before we reach our destination, so ya might as well kill some time," the farmer stated, steering his horse through a fork in the road.

"Hm, ja, I think I'll do that. I'm still tired from my last nap, anyway…"

"Alright, I won't wake ya until we reach Innsbruck."

"Danke."

Gilbert closed his eyes and exhaled deeply as he attempted to make himself as comfortable as possible in the back of the wagon. As hard as he tried to force himself to sleep, continuous thoughts of Roderich made it impossible to do so. Questions such as "How is he doing?" and "What's been going on with him these past few years?" ran through his mind, followed my short little fantasies to serve as temporary answers to said questions. It became too much…

"Damn it to Hell…" he muttered to himself. "There's no way I'll be able to sleep."

The hours slowly passed by ever so slowly as the horse trotted along the road toward Innsbruck. All Gilbert could do was drift in and out of several power naps and play little games in his head with the surrounding scenery. Before he knew it the night was upon them, and all he could do was stare at the stars and search for various constellations. He'd recall old stories he had heard about them, and pictures in his head reeled through his imagination to accompany the stories he told to himself.

Nighttime sluggishly dragged on as he drifted in and out of sleep thereafter, and soon the muffled din of a crowing cock filled the quiet countryside as the sun gradually began to peek over the mountaintops. A loud yawn from the farmer jolted the pirate awake out of another miniature nap.

"Where are we…?" he grumbled, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Are we there yet…?"

"Patience, m'boy," the farmer replied, rubbing the sleep out of his own eyes. "We'll be there in due time."

"Nngh…"

"It shouldn't be too long now. We should be arriving in a couple'a hours."

The crimson-eyed pirate nodded and sprawled out across the back of the wagon and stared up at the sky. He decided to keep himself preoccupied by naming figures in the clouds, and it proved to be a good method of passing time. Before he knew it, the farmer said something to his horse and shifted in his seat. Curious as to what was happening, Gilbert sat up to look.

"Here we are, son," the old man grinned, glancing back at his guest. "Innsbruck."

~Gilbert's Story: To Be Continued~

THERE. GODDAMN. Oh, and guys, please, please, PLEASE stop freaking out if it takes me forever to update, omg. It doesn't mean I dropped this fic or anything, it's just really difficult for me to update cuz I'm not as passionate anymore, okay? But this is the first story I've written that I really want to see through to the end, and goddamn it I'm gonna see that I go through with it, even if it takes me forever to update! So PLEASE, be patient. I understand if you guys don't want to wait around to read it anymore, that's fine, but just know that I'm gonna update still, mainly for those who still are interested and for myself. So yeah. That's my rant.

Aside from that, there will be two chapters to Gil's story since my original plan to put it all into one is taking way too long due to laziness. =A= So yeah, one more of this side story! I figured Gil needs more love, dammit. But yeah, that's what this is, and I hoped you enjoyed it! SO. Until next update (whenever the hell that may be)~