What I Want

"Engwand! Engwand!"

Arthur tilted his head when he heard the familiar high-pitched voice. He caught a hint of panic in the voice as well, causing him to kneel down so that he could be eye-level with the one who called him. His proclaimed little brother had tears in his eyes, his hand gripping tightly into a fist, a look of horror etched upon his features. Frowning, Arthur reached out and after cradling the young one with his arms, hugged the little blonde boy tightly once.

"What's wrong?" He asked, worry in his voice. His green orbs stayed locked to the small child that clung to him, whimpering like a miserable puppy. "Alfred, talk to me. What happened? Did you fall?"

"No, I didn't fall…" The younger nation wept, pushing himself slightly away from the British. Arthur allowed some space for the small boy, so that he could explain the origin of his small panic attack. He tried to study the child's knees and arms, but saw no injuries. Well, at least Alfred wasn't lying about not falling… At least from the look of injuries. "Look!"

The fisted hand was shoved up under Arthur's nose, causing the older nation to back up slightly so he wouldn't be punched in the face. He knew better than to underestimate the young boy's strength; he learnt it the hard way over the years of caring for him. When the fist opened, Arthur blinked at the revealed object that was enclosed in the tight hand.

"…"

"Am I sick?" The child whined when he heard Arthur give no response. After a few more seconds of a blank stare, Arthur chuckled, covering his face with a free hand while placing the other on the boy's head. Alfred frowned, obviously not finding anything funny. "Am I sick, Engwand?"

"No, no…" Arthur responded finally, taking his hand off his face to glance at the object in his ward's hand again. A tooth. A small white tooth. Finally then Arthur was able to spot the opening in Alfred's mouth, one of his front teeth, open in a wide gap. "Alfred, you're not sick."

The face on Alfred's look was no longer one of fear, but of just confusion. His brows were still furrowed and a frown was on his lips, but Arthur couldn't find the fear anymore. If anything, he could only see anger.

"This isn't funny!" Alfred yelled, curling his fingers around the tooth again and yapping like an angry pup. "Stop laughing!"

"Alright, I get it. I got it, don't worry." Arthur swallowed the last few chuckles that threatened to rise deep in his throat. "It isn't funny, I got it. I'll stop laughing."

Alfred's cheeks puffed out angrily, and Arthur couldn't help but to smile gently. He carefully took the hand that held the tooth and pulled it closer to himself again, using his fingers to slowly untwine the younger one's digits away from the fallen tooth.

"You're growing up." Arthur explained. "You're getting ready to be an adult."

"Adult…?" The small boy gasped, his eyes now widening in surprise. Arthur nodded. "Wow…"

"Amazing, isn't it?" The older blonde closed the small boy's hand again, making sure the tooth was still in the grasp, secure. "You want to know something even more amazing?"

The immediate interested look that came upon Alfred's features gave Arthur enough permission to continue.

"If you put the tooth under your pillow for the night, the tooth fairy will come and trade your tooth for money."

"Money…?"

"With that money, you can buy something you like." Arthur watched as Alfred's eyes sparked within the blue color. "You want to try it?"

After seeing Alfred nod, Arthur nodded back and kissed the little boy's forehead. "Better hurry and get to bed, then. The tooth fairy only comes when you're asleep."

"You're telling the truth, right?" Alfred asked as he was led to his bedroom, his blue irises locking to Arthur's green ones. Arthur smiled and nodded before he lifted the small boy onto his bed. He took the tooth from the little boy's hand and put it under his pillow before slowly making the boy lay his head down as well.

"Just like that." He said, moving the boy's bangs away from his eyes. "Check it in the morning. Tell me what happens."

Alfred nodded, and Arthur closed the door after a small mumble, "Good night."

xxx

"Engwand! Engwand look!" Alfred was already in front of Arthur's face the moment he woke up, his green gaze staring into Alfred's blue ones as the child spoke, hyped up, as if he was on a sugar rush. England only nodded along, faking and showing he was listening, his eyes catching glance of the bill he found in the boy's small hand, waving around. "Look, Engwand!"

"I see it." Arthur chuckled, still half asleep. "Congratulations."

"I can get something with this, right?"

"Right," Arthur nodded before he yawned once, "The candy store is nearby. Why don't you go get some candy with that?"

Alfred nodded and rushed out the door, and Arthur slumped back down into his bed, a small smile on his face. Childhood innocence was something he was going to have Alfred enjoy.

xxx

"…How long will it take this time?" Alfred asked, making Arthur blink and turn his head slightly to look behind himself. He already had his hat on, his cape draped over his shoulders, and was making his crew wait so long for being late. As a captain, he knew that wasn't what he was supposed to do, but really, who would leave without the pirate? Exactly.

"…I'll try to be back as soon as I can." Arthur replied to the frowning boy. In the small boy's arm was a large bear, one Alfred bought with the money he got from several more loose teeth. He hugged the bear close to himself and shifted his gaze down to the floor, and Arthur didn't miss the small whimper that escaped past the little boy.

"I don't want you to go…" Alfred whimpered, tears already filling his eyes. Arthur sighed once, seeing he had to deal with this all the time, it was nothing new. He simply knelt down and kissed the boy's forehead, but only earned another long whimper back again. "Can't you stay?"

"I'm the captain." Arthur chuckled, ruffling the boy's head, messing up the blonde hair. "I can't just stay as long as I want. I promise, though. I'll be back soon."

"You always say that… I don't like it… I know it's not true."

"…" Arthur said nothing back to the comment and pushed himself onto his feet again before walking out the door, ignoring the boy's desperate wails to try and call him back.

Alfred stared down to the bear in his hold hours after the front door closed. He rolled his tongue over the several teeth that had fallen and where new ones were growing in, desperately searching for a wiggling one. When he did, he blinked, wiping his tears and pushing the tip of his tongue against the chosen tooth. He stood up and kept pressing the tongue against his tooth, opening his mouth every now and then to whimper in pain as he did so, and going back to doing the same thing.

"…2 years…" Arthur sighed, breathing into his own hands. It was 2 years ago when he left the American boy's house for another one of his voyages. His body was battered from the several battles he had to face as a pirate, but eh, it wasn't as bad as it could possibly be, he supposed. The blonde pirate captain walked up to the house he raised the small nation in, and without bothering to knock, walked into the house. The moon was already up and darkness surrounded the area, so he assumed the little boy was asleep anyway.

And he was right. Alfred was in his room, sleeping soundly. Arthur frowned when he noticed that the boy had grown a lot. He felt somewhat left out of the boy's life, only coming home when it was convenient for himself. He brushed away the bangs that grew long, covering the boy's eyes, before he planted a small kiss on the boy's forehead. That was when something caught his eye.

"…?" Arthur blinked and carefully lifted the edge of the boy's pillow, where he saw a piece of paper sticking out. Under the pillow he found something that made him freeze in spot, his eyes widening immediately.

Four small teeth rolled out first, over a piece of paper that was wrinkled so much that he could only guess it was written years ago. Shaking slightly, he took the piece of paper into his hand, reading what it wrote. In childish, bulky letters, with the L's and S's switched backwards, wrote:

"Dear Tooth Fairy,

I don't want money for my teeth. I want a gift. I will collect as many teeth as needed if I need to. I want England. I want him with me. I don't want him going away again. I want him to stay and read bed time stories and cook me his yummy food.

Please, Tooth Fairy. Please grant my wish. I don't want money.

Alfred Jones."

Arthur stared at the piece of paper, and carefully took a hold of the four teeth that rolled out. It must've all came out when he was gone. Wiping his eyes, seeing he felt them water, he bit his lower lip and took off his heavy clothing attire, crawling into the large bed with the little boy. After giving the boy one more kiss on the forehead, he rested his head on the same pillow and closed his eyes, imagining what kind of face Alfred would show when he woke up to his gift.

The gift he wanted more than money. A gift he knew he could not buy. A gift that missed him back just as much as he missed him.