Hi all,

You can read more about the situation on my profile or on my Tumblr post (most recent post on the blog with the same username as this account), but certain circumstances have arisen that make it difficult for me to finish this fic. So with that being said, this fic will forever remain incomplete. I'm sorry, but I don't see that changing, even if life does lighten up. All the crazy crap aside, my heart has also moved on. I've dropped out of almost every fandom I've ever been a part of, and whatever small amount of fandom time I have left, I keep for Destiel. If I ever do write again, it'll be on AO3, and it likely will be Destiel. I also haven't updated there in a while, so it's a big if.

I know I made promises. I'm not the type of person that can keep promises anymore. I'm also not the type of person to make promises anymore. I had debated for a while being able to sit down and at least write a summary of the rest of the story so that I can give some closure. There was a lot, and I had it all written in a document that got destroyed (along with a lot of other extremely important things in my life) during a hard drive meltdown. I don't have the energy in my life anymore to rewrite the 40-page plan of action that went with this fic. And I barely remember it anymore. Mathieu is Alfred's younger half brother, I believe. The timeline worked out with the various wars of the time, siring illegitimate children during campaigns and so forth. I remember there was a very important conversation between Ivan and Alfred's father, I think. Ivan is the Russian ambassador. Mathieu had Francis's handkerchief for a reason, though I can't remember why. There was some way in which, during the wars, Alfred's father went and had Mathieu and never laid claim to him. He never screwed anyone else after that, because it felt so terrible to do so to the memory of his wife. I think. And Alfred's father never meant to say anything about it or acknowledge it, but Francis came in somehow, or maybe Ivan did. I think Ivan did. Ivan found out about the kid (rich people and their gossip, man. Get men drunk and they tell you everything). So Ivan sent some courier to Mathieu and anonymously explained that he knew the truth of Mathieu's parentage, and that he should take this handkerchief as proof that he's someone important, and go find the French ambassador, who would help him find his father. I think I had it that Ivan was hoping to oust the secret and ruin Alfred's father and the family name forever. And since Francis recently got utterly humiliated in the duel, Ivan figured that Francis would help Ivan with this plan. So Ivan contacts Francis in secret to explain it all, also explaining that his reason for sending Mathieu to Francis was so that this whole thing couldn't be traced back to Ivan. That wouldn't be a problem anyway, right, Francis? Because Francis would have perfectly good reason to see the fall of Alfred and his family. He could have Arthur, too. And if there are riches, Francis will have a great share. And Ivan will use whatever clout he has to bring Francis back up the various social strata—which he knows Francis, as an ambassador, desperately needs, if he is to keep his job.

Ivan doesn't count on the fact that Francis might not want any of it anymore, that he just wants a quiet life, retirement, retreat. He's done too much wrong in life, he feels. He wants to set one last thing straight. So Ivan goes and talks to the Marquess in a sort of shady dealing thing, trying to play sides by warning the Marquess that Francis is crazed with his humiliation and word has it that he's got something big planned that will take the Marquess's family down. If they could work out some great deal for the future, the joint prosperity of their nations and crap like that—all under the table, but still hard and something Ivan would hold him to—then Ivan would work his best to go against Francis, he promises. The Marquess finds it alarming, because he knows Francis already nearly killed his son, so who knows what else Francis could do, especially in the face of such great shame? He takes time to think about it, but is dangerously on the fence, and would have made some egregious errors, had Francis not come forward with Mathieu and show his side, explain Ivan's dirty dealings, but also introduce Mathieu to the Marquess as his illegitimate long lost son. The Marquess denies it, is alarmed and incensed, but Francis offers a plan. He's figured out by now that Alfred isn't happy with being the only son and inheritor. He also knows Alfred swings the other way, given that he knows Arthur intimately. He tries to appeal to the Marquess's care for Alfred by emphasizing just how unhappy Alfred seems to be. If the Marquess takes Mathieu as his official heir, then Alfred can relax and lead the quiet life he's always wanted. Meanwhile, Elizabeth has been spending a lot of time by Alfred's bedside, but also a lot of time with the Marquess, and the Marquess has started to suspect a few things (like he's known for a while that Alfred might like men, and with that in mind, has been able to observe Elizabeth under already suspicious eyes, revealing things others would just glance right over).

So through a series of shenanigans which I had all worked out but forgot a lot of by now, they manage to swing it politically. Francis and the Marquess end up being unlikely allies, both against Ivan, who gets pissed off and dangerous himself, but also to thrust Mathieu into the limelight (his mother had recently died, which was what made Ivan think it was just divine providence that it coincided nearly with the duel, and it was a sign that Mathieu's true heritage was to be brought to light at last). Alfred recovers, with lots of angst with Arthur, uncertainty about their relationship underneath all the acting they have to keep up. A lot of time would have also been spent on Alfred and Mathieu getting to know each other, bonding, stuff like that. Alfred and Arthur would both still have strong hatred and distrust for Francis, until in the end, when all is revealed and they see that Francis was behind most of this, was the one who came up with the plan. In the end, Francis redeems himself, goes into retirement quietly, and lives out the rest of his life as such. There's an uproar at the start with Mathieu's public reveal, but the scandal dies down after a while, with some brilliant political moves and speeches and spinning events and stuff, and Mathieu begins to be accepted as a rightful son of the Marquess. Alfred feels great relief when the Marquess states, in private to both him and Mathieu, his ultimate intention to name Mathieu as main heir and inheritor. He never tells Alfred why, never tells Alfred that it's because he thinks he knows the real situation here between him and "Elizabeth," but there's that silent communication connection thing, and somehow, Alfred knows his father knows, and this is his dad's way of giving him an out and giving him his blessing.

With that given, Alfred decides he doesn't want to keep things a secret anymore. He doesn't want to live in a land where it's a capital offense to love like he does. He wants to be free, reclaim the Jones name, go back to his motherland. There's been angst between Arthur and Alfred, and Arthur has been finding it increasingly difficult to act anymore. He wants it desperately to be real, for Alfred to look at just him with those loving eyes, etc. So there's this huge romantic gesture, etc. lights in the garden, dancing at night in the little area they like to read in, all that stuff. Dinner. And Alfred just does it. He confesses. He makes Arthur take the wig off first, wipes his make up off for him, and then confesses. Obviously, there are tense moments when Alfred thinks he was all wrong about his hunches, and Arthur is too stunned to reply, the classic cliche stuff. And then Arthur just kisses Alfred within an inch of his life. One thing leads to the next, and eventually (like a chapter or two later), they finalize plans to move to America. There are political excuses given, like how Alfred wants to strengthen connections between the United States and England, and is inspired to travel in order to better serve that purpose. "Elizabeth" is going with him, but once they reach the United States, it's Alfred Jones and Arthur Kirkland. Alfred has also arranged for Arthur's family, anyone he wants to bring along, to come with, sell their farm and stuff, and start anew. The whole thing is obviously revealed to Arthur's knowing mother, who saw it coming all along, really, and at some point in this story has made the great reveal that she used to take care of them as kids, used to know Alfred's mother. Alfred basically takes her as his own mother, and she definitely adopts Alfred in as her son. Epilogue in America, Alfred asks Arthur to marry him.

This is how I think the story would have been written. Something along these fuzzy lines. As you can tell, it had a long way to go. I can't tell for sure if this was the plan that I had written down (and it was far more detailed in the old document), but I think it went something like this. I'm sorry this isn't much to give you, after reading this far. I know it's not that detailed either. I just hope that it's enough to give you some closure, somehow. Thanks for coming on this journey with me. Had I written it all, I think this fic would have easily been 700k+ words, which is mind-blowing to think about.

I hope you had fun somewhere along the way. I'm sorry that this is the only parting gift I can offer, but it's all I have left.

Thank you for being here, whether you ended up loving or hating it. Thanks for just sticking it through. I really do appreciate it. I still read every review, though I don't have the time to reply to them anymore. Whether you have praise or critique, I'm just glad that I've inspired opinions, and that you're taking the time to write. Thanks for thinking that I'm worth that effort.

Let us both go now to bigger and better adventures, yeah?

Cheers,
Galythia