Arthur was a tad bit confused as to what Allistor was doing as he led him to the Captain's cabin. "Uncle, what are you up to?" Allistor only smiled as he opened the door, ushering Arthur in and closing it behind them.
"Now, lad, you get the Kirkland lessons, not crew lessons." Arthur frowned. " There's a difference?"
"Why, of course there's a difference! Now, you should've been learnin' this since you were just a wee bitty thing, but your mum and da thought, what with the high dangers on the seas due to the war, that you'd be better off having a normal life. Such a foolish move, that. So," Allistor thumped over to the desk that was mounted to the floor.
"Now I get to teach ye about the ins an' outs of pirating, or, because we've got our papers in order, privateering. It's basically the same thing, really." Arthur nodded, coming and standing by the desk as his uncle beckoned him over.
"Now, there's more than just running a ship to being a pirate, lad. At least, there's more to being a good pirate than running a ship." Arthur watched in facination as Allistor reached and opened the bottom drawer of his desk, taking out an old box and setting it on the desktop.
"Your parents wanted you to have this when you were fifteen, when they'd planned on coming to see you. I figure that you should have it now, since they very well can't give it to you and you're here anyways." Arthur watched, as Allistor fished a key on a string out from under his shirt and put it in the lock, twisting it easily. Arthur could hear the mechanism unlock. He glanced at Allistor as the redhead pushed the box toward him.
"It's yours, lad, not mine. Go ahead." Arthur nodded and reached forward, carefully lifting the lid of the old box, noting the delicate carving of leaves on the lid. He reaching in slowly, taking out the first thing he saw like it was made of glass.
It was his family. A young boy, a woman with long deep red coppery hair and familiar eyebrows, a man with shaggy yellow hair, and what appeared to be Allistor as a young man, and a little toddler version of Arthur, all smiles.
"I remember posing for that..." Arthur glanced over to see that hs uncle was as overcome with emotion as Arthur himself was.
"They insisted that we get a portrait together before they sent you off..." Arthur found himself choking, overwhelmed with emotion as he gazed at the family he he still knew so little of. He took a shaky breath s he glanced at his uncle, who appeared to be in the same predicament. The redhead reached out, tapping the woman in the portrait with his finger.
"Your mother, my sister.... She was so full of life. She was a fiery Captain, didn't take sass from anybody, not even men twice her size." His finger moved to the blonde man, and Allistor let out a soft, sad laugh. "Your father, Jedadiah. At first, I didn't think he was worthy of my sister, Charlotte, your mother. He proved himself time and time again, though. It'd take all your fingers to count the times he saved my hide during a raid gone wrong..." Arthur gazed at the picture for another moment before sighing and reaching for the next item in the box, a set of silver-gilded pistols. Allistor raised an eyebrow.
"I always wondered where those went. He had them specially made for you mother, your father did. Small hands, you know..." Arthur hefted the gun in his hand, finding that it fit perfectly, like it was made for his hands, exactly. He smiled softly, imaging all the times his mother must have used this exact gun. He looked closely at the handle of it, finding several small words engraved there, the most prominent being three names.
Jedadiah, Charlotte, and Arthur. The blonde boy traced them with a finger, as if the gun was made of fine spun glass. He saw a drop of water land on it and realized he was crying. He quickly swiped away the tears, setting the gun down by the portrait as he reached for the next-to-last thing in the box.
Out came another box, tall and wide, the lid carved with a couple dancing. He opened it and listened as a tinkly tune started playing softly, a statue of the pair spinning in the middle, beautiful carving, so very, very detailed showing what looked to be his mother and father dancing. He looked over to see Allistor smiling softly.
"That was a wedding gift to them from a good man, your father's best friend at the time..." Arthur blinked. "Who was he?"
"You already met him. That Andrew fellow, he was one of us, and a damn fine pirate before he defected to the Queens' side, which is technically our side, too, now. He always blamed me for Jed's death..." Arthur frowned, watching the little statue spin. "How... how did they die? LaFluer always said they got the pox..."
"The pox?! Bah! The fool! They died in honor, taking down a gallion, half-sunk with the weight of the gold she carried. Both ships went down, and I never saw them again. It was a tragic moment in our world. So many mourned. Everybody liked them, you know. They were beautiful together. Your father, the quiet, seemingly gentle one, who was actually the one who did any executitions, and your mother, a fierey lass who couldn't bear to look anything in the eyes while she killed it. A damn shame that they died..." Arthur watched the figures a moment before slowly closing the box, cutting off the music. He couldn't stand the look of sorrow on Allistor's face.
He loved them so very much, poor man... Arthur reached for the last item in the box, a letter, with two words on it in beautiful script.
Arthur Kirkland.
The big-browed boy glanced at Allistor, who shrugged. "No idea, lad." Arthur turned it over, finding a seal on the back which he broke hesitantly, opening the envealope carefully and reading it aloud, so very glad that LaFluer had been descent long enough to teach him to read properly.
"My dear Arthur, your mother and I are so looking forward to seeing how well you've grown. She hopes that you have the same knack for pirating that her family always has, though it's one in a million that you wouldn't. You always were a little fighter, right from the beginning. This box contains your sentimentially valuable inheritance; things we wanted you to have now. In this envealope, you'll find a key, which goes to a vault in Ireland, where we've got a surprise that we just can't wait to see you open. Maybe you'll be able to make something out of it with the skills LaFluer taught you? We know whatever you do with it will be the right thing." Arthur was nearly sobbing as his hands shook, his free-flowing tears spattering the old ink as he finished the letter.
"We love you, son. Welcome back to the family. Mum and Da." Arthur burst into hysterical sobs, throwing his arms around his uncle. He could hear Allistors' ragged breaths as they held each other, sharing in a moment of grief that had been locked away, swept under the carpet, and had finally reared it's ugly head. They slowly calmed and were down to sniffles as Arthur pulled away, Allistor wiping the tears fro his cheeks before drying his own eyes.
"Don't worry, lad. You'll make them proud. I know it."
YOU ARE READING
For Queen and Captain {|Hetalia Human AU|}
Fanfiction"Lad, there are three people you look after. The Queen, your Captain, and yourself. You always come last, boy, so make sure that no matter where you hold your priorities, no matter where you find yourself in life, make sure you live for Queen and Ca...
