[fic] Victory
Title: Victory
Author: tiger_azul
Fandom: Axis Powers Hetalia
Characters/Pairing: England (France mentioned)
Rating: PG13
Genre: Angst/General
Word Count: 273
Notes: a companion piece to ‘The Fortune of War’, my entry for week 17 at hetalia_contest
Disclaimer: APH is all Hidekaz Himaruya’s.
Summary: England may have triumphed over France at Trafalgar, but victory did not come without a price.
Victory
It was the 21st day of October 1805.
For England it was a day of triumph and despair.
As the fight raged on, they were huddled in the cockpit, pungent powder smoke and soot swirling down the hatchway and all around them. It sounded as if heaven itself was collapsing as the Victory shuddered at the thunderous assault of the broadsides. But none of that seemed to matter to England as he clasped the cold hand of his fallen warrior, the surgeon vainly trying to stem the flow of blood from his wound.
Nelson always led from the front. He had stood on the quarterdeck at the battle’s peak, the gleaming stars of his knighthood clearly marking him as a prime target for sharpshooters. It should have been no shock, then, that musket fire from a French rifleman sliced through Nelson’s golden epaulette, piercing his lung and lodging in his spine. But England was surprised. He had almost believed that the battle-scarred Lord Admiral was invincible.
His eyes stinging from the smoke and unshed tears, England said, “I expected you to do your duty, and that you did.”
“I did… Thank God I did my duty…” Nelson whispered, blue-lipped with death, his remaining good eye misting over.
In a final gesture of gratitude, England leaned forward and kissed his icy cheek.
It was the 21st day of October 1805.
England would always remember this day. It was the day that he showed France… no, that he showed the entire world, that he ruled the waves, that he would bow down to no one.
It was the day he lost one of his greatest heroes.
Notes
England’s line comes from the famous signal Nelson sent out from the HMS Victory before the Battle of Trafalgar started: “England expects every man to do his duty.”
It was actually Nelson’s captain, Hardy, who kissed him on the Admiral’s request, though prudish Victorians later changed this to “kismet [the Turkish word for ‘fate’] Hardy” as they thought it would encourage homosexuality (*_*)
Author: tiger_azul
Fandom: Axis Powers Hetalia
Characters/Pairing: England (France mentioned)
Rating: PG13
Genre: Angst/General
Word Count: 273
Notes: a companion piece to ‘The Fortune of War’, my entry for week 17 at hetalia_contest
Disclaimer: APH is all Hidekaz Himaruya’s.
Summary: England may have triumphed over France at Trafalgar, but victory did not come without a price.
Victory
It was the 21st day of October 1805.
For England it was a day of triumph and despair.
As the fight raged on, they were huddled in the cockpit, pungent powder smoke and soot swirling down the hatchway and all around them. It sounded as if heaven itself was collapsing as the Victory shuddered at the thunderous assault of the broadsides. But none of that seemed to matter to England as he clasped the cold hand of his fallen warrior, the surgeon vainly trying to stem the flow of blood from his wound.
Nelson always led from the front. He had stood on the quarterdeck at the battle’s peak, the gleaming stars of his knighthood clearly marking him as a prime target for sharpshooters. It should have been no shock, then, that musket fire from a French rifleman sliced through Nelson’s golden epaulette, piercing his lung and lodging in his spine. But England was surprised. He had almost believed that the battle-scarred Lord Admiral was invincible.
His eyes stinging from the smoke and unshed tears, England said, “I expected you to do your duty, and that you did.”
“I did… Thank God I did my duty…” Nelson whispered, blue-lipped with death, his remaining good eye misting over.
In a final gesture of gratitude, England leaned forward and kissed his icy cheek.
It was the 21st day of October 1805.
England would always remember this day. It was the day that he showed France… no, that he showed the entire world, that he ruled the waves, that he would bow down to no one.
It was the day he lost one of his greatest heroes.
Notes
England’s line comes from the famous signal Nelson sent out from the HMS Victory before the Battle of Trafalgar started: “England expects every man to do his duty.”
It was actually Nelson’s captain, Hardy, who kissed him on the Admiral’s request, though prudish Victorians later changed this to “kismet [the Turkish word for ‘fate’] Hardy” as they thought it would encourage homosexuality (*_*)