I don't own Hetalia okay?I am so grateful to see that you like this story of mine. Helps me out a lot. I don't have much else to say so enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Alfred sighed as he looked at the performers on stage. He could not understand a word they were singing. You'd think with me fighting in France, I'd have picked something up. But what they hell. I'm here. Maybe we can get some food after. I am sure Julius has something. Probably a restaurant that serves as his front, I don't know... He thought as Loving and Felicia looked on with awe. At least they're having a good time... He sighed and leaned back in the chair. He stretched and felt a slight pain in his lower back. "Ooof..." He said.

"What's the matter?" Felicia said as she looked back to see Alfred wince and ran over like he was dying.

"Nothing. Old war wound acting up, and all that farming didn't do it any good." He said. "Think it will rain tonight."

"Ugggh." Loving said. "Rain in this?" She motioned to her dress. Alfred nodded. Yeah you wouldn't want to get that wet...He thought.

"Well it might be a ways off, or pass by the time the opera's over." He shrugged. "It's not anything more than a kind of ol folk detector anyway. It's done it on sunny days."

"Oh." Loving said as she turned back to the opera. "Come on Felicia, stop bothering him."

"But, he's hurt..." Felicia said holding tightly onto him, causing Alfred's eyes to widen in shock and slight revulsion.

"You're suffocating me..." He gasped.

"Oh sorry..." Felicia said as she turned around and began watching the opera again.

"I'm sorry for my irrational sister." Loving sighed.

"That's fine." Alfred said as they went back to watching and laid back, mind wondering. So this is my life. Prissied up and dolled up as a bodyguard for two crazy girls. Okay now that's mean, but still. What started as a barn rental has turned into this. God, what would have happened if Mattie hadn't run off and joined the Canadians. Would we have went in together? Or not at all? Would we both be tending the farm? Might have had better luck with Mattie helping me. He was always good at operations. And maybe we'd have just sold that whole thing when Dad died anyway. Just criss cross this country as brothers you know. With these thoughts coming over him, distressing his conscious, he saw Loving's ponytail and started braiding it. This always calmed me down in the war...and the horses never noticed a thing... He thought as he quickly but stealthfuly braided it. This is some smooth hair. She takes care of it. Finding a bit of ribbon in the pocket, he pulled the hair slightly to tighten it around the bottom, causing Loving to turn around.

"Excuse me bastardo?" She asked looking at him sternly.

"Look at it." He smiled proudly.

"What?" She snapped.

"Your pony tail." Alfred smiled proudly.

"Loving?" Felicia asked sternly as she turned around to see the work Alfred had done. "Oh my, did you do that Alfredo?"

"Yep." He smirked. "Good job?"

"Yes!" She smiled.

"You're saying that to get in his bed." Loving said.

"Here!" She said pulling a hand mirror out of her clutch and held it to Loving to see.

"Well I'll be damned..." Loving said as she looked at the reflection. "So you aren't a useless farmer after all."

"Thank you?" Alfred asked.

"That's about as nice as you're getting out of her." Felicia sighed.

Loving blushed and looked at Alfred with a smile. Recovering, she turned to Felicia and said, "Well you could have this too if you didn't cave to the stupid popular trends of the time. You'd still have your long hair like we both had and you could have Alfred braid it for you all day, even if his hands are covered in cow shit."

"I've not been around my cows in a long time." Alfred said looking at Loving annoyed. "Trust me, I've been keeping myself very clean. Easy to do in your grandpa's place when you don't have to heat the water on the stove up first."

"See, another reason you don't want him." Loving said turning back to watch the Matador's song. "I miss Antonio."

"I thought you said he was annoying and suffocating you and spent too much on you." Felicia remind him.

"Shut up!" Loving said throwing her fan at her sister.

"Loving and Alfred sitting in a tree...k...i...s...s...i...n...g! First comes love, then comes marriage then comes Alfred with the baby carriage..." Felicia teased.

"Come on you two, you're causing a ruckus. Knock it off." Alfred said. "Do you really want to ruin the performance for everyone and have your grandpa find out you were making an idiot of yourselves in public? He didn't seem like he'd take too kindly to that."

At this, Loving froze, picked up her fan and stared back at the show. "You're right Alfred." She said tensely. "I apologize." Stiffening up she turned back and continued watching. I think I am on thin ice with the old man anyway. I think I am the one to watch Heracles when he fucks Helena anyway as a reminder of what can happen to me without him. If he would have just let me stay in Spain! But grandpa said the flu was too bad when it was those fucking yellow rags. I remember some of the letters that Felicia got from that potato eating bastard. He had the same thing before he died. The wound likely just finished the fucker off.

"It's cool." Alfred said. "Just didn't want you gals to get in trouble."

"Well, you're doing your job then, aren't you?" Loving said gruffly. "Thanks for the braid."

"Oooooooooh..." Felicia smiled turning back, not wanting to start another argument. I think Loving really does like Alfred...she thought with a smile as Alfred closed his eyes and laid back.

Arthur sat on the window sill of the small apartment looking out towards the lakes. There has to be a way to use them. They are blasted freshwater seas! After meeting up with Amelia, his resolve strengthened. He cared about her deeply and his biggest regret was having to dismiss her. She deserved much better than what he did to her. "And I plan to make it up to you." He said to himself. The then took another drag on his cigarette. "But I need the money and the power to do so."

"So Wulver, what are you thinking?" Alba asked.

"Stop calling me that." Arthur sighed. "But I was thinking, does anyone you know have access to a boat?"

"Toris and Feliks pretty much live on one when they aren't working at the meat packing plant." Alba said. "Say it's cheaper than owning a house or renting and they can pack up and sail somewhere else along the lakes."

"Well bring them to me." Arthur said. "I've learned of a restaurant in trouble. They used to be a saloon like we were. He's defaulted on his taxes and the city is starting a seizure of the property. I've got someone who can get me some ginger jake."

"Okay so we're going to sell cough medicine in a bar that's nearly closed down?" Alba said confused.

"No, Amelia told me she has jazz musicians that came up from New Orleans. Feliks and Toris have a boat. I have someone who is very crafty that can get us some booze from Canada for a...discounted price..."

"You know someone who can steal shit?" Alba sighed.

"If we are flaunting federal law, then why not go for it! The biggest part is to not get caught until we can just buy the city and they won't care. You know how corrupt this town is." Arthur said despondent. "And frankly I'd rather not encourage the delinquent but he needed someone to cover for him. His grandfather is very ill..."

"Huh?" Alba said looking at his younger brother with concern.

"I met this young man from China. He had quite a haul with him. Said his grandfather could hardly work in his old age and he needed to look after him. He didn't want to work in one of the more dangerous places, which I can't blame him. He heard stories of the when the transcontinental railroad was built and the Chinese used there..."

"That was 60 years ago little bro, and hear Patrick and Seamus talk about the Irish being used too." Alba said. "You have that nice English profile, the rest of us don't to get along in this town."

"I know, and that's what I plan on using to smooth talk things over until we get powerful enough to own it all." Arthur explained.

"Well you may want to hear about this..." Dylan looked up from his book.

"Bloody hell!" Arthur jumped back. "When did you come home?"

"Recently. Was talking with Julius's grandson Feliciano over by the opreahouse on the Southside. Apparently his grandfather is hiding his trucks in some American's farm in Wisconsin; that's part of the reason his trucks haven't been found coming into Chicago. They don't come one of the suspected routes. Sure it's out of the way depending on where in Canada they've met their contact Matteo who never uses the same border town. They've used Baudette, International Falls, even as far east as Port Franks. Those Canooks are making good off Prohibition in the border towns. Gangs in Detroit and New York do similar things." Dylan explained.

"So what does that American have to do with things, as I suspect there's something more." Arthur asked.

"Oh Julius is having him be his granddaughters' bodyguard and an enforcer, but the poor sap doesn't know what he's being groomed for. In fact he's hoping one of his granddaughters charms the guy into falling in love with one of them and he'd be married into his family. Holding that to him." Dylan said. "Apparently the poor guy was in deep with the banks and he keeps the mortgage paid."

"And Feliciano told you all this?" Alba asked in disbelief.

"Oh yeah." Dylan said. "I bumped into him and was kind of aggravated from a long day of work-oh and I still smell cow shit after I got covered in oil and petroleum working today." Dylan added talking about the overalls that Arthur had bought him at the thrift store that Amelia worked at. "Apparently he thought I was going to kick his ass and then he told it all to me when I started just holding a conversation with him. I see why he doesn't go on runs like his brother does..."

"That coward would sing like a canary." Alba said.

"So Julius uses land routes a lot." Arthur noted. "Alba, you said you had good connections with some rail workers from the Appalachian regions?"

"A few days ago I might have, yeah...why?" Alba asked confused.

"We need to diversify our sources. You sometimes go on train routes that go through that region, why not make connections with some who still have family there and buy the moonshine. We know how widespread it is there. We'll get Feliks and Toris to head up via the lakes to some of the Canadian border towns..." Arthur looked at a map of North America he had brought with him and placed on the wall when he began thinking of supply to try and operate the speakeasy and grow his power. I'll talk to Gilbert about me helping to stall the tax process on his establishment until we get the money to buy it. Or at least help him pay the tax and he will have to give us a kickback. I'll talk to Amelia about her neighbors performing there as jazz seems to be a popular attraction now. Yes, this might just work. I will use my AMAZING negotiation and speaking skills to talk to some of the brewers here as well."

"Ego's getting to him..." Dylan whispered to Alba.

"Ya may be right..." Alba sighed. "But he's got the brains to make this all work and you weren't there at Ypres or else you'd see why I am secretly a little afraid of him."

As the curtain fell and the opera ended, Alfred got up and Loving and Felicia each took one of his arms and rolling his eyes, he headed back towards where the car was parked and ran into Feliciano in the lobby. "Come over here!" He said waving an umbrella and handing one to Alfred too. "It's starting to rain out there. Got these from the car. Grandpa has a few in there for reasons like this."

"Thanks." Alfred said as he opened it and followed Feliciano to the car. The girls held onto him tighter. I get they don't want to get wet but god...feels creepy...

"I know you want him Loving, but he's mine. Cows and all." Felicia smirked.

"Have him." Loving said. "You can't stand the cows anyway." She smirked.

"You girls say something?" Alfred asked.

"Nothing at all." They said simultaneously.

"Okay..." Alfred said. "But that was like 3 hours, we should get back before your grandfather thinks I am doing things I shouldn't with you."

"Oh that's not something you have to worry about. In fact grandpa told me to take you and the girls to one of our fancier restaurants afterwards." Feliciano said as he started up the car. Alfred's stomach started to growl. "You sound hungry there."

"Yeah..." He said. "Sounds great..." He smiled awkwardly. God this is the weirdest date I have ever been on. But if the restaurant is like what he serves at home, it's bound to be good. Alfred thought as Feliciano drove.

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. Now Ginger Jake or Jake or Jamaica Ginger was an alcoholic drink that could be purchased at local stores during Prohibition as it had medicinal uses too. So because of that, it was able to get around the laws. Same with wines. In New York, so many people suddenly became Rabbis to be able to get ahold of wine. That's just one of the MANY ways people got around the laws. And the Irish Mafia that Bugs Moran ran was more than just Irish, it had a lot of Eastern Europeans in it too, basically if you were the lower rung of society they welcomed you. A little more inclusive than the Italians who liked to keep it to Italians only as much as they could. Anyway, remember to read, well you just did, and to review. Ciao for now,

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm.