More than any of them would admit they got off rather well with one another in quiet and by themselves. The siblings, as they always had, spent the holidays together. When just the two of them (as Fearghas and Arthur out of them all spent the most time together) they tended to huddle up in the quaint little house of Arthur's but it wasn't terribly often; there definitely wasn't a lot of space and if they convinced Alfred over that meant Matthew and Francis and sometimes Australia. Then the others from the Isles. This year, the first in several, it was just them. The boys were busy though they had come for Christmas, and Arthur's officials had requested his appearance at one of the celebrations in town for the New Years celebration so they made sure to have him home.
It was a particularly cold and grey morning, all the things he disliked, but he'd gone with Ireland and England into the city, though he wished they'd spent more time indoors. Arthur's promised presence had drawn much more people in than usual, something the mall and other shops would likely profit greatly from even for how terrible it made traffic on top of the snow they'd had the night prior, and he did his best not to hunch over or glower grumpily at the crowd.
Two hours in and Fearghas wound up with his hands under his arms inside his coat and stood with his ankles tightly together. He should have dropped him off and headed to France. How did Arthur keep such a straight back? He tried not to look unhappy when he finally decided he was too cold to pay attention to whatever it was that was going on behind them and what the announcer was saying. He noticed, as began letting his attention wander, that Arthur had moved very close to him though he still stood tidy and stiff and focused. I'm not the only one freezing, he thought and mused over stuffing the small blond into his coat. If Arthur wouldn't fuss about presentation...
Then a young woman caught his eye there among the people. Fearghas didn't know what drew his attention in with such demand until he focused hard on her. Arthur was...well, very bad at magic. His older siblings? Not so much, and Fearghas recognised a power that old. He stared squinted, pushed hair out of his eyes and stared some more, even with the rather sharp jab his little brother gave him, likely for being improper or distracted. He looked at him, met with a scowl while the former pirate attempted to figure out what he'd been looking at, then tried to find her again. Was that..? It was, wasn't it? It had to be. He knew about reincarnation and the bind that made it possible, and while he'd never witnessed it before now he was absolutely sure he knew what he saw and felt. Sure as the humans could feel what they themselves were. Fearghas told Arthur he'd find him later, was possibly scolded for it, and rushed forward into the crowd.
Blasted England! And curse these people! Couldn't they see he was trying to get around them, did they really need to cut in front of him like that? Fearghas was as tall, and taller, than most of the men in the crowd, including the ones beyond who had been trying to ask questions and gesturing for his attention, and could he bring Arthur down. Their appearance at these events were important to the humans but long ages have passed from when they had any real influence over their own namesake – usually their presence was for show. The military general public didn't know that. But right now he needed them to move.
Fearghas stumbled through the celebration and the snow, awkward in thick boots and the heavy coat, and terrible with ice as he managed down the stairs at last when he realised that the distance had been much greater than it seemed from above. He could almost catch up but being on ground level meant she could easily disappear between people so he shouted above the commotion "Wait!" as he went. Scotland ran as well as he could while weaving through, then at the last bit of the most packed area hurled himself through, forcibly shoving aside the last people in his path who looked at him indignantly and bewildered. "Elizabeth, wait!"