Feliciano was dying.
Ludwig held his frail hand with his strong one. It had been a while since Italy was dissolved and Lovino had already passed on. Feliciano had been showing signs of dying a few months earlier, tiring too easily, recovering from injuries much slower than usual. Ludwig had brushed it off, hoping that it was nothing.
Until Feliciano didn't wake up one day.
The monitor beeped in time with his feeble heartbeat. He was buried underneath a million tubes, all working to keep him alive. He looked serene, like he was sleeping. His thin chest rose and fell with difficulty.
A doctor walked up behind Ludwig. "He's been like this for a month, there's nothing we can do. The possibility of him waking up at this point is very, very small." He waited expectantly.
Ludwig swallowed, tears pricking his eyes. He nodded after a pause. "Do it."
The doctor nodded and started working at the complex machinery while Ludwig held Feliciano's hand.
Beep
Beep
Beep
…
Feliciano's chest stopped moving. His heartbeat faded away. His brain impulses were nothing.
Ludwig's tears poured heavily down his face as he held Feliciano's hand like a lifeline. It was slowly going cold and stiff.
So many memories flashed between Ludwig's eyes. Feliciano sleeping. Feliciano making pasta. Feliciano flirting with girls and quite a few boys. Feliciano singing. Feliciano painting. Feliciano refusing to train.
Feliciano when his country was dissolved.
Feliciano when his brother died
Feliciano when he got sick.
Ludwig sobbed freely, feeling as weak and vulnerable as a newborn. It was too much for him.
-One year later-
Ludwig walked through a graveyard under an umbrella in the pouring rain. He held two bouquets of lilies and one bouquet of cornflowers. He reached three gravestones made of granite and knelt before them. One of them looked worn down, one looked like it just started aging, and one looked fresh. Ludwig left the lilies at the younger graves and the cornflowers at the older grave.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save you." He said, looking down.
Ludwig hugged the youngest grave.
"Ich liebe dich, Italien."
After a while he let go and kept walking until he came across a freshly laid grave. It too had cornflowers laid in front of it.
He traced the name on the grave with a finger.
"Ludwig Beilschimdt"
A warm presence hugged him.
"Ti amo troppo, Germania."