I promised my ane-chan I'd write this for her if she made me a Spamano vid, so she got this. Yay! It's been AGES since I've written PruHun~! Enjoy!
Again in the way the sky is calling,
heart in the chest, the violin sings
and walking along the capitals' boulevards
He placed his duffel bag on his bed, sighing. The Spanish sun shone above happily, opposite of his melancholic mood. He collapsed next to it, running a pale hand through his white hair. He relaxed, listening to the unusual rain falling outside and the commotion around his house.
"Ve~ Luddy, Gil looked sad when he hugged me. Should I ask him if he's OK?" asked Feliciano, his brother's Italian boyfriend.
"I think it's best to let him rest for now. Do you remember the girl he wrote about in his letters?"
Gilbert's heart strings pulled. Please, don't say her name.
"Elizaveta, the Hungarian photographer?"
Gilbert clutched the material of his pants, feeling his heart drop. Tears threatened to spill over any moment as the two continued their conversation.
"He wrote so highly of her."
"Ve~ It was love at first sight!"
Gilbert put his face in his hands, letting his tears silently flow. Memories were brought back of his three month stay in Hungary and meeting his Hungarian beauty.
Songs of my love without borders
London, Oslo, Berlin, Moscow
I sing and live for you.
He had jumped at the chance his college offered a study abroad program. It was offering a few countries; England, Norway, Germany (instant no. he's from Germany, so what would be the point of seeing things he grew up around?),Russia, and Hungary.
He had chosen Hungary because not only did he know Hungarian (his mother was linguist. She taught him as many languages as possible when she was still alive), but he had been hungry at the time, and since Turkey hadn't been one of the choices, Hungary seemed like the best choice. England was where Arthur lived (bad history, not one to mention) and he doesn't want to have any chance of meeting the crazy Brit or his American boyfriend, Norway just didn't seem fun enough, and Russia was a no because that's where Ivan Braginski came from and if that insane, scary man came from there, he did not want to be in a country containing a billion other Ivan Braginskis.
As much as he hated to admit it, he loved countries. Learning about their history and culture was like his dirty pleasure. (Yes, it's odd. He knows.)
He told his brother that he was going to study in Hungary and that was the end of the conversation. He had also promised Feliciano to write.
When he got to Hungary, he got a taxi and found the university. He got his information, settled in his room and decided to explore the campus for the rest of the day. Gil had been wandering around when he saw her. Elizaveta Héderváry.
She was sitting on a hill, taking a picture of a couple holding hands as they walked by. When she finished, she called out to the couple and waved. They turned to her and waved back before walking continuing their walk.
It took a moment for Gilbert to realized the girl seemed closer than she had been before. It took him a few seconds later to realize she was smiling at him.
Gilbert felt his face heat up at this realization and turned away. He heard her laugh, and then heard the click of a camera.
Had she taken a picture-
"Hey, newbie."
Gilbert snapped his head up to be blinded by a flashing light.
"Gah! Mein Gott!" he hissed, rubbing his eyes.
When he regained his sight, he saw the girl smiling at him.
"Welcome to Hungary, " she said with a wink. "You're eye color is unfortunate. It's going to be hard convincing my professor those beautiful orbs are natural and not a lighting issue."
Gilbert felt himself heat up even more. "Beautiful-"
"Looks like you'll have to write a letter to my professor explaining the color," she interrupted. "Oh, where are my manners?" She held out her hand. "Elizaveta Héderváry, born in Hungary."
Gilbert took it and shook it. "Gilbert Beilschmidt, born in Germany, living in Spain."
"Ah, Spain," she sighed dreamily. "It's a breathtaking country, yeah?"
Gilbert nodded. "Rich culture as well."
"Is that a Sociology major I hear?" Elizaveta asked.
"You heard right," Gilbert said sheepishly.
"Countries are amazing! So many different cultures and architectural designs I must capture with my trusty sidekick!" Elizaveta exclaimed, holding her camera in the air.
Gilbert laughed, only to be blinded by a white light again. "Jesus, frau! Worn a guy!"
Elizaveta giggled. "Sorry. It was a great photo opportunity."
Gilbert rolled his eyes and rubbed his eyes.
"So, I'll see you around?" Elizaveta asked.
Gilbert gave her a small smile. "Ja."
Elizaveta smiled and backed away. "Later."
Gilbert gave her small wave. "Later."
Europe's skies are crying rain
that means you're still waiting for me
far far away, day and night
my heart is in the sky
Sunday was no different. Gilbert saw Elizaveta sitting on the hill. This time, however, she was talking to someone. Another girl, a blonde one.
Gilbert was about to walk away when his eyes met Elizaveta's friend's eyes. She turned away and said something to Elizaveta, causing her to turn her head.
She smiled at him. "Gilbert!"
She beckoned him over, waving her camera in the air. Gilbert walked over to the brunette and her friend.
"Hey," she greeted.
"Hey," he responded.
"This is my friend Belladonna. Bella, this is Gilbert, an exchange student from Spain, but he's secretly German."
"Another exchange student? Yes!" Bella cried, jumped up. "I'm one, too. I'm from Belgium."
Gilbert smiled at her. He was again blinded by a flashing light.
"Lizzie!" Bella scolded, stomping her foot.
"Photo opportunity!" she cried in her defense. "And look! It's really cute!"
They walked over to her and looked over her shoulder as the picture was displayed on the digital screen. The German and Belgian were smiling at each other, Bella's eyes closed in content.
"Aw!" Bella exclaimed and hugged Elizaveta from her side.
Elizaveta looked to Gilbert for an opinion.
He shrugged. "It's pretty cute."
Elizaveta grinned. "I'm gonna need to make a photo album for you with all these photo opportunities your giving me."
Gilbert looked confused and Elizaveta snapped a picture of him. He growled lowly, making her stick her tongue out.
Bella snatched the camera and quickly took a picture of the two. "Victory!"
Elizaveta blinked her eyes in confusion before screaming, "My baby!"
She snatched the camera back, looking at the picture. She laughed instantly. She tipped it to show it at Gilbert. He had his teeth bared at her while she had her arms crossed and her tongue sticking out.
"Photo album material," she said bluntly.
"Oh, most definitely," Gilbert agreed jokingly.
"That's it, I'm making you an album. We are going to take pictures for it everyday, so we are going to meet here everyday. Think you can make that commitment, newbie?" Elizaveta challenged.
Gilbert raised an eyebrow and bent down to her level. He crossed his arms and smirked. "Most definitely."
He started to wonder what he got himself into when she returned his smug look.
Cities and countries like the movies
I wear a backpack on the boulevard
And the sound I heard
was the music of my fate.
"Gut Gott, frau!" Gilbert cried as Elizaveta dragged him through the streets of Budapest.
It was Saturday again. Through the week they had taken pictures here and there. Elizaveta was extremely fond of the metal statue in front of the university and had a wide array of Gilbert and Bella posing with it, which usually meant making faces at it. One of them was a picture of Elizaveta and Gilbert in dark glasses (Bella took the picture), standing on both sides of the metal statue, giving it the Thinker look.
"That's a keeper!" Elizaveta had declared when she saw it. "Great shot, lopsided a little, but still a great shot! I think I have an aspiring photographer~"
"Yeah, no. I'm sticking to graphic designing."
They had all laughed and ended their photo session for that day.
Now Elizaveta was dragging him through Budapest, trying to "photograph Gilbert with her culture". They had stopped by many places of her childhood so he could pose for her. His favorite was when they were in a coffee shop and he leaning against a table whilst drinking a cup of coffee. He was wrapped up in a black jacket with a Prussian flag scarf (Feliciano had made if for him) and jeans.
"You know," Elizaveta said as they calmly walked down the street. "Budapest is breathtaking at night. I'll need to grab some snap shots of you with Hungarian night life. Think you can take it?"
"Oh, please." Gilbert rolled his eyes. "If you've forgotten, I live in Spain."
"Ah, yes. The country of passion, the country where no one sleeps and everyone parties all night."
Gilbert cackled. "Right on, liebe."
Elizaveta raised an eyebrow. "Liebe? What does that mean?"
Gilbert blushed, realizing he had used a name of affection. "Nothing important, like 'friend'."
Elizaveta nodded skeptically. "Sure. I'll eventually figure it out, Beilschmidt."
"I'm sure you will," Gilbert muttered. "Then I'll be screwed."
Elizaveta smiled. She then looked ahead, her smile widening into a grin. "We're here! Look!"
Gilbert looked ahead and his eyes widened in awe. Large white towers stood before him.
"Welcome to the Fisherman's Bastion!" Elizaveta announced. "Now, as tradition, we must climb to the top."
Gilbert sighed. "Hungarian traditions..."
Elizaveta grabbed his hand and dragged him to a flight of stone stairs. "Get climbing."
Considering the long line, it took them some time to reach the top. Gilbert complained the whole time, switching from Hungarian to Spanish and then to German, earning the pair some weird looks.
When they reached the top however, all complaints died in his throat. "Wow..."
Elizaveta stepped back, taking a picture of Gilbert staring at the city below in awe. "I officially welcome you to Budapest, Hungary!"
Gilbert grinned at the surrounding cityscape. "It's beautiful." He turned to Elizveta. "Photo opportunity."
Elizaveta shrugged. "Thanks, but I'm not a landscape photographer." She took a picture of Gilbert staring at her. "I'm more of a people person."
Elizaveta showed him Budapest the rest of the day, heading back to campus around four. They looked at their pictures as they got on a bus.
One particular picture was of Gilbert posing with a random stranger, back to back, their arms crossed like one would do when saying "word!".
"That was such a nice man," Elizaveta said, leaning on Gilbert's shoulder.
"Yeah, posing with a random albino for a girl."
"You're not an albino, you're the albino."
"Damn straight!" They both high fived.
"Ah, we need to do this again," Lizzie said dreamily as she curled up into him, her camera bag in her lap.
Gilbert never forgot the day the beautiful Hungarian fell asleep on him.
My heart flies behind her
Warsaw to Kiev and Amsterdam
I give my heart to you.
Weeks passed and their friendship grew tremendously. Their photo shoots soon became just them with Bella off, dating another exchange student from Bulgaria.
They ran around campus, causing problems and having fun. Gilbert even had to attend Elizaveta's photography class to prove he had natural red eyes.
"This is my subject, Gilbert Beilschmidt! He's from Spain, but he's German. He's been my obsession for the past two months," Elizaveta announced to the class.
"Really?" one asked.
"I like the picture of you posing with that random guy!" another called out.
"I like the one of him and Bella smiling at each other~"
"I like the one of him growling at Liz and her sticking her tongue out at him!"
"I like the Thinker pose one!"
Something seemed to click in Elizaveta's head. She ran over to Gilbert, who was blushing a little from all the attention. "We must name all of our pictures!"
"All of them?" Gilbert asked incredulously.
Elizaveta nodded.
"Two month's worth of photos, when we took, like, twenty a day?"
Elizaveta nodded, still as determined as ever.
"Frau, you are nuts!"
"We are naming them all this weekend and that is final, mister!"
"Whatever, crazy. I gotta get to class."
That weekend, Elizaveta locked him in his room and pulled out her laptop from it's bag. She pulled out three SD cards.
"Sit," she commanded.
Gilbert complied quickly. "How long will this take?"
"Depends. Each SD card holds about four hundred pictures, and we filled up at least one with our pictures. Best names come from thought though, so I give us the weekend, all nighters!"
"Was?" Gilbert exclaimed. "I'm going to diefrom the lack of sleep!"
"Don't worry, Bella's gonna help us!" She opened her computer, and froze. "Um..."
Gilbert looked over her shoulder. Everything looked normal, but the background confused him. The background for her computer was her kissing a dark haired guy with glasses on the cheek.
"Uh, who's that?" Gilbert asked.
"Ex-boyfriend," Elizaveta said quickly. "Guess I haven't used this computer in a while."
"When did you two break up?"
"Two months before you came. I'm changing it." She inserted the SD card and pulled up the numbered pictures. She scrolled through them, then clicked on their "Thinker" picture. She made it her background, smiling in triumph. "There, that's better! No more Roderich smooching!"
She went as far as to delete any picture that contained Roderich. It sort of scared Gilbert, the way her eyes gleamed as she did. When he left, would his best friend suddenly delete all the pictures of him as well?
"Why do you hate this guy so much?" Gilbert asked.
Elizaveta glared at her computer screen.
"Y-you don't have to-"
"He cheated on me. He cheated on me with some Swiss guy!" she cried, grabbing fistfuls of brown hair.
"He was bi?"
"Hell no! The guy was fucking gay!" she hissed. "I was just so stupid to notice how miserable he was with me, the stupid tomboy with a passion for photography. He wanted elegance and grace and I let him change me! I became something I loathed, then I found out he was cheating on me. The girl that had changed completely for him, to please him! I'm happy he fucking went back to damn Austria."
Gilbert's eyes widened not from the rant, but the tears cascading down the Hungarian's face.
"Elizaveta-"
He was cut off by sobs erupted from Elizaveta's mouth. "I-I'm so s-sorry I'm p-putting a-ll of this o-on you."
Gilbert wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest. She sobbed into his shirt, the computer forgotten beside them.
Gilbert smiled when he heard her sobs calm. "Now, what man in the right mind would cheat on someone like you?"
"W-what to you mean?"
"Why would you even try to change? You're funny, adventurous, charismatic, beautiful, and perfect just the way you-" he was cut off by lips pressing against his. It took him a moment to realize Elizaveta was kissing him. But as he realized this, she pulled away, searching his eyes.
"Liz-" another kiss, this time he reacted quicker, grabbing her cheeks. It lasted a little longer than the other and the two were in heaven as it happened. When they disconnected, they stared at each other for a moment. It was a picture-perfect moment.
Then Gilbert shattered the moment. "I'm not a rebound, right?"
Elizaveta collapsed on him, laughing.
Europe's skies are crying rain
that means you're still waiting for me
far far away day and night
my heart is in the sky
The last month Gilbert spent at Hungary was an unforgettable one. He finally wrote a letter to Feliciano like he had originally promised. It thoroughly described his adventures with his new girlfriend and how she was a photographer. He also wrote that he was a aware his semester was coming to an end and then he wouldn't see his Hungarian beauty after that.
Elizaveta had been sitting next to him as he wrote his, her head on his shoulder.
"When does it end?" she asked quietly.
"Two weeks."
She hugged him tighter. "I'm gonna miss you."
"We can email, ja?" Gilbert said, kissing her forehead.
She snuggled closer. "It won't be the same..."
"I know, it's not awesome at all," Gilbert said, hugging her back. "I should have done the year choice."
The sat there hugging before Elizaveta shot up. "We must have one more photo shoot before I complete your album!"
Gilbert nodded in agreement.
"I still haven't even showed you Budapest night life! What a horrible girlfriend I am! Tonight, we're going to go take pictures of a night on Budapest!'
"You're awesome wish is my command, my lady," Gilbert said with a sweeping bow.
"Hm, dress in something nice, OK?"
Gilbert nodded and the two shared a quick kiss.
"I'll come to your room a six. Laters," Elizaveta said with a quick wave and disappeared out the door.
"Isn't it great!" Elizaveta exclaimed, her checkered green coat swinging around her thighs.
She was a wearing a checkered green overcoat that fell to her thighs, black leggings continuing down. She wore black furry boots on her feet and her camera bag swinging around with her. Gilbert had chosen black slacks and a long sleeved button up white shirt. Over his white shirt was a thick black jacket.
Gilbert looked around at the beautiful lights illuminating Budapest. He heard a the click of the camera.
He looked at Elizaveta.
"You're first expression experiencing Hungarian nightlife," she explained.
"Ah," Gilbert said.
The night continued like that, her taking pictures of him in front of the illuminated buildings.
The night ended with a soft kiss and a loving good night.
Gilbert looked at his packed up stuff. His semester was officially over.
He grabbed his stuff and headed out of the building. Elizaveta was waiting for him on the hill a large leather book next to her.
"Hey," he said as he walked up to her.
"Hey, you ready?" she asked, her voice hoarse.
He shook his head. "I don't want to leave you..."
She cracked a smile at him and grabbed the large book. "We don't want to miss your flight, yeah?"
Gilbert nodded, following the other to her car. The ride was silent as they held each others hands the whole way. Neither dared to utter a word, fearing to break the nerve wracking silence.
Gilbert finally broke it. "Is that the album?"
Elizabeta looked at the book in her lap. "Yeah. I called it 'Complicated Simplicity'. A cool name?"
"An awesome name! You always come up with the coolest names."
Elizaveta laughed. "Which was why I ended up naming most the pictures myself."
"Hey, I helped!"
They came to a stop light. "Yeah, you did. Even if it was just a little."
"Ha ha," he muttered as she quickly pecked his lips.
The airport came into view quickly, too quick for the two.
Elizaveta squeezed his hand harder.
"I know," he murmured. "It'll be all right."
Elizaveta let out a shaky breath and nodded. She pulled into a spot and helped him with his stuff. They walked to the airport, getting his boarding ticket and taking care of the luggage. When they arrived at the spot Elizaveta could no longer continue, he pulled her off to the side.
"I'm going to miss you so much," he said as he kissed her.
"I love you, Gilbert Beilschmidt.. We'll see each other soon. I'll make sure!"
Tears fell down both their faces as they kissed again.
"Ich liebe dich, frau.."
She hugged him tighter. "Oh!" she handed him the book. It was very heavy. "All of your memories of Hungary...and me."
She kissed him again. "Visit soon."
"I promise to come back," he said sincerely, planting one more kiss on her lips before walked over to the boarding station. They waved one more time to each other, Elizaveta blowing him a kiss.
Gilbert smiled. "I'll see you around."
Elizaveta smiled back. "Yeah, I'll see you around, newbie."
Gilbert boarded his flight with a heavy heart.
Europe's skies are crying rain
that means you're still waiting for me
far far away day and night
my heart is in the sky
Gilbert sighs from his bed as the memories run through his head. He looked at the leather album next to him. He pulled it over and looked through it. He laughed at the funny pictures, each with their chosen name written under them in Elizaveta's handwriting. He was so distracted, he didn't notice how much time had passed.
"Gilbert!" called his brother.
Gilbert jumped from the sudden noise and closed the book.
"Yeah?" he called back.
"Ve~ It's dinner time! I made your favorite!" Feliciano answered.
Gilbert sighed and walked down the hall to the dinning room, noticing Ludwig was setting it up for four people.
"Lutz, who is eating with us?" Gilbert asked.
Ludwig just gave him a small smile.
"Wow, Feli! That looks delicious! I've got to get a picture of it, so stand still!"
No, that can't be...
"OK, Miss Lizzie!"
Gilbert ran to the kitchen to see her taking a picture of Feliciano making wurst.
"Amazing!" she cried. She then turned to Gilbert. She winked at him.
A huge grin broke out across his face. They rushed to meet each other, Gilbert spinning her around. She cried in happiness, tears escaping her eyes. She kissed his slowly, both savoring the moment.
"So," she said when they separated. "What have you been up to, newbie."
"Hm, thinking about this wonder Hungarian girl who captured my heart with one picture. Then she kept it with her when I had to leave..."
She smiled and kissed him again. "Well, no worries. I'm taking a semester here. Then next year I'm applying for the photography course your college has."
Gilbert grinned. "Looks like I'll have to teach you Spanish, ¿sí?"
"Sí," she said, kissing him again. Everything felt right again.
At that moment, it seemed that the skies over Europe stopped crying and let the sun seep through, lighting up the melancholy day as if it were celebrating the reunion of the young couple.
Done~! The song is Europe's Skies, but I used the Russian version, so it's called "Heaven in Europe". It's by Alexander Rybak, who I am totally obsessed with now, thanks to mi hermana. It's meine schwester's fault! Oh, and if you're into Spamano (it's my OTP!), here's the video she made for me to yet ANOTHER Alexander Rybak *heart* song: http:/ .com /watch?v=TaLTUPRPkII
Also, thanks to PurpleSkyJuliet for editing AND helping me make sense of the Russian version. When translating directly from Russian, the sentences make no sense whatsoever and I enlisted her help to help it make sense, so the lyrics you see aren't entirely correct. But we can live with it.
I chose the Russian because the English doesn't have the same romantic feeling to it. But I love both versions!
...should I do another song fic for the song "First Kiss" by Mr. Rybak?
Lastly, Swederland rules and Alexander Rybak is one hot Belorussian.
r&r!