A/N: Hi everyone! This is a bit of an unconventional Hetalia fic since one of the main characters is a non-country OC, but I would be honored if you gave it a chance! Happy reading!

12 noon. Lunch.

Ludwig quickly filed away his papers so that his desk in the Amorlen police station would be neat when he left to take his lunch. He briskly walked to his home on the edge of the small town, where he ate hurriedly, so that he would have a few minutes left over to stop at the general store on his way back and still be back at 1 o'clock sharp.

At 12:45 PM, Anna was sweeping the aisles in her family's shop. She loved to work in the shop, where the sights and smells of foods and cloth and wooden shelves were familiar to her since her childhood. And she got to talk to almost everyone in her neighborhood this way. The bell attached to the doorpost tinkled, signaling that someone had entered the store. Anna made her way through the aisle to the front counter where a tall, broad-shouldered man stood rigidly facing the counter, his back to Anna, though she nonetheless recognized him as Amorlen's police chief Ludwig, the youngest the town has ever had according to her father. She liked to call him Herr Germany. It seemed to embarrass him.

"Ah, Guten Tag, Herr Germany!" Anna greeted him cheerfully as she rounded the counter. "What can I help you with today?"

"One pound of sugar." He remained ramrod straight, looking over her head. He glanced down into her face. "Please."

Anna promptly turned her back and began measuring out a bag of sugar from the big brown sack against the wall.

Ludwig cleared his throat. "The church is having a spring festival this weekend," he stated stiffly.

"Oh, yes! Myriam and I are planning on going together! It should be great fun."

"-Oh! Oh, yes, well… Yes. Great fun."

"Are you going, Herr Germany?"

"…Maybe. I don't know. …I'll probably be very busy with work."

Anna was finished with the sugar and turned again to the counter, setting the open bag down to fold the top down to seal it. "You know, I doubt you have to work as much as you do. This is a small town, little goes on."

Ludwig didn't answer, instead staring off above Anna's head. It may have been Anna's imagination, but she could have sworn that his face seemed a little flushed.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Are you finished with the sugar yet?" Ludwig snapped, still not looking at her. "I need to get back to work."

"Yes, yes, fine. Here you go." She pushed the sealed bag towards him.

He dropped a handful of coins on the counter, too much. "Er, keep the change," he muttered as he swiped the bag from the counter and rapidly walked out.

Anna stared at the door for a moment after it closed behind him. She jumped to hear her grandmother speak from the doorway into the storeroom where she and Anna's father had been taking inventory.

"I think that Ludwig is a little smitten with you."

Her father appeared suddenly behind the old woman. "What?"

Anna threw back her head and laughed. "Ha! I know. I'm just waiting for him to say something. It's that obvious to you, too, is it, Oma?"

Her Oma chuckled as she came farther into the store. "If you're waiting on him, you might die of old age first. I doubt he'll recover any time soon from you not going to the Easter festival with him."

Her father grunted. "I should have known he wanted to ask you something like that. He came in twice yesterday."

"Twice? Yesterday?" Anna and her grandmother held back gales of laughter to hear the story.

"Oh, yes. Once during lunch, lingering around for ten minutes before finally buying one apfel and again right before closing to buy a bag of onions and, uh, 'casually' ask if you still worked in the store."

Anna hooted with laughter. "You should have told him I moved away to live with relatives! I would have loved to see that reaction!"

Her Oma adopted a face of mock seriousness. "Anna! Poor Ludwig would have dropped dead right here in the shop from a heart attack!"

They all laughed at poor, uptight Ludwig, though Anna mentally made a note to visit him later.

Ludwig briskly strode away from the general store, his heart hammering and his stomach feeling uneasy. You dummkopf! You completely lost control in there, showing such surprise that she was going with Myriam! Of course she was! What has she done every other year? Why did you expect any different? And now what are you going to do with this bag of sugar for the rest of the day at work?

He sighed. He wished he could go into that store just once without making a complete ass of himself.

Anna stepped into the police station. It was about five o'clock, and she figured that she could catch Ludwig before he left. She saw him bent over, writing at his desk a few feet in front of her. For generations, the police chief's desk had always been placed prominently in the station so that the he could be easily accessible by both citizens walking in and police farther back at their own desks. Anna figured Ludwig liked that. More work is good for him, yes?

She took a few more steps until she was standing right in front of the desk. Fighting back a mischievous smile, she meekly spoke. "Ludwig?"

His head snapped up at the sound, and his eyes widened as he recognized her. He leapt to his feet. "Anna? What are you doing here? Are you alright?"

She looked pleadingly up into his eyes. "I witnessed a crime. I need your help."

Eyebrows drawn together in worry, he urgently searched her face. "Tell me what happened," he barked.

"It seems that my family's shop has taken some money from Herr Germany. You see, he only ordered one bag of sugar, but he paid enough for the sugar and one apfel." Her face broke into a huge grin as she laid a bright red apfel on his desk. The two officers in the back sniggered with each other.

Ludwig sat back down, already picking up his pen. He bowed his head, back to work. "Not funny. Crime is a serious matter."

"Oh, I know," she said winningly. "That's why I was hoping Herr Germany could walk home with me. Surely he's soon to get off work?"

Ludwig froze, still looking down at his paperwork. His eyes quickly met hers before looking to the clock. 5:04.

"Go with her, Chief!" One of the officers, leaning against his buddy's desk, called.

The other, sitting, nodded. "We can handle it from here. Go have yourself a nice stroll with the lady."

"I suppose… since my officers assure me it would be fine… I can escort you back to the general store." He knew that her family lived in the two stories above the store.

"Lovely! I am much in your debt."

Ludwig self-consciously cleaned his desk just as he had done before lunch, though this time he felt the eyes of the two officers behind him and of Anna in front of him. His hands were shaky—that damn girl, sending him into a fright like that. He had been afraid that something horrible had happened, what with the way she looked at him.

Oddly, he also felt pleased.

Ludwig's heart drummed uncomfortably against his ribs throughout the whole of the five minute walk. He didn't know what to say, so he didn't speak the whole time, trying to ease the pounding in his chest by focusing on putting one leg in front of the other.

They reached Anna's residence after what felt like ages. Ludwig came to a halt in the middle of the narrow street in front of the entrance. He nodded towards the door. "Safe und sound."

"Danke, Herr Germany. Truly, you are my hero." She smiled at him before turning away and bouncing to the door, her long brown braid thumping against her back. She opened the door, and with one last smile tossed his way, she vanished into the house, door closing behind her.

Ludwig let out a breath, glad the ordeal was over. He hoped she would stop by again tomorrow.