A calm, but cool breeze made the trees' branches sway, creating hastily moving shadows on the ground; and although the sun's power had faded throughout the season's changing she was still stubbornly holding her ground, warming the autumn's air and drying the dead leaves to create an almost magical atmosphere in the small patch of woods amidst the wide, golden fields.

A small squirrel scurried across the forest's leaf covered floor from one tree towards the other, even its light weight making the red, orange and yellow carpet crack and rustle beneath the fast paws. Right when the animal made to move on farther ahead, it froze mid-step and cautiously raised a twitching snout high into the air, sniffing.

A split second later powerful jaws shut tightly with bone-crushing strength.

"Aster!"

The shape of a young man burst through the trees, his steps sure on the uneven ground, yet rushed and incredibly loud in the otherwise peaceful forest. The human wore simple, dark jeans and his strong upper body was clad in a dark grey trench coat. His hair was of a light, flaxen blond, neatly combed back to reveal a handsome face with a strong jaw, straight nose and piercing blue eyes.

"Aster, aus!"

The cheerful golden retriever lady just barked happily at her master and rolled around in the leaves, where, just a few seconds ago, the squirrel had been. The small, now nearly frightened to death, forest animal had been just fast enough to escape up the trunk of a tree; but it had been a close call and the dog's sharp canines had nearly been its death this day.

The blond man came to a stop next to her and bent down to the dog. He glared at her for a moment, but as the youngster rolled onto her back and presented her belly, begging him to pet her, the frown melted off his face and he smiled fondly. His pale hand reached out and caressed through the dog's silky fur gently.

Careful not to dirty his jeans, the man let himself sink to the ground next to his companion and kept petting her. While Aster just panted and wagged her tail joyfully under the human's hands, the blond's light blue eyes strayed over his surroundings. He took in the tall trees around him and their gentle whispering in the breeze; the golden autumn leaves strayed all over the ground; the peaceful quiet of the woods and-

The lack of noise from a certain other companion.

Flaxen brows furrowed and the blond looked around a little more concerned. There was no sign of the other man to be found.

But…he was sure the albino had been right behind him…

Suddenly something firm and hard collided with his side and crushed him to the ground beneath. With a gruff gasp he felt the air leave his lungs and his cheek was instantaneously met with the cool forest floor.

"What the-

As the confusion in his mind about the sudden change in position subsided, he found himself effectively pinned by a pair of slim, yet strong arms and his bewildered gaze was met with a pair of mischievous, blood red eyes; a cackling laugh echoed through the forest.

"Hey, Lutz. Missed me?"

Directly above him, straddling his waist and his face a few mere inches from his own, was his albino brother. The shorter man donned a pair of worn out, faded jeans and a thick, dark red pullover. A light grey scarf wound snugly around his neck. His mouth was twisted into a dazzling grin that showed off his pearly white, slightly pointed canines and made a few wrinkles appear around his shining eyes. His cheeks were tinted a healthy pink colour by the cool autumn's weather.

Ludwig blushed slightly at their sudden proximity and, with a little difficulty, managed to hide his upcoming smile behind his usual scowl. He just scoffed and rolled his eyes at his older brother's antics.

"Yes. Terribly. Now, could you please get off of me, Gilbert?"

The red-eyed Prussian's grin widened and he made a show of considering his answer; his brow knitted together in concentration, he supported his weight on his right arm and let the other hand come up to rest against his chin in thought.

"Hmm…nope. Don't wanna."

Instead of getting up as was requested, the albino leaned forward and rested his forehead against the scowling blond's.

Ludwig felt his brother's warm breath fan across his face and for a moment - before he hastily averted his gaze - he could nearly count every single shade and glimmer of red in those ruby eyes. He flushed and shifted uncomfortably under the other's gaze. With a furrowed brow, he sighed exasperatedly.

"Bruder, that's just-

He was interrupted mid-sentence by soft and slightly chapped lips pressing to his own. His eyes snapped open and he tensed for a split second, before slowly melting into the caress and letting his icy blue orbs slip closed.

The ground beneath him was a little damp despite today's nice weather, and slowly, the wetness soaked through his trousers, making them cling to his calves. A few small branches and rocks were digging into his back and his brain registered that Aster was still right beside them, but uninterested in her masters' activities.

All in all, the German was cold, wet and uncomfortable.

And, most importantly; he didn't care one bit.

The weight of his brother's body on top of him was a pleasant contrast to the cool surface they rested on and the albino's mouth was soft and warm, tenderly sliding across his own. Soon, a hot, wet tongue trailed across his bottom lip in a demanding manner they both had grown accustomed to.

When Ludwig's pale lips didn't part immediately, the Teuton above him emitted a throaty growl and caught the sensitive flesh between his teeth, nibbling impatiently. The German beneath him shivered and groaned. The logical part of his brain told him, somewhere in the back of his mind, that lying in the middle of a forest, on the cold ground, getting kissed by his older brother, was not exactly what he was supposed to be doing right now; but a particularly hard bite of said brother's teeth had his thoughts crumbling altogether and, despite himself, his lips parted obediently.

Their tongues met, eagerly tasting and exploring already well-known territory. With a content hum, the German lifted his hands to bury them in his brother's short, messy and marvellously soft, white hair. He ran his hands through the silky tresses and slid them over the Prussian's scalp until one came to rest at the nape of his neck, idly playing with the short hair there. The other hand strayed further, down a strong jawline to cup the side of the elder's slender face, his thumb drawing circles on the pale skin tenderly.

Finally, when the need to breath became too urgent to be ignored, the shorter man pulled back slightly.

Their fast breath mingled between their still parted lips and for a moment, they just looked at each other; their eyes soft and wordlessly conveying a love, too deep even for their own understanding. Eventually, the Prussian leaned forward again, this time to bury his – freezing cold – nose in his brother's neck, nuzzling his face into the warm skin.

It took a while, but in the end, Ludwig managed to get his scattered thoughts back together; his breathing calmed and his thundering heart slowed to an acceptable pace.

He lifted his arms and gently pushed at the other man's shoulders again.

"East…Ugh, East, get up!"

"Nah…why? You're too comfy…" With this comment, the albino buried his face deeper in the warmth of the German's neck. His younger brother sighed, annoyed.

"You're heavy. Besides, I wanted to show you something, remember?"

With an exasperated groan, Gilbert sat up on the other's body, taking his sweet time to yawn and stretch his arms comfortably. It earned him another glare, but the albino didn't seem to mind. He didn't particularly hurry, as he slowly clambered off of the blond and came to stand beside him.

"There. Happy now?"

"Very much so, thank you." The sarcasm was practically dripping off his words this time, as he got up, his bones popping back into their rightful places in the process.

"You're welcome." The Prussian deadpanned with a serious expression. However, his face broke back into its usual grin when his younger brother smacked him on the back of his head with an opened palm.

The two men were wandering amongst the trees side by side, their hands brushing together ever so often, until finally, the bold Prussian grabbed the other's and laced their fingers together tightly. His action earned him a lightly blushing West and a gentle squeeze of his hand. Their dog lady followed close-by; tail wagging happily and stopping every now and then to examine a particularly interesting trunk, stone formation or chunk of wood.

"Weeeest~…Couldn't you just tell me where we're going?"

The blond rolled his eyes and grunted. "No. We're nearly there anyway. So pull yourself together."

Gilbert huffed and looked around at the countless trees for what felt like the thousandth time. "It has to be something really awesome to be worth waking me up so early and dragging me out here into the fucking nowhere, okay?"

The German didn't answer, instead merely speeding up a bit and pulling his pouting brother along with him; up until now, they had followed a small path, formed by countless pairs of hooves and paws, but now the taller man lead them away from it, over the unmarred ground and up a small hill.

Right on the top of said hill, where the ground dipped again, forming a little pit, carefully crafted by hundreds of years of water filtering through the stones and melting them away. They stopped short.

Red eyes widened and Gilbert's mouth stood open, for once at a loss of words.

The small clearing in front of them was filled with flowers; all in their full bloom, their cyan blue heads raised gracefully to drink in every last sun ray they could possibly reach. Between the high and mighty trees around, the fragile plants seemed rather out of place; a fairy's home amidst the dark, dark trees.

Gilbert recognised the blue flowers immediately. How could he not?

They were cornflowers; at least a hundred of them.

They seemed to cover every last inch of the stony ground with their petals and long, wiry, but firm and slender leaves.

Aster sniffed the flowers carefully and yelped lowly, as her snout came a little too close to the leaves' thorn-like tips.

When the Prussian still didn't utter a word, Ludwig scratched his neck nervously. As he tended to do when he was nervous, he started rambling, clumsily tripping over his own words in the process.

"I stumbled upon them only a few days ago, well, actually, Berlitz found them, when we were out for a walk. I'm not sure why there are so many of them, but I suppose the ground's just perfect for them here and, uh. Of course it's very unusual for them to bloom this late in the year, I guess that's just because they were growing in the shadow of the trees and of course you already know that and now I'm just rambling, sorry. I don't mean to that's just-

"West." His brother interrupted him, his voice soft, but enough to stop the younger German's rant anyway.

The blond swallowed nervously. "Y-yeah?"

His hand was squeezed gently, and suddenly, the Prussian whirled around. He let go of Ludwig's hand in favour of slipping his arms around the other's strong waist and pulling him in closer. Again, he pressed their foreheads together, and this time, he smiled.

The sight left the younger breathless.

The albino's cheeks were flushed; his gaze unusually soft and warm and, God, his smile. Ludwig would gladly die for that smile. Any time. It was radiant and filled with joy and it made his heart skip a beat and, at the very least, triple its speed.

His heart leapt again, as his brother finally leaned in completely and pressed their lips together for the second time in the forest. This time, there was no trace of his usual lust and want for dominance in it; it was a chaste, short and absolutely delicious caress of their lips. And it felt so damned right.

When Gilbert pulled back, he smirked and nudged their noses together fondly.

"Why didn't you show me this earlier? You're not supposed to hide stuff like this from your awesome big Bruder, ya know?"

Immediately, the blond's cheeks reddened again, embarrassed and flustered. He shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other, swallowing hard.

"Ah…well. I…uh. Ich dachte, es wär schön heute herzukommen. Zusammen."

The albino chuckled lightly. His brother was just too cute sometimes. And, in moments like these, he remembered how young Ludwig actually was – a fact he, and many others, seemed to tend to forget more often than not. He was glad for those moments; they reminded him of the fact that yes there was indeed still someone who actually needed him.

It may very well be that Germany didn't need Prussia anymore.

Maybe the whole world didn't need Prussia anymore.

But at least Gilbert was still needed.

As long as Ludwig needed him, he vowed to stay by his side. He hadn't been able to keep the younger from discovering the dark sides of being a nation. Despite his young age, the blond had lived through a lot; sickness, hunger, poverty, betrayal, war, bloodshed, death, guilt. Not even the almighty Prussia had been able to keep the world's shadows from the small boy he had found on the battle field so long ago – but at the very least, he could stay by his side and guide him through it.

The Teuton smiled again and leaned his head against his brother's chest.

"…You're fucking amazing, Ludwig, you know that?"

The German's shoulders sagged as the tension in his body eased and he slumped forward slightly, leaning into his brother's touch again. He couldn't keep his answering grin at bay.

"I learned from the best."

Translation: Ich dachte, es wär schön heute herzukommen. Zusammen. - I thought it'd be nice to come here today. Together.

Unimportant Rambling: Yeah, this was my first attempt at writing a fanfiction, and I certainly hope it wasn't as horrible as I think it was. It was written for today, the 3rd October and, therefore, Germany's Unification Day.

And, in case you didn't know already, the Cornflowers were Prussia's national flower. Now they - and the Oak - are counted as Germany's national plants by many people.

Anyway, Reviews would be appreciated, since I'd really like to know how I did and what you think.