Feliciano Vargas stood, waiting, under the shade of a large, leafy tree at the entrance of a rather large school. The seventeen year old was not dressed in the prestigious academy's uniform, but in shorts, a white collared shirt, and black shoes that were more then a little scuffed up. He leaned against the tree, honey eyes trained on the gate to the school.
"Oh, Feliciano!" a call came, and a boy came from the gates. The newcomer had red hair just like Feliciano, and amber eyes just a few shades darker then Feliciano's honey ones. This boy was in the uniform for the school, long black pants, black shoes, white long sleeved collared shirt, black tie, tan vest.
"Good afternoon, Seraphino!" Feliciano called cheerfully, waving energetically as his little brother approached.
"Why are you here, Feli?" Fifteen year old Seraphino asked, using his elder brother's nickname. "Shouldn't you be at home resting or something?" the younger boy asked.
"I'm okay, Seraphino." Feliciano said, smiling. "I almost came to school today, but then when I was about to leave my heart started to hurt and Nonno told me I had to stay home today but I've been better ever since then so maybe I can come tomorrow!" Feliciano said that all in one breath, leaving Seraphino with a familiar look of being stunned.
"Feliciano, what are you doing here?" the deep voice made Feliciano grin like crazy and hop up and down.
Ludwig Beilschmidt, Feliciano's longtime friend approached them, also clad in the academy's uniform, a concerned look furrowing his brow as he approached the two siblings.
Feliciano had met Ludwig under very bizarre and unlikely circumstances. Twelve years ago, when Feliciano had been five and Ludwig had been 6, both had ended up sharing a room in the hospital.
It had been eight years since the end of the Great War, back when Feliciano's family still lived in Italy, and Feliciano had slipped away from his older brother, Lovino, who had been seven and supposed to be watching Feliciano while their mother was asleep. The curious redhead had run into the woods, searching for an adventure, when he had happened upon an area where some deer were grazing. Feliciano had been awed into silence, and the deer took no notice of the little Italian in their midst. The entranced little boy moved closer to the buck of the group, when he had been shot. The hunter had never seen the little boy so close to his target.
Feliciano had been shot through the heart, and the bullet had fragmented in his heart and left lung. There was no way the little five year old should have been able to survive such a terrible accident. However, despite the odds, Feliciano survived an operation to dig out the bullet fragments from his chest, and woke up after a few weeks in terrible pain, sharing a room with a little blond boy who had broken his arm. Feliciano could not speak for several days from the pain, but the little boy, who introduced himself as Ludwig Beilschmidt, spoke to him constantly, keeping him occupied, even climbing in bed with him one night when Feliciano had nightmares.
When Feliciano could talk again, he thanked the little German boy for keeping him company. Now he knew almost everything about Ludwig, even met his brother when the strangely white haired boy had come with his grandfather to visit, but Ludwig knew almost nothing about his Italian roommate. As Feliciano had begun to recover, he would tell Ludwig, in halting, pained segments, about his own life. About how his father had left them after his little bother had been born, how his older brother was always getting in to trouble for his bad language, how he couldn't wait to leave the German hospital and go back home to Italy, everything.
When his family had finally had the time to make the trip to visit Feliciano in the hospital, little three year old Seraphino looked confused to why his brother was in the hospital. Feliciano himself didn't even understand really what was wrong. He didn't understand words like "sutures" or "surgery" or "restricted lifestyle". He only understood two things about his condition. One was that it hurt a lot, and the other was the explanation he gave his brother.
"My heart is broken."
After he was released, his family moved to Berlin to be closer to the hospital, and Feliciano's brothers went to the same school as Ludwig. So the two were friends.
Feliciano smiled at the approaching, now seventeen year old German. His birthday was coming up soon. "I'm here to see my fratello and my best friend." The Italian said, his native language rolling easily off his tongue.
"Well, let's get you home before the storm hits." Ludwig said, glancing up at the sky, which was dark grey with storm clouds. The stern looking German narrowed his eyes accusingly at Feliciano. "I sure hope that you told Lovino or Roma that you were coming to meet us."
Feliciano felt a hot flash of guilt course through his face, leaving a telltale red stain on his cheeks. Of course he had forgotten to tell his older brother. Every other day, Feliciano would go out and forget to tell someone. "I-I… I may or may not have forgotten." He stammered nervously, fidgeting his hands.
"Uh-oh!" Seraphino said with a wicked grin. "Someone's going to get it, huh?" the first year student and youngest member of the Vargas household said.
Feliciano started nervously back towards his home, hoping to return before Lovino noticed he was missing and chewed him out. Seraphino and Ludwig kept pace beside him easily. The anxious Italian didn't speak a word until they reached their destination, slipping through the front door.
"Feliciano Vargas!" an angry voice snapped, and Feliciano paled visibly, spinning around to meet the angry green eyes of his brother Lovino. The nineteen year old brother had graduated the year before, and kept a garden for the Vargas household to get fresh vegetables from. Now, the man with red hair a good few shades darker then Seraphino's looked completely angered.
"H-Hi fratello." Feliciano said, his voice getting a bit higher as he quaked before his brother's baleful gaze.
"Do you want to tell me where you were, Feli?" The Italian's voice was dangerously sweet. "Because I looked for you, and I couldn't find you. Of course that means you must have left the house without telling me… But you would NEVER do that, isn't that right?"
Feliciano's heart beat a little faster in nervousness. "I-I'm sorry, fratello! I didn't want to you wake you up from your siesta because you're always so tired from taking care of me and you needed to sleep and I wanted to see Sera and Luddy after they got off of school and my heart feels okay it really does so please don't yell at me or hit me or anything!"
Lovino seemed to deflate a bit. Feliciano had headed him off before he really built up steam. If that had happened, Feliciano knew his big brother could go on for hours, yelling and screaming and teaching him new curse words in both English and Italian, and even the few swears he knew in German. Lovino hated living in Germany, but had at least taken it upon himself to learn cusses in the language. Now he had lost the chance to use them on his brother.
On the other hand, Feliciano could feel that his skin was pale, and his heart beat frantically in his chest as Lovino's angry expression faded a bit to one of concern as Feliciano grabbed onto Ludwig's arm, struggling to catch his breath and slow his erratic heartbeat.
"Here, sit down, Feli." Seraphino said. Lovino looked a bit concerned and pulled forward a chair and all-but shoved his younger brother into it.
Feliciano sat carefully and pulled his arm around his chest until he managed to get his frantic heart and his breathing under control. He gave the three worried faces gathered around him a tired smile. "I'm sorry, I panicked and I forgot that it can make my heart beat too fast and I'm sorry I made you all worry." He said.
"Shut up, Feli." Lovino sniffed, backing off as soon as he saw his brother was okay. "Just make sure you have yourself under control before Nonno gets back, got it?" The dark red head said, stalking from the room as Feliciano slowly stood up, grabbing Seraphino's arm to support himself for a moment.
"I'm home from the market!" a deep voice boomed, laced with a heavy Italian accent as Nonno Roma came through the door. "Oh, welcome Ludwig, it's been a while, hasn't it?" the tall man who greatly resembled Lovino (no matter what the latter said), but with Seraphino's amber eyes, strode purposefully into the room with a basket tucked neatly under one arm.
"Actually, you just saw me the day before yesterday, sir." Ludwig murmured. He was about the same height as Nonno Roma and a little broader in the shoulders. Nonno Roma gave a hearty laugh as he sat the basket on the table, and then went to ruffle his two grandsons' hair.
"I suppose you're right, Ludwig!" Nonno Roma said cheerfully. "Now where is my oldest grandson? Lovi!" the cheerful voice of Nonno Roma echoed throughout the house, and was followed immediately by a huff from the kitchen. "Found him!" Nonno Roma exclaimed, heading to the kitchen to harass his oldest grandson.
"Gah! Leave me alone, Nonno!" Lovino said, followed by swift footsteps as Lovino rushed for the stairs, his dark red hair mussed terribly. Nonno Roma came from the kitchen and smiled as he watched the man flee like a child.
"How are you doing, my cute little grandson?" Nonno Roma asked, coming over to Feliciano. "Your face looks pale. Are you okay? How does your chest feel?"
Feliciano smiled a bit to placate his anxious guardian. "I'm okay, Nonno. I just got a bit anxious earlier when Lovi yelled at me, and it made my heart go to fast, but I'm okay now, I don't hurt or anything." The younger Italian had a knack for being able to speak entire paragraphs in one breath and at a speed that left most people looking a bit stunned or confused, but his family had grown used to it.
"I'll have to speak with Lovi later." Nonno Roma said, mostly to himself. "He knows you can't be excited like that, you could—"
A frantic knocking at the door interrupted Nonno Roma's mumbling, and the man looked up towards the door with a rather wary expression, as though he already knew who was there. Light footsteps sounded on the stairs as Lovino peeked down, expression troubled and confused.
"Boys, I want you all to go do something else." Nonno Roma said in a deadly serious voice, so unusual for the normally happy man. "Go into another room or go upstairs, I don't really care. Just go."
Feliciano trembled, terrified at whatever could have caused such a radical change in his cheerful Nonno. For a second he didn't move, but Ludwig grabbed one arm, Seraphino grabbed the other, and together they pulled Feliciano into the kitchen. Lovino stole in behind them as Nonno Roma shut the door to the kitchen and let whoever was at the door inside.
Lovino whipped out a glass and pressed the rim soundlessly to the door. He lay his ear against the bottom of the glass to eavesdrop.
"Fratello!" Feliciano grabbed his brother's shoulder as he whisper yelled. "You can't do that! If Nonno finds out, you'll get in big trouble!"
"Shut up, fratello." Lovino said in response, knocking his bother's hand off. "Something is really wrong, I can tell. And I want to know what's happening." He placed his ear back to the cup, until a solid thump made Lovino jerk away as Nonno Roma banged his hand on the door.
"Don't listen in, Lovino Vargas, this is a private conversation!" Nonno Roma snapped, voice sounding close to the door. Lovino gazed at his brothers and Ludwig with wide green eyes, looking more like a child then a man who had already finished his studies. Obviously, the young man had heard something, and it wasn't good.
"Lovino." Ludwig's voice surprised Feliciano. He knew his brother and his best friend did not get along, so to hear his German friend speak so kindly to the man was shocking. "Lovino, tell us what you heard. Please." Ludwig said, looking as though he had choked a bit on that last word.
"He's talking to Antonio and Elizaveta." Lovino said naming their Spanish neighbor, Antonio Fernandèz Carriedo, and Elizaveta Hèrderávy, an ex-girlfriend of Gilbert, Ludwig's brother. "They're talking about… about… about going to war." The dark red head boy was unbelievably pale, and Feliciano felt a bit faint himself as the words swam around in his head.
"That's what I was afraid of." Ludwig sighed, running a hand over his slicked back blond hair, releasing some of the corn silk strands to fall onto his forehead as he closed his brilliantly sky blue eyes.
"Luddy?" Feliciano asked nervously. "Do you know something?"
"Ja, I'm afraid so." Ludwig said with a troubled look to the door. "However, I was hoping that the rumors were false."
A light knock on the door to the kitchen made them all jump, and Feliciano opened the door with shaking hands to see Nonno Roma, a gravely serious look adorning his face. Antonio and Elizaveta were sitting on the couch with equally serious expressions, and Feliciano's heart thumped anxiously.
"You aren't the only one who listens at doors, Lovino." Nonno Roma said somberly. "Yes, it appears that we will be going to war very soon. Antonio and Elizaveta have been acting as spies for me for quite some time now."
"I have heard these war rumors from my grandfather." Ludwig said. "If this war erupts, Gilbert will join the German army."
Nonno Roma's eyes hardened slightly, and Feliciano swallowed nervously. They had moved to Germany solely to be close to such a good hospital. Nonno Roma rather detested the German army, seeing as he had had a brother die fighting against them in the Great War. "Is that so?" Nonno said, voice slightly chillier then it had been.
"Yes sir, it is." Ludwig stood firmly under Nonno Roma's gaze, and it wasn't long before Nonno Roma broke eye contact.
"Luddy, maybe you should get home?" Feliciano said a bit nervously as he watched this exchange.
"Yes, you're right, Feliciano." Ludwig said. He picked up his school issued sachet and left without a backwards glance.
Lovino and Seraphino looked equally confused, as though it hasn't sank in that a war could be starting soon. Antonio leaned over and whispered something to Elizaveta, and she stifled a smile. Feliciano sat down heavily in a chair and drew his knees up to his chest.
"You'll need to be ready." Nonno Roma said seriously. "If this war really does break out, then we'll have to be ready for shortages and a harder life. Things are about to change."