"So that concludes the world conference! Are there any final words?" Alfred asked.

Francis stood up. "We should do this again, non? It's not often we can get together."

Based on how the meeting had turned out, that didn't seem like such a good idea to anyone...well, except…

"How about at Christmas?" suggested Tino, who had been silent the entire meeting.

No one ever wanted to refuse the shortest Nordic country. Nobody spoke for a long time. Berwald decided to break the silence by saying "It's a good idea." This was followed by mumbles of agreement from everyone else.

"We should do it at mine and Matthew's place!" Alfred suggested. "It's the biggest, apart from Ivan's, but it's not as cold!"

Whoever wanted to disagree with the American at that point was crazy. And so, it was decided that there would be a party for all the nations on the 25th of December of that year at Alfred's house.

Despite being the middle of winter, there was not a cloud in the sky that Christmas day. Flecks of sunlight reflected in multiple colours off the distant surface of the Atlantic Ocean. Some 30, 000 feet above it, a private plane soared, destined for North America.

Feliciano's face was pressed to the window pane. His warm breath evaporated off the frosty surface ever so slowly. "Bella," he whispered at the huge mass of water and ice below him.

Ludwig sat beside him, leaning with his back to the wonderful view. He was eyeing his companion curiously, appearing to be deep in thought. Kiku was sprawled on the seat opposite them, sleeping soundlessly.

Just then a voice came over the intercom. "Good afternoon ladies, this is your captain speaking. It's looking pretty awesome today, what with…well, some water, some ice, and more water. The sun's in my face, which is actually awesome because I can wear my awesome sunglasses. Have a nice day."

Ludwig looked annoyed. "Gilbert, shut up!" he shouted to the cockpit. Gilbert turned to face him, wearing his headset and aviators. He flashed a grin at his brother and gave him a thumbs-up before turning back to the controls in front of him.

Ludwig scowled and shifted to his original position, leaning his head against the open window. He closed his eyes. It was finally Christmas, the time of year when everything going on in the world suddenly came to a halt. Enemies gave up their differences to celebrate the holiday together. Tons of people got married. People who were friends became closer. Friends…

"Hey Ludwig, look outside! The ocean is so pretty!" Feliciano said excitedly.

Ludwig turned towards the Italian. His bright amber eyes reflected the sunlight in a way that lit up his entire face. He was beaming with the thrill of discovery and his little curly strand of hair was twitching. Ludwig's heart skipped a beat. He couldn't remember when he first realized he was in love with Feliciano…and he still didn't know why. He constantly needed to be looked after and rescued, and told every single one of Ludwig's secrets to anyone who asked. There really was no reason…he decided he would think it over later.

Feliciano pointed to his window. Leaning over to look through it, Ludwig stopped breathing. The scene was incredible. They were passing a group of islands, on which the giant lakes in the craters of long-dormant volcanoes acted like mirrors, making it seem like there was a sky inside of them. From far above, he could just barely make out the tiny roads criss-crossing around the mountains, and the lights of miniscule cars moving across them.

Feliciano squeezed in between Ludwig's chin and the window. His nose bumped softly against Feliciano's head, and he smelled the scent of freshly baked bread that always seemed to hover around him. He shifted closer to him, sliding one arm around Feliciano's shoulders. He leaned back to look at Ludwig, smiling. Ludwig wanted to keep this picture of Feliciano embedded in his mind forever, a picture even more beautiful than the scene outside of the window that day. They turned away from the glass pane.

Feliciano pulled away from him, standing up. "I have to pee, sorry Ludwig." He walked to the back of the plane.

Ludwig reluctantly resumed the position he was in before, letting his hand drop behind the seat. Another announcement came over the speaker. "Yeah, the plane's in autopilot now. Coming to join ya back there, West."

Gilbert pulled off his headset and moved his glasses to rest on top of his head. He stretched his arms and walked to where Ludwig was sitting. "So how're things going with your boyfriend?" he asked him.

Ludwig blushed and gritted his teeth. "Stop calling him that."

"Why? You're freaking head over heels for him, and he sleeps in your bed practically every day. Same diff."

Ludwig flinched. "No, it's not."

Kiku turned over, opening his eyes curiously. "Ludwig-san…do you love Feliciano-kun?" His speech was faltering.

Ludwig closed his eyes and brushed his hair back, covering his bright red cheeks. That's the last time I assume someone's asleep, he thought. He turned away and nodded.

Kiku didn't speak for a long time. He seemed to be debating how to respond to this. "Ludwig-san, I wish you the best of luck," he ended awkwardly. He faced the other way and went to sleep for real.

Gilbert laughed and retreated back into the cockpit before Ludwig could decide how to react.

Feliciano emerged from the washroom, sitting where he had been before. Ludwig let his arm drop from behind of the seat to Feliciano's back, the latter leaning his head against Ludwig's muscular shoulder. Ludwig debated within himself. Should I tell him? he thought. Gilbert already knows, and so does Kiku now… but will he understand what I mean? Lips trembling, they started to form words. The words were unwilling to come out of his mouth, but eventually, he managed a quiet "I love you."

Feliciano sighed. "I love you too, Ludwig."

"R-really?" he stuttered.

"Of course," Feliciano looked confused. "You're my best friend."

"…Oh."

Ludwig felt like he had just been stabbed. Feliciano only thought of him as a friend, nothing more. His head ached and swam giddily. Of course Feliciano didn't realize it, and within a matter of seconds he was fast asleep. Ludwig choked back tears. He wanted to cry, but he had too much pride to do so.

Instead, he carefully lowered Feliciano's head to rest on the seat, without waking him up, and walked to where Gilbert was sitting. He sat beside his brother in the co-pilot's seat. He hoped Gilbert didn't notice how terrible he felt at that moment.

"What's a matter West? You look like you're about to cry," Gilbert said, glancing at him.

Damn.

"Well, it's just, Feliciano…" Ludwig's voice was incredibly shaky. He put his hand over his mouth, unable to finish his sentence.

"What, is he dying, or something?"

Ludwig sighed, the breath struggling to come out normally. "No, he's fine, he just doesn't…he doesn't understand…" he hiccupped. "That I…how much I…"

"Ohhhhhhhh, I get it now," he said, smile disappearing. "Hey, man, are you okay? I mean, you've never confessed before, right?"

"Please, don't put it out there like that," he said, grimacing. "I just don't know what to do now."

"Hey! You've got the awesome me to help you here! I mean, I know quite a lot about that stuff!"

"Yeah, no thanks. I think Feliciano's a special case. I don't understand him."

Gilbert put his hands in the air. "Alright, I-"

"PLEASE put your hands back on the wheel," Ludwig cut in.

"Fine, I won't tell you what to do. Just do me a favour and call Kiku up here."

"Sure…" Ludwig left the cockpit, and headed to the seats. He shook Kiku awake.

"Uh…" Kiku said drowsily. He tensed awkwardly when he saw Ludwig. "What is it?" he asked.

"Gilbert wants you in the cockpit for some reason." He shrugged. He didn't know why either.

"Ah…Ludwig-san, are you okay?"

Ludwig faltered. Even Kiku noticed…

"I'm fine, don't worry," he said. Kiku made his way to the cockpit reluctantly.

Ludwig sighed and sat down beside the sleeping Feliciano. Feliciano's hair fell in front of his eyes, blocking his face from view. Ludwig brushed it out of the way.

A sudden screech was heard from the intercom. "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING ITALIA!" Gilbert's voice dominated the tiny plane's entire interior. "JUST LETTING ALL OUR GOOD PASSENGERS KNOW THAT I'M PUTTING ON SOME MUSIC! OH, AND I'M CLOSING THE DOOR BETWEEN THE COCKPIT AND THE PLANE TOO JUST TO GIVE MY GOOD PASSENGERS SOME PRIVACY! THAT MEANS, QUALITY ALONE TIME!" Ludwig heard the opening chords to the song "I Want to Hold Your Hand" over the speaker. That bastard, he thought. Beside him, Feliciano was getting up and rubbing his eyes.

"Ve…?" He said drowsily, sitting up. "Gilbert woke me up from a really good dream." He sighed and leaned back, sliding his hand into Ludwig's and squeezing it tightly. "You were in it, Ludwig."

Ludwig started to shake, increasingly conscious of Feliciano's delicate palm pressing against his sweaty one. He hoped Feliciano wouldn't notice, and tried to draw his attention away by speaking. "So…erm…what was it about?"

"We were at Alfred's house already…and I was running around in the snow…and it was really fun!" The Italian beamed excitedly. "And then you came and started playing in the snow with me too!"

Ludwig couldn't picture himself doing that…

Feliciano continued. "I would be happy if you were like that all the time, Ludwig. Just relaxing and having fun together is okay with me."

Ludwig opened his mouth to start saying how it was Feliciano's fault that he never had time to relax and was usually in a bad mood, but he stopped himself, thinking better of it. He and Feliciano listened to the words of the song playing from the speakers. iAnd when I touch you I feel happy inside…It's such a feeling that my love, I can't hide…/i

But then again, Feliciano also calms me down sometimes too… he thought.

"Are you happy, Ludwig?" he asked, moving so his face was almost directly in front of Ludwig's.

Ludwig tried to command the blush creeping up into his face to stop. He's so cute like that… "I-I'm happy," he replied simply, looking away from him.

"That's good." Feliciano let go of Ludwig's hand to put his arms around his shoulders.

Shakily, Ludwig hugged him back. He held him lightly, for fear that he would break his spine if he squeezed any tighter. Feliciano was so fragile, like a flower petal. Ludwig kissed the top of his head while listening to the music. Oh please, say to me you'll let me be your man, oh please say to me you'll let me hold your hand…I wanna hold your hand, I wanna hold your hand.

This is enough for me, Ludwig thought. Just being…like this with him is all I need for now. One of these days I'll tell him again. And he will understand me when I do.

End