"Hello Ludwig." I whispered.
"Hello Alfred." He replied.
"Such a shame that we met like this. I would rather us meet at dinner or something."
"Yes that would have been much nicer but that's not how it worked out."
"Well I'm glad that of all people I could have been stuck with, it was you."
"Same."
Now the events leading up to this was all very interesting, It started out at a meeting. Everyone was there. Some people even recognized Matt. The conference was about the war that was going on between Feliks and Ivan. Soon everyone started to choose sides. I choose Feliks's side, he was strong and the victim of Ivan's wrath. Francis and Arthur chose Ivan's side. Everyone started to talk about war preparations. I realized what we were getting into but it was too late by then. No one would listen, everything was chaos.
Soon everyone left, either going to Poland or Russia. Ludwig and I were the only ones left, the only sane persons to be found in the axis and allies. We decided that together we should try to stop the war, to fix the troubles. We also agreed that Ivan had to be stopped, he was out of control.
First we went to Poland. They were a lot less…..Scary….. Anyway, we went and tried to talk some sense into them, tried to get them to sign a peace treaty. They refused to unless the Russian's signed it first.
Our time in Russia was a frightening one. We were under constant surveillance as if we were on Feliks's side. When we showed them the peace treaty they just laughed, saying that it was just paper and wouldn't stop any wars or battles. We were rejected again.
Feliks laughed when we showed up with the unsigned treaty. He laughed because he said he knew that it was going to happen. Said he knew that Ivan was primeval enough to say that. Our treaty solved nothing. We tried to get to the root of the problem. We got the story from Feliks and from Ivan. The main reason for this war? Toris.
Feliks loved Toris. Ivan loved to mistreat Toris. Feliks cared and took care of Toris. Ivan tortured him and beat him. When Feliks stood up for Toris, Ivan beat him. Ivan started the war by separating the two lovers, by trying to tear apart their love for each other.
While in Poland, I saw Feliks cry bitterly. I saw him weep over a picture of Toris, moaning about how he missed him. He wrote Toris a letter, begged me and Ludwig to deliver it.
While in Russia we saw Toris chained up, bloody and beaten. We never saw him crying because of the pain, we only saw him crying because of the letter. It was touching, I'll admit it. Ludwig read it out loud, due to the fact that Ivan would not unchain Toris.
We couldn't let any battles take place. We had to fix this for the two lovers. Germany knew the feeling because of Feliciano. I knew the feeling because of Arthur.
The first battle was July 22. Feliks's birthday. Ludwig and I ran into the middle of the battle field, trying to stop it. How foolish of us. We didn't think of the land mines until it was too late. They went off, causing the ground to cave in under us, burying us in rubble. And this is where we are now.
"Why did we do this Ludwig? Why did we throw our lives away?" I asked, coughing. Blood spattered onto my face. I looked over to him. His blonde hair was now red with blood, his face coated in dirt. His once crisp clean and strong-looking uniform was destroyed.
"We did it…to save their true love. You know the feeling, You and Arthur, Feliciano and I. We wanted them to be happy, to be safe from Ivan the Terrible."
"Do you think they'll look for us? Do you think they even care? Or will they just fight on the ground above our bodies?" Tears started to stream down my face. I wasn't sure I would ever see my sweet Arthur ever again.
"I do not know. I saw some care on some of those faces. But I can not say anything for sure. Just promise me something." His voice seemed strained.
"What is it buddy? Anything." I said seriously.
"If I don't make it out of here…tell Feliciano that I love him. And that I will still protect him, even though I'm dead." His voice seemed desperate.
"I promise. But you can make it out of this. Don't give up yet! I know they'll come I just know it!" I sobbed. I wasn't so sure that I was going to make it out of this, let alone him, who was in a worse condition than I was.
"No Alfred, I'm not going to. I know my limits, and I will welcome death with open arms if it should come to me."
"Don't talk like that Ludwig! Think of Feliciano! Think of all of the others! You can't just give up! Fight for your life!" I shouted, tears still flowing down my dirtied cheeks.
"Don't forget your promise to me…." He reached out and took my hand. "I'm trusting you to pass my love to Feliciano."
"I won't forget it. I swear on my life. Not that it has much value right now. The hero always has to fall at sometime." I chuckled through my tears, then coughed up more blood. There was no reply.
"Ludwig. Ludwig! LUDWIG! No….." My tears continued to flow, a bitter reminder of what had happened. I gripped his hand tightly. "I'm gonna get us out of here….you still have a chance buddy. You might have given up, but I haven't." I started to scream at the top of my lungs. Surprisingly, I got a response. It was my sweet Arthur.
"I'm coming Alfred! Don't worry, just stay alive!" He shouted to me. Soon after some dirt fell in revealing a small patch of light. The hole was dug larger and larger until Arthur reached down to pull me out.
"No, get Ludwig out first. He need urgent medical care." Arthur reached over and pulled out the large man. A pair of strong gloved hands reached down and pulled me out. I recognized the owner of the gloved hands as Ivan.
"You really wanted this war to end. Well its over. So don't die on us, Da?" He whispered to me.
I looked over at my lover. "Is Ludwig okay?" I said hoarsly. He looked over at me grimly.
"He's dead Alfred. He was dead before we pulled him out." The tears started to flow again.
"This is all like, my fault! I can't believe I didn't just end the war before it even started." Feliks sobbed.
"No it's not your fault it's mine. I shouldn't have mistreated Toris. But we can't undo what is done." Ivan's voice was filled with sadness.
"No it's not either of you guy's fault. It's mine. I wanted to storm the field. Ludwig said it was a bad idea but I didn't listen to him. And look what I caused." I managed to choke out. "Where's Feliciano?" I whispered.
"He's over there…" Toris said, pointing towards Francis. Feliciano was sobbing on Francis's shoulder as Ludwig's body was carried away on a stretcher.
"Tell him to come over here. I need to tell him something, I promised Ludwig I would."
Arthur went over to Francis, and whispered something to him. Francis brought him over to me. "Feliciano….Ludwig wanted me to tell you…that he loves you. And that he will protect you, even in death." Feliciano crouched down beside me, weeping onto my shoulder.
Ludwig's funeral was crowded. Prussia and Austria spoke at it. Ludwig was buried in his finest uniform, something anyone would be proud to wear. Feliciano placed several paintings of Ludwig into the cascate along with a small picture of himself. I placed in an American flag and a German flag. "Consider us allies. For now, for life. I carried out the promise for you. I'll protect Feliciano if you want me to….you just have to ask me."
It's been six month's since his death. I visit his grave as often as I can. This time I bring flowers, dasies of vibrant colors. "It's just me again Ludwig…..I just wanted you to know that I miss you. Arthur and I…we're living together now. Feliciano's in the hospital….but he'll be out soon. I hope you wait for me on the other side, what ever it is. I just want you to know….that nothing is the same without you." Tears streamed down my face, landing onto the flowers like dew drops in dawns sun. "Don't forget us Ludwig."