Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia

Knock, Knock, Knock.

Lithuania almost dropped the vase he was dusting when he heard the banging on the door. With shaking hands, he put it back on the shelf while he looked nervously at the source of the sound. It has been a while since anyone had come over to his house for a friendly chat.

What if it's Russia or Germany? The weight in his stomach asked him. He knew they were both trying to take him over again; they had been trying ever since he gained his independence.

I'm not prepared for a fight! They're going to ambush me and take me away and I will never be free again-

A second set of impatient knocking made him snap back to attention, and as much as he tried to quell his nerves, he had no luck.

Slowly, as though his feet were lead, he went to the kitchen and pulled out the largest, sharpest knife he could find. Gathering his courage, he made his way to the door.

Looking out the peephole, he expected the worst: Germany, with hundreds of soldiers prepared to rip the door off its hinges and drag him away kicking and screaming; or Russia, with his cold, cruel smile and even crueler boss, asking him in a sickly sweet tone, "Won't you come with me, so we can be one? It would make me very happy, da!"

As if he had a choice…

However, when Lithuania looked outside, he found someone he wouldn't have expected in a million years.

"Poland!" Lithuania whispered. He cursed under his breath. Why the hell would he come here?

"Like, open the door, Liet," came Poland's valley girl accent, the same as ever. "I totally know you're in there."

Annoyed, Lithuania swung the door open, glaring at his ex husband.

"What the hell do you want, Poland? Why are you here?"

To his surprise, Poland backed away, putting his hands up in surrender. "Relax, there's, like, no need to get violent. I only want to talk."

Lithuania gave him a questioning look until he glanced down and saw the knife was still in his hand, pointed at Poland. He lowered his hand to his side but did not let go of the blade.

"You still haven't answered my question, Poland. Why are you here?"

"I think it's about time we put our differences aside and reestablish our relations to the way they were before… everything. It is now more important than ever to secure our borders to defend ourselves against Russia and Germany."

"You-you're joking?" Lithuania scoffed, incredulous. "If you think you can waltz in here and demand I let you back into my life, you can forget it. Have a nice drive back to Warsaw."

As Lithuania was about to slam his door shut, Poland caught it with his foot.

"I will give you back Vilnius," he offered, with a hint of desperation. Lithuania stopped in his tracks, and opened the door, just wide enough to give him full view of the Polish man.

"Under what conditions?" Lithuania asked, skeptical. An infuriating smirk appeared on Poland's face, and Lithuania felt the urge to slap him.

"Let me in, and I'll tell you all about it."

With a sigh, Lithuania opened the door all the way and stepped aside to let the cocky Polish man in. He made a beeline straight towards the couch, putting his feet up on the coffee table like he owned the place.

"You better not try anything Poland, or I'll make you wish you never came here," Lithuania said as he shoved the Polish man's feet to the ground.

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm a country. I was never 'born,'" retorted Poland as he draped his feet across Lithuania's lap, smirking at his obvious frustration. Lithuania shoved him off, harder this time.

"Either tell me about Vilnius or get out; I don't have time for this shit."

"Testy, testy," Poland tsked. Regardless, he pulled out a document from his pocket, and handed it to Lithuania. "I think you might change your tune after giving this a looksie."

Liet unfolded it and grabbed his reading glasses. As he was reading it over, Poland couldn't help but to notice how much he missed seeing Lithuania wearing them. As soon as the random thought appeared to him, he shrugged it off. After a few minutes, Lithuania rested the document on the coffee table and turned towards his former friend.

"So, what do you think?" Poland asked, unable to keep the smirk off his face.

"You're taking advantage of me," Lithuania accused. "You know my government is weak right now, that I have little help from outside countries. How dare you try to issue me an ultimatum after everything you did?"

"What are you getting so upset about? I'm giving you Vilnius back!" Poland pointed out, confused. "You should be thanking me. You've been whining about it for years, and now I'm handing it to you on a silver platter."

"You shouldn't have taken it in the first place!" Lithuania shouted. "Vilnius is mine, it always has been. You don't get to steal something, keep it for twenty years, and then give it back expecting to be hailed as a hero!"

"Oh my God, what's your problem?! I'm trying to make amends with you and all you can do is bitch. You can never let anything go!"

"That's because you hurt me!" Lithuania exclaimed. "I trusted you. I thought you would never hurt me, at least not like that. You were the one person I thought I could count on, and you betrayed me. You stole my capital right after I became independent and was trying to get myself together!"

Poland's lip quivered for a split-second before he lashed out with words once again.

"Oh, you just love playing the victim, don't you? Well, you weren't the only one hurt!" The blond cried, tears streaming down his face. "I loved you; I wanted us to be together! The thought of you was the only thing that kept me sane while I was being passed around by Russia, Prussia, and Austria." Poland dried his eyes with the back of his sleeve.

"I just gained my independence from Russia then. Did you expect me to want to live under another country's rule right after everything I went through?"

"Live under another country's rule?" Poland asked, confused. "I didn't want to rule you, I wanted to rule beside you. I wanted us to be a Commonwealth, like we were in the old days."

Lithuania snorted. "Do you even remember the Commonwealth, Poland? You always told me what to do, what to wear, and how to talk. You always got the final say on all our decisions, and treated me like a second-class citizen."

"No, I didn't!" Poland protested. "We were equals, we loved each other. I wanted us to be as happy as we were back then. Just because you insist on seeing everything as my fault-"

"It is your fault!" Lithuania exclaimed. "You made me speak Polish, eat your foods, and adapt to your culture while you dismissed everything about mine! I just wanted to be on my own for a while, but you were too selfish to even allow me to do that much. You just can't stand it when everything isn't about you!"

"Well, you're a stubborn old man with a constant stick up his ass!"

"You know what? Just get out!" Lithuania exclaimed, rubbing his temples together. "I'm done with dealing with you. We will never see eye-to-eye, so this is pointless."

"What about the agreement?" Poland asked. "You can't be stupid enough to turn an offer like that down. If you refuse, not only will you lose Vilnius, but all the other countries will know how much of an unreasonable moron you are!"

Lithuania looked hesitant for a moment, but shook his head and looked Poland straight in the eye.

"I couldn't care less about what the other nations think of me... and Vilnius will always be mine, whether or not you or anyone else recognizes that."

Poland looked on in shock at the stubborn man for a moment, then balled up his fists while trying to hold back another flood of tears.

"If you hate me that much, fine! But I'm leaving the agreement here, just in case you get over yourself. You have 48 hours to decide." Poland stormed out of the tiny house, using his hair as a curtain to cover his face. The last thing he needed was for Lithuania to see him cry. Again.

As Lithuania watched Poland slam the door to his house and heard him break down into tears on his front porch, he felt his anger soften, just a little. He thought about going after him for a moment, but soon dismissed the idea.

It's his own fault for being so presumptuous! Who does he think he is?

And yet, Lithuania eyes the document on the table once again. He sighed as he walked over and read through the conditions once again.

Well, the demands aren't too out there, especially for Poland. It couldn't hurt to at least show it to my boss and see what he thinks…

Poland was sitting all alone in his bedroom in Warsaw. The 48 hours he had given Lithuania to agree to decline his ultimatum were almost up, and still he hasn't heard a word from the other nation.

Why is he being so stupid? the blond asked himself. He should jump at such an opportunity! Does he still hate me that much? As much as he didn't want to admit it, Poland still loved Lithuania and cared about what he thought of him.

Maybe I overreacted when I took Vilnius, but I'm giving it back! The least Liet could do is accept my apology…

Wait… I never apologized, did I?

...Well, it doesn't matter, anyway! This agreement would benefit us both, and if Liet is too stupid to see that…

Just then, he heard his phone ring. Startled, because no one ever called him except his boss and two other nations he would rather not think about ever again, he took a moment to answer it.

"F-Feliks Lukasiewicz, personification of the free Polish state speaking," he said, cringing at the tremble in his voice.

"Poland, it's Lithuania," the voice on the other side responded.

"Liet?" Poland asked, confused. "Why are you calling me?"

"To give you my answer regarding your ultimatum." Lithuania paused. "While a good number of my people are against it, my boss, parliament, and I have accepted your conditions. We will reestablish diplomatic connections with you."

"Y-you have?" Poland asked, unable to keep the glee out of his voice.

"Er, yes. We have decided that this will be beneficial for both our nations."

"Liet?"

"Yes?"

"... I'm sorry. About… well, you know."

Lithuania was silent for a moment before answering. "I'll see you soon to drop off the documents."

Poland felt a smile growing on his face. "See you then."

After they ended their conversation, Poland couldn't help but feel relief wash over him. Maybe, if he played his cards right, he and Liet could be friends once again.

-This story is largely based off the 1938 Polish Ultimatum to Lithuania.