Complete Dissolution
Summary: [AU Implied GilbertRoderich] Even after WWII he had never really wondered how he was still around. He knew now… But only because he was about to go…
Warning: This fic contains implied shounen-ai and character death. Kindly hit the back button if this isn't your cup of tea.
Author's Note: I'm rating it T for the character death… There isn't any swearing but better safe than sorry.
Disclaimer: I don't own Axis Powers Hetalia. The characters are not mine. Only the story is. Some ideas were suggested by a friend.
Gilbert Beilschmidt had never really wondered why he was still around even after the dissolution of Prussia. He didn't really care either. In his opinion, it had been because he was awesome. That was enough of a reason for him.
Of course that wasn't the real reason. He found, during an encounter with the Austrian nation that the reason he was still around was something completely different to Gilbert's idea of just being awesome.
~Flashback~
"I always wondered why you were still around." Roderich stopped playing the piano and brought his hands down to his lap as he turned his head to look at the Prussian leaning on the window sill. "So I examined your dissolution papers. You'll never guess what I found." He wasn't asking him to guess, he knew what his guess would be.
Gilbert half-wondered in amazement how the shorter nation had managed to get his hands on said papers. Last he checked, they were locked away in his brother's vault. "It's cause I'm awesome!" He grinned happily. He only said it to annoy the brunette. It worked.
Roderich twitched in response, pushing up his glasses a little. "Yes, well…" He paused for a moment, looking into the other nation's crimson eyes. "You're 'awesomeness' isn't what's keeping you here." He stressed the word 'awesomeness' sarcastically, making the blond twitch a little. Couldn't he see how awesome he was?! "Anyway," he continued. "I found out that there's this little patch of land that wasn't given to anybody. There's a 5 by 5 square meters of land that is technically still called Prussia."
Gilbert just stared. He was around because of a little square of land?! That sounded so lame! At least if he said it was because he was awesome it would sound cooler. Still… "And why haven't you told anyone?" He was happy he hadn't of course (his awesomeness lived on because of it), he was just curious. The Austrian had to have reasons.
"Because I highly doubt you can cause trouble by owning a patch of land that's only 5 by 5 square meters and that happens to be populated by Gilbirds. I checked what was there. It's covered with birds." The brunette went back to his playing as he finished explaining his reason. To Gilbert it sounded like a dumb reason. He could be troublesome no matter how much land he owned!
~End Flashback~
He leaned his head back on the wall he was sitting against. He closed his crimson eyes, listening to the mix of conversations taking place in the room. It seemed that Ivan had gotten curious about his supposed dissolution. Despite his child-like innocence, even he realized the little loophole. Of course to Ivan, this just meant another chance to make the world one with him. He pointed out the fine print during a UN meeting, saying that since he found it first, the land should belong to him.
"It's the only solution that makes sense. Da?" He kept that oddly childish smile as he looked around the quiet meeting. All eyes were on him as they pondered the discovery and the solutions.
"Nein!" The German nation's booming voice broke the silence as he slammed his hand on the table. "That loophole is there because of me!" He admitted, glaring at the Russian. "And I will not sit here and let you take what is left of my brother!"
The Russian wasted no time in replying. "Then to war, Deutschland." He laughed afterwards as all eyes turned back to the German.
Ludwig's expression never betrayed his feelings. It was as he feared. Either way, when this war ended, he was going to lose his brother. Like any war, land would be claimed. However, and his fist clenched a little, he was not going to let the Russian have him. Not on his life.
The Prussian listened through the wall as the bickering quieted down. It seemed that two rather large countries would soon be at war over him. He felt special. His heart raced a little when he heard Roderich speak, saying that he would side with Ludwig. The Baltic nations grudgingly sided with the Russian, but the Nordics took the side of the heartbroken brother. Many other sides were chosen and to Gilbert, it almost sounded like another world war was going to start. Over a small little square of land! Now he really felt special.
The doors to the meeting room burst opened as the nations left, talking amongst themselves. Some saw the Prussian and glanced at him sadly as they passed. Though he could be a pain, they knew that Gilbert's days were numbered, and they would miss him when he was gone.
Soon enough they were all but gone, leaving only the brothers and a long silence that seemed to envelop them. The younger of the two scuffed his boot against the floor, breaking the silence as he looked into his brother's crimson eyes. "You know that you can't fight, right?" He had a point and Gilbert groaned. One boring war, coming up. Being the prize sucked. He scowled as the German nation continued. "I promise you I will win. I know that I can't let you stay around but… I will not let that Russian scumbag have you."
"Yeah, I know you won't." The Prussian answered, confident in his brother's abilities. "Won't change my habits."
"Why don't you stay at Roderich's place instead? He has a piano."
"You have one too." He reminded him.
"But it's old and dusty and not working."
"Then I'll clean and tune it. And then play it with my awesomeness since that's how it works with me."
Ludwig looked away, staring instead at a painting on the hallway wall. "And then I won't want to go back in that room…" He muttered quietly.
Gilbert sent him a questioning glance but said nothing. If he didn't want to say things to him, that was his choice.
***
Time passed slowly for the Prussian, even as he busied himself with the piano. The German nation hadn't been kidding. The piano had been left alone for a long time to collect dust in the unused room. He opened the window, letting the sun and the occasional Gilbird in as he set to work.
He paused mid-cleaning and glanced around. It was possible that his brother would avoid this room when it was all over. If that was the case, he'd make it special in case if ever did brave the last room the Prussian would be in. Grabbing a paper, he scrawled a quick message with the intent of leaving it on the piano the day it all ended. It was a simple message, a request.
A chirping noise caught his attention and he turned his head to find a Gilbird on his shoulder. The bird stared at him with beady black eyes and he couldn't help but smile at it. Gently petting the small yellow avian's feathers, he sighed a little. "If you see West in this room, come say hi will ya?" He earned a chirp in response and figured it was a "yes".
With the window opened he could hear everything going on outside the German estate. From the sound of soldiers marching in the street to the voices coming from the front of the house, he almost had a sort of play by play. One voice caught his ears and he listened, without making a sound to the conversation that Roderich and his brother were having. From the other voices he could hear, it sounded like America, Canada, England and France were also on Ludwig's side. He almost laughed. The last time there had been a war, his brother hadn't been working with most of them. Now, he had their full support.
He felt comforted by that. At least he knew that there would be people to take care of his brother. His mind wandered to the Austrian, forcing a frown to crease his brow. Who would look out for Roderich? He supposed the only one who could do that was probably Elizabeta. She was the last person he wanted to trust him to but... Better someone the no one. His plans made sense in his head.
***
Even after the piano had been cleaned and tuned, he barely had the heart to play. It wasn't the same as playing around Roderich. At least with the Austrian he could annoy him by playing silly tunes like "Three Blind Mice". He chuckled at the memory. Who knew that Roderich liked proper piano playing that much? He hadn't known it until the Austrian nation had pounced him.
He poked at the keys, listening to the radio as it broadcasted updates on the war at hand. The stations hadn't even been given the real reason for the conflict. This battle would go down in history as "the war where Germany and Russia got mad at each other". He scoffed. If only they knew. Though it was better that they didn't know. He was supposed to be gone so, it was better that they never know about the patch of land that had kept him there.
By the sounds of it, things seemed to be going in favour of Germany. Without the snow that normally blanketed Russia, they were having no trouble getting into the country. He supposed they should count their lucky stars for that. The last time Germany had attempted to invade Russia it had ended badly. He reached over to the small table and flicked the radio off, cutting the announcer short as he made a prediction of the war ending soon. He didn't want to hear that.
He started playing slowly as he felt one Gilbird settle on his shoulder and another on his head. The notes cascaded from the piano rhythmically as he played, flowing with the breeze through the empty house and through the opened window beside him where even some passer-by stopped to listen.
He figured he would make the most of the time he had left. He couldn't really spend it with the other nations after all, they were fighting. Of course, he'd give anything to be fighting with them. He knew for a fact that Roderich wasn't the best at fighting. Still, he felt light blush paint his cheeks knowing that the Austrian was fighting for him. Though really, they were fighting to give the chunk of land to its proper owner, namely Ludwig.
He wondered how long it would take. He didn't want it ending any time soon but at the same time he didn't like worrying about people. He didn't want them fighting. Though he figured that was because of Ludwig and Roderich. Still he kept playing at the piano's notes, his mind elsewhere on the battles being fought.
***
It was over. The radio stations had been right with their predictions of a quick end. Not even a year. They'd all forget this conflict in no time. When Ludwig finally came home that night, Gilbert had to admit he looked like crap. They stood on the threshold, staring at each other without saying anything for a long moment before the German nation walked closer and pulled him into a tight hug. Both nations knew what was coming.
Gilbert was surprised though. The fact that the war was over didn't bother him as much as he thought it would. What bothered him was that he hadn't listened to the radio that day and therefore, had no idea who won. His train of thought broke when he heard Ludwig saying something.
"...and the treaty signing is going to be in Berlin in a few weeks."
Gilbert shook his head, clearing his annoyed thoughts in the process. "Sorry, what?" He grinned a little. He was sorry but at the same time, making people repeat was fun.
The German nation frowned. Gilbert's lack of attentiveness always got to him. "Allow me to repeat then." He waited for the other's full attention. "Russia surrendered. I have no idea why so don't ask. We talked and the treaty signing is going to be in Berlin in a few weeks."
"Right." Maybe he didn't want to hear that. Either way he was happy that his brother's side had won. So now he was down to a few weeks. He'd spend them with Roderich and his brother at least. The piano was room was set up for later on, when his brother would go in. That's all he really had to do. He wasn't scared of dying. He was scared of leaving them alone.
***
Time seemed to fly for the doomed nation. He stared at the calendar the morning of, glaring at the dates that had flown by without warning. Hearing a familiar voice, he turned towards the door to the Austrian nation standing there. He got to his feet, watching the other man frown.
"Time to go I guess?" All he got was a nod in response. Roderich looked like he was trying to wake up from a nightmare.
The trip was short. The signing wasn't. Everyone stood around as the documents were read aloud to finalize the thing. When he long-winded speech ended, the nations in question started to sign the document one by one. The German nation would be the last to sign.
He closed his eyes as Ludwig brought pen to paper. All voices and all the noises seemed to fade in the background as he listened to his brother sign his name. The silence was agonizing as the pen scratched the paper rhythmically. The pen moved from the paper and that was that. The German nation looked up from the document, tears stinging his eyes as everyone's attention was directed to the former Prussian.
It was an odd sensation. It wasn't anything like dying in a war and appearing back home. It felt like he was being erased. Not from history and not from his journals, but from the present and the future. He opened his eyes and locked gazes with a pair of amethyst Austrian eyes. Roderich felt tears stream down his face as he watched the man he loved slowly disappear in a flock of Gilbirds.
He was nothing but a bust when he looked into his brother's cerulean eyes. The tears that had been threatening to overwhelm the German had succeeded and were streaming down his face as he watched. Gilbert felt a tear slip down his own cheek. He wanted to say something but, for once (and of course it had to be now) words failed him. With a final grin he disappeared as the Gilbirds dispersed.
As the last one disappeared from view, a heavy sadness fell on the nations. Prussia was no more.
Nein - "No" in German
Author's Note: *bawls eyes out* I'm sorry Gilbert! I love you, I swear I have plans for an epilogue! Look out for it!