So I have a major problem. I think of more stories than I have the time or ability to write, or finish for that matter... Anyways, if I ever come around to this again, this is a GerIta. Yes, yes, I know. Save your dramatic gasps for a real surprise. I know I'm not a particular fan of this ship, and yet… here we are.

I'm trying out a new writing style with this story, so I would really appreciate your comments. Anything you thought or want me to consider would be great. If you're just going to be mean, then don't-it's pretty simple.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.

Prologue: Memories of a Forgotten Past

A tiny Italian boy clothed as a girl was scurrying across the backyard, trying to catch the most beautiful butterfly he had ever seen. His tiny stray curl bounced in the wind as his big brown eyes honed in on the winged creature fluttering a few inches out of the reach of his chubby hands.

Mere feet away, a boy was watching the other's actions from the comfort of the stoop—blue eyes admiring the feminine form of the other child, unbeknownst to the true gender of the brunet with whom he was intrigued. He continued to gaze at the beautiful boy, noticing the way his dress rose ever so slightly when he reached out for the delicate being. Suddenly an idea washed over him. The blond ran inside and returned with two butterfly nets. He never actually learned their intended purpose, but when the Italian was cleaning, he noticed them in the costume chest. Although he knew the brunet's parents would be upset if anything happened to these memories of a Halloween past, the blond deemed the risk worth it—anything to see that Italian's cute smile.

"Feli! Look what I found!" he proclaimed, distracting the other boy from his what might have been a never-ending quest to capture a butterfly.

"Good thinking, Ludwig!" Feliciano ran over to the shaded area near the steps into the house. He took one of the nets with a thank you then inspected the quality, determining if it would harm the flying beauty. Once he deemed it safe, the Italian rewarded his friend with a hug. Turning his head back to the sky above the grassy play area, he noted that his prize was still hovering in the same spot, and then realized the opportunity two nets provided him with: a playmate.

Ludwig was still blushing from his hug when Feliciano asked him to join in on the fun. Stuttering too much for words, the German nodded eagerly. Together, the duo fled the house's shade and braved the golden rays of the sun.

Time flew by as they played through the pattern of catching and then releasing the butterfly. It wasn't until the first star came out did Ludwig notice exactly how late it had gotten. Today, he had permission to sleep over the Italian's home, but that did not give him the right to ignore his curfew. Always a stickler for the rules, he requested the two of them go back inside. A bit disappointed, Feliciano agreed, but a few seconds later, the brunet was rolling out a list of ideas of all the games they could play inside.

That had to be the best thing about Feliciano—his overflowing jar of optimism. It was the first thing that attracted Ludwig to him.

After carefully putting the butterfly nets back exactly where he found them, Ludwig went to Feliciano's room, where the two played Candyland until the Italian's mom called lights out. Well, that was more a figure of speech. The brunet was terrified of the dark.

Ludwig, being a gentleman, even at his young age of seven, chose to sleep on the floor; however, when the night lifted, he awoke to find his Italian friend adorably asleep mere inches from his face. There was no plausible way the boy could have fallen from his bed and magically landed on the opposite side of the room tucked into the make-shift bed, which was simply a mesh of blankets and pillows. He must have snuck in sometime during the night. The German smiled at the thought that his friend wanted to be close to him and blushed slightly at how close he really was. Deciding to surprise the Italian, he went to fetch breakfast for the two of them.

The brunet's mother already had two plates of pasta ready when she noticed the blond carefully making his way down the stairs, clinging to the railing with every step. "Cautious one, aren't you?"

"Huh?" Ludwig asked, surprised. "I was just… I wanted to bring our food up to the room." The German bit his lip nervously. "May I please?"

"It's okay, sweetie. I'll bring it up," the older woman smiled, placing miniature utensils on the same tray that held the children's breakfast.

"But…" The blond stood at the plateau of the steps staring at his feet, holding his hands behind his back nervously. "It's just that I wanted to…" He let his voice trail off, not really sure how to complete his thought.

The woman seemed to understand, because she nodded. "Tell you what, I'll take this." She lifted up the tray and made her way over to the steps. "Upstairs, and when we get in front of the room, you can bring it inside. How does that sound?"

The boy's face lit up as he nodded compliantly. He ran up the top of the steps and waited with his arms extended in preparation for the task. When Mrs. Vargas made it to the top of the steps, she gently placed the tray into the boy's arms, trying to see if it was too much for the young one to carry. He managed better than she imagined. With a gentle smile, she pushed open the door for the young German before making her way back down to the first floor to retrieve drinks from the kitchen.

Ludwig woke the sleeping Italian, advising him to spend more of his morning awake. Regardless, seeing the food his blond friend had brought up, created one of the most beautiful smile the German had ever seen grace the features of the brunet. Later, he came to call it the 'Pasta Smile,' because only pasta could create such happiness for Feliciano; however, he secretly vowed to one day rename it the 'Ludwig Smile.'

Many months passed since Ludwig had first laid eyes on the Italian's special smile, and not a day went by where he didn't try to make it his own. Along the way, he learned more about his crush and their bond grew stronger for it. One evening, he got the idea to paint together. Feliciano was dripping with artistic ability, while the German was not as fortunate; however, he figured that since seeing the brunet's art always made him smile, he would try to give the Italian the same pleasure.

They set up two canvases next to each other, facing the forest that started at the end of Feliciano's backyard. The woods were fenced off by gray interlocking metal string, except for a small part near the bottom that wasn't really noticeable to anyone who didn't know it was there. The Italian, well aware of its presence, loved it, because now and then a small animal would slip through and brighten his day. As luck would have it, a creature decided to come visit the children. The two watched in awe as the white as snow cottontail squeezed itself through the tiny opening. Being a tad too big for the tight space, it was forced to wriggle its body until it came out the other side.

Fascinated with the animal, Feliciano ran up to the bunny and picked it up. He hugged it closely and then held it away at arm's length to get a better look. "I'm going to call you Romano," the boy declared. "And from now on you can be my brother." The Italian ran over to Ludwig and introduced him to his new brother. "I've always wanted a brother," the child explained, petting the rabbit. "I know!" Feliciano yelped, full of excitement. He placed the bunny on the ground and positioned his head to look towards the house. "Stay there please," he asked. "I am going to paint you!" The child ran back to his painting station and grabbed his brush.

Ludwig ambled over to behind his brunet friend and watched as he created life on the canvas. Each stroke was like a wave of a wand, all part of some intricate spell to create a cottontail. Whatever magic it was, the German knew it was working. Slowly, the creature became more realistic and grew more beautiful. The blond only wished he had half the talent his friend did.

When Feliciano was done, he signed the bottom right corner minutely in his clumsy cursive. He turned to his friend and handed him the brush. "Don't you wanna try?" he inquired of his blond friend expectantly. Ludwig was pulled out of his trance with the brunet's words. With a shy smile, he accepting the painting tool and began to work on his own replication of the image in front of him.

Despite his best efforts, the blond could barely mix the colors together properly. His green was too dark because he had originally used far much more blue than he intended to let out of the paint bottle. The next problem was trying to balance it out with the yellow, which was much more difficult than Feliciano made it look. What seemed to be a simple motion for the brunet was one of the most trying experiences the German had ever met. Eventually, he arrived at an acceptable hue—and quite a bit of it. Well, that was an understatement: his palette was basically drowning in the color. To his surprise, the blending of paint was not the hardest part. Actually painting was incomprehensibly infuriating. For starters, the grass was never straight enough, and when he painted over anything, the color got darker. A few minutes in, his grass was blotched with dark shades of green grass that nearly took up half of the canvas.

"Want help?" the brunet offered with a smile. He had simply been watching the German's frustrations, legitimately enjoying the way Ludwig was trying his best. A quality the Italian secretly admired in his blond friend—his ability to never shy away from any task, despite how hopeless it may have appeared.

Ludwig uttered a soft please and looked to his friend for advice—anything to make this task seem less arduous.

"You're holding it wrong," Feliciano explained. "Hold it more like a pencil and less like a bat."

Not really understanding what the brunet meant, Ludwig moved his grip closer to the middle of the brush. The Italian chuckled slightly at his friend's confusion. "Here," he began, taking the blond's hand in his own. "Like this."

The slight physical contact with the brunet was more than enough to send him into a blushing rage. Immediately, he reacted by dropping the paint palette in his left hand and the brush from his right, contaminating the artistic tool with a mix of dirt and grass.

The Italian studied him in bewilderment, but smiled nonetheless. "I guess next time I have to remember to bring more supplies." Feeling to blame for the day's uneventful art experience, Feliciano tried to make amends by gifting the German with his finished painting. "Here, I want you to have it."

"I can't accept this… you worked so hard on it," the blond protested, taking a step back.

"I can make another one," Feliciano explained, shoving the work into his friend's hands. "Just take it."

Trying to contain his excitement, the German nodded and carefully took the work into his small hands.

That day the two shared was one of Ludwig's fondest memories, and that painting was his most prized possessions. In all honesty, he wished he could make even fonder memories with his Italian friend, but life had other plans-his family was moving. The German's father got a better job offer in his home country. He never wanted to tell the Italian, but during his last days in America, he realized he had no other choice.

The two spent the day sitting in the backyard, neither daring to utter a word. Perhaps hoping that if they stopped moving, time would halt with them. On that day, the grass was its most vibrant green, and nature was more active—birds chirped, bunnies hopped, and the wind whistled softly in their ears. But Feliciano knew he couldn't simply pretend his problems away, so as the sun began to set, the Italian decided he was done acting as a statue. The boy could already see Ludwig's father coming for him in the distance. Acting now on pure instinct, he leaned towards his friend and pressed his lips onto the blond's, tears running down their cheeks.

Before today, the Italian had planned on giving up on their friendship-he didn't see any point in pretending that the two had a chance; nevertheless, that kiss rejuvenated the boy's sense of optimism. As he watched his first love walk off into the sunset, he wiped his eyes and decided: despite the wall that time was sure to put between them, Feliciano vowed he would see Ludwig again. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with that by-the-book German, and by pasta he wasn't going to let anything get in his way….

You made it this far? That's fantastic!

Here's the deal, I haven't been the best with keeping up with my multichapter fics in the past, so I'm going to try to take it slow. As an American young adult, I will have school to get back soon. My plan is to slowly but steadily continue this story. Expect the next chapter anywhere from two weeks to a month from now. (Most likely two weeks.)

Until then, I wish you all the best!