Disclaimer: Hetalia doesn't belong to me, I'm not that hilarious^^
Warnings: Amnesia, Battlefield gore, mentions of WWI
Chapter 1: Rebirth of a Nation
Germany was born on a battlefield, waking up without memories, bathed in blood and the guts of his enemies and his own soldiers. He had wandered the valley for days before Prussia found him and cautiously approached him. By that time, people from the villages around the battlefield had started to bury the dead and clean up the broken weaponry and bodies. They had never even glanced at him. Maybe he didn't exist at all, the small blond nation thought after a while.
Prussia found him sitting under a tree, leaning against the trunk, the blond hair crusted with dried blood, his skin pale and sickly and his blue eyes as empty as a dead man's eyes. For a moment he thought the child-nation was dead. Then those empty eyes landed on him, without recognition, without hope or desperation.
"West?" Prussia asked and the gaze sharpened, but still not in recognition but in surprise.
"You can see me?" the voice was barely a whisper and so broken from disuse that Prussia's heart thumped painfully in his chest.
"Yes, I can see you." Prussia answered and took a step closer before kneeling down to be eye to eye with the boy, his little brother.
"Who are you?" Germany asked, a slight frown on his young face and Prussia's heart broke. His little brother was gone, they maybe didn't kill him, but they took everything that was important.
"I'm your brother, West." he said, trying to be calm in the face of mourning his little brother. The broken little boy in front of him smiled slightly, his teeth were still bloody, even after days of being awake and wandering around, had no-one taken care of him? Had no-one had the heart to clean him up?
"Is that my name?" the blond nation asked and Prussia shook his head. "What is my name?" the question was dominated by a dreading tone, as if the young nation was afraid that he would lose something important as soon as he would know his name, and Prussia knew that it was true. This hadn't been the result of the wars, no, this was the result of politicians and the people, the wars had just made it worse. This wasn't the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation any more, and apparently it had changed more than Prussia had thought it would.
"You're Germany." the red eyed nation answered softly and Germany nodded, an unsure expression on his face. "And I'm Prussia." he continued his heart breaking a little more, because he had to introduce himself to his own brother, again. "I will take care of you for a while, okay?" Prussia asked and his little brother looked up at him and nodded.
The hand that reached out towards him was small and filthy, and so familiar that it hurt. He didn't care for his own state of dress as he pulled his little brother towards him and lifted him into an embrace. Small arms wrapped around his neck and Prussia could feel the sobs shaking the small body he was holding, mourning something that it couldn't remember.
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"Be careful. When this war finally ends, I promise I'll come and see you again."
"Okay, then. I'll miss you. I'll be waiting."
Germany opened his eyes and rubbed his eyes, wondering why his heart felt so heavy in his chest. He rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling, pushing his legs from under the sheets to cool off and wake up a bit more. It had been many years since Prussia had found him and taken him in and he had grown into a tall, strong nation with the desire to prove himself to his brother and the other nations that dominated Europe.
He didn't remember anything from his dream, and he had long since given up trying to remember. It had been difficult in the first years. He always had the feeling that he was expected to know something, especially in the company of others. They would talk about something and look at him as if he should remember and most of the time he didn't and just shrugged or grunted without any interest. It got better with time and Prussia did help a lot.
He got out of bed with a shake of his head dispelling any morose thoughts and emotions that the dream had left behind. He had a war to lead, as Austria's crown prince had been murdered and, as Austria and Germany were bound together by the Dual Alliance, he would not hesitate to help his cousin in his endeavour of revenge. He didn't know, yet that this would lead to the Great War, which would later be called the First World War, for now, he just saw a chance to prove the strength he had gained since he had woken weak and disoriented on a battlefield he hadn't recognised.
And maybe? Maybe he would finally be able to wake up without longing for something he didn't remember.
TBC?
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