"Germany, Germany… Germaneee!" Italy cried out as he ran up to the barely awake German. However, the irate blonde kept a smile for his lover and kissed him on the forehead.

"Good morning Italy." He said.

"Ve- guess what I got!"

Germany sighed. He had already found out everything that the brunette had gotten through a very loud and very annoying phone call. It was what had originally woken him up and was surprisingly early for the boy. But he played along with the childish game that was only to be expected of the Italian.

"What did you get?" He said brushing some hair out of the boys face. He was looking forward to some quiet time with Italy, so that he could pass on his gift, and then later that day they were planning on a picnic and soccer for the entire afternoon.

He was answered with a smile and a weak Italian tug as he was led out the front door, out of his front garden and onto the street. He thanked the heavens that he had dressed immediately after waking that morning.

"Where are you taking me Italy?" He asked as this was the last thing that he had been expecting.

"I got a boat Germany." And Spain-Ni chan said that we should have a holiday on it because you work too hard." The brunette laughed as he continued to lead Germany to what he now saw as the wharf.

And docked at the wharf was a pristine white yacht with a polished deck, white sails and three flags flying atop it in the breeze. An Italian flag, a German flag and the all too predictable white flag at the very top.

Germany groaned. He had definitely not expected this. Whoever had thought it to be a good idea to give Italy a yacht was a complete and total idiot. Even more so than the Italian.

But at least he knew for certain that he himself would be there to look out for the boy. Italy was definitely too excited to pass up a boating holiday on his very own boat for safety measures.

"But we can't go on a holiday right now Italy, nothing is packed." He wouldn't be able to stop the holiday, but he could at least put it of long enough to run Italy through some safety rules and regulations first.

"Ve- but Spain-Ni chan and Ni-chan have already packed food and clothes and wine and pasta and tomatoes." Italy whined, running out of breath by tomatoes.

Germany pinched the bridge of his nose. Romano and Spain knew that Italy was an idiot and would never have gotten the yacht for him. But they had made the mistake of encouraging it.

He glanced down the side of the boat to see its namesake.

'QUEEN AWESOME'

"Mornin' West!" Germany sighed irritably as he turned to see Prussia climbing up onto the deck from below. No need to second guess who had bought the boat.

"Good morning bruder." He replied with no enthusiasm.

Prussia grinned cockily and tousled Italy's hair before sending him below deck to check everything out. He obviously hadn't seen more than the outside of the yacht yet as his eyes widened delightedly and he disappeared below.

"Moron." Germany said once the boy had disappeared out of sight.

"What did I do?" Prussia lost his grin.

"Didn't it ever occur to you that Italy is more stupid than you? And now you've gone and gotten him a boat."

"Hey hey West… I knew you'd get a bit angry about it so I've made this boat completely and awesomely safe. It's got all the safety stuff you can think of off the top of your head." Prussia grinned again.

"Life preservers?"

"Yup."

"Rope?"

"Hell yeah. All around you."

"Inflatable boat?"

"Yep. Like I said, everything you can think of…"

"First aid kit?"

"… um…"

"Did you pack a first aid kit or not?"

"… no…"

"What?!"

"… No… Ok… I forgot to pack a first aid kit… no biggie. I'll just go pick up the one at home. Kay?"

"Alright… But hurry up with it or you'll have hell to pay." Germany glared at his older brother.

"Hahaha… That's my West." Prussia grinned and even though he was smaller he somehow managed to reach up to tousle Germany's hair and mess it all up before jumping off of the boat to make a quick trip to Germany's house to pick up the first aid kit.

Germany sighed in early exhaustion as he watched his brother disappear out of sight and hoped that when he next saw his house it would be in one piece, though he seriously doubted that it would be.

"Ne ne, Germany… come have a look at this?!" Germany heard the excited Italy calling him down below deck. He sighed and proceeded down the small flight of wooden stairs to the cabin. This was going to be one long holiday.

Below, Italy was going through the tiny kitchen's cupboards, making sure that Romano and Spain had packed absolutely everything that he could require.

Germany walked up to the brunette and put a hand on his shoulder making him jump.

"What did you want me to see, Italy?"

"Huh?" The Italian looked at him dumbly for a minute. "Oh yeah, Ni-chan left something for you." He pulled a little box out of the mini refrigerator and gave it to the blonde. Across the lid of the box was written: To the Potato Bastard.

It was definitely from Romano. Germany expected to find something stupid like another one of those freakin moustaches. But he was in fact surprised to see a few different varieties of wurst. And they were all good quality too. Italy smiled up at his lover.

"Ni-chan is being nice to you for me today." He said closing the cupboards. Everything that he had listed to Germany outside of the yacht was there. Spain and Romano had promised him though Spain had suggested forgetting the clothes all together. Romano of course had beaten that out of him… Italy smiled to himself, his twin was being especially nice to Germany for him lately. After all, Italy wouldn't mind running around with no clothes, but for Germany it would've been a nightmare. Probably.

As Germany was putting the wurst away he found at the bottom a smallish large potato. So much for ordinary, he though to himself.

"We can make chips with it." Italy laughed as he took it off Germany and put it in one of the baskets on the wall. "There is a couple more in there."

"… Did they pack everything you wanted?"

"Yeah yeah, there's lots of pasta and tomatoes and flour for pizza and some wine and beer for you…!"

"… I guess everything is packed then." Italy laughed and Germany blushed a little. He'd try his hardest to avoid the alcohol if he was going to be in control of maneuvering the yacht. For that especially he'd need a clear head.

Italy grabbed his hand and lead him further into the cabin, showing him the bathroom and the little bedroom.

"How long is this holiday going to last?" Germany asked when they eventually came back out onto deck.

"… Spain said a week would be long enough and the food should last that long. And he said you wouldn't want to be on a holiday longer than that…"

Germany smiled. A week was good. Long enough to have the break that he wouldn't admit that he needed, but short enough that people wouldn't think that he was slacking off or anything.

"Got the First Aid kit West!" Prussia jumped back onto the deck tossing the little metal box at Germany.

"…You're not coming are you?" The blonde asked, a little worried because his brother kept hanging around.

"Nah, just saying good bye and making sure that you actually sail away instead of making excuses about paper work." Prussia smirked. He had to stay behind anyway, because who else would do Germany's work for him on such short notice.

"Anyway, have a great time you two. And I'll see you in a week."

"Bye bye Prussia." Italy jumped forward and hugged Prussia goodbye.

"Don't break anything." Germany said as he gave a quick hug too his brother.

"Honestly West, how could you think so low of me?" Prussia laughed and jumped back onto the wharf and waved. "Now hurry up and go or your office will lure you back." Germany glared as his brother left, finally.

"Come on Germany. Let's go and have a holiday." Italy said and his worries melted away.

- - -

Italy opened his eyes and looked around the room. He was alone as he had been for the past six mornings. He sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and yawned. He'd stayed up later than usual the previous night, but he didn't want to sleep in any longer. Especially on the last day of their holiday.

He smiled and began the search for some clothes. Most of his wardrobe had already been used and was waiting for a clean when they got back home.

Italy didn't want to go home. Life was easier, not really on the boat but on holiday. They didn't have any one to answer to anyone, no responsibilities, no fighting. Just him and Germany talking, eating, sleeping, playing games and… well let's just say that the rest is private and not for all you perverted readers.

Finally triumphant in finding something to wear, Italy pulled on some jeans and a stretchy white top that went halfway to his knees. Looking in the mirror he smiled to himself, he was slender enough to pass as a girl if he wanted to, and the top was really a girl one that he had just really liked. Hungary still had some of his old dresses aside for him if he should ever want them again, but she usually just got him things like the shirt if he liked them.

Smiling to himself, he considered getting some of them off of her for a short while. A few of them should still fit and it had been a while since he had worn anything like them.

Italy quickly made the bed and ran up onto the deck. Germany was sitting on the edge of the yacht so that his arms and chin rested on the railing and his lower legs were over the edge. He heard Italy walk up to him and he turned to look up at him and smile.

"Good morning Italy." He said.

"Good morning Germany. What are we gonna do today?" Italy asked.

"… Nothing much today. It looks like it will rain and I don't want you to get hurt if something goes wrong." Germany pulled Italy down to sit beside him and kissed him lightly.

"… Do you want to go home Germany?" The brunette asked under Germany's arm, against his chest.

"What…? No, not really. I love spending time with you like this Italy. But we both have to go home and look after own countries."

"Ok."

"… Don't worry about it Italy. This is your boat and in another couple of months we'll take another holiday. I promise." Germany spoke into the boy's hair.

"But Germany doesn't love me as much when we're at home." Germany was completely surprised by Italy's response and his sudden tears. It was pretty childish, even for him. "You're always yelling and bossy and doing training and stuff…"

"… Italy… Just because I do that at home doesn't mean I don't love you. It's just part of my job. I'll always love you Italy and I'll always be with you. So no more crying, alright?"

The brunette nodded and wiped his eyes dry with a sniff. It was at exactly the point in time when it decided to start raining lightly. Germany pulled Italy up onto his feet and the retreated back into the cabin where they began to prepare breakfast. Bacon, eggs and toast with the last of the orange juice.

As Italy was at the stove with the frying pan and Germany was buttering the toast, Germany watched the brunette cook and sing happily.

"…You look really nice today…" He said as he looked away and put the toast on the plates before taking them to Italy so he could serve up the bacon and eggs.

"Hungary got me this shirt for my birthday." Italy smiled turned the stove off. The one place he wasn't an idiot was the kitchen. Its common knowledge that the two things Italians are best at are lovemaking and cooking, falling in at number two.

Germany helped him serve up the rest of breakfast and they wandered over to the small table in the corner of the kitchen where they began to eat in silence.

Washing up was also in silence. The noise of the light falling rain outside was the only thing they heard. But as the water drained out of the sink and the entire kitchen was clean, they were completely at loss for what to do.

"Did they pack any board games?" Germany asked. They weren't his favorite thing in the world but they needed something to pass the time. Anything really. But Italy just shook his head and shrugged.

"What's the time?" He asked.

"Eleven." Germany replied. Italy sighed. It was too early for a siesta which would have passed the time wondrously. "…Come on…" Germany said and took Italy by the hand and led him to the other end of the cabin.

Italy looked up at him a little clueless. Then he smiled lovingly as he was laid down on the bed and Germany leant over his body and kissed him.

- - -

At around 12:30 the major part of the storm hit. The clouds had changed tremendously from light grey to angry black within the last hour and a half. There was lightning and thunder and winds and rain that tossed the boat around.

Germany and Italy had been awoken only fifteen minutes previous and they were both now dressed and trying to keep the yacht alive in the storm.

Germany held Italy close as the boat rocked and he tried to get help over the radio. The yacht wasn't exactly built to handle such weather, but it was such weather that was unpredictable.

An unexpectedly large wave crashed into the side of the yacht and threw it about. Italy slipped, losing his footing and crashed into the railing, busting his lip. Germany ran over to him, slipping himself a couple of times before reaching his lover and catching a hold of him just before he slipped over the edge.

"…Ge… German-y-y…" The Italian whined into Germany's chest. There was a little blood coming out of the cut on his lip, but not too much.

"… It's going to be OK Italy…" Germany reassured the boy. But he wasn't so sure himself and his voice as shaking with worry for the boy in his arms.

The mast with the flags atop it creaked and gave way to the forceful winds, landing heavily across the deck, snapping the yacht in half. Italy screamed as they began to sink.

Germany's soldier mind snapped into action and he grabbed the most accessible safety equipment, a life preserver and a length of rope. Then he held Italy's face between his hands and explained what he wanted him to do.

And then he took Italy by the hand and the leapt over the edge.

The ocean water was cold and unforgiving and hit them both like a hammer when they hit the surface. Italy swallowed enough water to fill several lungs and he panicked as he began to sink. Relief or some emotion like it filled him as he felt Germany grab the back of his shirt and haul him to the surface.

Once in open air, he began to cough and splutter, vomiting out all the sea water in his stomach.

Germany pulled him over to the life preserver where he helped him lean over one side of it, and he used the rope to tie him to it. Knowing Italy, he knew that as weak from exhaustion as he was he would probably slip off and drown.

A smallish wave pushed Germany away from the life preserver, but he immediately began swimming back to it and caught hold of it, one arm around the distressed Italy.

"…Where did you go?!" He screamed above the noise of the storm, amid his own tears.

"I-It's alright Italy…" Germany smiled weakly. "I said I would never… Never leave you…"

In the wind, something fluttered down and landed over them. It was a small piece of rope and it was attached to the Italian flag and German flag. Germany caught hold of one end of the rope and Italy grabbed onto the other.

"You'll hold onto that end of the rope, and I'll hold onto this end… and like the flags Italy… we'll stay tied together. Ok…?" Germany had to find some way to keep Italy calm. Staying tied together was the best he could think of in a time of panic.

Italy nodded and pulled his end of the rope and the German flag under his head and rested on them.

Germany smiled back at him and got a good grip on the Italian flag. Italy would have said something, anything, but his exhaustion pulled him into a disturbed and unwanted sleep on the life preserver.

Germany watched him sleep as the storm finally and unfairly began to calm down, and he felt the exhaustion overwhelm him. The Italian flag came loose of the rope…

Had Italy been awake he would have reached out… But he was deeply unconscious… Too unconscious to notice the wind or water, or the few small friendly fish that swam around the life preserver… And definitely far too unconscious to feel Germany's hand slip off of his back into the ocean current…

- - -

Hey to all readers… sorry about killing Germany off, but it had to be done. That's hormones for you… And all I can say is that it is not over yet and I recommend that you read on otherwise you just might die of grief and you've no idea what my evil brain has planned for you all.

Um… what else… Reviews please…All you guys are awesome…

Prussian Mongrel, xo