Hello all! I'll keep this as brief as I can, and this'll probably be the only one of these for this story (though I make no promises). This story was inspired by my trip to Germany. More specifically, however, it was inspired by my trip while I was in Berlin to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Let me just state that this is not trying to downplay anything that went on during WWII, the Third Reich, the Nazi regime, or anything like that. It is one of the darkest marks on human history in existence, and it makes me very sad indeed that something like that ever took place. That being said, this story is based off of the characters in Hetalia Feliciano Vargas (Italy), as well as Ludwig Beilschmidt (Germany). I truly do hope that you enjoy this story, and that (in the end) makes you sob your eyes out. Enjoy! Lots of Love, ~Cheylock

October 29, 1938

"Ciao, Ludwig!" Feliciano said as his friend opened the door to his house from inside. The two of them had made plans to meet up at Ludwig's after they were done with school for the day, and Feliciano had followed up on their plan to the minute.

The two of them had been friends for as long as either of them could remember. During their first few weeks in Germany, Feliciano's family didn't quite have anywhere to go yet. They'd just basically packed up and left, hoping things would get better when they got there. They'd slept on the streets for the first few nights until Ludwig's family found his parents and their twin babies. They took them in until they could afford a house of their own, and during that time, Ludwig and Feliciano had formed an inseparable bond.

"Hallo, Feli," Ludwig smiled, stepping aside to let the other inside the house. "There's a fire burning in the living room if you need to warm yourself up." The snow outside had just begun to fall, however, there had been a biting chill in the air since the beginning of the month at the very least. It was only the end of October 1938, but the snow had apparently decided to make an early appearance.

"Gratzie!" the little Italian chirped, entering the house and shrugging off his coat. He looked down at his school outfit, then looked up at Ludwig. On his breast pocket, a mustard yellow Star of David was pinned. It was a requirement at this point that all Jews had to wear one, now that Hitler was in charge of everything.

Feliciano didn't really mind the Star all that much. He was proud of his heritage, after all. He'd come from a long line of Italian Jews, and he wasn't intending to be any different. When his family had moved to Germany eighteen years ago, he had only been in his cradle. He had grown up surrounded by German culture, with the exception of his own household. There, everyone spoke Italian to each other, pasta was constantly on the stovetop, and there had been more than one injury caused by flailing hands as one of them spoke. That was his life, and he was proud of it! But with Hitler running things now, it sort of made him feel like everything he'd been raised believing was…wrong.

Ludwig nodded understandingly and, after shutting his family's curtains to keep prying eyes from seeing the gesture, unpinned the Star from the pocket. "Better?" he asked gently.

Feliciano nodded. "Much better," he confirmed as Ludwig set the Star on the table beside their door. The table held keys, coins, and anything anyone would need if they were leaving the house. "You said there was a fire?" he asked, causing Ludwig to nod in return.

"Ja, just in the living room. I'll put your coat away," he murmured, ducking into the coat room to hang it up.

Feliciano found his way to the living room and sat in front of the fire, warming his hands as Ludwig put his coat away. He was freezing cold from walking there from the school, and was desperate to soak up as much warmth as he could from the flickering flames in the fireplace before him.

After Ludwig put Feli's coat away, he joined him in the living room and sat down next to him. "Any insults today?" he asked gently. As Hitler was gaining more and more power, people had started thinking like him. Therefore, most of the time, when Feliciano walked anywhere, he had insults (and sometimes other things) flung at him hatefully.

"Only five today," Feliciano said with a small smile. "Personal best." Regardless of the things people said to him, he managed to keep his head up. He knew this would all blow over at some point, and that people would realize how silly they were being when they called Jews "scum", "filth", and many other, much more vulgar things. They'd come around, surely.

"People are getting better," Ludwig commented with a sad smile. He hated that Feliciano had to go through that abuse simply because of his religion. It wasn't fair! But that was life now, he supposed.

He had it very easy in comparison. He had safe blond hair, and blue eyes; Aryan in Hitler's eyes. He was strong, so he had the potential to be a good soldier. But because of that fact, he'd heard the words that people said at the Hitler Youth camps. Things weren't dying down. Things were only going to get worse. But for the moment, he let Feliciano believe that things were getting better. With how in danger Feliciano was on a daily basis by just walking down the street, he thought he could provide him with that little piece of fiction to hold onto. At least for now, when it seemed like it could be true.

"You think so?" Feliciano asked him, turning so that he could face the man beside him.

Ludwig hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Ja…I think so…" he said softly, not able to meet Feli's eyes. He hated lying to him, but the other needed the fiction to keep surviving in the country that was slowly losing its mind.

Feliciano was content with that answer and nodded. "Me too," he commented with a smile. "Maybe people are coming to their senses now."

"Maybe…" he mused, though he didn't believe it. "Just maybe…" He stared into the flickering light of the fire, and thought. How could he help Feliciano? He knew things were going to get bad for his family and him soon. What he didn't realize at that time…what no one on the outside realized…was just how bad things were actually going to get.