May 12, 1939

It was a bit of an odd situation at first. After all, it was by total chance, the fact that both of us happened to be at the same place, same time. It's funny, one of the most important things I've ever done in my life was saying 'Hello!' to a random, German stranger.

"Hello! Is this your first time visiting Milan? I could kinda tell by the way you seem lost."

He seemed taken aback by me. People sometimes have that expression when they first meet me.

"Well, yes. It is my first time here. I don't think I'm lost quite yet though."

I don't even know what compelled me to talk to this stranger.

"I can show you around, if you'd like. I mean, I live here after all."

He smiled a bit and I decided that I rather liked his smile.

"Why not?"

The two of us started walking together and I started talking and talking about my city and everything in it. But, we also got to know each other, and I started to like this random, German stranger.

"So, what's your name? I'm Feliciano, Feliciano Vargas! I like my name, it's better than my Grandpa's, he's Julius, that's a rather silly name isn't it? I hope you have a name, you're a nice person who seems like they would have a very nice name!"

"Sorry to disappoint, my name is Ludwig Beilschmidt. I don't think it's anything special."

"I like it. It suits you and it has a nice ring to it. Although, I'll most likely mispronounce your last name, I'm horrible at German."

Ludwig laughed a bit at that, before facing me again.

"I can help you with that. On the subject of names, my brother has a interesting first name, he's Gilbert."

"Huh, I've never met a Gilbert before. Is he nice?"

"That is not the word I would use to describe him. But he can be rather funny."

"I have one too. My brother Lovino can be mean at times but he is a lot nicer when Antonio's around. Although, Lovino left less than a year ago, moving to London."

"I'm sorry about that. Gilbert's in Austria now."

"It's okay, but you haven't told me what you're doing here in Milan. I want to know."

Ludwig took a second to sit down on a bench, overlooking one of the waterways. I sat down next to him, his gaze straight ahead, looking out at the calm water.

"I wanted to see the beauty in this world. I came here to see art, and everything wonderful humanity has created. War is going to happen again, I can feel it, and I know I'll be drafted and forced to do horrible things, but I wanted to enjoy this incredible world before it all goes to hell."

Ludwig turned to me, his gaze soft yet confused.

"And I'd like to think I also found something more."

Of course, almost immediately he blushed and turned his head away.

We kept meeting, and I would give him tours but to be honest we would walk through the city and learn about each other.

"I like dogs a lot. I have three back home."

"Dogs are nice! I don't have any pets though, unless you count the occasional mouse that shows up."

Sometimes, it was more personal.

"The one thing I'm afraid of is being abandoned. My parents died when I was young and now Lovino left. It's only me and grandpa now."

"I'm not going anywhere."

Even Ludwig opened up.

"What even is my purpose anymore? I used to be so focused, so determined, and now I'm sitting here."

"There's nothing wrong with sitting and enjoying life. Yes, it's good to have purpose, but its not necessary. Sometimes it's better to have no purpose and to simply exist."

"You're right. You, in some mad way, usually are right about lots of things, Feliciano. You're smart, in a beautiful way."

This went on for weeks, talking and relaxing and exploring. But there did come a point where we both realized something.

We were in love with each other.