"Preuβen…"
Germany gazed down at his older brother lying on the altar. The silver haired man lay peacefully with his arms at is sides and a satisfied smile on his face, seemingly asleep. However Prussia had lay like this for years now, ever since it was declared his territory was dissolved. At first Germany had been defiant and hopeful, this was his brother. Loud, boisterous, caring, hardy, indomitable Prussia, or the Awesome Prussia as he called himself. Surely he would not be swayed by what the humans had decided? He could still live on could he not? The blonde nation was more than happy to accommodate him, especially as much of his own territory had formerly been part of his older brother. Was that not enough to sustain his existence?
But as the weeks and months past, little by little Germany's faith began to slip away. Prussia would not wake; he barely shifted about on his podium. Every now and then he would twitch or murmur ever so quietly, triggering memories from the industrial nation's upbringing…
"Hey France, Spain!" Prussia barked impatiently as little Ludwig clung to his leg.
"Oui?" The flirtatious nation looked up from his roses.
"Who's that Gil?" Spain asked.
"This is mein klein Bruder, Germany." The silver haired nation grinned proudly. "Come on, Luddy, don't be shy, zhese guys von't hurt you."
He ruffled the young boy's hair fondly as he hid inside the older man's frock coat…
As he snapped back to reality Germany realised he was ruffling his own hair and promptly lowered his hand in embarrassment. Turning his eyes back to Prussia it was hard to hold back his tears. He could not face the world like this, he was a proud, stern, strong nation, he did not cry. Maybe it was time to move on and accept his brother's death, at this point he was certain that his Bruder would not be waking up again. Taking a deep breath, the usually calm nation, reached for the white sheet at the end of the altar with trembling hands. Tears welled up at the corners of his eyes as he summoned the strength to drag the cloth over Prussia's comatose body.
"Auf Weider-" He started to say.
"Hey! Germany~" A familiar italian accent echoed throughout the cathedral.
"Italy!" He turned and glared at the cheerful nation. "Zhis is not the place to be loud!"
"Oh, right, sorry…" Italy looked crestfallen at his friend's tear-stained expression. "It's just-a I brought someone to see you…"
"Who?" Germany was wary.
"Uh… Hi..?" A shy blonde man in winter clothing stepped out from behind Italy.
"AMERICA?!" Germany roared angrily.
"Shh! You'll wake Gilbert!" Italy pressed a finger to his lips with a mock stern expression.
"A-actually, I'm Canada…" The blonde stammered. "We're nothing alike, so please don't mix us up."
"Ah…" Germany was instantly regretful. "I'm sorry, my mistake."
"Don't worry about it." Canada smiled gently. "It's a common mistake, and I understand you're going through a hard time at the moment…"
"Ja…" Germany bit his lip and looked down. "Vhat are you here for?"
"Well, I um…" Canada looked behind Germany at the altar hesitantly. "I-Italy, I don't think you're supposed to be doing that…"
In an instant the Aryan man spun around to find the brunette nation crouching over Prussia and poking his face curiously. He had pulled the sheet up further and folded it like a duvet and was proceeding to talk to the comatose albino cheerfully.
"Don't touch him!" Germany pulled him away hurriedly.
"I was just-a telling him what happened since-a he's been sleeping." Italy protested tearfully. "I was going to-a sing him a lullaby…"
"Italy…" The younger nation sighed in exasperation. "Zhis is not a game, he's not going to-"
"Th-That's why I'm here!" Canada interrupted quickly. "I, uh, heard that Prussia was not waking up and thought about how terrible it would be if something like that happened to England or France… or even America I suppose…"
He looked grudging for a second before turning back to the subject.
"A-And I wanted to do something to help so I spoke to my boss and-"
"Zhat vasn't necessary." Germany cut him off. "Zhere's nothing you can do now, but thank you for zhe thought."
"No, please listen to me, I noticed there is a group of people descended from your brother's country in my country and I, well I made a province for them."
Germany's eyes widened and suddenly the breath was knocked out of him. He let go of Italy's wrist, which he had been gripping rather hard.
"You… made a territory for him?" He murmured.
"I-It's not much, there's not many of them you see, but enough for at least a district." Canada was not sure how to react to the otherwise stern nation's expression. "I just thought, since he didn't have any land left, giving some might make a difference…"
Biting his lip, Germany glanced back to his brother, almost expectantly. Prussia did not stir, although due to Italy's meddling he did now look as if he was in bed, which made Ludwig feel a little better.
"The papers are being signed off around n-now actually…" Canada checked his watch.
They walked back up to the altar and gazed down at the older nation expectantly. For several tense moments nothing happened and Canada reached into his pockets for his phone frantically. But as a ray of sunlight shone through the clouds outside to illuminate Prussia's face, Germany put a hand on the shy nations arm to stop him.
"Something's happening." He stated.
The already considerably stunted nation sighed and frowned, closed eyes screwing up as if the sun was shining in them. And as he stirred he also seemed to be shrinking and even growing younger. His uniform became loose and baggy on him and he rolled onto his side groggily as he came to his senses.
"Bruder..?" German asked hesitantly.
"Ugh, vhat happened…" A teenage Prussia sat up with a groan. "How long have I been out..?"
"U-Uh several years…" Canada murmured nervously.
"Vhere am I and vhat am I doing in zhis ridiculous uniform?" The reawakened nation blinked down at his oversized clothes.
"Berliner Dom, in mein capital." Germany informed him shortly. "And zhat's your uniform, don't you remember zhe var?"
"Var..? Did ve vin?" Prussia yawned.
"…" Germany sighed. "Nein, entschuldigung, I failed you."
"Was?" The smaller man raised an eyebrow at him. "Who are you? I vas asking mein Bruder, let him speak vill you?"
"I AM your Bruder!" Germany was confused. "Who are you talking about?"
"Canada of course!" Prussia snorted. "I don't know you, entschuldigung. Ve have similar accents so you might be descended from mein Vati at some point. But mein people migrated to mein Bruder's country a long time ago."
"U-Uh, th-that's true, I guess b-but you've not been dissolved for long, surely there are more Prussians-" Canada started.
"Dissolved?!" New Prussia interrupted. "I can't be dissolved I'm still here aren't I? Your boss hasn't got rid of mich?! Vhy vould he do zhat?! I haven't caused any trouble! …Vell maybe vonce or tvice… But it vas nothing drastic! I vant to go and talk to him!"
Slipping down from the altar, the newly reinstated micro nation adjusted his belt, leaving his jacket on the altar and rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. He was about to take off his Iron Cross when he stopped in a daze for a second before striding down the aisle.
"Vait! Vhat are you doing?!" Germany called after him.
"Wh-Where are you going?" Canada asked.
"Home, I vant to talk to zhis boss of yours about dissolving mich." The teen nation replied. "You coming Matt?"
"M-Matt?!" The younger nation stuttered in shock. "G-Gilbert wait!"
He ran after the albino frantically. Germany just watched them go helplessly, legs trembling. He had not been feeling his usual self lately but this was something else. In the same instant his brother had returned and been snatched away from him. As much as he dearly wanted to blame the snowy nation for this, he knew that Canada had only meant well. Prussia had lost his memories, and turned into a different person. He probably had a whole history of other memories that no one else remembered. His brother was gone.
Canada could not help himself staring at New Prussia apprehensively as they sat on the plane. The teen had dragged him through Berlin to the airport and bundled him onto the next plane back to his home. From what he could remember of his time with France, Prussia was a domineering, boisterous, arrogant nation with a tough past. His regime had nearly killed America when he trained him to stand against England. The blonde man had no idea how to deal with having him around at his house, with no memory of Germany at all apparently. Or Italy for that matter, when they had passed the cheerful pasta-eating nation, Gilbert had brushed him off rather rudely, leaving Veneziano dazed and confused.
"Vhat's the matter Mattie?" Gilbert's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Has something been happening while I vas asleep? Is zhat jerk America bullying you again?"
"N-No, no." He shook his head quickly. "I-I'm just a little tired from travelling I guess…"
"Sleep if you vant zhen, don't vorry I'll vake you vhen it's time to get off." The albino teen smiled encouragingly.
Canada's eyes widened at his expression. Gilbert truly believed they were brothers… He would probably be upset and confused if Matthew pushed him away now. So instead and he smiled gently back and closed his eyes. Suddenly life had gotten much more complicated.
A/N: As a guest review so eloquently pointed out there no link to the country that was Prussia (and therefore represented in the anime/manga) and the small district 'New Prussia' in the Waterloo area of Ontario, Canada. I could not explain this in the summary for sheer lack of characters so I will now, I know this but I thought it would make a cute little story if it did. This story is in not based on completely accurate up to historical facts otherwise there is no way it would be an AU. There, I hope that was not too ranty, and thank you for that guest review it was a much appreciated indicator as to how some people might feel about this ^^ Otherwise, I hope you enjoy reading this!