Note: The plot of this tends to get confusing because events do not match up, but that is explained at the end. If you want to get a better understanding of this, then check out the author's note at the end. Gracias.

Something to Fight for – Chapter One: Malerier

Denmark:

I grabbed the brush, making flicking motions at the canvas without rhyme or reason. I wanted to let everything free. It felt like my emotions would flow out from the brush onto the canvas with every flick of my wrist. The canvas was covered in colors from every other time I decided to paint – bright reds, dark blues, vivid greens and yellows. Today felt like a day for purple, a royal day. I dipped the brush in the purple paint and flicked my wrist towards the canvas, watching the splatters fall wherever they felt like. I felt a smile creep up on my face, there was little that I enjoyed as much as I did splattering my canvas. After a few more flicks of my wrist, I set the brush down and turned to look out the window…and there they were – the German brothers.

My neighbors had always wanted to get their hand on the canvas. They had wanted to tear it out of my hands and color it for themselves. I would not allow it. Grabbing my jacket off the coat hanger and rapier off the table, I stormed out of my home and towards the boys, glowering at them every step of the way. There was Ludwig, blonde hair combed back neatly with blue eyes cold and calculating; then there was Gilbert, with his light hair and piercing red eyes which always caught me off guard. While there were certainly differences between the two, you could definitely see the family resemblance. As well, Ludwig always seemed so calm

"What do you want here?" I cried out; standing firmly, arms crossed. "I am Mathilde the Dane and you best step off my land." The younger stepped forward, holding an arm out to his brother to stop him from jumping forward,

"And I, humble Ludwig of Wittenberg," he said calmly, "the land I desire never wished to be yours, sweetheart." I growled, how dare he call me that. I wrapped my hand around my rapier, ready to unsheathe the blade when prompted to do so. Ludwig took a couple steps forward, arms held open. I watched him carefully, I stood my ground. I would show no weakness. He chuckled, holding his hands out, palms facing forward. Slowly, Ludwig took several steps back. I loosened my grip on my sword, letting my hand fall to my side and narrowed my eyes as I watched Gilbert step forward. He had his hand in his coat, as if to draw a weapon. What the hell was he doing? I took a few steps back, but then he lunged forward. Gilbert unsheathed his sword, jumping forward and almost pouncing right on top of me and pinning me to the ground. He held my wrists above my head, grinning from ear to ear. I squirmed and struggled underneath him, glaring into his bright, red eyes. He leaned in close, staring back into my eyes…but I bit him. It did nothing. He only laughed at me, until I head-butt him.

"Fuck!" I could only snicker as I watched Gilbert, knowing that I had finally fazed him.

"Get off and fight me like a real man," I stated sternly. I watched as the gears turned in his head as he contemplated whether or not he was going to let me go. In the background, I could see Ludwig tense, knowing that there was a possibility that his brother would let me go. But I knew Gilbert, if I questioned his manliness, he would flip his lid. Slowly, I felt his hands let go of my wrists. Resisting the urge to push him off, I waited patiently as Gilbert stood up before springing to my feet and grabbing my rapier, ready to fight with both the German brothers if needed.

.

.

.

Germany:

There she was: Denmark. Bright blue eyes and wild blonde hair, standing defiant with flag in hand planted firmly on the ground. I locked eyes with her and saw the anger within. She was beautiful, wind whipping her hair behind her. There was something about Denmark that was just…magical. I wanted her land. I wanted her. I could stare at her all day long. She took a few steps forward, watching me carefully before crying out,

"I am Mathilde the Dane," I cracked a small smile, holding an arm out to stop Gilbert, who had grown excited at the sight of Denmark, "what do you want, Ludwig?'

"And I, humble Ludwig from Wittenberg," I chuckled to myself, "I have come to take the land that never belonged to you." I watched her fume; she was incredibly cute when she was upset. She huffed, crossing her arms,

"That's a lie! All these lands are mine, they were given to me!" She reached into her jacket, reaching for her knife I assumed. Denmark, while known for her skill with the battle axe, was also an ace with a knife. I stepped back from her with my hands up, hiding my smile as I allowed Gilbert to step forward. A bright eyed Gilbert grinned, stepping forward before lunging at her. She was certainly caught off guard. Gilbert held Denmark's wrists, keeping them above her head as he pinned her to the ground. I knew he was certain to not allow her to move.

"Fight me like a man, asshole!" She spat in Gilbert's face. He smirked down at her, watching her with hungry eyes. Denmark squirmed around in his grasp, attempting to kick her legs and wriggle her arms out of his grasp. Unfortunately for her, Gilbert was the stronger of the two. Gilbert leaned in close to her and she head-butt him, like the civilized woman she was. Gilbert shot his hands up to his forehead, rubbing the clear red spot, and shouting,

"FUCK!" The little Danish woman punched him in the gut and pushed him off of her. It seems Gilbert must be falling ill, as he would never allow a small injury like that to ever bother him. She stood up slowly, brushing herself off and exposing the knife in her coat. "Fight me like a man, Gilbert," she repeated quietly. Gilbert sighed, picking himself up and sneezing.

"You think you got what it takes to defeat me, wench?" Gilbert had that playful gleam in his eyes that always seemed to show when he was excited. He wasn't following the plan I had laid out. He hadn't told me he was ill! We were fucked, er, excuse my language, we had met an unfortunate series of events. I was certain that he had heard me and was going to take this battle seriously, but it turns out he was being cocky – just like usual. I groaned as I watched the two flitting around each other with weapons in hand. This wasn't going to end well…

Prussia:

We lost. Well, ain't that about a B. One minute I had Denmark pinned on the ground, the next she was up and punching me in the gut. Guess we'll just have to go back later and show her who really has the power, huh? I'm sure West has a plan already in the works and maybe, this time, I'll pay attention to him.

After Denmark had literally kicked me in the ass and threw me on the ground, all the while laughing as if she was mad, West picked me up and slapped me. He certainly was upset with my shenanigans with little Denmark. I don't really remember much because she beat me pretty good for such a little lady; I remember West picking me up and dragging me away and then it all went blank…until now.

When I wake up, I'm in my bed and the sun is shining through the open windows. West is bent over his desk, grumbling and there are crumpled papers all over the ground. It turns out that the both of us had underestimated Denmark's ability – especially since I had gotten so cocky. I decide to leave him be, turning and going back to bed. No point bothering West while he was thinking.

Denmark:

I stood triumphantly for a moment before walking back to my study – leaving the defeated Germans in my wake. They were walking away empty handed today.

As I opened the door to my study, I turned around, looking at Ludwig as he carried Gilbert away. I couldn't help but smile – a bittersweet sort of smile, even if just a little bit. I was happy that they were leaving empty handed, but I was a bit sad to see them go because I was so lonely. It was lonely without Lukas in the house. After having Gilbert there to wrestle with, even if it was meant to be serious, I realized how lonely I truly was. I kind of missed the engaging conversations I could always have with Lukas. He was intelligent and charismatic and tall enough to reach the top shelves for me. Now it was just me in this big house alone because he had moved in with Sweden. I sighed, reminiscing on the memories of when I shared the house with him.

I stared at my painting. I felt like it was time to add more to it. With the conflict that had just occurred on the land, I felt it appropriate to add some red. Red was full of emotion – it was raw and passionate. I grabbed a brush and painted several large red streaks. The exhilaration I had with the painting before the Germans invaded was gone. I set the brush down and slowly walked away. My inspiration was gone with the Germans.

Prussia:

West already had a plan. It had barely been a year since we had first attacked Denmark, but now he was serious. The plan this time was to unify all the Germanic states of the Holy Roman Empire into one big Germany. It's a risky plan, but I know we can make it work. As he explained, the idea is that we will first attack France – we could fight him because of religious differences or some other bull shit reason. Then, after we unify the south with the unwilling help of France and his silly religion, we band together with Austria and reclaim that land from Denmark we failed to capture last time – which unifies the north! It's kind of confusing, but in the end it will make sense!

I can't wait to get this plan rolling. Why? Because I love seeing Denmark fuming over us taking her land – she's super cute when she's angry. It's too bad we have to take care of France first, because Denmark is so much cuter than France is.

Hi, Lovelies!

It has been a long time, I know. I honestly hadn't thought of writing again, but then I had these ideas and I wanted to get them out. There are probably people who could write these same ideas much better than I could, but I thought I would at least give it a shot.

The organization of this story is crazy, that I know. I hope it wasn't too confusing. Different perspectives on the same event are separated with a series of periods; different events are separated with lines. This is how history unfolds – there are different perspectives and we, as the "historian" so to speak, have to analyze and synthesize what we believe to be the correct interpretation. That's the fun of history. I hope that you have fun with the different perspectives as well.

Now, let me explain how some of my decisions came to be. I decided that Schleswig and Holstein were going to be a canvas, because it represents the way that Denmark has influenced the culture of the area. It will make sense in the next chapter, actually. I also decided to make Ludwig be from Wittenberg for this because it was a major place for thinkers while Prussia would be from Berlin. I tried to get all Literature-y and make it symbolic but I am uncertain if it worked. Oh well. I also wanted to show the duality of the characters because it gave them a little more depth. I also decided that I did not want the bits to be exactly the same; I wanted the different characters to remember things differently – like how Denmark remembered having her arms crossed and Germany remembered her with a flag in hand, things like that. As well, I wanted Denmark to be incredibly personable, having her address everyone by their human names; Germany to be more serious and professional, addressing everyone with their nation's name; and Prussia to be casual, using both depending on the situation. I hope this explanation helps when understanding the story better because I know that the way I wrote it is a bit confusing.

Also, question, would you like me to continue placing the names before each paragraph to help establish who is narrating or would you rather figure it out yourself? I can take the names off and it can be like a small puzzle to figure out who's who. It all works for me.

There's quite a bit that I have planned for this story and I will be working on it off and on throughout the summer – because, as it turns out, I actually have a lot of plans for my last summer with friends. I'll be leaving for college in the fall, so this summer is filled with activities with my friends, but I'm going to try to crank out this story and a story about China – the plan is for it to cover the times from the first Chinese Civil War/Rise of Mao to around the transition of China under Deng.

This kind of story is why I absolutely adore Hetalia, it takes historical events and it makes it easier to understand. Hetalia takes and synthesizes the events and it satisfies my need to learn. I think it's a great medium for history buffs like me - but don't get me wrong, the AU stories can also be great, but the thing about history is that it's already filled with drama! History is like a soap opera.

Anyway, sorry for rambling.

Besos,

~Master Boss