Pairing: Ludwig Beilschmidt/FelicianoVargas (characters are from Hetalia / but as humans / I dont own Hetalia or the characters)
Summary: AU. Ludwig a young, lonely German boy meets a cheerful, lighthearted Italian boy on a train journey. They very quickly become good friends. Ludwig tries to protect his new found friend at all costs, even when he against his will becomes a soldier and is forced to break apart the resistance in Italy, 1943. It will bring him to his limit, physically and emotionally.
Warning: It may start fluffy but will have a large sad part. I am also writing an alternatie ending for those who want their hearts broken. So basically a happy ending and a sad ending. The fanfiction also contains violence, if you dont like violence or yaoi (boyxboy) and/or sadness this story might not be for you.
It was 8 am and Ludwig was waiting on the train station in the little village he had spent his vacation in. He looked around the place and back at his ticket which told him on which train he had to get on and which abbey he would spend the next few days. He was a little nervous, it had been his first vacation alone. He could speak a little Italian by now, not very good tho but it was enough to go in the city on the piazza and buy the things he needed. Even tho he felt a little homesick at the moment he would really miss his Italian guest family. It had been a nice summer, he had been sight seeing a lot and the beaches were beautiful.
He turned around when he heard loud laughter and chattering, Italian chattering, he could understand a few words like *Goodbye* and *Take care, boy*. His blue eyes curiously followed the source of the chattering. A young man, about his age he judged by his looks, kissed his relatives or friends goodbye and strolled down to the train station with some luggage. He turned around again when he stopped and waved again happily with a bright smile. Once his family was gone he skipped from one foot to another waiting for the train to arrive.
The train arrived with a delay of 5 minutes. Ludwig needed about 10 minutes to find his abbey and loading his luggage in its provided space. He set down, it looked like it was going to be a lonely journey. Good thing he was prepared for that, he pulled out a book, a novel, out of his bag and continued reading where he had stopped. The novel quickly absorbed him into another world.
He was rather startled and gasped loudly in shock when suddenly the door of his abbey swung open half an hour later. He just saw the back of the man in the door, but he heard a familiar voice. He tried to remember, ... it was the Italian boy on the train station saying goodbye to his family so loudly. He blinked at the Italian. But the man didn't even turn around, he actually was chatting with one of the staff members of the train "Vorrei ordinare ... un` espresso e un-, no due Cannoli" the man said happily and threw a few air kisses in the direction of the female staff member who giggled and blushed responding with a happy "Si! Si! Un momento" she smiled "Comunque, sei davvero bella oggi!" the Italian complimented and turned around into the abbey to look at Ludwig
"Ciao, mi chiamo Feliciano. Come ti chiami?" he asked Ludwig cheerfully. With a bright smile on his lips he closed the door behind him, put his bags on the free seat on the unused side and sat down opposite Ludwig. He leaned over and held out his hand.
Ludwig stared at the hand. He opened his lips a little bit nervous, his eyes not moving from Feliciano's hand. "P-Piacere ... m-mi chiamo Ludwig" he stuttered with a light accent. The Italian smiled even brighter and moved the hand a little "Ahhh scusa!" Ludwig stammered again and shook the others hand firmly
"Piacere Ludwig, come va?" the Italian smiled again
"B-bene, e tu?" Ludwig answered, the man didn't seem to mind his slow answering, no actually the opposite! He went on and on and on in Italian and poor Ludwig couldn't keep up, the man named Feliciano also spoke way too fast and his head began to spin a little, everything the man said began to sound like an endless word and Ludwig got really confused. He looked like a lost puppy at the Italian, not knowing what to do else he blurted out a rather loud "Scusa!" and the Italian finally stopped and looked at him "Scusa, ma io non sono italiano. Sono tedesco" he brought out "Parli inglese?" he asked still a little confused, but those words always worked.
The Italian didn't speak for a moment before smiling "Sorry! I thought you could speak Italian" he laughed lightly "But your Italian is quite good, it fooled me a little" Feliciano complimented
Ludwig blushed lightly "Grazie" he mumbled
"So you're German? What brought you to Italy?" Feliciano asked smiling
"Well I've been her partly on vacation and partly lived and worked here for a few months" he answered
"Wow you worked? What did you work here? Could you speak the language before you came?" the Italian asked curiously.
Ludwig was a little overwhelmed about this much attention towards him, he grew up to be a lonely child. His brother was much older than him, of course when Gilbert had had time he would play with him and spend time, but he was a very busy man and Ludwig understood that he didn't have much time. His parents where almost always out of the house, they worked often and eager. So naturally he felt lonely as a child. Growing up alone and entertaining himself, he got used to the loneliness and got rather awkward in social matters "I-I worked in a hotel ... I cleaned the rooms and sometimes I was allowed to check in the new guests or work behind the cashier office, I'm good at math ..." he admitted "It went rather well, I could talk a little about a few very mispronounced sentences" he rubbed the back of his head and brushed a strain of blond hair behind his ear
"How old are you Ludwig? I am 20 years old" Feliciano grinned at the German
"I-I am 18 years old" he smiled back slightly
"ONLY 18?! I thought you were older than me! You look older" Feliciano said surprised "Wow I'm older than you. Wouldn't have guessed that" he smiled to himself
"Hey Luddy? I can call you Luddy right?" he smirked at Ludwig
"Sure" the German answered blushing lightly, no one other than his brother called him Luddy, he hadnt heard in years now.
"Say Luddy? Why are you alone? Weren't you going with friends? Are your friends staying in Italy a little longer? Or had to leave earlier?" Feliciano asked almost nosey.
Ludwig lowered his head and looked at the ground, he looked a little sad "Well ... speaking honestly ... I don't have any friends ... I never had friends" he confessed, he avoided the others eyes.
Feliciano's smile dropped at what he heard. This couldn't be, right? How could someone have no friends? Not even one? He felt guilty for asking "I-I'm sorry ... I didn't know ..." he tried to apologize
In that moment the door opened slightly and the head of the Italian girl popped inside "Scusa! Ho un espresso e due Cannoli!" said the friendly voice and built the little desk up to put the espresso and the plate with the Cannoli on it.
"Scusa. Potrei avere ho un torta al cioccolato. Per amico mio!" Feliciano asked nicely and the nice woman cheerfully said
"Si! Certo!" she responded and left to get the chocolate cake
Ludwig was a little confused "You ordered cake for me?" he asked bewildered "Why?"
Feliciano smiled sadly "I made you sad. See it as an apology for my nosiness" he sipped on his espresso "Do you want a piece of my Connali?" he asked "Its really good!" he offered
Ludwig blushed lightly "Its okay, I don't mind. You don't need to get me cake tho" he smiled now "Its very nice of you ... and sure why not have a little taste" he agreed and Feli gave him a piece of the Connali
Ludwig took a bite and looked at Feliciano "This is really good!" he said stunned
"Of course it is! Its Italian!" Feliciano smirked and took a large bite of his piece
The nice staff woman came shortly after with a piece of chocolate cake and put it infront of Ludwig "Buon appetito, signor" warbled her voice delighted and she left again "What a nice woman" Ludwig smiled
"Yes isn't she? And very beautiful and smart!" Feliciano added taking another large bite of his Connali and sipping on his espresso
Ludwig took a bite of his cake "Very delicious" he said "Say Feliciano? Do you know her?" he asked curious
Feliciano lit up "Oh yes! I always see her when I visit my relatives in the south! Her name is Francesca" he sipped on his espresso. He looked at the chocolate cake "Can I have a try?" he asked nicely
Ludwig couldn't help but wave lightly "Sure, sure" he shoved the plate in the others direction lightly "Help yourself" he encouraged the Italian "Where did you learn English? You speak really good" Ludwig smiled
Feliciano tried the cake "Mhmm! Benissimo!" he gushed and closed his eyes. When he opened again and emptied his mouth and spoke "My Grandfather taught me english, he always read to me stories in English! Out of books he was able to get. I always liked the language! German is very different than Italian or any other language I know" he chatted
"My Brother taught me some, and we had an English maid named Alice" he explained how he learned English
"Ah yes, German is very different compared to other languages, a bit harsher. I like Italian and other Roman languages. They almost sound like you don't speak them, it sounds like you sing them while talking." he smiled "If you want I can teach you a little German" he offered
Feliciano smiled broadly "And I help you with your Italian! Sure I'd love to learn some German. It sounds cool and funny" he snickered "You never had friends? Not even one?" the Italian asked and felt a little guilty for bringing up this topic again
Ludwig sighed slightly "Yes, I never had any friends" he nodded sadly "But its okay I'm used to being alone ... " he murmured
"No need to be sad Luddy! I'll be your friend!" Feliciano announced with a big smirk "Luddy you seem like a nice guy! I don't know why people wouldn't want to be your friends" Feliciano grinned
Ludwig smiled "They are scared of me, I'm big and buff and someone once told me I had cold, emotionless eyes" he took a little bite of the cake "And I'm usually really quiet"
Feliciano looked irritated "But how could someone-! I don't like such people! Besides your eyes are beautiful! They are like the bluest thing I have ever seen, like the sky!" Feliciano gestured with his hands to the window where they could see the sky
Ludwig blushed "D-Danke" he said flattered "I like your eyecolor, its an amber like brown, right? Like dog eyes. I bet you could if you play your cards right make people do anything for you" he smiled lightly
"I have dog eyes? Oh and Danke is German for thank you right?" the Italian didn't wait for an instant answer "Another question how is Germany? I heard its cold and rainy! Is that true? What's your favourite place? Where do you live? What's it like there?!" he asked, his eyes glowing
"Don't get me wrong! I love dogs! Its a compliment really" he said nervously "Oh Germany you say?" he calmed down a little "Ehm I would say its kind of true. It depends in which region you live. But it rains more than in Italy and its generally colder and the summers are milder" he explained "I like the black forest and the capitol really much! I live near the black forest. Its beautiful! The dark forest, the firs. Picture perfect. You should visit when you got time" Ludwig suggested
Feliciano sipped on his espresso and swallowed the last gulp "Sure ... you said you live near the black forest? I'm going to visit you then and you show me around? And you come to my home place and I show you around? Deal?" he asked and held out his hand
Ludwig blinked but nodded "Yes, I like Italy and would very much like to see your home town, I bet its beautiful!" and shook the others hand "And at my place we have a few guest rooms so that's no problem" Ludwig felt all warm and happy. He liked this Italian, he talked a lot but Ludwig didn't mind "I'm looking forward to it then Feliciano" he smiled
"Please call me Feli, my friends and family do" he said and smiled broadly "I'm looking forward to it too then. Oh yeah you need some contact information then!" he said and rummaged in his bag for a paper and a pen. When he finally found one after a little while he wrote down his name, address and number, handed Ludwig a piece of paper and the scribbled piece of paper. Ludwig did the same and handed Feliciano his contact information's. Ludwig put the paper in his wallet. Feliciano put the pen and paper back in his bag.
They talked about many things, what they liked. Ludwig found out Feliciano loved to cook and draw.
Feliciano found out that Ludwig liked to take long walks in the nearby forest with his 3 dogs and bake.
At noon, Francesca, the nice lady from before knocked and opened the door. She asked if they wanted lunch and Feliciano ordered two pasta napoli. "Francesca's pasta is poetry for your tummy" he gushed "They are really good almost as good as mine" he bragged
"If you brag so much about it you need to make me your famous pasta" Ludwig joked, he had warmed up to the other. They got along very well
"Si! Si certo!" Feliciano waved and laughed. "Hey Luddy can I draw you? You're the perfect model! And my muse hit me right now! Can I, can I? Please! Please! Please say yes Luddy!" he begged with those amber orbs
How could someone say possibly no to those eyes? Ludwig nodded amused by the cheerfulness and optimism of the Italian.
Feliciano pulled out his block and a pencil "Now sit just like that! No moving! Please" he commanded the German
Ludwig held still. Feliciano's pencil just slided over the paper. It wasn't long afterwards and Feliciano smiled happily
Ludwig looked at him curious "Are you finished?" he asked, looking at the Italian
"Si just finishing the details" he scribbled Ludwig's hair and then went to his eyes to perfect them, when he was satisfied he handed it Ludwig "What do you think, amico?" he asked cheerfully "Si Bello, no?" he added
Ludwig held the drawing, it indeed was beautiful and very detailed "It's magnicifant ... so detailed, like I would look in a mirror, wow you really have talent ... I sadly cant draw" Ludwig smiled awkwardly and gave the picture Feliciano back
"Grazie! Oh .. you cant? Do you want me to show you how to draw?" he offered gleefully "Oh can you teach me how to bake German sweets? I heard they are really good too!" his eyes lit up and his lips curled into a smile
Ludwig smiled "Of course I can show you, when you visit me" he responded calmly
"Si! Si! We'll do it like that!" he said with his hands in the air when Francesca came with the pasta Feliciano ordered "Oh grazie bella!" he thanked her and threw another air kiss in her direction. Francesca just giggled "Feliciano!" she playfully warned and left their room
Ludwig found the pasta to be really good, like Feliciano had said. And the Italian smiled at him when he looked up, he smiled back. He had expected the journey to be lonely, a few lonely days with his books. But this was nice, he liked the others company, he hadn't felt like he was belonging somewhere for a long time now and this Italian was his friend ... his first friend. While thinking about having a friend his lips tug up into a smile
He must have smiled really stupidly and broad. "What are you thinking about? You look really happy!" Feliciano wanted to know
"Oh ehm, I am happy ... I thought about that well you are my first friend and it made me kind of happy to have a friend" Ludwig twiddled his thumbs as he answered "Its even better than I had always imagined" he smiled again, as broad and dumb in his opinion as before when he was just thinking about it. He felt a light blush developing on his cheeks.
"Awwww that's so cute! Are you blushing?" Feliciano asked with a smirk "Because of me?" he asked
Ludwig blushed deeper and looked at him embarrassed "N-no, I always get red and blush when I am really happy or embarrassed" he pouted lightly
"Then I have to make you happy again cause its just too cute!" Feliciano snickered
Ludwig could feel the heat in his face as he blushed even deeper. He tried to say something but his tongue failed to form the words he wanted to speak so he just sat there, a blushing mess, baby blue eyes fixed on the face of the laughing Italian
When Ludwig calmed down and Feliciano stopped snickering they continued their conversation "So what is your brother doing? You said you had one" the Italian proceeded
"He's a soldier and is in the *Wehrmacht*" Ludwig said "He has to train hard and long and I barely get to see him. I wish I could see him more often and we could spend more time like in my childhood" Ludwig sighed lightly "But he has to do important things"
"Why didn't you join the *Wehrmacht*? You are in the legal age aren't you? Not your thing? Are you sick? Dio mio, you aren't sick are you?" Feliciano asked curiously with a light hint of worry
Ludwig smiled "No don't worry I am not sick. I am healthy as can be. I do indeed a lot of sports and work out to keep myself healthy and fit" he stopped a little "Brother is a misguided fool, I never understood why he did join the *Wehrmacht*." he sighed "Yes its not my thing you could say ... I don't like war, it turns you into a beast. I don't ... want to hurt others" he said seriously
Feliciano smiled "I understand. I don't like war either! Why cant we sit and eat pasta together instead than make war?" he asked "Don't make war! Eat pasta instead!" he smiled
"I don't know why we start wars ... its actually silly but we humans are stupid" Ludwig sighed "You wouldn't join the military would you?" he asked a little worried
"The reasons for war are quite simple, really. Its to gain land, power and might. They are selfish reasons!" Feliciano said a little irritated and being really serious about what he just said "No, no! God no! I don't like fighting!" Feliciano replied much to Ludwig's relief
Ludwig nodded "Yeah ... selfish reasons ... right now are a little more peaceful times ... I like peace" he responded, he was a little surprised my Feliciano's seriousness
They talked a little more about a more serious topics before Feliciano yawned loudly and stretched "Look at the time! Its time for my siesta!" he yawned again and was getting himself comfortable on the seats, using his bag as a pillow "I'm sorry ..." he yawned again "...I am really tired" he stretched one more time and closed his eyes "C-can you wake me in about an hour or two?" he asked looking sleepily at Ludwig, blinking lightly
A lighter pink blush tinted Ludwig's cheeks "Of course! I'll watch over you so nothing happens ... have a nice nap" he said and the Italian closed his eyes again, curling up a little
After a few minutes Feliciano's chest moved up and down peacefully and slowly. The blush on Ludwig's cheeks didn't want to die. He couldn't help but stare at the Italian boy, it was a great honor to keep watch over his new friend and he would take it very seriously. Still he couldn't stop and think how cute his newly found friend looked while sleeping
He forced himself to look away, it was rude he told himself. What would the other think? He would scare him off, like the others. He got his book from before and opened it. He would read a little while the other was sleeping.