A/N: READ. So, I watched "City of War" this evening and it inspired me to no end. Go watch it, buy it, whatever. It's amazing and really interesting. Anyhow, while watching, my brain couldn't refuse to match the historical characters to the hetalia ones. So, this is my adaptation of the "Rape of Nanking" as it's called with the humanized characters of hetalia. It's not quite historical in part because I had to take my "artistic liberties" (gosh, that sounds stuck up) and in part because I just forgot the details of events (sometimes even the chronological order OTL).
So bear with me and I hope you enjoy!
Right, this is IMPORTANT! Character guide:
Ludwig Beilschmidt = John Rabe (why the hell was his name John? He was freaking German for heaven's sake! Why not Johann?! Anyway, moving on)
Gilbert Beilschmidt = Dora Rabe (yes, I made him Ludwig's wife. It FIT! xD)
Vash Zwingli = Mr. Fliess (that's totally incorrect; Mr. Fliess was a straight-out Nazi, whereas Switzerland was most assuredly not. But I needed another stern, Germanic character and I didn't have anymore left ;A; He's not a major role anyway, please bear with me!)
Arthur Kirkland = Dr. Wilson (he was SO MUCH like England)
Francois Bonnefoy = Ms. Dupres (I think that was her name but I'm not sure, especially not how you spell it orz)
Kiku Honda = Major...I forgot his name. It was complicated and japanese and never showed up in the subtitles, I'm sorry!
Roderich Edelstein = Mr. Rosen
Yao Wang = Mr. Chang (a "bad" Chinese as Rabe called him xD)
Kaoru Leng = Mr. Han (a "good" Chinese xD Yeah, I made Hong Kong the good Chinese. Yao is such a loudmouth sometimes, he fit more to Mr. Chang! xD)
Im Yong Soo - Long Sho (he and France were actually supposed to be female but I'm not familiar with their fem!names, so I just tweaked the story and changed their gender ^^")
Im Yong Ju - Long Sho's lil' bro and in this story North Korea. I have no idea if it's a legitimate Korean name, I just made it up, correct me if you know a better one!
Ludwig Beilschmidt opened the door to his home somewhere within the city of Nanking. Before he could even close it behind him, he heard a dissonant sound stemming from his piano, then a stool being shoved away and feet trampling down the stairs. He cringed, worrying about what kind of a torment his precious piano must've been through while he was away. As he hung his coat on the rack, a certain someone tackled him from behind, almost sending him face first to the floor. Almost. The blonde caught himself and the body latched on his back, by taking its legs and holding them up.
"Hey, Bruder, willkommen zu Hause! Ich habe Hunger, koch mir etwas!" [Hey, brother, welcome home! I'm hungry, cook something!] A loud, cheery voice shouted right in Ludwig's abused ear. The voice belonged to his older brother Gilbert, who was currently rubbing his cheek against Ludwig's. The albino continued whining as Ludwig carried him piggy-back style into the kitchen and set him down on the kitchen counter.
"Wie war die Arb-" [How was wor-], the blonde cut his brother of with a passionate kiss.
"Whoa, so schlimm?" [Whoa, that bad?]
"Nein. Ich hab dich nur vermisst." [No. I just missed you.]
"Awww, mein kleiner Bruder hat mich vermisst!~" [Awww, my little brother missed me!~] Gilbert grinned, dangling his legs over the kitchen table. The albino watched Ludwig starting to prepare a meal. Ludwig had put a pot on the stove, cooking sausages and was peeling potatoes at the moment. The albino quickly got bored with watching and began whistling the Preußenlied** out of tune.
"Bruder, könntest du bitte mit diesem schrecklichen Gekreische aufhören?" [Brother, would you mind stopping this infernal screeching?], Ludwig said harshly, almost cutting himself with the potato peeler.
"Pfff, du hörst nur nicht gut genug zu, um mein überwältigendes Talent bewundern zu können!" [Pfff, you just don't hear well enough to appreciate my awesomeness!] Gilbert retorted. "Wir ziehen doch in zwei Tagen zurück nach Deutschland, oder?" [We're moving back to Germany in two days, right?]
Ludwig had always been amazed at how quickly his brother was able to change topic.
"Ja", the blonde replied with a sigh.
"...das ist schwer für dich, nicht?" [...this is hard for you, isn't it?]
Was it? Was it really hard for Ludwig to move away from his life's project even for a promotion? Yes. Yes it was. Ludwig had put everything in the building of the Siemens power plant in Nanking. In a few years it would bring in millions. Everyone needed electricity. He was sad he had to leave China for Germany, but he was also happy to go back to his home.
Gilbert in the meantime had hopped off of the counter and hugged Ludwig from behind. "Tut mir Leid" [I'm sorry], he mumbled into the taller German's back.
"Es ist nicht deine Schuld." [It's not your fault.]
A quick peck on the cheek. "Natürlich nicht! Außerdem, sieh's positiv: endlich wieder echtes Brot, echte Butter, Menschen, die die beste Sprache der Welt vernünftig sprechen und keine viel zu kurzen Betten mehr!" [Of course not! Look at the bright side: finally we'll get real bread, real butter, and see people, who speak the most awesome language in the world properly and no beds that are far too short!]
"Du übertreibst. Für dich waren die Betten gar nicht zu kurz." [You're exaggerating. The beds weren't even too short for you.]
Gilbert punched him in the chest for that, huffing and pouting. "Entschuldige, dass ich seit der Vierten nicht mehr gewachsen bin!" [Well, excuse me for not growing after fourth grade!]
Ludwig snickered a little and then drifted to the day's events. He wondered if that "Mr. Zwingli" was able to handle the situation well enough. The guy almost had a nervous breakdown because he was offered a cinnamon roll and that they hadn't built a tower to hang the oversized Blutfahne*. The guy was way too uptight.
Ludwig, accompanied by Gilbert's constant moaning about how hungry he was, finished his cooking and made his brother set the table. The latter refused to do so until Ludwig threatened to throw away the food. They sat at the table and Gilbert only resorted to eating with cutlery when Ludwig sent him a glare that would have made Bismarck shrink back in fear. After they were done, Ludwig tried making Gilbert do the dishes for once but since there was no threat anymore, Gilbert simply said "nein" and left the room to lounge on the couch and probably read his Frederick the Great biography. Again. It was the only book the albino had ever even considered reading, aside from his Bismarck biography, but he enjoyed the former much more.
When Ludwig was finally done (Gilbert had managed to get a stain on his plate that would probably last through nuclear warfare), Gilbert was already in bed. He looked so peaceful sleeping. Ludwig remembered how he once kissed his brother when he thought he was asleep. But he hadn't been and that was what started this whole affair. A slight smile dared to creep in on Ludwig's face. He silently shut the door to their shared bedroom and went to his office to continue his diary. Gilbert called it sissy. Writing a diary was something only little girls did, after all. The albino kept one himself but he claimed his was different, "chronicle" as he called it.
The blonde was halfway through the entry for the day when the door creaked open. A white tuft of hair and sleepy red eyes poked in.
"Warum bist du noch auf?" [Why are you still awake?] Gilbert grumbled.
"Ich wollte meinen Eintrag noch fertig schreiben. Ich komm dann schon" [I just wanted to finish my entry. I'll come when I'm done], Ludwig replied. Gilbert wore his brother's pyjamas like he often did even though they were far too large and hung limply around his lithe frame. Gilbert just yawned and sluggishly walked towards the blonde, sitting down on his lap and trying to read what Ludwig wrote down.
"Nicht Spicken!" [No peaking!] Ludwig scolded, closing and holding the diary out of Gilbert's reach like he had to do since he started writing his diary. Gilbert was one curious bastard.
"Ja, ja, ich weiß schon. Ich darf's lesen, wenn du tot bist." [Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm allowed to read it when you're dead.] Gilbert stifled another yawn. "Ich werde dich bestimmt aus reiner Neugier überleben!" [I'll probably survive you out of sheer curiosity!]
"Das ist der Plan." [That's the plan.] Ludwig kissed Gilbert and manoeuvred him back to the bedroom. He picked him up and laid him back on the bed, following short after. As soon as Ludwig had sat down on the bed, Gilbert clung to him trying in vain to cuddle.
"Gilbert, ich muss mich noch umziehen..." [Gilbert, I still have to get into my pyjamas...]
"Uh-uh", Gilbert replied into Ludwig's hip. "Du kannst auch nackt schlafen, ne***?" [You could sleep naked!] Gilbert started giggling.
The younger brother just sighed and took the sleepy Gilbert's arms off of him, getting changed. When Ludwig finally got into bed, Gilbert immediately snuggled up to him. The blonde kissed the top of Gilbert's head, then he fell asleep.
A/N: Yes, a second one xD Anyhow, so this is gonna be a four or five chapter fic, depending on how much I need to fit all the events in. And on how long I make the chapters. I'll try and update once a week, but school is a real bother at times, so that might be hard ^^" Anyhow, if you find any mistakes, whether English or German (even in the Author's note xD), tell me!
*Blutfahne = The Nazi flag, you know, the red one with the Hakenkreuz. It's the official name for it, I odn't know why, though. I read the background story once, but I forgot (it didn't really make sense though, so don't worry about it xD)
**Preußenlied = the Prussian anthem. For a time. That country had too many anthems (and then chose to stick with OUR FREAKING KAISERHYMNE, THE COPYCAT). It's alternatively called "Ich bin ein Preuße, kennt ihr meine Farben?" [I'm a Prussian, do you know my colours?].
***ne = a little like Italy's ve~. It's something northern Germans tend to hang onto...well, everything, and it bugs the average Austrian to know end ;'D No, just kidding, we think it's hilarious and kind of cute, even if we don't admit it~ Anyhow, it neither has meaning nor purpose, it's just there.
Oh, and don't worry, they won't be speaking German the whole time only when two German speaking people converse with each other. And there are only gonna be four present, and when any non-German speaking person is involved, they don't speak German either. And no, I won't bombard you with bad French or whatever when they're not speaking German, but with English xD There won't be any Japanese though; sorry. I neither speak it nor do I even have the proper keyboard for it.
AND special thanks to RisingSunshine who beta'd this for me! She is awesome~
Reviews are love~ They motivate me :D