Author's Note at the end of the fic because of slight spoilers. Besides that, enjoy!
Italy looked up from his dinner when Blackie, Berlitz, and Aster began jumping up and barking simultaneously. They all ran to the window, and Italy followed suit. He brightened when he spotted the familiar figure walking towards the door.
"Germany's back from Russia!" Italy exclaimed to the dogs, who were too busy wagging their tails to listen.
Italy ran to the door where he leaped on Germany.
"Germany, Germany, you're home!" he practically squealed into Germany's shoulder.
Germany laughed lightly, though Italy noticed a bit of darkness to his eyes. He always had that look after a particularly worrying battle. "Yes, I'm back, Italy."
Italy pulled back from the hug to look into Germany's eyes and was rewarded with a kiss. Italy melted into it, sighing contentedly into Germany's mouth before returning the favor. He'd missed this so much. He hated when Germany had to leave for battles, since they made him so anxious and made Germany so worn out. Besides, waking up in a cold bed alone was the worst feeling in the world.
When they finally pulled away, Germany put his forehead to Italy's, and Italy noticed that he looked particularly sad this time.
"How was the battle Germany? Did you win? Was it hard? How about some pasta to cheer you—"
"Italy," Germany interrupted softly, "would you do something for me?"
"Anything, Germany," Italy said with a smile. He really would do anything for Germany. He'd fly to the moon, he'd burn a city, he'd even give up pasta if Germany asked him to. He'd do anything—
"Leave me and join the Allied forces."
Anything but that.
Italy sighed. "Germany…"
"I know we've talked about it before but this time I mean it. Please, Italy."
"I won't leave you all alone," Italy said with as much force as he could muster. He pulled away and walked out of the room as if to say that the conversation was over. Germany was having none of it. He followed Italy to the living room and sat on the couch beside him.
"Italy," Germany began softly, "it's getting worse. The attack on Russia…we-we lost over half of our men. This is ending and it won't be good for the Axis. I don't want you to get hurt in this mess."
Italy looked up at Germany with tears in his eyes. "But what about you? I don't want you to get hurt either!"
"This is all because of my country, Italy. Joining the Allies would be a surrender."
"So surrender! What would be so bad about that?" The first tear ran down Italy's cheeks and Germany reached up to brush it away.
"You know my boss won't let that happen," Germany whispered.
"Don't make me do this, Germany, please," Italy said, leaning into Germany's chest. Germany sighed and wrapped his arms around Italy.
"It's for the best," he said, nuzzling Italy's neck as he wept into Germany's chest.
"I'll have to fight you," Italy murmured. Germany barely caught the words. "I can't fight you."
"I know, but you'll have to try. Just until this war is over."
Italy sat up at that. "And after that, we can be together again."
Germany thought about and smiled when he realized Italy was right. He nodded.
"Well, then I guess this isn't going to be so bad," Italy said, but they both knew that was a lie. "Ti amo, Germany."
"Ich lieibe dich, Italy," Germany returned, leaning down to plant a kiss firmly on Italy's lips.
A/N A/N: Hey hey, guess who has yet another OTP! *cue the groans* This is clearly my first time writing Gerita, so I apologize if this is either OOC or if the idea has already been taken. I know for a fact that it is historically inaccurate (because I'm 99% sure that Italy had already declared war on Germany before Germany invaded Russia) but I just couldn't let this little idea go away. Also, I typically think of Gerita as the cutest, happiest couple on the planet but what came out was angst so...sorry about that :S