Ribbon
It started with Gilbird.
Lili Zwingli had been with her older brother in Berlin, visiting the slowly recovering Ludwig Beilschmidt, the personification of West Germany. The German nation had been torn apart in the closing years of World War Two, and while Vash was reknown for being a cranky, trigger-happy recluse, he also didn't like seeing his family in pain. Even if the individual members of the Germanic family didn't always get along with each other, they still looked out for one another. Mostly it was Vash who was left to pick up the pieces after wartime, especially if one member had grievously injured another; she assumed it was an unspoken duty of his, since he was the neutral party and the peacekeeper between nations.
Lili was the only one who knew that though.
"Have they been treating you all right?"
Lili sat quietly listening to her brother quietly converse with West Germany, sipping the weak tea as the two other nations discussed the Allies, how England was still recovering from the war, France was well on the road to recovery, and America and Russia were in the middle of a childish spat of who would get to rule the world now that the previous ruler had been deposed and disgraced.
Cheep!
Lili looked down, and smiled when she saw a small yellow chick sitting on the couch next to her. Its yellow feathers stood out in stark contrast against the dark green couch, a spot of yellow sunshine in the misery that had settled over this house. She smiled, and then said softly, "Hello there, I don't think we've met before." Glancing over at West Germany and noticing that he was still engaged in talk with Vash, she tried to scoop the little chick up but it scooted away from her, cheeping insistently.
"Ah, that is Gilbird," West Germany said, startling Lili slightly. Both he and Vash were watching the little bird jump around on the couch. West Germany turned back to Vash, his blue eyes tired. "He didn't want Gilbird to go to the Soviet Union with him."
Vash frowned. "But I thought he-"
"Not after the dissolving." West Germany's voice was curt and cold. Instead of taking offense, Vash just nodded.
Sensing that they were not going to discuss that line of conversation with her in the room, Lili went back to coaxing Gilbird to get closer, all the while wondering who was Gilbird's owner. She suspected that the bird's owner was a former nation, and no longer existed (there was quite a bit of redrawing country borders after the conclusion of the Second World War), and that West Germany had felt an obligation to watch after the little bird. Gilbird however did not seem inclined to being handled; instead, it kept jumping around on the couch cushion as though it was a bed of hot coals.
"What is it?" Lili whispered, mindful of West Germany and Vash still in the room. The little bird watched her with small black eyes that spoke of silent longing and sadness. Finally, it just caved and scuttled over to Lili, burrowing as best it could into the folds of her skirts. It allowed her to scoop it up in a cupped hand.
Even though she was very careful when handling it, she could still feel its bones; it was thin.
"He hasn't eaten much for several years."
She looked up at West Germany, who appeared stern as ever. She had only seen him briefly in the years leading up to the First World War, but the lines of stress on his face were plainly visible as he set down two bowls, one full of recognizable snacks and the other of something unfamiliar. "Your brother and I will be in the next room over if you need anything." He gestured to the unfamiliar bowl. "For Gilbird, if he feels like eating. I...I've tried, but he has not shown much interest in the past."
"Thank you."
She watched as he left, and then gingerly set Gilbird on the table next to its food. "Come now, you want to be strong, right? To fly far into the sky and be free?" she asked. She wasn't sure of the bird's age, whether it was acting like this because it was getting too old or it was genuinely mourning for a lost owner.
The scary (and shocking) thing was that Gilbird started eating. After staring at her for a few minutes of course.
West Germany seemed just as surprised as Lili had been when he came back into the living room with Vash about twenty minutes later. He was even more surprised when Gilbird, while Vash and Lili prepared to leave, threw the biggest temper tantrum that a bird was capable of. Gilbird chirped ceaselessly, hopping from furniture pieces to get to West Germany. When that venture failed, Gilbird attempted to fly...but that ended quite suddenly when the bird found that its wings could not support itself.
Luckily, West Germany managed to catch it before it landed on the floor.
Lili didn't think much of it until maybe a few weeks later, when she heard a soft tapping on her window when she was preparing for bed. It was late December, and she was with Vash in her brother's winter retreat in the Swiss Alps. She turned and saw the yellow splotch of color against the gray window, and was pleased to find Gilbird sitting there...despite the fact that the poor bird was shivering.
"See? You did it," she said, gently picking Gilbird up and was careful not to scoop up snow with the bird. "Silly thing, does Mr. Germany know you're here?" she asked as she gently set the bird down on one of her pillows.
The bird simply beamed at her.
She smiled, toying with the green ribbon that had been in her hair earlier that day. "I told you that you could do it," she said, watching as Gilbird kept track of the ribbon's progress around the quilt. "Must be nice, being able to go wherever you want without someone hovering over your shoulder," she said quietly, smiling when Gilbird finally pounced on the vibrant material, tiny little claws sinking in through to the quilt below. She stopped dragging the ribbon around; she didn't want to hurt the little bird. "But now that you're strong again, you can go home now."
Gilbird looked at the snow falling outside the window, and then cheeped again.
"You're right. Maybe not now, but when spring comes, you can fly home," she said, carefully rubbing the bird's head with a light touch. "Where is home for you?"
Cheep! Cheep!
Lili smiled even though she had no idea what the bird 'said' and its black eyes were looking eagerly at her.
"Well, I don't think bruder will mind if you spend winter with us, and then when spring comes, you can fly again. Bruder and I won't be staying here all year," Lili said as she tugged on the ribbon again, the cloth springing free from Gilbird's claws again.
She giggled slightly when Gilbird pounced again, and settled for playing with the bird that evening. When Vash came up to see why her bedroom light was still on, he found her lying down on her bed playing with Gilbird, the yellow chick jumping as it followed the hair ribbon. She laughed when it finally clamped its beak around the cloth and tugged it sharply enough to pull it away from her fingers. She let out a surprised shriek but laughed anyway when Gilbird suddenly flew to the dresser with the green ribbon clamped in its beak.
"Lili? When did Gilbird get here?" Vash didn't want his sister to become too attached to the bird, considering who its real owner was.
"Just after dinner." Lili slid off the bed and walked over to the dresser and scooped Gilbird again, the little bird cheeping as it settled comfortably against her nightgown.
Vash tried not to shudder as she touched noses with the bird; Vash definitely remembered when that innocent yellow bird had been a black terror with wings during Prussia's glory days. Lili had been well sheltered then, and for good reason; the age of empires had been full of nations constantly tearing each other to shreds. The 'Imperial Trio' was the worst; if France and England weren't ripping each other to pieces, then England and Spain were. Whoever wasn't fighting at the moment would be off in the New World or somewhere else trying to seize more colonies. Prussia meanwhile had been with Holy Rome, leading his little brother into snatching unguarded territory in Europe, pissing France and Spain off in the process.
But that bird, when it was still nameless, had been labeled as the harbinger of Death, a faceless entity that led Prussian and Holy Roman troops into battle. Vash hadn't seen the bird's gradual transformation himself, but according to Germany, the once feared black eagle had gradually turned into this harmless little yellow bird as Prussia's power waned.
The transformation finally stopped when the nation of Prussia was formally dissolved. And Gilbert was convinced that he was now...human, and would die as such.
But Lili didn't know any of that.
And it wasn't Vash's secret to tell.
"Fine," Vash said reluctantly. A lot of nations thought that he, Switzerland, was a strong nation. They didn't know that his little sister had him wrapped around her little finger, and sometimes Vash wondered if she even knew that. "The bird can stay...under the condition that it leaves in the spring."
Lili beamed.
Gilbird left the day they did. Lili had her bag in one hand, Gilbird perched in her other. The warm spring air kissed her exposed skin as she set the bag down while Vash locked up their winter retreat. "Go, go home," she whispered, and raised her hand to give Gilbird a boost of confidence. The bird took off as her hand reached the sky, and she stood there, watching with a slight bittersweet happiness as Gilbird spread its wings and reached the freedom of the sky, a freedom she secretly longed to touch some day.
"...Marry me brother!"
Gilbert froze, but then leaned back in his bed when he heard Russia and Belarus chasing each other all over the house like a pair of wildcats. He closed his red eyes, trying to tune the two of them out; otherwise, it was going to be another long and restless night. It was supposed to be springtime now, in March of 1961. But Russia's wartime buddy, General Winter, was still in the house. The guy had this habit, Gilbert had noticed, of hanging around for a longer time than necessary; whenever Gilbert was sure that the frost was retreating from his home in East Berlin, it grew even more bitter and cold here.
Gilbert could only imagine what Siberia was like this time of year.
He tensed, recognizing the approaching footsteps as ones that could only belong to General Winter. The dislike between Gilbert and the man was mutual; Gilbert once feinted going over the Berlin Wall a couple of months ago, and as a result, neither Russia nor General Winter had been amused.
Gilbert decided afterwards that it had been worth the resulting punishment just to see a glimpse of his brother that day.
"Gilbert?"
He jumped but relaxed when he realized it was just Elizaveta, the personification of Hungary standing in the doorway. Captivity had not treated her well, especially since she had not been physically strong to begin with. World War Two had placed a strain on everyone.
"What's up?" His voice cracked from disuse, and he internally cringed.
She shrugged, and said, "Not much. Natalia and I had a girl-to-girl talk, and I told her that perhaps Ivan would like her better if he knew for sure that their astrological signs compatible. Turns out Ivan has three birthdays, so we were able to find a sign that worked."
Gilbert snorted, and said, "That explains the screeching earlier." He was about to say more, but stopped when the heavy footsteps slowly resumed.
She glanced nervously down the hall and whispered, "He's here."
Gilbert just nodded and scooted over so she could join him on the rickety cot. He let her wrap an arm around him as they pulled together, keeping the cold and harshness of the world out. In fact, they did not move until they heard and felt the icy presence of General Winter walk by the room, the cold warden to their frozen prison.
Tap, tap, tap.
Gilbert frowned and looked up, wondering what the heck that was. Elizaveta muttered something before getting up from the cot to check out in the hall, just to see if the coast was clear. Then, when he saw the source of the ceaseless tapping, he froze.
Gilbird, a bright yellow spot against the gray and white of the window, was tapping the glass. Terrified that Winter might hear and come back, Gilbert eased the rickety window open and quickly pulled Gilbird inside. The little bird cheeped enthusiastically, yet Gilbert easily picked up on the bird's grumpiness; Gilbird did not appreciate being left behind like that. The two had gone through thick and thin together, from imperial wars to two major world wars. The bird did not like that Gilbert decided what was safe for it or not.
"Heh, sorry little guy, it's too dangerous. I know West is boring and unawesome and all that, but at least it's not frigid at his place during the winter." Gilbert paused as he heard General Winter pause in the hall; Elizaveta's soft gasp was enough of a warning. Gilbert still had time. He nudged his window open and tried to get Gilbird to fly home, but the little bird sat quite contentedly in his hand instead of taking flight. It turned around in Gilbert's hand and glared at him.
"Okay, okay, I get it. No more flying today." Gilbert tucked the bird into his jacket, noting that Gilbird seemed healthier than when Gilbert last saw him. He'd have to thank West for taking care of his bird.
But Gilbird just wiggled out of the jacket and crawled back to Gilbert's hand, forcing the ex-nation to hold his hand out. And the bird still looked quite pissed.
"Is that Gilbird?" Elizaveta had come over to see what had been holding Gilbert captivated, and she smiled to see the little bird.
"Yeah, I left him with West so that he wouldn't have to deal with this...this." He gestured to his little bare room as he spoke.
Elizaveta laughed quietly as she touched the bird's head. "Well, he doesn't seem quite happy to see you," she whispered as Gilbird pointedly turned around so that Gilbert was staring at its wings.
"He's probably mad that I left him behind." Gilbert tried leaning around to get the bird to face him, but Gilbird was stubborn.
Gilbert bit back an irritated sigh while Elizaveta stifled a giggle. "How about a compromise? You can stay with me during the year, but you have to go back in October," Gilbert would have to write a note to his bruder, asking for West to hold on to Gilbird throughout the rest of next year too. Just to keep the bird returning because as much as Gilbert loved having his pet with him, he'd rather that Gilbird was somewhere else safe, especially when Russia and General Winter were involved.
Gilbird seemed to accept the compromise by nuzzling against Gilbert.
That didn't make the separation any easier.
If birds could cry, Gilbert suspected that Gilbird would be bawling and whining right now as the Prussian walked to the Berlin Wall; it was October of 1961, and Gilbert had been finally allowed to return to East Berlin in June. But, as Elizaveta pointed out, as long as Ludwig knew of the arrangement, then he would not try to restrict Gilbird come spring. Gilbert signed the note with the nickname that a very young Ludwig once came up for him - Gil - so that Ludwig alone would know who he was. If a spy intercepted the message, then it would be tricky to track down the participants. The bird took off as his hand reached the sky, and he stood there, watching with a slight bittersweet happiness as Gilbird spread its wings and reached the freedom of the sky, a freedom he secretly longed to reclaim some day.
For some reason, Lili hadn't expected for Gilbird to come back when she and her bruder arrived to the winter retreat in late November. And she most certainly did not expect a note to be tied to Gilbird's thin leg. The note wasn't addressed to anyone, just signed Gil and it was a request to keep an eye on Gilbird during the winter months before letting him return. Gilbird seemed sad, yes, but also seemed happy at the same time as Lili carried him up the stairs back to her room. Vash watched her go, but, assuming that the bird was just going to keep coming back
Reading the attached note, which was short and to the point, Lili reread the written words carefully, to make sure she hadn't missed anything. The writer sounded desperate, as though he truly cared for Gilbird and wanted the bird to stay away yet stay near the same time. The writer sounded...trapped.
Lili was certainly familiar with that feeling.
She loved Vash's constant protection, but at the same time she wanted to show him that he didn't have to constantly worry about her, that she could handle herself.
She didn't tell him about the letter from Gilbird's owner.
And she most certainly didn't tell him about her response to this 'Gil'.
She didn't know anyone named Gil, and assumed that he wasn't a nation, but rather an unlucky citizen caught on the other side of the Iron Curtain. She wrote her own little note, apologizing that Gilbird hadn't gone to the expected recipient, but she had taken care of Gilbird throughout the past winter, and wouldn't mind passing the messages along to the intended recipient.
The winter had been harsh.
Gilbert had actually managed to get over the wall this time around, deliberately pissing General Winter and Russia off. He'd managed an elegant bow to a flabbergasted Ludwig and an excited Feliciano before the East German police grabbed his collar and literally hauled him back over the wall, the Prussian cackling like a madman the entire time. At first, Gilbert was eternally grateful to Belarus for ambushing Russia when Russia was coming to punish the Prussian for the attempted escape. Then Gilbert hated Belarus when General Winter took Russia's place.
But the harsh punishment was worth seeing Ludwig again.
It was while Gilbert was recovering that Gilbird returned with a new note tied to its leg.
At first, Gilbert had been thrilled that Ludwig had responded. But then he face-palmed when he read the new message; had Gilbird escaped Ludwig only to find a girl to take care of it? A multitude of questions concerning Gilbird's IQ and overall intelligence popped up in Gilbert's head; in fact, Gilbert had been in the middle of interrogating/lecturing Gilbird when poor Toris walked by Gilbert's open door. To Toris, who couldn't see Gilbird from his angle, it looked as though Gilbert had finally snapped and was talking to himself, pretending that there was something hidden in his hand in order to ease the apparent loneliness that was Russia's house.
Gilbert finally stopped talking, feeling guilty as Gilbird hung its head. Then he read the girl's note, wondering if he knew anyone, human or nation, named 'Lili'. He didn't know many names of the other nations, just his brother, the Italian brothers, Vash, Antonio, the Imperial Trio, and any other members of the Allies (hey, he had to know the enemy, right? He had to know whose ass to kick after all). But among those, there weren't any girls (as far as he knew, so if China was hiding something that he didn't know about...), so this 'Lili' could very well be a human for all he knew.
But like Gilbert, Gilbird had his moments of both genius and stupidity.
Not that Gilbert would ever admit to that.
The letter gave him an excuse to not only write back and find out more about his newfound correspondent, but it got Gilbird out of the Soviet Union more often.
And since the girl had no idea who he was, Gilbert knew he had someone to talk to without losing face to the international community. He had to stay strong; Elizaveta was slowly cracking and she'd been the strongest of them all. The Baltics were well used to this, but nations like Feliks, Elizaveta, and Gilbert were used to being in power, not being under someone else's power.
Lili was rather surprised to find that Gilbird showed up not only in the middle of March, but that it had managed to find her house in her capitol of Vaduz.
Vash tended to leave her in her country when he went to the World Meetings; the fights between Russia and America had steadily grown worse over the years. Cuba had jumped into the fray recently, proving to be a major threat to America, who was absolutely convinced that Russia had had some hand in the recent death of one of America's bosses. It had gotten to the point that both superpowers came to the meetings discreetly armed, making the others extremely nervous. A lot of nations chose not to show up anymore, which left Austria available to keep an eye on Lili while Vash was away. Vash had chosen to ignore his animosity with Austria for Lili's sake, and Lili was pleased when Austria assured her that he would not interfere with her business.
So no one but Lili, Gilbird, and God knew about the letter she wrote back.
The letters continued back and forth for several years, with two to three weeks between them. Lili always kept small treats out for Gilbird; the poor bird hadn't asked to be a messenger after all. Vash did not know about the letter exchange that was happening right under his nose, and Lili felt both a rush of adrenaline and a stab of guilt for keeping this a secret from her big brother, a person she wasn't supposed to fear or feel the need to hide things from.
She hid this anyway.
As usual, the letter exchanges stopped in November, like she knew they would; Gil absolutely refused to have Gilbird in the Soviet Union in wintertime, which Lili understood. But the last letter, sent in the last weeks of October 1972, had her worried; Gil was becoming frustrated with his constant stay in Moscow, and wanted to return to his home in East Berlin. It was the first time she'd ever got a location from him, current and otherwise.
It took her a few days and several wadded balls of paper to come up with a satisfactory response. She couldn't sympathize with Gil's frustrations with his captivity and his impossible wardens, but she offered a few small words of comfort and told him that no matter what happened, the sun would always come out tomorrow.
Then, in a burst of inspiration, she took her green hair ribbon and scribbled a post-script on a smaller piece of paper:
The color green represents hope and new life. Perhaps someday you will be able to see your homeland again without the constant winter. Don't forget it, no matter how desolate the day may seem.
Then, as she and Vash were leaving the winter retreat again in early March, she tied her response and postscript with the green ribbon to the bird's leg. Gilbird chirped and took off for the sky, two pairs of eyes watching its departure.
Vash eyed his sister suspiciously as she watched Gilbird flew away. He'd learned to live with that animal around the house, especially since it made Lili happy. He'd tolerated it for the winter months, yes, but now it came during the rest of the year whenever Lili was with Vash, and Vash suspected that Gilbird even went to Lili while she was in Vaduz. But, he decided to wait and confirm his suspicions before beating Gilbert into a pulp.
After all, he wanted to be sure that he had the right victim.
"Brother...our astrological signs are compatible...MARRY ME!"
Gilbert groaned and pulled his pillow over his ears as Ivan let out a very unmanly high-pitched screech. Gilbert was actually surprised that Ivan hadn't married Natalia yet; they sure as hell acted like a married couple.
Another winter, another year.
Was he ever going to escape this prison? He wouldn't mind giving back East Germany to his brother and becoming nation-less again if it meant he could escape this hell. Elizaveta had taken to hovering near the Austrian/Soviet Union borders in hopes of catching glimpses of her once-husband, an image to hold onto in hopes that it would one day become reality again.
General Winter now kept a constant eye on him. No more antagonizing the Soviet rulers by fake jumping over the Berlin Wall or testing the boundaries of the Iron Curtain.
He was now a prisoner in all sense of the word but name.
Tap, tap, tap.
Gilbert was careful not to move suddenly lest he attract General Winter's attention. He stealthily crept over to the window and pried it open. He collected Gilbird and quickly yet quietly shut the window again. He frowned as he untied the ribbon; usually Lili used string to tie the letters to Gilbird's leg.
After reading her letter, he tucked it into the box that held all of her previous letters. The green ribbon, he tied around his left wrist.
It stayed with him, even as he kept writing Lili back. It stayed with him when he cheered Elizaveta on as she finally broke through the Curtain. His letters to Lili grew more positive and hopeful as talks began of reuniting both halves of Germany… not that he told her that, humans weren't supposed to know about nations. Perhaps, he even wrote in his last letter to her, perhaps one day they could meet face to face and he could thank her in person as a free man.
Despite the fact that she was probably going to be an old woman by the time he was finally free.
That was what he was thinking, anyway, when he stood outside the Berlin Wall on that cold day in November 1989, waiting for the workmen to tear down the first chunk. Just on the other side, he knew his brother (and because Ludwig was joined at the hip with him, Feliciano would be there as well) would be waiting with the rest of West Berlin's citizens to greet their brothers and sisters.
Cr...runch!
Prussia watched in silence as the first chunk of wall came down, followed closely by a second. He set his jaw as a man-sized hole in the wall finally formed, and, leading his people, took the first steps to a reunified Germany.
The green ribbon, faded from age, remained tied to his left wrist.
A/N: Tumblr request from Life on Vega. And I shouldn't be allowed to write Gilbird anymore; I think I have way too much fun with him. Also, am I the only one who got creeped out by Belarus? Hetalia Axis Powers and all related media belong to Hidekaz Himaruya.