Germany
Sunlight filtered into the old rustic house through the wide open windows, some might see the beautiful furniture, and others might notice how organized it all seemed to be.
But nobody seemed to notice it didn't really look like a home.
Homes have cups on their coffee tables, dishes in their sinks, dogs snoozing the day away on their couches, and pictures or paintings of the friends, and family, who helped make her life worth it.
Those had been left behind in Berlin.
The second war had been declared, she had been immediately whisked away into the far country side, told to bring nothing, as her "beloved" Führer would provide everything needed in a special house that had been cleared for her.
Turns out, her leader thought all she needed were dresses, cleaning supplies, and guards.
Even though she had never been fond of either of the three.
You see, her leader had been doing many things she wasn't very fond of lately
Of course, she was grateful to him for running her country so well, and the idea of having the entire world conquered by her and her people was a fantasy she was fond of.
The problem was.
She had expected herself at the front lines, masquerading as "Hans", but fighting, taking care of her soldiers, and being their brother in arms like they had the first world war.
Not sitting in a perfectly peaceful house, with the only disturbances being the wracks of pain each fallen troop caused her.
Never would she think her role in this war -with so many years upon years of training and combat experience- was to stay home and clean.
All because of her human body.
She was a human, of course! She was Monika! She liked puppies, she had trouble with her feelings, and she had a strange unexplainable weakness for a certain Italian.
But she was also Deutschland, she was the soil her people farmed on, she was every building in every city, she was her strong military who conquered everything that stepped in their way, she was home, when soldiers, citizens, and immigrants stepped into her borders, and she was the very spirt of all her beloved civilians.
Her Führer seemed to forget about that.
All he could see, from the moment he first laid eyes on her, were her breasts, and her curvy hips, not her strong demeanor, or her position of power
One of the first things he did was uproot her position as the Chancellor's advisor, and simply tell her to stay home, and be a model for all German women to follow, maybe take up knitting.
She felt insulted, but by that point, there was nothing she could do.
So she sat at home, and waited for everything to happen to her, allowed the men in her country to tell her what she should do, how she should let her hair grow out, how she should try to have children, how she should learn to cook better, and how she should start going to church more often.
She hated herself.
She loathed the fact she had become so weak willed, she was appalled at her government for treating their women like nothing but baby making machines. Surely did they not remember their own mothers? Their mother's were probably anything but machines.
She wanted to feel strong.
Well.
Deutschland was getting stronger by the minute.
Monika wanted to be as strong as she used to be.
But she couldn't
"Because... I'm a woman.."
She glanced at the broom leaning against the wall, and decided to sweep again.
After all, a few people were cleared to visit her in this hell hole.
While sweeping the already spotless floor, she felt some of her hair escape her ponytail and sighed.
How did Julchen manage hair past her thighs, when she could barely manage her own waist length hair?!
She would never get used to this..
She had also fattened lately, since she couldn't work out on her own schedule and own routine (the house definably didn't have any work out supplies, and the guards never let her walk faster then a brisk step) and instead had to work out with the women.
Urgh.
She barely broke a sweat doing gentle aerobics..
She barely broke a sweat doing anything these days!
Seriously, she would never understand...
She was infertile, like all countries were!*
Her ridiculous Führer, twisting her into what HE thought a woman should be!
The saddest part was...
It had worked.
Look at her, wearing a dress, and sweeping the floor!
She threw the broom aside, and threw herself on the couch, sick to her stomach, not even realizing somebody was knocking.
"GERMANY?!"
Monika took in a sharp breath as she realized who exactly was knocking.
"COMMANDER?!"
Oh how long had it been since anybody had called her that!
She got up and rushed to the door, quickly fixing her ponytail on the way there.
With a shaky hand she gripped the door knob.
What would weak little Italy think of his Commander in a dress?
"MONIKA!"
She swung the door open as soon as the last syllable escaped his lips.
He looked almost identical to the last time she had seen him, maybe his hair was a bit longer, and had that gun always been there?
But she looked nothing like she had looked like 3 years ago
She expected him to cry, or worse, maybe think he knocked on the wrong door.
Instead he stood quietly gripping a steaming green container
"I..Heard they were keeping you here, and I'm off duty, so..."
He smiled softly, and opened up the container, revealing a slightly cold pasta dish, wilted basil right at the top
"I brought some pasta"
He walked right past her, and she watched him look for the kitchen.
Oh.
She could almost cry from relief.
Walking towards the kitchen, she made a tiny motion for him to follow her, and while he took his time, she started taking out plates, and suddenly she realized how she should've been more welcoming, and more prepared, and she knew she should've cooked something!
She gripped the countertop and shuddered, not even realizing Italy walking in
"Ve~ Commander! Are you okay?"
Compose yourself.
"Ja, I'm..Fine, Italia, just, I apologize..."
He tilted his head and looked at her with confusion
"But, you've done nothing wrong!"
He just didn't get it did he?!
"I..Should've been prepared for a visit"
He laughed and grinned
"It's fine Monika!"
Softly shoving the plates towards him, she stayed quiet as he served the both of them.
Why hadn't he said anything?
I mean she didn't even wear skirts back then.
Did he already know about her change, or did he just not care?
Since it was Italy, probably the latter.
She took her plate without saying a word, and started leading him into the dining room, but instead, he ended up walking into the living room and she followed him in there
He stepped over the broom, and threw himself ontu the couch happily.
She quickly put the broom into a corner, and gingerly sat down.
"Monika... What's wrong, you haven't started eating..."
She bit her lip and softly replied
"I'm waiting for you.."
He gasped and quickly blurted out
"No, no, no! I made it for you, start eating whenever you'd like!"
She took a deep breath and softly replied again, in the same tentative voice
"It's not my place.."
"Why?"
"Because..."
She bit her lip and whispered looking away
"I'm a woman..."
Italy frowned
"And?"
His frown deepened as he looked at his beloved Commander a bit closer.
Sure, she was wearing a dress, and her hair was long, that was weird enough.
But she looked flabbier, and devoid of energy, she had bags under her eyes, and her eyes themselves were begging.
Please. I'm lost. Can you tell me who I am?
"W-Women...Um.."
Her expression changed into panic as she saw his frown get deeper
"Well, like a leader of mine said, the male bird gathers food and protects the nest from enemies, while the female bird pretties herself and lays eggs for him..**"
She looked down, scared of disappointing Italy even more.
"Monika...Please look at me."
She looked up, and his frown of anger was replaced by sad eyes, and worrying.
Which was worse?
"You've always been to busy to watch the birds haven't you? Because...I've been watching them for thousands of more years then any of your leaders have, and I can tell you. Male and Females hunt for food, and both genders watch the eggs."
She bit her lip and held in a sob
"Feliciano..."
"Monika, this is going to sound weird, but.."
"Ja?"
"Can I braid your hair?"
Confused by the request, she furrowed her brow, but turned around anyway.
Italy smiled and started talking
"You know...When I was younger..There was a little girl my age, who's name was Holy Roman Empire, or..If you were really close to her like I was, her name was Kamilla."
Chuckling, he slipped off her hair tie.
"She was a little scary, but once I really talked to her, I realized she was just a shy and lonely girl..And as I learned more about her, the more I realized there were so many sides to her."
He broke her hair into three parts while taking a deep breath
"She liked studying flowers, and spent most of her free days chasing after rabbits, or asking me for drawing lessons. She would let me cook whenever Austria was out because she loved tasting different cuisines. She let me braid her long hair, just like you are now...She flustered easily, and would run away if I scared her. In that way, she was like a delicate little bunny."
He grinned, and started working on the simple braid.
"But, when it came time for war, she would come to me, tell me to braid her hair, and as soon as I was done, she'd hack it off with a knife and there she went. Young Heilrich off to lead the soldiers into battle. And it was then when she showed me, that she wasn't just a rabbit, she was a lion too."
He placed the hair tie, and leaned forward.
"Monika. You don't have to pick just one if you don't want to. You can be the rabbit, and the lion, in fact, before this whole Nazi fiasco, you already were."
She felt tears slipping down her face, but paid no attention to them as she turned around to face Italy
"C-Can I really Feliciano? Is it right?"
He scoffed and responded full of confidence
"Of course! You and Kamilla were the strongest people I've known my whole life! And what does it matter if your leader doesn't agree with it! You don't have to agree with your leader! I don't agree with mine! As big brother Romano said "Mussolini can suck my balls!""
Monika took a second to analyze everything that had been said to her
Then she laughed.
Which made her realize she hadn't laughed in 3 years.
You know, her fondness for Italy wasn't really as unexplainable as she thought it was.
"So uh, are you going to eat that?"
She remembered the plate of pasta balanced on her lap, and grinned, picking up the fork.
Might as well eat it, even if she did need to drop a few pounds.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
It had worked.
She stared into the mirror, waiting for the image to turn back into the weak willed young woman she had been meerly a month ago.
And it didn't.
Which filled her with so much joy.
Once she really tried to escape, it really wasn't all that hard, she found gaps in the guard's schedules, and managed to disappear for the whole day, allowing her more then enough time to work out. At night she'd meet with Italy, who was helping her create a new fake identity, since once Hitler realized what she'd done, he'd blacklist "Hans Schulz"
When she looked into the mirror, she wasn't Hitler's model German woman, she was Monika again!
Well, almost.
She quickly grabbed the bandages and bound her breasts, cutting off the bandage from the roll with her teeth and quickly tying it.
Then she threw on a dress shirt, black pants and a heavy trench coat, due to the recent bitter cold.
She walked out the bathroom and called out
"ITALIA!"
He quickly ran out her bedroom, holding a plastic card and manilla folder, then grinned and saluted with his left hand
"Yes Commander!"
She raised an eyebrow and held out her hand
"My Ids please?"
He flicked the plastic card reading "Ludwig Bielschmidt" before handing it and the manilla folder to her.
She quickly tucked them into her coat and was about to walk back into the bathroom before stopping suddenly
"Wait, uh, Veneziano.."
Italy stopped and smiled as he realized what she wanted
"Of course I'll braid your hair."
Instead of making it perfect, like he did before, this time, he quickly twirled her hair into an acceptable looking braid, then took out his pocket knife and handed it to her.
"You probably want to do this.."
She took the knife from his hands stepped in front of the mirror, and without a single regret, drove the knife through it, the firm braid going slack in her hand.
She grabbed the gel out of the medicine cabinet and quickly slicked back her hair using her hand that wasn't gripping the braid.
When she looked up into the mirror, she was still happy to see Monika.
But she was Deutschland, off to go fight for her people.
Of course she was always Monika.
A critical piece of information she always seemed to forget was, Monika and Deutschland were one and the same.
She just couldn't tell anybody.
But she was used to it.
After all, it's not like she was asking for something crazy like letting women and men into the army together.
She glared at the braid in her hand and smiled evilly.
Going over to her room, she grabbed her duffle bag and ran to the living room where Italy was waiting for her
"Ve~ Are you ready Ludwig?"
She cleared her throat and responded in a gruff and deeper tone
"Of course I am"
Without another word said, both of them climbed out of the living room window into the dark winter night, leaving behind a single golden blonde braid on the couch.
*BASICALLY, THEY'D GO AND THEY DIDN'T WANT THEIR WOMEN SKINNY, SIMPLY BECAUSE IT'D MAKE CHILDBIRTH HARDER
**"The mission of women is to be beautiful and to bring children into the world. This is not at all as...unmodern as it sounds. The female bird pretties herself for her mate and hatches eggs for him. In exchange, the male takes care of gathering food, and stands guard and wards off the enemy." - Joseph Gobbels
OH BOY LOOK AT ME, TWO OTHER MULTI CHAPTER STORIES, AND WHAT DO I DO? INSTEAD OF WRITING FOR THOSE, I WRITE AN ENTIRE NEW STORY! YAY. *KILLS SELF* ANYWAY, SO ON THE BRIGHT SIDE, AT LEAST MY PLAN FOR THIS IS PRETTY SHORT, 4 CHAPTER MAX. BTW I DID CHARACTERIZE ITALY A BIT MORE SERIOUS, SINCE HE HASN'T REALLY HAD MONIKA PROTECTING HIM IN THE WAR SO FAR, SO HE'S HAD TO FIGHT FOR HIMSELF. ALSO, IF YOU'D LIKE, IMPLIED GERITA I GUESS, I TRIED TO MAKE THEM MORE LIKE SIBLINGS, OR BEST FRIENDS, BUT I GUESS I DROPPED SOME PRETTY BIG HINTS WHEN I PUT HRE IN HERE DIDN'T I? ANYWAY, THAT'S ALL, REMEMBER TO REVIEW! NIGHT! *KNOCKS OUT CAUSE IT'S LIKE 4 IN THE MORNING*
EDIT- Okay, next chapter is halfway done, but I APPARENTLY had to fix the GOD AWFUL TYPO where I literally forgot to put an R after Fuhrer. People who pointed it out respectfully and were nice enough to say something about the story, no I'm not talking to you. (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE THAT ONE GUEST WHO LITERALLY GOT ME ALL EXCITED BECAUSE I WAS LIKE "GEE, THIS IS MY FAVORITE STORY I'VE WRTITEN! AND SOMEBODY'S REVIEWED!" AND LITERALLY IT WAS ONLY TO POINT OUT THE TYPO, YOU COULDN'T SAY ANYTHING ELSE? DID IT BOTHER YOU THAT MUCH? JESUS.)