"Scheiße!" Gilbert screamed, "Scheiße, Scheiße, Scheiße!". "I don't like this any more than you do". Roderich carefully closed the door of the St. Paul's Church and let out a soft sigh, creating a cloud of white fog in the cold spring night. "Illegal! They must be joking!". Prussia's red eyes flashed with anger and disappointment as he paced along the small place, his steps firm, the military upbringing clearly visible. He never let his posture slip, Roderich thought, not even in a situation like that. And even though they had spent the last few months arguing, greater Germany, lesser Germany, even though their rivalry was perhaps stronger than ever, they had both never stopped believing; in the revolution, in the people, in the future. And now there isn't going to be any Germany at all, a sarcastic voice in his head whispered. And it was all for nothing. "Bullshit!", Gilbert's harsh voice cut through the night like his sword once did, back then when they were children and the world was still simple. "I refuse to just give up. If Francis managed to do this, so will we!". He turned on his heels and started marching into the night, away from the Church, away from the people, still arguing even though everything they had worked for had been shattered with a simple no. Roderich quickened his steps as well, trying to keep up with the other: "With all due respect for the utter admiration your King had for France, but using him as an example for an organised and steady nation is quite preposterous, wouldn't you say?". His comment remained unnoticed, however, as Gilbert ranted on: "I still believe in Germany, no matter what! They can try all they want, but it's there, I know it! I can feel it! Do you remember Hambach? Do you remember the people, the rush? It's been there, ever since, and I won't…". Suddenly, his voice trailed off and he turned back to Roderich, his face pale and his eyes flickering. "Wait here!", he whispered, his voice hoarse, yet surprisingly hopeful, and a small grin lit his face as he ran off into a dark alley, leaving Austria confused and wondering if maybe his old enemy-but-actually-best-friend had ultimately gone insane.
Gilbert's heart was racing, his breath erratic, his shoulder bumped into walls, he stumbled, fell, stood back up and ran on without even noticing. He had seen… he wasn't even sure what, but somehow he knew that this was it, and it kept him going, further into the dark streets of Frankfurt, until he stood in front of a large brick wall, only lit by a small lantern. The Prussian looked around, trying to catch his breath, and slowly starting to think that perhaps he had overreacted, as he noticed something, or rather- someone standing in the shadows. A child?, he thought, but why… And then it hit him. Hard. Can't be… But who else…? "Hello?" he said, trying his best not to sound too excited. The child turned, slowly, and the second crimson eyes found piercing blue, Gilbert knew. And it made his knees weak and his tears come, because despite the failure and the death and the violence this boy, this nation lived, and by god he was going to protect him, no matter what. "Hello.", he said again, softer this time, and when the child smiled shyly he fell to his knees, holding out his arms, and when their hands touched the only thing Gilbert could think of was hope.
The wind made Roderich shiver and curse Prussia for running off and letting him wait. Putting up his collar he thought that perhaps he should just leave, when suddenly he heard a very familiar voice calling his name. He took a deep breath and turned around, and no surprise, there he was again, breathless, his white hair messy and a wild grin on his face. Just as Austria was about to ask Gilbert what the hell was going on, he realised that the other hadn't returned alone. In his arms he held a small boy, enveloped in what appeared to be Prussia's coat. "Gilbert… are you all right?", he asked carefully. "What's the meaning of all this?". It seemed impossible that Gilbert's smile could get any bigger: "Oh Roddy, this is the most awesome thing ever! Just look at him!". Wondering if nations could actually go insane, Roderich stepped closer. The boy raised his head and turned slightly, looking at him. And suddenly he couldn't think. "But tha… that's impossible! Your king refused, there won't be…". "But there is! Oh god he has to be!", Gilbert laughed softly. And two seconds later Austria, too, understood. "But where did you find him?". This made the Prussian laugh even harder: "On the street, just standing there like the fucking miracle he is! Can you believe that?". "I'm starting to", Roderich replied, chuckling, overwhelmed with hope and the utter irony of the situation. They couldn't quite kill the idea, huh? With a warm smile he leaned down to the child: "What is your name?". "Ludwig", the boy answered, his face looking slightly afraid, but his voice firm. The two nations looked at each other, suddenly laughing even harder. Gilbert was the first to regain his ability to speak: "Ludwig der Deutsche, huh? Oh, this is going to be fantastic! Hah!" And even though they both knew very well that there were still a lot of problems, that this boy would probably mean war between them, at that moment it didn't matter. All that counted was the two of them standing on a lonely street in a cold spring night, finally allowing themselves to hope. And they remembered that feeling, always, in the midst of battle in Königgrätz, hiding in ruins in Berlin, hearing the bombs fall and clinging to each other, standing on opposite sides of the Wall, longing, waiting, missing, fearing, this memory was something no one could ever take away from them.
Hey, thank you so much for reading my story! Some more info about the historical references and the general setting ^3^
All right, so as the title suggests, this story takes place in 1849. You see, at that time a lot of people in the German states wanted to unify Germany in the so-called March Revolution or 48-49 Revolution. They were at least partially successful as they got to elect the first German parliament, which assembled in the St. Paul's Church in Frankfurt. There, they discussed how a possible Germany could work and even set up a constitution, but when they offered Frederick William IV of Prussia the German crown, he refused and thereby basically stopping the national assembly from doing anything (that, and his big ass army might have helped too…). The Austrian and the Prussian parliamentarians were ordered to leave Frankfurt and the Prussian government declared that the assembly had failed its purpose and continuing to participate was therefor against the law. Yet, the whole thing wasn't completely useless as some parts of the constitution were used later, for example in the Weimar Republic.
And now to my favourite part: References (´^-^)´
Greater Germany, lesser Germany : The question whether or not Germany should include non German-speaking territory (so basically most of Austria). Greater Germany would mean Germany under Austrian rule, including all its possessions, lesser Germany would mean excluding all of Austria and forming a state under Prussian rule (as you can imagine, Austria was not amused by this)
"… the utter admiration your king had for France…" : Just a small nod to Frederick the Great, probably Prussia's greatest king, who was rather fond of the French language and culture (and who also very much enjoyed seizing Austrian land - I don't think Roderich liked him all that much…)
Hambach: The Hambacher Fest was a big demonstration/festival in 1832 supporting a unified and democratic Germany. Speeches where held in favour of a free press, freedom of speach, liberty, unity and political rights, and flags in black, red and gold were shown and would soon become a symbol for a German republic. It was 'disguised' as a simple fair since demonstration was kinda heavily forbidden back then. Whoops…
Ludwig der Deutsche: King of East Francia (a very early 'predecessor' of Germany) in the 9th century. I just find it funny that his name was Ludwig the German…
Königgrätz: Major battle in the Austro-Prussian war in 1866. Basically, Prussia kicked Austria's ass, hard, and therefor got to make Germany without Austria hanging around or having any say in German affairs.
Also, Scheiße, the word Gil screams at the beginning, is German for 'shit'.The more you know…
(Also posted on my tumblr hetalia-headcanon-world . tumblr . com ^-^)