Gilbert looked at the man sat at the other end of the table, a smirk in place on his features. After a few months of war, France had been easily defeated by the Prussian nation and as a result of his victory, Francis was sat across from Gilbert with an annoyed expression directed at his friend. Despite the current situation, they were still friends and everybody was aware of this. Sometimes, France had to wonder just how Gilbert kept his personal feelings separate from how his country was feeling at the time. Despite having no political reasons for it, Gilbert's crush on Hungary had been apparent for quite a while and it was painfully obvious to the nation of love how Gilbert felt about the Hungarian. Even during wars and conflicts, Gilbert would show up at Francis or Antonio's homes acting as though nothing was different, insisting that they all get together for drinks. Francis didn't want to bring himself to do so, but at times he found himself forced to admit that Gilbert was the most human of all the nations. He had to be, to let his own emotions go unaffected by whatever was happening in his country. Even when Gilbert's feelings matched those of Prussia's, Francis didn't doubt that it was in fact Gilbert's emotions influencing the land he was representing and not the other way around. Yes, Gilbert really was...something.
The blond was pulled from his thoughts concerning the albino by the sound of coughing. If it had been an attempt of Gilbert's to get the Frenchman's attention then it had certainly worked, but upon taking a second glance he found that Gilbert wasn't coughing. In fact, Francis couldn't see the source of the noise at all. Gilbert however, had seemed to have found it, and was now bending down to aid a small blond child, trying to get the boy back to bed. Despite how weary and tired the boy appeared to be, there were several distinct similarities between the infant and the man who was currently taking care to get the younger back upstairs. The eyes, despite being outlined by dark circles and being of a different colour, resembled Gilbert's in shape and fierce determination. The boy's skin was pale, but Francis could see by his sick state that it was a result of illness and not the natural colour, which couldn't be very different to its current shade anyway. The most obvious difference was the blond hair that hung in the boy's eyes, covering his furrowed brows. His appearance reminded him of the young nation who had been his 'brother' at one point, not that the 'relation' was ever treated as such. All they did was fight, but that was what brothers did anyway. Still, whose brother hadn't Holy Rome been? Austria's, Italy's, Hungary's, Hesse's, Saxony's, Holstein's, Brandenburg's, Bavaria's, Prussia's...
Gilbert's best efforts appeared to be wasted on the boy, who seemed to be adamant about not going back to bed. However, the resistance was futile seeing as Gilbert simply picked the boy up and took him back upstairs, casting a look at France and muttering something along the lines of 'I'll be back in a sec,' The blond male nodded in response, wondering who the boy was and why he was with Gilbert. If a member of the Prussian royal family had given birth and was trusting Gilbert with the job of babysitting then Francis hadn't heard of it, and even if the child was a royal one, Gilbert hadn't been bragging about him and since the boy seemed to be somewhere around the age of four or five, he would have been announced as the newest arrival to the royal family a while ago. So, that rules that out. But what other reason would Gilbert have a child?
With the intention of asking about the young boy when Gilbert returned downstairs, Francis leaned back in his chair, glancing out of the window and waiting for the albino to come back so that France could go. It was already getting late and it was bad enough losing a war and having to give in to Gilbert's demands, but having to wait to see what the demands would be was just cruel. Although France was eager to leave as soon as possible, he decided to ask his questions about the blond child in Gilbert's custody before the red-eyed man had a chance to make his demands and have him sign any treaties. Perhaps if he was lucky, Gilbert would be so distracted by talking about the boy that he would forget the real reason that he had invited, or rather forced France to come today. Francis had to wonder why they were in Gilbert's home in Frankfurt instead of the one in Berlin that the albino would usually use. He was halfway through lighting a cigarette when the Prussian returned, and Francis made sure to ask his questions before Gilbert could make his demands.
"Prussia, Mon Ami, can I ask who that little boy was?" he asked, not even giving the other a chance to sit down before he inquired after the boy. "He seemed pretty ill, aren't you looking after him properly?" he added with a laugh. He was pushing his luck here, but if Gilbert was as caring towards this child as he had been to other children and animals that he had met over the years, then the Prussian would definitely rush to defend himself and his parenting skills. As predicted, Gilbert was quick with a counteracting argument. "Nein! I'm looking after Ludwig perfectly well!"
France just nodded a hand on his chin. "Ludwig? Well why are you looking after him? You didn't seem the 'parenting' type." Francis pointed out with a smug expression. Gilbert's response was simple. "Shut up."
A loud laugh came from the Frenchman's direction and he continued to speak, flicking his hair to the side as he opened his mouth to continue the conversation. "Oui, Oui, I'm not going to question your reasons for taking in a child, but is now the wisest time? Your brothers tell me that you're trying to create a unified country instead of having the separate Germanics. Surely being busy doing that won't give you much time to raise a...child..." The blond trailed off, coming to the realisation that he had been looking for. "...Unless...Unless raising the child and creating a new country aren't two separate affairs..." The stunned look that France received from his Prussian friend was enough to confirm his theory, and he nodded in understanding. "Ah, I see. Hm, Judging from the state of your enfant, your efforts to build a new country isn't going too well. He looks like he's coming to the end of his life, not starting it."
Prussia's eye twitched and he cast a glare at the blond. "Don't say that kind of stuff! He's gonna be a great nation, I know it!" Gilbert insisted, frowning. The Frenchman just raised his hands dismissively. "Maybe so, but in his current state that seems unlikely. Though I suppose that you'll find a way for him to grow into a strong country. After all, if there's anything that I've learned from being one of your closest and only friends, you don't give up." He chuckled, standing. "Well Gilbert this has been a wonderful visit. I'll make sure to pop by again some time to see how your little project...I mean, how your petit frère is getting along, not that I particularly approve of you trying to unify those states near your place. In fact I'm against it but, well. Bon nuit, I'll let myself out..." he said, turning to face the door but stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
"Nice try, Francis. But we still have business to sort out." Gilbert laughed, shaking his head and directing the blond back to the seat that he had previously occupied.
Can't blame a man for trying. France thought to himself moodily as he scanned the papers that the other had pushed in his direction, his blue eyes widening. "...You want 5 billion...How can you expect me to pay you 5 billion Francs in 'war debt' ?! The war was your fault!"
"You're the one who declared war, Buddy." Gilbert reminded him, grinning in response to Francis' sigh. "You wanted to take over Antonio's house!"
The Prussian raised an eyebrow. "He asked if my prince wanted to become his king," He sighed. "And then I said no. It's hardly an attempt to takeover Spain. Besides, Romano would kill me." Gilbert shrugged, stretching his arms. "Keep reading. It gets better."
Francis narrowed his eyes at his 'friend', continuing to look through the pages. "...Alsace and Lorraine too?! That's ridiculous!" he declared, shaking his head. Again, Gilbert shrugged. "Just sign the paper, Francis. The faster we get this over with, the faster you can leave."
With an annoyed huff, France did as he was told and signed the treaty, standing up and handing it to Prussia. "Bear in mind that I will be getting some form of revenge or at least an apology from you, Prusse." He stated a moody expression on his face. Gilbert just laughed. "Since when have I apologised to anyone?"
"I suppose I'll just have to settle for revenge, then." Francis chuckled, waving at Gilbert and leaving the room.
"Oh Mon Dieu." He sighed as he exited, leaning on the door. Not only did he have to pay, but he had to give up two areas to Gilbert, and only God knew what the Albino intended to do with them. "Oh Mon Dieu." He repeated under his breath, making his way home.
Fairly satisfied with the night's events, Gilbert returned upstairs to Ludwig's room, leaving his own copy of the treaty on the shelf. "Alsace and Lorraine are ours now, West. Don't worry, I can build up an empire and make you strong again." He said quietly, sighing at the sleeping child's current state. How could someone look so troubled even when they were sleeping? Ludwig's breathing was slow, his chest rising and falling at a reduced rate as beads of cold sweat ran down his forehead and the tiny blond clung onto his pillow rather than resting on it. Sighing again, Gilbert sat on the chair beside the bed, a spot that he had occupied for many nights over the past few years ever since he had found the blond. He'd been out with his brothers when they'd seen something moving, and after dismounting from their horses, the group had changed their course and ventured into the forest where they had heard movement. They had expected a wild animal or possibly Hungary, but had instead found a boy. After turning away to discuss their interesting find, they decided to leave Prussia and Brandenburg with the child while the others left to look for a parent. Gilbert had watched as his brothers left to find the boy's guardian while Brandenburg attempted a conversation. The infant had been frightened of the man's gruff voice and turned to run away. Groaning, Gilbert followed him, instructing his brother to watch the horses. It didn't take long to find the boy leaning against a tree, trying to catch his breath. Unfortunately, as soon as he spotted Gilbert coming towards him, the boy had fled again, though he seemed to be out of energy and was running very slowly. The Prussian had easily managed to catch him, and when he did he picked the boy up despite the child's weak yet constant struggling. Once they had regrouped, and the Germanics who had been looking had found no trace of a possible parent or nearby town or village where the boy could have come from, it hadn't taken the brothers long to work out that this boy could be like them. Gilbert had been the first to suggest this, though stubbornly, Saxony and Hesse had disagreed for no other reason than to cause an argument. After a heated discussion, it was decided that Gilbert would take the child home, since the new nation was probably there as a result of one of Prussia's actions, and he had been found on the border to Prussia anyway. And so, Gilbert had found himself with a new younger brother, a tiny creature that only had him in the world and nothing else. (Except for the multitude of Germanic nations who insisted that they were also Ludwig's older brothers, and Gilbert had agreed as long as he got to be 'the main one' ) It was Gilbert's duty to watch over this child and he intended to do it. However, despite deciding on 'Ludwig' as an acceptable name for the child, each of the brothers had a different idea when it came to what Ludwig's surname should be, and so Gilbert decided to unofficially introduce his new brother as 'Ludwig Beilschmidt' instead of just 'Ludwig' to everyone that he met, but only refer to the blond as 'Ludwig' when his brothers were in earshot to avoid restarting the argument regarding the boy's second name.
Watching over the boy as he slept, Gilbert recalled how his theory of Ludwig being Holy Roman Empire had come to be, and despite the unlikelihood of it being true, he was sure. He just had one little thing to do to test his idea. He had to introduce the child to Austria, Hungary and most importantly, Italy to see if it would inspire even the smallest glimmer of recognition in Ludwig's blue eyes. It had been only a hunch at first, but the more he got to know Ludwig, the more Gilbert began to recognise little things that the boy did as things that Holy Rome had also done. Little, unimportant things like the way he would always blush at the simplest things, or the fact that he would read whenever he had the chance, and how he also seemed to enjoy telling the older man off if he caught him doing something that he shouldn't be. There were no obvious signs that Ludwig and Holy Rome were one and the same besides their appearance, and with Ludwig's current weak state, he and his possible past self didn't even look the same anymore. Ludwig hadn't said anything that could inspire the belief that he was Holy Rome. He hadn't had any strange dreams about a girl with a curl. He hadn't asked 'how big brother Austria was'. In all honesty, Ludwig hadn't done anything to support Gilbert's theory besides little things that held no real amount of evidence. But Prussia was sure that Ludwig was who he thought he was. After all, Holy Rome had been too young to die.
Over the next few months, things seemed to be looking up. Ludwig seemed to grow healthier with every step towards forming a unified Germany that Gilbert took. The child's skinny frame had grown sideways with the help of Gilbert's constant urge to feed him more than his fair share of food each day. Soon enough, Ludwig was healthy enough to show off, and Gilbert knew the first place that he would be taking him.
Austria's house.
Hello everyone, the doctor will see you now~! I hope you enjoy this
story. I just want to warn you that the updates will probably be irregular and that chapter length will vary. Obviously, I don't own Hetalia.
