A/N: Hmmm... do I has anything funny to say? No? Didn't think so. -_-
"Ve, Ludwig!" A girl's voice called out to me. "Let's draw, okay?" She grabbed my hand and pulled me outside, pencils, paint and paper in hand.
"W-wait! I don't know how to draw!" I stuttered. My heart was beating a mile a minute at her touch, and I felt as if I were going to faint.
"Well I'll teach you, come on!" She pulled me deeper into a bright, grassy meadow filled with flowers.
"What do you want to draw?" She asked, finally stopping in a cool spot under the shade of a tree.
"Eh? I don't know…"
"What gives you inspiration?" She questioned. "When I draw, I like base it off something that I like! Like that bunny over there!" She plopped down in the grass and begin to sketch out the rabbit. I sat down next to her, and started too. "What are you drawing?" She finally inquired.
"The rabbit as well." I didn't have the guts to tell her that the thing that gave me the most inspiration was her, and never in a million years would I have the courage to draw her.
Ludwig awoke to the sound of Roderich playing Moonlight Sonata downstairs. That dream again, Ludwig told himself. He had had that dream on numerous occasions, or ones that were very similar. For years he remembered having dreams about a little girl playing with him in a field. But no matter how hard he tried, he could never make out any of her characteristics. All he noticed was that she always seemed to be wearing the same green dress, and she had auburn hair.
"How persistent." Ludwig muttered. In the past two months since he had started school, he had been having more and more dreams with the girl in it, and not knowing what it meant was driving him insane. "I don't even know her. Why does she keep showing up? It's bad enough to have Feliciano clinging to me all the time." He sighed and went on his way. Complaining about a dream is pointless, he figured.
He left through the front door and muttered a small goodbye to Roderich and Elizabeta who were talking by the piano. He had badgered Elizabeta with questions about Feliciano, but she always replied with 'I don't know' or 'I have to do something'. She was obviously avoiding the questions, and Ludwig was determined to get to the bottom of it. After all, how could Elizabeta being friends with Feliciano be bad enough to lie about it? From what he could tell, the Italian was the most innocent, naïve person he had ever met.
Maybe if I could get those two together in one place I'll figure out what's going on. He smiled. Feliciano had been begging for weeks to hang out, which Ludwig promptly refused every time. Getting Feliciano to come over would be simple.
"Veeeee! Luddy, Luddy!" Feliciano shouted. He ran up to Ludwig and hugged him tightly. Just another normal day, Ludwig thought, a bit irritated.
"Get off of me, Feliciano." Ludwig knew better than to get mad at him; Feliciano was far too childish to ever listen to him.
"Okay!" He let go, but continued talking. "Did you get the math homework done? It was really hard! I didn't get it. I mean, do you understand all that stuff? Why does x equal anything and how do we find it? Also, why do we have to find x in the first place? X is minding his own business, so we shouldn't be searching for him all the time. Also, what is it with slopes? I thought they meant slides! I like slides! They were my favorite thing at the park as a kid and-"
"FELICIANO!" Ludwig interrupted, on the verge of snapping. "If you want, you can come over to my house and I can teach it to you."
"You mean it?" Feliciano's face lit up and he beamed. "Yay! This is going to be so much fun! We can buy pasta, and then we can make pasta, and then we can eat pasta and-"
"You're only coming over to study, Feliciano." Ludwig reminded him.
"Awww, that's no fun! Can't we make a little pasta, please? Pretty please with sugar on top? Please, please, please, please, pleeeeeeease?"
"Alright! We'll have pasta, alright?"
"Ve! Thank you, Luddy!"
"Ja, ja. Now go to class. You don't want to be late."
"Okay! See ya later!" He saluted Ludwig with his left hand, and then ran off cheerfully.
"Just like I thought." Ludwig mumbled as he headed to his own class. "He's easy to persuade."
"Alright, let's go!" Feliciano exclaimed as soon as the bell rang. "Time for pastaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
"We're going home to study first, Feliciano." Ludwig groaned. "How many times do I have to tell you that?"
"I can't wait! Thanks for inviting me over!" Feliciano cooed as they walked to Ludwig's house.
"Ja, ja. It's no problem." He would never admit it, but Ludwig was excited to be taking the bubbly Italian home with him. He felt that soon he would finally find out what Feliciano and Elizabeta were hiding from him.
"Here we are." Ludwig said. He opened the door and was immediately met with the sound of Roderich's piano playing.
"Ve! Is that Mr. Edelstien?" Feliciano questioned, stepping inside.
"Wait, you know him?" Ludwig asked. Feliciano quieted, looking as if he had done something he shouldn't have.
"Well, I mean, we sorta…" But he was interrupted by Elizabeta who enveloped him in a tight hug.
"Hello, Feli!" She cheered. "I haven't seen you in forever!"
"I've missed you too, Miss Hedervary!"
"You know you can just call me Eliza." She smiled. "Come on in! We haven't talked in awhile."
"I'm sorry, Elizabeta, but I brought him here to study." Ludwig intervened.
"Aw. All business as usual." Elizabeta complained. "Fine. But let's talk when you're done, okay?"
"Okay! Bye, Eliza!" Feliciano said as Ludwig dragged him upstairs to his room.
For about an hour, Ludwig helped Feliciano with his math, which turned out to be more troubling than Ludwig had anticipated. It's like he doesn't know a thing, he observed silently. I've had to fix every single problem…Finally, after what felt like a grueling eternity, they finished the homework. Ludwig figured this would be his chance to figure out what was going on.
"Hey, Feliciano," Ludwig started. "Have we… met before?"
"Huh? Why do you ask?" Feliciano replied, doodling mindlessly on his paper. "We met at the beginning of the school year, remember?"
"That's not what I meant." Ludwig said, snatching the pencil from him so he couldn't doodle on all of his answers.
"Then what are you talking about?" Feliciano now started to play with his collar, something he only did when he was nervous.
"When I saved you from those punks who were beating you up, I asked for your name. But you never asked for mine, and you already knew it was Ludwig. How did you know, Feliciano?"
"Ludwig…" He fumbled with his collar a little more, obviously flustered. "Do you have a favorite toy?"
"Was? What does that have to do with anything?"
"Just answer it, Luddy." Feliciano said, sounding uncharacteristically serious for once.
"I… well…"
"The answer is no, right?" Ludwig nodded. "Ludwig…" Feliciano placed his hand on Ludwig's for a second. "You don't remember being a kid, do you?" Without thinking, Ludwig slapped Feliciano's hand away, his glare deepening.
"How the hell did you know?" Ludwig shouted.
"I… I can't tell you." Feliciano mumbled, looking away and clutching his stinging hand.
"What do you mean you can't tell me?" Ludwig grabbed a hold of Feliciano's shoulders firmly. "Talk to me!"
"Luddy…" Feliciano turned back, his chocolate eyes wide open for once and slightly teary. "You just have to trust me." Ludwig was normally a skeptical person that was weary of trusting others, but there was something about that wide-eyed look that seemed to be telling the truth.
"I'm sorry." Ludwig let go of his shoulders. "It's just that… my first memory is being in this house at the age of eleven. A majority of my life is blank. And for years I've been dying to find out who I am."
"I know, Luddy." Feliciano smiled softly. "I promise to help you get your memories back."
"What? You will?"
"Of course, ve! I owe you for all the help with math and homework! Bu there's one catch: I can't tell you all of it at once. You're going to have to be patient."
"Why can't you tell me, Feliciano?"
"I just can't. Please trust me." After pausing for thought, Ludwig took Feliciano's hand and shook it.
"It's a deal. I want to remember who I am."
"Ve! Okay!" Feliciano stood up and pulled Ludwig out of his seat. "I want to make some pasta now, Luddy! Let's go, please?"
"Alright, alright." Ludwig replied, a small grin on his face.
Eager to make pasta, Feliciano rushed down the stairs before Ludwig had even gotten out of his chair. He hadn't noticed it until now, but Ludwig's hands were shaking. He was excited; he would finally get to find out his childhood. Maybe he could finally learn the secrets Elizabeta and Roderich had been keeping from him all this time. He got up and headed down the stairs, contemplating the possibilities. Maybe I'll learn who my parents are. Or maybe I'll find out who my old friends were… his thoughts were cut short when he heard Elizabeta and Feliciano's voices from the kitchen.
"What did you tell him?" Elizabeta asked, her usually calm voice shrill and panicked. "Do you know what this could do?"
"Ve! Of course I do!" Feliciano replied. "But… it didn't happen when he saw me at school. Couldn't this mean Ludwig's ready?"
What are they talking about? Ludwig was not the type to eavesdrop, but curiosity took the best of him. He quietly made his way to the kitchen door and pressed his ear against it.
"I know… but we can't be sure." Elizabeta had calmed down, but she sounded uncharacteristically solemn. "You remember what happened last time, don't you."
"Ve… of course I do." Feliciano said, his voice darkening too. "Your leg never did completely heal, did it, Roderich?" Could it be…? Ludwig recalled that Roderich had always had sort of a limp. But what does this have to do with me?
"I'm fine, Feliciano." Roderich replied in his usual indifferent tone.
"We know that!" Elizabeta exclaimed. "But I don't want that happening again!"
"They told us what to do in case that happened again." There was a long, awkward pause, in which Ludwig was trying to figure out what Roderich meant.
"Roderich…" Elizabeta began.
"Feliciano, I'm going to wish you luck. But remember to be careful." Roderich warned.
"I promise, ve!" Feliciano replied, cheerful again. "Now can we make some pasta?"
"…Yes, of course we can." Elizabeta finally said. "Get the pot out, Feliciano." Ludwig decided that there was nothing left for him to hear, so he walked in. He joined Elizabeta and Feliciano and helped made the pasta as Roderich sat reading a paper, his face paler than usual. As Feliciano and Elizabeta cheerfully chatted with each other, Ludwig couldn't help but get the feeling that he might regret ever meeting the Italian.
A/N: Am I going to leave you in the dark? WELL DUH. Anywho, thanks for the faves and the reviews, as usual! I can't believe how fast they came in! I mean, seriously! I have one chapter up and BOOM! I'm going to say this now, because it's going to come up later: SCREW HISTORICAL ACCURACY, THIS IS FANFICITION! Just thought you all should know that. I had pasta for dinner tonight. CIAO~
