A week and a half after his return, Gilbert had finally finished moving all of his stuff into Elizabeta's house. Sometime after their little "moment", the Hungarian invited him to move in with her. After getting his things settled, he realized that living with her would be like walking on eggshells with mines hidden underneath. One false step and she would explode into tears or anger or some other strange emotion.

She made sure that he wasn't sleeping with her, but across the hall. She was afraid that she'd grow too close to him, and be even more devastated when he left her. He had told her that he hadn't planned to leave before, and this made her anxious because she thought that a day would come where she woke and knocked on his door, and he wouldn't be there. He'd be gone like before, taking her heart with him. But he wasn't going to leave, even if he hadn't told her that, he simply thought it was implied.

He loved her, and she loved him, yet those three special words hadn't yet escaped the confines of their lips. Elizabeta was still terrified of her heart breaking, and Gilbert simply wasn't the type to say such a thing without the topic being brought up by someone else. So the two just skirted around each other, searching for something in their lives that would prove that the Prussian was there to stay, for her as well as others.

On that day, Elizabeta and Gilbert were sitting outside in the garden, next to a patch of tulips and cornflowers, eating a simple lunch of sandwiches and staring at the sky. An idea suddenly struck Elizabeta so she said, "How about you go out drinking with Francis and Antonio? They've really missed you. Wait- I don't think anyone's told them that you're back yet."

"Yeah, Gilbert was never really fond of France, and he never really saw Spain all that much. Italy might have told them...but I think him and Ludwig went to visit Japan a couple of days after I came back." Gilbert shrugged.

"Call them and suggest you guys go out for drinks."

"But-"

"No. Call them now, Gil. They missed you. They really did. I'll bet you anything they'll flip if you call them now."

"Later," he said nervously, looking away from her adorably scrunched up eyebrows and tweaked little nose.

She stood up on her knees and straddled his lap, clasping his face in her hands. His eyes tried to avoid hers, but her intense gaze made it difficult. "Please, for me? I want you, and them, to be happy. I can tell you're worried they'll be pissed at you. Maybe they will be, a little. But you came back to face your past, and you need to do this, Gil."

Gilbert stared now, at how her dress' ruffles spilled in waves over his legs, at the glint in her beautiful green eyes, at how that dress also showed the contours of her body so perfectly. He couldn't refuse anything that this girl- this goddess -told him to do. His heart was beating just fast enough that her wrist could feel his pulse against it. It didn't surprise her when he leaned in and kissed her breathless on that March day.

When they pulled apart, his face shone with a newfound confidence. "Okay. I'll call them now."

"You want me to go?" She asked, willing to give him the privacy he needed.

"Nah, I like having you right here. Always," he said as he pulled his cellphone out of his pocket, nudging his hand against her inner thigh, making her flush pink.

"Okay. I-I'll stay here then."

Before dialing Francis, he pulled her against him so that her entire body was pressed to him. Somehow, the cliché of them fitting together like puzzle pieces seemed like it was true for once, at least for them. She could hear the faint dial tone as she shut her eyes and nuzzled the crook of his neck, sending goosebumps through his skin.

"Bonjour! Who am I speaking to?" Francis asked from the other end.

"Oi, Francy Pants, wanna go out for some drinks tonight?"

"Gilbert?!" Francis nearly screamed, his voice dripping with so many unidentifiable emotions.

"Ja?"

"Y-you're back?"

"Why do you think I'm calling you, dummkopf?!" Gilbert laughed, making his chest shake. Elizabeta smiled softly, shutting her eyes, feeling incredibly content to just sit there and have him laugh, even his annoying "Kesesesese..." laugh that he did, as long as he was there and happy.

"Great! I'll call Antonio and tell him. Same place as always?"

"It's still there?" Gilbert asked in a baffled voice.

"Oui, and it's exactly the same as before too."

A reminiscent smile sneaked it's way onto Gilbert's face as he replied, "That's cool. Seeya tonight at eight?"

"Sure! Can't wait." Francis replied in a tone that said that he had been waiting for much too long already, and this would be the way to lift his spirits.

"Seeya later man."

"Later!"

Gilbert hit the "end call" button on his phone, looking down on Elizabeta who stared expectantly up at him. "So I'm going out tonight."

"All I ask is that you don't cheat...or leave again."

"I'm not leaving, Liz. I promise."

"How can I know that though? How can I be sure that one day I'm not going to find you gone? I'm scared, Gil. I'm scared I'm going to have my heart-broken again because I get to close. I want to get close though, because you're you." Tears pricked at her eyes and she quivered against him.

"Liz, look at me." She pulled away to stare into his eyes as he said, "I love you. That's why I can't, and won't, leave. It's as simple as that. And there's other people I love here, like Ludwig, and Francis and Antonio. I wouldn't be able to convince myself to leave."

"But-"

"No buts! The awesome has spoken."

Elizabeta burst into a fit of giggles, squirming slightly on his lap, "The awesome? G-Gilbert...ahahahaha!" Once she finally stopped laughing, she looked up at him with a huge smile on her face, "I'm glad you aren't leaving. I don't want to lose the man I love again."

Gilbert sat at the bar, waiting for the drink he ordered. He was a bit early because he was anxious to see his friends again. The door opened behind him, sending in a waft of cool air and the sound of bells hitting the door. There was a pause where the person standing at the door was searching the room, and then a loud gasp.

Two bodies slammed into Gilbert, knocking him off his stool with them following. The two men hugged him tightly, causing him even more pain. Looking up at them, he saw that it was Francis and Antonio. Francis looked relieved and beyond happy, and Antonio looked like he was about to burst into tears of happiness.

"Gilbert!" Antonio cried, nuzzling his friend's chest. "We missed you so much! We thought you were dead!"

"Well, he did anyway. I was fine. I knew you'd be back," Francis said nonchalantly, standing as he did. His face told another story. He looked like he hadn't slept well in ages, coupled with a nearly gone deep anxiety and a crippling depression. Both of them looked like that. They really did miss him, more than they were willing to admit.

"Either way, I'm sorry I didn't call. Lemme up and I'll explain over my beer," Gilbert said, pointing to where a bottle waited for him on the counter.

Antonio stood and helped him up, his watery eyes from before had been replaced by a true, ditzy smile that he had been known for. They all sat down at the bar and when Gilbert was about to grab his drink, Francis plucked it from the counter and drank from it. "You owe me, asshole. We haven't seen you in forever."

Gilbert grinned, a sight that his friends hadn't seen since before World War 1, as he nodded. "Sure, drinks're on me."

Instantly, Antonio leaned on the bar and called for the bartender, ordering two more drinks. Then he turned back to his red-eyed friend, "So, where were you?"

"Well..." Gilbert went on to tell his story in great detail, sometimes pulling out his cell phone to show them pictures of places, or girls, that he'd seen. Each of them nodded and laughed when they realized that they'd almost been in the same exact places several times without knowing it.

After he was finished telling where he had went, there was a long pause where all they did was drink. "Why'd you leave, anyway?" Francis asked, staring at his bottle. He secretly worried that it was because he had fought against him in both World Wars, and after he was disbanded, he truly thought he was alone.

"I was hurting a lot. Like, more than just the fact that I didn't know what I was anymore, but my body was reacting to something. I literally started to fade away for a while, and I got really sick. With that and everything else, I sorta didn't want anyone to see me go through that, 'cuz I thought I was dying, ya'know. So I decided to leave. I didn't really plan it." He shrugged like it was no big deal, but his friends stared at him, completely bewildered by the news.

"You were dying?" Antoni squeaked, tears dripping down his face without him realizing for a moment. When he did, he wiped them away quickly, embarrassed by his show of emotion.

"Well, I got pretty close anyway," Gilbert replied, setting his bottle down. "I was all but dead when I started getting better. I'm all good now, and I'm sticking around."

"You are?"

"I swear."

"We wouldn't allow you to leave anyway, not without us at least," Francis said.

"So, where're you staying? Ludwig's?" Antonio asked.

"Nah, I'm staying with Lizzie," Gilbert grinned.

Francis laughed, "You two finally together?"

"Yeah, finally," Gilbert laughed.