Prussia's eyes widened as he dumped the contents of the box on his bed. There were actually quite a lot of folded papers in a pile in front of him... for a moment, he had the fleeing thought that someone had stuffed the box with blank papers as some sort of cruel joke,but when he picked one up he caught a glimpse of writing on it.

"Well, let's see what everyone thinks," he said softly to Gilbird as his feathered friend lazily fluttered from the pillow to nest in Prussia's hair.

"Piyo! Piyo!" Gilbird chirped cheerfully, preening a few strands to make his resting place as comfortable as possible.

The first few he opened were from some of the African nations. "Well, that's...a surprise," he remarked, seeing that he didn't really know many of them... Cameroon described him as "energetic", Kenya wrote the he was "a really funny guy" and Uganda said he was "full of life". He smiled at these...and then blinked when he read a note from Sudan.

He's very kind. Also a good listener.

Prussia furrowed his brow... then remembered an incident at a world meeting during a time when conditions in Darfur were exceptionally bad. He'd stumbled onto Sudan crying in the hallway, and, hating to see anyone cry, asked her what was wrong. She had immediately begun pouring out all her troubles to him... Gott, I had no idea what to say to her, he thought. I felt so helpless... what terrible things were happening. All he could do was sit with her, put an arm around her, and listen...

"I guess that was good enough," Prussia said quietly. He was glad that she found his listening helpful. With that, he went on to the next note. It was from Turkey, and was uncharacteristically gushing praise for his character. He had to chuckle at that... "The old man's desperate for an EU membership, isn't he?" Gilbird chirped his assent.

Prussia unfolded the next note. It was from China.

Gilbert is not afraid to make sacrifices and put others' needs before his own.

He smiled a little more. Coming from China, who had done just those things to raise his younger siblings, that meant a lot. The next three notes were from Spain, France, and Belgium. They were not too unexpected, seeing that France and Spain were his friends... and Belgium was so sweet that she probably wrote something for everyone.

The next one after that was in a girl's handwriting...Prussia squinted at it for a minute as he didn't recognize it.

My cat got stuck in a very tall tree and Gilbert climbed up and got her even though it was very high. He could have fallen and gotten hurt, but I was crying about my cat and he didn't want me to cry.

He blinked... one time, during the Cold War, on one of the very few occasions that he had been allowed outside while living at Russia's house, he had encountered Belarus at the foot of a tall tree, sobbing heartbrokenly. Her cat had climbed to near the top of the tree and wouldn't come down for anything. He'd felt sorry for her... he knew he'd be upset if Gilbird was trapped somewhere.

"So she remembers that," Prussia said quietly. "I had almost forgotten." He opened the next note and spread it out in front of him. This handwriting also appeared to be female.

I got to be good friends with Gilbert during the time when he came to live with us. I never got to say goodbye to him when he went home... I really missed him. He's a great friend.

Ukraine, no doubt. I'll have to get in touch with her again, he thought. She was a good friend to me too. In fact, it was her and Lithuania that made life somewhat bearable at times during those long, terrible years.

The next note simply read:

He always notices me.

"Of course, Matt," Prussia said, chuckling again. "You're one of my best friends."

The next note:

I always admired Gilbert because he seems to be so cool under pressure. Nothing ever worries him, no matter how bad it is. Wish I could be like that...

"Ja, mein Freund, you do worry too much," Prussia said, laughing a little as he read Lithuania's note. "Of course, you do have to babysit your buddy Poland... that could drive anyone mad..."

Speaking of Poland, the next note was from him.

I haven't like, always gotten along with him, but he's totally brave! And tough! And I, like, have a lot of respect for him!

Shaking his head and grinning, Prussia unfolded the next one :

I love fratello Gilbert sooo much! He's sooo nice and always so happy! Plus he likes my pasta! And he takes good care of his fratello too!

"Ah, Feli..." Prussia was grinning from ear to ear after reading that. He was surprised at the next note, from Romano.

He may be a potato head, but... he's actually a pretty okay guy.

Wonders never cease, he thought. He went on to the next note:

He can be difficult to get along with, but he'll always have your back if you get into trouble.

Hungary... Prussia arched his eyebrows in great surprise as he read the next one, written in very elegant handwriting:

Gilbert and I have had our differences over the years ("that's putting it mildly," he thought as he read) but, putting those aside, I consider him a good friend... and one would be hard pressed to find someone more courageous and principled than he is.

"Really now, Specs?" Prussia said, with a laugh. He put the paper aside and picked up another, this one written in a strong, square hand.

I do not like Gilbert's attitude, but I admire his strength.

Russia... "Who would have thought?" Prussia mused.

The next, from little Sealand:

Gilbert never acts like I'm annoying! And he always talks to me!

Liechtenstein wrote:

Gilbert took good care of me when I was very small. (Next to this she drew a little smiley face) And he's always nice to me.

Prussia remembered the short time he had cared for the little girl so many years ago... "She was so cute..." he mused. He really had wished that he could have kept her and raised her as his own, but the life he was living at the time was no life for a very young child. Still, her gratitude was touching.

Japan had this to say:

Prussia-san always makes me smile.

"Well, danke," Prussia chuckled as he put the paper aside. He kept reading, note after note, feeling more and more encouraged... they hadn't forgotten after all... until, finally, there were only two notes left. He picked one up and unfolded it.

Gilbert, dude... where have you been lately? We all miss you! You're a really smart guy and have good ideas! That's why I invited you. You should come around more often! Yeah, you were brutal during the revolution, but still, you helped make me who I am today! Thanks dude!

So that was why America had invited him... suddenly a thought struck Prussia. Germany hadn't written anything... he was afraid to know exactly what Germany thought. He tried hard not to be a burden to his little brother... but still... He realized he had one more note left, and that this paper was bigger than all the others, so it had been folded several times to fit through the slot. He carefully unfolded it, his eyes watering a little as he read the familiar handwriting.

Where do I start when describing Gilbert? I could talk about all the times he went without things so I could have everything I needed. I could say that he's always been ready to listen when I've had a problem, and willing to help when I've needed it. I could mention the times he's put himself in danger to ensure my safety... I could recount all the valuable lessons I've learned from him about hard work and determination and honor and selflessness... he and I have our disagreements, and ja, he's not perfect, but who is? I don't think I tell him enough how much he means to me and how grateful I am to him... and how glad I am to still have him as part of my life. Danke, Gilbert. Mein großer Bruder, meine beste Freundin, mein Held.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o

Awwww... I love fluffy family/bro stuff!

The "Prussia-san" from Japan is intentional... he strikes me as the type that would be very formal and calling others by their country name instead of their personal name.

I included some nations that either aren't in the manga or the anime, and also a few that have made brief appearances (Cameroon, Kenya, Uganda... the last two appeared in the Gakuen stuff and Cameroon was in the costume party event. Sudan hasn't appeared at all yet.)

My headcanon for Germany and Prussia is that Luddi relies more on Gilbert than he lets on, and that many times he'll use Gil as a sounding board when he's got a problem that needs a solution.

The last line of Germany's note says "My big brother, my best friend, my hero".

I have one more part to this that I will put up soon.