It seemed unbelievable just how recently it was that Prussia had gone to great lengths to lie to his bosses. He'd laughed over a beer in Canada's sitting room as he explained how he'd justified taking a long vacation in Toronto in the name of diplomacy, and brushed off any sort of trouble he'd be in when they found out about his deception.

Prussia asserted he always got what he wanted. And, with a wide hand motion which made his drink spill on the carpet, he said he wanted Canada. Canada could only blush, and smile at the stain they'd ended up leaving far too long to be removed all that time later.

That seemed like an eternity ago as Canada ran through the halls and tried to catch up with the quickly retreating Germans. They had a flight to catch as they always did, as they were due in Spain the following morning.

The brothers had a sense of urgency about their stride that carried them down the hall so quickly, but Canada had a greater one. He simply would not allow Prussia to get away, after all that had happened.

He yelled after them, and there wasn't a response. That wasn't new, of course, but this one had more to do with shunning than his uncanny knack for invisibility. Somewhere within him, he was proud he could be noticed enough to be shunned in the first place. That probably wasn't the best realization, though, so he brushed it off.

It was only when he clamped a hand on Prussia's shoulder that the older man bothered to turn around. Germany, seemingly, only paused because his brother had.

"We need to talk," Canada told him through heavy breath.

Prussia looked him over for a good while before he finally turned back and said what Canada assumed was a dismissal order to Germany. It was greeted with an obedient nod, and they were left alone.

When Prussia turned back, his eyes were indifferent. That was probably the worst part of the whole thing, Canada decided. He'd wanted a fight with someone just as angry as he was, if there would have to be one.

"How could you do that?" Canada asked. "You knew what that proposition was to me."

Prussia shrugged. "You should know."

"Y-you can't just do that and not explain!" Canada said. He tightened his grip on the coat sleeve to keep Prussia from getting away. "After all we've been through…"

"After all we've been through, you should know why I had to attack," Prussia said. There was edge to his voice that came from someplace old, someplace that hadn't been around for a rather long time. Dust was being cleared from ancient defenses as he stood taller. "You think you can just claim land as awesome as mine without consequences?"

He stared fiercely at Canada, and he obviously looked for something that was probably not an apology or explanation. He demanded acknowledgment of something that simply wasn't true, and he wasn't going to stop until he at least believed he had it.

"I… I didn't… I wasn't trying to claim land!" Canada insisted. He frowned when there was a scoff in return. "I wasn't!"

Prussia brushed him off. "Canada, you're just like a nation…"

"It wasn't about land!" Canada said, near yelled.

Prussia blinked at that, but nothing more.

"It… it was about love, and…"

And he laughed.

"It was!"

He laughed harder.

Canada's ears burned in embarrassment. He wanted to hit the grin off Prussia's face, and then do whatever it took to force him to understand. But, as had happened so many times before, he didn't do a thing. He let someone else move him, and let Prussia laugh until he was finished.

"You baby nations are so cute, you know that? You watch a few movies, and think any of us actually give a shit about human..."

"You don't understand!" Canada told him. "It was about love. But what you… what you did was horrible. You destroyed everything I worked for and you don't care…"

"Not really." Prussia looked at his watch. "I have a flight to catch. Anything else?"

"You're just going to end it like this?"

"There are worse ways." He said it definitively, and the tone made Canada step back a bit.

Canada wondered exactly how many forms of revenge had been considered and rejected by Prussia, and exactly how many were still a possibility if he was pushed to far. More, no doubt, were brewing as the eye contact didn't break.

"I-I guess there are," Canada said. "Goodbye, then…"

"Yeah, see ya." Prussia didn't look back as he rushed off after his brother, who was by that point probably at the airport.

The cleaning crews had started to arrive before Canada could bring himself to leave the building and head back home. By that point, he figured, the German brothers were back on a plane to Europe. Canada was sure that Prussia was thinking about him. Or, at least, he told himself that Prussia was thinking about him. The last thing he wanted was to be alone in this, even if it was obviously over.

Canada looked at the stain on the sitting room floor, and still felt arms that had held him while it set in. Arms that had no intention to return, nor did Canada really want them to.

It had been about love, even if Prussia had been insistent that nations didn't feel things like that. The history written all over him wouldn't let him believe it, and Canada figured that, really, he didn't need to be around negativity like that. This hurt, but it was better for him not to be tied down by the baggage of near a millennia of distrust and warfare.

He'd scrub in the morning, and if that didn't work he'd replace the carpet. That, at least, wasn't going to be permanent.