Holy crap. This chapter was a BEAST to write. And I have no idea why. I wrote the beginning while I was on vacation in Québec, but the rest of it just did NOT want to come out.

But, yeah, you guys get a chapter all about Felicia and Lucille, and explaining a bit about their relationship. I tried to keep true to their characters, but as they are now female, I tried to consider how girls tend to handle things differently than men, so any OOCness is just liberties on my part. (But don't worry, I'll be going back to Lovina and Anita in the next chapter).

Also, I really hope that no one who is reading this had anything against Lesbians or anything of the sort. Sure, you probably wouldn't be reading a Yuri if that were the case, but still. I'm trying to stay true to a lot of concerns and stuff that exist in the world.

Please don't accuse me of writing any of this semi-sensitive material in an offending way, I also happen to be a Lesbian and I'm just staying true to my understanding of the world out there.

PEACE AND LOVE, DAMMIT.

-xo-xo-xo-xo-xo-

()-()-()-()-()

Why am I so afraid of the night?

My silhouette, it taunts me

My lack of faith in the beautiful life,

my knowing of it haunts me.

I'm haunted,

and I know I should be afraid.

Lay, awake at night

Cry, you know it's not alright

to feel like you're falling into nothing

You can learn to fly

Just call,

His name,

Just call His name.

–HE IS WE

()-()-()-()-()

Felicia yawned as she cracked her eyes open, groggy and still half asleep. Her room was still dark, and no light filtered in through the window. It obviously wasn't time to get ready for school.

Rolling over onto her side, she peered at the blurry numbers on her alarm clock, trying to bring the glaring red light into focus. They read 3:34.

"I guess I'm up again..." she sighed, kicking off her blankets and swinging her feet over the edge of the bed. Her nightgown settled down to around her knees as she tiptoed silently across the floor to her closet, sliding the door open and flicking on he light.

She was doing this more and more lately; waking up in the middle of the night. But she didn't, couldn't, let anyone else know about it. She didn't want any of them to worry about her.

Especially Lovina

"Ve...why does everything have to be like this?" she wondered aloud, reaching up and withdrawing a small item from behind a stack of clothed upon her top shelf.

She smiled sadly to herself as she cradled it close to her chest, walking back over to her bed and letting the light from her closet illuminate the small, precious picture she held in her hands. Her fingertips ghosted over the smooth glass, caressing it lovingly.

Inside the frame was a small, glossy picture of her and Lucille taken during the school's Halloween dance back in October. She wore the most beautiful smile on her face. It was wide and happy, not at all like her tiny, unsure ones she wore most often, although it might have looked slightly out of place with the police uniform she was dressed in. Felicia herself was donning a black cat costume, complete with whiskers and fuzzy ears. She had her arms thrown around Lucille's neck, and was nuzzling into her neck affectionately (she'd even purred, if she remembered correctly) and accidentally smearing some of her black facepaint on the other's face.

Felicia laughed quietly, making sure to keep her voice low so as not to awaken Lovina in the next room. She doubted she'd be able to explain this to her twin without revealing her relationship with Lucille.

The two of them looked so carefree in the picture. So completely happy... and so in love. That was the true beauty of the photo; it had been taken on the very night they had gotten together, and only mere hours beforehand. Neither of them had quite found the courage they needed to tell the other how they felt, so for that moment, they were just two friends enjoying the moment and momentarily forgetting about their unrequited love.

Felicia wouldn't give that night up for the world. It was the happiest moment of her life; when she found out that the girl she'd secretly been in love with liked her back. She'd been so terrified that Lucille didn't like her in that way, and that she'd be disgusted if she ever found out that Felicia was a lesbian.

That was the main reason why Felicia had been too scared to admit her feelings to Lucille. She was afraid it would ruin their friendship. Looking back on it now, she almost missed the simplicity of when they were just friends, when they didn't have to try and hide such a big secret from everyone else.

"It's so not fair..." she trailed off, rubbing the framed picture with her thumb, "I'd never want to choose between you and them..."

-flashback-

"Felicia, be careful!" Lucille scolded, grabbing the klutzy girl as she tripped over yet another chair.

"Ve~ Sorry Lucy!" Felicia giggled, slightly sugar-buzzed from the five cans of Pepsi she'd inhaled, and tried to steady herself so she could maneuver herself around the chair this time.

"I swear, sometimes I think you'd never survive if someone didn't keep you under constant watch," Lucille sighed, fixing her police hat so it sat properly atop her head.

"But that's what I have you for, right?" she proclaimed, wrapping her arms around the taller girl's waist in a friendly hug. Thankfully for Lucille, the auditorium was dark and crowded during the Halloween dance, so Felicia missed the dark blush that spread across her face.

"Y-yeah, okay. Only because you're hopeless on your own," Lucille said awkwardly, unwinding Felicia's arms from her sides in case anyone were to see them. They were both new to the school and she didn't want people to start any rumors if they got the wrong idea.

Felicia smiled and turned around, once again weaving her way through the jungle of chairs that were set up in one corner of the auditorium. There was considerably less people in that area than were on the dance floor, and since neither her nor Lucille were in the mood for dancing (Lucille found it awkward, and Felicia had been born with two left feet), they'd kept themselves in that corner for most of the evening.

The dance itself had started nearly two hours ago, and it wouldn't end for another three. Felicia and Lucille had decided to go, as friends, to hang out. After all, they'd known each other for as long as either could remember.

But to Felicia, this meant a whole lot more. This was the night she was finally going to do it; she was finally ready to tell Lucille what she thought of her. That she wanted to be more than friends with her. The fear and thrill was gnawing on the inside of her head, making her a little dizzy,but she knew she had to do it. She wasn't going to get a better opportunity to get the weight off of her chest, since it was only her and Lucille at the dance. Lovina, being the social recluse that she is, had opted to stay in their condo.

Still making her way through the chairs, she finally found a spot away from anyone else, directly in the back corner of the room. Chewing nervously on her bottom lip, she sat down in one of the chairs, Lucille following her and sitting in one nearby.

'What now...?' Felicia thought worriedly. She really had no idea how to bring something like this up in front of Lucille. Of course, she'd imagined telling her over and over again in her mind, but that was very little like the real thing. Especially when the real thing was an absolutely beautiful German girl who could somehow always manage to steal Felicia's breath away.

"Feli? What's wrong?" Lucille asked, concern showing in her cerulean eyes. Felicia gulped, wringing the tail of her costume in her hands. She couldn't even bring herself to look at Lucille at the moment, for she was sure that she'd lose her nerve the moment she looked into that face she loved so much.

"Vee...I'm okay Lucy, don't worry about me. Umm..." she struggled to find words, "I have something... s-something really important to tell you. B-but pl-please, don't hate me or leave me or anything after this, please?"

Lucille blinked away her confusion as Felicia turned her chair around so that they were completely facing each other. Why would Felicia think that she'd hate her? It just wasn't possible. Lucille could never hate Felicia, not when she already loved her so much. Of course, she'd never dream of saying that out loud.

"Feli, you know nothing you say will make me hate you. We're friends," Lucille assured her, noticing the way Felicia flinched slightly at the word 'friends'.

"Y-yeah but... I think that's the problem," Felicia continued nervously, little tears starting to prick the corners of her eyes, "I...I...oh, damnit, I like you too much to just want to be friends with you, Lucy!" the end of her sentence was little more than a strained whisper.

Lucille could only stare in shock at the Italian girl in front of her. Not only had she just admitted having more than platonic feelings for her, but it was also the first time Lucille had ever heard Felicia actually swear in a sentence. The knowledge that her secret affections weren't one-sided made something warm and fast bubble up in her chest. Only later would she realise that this was the feeling of thrill.

Lucille's silence sent Felicia into panic mode, "I-I'm sorry! I know I really shouldn't have said it! Now you'll think I'm gross and a freak and you'll never want to speak to me ever again! I'm so sorry Lucy, I should've just kept my big stupid mouth shut but I needed to say it! But not you're gonna leave me because I'm sick and I've liked girls since the sixth grade and-" the tears were streaming down her face now, and her heart was pounding in her chest. She knew it. She knew that Lucille wouldn't feel the same way. Now she was going to get up and walk out of her life and never even look back on the disgusting lesbian freak she'd known since they were both in diapers.

"Felicia," Lucille said firmly, taking the now-mangled costume tail out of Felicia's hands and looking her straight in the eyes, "I don't hate you. I'll never hate you."

Then she stood, motioning for Felicia to follow her, and starting making her way through the throngs of students. Her mind was just as much of a jumble as Felicia's, buzzing with all sorts of activities and emotions. All she knew at the moment was that she couldn't allow Felicia to think that she thought she was some...some 'freak'. Lucille was by no means a hypocrite.

After a few minutes of crowd-weaving, the duo ended up at the entrance to the back stairwell, and disappeared through the door. The stairs were utterly deserted, which was surprising since there were normally at least a few stragglers at parties like this. Neither of them were really in the position to question their luck at the moment though, and the tense atmosphere covered the room like a blanket.

Felicia stood absently on the landing, tears still rolling down her cheeks and despair seeping onto her face. Lucille, with shaking legs although she kept her composure, sat down on the flight of stairs that led upward.

"I..." Lucille began, getting Felicia's attention, who cringed, thinking that she was in for a rejection, "...I've liked girls since halfway through the eighth grade. At first I thought it was just a phase, and that I'd end up liking boys later."

Felicia's eyes were now wide, and staring right at Lucille as if she couldn't really believe that the other girl was sitting there. Lucille kept her eyes shut, clearly needing to speak her mind.

"I always though that it would fade away, but..."

"But it didn't, did it?" Felicia asked, wondering if Lucille had gone through the same thing she had, "It just got stronger, and then you started to understand that you'd never be able to look at boys the same romantic way again, and you can't imagine yourself happy unless it's with another woman?"

Lucille nodded, and Felicia let out another sob, getting to her knees and wrapping her arms around the other girl's shoulders.

"Ve, Lucy... why didn't you tell me?" she asked.

"It's because..." Lucille pulled away slightly, looking up at Felicia, "I was scared that I fell in love with my best friend," she leaned forward and pressed her lips gently against the Italian's. It was just a light touch, purely innocent, but it made both of their heads spin. It felt surreal, like it was impossible to tell if it was really happening or not.

They pulled back away, only to touch their lips back together the next moment. Somewhere during this, both sets of eyes had slid shut, and both pairs of arms were now wrapped loosely around the other's body.

After some unmeasurable length of time, they pulled apart to look at each other. Brilliant blue met warm brown.

"Felicia..." Lucille managed a beautiful, serene smile, "Will you be my girlfriend?"

"I'd like that more than anything in the world," Felicia replied, grasping Lucille's hand and entwining their fingers.

At that moment, everything felt perfect.

-xo-xo-endflashback-xo-xo-

"More than anything in the world..." Felicia echoed her words. It never ceased to amaze her just how lucky she was. After all, she had been fortunate enough to fall in love with someone who loved her back. Their love didn't care that they were two girls.

It was society who cared about that particular detail.

Shortly after the Halloween dance, both Felicia and Lucille had agreed that it would be better if no one knew that they were dating. It would be safer for both of them. While it was true that Hetalia was a school with few students, the ones who went there were very adamant of their ideals, and neither Felicia nor Lucille were willing to risk each others safety if someone decided they didn't approve of their relationship.

"They just wouldn't understand..." Felicia whispered to the picture, placing a kiss on the smooth glass. She stood up from her bed and hid the picture back in her closet, making sure it was out of sight. She didn't want anything to happen to that picture, ever. It kept her love close to her at all times.

The clock now read 4:48. Enough time for Felicia to crawl back into bed and try to get some more sleep, but she knew that it would be pointless. She could never get back to sleep after the woke up because of this.

Humming, she made her way over to the bathroom, intent on finding some good foundation and mascara. After all, she didn't want the bags under her eyes to make anyone worry.

-xo-xo-xo-xo-xo-

Seriously now, what is with me and writing either Italy or Romano in a depressing situation? Those of you who follow Folie A Plusiers, you'll know that I've been having a little too much fun with one certain Italian in that one...

Oh, and on that note, I dropped a bit of a joke from the Hetalia characters in Folie A Plusiers into the last chapter. I'm curious to see if anyone can catch it! *wink*

I've also completed some character sketches of my Genflipped characters, And I'm gonna try to upload them to my Deviantart as soon as possible. FYI, my username there is the same, just without al those damn CAPS.

Je vous aimes~! Au revoir et mercibou! *goes off to sleep*