Male!Hungary x Fem!Prussia
Hungary ran as quick as he could, long legs allowing him to positively fly over the ground, the cool evening air tearing at his burning lungs. He did not dare to slow, though his heart was pounding frantically against his breastbone.
Just that morning, Hungary had gotten a letter from Prussia. He had read it by the light of a candle, feeling dread growing in his stomach with every word written in a hasty scrawl upon the letter. He had started running and hadn't stopped since.
Hungary,
I know we aren't really on good terms right now, but... but I need you. Holy Rome has been struck down in battle, and it really looks as though he doesn't have long. Please... please come, alright?
-Prussia
Hungary stumbled up to the front door of Prussia's house, clutching at a stitch in his side and not bothering to knock as he burst through the door. The white haired woman was nowhere to be seen, but Hungary could hear the sounds of a muffled voice from the upper story of the house. Brushing back his brown hair, Hungary ascended the steps and stepped into the spare bedroom at the end of the hall.
The room smelt of blood, but Hungary did not let that deter him as he stepped around some discarded bandaging on the floor to go to Prussia's side. The white haired woman was sitting in a chair pulled up to the side of the room's queen sized bed. Hungary's eyes strayed to the small form in the bed and felt his stomach drop.
Holy Roman Empire. Hungary had been living under his rule for years, and had grown used to the small empire's lovesick antics when it came to their tiny Italian maid. But now, Holy Rome was pale, looking tinier than ever among the blankets on the bed. His laboured breaths hung in the room, and blood bubbled at the corner of his mouth with every wheezing gasp. Hungary moved forward, crouching down and wrapping the obviously distraught Prussia into his arms.
"Prussia... What happened...?" Hungary asked, tilting the woman's face up to look into grief darkened crimson eyes. Those hazy irises seemed to take forever to focus upon him.
"I wasn't there..." Prussia whispered, her voice hoarse from tears. "Goddamn it! I knew he was sick! I knew his empire was starting to fall, I knew he was sick and weak and I wasn't there!"
Hungary felt his heart breaking at the Prussian woman's distress, and he held her close, rocking her gently and whispering sweet nothings in her ear, letting her sob unrestrained (and decidedly unawsomely) into his shoulder.
"I'm sorry..." Hungary whispered, over and over. "I'm so, so sorry... How long do they think he has...?"
"Th-They don't expect him to m-make it through the n-night..." Prussia whispered quietly. "S-Sometimes... he's awake... He doesn't know how b-bad it is... He t-thinks he'll recover..."
"I'm so sorry, Prussia." whispered Hungary in return, trying not to wake the child sized empire that slumbered just a foot away.
The empire moaned in his sleep, and Prussia pulled away, wiping at her tears and picking up a rag that had been soaking in a bowl of water. She rung out the cloth and placed it gently on Holy Rome's forehead, pushing the boy's sweat dampened blonde fringe off of his forehead. Her hands shook.
"Can I get you anything, Prussia...?" Hungary asked, still being sure to keep his voice down to a low rumble.
"D-Do you think you can sit with him...? Prussia asked, voice trembling. "I-I need to go, write some more letters..."
"Of course." Hungary said. Prussia got to her feet and hurried from the room, and Hungary sat in the previously abandoned chair, his green eyes resting on the falling empire before him.
Holy Rome shifted slightly, his cerulean eyes flickering open and looking up at Hungary with a bleary gaze. "Where did my little sister go...?" Holy Rome's voice was weak, almost nonexistent.
"She's here, she's just downstairs." Hungary said, pulling the damp cloth away and putting a hand, suddenly seeming so large, on Holy Rome's forehead. He didn't like the feel of the heat he found there. "Do you want me to get her?"
"No." Holy Rome's quiet voice was surprisingly firm. "I don't want to see her cry anymore... I know I'm dying, Hungary." the little blond turned to look up at the ceiling. "I can feel it..."
"I should have been out there with you-" Hungary started to say, but Holy Rome cut him off.
"No regrets. From any of you." he said firmly, before coughing weakly, blood staining his skin. "No regrets..." he rasped again, falling into unconsciousness once more.
Hungary replaced the cool cloth, hoping to make the blonde more comfortable. He often forgot that inside the blonde's small body was a soul that had been alive for a long time, trapped in the form of a child that could not grow. He seemed so childlike in Hungary's mind, and he often forgot that the empire's age surpassed his own.
The night wore on, slowly, the clock on the wall ticking so loudly that Hungary was ready to pull it down and smash it to pieces. Slowly, Holy Rome's breath grew more laboured, blood in stark contrast against deathly pale skin. Prussia eventually rejoined them, keeping a silent vigil over her big brother, her tired crimson eyes never closing for a moment. As dawn approached, it seemed as though Holy Rome couldn't have any blood left in his tired, broken body, living off of the fleeting, dying faith of his people, and his eyes opened.
"Bruder?" Prussia leaned forward, her eyes still glimmering with unshed tears. One hand brushed Holy Rome's hair back periodically, the other held a tight grip on Hungary's much larger hand.
"I want... to see... the sunrise..." Holy Rome whispered breathily in pained segments, his own eyes glimmering with the sparkle of tears.
"A-Alright..." Prussia sniffled. She looked up at Hungary, obviously not trusting herself to carry the dying empire safely.
Hungary stood, leaned over the bed. He slid one arm under the empire's knees, sliding the other arm around his shoulders and lifting the blonde as though he weighed nothing. He almost did.
Prussia led the way downstairs, to the front door, and around the side of the house. The light of the sun was barely lightening the sky above the horizon, and Holy Rome's tired, aged eyes watched intently, his breathing shallow. Hungary held the small boy in his arms carefully, wishing he had a free arm to wrap around Prussia's delicate shoulders.
They stood there for several long moments.
Finally, the sun rose over the horizon, sending tendrils of light spreading across the grass. The golden light reached for them and finally reached, and Holy Rome's breath stopped, his body alight in the golden glow of the sun.
"B-Bruder..." Prussia whimpered, her body shaking with sobs as she collapsed on the dewy grass. Hungary longed to go to her, but the small body in his arms prevented it.
He kneeled beside the distraught Prussian, and Prussia pressed her face into Holy Rome's unmoving chest, sobbing her heart out. When the tiny empire's body faded away, Prussia fell into Hungary's strong arms, and he held her close. He held her like a parent holding a beloved child, rocking the white haired woman gently, brushing away her tears. Hungary's own grief left him feeling numb, and he could not focus on anything other then helping the sobbing nation in his arms.
"I-I'm sorry, Bruder!" Prussia wailed the words to the lightening sky. She broke down sobbing once more in Hungary's arms.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Hungary knocked quietly on Prussia's bedroom door. He pushed the door open after a moment of no response, holding a cup of tea in his hand. Prussia was where she had been since she had lost her big brother: curled up under the covers on her bed. Sometimes when he went in there, she was sitting up, crimson eyes staring out the window. That's what she was doing now.
He entered and set the cup on the Prussian woman's nightstand and parked his butt on the edge of her bed. Prussia turned to him, her normally lively eyes dull and unseeing, framed by shadows that stood out against her pale skin.
"Prussia, you need to snap out of it." Hungary informed the unresponsive Prussian. "It's been three months and a fortnight. This isn't like you. You're meant to gallivant around, exclaiming how awesome you are and how much of an ass kissing loser I am, not laying around in bed all day."
The white haired woman gave no response.
Hungary slapped her.
A moment later his eyes, green as leaves and wide with horror at what he had just done, met Prussia's equally shocked crimson irises. With nothing else to say, Hungary simply continued on with his ranting.
"What kind of knight are you that you let the death of one comrade effect you this much?!" Hungary was yelling, knowing that he was being almost unnecessarily angry, but simply could not find it in himself to stop. "You're not the only person, or nation for that matter, to ever lose someone close to them! But you don't see Spain laying around because his father is dead, or Veneciano and Romano giving up because they lost their grandfather, and they're children, for God's sake! Get a grip, Prussia!" Standing, Hungary spun on his heel and stomped from the room, slamming the door closed behind him.
Hungary stomped down the steps too, going into the kitchen and slumping into a chair, sighing heavily. As his anger faded, he saw how unreasonable he had been, and knew he should go apologize. After a moment of collecting himself, he stood, heading to the stairs and stopping, shocked.
Prussia descended the staircase, as messy and unkempt as she had been when he had yelled at her, but there was something different about her. Looking closely, Hungary realized that the light had returned to the brilliant crimson irises.
"You're right..." Prussia said softly, looking down. "I should live for him."
Hungary nodded, reaching forward and brushing his thumb over her cheeks. "You're crying." he said, trapping the moisture and whisking it away from her eyes gently.
Prussia sniffled, turning her head and slapping his hand away. She took a deep breath and when she faced him again, her eyes were strong, and a few tears still fell from her eyes. "I'm not crying." she declared, her trademark cocky grin reappearing at long last on her face. "It's liquid awesome!"