Holy crap this chapter is short. Sorry for that.
I hope Hungary makes up for it.

45643ga, thanks for the favourite, and Awesomely Random and Crossfire, thanks for the reviews!

I'll be busy this week with tests, so I can't promise that the next chapter will be much longer. And if it is, it might take a little while longer. I don't know, but we'll see.

I hope you'll enjoy it!


18 March 1253

I left for Hungary four months ago, and though I've been within the borders of this kingdom for a while, it took me until now to find Hungary again. He's grown up about as fast as I have, and is in his pre-teens now, like Holy Rome. Or like he was when I left, at least. I don't know how old he would be now: he told me a country stops growing when they don't develop much anymore, and he hasn't been doing so for a while, he said. But I have, with the Teutonic Order State growing stronger, so I've been growing up.
And as has Hungary. But I must say, he looks a little... odd. Still wears his hair in that ponytail, that hasn't changed, but his face looks a little off. He has the same fine features he did when he looked younger, only thinner now. At this rate, it'll be some time before he starts to look like a real man, I'm telling you!
Maybe I'll catch up to Hungary age-wise someday. I mean, for humans that's totally impossible, but for us it's all up to the environment we grow up in as well as our development as a nation. If I become greater than Hungary, I'll be older someday. Same for me compared to Holy Rome.
Did I say 'if'? Scratch that, it's more like 'when I become greater than Hungary', especially now that he looks about as sissy as Austria, were it not for his rougher personality.

"So you're Prussia," Hungary mumbled as he sat in front of said country, staring at the white-haired boy with narrowed eyes, clearly confused. "But you represent the Teutonic Knights who are trying to conquer Prussia."
"Pretty much," Prussia said with a small nod.
"Weird," Hungary then just sighed, getting to his feet again and stretching. "But then again, you were always a weirdo, so what could I expect?" When he was done stretching, he grimaced for a moment, gently rubbing his chest for a heartbeat as though rubbing a sore spot.
Surprised by this motion, Prussia cocked his head to one side. "You okay there?" But Hungary just nodded and snapped that he was fine, a clear sign that Prussia should just back off and not bother him about it. He didn't want to be punched by the kingdom, knowing that would hurt way longer than if a human did it. And Hungary was strong, if he remembered right, which he probably did. Then he just shrugged and got up as well. "But can you help me train for battle?" he asked the older country then. "That's what I came here for: to get some experience in fighting other immortals."
Hungary just looked at him with a nasty gleam in his green eyes and huffed. "Oh, so you didn't come because you wanted to see an old friend again?" he demanded, sounding offended. "Just because little Prussia needs to become stronger! Well, piss off! I'm not in the mood for fighting now, go bother one of my people about it instead." He then stomped off, leaving Prussia to stare after him in confusion and shock.
"Well, I'm sorry, cranky," he muttered when Hungary disappeared from sight. He sat down, flopped onto his back and stared at the blue sky instead. "Nice that you still speak German, though..." He couldn't imagine what it would be like to not be able to communicate to Hungary. He valued their friendship and rivalry, even if Hungary thought otherwise, and it was nice to know that things hadn't changed much between them, though the older country was clearly not having a good day.
Staring up at the clouds like that, he thought back to his bird, which had died two years ago. It had turned out to be a little blackbird, and though he tried to release it once it was old enough, it kept coming back to him. It probably though of Prussia as its father in the end -or more likely it mother, but he refused to think that for the sake of his self esteem. But one day it had flown off and not returned, and he figured it must've either sought freedom after all or died.

Hungary's king was hospitable enough toward Prussia (after Hungary convinced him the boy was his friend and not a Teutonic spy -the Teutonic Knights still weren't liked around these parts after the whole Burzenland mess) and gave him a room to sleep in: Hungary's room. They shared that room for as long as Prussia was there, and Hungary only grudgingly agreed. "But if he's your friend," the king had told his country, "you should be okay with that. We don't have any spare rooms around here, after all." And that's how they ended up staring at each other the first night, talking a bit about the things they'd experienced over the years. The had decades to catch up on together.
And eventually, Hungary grinned, his bad mood of earlier that day gone, and said they could fight now. "Hand-to-hand combat," he said. "Come on, the first to have his back on the ground loses!"
Prussia didn't even answer, just tackled him and tried to push him to the ground. They tugged on each other and tried to push each other off their feet. Hungary eventually laughed, his eyes twinkling with joy again. "You've grown stronger than I thought, little boy!" he taunted Prussia, trying to kick his feet from under him. But Prussia noticed in time and jumped, avoiding it, then pulled a similar stunt against Hungary. But he obviously saw that coming, and managed to beat it off just as easily. Then Hungary tried to put his greater length to good use, leaning over Prussia with his full weight. He nearly managed to push Prussia to the ground like that, but he decided to use a trick that was perhaps a little dirtier than anything Hungary had used. But I found your weak spot, and that's my secret weapon! Remembering how the older boy's chest had been sore earlier that day, he pushed him off himself with his hands on the boy's chest. Judging by a hiss from Hungary, that hurt quite a bit, and the kingdom stepped back quickly before launching himself onto Prussia, tackling him to the ground. Prussia didn't even fight back, only stared, frozen and wide-eyed, up at Hungary, who sat triumphantically on his midriff.
That chest didn't feel right.
But he couldn't place what it was, so when he pushed the laughing Hungary off him, he put his hands on the other's chest again to do so, just to give it another check.
Holy-!
Now he recognised what it was. Why the hell does Hungary have breasts?! Tiny, yes, but he'd definitely felt two bumps on Hungary's chest, and they were not muscles. His stomach did a somersault as he realised what this meant, but his mind denied it more than he'd ever denied anything. Hungary wasn't a girl! Hungary was a tough, battle-loving boy like him. He'd won this battle from Prussia, for Heaven's sake! And I don't lose to little girls. He took a deep breath and calmed himself again. He must've imagined it. Twice. Yeah, he'd imagined it twice. Hungary was a guy, obviously. Always had been, so why would that change now?
Hungary just laughed. "Why look so flustered, Gil? Didn't the great Prussia think he could be beaten?" The kingdom's laughter sent a chill down Prussia's spine. That girlish laughter of his... hers. He stared at Hungary wide-eyed, his cheeks feeling hot with embarassment as he realised that, no matter what he would say to himself, the facts didn't change. And right now, the facts were almost all pointing to the conclusion that Hungary was a girl.

"I hope you can keep still when you sleep," Hungary said eventually when she calmed again and gave her back a good stretch. "There isn't that much space on the bed. Thank God you're a scrawny little kid, really."
"I'm not scrawny!" Prussia protested, forgetting for a moment how awkward he felt around right now. Did she even realise herself that she was a girl? Probably. I mean, how can anyone overlook that? But when they'd first met, she'd said the same things about girls as he had: that they were generally weak, couldn't fight as well as men could, and she too had been puzzled as to how female countries could ever protect their people properly. Well, she's a strong girl, he mused to himself. One of the rare ones. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe Hungary was a boy. I can always ask... NO! If he did that, Hungary would be offended for sure, whether the kingdom was a boy or a girl, and he didn't want to fight again now, not for real this time.
Hungary just rolled her eyes. "Well, you're shorter than me at least, and my chest and shoulders are wider than yours: you're scrawnier than me. Happy now?"
Prussia huffed. "Fine then." Of course your chest is wider, girl. Give it a year -I guess- and you'll have full-fledged boobs, for God's sake. Did she know? Did she? He began to doubt it by now, after that comment.
"Well, as I said," Hungary then continued. "So long as you can keep still as we sleep. I don't want you kicking me. Shame there's no spare bed, I'd rather sleep alone."
"As would I," Prussia answered, getting more annoyed with his friend with the minute now. He turned to look at her then, ans his muscles went tense in a heartbeat. She was undressing. Right in front of him. She must be totally oblivious of her own gender, of all things! A girl would never take off her clothes in front of a boy like that. Flustered, he looked away a heartbeat after having turned to look at her. But he'd seen enough. Hungary's a girl. Confirmed now. He clenched his jaws, and he felt like there was a fire under his skin. He really wanted to turn around and tell Hungary that she was a girl, that he couldn't stay here because of that and leave, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He wanted to stay on Hungary's good side, and mentioning to her that she was a girl would definitely be the worst thing to do if he wanted to stay friends. And he did, he really did, even if that meant he had to go against his own principles.
"Why did you turn the other way, you silly?" came Hungary's voice, and he nearly jumped in shock. She laughed again softly, giggled almost, and lay down on her wooden bed. "Come and sleep, Prussia. We have to go out hunting in the morning, remember?"
Right. They had promised to go hunting for ducks and rabbits for tomorrow's supper. He closed his eyes and stifled a sigh. I can't do this. To Hell with it all, I can't do this! He turned around then, opened his mouth-
-and closed it again. No, he could do this. He could do anything, for Heaven's sake! He could still be friends with Hungary and tell her the truth about her gender someday -someday. Not today. Today would ruin the friendship he so valued. He took a deep breath and sat down on the edge of the bed, surprised by how soft it was. "What kind of straw is this?" he asked, perplexed, as he plucked at a strand of said straw that was tucked neatly under the woolen sheet covering it.
"It's straw and goose feathers," Hungary mumbled, already having her eyes closed. Then she turned around, turning her back on Prussia to sleep -thank God she did. "That's why it's soft. The pillows are also stuffed with feathers. Enjoy." She fell silent then, probably slowly drifting off already, but Prussia couldn't bring himself to even lie down. This was too awkward, too against the rules at that. He couldn't sleep next to a girl! I can, he told himself. I did it before. N-not in a bed, given, but Hungary and I have slept side-by-side before. Telling himself this, he took another deep breath and lay down. Yeah. He could totally do this.

After a little while, Hungary began snoring, and amused, Prussia could finally calm down then. At least with her snoring like that, he could pretend he lay next to a boy with ease. At this, he closed his eyes, and finally drifted off into sleep as well.


The next morning, when Hungary had taken him out hunting as they had promised each other, Prussia had to drag himself after her. He had eventually fallen asleep, yes, but his peace of mind hadn't lasted long enough to keep him like that throughout the night. He'd woken up and forced himself to sleep again several times, and the third time that happened, he just lay down on the floor instead and slept there. From that point onward, he had slept peacefully, knowing he wasn't breaking any rules anymore, but now his back and shoulders were stiff, and he hadn't slept for longer than three hours like that before he was woken by Hungary to have breakfast and leave already. Hungary was both amused and annoyed with him for this.
"Look, it's not my fault that you slept on the floor," she told him after a little while. Prussia stared at her and raised an eyebrow at this, but decided not to comment on that. "We have mouths to feed, Prussia. You'd damn well better snap to it and hunt."
Prussia sighed and followed her. "Easier said than done," he muttered under his breath. But then he shook his head and ran forward a bit so that he walked beside her. "By the way," he asked then, trying not to think about what he'd found out the night before. "Why are we all children? All countries, I mean."
"Because we're all young, you dummy," she answered, grinning. "I thought you were supposed to be smart, but if you're asking this question-"
"That's exactly why I'm asking this question," Prussia interrupted her with a brief glare. "You're just too stupid to question this whole thing. Not my problem, I'm the one thinking this through."
"And why were you questioning it, oh great Prussia?" Hungary huffed, looking angry for just a moment.
"We're countries," Prussia began explaining then.
"No shit, smartass."
"Don't interrupt me. We're countries, and we're supposed to protect our people. I'm the best warrior in all of Prussia and the rest of the Teutonic Order, but I still failed to protect them during the Prussian Uprising. Aren't we supposed to be at our strongest to be able to defend the people of this world? Then why the hell are we all children? Children can't possibly be strong enough, obviously."
Hungary was silent for a moment, frowning for a moment, a confused shimmer in her eyes which Prussia took in triumphantically. She really hasn't thought about this yet! I'm so damn smart, I'm awesome! "I don't know," Hungary admitted eventually. "But we do grow up eventually. It's just that most of us in this part of the world are only a few centuries old, or..." She glanced at Prussia then. "Some aren't even a century old yet. Greece is the oldest around these parts, and to the west, there's Ireland. I've never seen him, but I've been told he looks like an adolescent. 17 years old, give or take. I don't know if that's true, but that would make him older than Greece -I'd give him 15 years or so." Her green eyes began shining then, and she stared at Prussia wide-eyed for a moment. "And I heard that, far to the east, there are people like us that are much older than that! Older even than Rome had been, and your old man as well."
"Older than the Ancients?" Prussia mused to himself. Well, he supposed it was possible, of course. There had once been a time when the Ancients had been the youngsters like they were now. And who came before them? And just like that, he and Hungary would one day be Ancients as well. Someday they would be nothing but history, just like their ancestors were now. But I want to live for a while yet, he thought then. I want to live, grow stronger, gain power. One day I could rule the world!
"But say," Hungary then piped up, grinning at him in joy. "You're the son of Germania, so that mean you're related to my sissy little neighbour in the west, right?"
"You mean Austria?" Prussia snickered. "Yep. Unfortunately."
"Then could you tell him to stop getting beaten up by me all the time? It's getting boring how weak the boy is." She laughed then, sending warmth through Prussia as he listened to it. "Maybe he could be your apprentice! Then again, I beat you yesterday, too."
Prussia then watched as she signaled to him to be quiet, snuck away and drew her bow silently. Well, Austria, he thought with silent laughter, even girls call you sissy. That's just sad. Hungary then shot an arrow, ran after it and came back a few seconds later, triumphantically waving with a dead, bleeding duck.

Well, he thought to himself then, watching her with amusement. She may be a girl, but she's still insane. By far the craziest chick I'll ever meet.


Well, that was it already, sorry for that. I've just been busy preparing for my tests, and I didn't know what else to add to this chapter.

And yes, the bird was the first Gilbird! I hardly think animals can live hundreds of years like the nations can, but just like Germany has dogs, Prussia usually keeps birds as pets (imagine what that would be like -Germany's dogs and Prussia's birds living under the same roof. I can sense some brotherly fights breaking out over what those animals do to each other XD)

Ah well... I don't know what else to say. Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it! Have a nice day~