Close to six months passed with no further notes from Ludwig, and making the year 1940. Although Feliciano knew that Ludwig had to be quite busy with working, it was killing the redhead to know that he could be so close. The day he had found the note, Feliciano had gone to the market, searching and hoping for his Ludwig to be there. This had proven in vain, however, for if the blond was here, he wasn't out in town, and there was no way that Feliciano was going to ask any of the German soldiers if they knew who Ludwig Beilschmidt was.

Lovino had indeed joined La Resistenza, and Antonio had indeed joined as well. Lovino, of course, huffed and complained about not needing a babysitter, but Feliciano knew his brother better then that, so he knew that Lovino was secretly pleased. However, Lovino's usually less than civil attitude about Antonio, in and out of his company, seemed to appease Nonno Roma, who stopped looking at Antonio and Lovino so suspiciously.

"Good-bye class, see you all tomorrow!" Feliciano's teacher called to her class as her students filed out the door, chatting amongst themselves cheerily. Feliciano hummed to himself as he walked alone, searching out his brother from the younger students.

"Let's go, Sera!" Feliciano said cheerfully, grabbing his brother's hand and swinging it between them. However, no sooner had they stepped foot outside the school, an earsplitting explosion shook the ground beneath their feet, and Feliciano stumbled.

Many of the students, terrified, ran in every direction. But once Feliciano had regained his footing, the two ran back into the school, to Feliciano's classroom and hiding under the desks, just like Nonno Roma had taught them to.

Feliciano shook horribly, forcing himself to swallow down the acid that rose in his throat as they waited in the terrible silence, waiting for another explosion, waiting to be blown sky high. His heart, normally so healthy now, pounded so hard he could feel the pain radiated through his heaving chest. For a moment, Feliciano was sure that he was going to either pass out or be physically ill.

"Boys, are you in here?"

Feliciano almost cried with relief as he and Seraphino scrambled out from under the desks, hurtling themselves at the strong, solid figure of Nonno Roma, who stood in the doorway, eyes crinkling up in a smile when the two teenagers hugged him.

"There, there." Nonno Roma said soothingly, wrapping his arms around them and holding them both close. "It's okay; it was a plane that dropped a bomb by mistake. We're not under attack."

"Thank God…" Seraphino said in a trembling voice as Feliciano let out a shuddering breath, one hand pressed subconsciously over his still frantic, painful heart.

"C-Can we go home now?" Feliciano asked in a whimpering voice, looking pleadingly up at Nonno Roma with his big honey eyes.

"I think we should. You do not look well at all, Feli." Nonno Roma said, surveying his grandsons with worried air. "Actually, neither of you do. Now, let's go home."

Feliciano plodded along listlessly behind his grandfather, feeling each breath as though it were burning his left lung, the lung in which the bullet had fragmented in all those years ago. Seraphino gripped his hand tightly, his skin pale and amber eyes wide. Nonno Roma kept glancing back at them, a though checking to make sure they were still there. It was with great relief that they entered the house.

"Why don't you two go lay down, and I'll bring you both something sweet, okay?" Nonno Roma suggested, gently nudging the two boys in the direction of their room.

Neither Feliciano nor Seraphino offered up any argument, simply made their way to their room in silence. In mutual, unspoken agreement, they both climbed into Seraphino's bed, away from the window where the dark smoke was tainting the sky. Feliciano propped himself up against the headboard to breathe easier, and Seraphino burrowed under the covers until only the top of his red hair was visible, his head resting on Feliciano's lap. Without even coming to a conscious decision, Feliciano let his hand drift down and stroked Seraphino's hair, wanting to offer some comfort to the brother whose entire body trembled as he cried.

It was amazing that Feliciano was able to forget that Seraphino was still a child. Sure, the youngest Vargas flirted like the ladies man he was and sometimes seemed more responsible then his elder brothers, but in reality, Seraphino was only fifteen years old, still shorter then many of his classmates. He was still a child, while Feliciano was almost an adult.

The door creaked open a moment later, and Nonno Roma entered, holding something in his hands with a smile. Seraphino dried his eyes under the safety of the blanket before sitting up to face his grandfather. Feliciano pressed close to his brother, unable to disguise the shaking of his own hands as easily as Seraphino had been able to hide his tears.

"What do you have, Nonno?" Seraphino asked, voice breaking slightly on the last word.

"It's something we haven't had for awhile." Nonno Roma said gently, placing something in each boy's hands. They looked down.

"Cioccolato!" Feliciano gasped, honey eyes wide open in gleeful surprise.

"Where did you get it, Nonno?" Seraphino asked eagerly, examining the bar from all angles before tearing it open. Feliciano followed suit quickly.

Feliciano sighed in heavenly bliss when he took the first bite, eyes fluttering closed as the familiar, yet wonderful, taste melted in his mouth. "Thank you, Nonno!" Feliciano said, smiling widely. "This is the best!"

"I'm glad you boys like it, but you'll have to thank Antonio next time you see him." Nonno Roma said. "He picked it up when he was last in Germany."

"We will!" Seraphino said happily, and then frowned slightly. "Where are Lovino and Antonio?" he asked, looking around.

"They're out on a mission." Nonno Roma said, glancing off to the side. "They should be back by dinner."

At those words, Feliciano set his chocolate bar off to the side, his appetite gone. It always made his stomach clench to think of his brother out there. Shooting people. Planting bombs. Putting himself in constant danger. He looked to the side and exchanged a look with Seraphino.

"I know that it's hard to think about, but it's what he does now. We can't stop him. All we can do now is support him as much as we can and pray." Nonno Roma said in a resigned voice.

"Yes, Nonno." Seraphino said dutifully.

Feliciano opened his mouth to reply as well, but a sudden pain gripped his chest, squeezing his heart and lung and forcing his breath out in a pained cry. Nonno Roma and Seraphino both jumped and Feliciano leaned forward, gasping in a bit of air and pulling his knees up to his chest. A film of sweat broke out on his skin as he struggled for breath.

Right away, Nonno Roma lifted Feliciano up off Seraphino's bed and carried him over to his own bed, gently easing the redhead to a laying position on his side before pulling the too familiar oxygen mask over. Carefully, he fitted it to Feliciano's face and turned on the switch. Feliciano let out a pained whimper, and Seraphino sat on the edge of his older brother's bed, letting Feliciano grip his hand tightly.

"Hush now, Fels. You're okay." Nonno Roma said soothingly, smoothing the teenager's red hair back with a gentle hand. Feliciano sniffled quietly. His heart had not hurt this bad since Berlin.

Letting his eyes drift closed, Feliciano took deep breaths of the oxygen supplied to him by the mask. After about ten minutes, the pain in his chest evened out into a tolerable ache that was already beginning to fade. Feliciano gave a deep sigh of relief, then fell quickly into sleep.

.~*~.

Here in this charming little corner of Italy's countryside, it was easy to forget about the atrocities of war happening in other countries around them. Or at least that was what Feliciano had believed. Now, however, his brother was part of the dangerous Resistenza, and a stray bomb had exploded near town just earlier that day, accidentally killing two people and hurting many others. So it was with a heavy heart that Feliciano sat, staring out the open window from his bed, admiring the pretty blue of the sky.

Feliciano had simply been staring off into space, his oxygen mask sitting by his side from where he had taken it off after he woke up, when a piece of paper fell into his lap.

"Oh?" Feliciano said to himself curiously. He picked up the paper, which was wrinkled, a bit smashed, and frayed around the edges, and opened it.

Feliciano,

I am so sorry it took me so long to contact you a second time, and that my first message was so… crude. I am back; I am stationed here in Italy. It you are feeling up to it, please come meet me tomorrow. There is a field near your home with a copse of trees standing alone in a circle in the middle of the field. Please meet me there near noon.

Until the world ends,

Ludwig

With a squeal of happiness, Feliciano crushed the abused paper to his chest, then pulled back to read it again, to trace his fingers over that name, a wide grin on his face. His Ludwig was back! They were going to get to see each other the very next day! Feliciano was unsure about how he was going to sleep that night. But the very best part was that Feliciano would be able to see Ludwig tomorrow. Even though he had been in pain earlier, his heart felt fine now, and there was no way that he was going to miss this.

"Feli?" Seraphino's voice made Feliciano jump, and the older redhead quickly shoved the paper under his pillow just before his little brother came into the room.

"What is it, Sera?" Feliciano asked, turning away from the window to smile at his little brother.

Seraphino sat on the edge of Feliciano's bed, pulling his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. The younger boy just looked so worried and dejected that Feliciano wrapped an arm around him automatically to try to comfort him.

"What's the matter?" Feliciano asked gently, tilting Seraphino's face up so honey eyes met amber ones.

"I don't know." Seraphino said. "Feli, I feel like something really bad is going to happen!"

Feliciano pulled his brother close, giving him a reassuring hug. "There, there." Feliciano said, repeating the same soothing phrase that Nonno Roma used. "Don't worry. Whatever happens, we'll be just fine, okay? Do you want to know why we'll be just fine?"

"Why?" Seraphino asked quietly.

"Because we're a family, right?" Feliciano smiled cheerfully, and was pleased when Seraphino smiled slightly in response. Feliciano sniffed the air, saying "I smell something good; I think Nonno is making dinner. Why don't you go see if he needs any help?"

"Okay." Seraphino stood and walked to the doorway before turning back slightly. "Ti voglio bene, fratello." He said softly.

"Ti voglio bene, fratellino." Feliciano said with a smile. Once his brother had gone from the room, Feliciano sighed and lay back on his pillow, pulling out the paper and reading it yet again.

A smile rose unbidden to his lips as he read those four words again. Until the world ends. A declaration that could mean absolutely anything, but held a special, intimate message for Ludwig and himself. Part of him thought he liked hearing that more then he liked hearing Ludwig say he loved him. Until the world ends was deeper, more secret, and absolutely beautiful.

Before he even realized it, he had dozed off again, and didn't wake until he felt someone shaking his shoulder roughly. Feliciano startled awake, bolting upright and wadding the paper in his hand so whoever had woken him didn't see it.

Nonno Roma had woken him, and Feliciano could tell, through one look in his grandfather's eyes, that something bad had happened. Dimly, Feliciano remembered Seraphino's "weird feeling" from earlier and felt his stomach drop.

"Come on, Feliciano, we have to go!" Nonno Roma said urgently, and Feliciano scrambled out of bed, grateful to still be dressed in his school clothes.

"What happened, Nonno?" Feliciano asked frantically, following his grandfather. They stopped briefly for Seraphino, who grabbed Feliciano's hand. Nonno Roma glanced over his shoulder at the two of them.

"Lovino's been hurt."