"Well, here we are." Feliciano said.

"Yeah." said Gilbert.

"Aren't you going to knock?" Feliciano asked.

"I'm scared." the Prussian admitted.

"You don't have any reason to be!" the Italian reminded him. "You should be excited! I certainly am!"

"You're not worried that Ludwig... moved on?"

"Not in the slightest!"

Gilbert glanced over at the car that was parked in the driveway. Matthew's car.

"What if... he found someone else?" Gilbert asked.

"As I always say, give a broken heart a year to mend! And it's been almost exactly a year! We haven't been gone long enough for that to have happened." Feliciano assured him.

"I guess you're right." said the albino, raising a hesitant fist to knock at the door.

A tense moment passed as they waited for it to open.

"Ja?" a deep, familiar voice asked as the door swung open.

"Hi. We're selling girl scout cookies, and we've got a special on thin mints!" Gilbert said. "Nah, I'm just kidding. We already ate all the cookies."

Ludwig blinked.

"What he means is, we're back!" Feliciano said, suddenly muted and unsure. Obviously, he wasn't as confident as he had made himself out to be.

Ludwig stared.

"So... yeah." Gilbert finished lamely. "We're not dead."

They were both quite surprised by what happened next.

Ludwig stepped forward and pulled the two of them into a warm hug.

"I... I can't believe it." he mumbled. "Where have you... why did..."

"It's a long story." Feliciano half-laughed, half-sobbed.

Ludwig released them, though Feliciano kept close.

"You had better come in and explain yourselves, then." Ludwig said, trying to contain his emotions. "We were just moving your things out of the basement, bruder."

"After a whole year? Geez, Luddy!" Gilbert said, tears in his eyes. "There's such a thing as 'too clingy', you know!"

Ludwig didn't reply. Instead, he picked Feliciano up princess-style, earning a gasp and a delighted squeak, and lead Gilbert over to the living room.

It was just like they remembered it, except there were cardboard boxes and feathers everywhere. A shrill squawk was heard, and then a little ball of yellow zoomed into the room at top speed and nearly hit Gilbert in the chest.

"Gilbird!" the albino said happily. "You remember me!"

The bird nuzzled against Gilbert's cheek before fluttering to its old perch on his head.

Ludwig and Feliciano sat down on the couch, Feli in Ludwig's lap. For once, Ludwig seemed more than alright with a bit of affection in front of other people. Before Gilbert could sit down, however, someone else entered the room.

"I think this is the last of it." Matthew said, emerging from the basement with a box of yo-yos. "All we need to do is take down the posters, and-"

The box hit the floor.

"Er... hi, Birdie."

Matthew stared at the albino.

"You..."

"Yeah, I'm back from the dead." Gilbert said. "I've come to warn you about the impending zombie apocalypse. Also maybe eat your brain."

"Ooh, I'm a zombie too!" Feliciano chimed in.

Matthew ran forward and tackle-hugged Gilbert, and the both of them fell to the floor.

"You idiot!" Matthew exclaimed, sitting up. "You've got a lot of explaining to do, Gilbert Beilschmidt!"

"I can't tell if you're happy to see me or not..." Gilbert mumbled.

"Me neither!" Matthew laughed, wiping away tears. "Am I dreaming? This is just too good to be true."

"I know what you mean." Gilbert replied with a weak smile. "I can hardly believe it, myself."

"We were just about to tell the story of what happened to us!" Feli explained. "So are you two going to stay on the floor, or...?"

"Mattie has to let me up, first!" the Prussian man laughed.

"Oh. Sorry." Matthew said in an unapologetic tone. He did get off, though, and they say down on the loveseat by the window.

Gilbert and Feliciano told the story in turns, each explaining how they got wished away and what happened in the Labyrinth. Occasionally, they disagreed on certain details, but their stories definitely matched up.

"So, basically, you went on a one-year drug trip." Matthew summed up when they were finished.

"What? No!" Gilbert said defensively. "It really happened! If you don't believe me, ask Francis! He ought to be visiting soon, anyway!"

"Papa's back, too?" Matthew asked, eyes wide.

"Everyone." Gilbert said. "Lovi, the guy with the eyebrows, those Asian guys..."

"I'm still not sure if I believe you..." Matthew said.

"Same here." Ludwig admitted.

"Well, we'll just have to find everybody who was in the Labyrinth and have them tell you what happened!" Feliciano said.

"Or at least Francis and Lovi." Gilbert added. "There were too many people there to track down every single one."

"Either way, I'm glad you're back." Matthew said with a smile.

"So are we!" Feliciano replied.

"Does this mean we have to move everything back into the basement?" Ludwig asked wearily.

"Since you and Mattie took it all out, you both gotta put it back where you found it." Gilbert said.

"Even the trash?" Matthew asked.

"Especially the trash."

With that, Matthew got up and picked Gilbert up bridal-style and carried him down into the basement.


Humorous chapter is humorous. Next up is Obligatory Spamano chapter, followed by summary chapter and epilogue chapter which is not actually a chapter.

Originally, Canada was going to punch Prussia, but then I realized that would be too similar to a certain reunion in my other work, Abyssinia.

Also, remember the cover contest that is still a thing? Now the one-shot portion of the prize can be for ANY pairing out of ANY fandom I'm familiar with. Homestuck, Soul Eater, Ouran, Doctor Who, Sherlock...