Okay! We're finally at the end... sadly.

"Antonio," I say snuggling against Feliciano in the hospital bed, "What happened to Ludwig?"

He shifts his weight from one foot to the other. And that's a move I know all too well. He's hiding something from me. I don't know what, but whatever it is he's anxious and nervous about it.

"I don't really know…" he mumbles.

Feliciano shifts further into my side, "Antonio." I warn, "You're lying. Stop it."

He stares at me and then smiles wearily, "I forget my little tomate know me better than I do." He comes to sit at the end of the bed, "I-I'm not really sure how to say it… but Ludwig couldn't handle Feli's 'death' very well… and well he-"

A nurse started frantically screaming in the hall, "Doctor! Quickly! This man! He's collapsed! I don't think he's breathing! Hurry!"

I darted from the bed and Antonio was going to try and stop me, I knew it. So when his arm came out I ducked and ran. Out in the hall the nurses were dragging a limp form into a room. It was a form I knew rather well although I tried to deny it.

I whirled on my heels and shut the door and locked it, "Antonio!" I said, "Keep Feli busy! I've got a job to do!"

I ran into the next room pushing past the nurses, who were trying to keep me out, "I know him!" I shouted over their muttering, "Ludwig!" I yelled, praying that Feli couldn't hear me, "Come on you bastard! Don't give up on my baby brother! Please! He needs you!"

I had made it beside the bed, and his eyes looked glassy. But they didn't look dead. I still had a chance.

"Ludwig." I said softly, pulling on his hair a bit, "can you at least hear me?"

The doctors and nurses worked quickly around me, hooking up sterile machines to help him breathe and monitor his heart rate and God knew what else.

I watched as the heart monitor started to beep loudly. Getting faster beeps. I watched helpless as the man I knew my brother loved slowly faded away.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, "Tis but a sad fate…"

"Francis?" I hiccupped, "Will he die? What will Feli do without him?"

He draped an arm around me, and I paid no mind to it, "I'm not sure… but there is one thing even a country cannot withstand."

I looked up at him, "What is that?"

He looked at me sadly, "A broken heart." And then he hugged me.

Quickly I shoved him off, "What do you mean a broken heart?!"

He shook his head, "I'm not really a doctor," he paused, and watched the heart monitor slow again, "But I do know a thing or two about love. The heart strings can break when you've faced emotional trauma. And well, from what I heard on the phone from Antonio… things were pretty traumatizing a few minutes ago… I guess he loved your brother more than you thought."

I sighed, leaning on the bed and pressing a hand to Ludwig's forehead. It was cold. Ice cold. He had at best five minutes. I moved faster than I thought I could.

Around Francis, out into the hall, unlocked the door, shoved Toni out of the way, grabbed Feli, and yanked him back to see Ludwig.

His voice hitched, "Ludwig!" he turned to me, "What… how… I don't…"

I stared down, "This might be… the last moment you have… I don't know what else… to do…. I'm sorry…"

Feli crawled beside him, "Luddy… if you can hear me, the last thing I want you to know…" he said, and I turned away as I saw tears spring in his eyes. This was my fault, everything was my fault, "that I love you…" I heard the sob in his voice.

Antonio strode in the room and quickly pulled me into him. I pressed my face into his shirt, "This is my fault… this is all my fault! Everything is my fault! No matter what I do, I just fuck it up!" I felt the tears slowly slip out and wet his shirt, "If I wasn't such a stupid, spoiled brat none of this would have happened!"

He rubbed circles on my back but said nothing. He usually said something when I said I was a spoiled brat. I guess he agreed with me this time.

But then I heard it… the steady beep signalling the unavoidable. A broken heart.

"Feli…" I whispered, turning from Antonio and reaching out to him.

"No!" he hissed, backing away, "Just tell me one thing, why did you leave?! If you hadn't left, we'd all still be at home! We'd be preparing dinner together! We'd be cleaning the house! We'd be doing some training that I always pretended was stupid, but secretly I really liked because he always paid more attention to me then!" he took a breath and continued, "I find it funny Lovi… you love Antonio, and you deny it. But if for one second you thought you would have to live without him, you'd be in the same place as Ludwig! So why!? Why did you leave!?"

I flinched back. Feliciano had yelled at me. He never yelled at anyone… why did it have to be me… I felt it welling up inside me… the retaliation that I really wanted to bite back, but I knew that I couldn't.

"Why!? Because you don't know what it's like! You've always been wanted! You've always been good at what you do, without even trying! Did you know when we were kids; Toni tried to trade me for you?! Do you know how that feels? I love you Feli, I swear to God I do! But when you blame me for something that I already blame myself for… it makes me wish that it was me laying there," I knew Antonio would open his mouth, "And Toni, don't even. Because this is really your fault!" I turned on him, "If you could just stop acting like you care when you don't, then I wouldn't have left! I would have… I tried… but it was hard… because I knew you didn't want me…"

I felt his lips brush over mine, "You've become rather dense lately. We can talk later." He straightened up, "Feliciano. Come on. We're all going home. Together. I don't care if the two of you want to start a war right now or not. You're going to work this out. Now Feli come here." He pulled Feli up into his arms and right off I got jealous. Feliciano snuggled into his neck, and I turned away to see the monitor still beeping. The doctors were ushering us out. About time if you asked me. But they probably didn't want to interrupt the yelling going on.

Out in the hall, Antonio continued to carry Feli out, but I stopped.

"What's wrong?" Francis asked turning back to face me.

I looked back into the room as they covered Ludwig's face, "What will happen to the country of Germany now?"

Francis looked down, "I don't know really… I guess only time will tell. For now, your brother needs you even though he's mad. Just give him some time and I'm sure things will go okay." He put his arm around my shoulders again and pushed me ahead of him.

I wasn't really sure of how things would go now, but I knew one thing for sure.

I was needed.

I will not apologise. A sad ending was needed. R&R.