Thanks to everyone who reviewed and/or favourited/followed! I'm still so glad people like this story...!

So I was late with this chapter... and right now it's pretty darn late over here. I should be in bed now. Dammit, I have school tomorrow... BUT I had a blast of inspiration and I couldn't just let that go to waste, so here it is, I managed to finish this thing after all!

I hope you'll like this chapter!

Early in 1916 already, the German army had a lot to endure. In February, a battle that came to be known as the Battle of Verdun started, one that would last for the majority of the year. Initial attacks were successful for the Germans, but their offensive slowed down considerably soon after. In March, Prussia fought with the German Tenth Army at Lake Naroch, a battle that lasted almost 2 weeks. The French had requested this attack, hoping that the Germans would send reinforcements to the East so that they wouldn't be as focused on the Battle of Verdun against the French anymore. It didn't work out that way, and the battle ended in yet another German victory on the Eastern Front. Neither the French nor the Russians gained anything from this offensive.
In the weeks and months that followed, the Battle of Verdun raged on, soon establishing itself as one of the worst battles fought so far in the Great War. In June, another battle started on the Eastern Front. This time the Russian Empire fought not only the German Empire, but also Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire simultaneously. Once again the plan was to get the German army to send reinforcements to the East and stagnating their offensive in Verdun, and this time they succeeded. Fighting two such major battles simultaneously turned out to be a great strain on the German forces. Austria-Hungary was fighting on the Italian Front as well, thus also unable to completely focus on the Brusilov Offensive. Despite suffering extremely heavy losses, the Russian Army defeated the Central Powers 2 months later, in September.
But Verdun and Brusilov weren't the only great and lethal battles fought in that time period. As Prussia was fighting in the East, Germany was fortunate enough not to be fighting in Verdun at that time; he had participated in that battle from March to April and was then called away to work on strategies once more and gather reports on the battles that were going on.
It was certainly lucky that by July, he was working in Berlin.

Germany had just been able to take a break after a long discussion with Chief of General Staff, Falkenhayn, who had succeeded Von Moltke in 1914. Because of the long offensive and heavy losses in Verdun, his entire body had been sore for weeks, he was starting to feel shaky, and he just felt bad in general. It was getting worse now.
He knew that his soldiers near the river Somme had been attacked by combined French and British forces that morning, and though they didn't have too much official information on it yet, he could tell that it wasn't going too well, to put it mildly. Most of all he could feel the muscles in his shoulders and back gradually tensing to the point that he felt like they had magically transformed into metal plates. Any movement, however minor, hurt terribly, and even if he kept himself still as a statue, no position he could possibly sit or stand in was even close to comfortable. Better yet, nothing seemed to be even slightly bearable.
He just kept as still as possible through the whole thing, hoping to limit the pain if getting rid of it was impossible. It felt like ages that he stood there, focusing on his breathing, trying to think about other things –it didn't even have to make sense, just so long as it wasn't about pain or discomfort. In the end, it must've taken a long time indeed, though the fortnight that it felt like was a complete exaggeration. Probably.
Other people approached him, and it was only when they said told him the meeting had started again an hour ago already that he realised he'd been standing there for two hours. Still, just now he couldn't care less that the meeting had started again and he was late. "Forgive me," he said in a strained voice, "but I'm not moving. Tell them to go on without me."
The two humans didn't leave, staring at him for a moment and then glancing at each other before looking back at him. "Are you… are you all right, sir?" one of them asked tentatively.
Germany scoffed at this stupid question. "Tell me," he muttered angrily, unable to speak any louder than he was, really. "Would you willingly stand as a fucking statue for hours on end, if you were doing all right?" Why did they have to talk to him now? If they left him alone, he could concentrate on blocking out the pain much more easily. He was starting to feel faint, and they weren't helping.
But they were adamant on staying there now, trying to figure out what was happening. Eventually one of them stammered nervously: "Sir, are you aware that you're… bleeding?"
Those words both shocked Germany and didn't surprise him at all. He could've seen this coming, but he hadn't noticed it at all yet. "Am I?" he huffed, his breathing shallow. "That's not good…"
"It's bad," the other human said, his voice quivering. "The stain's on your shoulders; the whole width of them." He stood stunned just a second longer, then seemed to shake off his shock in a heartbeat. "Dammit, it's spreading too quickly –we need to get him help fast!"
Germany didn't respond anymore; he could feel his clothes stick to his shoulders now as they were soaked in blood. It stung. Meanwhile the faintness only got worse with the second. At this rate he wasn't going to last much longer. He knew he wouldn't.
In fact, the last thing he remembered of that day, 1 July, was that the pain suddenly flared up a million times worse.

Prussia was tired. He hadn't been fighting anymore for several days now, instead sent to rest in Königsberg. The battles were long and draining, the economy didn't make it much easier on him. He was a bit feverish at the moment, but most of all he just had no stamina left.
He grunted when the telephone rang. With a sigh the kingdom got to his feet and staggered over to the phone. "Shut the fuck up," he muttered to the thing; its ringing was giving him a headache. When he picked up, he was only halfway through grumbling a greeting when he was interrupted bluntly.
"Falkenhayn speaking," the other person said quickly, surprising the Prussian. What he said next only transformed the surprise into full-blown panic. "I thought you'd appreciate it if I informed you that Germany has been admitted into hospital." Prussia's heart seemed to stop at that moment, and he struggled to still follow the rest of what the human was telling him. "The combination of the Battle of Verdun and the one that commenced this morning, near the Somme, proved to be too much for him; he lost a considerable amount of blood, but due to a successful transfusion, he's stabilised now."
Prussia felt dizzy, more so than before that is, as he listened to it. Germany had been that badly injured? He should have known about it. Why didn't he feel what happened at the Western Front, not as much as he should? For as long as the war had lasted, he could only really feel the Eastern Front, and Germany seemed to feel the Western Front most. Maybe that was why they had been sent to those areas specifically; once it was clear that the battles against Russia affected Prussia most, and those against France and the UK did Germany, they had been split up.
How is that even relevant now? he scolded himself, listening when Falkenhayn said more. "He'll be allowed to go home again in a couple of days, but it would be irresponsible to leave him alone just yet. We expect you back in Berlin tomorrow, understand?" That was all he said. He hung up on Prussia without a word more.
The kingdom stood there for a little while, frozen on the spot. His little brother… Of course he would be there for him. Feeling numb, Prussia put the phone down again, taking a moment to try and relax. It didn't work. His heart racing and his mind swimming, he dashed up the stairs, tripped halfway up, scrambled to his feet again and went on to his room again, packing only the bare necessities; mostly important papers and reports, his wallet too. He would have to pay for that blasted train somehow. Then he ran out of his house, to the train station. If he was quick, he could still catch the last train of the day.

The next morning, Prussia stumbled into hospital. Through sheer luck, someone in the lobby recognised him immediately. He recognised the human about half a minute later, when the man was already leading him through the corridors to the room where Germany was.
His little brother was awake when he walked in, though 'alert' would maybe be an overstatement. Still, Germany looked up the moment Prussia entered, something flashing in his eyes. "Brother?" He sounded almost confused. "You… look awful."
Prussia halted, staring back at him in silence for a moment. He felt awful. But he just cracked a grin. "So do you. We sure are brothers, aren't we?" Germany didn't respond, only huffed with some traces of a smirk on his lips. Prussia sat down beside him, and they were both quiet for a moment, unsure what to say. Prussia fidgeted a bit, taking a deep breath. "So how are you feeling?" he eventually just asked. There was so much more he wanted to talk about, but now might not be the best time for that.
It didn't surprise him when Germany sighed. "Sore," he answered in a soft voice. "Tired, too, but I suppose that's normal." The younger nation looked at Prussia then, inspecting him quietly. He sighed again after some time. "What about you? It wasn't a joke when I said you look terrible."
"I just didn't get much sleep last night, travelling this way," the kingdom answered, smiling sheepishly. He was so exhausted. But Germany mattered more right now. He would suffer this discomfort every single day if it was to help his little brother.
But Germany didn't think the same thing. "Go home," he said briskly, shaking his head disapprovingly. "I'll be fine on my own here, you know I will. Get some rest first, will you?"
Prussia shook his head. "No, not with you here," he protested, staring wide-eyed at his little brother. How could he even suggest that? Of course Prussia would stay here with him! Wasn't that only logical? He had to, it was his duty as the elder brother. "Someone has to stay and look after you."
"Have you looked at where I am?" Germany asked flatly, clearly not amused. "If I won't be looked after in a hospital, I won't be looked after anywhere. They're almost as bad as you are here, overprotective and constantly making a fuss about things. Honestly, it annoys me more than anything." He sighed yet again, looking at the ceiling for a moment, his blue eyes a bit dull. "Falkenhayn will be coming in again, too, I was told. Wilhelm, too. It's not like I'll be alone, either, is what I'm saying. And honestly, I just want to sleep! So go, get some rest, eat a bit, whatever you need to do to feel better."
Still, Prussia shook his head. But he smiled warmly at his younger brother as he did. "If you want to sleep, then do so," he told him gently. "But I'm not leaving yet. I can't. If it was me in that bed, would you be able to leave?" Germany didn't answer, and Prussia smiled a bit more at this. Then he leant forward and carefully hugged him, letting go only when he felt Germany pat him on the shoulder softly.
The young empire was staring straight into his eyes, gaze blank. But then his lips twitched into a smile, and there was something of a twinkle in his eyes. "You stubborn idiot," he mumbled. "Fine then, but at least get something to eat, all right? I think there's a baker across the street. Do at least that for me, okay? Take care of yourself, too."
Prussia nodded, getting up already. He was indeed quite hungry, so this was something he could live with. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Before leaving the hospital, Prussia had asked if he was allowed to eat in the room where Germany lay, and since he was, that was where he sat with his late breakfast. That consisted only of a single bun with some cheese, which was unlike him according to Germany; the empire reminded Prussia that the elder nation loved good food and never turned down an opportunity to have a more special meal than the few simple things he could cook himself. In response to this, Prussia just huffed and stated that he was too awesome to waste resources during a war, be it money or food that was 'meant for the people', as he said it. Right after saying that, he carefully suppressed the bile that rose in his throat, hoping Germany didn't notice that.
Falkenhayn, who had arrived by then, just inspected the conversation between the two brothers with a blank expression. When he got tired of it, he just cleared his throat loudly. "Can we get on to the more serious matters now, you two?" he grumbled. He turned to Germany first. "I spoke with the surgeon who fixed up your shoulders, Germany; he says you should stay at least another three days, to give your skin some more time to restore itself before you start tearing that wound open again." Germany nodded, silent. He'd known that already, and considering that the wound had been bone-deep in some areas over his shoulder blades, it was a wise decision. Then the human looked at Prussia instead, who sat with his lips pressed together tightly. "After that, he'll be under your care. I'm sure the doctors will repeat this for you, but these are the rules: he shouldn't lift his arms more than elbow-height for the first week, no higher than shoulder-height for another week, so any work around the house will be left to you, obviously. I know of your medical skills, so you'll get a small supply of medicinal alcohol and needles and stitching thread, should the stitches still tear. However, do not think your own work will be sufficient if such a thing occurred; patch him up where necessary, then get a professional to make sure you haven't screwed it up. You got that?"
Prussia, still silent, nodded slowly. His silence seemed to dissatisfy the human, but he wouldn't open his mouth now; Falkenhayn was already saying more, anyway.
"We also expect you to report to us frequently about the state of things."
"Is that really necessary?" Germany sighed, looking agitated by now. "I'm not dying, for Heaven's sake. It's bad enough to know that, going by those rules about not lifting my arms more than a damn inch, even getting dressed will be a two-man job. Also, will you not underestimate my brother? I would trust him with a needle and thread even if my entire arm had been chopped off; he's good enough to fix that, even."
Falkenhayn didn't really like that comment, but he only sighed deeply and looked back at Prussia again. He seemed even more displeased then. "Are you even still paying attention, Prussia?" he demanded irritably. The albino didn't respond this time, his gaze focused on a certain point on the floor, it seemed. Germany noticed that he was looking paler than before, and he'd already been pale even by his standards. Falkenhayn seemed to either not notice that, or he chose to ignore it. Germany was too tired to start arguing with the general now, so he kept quiet, but when the human got angrier yet, the young nation had an eerily vivid idea where this was going.
"One would think you'd be more interested in your brother's well-being," Falkenhayn snapped at Prussia, who flinched. "Enough at least to pay attention when-!"
The kingdom made the mistake of replying to this. Attempting to do so, anyway. "I am int-!" he protested, fierce and angry but cut off just a second later, when he hastily clasped a hand over his mouth. What little traces of colour were still left in his face drained in a heartbeat as he lunged for the trashcan that stood somewhere between him and the door. Much as Germany had seen this coming just now, he still grimaced when Prussia threw up what seemed to be all the contents of his stomach.
Falkenhayn, too, grimaced for a moment, then sighed. "Oh, for the love of God, you've got to be kidding me…" He seemed at a total loss when Prussia, who had just had a moment to catch his breath, threw up again. Apparently there was still something left in his body that could be gotten rid of.
The albino couldn't suppress a soft moan after that; this had almost purely been stomach acids, and it burnt. "Damn," he complained softly, gasping for breath. "That… shit, that hurt…" So much for breakfast, then. He'd gone for something simple specifically because he'd feared this might happen, but it hadn't been simple enough yet, clearly. He looked up almost guiltily when Falkenhayn spoke again.
The human was clearly at his wits' end right now, seeing now that not one, but both of his nations were in no state. "Just… forget everything I just said, Prussia," he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in pure frustration. "I'll arrange for someone else to make sure Germany doesn't overdo anything once he's home again. To look after you, too, because… For Heaven's sake…"
But Prussia shook his head. "Some back-up when Ludwig's home again would be appreciated," he breathed hoarsely, his throat sore after vomiting up stomach acid like that. "But I'll be fine on my own, sir, I swear."
The human refused to hear any of it. "Maybe right now you're at the stage that you'd be all right by yourself, but we all know that the Russians are doing a number on our troops, too. You might yet get injured as well, and then where would we be if we left you alone with Germany? In his own current state, he could hardly help you if that happened. Also…" He trailed off for a moment, inspecting Prussia a bit; the kingdom was shaking lightly after this brief but very unpleasant ordeal, his breathing still laboured. The general's distress over the situation was clear when he stated: "Were it not that you'd never be admitted into hospital over something like this, Prussia, I'd advise you to stay here for the night. For now, however, I'll arrange for someone to take you home and stay with you there at least until the evening; if it turns out you can't keep anything down later on, either, it would be best to have you checked out here, after all. We can't afford to have you get dehydrated or suffer from malnutrition or anything of the likes. Do me a favour and go to straight to bed when you get home." With a deep sigh, the human got up, looked at the two brothers for a moment longer, then wished them both a speedy recovery before leaving, muttering to himself about having to find someone who would be willing to play taxi driver and nurse for Prussia.
When he was gone, Prussia looked up at Germany, feeling ashamed. "I'm not leaving you here, Ludwig," he still said to him, sounding pathetic, in his own opinion. "I'll stay with you, sick or not."
"Please don't," Germany grunted, grimacing at the mere idea of it. "I don't want you puking all over me while you're here. Also, please, I told you about an hour ago that you should just go home and get some rest. Here's the proof that I was right." When Prussia wanted to protest once more, Germany added more softly: "I also told you before that I just want to sleep. I feel like shit after yesterday… I'll make it on my own, don't worry. Just rest, try and eat something again once your stomach has settled down. Please?"
Prussia nodded, carefully getting up before sitting back down on the chair he'd used earlier again, stating that at least he wasn't leaving until his ride home arrived to abduct him. Germany could live with that, the younger of the two brothers said with a sigh and a wry smile. But as he sat there, talking softly with his little brother, who was now clearly as tired as he claimed to be, he felt so ashamed of himself.
Even when I try to be a good brother again, he sighed to himself, and even when Ludwig has just gone through something horrible and I should be there for him…
I'm such a failure.

Over the days that followed, Prussia didn't get any better, if not worse. His stress about Germany only served to make him feel even worse, and that his troops were losing a battle while the economy was pretty much in tatters compared to what it had been just 2 years prior certainly didn't help either. Someone in the government had found a volunteer to stay in the nations' home now and help when needed; the daughter of a friend of his. Prussia didn't like her being there. She was kind and helpful, that wasn't the problem, but he hated it nonetheless. His leaders had basically told him that he was too weak and stupid to look after himself by sending that girl to look after him and, from tomorrow onward, Germany also.
When she had first lain eyes on the kingdom, who had been having a bad headache at the time and had been rather feverish too, the human had asked him with some confusion if he really was Prussia. He'd laughed dryly and answered: "Sure am. Not what you expected, am I?" He'd scoffed, too. He had been taking care of himself for centuries, and he really didn't like this at all.
The girl, who had then introduced herself as Monika, just smiled at him. She clearly knew that he was irritated over how he felt at that moment, even more over appearing weak. "I'm here specifically because both you and Germany need help now –something which is only natural, sir, and there's no shame in any of it," she told him gently. "I couldn't and didn't expect much else than you being as sick as I was told you are, sir. What I meant was more… Well, I'm honoured to meet you."
He had certainly not seen that coming.

That first day hadn't been such an assault on Prussia's pride yet; the only thing Monika did aside from being a conversation partner, was cooking in the evening. He could live with that. It was the next day that was the worst, when he woke up not just 'feverish', but basically being a walking furnace. That's when the girl decided not to listen to his protests anymore, remind him every time he claimed to be fine that he could hardly stand and was therefore far from fine. But then, Prussia wasn't nearly alert enough to be as annoyed as he could've been. He spent most of the morning and early afternoon asleep, after all, so he was hardly aware of anything that was going on. He just knew that the more he rested now, the sooner he would recover, and maybe he would be feeling better by the time Germany came home again.
He remembered from the few small conversations they'd had when Prussia had been semi-awake or more, that the young human admired him for some reason. If she had told him where that admiration came from, he was ashamed to admit he couldn't remember any of it. That second day was a blur to him for the majority of it.

And the third day of this madness, now, at least the kingdom was indeed doing somewhat better, though still worse than on the day that he arrived in Berlin. It was awkward during breakfast to have that human girl around; for decades now, it had been only him and Germany. Before that it had been only him for even more decades. Honestly, he'd lived either alone or with his little brother for a century now. And before that, he had always been more involved with the men more than the women. In short, he hadn't been alone with a girl for this long since Brandenburg had died 212 years ago. Even if it was only temporary, even if she was basically a housekeeper right now, it would take some getting used to for sure.
He'd remembered from random titbits of conversations that Monika was 17 years old, the middle of 3 sisters in her family, that her elder sister had taken over her father's work in a factory since a year, 3 of her brothers were in the army at the moment and another was too young to fight yet. Her father, too, had been in the army, but due to a crippling injury that he had been lucky enough to survive, he was back home now; he'd lost a leg a couple of months ago. It was the first thing Prussia heard about the situation at home, with the regular citizens, of which the majority had family at the Front. What Monika's sister had done, taken on a job that was mainly done by men, was a common thing: with so many men at the Fronts, it was up to their young sons and the women to make sure the economy wouldn't collapse entirely. They did the farming, they produced goods, they kept the industries running. It was a clear sign that his body hadn't exaggerated for a second yet, reacting this badly to the state of things, and neither had Germany's when the young empire had gotten sick earlier that year. Despite that knowledge, though, Prussia felt proud of each and every one of these people. Grateful, too, knowing that if they wouldn't do any of this, not only their situation would have been a lot more dire, but he and his little brother, too, would have been a lot worse off than they were now. This story also served to make him pray for a quick end to this war every single day, though. Preferably a good end, a victory for them, but that it would be quick was the main thing.
All awkwardness aside, he did enjoy having some company now.

Prussia went to visit Germany again at around noon, apologising for not having been there the day before and explaining why. Germany had stopped him in the middle of it, telling his elder brother that he'd figured as much, also remarking on how Prussia still looked too sick to be here in the first place. Needless to say, within minutes he'd managed to get the albino to promise that he wouldn't stay much longer than an hour. After that, Prussia got an opportunity to check the wound Verdun and the Somme had left on his little brother: a deep, wide line ran over the entire width of his shoulders, looking as gruesome as Prussia had feared. At least the stitching looked neat, bringing hope for a neat, better-looking scar in the future at least.
Germany sighed as he lay back down –clearly he hated not being allowed to move around much, something Prussia could relate to all too well. Still, the younger nation seemed bothered about something more than that. "I can't come home yet tomorrow," he mumbled reluctantly, frowning a little. "The economy hit last night, and… Well, they don't want to send me away when the wound still isn't fully healed and I've got a blasted fever –a mild one compared to you, really. That, and the coughing is another reason to keep an eye on me as of yet, they told me. That movement's not exactly the best thing if your skin's been split in half just days ago, it seems. Well… you know."
Prussia didn't know how to respond to that. He had hoped with all his heart that nothing would happen to stop Germany from being allowed home again. But having seen the injury that had landed the empire in hospital just now, he had already come to the conclusion that it would be foolish to let him go home tomorrow already.
Germany saw his brother's disappointment, naturally. "It'll only be for a day longer or so," he assured the Prussian, and likely himself too. "Until the fever's gone and the cold's under control. I'll be home before the week ends." Prussia only nodded and forced a smile. Then, after some silence, Germany cracked a grin as well. "So how's life with a caretaker, hm?"
Prussia chuckled for a moment, wondering whether he should be amused or annoyed at the obvious mockery in his brother's voice. "Not as bad as I feared," he admitted reluctantly. "It does come in handy, considering what I was like yesterday. But she's a bit too… over the top? She seems to think I'm not even capable of making coffee myself."
Germany smirked a bit. "Well, she's treating you as she should, then," he replied calmly. "You're the one who's overestimating himself all the time. Make use of the opportunity and really take the time you need to recover. Just… don't traumatise the poor thing." His eyes twinkled mischievously as he said that, and Prussia couldn't help but snicker at the idea. "What are the odds of finding someone who would willingly play nurse and housekeeper for an idiot like you?"
"This is probably the only person in the entire nation, if not the world," Prussia agreed, still wondering what had happened that someone would not avoid him at all costs.
They talked a bit more, until Germany sent Prussia away again. Peeved over this, Prussia went home again. Thinking about it, he probably had something to do there, anyway; he hadn't exactly washed since a day before leaving Königsberg. A shower would be a good idea.

So why did this war and its effects love to contradict him? Of course something else would come to bother him, as he was taking a shower of all moments. He was dizzy, which was already a bother. Then there was the godforsaken battle, which had decided to cut him in the ankle, which was quite a bit painful. When he saw the blood mix with the water on the floor, he sighed, turned off the shower and stepped out from under it. But of course, that injury in the ankle combined with the dizziness got him onto his knees. He sighed again, waiting for his head to stop swimming before he would try standing up.
And of course: "Prussia, sir? Are you all right?"
Prussia grunted. Can't she leave me alone? "Perfectly fine, now go… do something else." Determined to prove to himself as much as to that human that he'd told the truth, he heaved himself to his feet again. Well, he got halfway before giving up, anyway. Maybe just a minute or so longer, then he would try again.
The kingdom's heart skipped a beat when the door opened, and he sat rigid for a moment. "Did I not just tell you to leave?"
"You did." Prussia heard some rummaging.
"And is it not the most logical thing in the world that one does not barge into a bathroom when someone's using the shower or anything?"
"Possibly."
"So how did you not translate all that into 'get the fuck out'?" He was just about done with this now. That girl would be kicked out today, whether or not she was quite possibly the only soul in the entire world who would volunteer to be in the same house as Prussia, of all nations, without being related to him. This was crossing the line a thousand times with a single action. The end. She was out.
But then he got a towel tossed over his shoulders from behind, which he instantly wrapped around himself, covering up as much as he could. Hell, any last sliver of dignity he could still salvage, he would.
"I'm sorry for having been so rude, sir," Monika apologised immediately. "But you sounded anything but 'fine', and…" She trailed off for a moment, kneeling on the floor beside him and suppressing a soft sigh. She didn't even look at him as she asked: "Why are you so against having other people help you in any way? N-not to say that it's wrong to be angry over my barging in just now, anyone would be, of course. But it's just… You help so many people. Why can't they help you in return?"
Prussia didn't comprehend a word of it. Confused, he stared at her, his anger and embarrassment long forgotten already. "Me, helping people?" he asked hoarsely. "In what universe? Out on the battlefield I'm a killing machine, which may be beneficial politically speaking, but it's hardly being a good person and helping others. Outside the battlefield I mainly develop strategies that help kill people. Helping, you say? And when I'm doing none of those," he added with dry laughter, thinking back to the past few days, "I'm the most useless, shit brother the world has ever seen, not even able to help his little brother when he's needed!" He really was a failure. A killer and a failure. So much for being awesome, then.
The human shook her head. "That's not what my father wrote about you," she said softly, sounding almost choked up with emotions right now, though Prussia could hardly tell what emotions they were. "He wrote to us many times, and in many of those letters, he spoke highly of you; how you never failed to encourage your soldiers, you healed so many injuries… You saved my father's life."
Prussia's mind went blank when the girl said that. He had? Well, yes, he had worked as a medic during his time at the Front as well, as he had promised years ago that he would. He had saved a few people's lives, that was true… Now that she mentioned it, he did remember a man whose leg needed to be amputated. He stayed in the trench by his side, until he was stable enough to be transported back home by train. That was probably the same man, Monika's father.
"You see, sir," the girl went on in a soft voice. "My family owes you more than we could ever repay. So when I heard that you could use some help, well, it seemed only right that I would do my best to repay that debt."
Prussia stared at her for a moment, not sure what to say. He looked away again. "If I know how to treat injuries like that," he replied with a shrug, "isn't it… isn't that just doing my job? Anyone with the knowledge and skill would do so, it's… it's nothing special." But then, he did understand her. He would've done anything for a person, if that person had been able to save Brandenburg all those years ago, or Holy Rome or Saxony.
When Monika looked at him, he couldn't keep his eyes on the floor any longer and met her gaze. She was smiling, carefully so, but really smiling. "It's not the only thing, though," she told him. "And my father isn't the only person to think so highly of you. He told us that every soldier in your corps, sir, respected you a lot. You gave them hope; a man who was both superhuman in strength and endurance, and human in his compassion. I'm more than honoured to be of any help to a man like that." She fell silent for a moment, and Prussia thought she had said all she had to say. He couldn't wrap his head around it. He knew he had been respected for his skill in battle, everyone always had. Very few people, to his knowledge, had ever looked further than the warrior. They'd never bothered to look for the person. Now he was being told that nearly all his soldiers had not only been looking for the person, but had actually seen him and still respected him? Even better: they respected him all the more for it? That was a first.
But then the girl said one more thing to top it all off: "Father said that, to him and to many, you were a godsend gift for your troops. Like an archangel sent to help them live through Hell, until they could return to their lives."
Demon.
That was all he had ever heard.
Monster. Devil. Evil. Murderer.
Demon.
Angel.
There were some fights that even a seasoned soldier like him, a god of war incarnate, could never hope to win. This was one of them, it seemed, for he simply could not fight the few, grateful tears that welled up in his eyes now. He clenched his jaws tight to prevent himself from making any sounds, but he couldn't just stay quiet after this.
It was definitely the most beautiful thing anyone had ever said to him, right next to the rare few times he'd heard the words 'I love you'.
So he wasn't a failure at all? Despite not being able to be there for people when he wanted to be, or being able to help others as much as he wished he could, or even just being what he used to be and still wanted to be…
He… wasn't a failure…
"Thank you…"

So... he deserved to for once hear that he's not an evil killing machine.
Also, if you're wondering, no. Monika won't be back. (And yes, I did name her after nyo-Germany. Shame on me for the lack of creativity there). Or at least, if she will be mentioned again or anything of the likes, just know that I did not create her as shipping material. No worries.

So I'm off to catch whatever sleep I still can now... I hope you liked the chapter, and thanks so much for reading!