YES. *FINALLY* AFTER WAITING FOR FORFREAKING*EVER*, MY LAPTOP IS WORKING PROPERLY AGAIN! :D Yes, that's the main reason why this is so late getting out; because my laptop crashed four times last week and I didn't have it with me to type. LORD I have never missed this story so much in my life! D:

Anyway…OK PEOPLE. PREPARE FOR THE BIGGEST. OOCNESS. IN LUDWIG'S ESSAY. EVER. JUST SAYIN'. This entire chapter is EXTREMELY cliché, which is a little heads up to all you people out there who can't take the cheesiness. ;)

Thanks for the reviews, faves, subscribes, and ENJOY AND R&R THE LAST CHAPTER OF 'ALL BARRIERS BROKEN'! :D

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Axis Powers: Hetalia.

I'd never faced such anxiety before in my life as my stomach twisted violently into knots sitting restlessly at my desk in English. The time seemed to fly by so fast, where one moment it was Monday night when I was still writing my essay, and then the next moment it had suddenly turned to Thursday morning just before our lunch hour. And did I have a good enough reason to be unnaturally nervous for today.

The sharp tick of the clock felt agonizing in my throbbing ears, and with every minute that passed in the hour we had in class, I grew more and more nervous. Eventually, Mr. Germania would have to call my name, and when that happened, everything that had gone wrong and right this past week would have to be spilled in front of a class of thirty of my peers. One of which included Feliciano Vargas…

As I sat there, I repetitively memorized each sentence that I had written onto the paper the few mere nights before. Class hadn't even started yet, yet I couldn't help but still be incredibly nervous at faltering and crumbling into dust as I read it out loud in front of the class. No mistakes; no errors; everything had to be absolutely perfect if I wanted to make this right again. Yet even after reading it over for the third time that morning, even letting Gilbert read it, it still wasn't good enough. Nothing would ever be good enough for the Italian…

I drummed my fingers nervously on the desk, and Mr. Germania obviously saw through this nervousness as he walked towards my desk.

"Ludwig, you seem more nervous than usual. Everything alright?" He asked, his voice that same mellow, apathetic tone it always was.

I sighed, nodded lightly. "Ja, it's just…my essay…"

"Ah, so I see you came up with a topic, huh? You seem to be a good public speaker; it should be no problem."

"I am, it's…it's just the topic I'm worried about…" I muttered, averting my eyes to the floor with that stubborn blush returning as my mind wandered to the words I had written in that essay. The secrets…the confessions…Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all…

Mr. Germania stayed silent for a moment, thinking, before finally coming to realization at exactly what I was talking about. "Oh, I see. I'm sure all will go well; you have Gilbert and I to back you up." He told me, leaning down to whisper something into my ear. "Besides, I don't think Feliciano will mind much either."

I winced at his words, remembering he had virtually no idea about what had happened the week before. Unless of course, the rumors and facts spread around more quickly than I thought they had, or the English teacher was just highly skilled in reading the atmosphere. After all, he saw through both the Italian and I in the first week of school…

"I don't know, Mr. Germania, we…kind of got into a little fight last week, and now both of us refuse to speak to each other. Same goes for the others…" I whispered, sighing hard as I rested my head on the table. If Feliciano was still bitter, he would most certainly not be ok with this; and I'd only be making a bigger fool of myself.

"Oh, don't worry; I had already known on Monday. Things go around fast here, you know. But Ludwig, just trust that Feliciano will accept you, and everything will go smoothly." He said whole-heartedly, giving me a rare smile that he never seemed to show, and walked back over to his desk.

Maybe that man was right; maybe I did just need to trust in myself that everything would go smoothly. Yet for once, I was uneasy about discussing the situation, and in front of a whole class…it just honestly didn't make sense. But, getting an actual grade with the back-up and sympathy from my teacher instead of a failing one was better than nothing…

The bell rang, and I felt my stomach drop hard as the students scrambled around to take their seats. Feliciano walked in shyly, something unusual for him, with auburn bangs covering his eyes as he slithered around the desks and into his seat quickly. From the corner of my eye, I noticed the dried tear stains streaming down his cheeks, and dark circles surrounding the rim of his eye. He'd been crying…

Yet I was in for even more of a shock when he raised his head, revealing the face he'd obviously been trying to hide. Surrounding his left eye lay a deep, purple circle, swollen to the point where it was nearly squinted, and both eyes were blood-shut with him having cried so much. A trail of unwashed dried blood slid down the corner of his face, and the color of his normally tanned skin was a sickening ghostly pale.

For the first time, I had never been more concerned for Feliciano on the mere month I had known him.

I wanted to badly to ask him what happened; to make sure he was completely fine and there was nothing to worry about with him; it was just a little stumble, perhaps. But something in the back of my mind told me Lovino had something to do with this...

"Alright, class today we'll be presenting your…Feliciano? Is everything alright…?" Mr. Germania said, turning from composed to concerned as he glanced over at Feliciano's beaten face.

The Italian jumped slightly, looking away from him in an obvious, strange nervousness, and it looked as if he were shaking.

"What, ve, oh, um…no, I-I'm fine…" He stuttered, looking to the ground as all eyes turned on him.

"Do you…want to go to the nurse?"

"O-Oh, no, I-I'm ok. I just accidently tripped on my way out this morning, i-it's no big deal…"

With that, he let out a soft, uneasy ve before diving for him books in his backpack to hide his face. I could see through the strands of auburn hair the covered his face that it was for good reason; for he was on the verge to breaking out into tears.

So…so badly…

Mr. Germania, recomposing himself now, clearing his throat and continued to speak. "As I was saying, you all will be presenting your essays today about what you love."

The majority of the class groaned at his words, some even mumbling about how they forgot to do it, while some just smiled and organized their papers. Me; I was a nervous wreck; something unusual for me when it came to giving speeches. But never in my life had I ever been in a situation like this…

My stomach churned at his words, twisting violently with nervousness as I knew at one point in the hour I'd be completely confessing my love for Feliciano. Our English teacher must have seen through this nervousness in me as he gave me a reassuring nod and continued. "Now, since I know most of you are going to be hesitant going first, I'm just going to chose who goes this time."

More groans were heard, a few students around me muttering how badly they didn't want to go, and others waving their hands frantically in the air to present. Instead of doing either, I averted my eyes to the floor and rested my head on my arms, hoping he wouldn't notice me.

Yet luck apparently wasn't in my favor, as looking up from his class role list, Mr. Germania looked at me and gave another rare smile. "Ludwig; you're first on the list, so I guess you're going to be presenting first today." He said, this time not a hint of apathy hidden in that dull voice.

Pale skin drained even paler, and I shakily nodded my head as I got up slowly and made my way towards the front of the room. I had taken my backpack with me, dropping it to my side as it had everything I need to make this presentation as good as it could get. The proof I needed for such a topic…

Damn last name, always being first on the list... I thought, unsatisfied as I stood in front of what seemed like a thousand curious pairs of eyes, one of which was not Feliciano's. But if there was anything that was going to keep me from stuttering and falling over my words, it defiantly wasn't those pair of amber eyes I knew so well.

With a long sigh and an anxious glance towards Mr. Germania, he nodded in approval, and I turned my gaze back onto the class. All was silent, and with one shaky breath, words soon began to pour out from my mouth, and I knew there was no going back.

I have to get this right the first time…

"Never in my life had I experienced such a feeling of love that I had so blatantly denied, when the entire time it was standing right in front of my eyes. It was a new feeling to me; foreign you could call it, yet it all started and all came running back to me with a simple pair of brown eyes." I started, looking up from my paper as all eyes were on me. Elizabeta let out a small squeak from the back of the room, apparently catching where this was going, and I turned my gaze over to Feliciano now. He raised his head slightly, eyes saddened, and murmured a soft ve as he had caught my topic as well.

With a faint smile at his expression, I continued, still praying in the back of my mind for this to be completely flawless. "I never knew it at the time, but those wondrous, shining brown eyes would soon lead me to discover not only my denial, but also the hidden secrets of my past that had been locked away from me. The secrets of our past, as those eyes were familiar, and I knew from the start I had seen them before. But without a trace of any memory from the age of seven, the pieces of the puzzle became difficult to place together, but all those lost memories soon came back to me with the simple gesture of kindness and the longing for friendship.

"As a child, I was nearly the same as I am today; denying, stubborn, and wanting nothing to do with love. I wore a little black hat and cape, as if I had used it to hid my true self under it. I blanked out these feelings; hid them away, but my beating heart only sped up faster every time that lovely Italian girl I saw every day was around me. She was sweet; a little maid at that, and was always so attached to me despite being afraid. Yet her fear of me only came because I caused it; because I was so afraid of admitting how special and important she was to me until the day of our farewell came. She had given me the small broom she had used to sweep the house with, and in return I gave her a goodbye kiss as I left for Germany. Yet it wasn't our final farewell, as those pretty brown eyes she had soon came to me again, only in a different way. Actually, in a completely different way."

Feliciano was at full alert now, watching me as his other classmates did the same, and I noticed a single tear welled up in the corner of his left eye, and once again he let out a small ve. The Italian's eyes were sad but curious, and I could tell he knew exactly what I was talking about.

"Those eyes appeared again on not that sweet Italian maid I used to know, but on somebody completely different; a male at that. And this boy…This hyper, loud, cowardly boy…soon came to me as not only the friend I never wanted, but those denied feelings I had so long ago. I rejected his affection; pushed it away as I was so afraid for my own well-being, but soon learned that I needed him, and he was the most important thing to me I had ever had. Why? Because he was that little maid I had fallen so much in love with so many years ago…And that same feeling came up again the second I had first lay my eyes on his kind brown eyes.

"Of course I was unaware he was that little girl; I'd lost all my memories before! But those memories soon came back the night I made a mistake I'd soon regret…I abandoned out friendship; the strong friendship we had formed in so little time. I knew he'd never take it easily, but was I in for a surprise that night when I listened to his hurt cries over the phone as I just sat there in guilt. It wasn't ten minutes later when my anger took over me, and I soon stumbled across that small black hat I had worn so long ago…and the small broom the maid used to use…Entitled a gift from Feliciano Vargas…"

Looking back up again, I watched as a silent stream of tears spilled out from Feliciano's eyes, as he murmured what looked like "Holy Rome" under his breath. The Italian's eyes still stayed saddened, yet it wasn't the same look he had given me the week before as he stood outside of me house. It was a look of happiness…

I smiled in realization of that, turning back over to Elizabeta who was having a complete happy-meltdown in the back of the room. Her face lay completely covered in red, and she squealed to herself as several kids turned to her with concerned looks.

With that same smile on my face, I continued once more. "From my brother's information, after moving to Germany as a child, I was apparently left unconscious on the side of the road near Berlin, and as an orphan now, he took me under his wing and raised me with my adoptive parents. With such a hard take to the head, all of the memories I had before that had been wiped out, but it wasn't until I met that maid again that they would all come back to me. Of course, he never believed me though, and even the proof of my love couldn't convince him I was the real deal. So now…I have that proof.

I reached down into the backpack next to my side, pulling out the antique hat and cape, along with the push-broom Feliciano had given me as children. "These were the things I wore and received so long ago; the little black hat and cape and the broom that maid I loved gave me the day of our farewell. On the side, here, it says "To my love, Holy Roman Empire. From: Feliciano Vargas." That's all I needed to see to know that the little Italian girl I was so in love with was actually in front of me the entire time…

Feliciano, tears now cascading down his cheeks, was awestruck; whispering "Holy Rome" repeatedly under his breath as he began to cup his hands over his mouth.

Nonetheless, I continued. "And that's why I've chosen this as my topic of what I love for this essay. He'll never know how sorry I am for the mistakes I've made, and how thankful I am to have found him again. Yet it wasn't really even the clues that had led me to find Feliciano again. It was his lovely brown eyes that had kept me coming back for more."

I let out a long sigh of relief in my mind, looking up at the class as they only started in silence. My smile faded at their reaction, and I shamefully lowered my paper down along with the items I had brought as my proof. It wasn't until I heard the slow claps that had soon turned into a roaring applause that my smiled soon returned to my face. Elizabeta was almost jumping up and down in euphoria, her face stained happy scarlet as she gave me a thumbs up. Others gave out wolf-whistles, and some only clapped and smiled. The only one in the room who stayed completely silent and frozen was none other than Feliciano; his face running with tears and tear stains and he looked at me in utter awe.

I could only continue to smile, handing in my paper to Mr. Germania as the class continued to clap for me.

"Well done, my grandson." Mr. Germania whispered into my ear, obviously getting the message as well as he had remarked before about his grandson. And now he knew that I was the boy he had lost so long ago.

I nodded, taking in the smile he had on his face, this time completely full. The applause had faded by the time I had made my way back to my seat, and as the cycle of presentations started all over again, I could only smile at what I heard when I walked past Feliciano's seat.

"H-Holy Rome…y-you are H-Holy Rome…"

"Ve…Ludwig, c-can we walk home together today…?" Feliciano asked timidly as he walked towards me, a hint of pink painted across the bridge of his nose.

I stuffed another book into my locker, turning to him, and taking the nervous look that was written all over his face. Yet nonetheless, I nodded.

"Sure, Feliciano…We can walk home together. But what is this all about; I thought you hated me now?" I asked him, grabbing my backpack and slinging it over my shoulder. I knew well know what this was all about, and I could tell why he was so nervous about it. Yet what I didn't understand was why he was doing it now after I had even my presentation only a few mere hours ago?

"Ve, good! We should start going then…I think it might rain soon…"

"Ja…that sounds good…"

And with that, we made our way out the doors of the school, down the familiar path that led to Feliciano and Lovino's home. Yet from what I saw out of the corner of my eye as we made our way through the parking lot, the older brother of the Vargas family was climbing into that same Spanish boy's car; the one I had saw on the first day.

"Feliciano, why is your brother getting in that guy's car?" I asked him, and he turned to look at his what-seemed-like irritated brother climbing into the passenger's seat of the Spaniard's car.

"Oh, that's just Antonio. Fratello got his car keys taken away last night, so Antonio is going to be driving him around for the time being…" He explained, uneasiness making its way into his down as he shifted his eyes nervously to the ground.

I nodded. "I see…but what did Lovino do to get his keys taken away?"

Feliciano made a small, nearly inaudible squeak, and looking down I noticed his hands beginning to shake.

"I-It's nothing, y-you don't need to worry about it…" The Italian replied frantically, acting a little more jumpy than usual. There was defiantly something going on with him; something Lovino was involved in, too. I just didn't know what.

As time passed, and we walked further down the sidewalk in silence, I noticed Feliciano being more usually quiet than normal. Clouds raged above us, sensing a storm was coming very soon, with thunder booming loudly through the air.

Every once in a while I glance would down at him, auburn bangs hiding his eyes with his fists shoved into his pockets, and that's when I knew there was something defiantly wrong that he was hiding from me.

Taking in a deep breath, I finally gathered up the courage to ask the question I'd been wondering since the beginning of English class. "Feliciano…I've been meaning to ask you something…Why is your face so badly beaten up? It wasn't like that before today…"

There was no response; only a faint squeak coming from the Italian's mouth, and an uneasy tension immediately beginning to radiate from him. With his bangs covering his eyes, I was unable to read them for an answer, but all I knew just from his response to that meant it couldn't be good at all. "Well…what is it…?"

"…Fratello beat me up last night…in our room…" Feliciano finally managed to let out after a few more seconds passed by, only speaking in a mere whisper as he didn't even dare to look me in the eye.

My eyes grew wide at that, staring at him in shock as the teen continued to look down. "What…? But why would he do something like that?" I asked him, still awestruck at the fact Lovino would do such a thing to an innocent being like Feliciano; especially his own brother.

The Italian stayed quiet for a minute; until I actually had to remind him again, and when he spoke it only managed to come out in a soft murmur. "I don't know…"

It wasn't like Feliciano to be like this after a little fight with Lovino; the two fought all the time! There was something else bother him, yet he just wouldn't tell me what it was. And for once, the façade he had put up actually worked as I had not a clue about what was going on with him.

The teen continued to keep his head down, silent, and I could have sworn at one point I saw a light tear trickle down his face from the corner of my eye. With this eerie, thick silence hanging in the air through the tension surrounding us, it wasn't just that that convinced me to break the silence, but more of my rising concern.

"Feliciano…-"

Suddenly, and before I could even attempt to reason with him, there was a sudden grip holding onto my wrist, and I looked only to find Feliciano leading me in the opposite direction to the Vargas's house.

What the hell is going on with him today?

"Feliciano, what are you doing; your house is that way!" I said, my voice raising as I tried to get his attention, yet all failed as he refused to speak. "Feliciano, answer me!"

There was still no response; he only continued to keep walking and gripping onto my arm, never looking back, and a dark scowl pasted onto his face. It was the first I had ever seen on that cheerful soul's face…And for another time over, I was worried for his well being of going onto the brink on insanity…

Just as he had led me through a grove of trees and into a small section of vivid autumn forestry, a small drop of rain plopped onto the drop of my head, then another, and soon a dozen drops of warm liquid were cascading down from the sky and onto the ground. The gel I'd used to pull back my bangs had soon washed away, and I found long strands of damp blonde hair hanging over my forehead.

Feliciano had eventually stopped just inside of the rim of the forest, the leaves of the trees acting as an umbrella for us, and occasional drops of rain fell onto our heads, and our bangs nearly covered our eyes. The latter continued to stay silent, his eyes averted and his head faced down, and from the rain I couldn't tell if he was crying of not. Yet after a few more seconds of standing in silence with the soft pitter-patter of rain being the only mere sound, I found it was only necessary to speak up to keep things from getting even more awkward.

"Feliciano…What. Is going. On." I snapped, angry now standing in the pouring rain, yet he continued to stay mute. "Answer me, damn it! Just tell me why you've been acting so weird lately!" No response. "Feliciano!"

"Ludwig!" He snapped back, this time in an act of misery, and those amber eyes immediately turned sadden as tears leaked from his year. A light sob escaped from his mouth, and looking up at me, an almost embarrassed shade of pink had made its way to his cheeks. "Lud…wig…"

"Feliciano, what is it? Just tell me!"

With that, he looked away again, another sob let out from his mouth, before suddenly flinging his arms around me into a tackle-hug. "Ludwig!"

Yet that wasn't the only thing he had done. Before I knew it, a pair of lips had crashed into mine, and with eyes wide and looking down, I found it to be non-other than the shorter Italian holding onto me as he kissed almost forcefully it felt. I stood there in shook, a vicious shade of scarlet blush stained all the way to the bridge of my nose, yet after as few more seconds, I found my eyelids slowly folding closed as I kissed back. The teen's arms were wrapped around my neck as I claimed his waist, pulling him closer as he pressed my head down, and soon enough I found myself leaning onto the tree we were standing under.

Not even the booming sound of thunder could have broken us apart, as more rain began trickling down our faces and he cried, keeping the kiss simple and chaste, yet forceful as well.

Soon enough though, Feliciano had broken apart, burying his face in my chest as the latter sobbed, and I held onto him to help with the sympathy he needed.

"Ludwig…I-I love you…" He whispered in between sobs, giving me a quick peck on the lips before hugging me once more, gripping onto my shirt tightly as I cried. "I do…I-I really do love you so much! I'm so sorry; I don't know why I thought I hated you, Ludwig! Ludwig is kind to me and cares about me, and you proved that today! I believe you now…L-Ludwig really is Holy Rome…"

I was at loss of words, my face nearly on fire with the rain hardly cooling it down, and all I could do was hold onto him and repeat his name over and over again. "Feliciano…Feliciano, yes…" By that time, we had slid down onto the ground, the petite Italian still holding onto me as I shushed him. "It's ok…"

"No, n-no it's not. I treated Ludwig so badly…I-I'm a horrible person…"

I pressed my lips against the top of his head gently, stroking his hair and shushing him for comfort. "No; no you're not, Feliciano. I'm at fault here since I was the one who did it in the first place…" I whispered softly, tipping his chin to look at me as a faint smile made its way onto my face before giving him a quick kiss on the forehead. "I love you, Feliciano. More than you could have ever imagined in our past…"

And with that, the latter rested his head onto my shoulder, sobbing lightly, and we stayed like that for the remainder of the afternoon.

"Dammit, West!" was the only thing I heard when I awoke later that afternoon, jumping slightly at the sudden startle, and gazing around groggily I found myself still sitting under the tree Feliciano had led me to. The teen was curled up in my lap, sleeping contently, and I smiled before kissing him gingerly on the forehead.

He groaned slightly, rubbing his eyes before fluttering them open and exposing the blood-shut brown from when he had been crying so much. Nonetheless, though, I still found them as beautiful as they had been before, and he smiled to find himself in my arms and gazed around just as I had. "Ludwig…where are we? Who was that yelling?" He asked, yawning before falling back onto my chest.

"We're still in the forest; apparently we fell asleep. I think that's Bruder calling…"

Sure enough, and at perfect timing, Gilbert pushed through the grove of trees, huffing and puffing as he had been running, and gave me a dark glare "West, where the hell have you been? We've been looking high and low for you all afternoon; Lovino is practically going ballistic with Feli gone!" He spat, looking down at us before crimson eyes grew wide, and a devious smirk crept across his face. "Wait a minute…Is that…Feli…?" He asked, raising and eyebrow and crossing his arms.

I gave him just as dark as a glare, with a light shade of blush sprinkling across my cheeks at the embarrassing position the two of us were in right now. "Gilbert, leave."

"Oh~, I see! You wanna finish up, don'tcha? Well go ahead; I won't look."

"GILBERT!" I yelled, immediately going red at his words, and an oblivious and sleepy Feliciano only rubbed his eyes and questioned.

"Ve~, Ludwig, what is he talking about?" He asked, tipping his head to the side.

"Erm, nothing Feliciano…let's just get you home…" I responded, averting my eyes in the ground in embarrassment.

The latter thought for a moment, before suddenly turning frantic, and jumping off from my lap. "Oh no; I completely forgot fratello wanted me to be home early today because our parents are away! Ve~, Ludwig, I have to go!" He panicked, grabbing the drenched backpack he'd dropped onto the ground, and retreating towards the outside of the forest.

"I'll walk you home…" I sighed, before getting up as well, only to be stopped by the obnoxious teen I could only call my older brother.

"So~, did you and Feli have a good time? Kesesesese!" He snickered, earning a smack on the arm and glaring daggers from me, as I ran to catch up with the Italian already getting a fair head start.

Gilbert sighed contently, and while still in ear-shot, I heard him speak satisfied. "I knew I raised him well…"

Dusk had already set in by the time Feliciano and I had already made it back to his and Lovino's home. The entire time we had walked, we walked hand in hand, both of our eyes averted to the ground, and I noticed from the corner of my eye that stubborn blush that had continued to return to his face, and a happy smile pasted contently on it as well.

I was the same, hearing the soft ve's he had let out along the way, and as we stood at the front of their house, I found that familiar pain of leaving him suddenly returning as it shot through my body and he smiled at me.

"Ve~, thank you for walking home with me today, Ludwig. I also, uh, really liked your presentation for English today…" He murmured, shifting his eyes to the ground at that last sentence, and he giggled lightly.

I smiled. "It's the least I could do for you, Feliciano, after these past two weeks. And I meant every word of it I said." I told him, having the same reaction as blush that begun spreading rapidly across my face; even more as my palms turned sweaty as I held onto his soft tanned ones.

Then, after a few more seconds passed by, with one more happy "ve", Feliciano leaned up and quickly pressed his lips against mine in a chaste kiss, before breaking away and smiling satisfied.

"Feliciano, what was that for." I asked nearly playfully, that same serious tone I always had in my voice never fading, but I could tell he saw right through that as he continued to smile at me.

"In my house, it's a tradition to kiss somebody when you love them."

Wow. After six fun, awesome months of working on this fic, I'm FINALLY done. Gosh I had so much fun working on this, and I thank all of you for the support you've given me throughout the months! I've really enjoyed writing this, and I can't wait to start on my new fics I have planned now! That last line Italy says it quite possibly the most cliché thing in this entire thing, but I've literally had that line planned out since I first started this in April. XD

I'm sorry if it seems a little rushed towards the end; I was really tired when I wrote it late at night. But, oh well, I'm satisfied with the turn out! :D But DANG that essay turned out way more OCC than I thought it would be! Sorry; that was my bad.

Again, that you all SO MUCH for the reviews, faves, story alerts, subscribes, etcetera; I really appreciate all of the great reviews you all have given me. There's going to be a half-sequel to this called 'Fame' coming out soon, and it's going to be focused on Lithuania instead of Germany, but it will probably have a few little references to this story. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed, and please remember to review! :D