Chapter Ten: Homeward Bound

"Chigi! My beautiful angel!"

Germany slumped down in her seat, her eyes wide and her heart pounding in her chest. What the heck were the Italian brothers doing here? Was this the only place that nations could eat at or something? Had someone told the Italians that they would be here? But that was of little consequence, the main issue was how the heck was she going to get away this time?

Ludwig wasn't sure she had ever seen Romano move so fast, not even when he had been chased down by the British. In a matter of seconds, the usually grumpy Italian was before her, on one knee, holding her hand in his, kissing the back of it. The blonde's eyebrow began twitching sporadically.

"Bella dona," Romano continued to kiss her hand with exaggerated care. "Where have you been? I have been looking all over for you! Were you kept hostage by these brutes?"

Before she could have hoped to answer, Gilbert was in between the two of them immediately, cutting off all contact quite efficiently in a matter of seconds. Looking up, Ludwig saw her brother's eyes flashing dangerously, the sort of danger that she knew promised nothing but pain and suffering for anyone that dared get in his way, or took something that was his…But that didn't really make sense. Why was her brother acting so possessively? Romano might have been acting annoying, but he hadn't taken anything from Gilbert or stopped him from getting anything, so what was the issue? Had she read her brother wrong? Was it just a trick of the light?

But just before he could speak up, Britain stood as well. "Well, thank you for the lovely evening out, East Germany, Miss," he nodded, trying to look as professional as possible, even while his counterpart was growling like a rabid dog. "I'm sorry to have kept you two out so late."

By this time, Veneziano had wandered over, looking truly scared for his brother's life as Gilbert had pulled the older Italian up off of his knees by the front of his shirt, and looked poised to start punching the brunette into the next year. But Ludwig decided that perhaps it was time for her to intervene and end this. "Not at all, Herr Britain. Thank you for meeting with Herr Deutschland and myself. I-I think we should be going now…"

She grabbed her brother's arm and tried to signal it was time to go, wishing that she still possessed all of the strength she'd had as a man to make her brother leave, but Veneziano seemed to materialize before her and stared at her with large, caramel eyes that twinkled merrily. "Ve~ Hello, pretty lady! I am Veneziano, Romano's brother! He's told me all about you!"

Taking a step back, Germany became flustered. What was she supposed to do? Instinct told her that she should just punch the Italian in the face and run off— it seemed both she and Gilbert's "fight or flight" reflexes always required a little "fight" no matter what— but she knew that that wouldn't get her anywhere but in trouble. No one knew who she was, the last thing she needed was to start an international scandal, especially since she had entered Italy a bit illegally. What would her government say?

Forcing herself to smile, praying it didn't look like she was trying to swallow hot coals like it normally did when she attempted this difficult feat, Ludwig nodded carefully. "Ah…yes, thank you. Um…nice to meet you, Veneziano."

"You look familiar," the younger Italian leaned in. "Have I seen you somewhere before? I'd think I'd remember someone was gorgeous as you, but for some reason, I can't recall. You really are so pretty, ve~"

At the side, Britain was still trying to get the albino to release the older Italian, and save Romano from the irrational German's blood lust while the Italian himself also looked close to murder for the fact that his younger brother was now hitting on his conquest. Apparently when a love interest was on the line, an Italian could withstand the wrath of a furious former Prussian soldier without batting an eyelash. Ludwig sighed gently, not knowing if she should just walk out of there now, leave the men to their own devices, and not look back, or just start screaming and tear her hair out. Come what may, she knew that she was on her own when it came to Veneziano now. Plastering on that fake smile of hers, not caring so much if it seemed pained, she shook her head with an attempted giggle, the way she had heard women giggle when they thought something was ridiculous or oddly amusing... or something. It was a difficult task which had probably failed spectacularly.

"I-I've never met you here, sir," she held up her hands, taking another step back. "I've never been to Italy like this before either."

There, that wasn't a lie, it was just a bit cryptic. No harm done. And it's not like anyone needed to know about this since Germany was confident that Britain was going to fix this terrible mistake soon, and by this time next week, she would be walking around as a man again. Let's see if Italians would be hitting on her then!

"Ve, you sure?" Veneziano pressed, taking one of her hands in his. "Because now I know I've seen you in my dreams." The smile he used was one that could coat the world with sugar, could melt even the iciest personality, and affectively seduce any lonely heart that needed a little more love in their life…

Germany nearly gagged.

She couldn't help it. That was probably the worst pick up like she had ever heard anyone use. Ever. It was corny and fake and there wasn't a drop of sincerity in it. As a man, Ludwig had once gone through a list of pick up lines to see if there were any that she could possibly use the next time she was at the bar… for experimental purposes only, of course! But about halfway through the list, she had become increasingly embarrassed and annoyed at how trite and weak they were. She knew she could never embarrass herself by using any of them, afraid to even ever speak any of them out loud. Ludwig had always wondered what manner of man would embarrass himself willingly to use them…

But now she knew. And being a woman, being the one to actually receive the poor attempts at flirtation…it was ten times worse than even contemplating using them. It was so bad, in fact, that Ludwig had the nearly uncontrollable urge to smash Veneziano's face into the table as hard as she could just to get rid of that smile.

That's what friends were for, right? To point out their friend's mistakes so that they might never commit them again? This would certainly prove to be a great service to the little Italian.

Yet, before she could do anything, out of nowhere, due to some miracle—or curse, depending on how you looked at these things— Romano had gotten free of Gilbert's death grip as Britain was trying to control the albino, and pushed his brother out of the way. "That was my line, bastard," the older brother hissed.

"Now," he turned back to Ludwig, smiling charmingly, not quite as sugary as his brother's, but more suggestive, more seductive. "Please, Miss," he took up her hands again, "why don't you tell me all about yourself? Perhaps we could go for a little walk around in the moonlight? I know a perfect place to—"

BAM!

For a few seconds, Ludwig wasn't entirely sure what happened, but as she looked down, she realized that one of the chairs had been kicked—hard—right into the Italian's precious manhood. Romano sunk down to the floor with a whimper, holding his crotch protectively in case of another attack. Looking at the two other northern nations, the blonde found that Britain had managed to hold Gilbert's arms back, but by the nasty smirk on the albino's face, it was not hard to figure out that he had just proceeded to kick the chair at the fallen nation. It was such a wicked smirk that adorning the older German's features, one that bespoke of too much pleasure being extracted from it, that the blonde rolled her eyes.

"Fratello!" Veneziano dropped down next to his brother, fussing over the temperamental Romano.

And that was when Ludwig knew she needed to act. "Sorry for the trouble, Britain," Ludwig whispered as she took her brother's hand. "If they ask, I'm Frau Müller, the secretary."

When she saw the island nod, the blonde dashed off with her brother in tow, without looking back. As they passed the two Italians, Gilbert kicked one of the tables, which proceeded to fall over on the other two on the floor. "Keseseseses!"

Germany scowled back at her brother, but didn't stop as they went out the door, leaving the poor British man with all of the confused and excited Italians. She knew she was going to have to make it up to the green-eyed man later on. Just add it to my tab, she thought wryly.

Once outside, the two Germans ran as fast as they could away from the little restaurant, not really knowing where they were going, Ludwig in the lead with a firm grip on her brother's hands. They ran down all the narrow, twisted streets before they finally came to a spot in the center of town, next to the fountain that Ludwig had sat at the other day. The moment they had caught their breath, she turned to her brother and smacked him as hard as she could across the back of the head.

"Ow!" the albino cried, clutching his wounded cranium. "What the hell was that for?"

"What the hell were you doing back there?" the girl hissed, making sure to keep her voice down, lest they cause a scene…again, when she saw several Italians looking their way. "Attacking Romano and Veneziano? Gilbert, they weren't doing anything other than being annoyingly Italian! We could have gotten out of there easily had it not been for you wanting to kill Romano right away and starting a fight. What is wrong with you lately?"

The albino stood up straight, shoulders squared, and face suddenly blank. He looked the way he always did when there was a military inspection, which he'd adopt when he was being particularly stubborn about something. Like this, Gilbert could shut out the world, ignored everything and refused to speak even if it was the apocalypse. Ludwig knew she wouldn't get a straight or honest answer now, but that didn't mean she wouldn't try. After all, if there was possibly anything more stubborn than a Prussian, it was a German.

"Well?" she pressed, posting her hands on her hips, scowling severely. "Are you going to answer me, or are you just going to stand there stupidly until a strong wind blows you over?"

For the first time in a while, the older German actually looked annoyed with Ludwig, and the blonde knew she would finally get a response. Gilbert had been acting so strange these days that it was even getting hard to directly aggravate him. He just seemed so…involved now. It was getting to the point where Ludwig felt smothered. Her brother hadn't acted this bad, this overprotective since she had been little and France was still out to cause them trouble.

At last, the albino sighed. "It's nothing."

"It's not nothing," Ludwig snorted. "Now, you will tell me this instant."

The two siblings glared at one another for several long moments before red eyes looked away. "It's just…we can't let anyone know who you are, right? That's what you wanted."

"But that doesn't give you the right to go around beating up other nations, East," the blonde sighed, rubbing her temples. "You should know better than this."

"This is different, West!" Gilbert seemed to plead. "You don't know how to act like a woman!"

"And you do?" the blonde snapped, crossing her arms disapprovingly.

"That's not what I meant!" Gilbert ran a hand through his white hair in frustration.

As she watched, Ludwig—for whatever mysterious reason— found the action surprisingly …interesting. She had seen her brother run a hand through his hair many times before, yet when he did it now…it seemed different. In fact, just about everything seemed a little bit different about the albino. Not just the way he was acting and what he said, but it was the little things. There were little things that her brother did, like the way his eyes twinkled when he was enjoying something, when he would walk around without a shirt on, or just now, when he ran his hands through his hair. It was no different than how he usually acted, and yet Ludwig seemed to find new interest in them. They were the same, and yet it was as though the blonde seemed to notice them in a different manner.

For a reason unidentifiable to Ludwig, she found herself blushing a bit as she stared at her flustered older brother who stood by the fountain, the Italian night setting in, the stars twinkling overhead, the sound of music in the distance, and the soft glow of lights coming on. Her stomach flipped in a way that she knew she could not blame solely on hunger pains. When she saw red eyes flicker up to stare at her, the blonde immediately averted her own gaze, not wanting Gilbert to see her for some reason.

Verdammt, this is awkward! she thought angrily as she glared at the stones beneath her feet. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at her brother again, and the two looked each other over warily for a moment.

"Well?" she prompted. "Are you ever going to tell me what's up with you, or are we just going to have to stop speaking to each other for a while?"

They'd done it before. It really was the only peacefully way they could put down an argument until they had cooler heads on her shoulders. "Talking it out" was not something that the Germans were very skilled at without the use of punches being thrown.

The older personification groaned. "Don't be so mean to me, West, I was just trying to look out for you!"

The blonde snorted. "You're versions of 'looking out for me' usually makes my situation worse than it should be."

In an instant, Gilbert's attitude seemed to shift, and he glared daggers at the girl, taking her by surprise. "Don't get sassy with me, Kind. What other brother, nation or otherwise, would stick his neck out for you the way I've done? Name oneother that's done half of the shit I've done for you!" he snarled. "Go on, name one. Where would you be if not for me?" Ludwig's face went blank. "You'd probably have been dissolved in one form or another by now, and you certainly wouldn't be the well respected nation you are today," he snarled, apparently on a role. "I made you, West. Don't you forget it, you ungrateful brat!"

He was right, and Ludwig knew she couldn't dispute it. There really was no relationship quite like Germany and Prussia's in history. She couldn't think of a nation that had so actively reached out to weaker ones the way Prussia always had to the German states without resorting to invasion or fighting… at least not fighting with those he wished to merge with. Prussia had stepped up on the Germans behalf since Ludwig could remember. Gilbert had fought the French for her, had stepped up to face Austria, had saved her from Denmark, had kicked out Austrian rule, and then once more battled the French a second time to unify her and finally merge to create the German Empire.

In all of their strange history together, not once had Gilbert ever been violent or treated her badly. Sure, there had been one instant where the Prussians had used a military takeover of the German states after the Spring Revolutions of 1848, but that had only been to help stop the violence, and since the Germans had offered the Prussians the crown and proposition of unification anyway, the blonde didn't hold that against her brother. Other than that, the Prussians had always been kind and helpful to the Germans, and there was not another nation out there that had quite the same relationship that these two had. Not even the Italians had as interestingly strange and remarkable relationship.

Feeling suddenly very cruel and unworthy of all that her brother had done, Ludwig stared down at her feet repentantly. Gilbert might be immature sometimes, might actually be a pain in the ass, but he was still not only her brother, but her elder. There were times she forgot that. No matter what, for everything he'd done for her, the Prussian did deserve nothing but respect from her, because she owed him for so much, even after their unification the first time around.

"I haven't," she answered gently.

"Doesn't seem like it," the albino snorted, crossing his arms. "I always look out for you the best that I can, and because I'm awesome, it always works out, so don't you forget it."

That resentfulness and temper were two things that had caused Germany nothing but grief since she had been young. Seeing Gilbert angry or disappointed with her was probably the worst thing in the world, as far as she was concerned. It always hurt to see the one who you practically worshipped and looked up to like a hero mad or disgusted with you. Whenever Gilbert looked at her with that look, it never failed to make Ludwig feel like shit, every time, no matter if he was even in the wrong or not.

Looking away, keeping her head down, Ludwig began walking away. There was nothing else to say. That damned Prussian had turned this all around to make her feel like she had somehow been wrong, and she hated it. It almost made her not want to feel anything, which is probably why she avoided large displays of emotions most of the time. But in any case, the fact of the matter was that Germany was still angry with her brother's recent attitude, and apparently, her brother was angry with her for appearing ungrateful. This would not be settled anytime soon, so it was best to let it rest for a while.

"I'm going for a walk," she said quietly. When she heard her brother take a couple steps after her, she turned around to scowl icily at the albino, affectively freezing him in place. "Don't follow me," she added coolly.

Slipping away quietly into the crowd, Ludwig went off, wanting nothing more than to punch something. She was furious, she felt terrible after what Gilbert had said, she was still hungry, she was confused, and of all things, she was getting cold! Wrapping her arms around herself, she walked on, scowling at the ground as she went, not really knowing where she was going, just that she was going the opposite direction of where she had last seen the Italians.

A few time, several well wishing and eager young Italian men came over to her, telling her that it wasn't right for "such a beautiful woman, such as yourself, to look so sad!" but one frosty scowl and a hissed of "Get away from me," had those enthusiastic boys scampering off with their tails between their legs. It would have been laughable if Ludwig had felt like laughing. But as it was, she just snorted as she watched them flee the scene, not at all caring that she had probably scared them for life. While she liked Italy, liked the people, they needed to focus on other things besides pasta and women.

At last she came upon the beach to the Mediterranean. She looked out over the water and couldn't help but marvel at how lovely it was. To think, this was all so close to her own home, and yet so far. It would be nice to stay in a place like this, but she knew she could never live here. She had not the attitude nor the history that could ever help her adjust well here. Her loyalty made it so that even if she could somehow get away from her responsibilities as a nation, she would always return to Germany. That was her. That was where she was born. That was where her heart was, in Berlin, right next to Gilbert's.

Thinking of the ex-nation, however, brought another scowl to her face, and still grumbling under her breath, she stalked off to the beach. Once she reached the sand line, she took off her shoes, ignoring the cool breeze that made her shiver slightly, and kept walking. She went on until she was as far away from anyone as she could possibly be. She didn't want to be around anyone, and she certainly didn't want to talk to any men at the moment.

Were men always like this? Sure, as a man, Ludwig had always listened to friends or other nations talk about women, about their exploits, and it had always seemed like harmless flirtations that were appreciated on both ends. Now, however, the blonde thought it was all near sexual harassment, and she couldn't understand why some women vied so much to get noticed by the opposite sex. It didn't seem so hard in any case. Didn't women know that men looked at anything with two legs and boobs?

Ludwig sat down at last in the sand, digging her feet in a bit. She crossed her arms, still trying to retain a little body heat as she just sat staring at the water. Idiot Gilbert with all of his stupid guilt-tripping. She had been perfectly reasonable to get upset with his treatment of the Italians. She was trying to ensure that a diplomatic, national scandal would be avoided! Did he actually think she, too, hadn't wanted to punch those two in the face? She was just thinking reasonably.

And then he had to pull out the trump card and remind her of all he's done for her to make her feel like a brat. She wasn't ungrateful, and he knew it! Did he not notice everything she'd done for him in return? How could he even still contest her thankfulness, even after she had pleaded—on hands and knees— for his life before the Allies, begging that her brother still be allowed to live and become East Germany even after Prussia was dissolved? She had given up a part of herself, dammit! All for him! She had allowed him to reclaim, in part, Berlin, his old capital. It was actually a national secret that the other nations didn't know and never realized how close the two had become in this respect. She should have been the one to make him feel guilty, turned it around and asked him how he could be so ungrateful for all that she'd done!

…But then Ludwig could never do that. Giving up some land, allowing Berlin to remain his heart was the absolute least she could do for him after everything that he'd done for her…and after everything she had put him through. There really was no contest over who cared more for the other, it would always show Gilbert on top. Behind all that pomp and selfishness was really the heart of a loyal, loving brother that would do anything, even kill, to protect his younger sibling. There was no way Ludwig could compete with that kind of devotion, though she tried. So no matter what, in the end of all arguments such as these, she was the loser, and she felt terrible.

Sighing, she took a handful of sand and shifted it through her fingers. Well, it didn't matter if she felt guilty, it wouldn't help anything. All she could do was work to prove Gilbert wrong. That would shut him up and then he wouldn't ever be able to make her feel like this again… at least, she hoped he wouldn't be able to. He was quite clever when it came to getting inside someone's head.

What was wrong with her lately? (Well, besides turning into a different gender.) It was like, everything her brother did set her off into a vicious, spitting whirlwind of fury or made her feel like shit. It wasn't just what the albino said anymore, it was also how he acted. There were the times, like at night or in the morning, when he seemed so strange, like he was either nervous or sad or something, which always made the blonde feel a pang of sorrow herself. And then there was the constant joking and teasing about being a girl now that just set the German off. Was Gilbert really too stupid to realize that this was a sensitive time for Ludwig, or was he really just that dense? Too caught up in his own awesomeness to notice when someone else was distressed?

Well, that was fine. See if Ludwig helped Gilbert out next time that the bastard felt like crap.

Dropping her head to her chest with a groan, the blonde knew what a hopeless liar she was. All bluff no balls when it came to Gilbert, always had been, always would be. She might threaten, scream, punch a hole through the wall, but in the end, she almost always help her brother or do as Gilbert asked. She had only ever outright refused if it caused the albino or herself actual harm.

Carefully, Ludwig stood and began walking again. She wondered vaguely what time it was. The picky German always wore a watch, but since she couldn't exactly wear her old one anymore, it left her wrist feeling bare. It was annoying to always have to pull out her phone, and now she didn't feel like getting into her small backpack to fish it out to look. It was still fairly early in the evening by Italian standards at any rate, as she noted a lot of people still out and about, natives as well as tourists.

Although Germany was never to type to give into whimsy, she did decide that it might be nice to kick her feet into the water. She was cold, the water was probably getting cold, yet she couldn't help herself. She was used to being cold, she'd suffered worse at home, and definitely hadwhen she suffered in the wars while in Russia. She could certainly tough out a little cold water.

Lifting up her dress a bit with one hand, her shoes still in the other, Ludwig walked through the small waves. Though not many people would ever guess this, but Germany liked water. Always had. She liked swimming, she liked to take baths, and she loved touching water when she could. But due to practicality, the blonde rarely swam, never took baths unless deathly ill and needed to cool off a temperature, which rarely happened, and simply going out of the way to touch water was impractical all on its own. But in moments such as this, when she was alone, so close to the sea, she couldn't help herself. It's not like she had anything better to do anyway, so she allowed herself to indulge.

She could remember all the times Gilbert had taken her to the lake or sea when she had been little. Those had been the best times, though they had been rare as well. Gilbert had always been fun on vacations and outings. They never did it much, no time in the past, too seemingly impractical now that they were older and traveled too much anyway for work. Yet when they did decided to take a break, go out to have fun, the albino certainly made it memorable. He was great at that sort of thing, of letting loose and partying. That's probably why France and Spain liked him so much, even after their rocky history. Probably why no one ever bothered to hang around Ludwig, because of how stiff and uncomfortable she always was compared to the albino. It took an Italian too thick to realize that he was annoying to tolerate her bad temper and awkwardness.

It hurt, actually, to know how unlikable she really was. It's not like Germany tried to push others away, at least not all the time. It was just that Ludwig liked time to herself, liked peace, and had particular tastes. The blonde knew she wasn't the only one like this, but Germany had been born with an unfortunately severe looking countenance. Her brow and naturally turned down mouth gave the blonde the appearance of constantly scowling, always angry. It was nice for intimidation, but terrible for making friends or trying to go out and party, like Gilbert liked to do.

But no matter what, it wasn't that important how she looked, whether in the past or even now, her brother had always been by her side. For some reason, the albino was not deterred by her attitude or temper. He didn't seem to mind her scolding and didn't try and get her to stop working all the time. He really was a wonderful guy despite his arrogance and egocentricity.

Standing in the tide, letting her arms fall at her side, Ludwig looked out, as though trying to see Africa. Usually her walks helped calm her down, helped her think, but she didn't feel that was the case this time. In fact, she found herself a little more confused than before. She was so hopelessly confounded that she wasn't even sure if she was still angry with her brother or not.

Someone settled a jacket around her shoulders, and Ludwig turned to find Gilbert standing behind her. She turned back away, pulling the suit jacket around her shoulders more snuggly. For a moment she marveled and despaired over just how small she had gotten due to how large the jacket was to her now. It was still strange to wake up and find Gilbert taller and broader of the two of them again. It made Ludwig feel very young.

"Nice night," Gilbert said quietly, coming to stand beside his sister. Ludwig noticed that he had his shoes off as well.

Sighing, Ludwig shook her head. No, she supposed she wasn't that upset with her brother anymore. She realized now that he had acted the way he had because of her and her situation. How else had she really expected him to act? Knowing this only made her angry at herself. The sooner this whole mess was over, the better off they'd all be.

"I want to go home," she said simply.

Without a word, Gilbert put his arm around Ludwig, surprising the blonde a bit, and led her away from the water. Up the beach the two Germans went, the albino not moving his arm an inch. It was actually a bit comforting to the confused woman, feeling the comfort of someone she cared about.

As they made their way back to the hotel, Ludwig didn't notice an elderly couple that was nearby, or hear as the old woman pointed at them to her husband. "What a lovely couple they make."

Ludwig was lost in thought and didn't pause or realize that she had been the inspiration for such a statement as she strolled along with her brother. But Gilbert had noticed, he had heard, and so a pained expression flashed over his pale face and was lost to the blonde as well. All Germany knew was that she was finally going to be leaving Italy, and not a moment too soon.

Author's Note: …not much to say here. Any questions about the history in here, just let me know, I'd be happy to tell you about it. Anyone think the Italians got off easily? Yeah, me too. Neither Gilbert nor Ludwig will be forgetting this. X) Poor England though…I actually feel the worst for him. :(

** Just for those who might not have caught this, "kind" is "child" in German. I only remind you because I know how it is reading late night fanfic, and being an English speaker, you might read it as English "kind" and get all confused. ;)

Next up: facing Chancellor Merkel.

Drop me a review on the way out, please. Thanks everyone!