Author's note: Hi there!

Holy moly, this chapter is long. It is the end of the fic, though, so I suppose it's as good a time as any to get lengthy.

Ladies and gentlemen, here is the final stop for the Friendship Express. All who wish to exit the train, feel free to do so and have a safe journey!

All who wish to continue onwards, please board the platform for the Romance Express. Its first destination will be through the fields of Side Pairings, but will eventually ride through the mountains of Main Pairing.

... a.k.a. There'll be a side-story with other pairings, followed by a GerIta-rific sequel. Look forward to whatever you like, if you're sticking around.

If not, however, I am totes cool with that.

Hope you enjoy the chapter!

P.S. There you go, VGS2. I named a chapter High Tide. Hopefully, you'll stop pestering me now. XP

Chapter Eleven: High Tide

As Ludwig sat on the grass next to Kiku, he couldn't help but glance around. No sign of Feliciano again. Would he come by later? Or was he still avoiding him? He was starting to get worried. Maybe it really had been something he'd said?

He turned to Kiku, to see the Japanese pulling something he called a 'bento box' out of his bag. Sighing, he resolved to wait a while. Maybe Feliciano would come by later.

... It was then that he realised something. Oh, scheisse.

Entering the cafeteria, Feliciano began looking around. Everywhere the eye could see was the colour blue. Skimming his eyes along the expanse of the room, he tried to find Francis and Antonio.

"What have I told joo about sitting with me?" a voice from nearby growled.

Glancing at the source, Feliciano saw what appeared to be Alfred, being karate-chopped on the head by the Cuban guy, Carlos.

"I'm not Alfred!" Alfred cried out quietly.

Oh, wait, that wasn't Alfred. It was his cousin... What's-his-face.

"And joo're so not invited to my birthday party next week, so don't even think of coming!"

"But I'm Matthew!"

Suddenly, Feliciano's eye caught a familiar mop of blonde hair, fashionably tied back in a blue ribbon, with the front bangs hanging loose. Its owner was in the queue, with a brown-haired student behind him and a silver-haired one in front. Grinning, he ran over to them.

"Big Brother Francis!" he called out.

The three of them turned to him in surprise.

"Oh, if it isn't little Feli!" Francis said, smiling.

"Ciao~!"

"What brings you here, amigo?" Antonio asked with a grin.

Gilbert smirked. "Yeah," he said, "and vhere's my not-so-awesome brozer?"

Feliciano's smile faltered slightly. "Oh, well, uh..." he replied, looking directly at Francis, "that's kind of what I wanted to talk-a to you about, actually..."

Francis suddenly looked intrigued. "Oh?" he asked.

Antonio blinked at him. "Problems in paradise?" he asked.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Well, uh..." Feliciano replied awkwardly.

"Hmm," Francis replied. He paused a moment, then smiled again. "Well, 'ow about we get our food first, zen we can talk about it, oui? Zis is no place to discuss personal matters."

"Uh, sure!"

Francis moved back a step with a flourish of the hand. "Feel free to cut in line, mon ami."

"Oh no, that's okay! I already have sandwiches."

"Oh." Francis moved back in place. "Well, alright, zen." After a moment, he winked. "In zat case, just sit yourself down and wait for us. You know ze usual place, oui?"

"Si, si!"

Turning on his heel, Feliciano made his way over to their usual table. Once he located it, he pulled a chair aside, set down his bag and sat himself down. Mentally exhausted, he heaved a sigh. Now all he had to was wait.

After a few moments of staring at nothing, he decided that he might as well eat his lunch. He'd have to do a lot of talking once the others got their food, anyway, so he might as well eat it now.

Picking his bag off the floor, he unzipped it and rummaged around. Finding his sandwich box, he was about to pull it out when his hand brushed against a second sandwich box. He froze.

Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no. It was the sandwiches that he'd made for Ludwig! In his efforts to avoid him, he'd forgotten to give them to him! But he couldn't just go and give them to him now! He had to ask Big Brother Francis for advice first!

Frantically looking left and right, he tried to find a solution to his problem. When his eyes landed on the two students from before – who were now eating together while one rubbed his head and the other looked apologetic – his face lit up. He quickly rushed over.

"Marcus!" he called out.

Alfred's cousin looked up at him. "Oh, hey, Feliciano..." he replied, "and it's Matthew..."

"Can you do me a favour?"

"Oh? What's that?"

Feliciano placed the sandwich box on the table. "Can you take-a this to Ludwig for me? Pretty please?"

Alfred's cousin's eyes widened. "Ludwig?"

"Joor German friend?" Carlos asked. "Can't joo take it to him?"

"Uhhh, well..." Feliciano replied, "I'm... busy! There are things I need to do right now and, uh..." He paused. "Please take-a this to Ludwig for me!"

Alfred's cousin blinked at him. "Oh..." he replied, "uh, well... sure I guess."

"What?" Carlos asked in disbelief. "Joo're just going to do it? Just like that?"

Alfred's cousin smiled apologetically at him. "Sorry... I'll only be aboot a minute."

Feliciano beamed. "Oh, grazie, Mario!" he said. "I'll tell you where to find him."

"Okay... and it's Matthew..."

"Are you sure you don't want any rice, Rudwig?" Kiku asked, holding out his bento box.

Ludwig held up a hand. "Nein," he replied. "I'll be fine, Kiku."

"... Werru, if you say so." Kiku went back to eating.

Ludwig sighed. Where the hell was Feliciano? Had he forgotten that he had Ludwig's lunch in his bag? Was the Italian going to show up at all? Or was he going to have to go to the cafeteria and buy food?

He placed his hands on the grass beside him, then jumped when one of them touched something plastic. Looking down, he saw a Tupperware box. He stared at it for a moment. That hadn't been there a moment ago...

Realisation suddenly hit him. Was this...? He snatched it up and ripped the lid off, to reveal the unmistakable form of an Italian sandwich.

His eyes widened. Looking up, he whipped his head left and right, scanning the area for any sign of his friend. Upon finding nothing that even remotely resembled the Italian, he heaved a deflated sigh. Oh, Feliciano... Did he really want to avoid him that badly? Just what had he done?

"... It seems we have a ninja in our midst," Kiku said.

"Ja..." Ludwig stared down at the sandwich. It sat in the plastic box, mocking him. "It seems ve do..."

Head in his hand and elbow on the table, Francis smirked. "Alright, mon ami," he said, "tell Big Brozer your problems."

Feliciano took a deep breath. "Well..." he replied, "I don't think-a my friend likes me anymore!"

Francis blinked at him. "Huh?"

"I don't-a want him to hate me, or forget about-a me, or get-a rid of me, because he likes someone better, so what do I do?!"

"... Vait..." Gilbert said, "you don't mean Ludwig, do you?"

Feliciano looked down at the table. "Si..."

There was a long pause. Then Gilbert burst out laughing. "Oh man! Zat's a good von!"

Feliciano looked up, confused.

"Oh, mi amigo," Antonio said, "you worry too much!"

"But, but...!" Feliciano cried.

"Ohonhonhon!" Francis laughed. "You don't zink Ludwig likes you?"

"No! What should I do, Big Brother?"

"Well..." Francis glanced at Antonio and Gilbert, then looked back at Feliciano. "I suggest you show 'im your butt."

A strange noise came from Antonio and Gilbert. Glancing at them, Feliciano could see that they were trying very hard to hold in their laughter. Only Antonio succeeded. Gilbert, however, doubled over, gasping for breath and almost falling backwards in his chair.

Feliciano blinked at Francis. "My... butt?"

Francis took his elbow off the table with a flourish. "Oui! Butts are ze universal language of friendship!"

"Oh... really?"

Francis' mouth twisted upwards slightly. "Oui."

"Oh..." Feliciano smiled. "Okay then!" He stood up, moving the chair out of the way. "Thanks, Big Brother Francis!"

Francis' expression melted into one of shock. "Wait, you're not actually going to do it, are you?"

Antonio could no longer hold in his laughter. Gilbert tilted backwards and fell off his chair.

"Ow..." he muttered before laughing harder.

"He wasn't being serious, mi amigo!" Antonio said, wiping a tear from his eye.

"... He wasn't?" Feliciano asked.

"Non, mon ami," Francis replied. He sighed, waving his hand towards the chair that Feliciano had vacated. "Please, sit back down."

"Oh, okay..." Feliciano did as he was told.

Gilbert finally managed to climb off the floor and take his seat. He was still chuckling.

"Are you serious?" he asked. "You really zink mein bruder hates you?"

"Well, si..."

Gilbert cackled. "Vell, he does alvays complain about how lazy you are... refusing to study, alvays falling asleep in class and alvays skipping gym..."

Feliciano slunk into his seat, whining.

"You're not helping, you know," Antonio said.

Gilbert smirked, folding his arms on the table and nudging away his tray. "But ze zing is, I know him too vell. He's just vorried about you failing classes and exams and all zat malarkey. He's a complete stick-in-ze-mud, but zere's a heart in zere somevhere. Granted, it's all cold and steely and shit, but still."

Intrigued, Feliciano sat up slightly.

Seeing that he had his attention, Gilbert's smirk widened. "You and Kiku are, like, ze first friends zat douche has made in forever, so I doubt he vants to get rid of eizer of you. Boz of you are pretty darn awesome, I'd say. Not as awesome as me, of course, but, zen again, who is?"

Feliciano stared at him in awe.

"So, zere you 'ave it, mon ami," Francis said. "Just tell Ludwig 'ow you feel. I'm sure 'e'll understand."

Feliciano blinked at him. "Tell him how I feel?" he asked.

Francis beamed. "Oui! Tell 'im 'ow much 'is friendship means to you!" He winked. "If 'e 'as any 'eart at all, 'e'll be touched by your words."

Feliciano looked down at the table, scrunching his eyebrows in thought. "Hmm..."

"... If you don't zink you can do it to 'is face... you could always write 'im a letter."

Feliciano looked up in surprise. "A letter?"

Francis smiled. "Oui. I know you're quite bad wiz words anyway, so it's probably for ze best."

"That sounds muy bueno, if you ask me," Antonio said.

Gilbert cackled. "Yeah, sounds perfect!" he said.

Feliciano looked between the three faces, all of which were smiling encouragingly. He couldn't help but smile back.

"Grazie, you guys!" he said.

That night, Feliciano stared at the piece of paper in front of him, twirling a pen between his fingers. Tell him how much his friendship means to him, huh? He tapped the pen against his chin in thought.

The following day, Feliciano was racked with nerves. He'd spent all night working on his masterpiece of a letter, but the thought of actually giving it to Ludwig was terrifying. What would the German say? What would he do? Gilbert had told him that Ludwig didn't actually hate him, but it was getting harder and harder to believe that with every step he took.

When he locked eyes with him in homeroom, he froze.

"Uhhhh..." he said, suddenly shaking, "h-hey, Ludwig!" It took him a moment to remember his usual greeting. "B-Buongiorno!"

Ludwig frowned at him. "Guten tag..." he replied.

Fear getting the best of him, he straightened his back awkwardly. "Well, I'd better go sit down!" Turning on his heel, he marched across the room before the German could say anything.

... Mio dio, he really had to do better than this.

By the time recess rolled around, Feliciano was starting to feel rather pathetic. Was he really going to spend another day completely avoiding Ludwig, when he had the letter he wanted to give him, right in his freaking blazer pocket?

No. No, he was going to do this! Even if it killed him!

Well, he'd prefer if it didn't, but still.

He glanced around the corner of the building, trying his best not to be seen. Fortunately, it seemed that his friends were deep in conversation and hadn't discovered him yet. Now was his chance! All he had to do was walk over and... and...

He continued to stare at Ludwig. Tall, muscular, scary, steely-eyed Ludwig.

... Nope, he couldn't do it. He just couldn't do it! His feet were frozen in place with fear. Lovino had always said that he was a scaredy-cat, but never had it been more painfully obvious than now.

Moving out of view, he gave a quiet whine. This was pathetic. He needed to get this letter to Ludwig. But how?!

After a few moments of thought, he suddenly had an idea. Grinning at his own ingeniousness, he took the letter out of his pocket and started folding it.

After a minute or so, he looked at his work of art with pride. Nodding in determination, he glanced around the corner, lined up his letter, then threw it.

Once he let go, he ran very fast in the opposite direction.

"It certainry is a mystery-" Kiku said before a paper airplane suddenly stabbed him in the side of the head. "Ow!" It landed gracefully on the floor next to him.

Ludwig blinked in disbelief, turning to see who'd thrown it. He saw no one there.

Sighing at the odd prank, he turned back to his friend. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Hai."

Rubbing his head, Kiku glanced down at the paper airplane. After a moment, he picked it up and unfolded it.

"Vhat is it?"

Kiku's eyes ran over the page, then scrunched up in confusion. He turned the page sideways, stared at it, then flipped it upside-down.

After a few more moments, the Japanese sighed. "I can't read it..." Giving up, he held it out for Ludwig. "Can you understand sis crapu scribburu?"

Raising an eyebrow, Ludwig took it from him.

One look at the paper told him that whoever had written it had really bad handwriting. Now he knew why Kiku hadn't been able to read it. Glancing at the top, his eyes widened as he recognised his own name. It was for him? He began to read it silently to himself.

Dear Ludwig,

I had a really scary dream the other day that you stopped being my BFF because you didn't need me anymore. I know Kiku's got a lot more in common with you than I have – and that's great! – but I hope you won't forget about me, just because he's cooler than me.

Your friend forever,

Feliciano Vargas

xxx

P.S. Sausages with cheeses really do taste good!

Ludwig stared at the letter, emotions overloading his brain. He could feel himself shaking.

This was the reason Feliciano had been avoiding him? Because he was afraid Ludwig didn't need him anymore? That he preferred Kiku?

Suddenly, the memory of the previous morning slammed into him like a freight train. Feliciano, desperately asking him if he liked him... So that's what that'd been about...

"... What's wrong, Rudwig?"

He continued to stare at the letter, the word 'BFF' standing out amongst the rest. Did he really think of him as that? His... best friend forever?

"Rudwig?"

"... Oh, it's... Feliciano..." He tried to hold himself together. "He's... being a dummkopf."

"Sat's from Fericiano?" There was a pause. "Wait, you can read sat?!"

Suddenly, Ludwig knew what he had to do. Neatly folding the letter and placing it in his blazer pocket, he grabbed his bag and stood up.

Kiku's gaze followed him upwards. "Where are you going?"

Ludwig found that he couldn't look his friend in the eye. "I... need to find Feliciano."

"Oh, okay."

"If I'm not back by ze end of recess, zen just head to class vizout me."

"... Arright sen."

Huffing in determination, he set off to find his friend.

Ludwig had a good idea where to find Feliciano. As he marched through the corridors, he kept his sights set on his goal: the cafeteria.

On the way, he passed Ivan talking to a shocked-looking Yao, but paid it no mind. On any other day, this scene might have interested him, but, right now, he had more important matters to attend to.

Once in the cafeteria, he quickly glanced around, searching for any sign of Feliciano's reddish-brown hair. Eventually, his vision honed in on the exact thing he was looking for. Frowning, he marched over.

As he approached the table, the students Feliciano was sitting with looked up at him in surprise. After a moment, Feliciano followed suit, only to freeze.

"L-Ludwig!" he cried.

Ludwig took a cleansing breath, closing his eyes for a few seconds. "Feliciano..." he said, "can I talk to you for a second?"

"Uhhhh..."

"Outside."

"Uh, yeah! Si! Sure! Okay!"

Scrambling out of the chair, and nearly falling over, Feliciano grabbed his bag and followed Ludwig out of the cafeteria.

Nothing was said between them as they made their way outside. The air was thick with tension that made Ludwig want to swallow every ten seconds.

Eventually, they were outside, in the cool May air. Stopping in an area mostly devoid of students, Ludwig halted in his tracks and turned to face Feliciano.

The Italian, almost crashing into him, jumped and flung himself back a few steps.

He laughed awkwardly. "Well, uh, so, uh, you got-a me outside! It's a lovely day today, isn't it? The cool breeze is really refreshing on the skin, especially after being in that stuffy cafeteria! Can you believe our freshman finals are on the way? I'm sure you'll do great in them! You've always been really smart and diligent! Unlike me, because-"

"Feliciano."

"S-Si?"

Ludwig took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. He felt heat rise to his cheeks.

"I just vanted to say... zat I don't like Kiku more zan you." He was suddenly unable to look him in the eyes. "Und I don't plan to abandon you, just because ve're different." He closed his eyes, his face burning slightly hotter. "... So, ve can be best friends forever..."

He really couldn't believe he'd just said that.

His insides were squirming and his eyebrow was twitching and, mein gott, he couldn't bear to look at Feliciano right now...

"Wow... really?!"

"J... Ja."

He opened his eyes, only to see his friend standing a lot closer than before, a wide grin plastered on his face. He tried to refrain from taking a step back in his sudden discomfort.

"Is that a promise?"

"Ja, of... of course."

The slight hesitation made Feliciano's grin falter. Ludwig's heart sped up in panic.

"Vell, uh... I could... svear an oaz or somezing, if you like."

The grin returned. "Okay!" Feliciano looked thoughtful for a moment. "Hmmm... Aha! I've got it!" He held out his pinky finger.

Ludwig blinked again. "Huh?"

"It's the Japanese way of making promises! Remember?"

After a moment of racking his brain, the memory of Kiku teaching them all about this particular topic came to mind. "Oh, ja..."

Feliciano waved his pinky around. "If you link-a your pinky with mine, we can make a pinky swear to be best friends forever! What do you think?"

Ludwig looked at the sky in exasperation. Could this day get any more embarrassing? But, if it would make his friend happy...

Steeling himself – though unable to stop the shaking, frustratingly – he reached out his pinky finger and linked it with Feliciano's.

"Yay! Now you really are my BFF!"

A tiny smile forced its way onto Ludwig's mouth. "Ja."

Suddenly, the bell rang, signalling the end of recess. Sighing, Ludwig pulled his hand away.

"Come on, you dummkopf. It's time for class." He began walking away.

"Okie dokie~!" Feliciano bounded along beside him, practically glowing with happiness. "... Oh! By the way... now that-a we're best friends, can we swap phone numbers? Pretty please?"

"Ja, ja."

"At lunchtime?"

"Sure, at lunchtime."

"Yay~!"

Shaking his head in amusement, Ludwig focused his vision ahead of him. Best friends forever, huh? Yeah... he quite liked the sound of that. He didn't think he'd ever had a best friend before... It was a strange feeling, but... a rather pleasant one.

Maybe joining this school had been a good decision, after all.

The End