He was so tormented; he craved forgiveness from his wife for taking them to Germany at a time of war, he missed her so much, it was as if time had frozen and he still awaited her. He still reserved her side of the bed…but her scent long gone.

Through out time Gilbert wrote to him, giving him updates on Ludwig and how he was growing up. Ignatius simply discarded the letters, yet he never tossed them out but instead placed them in a box.

It was about three in the morning on the very day Gilbert was going to go see him that he finally decided to get the box with the letters and read them.

Ignatius woke up that morning feeling exhausted, every night since the death of his wife he had hoped for a visit from her, but to be fair he did spend most of his night reading.

"It's unforgivable…" he muttered. "I now know why you don't come and see me…" he said talking to a picture of his wife.

"I'm an awful father…I…I abandoned our sons…" he cried a bit.

"No matter how much I regret it…there is no forgiveness…I don't deserve it…never…how can I face that boy?"

Ignatius didn't look too healthy…"He…he probably hates me…does Gilbert hate me…? Yes he did, he said it…" He groaned getting out of his bed.

"Well…dreading the inevitable isn't going to stop it from happening" he sighed.

Hours later…

Ludwig and Gilbert sat in a living room waiting for their father.

Gilbert sat in a more relaxed way, unlike Ludwig who looked down right nervous grip his jeans causing them to wrinkle.

"Why aren't you nervous?" he asked Gilbert.

Gilbert shrugged "He has never thought highly about me….I've never been able to impress him."

Someone cleared their throat "I' disappointed you think that son, there have been a number of times I've been proud of you. I'm just sorry I never voiced it."

As Gilbert and Ludwig both turned to see their father standing at the bottom of a stairway, Ludwig made eye contact with his father for the first time in nine years.

He burst into tears, but still remained in good posture.

Ignatius heart sank to his stomach when he saw his youngest son practically an adult.

He slowly made his way to Ludwig analyzing every feature of his face, his hand nearing his face.

Before impact could be made, Ludwig quickly stood up and hugged his father.

They didn't say anything for a while.

"So…are you guy's going to talk?" asked Gilbert trying to make his presence known.

"Sorry…" said Ludwig settling himself in the couch awkwardly.

"I…don't really know what to say to you two boys…I actually wasn't expecting to see Ludwig."

Ludwig then turned to glare at his older brother, who just shrugged "What?" he said defensively "It was good timing. So vati, whatever you were going to say to me you can just tell Ludwig yourself."

Ignatius gulped "I…I regret abandoning you boys…" he frowned and his voice became uneasy…"I' ashamed I was never a good father. Your mutti was the good parent…"

Ludwig's chest ached when he thought about his mother…

Gilbert nudged him "It wasn't your fault…" said Gilbert.

Ludwig shook his head "It was my fault…"

"Gilbert's right" said Ignatius sternly. Both his sons looked up at him.

"Huh…" said Gilbert "I never knew you could form that sentence"

Ignatius rolled his eyes "Ludwig…I'm sorry I blamed you…I shouldn't have. It's my fault for bringing my family to Germany when I knew I was a targeted man."

Ludwig sighed "Now that I can remember her…I really miss her…"

"I still think she's going to burst through that door smiling…" croaked Ignatius.

Gilbert gazed down and didn't say anything, he always had such a good relationship with his mother and he missed her so much.

"Gilbert" said Ignatius

Snapping back into reality he looked up at his father who was trying to hand him a letter.

"This arrived for you a few weeks ago" said Ignatius.

Gilbert read the address and smiled, while nudging Ludwig he said "Hey check it out! It's from Old Fritz!"

Ludwig gave a half smile then turned to his father "He was a huge help t us in Germany."

Ignatius was hurt "I see…I'm glad you were being taken care off"

"Well actually Gilbert worked really hard so that I may go to school. Old Fritz let us stay with him, and Gilbert insisted on paying him what little money he earned."

Ignatius eyes widened as he looked at Gilbert. "I must say son. I'm very impressed, and Ludwig seems to be a fine young man."

"Oh he is. He is super smart too, a lot smarter than I ever was" said Gilbert happily opening the letter from Old Fritz.

"Ludwig…I don't know how I can ever earn your forgiveness and I understand if you won't forgive me."

"I…" said Ludwig "I'm just glad you don't seem to hate me"

"I never did son, I was just shocked! I-"

"We have to go to Germany now!" said Gilbert suddenly.

Both Ignatius and Ludwig looked up at him with a look of surprise.

"Why?" asked Ludwig

"Well you can stay if you want but I'm definitely going!" he exclaimed

"Gil…hey you don't look so good…what does the letter say?"

Gilbert brushed a few tears away "Old Fritz passed away…"

There was silence.

Gilbert breathed "I'm going to go show my respects to him, and I think you should too." He said to both his brother and father.

Ignatius nodded "I agree"

"Can we leave tomorrow?" asked Gilbert eagerly.

Ignatius furred his eye brows but then nodded, it was the least he could do.

"Hey and we can visit mutti's grave…" said Gilbert to his father, who just looked pale.

"I don't know if I can…" he said

"Oh yes you can!" said Gilbert a bit annoyed "If Ludwig can face you after all the hateful things you said to him then you can most definitely face mutti's grave!" he yelled.

Gilbert had had it with his fathers attitude "It's time to accept this Vater!" he said sternly.

Ignatius stared at Gilbert but then something odd happened.

He began to laugh.

"Oh great the man has lost it" said Gilbert.

"You're so much like your mutter!" said Ignatius chuckling. "Then tomorrow…we shall begin our trip….I'll go arrange it now. Oh and Gilbert" said Ignatius approaching his oldest son.

He placed his hand on Gilbert's shoulder and looked him in the eyes "Thank you" he told him "This must have been very hard for you…and yet you never gave up…what I'm trying to say is that I have never been more proud of you in my life. I'm sorry you had to go through all this. I must ask how you dealt with it all"

Gilbert sighed "Someone had to do it" he said "and only the awesome me could do it. Whenever I wanted to give up I thought of mutti and just kept going."

"Well son, I never thought I would say this but…you are truly awesome" and he pulled him into a hug.

Ludwig put on a simple smile.

"If we are going to go to Germany tomorrow…then I need to go see Feliciana…" he said

Gilbert gasped "But bro…it's a long trip, it'll be like one in the morning when you get there."

Ludwig shrugged "It's something I have to do…" he thought for a second "also you should probably tell Eliza that you are going" he suggested.

"Oh right…she's not going to be happy about that, but I'll assure her I'll be back."

Ignatius grinned "Still chasing after the same girls."

"Vati, Eliza is the woman I'm going to marry" said Gilbert red in the face while avoiding eye contact.

With a blank expression Ludwig said "They had sex last night and Gilbert probably left before she woke up"

Ignatius raised his eyebrows at Gilbert.

"I left a note…" he mumbled. "Not the point. Lud we may as well go together. Vati we will be back here tomorrow afternoon then."

"Wait don't we need to know the exact time?" Ludwig asked.

"Pfft" said Gilbert "He owns the damn plane it leaves whenever he wants"

"Other than having to request permission to fly it, yes it normally leaves when I choose"

Ignatius chuckled "A driver will take you both back to save you a few hours"

"Danke." They both said.

Ignatius smiled, filled with a bit more happiness, he felt as if a void had been filled as if a burden had been lifted off of his shoulders.

"If you call, I can arrange for you two to be picked up as well." He suggested.

Ludwig smiled and nodded to hide the fact that he was only thinking of his Feliciana.

He, like his father felt like a burden had been taken away from him, and now he was free to love Feliciana, and some how earn her forgiveness.

A/N: I can't believe I wrote this all today, I normally write little by little through out the week but I can't help it the story is almost over and I'm getting excited! Please review! :D I will hug you if you do! Thank you for reading, stay tuned for the next chapter that will be posted on Wednesday most likely. You're awesome!