A/N: Ehhh…. I don't know what to think about this one. It went on longer than I wanted it to.

However…. Something that doesn't involve England! *le gasp* Someone said they didn't like me writing the same pairings over and over, so I tried to branch out.... and write a pairing that has already appeared, but is less represented here. Eventually I'll try to get some Spamano in here, or maybe some of my crazier pairings that I secretly like....


Feliciano wasn't stupid.

Oh, he acted stupid. He was excellent at acting stupid. Sometimes he got it down so well even he believed it. Stupid, and happy, and bouncy, and weak. Better that way. Didn't have to think about things that hurt, about people who had left, about all the bad things that happened, had been happening, would happen. Safer.

Can't be hurt by it if you don't know what's going on. Better to surrender. Better to be weak and secure then try to be strong and end up breaking.

So he would be stupid. He would play the fool, and smile and laugh and cry big, fat, fake tears at little cuts until he could forget that they were fake, that he had made them come. Until he really could be Idiot Italy. And everyone else would think he was stupid as well. The Allies would think he was a fool and wouldn't go after him. Japan would think that he was silly and Germany…. Germany would think he was a weak little friend.

That was they key part. That Germany would think him a friendly little fool. That each 'ti amo' would be friend love and not the burning, eat-you-up feeling that filled Italy almost past the brim. So that each kiss was just that, a kiss, not a promise of devotion or adoration. So that he could still hug him freely, and love him openly without betraying the promise he made so many centuries ago to a small boy with dreams of war and expanding into a man.

Feliciano wasn't stupid.

He knew who Germany was. He knew. No one could look that similar. The same face, same eyes, an older voice but the same breaks and stops and starts. Italy knew.

But Germany didn't.

Germany didn't, and there had to be a reason for that, and so Italy stayed quiet and happy and waited with his big smiles and his silly talk and loved Germany more than he ever should while he was at it.

Sometimes, though…. Sometimes it was hard. Sometimes he wanted to cry, to break down and beg Germany to remember what he might never be able to. Sometimes he lost his faith, was sure that Germany would never remember him has he had been. Sometimes he wanted to throw himself into the others arms and scream out 'Ti amo, ti amo, ti amo, I love you!' until he finally got the message.

Sometimes he slipped up, sat to close and quiet for to long. Watched a bit to closely. Wished a bit to hard and had to run upstairs and lock himself up to paint pictures of his beautiful blue-eyed boy and cry until he couldn't anymore.

Sometimes, when Germany was asleep, Italy would carefully lay a cloth over the others head in a recreation of an old cap that he'd never see again and turn Germany's face towards his, holding it with gentle, artists hands, and just stare until he drifted off into sleep.

One such time Germany stirred under Italy's careful touch. The Italian had meant to move away, but the other's hands caught his wrists and held him in place, those same-but-different blue eyes opening and blinking at him with a groggy sort of quizzicality about them.

"Italia…? What are you doing?"

Italy offered up a smile that Germany had never seen before, a sad little half-a-smile thing that never reached his lonely-lost-wanting-waiting-wanting eyes.

"Nothing. Nothing at all, Doitsu. Ti amo, Doitsu. Go to sleep, okay. I'll go to sleep now too. It was just nothing. Silly Italian things."

I was just looking at what I'd lost.


A/N: Well? What did you think?

I might do a sudo-continuation of this with 'R' but… maybe not. If you want me too? Or if I get the inspiration for it.

If I did it'd be 'Remember/Remembrance' and it'd be a Germany-as-HRE getting his memories back sort of thing…

This actually comes from what I wrote for 'S' - obviously not up yet, which deals with the lock-himself-upstairs-and-paint bit that was mentioned here.

Anyway, I hope you liked it!

'M' was written shortly after 'B' was, actually. It's random and short and about Chibitalia listening to Austria play music. I don't like it so much though, so I wrote another one. It's about England taking care of colony!America and involves using 'America the Beautiful' being used as a lullaby. Vote for which one you want! In a review!

Reviews make me update faster!

Happy Christmas!