Arthur gulped and his stomach backflipped whilst the Italian looked about puzzled about why the two of them were so restless and uptight.
"We need to get out of here, the Prussian army are advancing to our base." With that, the trio grabbed as many weapons, ammunition and rations as they could carry in their rucksacks.
Arthur led the other two out of the base, abandoning it before the Prussians could capture them, adrenaline pumping throughout their bodies they kept sprinting until Arthur ground to a halt.
"No, we can't run from this, we need to stand and fight."
"I agree, let's do this." Alfred nodded as Feliciano followed them back, retracing their footsteps, the gunshots appeared from the distance, coming from different directions.
"I don't think we can settle this peacefully." Arthur sighed.
"Maybe we can." Feliciano retorted, shrugging. Arthur fixed his eyes onto Feliciano's, that fiery passion of peace burnt into his eyes was apparent.
"We've got to give it a shot." Alfred smiled.
"Yes, we could use your kindness, Private." Arthur grinned at the Italian.
"I agree, kindness can be extremely useful in unexpected circumstances." Alfred commented.
Feliciano just stared at them both, absolutely stunned that his kindness can be an advantage to soldiers at war.
'Bloodthirsty no mercy killers' his Grandpa used to comment about the soldiers. But the evidence was crystal clear that not all soldiers were like that.
"Sure with Vargas' kindness, Captain Jones' bravery and my interrogation skills, we can put a stop to this." Arthur said.
They sprinted until they stumbled upon an enemy with a gun nozzle staring down at them.
"Drop your weapons and surrender, men." This soldier had a completely different uniform to all the other enemies that they have encountered, consisting of red blue and white.
"Listen, we want to settle things peacefully." Arthur explained, dropping his weapon followed by Alfred and Feliciano putting their weapons on the ground and raising their hands.
"That's a good attitude."
Suddenly, shouts of help and pain echoed through the woodland, there was a Prussian soldier who was injured, a gaping wound on his arm. Feliciano raced over to the Prussian man groaning in pain, tore off some of his uniform and wrapped it just above the wound as a torniquet.
"See, we don't want to hurt your people or any person for that matter any more."
"This is a trick I bet, I don't trust you lot." The man launched a glare at the soldiers standing before him. Feliciano supported the soldier and took him towards the nearest medical tent to get treatment for the bleeding wound.
"I will do what it takes to protect the Major." Alfred exclaimed, stepping between Arthur and the gun.
"Captain, I'm fine I can deal with this myself." Arthur snarled, a little annoyed.
"Listen, don't you have someone special to return to?" He continued, pushing Alfred aside.
"And that is your business because?" The soldier's voice broke and his body got tense, Arthur stared at him, clearly he hit a nerve.
"You want to still live to see them? Everyone else can too, just let us see your leaders."
"Hey!What is happening over here?" A deep voice boomed in German. "A British and American soldier, don't move!"
"Wait, we want to see your leaders to settle this peacefully."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, you can tie our hands together or something if that makes you feel secure." Alfred commented.
"Fine, if you want to so bad, I'll take you, but I've got my eyes on you two." The blond soldier agreed.
Soon after, Feliciano came back from helping that defenceless injured soldier, hoping that he'll be better and praying that nobody else in this war gets hurt. But his thoughts were interrupted by his eyes catching blond when he stepped towards Alfred and Arthur.
"Ludwig?" Feliciano muttered under his breath. "I must be seeing things." He rubbed his eyes just to make sure, but the figure was still there.
"Ludwig!" He repeated, a lot louder than intended and he just launched himself towards him.
"That's corporal to you, don't come any closer." Ludwig threatened, a murderous intent burning in his eyes which shocked Feliciano. He could feel his heart thumping against his chest and the butterflies in his stomach woke up.
'This couldn't be him, Ludwig would never speak to someone like that, this is not the man I fell in love with.'
"He's with us." Alfred shouted.
"What has he done to you?"
"Don't worry, he's going to take us to his leader."
"I don't trust him at all." Arthur whispered to Alfred.
A small jolt of pain shot through Feliciano's arm, as Ludwig forcefully grabbed him and twisted his arm behind his back, making him groan in pain. The tears stung Feliciano's eyes and he started to shake out of fear and the shock of the pain, he admitted it to himself that he was really scared.
"I've got my eyes on you too, private." He snarled at the Italian soldier, who developed an uneasy feeling, panicking.
'He has changed drastically, why? I've never done anything wrong to him, have I?' Those questions flooded Feliciano's mind, but was interrupted by Ludwig tightening the grip on his arm, making him wince in pain and grit his teeth.
"Ludwig, you're hurting me." He groaned.
"It's corporal, there's no rope left, so I have to restrain you like this."
"Geez, he's a douche." Alfred whispered to Arthur again.
Feliciano decided it was best not to argue with the seemingly pissed off Ludwig.
'Is he putting on an act?'
"You know this soldier, Vargas?" Arthur mumbled to Feliciano.
"Yes, I do."
"Hey! Quit talking!" Ludwig commanded.
They arrived at a base surrounded by greenish tents the sunset painted a pink glow on the area. Feliciano just sighed, he loves watching sunsets, but he wasn't in the best of moods for enjoying one right now.
"Stay out here, I'll talk to the leader." Ludwig ordered "And you're coming in with me." He scowled, gripping Feliciano by the arm and pushed him inside the tent. He roughly pulled the Italian towards the leader of this operation, saluting him. A colourful array of badges and medals struck Feliciano, smart blue and red uniform. This is the Prussian military, a whole new division to what both of them were used to.
"Good afternoon, Corporal. What brings you here?"
"Afternoon, sir, I have three people here to see you to make some sort of agreement, but I don't trust them."
"What are their division and ranks?"
"A British Major, An American Captain and this one is an Italian private, sir."
"Very well, bring them in, I'm interested to hear what they have to say."
"Yes, sir."
Arthur arched his back as the nozzle of the gun dug and poked into it, forcing him to go in the direction. Shortly after they entered the tent, the trio felt eyes watching them and the tent fell silent.
"Let them go, Beilschmidt, they won't do anything here." The Commander ordered, confidently.
Ludwig stepped aside and exited the tent, getting lost in the fuzzy white clouds, getting hypnotised by the slow movement of the cloud's journey. All but one thought came to mind.
'What a monster I am hurting Feli like that.' He sighed and fixed his eyes on the floor, holding back the tears. But he couldn't bare the thought of him being so far away from the cute Italian. It almost killed him inside and that was his only chance of pulling him closer and feeling their bodies connecting.
After a while, the three stepped out of the tent, cheerful. Ludwig let out a sigh of relief, that was good news.
"What happened?" Ludwig asked enthusiastically.
"They have agreed to an Armistice." Alfred cheered.
"But seems like they want to talk with our superiors." Arthur added.
"It's some sort of hope isn't it?" Ludwig said, as Arthur nodded at that question. Ludwig stared at his love, noticing him acting nervous and scared, twitching at everything he said.
"What's wrong, Private?" He asked the Italian, twitching upon hearing his name being called by the scary German. Ludwig mentally slapped himself, of course, how could he be so idiotic? Feliciano was damn petrified of him because of what he did to him earlier and the thought came out in a sigh of realisation.
"Everything ok?" Alfred worriedly asked at the Italian, who replied with a reluctant nod. He fixed his blue eyes on Feliciano, even more concerned and guilt gnawed at his insides.
"Are you worried about your brother?" Arthur queried, softly.
Feliciano pulled his eyes from the floor to shoot a glare at the three of them, what a stupid question, of course he was worried about his brother and he missed him and the others back at the tent. His thoughts overwhelmed him he felt like he had no control over his whole body, which made him get ready to run but was stopped in his tracks.
"No, private, it's too dangerous." Ludwig ordered, a hint of desperation in his voice as he gripped his hand, Feliciano attempted to struggle off the tight grip but his fingers curled around Feliciano's hand even firmer.
"Stick with us, please, we'll find your brother for you." Ludwig begged. But the Italian was overflowing with an uneasy feeling, why the hell should he help the ones that almost killed his brother and hurt the ones he loves.
"We've changed, Feliciano we want to help others get out of this war." Alfred clarified.
"Exactly, just please calm down and think, I bet Lovino m-"
"Don't you dare say his name." Feliciano spat, tears stinging at his eyes.
"That's enough, Vargas, sure they did terrible things but we all did, they are trying to help us and have turned over a new leaf." Ludwig growled.
"They were the ones who took him."
"No, we were unaware of this." Arthur defended, telling the truth.
"I had to watch my brother die in my arms because of Jones over there, but I don't hate him since it was his orders and he hated to do it and I'm sticking with them because it might be a way out to stop others suffering like this." Ludwig spoke, trying to get through to the Italian whilst staying strong.
"Your brother? He's dead?" Feliciano choked out in realisation. The urge to hold each other close became apparent. No wonder he seemed so uptight and different like something heavy had clamped onto his shoulders. But, Ludwig was the first to give in to his emotions and threw his arms around Feliciano, embracing him. Tears rolled down his cheeks, as all the emotions he repressed came flooding out in the arms of his lover.
"I'm so so sorry." Feliciano sighed whilst the silent tears flowed from his eyes.
"It's not your fault, we'll find your brother I promise." Ludwig whispered into his ear, getting closer into the embrace. He was so ecstatic having his lover's body close to his, feeling his warmth and his nose clinged onto that sweet familiar scent, easing him for a second. A feeling of regret and guilt wrenched Alfred and Arthur's insides as the two conveyed their emotions because of what they did to them. They pulled back and stared deeply into each other's eyes and kissed, not caring at the other's around them who might see them. They were soon going to go home and be together for real.