A/N: This is the last chapter of my story. I'm not going to lie, I've become so attached to this story, to these characters, that I... I... It's like I was born to write this story. There are themes in this story I found myself writing based on my own experiences, my own emotions, to the point where I thought I was Italy while I wrote it. This is the first story I have completely finished because I simply couldn't bear to leave it at... well, I just had to finish it.
I still can't believe it's the last chapter, I feel like I'm going to cry...
Before I start sobbing, I'd like to tell you this: I will have a special chapter after this filled with fun facts, deleted scenes, and other goodies. I do hope you'll request a scene you wanted to see but I wasn't able to put it in. Please comment/review below. ^.^ It would mean a lot to me.
Derp, fluff, and Frisbees. That's all I can describe this chapter as. I don't know what half this stuff is...
Thank you so much for reading until the end, it means so much to me! All the views, all the comments, all the reviews, all the votes... Just... Have a hug. I'm going to go sob in a corner now.
By the way, the context of the old man? I will put that in aforementioned chapter of goodies. ^.^
Germany was never good with anything involving romance. So when he realized he was probably going to have to have some amazing plan for asking Italy to be more than his closest friend, he about had a panic attack. This had actually happened once before, more than a year ago. He had finally decided he would propose to Italy, back when he was a little confused about the gender of his best friend, and took Italy out to Giuseppe's for a romantic dinner. Upon arriving he found Italy conversing with the local girls (about pasta) and believed Italy was flirting with them, and thus cheating on him. He tried to contain his anger when Italy obviously didn't know what he… she… did wrong, and Germany decided it was best to take this in baby steps.
When he got to the table, they were met by a Swedish waiter, who was also confused by Italy's gender. (Who wasn't at this point?) He started freaking out when Germany finally worked up the courage to pull the ring from his pocket. The ring couldn't have been more perfect, but the night was as far from perfect as possible. Germany gave Italy a bouquet of flowers, but for some reason, Italy seemed to be afraid of him. He guessed it had something to do with his earlier gruff manner. When he gave the ring to Italy, that's when things just fell apart. He handed the ring to Italy, who was apologizing desperately. Germany, supposing it was rejection, flat-out had a panic attack right there in the restaurant.
This was why he'd generally avoided the entire subject altogether with Italy lately, even after they'd explained their shared childhood. There were some things he'd rather not remember, that and a spider incident were among those memories. There was one thing about dating Italy that scared him more than even Romano (or spiders), and that was hurting her. It had been a constant in his mind ever since he saw the two scars, and knew he caused both of them.
Of course, Romano was going to be a problem as well. Germany had recently read in a manual called 1001 Ways to Be Romantic (his Christmas present from France) that developing a positive relationship with the sibling was a good relationship helper. Well, that meant asking Romano for permission to date Italy. Germany chuckled grimly whenever he thought about it.
Romano wouldn't allow him to leave Italy (the country, not the… country?) alive.
And so, Germany was in a bit of a bind. Unfortunately, he was not allowed to think about this dilemma for long, because then something smacked on his window. He looked up from the table and saw Italy and Japan playing Frisbee outside in his yard. He felt a smile grace his lips and tried to ignore the fact that Italy was creeping away from the window with a suspicious-looking face. She must have been the one to hit the window. Japan was running towards him, most likely trying to apologize for Italy's clumsy behavior.
"Germany! I'm sorry we hit your window…" Japan said as soon as he opened the door. Italy ran in beside him.
"Germany! Come play Frisbee with us! It's not as fun without you!" Italy whined. Germany remembered when, before the Christmas party, she'd claimed Romano was more fun than him in order to goad him into going.
"So I'm more fun than Romano, now?" he asked.
"Uh…" Italy smiled nervously. "Yeah! Now play with us, it's a beautiful day!" She grabbed his hand and Germany let her pull him outside. She was right about her earlier comment about how beautiful a day it was. Spring had finally landed in Germany, and the flowers were just poking out. The grass was rapidly getting greener by the day. A light breeze made sure the sun did not make his land too warm, and as a result, all they needed was a light jacket. Even Italy was comfortable in the early spring they were experiencing.
"Germany! Catch!" Italy's throw was a little weak, but Germany managed to dive forward and grab it before it hit the ground, and threw it at Japan, who caught it with ninja ease, and threw it to Italy a little too hard. She had to run to grab it.
"I got it!" she declared excitedly, and threw it back as hard as she could. ""Germany, pass it back to me! I'll go long!" She said, and began running. Germany grinned. Though he wasn't sure he could quite throw it that long, he was sure he could at least throw it over the pond. So he threw it as hard as he could, which, considering his strength, was quite long. Unfortunately, it was not quite long enough and… landed in the pond. Italy looked at it dejectedly, and then yelled,
"Germany! Please get it for me!"
"Nein!" he replied. "I'm not jumping in the water for a Frisbee! We can just get another one!"
"But that one is special!" she yelled.
"It's a Frisbee!"
"Please, Germany?" At this point, Japan happened to mention that he did have another Frisbee, and the former plaything was forgotten.
"Pass it! Pass it!" the afternoon was spent in this matter, and despite the fact he did not get much work done, or figure out his new dilemma, Germany did not mind spending the afternoon in such a frivolous manner. He did not often have time to do things such as this. He was normally working hard on whatever his boss told him to do. It was good to kick back every once in a while. Especially if kicking back meant that he could spend the day with his two best friends. They were all now sitting in his living room, Italy claiming the couch, and Japan looked comfortable in the recliner.
"Italy, I've been meaning to ask you. What was the deal with your 'conquer list' book? Are you bisexual or something?" Japan asked. Italy laughed.
"No, nothing like that, I'm straight. If you guys had noticed all I did was give people compliments and talk about cooking, which I do with guys, too. That conquer book? I'm trying to make friends with someone from every single country." Italy said. "So far, I've got almost everyone but one Asian country, a couple of islands, England, and Prussia."
"England is insane…" mumbled Japan.
"Italy, Prussia doesn't exist anymore." Germany pointed out.
"The Awesome Prussia does exist!" The silver-haired man yelled from the basement.
"Shut up, Prussia, you do not exist!" Germany stamped on the floor to shut him up. Japan and Italy shared a look that read 'did that really just happen' and turned away with awkward looks.
"Yes I do! I exist in Canada!" Italy was startled when Prussia's head burst through the floor, and in the cliché manner that girls do, jumped into Germany's lap, who at that moment got up to beat Prussia back through the floor. Well, in a way that no one can explain and is probably not very probable so don't try it, both Germany and Italy ended up in the floor, next to Prussia's head.
"Hi." Prussia said.
"It's the old man!" Italy exclaimed, and another strange thing happened. Italy got mad and kicked Prussia's head back down into the basement, and Germany couldn't help chuckling at Italy's new nickname for Prussia. He'd have to use it sometime.
'Old Man'. He decided he'd get the context later. He got up, and noticed Italy was glaring at the hole in the carpet.
"Italy, are you okay?" Japan asked tentatively. Italy grinned at him.
"Of course! I've wanted to do that to that stupid old man for a long time."
"…why?"
"He told me Germany was dead! Well, Holy Roman Empire who is Germany anyways." She huffed.
"… I do not understand…" Japan said. "Could you explain? Who is Holy Roman Empire?" he asked.
"Of course! Okay, so first of all, Austria captured me. You know he and Holy Roman Empire used to rule over me, right?"
"Hai, I am familiar with your culture."
"What you are not familiar with, however, is just how close the Holy Roman Empire and I actually were… You see Japan… we were in love." Italy let out a dreamy sigh.
"And from what I heard, that Italy wore dresses." Germany chuckled. Italy flushed.
"You heard about that?" Italy asked.
"… Italy, everyone's heard about it by now." Germany pointed out.
"Thanks to Japan, of course." The two turned their gaze on the nervous Asian man.
"I'm sorry. I did not think America could get to a phone that quickly…." Japan said with a little bit of flustered awkwardness. Italy laughed.
"It's okay. He already knew about it anyways." Italy said.
"When did America find out about this?" Germany asked.
"He was the one who taught me to sing." Italy replied.
"That explains so much…" After Italy gave him an inquisitive look, he decided to drop the subject. "So what Italy and I were explaining earlier Japan… we grew up together, and I developed a crush on her. Before it could get anywhere, however, I was sucked into a horrible war. I tried many times to write to Italy but nobody would accept the task of walking all the way back to Austria to deliver a small boy's letter. I began to lose hope that I would ever see Italy again. Not only that, in the back of my mind, I knew how it was going to go. Ever since I stepped off the grounds… I knew this was a war I would lose. As defeat grew closer and closer, one thing kept me going. I promised Italy I would come back. I needed to come back." Germany explained.
"But you didn't…" Japan said.
"Nein… but I thought I would. I had to believe that. Italy became my battle cry. I was fighting so I could come back. I didn't want Italy to be lonely any more. All I could do about it though, was remembering a time before all this war. But, in 1806… even that right was taken away from me. I don't remember much from around that time… France took me apart, piece by piece. The shock of his sword, piercing me, ripping me apart… It must have put me into shock which somehow damaged the part of my brain that stored memories… I don't know how, we didn't have the technology at the time to tell you exactly what caused it… but what was important was this: All memories from being the Holy Roman Empire were gone. That meant all memories of Italy were gone too. Austria and Prussia must have decided to tell everyone that I was dead, because in a way, I really had died that day. When I woke up, Prussia told me who I was, who I am now. I'm Germany now." Germany explained.
"I do not think they should have lied to everyone…" Japan said.
"I didn't like it either… I really thought you were dead." Italy felt tears coming to her eyes, as it was still a rather raw subject. Granted, it was a little happier now that she had discovered Germany (Holy Roman Empire…) was alive.
"I think we've all see what lies can do." Germany said, awkwardly changing the subject… into something worse. The other two looked away a little awkwardly.
"So Italy, what are you doing tomorrow?" Japan asked, noticing the awkward atmosphere instantly.
"Oh! Germany and I are going on a picnic." Italy said beaming at him with that old radiant smile, which seemed even brighter, if that was possible. Anything was possible with Italy. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, America's having another party-" Italy stiffened up.
"As long as Germany goes with me!" she said. "And America!" They had gotten rather close when the Germany disaster happened.
"I don't think Germany would let you go to a party alone… ever." Japan gave a rare smile, and with that, the plans were decided. Germany felt the need to wrap his arm around Italy, and pulled her close, much to her delight. (She showed that delight with a Ve~. He had begun to miss those little sighs.)
"Be surprised I'm letting her go at all." He said evenly. Before Japan could reply, there was a loud knocking at the door and Germany immediately felt a dash of panic. Romano was here, and Germany had to tell him about his and Italy's… relationship. (Which he wasn't quite sure of the state yet… They were more than friends, but…)
Well, Romano's reaction went a little like this: "Today, the Southern half of Italy has invented a grand total of 32 new curse words, the world record to be invented in one day, and he did it in less than 30 minutes. Please check the news site for a list of words never to say again. Among this list, please refrain from calling any southern Italian your 'cupcake'. Just… don't."
~:.:~^~:.:~
"It's so pretty out…"Italy said as she sleepily leaned on Germany's shoulder. They were sitting underneath a birch tree in a nearby park, enjoying the last crumbs of the picnic she and Germany had cooked together. Germany finished the last bit of his sandwich (they'd decided to go for something simple) and nodded.
"Ja, it is nice." He agreed, and turned to her. "Siesta?" he asked.
"Yeah…" she yawned.
"Just… leave your clothes on, okay?"
"I always do…"
"A tank top and boxers do not count." Germany said, and was relieved to see Italy had already fallen asleep next to him… Italy, meanwhile, had fallen into a dream, but she wasn't sure if she was awake or not. She was leaning against something tender yet strong, and looked up to see blue eyes looking back at her. At first her heart gave a start, but then she saw the black hat. Her hand reached out, just to see if the humongous thing on the boy's head was real, and to her delight, its soft folds allowed themselves to be delicately caressed by her fingertips.
"Ve~ Holy Roman Empire…" Germany… The same person, the same man she loved… here he was in her dreams. Why did he visit her now? She was his again, she'd be his forever. They'd been in love for a thousand years. A thousand more, no demon nor angel nor human nor nation could keep them apart. She wouldn't let anything take him away again. She hugged him tightly, just glad he was back, and he was safe in her arms. She cried with joy, just as she had when Germany whispered those words in her ear…
I've loved you since the 900's…
Something was wrong. The blackness that he normally wore was expanding.
"Holy Rome?" she asked, and then cried out his name more fervently. "Holy Rome!" maybe she should try his new name, "Germany! Germany please come back!" the darkness expanded rapidly. She couldn't see him anymore; she was stuck in the suffocating cloth darkness.
She was all alone. She was all alone again. The tears were not tears of joy again. She had to run; she couldn't let anything separate her and her long lost love! Pushing through the folds, she ignored everything but her eyesight, which had caught sight of something. She pushed through the folds, and felt something grip her back. Sweet words whispered in her ears. She had to go on; she could just see the light. She stretched out her hand, barely in reach of that beautiful light, which seemed to grow brighter. As it grew larger, the darkness lost its hold. The words whispered quieted, and she was set free. She sailed forward to the light, but as soon as she touched it, everything stopped. Was she… back in the meadow?
"Italy…" a voice whispered. She felt a surge of joy. "Holy-" Arms wrapped themselves around her shoulders, cradling her close. Dark clothes, just like the ones Holy Roman Empire would wear, but the voice was not that of a boy. It was that of a man. It was that of a man she loved dearly.
"Germany…" Even though he was Holy Roman Empire, he was Germany prominently. This was okay. She loved Germany just as much as Holy Rome.
"Italy…" he said, a little louder.
"Yes?"
"You have to wake up…"
"But I don't want to…"
"Italy! We're going to be late!" Her eyes popped open. She found herself lost in an entirely new set of blue eyes, yet so familiar. She hugged its owner tightly. "I-Italy-"
"I'm so happy you're here." Taken aback by the sudden rush of affection, Germany wasn't quite sure how to respond. He settled on simply hugging the girl back, not sure what was going on but deciding that whatever it was, they could handle it. Together was a new concept to him, but he loved it.
"Kesesese! This is going to be a party no one's going to forget… Especially not my little brother and his hot new girlfriend… How dare she call the Awesome Prussia an old man?"
"Piyo!"
~:.:~^~:.:~
Springtime had come to every part of the world. Germany actually felt at ease driving up to America's doorstep for some reason. It was possibly because of the daffodils popping up, or America's tulips that were just waking up from their slumber. It could have always been the shy little Easter Lilly who only showed herself once a year. The birds were just settling in their nests as a beautiful sunset put everyone but a few nations to bed. He decided to sneak a glance at Italy, who was gazing outside with a smile on her face. Japan had volunteered to sit in the back, muttering something about how when they were together, they 'sparkled'* or something like that. He turned his Volkswagen into the enormous driveway, looking like it had enough space to hold 50 cars, and parked.
He unclicked his seatbelt, and was met by the sweet scent of twilight when he opened his car door. He looked over, and Italy met his gaze. An unspoken conversation passed through them, and he walked over to open her door. Women, especially romantic Italian women, preferred gentlemanly actions. Japan opened his car door, and looked around. The sunset was quickly fading, and that strange little part of time between day and night was quickly turning everything a mysterious heliotrope color. Italy clung to Germany's arm, and he let her. He'd rather her cling to him rather than end up in a mess like last time. The trio walked up to the door, and Italy pressed the button enthusiastically. The owner of the home, the blonde boy with glasses that were supposed to represent Texas and a cowlick on crack that was supposedly Nantucket, practically busted down the door in his excitement to open it. He probably could have, because he was known for being exceptionally strong. (Apparently rivaling Russia, but is a story for another day…)
"Hey guys! Japan, you made it!" he high-fived the nation, who returned it with less enthusiasm. America turned to Italy and Germany and busted into a wide grin.
"It seems my epic plan worked like a charm." America said. Italy grinned back at him.
"Your plan was awesome." She held up her hand to high-five him, which he returned but looked a little nervous.
"Just say it was epic. Prussia tried to sue me for copyrighting 'awesome'. My government's getting really strict on those copyright rule things…" America broke out into a wide grin again. "Come on in! I swear I've perfected that tiramisu thing this time!" This time, Germany accompanied Italy to the food table, where Italy was complimenting America on the fact he'd made sure his tiramisu was actually cake this time. He was about to try some when he heard some rather suspicious and familiar laughter.
"Prussia! What are you doing here?" he hissed, noticing the albino underneath the tablecloth.
"You'll see West, kesesese… You'll see…" With dread forming in his stomach, he decided to turn around and pretend that conversation had not happened. America was assuring Italy that the punch was safe (last time as it turns out, Russia had spiked the thing with vodka, which accounted for France's… behavior somewhat better) and Italy took the cup a little hesitantly but sniffed it.
"You're right, America!" she grinned. "I'd know if there was vodka in the punch. Russia gave me some when he thought I was sick, you know, when Romano told everyone I had a cold?" America nodded.
"This story I have to hear." America declared.
"Russia was at your house? When were you sick?" Germany felt a little confused. Why hadn't he heard about this?
"Oh, it was around when I told you. Romano was worried, so he told everyone I had a cold. Well Russia, bent on being my friend, decided to come cheer me up. I thought he would give me some chicken soup and be on his way, but he was really nice. He carried me to the couch, covered me in blankets, and fussed over me like a mother hen. Then he gave me vodka." She shuddered. "At first it was warm and I didn't mind too much… but too much is too much…" America stared at her a moment, contemplating this, and then asked,
"… What's a cold?" Germany face-palmed. He was about to go grab Italy for a conversation of his own (he felt America was being a little pushy… he wasn't jealous! Not at all!) When the second shocker (the first being that Italy and America were apparently good friends) of the night hit Italy… and by that, it meant literally.
"ITALY!" a female voice screamed. Italy let out a scream of a different kind, and latched onto Germany in terror. Both Germany and America immediately went in the defensive, but they realized, with confusion, that Italy's 'attacker'… was not attacking. She'd given Italy a hug.
"B… Belarus?" the three of them gasped.
"Da, it's me." She said, and the blonde female turned to Italy before pausing to swat the white bow on her head out of her navy eyes. "Italy! I wanted to thank you!" Italy peeped out from Germany's chest in confusion.
"F... F… For what?" she asked timidly. Belarus somehow managed to snatch Italy from Germany's grasp and clasped her hands, looking ready to explode from excitement.
"For helping me and Russia! Your advice put our relationship back together!" For a moment, the two of them stared at each other… and then began squealing and jumping up and down in a circle. Germany and America exchanged looks, but it was obvious neither of them had a clue what was going on.
"Here I am, yay!" Russia exclaimed, clearly more at ease as he made his presence known in the room. Germany caught a glimpse of that blonde man with the maple leaf walk over to Ukraine. Italy paled a bit at the sight of him, but she didn't seem as petrified as she did before. He decided that was good enough for him. He snatched Italy back and proceeded to join the other nations in the living room, who now stared at Italy.
"How did I not know you were a bloody girl all this time?" England burst out. "You're the bloody sorriest excuse of a man that-" Italy didn't hear half of what he said because she was watching his extremely animated, fluffy eyebrows.
"Onhonhon~ I knew Italy was a girl~"
"You are a very good actress-aru."
"I tried to bloody tell you but you wouldn't listen!" a small voice piped up.
"Go home, Sealand, you were not invited! This is a party for nations!" England yelled.
"I knew it all along!" Spain boasted. "I've known me pequeña Italia back when she dressed like a girl." Spain ruffled Italy's hair, and the girl giggled in response.
"Spain! Are you trying to touch her curl, you cupcake taco!" Romano had been trying out his new curse words all week, with great success.
"Of course not Romano!" the Spaniard pulled aforementioned southern Italian into a tight hug.
"Why would he touch her curl-aru?" China whispered to France. (For no other reason other than for some reason the unlucky Asian nation had ended up sitting next to the perverted European nation.)
"Onhonhon, that's a lovely ques-" France found himself the unlucky victim of a sucker-punch from Romano, knocking him out instantaneously.
"Yo! Everybody, listen up! My buddy has an announcement to make!" When Germany saw an Albino man walk up with a crate of tomatoes, he knew this would not end well.
"FOOD FIGHT!" Prussia yelled, and, though he was not a nation, managed to cause World War III… kind of.
Germany immediately found Italy a safe hiding spot under the kitchen sink. Italy clung to his arm, so he ended up having to stay in the tight, cramped space as well.
"This is like the time I pretended to be a tomato box fairy. Germany do you remember that?" Italy asked, turning toward him.
"Oh, er… yes…" Germany really wanted out of there. He wasn't sure if it was his close proximity to Italy, and his discomfort at being this close to anyone, or if he'd randomly developed claustrophobia. "I remember clearly." He said.
"That's great! I'm glad you didn't forget me, Germany… I don't know what I'd do if I lost you again…" she clung to his arm tighter, and Germany felt blood rushing to his head. He wished there was some way to tell her he wasn't going anywhere for a long, long time. It'd have to be without words, because he was a failure at romantic language, which was probably why France had bought him that book…
That's when he noticed a spring of a familiar looking leaf hanging from the top of the kitchen sink.
Mistletoe… On this plant was a note. 'From America (Dr. LOVE) - with love! Xoxo!' He cracked a smile.
"Hey, Italy…" he began. She looked up at him.
"Yes, Germany?"
"There's something we haven't done in a really long time…" he mumbled.
"What is it?" she asked. He ever so gently pressed his lips onto hers.
"Kiss." He whispered.
And the couple shared their first kiss in a thousand years.
Japan meanwhile, was choking on a tomato that was stuffed down his throat and went down the wrong way.