Author's Note: Gotta give a shout out to Troper Puppy, who created a page on TV Tropes for The Hetalian Monster! Go check it out! If you visit the site regularly, feel free to edit the page and discuss/review it.

Title: Born This Hetalian Way

Song: Marry the Night (Zedd Remix)

Prussia was completely silent as the train made its way towards Potsdam. Ukraine didn't bother trying to start a conversation, instead choosing to sit next to her boyfriend just as silently. That didn't stop her from looking over at him though. She tried to stay inconspicuous, as she didn't want her reflection to appear in the window, so only her eyes moved. She wore a sad frown whenever she glanced at Prussia though, as his facial expression said everything his words did not.

Ukraine almost felt guilty that they were on their way to Potsdam. Ever since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, now almost two decades ago, she had wanted to go. Specifically, she wanted to visit Sanssouci, the summer palace of Frederick the Great, Prussia's favorite king and first love. On that night after they had gotten back together, they had sworn to visit each other's countries, especially the capital cities. Ukraine had been to Berlin several times since then, but she had never been to the nearby Potsdam, and she hadn't said anything about it until recently.

"You're coming back to Berlin?" Prussia asked over the phone one afternoon. "Awesome! What do you wanna do? Go see stuff around the city or just hang out with the awesome me? We'll do anything you want, baby."

Ukraine blushed at the nickname. Prussia had so many for her, and a few of them were rather embarrassing. Still, she smiled at the affection within the names.

That smiled disappeared after a moment. "Um, there is something I really want to do."

"Just name it!" the albino insisted, grinning. "Like I said, we'll do anything you want."

"...I want to visit Sanssouci in Potsdam."

Silence.

Prussia didn't speak for a full minute. Ukraine tried to imagine the expression on his face, thinking it was an odd mix of shock, disbelief, and pain. Her own heart hurt, imaging that expression. She really wanted to visit Sanssouci. She wanted to see Frederick's famous palace for its history, its beauty, and because she wanted to learn more about the man Prussia loved. The last thing she wanted to do was upset Prussia, but there was no taking the request back now. She waited quietly, hoping Prussia would soon respond.

Eventually, he did. "Alright, I'll take you."

"Prussia..."

"It's alright, babe, I'll take you. When were you planning on getting here?"

Ukraine glanced at Prussia again. This time, he spoke up. "Don't worry about it, love," he sighed, still staring out the window. "I told you that I would take you, and I don't go back on my word. Only un-awesome losers do that."

The words caught Ukraine off-guard. She jumped a bit in her seat and bit her lip. "I just don't want you to be sad," she replied quietly.

Prussia shook his head. "I'm not sad. It's about time I go visit the old man, too. I haven't in such a long time, mostly because I was still too crushed, un-awesome as it was. Actually, there's a lot of awesome history to be learned at the palace. It would make me happy if you knew it." He turned his head and smirked a bit. "Because my history is the most awesome history ever."

Ukraine smiled back gently. "Of course."

They stayed quiet until the train arrived in Potsdam. There, they walked from the station to the palace. Ukraine was impressed before they even made it onto the palace grounds, as she could see it from the streets. It was small, compared to many of the castles across Europe, but that didn't take away from its beauty and grandeur. It was just as ornate as any castle, maybe even more.

"The old man liked to come here in the summer, as you know," Prussia suddenly said as they made their way up towards the palace. "It was away from all the crap going on in the capital, so Fritz didn't have to think about a damn thing. That's what the palace name means. 'Sanssouci.' 'Without Worry'."

Ukraine shook her head. "I didn't know that."

"It's French. Fritz always liked French more than German."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he liked France's country way more than he liked mine." The albino frowned at his words. "He liked French culture, art, music, food, the whole thing. He didn't like speaking German either. He thought it wasn't as beautiful as French, and I guess he was right. When you think of a beautiful language, you don't really think of German." He looked to the side and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Fritz didn't even like reading in German. He always complained that the sentences ran on forever and that he could never understand what a sentence was talking about until the end, because that's where the verbs are. In fact, if you were to look at the books in his library here, you'd see than none of them were in German."

"...Oh."

Ukraine couldn't help but feel sad as she listened to Prussia explain his king's preference of French over German. Prussia sounded...hurt. She could understand why. Prussia had been hopelessly in love with Frederick and still was in a way. To know that Frederick did not like Prussia's language or culture must have hurt the proud nation. After all, even though she and Prussia were nations, they still had very human emotions. They still felt happiness, sadness, anger, love, jealousy, and every other emotion that a human could feel.

But did that make them more human, she wondered as they walked into the palace's front entrance. She knew that Prussia and Frederick had been lovers, but she wondered on what level they had loved each other. Had they pretended that the both of them were human? That made sense to her. As a king, Frederick had, of course, loved his nation, but he had probably loved him more as a human. He probably hadn't loved the cultural side of Prussia, just Prussia as a nation and Gilbert as a human. If that was true, then she understood why Prussia looked so sad while talking about his king's likes and dislikes. She started to wonder how she would feel if she knew that her boss didn't like her language or culture. (Her current boss anyway. She rather liked him.) While she was not and had never been in love with any of her bosses, nor had she ever broken Rule 3, to know that the person who was supposed to be running her country disliked that side of her...that thought alone hurt.

She snapped back to reality when she and Prussia found themselves in the Entrance Hall. She gasped quietly and her mouth hung open a little bit, her eyes wide with awe.

Prussia took notice of her expression and smirked. "Pretty damn awesome, right?" he snickered. "And we're not even at the most decorated part of the place yet. This is subtle for the old man's taste." He left Ukraine for a moment to pay for the entrance tickets, which she noticed, confused.

"Why do you have to pay to get in?" she asked when her boyfriend returned.

Prussia shrugged. "The people here don't know who I am," he explained, passing a ticket to Ukraine. "Plus, all the money made here goes towards keeping the palace in good shape. I want it standing and looking awesome as long as possible. Sorta keeps the old man alive, ya know?"

Ukraine smiled. "I see."

"Because stupid tourists need to learn about how awesome he was."

"I agree."

From the Entrance Hall, they moved to the Marble Hall, which was completely decked out, from top to bottom, in marble and gold. Ukraine choked on her own breath when she saw it. The Entrance Hall paled in comparison. With its columns, detailed sculptures, and ornate gold pieces, it was truly a sight to behold. She let her eyes drink it all in, now understanding why Prussia had said that the Entrance Hall wasn't a true reflection of Frederick's taste. This didn't look like the interior of a palace in Germany; it looked like the interior of one of France's castles.

Ukraine turned to Prussia with a soft smile. "This is amazing."

"Yeah, I know." The albino crossed his arms and grinned smugly, as if he personally owned the castle. "We hardly ever met here though, only on special occasions."

They spent a few more minutes in the hall, admiring the architecture and the decorations. At one point, Prussia asked Ukraine if she wanted to take any photos. "You need a separate pass if you do," he explained.

Ukraine shook her head. "If I don't take any pictures, it gives me an excuse to come back."

Prussia smiled.

Soon, they moved to the Apartments connected to the Marble Hall. "These rooms are small," Prussia explained as they entered the first one, the Audience Chamber. "Look, this one only has one window." He pointed to it. "The old man used to invite scholars and officers in here for lunch. Oh, my God, those lunches would last for hours..."

Ukraine couldn't help but smile at the annoyance in Prussia voice. "I'm guessing you didn't like them?"

"Pfft, hell no. The food was awesome and stuff - Fritz always went through the menus himself the night before - but the conversation was boring as shit. Philosophy and politics and all that crap. Crap I hate. Plus, no one spoke German. We would all have to speak French." He frowned and looked up at the walls. "By the way, all the paintings in here are the originals."

The bitter tone in Prussia's voice made Ukraine frown. She could tell that Prussia had felt betrayed all those times when he wasn't allowed to speak his own language. She wondered if he and Frederick had spoken German when it was just the two of them or if the king had forced his nation to speak French even then.

She decided not to bring it up. "At least the room is beautiful."

"Yeah, I guess."

After inspecting the paintings on the wall and admiring each one individually, the couple moved on to the Music Room. Once they arrived, Prussia's face lit up again. "Kesesesesese, I love this room."

"Oh?"

"Fritz used to play his flute here all the time!"

Now Ukraine's face was bright. "I heard he was an extremely talented flautist!" she almost squealed, clapping her hands together. "He wrote lots of sonnets for the flute, right?"

Prussia nodded. "Over 120! There's even a famous painting based on his playing! It's called The Flute Concert at Sanssouci, and it's by Adolph von Menzel. His grave is in Berlin, so you can see that, too, if you want."

"Did he paint Frederick a lot?"

"Oh yeah, lots of drawings and paintings. Flute Concert is the most famous one of the old man, but Fritz never got to see it. The painting was completed sixty-six years after her died."

"Oh..."

Now Ukraine felt horrible. In fact, this whole trip was going horribly! She didn't want to upset Prussia, but it seemed like every single little detail in the castle somehow reminded Prussia of the times he didn't like so much. First, Prussia had been reminded of the fact that his own king hated speaking his language, then she had managed to twist a normal conversation into a reminder of how Prussia's first love was dead. Not the best memory. Part of her wanted to end the trip now before she brought up anymore bad memories.

But it was obvious that Prussia would have none of that. Before she knew it, he had led her into the next room. He seemed somewhat forceful as he did, as if he was both anxious to be in there and yet did not want to be anywhere near it. Ukraine didn't dare say a word.

She could see Prussia swallow hard. "This is...the Bedchamber."

She suddenly felt like crying.

"Fritz did a lot of his official work in here," the albino explained, not looking at his girlfriend. "It doubled as his Study. He slept over there, where it was warm." He pointed to the tiled stove in the corner. His gaze lingered a bit on the bed itself, face suddenly wistful, as if he was reflecting on a particular moment in time. Ukraine didn't need to ask to know what that memory was.

"And that," Prussia turned and pointed to a chair sitting innocently in another corner. "was where Fritz died."

Ukraine rubbed her eyes quickly, hoping Prussia wouldn't notice that they had begin to water. Prussia humored her and pretended he hadn't.

"I remember the moment perfectly," he murmured, shoving his hands in his pockets. "It was the middle of the night. A servant called me into the room, and I saw the old man lying in that exact armchair. I ran to his side and grabbed his hand, kneeling down next to him. His hand was already cold, but he still had a little bit of life in him. He looked down at me and smiled. He asked me why I was crying, and I told him that awesome people don't cry. Then he laughed a bit and told me that he hoped I would never change. I swore I wouldn't. Then he asked me to stand up and kiss him. I told him that I loved him and did. I didn't care that his doctor and valets and servant were watching us. When I pulled away, his eyes were closed. He smiled, told me that he loved me, squeezed my hand with the last of his strength, and died at 2:20 AM on August 17, 1786."

Ukraine immediately took a hold of Prussia's hand and squeezed it. Prussia turned and gasped at the tears running down his girlfriend's face. "Oh, babe, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry. That wasn't awesome of me. Oh man, I don't have any tissues..."

"No, it's okay, I have some." Ukraine fished the portable packet out of her pocket and dried her eyes. "Oh, my God, I'm sorry, this is so embarrassing." She dried the new tears that fell. "That was just...so sad. It sounded like something out of a movie."

Prussia managed a smile. "Kinda, doesn't it? Only the best, most awesome movie, of course." He wrapped his arms around Ukraine in a hug. "It's okay, baby, really. It's sad, yeah, but it had to happen. I was the stupid one. I fell in love with a human. I got what I deserved for breaking Rule 3." He kissed her forehead. "But that's why I have the awesome you now. You're not a human; you're a nation like me, so it's all good."

Ukraine nodded into Prussia's chest and looked up above the armchair. "Is that him?"

Prussia looked up at the painting hanging there and nodded. "Yeah, that's a scene of his death. This room sorta turned into a tribute after Fritz died. That's why there are paintings of him as the Crown Prince along with portraits of his parents. Trust me, if the old man had his way, his old man would have never appeared in here."

That made Ukraine laugh slightly through the tears. "Not a fan of his father, was he?" She smiled when Prussia shook his head quickly.

"We had the same taste. I didn't like him much either. I mean, it was awesome that he loved to fight and wage war and stuff, but he was a total dick as far as personality goes. I once got Fritz to say that when he was a teenager, by the way, those exact words. That was a rich moment."

Ukraine laughed again and wiped her eyes one last time before they moved on to the Library. However, Prussia didn't enter it right away. He stood in the entrance for a few moments and sighed heavily. "I don't like that this room is part of the usual tour."

"Really?"

Prussia shook his head. "No, Fritz hardly allowed anyone in here, and by 'anyone,' I mean that I was included."

Ukraine gasped. "What?"

The albino shrugged. "Fritz loved his library more than anything. He owned seven in all, with about seven thousand books." He rolled his eyes. "None of them were in German, like I said earlier. Here, there are about two thousand." He suddenly looked to the side when he saw a few tourists enter the room and look around. His frown deepened.

Ukraine shuffled awkwardly in her spot. "We don't have to go in if you don't want to." Somewhere in the back of her mind, she found it incredible that Prussia had no problem with tourists entering the Bedchamber but did not like them entering the Library. After all, he and Frederick had first made love in the Bedchamber, and the king had died there. "The Library must have been the place he loved most."

"Oh yeah." Prussia nodded. "The old man spent all of his free time here, reading books by his favorite philosophers and scholars and...yeah. I didn't like them either. Still don't like them. Especially that jerk..."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. The bottom line is that it was considered a great honor to be invited into the Library, and I wasn't invited in until after...Dammit!" Prussia looked away from the room. "You go on in, sweetheart, I'll wait for you." He gently pushed her into the room and turned away, choosing to stay in the Bedchamber. Ukraine watched him sadly for a moment and then turned to the bookshelves to inspect the volumes.

The rest of the tour was uneventful. Prussia took Ukraine to the guest rooms and explained who usually stayed there. The palace was used even after Frederick had died, by the Prussian royalty of the 19th century. Ukraine, of course, found the rest of the palace absolutely beautiful, but she still kept her eyes on her boyfriend. He seemed okay after she had left the library, probably because none of the other rooms held such precious memories.

When they were done inside, Prussia took Ukraine outside, to the gardens. Hand in hand, they walked to the side of the palace to a little plot of grass with a large stone slab in the center. Prussia looked back to Ukraine, smiling as they made their way over. Ukraine abandoned Prussia's hand for his arm, looping her arms around it and resting her head on his shoulder as soon as they stopped. She looked down at the slab and frowned.

"And this," Prussia said, "is where the old man is buried."

Ukraine nodded. "It's the perfect grave for him. It's simple but the writing on it is beautiful."

Prussia sighed. "I feel bad now. I haven't been here in such a long time. This palace was turned into a tourist attraction after the war, here in East Germany. But Fritz wasn't here all the time."

"Really?"

"His body was moved around a lot between the time he died and the time West and I were reunited. He had always wanted to be buried next to the palace, but he didn't get his wish until 1990."

"So long..."

Prussia nodded and smiled. "But it's okay. In 1990, the palace became a World Heritage Site. In 1995, the Foundation for Prussian Palaces and Gardens was established to take case of the place." His smile turned into a cocky grin. "That's because palaces from my history are too awesome to ignore. The world would suck without them."

Ukraine smiled up at him. "I'm really glad Sanssouci is still here. I love this place."

"Of course you do! Because it's from my history!" Prussia laughed a bit and rested his head on top of Ukraine's. "Plus, the Foundation protecting this place...it makes me feel...alive. Like I, like that old identity is still alive. Like I'm still...Königreich Preußen."

The two were quiet for a long moment.

"You still are to me."

"...I love you."

And they kissed.

On the train ride home, Ukraine slept, leaning her head against Prussia's shoulder. Prussia had his arm wrapped around her, hugging her close to his body. He felt better, quite a bit better. He had been dreading this trip, to be completely honest. He had not wanted to go to Sanssouci, and now he was feeling a bit ashamed. He hated to admit that his heart still hurt every time he thought about Frederick. His heart hurt even more whenever he thought about Frederick's death, and it hurt the worst whenever he thought about all the people, all the things, all the distractions that would hold his king's precious attention. Prussia scowled. He had been alive for thousands of years, but he was still a child. He still wanted what he wanted when he wanted it. When he had been alive, all he had wanted was all of his king's attention, all of it. He really hadn't hated Voltaire so much. "Hate" was the wrong word. Voltaire had been fine as a person, but he had also captured his king's attention so many times. And Prussia had to admit that he had been angry at him at one point. After all, Frederick had invited Voltaire into his Sanssouci library before he had invited his own nation.

But all of those negative thoughts disappeared whenever he look at the angel sleeping next to him. Prussia gently kissed the top of Ukraine's head and breathed in the sweet scent of her fine hair.

"You saved me," he whispered. "You pulled me away from the edge when I was ready to jump to my death." He kissed her head again. "You'll never replace Fritz, but you're just as awesome, and I love you just as much."

At that moment, his cellphone rang. Prussia answered it quickly so that the noise wouldn't wake Ukraine. "Hello?"

"Hello!"

"Heh, hey, France, what's up?"

"Hmm? Why are you whispering?"

"I'm on the train with Ukraine coming back from Potsdam. She's sleeping."

"Oh! Excuse me, I didn't know you were out on a date. I wanted to know if you wanted to go out tonight." He laughed a bit. "I almost got in the way of amour. How awful of me!"

Prussia snickered quietly. "It's okay, man, thanks. I'll go out with you and Spain some other time, okay? Ukraine is gonna be here for a few more days. We visited Sanssouci today."

France went quiet for a moment. "You were okay with that?"

Prussia nodded even though he knew France couldn't see him. "I wasn't before. I am now. I don't think I'll ever get over Fritz, but..."

"I understand."

Prussia stopped short. "What? What are you talking about? Why do you...?"

"You are not the only one who has broken Rule 3."

Prussia gasped loudly, forgetting that Ukraine was still asleep next to him. "France..."

On the other end, France smiled. "At least you can visit your first love any time you want. Mine, well, nothing remains of her now. And now you have another love in your life. I am happy for you, my friend..."

"France! Was it...!"

But the line had gone dead.

Ukraine stirred and blinked her eyes open. "Hmm? Prussia...?"

The albino hung up his phone and managed a smile for his girlfriend. "Nothing, baby. We'll be home soon."

That night, sleeping in Prussia's bed next to him, Ukraine dreamed. She found herself sitting in a void on nothing, yet she was stable. Confused, she look to her side and stared at an unfamiliar face.

"Hello!"

"EEP!" Ukraine almost screamed and jumped back, falling out of her seat onto a solid block of the void. When she looked up, the unfamiliar person was still looking at her, smiling happily. "What the...?"

"Frederick, my dear, nice to meet you." He held out his hand and helped Ukraine stand and then pat the seat next to him. "Please, take a seat. I'd like to talk with you."

"Wait a second," Ukraine gasped as she sat back down. "You said your name is Frederick? As in...?"

The man nodded. "Indeed! Frederick II, King of Prussia. And you're Ukraine, right? It's a pleasure." He took her hand again and kissed it. "I just wanted to come by and meet you personally. My dear nation can be quite a handful, so I also wanted to thank you for loving him. He needs companionship and for people to need him. He's a hot mess without those things, as much as he denies it."

Ukraine was still confused, but she decided to go along with the conversation. "I love him very much," she replied quietly. "We've been through so much together, both living under my brother's Soviet rule for so long. We took care of each other while we were living there. I wanted to take care of him because...because I knew his life was much more important than he thought it was."

Frederick nodded. "And I thank you for seeing that, too. I do not want to think of what would have happened to my dear nation if you were not there." He smiled kindly at her. "I am also very happy that you like my old summer palace. You know, I originally wanted it destroyed after I died, but I'm actually glad it still stands today. If it makes Prussia happy, then I'm happy. Plus, I finally got to be buried next to it. Now I really can rest in peace."

Ukraine smiled back. "It's beautiful. I'm glad it's still there, too. And now Prussia and I can visit you whenever we want." Her smile then disappeared, and she glanced away shamefully.

Frederick noticed this. "Hmm?"

"Um...this is not okay for me to bring up, I know," the Ukrainian murmured. "But...I just have to tell you this. Prussia...still feels betrayed by some of the things you did."

"...I know."

Ukraine's head shot up. "You know?"

The dead man nodded. "He's such a child sometimes, but, knowing him, I can understand. We always clashed on interests and preferences. I enjoy art and philosophy, and he enjoys war and, in his words, 'being awesome.' And I know he was jealous of Voltaire. I know he still is, even though I've told him time and time again that there's no need for any of that. Voltaire was an honored guest, so I had to invite him into my library. But he didn't have my heart the way Prussia did. My heart always belonged to Prussia, and it still does. By the way, next time you're in Sanssouci, get him to go into the library, would you? Even if you have to force him. Seriously. He should be over that by now."

Ukraine frowned. "But..."

"But what?"

"But what about speaking French instead of German? That really hurt Prussia..."

Frederick sighed. "I spoke German whenever the two of us were alone. I didn't like it, but I did it anyway, because I knew he liked it. Whenever we were in the company of someone else, however, we spoke French. Prussia is just a stubborn child who wants everything to go his way, so he always became angry whenever I expressed any interest in anything that wasn't Prussian. I was not the first person to admire certain things about another country either. Prussia...oh, my dear Prussia just has a superiority complex..."

Despite the explanation, Ukraine smiled. "That sounds exactly like him."

"Ah, yes, he hasn't changed, just as I had hoped." Frederick smiled back. "I spoke my last words to him in German, by the way. Funny thing about love. Traits that one would normally find annoying or unattractive suddenly become the things one loves the most." He sighed heavily. "And now I hope you love all those little things."

"I do."

"Good. I feel at peace, knowing that you're taking care of my dear nation." He smiled and took Ukraine's hand again. "Thank you, my dear. You're going to wake up soon. It's been wonderful talking with you. I hope you don't mind me watching over you along with my dear Prussia."

Ukraine shook her head and smiled back. "Not at all. Thank you."

"I'm very happy that my nation fell in love with someone like you. Please tell him that I love him, and please remind him that I'm watching over him.

"I can finally rest peacefully..."

Ukraine woke up to see Prussia gazing lovingly at her. "Good morning," he greeted. "Did you have good dreams?"

The woman smiled. "Yeah...I did."

Watching them from afar, Frederick smiled warmly, feeling his heart, which had not made a beat in hundreds of years, glow with love. It almost felt like it was beating again, but he didn't need that in order to feel alive. Prussia was happy. That was the only thing he needed. As long as Prussia was happy, he was happy. As long as he could watch over Prussia, he was content. As long as Prussia stayed with Ukraine, he was satisfied.

"Because the spirit of Prussia will never die."

END