Chapter 21

Soviet Union, 1946

Those stupid lace curtains and red floral wallpaper, for what felt like the hundredth time Prussia was waking up to the sight of them. He wanted to tear the paper from the walls and the curtains from the rod.

"Finally, you're up."

Prussia shifted his eyes from his usual view to see Russia seated at his bedside.

"You've been sleeping for so long. It's been a year," Russia said.

Prussia tried to reply but his lips wouldn't comply. He was so thirsty and his body too was still rooted in place, unable to move.

"You seem to be healing quite nicely, Kyonig."

Russia reached out and patted Prussia's hand. It was only then did the bedridden nation realize he was nearly covered in bandages. Prussia recoiled.

"You must be so weak. Can you still understand Russian? Should I speak to you in German?"

Prussia could understand everything the Russian nation was saying, but he couldn't answer either to the affirmative or negative. His mouth felt stuffed with cotton.

"Just rest. You'll regain your strength soon."

Prussia didn't want to sleep but he found himself obeying regardless of what he desired. Heavy eyelids dropped back to sleep.

From that point on Prussia could sense that his time asleep became shorter and shorter each time he woke up. Most of the time he'd be the only one in the room but sometimes Russia would be there sitting at his side and reading some book to him in a quiet whisper. The first person he saw other than Russia was Latvia.

It was after a night of frightful sleep. He kept having nightmares and his pain would wake him up. Eventually he couldn't sleep and he lay in the bed until the birds began their morning call and the sun lit the room up through the lacy curtains. He didn't know how long he lay there but then the door cracked open and in came the small Latvian nation carrying a feather duster.

The boy was humming quietly to himself and Prussia didn't bother feigning sleep. Latvia was preoccupied with his chore, seemingly comfortable enough in Prussia's presence to work without even glancing towards the other nation. Prussia figured the boy must have assumed he was sleeping.

Latvia continued to hum and move about. He started dusting at the window sill, throwing back the sad lacy curtain and allowing more of the sun's rays to pass into the room. Prussia squinted and groaned.

"Do you have to?" he tried to say, but his voice merely came out as a hoarse croak from disuse.

Latvia whirled with a yelp, brandishing his duster before him like a crop. A wealth of sarcastic retorts filled Prussia's brain but his mouth couldn't match his wit.

Prussia just turned his head away from the window and the light.

"Kyonig?" the boy tried.

Prussia was alert enough to catch the name this time and turned his head back to the other occupant of the room.

"What?" he asked, and it was nowhere near intelligible.

"Hold on! I'll be right back!" Latvia exclaimed.

He set the duster down on the window sill and hurried out of the door. Prussia sighed and tried to lift an arm to assess the state of his body. He, for the first time in forever, didn't feel like conking right back out. He noticed the bandages were running up the entire length of his left arm. The right arm was spared though the hand was bandaged. He moved his right hand because that was the arm he could bend at the elbow to push aside the blanket.

The task exerted more effort than it should have and pained him to no end. He winced and let his eyes sweep over his torso and the upper portion of his legs. His body was so skinny, he was waiflike and frail.

He was wearing a nightgown, very old fashion, such as he hadn't used since the 19th century. The fabric of it had bunched up at his waist revealing his legs, bandaged similarly as his arms. Underneath the gown he felt the tell-tale itch of gauze around his abdomen. When had he been so chronically injured?

He attempted to sit up, grunting and baring his teeth against the pain as he pushed his elbows into the mattress.

It was then that the door opened and in came Latvia once again, eyes shining with excitement. Lithuania was with him.

"Hi, Kyonig. How do you feel?" Lithuania asked approaching the bed.

That name again. Why were they calling him that? Didn't Russia say it too? His mind was working a mile a minute.

"Maybe he doesn't understand Russian," Latvia supplied helpfully.

Prussia finally managed to sit up causing some alarm to the other two nations. Latvia rushed to his side and helped prop Prussia's body against a pillow."

"Be careful, you're really weak, right now," said the Baltic.

"I…" Prussia tried. "I understand."

He managed to get out this time though his voice was extremely hoarse.

Latvia's face lit up at that though Lithuania showed no expression other than mild concern.

"Wow! He's really recovering! Mr. Russia was right!" Latvia beamed at his friend. He turned back to Prussia. "Are you tired?"

Prussia shook his head.

"Hungry?" pressed Latvia.

Prussia stopped to think about it but didn't have a chance to answer as Latvia pulled away.

"I'll get you something!" squeaked the small nation.

He turned and bolted for the door. Lithuania called after him to make sure to bring nothing solid. He sighed after Latvia's steps faded down the hall and turned back to Prussia again. Weariness was in his eye, Prussia couldn't help but notice.

Prussia drank broth for his first meals. For dinner they let him a piece of soggy bread for it. It wasn't the worst thing ever. Nations could be hungry but they didn't starve to death so Russia and the others hadn't fed him once during the year.

The next day, Prussia was able to eat something a bit more substantial. As a nation he was healing much faster after taking in a bit of the broth. He still couldn't walk however and was given a wheel chair to use around the house. Apparently, Russia had foreseen the situation and told the Baltics to get it to him once he built his strength up. Russia's house wasn't very wheel chair accessible so he was basically limited to a few of the downstairs rooms during the day, and bed ridden at night. He was pleased to see Hungary there and Brandenburg as well. As soon as he was deposited by Lithuania in the sitting room his two friends clamored over him.

Hungary was almost in near tears from relief but she didn't hug him, mindful of his bandages.

"I knew you'd pull through. You really hung in there," Hungary said looking a bit proud.

"Naturally," Prussia said, although the details were extremely hazy for him. "Did you think someone as awesome as me would go without a fight?"

"Of course not," Hungary grinned though her eyes still sparkled with her unshed tears of joy.

"That's right!" Prussia said, and then turned to regard his brother-lover. "And what are you doing here? I know we lost but…"

Brandenburg shook his head gesturing between him and Hungary, "Our lands are over here on this side."

"That's right," Hungary said eyes lighting up as if remembering something. "You passed out before the decision. I'll be back."

She stood and left the room leaving the two Germans alone.

"I'm retired," Brandenburg continued after she retreated. "So I can do whatever it is I please, within reason. It pleases me to wait for you, Dear Brother. I thought it would be quite unfair for you to disappear before I did."

"You should have more faith in me than that," was Prussia's reply.

Brandenburg nodded and smiled, "Forgive me."

He laid his hand over Prussia's lightly. Their relationship was always more brotherly and their marriage, now long over, was purely political. They loved each other, though nothing truly romantic ever blossomed between them even if they often touched. Even after his retirement their habits didn't go away. They were so used to each other.

"I had no doubt you would recover," said Brandenburg patting Prussia's hand. "But your injuries were so grave I wanted to see you awake myself. Russia's been courteous to me the times I've been through. We don't talk but he respects our relationship I suppose. He has sisters himself."

Prussia nodded and looked down at his fresh bandages. Lithuania helped him redress them.

"You were badly burned. Almost everything is no longer the way it once was. "

Prussia felt a lump in his throat, "Where's West?"

"You'll see when Hungary brings the maps."

Prussia unconsciously rubbed the bandage at his collar bone and tried to think back on what had happened last. He looked down at his lap not sure what to say and afraid to even think. He felt hollow, and had for a long time. Even while he was sleeping for what was apparently an entire year, he knew that something was wrong. He didn't feel the same, injuries aside. He never saw the end of the war but he could gather enough pieces together to know that they'd lost.

He was living in Russia's house now and so was Hungary apparently. He had major burns underneath his bandages; he'd seen them, still angry and red, when he'd change his gauze. His buildings and land had burned and even now he wasn't finished healing or rebuilding. His people were suffering but he was too weak to even feel their cries.

"Ludwig's boss killed himself."

Prussia's head shot up as his eyes widened in surprise. Anger filled his chest.

"That coward."

"He was mad," Brandenburg said. "And it infected everyone."

"If you're going to be mad you might as well go through with it. See your path until the end," Prussia scowled.

Brandenburg said nothing to that. Prussia sighed, anger leaving his chest only to be replaced by sadness.

"West was too young for any of this. Austria and I failed him."

The door opened again as Hungary reentered. Brandenburg stood to help her with the books she held. He then pushed Prussia's chair to the table as Hungary spread them out. Prussia's eyes greedily took in the newly drawn state lines. He quickly found what he was looking for and took in a sharp breath. He couldn't believe what he saw.

Much of his territory seemed to have been distributed between Poland and Russia. He looked at what was called the Order-Neisse line, observing everything that he had remaining: Thuringia, Brandenburg, and Pomerania were among them. Prussia wanted to hang his head in defeat when he saw Danzig was no longer his but quickly felt a wave of nausea at the strange enclave around Konigsberg.

"Why is Koenigsburg separated off from the rest of my land?" questioned Prussia.

He looked at his friends and caught the way the pair glanced at each other uneasily.

Hungary spoke first gesturing to the area of the map west of Poland, "Prussia, this is all Germany's land now."

"What?" Prussia's brow furrowed.

"The Allied Forces are currently occupying the Axis," began Brandenburg as if he had rehearsed how to explain it before.

He pointed to an area on the map.

"Germany and Austria have been divided into 4 different zones respectively, occupied by each of the allies. The Americans are here, and here the English and so on."

Brandenburg circled the places on the map with his finger as he spoke.

"Here am I, and I am being occupied by the Soviets," said Hungary, pointing out her land.

"But, but what about me?" Prussia asked.

"The Allies," Brandenburg answered. "Decided it was best if the Free State of Prussia was dissolved."

"Wait, what?"

"Prussia's dissolved," repeated his brother. "They wrote it all out in Potsdam."

"You're lying," Prussia said, incredulously. "Why are you trying to play tricks on me about something as serious as this?"

"But I'm not," Brandenburg replied.

Prussia could tell from the regret in Brandenburg's tone that he was telling the truth but Prussia didn't know how to even register the information. Even if Brandenburg wouldn't lie to him there was still a chance he was mistaken right? His mind went a mile a minute with confusion, trying to rationalize and process what he had just heard.

"They can't do that, can they?" asked Prussia.

"I'm not really sure," Hungary said apologetically. "But you're still here."

"Russia brought you to his house after the assault in Koenigsburg. He razed the city and annexed it. He instructed us to call you Kyonig," Brandenburg said.

"It's a loophole," Hungary finished. "Russia very well saved your life."

If it was supposed to be comforting it proved not to be. Prussia's stomach churned and he covered his mouth as not to regurgitate the porridge he'd taken for breakfast. His mouth watered with the tell-tale signs of it and Hungary lightly threw her arm over his shoulder- mindful of his injuries-in an attempt to comfort him. He was too stunned to shun her away.

It all had to be another dream, no, a nightmare. Except this time, it was Hungary there torturing him with her concern rather than Austria with his laughter. He hoped he was still in his bed and he'd wake again to that stupid ugly floral wallpaper and that what he was being told wasn't true.

Brandenburg drew closer to him as well and crouched down on his other side.

"Dear Brother," he said softly. "I understand it is a lot to process. You've come out of a long sleep. What's important is you build your strength. Then we can think of your future."

The words did nothing to comfort him as Prussia fell into a quiet despair.

"This is all some kind of mistake," he replied, having gathered enough of himself to say that.

"Russia can explain it all to you further when he returns from his meetings. He wanted to speak to you as soon as you were up to it, and instructed that we phone him when you were up to it," said Hungary.

"I'm not up to it," Prussia snapped, cutting her off. "And I refuse to believe what you said. "

"Fine, maybe I won't tell him then," replied Hungary just as readily. "But the Baltics may, or Poland. In fact, they might have already done so."

Prussia said nothing. He only looked down, withdrawing further into himself.

"Kyonig," began Hungary again.

"Don't call me that," Prussia hissed.

Hungary sighed but said no more.

Time passed and Prussia continued to freely roam around the parts in the house his wheel chair had access to. He didn't want to think much of the issue of his dissolution. As the days went on things became more real. The pain in his body was one of the things reminding him of the truth to their words. His people, he could barely feel them, were throbbing with unrest. The burns on his body only told part of the story as to what Prussia could only imagine as the brutal bombing, shelling and razing of Prussian lands.

Hungary had chores, as did everyone else, even though quite a few of them were still healing from their own post war wounds. Prussia was best distracted by the library. Unfortunately, Russia had nothing in German despite having even a few books in Chinese! Prussia contented himself with Russian texts though he quickly found Russia's collection to be rather dry. A lot of it was scientific in nature rather than exciting fiction.

At night he would lay in bed staring at the odd shapes in the room until he'd fall asleep. He'd trace dark patterns with his eyes on the moonlit flowers of his wallpaper. He hated that wallpaper because it made him feel trapped. He hated the dumb curtains that Russia, Lithuania, whoever it was who decorated that damned room, chose to match with it.

He liked to pretend that his wheelchair was an airplane or automobile that could take him far far away. He and Brandenburg both, because Hungary was a fool who seemed to accept being there, and they'd go west and meet with Austria and Germany.

Not a day passed where he didn't wonder about his little brother. He felt equal parts sad for and angry at him. He was regretful that he couldn't help his little brother succeed, that they'd failed and his brother was paying for it. But he was resentful too, because his brother benefited from his dissolution. West was no different than Russia and Poland in taking what was rightfully his.

Couldn't West have contested it?

Prussia would like to think so because the alternative ran his blood cold. The very notion that West was recovering in an Ally's home somewhere, beaten, burned and battered, frightened him more than his own dissolution.

So he told himself maybe it was better off that he died if only West could peacefully live.

-to be continued-

AN: Flashback chapter! Of course Prussia didn't tell it all like this. Basically you could imagine Prussia really said something like, "I felt really hopeless after I found out everything that happened. I woke up in Russia's house only to be annexed, dissolved, and stripped of my name. I wasn't sure anymore whether it was better I be dead or alive." Something like that. lol

MAN! I been wanting to write a ch like this FOREVER but ok I gotta level with you... my back story about what actually happened between Prussia and Russia is a monster. It's... it"s really dramatic and very very romantic. The reason I had this kind of story in mind for them is because I felt that Prussia could only have these kind of strong negative feelings if he believed that Russia utterly completely betrayed him. WHICH Prussia feels like Russia did... next chapter will mention that betrayal.

I was about to write it a paraphrasing of their past in this chapter but then I realized if I actually wrote how Russia managed to "save" Prussia and pull him out of his slump EVERYONE would ship them for life! MWAHAHAHA So... I have decided... I am going to write the Prussia x Russia prequel to this story as its own separate story. That story was intended to be a main plot point of this one and I realize now that this isn't the right story to put it in.

I always had planned from the beginning to do a companion story to this one. A Russia focused multi chap sequel to this where Russia ends up with -censored name- (not prussia. Prussia x Denmark are gonna make it). But now that I decided to actually flesh out the backstory between Prussia and Russia in another story I wonder which will come first.

Anyway, I think the end is coming for this story. If I can stay on task it should only be another handful of chapters left for this pair.

Also, if you haven't noticed Denmark is head over heels in love with Prussia at this point hahaha. I just wanna poke him at how infatuated he is.

Thanks for reading and thanks also if you actually read this long AN! lolol thanks for any comment or crit