Chapter 25 already! Time flies...

Thanks to TheBlueAcid and Abc for the reviews, as always. I'm glad you enjoyed Brandenburg's moment; have some more here.
And even more so am I glad that you hadn't figured out which event I was refering to with the refreshing of those burns. That will be explained early in this chapter ;)

Then, of course, a thank you to chibihana28 for the follow!

I hope you'll like this chapter, everyone!

It was mid October 1656, and Brandenburg arrived at the castle were Sweden resided with his king and, at the moment, captured territories. It had taken a while, but three weeks before she had finally received a letter back from Sweden that she and her Great Elector were allowed to go there for a few weeks, the Elector because apparently their allies needed to discuss some things, Brandenburg because they apparently thought it was about time she and Sweden saw each other again.
She was welcomed in by Sweden. The older, taller country was had the battered look of a country at war, and she could think of only one reason why he would be here, and not on the battlefield. She would be happy about that, had he not been her ally in this war. For now...
But when Sweden went off to discuss tactics with his leader again, she was led away by Finland. She had never been fond of Sweden, for many reasons, though she couldn't deny he was a good person underneath the usual behaviour of a country of his status -the conquering, cold-blooded bastard he could sometimes look like. Finland looked nice enough from the get-go, though, and she enjoyed his presence a lot more than she did Sweden's.
"I can imagine you wanting to talk to Prussia as soon as you can," the Fin said as he led her through hallway after hallway. He didn't wait for an answer. "I've tried to inform him of you coming here soon, but..." For a moment, worry clouded his brown eyes, and Brandenburg felt a twinge of worry herself. Was this worry for Prussia he was expressing right now? "He's taken to avoiding even me lately," Finland continued after a short silence. "And just yesterday, he locked himself up in his room completely. I don't know what's going on, but it must be bad."
Brandenburg shivered as realisation crept into her mind. "I think I might know why he's doing it," she answered softly, eyes downcast as she followed him. "And you're right; it's very bad." It was not exactly the reason she had wanted to come here and talk to Prussia, as it hadn't started yet then, but it was definitely on top of her list of things to talk to her husband about now.

Suddenly Finland halted in front of a door, and Brandenburg got nervous suddenly. Would Prussia be happy to see her? He hadn't been happy with her last time they'd seen each other. And since then, they hadn't been able to write each other. To be rejected by him now was about the last thing she wanted.
Finland looked equally nervous, but for other reasons. He sighed as he lifted a fist. "Well," he said under his breath, half to himself. "Here goes nothing... Prussia!" he then called as he knicked on the door. "Prussia, it's me. I know you don't want to talk to anybody, but-"
"Exactly!" came a call from inside, which made Brandenburg's heart skip a beat with mixed emotions. She had missed hearing his voice. But she didn't want to hear him quite like this: he sounded defiant and arrogant, but underneath that lay the most obvious pain and deepest fear she'd ever heard in his voice. Finland must've heard it, too, for he sighed again and mumbled something under his breath, shaking his head slowly.
Brandenburg decided that the only chance they had at getting him to open the door, which was quite clearly barred or locked from inside, was to call to him herself. "Prussia?" she tried, softer than Finland.
Immediately, Prussia answered again, sounding stunned more than anything now. "B-brand?" he asked, voice hoarse. "You're here?"
There was already noise coming from inside, footsteps nearing the door. Brandenburg nodded and smiled. "Yes, of course I am, you dummy," she responded. "There's no way you'd ever be able to hear me if I were still in Konigsberg!"
She fell silent abruptly; between the footsteps, there was a sudden grunt, a gasp and a sound as if Prussia stumbled rather than walked for a moment there. The girl took a step closer to the door, but right at that moment, it opened, revealing a paler than ever Prussia. But his eyes were shining as he saw Brandenburg, and hers lit up in a heartbeat as well. Just seeing him after nearly a year was enough to have her jump the cross the last bit of distance between them, her body filling with warmth upon touching him again as she swung her arms around him in a tight hug.
But her heart filled with an icy cold rather than that nice, comfortable warmth, when he choked out a hoarse cry of pain the moment she touched him, and flinched away from her. Shocked, she didn't let go immediately, and Prussia pushed her away roughly, making her stumble. Wide-eyed, Brandenburg stared at him as he stumbled backward, doubled over, then collapsed onto his knees, all the while gasping for breath. She hardly noticed Finland stiffen at this behind her, nor did she hear him ask Prussia what was wrong, even though exactly the same question was racing in her head right now.
Slowly, the teenage girl got closer to him. Once at a foot's distance, she knelt down in front of Prussia and lightly touched his arm. That seemed to be okay for him. Glassy-eyed, he stared at her, then rasped softly that he was sorry. She shook her head, answered that it was okay, and then carefully tried to hug him again, barely touching him. But even that seemed to hurt Prussia right now, as he whimpered softly when she did that. "What's the matter, Prussia?" Brandenburg asked, worried.
He shook his head. "N-no... don't touch me... please, don't touch me..." He didn't directly answer her question, but the Prussian's reaction was still sufficient. He was begging her to move away, sounding like he was on the verg of tears just being touched like that. "Brand, please... please don't touch me."
She couldn't listen to it for longer than three seconds, and she moved away quickly. Brandenburg still couldn't figure out what was going on exactly, but as she could've guessed earlier, he must have an injury somewhere, a reaction to what was going on in his land. She probably had to tell him about it as quickly as she could, but he didn't seem quite so alert anymore all of a sudden. His red eyes were glazed over with pain, and he just sat there, unmoving, with rasping breath.
Finland stepped up then, brown eyes ablaze with confusion and worry. But he didn't seem to have come as far as Brandenburg in figuring out what caused Prussia such pain, or at least didn't think about it as he grabbed the younger country by the arm and tried to pull him up. "Come on, Prussia," he urged him on gently. "We need to have you checked. This can't be good." When Prussia didn't move, he made the mistake of trying to support him with a hand on Prussia's back. A very bad mistake indeed. Prussia flinched, practically crying now, and as Finland was pulling him up too quickly to react to this soon enough, he stumbled and collapsed the moment the Fin removed his hand from his back. He hit the ground with a dull thud, and Brandenburg's heart felt like it stopped at that moment. Prussia didn't move anymore afterwards, aside from trembling in pain and twitching a bit every few seconds, and even seemingly unconscious, he still whimpered softly.
"My God!" Finland exclaimed almost the same moment Prussia collapsed, staring at his still figure then at his own hand. "His back feels like it's on fire!"
Without responding, Brandenburg turned Prussia onto his back, ignoring his whimpered protests as he started unbuttoning his shirt with shaking hands. "I'm sorry for hurting you, love," she whispered to him. "But I need to know what's going on."
She had to force herself to continue after she'd opened up his shirt halfway, and saw his pale skin glistening and damp, angry red patches addorning his chest like a badly-patched-up shirt. They covered his abdomen too, his sides, and she could see some went over to his back or down his waist to his hips as well. It was easy to recognise them as his old burn scars. But there was nothing old about them anymore now.
"Damn you, Gosiewski," she cursed under her breath, refering to the man who was currently ravaging Ducal Prussia, burning down villages and cities as he went through the land. "Damn you to Hell!" She had lost count of the towns the Polish man had burned to the ground, and this was the end result: Prussia's burn scars had refreshed, representing all the land and all the lives lost to the fires.
She barely noticed Finland kneeling down just beside her, inspecting Prussia as well. "Does that one look inflamed to you, too?" he asked, gingerly pointing to a burn starting on the right side of Prussia's chest and going around to his back and shoulderblades. Brandenburg nodded; it was redder than the other burns, but that was all, much to her relief. It was close to it, but not infected yet. She gently touched Prussia's cheeks and then his forehead, concluding that he was warmer than he should be, but not quite with a fever yet. Another sign that he should be treated right now, if they wanted to prevent him from getting infection anywhere.
Worldlessly, Finland offered to take him from Brandenburg, and she let him pick Prussia up, flinching when she saw his hands pressing against several of the wounds as he tried to get a firm grip on Prussia, who grunted at this. She could imagine how much it hurt. Actually, she thought she was pretty close to knowing how it felt, as her thoughts jumped over to the blisters on her right arm for a moment. Those were burns as well, effects of Gosiewski's actions, but not nearly as bad as what Prussia went through. The roles were switched now: this time it was Brandenburg feeling some of what was happening in Ducal Prussia at the moment, just like Prussia had always been aware of what happened in Brandenburg, but hadn't been affected as much by it.

As they brought Prussia somewhere where they could tend to his burns, Brandenburg softly explained to Finland how Ducal Prussia was being ravaged right now, when the older country wondered out loud what had caused burns, of all things. The Fin gritted his teeth at hearing that, but didn't say anything. He put Prussia down somewhere, then turned around again and said he'd get some water -as cold as he could get it.
Brandenburg sighed and sat down beside her husband, staring at him. She couldn't have expected today to be any different from this, really, what with all the land being burned to the ground. She had hoped it would be different, though. Quiet, she reached out to Prussia's face, moving some of his hair out of his face. Thankfully, his hace and neck were free of burns, or any other scars, really. His hands, too, were still completely without scars. Scars on his arm started about as high as his elbows. He was lucky, she thought, really lucky, that all his reminders of his battles were hidden from view as long as he was properly dressed. She wouldn't be bothered by it if he'd had a scar on his face like Netherlands did, for example, or Hessen, who had one close to an eye. But she could imagine very well that really anyone would be bothered by scars on their body at some point. You could never get rid of them, after all, only cover them up. They were a permanent reminder of what were usually bad memories.
Suddenly Prussia stirred, and she held her breath. She'd thought he was unconscious -she'd hoped it, really, just so he would be spared most of the pain now. "H-how many towns have been burned...?" he rasped, eyes still closed, brows furrowed in discomfort.
"I've lost count," Brandenburg answered, and she wished she could've instead answered 'not so much' or 'none at all'. But it was a bad, messy situation, and she couldn't lie about it.
Prussia hummed, then opened his eyes to look at her. "At least that finally explains these," he mumbled, sounding grateful for the information. "I've been wondering about that for... for a few days now, I think...? Lost count too..." He flashed her a smile then, his eyes shining and dull at the same time. She could see he was happy at that moment, despite the constant pain. "I'm glad you're here," Prussia then said, adding a grin to it. "Makes this place that much more awesome. And it was in dire need of some awesomeness."
Brandenburg chuckled. "You're here, aren't you? Isn't that enough awesomeness?"
"Usually it is," Prussia answered, snickering as well for a moment. "But it's so damn unawesome in here, just having mr Awesome around isn't enough."
"And so you needed mrs Awesome as well," Brandenburg finished for him, smiling. Just now, she could forget the awful situation they were in as well, and just be happy that she and Prussia were together again for now.
Prussia closed his eyes again and sighed, relaxing now that Brandenburg was there and he also knew what was going on. He stayed silent for so long, Brandenburg thought he'd fallen asleep after a little while. But then, quietly as though he really was half asleep already, he mumbled one last thing: "There's no way my awesomeness would be complete without mrs Awesome, anyway..."

A few days later, though still in pain most of the time, Prussia had recovered from his injuries enough to feel comfortable going outdoors with Brandenburg, getting some fresh air again. The girl scolded him for not having gone outside much all the time. "Now if this were somewhere down south and in the middle of the summer," she said, "I would scold you for going outside in the first place, never mind not being covered up properly. But going outside here isn't bad for you in any way. In fact, you have to. Have to."
"Yeah, I know, I know," Prussia just laughed, shaking his head. He had missed Brandenburg, and that included her overprotective bitching that she could sometimes do. "I just didn't feel like it, feeling like I was on fire and all that. And besides, I don't have to cover up all the time in the summer," he added, a little annoyed about that particular part of what Brand had said. "There's no harm in getting a little burned sometimes. Sunburn, I mean. Not for me, anyway."
"Yeah, well," Brandenburg just sighed. This was a conversation they'd had more than once before, and he honestly didn't know why they were having it again. "You just have to accept that, while you're awesome of course, Prussia, when it comes to your skin you just have a bit of a poor health."
"Do not."
"Do so. And what about your eyes, hm? You say bright light hurts sometimes," she put in.
Prussia scowled. "Bright light hurts anyone's eyes, Brand."
"Not as quickly as yours."
He just huffed, looking away. He wasn't angry at her, knowing that she was only worried about him (though there was nothing to worry about if you asked him); having seen him in so much pain just days ago must've sparked an anxiety in her like she'd never felt before, and she was now overreacting about every little thing. Even things that wouldn't be an issue anymore until May the next year, when the sun got bright again.
"I'm really glad to see you again," Brandenburg then said, and Prussia couldn't keep looking away anymore. He hadn't seen her in too long to now avoid looking at her when he wasn't even really angry. "I missed you."
"I missed you, too," he answered, grabbing her hand and holding on to that as they walked side by side. "As I said, I didn't feel nearly as awesome without you around." He snickered. "Still awesome, of course, just less so."
Suddenly Brandenburg let go of his hand, stepped in front of him to stop him, got onto her toes and kissed Prussia. He could feel her smile as she did that, and when she then leaned against him, face in the crook of his neck, she said softly, "I have something awesome planned for you, you know."
He felt a comfortable warmth spreading through his chest, holding her like that, and he held her a little closer when she said that, curious what she meant.
"I've been working on our political strategies," she continued. "Learned from the best, of course," she added, planting a quick kiss in his neck. "You're going to like what I'm working toward. Really like it."
His heartbeat picked up. Whatever could she mean? He couldn't wrap his head around it. It was political, of course, going by what she said. A peace treaty maybe? A way out of this wretched war? That was the one thing he was hoping for with all his heart now. His people had suffered enough in a battle that wasn't really theirs to begin with. He worried about the state of both his Ducal side and his Royal side. Both were suffering in this war, he could unfortunately feel every bit of it. But then he thought about the last political actions Brandenburg had planned without him. Changing from a Polish fief to a Swedish one. Signing an alliance with Sweden and having to fight on his side in this war. He had definitely not been fond of those choices she'd made, and he tensed at the memories.
Brandenburg noticed. "Do you trust me, Prussia?" she asked him, staring up at the taller country with wide blue eyes. "I promise you, this next thing will be a part of what I've done before, or rather the other way around, but I promise you, you'll love the outcome, if I can manage to get it as planned."
Prussia hesitated, against his own will as that hesitation was. He was silent for a moment, mind reeling. He wanted to trust her, he really did. But he wasn't sure anymore if he did... he couldn't be sure of it until she had proven that he could fully trust her again. "I..." he choked out, then trailing off as he didn't know anymore what to say. He didn't want to lie, but when would he be lying? If he said 'yes', or if he said 'no'? He couldn't tell. He went for a compromise between the two in the end.
"I'll try."

Prussia could finally go home again a week later. He hadn't thought the air of Konigsberg could smell so good until he breathed it in again after more than half a year. He wouldn't be so cheesy as to say 'home sweet home' when he walked back into the familiar Konigsberg Castle, but he damn well thought it. He nearly jumped in joy when his pet hawk flew his way when he saw his master return, landing on Prussia's shoulder and giving him an affectionate nip in the ear -which of course left Prussia to yelp, then bleed slowly until the cut it left healed again a few hours later. Thankfully, he'd done his bleeding for the loss of his people already, so this didn't bleed much; the day after Brandenburg had arrived at Sweden's home, when his inflamed burns were still being tended to, he started coughing up blood for minute after minute. It had tasted awful, and left him feeling even more awful yet. But now he felt perfectly fine again, aside from a little shaky, a natural reaction to the damage done to his land and people.
Brandenburg continued planning. It wasn't until more than a year that she had announced her plans to Prussia that they became reality, but when they did, his heart made a giant leap of joy when he heard the terms discussed in a treat with the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth.

It was 6 November 1657, and Brandenburg-Prussia found themselves, as planned, in the company of Poland-Lithuania in the city of Bromberg. Nearly two months prior, they had already had another treaty in Wehlau. Just months ago, he couldn't have cared less for a treaty with Poland. Now he could barely contain his excitement, and he had a hard time just sitting still.
"I can't believe it," he whispered under his breath, more to himself than anyone else, though Brandenburg was a good alternative to talk to now. "I can't believe it! I had hoped for this for ages, but..." He trailed off, and with shining red eyes, he turned to Brandenburg. "I had given up hope centuries ago, and now it's still happening!"
"You'd better be quiet now," Brandenburg warned him, smiling warmly. "Else they might still call it off!"
Poland-Lithuania came walking in then, looking battered from warfare but still strong, recovered from their temporary but crushing defeat against Sweden. They had retaliated like Prussia had never seen anyone do before, and he felt somewhat proud that he had been their fief for so long. Poland stared at Prussia for some time, and the Prussian could see several mixed emotions in his green eyes. Gratitude and distrust, dismay and a certain pride as well. That's right, Prussia wanted to say to him. The thing you've been trying to avoid for so long, and here you are, lured into agreeing by Brandenburg. He would be forever grateful to her for this, he knew it.

John II Casimir of Poland was the first to speak then. "The Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg have offered their military aid to us in battle against Sweden," he spoke, "and will be returning the region of Ermland to Poland. In return for this, they will be granted Lauenburg and Butow Land as fief, receive Draheim and Elbing, and the Duchy of Prussia is to henceforth be recognised as a sovereign country, under the sole leadership of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollern dynasty."
Yes! Prussia's heart skipped a beat at the words 'sovereign country'. This had been his goal for so long, he couldn't even remember how long it had been since he'd first tried to break free from Polish rule.
"Do all present today agree?"
There were only answers of agreement. And shortly after, Prussia had to control his trembling fingers to be able to sign the treaty. And with the last signature written on that gorgeous piece of paper, he felt like he could just fly away in sheer joy right then and there.
Poland came his way immediately after they were done, dipped his head to him politely. "Congratulations, Prussia," he said. "I must say, this whole treaty feels, like, a little double for me. I mean, I did... kinda, like... raise you, you know."
Prussia nodded. It had felt like that, being under Poland's rule and guidance for centuries.
"Yeah..." the Polish country continued, scratching his neck nervously. "So I suppose I'm kinda proud of you being independent now." His gaze then hardened, as though he didn't want to appear to soft in front of his former fief. "So long as you keep your promise and help us, I'll be okay with this."
Prussia nodded again. "Of course." For as long as it suits me, nitwit.
When Poland and Lithuania left again, Prussia allowed himself to finally let out that burst of energy he was feeling, and he actually jumped up in the air. Only once, of course. "Brandenburg, Brand, you're a genius!" he cheered. "A backstabbing, treacherous genius!"
She had apparently planned it all after they had been forced to give Prussia to Sweden as a fief. Be Sweden's vassal, then betray Poland-Lithuania by helping Sweden as an ally. Show that damned commonwealth how strong she and Prussia were, the strategic value an alliance with them had, then offer help to Poland-Lithuania at a time when she knew they would do anything for military aid. And she asked a hefty price for it, which they had been totally willing to pay. And soon enough, no doubt, she was planning to betray them as well. Anything for more political advantages in this world.
"As I said," Brandenburg answered with a shrug. "I learned from the best."
Prussia didn't give her the chance to say anything else, instead tackling her with a hug. She fell to the gruond with a yelp, Prussia on top of her, and he held her in the most crushing hug he'd ever given her. Maybe he didn't quite owe her his life in the sense that he would've died without her, but he certainly owed his life to her.
"I'll never forget this, Brand," he told her, rolling off her to let her breathe, but still hugging her close. "Thank you so much."
She just leaned into the hug, completely at ease like that. "Glad to be of help. You know I'd do anything for you, right? I really love you, Prussia."
"I love you too, Brand," he answered, one of the rare moments he said those words aloud. He almost never did that. "So much."

6 November 1657

This was the most awesome day ever!

Biggest mistake Poland ever made, this.
For reasons you may or may not know already.
Hah... smart Brand.

25 chapters down, and he's finally sovereign! (not even internationally recognised as such yet, but who cares). It was about time.

Well, I hope you liked the chapter. I'm planning to wrap up the Second Nothern War in the next chapter and maybe move on to the next 'arc'. I mean, we still need to go through the 'Kingdom of Prussia' part of his history, the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, the establishment of Germany (oh God what did I get myself into) before we can head over to Hope to Die. That's a lot, considering I wasn't planning on letting Old Fritz be around for five or so chapters then move on again. Awesome Old Fritz deserves more page-time than that.

But yeah, Kingdom of Prussia soon. (Prepare your hearts)

Thanks for reading!