March, 1938

Roderich's heart was leaping frantically in his chest as the crowd around him clamored in excitement. He stood in anticipation among the upperclassmen in the town center in his finest pressed white shirt that smelled graciously of crisp, clean cotton which paired with brown tapered dress pants and leather suspenders of a matching color. He took his glasses from his face, gave them a quick clean with the sleeve of his shirt and popped them back on.

Today was the day the man was visiting Vienna! The man's tour of Austria, which was going on its third full day of its annexation with Germany, finally ended with a visit to the country's capital city.

Roderich Edelstein had lived here his whole entire life. His father was a wealthy and well-known politician, so he grew up rather comfortably. Unfortunately, when a certain power began to run things in Germany, things grew very difficult for the Edelstein family. The family consisted of 19-year-old Roderich, his parents and his older half-brother, Vash. Their mother had a Swiss husband before Mr Edelstein and from this, came Vash. This marriage ended once Mrs Edelstein became a widow and they were left alone until she met Roderich's father. He did not see Vash as a stepson at all and happily took him in when he married his mother.

Roderich's parents were both Jewish and raised their family of the same volition. But when religious opinions became increasingly hateful across the border, Mr Edelstein knew it was only a matter of time before the same opinions reached Austria. So, he had his family converted to Catholicism as far as the public knew but allowed his wife and sons to practice their own religious customs and prayer ceremonies in a private room under the house.

Their house was otherwise known as Sehnsucht Palace. It was a beautiful, baroque-era mansion which Mr Edelstein had grown up in and inherited from his father. He planned to pass it down to Roderich at some point. Many of his political opponents as well as dear friends, were left jealous of the grand estate.

Mr Edelstein had lived in fear of this day and asked his son to attend the event on behalf of the family.

Finally, the church bells rang, and the crowd went quiet. Roderich stared up at the balcony which was elaborately decorated in their flags and banners. The crest stared right back at him screaming, 'You are the enemy.'

The man finally appeared on the balcony overlooking the crowd, accompanied by six heavily armed soldiers and ridiculous introductory music. The song was loud with a lot of heavy brass instruments and now, Roderich loved music, but this was much too aggressive for his taste. The lyrics were patriotic but to the extreme; the song referred to war tanks as an iron grave for German soldiers. He felt an overwhelming urge to retaliate with, 'This is not Germany.'

The crowd cheered. Roderich's stomach sank.

It all became white noise for him as he heard the resentful words that came from the balcony and it was very hard for him to keep his false spirit up along with the rest of the crowd's genuine excitement. It was mandatory for him to applaud, he felt vile doing so.

The man made a speech, that quite frankly, made Roderich want to vomit up his breakfast.

He really droned on and on but spoke about nothing somehow. And the minimal points he did make, were distasteful beyond understanding. The man spoke of certain groups of people as if they had all individually ruined his life somehow. He spoke of people that did not look, sound, act, think or even believe the same as he did, as if he himself was God attempting to re-create society in his image. Roderich believed this to no end. And people ate it up and even cheered for him, they believed every word that came out of his mouth as the Lord's gospel.

Roderich knew better, but if he spoke of such a thing, they would kill him. So, he returned home with many unanswered questions. His family sat around the dinner table and recited a blessing over some expensive Italian wine. Once the chef had brought dinner out to them and they were left alone to eat, he explained what had happened earlier that day.

'Father, what does this mean for us?'

'Well, it means that unfortunately we have to be even more careful and lay even lower. Under no circumstance can any of us afford to make a mistake here. We must burn it all.' His father said with a saddened expression.

'Strip the rooms please and put it all in a pile at the end of the orchard once it gets dark. Even the private room downstairs.' Mr Edelstein ordered the maid after dinner to get rid of anything and everything that could compromise the family. The only people that could now be trusted were immediate family members and staff in the household; most of which had been with the Edelstein family for many, many years and were also Jewish.

As the family stood around the large fire that night, Mrs Edelstein took a beautiful royal blue cloth from her coat pocket and placed a kiss on it before throwing it into the flames, it was a challah for bread that was passed down through all the women in her family. Her husband took her hand, 'We will get through this together.' He assured his family as they watched the possessions that made them who they are, burn to a crisp. Once the fire had been put out and everything was disintegrated, the gardener covered up the ashy soil and once it was healthy again, planted more apple trees.

Underneath the last planted apple tree, Mr Edelstein had the gardener bury a pillowcase full of Star patches. One for each member of the household, staff included. For he knew in his heart that one day this would end, but they would need religious evidence to prove which side they were on. They would also be needed upon an escape to Switzerland. Mr Edelstein prepared them for many possibilities.

A few months after this night, Roderich went out for a walk in the city. Every few blocks, he was stopped by a soldier and asked for identification, as if they didn't know of his father's status. Roderich was a nice guy, but he did have a bit of an ego.

He reminisced on what his city was like before all this chaos. While everyone knew it was inevitable, he never actually expected it to happen. What made it worse for him was that they were so welcomed by the Austrian people, it scared him.

Years ago, these people voted his own father into office, knowing of his religious background. They voted for him simply because he was a good and genuine man that wanted nothing but the best for the people. Once the family publicly converted to Catholicism, no one batted an eye. It was very normal for people to convert. Roderich just hoped the public would not turn on the Edelstein's to impress the new leaders by using their past against them.

He was worried for his family.

He walked. And walked. Until he found himself in the rough part of the city which he was warned to stay away from.

'Hey! What the hell are you looking at? Are you a flamer or something?'

Roderich looked around at the random outburst and he noticed that he had in fact stared off in one direction for too long, whoever this was must have gotten the wrong idea. He saw a group of rough looking men coming his way and the man at the very front was the one yelling at him. 'Oh great.' he thought as he braced himself for confrontation.

'I asked you a question.' The man at the front spat at Roderich as they came face to face, his 'posse' standing at a few feet behind him watching intently. They were obviously looking for a fight.

Something about this guy struck Roderich as strange. He had icy silver hair and his eyes were almost a scary-looking crimson color. He was so very pale, but even Roderich couldn't take his eyes away from him.

This proved to only worsen the situation.

'So, you are a flamer.' He accused, starting to laugh uproariously, the group of men doing the same.

'I am not! How dare you say such a thing? I was merely on a walk and got lost in thought.' Roderich defended himself but he was nervous for a physical fight. He was not built for violence.

'Do you know who I am?' the man questioned egotistically, holding a hand to his chest as if he was genuinely hurt. Two could play at this game, he thought. 'No, do you know who I am?' Roderich repeated. The man stepped back and looked him up and down, 'You look rich. Are you rich?' he asked, sneering. 'My father is a very high up politician, if you hurt me, he will ruin you.' Roderich halfheartedly threatened.

'Ah, I see. You're a silver spoon wuss then. Let me guess, daddy bought your way out of the army?' the man was being sarcastic, but he was correct. Mr Edelstein had paid a lot of the family money to keep Roderich at home.

This may have looked suspicious from an outside point of view, but many rich families did this to keep an heir for inheritance reasons. If a family had no daughters, the oldest son would get the assets. The Edelstein's had Vash claim Swiss nationality the minute things started heating up in Germany, so he was not even eligible to be drafted and the family could quickly and legally escape to Switzerland if the time came. Because Vash was a stepson, this meant Roderich became the first heir by default.

Roderich nodded sullenly, he was embarrassed. Even if he had to join the army, there was no way his conscience would let him fight, for he would be fighting against himself and killing people that are just like him. Besides, Roderich was physically not very strong. He would be a deer in the headlights at war.

'Fellas, you can go now, leave us be.' The stranger gave a gesture behind him and the men grunted in annoyance before walking away to the pub. 'My name is Gilbert Beilschmidt. I am a teacher by day and an awesome legend by night.', he held out his hand and Roderich hesitantly shook it. 'Y-You're not even a soldier yourself!' he exclaimed in a high-pitched voice of surprise. He was offended. Gilbert laughed, 'Not in so many words no, I just like to taunt people. I am a friend of his and I was asked to teach German politics in the school here in Vienna. So, what's your actual name?'

'I am Roderich Edelstein.' Roderich heard the way he said his own name in such a narcissistic tone and blushed to himself. His mind started to wander for a moment, how could this guy who seemed SO different be a close friend of - 'Edelstein?!' Gilbert repeated his last name loudly for some reason.

'Where have I heard that name before?' he asked himself more-so than Roderich, who was now starting to worry. If this guy was a teacher of politics, god only knows he must have heard of his father's status before the war. Gilbert just shrugged it off but remained slightly suspicious.

Roderich needed to change the topic, 'You look rather young for a teacher… Also why are you in this part of town with a job like yours?'

'I'm 21! My father was a soldier that worked directly for him and when he died, he attended the funeral and thought it would honour my father to give me a job teaching here. It's fine, I enjoy it, but I do have to accompany the guy to all these like stupid events. Like dude, I'm a genius teacher not a PR agent.' Gilbert was chuckling as if it was just any old man he was working for.

'As to why I'm here, this city is pretty boring. Drinking in the rough part with those guys is just to spice up life a bit. Now, how about we head into that pub over there for a drink? I do need some new drinking buddies; those guys were starting to get annoying tonight and I always end up getting into fights when they're around. It's fun, but I'm not in the mood right now.' He offered as he saw Roderich start to get tense.

'Um, I don't think that's a good idea right now. I'm not actually supposed to even be here, and I should really be getting home.' Roderich needed to escape this conversation quickly, he did not handle his alcohol well and he could blurt anything out without realizing what he's saying.

'Whatever suit yourself. But the offer does still stand when I see you again.'

'When you see me again?'

'Well, Austrian, I like your style. You're short and snooty but you're also rich and have taste, clearly. So, now we're friends. And when I see you again, we will drink together.' Gilbert was evidently very confident, but Roderich processed it in his head.

Even if he just pretended, this friendship would benefit his family. He could never truly be friends with someone who taught children to think against people like him, but the more he thought it over, the more it felt like a necessary business move.

'Okay! We are friends then. But for now, I really do need to get home. My family and I will be attending the opera on Saturday. My father said he is to be there so I assume you will be too?' Roderich was genuinely intrigued. Maybe they could form a sincere friendship?

'Ja, I will be at the opera! I will see you there then.' Gilbert smiled, 'Shake on it?'

They shook on it.

Roderich was strangely captivated by this mans smile and noticed himself once again, staring too long. He blushed again and looked down. 'Sorry,' he chuckled nervously.

'For what?' Gilbert replied. This time he had not even registered him staring. 'Nothing! I mean – never mind. So, I'll see you on Saturday.' Roderich waved and as Gilbert nodded in response, he turned and walked away. On his journey home, he began berating himself for the encounter and the awkwardness of it. He tried to just put it behind him but for some reason his mind kept wandering off to Gilbert.

Upon arriving back home, his father stood in the hallway waiting for him, 'Where have you been?'

'I was just um, out for a walk. Father, there's no need to worry. I'm being extra careful, in fact, I met a guy today who I think might be really good to have as an acquaintance.' Roderich's intentions now became to pry information from Gilbert so that he could keep tabs on what was going on and keep his family safe.

'Oh, is that so?' Mr Edelstein was immediately suspicious of this whole ordeal.

'Yes, his name is Gilbert. Gilbert Beilschmidt. He works almost directly for him and he teaches in the school in town. I am speaking with him at the opera on Saturday and will try to get information from him somehow -'

'Roderich,' his father interjected, 'This is a very dangerous game you have just started. Please son, you must not try to be a hero here. If you accidentally tell this man anything that sounds off even in the slightest, you could put us all in great danger. I know you are just trying to help, but this could do worse than good. You must understand that if you start asking a lot of questions, he could get suspicious and start an investigation into the whole family. I am not asking you to stay out of this. I am ordering you to.'

'But father-'

'No. We will not speak anymore of this. Goodnight, son.' Mr Edelstein gave him a short-lived pat on the shoulder and a sad smile before heading up the stairs to bed.

Roderichs stomach felt uneasy. He was furious. He had finally made a new friend, and now he wasn't allowed to see him? He almost felt like he was being over-dramatic. He had only just met the guy. But something about Gilbert just felt different. No one had ever been adamant to be his friend before.

Roderich thought maybe, just maybe, Gilbert wasn't like the others.

There was an overbearing part of him that wished Gilbert was like him, or at least thought like him.

Doubt clouded his mind as he tried desperately to get to sleep that night. But he just couldn't. He thought about what would happen at the opera, would he be forced to ignore Gilbert? Would he then be angry with Roderich? He was also unsure of how to act if the man was there. Would there have to be a different etiquette entirely? Probably. There were too many questions running around, so he got up and went downstairs to the music room in his dressing gown and slippers.

He sat himself down on the red velvet cushioned bench that was trimmed with gold, in front of the grand piano. He hadn't played in so long he thought he'd forgotten how to.

His favorite piece to play was a beautiful original harpsichord piece by J.S Bach. Roderich was always such a huge fan of classical music and he had recently gotten into Jazz too. He loved to play it loudly off the record player in the music room and dance the night away on the beautiful marble floor.

'I guess I'll give it a shot,' he thought to himself as he opened the sleek white casing of the piano keys and organized the notes in front of him of Bach's harpsichord concerto in C major.

He always felt the harpsichord sounded too tinny, so he learned the piece for the piano instead as it just sounded smoother to him. He began to play, and it all came back to him at once. Roderich felt invigorated and played most of the pieces in the book he had written musical notes down in until he finally felt tired enough to sleep.

Heading back upstairs, he fell into a slumber as soon as his head hit the pillow, not worrying about the Opera that was coming up that weekend.

Roderich wished upon a star that there was a possibility of getting closer to Gilbert without putting his family in harms way.

Hi! So I put together this fic kind of out of the blue, I just really felt like writing some PruAus. This one is definitely much less dark than the others. It has dark themes but I promise this one is lighter and more centered around romance and self-expression 3 Yes, the italics (Him and they) are exactly the references you think they are, but I really don't feel comfortable including those explicit terms in a written piece; it just doesn't feel right so I will only nod towards them and imply and reference instead of explicitly naming! I definitely want to start posting a couple more stories for this fandom and other fandoms too, or maybe just some non-historical fluff short pieces etc. I do love multi-chapter fics but sometimes it's nice to break away and do something different! For example, snk fics maybe, I have a list of ships to write for as long as my arm tbh.

Hope you enjoy!

Xox, Cat.