So much for promises.

Japan wished had never agreed to attend the next meeting. After America had come to his house to make sure he was all right, Japan had done just that. But now, he was on his knees in the corridor of the UN, exhausted. The meeting had gone well, no one would have know he had barely made it to the event. But now, there was no hiding his health issues. He had been walking toward the entrance of the building when his legs gave out. Now, all he could do was rest and wait for his strength to return. Thankfully, Japan decided to take a different route than the others to leave the meeting. Currently, to his knowledge, the only ones left in the building were Germany and Italy who were cleaning the meeting room and arguing. He had watched the two from a distance for some time and Japan could not help but envy them. They seemed to be back on normal terms with the other countries and each other.

Something Japan knew he would never have.

It was true he and America had made amends, but since the end of the war, Japan kept his distance from his old allies. It wouldn't look good. That is what he told himself. The other countries would be suspicious. Besides, it wasn't polite to-

"Hey, is that you, Japan?" Germany's voice asked from his right, followed by the sound of his footsteps on the wooden floor. "Are you all right?"

"Y-yes," he did not want to burden his old friend with his troubles. "I needed to rest a moment."

"Are you sure?" he felt Germany's hand come to rest on his back. "You look rather pale."

"More than usual?"

"Yes," his old friend said, making Japan wish they could speak again. Like with America and himself, he was acutely aware of the invisible wall placed between him and those he used to know. "Would you like help? If that is okay to offer. I do not wish to offend, but you seem quite out of sorts."

"No, I am-"

"No, I insist," Germany said, reaching out to help him stand, but Japan gently batted his hand away.

"I am fine." He did not want help. Not from him.

"Japan…" the blond sounded hurt and that was the last thing he wanted to hear. "Why won't you let me help you?"

He stared at the ground, his mind trying to find the right words to explain his feelings. It was not something Japan was good at doing, but he needed Germany to understand. "It…it is best we move on. We should not speak to one another."

"I understand," Germany said, "I thought the same about myself an-"

"Germany!" Italy's voice echoed as he came running down the hall. "Oh, Germany! There you are! And oh! Japan! How are you?"

He was about to tell Italy he was all right when Germany said, "Japan's not feeling well. What do you need, Italy?"

"Nothing much, I just wanted to see where you went! I was worried you left without me! But no! You waited! I am so happy!"

Japan and Germany shared a glance.

Even though the world had changed, Italy had not.

It's rather refreshing, Japan wasn't going to deny that. I missed you both.

"And oh no!" Italy came rushing over to Japan's left side, "anything I can do to make you feel better? My grandpa Rome said-"

"Please leave me alone." That is what he wanted. It was was best, after all. The right thing to do. It hurt to tell Germany and Italy so directly, but it had to be done. "I do not want you to-"

"No." Germany sternly refused. "I will not leave you here. Not after what I heard from America."

"That…" Japan had no words to curse his best friend and his big fat mouth.

"I know it's hard for you," Italy began, his voice still too cheerful. "I wasn't sure if I should talk to Germany after we surrendered- which was really scary, because he's my best-est friend in the whole wide world and so you are!"

"Really?" Japan doubted that. Italy seemed far more attached to Germany than him.

"Yes! And it wasn't until I talked to the allies and got their 'okay' that I spoke to Germany again, and now I'm really happy!"

"Speak for yourself," Germany muttered, making Japan ask what he meant by those words. "I, for one am not happy."

"Why not, Germany?" Italy asked.

"My heart and mind have been in conflict since the war ended," the blond admitted. "When I was shown the piles of corpses from Buchenwald and Auschwitz, I felt this fear in my heart. My mind tells me I was merely following orders, but my heart tells me I should be afraid of myself and the two have been locked in a battle ever since. Honestly, it's tearing me apart inside. Anyway, if it makes you feel better, Japan, it hasn't been easy for Italy since the end of the war, either."

"No," Italy cheerful tone was suddenly gone, "it hasn't been easy. I've been lonely. Not only that, but I had to give up on my dream to be as powerful as Grandpa Rome. He said that we could do that, but we failed and he's now dead. So,I had a lot of time to think and I realized I had been fooling myself this whole time. That hurt, you know?"

"I do," Japan told him. "… I did not want to be attacked or my freedom taken from me. When I opened the borders of my land, I was afraid. Like you, Italy, I wished be powerful. That is why I allied myself with the two of you."

"I understand," Italy sympathized, gently patting him on the head. "I was scared, too. After losing the war, I was super-afraid of things going back to how they were- being bossed around by Austria or Spain or France. But then, I realized, I still had friends!"

"Is the moral of your story really 'it's the friends we made along the way that matter'?" Germany dared to ask and Italy laughed.

"Yes! Yes it is!"

"Good grief," Germany groaned loudly. "50,000,000 people or more died in this war and I was booked for war crimes, and that's what you learned?"

"No, no," Italy shook his head. "I learned more than that."

"Really?"

"…no."

"Damn it, Italy!"

For some reason, this exchange made Japan laugh. For a moment, it was as if nothing had changed. As if the three of them were still friends and-

"We're sorry," Germany began with a long sigh. "I understand if you do not wish to speak with us. It's because of me, you're like this. You can blame America all you like, but I was the one who asked if you would join my cause."

"Don't be sorry," that was the last thing Japan wanted. "Please."

"Japan?" Italy began after a long silence. "I know you might hate me, too. But, I missed you! I want to be friends, again, okay?"

"Italy!" Germany snapped. "He doesn't want to be friends with us anymore."

"But-"

"I disappointed you," Japan said. "I surrendered."

"You didn't have much choice in th-"

"I failed you both," he continued, wishing the two would understand his feelings. "I was supposed to be your ally and I let you down. I do not deserve to be your friend any more."

"So, that's what this is about, then?" Germany asked so directly, Japan was lost for words. "You think that because we lost the war, we should hate you? No. If anyone, hate me. I am the one who started all of this. Japan, I have had a long time to think this over and I think that the Allies are right. We need to never forget what we did, but move on together. All of us. You, me, Italy. We need one another and you clearly need us more than ever."

"I…you are right," Japan said, breaking the long silence that followed. "We do need to move forward together."

"Does that mean you'll be my friend again?" Italy asked, his voice returning to its usual cheery tone.

"…yes. I suppose it-" The air was knocked out of his lungs as he was once again crushed by one of Italy's enthusiastic hugs.

"Yay! I am so happy! Germany! We're friends again!"

"Yay, indeed," the other said, clearly pleased. "Now, I will ask again only once more: Would you like help, Japan?"

"Yes," he began hesitantly, "If it is not too much trouble, that is. If you-"

"Nonsense," Germany said and a second later, Japan found himself standing, supported by both his friends on either side. "Now, want to come to my house for some beer?"

"And pasta!" Italy chimed in as they walked down the corridor toward the entrance. "I love pasta! I made a new type of-"

"No, thank you," Japan felt he needed to be honest with both of them. "I believe I should return home and rest."

"Well, you can rest at my house, if you wish," Germany noted, making Japan realize the other country was desperate to reconnect.

"All right," he reluctantly agreed. "But I-"

"And I'll serve you pasta!"

"No, please," Japan said, only to explain, "I am feeling ill, today."

"But pasta makes you fe-"

"Italy!" Germany snapped and the other fell silent for a few seconds before asking:

"I heard from America that the atomic bombs are radioactive. Do you glow in the dark now, Japan?"

"I don't think I-"

"Italy! Enough with the stupid questions! He doesn't glow in the dark and no, he doesn't have superpowers!"

"Aw… how did you know what I was going to ask next, Germany?"

"Because you're…you."

"Oh, okay." Japan glanced to his left to see Italy staring sadly at the ground and he couldn't help but feel a bit bad. Even though Italy and Germany were friends, the tall blond could be too harsh.

"I was thinking," Japan began, trying to find a way to draw Italy's attention once more, "we need a new friendship name."

"Oh!" The small country was happy once again. "How about- how about-"

"We'll think it over at my house," Germany announced loudly, opening the front doors of the United Nations building. "And beer is on me, tonight.

Italy cheered and Japan found himself smiling. The other two were right, it was good to have friends again.

A/N: I say this politely, 'wait for it'. We're not done with Germany here or some of the other characters. I just need to figure out the scenes. Anyway, thank you for reading and I really, really like this chapter. Because yeah, I like their friendship, but I think it's a very messy thing after WWII. Also, Italy was fun to write, but he's not going to get off the hook so easily. As for the comment about Japan glowing comes from the Radium Girls of New Jersey (USA) in the 1920's. The Radium girls worked to paint watch dials with radium paint and ended up glowing in the dark because of the amount of radioactive materials they were around. That was the upside. The downside was the broken hips, jaws, cancer, and the horrible company they worked for being crappy. But thanks to them, they helped improve worker's rights. Anyway, look that up, too! It was another moving story that I will always remember.