Summary: For street urchin Feliciano Vargas, it seems Christmas for him will be the same as usual. By some stroke of fate, Feliciano stumbles upon a kind stranger, Ludwig Beilschmidt, who delivers a miracle to the Italian's life- and strange feelings he's never felt before...
Pairing: Ludwig x Feliciano (Germany x N. Italy, AU)
Ludwig blushed slightly and drove towards Florence. Gilbert was in the back watching the two, thinking of how he could get the two alone. The roads were still a bit slick from the snow and ice from the previous night, but were better.
As they entered the town, Ludwig found a parking space near a resturaunt. "Okay, so are we eating first or going to carol first, Feliciano?"
"Let's go caroling first!" Feliciano suggested, jumping up and down with excitement. "Maybe you can sing with me, Ludwig! We can harmonize~"
"Alright, I can try my best at least," Ludwig agreed, a bit nervous as he did.
Gilbert opened up his door and got out to stretch, he was soon followed by Ludwig.
"Oi," Gilbert whispered to his brother, "Later tonight you should kiss him at midnight, I'm sure he would like that. Kesese~"
Ludwig responded with a sigh and a slight blush flushing his face.
Feliciano ran out of the car, spinning around in circles and breathing in the fresh winter air. He jumped up and down excitedly, gesturing Ludwig to follow. "Come on, Ludwig~! Let's go caroling~!" he shouted.
"Alright! I'm coming!" Ludwig replied back as he got out and locked the car. "You are very excited, I see.."
"Ve~ you don't have to sing if you don't want to. Maybe I can sing the melody and you can sing the harmony!" Feliciano suggested. "And then after we travel a few blocks then we can find a place to eat~" Ludwig nodded in agreement and looked down at Feliciano. "That sounds like a plan. I believe we parked close to a restaurant, so we will eat there when it's time, okay?"
"Okay~!" Feliciano replied. "I can't wait, ve~!" he exclaimed, hugging Ludwig tightly. Ludwig jumped slightly from the sudden hug and blushed a bit, but hugged back. "Hmm... I'm not sure where we should go first..." Feliciano said, letting go of Ludwig. "Maybe the Piazza Santa Croce~? That's where we first met yesterday~" Feliciano reminded Ludwig. "And there's a lovely restaurant nearby, I've never eaten there of course, but the food smells wonderful. It's called 'Osteria De' Benci', I think~" he recalled. Feliciano really did know all the sights in Florence. "Don't worry! You won't get lost when you're with me!"
Ludwig nodded, "Okay. That sounds good." He looked back at Gilbert real quick to suggest going to look into the restaurant, which he did. Gilbert walked ahead of them to find the restaurant.
Feliciano held onto Ludwig's hand, running towards the center of the piazza. "Come on~! Pick up the pace!" he shouted playfully, sort of dragging Ludwig behind. He didn't even notice that he was running much faster than a normal human would, so it was nearly impossible for Ludwig to keep up. Ludwig followed the Italian, keeping up as best he could. "Feliciano! Slow down a bit." "But we're almost there!" Feliciano replied, almost nearing the center of the piazza.
Finally, he skidded to a stop, still holding onto Ludwig's hand. He waited for Ludwig to catch his breath, before giving Ludwig instructions. Ludwig was able to catch his breath rather quickly.
"I know you don't speak Italian well, so you don't have to sing the words with me~. You can just sing harmonies with 'ooh' or 'ah' if you want~" Feliciano suggested. "I'm going to sing 'Tu scendi dalle stelle', you probably won't know it..." "I am not familiar with it, but I'll do my best," Ludwig replied.
"Don't worry!" Feliciano assured Ludwig. "You'll do great~! You just need to sing the harmony~."
And that was when Feliciano began to sing. His voice was clear and beautiful, just like the times when he sang before. It was pure, angelic, peaceful; almost blissful. The words flowed from his mouth like a stream, like a waterfall forming a rainbow.
"Tu scendi dalle stelle,
O Re del Cielo,
e vieni in una grotta,
al freddo al gelo.
Ludwig listened to Feliciano for a bit, and when he felt he understood the song he did his part. He didn't know what he was doing really, and his face became a bit flushed out of nervousness.
Why does he want me to do harmony? he thought, My voice must sound odd with his..
O Bambino mio Divino
Io ti vedo qui a tremar,
O Dio Beato
Ahi, quanto ti costò
l'avermi amato!
Ludwig was completely forgetting where they were as they sang, lost in Feliciano's voice.
A te, che sei del mondo
il Creatore,
mancano panni e fuoco;
O mio Signore!
Many people began to gather around Ludwig and Feliciano, mostly out of curiosity and wonder. Feliciano nodded in approval towards Ludwig, meaning they were doing a good job. Feliciano's singing was mesmerizing, as if he was caught up in a dream. He was glad Ludwig was singing with him, it added balance that he wasn't able to achieve on his own.
Caro eletto Pargoletto,
Quanto questa povertà
più mi innamora!
Giacché ti fece amor
povero ancora!"
He turned to Ludwig one last time after the song was complete. "Your singing is wonderful, Ludwig," he said sweetly and affectionately. Ludwig closed his eyes and nodded to Feliciano, "Danke." The audience certainly agreed with Feliciano, there was a loud round of applause as the Italian was speaking.
"Hey, is that-"
"Ja, it is. It's Ludwig."
Feliciano nuzzled Ludwig affectionately before hugging him tightly. "Veeee! That was the most fun I've ever had~!"
"I-I'm glad," Ludwig said, surprised from the hug. "But we should go get dinner now, huh?"
"Oh, I am getting a bit hungry now..." Feliciano noticed as he rubbed his stomach gently. "Don't worry! We parked right near the restaurant~!"
Once the crowd went down, Gilbert grabbed Ludwig from Feliciano.
"Alright, you're doing a good job. But you need to step up your game!"
Ludwig nodded to his brother's advice.
As Ludwig had his back turned, a blond haired man wearing a dark trench coat followed by two darkered haired men walked up to Feliciano. The blond haired man cleared his throat, "Your singing was beautiful, mon ami," speaking with a flawless French accent. "I need someone with your ability. Let us walk and talk," he said, gently pulling Feliciano away.
"Vee... okay..." Feliciano had a nervous look on his face. He knew he wouldn't get lost, since he knew the city so well. But these people seemed so... strange. Hopefully it would only be for a short while, since he needed to get back to Ludwig for his dinner date. "I-I'm a little busy right now... it'll be quick, right?" he asked, worried that he would be late.
The sun was setting and it was growing colder. As the temperature dropped, the light flurry gracefully falling started to become heavy, almost white-out conditions.
"Oh, oui. It won't take long at all~" the blonde replied, leading him towards an ally.
Ludwig suddenly noticed Feliciano was missing. "Bruder, did you happen to notice where Feliciano went?" he asked.
"Nein, I did not.." Gilbert said.
Just then, Ludwig noticed two men standing on the corners of buildings.
"Osten, I think we have some trouble.."
Once farther down the ally, the blond man stopped and let go of Feliciano.
"So what is your affiliation with Ludwig Beilschmidt?" his voice losing the French accent and switching to a heavy German one.
"Y-you know Ludwig...?" Feliciano looked confused, and wondered why these strange people were asking him questions. He was also surprised by the change in accent. "W-well we're really good friends," he told the blond man. He didn't feel like revealing his crush on Ludwig to these strangers. The fact that they knew Ludwig comforted and worried Feliciano at the same time. "I-is that all you want to know?" he asked, hoping he would be able to leave.
The man chuckled, slightly evil in tone. "Nein, Sie Stück Müll," he said as he kicked the Italian down roughly. "I want to know if you are the reason Ludwig suddenly had a change of heart."
"Uwaaaaahhhh!" Feliciano cried out. "W-what do you mean?" he asked fearfully, shuddering as snowflakes began to cover him. "W-who are you?"
"I thought you quit that group!" Gilbert said sternly.
"I did! Before we moved! How did they find me? I even bought a new car."
The blond man smirked and placed his boot-covered foot on top of Feliciano's chest. "We are the Neo-Nazi's. We were doing well at staying hidden until Ludwig decided to reveal us and leave us to be taken down by the police," he snarled. "Now answer this question! Did you cause Ludwig to leave?"
Ludwig and Gilbert cautiously walked towards the ally, acting as if they were looking for a place. When they got close to the two guards, they pulled them to the side and knocked them out.
Feliciano squirmed helplessly, letting out soft cries of pain. "I-I d-don't know... h-he never told me about this... p-please... l-leave me alone!" he cried, trying desperately to escape but to no avail. The snowfall slowly became a blizzard, reducing visibility. All the tourists and citizens in Florence had escaped inside buildings, leaving the streets empty.
"Hmm.. Nein," the blond man chuckled, "I can at least make my statement here."
He pulled his knife out of his boot and cut a swastika into Feliciano's cheek.
Feliciano cringed as the knife touched his skin. "V-veee..." he shuddered, the blood dripping from his cheek.
Just before the Neo-Nazi plunged the knife into Feliciano's chest, Ludwig kicked him off Feliciano and pulled out a gun he had concealed.
"Ich denke nicht, Jaeger," he growled.
Feliciano couldn't even see what was going on around him. The howl of the blizzard muffled the sound. Only his face was visible, he was being buried by snow. His body temperature was slowly dropping.
Gilbert was keeping the guards at gunpoint to make sure they wouldn't interfere.
"Why are you protecting the enemy, you traitor?" Jaeger growled in German.
"Because I no longer wish to fight for something so pointless! They lost years ago and they had a whole military. We would have no chance!" Ludwig snapped back in the same language. Jaeger got to his feet and attempted to stab Ludwig out of rage, only to be knocked down unconscious.
Ludwig looked around frantically. "Feliciano?"
Feliciano was buried under the snow, hidden to everyone else around him. He couldn't even move at all, the cold had nearly frozen his body. The lack of oxygen was slowly dropping his blood pressure until he lost consciousness.
As his mind drifted through darkness, he thought he could see the faces of his deceased grandfather and his brother, but the images were too faint to be recognized at all.
Ludwig dug around in the snow, eventually finding him.
"Hold on, Feli," he whispered. He pulled off his coat and wrapped Feliciano in it, holding him close as he got up.
"Gilbert, knock them unconscious and go cancel the reservation. We are heading home," he said as he walked out of the ally.
Gilbert nodded and knocked them both out and followed. "I'll drive this time. You keep him warm."
Feliciano still kept the swastika on his cheek- a permanent reminder of what had happened. His body was chilled as an ice block, as if he had been cryogenically frozen. He wasn't moving, his breathing was unnoticeable, he seemed barely clinging to life. But his face looked somewhat angelic- his eyes closed gently, a small blush on his face, he was even smiling. Although he looked lifeless, he appeared happy at the same time. It was a huge contrast to the severity of the situation- a possibility that Feliciano might never wake up again.
Author's Notes: Notepad wouldn't let me save accented letters and umlaut but I just copy-pasted them into the document here. Some translations may be wrong so please let me know.
Translations:
Nein, Sie Stück Müll= "No, you piece of trash" (GERMAN)
Ich denke nicht= "I don't think so" (GERMAN)
"Tu scandi dalle stelle"/"From Starry Skies Thou Comest" (Italian carol)
ENGLISH VERSION
From starry skies descending
Thou comest, glorious King,
A manger low Thy bed,
In winter's icy sting;
O my dearest Child most holy,
Shudd'ring, trembling in the cold!
Great God, Thou lovest me!
What suff'ring Thou didst bear
That I near Thee might be!
Thou art the world's Creator,
God's own and true Word,
Yet here no robe, no fire,
For thee, Divine Lord
Dearest, fairest, sweetest Infant
Dire this state of poverty.
The more I care for Thee,
Since Thou, o Love Divine
Will'st now so poor to be.