~ 8 ~

Prussia stared at the phone and warred with himself about whether or not he should call his brother. It had already been two days so Germany should have calmed down and maybe even started feeling guilty, right? On the other hand he was, amazingly enough, having a good time with England.

Just a couple hours ago he'd found England's growing stash of American movies. All of which were gifts from America of course. England had assured him he would never, ever, buy an American movie willingly. He'd also confessed that he hadn't watched all of them yet and he wasn't in a hurry to do so either. Prussia would have none of that.

"This is awesome. Let's have a movie night! Or week considering how many you have. Most I haven't even heard. What the hell is 'The Fly' anyway? It looks old."

England had grimaced at the suggestion but Prussia had become so annoying with his constant insistence that he'd finally caved. His only request was that he shut up for five hours while he finished his paper work. So now Prussia was blowing time by doing what he'd initially told England he'd do. Clean the house. He'd bump across the cordless phone while scrubbing the tables.

"What say you, fem Gillybird?"

Gilbird puffed up and shook her feathers before settling back down. He took that as unhelpful and continued staring at the phone.

An awkward cough from behind him made him jump.

England stood there, fingers absentmindedly fixing his cuffs.

Prussia's eyes brightened. "You done already? That was fast."

"Actually, it's already been six hours."

Whoa, time really flied when he was busy. He contemplated doing this more often but quickly let the thought die as he remembered the movies. He dropped the dirty rag on the phone and bolted with excitement to the living room, gripping the unwilling Brit's wrist on his way. "Let's watch that Austin Powers movies. I wanna see how America does your Britishness."

"Oh God," England bemoaned. He had been especially avid in avoiding watching that one.

Prussia busied himself with getting everything ready. He wasted a couple minutes figuring how to work the VCR. Yeah. VCR. He refused to let England help him and after some fumbling and cursing, he got the movie going and threw himself on the sofa.

As the previews played, England wandered to the kitchen and cut some carrots up. He brought back a bowl of them and Prussia munched on one as the film started.

Watching a movie, especially an American one, with England was a whole new experience. His biting criticisms and sarcasm were almost as entertaining as the movie itself. Prussia couldn't help but join in after a while and they both enjoyed the movie even more than if they'd kept quiet like normal people.

"We don't all have bad teeth."

"I don't know about that one."

"I don't have bad teeth."

"Well you were born in the woods or something, right?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well you grew up on berries and shit. Of course that won't ruin your teeth."

They watched the sequels and then Prussia stumbled across a musical. He showed it to England who only frowned and said, "Must he ruin everything that is dear to me?"

Prussia put it on anyway. He was not about to admit that he might like musicals and as this one played out, he found himself singing along, especially since it annoyed the hell out of the Brit. He wasn't a huge Beatles fan but their tunes were catchy. That Lucy chick wasn't bad looking either.

England kept interrupting and pointing out how it was just random insertions of the songs with a chopped up plot but at the end, after much poking, admitted that he had somewhat enjoyed it. "I must say," he said while stretching and massaging his shoulder. "It was much better than those awful Austin Powers movies."

"You're just saying that because the other one was making fun of British Intelligence and this one was honoring the fact that your country gave birth to the Beatles."

"Don't say it like that. You make me sound like a woman."

"Sometimes I wonder." He laughed when England kicked him. "What? No insults?"

"Too tired."

The albino's laughter reverberated throughout the house and he forgot all about talking to his brother. He lied back down, content, and eyed the stack of movies wondering how many more he could watch before passing out.

"Hey Germany? What do you think will happen to us?"

"I don't know."

Prussia hummed and banged his head against the wall. He stared at his handcuffs and almost laughed. The cuffs clanked as he tried to find a more comfortable position on the freezing floor. His chest was killing him but he hadn't wanted to mention anything to his brother. He had enough to worry about as it was. Besides, it wasn't like this was a new feeling for him. Ever since his union with his brother, that bothersome ache had followed him everywhere.

Except this ache felt slightly different. Like it was spreading.

Something was happening to his country but what it was, he wasn't quite sure yet.

'Gott. Whatever happens, don't let Germany disappear.'

And Prussia felt his chest spasm. Without thinking, he reached to clutch at his shirt. Quickly, he rolled on his side facing away from Germany and silently struggled with the phantom pains. They traveled from his chest to his arms and legs up to his head mimicking a migraine. It consumed his mind and he felt his body falling. It felt...lonely. For some reason he felt so lonely and suddenly it didn't matter that his brother was only a couple feet away. At that exact moment, Prussia felt lost and so unbearably empty that a wayward tear leaked from his eye.

'Gott! Gott!'

He felt nothing. Not his country, not his people, not the way his land breathed. Nothing. And that tragedy alone told Prussia everything he needed to know. Everything was about to change.

And then they heard the heavy foot steps of their jailers and the loud click of the lock on their cell. Germany straightened up but Prussia pretended to be asleep. He tried to mask his face. To smile and hide the pain he was currently feeling in his body. Only when he thought he was ready, did he roll over and sit up to meet the faces of the allies.

Their grim faces only made Prussia's smile dim in sadness. "Come to tell us the verdict huh?"

They all looked guilty, with the exception of Russia and China. Russia was obviously happy about something. He'd probably gotten a good deal concerning the spoils of war. As for China. Prussia supposed he'd seen many nations come and go that this wasn't new to him. There was pity his eyes though and that only made Prussia angry. He didn't need nor want pity.

Prussia pulled himself to his feet, his brain already chanting the familiar mantra of 'pain is only an illusion that can be ignored.' He walked right up to the allies and smirked. "Cowards."

"Bruder," Germany warned.

"Yeah, yeah."

But the pain in his body pulsed. He gazed into each and everyone's eyes and found that he wasn't angry. He wasn't resigned either but this was war and Gott knows he was familiar with the protocols. Prussia consoled himself with the knowledge that his brother was fine and would probably remain fine. Whatever the punishment was, he brother had been spared.

And really, that's all that mattered to him.

Prussia woke up from his dream and frowned into his pillow. Why the fuck had he dreamed about that day? He pulled himself onto an elbow and smoothed his hair away from his eyes.

Gott, he could still feel the pains from his dream. What the hell?

Careful not to disturb Gilbird, he slipped out of bed and quietly made his way to the kitchen. He pulled a cup from the top cupboards and filled it with water from the sink. He drained it in one go and rested his arms against the counter. He tried to take deep calming breathes.

Shit, was he shaking? Why the fuck was he shaking?

He glared accusingly at his body for betraying him and then sighed. He left the cup in the sink and wandered over to the phone. He didn't care that it was midnight and that his brother was probably asleep. Prussia needed to talk to him and tell him that he was fine. He should have done it a long time ago.

The phone rang two times before his brother's familiar gruff voice reached his ears.

"Italy, it better be import—,"

"West?"

There was a pause and then, "Bruder?"

"The one and only."

"Where in the holy hell have you been?"

Prussia almost sighed in relief at the sound of his brother's voice. Ah, and he had him worried too. It wasn't every day that Germany let his guard down long enough to actually show his true feelings. Catching him half asleep probably helped.

"Listen West. I just called to tell you I'm fine and that you don't have to worry."

"At two in the morning?"

"Hehe! Yeah. And also I won't be coming home soon so don't bother waiting up for me." He glanced worriedly up the stairs hoping he didn't wake England. This long distance call would just be another thing he'll owe the Brit. "Gotta go. Can't use the phone for too long."

"Warten Sei! What are you talking about? Where are you? I'll go pick you up." There was rustling at the other end.

Prussia sighed. "Listen West, I said I was fine. I'm perfectly capable of looking out for myself. And don't even bother. I'm not in the country."

The rustling noise stopped. "What? Then where are you?"

"Bye West. I'll call you some other time."

"Bruder."

That warning tone again, the same one like in his dream and Prussia smiled.

"Bruder," he gently mocked. They held the silence for a couple seconds, just listening to the other breath, before Prussia hung up. He looked at the phone, the smile still on his face and huffed. Jeez, that went on longer than he'd wanted. Germany sure had a way of making everything longer and more complicated than necessary.

He rubbed at his eyes with his thumb and index finger. They itched and he padded back up the stairs to get some much deserved rest.

A/N: Sorry. I know this is super late and I'm also sorry if I didn't answer your review. Spring quarter started again and I was crashing a couple classes (still waiting on one) so the first week was busy. I'm also currently psyched on writing some of my original stories so I've been neglecting this. Anyway, hope the update wasn't too boring.

Translation:

Warten Sei – wait (I think)