We go three more chappies to go, babies~ :D

And yes, I got lazy so I just copied a segment from my other fanfic "Father". This was the sequel chapter that I mentioned, of course :D

/=+=/

The drive was…well, for lack of better word, long. Germany always had to grab the wheel every time Hungary turned around to strangle someone. Nonetheless, by the time they got to the gates, it looked like Austria and Italy were still hidden deep inside the graveyard.

"Where's mi fratello this time?" Romano mumbled.

"He's further inside." Hungary answered. "He's in mourning, so please respect the dead."

"Anyone going to tell me who he's mourning at all?" He asked.

Germany was about to answer when he saw a figure walking toward them. He quickly realized that it was Austria, noticing them at the gateway and quickly heading toward them. From the look on his face, he had been crying for some time. Maybe about Holy Rome…?

"Austria…" Hungary walked toward him. "Are you going to be all right?"

"…yes…yes, I'll be fine." He answered. "It has been some time, so the majority of the scars have been healed."

"But…do you still feel…?"

"Every day, Hungary…every day."

Germany didn't want to say anything as the memories slowly returned to his mind. Austria…yes, he was the man who was his second-in-command, the nation that took over Italy and brought him over to be his servant in his house…and made the rest of his life…albeit a small part of that.

"Is ANYONE going to tell me anything?"

"Oh! Romano, right!" Hungary laughed. "I keep forgetting that you keep asking!"

"Um…not to be rude, but…why?"

"It's a hard time on all of them." France stated. "At least give them this much."

"…che. At least someone tell me what the hell is going on and how the hell my brother is involved."

"I'll handle this." France looked at the others. "If anyone else wants to join me."

"I'll come! Cause I'm just as awesome~!"

"Ahahaha~! I want to know what's going on as well!"

"…I'm going to make sure that they don't do anything to him…"

Germany watched as Hungary followed the Bad Friends Trio deep into the graveyard to explain just what was going on. He turned his head and saw Canada holding his bear and staring at the saddened look on Austria's face. He's never seen him so sad before, even when he was forced to leave his wife so long ago.

"Do you know what's going on?"

"Yes…I've been told by Prussia about what's going on." He answered. "You don't have to go into any details."

"Well…how much detail did he give you?"

"Hm?"

"Did he mention how he was the one who killed Holy Rome? Did he mention how he did so just for the sake of creating a colony off of his dead body? Did he mention how running around being a total nutjob tore away the only chance of Italy having true happiness…?"

The look on his face almost startled him: he's never seen true anguish coming from him. The only thing that seemed to be the close was, again, when he divorced Hungary. But there was something different here. This had nothing to do with losing someone he loved. This was…this was about something else. Betrayal.

/= [FLASHBACK] =/

Austria caught on the minute the Prussian Empire started to gain power a few years ago. After he started running around gaining power, Holy Rome started to get sicker and sicker from the growing sense of nationalism in his heart. It wouldn't usually be a bad thing, but the fact that it was making him sick worried the two elder nations.

As he sat by the nation's bedside, he saw just how vulnerable of a state that Holy Rome was in. Austria had to make him better, for his sake…and for the sake of Italy. He couldn't believe that Italy was still refusing his messages. He even bluntly stated that Holy Rome had returned in one of them. Why did he not come…?

"…Austria…?"

"What is it?"

"What's…what's wrong with me?"

He looked at the face of the nation he was housing. For the first time since he woke up, he looked more like a young boy than a country: scared out of his mind. Unable to figure out what was going to happen to him. Fearing the thing that was supposed to avoid him: death.

"…territorial dispute." He choked out. "There's another kingdom that's gaining the bits and pieces of your land that you cannot take a hold of…that I cannot take a hold of…and turning them to his cause."

"…an internal civil war."

"Yes. I want you to be a strong country, to include all of the lands that speak the German language across the European continent. This other man…Prussia…would rather break you up in two, excluding the German lands that I hold. While I understand why he would do so…"

"What will happen if Prussia succeeds?"

How could he answer this? Could he really state what he knew was the truth? He deserves to know…but really, can he say it out loud? He took a deep breath.

"…you…you might die all over again…permanently."

"A-and Italy…?"

"Would never know that you were ever alive or in this house." Austria looked up. "I will make sure that won't happen, Holy Rome. I will win this war and save you…and you will see him again."

"…Thank you, Austria. I put all my faith in you."

"I won't let you down."

Hungary walked into the room as she watched Austria rise from his seat and place a reassuring pat on the forehead of the sick nation. He turned slowly to look at her, and she flinched: she had never seen him so dedicated to anything in his life.

"Fetch me my writing utensils…I need to contact my superiors at once."

"W-what are you going to do, Austria?"

"…I'm going to save Holy Rome."

And this time, he'll keep his promise.

/= [END FLASHBACK] =/

"No…no, Prussia was too busy being proud of himself to say that."

"I figured as much…being such a rub-in on the fact that he won yet another war and didn't bother to learn of the consequences." Austria looked up. "Italy loved Holy Rome…even though he never learned that he thought he was a woman. And despite what I tried to do…he'll never know."

Germany rubbed the back of his head and tried not to mumble. At least he knew the feelings were mutual. Though, he was surprised that he wasn't as shocked.

"None of this was your fault."

"I just wanted to be a good father to him…even if he never saw me as one." Austria concluded. "For even though he was my servant, he was still my responsibility."

"…I'm glad that he was in good hands."

"Yeah…though he didn't really turn out into a strong nation."

"He turned out stronger than Holy Rome did, that much I know…"

"Like you know how powerful Holy Rome was. No history book can tell you that."

"True…but only Roderich Edelstein can tell me that."

The Austrian froze and darted toward Germany, who had a completely blank look on his face. Canada (what, he was there! You weren't paying attention?) slowly moved out of the way as the blank look turned into a soft smile, startling Austria out of his angst mode.

"…did Prussia tell you that?"

"No…neither did he tell me how much you vowed to win that war in order to save me and to reunite the two of us."

"…it can't be."

"Roderich…it's me. It's Heilrich."

"My god…I thought it was just some cosmic joke or family relations, but…you're really here…" He blinked in confusion. "But…if you were Holy Rome this entire time…then why didn't you say anything to Italy?"

"He had memory loss from the war!" Canada quickly defended him. "Prussia turned him into Germany, and he got memory loss again!"

"…I could've sworn the wind was talking to me…"

"…it was Canada." Finally, he remembered his name. "He said that the same incident that happened when you found me happened when he took me away. Because he didn't know anything, he didn't tell me the truth for the last 200 years…"

"Then how do you remember all this?"

"…"

"Are you blushing?"

"It's embarrassing…"

"Well, if you remember everything that we've done together, you wouldn't be blushing as much. Tell me."

"…Romano tripped me down the stairs and I suffered a concussion for a few minutes."

"…wow."

"Shut up."

"Still…you're Holy Rome…after all these years, we've been mourning for no reason…"

"Even if I am him, he is still technically dead."

"But then…you're the closest person that I can get to having an answer…"

"And what would that answer be?"

Austria turned away, and Germany finally saw what he was staring at: shame. Regret. Anger. Self-loathing. Something he never thought he had…a thought he knew was stupid.

"Is Holy Rome mad at me…for having failed him?"

"…no, of course not." He smiled. "You were one nation versus two of them, one of them being the man that you couldn't fight against: your adoptive son. I'm surprised you're still thinking about it."

"Sometimes, it's the only thing going through my head at night."

"Let it go now…I forgive you." Germany folded his arms. "This was something beyond your control, and I'm alive now…so there's nothing left to mourn."

"…thank you."

Meanwhile, all Canada could do was smile.

/=+=/

So…UPDATE IS UPDATE!