Hi!

Alright, I haven't updated for a while, but here you go. I got a lot to say.

So, as for the last chapter: some time has passed. I would say about a week. And to the winner of the little game I put for fun last time, here you go!:

My answers:

"Just do it, those are the rules, remember?" -Elizabeta

"There is no reason to hesitate." -Kiku

"Feli? Are you ok?" -Antonio

"Just do it!" -Vash

"Why wait?" -Roderich

"Does anyone care about what I have to say?" -Mathew

"You look more cornered than a cat." - Heracles

"What does that have to do with anything?" -Felix

"Come on, it'll be fine." -Im Yong Soo

"This is scary..." -Toris

"What's going on again?" -Lilli

Winner's answers:

"Just do it, those are the rules, remember?" Arthur
"There is no reason to hesitate." Kiku
"Feli? Are you ok?" hmmm... either Roderich or Lovino
"Just do it!" Vash
"Why wait?" Elizabeta
"Does anyone care about what I have to say?" Matthew
"You look more cornered than a cat." Hercules
"What does that have to do with anything?" Felix
"Come on, it'll be fine." Mathias
"This is scary..." Lilli
"What's going on again?" Antonio

You were the closest so you win! Good job invisiblemanda!

I was looking through my mail recently (email). You know, deleting emails, looking at all the awesomness, stuff like that. And I came across the best thing ever.

14 reviews. 11 followers. 11 story favorites. You guys make my day. In fact, you make my whole year. And I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but it's more than I ever expected. So thank you guys. All of you.

And I also saw another thing which was pretty cool. An email saying "New story from Emily Woodstone. Title: In Italia. Date:October 17". It awes me to see how long it's already been. So thanks for staying with me guys. You rock. I hope you all have had as awesome a year as I've had.

This chapter is a pretty interesting one, so I hope you like. Also, since it's almost Christmas time, I figured I would post a one shot Christmas special on the Vargas family. It's set a year before Ludwig came around. It's called "A Very Vargas Chrismtas" (actually I JUST came up with that name. Pretty cool right?). So if you're interested, look it up! I'll post it around Christmas time.

Anyways, enjoy the chapter!

How many times would they have to do this? Someone from the other side gets captured, and right as they're about to kill them, somehow they escape. Then all of the energy that was supposed to be spent on partying, was instead spent on trying to get back those that escaped.

Gilbert almost threw in the towel. He couldn't stand Feliciano anymore, but no one else seemed to understand his position. In fact, it seemed some of them were still fond of Feliciano, and hesitant to kill him. So, of course, Gilbert was left to remind all of them that they were enemies.

And it left Gilbert only one choice. He had to make a deal with them.

He knew what the cost of that was. And they didn't have enough money. Yet. But Gilbert sure as hell planned to get that money, one way or another.

Gilbert wouldn't give up so easily. But the first thing to do would be to let the others know his plan. Well, at least part of it.

Mathias was sitting alone in the drawing room with Elizabeta and Felix. All of them were talking about ways to go about their plans.

Sharpening their knives, they went about their normal day.

What do you do when there is nothing left to do? You have all the spoils in the world. You have nowhere to go. You've done everything imaginable. A great philosopher once said, "man is most troublesome when he is most at ease." Those words couldn't be more true. When you're at ease, when you have nothing to physically do, the only thing left is to think. And when someone is alone, they think the worst things. They think things that should never be thought. Then they act on it. And what they don't know, is it can change their lives forever. It can ruin their lives forever.

Especially when you're in the mafia. People think. When they aren't supposed to. And they think the most dastardly things. Rebelling against the leader. Thinking of what life would be like outside of the mafia. Making pacts with the wrong people.

And Feliciano had absolutely nothing to do. He was sitting in his room, accompanied by Kiku, making small talk. The whole time unconsciously fingering an iron cross around his neck. Kiku, who had stopped talking for some reason, stared at Feliciano. Feliciano didn't even notice the silence, he was so lost in thought.

"Are you ok?" Kiku asked.

Feliciano didn't respond. Kiku couldn't tell what he was thinking about.

"Feliciano. Are you ok?" Kiku asked again.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I'm fine."

Kiku looked at the cross around Feliciano's neck. "...you got that from Ludwig, didn't you?"

Feliciano snapped to reality and instantly dropped the cross, putting his hands in his lap. Kiku sighed when he realized Feliciano wouldn't answer.

"You know, you can go see him if you want."

"You know I can't."

"Who cares if you go? You're the leader. You proved how much you rightfully deserve that title a week ago. And you've proved it many more times before that. Who cares what you do? As long as you're still our leader, no one will care. You deserve to have a life, too."

Feliciano thought about this for a while. "But... but he betrayed me. That's unacceptable no matter who you are. I'm so mad at him."

"But you don't hate him, do you?"

"..."

"I didn't think so. Anger always passes. Love never does."

"... but I told him to leave. To get out of my way. What do you think he'll do when he sees me again?"

"I've known Ludwig for a shorter amount of time than you did, but I also spent some time getting to know him. You know I am an excellent judge of character, not to brag, but from what I can tell Ludwig is a great guy. A perfect match for you. And he truly cares about you too. I have a feeling he's simply sitting by himself, waiting for you to come back so he can properly apologize."

Feliciano smiled a little at the thought of that.

"So? What are you going to do?"

"...Ve~ I'm going to go see Ludwig! In fact, I'll go right now! Grazie Kiku!" Feliciano leapt up and gathered Kiku up in a bone-crushing hug, leaving Kiku just a little terrified.

"Uh... it's... no problem..." Feliciano bounded out of the room, grabbing his car keys and gun and running out of the house.

"Hm..." Kiku sighed. "I should have at least driven him. He's going to get into a car wreck."

Gilbert was getting ready to tell everyone his plans (part of them), when Francis strolled into the room, a rose sticking out of his coat pocket. Gilbert sighed. Francis was such a prick. He didn't even fight. He just screamed and ran away every time a fight came up. And then those flashy clothes of his always got them caught. At least Francis equally hated Gilbert. So the only time they talked was when it was necessary.

"What do you want?" Gilbert harshly asked.

Francis rolled his eyes. "I only came here to tell you that they called back."

Gilbert lit up. "Oh? And what did they say?"

"They agreed to your terms. As long as you can get the money to them by next month."

Gilbert grinned to himself. This was perfect. They were much more accepting to the terms than Gilbert had thought. He figured more negotiating would take place.

Francis looked at Gilbert and chuckled. "That's the look you used to have whenever one of us killed someone. You were so proud of us." Gilbert stopped smiling and stared at Francis, the two of them standing a while in silence. Gilbert chuckled.

"Back when the three of us were part of the Bad Touch Trio. I remember."

"Those were good times, mon ami. We would do nothing unless it was together."

"But that was also when everyone was in this family. Then Feliciano left..."

Francis looked at Gilbert with pitied eyes. "I know you hate him now, Gilbert. And I know why. But you tend to forget how much you used to love that bright kid. And you know why he left. I honestly think you should have left too." Francis walked to the door and opened it, but stopped. "Besides, you hated Ivan enough to kill him. Why not just leave?" Francis stepped out the door and it swung shut behind him. Gilbert felt his eyes and throat burning.

"The Bad Touch Trio" Gilbert chuckled to himself, on the verge of tears. "I wonder where that went." Gilbert slumped down in the chair and covered his face in his hands.

In between the calm and the chaos, there lives a certain unrest. Where you don't know what will happen next. You anticipate the next move, but are you ever sure that it will happen that way? Gilbert expected to get the money, and seal the deal. Mathias expected to overthrow Feliciano and take over as leader. Feliciano expected Ludwig to honestly slam the door in his face.

But will it ever happen the way you expect?

Feliciano still fiddled with his iron cross as he walked down the hall. He was so nervous. He thought that Ludwig would hate him. He wished he had never met Ludwig in the first place. Then he wouldn't be in this position. Feliciano stammered down the hall, going in between wanting to run to Ludwig's door, and wanting to turn back, forget all about Ludwig and walk away forever.

Soon enough, he found himself at Ludwig's door.

Feliciano was surprised to find the door slightly gaped. He knocked on the door. No reply.

"Hello? Ludwig, are you there?"

No reply.

Feliciano started to panic. He slowly walked in, reaching for his gun.

"Is anyone even in here?" Feliciano asked. He wasn't even completely inside when a pipe swung at his head, which he barely blocked.

"Feliciano?!" a surprised voice asked.

Feliciano, still holding the pipe away from his face, looked around the door, equally surprised. "Ludwig?! What are you doing!"

"The Braginsky's kept coming in, so I had to defend myself. I guess they didn't like me letting you go." Feliciano had never thought before of the consequence that Ludwig had to go through for letting him go. "Anyways, what are you doing here Feli?"

"I... I thought I would..." the words escaped Feliciano as he was reminded of everything that happened.

Ludwig noticed that Feliciano still had some hurt in his tone. Ludwig sighed, his tense body going slack. "Feliciano... You know I'm sorry. I never meant to-" Feliciano looked away, remembering how much he hated Ludwig. "It's just... Gilbert is my family. You more than anyone should know how hard it is to go against your family. I'm truly sorry."

Feliciano looked at Ludwig. He chuckled. "When the others brought you for me to kill you, I actually considered it for a while. But... I let you go."

Ludwig smiled, finally lowering the pipe he was holding. "So I guess we're not that different after all."

Feliciano looked at Ludwig. He knew he could never hate Ludwig. Not really. He realized, with a little jolt, he wasn't even mad at Ludwig anymore. Feliciano jumped on Ludwig, wrapping his arms around the German's neck, his feet barely brushing the floor, the door swinging from Feliciano running into it.

Ludwig was surprised by the hug at first, but then he tightly wrapped his arms around the Italian's waist, lifting him off the ground a little more. Ludwig breathed in his scent. Sweet smelling wine and cigar smoke. Ludwig laughed a bit at that. Feliciano looked up, obviously confused as to why he was laughing. Ludwig took the opportunity to lean in and kiss Feliciano.

Alfred had grilled Francis for at least half an hour, trying to find out what that call was all about. Finally, when Alfred threatened Francis with his gun, Francis gave up the information. And Alfred couldn't believe his ears.

His first instinct was to call him and warn him. But then Alfred remembered they were in different families. Enemies now. Alfred hated that. But he betrayed Alfred. It wasn't fair, but... he would just have to suck it up like a good hero would. Alfred turned over a picture in his pocket and looked at it. It had been such a long time since then...

Arthur studied the overturned picture frame sitting on his desk. He knew exactly what the picture looked like, so he overcame the urge to sit, staring at that picture for hours. He had better things to do than reminisce about times that would never come back. Besides he probably forgot all about that day.

Antonio went through his closet, picking out what he wanted to wear for the upcoming party. He came across an old pirate outfit of his and smiled. Back in the days when he pillaged the four corners with his two best friends. They were already in the mafia, but lived off their one rule: whatever I want to do, I'll do. No one can get in my way.

But now those days were gone. The Bad Touch Trio was no more. Antonio still occasionally wished that he hadn't left. Or at least, that they left with him.

Antonio shook his head of the thought and continued looking through his closet.

Ludwig woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Literally. His feet were where his head should be, and his head was where his feet usually go. He looked around, looking for Feliciano.

After realizing Feli wasn't there, Ludwig got up out of bed. From the kitchen was coming the most delicious smell. Ludwig smiled. He had missed that smell.

He began walking to the kitchen. He couldn't believe that it had already been four months since he met Feliciano. Almost two weeks since he had even seen him. And now there was Feliciano, happily humming to some Italian song as he cooked food. Ludwig quietly walked up to Feliciano, nipping his neck, making Feliciano jump.

"Ah, L-Ludwig! Ve~ you scared me!"

Ludwig laughed. "Sorry. Are you ok?"

"Ve~ I'm fine." Feliciano carefully put the pan he was holding back down and turned around to hug Ludwig. "Did you sleep well Ludwig?"

"Ja. You?"

Feliciano chuckled. "With what little sleep I got, yeah." Ludwig laughed again. "Would you like some food?"

"That sounds great. I'll set the table, ok?"

"Ve! Ok!" Feliciano turned back to the food, but didn't begin cooking again yet. Ludwig stayed with his arms wrapped Feliciano.

"Hey, Ludwig?"

"Ja?"

"Te amo."

"Ich liebe dich." Ludwig kissed Feliciano on the cheek and began setting the table. Feliciano resumed his cooking and humming.

Gilbert had just finished telling everyone the plan. They had taken it surprisingly well, although there was some doubt that they could actually be trusted. Well, more than some. Everyone, even Gilbert, had doubts as to if they could be trusted or not.

They were called the Savages after all. And they were known for savagely murdering not only their enemies, but their allies if they didn't pay the right price. As soon as Gilbert called them the first time, his fate was sealed. If Gilbert couldn't get the money, then the Savages would come and kill him along with the whole family in no time.

It was risky, but Gilbert would do anything to end Feliciano and the whole Vargas family once and for all.

Phew, that was a long chapter!

I have no notes today. Everything I can say would pretty much give away what's going to happen next. So I'm done talking.

For now.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'll post the next one as soon as I can!