Italy continued to pat Germany's head, smiling at the way his slightly messy hair fell across his face and rosy cheeks. His breathing was even. Italy hoped they'd release him soon – he missed the comforting familiarity of daily life, even if Germany could be a little demanding at times.

Germany's eyelids fluttered, and Italy tucked a final strand of hair behind Germany's ear before putting his hand back in his lap. His friend looked up and smiled at him.

"Hello," he said, voice thick with sleep. "Where did the others go?"

Prussia rolled his eyes and grinned. "The local lovebirds went back to "get something" if you know what I mean."

Germany shook his head and laughed, but it came out as more of a wheeze. The room was silent again.

"Do you want anything to eat?" Italy asked, swinging his legs.

Germany opened his mouth as though to say no, but Prussia jumped up and said, "Yeah, you must be hungry, bro! What about you, Italy? I saw Kinder eggs down there in the café. Have you ever had one of those? I have to get us some. They're pretty awesome."

Prussia dashed out the door, before either of his companions could say anything.

"That was weird," Germany said, after the door had slammed.

"Yeah…" Italy shrugged. "I've had them once or twice. I didn't think they were so amazing."

The two lapsed into silence. "Uh," Germany finally said, "I don't know if this is the right time to tell you this, but…I've been having some, uh, odd dreams since I hit my head."

"Really? What about? I hope you're not having scary nightmares or anything!"

"No, no, I'm sure it's not to be worried about," Germany said. He scratched his head nervously and was silent for a little while. "It's just that – well, you were in them."

Italy cocked his head. "It's nice to know that Germany thinks about me so much," at this the blonde reddened and began to splutter, "but what was I doing in them?"

Italy had never seen someone go quite that color. He mumbled something.

"Sorry?" Italy inquired.

"I-I said that you –," Germany began, but at that second Prussia burst back into the room, clutching a handful of chocolate eggs. Italy, for reasons he could fathom, felt a surge of jealous disappointment. He took the chocolate he was offered and unwrapped it in silence.

"So, how're you feeling, bro?"

"Better," Germany said. "They said they can release me this afternoon if I continue to be well."

"That's great news!" Italy piped. "We could go out to dinner to celebrate!" Germany winced, clearly thinking of their last failed dinner "date", of which he and Italy had promised not to speak of any further.

"It might be best if I went home. The dogs need to be fed." Italy pouted. "Well, perhaps it could be arranged for later…" Germany finished weakly.

"Could you tell me more about that fight I got in when I was little?" Germany asked after a while, turning to Prussia.

"Um, well, I don't really know. See, I found you right after it. I heard something that sounded like fighting nearby and then I hurried right over, and there was – well, you lying on the ground. You told me your name after, and I figured we must be related because we had the same last name."

"But I didn't remember what happened before that," Germany continued. "Now I can almost remember something about some war…but people never called me 'Germany', they called me something else. And…Italy was there, too. I could hear his voice."

"Your brain is probably making stuff up because it's confused." Prussia said.

Italy, meanwhile, had stopped eating his chocolate and looked with interest at the brothers. He hadn't known that many people when he was small – Austria, yes, and Hungary and Prussia as well…England, Spain, and France occasionally visited, but he hadn't really grown close to any of them. He certainly hadn't known Germany – he'd really only played with the Holy Roman Empire, and sometimes his brother when he was in a good mood.

He thought of his first friend and love. Italy used to miss him terribly, and he still did, but over time he'd come to accept that Holy Rome wasn't coming back, just like Grandpa. Having friends like Germany and Japan certainly helped, and now that he might be having feelings for someone else…Italy looked at Germany's face. He and Holy Rome had the same hair color, and pretty blue eyes. What if Holy Rome hadn't died? Would he have become Germany?

Italy stopped himself from thinking those thoughts. This was exactly why he still wasn't able to ever completely get over his death; he still hadn't given up foolishly hoping that he was still alive, waiting to come out and embrace him.

Prussia and Germany were still talking. "And I keep hearing these voices still! In my dreams! It's driving me crazy," Germany said.

"And you just need to relax. I can tell the doctor if you want."

Germany sighed. "Forget it, brother." Italy stood up. "You should rest," he said. "Prussia, you should be nicer to him. It's not nice when someone isn't feeling well."

Prussia was coughing. "Yeah, yeah," he said through his hand. "We're brothers, we fight."

Germany turned his head to the side. "Are you okay? You look a little paler than usual."

"Bah! I have no pigmentation." Prussia was taken over by more coughing. "I'll go get – others – bye." He left.

Japan had come to visit, and Austria and Hungary all took a turn checking in with Germany. Eventually the doctor shooed them all away, then checked him as well. The happy announcement was that Ludwig was free to go.

Japan said he would take a taxi back to Germany's house to visit, if that would not be intrusive, before flying home. Italy, Germany and Prussia all rode along. Hungary drove Austria home as well. A joyful Prussia was calling France and Spain and informing them that there was an "awesomeness party" that they needed to attend at his place.

Italy poked Germany in the arm. "Hey, what was that thing you were going to tell me earlier in the room?"

"Huh? Oh, that." Germany flushed again and mumbled. "It's not really important. Don't worry about it."

Italy pouted, which usually worked well to change his mind, but Germany remained silent budge.

At Germany's house, everyone pitched in a bit to help make a dinner. The atmosphere was light and cheerful as everyone chatted and baked into the evening. Prussia seemed to have stopped coughing, Germany seemed content, and Italy smiled and enjoyed everyone's company, forgetting his thoughts about Holy Rome for a while. Everything was good.

Until suddenly Germany began to fall, his face paralyzed in an expression of horror.

A/N: Got some fun cliffhangers for you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter - so fluffy...

QOTD: It's not super relevant, but does anybody want to take a guess at what Germany's remembering? It's probably not too much of a challenge...leave a review and let me know.