Then I was Young and Unafraid

"Hey," The boy's head twisted away from the book of nursery rhymes. Leaning against the doorway, Switzerland frowned. "You're still reading that?"

Austria shrugged, causing his nightshirt to slip past his shoulder, (Germany wasn't very good at guess sizes it seemed). One of his small hands brought the picture book to a close and he turned fully to Switzerland. "I like it," he admitted and the blond didn't feel all that worried; he was shamefully more relieved the boy had taken off his glasses for the night.

It was easier to pretend he was someone else (his childhood friend) when the Austrian didn't wear those ridiculous lenses. Clearing his throat, he took a step in. "I'm sorry," he blurted. Flushing, the Swiss dropped his stare to his toes. "For today."

"It's fine," the child waved off. "You vere grumpy-nothing new there."

The remark ticked the blond off. But he reigned it in fast as he sighed; "It's a bit more than that..."

"Oh?"

Approaching, the Swiss hesitated; but ultimately took a spot next to Austria. "How much do you remember about the first time you vere a kind?"

The purple irises cloud and his young face pulled in an unsettling frown. "Not much," he admitted. "I remember that there vere...dangerous people;" the downward angle lessens and his brow softened as he whispered; "...and then there vas an angenehm person."

The man perked up at this. "Do you remember their names? Or vhat they looked like?" Maybe he hadn't forgotten, maybe he'd simply gotten things all jumbled and all he needed was a bit of prompting..."

Austria shook his head. "Nein, I don't remember. It's all fuzzy and..." the child winced. "It hurts to think about it."

Switzerland deflated. "Oh," he murmured.

"It's okay!" Austria declared, seemingly having had picked up on the change in the blond. "It's okay if I don't remember then! I'll remember now and you have all been so nice...I von't forget!"

His lips lifted in half-sneer, half-smile. "Yeah sure," he grunted. "Do you need someone to read to you? I could call in Liechtenstein...or Prussia."

"Nein!" He yelped, diving beneath his borrow covers. "Don't call him here!" He begged. "He's unanständig! He'll ruin the stories!" The venomous diatribe against Prussia was enough to convince Switzerland, despite how genuine the ex-nation was about Austria's well-being, there was no way the young boy would leave willingly with him.

Chuckling, he patted Austria's chest and reached for the story-book himself. "Alright, alright..." he smiled. "How about a story or two from me?"

"Ja! Please Schweiz!" He agreed. "Can you-"

The man put a hand over the boy's mouth. "I think I'll pick, hm?"

"Okay..." Austria agreed after an unhappy moment.

Putting the book away, Switzerland thought of a few tales he knew well enough to tell and grinned. "Hm, Hansel and Gretel?" He teased; "Or better yet! Brother and Sister! Yes, that is a good tale."

The boy shook his head. "Nein," He disagreed. "Those end happily! Good stories do not end vell!"

"Vhy not?" Switzerland inquired.

A strange light came to the child's eyes as he buried his mouth beneath the blanket. "...Life does not end happy. People die and then people mourn always for those who died."

"That's a simple way of putting it," the blond commented. "But people can be happy between deaths. If they vere not, then so many of the things ve enjoy vould not exist!" Prodding Austria with his elbow, he smirked. "You're keyboard included!"

"Can you just read Hoppe Hoppe Reiter?" He begged.

Switzerland couldn't. "Vould The Fisherman and His Wife do? It is not a happy end."

"...okay," Austria relented.

Smiling, Vash nodded his thanks. "Danke, now, there was once upon a time a fisherman..." By the time he three fourth's done, the boy had dozed off. Standing up, the Swiss smoothed the blankets and turned out the light. Stepping out into the hall, he saw Prussia hovering.

"Now vho's a vierdo? Not me." He grumbled at the albino.

The ex-nation shrugged. "You are doing better," he relented. "But you have to hold up another day and half before I leave."

"Vhat if I just go back to being a jerk after you leave?"

He tapped his chin and chuckled "I have a backup plan-it's called your schwester. I've told her to call if she doesn't think she or you can handle keeping him around. I expect her to know vhen to say 'vhen'." He stared at Switzerland. "She's a smart one, you know."

"Stop talking to her!"

The albino shook his head. "I von't do anything to her-she's just a kind," he muttered disgusted.

At a loss, the blond searched the other. "Vhy are you so intent on proving this point? You two aren't freunden, he doesn't matter to you!"

"And he matters to you!?" Prussia snapped back. "I didn't see you try and make friends again after all these years!"

"He forgot me! I'm so mad that I think I could kill him if-" he choked. Switzerland couldn't believe he said that aloud. He said he wanted to kill his childhood friend aloud!

Stare cold, the ex-nation jerked his head harshly. "That's vhy," he explained. "You vant to kill him. Even now after the two of you just got along, you are so mad but you realize you can't do anything about it. I don't vant him to be here vhen you snap-especially vhen he can't defend himself properly."

"You're not taking him!"

Prussia patted his shoulder. "Think about it Schweiz, do you really vant to risk Österreich getting hurt?" The blond didn't know what he wanted. He didn't want the boy hurt but...(he wanted him to remember too). "You have some time, consider vhat is truly best for him; ja?"

"...Ja," The man relented.

With that, Prussia grinned. "You got some beer around here?" The Swiss's hand itched for his gun.

So guys, any thoughts you want to share?

To Reviewers, Onyxlark36, Mite, Marik of Yami, Dextra2, and Vanessa15975329; you guys rock. Also, don't forget that awesome one-shot that will go to reviewer fifty-one if I have fifty reviews by chapter fifteen...

Thank you for reading and please review!

P.S. Don't forget to vote on my poll if you haven't previously!

Words:

Ja-Yes

Nein-No

Kind-Kid

Danke-Thanks

Angenehm-Nice

Schwester-Sister

Freunden-Friends

Unanständig-Crude

Österreich-Austria

Schweiz-Switzerland