Then I was Young and Unafraid

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After a week of studious work to get a handle on all the paper work that has mysteriously built up, that Austria finally stopped ignoring his phone and his e-mail. Walking into the kitchen to fix himself a cup of coffee, he heard his cell buzz on the counter top. Curious, he went and answered it.

"Hallo?"

"Roderich!"

He opened his mouth but didn't say anything.

"Roderich?"

He shook his head. "Sorry...is this Liechtenstein?"

"Ja!"

Leaning against the counter, the Austrian frowned. "Not to be rude, but vhy are you calling?"

"Mienen Bruder..." she sighed. "He's been acting vell, strange to say the least. He von't tell me vhy, though you see."

"Vhat does that have to do vith me?" He inquired.

There was quiet for a moment. "He vas in a good mood for a little vhile, then he was angry and after he called you...he's been brooding."

"Ah that's right," Austria remarked. "He did call." Walking about the kitchen, he went on and said; "It vas strange though, he acted as if I had visited lately."

"You did. For quite a while actually."

Exasperated, the brunette pushed back his bangs and wondered if everyone had simply gone crazy. Or maybe the few missing weeks of memory actually meant something. "Are you sure?"

"You truly don't remember then? Not at all?"

"Remember vhat?" He demanded.

He heard her sigh. "Look for a book for me please, I sent it home vith you."

"Vhat is it about? Vhat does it look like?"

Liechtenstein chuckled softly. "It's big. And it's full of nursery rhymes."

"Nursery Rhymes?" He gaped in disbelief. Why in the world would she have sent him home with a book of those?

"Ja, look through them. I promise the answer's in there."

"But-"

She raised her voice. "Goodbye Roderich."

"Liechtenstein!" He cried, but it was too late. The girl had hung up. Staring at his phone in frustration, he readjusted his glasses and got up to look for the book. Hopefully, it wouldn't take long.

Luckily, it took him all of an hour to find the paper-bound book beneath his sofa. Frowning at the garish colors and cheap, large gold letters; Austria is made to wonder why the book was in his home and why Liechtenstein would have sent it home with him. Opening the book, something creaked in his mind and as if on instinct, he began to flip through the pages just like he knew where he needed to go. Eventually, he came to the picture of an old man and girl on a horse with a crow or maybe a raven flying high above the smiling faces. Stare moving to the next page, he opened his mouth and began to read along:

A farmer went trotting

Upon his gray mare;

bumpety, bumpety, bump!

With his daughter behind him,

So rosy and fair;

Lumpety, lumpety, lump!

A raven cried "Croak!"

And they all tumbled down...

And tumble they did. Everything was made loose within his mind. One after another, memory after memory, fell from wherever they had been stuffed away and revealed themselves to his conscious.

He could remember waking in Germany's home wondering how he'd gotten there and if he'd been kidnapped.

The Austrian remembered the blond taking him to Switzerland's and stopping at the store where he found him clothes and the book he held in his grasp.

The man recalled panicking when he saw how big his friend had gotten.

Austria could remember England, he could remember remembering, being small and torn between terror and elation, being bigger and confused, then hopeful and finally sixteen where all he wanted was to be done with the wish so he could go home and pretend the awkward thing had never happened.

Shaking, he fell to his knees and thought painfully of how he forgot. After he promised to never again forget his friend Switzerland! What had he done though? He had let all the good and bad between them slip from his mind like it had meant nothing, just as he had before when he felt he was superior to Vash and believed if he forgot him he'd prove to everyone who had been worthless and who had been worthwhile.

Scrambling to his feet, Austria ran for a coat and his wallet. He needed to get to Bern right now. He had to apologize, he had to tell Switzerland it was his fault and that he'd been an excellent friend and most of all, Austria had to be ready to beg. Because now that he remembered, he didn't know if he could go on without the blond for a friend.

Out the door, the man cursed. He'd forgotten his keys. Running back to the house, he was made to scream when he realized the door had locked behind him. At this rate, he'd never get to Switzerland's!

"Bruder! Vill you get the door? My hand's are sticky!"

Grumbling to himself, the blond rose up from his seat and stalked to the door. It better not be a salesman. Or Italy. As he opened the door, he demanded;

"Vhat?!"

It was Austria. He began to close the door, but a foot stopped him.

"I'm sorry."

Switzerland gaped. "Vhat?!"

"I'm sorry!" The brunette frowned. "I forgot and I promised not to-"

"Hold up," the blond hissed. "You remember now?"

A confused look overcame the other's face. "Ja?"

Vash couldn't stop himself. He was simply too relieved for any lingering anger and hurt to stop him; he hugged the other man as if he'd disappear at any moment.

A second or so later, Austria seemed to regain his bearings and hugged his friend back. "Sorry," he mumbled once more.

"You remember now," Vash whispered. "That's all I care about." And he meant it.

The pair heard the sound of footsteps from behind them. Letting each other go, they turned to see a familiar face smiling at them.

"Should I set out another plate?" Liechtenstein inquired.

Looking to his friend, Switzerland nodded. "Danke," he said as he smirked at the brunette.

"It vill be done in ten minutes!" The girl called as she slipped back into the kitchen.

Austria bit his lip and Switzerland paused. "You are staying, aren't you?"

"If you vant me to."

Bringing his friend back into their hug, the shorter man chuckled. "I do."

He realized they had a lot to work out, even now, but to start things off right Vash knew he had to convince Roderich he wanted him around even after all that had gone wrong between them. Especially since he'd just broken a promise they both had wanted to be fulfilled.

"Danke Vash for not throwing me out," Roderich whispered.

He patted his back and let the brunette go. "Ve have to learn to cut each other a bit slack now and again for this to vork don't you think?"

"Ja, you're right." Austria agreed a smiling tugging at his lips. While he didn't think he'd been forgiven, he did believe they were finally on the right path to friendship.

And here we are at the end of this story! What did you think of it? Was it good? Bad? What was your favorite part? Your least favorite part? And most of all, do you like how it ended?

To reviewers, Vanessa15975329, Marik of Yami, Abbgy of the Sword-Flowers, Katie-Kat1129, onyxlark36, Mite, Dextra2, That Flyingtoaster, Light8mare, HetaJuu, MoonBlazer, Summer Leigh Wind, Esta Bondevik, PirateANDelf, and violonforte; thank you all for reviewing and for all of your support. It means so much to get those reviews and I thank you for taking the time to let me know what you think of my story.

Now, just because this story is over doesn't mean I'm done with the Hetalia fandom or even these characters! I have recently posted the first chapter to my newest Hetalia story Ascendant. This story is a super power/superhero AU that contains many (dammit if I don't get them all in there!) of our favorite and not so favorite Hetalia characters. It would mean a lot if you went and checked out that story as well.

Thank you again for reading this story everybody and pretty please leave one last review!

P.S. If you didn't take notice of the note at the top, please vote on the poll on my page!

Words:

Ja-Yes

Hallo-Hello

Danke-Thanks

(Mienen) Bruder-(My) Brother