Ravis' display had come as another shock to everyone, but afterwards, most were able to accept that, if raised correctly, Lien-hua wouldn't grow up to be as bloodthirsty as her predecessor.

Even Alfred calmed down long enough to see sense, and realize that turning his hurt on the girl would do nothing. "So what about him?" He asked, pointing to Sebastian accusingly. Several nations who were leaving, having seen what they came to see, paused to watch as those who had personally infiltrated Yao's home made their post-war decisions.

Kiku leapt to answer before anyone else could. "He's agreed to share in the blame, and to…"

"Not good enough." Everyone was surprised to see it was Francis' outburst, rather than Alfred's. He hadn't even moved from his chair as he watched the group with dark eyes. "What good will blame do except to humiliate him, and lift a bit of weight off of poor Italy's shoulders? It won't bring anyone back."

"Nothing will Francis." Andreas pointed out coolly. "We've never seen a need for justice for such crimes before, this time should be no different. We have all killed before, have we not?"

"Are you saying we just let his crimes go ignored?"

"Not at all. I'm just saying that your ideas of punishment will only be too severe."

"Remember the last time we let you decide what happened to the losing side of a war?" Arthur added. "It turned out just fantastic, now didn't it?"

The look Francis shot at the Brit was nothing short of venomous, though most who saw it appeared virtually unfazed.

"I think it would be best if we discussed this at another time." Kiku interrupted. He was holding Lien-hua's head to his side, covering her exposed ear with his hand. "It's improper to speak of matters like this in front of a child."

The new China seemed to have a different idea in mind. With an impatient whine, she struggled from Kiku's grasp, and walked boldly over to Alfred, tugging on the hem of his jacket. Curious, and still a little hesitant to trust the kid, he squatted down so that they were at eye level. "Yeah?"

Eyes crying out every apology that her voice could not, Lien-hua wrapped her small arms around Alfred's neck, and buried her face into his shoulder. The small gesture was enough to remind them that even though she hadn't existed until a few days prior, she had still gained all 4000 years worth of memories, and knew everything that had happened. "H-hey… it's okay, please don't cry, I'm not good with kids." As if on cue, she started sniffling too. "Oh! Oh no, please stop. Artie!"

"Oh belt up." The Brit sighed. "Come on, hand her over." Alfred quickly complied, and Arthur now held the girl, just as he'd held Alfred so many times before. "There's a good girl, nobody really blames you for this mess, we're all just a bit on edge."

Alfred got to his feet, suddenly wearing a smile that he didn't think he'd ever be able to let himself have again. "You should put her down before she gets your sense of taste."

"Shut up." He groaned. "And stop smiling like you've just figured out the answer to the universe."

"Well, I'm still working on that one, but at the very least, I know what to do with Sebastian now."

There wasn't an eyebrow in the room that didn't rise in curiosity. (Except for Alfred's and Lien-hua's of course) "Oh really now?" Francis asked skeptically. "And what exactly is that?"

"He'll have to teach her sign language. Under supervision of course. As well as helping Feli and Kiku pay the reparations, and generally clean up everything."

"I think that sounds fair." Tino murmured. Most of the Nordics nodded their agreement as well.

All eyes turned to Francis, as if expecting him to object, but the Frenchman didn't say a word against it. On the contrary, his, "oui, that sounds like a plan' was actually rather enthusiastic. His sudden attitude change was found disturbing by most.

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To say that Gilbert was a bit flustered the first day his boss –as bizarre as it was to say that he had one again- had given him paperwork would be a massive understatement. First of all, he was Prussia. No matter haw many times the officials called him Germany, he wasn't Germany. They'd seemed all too happy to put him in his little brother's place, as if thrilled that his dying had made him seem a little more human.

Second, you let yourself get lazy for a few decades, and suddenly a few meetings and forms to look over felt like the most work he'd done in centuries. Even as a country, he'd been famous for being lazy in political matters. He didn't really care unless he got to fight.

Now, he was working on organizing all of the cleanup in Germany, without West to point out everything he was doing wrong, and smack him upside the head whenever he 'took a break' and tried to sneak out for a drink as he'd done so many times whenever they'd worked together on something.

It didn't help that the only office they could get him on short notice was Ludwig's. Everything was just as immaculate as always, and for once, he was hesitant to make a mess. Gilbert forced himself to be organized, if only for the sake of his brother's memory.

He was shaken from his thoughts at the sound of a knock on the door in front of him. "Come in!"

"Gil?" He looked up at the soft voice as Feliciano walked into the room.

"Hey Feli."

The Italian stood in front of the desk, tracing patterns on the wood. "I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"I thought… maybe if I came here it'd all have been a dream, and Ludwig would be sitting here and…" He voice wavered, and faded, so Gilbert leapt to his rescue before he kept on trying to talk, which would just end with him crying for hours.

"Me too. Every time I walk into the damn building, I keep thinking it's to bug West, and then all those damn secretaries greet me with 'Good morning Mr. Beilschmidt!' Like nothing's wrong."

"It's the same at my office." Feliciano started, voice a little stronger now that he'd had the few seconds to collect himself. "Not one of them has offered condolences, even though I always do when they've lost someone."

"They just don't get it…" He started, and then changed his mind. Being in the office again must've brought out the parent in him again. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had this good of an idea. "Come here."

Confused, Feliciano obliged, walking around the desk, and sitting in the smaller chair beside Gilbert.

"I'm going to tell you a story that I used to tell Ludwig all the time whenever he was feeling down."

Brown-gold eyes bright with curiosity, he inched closer. "You mean, when he was little?"

"That's right." He settled back in the big chair, closing his eyes as memories of the words, and each time he'd said them came flooding back, but he pushed them aside, just for now. "Okay, I have to think for a second to put it into English, I always told it in German…There once was a boy named Ludwig…"

"Was that really the boy's name?"

Gilbert flashed him a quick grin. "Nope. The original was about a girl named Louisa, but I never told him that."

Feliciano giggled softly, and then rested his head on the German's shoulder. "Go on."

"Alright, there once was a boy named Ludwig, and he'd always wanted a dog. His Vati had always said maybe, but maybe didn't get Ludwig a dog. So one day, when he found a little puppy all by itself in the rain, he took it home. But his Vati, being a wealthy man, said that a mongrel like that would ruin their image, and he'd have to get rid of it."

Feliciano felt his eyes widen at the familiar words. Ludwig had told him this story before! Though he'd changed the boy's name again. It had been something else German, Frederick, he thought.

"Now Frederick was a very determined boy, and he wasn't about to just accept it and move on, so he decided to run away from home, taking the puppy with him.""Ve! But Ludwig, why would he run away just for a dog?"

The German smiled, and ruffled Feliciano's hair fondly. "It was a very sweet puppy, and Frederick loved it very much. He would've gone anywhere for it, even though he'd just found it. Besides, it was the only dog he'd ever had. Can I continue?"

"Yes, I'm sorry."

"So Frederick named the puppy Blackie…"

"Like yours!"

"Ja. This Blackie was a German Shepherd too. Anyway, he took Blackie with him everywhere he went as he searched for a new home, and Blackie protected him from all of the big animals out there, like wolves and bears. See, Blackie grew very fast, and was very strong.

"One day, while they were walking by a village, a shepherd came up to Frederick, and offered to buy Blackie from him. He explained that his dog had died, and he needed a new one to protect the sheep."

"He's not going to give him away right?"

"Just listen. Now shepherds are usually poor, so the man couldn't offer him very much, and Frederick really didn't want to sell his only friend, so he made a deal. He would allow him to use Blackie to protect the sheep, but he'd have to take Frederick on as an apprentice as well…"

"And so the shepherd said…" Gilbert glanced over to where Feliciano was now breathing heavily in his sleep. "Yeah, West always fell asleep at that part too."

Carefully, so as not to wake him, he picked up the slumbering Italian, and moved him over to the dark leather couch on the far wall of the office, where he'd be more comfortable than the stiff-backed wooden chair.

The action sort of reminded him of when he and Francis had had to put Matthew to bed after he'd drunk a bit too much.

Francis.

He wondered when he'd ever talk to him again. Not that he blamed him for it, or Alfred for that matter. He knew that he'd be pissed too if it had been him.

Gilbert walked back over to the desk, and flopped over in his chair. "Fuck the paperwork, I need a drink." He muttered, grabbing his wallet and cell. As an afterthought, he scribbled down a quick note to Feliciano, and left it on the table beside him. "Sleep tight." He whispered, brushing his lips against the nation's forehead. "I hope your dreams are a lot better than this cluster fuck we've gotten ourselves in."

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Thanks for reading~!

I felt so bad about the last chapter. I stayed up all night worrying that I'd lost the balance of seriousness and silliness that I felt that I'd had for the rest of it. But there wasn't one giggle to be had in the last chapter, which does not please me. I kind of want a happier ending. What do you guys think? I was also weighing my pros and cons of an 'it was all a dream' ending, but I figured you guys killing me wouldn't be worth it. I'll come up with something in the end.

What I didn't feel bad about, was that I didn't do much writing on my trip. Because I came home to a very empty inbox. tisk tisk. No multi-chapter uploads for you!

The story Gilbert tells Feli doesn't exist, I made it up. Although, just watch, it'll turn out to be real and I'll be sued… just my luck.

If you're wondering what Lien-hua looks like… think a chibi fem!China.

I love reviews… if you didn't know that by now… well clearly you haven't been reading my author's notes. I really want to get to 100 reviews too. : D