Dear West

Chapter 3:

May, 1971

He licked his lips nervously as he sat in the back room of his workplace yet again with Feliciano next to him. The pair peeked out to see Lars walking back with a slight shake of his head. Somehow, the Dutchman had gotten involved in his plans, and though he was only the watchman, they both knew what kind of risk he was putting himself in by affiliating with them.

After what seemed like hours, the waiter finally returned and stretched, cracking his neck as he did so.

That was the sign.

"Alright Feli, it's your turn. Don't worry, you'll be fine."

The brunet nodded hesitantly, "okay Gilbert…bye bye, will you please say bye to Ludwig for me?"

"Will do, and don't worry, it'll only be for a couple months." He gave the boy a light shove, "make sure you follow Lars closely, alright? He'll help you out."

Another nod.

"Okay, go, go, go," he whispered and pushed the child towards the tall blond.

Lars glanced down at the shaking child before slowly leading him towards the bathroom, out of sight from the other customers. Once inside, he pointed to a brunet man by the sink with glasses on his face and a mole under his mouth. Then, without a word, he turned and went back out.

Hesitantly, Feliciano walked towards the stranger and tugged on his jacket, "e-excuse me."

The brunet turned around and blinked, "yes?"

"Can we have pasta for dinner tonight," he asked quietly.

The man adjusted his glasses, "of course not, you idiot," he spoke sternly and took the pouting boy by the hand and returned outside. "…but I suppose you can have it for lunch," he muttered softly after awhile and went to order a plate for the child.

Waiting for results, he perked up when Lars re-entered the room. "How'd it go?"

"He's sitting with the guy, eating pasta and looking happy. I never knew you knew such aristocratic people, Gil. Real classy."

Gilbert shrugged, "he was less lame when we were younger. He actually knew how to fight back then, sort of anyways-not that he ever managed to beat me. The stupid aristocrat better take care of that kid."

Digging around his apron pouch, the waiter pulled out a couple bills and a note that'd been slipped in between. He handed it over with a subtle smirk, "it's from him. He really knows how to hide notes, I barely noticed it. Did you two use to pass notes around in class when you were all little girls?"

He raised a brow and took the note, "no way, I don't know about you, hell, you probably exchanged tulips and kisses back during your schooling days, but talking with fists was and always will be the way to go for me."

Lars shrugged, "if you say so. By the way, you can't use this place for your little operations anymore. Boss said we're getting spies and guards and whatnot coming in more often, he doesn't want this place torn, closed or burned down, you know."

Swearing under his breath, he frowned, "does he know about all this?"

"I don't know but he came in after you left yesterday and told me to keep an eye on things, said it was strange for guards to come so frequently."

"Couldn't it just be because we have good food for a reasonable price?"

The blond raised a brow, "really, Gil? Think about what you just said."

"What? The food here isn't that bad! I like it! And the price isn't too bad…"

"Not that you'd know since all you order are leftovers. Whatever, I should probably head back out," the other man muttered, "by the way, I told Bella to go find you in the case of an emergency. If anything ever happens, make sure you help her out, alright?"

Gilbert nodded, "that sounds fine to me, as long as she doesn't bring Russian soldiers with her."

"I'll tell her to keep that in mind."

Once his friend left, he got up and left for his lookout point. On the way, he took out the note and unfolded it.

East,

Make sure you take care of yourself, you idiot.

Austria

"Way to nag me, I'm not a kid anymore and even then, who does he think he is…stupid aristocrat," he muttered half-heartedly and refolded the note before stuffing it into his pocket.

He'd pin it up after he got home.

Hours later, when he returned to his apartment, he found Ludwig standing at the door, waiting for him and looking rather lonely. He gave a weak smile, "well Lui, I guess it's just the two of us again. Did anything happen while I was out?"

A nod, "soldiers walked by again…"

He could tell that the boy had been shaken up, not used to dealing with such situations by himself. He knelt down to the boy's level and soothed his hair back, "were you worried, Lui? Don't worry, they'll never get me, I promised that I'd always be there for you, remember? I won't let them get you either, they'd have to get through me first, and that's pretty much impossible, you know? Now was there anything else today?"

"No but did Feliciano make it, Bruder," the younger boy asked anxiously.

"Of course he did, this is my awesome plan, there's no way it could go wrong! Feli's probably over the wall with Rodney right now, eating some gourmet meal or something. You should know your Bruder better than that by now, my plans never fail," he claimed haughtily.

He was about to head back to his room when the blond called out to him, "Bruder."

"Ja?"

"Will…will we be going to the west as well?"

Blinking, he tilted his head in question, "Of course, why would you think otherwise?"

Ludwig pursed his lips, "will we be going together?"

He paused for a moment before nodding, "ja Lui, we'll stick together. I'll figure something out, I promise."

March 1950

He stared anxiously as his tapping foot, mentally willing it to stop. He didn't like it, being nervous that is. It just wasn't like him. But then again, he'd never gone through what he was about to go through before so it was explainable. So he stood there, waiting for his best friend for life, the girl who thought she was a boy, the girl who he thought was a boy, the only girl who could match him in fights, Elizabeta.

They'd grown up together doing things all boys did; climbing, fighting, racing…anything he did, Elizabeta would do as well. But then it all changed when she turned into a girl. It seemed so sudden, one day she was fist fighting with other boys, the next, she had chest pains and then bam, she grew boobs.

Then it all changed.

She didn't do everything he did anymore. She'd only give in occasionally when they were alone. She wouldn't accept his makeshift 'bandages' anymore. She suddenly developed manners and wore a dress. It was strange. But what was stranger was that he couldn't freely approach her anymore. She wasn't the boy he was best friends with anymore, she was now a girl he was best friends with.

He stared at the mirror, wondering if he'd be able to go through with it. "Er'za, do you want to go out some time? Elizabeta, will you go out with me? Er'za? Elizabeta?"

"Gil!"

Giving a start, he turned around and let out a bark, "Er'za, don't sneak up on me like that!"

The brunette rolled her eyes, "sorry, I forgot that you're more of a girl than me."

"Say what you want, you know I'm way awesome-r than you any day, and you know that deep down inside, you've got an un-proportional guy-ness to girly-ness ratio," he smirked.

The girl shrugged in return, "That's fine with me. We complement each other then, since you're such a girl."

"Hey!"

"You wanted to ask me something? I have something I want to tell you too," she smiled excitedly.

He felt his heart beat a little faster at that, "what is it?"

"Oh no, ladies first."

"Funny," he gave a mock laugh, "no seriously, what is it?"

Elizabeta's smile remained, "fine, since the lady insists. Roderich just asked me out! And I said yes!"

He could feel his jaw going slack and his head breaking a little, but it wasn't like he could cry since boys didn't cry. So he covered it up smoothly with an incredulous "y-you got yourself a girlfriend!"

"Shut up! Roderich isn't a girl!"

August, 1971

The pair of the paced around in their apartment restlessly. Because they couldn't meet at the restaurant or the park anymore, and there'd been more patrols out ever since another tunnel had been found a few days earlier, there was only one place left to put the plan in action.

There was a knock on the door.

"Stay here," he told his brother and walked over to the open the door just a crack. Upon seeing a familiar brunette standing there, he let go of the breath he'd been holding and opened it, "good, it's just you…hurry up and get in here."

The woman frowned, "that's the first hello I get from you after all these years? I thought you said we were best bros for life."

Gilbert raised a brow, "yea, that was when you were still a bro, you're a she-bro now, it's not quite the same. Anyways, Lui, come over here and meet Elizabeta."

Emerging from his room, the blond silently made his way over, "hello, I'm Ludwig…"

Elizabeta smiled, "hello Ludwig, you're nothing like your brother, I'm glad."

"Oi, what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means exactly what it means."

"Whatever," he looked over at his watch, "you're early, we can't leave for another ten."

The woman shrugged, "that's fine, I guess we can catch up in ten minutes then. So how've you been, Gilbert?"

Long overdue conversations weren't part of the plan, but not wanting the atmosphere to get awkward, he returned the shrug, "I've been fine and very awesome as you can see."

Elizabeta leaned in to study him a little closer, "I don't know about that, your cabinets look a little empty and you look a little scrawny…"

"I'm not scrawny! Just because you've put on some weight and I look lean in comparison, that doesn't make me 'scrawny'!"

"Hey," she frowned and punched him in the arm, "it's a universal rule that you're not allowed to call girls fat!"

"Girl? What girl? Aside from that punch, there's still nothing feminine about you!"

She let out a huff and crossed her arms, "Seriously Gil, you haven't changed in the least."

He raised a brow, "You mean the fact that I'm still awesome? Yea, I know. So what's up with you? Still dating the stupid aristocratic chick?"

There was a pause.

Adjusting the flower behind her ear, she glanced around, looking for the right words. Looking at the flower, he could still remember how it all started.

April, 1945

"Hey Er'za, what's up?"

The girl was sitting in her lawn with sulky look on her face, "no one believes I'm a girl."

He rolled his eyes, "of course they don't, I wouldn't have either, I mean, you still look the same as before…you know, when you were still a guy. Here," he picked a flower from a nearby bush and stuck it behind her ear, "at least you look kind of like a girl now."

Green eyes widened as she adjusted the flower slightly, "R-really? How does it look? Does it suit me?"

Suddenly, he realized what he'd done and could feel the heat rising to his cheeks, "w-w-why are you suddenly acting all girly? It's so weird! Stop it!"

She stood up with her hands on her hips, a blush sprouting on her face as well,"W-what are you talking about! I just asked if it suited me or not! Stop making things weird!"

There was a pause between the two before they ended up in another fist fight.

August, 1971

"How do I say this," she drawled out hesitantly, "no…"

His brows furled in confusion, "so no, you're not dating Rodney anymore but…?"

She pursed her lips, "we're not dating anymore…Gilbert, we're married now."

Red eyes widened, "w-what? Married? Seriously? When?"

The woman held her hands up to calm him down while quickly explaining, "It was last year and we had no way of contacting you, Gil. I'm really sorry! I actually sort of wanted you to be my maid of honour."

"Best man," he corrected her, "so you and Rodney got married…did he make a beautiful bride like I imagine he did? Does he stay around the house all day? Does he do all the chores? Does he cook and do the dishes? Do you have kids? Did he get insane cravings? I bet he did. Does he take good care of the children? I bet he does."

Giving him another playful punch on the arm, she laughed, "Gil! Can't you be serious for a minute?"

He shook his head, "No way, the mental picture's too weird, how am I supposed to take it seriously? You're married now, Er'za…"

"Yea I am…isn't it strange?"

"Things have really changed while I've been here, hm?"

Elizabeta's eyes softened, "that's not completely true…I mean, some things are still the same. Francis and Arthur are still at each other's necks, though you did cause some major changes with them. I never thought I'd see the day those two would become responsible fathers, I mean, Arthur's making his kid scones and the kid actually likes it. And Francis behaves himself more when his kid's around, you should see them, they won't let go of each other's hands and that little boy's always carrying that bear around, it's so cute. And Feliciano, he's an absolute darling, you should see how he helps out with the household chores. He talks about you and Ludwig all the time, he makes you sound like quite the hero."

He shrugged, "what can I say? Kids know awesome guys when they see them. And I'll get to see all these things soon enough."

She nodded in agreement, "that's right, you'll be over there with us real soon."

"I still can't believe you're married," he muttered before looking at his watch again, "well, it's time to go. Come on Lui. Did you drive, Er'za?"

"No, Roderich's chauffeur did."

"I see…anyways, let's go," taking his brother by the hand, he led the two out, "Lui, you know what to do once you get to the checkpoint, right?"

The boy nodded.

"And we have all the things we need?"

"I think so, Bruder, here," the blond passed all the documents over to him.

Flipping through everything to double check, he dipped his head in approval, "Great job, Lui, let's hurry up and get this over with."

Once in the car, the drive to the crossing point was filled with heavy silence. When they arrived, they joined the line up of departing cars and more tension as added to the atmosphere. It took about half an hour before it was finally almost their turn. But just as they began driving up to the toll, he glanced back and noticed a large figure walking towards the booth. He could feel his mouth go dry as he looked from the pair beside him to the approaching Russian.

If Ivan were to see him or Ludwig, it'd be over for everyone in the car. Though he wasn't sure whether or not the Russian had seen his brother before, he couldn't risk it. Quickly, he shook the driver's shoulder lightly, "hey you, Rodney's driver, hold up for a minute."

Elizabeta looked over at him in surprise, "Gilbert, what are you doing?"

Leaning over, he told the woman quietly, "Er'za, you remember back then? I never answered you, did I? …I always thought that that flower suited you very well and congratulations on your marriage to Roderich. I still think he's a girl though." Then he turned to his brother, "Lui, go through as planned, alright?"

Ludwig blinked and sat up in alarm, "Bruder, where are you going? I'm coming with you!"

He shook his head and a ran a hand through the boy's golden hair which had been choppily cut up by him, "nein, Lui, there are some things in life you have to do as a man, and right now you have to take care of Er'za, alright? She may be manly, but she's still a girl…and take care of Rodney and Feli as well, you're the man in charge now, okay?"

The boy was clutching onto his jacket and shaking his head, "But Bruder…I want to go with you."

"Remember what we were talking about? This is just one of those flaws that happens, so don't worry, you know exactly what I'll do, right? Be good, Lui," he muttered quietly and placed a kiss on the boy's head before pulling his jacket away and stepping out of the car. He began walking up to the Russian as the car continued driving, "whoa, Ivan? What a surprise!"

In the car, grabbing the documentations the other had left behind, Elizabeta wrapped an arm tightly around the boy as they made it to the booth. It took all her willpower to not turn around to see what was happening with her childhood friend. She held her tears back as green eyes looked forward, "It's alright Ludwig. Don't look back or we'll ruin his plan. He planned all this out, he knows exactly what he's doing," silently, she wondered whether she was trying to convince the child in her arms or herself.

"Gilbert? How unexpected…and what were you doing in that car?"

"Saying goodbye to an ex-girlfriend, you know how it is," he shrugged. His mind was racing, trying to come up with a plausible story to tell. He hadn't completely accounted for this scenario; failures hadn't been part of the plan. "You know, they get super clingy when their marriages don't work out the way they'd plan."

The guard tilted his head slightly, "Do they now?"

Watching the car out of his peripheral, he wished it'd get through a little faster to save him the agony of conversing with the Russian, "yea, but then again, I've never really been able say no to her. She was my first love after all, but now she's kind of like a sister to me, I guess, coming to me for relationship advice and whatnot. She waited for months for that visa just to get my opinion on the guy she's married to right now," he sighed and shook his head dramatically, "women…she even has kids now."

Ivan had his usual smile on his face, "is that all? You're unusually chatty today. I hope saying goodbye was all you were doing."

"I can't help it, have to vent to someone, you know? And you just so happened to be the first person I saw…and if you must know, in addition to saying goodbye, I managed to get a kiss too since I'm awesome like that," he ranted mindlessly until he saw that the car began moving through, "well, now that I've vented, I guess I'll let you get back to your job before you get fired."

"Gilbert," the man's tone suddenly turned serious.

"Ja," he turned and asked innocently.

It startled him to see that the man's eyes were watching him intently, a dark smile on his face, "it's a pity. You nearly got away too. If you'd been anyone else, I would've had you arrested, but do you know why I'm letting you go today?"

The other's tone sent chills down his back. He averted his eyes, "…why?"

"Because it's fun watching you struggle," usual smile back on his lips, the Russian waved, "Better luck next time, Gilbert."

Without answering, he turned and continued making his way back to his now empty apartment.

January, 1972

It'd been months since he'd done anything. After sending all the children out, although he'd been talking to Lars, nothing significant had arisen yet.

Sighing and rolling up the letter to Francis and Ludwig, he attached it to the leg of the bird and was about to send it out the window when there was a knock on the door. Blinking, he got up warily, opening the window a crack, ready to set the pigeon free. He walked over to the door and leaned against it, "who is it?"

"Little bird," was the hushed reply.

Gilbert released the breath he'd been holding. It was the codeword he and Lars had come up with after they began collaborating together. The Dutchman would find and deal with the clients during his shifts and send them over to him, he would then come up with a plan, contact Francis and arrange everything. That was their system and so far so good.

He opened the door to see a woman standing there with her child and silently reminded himself to write Francis a second note.

France,

There's still work to be done.

East

Nya~

Threw in a little PruHun there! And Ivan's creepy! What else, what else? I guess nothing...thank you readers and reviewers! Love you lots! Enjoy!