Author owns nothing. Gets nothing for this, except some praise :D
Be advised, I claim no right to ideas/characters/ ect contained herein. I do not claim responsibility for Hetalia, or any affiliated licensed ideas. Yadda yadda.
Based off idea or story where everyone has their soulmate's first words on their body.
I own nothing. Rated M. Will be in 2 parts.
OoOoOo
If there ever was a time where Ludwig did not want to be late, it was when he needed to be somewhere. Anywhere, really. He thought that punctuality was a step toward efficiency perfection.
He adjusted his tie, and the cuffs of his suit. It was then that his eyes spied the same familiar 'birthmark' that he had seen all of his life. Briefly, with a touch of longing combined with fondness, he brushed his thumb over the patch of skin that held the words.
'Are you alright?'
It was a common expression, but the factor that changed the everyday question was that it was in English. He had studied the language for nearly seven years. So that he would be fluent when he courted with his soul mate.
Possibly, they were English. Or even from New Zealand. They could have been Canadian, though he knew they often spoke some French. Though he thought about it, he could not picture what they would look like. It was entirely unknown.
Ludwig had spent many years wondering just what his other half was like. Obviously they were willing to help him, and that left him feeling a touch more secure than his dear brother's. Poor Gilbert's arm simply read 'Oh no, not you.'
Which had been a source of endless amusement and mirth for his odd brother. Who had claimed that his soul mate had been overwhelmed upon the mere sight of his awesomeness. Elise, a soft spoken woman from the principality of Lichtenstein, described it much differently.
Ludwig was inclined to believe his now dear sister-in-law.
He wondered, if perhaps, he would have a similar soul mate to Gilbert's. Someone quiet and gentle, like a spring breeze? When he met his other half, would they enjoy the same measures of refinements that he did? Would they be able to handle his dear brother?
The man he had become roused himself, and allowed the fondness to slip from his eyes. He had spent over two decades in wait for the love of his life. He could continue to wait with steadfast determination. They too, must be just as eager to see him.
And, one day, they would be together. He simply had to be patient.
He brushed off his suit one more time, and checked his reflection. His hand went to his hair to smooth an out-of-place hair down. He would not tolerate looking like a disheveled mess on his way to the office.
OoOoOo
He did not live far, so walking was something he always enjoyed doing until colder weather would no longer permit it. However, today, only the first notes of crisp and cool air lingered on the breeze.
Ludwig was minding his own business, reading to arrive at the office a half hour early, as he usually did. He was unaware that today, the world would change for him, before his very eyes. Just as he was passing the local cafe, the wheels had already been set into motion.
The scalding hot beverage landed on him, apropos of nothing. Ludwig let out a surprised and vaguely pained grunt, as he quickly wiped at his neck and chest.
"Are you alright?!" A feminine voice questioned with equal measures of fright and concern. "I am so sorry!"
He was upset, and stunned still, so he glowered with anger as he turned toward the miscreant that had caused this disaster. Which had now left him with no time to return home and change.
"Hold on, let me get some napkins," the woman said, as she dropped the now empty cup to the ground and rushed back inside. Ludwig caught the a tail glimpse of her blue jeans and green jacket. She was blonde, but that did not distract him from the fact that he now smelled of coffee and some sweet syrup.
The German national doubted that it had done any lasting damage, but he would still take the woman to task for splashing a hot liquid on him. He muttered curses under his breath as she reappeared with far too many napkins and began vigorously trying to rub him down.
"Here, hold still," she said as she succeeded in rubbing the stain further into the fabric. "Oh no, I think I made it worse."
She had.
The woman chuckled uneasily, and blinked up at him for a moment.
"I'll pay for the dry cleaning," she rambled, before going back to cleaning him up.
Due to his nature, and the fact she was clearly attempting to make amends, he chose to wait until she was nearly finished before saying anything. He could have chosen to push her away, but he did not want to cause an incident. He was embarrassed enough.
Though he did indulge in giving her a heavy stare of disapproval.
"There... it's... sort of, better!"
The blonde woman, with bright blue eyes glanced up at him with a relieved expression. Her lips pulled into a wide grin as she clutched the soiled napkins in one hand. Ludwig took a moment to register that she was actually a little pretty as she adjusted her glasses.
Some of the coffee must have splashed back on her, for she had a lock of hair sticking up, and out of place.
His hand twitched to fix it.
"Mein Anzug ist ruiniert." He said crisply, not wasting any more time. He would now only be fifteen minutes early to work at this rate.
The napkins dropped from her hand. The woman's mouth gaped slightly as her eyes widened. She closed her mouth and swallowed quickly.
"What...what did you just say?" She asked suddenly far more quietly, and her voice was a touch high on the end notes.
"Mein Anzug ist ruiniert." Ludwig stated again, growing slightly more annoyed. If the American had come all the way to his lands, she could -hopefully- understand him. He could switch to English, but he was a tad cross at the moment.
Her blue eyes dropped to her wrist, and she pulled back the sleeve of her jacket. She started mumbling under her breath.
"Mein...Anzug...ist... ruiniert."
He noted two things. One, her accent was atrocious. And, two, that she was staring at her soul mate tattoo while repeating his words.
That could only mean...
'Are you alright?' Those had been the first words he heard from her.
Which meant...
Ludwig froze. His irritation and anger at the situation vanished. His own eyes widened as the woman's face sported a near-blinding smile. He was even more surprised when she launched herself at him.
Nearly literally.
The suit was wet and had turned cold after the initial heat had waned. So the feeling as she squished against him, while hugging him tightly, was not entirely pleasant.
"Finally!" She crowed loudly, and he winced as his ear was assaulted "I finally found you! Dude, I have been to Germany six times looking for you and-"
Ludwig could feel his heart racing as his mind struggled to catch up with what was occurring. His soul mate was here, and touching him. That was too much. He flushed as she continued to ramble happily.
"-This time in Tokyo-"
Her words became like near static, as he filtered out what was actually going on. He'd met his soul mate this morning, as she assaulted him with hot coffee. No. The woman was clearly a hazard to herself and others!
"-Despite the air cannon, the police were really nice-"
She was nothing like the woman of his dreams. Nothing like the refined and elegant, above all soft spoken, he had pictured. It had happened so quickly, after waiting for so long, that he felt himself being repulsed by the idea of spending his lifetime with the stranger that splashed coffee all over him.
He pulled away from her, and watched as her face furrowed in confusion and concern. Her blonde hair moved slightly as the ends were picked up and played with by the breeze.
"I'm sorry about your clothes. I'll pay for them, " she offered again, growing more worried in appearance. "And, I'm sorry that I hugged you before we were properly introduced. I'm your soul mate and you are mine."
He took another step away from her. Her hand reached for him, as if to keep him from leaving.
"I get that this is sudden, but aren't you happy to see me?"
Ludwig shook his head.
"No." He said, before he could think better of it.
OoOoOo
The cafe owner, watched the American woman, as she came to his shop. For the last few weeks at the same time, everyday -without fail-, she showed up. Amelia, as she had introduced herself, ordered her 'usual', and sat by the window to wait.
She paid for the same thing every time she came. The American did not bother anyone, nor did she speak to anyone. She simply, existed.
Every day, she waited for her soul mate to pass by. The yearning was plain on her face and it was painful to watch. He knew whenever the business man passed, for she would sit straighter and nothing could distract her from watching him.
She'd been rejected.
He and his staff all knew it. They had been there the day it happened. The day that should have been her happiest, turned into something infinitely tragic. They watched as she crumpled outside on the sidewalk, and stared blankly ahead.
He had heard of such a thing happening, but Roderich had always assumed those were stories made up by people wanting to frighten others. Yet, as he watched the woman, he knew they were not just stories anymore.
It was as if he were watching someone die in slow motion. Though, he did not know anything about Amelia, other than her name and that she was American, he pitied her plight. On that day, when he had first seen her, she was simply another tourist. She had been overly bright and perky. Filled to the brim with optimism.
Now, it was nowhere to be found.
She had tried to speak with her soul mate, more than a few times. She had attempted to coax him to speak with her, or to simply spend time with her. Each time had been a touch more desperate than the last.
Until last month, when she had stopped asking. The poor woman was in a holding pattern, it seemed. She did not live and she did not quite die. But, she withered and faded from what she had once been. Then again, who could blame her? Her own soul mate, the lauded and highly sought after love of her life, did not want her.
Roderich grabbed a plate and a made her something to eat. She would be getting ready to leave soon, and he had not seen her eat anything in a while. It was obvious that her other half was not going to be coming for her anytime soon.
OoOoOo
Ludwig was busy at his work, when the telephone rang. He barely had picked it up, when a feeling of dread washed over him.
"Well, I hope you are happy," Gilbert's voice snarled over the phone.
In English, for Amelia had been staying with him and Elise. Elise had taken pity on Ludwig, and sent him updates on Amelia. Which Ludwig had not admitted to looking at his cell several times a day to see how thing were.
Ludwig raised a brow. Elise hadn't mentioned anything that was concerning.
"What do you mean?"
"She's gone." The statement seemed bitter somehow.
There was no doubt who 'she' was. His heart clenched painfully in his chest. As, if protesting the very words or possibility.
"What?"
"You didn't really think she could spend her life pining after you in that cafe, did you? She had to go back." Ludwig could hear the venom dripping off of Gilbert's words. His brother always tried to look out for him, and to do what was best for him.
So, some part of him recognized that this was out of love, that he was taking Ludwig to task.
"Back?" He asked, wanting clarification.
"To America. Where else? She's gone and she isn't coming back." Gilbert said quietly. "You really made a mistake, brother."
Ludwig was... ashamed.
"I...know." He admitted quietly.
He knew that he could have handled the situation better, and done more in hind sight. However, the words of what he would say kept escaping him. She had tried, Amelia, his other half. She had tried diligently to get him to accept that they were a match. Yet, his pride and the parts of him that clutched to his dissipating dreams could not accept her.
Gilbert had been furious with him, and rightly so. Ludwig knew all of that, but he could not... he did not want the woman that was supposed to be his. His brother had offered the American a place to stay, and with a stubborn pride, she had accepted.
At first, she had smiled cockily and said she would give him time to fall in love with her. Somehow, against his will, his lips had quirked into an answering smile.
He knew she sat by the window. He had seen her every day, and oddly enough seeing her gave him comfort. Ludwig had excelled at his work since she came into his life. It should have been easy to take her into his life.
Yet, he'd kept her out. He hadn't truly let her go, for he still took the same route to work every day. He could have rejected her completely, and told her he would never want her, but he... hadn't done that.
He'd only continued to say 'no'. Until she couldn't hold on any longer to a dream that had nothing to feed it.
Ludwig recalled today, as he passed by the coffee shop, bundled up against the chill, the sad way in which she had smiled at him as he walked by. At the time, he had thought she was growing weary of giving him his space.
Now he understood that she was really saying goodbye. The shine to her eyes today, had those been tears?
Strangely, it felt as if he was having difficulty breathing. A cold sweat broke out on his brow, and he felt his hands shake. He felt like he was... panicking.
Why would he be panicking?
Then, as if by a flash of lightening, it took him by complete surprise to realize that somewhere along the way, his heart had gotten lost in those deep blue eyes. The gentle smiles of the American woman, who had been waiting for him to come to his senses.
The phone, which he had been holding, clattered to the floor, and he realized he was a damned fool.
He was in love with the woman that was letting him go.
OoOoOo
America is loud and vast. It s endless and yet overcrowded at the same time with so much going on that it makes his head hurt just to contemplate it. But, he would have to, for Amelia had gone back home.
And, the worst part was that he didn't even know her last name. Or anything about her. But, he knew the exact shade of her eyes, and that she spent far longer in German than she likely should have.
Waiting for him.
Elise had taken the time to copy Amelia's pertinent information from her passport. Ludwig had gone to Gilbert's home, hoping to coax his brother for help. Quietly the soft-spoken woman had pressed a paper into Ludwig's hand.
Her green eyes were filled with a touch of pity... and understanding. She squeezed his hand briefly.
"I love Gilbert," she said, when Ludwig stared at the paper blankly. "But he doesn't understand that for some soul mates, it is harder to... fall in love so quickly."
His face twisted into a hint of relief, that someone understood.
"I built someone up in my head too," Elise continued, "And, when it was Gilbert and not what I had always wanted; I didn't know what to do. I did not accept him at first, either."
"She won't forgive me," Ludwig said quietly, the most emotion he'd ever shown his sister-in-law. "This is too large of a mistake."
She laughed at his fear, openly laughed. His blue eyes blinked in wounded surprise.
"Oh Ludwig," she said fondly, "I think you would be surprised."
A small flame of hope began to burn in his chest.