A/N: First of all, thank you for all your lovely favourites and follows! They mean so much to me! And I'm sorry it took me longer to upload this chapter, my school has filtered Fictionpress and Fanfiction now so it's harder to find time... But I hope you enjoy this! Feel free to drop me a review :)

Guardian-san

The air was chilled outside and it was already beginning to get dark as New Prussia trudged down the quiet street. Despite the fact he was only wearing a t-shirt and his breath showed in the air, he did not appear to feel the cold. Eventually the path dwindled to a dirt track into the forest but he wandered on regardless. Kumajirou grunted warningly from behind him. The under-grown arctic bear sat down on the path and squinted at him resolutely.

"Vhat? I von't get lost, don't vorry." Prussia turned and smirked down at him. "Come vith mich if you vant."

Turning away again, he strode into the shadows of the pine trees and left Kumajirou with no choice but to follow if he wanted to keep the teen nation in his sights. Reluctantly the bear shuffled after him, wary of any other bears that they might encounter especially as the sun was going down. It was damp and chilly in the forest but Gilbert was too distracted to notice. A lot of things had happened in a day. He had woken up in a strange country, he had argued with Canada's boss and apparently he had slept through a huge war. Sighing quietly, he rubbed the back of his head. Sometimes he really did not know what was wrong with him. How had he even managed to sleep that long, it was not as if he was ill or anything… Was it? And why was he still a lightweight after all this time? Surely it would be his time to shine soon… A he stared unseeingly at the ground, his fingers found his Iron Cross. At first he had thought it was some weird prisoner ID that the blonde country had made him wear along with the stupid uniform, but he could never lose the precious medal. How had he even been awarded it anyway, it was not like he had done anything brave enough to merit the award…

A brief image of him in his Teutonic armour flashed in his mind. He was protecting a younger nation from a tyrannical France. Frowning, he focused on the memory and the more he concentrated the more it changed. Was that Mattie..? No… that was someone else… And that was not his Teutonic armour at all; it resembled a more Renaissance uniform. The little nation he was shielding more or less resembled the blond nation from this morning… What?! That did not happen, was he daydreaming?!

Prussia shook his head gently and the mental image flashed back to him protecting Mattie from France in his battered, dented Teutonic armour. The smirking Frenchman struck forward with his sword, he raised his arm to parry but was not fast enough and next thing Prussia knew he was on his knees watching his little brother being dragged away by the powerful European while he knelt bloodied and defeated, his sword fallen by his side. Cringing, he clenched his teeth at the illusion. He had not been able to protect Mattie, he had not been strong enough and he still was not strong enough. What had he been doing all these years, why had he not improved..? The only thing he had going for him was his optimism. Ever since Russia had reduced him to the size of a clan he had been nothing but a small fry. But if he had not kept his remaining men together he would not have survived at all. He was the one who he pushed them forward, kept his head up and gave them a way to carry on. He was a survivor, and a thief. He stole happiness from the people surrounding him in order to live and encourage Matthew. Canada did not have his confidence, despite all the things that the younger country had managed to achieve. Gilbert would keep on smiling for him no matter what, even if he could not defend him, the best he could was at least try to support him.

Overwhelmed by self-loathing, New Prussia fell against a tree trunk and hugged his knees miserably. It was only here that he could be sad in peace, he did not want to worry Matthew more than the blonde man already did. Kumajirou grunted anxiously and nosed his hand.

"I'm fine, just give mich a moment." He mumbled and ruffled the bear's ears. "You're a gut freund aren't you? You can protect Mattie vhen I can't right?"

In answer the small polar bear licked his hand solemnly and pushed him over. Laughing, Gilbert picked him up and set him down on his chest. Kumajirou had always been able to cheer him up even though the bear's relationship with Canada seemed more like mutual acceptance for some reason. The two were always arguing and forgetting each other's names but they never went anywhere without each other. The fluffy, lovable companion reminded Gilbert of someone else he could not quite remember properly. A little chick he had met in his days as the Knights. The chick that had followed him insistently around on his adventures and nested in his hair. What had become of him? Maybe he had drowned in the lake on that fateful day… Getting up with a huff, the silver haired nation smiled sadly down at Kumajirou.

"Let's go home, Matt's gonna flip vhen ve get back as it is…"

Darkness had fallen and he could barely see a foot in front of him but he held onto Kumajirou's scruff so that the bear could guide them both out of the woods.

…

That morning Prussia did not emerge from his room until nearly midday. Stumbling into the kitchen, he plonked himself into a chair. Canada folded down the broad sheet newspaper he was reading so he could look at the bleary-eyed teen. Yawning, Gilbert leaned back on his chair.

"Guten Morgen…" He mumbled, picking a piece of fruit from the bowl.

"Barely, did you sleep well?" Matthew asked in concern. "What were you doing out so late last night?"

"Just took a valk," New Prussia munched on his apple. "In zhe woods."

"The woods?! Gilbert you could have mauled by a bear!" Matthew cried out in alarm.

"Relax~" The albino teen dismissed him. "I had Kumajirou vith mich, und I can fend for meinself anvays!"

"Kumajirou couldn't scare off a fully grown grizzly on his own and after the war, I'm really starting to doubt you could!" Matthew retorted.

Gilbert dropped his apple and glared. Instantly Canada realised what he had said and swallowed nervously. Scraping his chair back, the silver haired nation stood and up and grabbed the blonde by the front of his shirt.

"Vhat vas zhat Matthew?" He snarled, bringing his face very close the younger man's.

"I-I'm s-sorry!" Matthew squeaked. "I-I didn't m-mean it l-like that…"

"Zhen vhat zhe hell did you mean?!" Prussia demanded. "I can look after meinself fine! I don't need anyvun else to care for mich, I can-"

He turned his head quickly and sneezed.

"Bless you…" Matthew blinked.

It was then he noticed that Gilbert's face was flushed with more than anger. His cheeks were tinged with a feverish sheen and despite the fact he should have had no trouble holding the other man up, his arm was shaking. His clenched fist was not as tight as it could have been and rather warm to touch.

"Are you feeling alright?" He asked gently.

"I'm feeling awesome, I-" Prussia let go of him to sneeze again, sniffing loudly.

"You've caught a cold…" Matthew sighed, dropping back into his chair. "Did you not put wear a jacket when you went out?"

"Didn't need vun." Prussia wiped his nose on the back of his hand and Matthew cringed.

"No wonder you were so tired, it's getting colder now, snow is going to start again soon." Canada stood up and took hold of his shoulders. "It's back to bed for you."

"Mattie!" Gilbert whined and trudged along in front of him. "I'm not tired…"

"Don't give me that, you need some rest and warmer clothes." The snowy nation was having none of it. "Is the heating on in your room? You know you're susceptible to the cold, especially due to your history."

A chilly breeze met them when they opened Gilbert's door. The window was wide open and the curtains blew gently in the frosted breeze. Tutting, Matthew hurried in and shut the window firmly, laying Gilbert down and piling blankets on top of him and turning the heating up. Prussia rolled over with a huff and glared at him. Gathering his courage, Canada frowned sternly back and put his hands on his hips.

"Go to sleep, and don't open the window. You'll make yourself worse if you don't rest." He told the older nation firmly.

The albino just snorted and stuck his tongue out before turning his back on the blonde. Sighing in relief that he had not spoken back, Canada walked out and closed the door quietly. He was just beginning to enjoy the peace and quiet again with a book when the phone rang loudly. Jumping and dropping the book on Kumajirou's head he picked up the phone. The little bear yelped in protest and shook the heavy item off him.

"S-Sorry." Canada grimaced as the caller spoke.

"Hallo Canada, it's me." Germany's deep voice answered.

"Ah, Germany, hi." He replied softly. "How did it go?"

"It vas ok… They veren't like the vuns at zhe conference…"

"That's great. It's good to get on with your boss." He encouraged. "Did he have any ideas?"

"Ja… actually there is a legislation I can use to keep him a part of zhe vorld."

"I'm glad, not that he's a pain to have here…" Canada added hurriedly.

"He can be rather overvhelming sometimes." Germany laughed. "I take it he hasn't remembered anything more?"

"No… I'm afraid not. I-Is he usually so reckless though?"

"Vhat do you mean?"

"He went for a walk alone last night in the forest and came back after dark… Despite the fact I told him to come back beforehand…"

"Ah, yes, he does like to be alone sometimes. Don't vorry, I think even New Prussia should be able to protect himself."

"Ok… So when are you going to use the legislation?"

"As soon as possible hopefully. Although I'm not sure vhat's going to happen since he vasn't avake vhen you used yours…"

"Th-That's true." Canada bit his lip. "Maybe you should come to see him before..? But not too soon, he's caught a rotten cold at the moment."

"VHAT?!"

"H-He went out without a c-coat a-and came back in the dark!" Canada became nervous again. "I-I'm sorry I should have paid more attention, but he doesn't really listen to me anyways…"

There was a heavy sigh from the other end of the phone.

"I'm coming tomorrow, I'll get a plane tonight, look after him until zhen."

"I-It's really not necessary. I can look after him myself!"

"I insist, he can get difficult vhen he's ill. And I vant to talk to him meinself."

"Well… if you're sure…" Canada was not sure he wanted the German Brothers to invade his home but that seemed to be what was going to happen and he did not have the will to prevent it.

"Gute Nacht Canada, und danke for looking after Gilbert."