A/N: So this is it. I really hope you all enjoyed this - I'm not super pleased with how this whole thing came out (I feel like it was written roughly so that it doesn't flow as some of my stories have before), but I am rather fond of the end.

Epilogue

Beep. Beep. Beep. The sound was aggravating, wearing down Ludwig's last nerve until he became angry enough to wrench his heavy lids open and find whatever it was emitting the irritating noise.

"You're awake?"

Of the two Italian brothers he would have expected to find looming over him when he awoke, Lovino wouldn't have been the blonde's first choice. Had he put money on this wager, however, he would have lost spectacularly.

"W-what…?"

"What year is it, potato breath?" the Southerner growled, squinting in a manner he must've believed to be terribly intimidating (it wasn't).

Ludwig paused. "What year…?"

"Just answer the question, you fucking moron."

"2011, assuming I haven't been in a coma for more than a year."

"And what do you think of Adolf Hitler?"

The German sat up quickly, head spinning, and said as sternly as he could, "Unless you have a full education of the less proper German phrases, I'm certain you won't even understand."

The closest thing Ludwig had ever seen to a smile on the Italian's lips flickered there for a moment before he called over his shoulder, "Hey, Veneziano, it's safe to come in now!"

"Germany!" Bursting through the door with all the force of a stuntman launched from a cannon, Feliciano threw himself forward onto the German nation. "I missed you so much!"

"Why? Did I go somewhere?"

"Ah, don't you remember…?" Then, seeming to think better of it, he shook his head and pulled his lips together into a small grin. " mind, Germany."

"He's up?" A familiar head of white-blond poked into the room as Gilbert entered with a coke and a packet of some sort of potato chips in his hands. "And you guys didn't even bother telling me? Jesus."

"Hello to you, too, Gilbert."

The younger Italian pointed cheerfully to the albino nation, saying, "Prussia's been here with you for the last day and a half, Germany! When Lovino and I got here, we had to make him go get something to eat and use the bathroom!"

"He's exaggerating," the other Germanic grumbled, looking almost embarrassed. "Besides, what sort of big brother would I be if I brought you here and ditched you? Unawesome."

"Danke, Bruder." With a wrinkle of his nose, Ludwig wet his lips. "I feel as though I should be thanking you for a lot right now, but I can't… put my finger one it…"

"You oughtta be apologizing to Veneziano is what you should be doing, sausage breath," the darker-haired Mediterranean growled irritably. "The hell sort of brother would I be if I let you walk after being such a-"

Feliciano cut him off with a quick wave of his hand and a worried look on his face.

"Italy?" Raising a brow, the German glanced from face to face and found each clouded with some knowledge to which he wasn't quite privy.

"It's been a rough few days, West," Gilbert said finally, smirking almost painfully. "Let's keep it at that."

Eventually Lovino and Gilbert had left, wanting to give their respective siblings a few moments to themselves.

"Are you ever going to tell me what happened?" Ludwig asked lazily, tired and now strongly suspecting he was on some sort of pain killer that was dulling his senses.

Feliciano shook his head. "It's in the past now, Germany. Just forget about it."

"I'm not sure I believe you." He sighed, shifting his weight and yawning. "But I'm sorry for whatever it was. I feel… ashamed and I don't even know why."

"I love you," the Italian said suddenly. Weaving his slender, graceful fingers with his lover's thick, clumsy ones, he felt a sense of perfect fulfillment he hadn't known for nearly a week. "You know?"

"Ja, I know." As though he was moving through molasses, the blonde lifted their entangled hands to kiss the gently tanned back of Feliciano's. "She said that, too."

Expression twisting with hurt, the brunette pulled his hand away. "Who?"

"The girl in my dream." Ludwig's brow creased sharply as he struggled a slow, uphill battle against the medications that seemed to be so affecting his train of thought. "She was crying when she gave me her… her bloomers."

"Bloomers?" A nervous chuckle fell from the other's trembling lips as tears slid down his cheeks. "G-Germany has been remembering all sorts of strange things these last few days, si?"

"Remembering?" He gazed uncertainly up into twin amber pools, losing himself in them as he whispered, "I would forget it all to make room for new memories with you."

Again, Feliciano laughed, this time with honesty though the salty tracks still glistened down his face. "You're sappy on these pain drugs, Germany. I think I like it."

"Oh, do you?" Lifting his pale brows, the German smiled faintly. "Tell me, Italy, how would you greet me in this time?"

Seeing only love in the other's once-distant blue eyes, the brunette's heart wrenched one last time as he leaned forward and reminded him.