A/N: I want to thank you all for your support, I truly appreciate it!

"Brother," Germany whispered, holding Prussia's hand in both of his.

Prussia smiled weakly, blood leaking slowly from one corner of his mouth, "Hey, West… you're not going to start crying, are you?" he asked.

Germany didn't trust himself to speak, so he squeezed Prussia's hand tighter. His mouth was a taut line, but his eyes shone with unshed tears.

"Ah… you don't have to cry for me, West…" Prussia said, smirking. His voice was gravelly due to the blood in his throat and mouth, but he didn't seem bothered by it. He acted as though he had seen worse… that was how he got through a lot of things.

Did he see much worse, though? He was flat on his back and couldn't move, there was a gaping hole in his chest and blood was filling his mouth with its sharp metallic flavor. His pale hair was matted and stained red, his clothes were ruined. In the past, he had survived many scuffles, lived under the influence of other countries, walked home nursing wounds that he would just get again once they had healed over… but this…

Yeah, he wasn't going to recover from this.

West knows it, too.

Prussia wasn't about to lie about it… but he certainly wasn't going to get all sappy about it, either.

That wasn't who he was.

"If you do have to cry, you should cry for Spain and France… they're going to be out a member, aren't they? They can't be a trio anymore with me gone…" Prussia gave a shaky laugh.

Germany bit his lip. He wanted to say something, but he feared that saying anything would cause his tears to spill.

"Look, you don't have to worry about me, I'll be fine," Prussia said, "I'm all set to go to the best afterlife possible… just because I'm me." He flashed his brother his trademark smirk.

Germany laughed in spite of himself, and a few tears broke free from their bonds and slipped down his face.

"You see? I can still make you smile," Prussia said, coughing slightly but the smirk was still evident on his face.

"I'm going out in the best way, you know…" he continued, "I took on the beast completely solo and killed it… and even though it managed to injure me like this, no one can say that the story of my death will be anything short of awesome. That's all I can really ask for, right?"

"Please don't talk like that," Germany said in a low voice, trying hard to keep the rest of his tears from falling, "You didn't have to do it… you didn't have to sacrifice yourself for me…"

"Ah, I wanted to do it, I have no regrets…" Prussia said. He smiled softly, "Hey… but West… there's just one thing I need to say to you…"

Germany gripped Prussia's hand tighter, "Yes?"

"Well… thank you," Prussia smirked, "Thanks for being my brother."

Germany blinked, "I…I…" he sighed and closed his eyes, "Thank you for being mine."

Prussia sighed as well, his smirk still on his face, "No problem… it was the least I could do," he breathed. He slowly relaxed as his eyes fluttered closed. Gradually, his breath became shallower and shallower until it had stopped completely. The room became still.

A few seconds passed… and then Germany's mask shattered.

He collapsed on the body of his dead brother, sobbing. The one who raised him, pestered him, laughed and fought with him… he was suddenly was no more. Germany couldn't bear to believe it… he never thought for an instant that such a thing could happen… it couldn't be true… it simply couldn't be…

"Why did it have to be you…?" Germany whispered, pulling his brother's body close to him, "Why did you have to die...? Why… why…?"

When the young man came back to the others with the mangled body in his arms and dried tears on his face, no one dared to speak… a single word would be enough to devastate him once more.

What could be said, though…?

What wasn't already known…?

The mansion was indeed a terrible, terrible place.