August 16th, 1961 – West Berlin

From the second the news had struck Ludwig like a shard of piercing ice, he'd been trapped in a viciously repetitive routine. The cycle continued relentlessly for him; between the shock and lethargy, finding his way home became an unattainable goal. It wasn't as if the child knew who to turn to, nor had anyone without his older brother around.

Ludwig had fled from the officer at the aberrant scene moments after properly comprehending the situation. Since then, he'd taken to scavenging for concealed spaces to sleep and refurbish enough energy to defect to another location, all done for the sole purpose of remaining unfound. The child would sometimes recognise an area vaguely, bringing him closer to the direction of his previous home – Or so he thought. If hungry, Ludwig would take to begging or rummaging through bins of those of a wealthier status in the city. He failed to find a substantial amount of anything, with the exception of water provided by a restaurant owner who'd taken pity on Ludwig.

It was arguably difficult not to experience the heart wrenching at the sight of the young boy. Dishevelled didn't do his appearance justice; derelict, perhaps, he'd become more sickly over the past few days, and his hair was matted with grease and dust. Even with it being August, the nights would often be cold. For that reason Ludwig had taken to flitting about West Berlin during the night juxtaposed the daytime, where he'd instead sleep in the summer warmth.

Ludwig knew he couldn't live like this for much longer, however.

On the morning of August 16th, Ludwig had become more determined to orientate himself home. Minutes begun turning into hours, dragged out at an excruciating pace that was taking a toll on Ludwig's body. He felt the ache in his spine, the cramp in his legs, the burning from sunlight in his weary eyes, all of it too much for anyone to bear, much less an 8 year old.

Eventually Ludwig was forced to take a break for the sake of his muscles. The street he was on resembled the rest; neat and oddly fresh, as if only recently constructed – or, more specifically, reconstructed. Still the area was pretty vacant, conveniently so, with a mere four or five voices belonging to other children in the remote distance. Perfect for a short break – that's what Ludwig would have liked to believe.

The blond practically collapsed against a fence at the beginning (or end, Ludwig couldn't really tell) of the street, separating it from a muddy field with wisps of grass scattered over it. Though not the most appealing of spots to sleep, Ludwig reckoned it'd be safest for him at night. Just until he'd recovered enough energy to keep moving, even if it disrupted his standard routine of locate and relocate.

Ludwig drew in a deep breath, letting the fresh air filter into his lungs. It was so refreshing; much nicer than the cigarette smoke and mouldy scent he'd been force to become accustomed with. Though… Ludwig would give anything to smell it again, despite how putrid it was. His eyes filled with tears at the thought; was his brother really trapped in the East? After everything they'd been through? How was Ludwig supposed to survive now? Was Gilbert going to be okay?

The sounds of laughter from the children made him feel sick to his stomach. They sounded like his own friends from school. Johann, Peter, Frank and Klaus… Would he ever see them again? Shit – Would Ludwig ever go to school again? After all that money Gilbert put into buying his uniform and supplies, it seemed like a big fucking waste. Only now did Ludwig realise that, with the loss of his brother, came the loss of his friends and education too.

Gilbert was gone.

And there was nothing Ludwig could do about it.

The young German could barely contain his tears at this stage. He sobbed, loudly and intensely, the level of emotional pain wracking through his body as he hunched himself over his knees, which he'd pulled up against his legs to hold tightly. Ludwig would be ashamed if he could stop himself. Crying! Like a big baby! What would Gilbert say? Ludwig had spent months perfecting his knack of holding in the sadness, just so Gilbert didn't need to worry about anything else. Yet here he was, wailing and snivelling, feeling like he'd betrayed his big brother just for doing so.

Ludwig could have gone on like that for hours. Crying his heart out in a shell of his former self in the middle of nowhere, alone and isolated from the rest of the world. Except that Ludwig wasn't anymore alone than he had been moments ago. Maybe five minutes or so had passed and Ludwig was still crying, but by this point it was the only sound that could be heard for miles. He didn't notice, he wouldn't have cared if he had, subconsciously tightening his hold on his legs as if to form a protective stance.

"Hello?"

Ludwig sprung apart, startled by the intrusion. With wide and accusing eyes, Ludwig stared at the owner of the voice, using his arm to obscure the view of his face. He chose to stay silent.

"Hello!" The voice repeated louder, the owner kneeling down in front of Ludwig. "Are you okay?!"

"Y- Yes, just stop yelling…" Ludwig murmured back, leaning away from the stranger to get a better look at him. Ludwig couldn't have been sure, but the boy looked to be a similar age to his own. He, presuming he was a boy, spoke with near-perfect German, though looked foreign. That was all Ludwig really got from his olive-toned skin. He smiled brightly, almost eagerly, and it just scared Ludwig even more.

"I'm Feliciano!" The boy announced, hands plastered onto his knee. "Who are you? I've never seen you around here!"

"I'm Ludwig," He replied cautiously, peering over Feliciano's shoulder to see his group of friends not so far away.

Feliciano mimicked his action, casting a look behind him, "Those are my friends! Also my brother, Lovino, is there! He's not usually so angry though!"

Ludwig blanched further, if it was possible, tearing up again. Brother. Where was his own brother? Why was he talking to a stranger when his brother was missing? Ludwig scrambled backwards until stepping onto his feet, covering his hands with his face out of shame. He wanted – no, needed – to leave.

"Ludwig… Why are you crying?" Feliciano asked gently, standing up as well but without moving any closer. "Do you wanna play with us instead? Crying is sad."

"No, I – I need to get t- to th- the East," Ludwig stammered out, turning himself away from the other.

Feliciano's eyes widened, "Huh? Why would you want to do that? Didn't you hear they closed it up?" Feliciano rubbed back of his neck, "Maybe you should go home instead, you don't look very well Ludwig…"

A long pause followed, before a whispered "my family are in the East," came from Ludwig.

Feliciano gasped in a moderately comical way, which might have made Ludwig laugh under any other circumstance. "I – I'm sure you can get there one day Ludwig! I don't know myself, maybe my grandpa can help you. He's smart, really smart. In fact-" Feliciano bounded forward and took one of Ludwig's free hands into his own, as if to comfort him. It only served to make Ludwig turn bright red, though Feliciano's enthusiasm remained, "—just the other day he was telling us about Conrad Schumann! Apparently he jumped over to the West yesterday!"

Ludwig seemed more interested, although still uncomfortable, "Why did he jump?"

"I dunno! Maybe he has really long legs!"

"Do… Do you think your grandpa would help me find Conrad Schumann? Maybe he could help me get over to my brother," Ludwig said, quite fond of the idea.

"Let's go and ask him! He might still be working but we can wait for him at our house!" Feliciano said cheerily, finally releasing Ludwig's hand and gesturing for him to follow in his steps as he approached his friends and brother. "Guys, this is Ludwig. I'm going to take him home to Grandpa!"

One of the boys, who Ludwig assumed to be Lovino by the similar complexion and facial features, scoffed. He eyed Ludwig sceptically, "Why would you bring a street rat home to Grandpa? Idiot, he'd not gonna want shit to do with him."

"Doesn't seem like the best house-warming gift." This comment came from an unknown person, taller than the rest by at least a head, yet with a voice higher than Feliciano's.

Feliciano didn't look happy with the lack of enthusiasm in regards to presenting Ludwig to his grandpa. "Don't be mean. Ludwig's family are in the East."

Ludwig interjected, "It's only me and my brother, technically."

"Even worse! Come on Lovino, we're going to ask Grandpa to help Ludwig find Mr. Schumann!"

The older of the two, by the looks of it, wrinkled his nose with disdain, "What are you talking about? Idiot… The East, huh?" Lovino cast his gaze over Ludwig once again, this time without pulling a face. "You're deluded. Fine, take him home. Do it yourself, I'm going to wait for this shit to blow over. You…" Now directing his words at Ludwig, the blond stared back at him with a mixture of confusion and, well, fear. "You eat something, yeah? You look disgusting. Go on, both of you." Lovino turned to the unknown members of the group, uttering something to them that cause them to begin heading off in the other direction. Lovino said nothing more to Feliciano or Ludwig, though cast one last look at the pair before finally leaving.

Feliciano clapped his hands together, "Let's go see Grandpa!"

Thanks again for reading! This chapter is more of a filler; originally this and the next one were to be combined but I ended up writing more than I thought for this part. Plus I didn't want to keep you guys waiting for too long! Tell me what you think, thank you :)

I might take it down and redo some of it before posting the next part, depends how I feel about it later in the week. Might be late with posting but hopefully you'll forgive me for posting twice in one week!