Great…a MEMORY CHAPTER! Hope you like these, girls…cause this is the meat of HRE!

/= "I Thought She Knew" by Nsync =/

"Become one with me!"

"Nooooo!"

He slowed down as he watched her run away from him in fear. After a few minutes, he stopped entirely and stared at himself in the water's reflection. What was he doing? He was scaring her, and yet he was still going with this? Would she even agree to this if he went this way…? He would literally have to declare war on her and then…

No. No, he can't do that. Why would he fight her to get her in order to protect her? He shook his head. He needed another way…

"=== + === + ==="

So many battles…so many wars…he was so small to deal with them…

He wandered closer to his home, confused on whether or not he should be proud of this or not. Sure, he got more territory and he had gotten stronger, but for some reason he wasn't happy anymore. He had no idea why anymore. He approached the door to Roderich's room and slowly opened it.

"I'm home…I brought them under control-"

He froze.

Cause standing just a few feet away from them was her.

He stared at her for a few minutes, watching her clean the room with a push broom that was bigger than she was with tedious movements, mumbling something to herself that he couldn't hear with the fact that his heart is beating too hard for him to hear anything at all. Slowly, he reached out and pulled her bow, watching her turn and see him close the door. He peeked out, scaring her.

"WAAAAAH! I'm so sorry! I'll do anything, just please don't eat me!"

The fact that she was here…the fact that he can see her all the time…the thought of it made him so happy that he dashed out of the room and proceeded to squeal himself into sleep with pure ecstasy, forcing Roderich to come in and demand that he quiet down so that he can write his next symphony.

…

"DAAAAMITTTT DOITSU-KI REALLY IS STRAIGHT!"

["Really? THAT'S what you're thinking?"]

"Damn, you're just as crazy as that Hungarian bitch."

Charice turned her head and saw Lovino staring at her with a look that didn't seem to mean that he was too happy about it. She knew the other voice was Li Xiao, but she didn't see him at all. After a few minutes, she saw something that looked like Li Xiao next to her, only he was in broken pieces of fire. She flinched.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Who the hell are you talking too?"

"You don't…?"

["By the look of it, I'm seeing this from a different viewing plane than you guys. Strange, really. But let's not think about it."]

"…sure…"

"=== + === + ==="

He was always the one who liked walking around. It helps to clear the mind with all of the burdens that the world had to enforce upon him. As he walked through all of the familiar walkways of the house, he couldn't help but feel something was there behind him. He turned around and saw her walking toward him and…

"W-w-w-what are you wearing?"

"Ve~~~don't you like it, Holy Rome?"

…

"…Ve?"

"What, you didn't notice it? That's my brother!"

"…wait…that's Feli-chan? And…this guy is Ludwig? So…Ludwig liked…Feliciano when he was…"

"You didn't notice it? You're extremely stupid! Hell, I noticed this!"

["That's Feliciano…wow, I'm surprised I didn't see it ei-"]

"YEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!"

"=== + === + ==="

"I…I want to give this to you again…" He lifted up his hand. "Will…will you join me in taking over this world?"

He saw her back up in fear before shaking her head slowly. He didn't get it. Did they not spend every waking moment together? Were they not friends? Why did she say no? What was going on? Why couldn't she do this? She must do this, she has to do this!

"Tell me why!" He grabbed her shoulders. "Why won't you do this, Italy? Please, you must tell me why!"

"…to protect you!"

He froze as she started crying, making him realize just what he was doing. He quickly let her go, seeing her stumble back and sniffle a little bit more.

"I've seen Grandpa Rome…he was too big to handle, and so his back was completely covered by scars all the time…" She cried. "I…I don't want that to happen to you…I like you just the way you are…"

She lightly took his hand, looking down at the fingers that she was holding. He had no idea what to think, before he turned and busted out of there in a panic.

"Geez, even when he was young, he was a douchebag…"

"Kyaaaaa~~~they're so cute together~!"

"=== + === + ==="

War…the war was always the things that had to take him back. He never wanted to go back and fight, now that he had Italy in his house, but alas he had to. As he sat and waited for his armies to show, he looked at the painting that he held in his hand…the paining that he made of the only girl for him…and knew that this had to stay behind.

He had to leave without seeing her again…it would hurt him too much. He desperately wanted to, but he knew that if he did so, he would somehow convince himself not to leave and leave his armies to fend for themselves. No, his people needed him. And as he looked up and saw Italy walk toward her in confusion, he felt his heart crack again.

"=== + === + ==="

This was it…this was the end of Holy Rome.

He looked up and heard the troops wandering around him, ready for their leader to come and deliver the final blow. The sky above him was crystal clear and shining blue, and he couldn't help but wonder what Italy was doing at this moment. Was she cleaning the floors? Making the food? Thinking about him? Wondering when he was coming home…?

He wanted to cry, but there were too many soldiers around him…too many to taint his image. Losing the war meant nothing anymore. He wanted to cry because he broke his promise. He promised her that he was going to come home, winner or not. Now she'll never know what happened to him. Would she wait forever? Give up and move on? What would happen if she would wait…?

"…Italy…" Can you smile for me one more time…?

A shadow loomed over him, and he closed his eyes. It was all over. Hopefully, God would be more generous to her…

*SHANK!*

…

/= "A Brighter Day" by Trauma Team=/

When they came back to the real life, everyone saw Charice sobbing lightly to herself as the other two looked up toward the souls as they vanished from Ludwig's position. All of the screaming vanished into the light, and formed a Star of David that sank into the boy's arms. He kissed the star and wrapped it around his neck.

"Never forget…" He whispered. He turned around to the others. "I…I can't thank you enough."

"Don't be too generous about this, you potato bastard." Lovino folded his arms. "I just got dragged into this."

"Bruder…" Gilbert walked toward him. "Are you OK?"

"…I remember everything now." He answered. "My past…all the questions that I had…I know now."

"So you know about Feliciano?" Li Xiao chuckled. "And…apparently what you had for her?"

"Her?" Alfred blinked.

"Her?" Antonio laughed. "Awww…you thought Ita-chan was a woman~?"

"S-shut up…" He turned to Charice. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah…yeah, I'm fine." She wiped a tear from her face. "I'm kinda emotional, but really, I'd be bawling at this point if I didn't know that you were alive."

"Yeah…" He walked toward her. "I want to thank you for doing this for me."

"It's fine…it's fine…" She lifted him up in her hands. "But stop worrying about me, you have Feli-chan to deal with! You still love him, right?"

"…um…"

"No." Li Xiao lifted him up. "You're forbidden from holding him."

"WHYYYYYYY?"

As they were talking, the world around them changed. The chamber halls of death faded away into simple rocks, and when the transaction was over, they found themselves in a misty version of Berlin right next to the Berlin Wall. Odd enough, Gilbert found himself on the other side, standing in front of the biggest hole of the wall. He calmly stepped through.

"Well, that was awesome." He grinned. "What was that about?"

"The conflict was so great inside Ludwig that it destroyed his consciousness when he was killed." Arthur looked around. "We fell into what was left of his sub consciousness, which hid his memories of his childhood days deep within the guilt that he was suppressing of his countrymen's actions and hence was being run by his Shadow."

"So upon defeating the Shadow and restoring his memories, you're saying that his consciousness is reconstructing itself?" Li Xiao asked.

"Yes." He smiled. "If everything wasn't as messed up as before, we would've landed here instead."

"Though why is everything misty?" Kiku looked around. "I would think that it'd be clear to represent no conflict."

"No…there's…one more."

They turned their heads to see that Ludwig had turned back into his old form, rubbing his face and blushing just a little bit. At that notion, Charice squealed bloody murder and clung onto him like he was an Italian, accidentally throwing Matthew into the wall in the process. Alfred was entertained.

"We have to go back!" She chirped. "So you can tell everything to Feli-chan!"

"I-I can't just tell everything straight forward, Charice!" He stammered. "It's not that easy!"

"But you'll have to do it sometime…" She whined. "Riiiiiight?"

"…l-let's just focus on getting out of here."

"I found the exit."

"…did someone say something?"

"I-It's over here!"

They turned and saw that the hole that Gilbert had walked through was the ticket out of there. Charice approached it when a figure suddenly appeared in front of it, causing her to scream and fly back, generally getting everyone's attention.

"Ce que…can't you be a little more discrete than that?"

"Francis?" She looked in. "Wow, you can see us!"

"Of course I can. This is a two-way portal! Have you found Germany?"

"Yeah, he's with us now!"

"Good, good! You'll be pleased to know that five minutes have passed since you walked in."

"Five minutes that felt like fucking hours…" Lovino mumbled.

"The portal is stable and you can come back here freely."

"All right! Let's go home!" Alfred stretched. "I'm in the mood for some hero fries and a Coke!"

"Meaning you're in the mood for a heart attack, bloody git?"

"At least I'm paying for it!"

"Ahahaha! So it's a date then? Maybe we should go, Lovi-chan!"

"IT'S LOVINO!"

Everyone was talking / arguing with themselves as they entered through the portal. Ludwig looked at the portal for a few minutes before getting a reassuring pat from Charice, allowing him to start walking through.

"I see that everything's been sorted out."

They turned their heads to see that a teenage Holy Roman Empire was standing before them, and that the misty streets of Berlin were now populated with people that she had seen from Ludwig's memories. The German smiled in response.

"Yeah…and I fully remember you now."

"You fully remember yourself, first of all. We're one and the same, remember? Or have you forgotten that too?"

"There are still a few gaps that I cannot fill, but what I know is what I need." He stated. "I'm glad that I remember you."

"I'm glad as well."

She watched as the teenager Holy Roman Empire transformed into a white Tectonic Knight with masks over his face, and sank deep into Ludwig's body. He smiled and held the Star Necklace that he had been granted. He turned to the portal.

"Never forget." He mumbled as he walked through.

"…but always forgive." Charice followed suit.

/=+=/

As she walked through, she saw that the others were gathering around the area and explaining to Francis what had happened inside the other world. She turned her head and saw Li Xiao and Kiku kneeling around Ludwig's body, waiting for her to make it come full cycle. When she touched him, she was grateful to feel the warmth under her fingertips. At least this man had the courtesy to take in a large deep breath and open his eyes slowly instead of darting upwards and scaring the crap out of all of them.

"…Doitsu." Kiku leaned forward. "Are you all right?"

"…yes, I'm fine." He sat up slowly. "Did all that…?"

"All that happened, Ludwig." Li Xiao stated. "Everything. And we all saw it."

"And we're willing to bash in people's heads in case someone decides to peep about it~" Charice chirped.

He mumbled something to himself before standing up, causing the others to chirp and go over to the man that was now OK. She turned her head and saw Francis smiling and standing next to one of the desks, beckoning her to come closer. She was weary, but since there were others in the room…

"So how'd you take their news of what happened?" She asked.

"I didn't have to take it in, you see. I saw everything happen."

"…you WHAT?"

"That portal over there…it allowed me to see everything that happened to all of you. Maybe it's because of my magic, but I was able to witness many of the events that you have seen." He stated. "Unfortunately, I haven't seen any…personal events that might've come from the past, but…"

"Well, if you must know…we found out that Ludwig over there had a past as a kingdom…the Holy Roman Empire, and that-"

"Hm? The Holy Roman Empire?"

"Yeah, um…he was dissolved when another kingdom defeated him…t-they didn't say who it was, so…"

"Perhaps it was something better left buried."

"Yeah, just a minor detail and what not."

If she had been paying attention, she would've seen a depression loom over his eyes. He smiled for a little bit before pulling something out of his pocket.

"It fell out when you were in there, so I thought I would hold it for you."

"Eh? Oh, my iPod! Thanks!"

She got it and looked at the screen, confused that there was something still playing on the iPod. She stared at him for a few minutes.

"Didn't you bother to turn this off first?"

"Ce que? But it was off."

Wait a minute…

The iPod was locked, so he couldn't have just accidentally knocked it on. She grabbed her headphones and unraveled it, listening to the song that was playing. Five seconds later, Li Xiao was quickly by her side as she tried desperately to turn it off, hearing the screeching of the song before it stopped completely. The scream that came out of her mouth turned everyone's heads. Li Xiao shook his head.

"Dammit…I didn't think this would happen…he couldn't have been that strong to do it again…"

"W-what's going on?" Kiku asked.

"Ludwig was the decoy." Li Xiao spat. "He wanted us preoccupied with him in order to get the next victim!"

"Wait a minute…like, two victims in one day?" Gilbert was shaking. "That's freakin' unawesome!"

The whole room went into a panic as Charice began to shiver. Who was this guy's actual target…?

/= "It Only Hurts" by Default =/

She wandered through the hallways, curious on who the victim might've been and yet not wanting to know at all. But still, she had to save him in time. They wasted five times saving Ludwig, so who knows what five minutes means to a dead body? Charice could barely hear Li Xiao walking in a quick, quiet pace behind her as they headed through the rooms. She stopped.

"This one. This is where the music is coming from." She held her nose. "God, the blood is horrible."

"I'll go in first, then. Stay behind me."

Li Xiao opened the door quickly, gasped loudly (so maybe he was holding back a scream) and almost retched, making Charice know that this was utterly horrible. She slowly walked in and was instantly bombed by the smell of blood. Through that, she saw the victim and instantly saw the difference.

Unlike the other victims that had a sense of pattern of how they died, this one was horribly mutilated. His face was plastered with horror all over his face, scared of what had happened to him. His heart was literally carved out of his body, his blood covering all over the room with the words "Waiting only gives you pain" over the body. Odd enough, he was also surrounded by bloody daisies, as if the murderer actually cared enough to give him a proper death room.

Charice started sobbing, causing Li Xiao to quickly catch her as they dropped to the ground. Footsteps started storming toward the place as Ludwig finally reached the place. He stared at it with fear all over his face before he screamed bloody murder, causing her to sob even more.

It was Feliciano Vargas.

/=+=/

Yes, the Holy Roman Empire is Ludwig's Persona and he still doesn't remember kissing Feliciano. Har de har. REVIEW!