And we have two more days till the end of the musical arc~! Whoot!

/= [DAY 83] =/

This time, she saw Ludwig standing in front of the auditorium alone, all dressed in his Holy Rome gown. She stared at him for a few minutes in a safe distance before Ludwig realized that she was there. He made no move to walk toward her, and she made no move to walk toward him as well. They stood there in a strange limbo, one unwilling to move.

"…hi." She waved.

"Hey." He leaned on the table. "Have you seen Italia?"

"No, I haven't." She answered. "Why? I thought you would've seen him."

"I lost track of him halfway through our walk here…must've gotten distracted or something." He sighed. "You know him…"

"And you haven't considered him being distracted by Francis why?"

"Because I chased him all the way here."

Oh. "Do you think that Feli-chan knows how to get back here?"

"I don't think so…but he always knows where to find me…"

"Ita-sense, maybe?"

"Maybe…"

Charice stared at Ludwig as he turned his head to look for his man. She never really saw him as the "boyfriend" type (even though she obviously declared that he was infatuated with Feli-chan)…you know, the one carrying the flowers around and being all lovey-dovey…but then again, he was probably like that during his childhood. Who knows? He does. She wants to know.

"How long did you know Feli-chan?"

"Hm?"

"Um…I thought you knew him since World War I."

"No…long before that." He blushed a bit. "The…9th Century."

"…damn." I was still under Spanish rule. "Friends?"

"…no."

"You liked him for THAT LONG?"

"D-don't judge me…"

"Awwwwww, that's the cutest thing eveeerr~!" She started swinging back and forth. "I never knew that you'd be so love-struck this entire time!"

"…yeah…that long…even so much that he didn't know me before…"

"…you were a stalker?"

"I-I wasn't something like that!"

"Suuuuuuuure you weren't…"

"Shut up…" His blush was even darker. "I knew it was bad, but…I couldn't help myself…he was so…"

"Cute?"

"I guess that was it…" He sighed. "I really…don't remember it…"

"You don't remember?"

"There are still a few gaps in my memory, Charice. I can't remember everything like that."

"That's true…" She blinked. "Do you think you were attracted because you thought he was a girl?"

"…I was young…maybe that's what happened." Ludwig sighed. "But it's not like that anymore…I don't love him because of the past…I love him because of what he is now."

"Which is no different from him in the past."

"…huh."

"Yeah, basically." Charice chuckled. "Right?"

"Not really…he's more…mature than back then."

It was then that she saw a quiet smile on his face, something that could win her over (seriously, what the hell is up with cute guys being gay? IT WASN'T FAIR!), and sighed. Was it so hard to find someone to be in love with? Being a nation is hard. Being a female nation is harder. Heck, all of them were as gay as a Christmas day…

The smile on his face quickly turned into a smirk, catching her attention. Ludwig lifted his finger to his lips, telling her what she knew he was trying to say, and then turned and hid behind one of the soda machines. Before she knew it, Feliciano skipped through the hallway wearing his maid gown.

"Ve~?" He turned to Charice. "Isn't Doitsu here?"

"Eh? Well…" She saw him keep that finger to his lips as he went to the other side of the machien. Since when did he decide to be a prankster? Has he been hanging out with Kiku for too long? Or was this his inner Prussia? Oh dear god, that better not be it. "I didn't see him."

"Ve~~~don't tell me that he never arrived…" Feliciano started swinging back and forth. "M-maybe something happened to Doitsu! Veeeee~~~~! What if Doitsu dissolved when Feli-chan came here? Noooo! Feli-chan doesn't want Doitsu to leave Feli-chan again! Charice…what should Feli-chan do?"

…hah? Since when does he speak in third-person? "Why in the world would he dissolve almost instantly…?"

"Veee…Feli-chan's scared…"

Must…not…strangle…

"…Italia?"

The both of them froze. Charice never heard this voice before. It was young…boyish in a way…wait, she did hear this before…in someone's world…? Oh, wait a minute…

"…Helirich?"

HOLY CRAP! Charice had to clamp her mouth shut. Don't tell me that's what Doitsu was aiming for here! Man, this really is his inner Prussian…might as well stick around.

"Heilrich…? Am I dreaming this?"

"Maybe you are, maybe you're not. That's all I can say." The voice responded. It sounded like he was smiling. "I see that you are happy now."

"Yes…w-with the future you…" Feliciano rubbed his hands together. "But…in a way, it's not the same…"

She paused.

"I miss when you were shy around me…when you would do anything to make me happy…but it's OK now. I'm all grown up and I can move on…and I have you by my side, so please don't worry."

"…thank you, Italia…thank you so much."

The voice died down, making Feliciano stop swaying and smile back at Charice as if he knew she could hear him the entire time. After a few seconds, Ludwig came out of his hiding place, the finger still on his lips, and then lowered it as the smile went down with it.

"ITALIA!"

"GAAAAAH!" The both of them stopped screaming. "Ve~~~~! D-Doitsu!"

He threw himself into his arms, making Ludwig stop what he was going to say (if there was anything) before he walked into the auditorium with a smile on his face. The minute they crossed the door, Ludwig winked at Charice. She stared at him for a few minutes.

…what the hell just happened?

/= [DAY 84] =/

She had no idea what happened the entire day. All she knew was that she was onstage singing about being a whore to Francis (and I think he was enjoying it…). Whenever Ludwig came on, she had to laugh at just how cute he looked. Whenever Feliciano came on, someone had to hold her back so she didn't swarm the stage. Past all the important stuff, she had to admit that the story was rather interesting.

Taking the political context out (French Revolution = "NO ONE CARES", says Lovi-chan), it was about redemption, unrequited love and sacrifice. Roderich really knew how to act when it came to holding the burden of the world on his shoulders. Elizabeta was perfect for a dying mother. Alfred was…well, all right. He was supposed to be a revolutionary, so no one cared. And Ludwig as the police man? All the girls nodded and agreed on the same thing: HOOOOT.

With that out of the way, she focused on everything else. Toward the end, at "Empty Chairs and Empty Tables", she couldn't help but have a flashback to Feliciano's world. That had to be the incident where she truly became a nation. Because a nation is not a nation until they have seen death with their own eyes. Forget the fact that it was reversible when it came for them, it was the fact that they were pale and unmoving and gone from this world that scared her…

She felt someone squeezing her hand and she turned to see that Li Xiao was there, not looking at her and yet his hand was holding hers tightly. She couldn't help but smile at his appearance, and then leaned silently on his shoulder. She felt him flinch but made no move to shoo her off. Charice smiled as she watched the scene, the pain lifted just a little bit.

I'll…probably never get over the pain of death… She sighed. But at least…I don't have to go through this alone…

/=+=/

And the arc will be closed the next chapter~!