A/N at bottom

Winter, 1657

Matthieu had always enjoyed winter. Between the fluffy white flakes that currently flew from the sky and the chills air that bit his cheeks, it was by far his favorite season. So when Ludwig suggested the three of them go ice skating, he had no objections.

It had been a clear day with a good foot of snow on the ground. The pond had been frozen solid. Matthieu rushed towards the ice, Ludwig and Romano in tow.

"Ugh, it's so cold out," complained Romano.

Matthieu, however, was too excited to notice.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Questioned Ludwig. Matthieu ran ahead, yanked on his skates, and stepped onto the ice.

"I guess so," Romano shrugged. He gestured to his pair of his skates.

"How do you put these on, anyway?"

"Here. I'll help you," Ludwig sighed.

Despite the freezing weather, and numerous falls from Romano ("It's these damn skates, I'm telling you!), a good time was had by all. The trip enjoyed taking a break from the stress of their daily lives to enjoy each other's company, something they didn't get to do too often.

"Damn, it's starting to snow." Ludwig noted the flakes raining down from the sky.

"It is so godamn cold," Romano shivered. "I'm going to head back inside."

"But we just got here!" Matthieu, who could skate until he was absolutely exhausted, replies from his spot on the frozen pond.

"It's been, like, 3 hours!" Complained Romano.

"I think I'm going to stop for a bit. At least until the snow stops. I can't even see!" Spoke Ludwig.

"Fine. I'm staying out here for a bit." Matthieu replied. If there was one thing Matthieu was passionate about, it was skating.

"See you soon then." Romano and Ludwig skated off of the ice.

"You know, he's not usually like this."

"What?" Romano replied.

"Matthieu. He's not usually this passionate about things. He usually just goes with the crowd." Observed Ludwig.

"So?"

"I don't know. Just something I found interesting."

"All I know is that it's freezing out here," whined Romano.

"I know. I can't even see him though the snow." Ludwig responded.

The duo stopped and peered out through the heavy snow.

"Wait, me neither." Spoke Romano.

"Wait, really?" Ludwig shielded his eyes. "Matthieu, are you alright out there?!"

He was greeted by a heavy silence.

"Holy shit. You don't think..."

Romano jumped up from his spot on the snow.

"Matthieu!" Romano screamed. Ludwig made his way through the impending snowstorm and slid onto the ice, Romano close behind.

"Matthieu!" The German yelled. "Are you ok?!"

"He was over there 5 minutes ago!" Romano gasped.

"Come on then!" The pair made their way to the center of the pond. They merely collided with a large hole in the ice. Romano wrung his hands nervously.

"Oh my god oh my god what do we do!?"

"I'm going in."

"What?! Ludwig, are you out of your mind?!"

"Do you have a better idea?!" When Romano was unable to come up with an answer, Ludwig nodded and dove into the icy abyss.

Matthieu couldn't remember what had happened. One moment, he had been skating, having the time of his life. The next moment, he heard a crack and was surrounded by a terrible cold. Despite his tries to swim up to the surface, he couldn't navigate in the dark water, so it was impossible to find the hole he fell through. His own consciousness slipped through his breath.

"I'm going to die here," he though as ran out of breath and felt his eyelids go heavy.

"I'm going to die here." Ludwig immediately regretted jumping into the water.

"You're such an idiot Ludwig. You could've gone for help. Instead, you had to jump into the godamn water."

The German waved his arms under the water, trying to hit something solid. He felt his skin numb. He karate chopped what he thought was a block of ice. He grabbed at it and swam for the surface, only to hit a sheet of ice. His lungs beginning to collapse, he ran his hands along the sheet of ice until he found the hole he came through.

"Romano," he sputtered.

"Holy shit!" Romano grabbed Matthieu and dragged him onto the ice, Ludwig pulling himself up before collapsing.

"At least Ludwig and Romano are in heaven with me," thought Matthieu as he opened his eyes.

"YOU IDIOT!" Romano screamed in his face.

Nope. This is hell.

"What happe-"

"I can't believe you would let yourself FALL through the ICE and Ludwig had to go AFTER YOU-"

"You fell through the ice." Ludwig cut off Romano.

"We thought you were dead..." Romano sniffled.

"Did you really jump in after me?"

Ludwig sighed. "Don't worry about it. Just promise me you'll be careful next time?"

"...I promise." Matthieu smiled. The three looked at the ground for a few moments before Matthieu broke the silence.

"So, you guys want to go skating?"

As promised, I'm back! Thanks to everyone for waiting! As always, criticism is greatly appreciated. Next chapter next Friday!

Also, someone mentioned that Germany wasn't technically a country yet, so he couldn't have met Romano and Matthieu. While I said that I would try to be as historically accurate as possible, I will have to overlook this detail because the story simply wouldn't work if I included this. Therefore, for the sake of the story, I'm saying that Germany has been established by now and the events leading up to it (ex. Holy Rome, etc.) have already happened. I just wanted to clear this up so there'd be no confusion. I hope this answers all questions (and thanks for pointing it out!)