YES! I've beaten my writer's block to finally get this story done. I don't know how good it's going to be (I rewrote three times), I'll let you decide. Enjoy! (I hope)

Berwald – Sweden. Tino – Finland. Matthias – Denmark. Lukas – Norway. Eduard – Estonia. Katyusha - Ukraine. Emil – Iceland. Lars – Netherlands. Vash - Switzerland. Lili - Liechtenstein. Emma – Belgium. Peter – Sealand. Sven – Ladonia. Raivis – Latvia (I sure the Hetalia fans know all this!)

I do not own Hetalia!

Heartbeat

Berwald Oxenstierna, like everyone else, was born without a heartbeat.

When he was five, he was taught in school, along with his school mates, that his heart would begin beating when he looked into the eyes of his soul mate, the one person he was destined to spend his life with. He asked his parents and they confirmed what his teacher had taught him.

"W'en will I me't 'em?" he asked. His mother and father looked at each other. This question was as dreaded by parents as where do babies come from?

"You could meet them tomorrow," his mother replied. "It could be years. There's no way to know, sweetheart." Berwald looked down at his chest and put his hand on his heart. He wanted to feel it beat.

"Just be patient, son," he father advised. "Don't go looking for your soul mate. You'll find them when you're supposed to."

Berwald still looked at everyone he met, waiting for his heart to start beating but it would be many years before he would find his soul mate.

A year after Berwald Oxenstierna, Tino Väinämöinen, like everyone else, was born without a heartbeat.

When he was five, he was also taught in school that his heart would begin beating when he look into the eyes of his soul mate, the one person he was destined to spend his life with. He, too, asked his parents the dreaded question.

"When will I meet my soul mate?" Tino wanted to meet them now.

"You never know, dear," his mother told him. "One day, you'll just see them and your heart will start to beat. It's best you don't look for them."

"Your mother's right," his father said. "You'll meet when the time is right, not before."

Tino still watched every new face that showed itself, waiting for the babump, babump, babump but it would be a long time before his soul mate would start his heart beating.

Berwald. Aged 10

Berwald found it hard to make friends. He had a friendly nature but found it hard to express it and his stern face scared the other children away. When he finally found someone to be friends with, it was with a Danish boy called Matthias Kohler, a tearaway who constantly landed them in trouble with the teachers on a regular basis.

The two blondes sat side by side in class, Berwald's flat hairstyle contrasting with Matthias's spiky one as Matthias threw paper balls at the other non-swedish boy in the class, a Norwegian called Lukas Bondevik, trying to get his attention. Matthias wanted the Norwegian boy to hang out with them. Berwald thought Lukas might be a good friend to have but believed Lukas thought Matthias was annoying. He did not know why Matthias kept trying.

The teacher came in and those who were not sat down quickly got into their seats. Matthias had enough brains to stop throwing paper balls about.

"Morning class," she said. "First things first. As you know, we have a party of students from Finland arriving tomorrow. I trust you'll make them welcome?" A chorus of agreement answered her.

"Good," she replied. "Now open your books to page 14." As they all opened their books, Matthias leant over to Berwald.

"Should be interesting," he commented.

"M'ybe"

Tino. Aged 9

This had been his first trip away from home, let alone out of Finland and Tino was excited, even if it was to another school. He and his fellow students were herded into the school in Sweden by their own teacher.

"All right," he said to the pupils in his care. "Divide up by age." Tino moved into a group with the other nine year old children. The swedish teachers came out of their classrooms to collect the groups. The ten year olds were taken into Berwald's class while Tino's group were taken into a class of other nine year old students.

When the class was over, the Finnish students left the classrooms first and were back on their coach by the time Berwald and Matthias were out of the classroom. They made it outside just in time to watch the coach of finnish students disappear down the road.

Berwald. Aged 16

Matthias and Berwald were wrestling with each other, not true fighting, just messing around. Lukas was sat on a wall with his half-brother, Emil Steilsson, reading while Emil watched them with amusement.

Berwald grabbed Matthias round his waist and managed to get him down on to the grass and his ear went against the left side of Matthias's chest.

Babump, babump!

Berwald let go and stood up, looking down at Matthias with his usual stern expression on the outside but inside with shock.

Matthias looked up at his friend who was stood stock still.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Yer h'art," he muttered. "It's be'ting!" Matthias stood up, looking uncomfortable.

"Yeh f'und yer so'l mate!" It was a statement, not a question. Matthias rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah," he said, slowly. Matthias knew he should have told Berwald but back when he was ten and had first looked into Lukas's eyes and felt his heart begin to thump in his chest, he had wanted to shout it from the rooftops but another boy in their class had done that and it had made Berwald a little depressed so he kept it to himself.

"Who?" Berwald asked. Matthias looked toward his soul mate who had come up to join them.

"Lukas," he replied, quickly. Berwald looked at Lukas and then back at Matthias.

"Yeh met six ye'rs ago," Berwald was hurt that they had left him out of such an important moment. He thought he was their friend. "Why didn't yeh tell ma?"

"It was just after that boy, Jan, found his soul mate," Lukas replied. "Matthias told me that you were down after that. Anyway I wasn't receptive at first. I couldn't believe that I was destined to spend my life with this idiot. But you can't fight fate."

"And I grew on you," Matthias bragged, putting his arm around Lukas.

"Like fungus," he retorted, shrugging Matthias's arm off.

"Yeh c'uld 've told ma lat'r," Berwald was not letting them off the hook. "Yeh n'ver did!"

"The more time passed," Matthias shifted his feet. "The harder it became. I'm sorry, Berwald!"

"Ye'h," Berwald replied. "Ma t'o." He left to nurse his hurt. Emil came up beside Matthias and Lukas.

"You should have told him!"

Tino. Aged 15.

Another boy in his class had found his soul mate and was being congratulated by his class mates. Tino gave his congratulations but inside he wondered when would it be his turn. Three quarters of his class had found their other half. Unfortunately Tino was in the quarter that had not.

As he sat looking out of the classroom window, a friend, Eduard Von Block, an Estonian with blonde hair and blue eyes with glasses, came up to him. He knew what was bothering Tino. He had felt the same way until last month when he met his own soul mate, a Ukrainian girl called Katyusha Braginskaga.

"Your turn will come, Tino," Eduard tried to reassure him. Tino was not, not really.

"Some people don't find their soul mate," he said. Eduard shook his head.

"And some people don't find them until they're in their thirties," he pointed out. "You're half that age. Don't give up hope!" Tino smiled at his friend. Maybe he was right.

"So how are things going with Katyusha?" he asked.

"Our parents are discussing times and social occasions for us to be together and get to know each other," Eduard replied. "Although we can't marry until we're at least eighteen."

"You're already discussing marrying!" Tino was surprised. Eduard shrugged.

"She's my soul mate," he replied, matter-of-factly. "It'll happen sooner or later." Tino nodded at the sense of it but he wondered. Would it ever happen for him.

Eduard hoped his friend would feel his heart beat soon.

Berwald. Aged 21

Berwald finished sanding down the chair he had carved, it just needed to be varnished now. It was the last task before he finished for the day. He applied a thin coat and then left it to dry overnight. As he left the workshop, he waved to his boss.

"G'odnight, Lars," he called out as he passed the office.

"Goodnight, Berwald," Lars Van Dike, his Dutch boss, replied. "You do remember the carpentry job at the children's home tomorrow?"

"I'll be th're f'rst thing," Berwald reassured him and left. Lars nodded, secure in the knowledge that Berwald would be there as promised. He was a good worker with a talent with wood, one of the best he had ever had in the Netherlands or here in Sweden.

He had a contract to build a playground for the local orphanage, run by his sister, Emma and he knew he and Berwald would have it done in no time. And with Berwald's talent, it would be done well!

He closed up the warehouse and went home.

Berwald headed for The Little Mermaid inn for a drink before he went home and to meet up with Matthias and Lukas. They owned The Little Mermaid which suited Matthias. Just how much it suited his husband, Lukas, nobody knew.

Matthias and Berwald had made up their disagreement when they were sixteen although it had taken a while. Berwald had felt deeply hurt by Matthias's actions but eventually things began to settle down although they were not as close as they had been before. Matthias had Lukas to consider now and, if Berwald were honest with himself, he was envious.

Emil had gone to Switzerland. He had found his soul mate in a young Germanic girl who had visited Sweden last year with her brother and Vash Zwingli was not about to let his sister Lili stay in a foreign country by herself so Emil tagged along with them when they went home, much to the brother's annoyance but like Lukas said, You can't fight fate.

Berwald had given up on finding his soul mate. He could only take so much of meeting people and feeling nothing in his chest.

When Berwald went into The Little Mermaid, Matthias had a beer waiting for him.

"Finally finished, uh!" he said. "Well, you can make a night of it now." Berwald shook his head.

"J'st one," he replied. "I'm up e'rly t'morrow. B'ilding tha playgr'und fer tha orph'nage." Lukas nodded, approvingly.

"The children should have something nice for themselves," he said. "Must be hard to lose your parents." None of them could speak from experience, they all still had their parents.

"Well, we know you'll do a good job," Matthias commented. "No one can work the wood like you can. No splinters to get into little fingers."

"I'll do ma b'st," Berwald replied and drank his beer.

"Tell Tino, Lukas said hello," Lukas said.

"T'no?" Berwald asked.

"Tino Väinämöinen," Lukas replied. "Someone I met a few weeks ago. He's from Finland and works at the orphanage now. He's really good with the kids, particularly that English boy. His family moved here so his father could work but they were caught up in a car accident. The boy was the only one to survive and Tino's the only one he'll speak to."

"P'or boy," Berwald was not a good talker himself so he could relate. He was glad the boy had someone he could talk to.

"So will you tell Tino?"

"I w'll."

Berwald arrived at the orphanage at eight, almost at the same time as Lars. They were met by Lars's sister, a nice, friendly, cheerful person, just the kind for working with children and she took them to the piece of ground where the playground was going to go.

"Ex'use ma," Berwald asked. " 's T'no Vä'nämö'nen h're?"

"Do you know Tino?" Emma asked.

"Na," he replied. " A fr'end ask ma ta say h'llo."

"I see," she replied. "Well I'm afraid Tino's isn't in today. It's his day off but he'll be back in tomorrow."

" 'kay."

Berwald held a wooden pole in place while Lars secured it to another to form the frame for a set of swings. Lars fitted massive nuts and bolts to hold the two leaning poles together. They had already made the other A-frame and both were secured into the ground. They hoisted another pole up to rest on top of the A-frames and secured it with more over sized nuts and bolts. Only the swings had to be hung from it now and they would be finished.

"Would you like some lunch?" Emma called out to them from the orphanage kitchen. Lars checked his watch. It was just after noon and he nodded to Berwald.

"Ye'h," Berwald replied. "Thank yeh." And he and Lars followed Emma into the kitchen.

Lunch was sandwiches, cake and coffee with Lars devouring every crumb of his meal and stepping outside to smoke. Berwald was finishing his coffee when he spotted a little head peeking through the doorway to the orphanage itself. When the boy saw Berwald looking, he ducked back behind the door. Berwald waited. The boy looked back again. He was blonde, about seven years old with blue eyes, capped with big eyebrows.

"H'llo," Berwald greeted. The boy did not reply and held on to the door frame.

"I'm B'rwald," he introduced himself. "What's yer n'me?" At first he thought the boy would not answer.

"Peter."

"H'llo, P'ter," Berwald replied. "What 're yeh doing h're?" Peter shrugged.

"I wanted to see you build the playground," he replied. He spoke with an English accent so Berwald reckoned that this was the boy Lukas was talking about.

"Don't yeh want ta play w'th yer fr'ends?" Peter shook his head.

"They make fun of my accent," he muttered. Berwald frowned. He did not like bullies and this boy had been through enough from what he had heard.

"Yeh h've a fr'end call'd T'no, don't yeh?" he asked. Peter looked startled.

"How did you know?"

"A fr'end o' mine's a fr'end o' T'no's," Berwald explained. " 'e mention'd yeh." Peter looked thoughtful and then there was a shout.

"Peter!" Emma called. Peter looked toward the sound of her voice and then back at Berwald.

"Will you be here tomorrow?" he asked. Berwald nodded.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," Peter said as Emma came into the doorway. Peter passed by her and ran back into the orphanage.

"You've been honoured," Emma commented. "The only other person he'll speak to is Tino."

"Perh'ps 'f tha oth'rs didn't make fun 'f his acc'nt," Berwald replied.

"Is that what's been going on?" Emma frowned. "Thank you. I'll keep an eye on that."

"N' pr'blem!"

Tino. Aged 20

At eight am next day, Tino strolled into work. He loved his job, loved the kids he watched over, especially Peter. The boy needed love and affection and it was not like Tino had anyone else to spend it on. He had spent fifteen years looking and waiting for his heart to start beating. He was ready to give up.

Tino had trained to work with children and when he qualified he accepted a job with the orphanage in Sweden. It was not uncommon for those who had not found their soul mates in their own country to move to another and try there but Tino did not seem to have any more luck in Sweden either so he would lavish his love and affection on the children who had no one to love them and dedicate his life to being a surrogate parent.

"Tino!" Emma called to him as she approached. "I'm glad you've arrived. I've some news about Peter." Tino panicked.

"He hasn't been hurt, has he?" The Finn blurted. "He is all right?" Emma put her hands up in a 'calm down' gesture.

"He's fine," she reassured. "But it seems he doesn't say much because the other children bully him about the way he talks." Tino frowned.

"Why did he never say?" he pondered. "How did you find out?"

"Peter spoke to the carpenter with my brother and told him," she replied. "He told me."

"He spoke to someone else!"

"Berwald has an unusual way of speaking," Emma said. "Maybe Peter related to that."

"Maybe."

"He was asking about you too," she added. "Something about a friend wanting him to tell you hello. He's out in the grounds now, working on the playground if you want to go and see him."

"I'll do it later," he replied. "We need to get breakfast ready for the children."

As the day wore on, Tino was kept too busy to go out and meet Berwald. Several children were caught picking on Peter and were punished. Tino had to watch over them while they were told to write an essay on why bullying was wrong and they had to spend the rest of the afternoon in their rooms. Tino hope it would sink in but somehow he doubted it. He missed lunch so Emma brought him a sandwich with coffee and a waffle.

It was late afternoon when Emma stopped by.

"I'm going to ask my brother if he and Berwald would like some refreshments before they leave for the day," she said. "Can you make them?" Tino got up from his chair, nodding.

"I still need to see the one you called Berwald anyway," he replied and went to the kitchen.

Berwald and Lars accepted the offer of refreshments. The playground was nearly finished, they just had to put a roof on the playhouse and then the playground would be ready for the children.

Emma bought them into the kitchen where Berwald saw a small man making beverages with his back to them. He had blonde hair but that was all he could see.

"The playground looks wonderful," Emma complimented. "The children are going to love it!"

"J'st one o' two th'ngs left ta do," Berwald replied. "We'll b' fin'shed by t'morrow."

Tino listened to the man speak while he finished making the drinks. Emma could be right. Perhaps Peter was drawn to the man because of his speech. He put milk, cream and sugar on the tray with the drinks and biscuits, carried it to the kitchen table where everyone was sat, put the tray on the table and looked up.

Stern blue eyes met violet.

Babump, babump, babump!

As one, Berwald and Tino put their hands over their hearts.

Berwald could not believe it was happening. Just as he had given up ever finding his soul mate, this small blonde with the violet eyes had set his heart beating. His soul mate was cute with a boyish face that made his heart beat even faster. Perhaps fate knew what it was doing, after all.

Tino looked at the tall man with the piercing blue eyes as he continued to feel his beating heart under his hand. He all but decided to forget about finding his soul mate and concentrate on his work and now this tall blonde man had walked into his life and turned it upside down. Fate had finished playing with him and given him what he had been waiting for all his life.

"I'm Tino!" he said, still in a state of shock.

"I'm B'rwald!"

Tino did not know what else to say.

"L'kas says h'llo." Tino gave a little laugh.

Emma and Lars watched the exchange. Lars, confused. Emma, knowingly.

"What's going on?" Lars asked.

"I think I hear the sound of beating hearts," she replied, smiling.

They married a year later and they adopted Peter, another boy called Sven and settled down to a family life with a dog they named Hanatamago. Tino continued to work at the orphanage and Berwald became a partner in the workshop. The children attended the same school Berwald had.

One day when Peter was ten, he came home in a sullen mood.

"What's wrong, Peter?" Tino asked when Peter came through the door.

"A boy in our class found his soul mate today," he replied. Tino nodded, knowing what was coming.

"Will my heart ever beat?" Peter asked. Tino sat Peter down in one chair and he sat in another.

"Peter," he said, gently. "You're only ten. Some meet their soul mates when they're ten, some earlier, some later. I didn't meet your papa until I was twice your age."

"So I might still find mine?" Peter asked, hopefully.

"Oh yes!" Tino replied. "You just have to have faith."

And at the age of sixteen, Peter found his soul mate. A Latvian boy named Raivis Galante.

The whole 'Your heart will start beating when you see your soul mate' thing is something I've used in one of my Hetalia Tales stories which isn't up yet. It gave me the idea for this. This is my first time writing Sweden and I hope you can understand his speech, I kept going back over it and rewriting it.

I put in the near meeting as a bit of a tease (because I'm evil!) and I wanted to put in a little of Berwald and Tino's feelings as their classmates found their soul mates because they're bound to feel a little envious and perhaps a little depressed and, of course, I had to put Peter in there as well as Hanamatago.

And yes, I did called Matthias's inn The Little Mermaid in reference to Hans Christian Anderson.

I hope you enjoyed this story even though I was getting my butt kicked by writer's block at the time.

Hasta le Pasta!