'Uwah~ Germany seemed so angry when he left this morning!' Veneziano thought to himself as he wandered through the big house, 'I wonder if it was something I did…'

In a way, he was right, although it was nothing intentional. He had been talking to Germany about the middle ages, and how Veneziano had once lived at Austria's house after Rome-oji-ji had disappeared. Germany had mentioned that he could not remember that time in his life very clearly. In his earliest memory he was already almost fully grown and living with Prussia.

"You mean you don't remember anything~?" Veneziano asked innocently, "Nothing at all, Germany?"

"No."

Not long afterwards, Germany had hurried off to bed, and Veneziano had wisely decided not to irritate him further. He slept alone that night.

Little did Veneziano know, Germany couldn't sleep for half the night- kept up trying to recall his elusive childhood. When he did sleep, the stern nation was plagued by hazy dreams of some one in a green maids outfit and…pink bunnies?

'Maybe I should do something nice for Germany…I know! I'll make dinner for him~!'

And so, Veneziano began preparing his favorite pasta dish, which he knew Germany also liked. He had just picked out the perfect wine to pair with the meal, when he realized that the kitchen was a mess. Germany wouldn't like that.

'Ve~ I should clean up before Germany comes home~'

Germany sighed. Four hours sleep did not benefit a nation, especially before an important meeting with their boss. And he still had to deal with Veneziano.

"Veneziano? I'm ho—"

He stopped as he opened the kitchen door. Veneziano was sweeping the kitchen floor, humming quietly to himself. He had a handkerchief tied over his hair and he was wearing a sweet white apron tied in a huge bow over his other clothes.

Suddenly, Germany's life had gotten so much more complicated.

Apparently, Veneziano hadn't heard him enter, because the bubby nation kept cleaning and humming to himself. Germany felt like he'd seen this happen before, although he couldn't say where or when. His face was burning with a blush, but he couldn't turn away.

Shyly, he reached out and tugged on Veneziano's bow to get the other nations attention. Embarrassed by his childish action, he quickly retracted his hand.

"Ve~?"

Veneziano turned seeing only intense blue eyes and blonde hair.

"Wah~! I'm sorry, Holy Roman- eh? Germany?"

'I was doing my work like I was supposed to, so---!'

"Germany, are you alright?"

"Ch-Ch-Chiibtalia?"

"Eh~? Germany, how did you now what I was called when I was little?"

"I…uh…I-it's nothing important, Veneziano….I- I have to go talk to Austria…"

"B-but dinner!"

"You go ahead. I'll eat when I get back home."

And with that, Germany hurried off, leaving poor Veneziano alone again.

'Mmm…I'll always wait for you!'

'…no matter how many hundreds of years go by, I'll always love you more than anyone else in the world!'

"AUSTRIA!"

The musical nation in question felt a migraine coming on. Germany was beginning to pick up habits from Prussia- coming over without calling, barging in before knocking, shouting loudly enough to be heard in Russia's house…

"What is it, Germany?"

"Italy."

"Veneziano or Romano?"

"Veneziano. He lived here when he was small."

"I'm glad that you've been studying my history, Germany," Austria said dryly, "Yes, Veneziano and Hungary both lived in my house during the middle ages along with one or two other nations."

"The Holy Roman Empire."

Austria had been hoping that name wouldn't come up. After all these centuries, he was unprepared to have this conversation.

"…yes, he lived here too. Now, if that's all you wanted to know…"

"He loved a little girl."

Suddenly, Austria found his shirt cuffs very interesting.

"…in a way…"

"Veneziano."

"…yes…"

"What happened to him?"

"The Holy Roman Empire?"

"Yes, Austria. You know what I'm asking, now answer the question."

"…he left to fight the Thirty Years War…and lost."

"What happened to him?"

Austria met the taller nation's gaze and narrowed his eyes.

"I think we both know the answer to that question now, Germany."

"Just tell me!"

"…Prussia took him in, and got him back to a more stable condition."

Germany unclenched his fists. He remembered now.

'Who are you?'

'Gilbert Weillschmidt, but you can call me 'Awesome',' the young man smirked. His ruby-red eyes were narrow and his smile was wide, like a predator's. Trusting him would be folly, but there was no one else to go to anymore.

'…really?'

'Nah, just Prussia will do. Or big brother. Starting today, I'm gonna be taking care of you.'

'B-b-but some one is waiting for me! I've got to go back! I promised!'

'Hey, hey, hey- calm down. Can you even remember where you came from?'

'N-no…'

'Exactly. What kind of awesome big brother would I be if I let you go wandering off by yourself, when you don't even know what's happened to you. A lot's changed since the war, you know. The person who was waiting for you might not even exist anymore.'

'B-but I have to find her!'

'Look, right now you're in kind of a transition period. You need to stay with me until you're all set as a nation. When you remember this person and you're strong enough to fend for yourself you can go find them okay?'

He couldn't bear it. He had to go back to…go back to…why couldn't he remember?

'…okay.'

There was a long pause.

'Prussia? Big brother?'

'Yeah?'

'Who am I?'

'...Germany.'

It was late when Germany got back to his house, and his head was reeling as if he had stood too quickly. He had to tell Veneziano, he had to apologize for not finding and recognizing him sooner. He had to the bubbly nation that he still felt the same, even if…

He searched the entire house for Veneziano, hoping he hadn't left after Germany rushed out (just like all those times before… ) The last room he searched (which was really the first place he should have looked, in retrospect) was the dinning room.

"Veneziano?"

The table was set for two. A pair of melted candles were dripping wax onto the deep blue tablecloth- proof of how long they had been lit- and there, at the end of the table, was Veneziano. He was slumped over and sleeping in his chair.

Germany smiled to himself. It was just like happy nation to try to wait up for him. He extinguished the candles before collecting Veneziano into his arms.

"Ve~?"

Warm brown eyes opened sleepily. Germany kissed his forehead, just shy of that one errant lock of curly hair.

"I'm back at last…Chibitalia."

A/N: Please review?