God, I love crossovers, don't you? There are so few APH\TLK crossovers out there, and I thought I'd try and change that. This fluffy little story sprouted from a meme I was working on... and decided to abandon. But, I really loved what I wrote, and felt it was long enough to be a story in it's own right! Also, this story contains Germany\Vitani friendship, but could be seen in other ways I guess... though I think that would make Germany a pedo... But! I digress. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: "Hetalia: Axis Powers" doesn't belong to me, nor does "The Lion King". If they did, my head canon wouldn't be head canon, if you catch my drift. ;)

Why him? Why did he let Italy drag him all the way to verdammt Africa? And why Gott, WHY did the jeep have to run out of fuel in the middle of this wasteland? As far as the eye could see it was dry, cracking earth and termite mounds, and it seemed like the sun choose to shine elsewhere because it felt this place didn't deserve it's radiance. He stood outside the vehicle listening to Italy snoring away in the back seat of the safari jeep. He let his gaze wander the dry landscape, until his eyes fell on a particularly large termite mound. A subtle movement caught his eye. "What the…"

"Hey, Italy, I'll be right back…" Of course Italy was too sound a sleeper to hear him, but he felt better telling him anyway.

Germany slowly approached the mound, and as he got closer he heard… crying? "What the hell…?" He peeked around it to see the last thing he expected to find in a place like this. Upon noticing his presence, the little lioness cub looked up at the tall man in confusion, her blue-violet eyes meeting his own sky blues. Germany was taken aback by this animal, for her eyes held a sort of understanding and intelligence that he had only seen in humans. She used a paw to wipe her eyes (as she had just been crying, the German noticed), and her gaze changed from confusion to that of contempt.

"What do you want?" She asked in a scratchy, young, feminine voice that perfectly matched her scruffy appearance. Germany's jaw hung open. How could that even be possible? Either he was going insane, or he had just made the scientific discovery of the millennia. But then again, he was a bit of a scientific wonder himself, being the personification of a nation and all. Best to just treat her as he would any other person.

"I… I heard a noise from behind this termite mound." He quizzically arched a brow. "Was that you?" The young lioness hung her head.

"N-no…"

"That sounds like a 'yes' if I ever heard one." The blue-eyed cub scowled at him.

"So what if I was?"

"I'd ask why." At this the cub flopped down on the ground, her bangs hanging in her face.

"Why would I tell you? You're just an ugly, hairless, monkey-thing that I just met!" She exclaimed. Germany sat down on the ground beside her. For some reason, this snarky little cub intrigued him.

"Because maybe I could help." She snorted at his words.

"Sure ya could! It'll be so easy to fix my life! My entire pride is starving, my older brother is retarded, my mother is insane, and she's turning my twin brother into a murder weapon! You'll be able to fix it all up in no time flat!" She said, the sarcasm practically dripping off her tongue. Then, she let her tone fall to something much softer - sadder. "And I'm nothing. No, that's not true. I'm the girl. Mother is only concerned with Kovu, 'cause he's the 'Chosen One'. I'm… I'm just the weak little girl who Mother has no time for. She always pushes my training onto the other lionesses, and you know what, Mister?" She asked him, gazing into his eyes with an intensity that no child should possess.

"What?" He asked softly, taking the cub into his lap. Tears slid down her fluffy cheeks.

"It hurts. It hurts that she doesn't love me." She buried her face into his chest and wept. After years of dealing with Italy, Germany was much better at comforting others than he had once been, but this was different. Every time Italy cried it was either because the other countries were bullying him or something about pasta. This poor girl had been through so much, he could tell, and yet she was still so young. He wanted to fix everything for her, make her life what it should have been, but he couldn't. He just sat there with her crying in his lap, running his fingers through her fur.

"I'm sure that's not true." He finally said. "I'm positive that she cares for you. She probably just has a hard time showing it." She took her face away from his chest, and rested her head so that she made eye contact with him.

"That's not what I meant. I know Mother cares about me. She wouldn't have me train if she didn't. I'm saying that she doesn't love me. There's a difference. She doesn't love any of us. Not me, not Nuka, not even Kovu. The only lion she ever loved was Scar, and he's dead. All the room in her heart had been taken up by her need for revenge."

"You're very insightful for one so young, you know." She sighed at this.

"I know. But that doesn't exactly help you all the way out here." He nodded, understanding how that could be true. He rubbed behind her ears, eliciting a soft purr from the cub, making him smile. She had calmed down quite a bit, but he knew she was still hurting. He kissed her tenderly on the forehead.

"It will only get better from here. You just need to have faith." She looked up at him once again with those beautiful eyes.

"Faith is pretty hard to come by around here."

"Not when you already have it." She stared up at him in confusion. He smiled softly at her. "Someone lacking in faith would have excepted the fact that they were unloved long ago and would have moved on by now. But you, you still feel the pain. Without faith, there is no pain, and vice versa. To feel anything, you must first have the heart and mind to comprehend it. Your soul is far from dead, little one. It is only sleeping." She gazed at the man in awe, her periwinkle orbs sparkling in admiration.

"You're… You're really wise…" She whispered. He chuckled.

"Nein, I just have a bit more life experience than you. If you can believe it, I once thought I was unloved; that my soul was dead. But, my bruder, idiot that he is, told me that he shared my pain. He said that if we still felt the pain, then we weren't the heartless monsters the rest of the world accused us of being, and that gave me hope." For the first time since they had met, the cub really smiled. "She's very cute when she smiles." He thought. She stood on her hind legs, and reached up to lick and nuzzle his cheek in an affectionate manner.

"Thank you, Mister. Thank you for giving me my faith back." He touched the spot where she had licked him, but did not wipe it away.

"You're very welcome…" He paused, realizing for the first time that he didn't know this extraordinary cub's name.

"Vitani." She said, as if reading his mind. "My name is Vitani."

"Well then, you're very welcome, Vitani." He said, kissing her pink nose. She giggled at him, and playfully bopped him on the nose. "She really is a sweet girl," he thought. "If only I could take her back to Europe with me… but I suppose that would defeat the purpose of what I just told her if I helped her run from her problems, now wouldn't it?" He chuckled at the ludicrous thought. A lioness in Berlin? Now that would be quite the sight. Suddenly the roar of an engine coming to life sounded in the air around them.

"What was that?" Vitani asked him curiously.

"That would be my ride." He sighed, not wanting to leave the little cub he had befriended. "I have to go now, Vitani. Do you think you'll be okay?" He asked her, genuine concern lacing his voice. She cocked her head to the side, making her look even more adorable to him, and smirked in a way that reminded him a little too much of Gilbert.

"Yeah, I'll be fine! Though I think you should be goin'. The Outlands isn't really a good place for a creature like you to be stuck. You're probably not tough enough to survive out here." She said, a confidence in her voice that seemed to suit her extremely well. Germany chuckled.

"You're probably right!" He said, humoring the cub. "I probably wouldn't even last a week. That being said, I have to go now." He placed Vitani on the ground, and stood, dusting off his pants as he did so. He turned to walk away, but his pants were suddenly caught in the young lioness' teeth. He looked down at her, and upon seeing the pout on her face, couldn't help but smile. "Ja?"

"You never told me your name." She stated simply. The smile never left his face as he gave her the name he let so few people call him.

"Ludwig."

"Ludwig? What kind of name is that?" She questioned, a look of slight disgust mixed with pity painted on her features.

"What kind of name is Vitani?" He retorted. The cub just shrugged her shoulders.

"Whatever." He shook his head at her, knowing that she was the type that didn't like to be wrong. "She's turning out to be more and more like Prussia every second I spend with her, though it suits her quite well." He thought to himself.

He turned again, and began making his way back towards the jeep, when he heard Vitani call out to him.

"Come back and see me soon, okay?" He looked over his shoulder to see her. Head held high, ears up and alert, tail swishing back and forth, blue eyes shining. Everything about her screamed for him not to refuse.

"I promise you, Vitani, this will not be the last time we meet." And with that, he turned back to the jeep, planning on keeping the wonderful little lioness his special secret.

Sweet, yesh? Yesh, I think so! Anyway, note time!

-When Ludwig was telling Vitani about how he knew how she felt, he was obviously talking about the World Wars.

-As for the part about few people calling him by his human name, I decided that would be a special privilege for people he's close to. Ludwig felt a special connection to Vitani, and therefore lets her call him by his human name (she wouldn't know the difference between that and his nation name, since she has no idea what a nation even IS).

-Yes, Ludwig can understand Vitani. Don't ask me why or how, he just can.

-And I know, the characters are extremely OOC, but I tried! I had to twist them a bit to make the story work, sue me! (please don't!)

One more thing! I want to know if I should continue this, or leave it as a one-shot. I know, Ludwig told Vitani they would meet again, and this is why I'm asking. Do you want to see them meet again? If so, when and how? It is up to YOU!

Review please! And more than just a "I liked it" is greatly loved! If you don't, I will set my attack lioness ('Tani) and my attack German (Luddy) on you!