Germany was worried. Very worried.

He was so worried that he was having a hard time concentrating on his dinner, or on the conversation his two friends were having... I hope everyone was kind to Bruder, he thought to himself.

Prussia had been so depressed as of late. Many times at night, he could hear his elder brother pacing the floors of his basement room, unable to sleep, or talking to Gilbird about how lonely he was. Not only that, but he wasn't eating much and had lost a fair bit of weight. Germany's heart ached witnessing these things, but Prussia would never talk about them, only insisting with a very forced smile that he was "awesome" just like always.

Germany wished that he could just fix everything for Prussia, but... he didn't quite know how. He had tried to express his appreciation as best he could in his note, but still, one never knew what the others would say, or whether or not they would follow the rules...

"... that right?" Germany jumped and looked at Japan, who was peering at him curiously. Both he and Italy were looking at Germany with puzzled expressions.

"Is there something bothering you, Ludwig?" Italy asked. Germany stood up from the table.

"I'm going to go back to the hotel now," he replied, standing up and dropping some money on the table for his portion of the meal. His friends both seemed confused as he quickly exited the restaurant, but he was too impatient to explain. He needed to get back to his bruder. "Even if no one else cares about him, I still do," he muttered to himself as he stood on the sidewalk, waiting for a cab.

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The elevator was moving slowly. Very slowly.

Maybe I should have taken the stairs, Germany thought as he stood tapping his foot impatiently, watching the lights for the floors illuminate one by one. It would have been faster... when the elevator finally "dinged" to signal his floor, he exhaled and slipped through the doors before they were even fully open.

He made it down the hall in record time, passing two doors in each stride as he loped toward the end of the hall. When he finally arrived at the door marked 923, he noticed there was no light coming from under the door. I don't know if that's a good sign or a bad one...

Anxiously,he fumbled for the key in his pocket... and then noticed a room service trolley sitting next to the door. He lifted the lid to reveal an empty plate. "Well, at least he ate something," Germany said quietly as he fumbled with the lock.

When he opened the door to the room, he was greeted by a very welcome sight. Prussia was in his bed, sleeping peacefully with Gilbird nestled in his hair and a small smile on his face. Clutched in one hand was a piece of paper- Germany's note. The other notes were in a pile on his bedside table. Germany sighed with relief... and then noticed that Prussia's diary had fallen on the floor. It was open to an entry he had just written...

Dear Diary,

Today was the awesomest day I've had in a long time... they really haven't forgotten me. How awesome is that?

I got a lot of really nice notes from all kinds of people... Onkel Yao, Specs, Lizzy, Alfred, Matt... even Russia wrote me a nice note! Ja, who saw that one coming?

But anyway, the best one of all had to be from West... I'm humbled... Gott, diary, don't act so shocked... but I'm humbled by the fact that mein bruder thinks so highly of me. And I'm just glad that he's done well for himself in life. In fact, I think that of the many awesome things I've done in my time, raising him has been my greatest and most awesome accomplishment.

You know, diary, today really opened my eyes and made me think. I've been through a lot of hard times, ja, but, given the chance to do it again, I would... because I know people care. And that makes it all worthwhile... don't tell anyone, all right, diary? I do have a reputation to uphold.

I'm back to feeling awesome again.

Gilbert

Germany chuckled quietly at this. "Sehr gut, bruder," he said softly as he picked up the diary, closed it, and placed it on Prussia's bedside table. "I'm glad you're feeling awesome again..." He continued talking as he climbed into his own bed, glancing across the room at his very relaxed brother, "...but, to tell you the truth, you'll always be awesome to me. No matter what."

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Aaaand... fin!

"Onkel" Yao... for some reason, my headcanon is that Prussia really, really admires China. After all, he is the country that brought the world "The Art of War". Also, China would have been a friend and contemporary of Prussia's Vati Germania... so yeah.

Oh, and the use of Russia instead of Ivan was intentional too... Prussia really, really dislikes Russia. So I think he'd forgo his personal name and use his country name instead.

Luddi really wuvs his bruder... awww... (as I always say, I am an absolute sucker for fluff. Especially family fluff.) And as one that has suffered from depression at times in my life, let me say that one never knows how much good it does to know that others do care about you- so never forget to tell your friends and loved ones that you do.

I hope you enjoyed this... when you get past the outward shell of "awesome" and brash attitude, Prussia really is a pretty cool guy... so please review and show him a little love!