Disclaimer: I don't own Axis Powers Hetalia. The characters are not mine. Only the story is. Some ideas were suggested by a friend.

Author's Note: Epilogue time! I think I put this off a little too long ^^; There's just something about writing depressing stuff that makes me depressed ^^; Enjoy! My old desktop helped me along quite a bit.

It had been a few weeks by now and though they wanted to say that a normal routine had once again set in, some couldn't call it a normal routine. Gilbert wasn't there and that wasn't normal for them.

The Austrian paused in his piano playing and glanced back, towards the corner of the room. He saw Ludwig there, seated in a plush seat with his head leaning against the wall behind him, his eyes closed for the moment. As the last of Roderich's playing went quiet, his blue eyes opened to stare at the player in question.

"When was the last time you went home?" He asked, frowning a little at the German nation.

"Ages ago. Or at least that's what it feels like." He answered him honestly, an answer Roderich had expected. While Feliciano was spending some time with his brother in Spain, Ludwig had spent his time at Roderich's house. And from what Roderich could remember, that had been the day after it had happened.

"I should force you to head home." He said, frowning a little. He knew it would most likely do the man some good, but at the same time, having him there to talk to was comforting. Even Roderich couldn't deny how unsettling the silence was. He had gotten used to Gilbert's random visits. Visits that were usually through the windows. These days Roderich had fallen into the habit of actually locking his windows. After all, why leave them opened when no one will come through them anymore?

Shaking his head free of his thoughts, he watched as Ludwig slowly got to his feet. "You're right…" The German nation ceded, though unwillingly. "I should probably head home and…" He paused, unsure of how to say that. Roderich didn't need to hear it to know it. Ludwig needed to go through Gilbert's things.

The trip home to Berlin was too short for Ludwig's liking and before he knew it, he was at his front door. He stared at the knob as if it would bite his hand if he came close and he half wished it would. Deep down he wished that Gilbert would burst through the door, wondering where the hell he was for the past few weeks. Sighing in defeat because he knew that neither of those would happen, he reached out and turned the knob, listening to it squeal as it turned. Pushing gently, he watched the front entrance come into view as the door opened.

The silence that met his ears made him shiver. It was like he had expected. Nothing was the same without the Prussian around. There was no yelling about frying pans and vital regions anymore. Just a silence that seemed thick enough to cut with a knife.

He stepped inside and closed the door, the silence pressing down on him from every angle as he walked down the hall. He went up a flight of stairs and down a long hall with slow steps, steps that slowed as they passed the piano room that was off to the side. That was the room that Gilbert has spent most of his time in during the war. Shaking his head as he continued to walk, he figured the first thing that he should probably do was go through his brother's things and decide what should go where. He knew he would keep the journals but what about the rest? It didn't really look like it but Gilbert had so much stuff!

Something glinted in the sunlight, making Ludwig raise his eyebrows. Moving through the sea of stuff, he came up to the wooden desk where the glinting item in question was. He gasped, his eyes falling on his brother's Iron Cross. The object that he had been wearing the day of the dissolution had somehow appeared on his desk. When did that happen? He clearly remembered that his brother had been wearing it! He reasoned that it was probably just a spare one in case he lost the one he always wore. He picked it up and stared at it with a frown before turning it over in his hand.

Auf immer als Brüder. Auf immer für Deutschland.

The words engraved there startled the German nation. It was the words that Gilbert had gotten engraved on both their crosses. It had been one of the many cute things that the Prussian had done. It was his way of bonding though Ludwig never really did understand the point. Though from what the German nation could understand, Gilbert had only engraved one cross. Had he left it there that morning so that Ludwig could keep it? His hand brushed along the engraving as he held back the few tears that were threatening to overwhelm him. He looked at everything in the room as he put the cross back on the desk. Moving through all of his brother's stuff, he headed back to the door to get out of the room that seemed to hold every memory in it.

He stopped short in front of the door to the room with the piano in it. Was it his imagination, or was there a breeze coming from under the door? No, that couldn't be, could it? The question stayed with him, nagging at him to check if perhaps the window had been left opened. That would be just like Gilbert to leave him work even though he wasn't around. Though he didn't want to go into that room, the last room that the Prussian had been in, he knew he had to check. His hand gripped the knob for a long moment as he tried to muster the courage to face the emotions that would flow when he was in there. The knob turned and the door opened, flooding the hall with light. All there was in the room was a piano, a piano bench and a radio that Gilbert had been using to keep track of the war that had claimed what was left of him. Beyond them, the curtains fluttered in front of the opened window as a light breeze blew in.

A frown creased the German's features. He move forward to close it when something on the jet black piano caught his eye. Small, square and white, it wasn't a key but a small piece of paper. Stuck to the piano with a small piece of tape, it fluttered in the breeze, waiting for him to find it. Pulling gently, he removed it from the piano and raised it to eye level. It was nothing but a scribble in the Prussian's ridiculously hard to read handwriting: Keep the window opened.

Why would Gilbert ask that of all things? Ludwig glanced at the window, at the sunlight that streamed through and let out a sigh. He supposed he could leave it opened if that was what he wanted. Opened to the sun, the rain, the wind, the birds. He wondered if maybe some of the Gilbirds that his brother had become were nearby. Would they find their way here somehow? If Gilbert had anything to do with it then chances were they would. He almost chuckled.

Gilbert… Was there a heaven for their kind? Better yet, was there a hell? Could his brother be watching him from somewhere or was he in a sort of limbo? Knowing the Prussian, Ludwig figured that he might somehow find his way to Fritz in the afterlife. At least someone would take care of him.

The sudden chirp caught him by surprise and he quickly turned to find the source. The bird (wherever it was) chirped again and Ludwig frowned. Where was it? Another chirp. This time he tried to look up. When the bird settled, he sighed. It was on his head. Didn't they only do that for…

Another chirp caught his attention. There was another one on the window sill. It stared at him and made no move to fly away as he stepped closer. He held out his hand and the bird flew and landed on it, staring up at him. He brought his hand up closer to his face and watched as the little avian fluttered its wings as if trying to tell him that everything would be alright. As a third Gilbird flew around the room, Ludwig found himself talking to the one in his hand. "You're here… Aren't you?"

The bird fluttered its wings again in response. The feeling of comfort that washed over the German felt like a cool rain on a hot day. Somehow he knew that he would get through this. Things would eventually return to normal for all of them. Wounds would heal, memories would be cherished. The Prussian was gone but he was there in spirit. And he always would be.

Invisible to the German and to the rest of the world, the Prussian watched. He was there and he would keep an eye on all of them. He leaned on his brother's shoulder and smiled at the little bird in his hand. All he could do was watch and hope that his brother could feel that yes, he was there for him even though it wasn't physically. The Prussian eagle wings wrapped themselves around the living nation lightly.

Ludwig looked up. That feeling of comfort was still there but somehow, it felt stronger. "Gone, but never forgotten. Ich liebe dich… Bruder."

Translations

Auf immer als Brüder. Auf immer für Deutschland. – Forever as Brothers. Forever for Germany.

Ich liebe dich… Brüder. – I love you… Brother.

Author's Note: Wow… That ending kinda snuck up on me. Actually so did most of the end of it. I'm really sorry that took so long. I didn't mean it to. As always, reviews are appreciated.