Travelling Soldier, a hetalia - axis powers fanfic

Well, this is a surprise! I was meant to be writing the next chapter of pwap, but the SuFin bag decided to remind me that despite it being one of my fave pairings, I had so far ignored it. So this was born. Enjoy. And btw, listen to this song, it's amazing.

And remember, I do not own Hetalia, or the song Travellin' Soldier by the Dixie Chicks, although I did treek the lyrics (italics) to fit better, and I know virtually nothing about the winter war, the names of towns are names I randomly chose off of google maps, feel free to correct me on anything about them.

Two days past eighteen
He was waiting for the bus in his army whites
Sat down in a corner in a tavern there
Gave his order to a boy with a beret on his head
He's a little shy so he gives him a smile
And he said would you mind sittin' down for a while
And talking to me,
I'm feeling a little low
He said I'm off in an hour and I know where we can go

It was an ordinary evening working in the village tavern for young orphan Tino, he had been taken in by the tavern owners and was looked after in exchange for working during the always busy dinner time shift. He was just collecting empty tankards when a young Swedish soldier with a serious face sat down in the furthest corner.

Knowing his job off by heart Tino collected a fresh mug of ale and approached the man to give it to him. As he approached the man blushed and lowered his eyes. 'A shy one, eh?' Tino thought to himself, he gave the man, who, on closer inspection really wasn't much more than a boy, a kind smile and asked him if there was anything else that he wanted.

"Th'r' 's r'lly, 'f ya d'n't m'nd," he said, blushing hard with his eyes fixed as low as they could go on the table, "ya s'', 'm k'nda s'd, w'ld ya sit w'th ma, f'r a wh'le?"

Tino looked at the crowd of people at the bar and replied, "Tell you what, we're closing soon, I know somewhere we can sit and chat in peace."

The Swede blushed so hard Tino thought his face would explode and nodded quietly.

So they went down and they sat by the lake right there
He said I bet you got a boyfriend but I don't care
I got no one to send a letter to
Would you mind if I sent one back here to you

The two men, only free from childhood walked down by the shore of a nearby lake. Tino pulling the bigger man to sit on a long beside him.

"You haven't told me your name even! Mine's Tino."

"B'rwald." The tall boy replied simply.

For several hours they sat and chatted about everything and nothing. Tino found out that his new friend was in fact part of the support troop being sent to help the Finns combat the Russian army. The taller boy finally asked Tino what he'd been dying to say for hours, "L'sten, I 'magin' ya got s'm'ne sp'cial, b't I g't n' one, w'ld ya m'nd 'f a s'nt a l'tter b'ck to ya fr'm th' fr'nt l'ne?"

I cried
Never gonna hold the hand of another guy
Too young for him they told him
Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier
Our love will never end
Waitin' for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone when the letter said
A soldier's coming home

Tino couldn't help himself, he found tears falling from his eyes as he repeated yes into the soldiers shoulder.

And as they departed each others company, early the next morning, Berwald rushed back for a brief moment, pressing his lips to Tino's softly and murmuring in his deep voice "I l've ya, T'no, 'll c'me b'ck fer ya, I pr'mise."

And then he was gone.

Most of the town saw the painful parting of the new-found sweethearts, a few, such as the Hungarian lady, Elizabeta, that lived next to the tavern, approved, but most seemed to think that Tino was far too young to be with Berwald, that he should move on, that if he was so in love with army men he would find another, more suitable partner.

But Tino was content to wait forever if needs be, he vowed that he would wait for his soldier to come back again.

So the letters came from an army camp
In Kuopio then Imatra
And he told him of his heart
It might be love and all of the things he was so scared of
He said when it's getting kinda rough over here
I think of that day sittin' down at the lake
And I close my eyes and see your pretty smile
Don't worry but I won't be able to write for awhile

Berwald, true to his word, sent letters as often as he could to Tino, first from a camp in Kuopio and then from the fighting zone, near Imatra. In his letters he told Tino how he felt about everything, how he felt so in love with Tino and how he was scared of the violence, the mayhem and anarchy that war was brining to so many innocent people. He told him when things started going wrong of how he'd close his eyes and remember that night at the lake, he'd remember Tino's lovely voice, beautiful smile and kind eyes. In the last letter he said that he wouldn't be able to write o him for a little while, they were going in deeper.

Tino cried when he got that particular letter, he was so very worried about Berwald's safety.

One Friday night at a hockey game
The Lord's Prayer said and the Anthem sang
A man said folks would you bow your heads
For a list of Winter War dead
Crying all alone behind the stands
Was a piccolo player in the marching band
And one name read but nobody really cared
But a cute little boy with a beret on his head

One night, whilst a hockey match was being played to raise the villagers morales, the announcer stood up and asked them to bow their heads in memory of a Swedish soldier killed in combat.

Tino retreated from the lake, tears threatening to overwhelm him. Nobody in the crowd really seemed to care.

Tino wept and wept in his room, refusing food even when he became sick. The people who had criticized him now hissed venomously 'look what that damned soldier has done! This is all HIS fault!'

They told Tino to just move on, but the stubborn little Finn refused, he wouldn't, he couldn't. And then a scrap of paper arrived in the post, it was no more than a few centimetres, torn from a poster of some sorts, but it had the most important five words of Tino's life.

It read simply:

Tino,

I'm coming home,

Berwald.