AN: Oh hai there! Short story based on brattyteenagewerewolf's story behind blue eyes. I only read the first three chapters when I wrote this, so I had no idea what happens to Germany. But I thought this is how it'd go if he died.

This was the last thing Japan had expected. Yes, he did blame Germany for everything that had happened. He did want the other nation to feel guilty. He deserved it. It was his fault America killed innumerable people, many of which were children. Germany deserved everything he was getting. But this… Japan didn't think this would be the result.

They all sat in a large church. The tall tan stone walls were adorned with long tapestries in rich colors, and stained glass windows. The color of the glass stretched across the faces of the World's countries and the floors. Though many of the colors looked happy and bright acting as a mock shadow, the feel of the room was less than joyous.

The many candles in the room were held by golden candelabras and long candle sticks varying from a foot tall to several feel tall. Each candle was lit for the ceremony. A large crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, sparkling so brightly it would hurt to look at it. Long mahogany pews were lined up perfectly in front of the other. In between the two sections a long red rug stretched from the entrance to the front of the church.

The countries of the World sat in the front pews, either staring sadly, or opting not to look at all. But all had the same feeling upon them. Guilt. At the very front of the church large arrangements of flowers covered the large stage. In the middle a black casket sat containing the former country known as Germany.

This wasn't what Japan wanted. He wanted Germany to know just how much he'd hurt him. Not just him but Italy too. But he supposed this was the world's way of showing him what he was doing. He was angry with Germany. Most of all hurt. All he wanted was Germany to hurt like he had. Japan had taken it to extremes. He'd done everything to hurt Germany because he though the bigger nation couldn't be hurt. Not so easily. But as he looked at the blonde laying in that casket, he realized he'd done something he could never take back. He'd pushed the other away when he knew he was in pain. And it wasn't just Japan punishing Germany. At that point it was Kiku punishing Ludwig. It was blind anger. Now he could never apologize. He had to live with what he'd caused.

And not only had he killed a friend over something that wasn't his fault, he'd lost a friend for it. Italy was surely going through the same thing as he. But Kiku knew Italy blamed him for Germany's death.

Italy sat in the very front next to his brother. Romano grumbled about the potato bastard taking the easy way out, but Feliciano knew he didn't mean it. The Italian couldn't help but stare at the casket sadly. As much as Feliciano didn't want to admit it, he was part of the reason Lud-… No. He didn't deserve to call him by his real name. But he was part of the reason Germany was dead.

Germany himself wore a black suit, a white button up shirt underneath and a black tie. Around his neck Feliciano's cross hung, resting above his heart. A pillow wrapped in his country's flag sat below his head.

The prayers had just finished, and it was time for Prussia to speak. Gilbert walked up to the stage and stood in front of the wooden stand that held a microphone. He scanned over the crowd, a look of contempt in his eyes. He blamed them all.

"Ludwig," He started, voice cracking. "Was one of the greatest people I knew. He was a great Country. But most of all, he was my little brother."

He paused for a second, judging each of the other's expressions.

"I'll tell you something no one but I know. You all know Gilbird. And I'm sure you all know he's not the only one I've had. I want you to know, that after the first died, my brother…" Prussia stopped, and tried to hold back his tears.

"My brother went out and got another bird for me because I was depressed. He went so far as to get an exact double of Gilbird. And he's done that every time one died. It's been thousands upon thousands of years he's been doing this. It hurts to know I'll never receive that kindness from him again. And despite what some of you might think, he was the nicest guy you could ever meet. He was loyal and trusting." He said.

He couldn't help it. If there was any time to cry it would be now.

"And now he's gone! My little brother is gone! All because he trusted some of you! Even when you turned your back on him, he couldn't betray you!" He yelled, staring accusingly at both Japan and Italy. He couldn't bring himself to be satisfied with the looks on their faces. No amount of guilt Japan felt, or amount of tears Italy shed, could make him forget the hole in his heart where his brother once was.

"When I was asked to identify his body, I was shown something. On his back were whip wounds. That was his punishment for losing the war. But he hid them. He acted as if nothing was wrong. He wanted to be strong. But he couldn't. No matter how he looked on the outside, on the inside he was slowly dying. He had no one. I tried to be there for him, but he didn't trust me. All he thought about was how much everyone hated him. And what gets me the most, what pisses me off about this whole thing, is that it wasn't his fault. And you all know that. As countries you know we have no free will. You know we're at the mercy of our people's wants. You know we have no control over what we must do, or what our bosses want. We have to follow the will of our people no matter what we want and hope everything ends for the best." He scalded.

Tears fell freely, and he couldn't find the will to make them stop.

"He didn't want any of this. And I'd like to tell you all now, that I have no intention of forgiving any of you. Not now, not a thousand years from today. And when you wake up every morning I want you to remember that I'll be alone at my kitchen table, not being able to even have a simple breakfast with my brother ever again." He ended, then left the stage wordlessly.

The funeral's director asked if anyone else wanted to speak, and for a minute it was silent. But Feliciano stood from his seat.

He made his way to the stand and stared at the crowd.

"Germany was nice. He yelled at me a lot, but he always saved me when I was in trouble. He took care of me when he didn't have to." He started, and everyone was a bit surprised when Italy spoke so seriously.

"He tied my shoes, and protected me, and didn't complain when I kissed him, and let me sleep in his bed when I had a bad dream, and… I left him alone." He said, starting to cry himself.

"I shouldn't of blamed him. I should of done something to help. I left him all alone and hurt him. But he would never do that to me. He'd never hurt me like I did to him." Feliciano sobbed quietly.

The other nations watched, some crying as well. They watched as Italy turned around and walked over to the casket.

The Italian stared at Germany's face sadly. He reached out and brushed his fingers over his cheek, tears flowing heavily when he felt that it was cold. He leaned down and laid his head on the German's chest.

"I'm sorry Germany. I'm so sorry I left you alone. I love you." He sobbed.

Romano and Spain eventually had to get on the stage and pull Feliciano away from the casket. The younger Italian's crying didn't cease. And when no one else stood to speak, they left the church and go into cars that were waiting for them. They drove to the graveyard where Ludwig would be buried. Most of them didn't pay attention to the burial. They were each lost in their own thoughts. When it was finally over everyone slowly left. The only ones left at Germany's grave were Gilbert, Feliciano, Romano, and Spain. Feliciano sat in front of the grave, staring at the dirt.

"Feliciano, we have to leave eventually." Spain said softly.

The young Italian turned to look at him, then back at the grave. Gilbert ignored them. He turned to leave, but stopped before walking away.

"I'll forgive you when you can bring him back." He stated coldly, then walked away.

Feliciano stared at his retreating figure sadly, then stood up himself.

It was a long time after that day until Japan and Italy had somewhat gotten over Germany's death. Japan prayed for him every night before bed, asking that he was forgiven. Italy had on more than one occasion snuck into what was now Prussia's house. He found out that sometimes Prussia would stop by the room, but would never open the door or go inside. Italy didn't care if Prussia would punish him severely for breaking into the room. The room smelled like Ludwig even after hundreds of years. Feliciano wouldn't allow it to get dusty. He cleaned it and dusted, but didn't pick up anything that Germany left out. He did however read Germany's journal once on a while. The last entry Germany wrote was one stating how much he was in pain, especially when the person he loved hated him.

One night Italy had the impulse to write something in the book. He found a pen and at the very bottom of Ludwig's last entry he wrote 'I'm sorry. I love you.' at the bottom. Feliciano stared at it for a while, then set it down.

The following week at the world meeting, everyone was talking about a new country. Italy had never paid much attention to world meetings, so he in fact was hundreds of years behind. He took his seat quietly. But his peace was short lived when everyone suddenly got up and ran to the door of the meeting room. Feliciano stayed behind. Someone tapped his shoulder and he looked up to see France.

"You're not interested in the new nation?" He inquired.

The Italian just shook his head.

"Let me tell you something. After Germany's death, Prussia went to England for help. The reason being England knows how to create a new country." He explained.

Italy's eyes widened. What was Prussia trying to do?

"But that's the easy part. Prussia successfully created a new country. There's a part of the country's personification formation where a soul isn't present. England helped him with his black magic, hoping to bring Germany back. I'm the only one who knows. And I don't know if it worked. But I believe you might want to find out." He smiled at the younger country.

Italy was shocked. Bring…Germany back? Was that even possible? He almost knocked his chair over when he got up. He rushed into the crowd of countries and in the middle found Prussia standing next to another man, who looked about the same age as Italy. But Feliciano knew he must be less than 500 years old. It had only been close to 600 since Germany died. The man looked a bit like Germany. He had the same blue eyes and same pale skin. But his hair was a dark brown.

Prussia looked over to him, and put an arm around the younger nation. To think, a country in only 600 years? What had Prussia done to achieve this? It must have taken so much of his own countries money, people, and resources. The two Germans walked through the crowd to the table, but Italy grabbed a hold of the mock Ludwig's shirt sleeve. Prussia turned around and glared harshly at the Italian.

"What is it?" The dark haired man asked.

"Ge-Germany?" Feliciano questioned.

The man just stared at him questioningly.

"It has to be you! France told me! You have to be Germany!" He stated, his voice frantic.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He replied.

Prussia threw Italy's hand off his brother. "Shut up. Even if it was, I wouldn't let you near him. Not again. He has no memory. So I don't know if he's the old Germany. Even if he was he'd start out with a clean slate."

The dark haired man looked between them curiously. What was going on?

"But! Here! Look at this!" He said frantically, digging in his jacket.

He pulled out Ludwig's old journal. Prussia looked at him appalled.

"You broke into his room?" He exclaimed.

Italy showed it to the man. "Here! This is your Journal. It has to be!"

He looked at it hesitantly. What did he mean it was his journal? He didn't recall ever having one. But he took it from the Italian's hands either way. He stared at it for a second before a look of realization hit him. This was…

Feliciano gasped as the man dropped the book and clutched his head. He ground his teeth in pain. Prussia put a hand on his back and asked what was wrong, but before he could answer, a strong gust of wind blew through the room.

It blew the journal pages wildly, and Feliciano wanted to grab it before any of the pages were lost. But he was blinded as a light seemed to come from it. They all watched in awe as the light lifted from the pages, the words lifting off the paper and circling around it. It floated over to Prussia's brother. The ball of light seemed to disappear into the man's forehead. He let out a cry of pain before falling to his knees.

The Italian rushed to his side. "Are you ok?" He asked.

The man looked up and stared at Feliciano in awe. "I-taly?"

Prussia looked back to England for an answer to what just happened.

"It looks like we did it. We got his soul back, but he didn't have memories. His journal was a trigger for them." He explained, unable to believe it actually worked.

"So it is you!" Italy exclaimed, then launched himself at Germany.

Germany wrapped his arms around the crying Italian.

"I knew it was you! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to leave you alone! Please forgive me! It's all my fault!" The smaller man wailed.

The German had to wait a minute to let his memories come back to him. He suddenly felt painfully saddened by his final memories. He remembered the way he hurt his friends, and how they hated him. And he also remembered the very last thing he said before he died.

Feliciano set his shaking hands on Ludwig's cheeks and leaned in to peck him on the lips repeatedly, mumbling over and over how he was sorry. Germany pulled him closer and laid his head on the other's shoulder. The other nations stared in complete and utter shock. Germany was back! This was the most unbelievable thing in the entire world!

Prussia rushed to Ludwig's side and pushed the Italian away. He held his younger brother's head to his chest. "It's really you. I can't believe it." He cried.

Ludwig hugged his brother back, then pulled away from him. Japan approached slowly, then dropped to his knees and bowed.

"I'm sorry for what I did Germany. I couldn't hope for you to forgive me, and I don't expect you to. I just want you to know I'm so very sorry for what I did. It's my fault." He said solemnly.

Germany smiled at him sadly. "It's ok. I forgive you. I understand why you did it now."

Ludwig was willing to completely forgive him. He was just glad that he had gotten another chance to set things right and be with the others.

"No! I won't let either of you near him! You killed him! That won't happen again. I'll make sure of it." Gilbert yelled,

"But-" Italy started,

"No." The Albino said finally.

Ludwig set his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Brother, I'm back. It won't happen again. You can forgive them now. And even if you didn't, you wouldn't want a Romeo and Juliet type story playing out would you? I'm not going anywhere."

Gilbert looked at his brother sadly before sighing.

"I'll let you do what you want. I won't stop you if it makes you happy. But you've been through a lot. Go home." He told him.

Germany stood up, along with his brother. Italy took a hold of Ludwig's hand. He'd take him home. Feliciano pulled Ludwig along until they were through the doorway. They closed the door behind them, but Germany had to stop walking forward when he realized Italy wasn't moving. He turned around to see him crying. Ludwig took a hold of his chin and made him look up at him.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I'm so sorry. I left you all alone. You were hurting. But you'd never hurt me. You'd always protect me no matter what. Even if I was annoying. It's my fault you died." He replied softly.

Germany pulled him into a hug, then leaned in to brush his lips against the smaller nations'. As he tried to pull away, Feliciano pulled him back in and kissed him frantically. He pressed his lips almost harshly into the German's, licking and sucking at his bottom lip. Ludwig separated his lips and welcomed the smaller nations' tongue into his mouth. The Italian lapped at the other's tongue without hesitation. Now that Germany was back, he couldn't waste any time. The taller man pulled away which made Feliciano whine at the loss.

"We should get back to my house." He said, panting.

Italy followed him all the way to the car outside the building, and kept his arms tightly around the other's waist the whole ride back to Germany's house. He was afraid he might disappear again if he didn't.

AN: I'm so glad brattyteenagewerewolf gave me permission to post this! I was writing like a madwoman trying to get it done! There will be a second chapter for the smut lovers! I had a lot of fun writing it, even if I was crying at some points. Reviews are love! Smut in the next Chapter!