Something There That Wasn't There Before

Dear Reader, this is a love story, penned by me, between Ludwig (Germany) (Doitsu) Belischmidt and you, the beautiful lady who wants to capture his heart. It is a tale of happiness, excitement, adventure, true love's kiss, and blossoms. This is also a tale of misery, sadness, and woe, and heartache. But,it is a story that will entice you to read more...a story that you will love,

You finally arrive at your new apartment. It was a quaint apartment, with
interesting décor, though you weren't exactly crazy about it. As you put down your bags
on the carpet, you sighed at the thought of unpacking all twenty boxes that littered
the floor. Well…better late than never…You thought as you started to unpack.

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Finally, after four grueling hours of unpacking, tidying, white-gloving, and organizing your new home, you sit on the couch, enjoying a well deserved break. The doorbell rang, interrupting your break. You sighed, and walked towards the door, ignoring the pains shooting up your legs. "Hello?"

"Ve~ Hello! Welcome to the neighborhood!" A bubbly redhead stood outside of your door, holding pasta, a white flag, and flowers.
You were relieved that you had the apartment sparkling. "Thank you! Won't you come inside?"

"Sure!" He walked inside and sat down on your couch. You offered him some tea and he accepted. Hoping to break the ice, you said, "So…you live in my neighborhood?"
He nodded. "Ve~ My fratello and I live on the other side of the street! We live at the big house across from here!"

"Oh! The Veneziano House, right?"
He nodded. "That's the one!"

"My name is ___ ___. And what is your name?"

"Oh! I'm Feli! But my friends call me Italy!"

"Okay…Italy. I'm happy to have met you!"
You and the bubbly Italy chatter for several hours until its lunchtime and his stomach growls. Unfortunately, you haven't had any time to go shopping for any groceries,
but you don't want to be rude to your new friend.

"Hey. ___! I know what we can do for lunch! Why don't you come and eat with me and my friends?"

"Are you sure Italy? I don't want to impose!"

"Ve~ They'd be happy to see you!" He grabbed your hand and dragged you off
towards his car. You buckle your seat belt and hang on. Cars have always made
you nervous because your best friend almost died in a car wreck. "HANG ON!"
He screamed and shot off.

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

You peel yourself out of Italy's car. Your eyes are wide with shock, and you move
as if you were a zombie. Italy just laughed, grabbed your hand, and lead you
inside of a huge white building. "T-this is where you're friends are?"

"Mhmm!" He said cheerfully, not noticing your condition. You nod shakily and
follow him as he runs under a floating bear. You could've sworn you saw someone,
but you were still shaking after the crazy car drive, so it was probably your imagination.
Italy threw open the door and yelled, "WE'RE HERE!"

A man with green eyes and blonde hair rolled his eyes. "Who is that?!? Did you
bring a bloody human with you?!?"

Italy shook his head. "She's my new neighbor! And I wanted her to meet all of
you!" He cleared his throat and began to point to people. He pointed to the
angry green-eyed man and said, "That's Arthur, but we call him England or Britain."

You waved weakly. He sighed and waved back. Italy pointed to a man wearing
glasses and said, "That's Alfred, Britain's little brother, we call him
America!" You waved and he said proudly, "I'M THE HERO!" You nodded and
immediately waved at a man with longer blonde hair whose name was France.
He blew a kiss in your direction and your expression showed disgust.

"This is Ivan, but we call him Russia!" The violet-eyed man smiled at
you and held up his pipe. You waved and focused on the next person,
China, who had his panda wave at you. You smile and wave back.

"This is Kiku, but we call him Japan!" Japan shyly waved and you waved
back. "And this is Ludwig, but we call him Germany!" A tall, muscular,
handsome, blonde-haired, blue-eyed man nodded in your direction. "This is
___! She's my new neighbor!"

You waved again and awkwardly took a seat
between Italy and the stern-looking Germany. He's so serious…you
thought as you took a sideways glance at him. He looks like he needs
some fun in his life. Italy then handed you some pasta and you gratefully
accepted it. You've had nothing but coffee all day, and now the aroma
of freshly cooked pasta made your mouth water.

As you chewed, you looked around at everyone, and you were surprised at
how their meals differed from everyone else's. England was having some
scones and tea, America was having greasy burgers, France was having a
steak dinner, Russia was having something that looked like vodka and soup,
but you weren't exactly sure…China was having soup, as was Japan while
you and Italy had pasta, and Germany was having wurst and beer.

"So, ___ you want to become one with me, da?"

Everyone's eyes widened and they stared at Russia, who just smiled at
you. "Well…I'm not sure about that….umm…" You looked at
Italy and asked in a hushed whisper, "What does he mean?"

Italy shrugged and started to sing. You sighed and ate the rest of your
pasta, wondering what was going on. America finished first and said,
"Guys and Guyettes, I have a super-duper idea that will save the world from red underwear!"

England groaned. "No way! I'm not going to be part of your half-witted scheme!"

France started to sing, and England shoved him. "Shut up!" He said. Your
eyes widened and you sipped your water. You asked Italy, "Is this normal?"
but he was still singing and shouting "Pasta!" occasionally. You sighed
and sipped your water.

"Everyone needs to follow me because I'm the oldest, aru!" China said.
You looked at him, and thought, surely not…he looks as if he's in his
mid-twenties. America laughed and said, "Yeah, but I'm the hero, so you have
to do what I say!"

Japan started to talk, but was cut off by England. "OH SHUT IT!"

You felt sorry for poor Kiku and you tapped his shoulder. His eyes widened
and he looked at you fearfully. "I-I'm sorry! I just wanted to say that I
was interested in what you had to say!"

He slowly nodded and sighed. "I-I'm sorry. I am not fond of people
touching me…"

"Oh…" You said. "I'm sorry…I do have a question though…
is this normal?"

He nodded. "It is."

"Oh…" You said. England, France, and America were in a fistfight
and China was petting his panda. Italy was singing, Russia was swinging
his pipe, and you were just sitting there, wide-eyed.

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" Germany said. Everyone looked at him, including you,
but you were shaking because his large hand had almost crushed yours when
it came crashing down. "WE'VE CALLED THIS CONFERENCE TO SOLVE THE WORLD'S
PROBLEMS, NOT TO FIGHT ABOUT THE PROBLEMS OF OUR PAST! AND SINCE I'M THE
ONLY COUNTRY-" You stared at him, but you weren't focusing on him, you were
focusing on his speech. Country? You thought, puzzled by his choice of words.

You looked for Japan and asked, "Can you tell me something?"

Japan put down his beverage and looked at you. "Hai?" He asked.

You smiled a bit then asked, "Umm…what did Mr. Germany mean by he's a
country?"

Japan nodded. "We are all countries. I am Japan, the land of the rising
sun."

Your eyes widened. "Oh…really?"

"Hai. Are you a country?"

You shook your head. "Ahh…so you are a human."

"Yes…" You laughed softly. Japan's dark eyes flitted around your eyes,
wondering what was funny. "Is something the matter?" He asked politely.

"No…but the way you said 'human' made me sound like I'm another species." You laughed some more and then sighed as you sipped your water. Germany was as
stern-looking as ever, and Italy was chattering about white flags. You felt
somewhat sorry for the tall German. He looked so unhappy. You sighed and sat
through the rest of the meeting.

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

"So, ___, Do you want to come over to my house to watch a movie?" Italy
asked hopefully.

"I'd love to, but I have to go and find a job. As soon as I do, I'll come
and watch one with you, okay?"

"Oh…ok! I'll make pasta and we can eat pasta!"

"I'll look forward to it!" You called out. You smiled and laughed. Italy
was a crazy person, but he was one of your only friends. You sighed as you
walked into your apartment. You took a deep whiff, and your nose wrinkled in
disgust. I need to go get some air freshener…

You took out a map of the city that Italy had drawn for you and
went back outside, walking down the streets. You spied a Walmart
and walked inside, searching for the fragrant section. Spying a sign,
you followed its directions and found the cleaning aisle. 'Ooh, look
at the apple pie candle!' You excitedly smell it and a silly grin
was plastered on your face. You stepped back, daydreaming when an
"OOOMPH!" brought you back to your senses.

"I'm sorry…oh…it's you." Your cheeks are flushed. Germany
was staring at you with those bluer-than-the-sky eyes. Your eyes widen.
"I am so sorry! Here, let me help you pick up your groceries…"
You bend down, hoping that he couldn't see your flaming face.
He grunts and picks up the groceries with you. "Danke." He said and walked away.

You stared at his retreating figure and shake your head. He's so weird you
thought. You purchased your necessary supplies, a phone book, and
groceries. On the way back to your apartment, you stopped at the
local post office to see if there were any available jobs. That
one looks inviting! You thought happily. The job was for a maid,
and you had cleaned several houses in your past. You smiled as you read
the rest of the job description. The maid was needed during the day, and
she needed to double as an assistant to a war
general. You nodded and applied for the job.

Happy that you would receive a call from the employer later that evening,
you grinned and walked back to your small apartment. As soon as you got
home, you put up your groceries and called Italy. "Ciao, this is Italy!"

"Hey Italy! This is ___! I applied for a job!"

"That's good to hear!" He said happily. "So that means that you can come
to watch a scary movie with me right?"

"Sure!"

"Ve~ I'll call Germany and Japan too, and we all can watch it!" Your eyes
widened and you started to say no, but he cut you off with all of his happy chattering. "I'll be there in a few minutes, I have stuff to put away."
He agreed and hung up. You sighed, you weren't exactly ecstatic about
seeing the stern Germany again, but with Japan and Italy there, it wouldn't
be so bad. You made sure to bring extra bags of popcorn, and then you
carefully walked across the street to Italy's house.

"Ve~ I'm glad you could come!"

"Of course I'd come! You're my friend!"

"Oh. Hello, Ms. ___" Japan bowed.

"Hey Japan! I'm glad you're here too!" You bowed back, hoping that was
the right thing to
do.

"Hey look! Here comes Germany!"

You hurriedly say, "Where's the bathroom?"

Italy was too busy to hear you, but Japan gave you directions.
"Thanks!" you called out as you raced down the hall.

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

When you came back, Italy's gruff brother introduced himself at Romano and
he showed you to where everyone was. "Ve~ I'm glad you're okay, ___! I was
going to come looking for you!"

"Well, here I am!" You looked around for seats, but the only seats were
between Japan and Germany. You pasted a smile on your face and sat down.
Japan sat very rigid, and you offered him popcorn which he politely refused.
You offered some to Germany who took a large handful and slowly began to eat while the movie started.

You felt intimidated by the bigger German. So much as you couldn't
focus on the movie, because every time you tried, he would adjust positions,
or sigh and he'd have your attention again. You gave up and sipped your water.

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

After the movie, you said good-bye to everyone and you left. As soon as you
got home, the
phone rang.

You excitedly picked it up and said, "Hello?"

"Guten Tag. This is the employer speaking." He had a thick
German accent, but he laughed very strangely.

"Hello! Yes, did you receive my application?"

"Kesesese~ Ja I did! I'll expect you here tomorrow at eight!"

"Ok!" You check the address on your sheet and make a mental note to
ask Italy if he knows where the house is.

"Sehr gut! Guten Abend!" And the employer hung up.
You dialed Italy's number and patiently waited. "Ciao?"

"Hey Italy! I have a question for you."

"Anything for my pretty lady friend!" He said cheerfully.
You rolled your eyes and explained the situation to him. He "ve~"-ed
occasionally and then said, "Yeah I know where that is! I'll take you there in the morning!"

"Thank you!" You both said goodbyes and hung up. You sighed and ran your
fingers through your hair, wondering what to wear…finally after thirty
minutes of debating, you decided on a stylish polo and khaki capris. White
tennis shoes with black and gray stripes were set aside also. You planned
out in your head exactly what you'd do tomorrow, and then with a contented
sigh, you fell asleep, happy that everything was all right.

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

The next day, you woke up at six. A nice hot shower sounded fantastic,
so you hurriedly took one. By the time you got out, it was half an hour
later and you decided breakfast and coffee sounded great. You made some
pancakes and enjoyed the coffee as the sun started to peak out across the
horizon. You always used to watch the sunrise, but this is the first time
you've watched it in five years. You sighed happily as the remaining coffee
is gone. You smile and make some tea, and call up Italy so that he'll be awake
enough to take you to your employer's house.

Italy arrives in a few minutes, and he also has some tea, then he takes
your hand and drags you into his car. You pale, and ask him to drive
slower then yesterday. Italy nods and immediately drops to the cruising
speed of ninety miles an hour. You roll your eyes and try to enjoy it,
but it's hard when you are trying to keep your mouth closed, because the
wind is flowing in your face, because Italy was riding in a convertible.

He stops abruptly and pales. "What's wrong?!?" You ask nervously.

"Switzerland is chasing me!" He hit the gas pedal and you screamed as the
car ran a red light. Horns sounded and you sighed and sank to the floor.
Italy was too busy trying to ditch Switzerland to notice. After countless
ran red lights, ten ran over stop signs, and eleven angry drivers, Italy
parked at a modest house. "Here it is!" He said proudly.

You got out and your awe of the house took away your quivering.
"Here we are…" you said softly. Italy smiled and rang the doorbell.

"Kesesese~ I'm coming!" The door opened to reveal an albino with light hair.
His eyes riveted over your face and your figure until Italy put his arm
around the albino's shoulder. "This is ___! She's here to help with the job!"
He turned to you. "And this is Gilbirt! But we call him Prussia."

"AWESOME PRUSSIA!" Prussia snapped.

You laughed and grinned. "So…where do I start?"

Prussia turned his attention back to you. "Ahh…well, West is gone…
I'll have you clean my stuff!" He led you to his room in the basement.
Italy followed, curious and still talking. Prussia was obviously annoyed
with Italy, but kept a forced smile. "Just clean until I tell you to stop!"

You nodded and asked for the cleaning supplies. He pointed to them and
then left to go play video games. Italy smiled and kept you laughing with
some of his zany stories while you cleaned. You grinned at your silly bubbly
friend. You were about to reply when you heard a crashing. "What was that?!?"
You ran upstairs to see Germany struggling to hold open the door. You were
surprised, but rushed to open the door to help Germany. He grunted and walked past.

"Hey Germany!" Italy called out.

"West! Kesesese~ Did you bring me some beer?"

Germany set down all of the groceries and started to put them away while
Italy chattered mindlessly. You were stunned, but regained your senses and
shut the door. You weren't exactly sure what to do, so you tried to sneak
back down to the basement.

"Kesesese~ West! Guess what I did!"

"Do I want to?!?"
You sigh and go back down to clean the rest of the basement.
It was wreck…gritting your teeth, you start to scrub, clean, vacuum, sweep, and white-glove as much as you can. "Hey! Do you wanna learn a song?"

You whirl around and almost scream, but when you see its Italy,
you sigh and say, "Don't do that!" You inhaled and exhaled and said,
"Sure, what song is that?"

"It's called Marukaite Chikyuu!"

"Sounds like fun! Go ahead!" Italy came back with a guitar and he
started to sing. You smiled and sat down on the bed that you were
cleaning. You started to hum along with him as he smiled and sang.

"He-Tal-I-A!"

You clapped and said, "Sing it again!" and this time, you caught on to
a couple of the words and sang along. Italy grinned and sang it again
until you caught on completely and started to sing along. You had a
beautiful soprano voice and you actually went high when Italy went low.
Italy started to sway and you continued cleaning while you sang along.

"Kesesese~ MAKE WAY FOR THE AWESOME ONE'S VOICE!" Prussia bounded down
the stairs and grabbed his guitar. He started to strum and sing along.
You shook your head and continued. All of you sing it over and over and
over, enjoying this. When you finish a room, they follow you and stand
at the door, singing and playing.

Italy stopped and said, "Now, I'll teach you my other song!" And he
began to strum another song. "With Pasta in my-"And he sang it over
and over until you learned it.
"All together now!" He strummed the first song, and then he changed
keys and sang the second song.

Prussia clapped and said, "Now it's my turn!"
You patiently sit on a nearby surface and listen. Soon, you learned
his version to both songs and you grinned. You sang along and then
asked if there was a piano nearby. Italy nodded and you followed him
with Prussia singing and following you. Germany sighed and continued
reading his newspaper.

"Here you go!" Italy sang.

You grinned and sat down. When you were smaller, your mother had demanded
that you learn an instrument, and the piano won out. You had a strange talent for learning by ear and notes, so you started to hum and played.
Italy smiled and sang as did Prussia. When the song was done,
Prussia demanded that you attempt to play his. You grin and shake.

"You're on!"

You sighed and started it off, then got faster and faster to appease
Prussia who was yelling and singing in German.

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Austria held up his hand. "Is that…piano music I hear?"

Germany looked at him and nodded. "Ja it is."

Austria's eyes widened and he raced towards the song. The door flew
open and he stared in awe as you played brilliantly even as you were
perspiring with the pace.

You finished and he clapped. You whirled around and he said, "May I?"

You nodded and went to go get a drink of lemonade. As you passed the
living room, Germany looked up at you. "___" he said. You turned and
squeaked out, "Yes?"

"Who was playing my piano?" He said. You nervously stared at his crystal
blue eyes. This was the first time that you both had made eye contact.
You were slightly stunned at how blue his eyes were, but you quickly
snapped out of it. "I was…I hope I didn't upset you."

He blinked and said, "Nein, you didn't."

"Sehr gut." You said.

He looked at you, puzzled. "How do you know German?"

"I picked that part up from Prussia." You grinned. He nodded and
went back to his newspaper, smirking under its protective pages.

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

"I'm back!" You called out.

"Ve~ You should play us another song, ___!"

"Like what, Italy?"

Prussia suggested something, but Austria shook his head.
"What about…hmm…"

You sighed and then your eyes lit up. "I know!" You rushed over
to the bench and began to play. Italy stopped you and said,
"Could you sing it please?"

You grin and nod. The intro was played again, and you sing,

"Tale as old as time….True as it can be….Barely even friends…
then somebody bends….unexpectedly….Just a little change…
small to say the least….both a little scared, neither one prepared….
Beauty and the Beast…

Ever just the same…ever a surprise…ever as before….ever
just as sure….as the sun will rise….Tale as old as Time…..
Tune as old as song….Bitter sweet and strange…finding you can change…learning you were wrong….Certain as the sun…
rising in the east…tale as old as time…song as old as
rhyme…Beauty and the Beast…Tale as old as time…
song as old as rhyme…Beauty and the Beast…"

And you play the beautiful ending.

Italy smiled, Prussia grinned, and Austria was blown away.
Italy begged for you to play it again and he hummed it with you.

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

You played that song for an hour, and then it was time for you to go home.
Prussia winked at you and said that you have to be back for the next day.
You nodded and then walked home. Your fingers ached, but your heart
was so happy. For once in five years, you felt as if you belonged,
even though you didn't….but you did in a way.

You put on some hot chocolate and started to watch one of your
favorite movies. You awed, cried, laughed, and grinned at all of
the right places. Exhausted, you lay outstretched on the couch,
enjoying the relaxing time alone. You started to hum Italy's song
and laughed when you couldn't get it out of your head. You could
hear your bubbly friend singing it along with you in your head.
You smiled and started to slowly fall into a blissful dream…

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

"Today was awesome, bruder." Prussia said.

Germany hmmphed, and continued reading his newspaper. "Gut…"He said absentmindly. "I'm glad you liked it…"

Prussia smirked and said, "I think I'll marry ___"

Germany's head snapped up. "But you barely know her!"

Prussia laughed. "So?"

Germany glared at him, but Prussia didn't even notice.
He started whirling around the room, singing "I LOVE ____"
just to annoy his brother.

Germany sighed and said, "I'm tired, Guten Nacht."

Prussia waved him and still whirled around the room
trying to provoke anger out of his little brother.
When West didn't respond, he sulked and started to hum softly.

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Italy was humming as he brushed his teeth. "Hey Romano!
I met this pretty lady friend today!"

Romano sighed and also brushed his teeth. "Why should I care?!?"

Italy looked at his older brother. "I was going to invite her
to lunch tomorrow because I want you to meet her!"

Romano sighed again and spit out the toothpaste. "Fine. Just
don't bring that potato-eater or Spain!"

Italy hummed happily and said dreamily, "She has a pretty voice…
I think she is a very nice pretty lady friend!"

His brother rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm sure she's even more beautiful
than the girlfriend you had last week."

Italy smiled. "Ve~ there's something about her…I don't know!"
He started to sing and dance with Romano who groaned and wrenched
himself out of his brother's grasp. Italy grabbed Pooky and
started to dance. Romano shook his head and went to bed.

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

It was three in the morning, and everyone was peacefully sleeping
except for a certain blonde-haired, blue-eyed man. Germany was wide
awake…because he couldn't get Beauty and the Beast out of his head….particularly, he couldn't get you or your singing voice out of his head.