❝but i don't like this new i want the old❞
Title: Paneuropäisches Picknick
Series: Axis Powers Hetalia
Words: 750~
Characters: Hungary ; Prussia ; Germany ; Austria (Austria/Hungary & Prussia/Germany)
Rating: PG
Warnings: n/a
Summary: Written for hetalia_contest's week 018 prompt, "picnics." The story of the Pan-European Picnic, during which communist Hungary and Prussia are reunited with capitalist Germany and Austria for a scarce three hours.
Paneuropäisches Picknick
“See, I told you,” Gilbert huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “They’re not coming.”
Elizaveta ground her teeth and glared at the other nation, her lip jutting out angrily. “They’re not late yet.”
“Yet being the operative word.”
“Oh, shut up, Gilbert!”
He grinned cheekily at her, but Elizaveta turned away, hands clenched at her sides. Gilbert sighed and took a step towards her.
“Come on now, Elizaveta…don’t be like that. So what if they don’t show?”
“If who doesn’t show?” A dry voice asked from behind them. The two nations whipped around in unison to gape at two men they had not seen for decades. Roderich pulled a face and rolled his eyes. “I always keep my appointments.”
“I know,” Elizaveta said, and the smile that lit her face could not quite hide the happy tears that were pooling in her eyes. “Roderich, I’ve…”
Her last words were lost as Gilbert let out a whoop and yelled, “West!”
Ludwig, arms crossed over his chest, gave his brother a nod of a greeting. Gilbert frowned, and then looked condemningly down at his brother.
“That’s quite the greeting, West,” he huffed.
“I wasn’t sure what to say,” Ludwig muttered, turning red. Elizaveta, stepping away from her whispered conversation with Roderich, smiled benevolently at the two German brothers.
“Come on-let’s start this picnic.”
The four of them sat down on the gingham blanket, Elizaveta next to Gilbert and facing Roderich, Ludwig across from his brother-two on the eastern side, two on the west. Elizaveta immediately began handing out food, tossing a semmel roll at Gilbert and passing Ludwig the potato salad.
“So…how’ve you been doing, over there?” Gilbert asked, loosely tearing off bits of the rolls and tossing them at his open mouth. Roderich looked away in distaste, his mouth set into a disapproving line. “What are you wincing at, you stupid aristocrat?”
“Nothing,” Roderich muttered through grated teeth, just as Gilbert launched a spoonful of potato salad at his head. Roderich dodged it, but just barely, and the mayonnaise-laded compost splattered against his glasses.
“You uncouth little…” the Austrian began to mutter darkly, rising to his feet, but Ludwig placed a restraining hand on his shoulder and forced him back down. “God, even from over there, you’re as annoying as hell.”
“Happy to be of service, you old prude.”
The color rose in Roderich’s cheeks, and it looked as though he was about to retaliate when he was stopped by the sound of Ludwig’s muffled, fitful laughter. Three pairs of eyes-jade, crimson, indigo-turned towards the German in question.
“Some things just never change, do they?” Ludwig finally managed to explain, his chuckles dying away.
Elizaveta’s face broke into a broad smile. “I think more than a few things have changed, Ludwig.”
“Everything but the important things,” Roderich murmured.
“Damn straight,” was Gilbert’s only response.
Things quieted down after that, and the four nations pretended not to notice the flurry of people rushing past them, moving from east to west. Likewise, they ignored the other picnickers who joined them, setting down their own blankets in a radiating pattern around the nations’.
Three hours later, Gilbert rose to his feet. “We’d better be getting back,” he muttered to Elizaveta, who nodded a bit sadly. As he helped her to her feet, Ludwig approached them and offered his elder brother a salute.
“Until next time, bruder.”
Gilbert grinned. “With any luck, it won’t take forty years till next time, West.”
The two brothers tried to shake hands, but were blocked by the strong iron of the fences that marked the Austro-Hungarian border. It had seemed easy enough to breach with potato-salad catapaults, but when two brothers wished for physical contact, it thwarted them.
Roderich glanced at Elizaveta and gave her a short nod. She grinned, and they both approached the wall from their respective sides, gripped the iron and pulling it apart inch by inch. Eventually, the breach grew big enough that when Ludwig extended his hand, Gilbert was able to grip it firmly; the two brothers shook.
The contact lasted but an instant; then Gilbert wandered off to the east and Ludwig headed west. Roderich and Elizaveta, left alone at the breached border, glanced at one another.
“We’ll find a way to tear the whole thing down,” he promised. “And not only for their sake.”
“For ours, too-right?” she asked, offering him a wink.
His response was to reach through the gap in the border and kiss her softly on the cheek.
Everything had changed, except that which was truly important.
---
Footnotes:
--The Pan-European Picnic, or Paneuropäisches Picknick, took place on August 19, 1989. It was an important event in political developments which led to the fall of the Iron Curtain, the reunification of Germany and in the end the eastern enlargement of the European Union.
--In a symbolic gesture agreed to by both countries, a border gate on the road from Sankt Margarethen im Burgenland (Austria) to Sopronkőhida (Hungary) was to be opened for three hours. About 6 km (3.7 mi) away from this spot on 27 June 1989, Austria's then foreign minister Alois Mock and his Hungarian counterpart Gyula Horn had together cut through the border fence, in a move highlighting Hungary's decision to dismantle its surveillance installations along the border, a process started on 2 May 1989.
--More than 600 East Germans seized the opportunity presented by this brief lifting of the Iron Curtain and fled into the west. In the run-up to 19 August, the organisers of the Pan-European Picnic had distributed pamphlets advertising the event. The Hungarian border guards, however, reacted judiciously to the growing number of people fleeing, and, despite their orders to shoot anyone who attempted to cross the border, did not intervene.
Series: Axis Powers Hetalia
Words: 750~
Characters: Hungary ; Prussia ; Germany ; Austria (Austria/Hungary & Prussia/Germany)
Rating: PG
Warnings: n/a
Summary: Written for hetalia_contest's week 018 prompt, "picnics." The story of the Pan-European Picnic, during which communist Hungary and Prussia are reunited with capitalist Germany and Austria for a scarce three hours.
Paneuropäisches Picknick
“See, I told you,” Gilbert huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “They’re not coming.”
Elizaveta ground her teeth and glared at the other nation, her lip jutting out angrily. “They’re not late yet.”
“Yet being the operative word.”
“Oh, shut up, Gilbert!”
He grinned cheekily at her, but Elizaveta turned away, hands clenched at her sides. Gilbert sighed and took a step towards her.
“Come on now, Elizaveta…don’t be like that. So what if they don’t show?”
“If who doesn’t show?” A dry voice asked from behind them. The two nations whipped around in unison to gape at two men they had not seen for decades. Roderich pulled a face and rolled his eyes. “I always keep my appointments.”
“I know,” Elizaveta said, and the smile that lit her face could not quite hide the happy tears that were pooling in her eyes. “Roderich, I’ve…”
Her last words were lost as Gilbert let out a whoop and yelled, “West!”
Ludwig, arms crossed over his chest, gave his brother a nod of a greeting. Gilbert frowned, and then looked condemningly down at his brother.
“That’s quite the greeting, West,” he huffed.
“I wasn’t sure what to say,” Ludwig muttered, turning red. Elizaveta, stepping away from her whispered conversation with Roderich, smiled benevolently at the two German brothers.
“Come on-let’s start this picnic.”
The four of them sat down on the gingham blanket, Elizaveta next to Gilbert and facing Roderich, Ludwig across from his brother-two on the eastern side, two on the west. Elizaveta immediately began handing out food, tossing a semmel roll at Gilbert and passing Ludwig the potato salad.
“So…how’ve you been doing, over there?” Gilbert asked, loosely tearing off bits of the rolls and tossing them at his open mouth. Roderich looked away in distaste, his mouth set into a disapproving line. “What are you wincing at, you stupid aristocrat?”
“Nothing,” Roderich muttered through grated teeth, just as Gilbert launched a spoonful of potato salad at his head. Roderich dodged it, but just barely, and the mayonnaise-laded compost splattered against his glasses.
“You uncouth little…” the Austrian began to mutter darkly, rising to his feet, but Ludwig placed a restraining hand on his shoulder and forced him back down. “God, even from over there, you’re as annoying as hell.”
“Happy to be of service, you old prude.”
The color rose in Roderich’s cheeks, and it looked as though he was about to retaliate when he was stopped by the sound of Ludwig’s muffled, fitful laughter. Three pairs of eyes-jade, crimson, indigo-turned towards the German in question.
“Some things just never change, do they?” Ludwig finally managed to explain, his chuckles dying away.
Elizaveta’s face broke into a broad smile. “I think more than a few things have changed, Ludwig.”
“Everything but the important things,” Roderich murmured.
“Damn straight,” was Gilbert’s only response.
Things quieted down after that, and the four nations pretended not to notice the flurry of people rushing past them, moving from east to west. Likewise, they ignored the other picnickers who joined them, setting down their own blankets in a radiating pattern around the nations’.
Three hours later, Gilbert rose to his feet. “We’d better be getting back,” he muttered to Elizaveta, who nodded a bit sadly. As he helped her to her feet, Ludwig approached them and offered his elder brother a salute.
“Until next time, bruder.”
Gilbert grinned. “With any luck, it won’t take forty years till next time, West.”
The two brothers tried to shake hands, but were blocked by the strong iron of the fences that marked the Austro-Hungarian border. It had seemed easy enough to breach with potato-salad catapaults, but when two brothers wished for physical contact, it thwarted them.
Roderich glanced at Elizaveta and gave her a short nod. She grinned, and they both approached the wall from their respective sides, gripped the iron and pulling it apart inch by inch. Eventually, the breach grew big enough that when Ludwig extended his hand, Gilbert was able to grip it firmly; the two brothers shook.
The contact lasted but an instant; then Gilbert wandered off to the east and Ludwig headed west. Roderich and Elizaveta, left alone at the breached border, glanced at one another.
“We’ll find a way to tear the whole thing down,” he promised. “And not only for their sake.”
“For ours, too-right?” she asked, offering him a wink.
His response was to reach through the gap in the border and kiss her softly on the cheek.
Everything had changed, except that which was truly important.
---
Footnotes:
--The Pan-European Picnic, or Paneuropäisches Picknick, took place on August 19, 1989. It was an important event in political developments which led to the fall of the Iron Curtain, the reunification of Germany and in the end the eastern enlargement of the European Union.
--In a symbolic gesture agreed to by both countries, a border gate on the road from Sankt Margarethen im Burgenland (Austria) to Sopronkőhida (Hungary) was to be opened for three hours. About 6 km (3.7 mi) away from this spot on 27 June 1989, Austria's then foreign minister Alois Mock and his Hungarian counterpart Gyula Horn had together cut through the border fence, in a move highlighting Hungary's decision to dismantle its surveillance installations along the border, a process started on 2 May 1989.
--More than 600 East Germans seized the opportunity presented by this brief lifting of the Iron Curtain and fled into the west. In the run-up to 19 August, the organisers of the Pan-European Picnic had distributed pamphlets advertising the event. The Hungarian border guards, however, reacted judiciously to the growing number of people fleeing, and, despite their orders to shoot anyone who attempted to cross the border, did not intervene.