[Fanfics] Request fill 5+6: Germany/Prussia-The Dissolution of Prussia
Alright! So, here are the fills forkivaember andkapusta17 , both on the Dissolution of Prussia in 1947. First off, I will say that it is very difficult to write two different stories on the same thing, but it was totally worth it. Next I will say that in the end, nothing I wrote came anywhere close to what was described to me by either requesters OTL. No matter how I tried, I couldn't write them as anything other than brothers, even though I totally ship Germany/Prussia. Any romance just seemed forced. Oh well, I still like them so I hope you guys will, too. Feel free to choose whichever one you like best and say "That one's mine!"
Title: His Worries
Author/Artist: sayasama
Character(s) or Pairing(s): Germany+Prussia (if you look at this through a distorted lense, it's almost not platonic?)
Rating: PG.
Warnings: Gilbert's big brother side is showing. Some HRE=Germany hints.
Summary: What happens to a country when it's dissolved, anyway? Does it die, or just wander off?
Prussia had, for all intents and purposes, become defunct after the Enabling Act. “The marriage of old Prussia and new Germany” they’d said as they celebrated, which Ludwig still considers a tragic choice of words because clearly he and his brother can’t be wed (who would wear the dress?), and Gilbert finds it terribly insulting that they’d called him old. (Gilbert also feels that the celebration of their union was just a tad late, but hey, it was an excuse to party all over again, so he didn’t complain too much.)
Despite that Prussia still remains, at least in name, Prussia. It doesn’t act as a free state anymore, but legally it still exists and that is enough. Or was.
But now-Now-
What happens when a country was officially dissolved, anyway? What happened to any of the countries that had disappeared? Germany has never seen Rome or Germania, and no one would tell him what happened to the Holy Roman Empire. Is there somewhere on Earth they all go to in order to live out their eternal lives? Do they live for as long as they are remembered? Or do they just die, disappear and leave nothing behind? Ludwig doesn’t know, and he doesn’t want to find out.
Yet as far as anyone knows, he’s fine with the Allies’ decision. At the very least he does not seem upset by it. But the few who know him, who know all the little nuances of his personality, they know that he is now fairing well. Feliciano is smiling a bit too hard at him these days, forcing himself to be more exuberant, like his care-free attitude is some sort of disease that Ludwig can catch. He sort of wishes he could just breathe in Feliciano’s cheer sometimes. Nothing can help though, the Allies want Prussia dissolved and Germany is in no place to stop them.
Okay, so Prussia was a bit strict in the past, but was it really so militant that it had to be dissolved? And maybe Gilbert himself tends to be annoying and obnoxious and maybe he does have an inflated ego, but does he really deserve to be exiled, or killed, or whatever it is that happens to countries that get dissolved?
As the day of reckoning comes ever nearer, Ludwig starts to visibly come undone. His people are feeling particularly anti-Prussian at the moment, they seem to think Prussians are just born militant and warlike, they think Prussians need to be taught peace the same way one teaches a child his letters. But Ludwig, he can’t imagine a peaceful Gilbert, he doesn’t think he wants a normal older brother. How odd would it be if Gilbert became calm, and mature, and, and nonaggressive? Even if they change the country, Ludwig is certain that won’t change his brother.
In any case, Ludwig is just as hesitant to dissolve Prussia as his country is, but for different reasons. He is more than just the personification of a nation, after all, he can feel beyond the scope of what his countrymen feel. He is human, almost. Gilbert has always been his big brother, he doesn’t want to lose that person who has taken care of him since the beginning, when he first woke up to this world feeling older than his years and knowing nothing except for the warmth of the hand that held his-waiting, waiting for him to wake up, to exist as something new and beautiful.
“You’re coming apart at the seams, Brüderchen.” Gilbert is sprawled over the living room couch, a beer in one hand, the other dangling over the side. For a minute Ludwig wonders just why he worries about this free-loading drunk.
“I am not.” He is, and Gilbert gives him a look that says he knows as much.
“Come ‘ere,” Gilbert calls in his “big brother” voice, the one that he has used less and less as the years piled up, since Ludwig started growing into a responsible (stiff), mature (bossy) person. The younger brother makes a face, feeling somewhat patronized by the tone. He does what he’s told anyway, and moves toward the couch. He is quickly pulled off his feet by Gilbert’s free hand and ends up toppling onto his brother, who miraculously doesn’t spill his beer.
He tries to get up or at least prop himself up on his arms, but Gilbert has put his drink down in favor of keeping Ludwig’s face buried in his shoulder.
“Okay, so what have you been over-analyzing in that big head o’ yours?” He asks, running his hands over Ludwig’s back the same way he used to when he was still a kid. They haven’t acted this way for years; it makes Ludwig wonder if he’s really been behaving in such a worrisome manner.
“What happens to countries that disappear? You know what happened to Germania and the Holy Roman Empire, don’t you? What happened then?” He feels like a child asking this, it feels like something he should know for himself already. The hands on his back stop moving for a second, then resume their previous motion; it’s slower this time, the movement is pensive.
“Well, I dunno about Germania, personally I think he went off with that Roman bastard somewhere when his house was destroyed.”
So they just ran off together, in Gilbert’s expert opinion? Ludwig snorts; he highly doubts that, from what he knows of history those two hadn’t exactly been on good terms in the end.
“And Holy Roman Empire?”
“That guy? He’s still around. He’s changed, he’s changed a lot, so much so that he’s not even really himself anymore, but he’s around.” Ludwig gives Gilbert a stern look, he wants a clear answer, not some vague explanation that doesn’t really answer anything. Gilbert looks at his expression, ever so similar to a certain ex-nation’s, and laughs a bit. “Well, maybe he hasn’t changed so much, really.”
Ludwig feels like he’s missing something.
Gilbert laughs again at Ludwig’s confused face and kisses his forehead like he used when they were younger. Now Ludwig feels extremely small and childish, which is ridiculous because he is both larger and more mature than his supposed older brother.
“I’ll be fine, Brüderchen, don’t worry.”
000
The meeting was quick, just a few signatures and a mutual agreement that what was left of Prussia would be given to Germany. Prussia was really and truly and legally no longer a free state.
And Gilbert? Gilbert disappeared right after the meeting. No matter where Ludwig looked in the Kammergericht building, he simply could not find his brother. He checked every room multiple times, but there was no sign of him. No one knew where Gilbert had gone to or even when he’d left.
So it is with a heavy heart that Ludwig finally returns home after his futile search. He sighs as he walks through the front door and into the living room.
“Hey West, what took you so long to get home?”
Ludwig just stares for a moment as Gilbert grins at him, and then decides the wurst he’s in the middle of eating needs to be further attended to. The younger German looks at how Gilbert is in his pajamas, once again drinking in the living room, this time helping himself to whatever happens to be around, and concludes that Gilbert has probably been here the entire time.
Ludwig runs up to his brother and promptly slugs him.
“You asshole! Who do you think you are, just going home after something like that without saying anything?” ‘Don’t you realize how worried I was?’ He hopes he doesn’t have to say that out loud, he doesn’t want to.
“What the hell West?!” Gilbert shouts with a grimace; Ludwig punched him too hard, now it hurt to move his mouth! Ludwig doesn’t reply and instead just punches him again. It turned into a small scuffle on the living room couch. Gilbert’s wurst was tragically forgotten.
It is unusually easy to exhaust Ludwig today; the relief he’s feeling now that he knows his worries were unfounded has weakened him. When the fighting finally settled down, the two are on the floor, Ludwig with his hands fisted in the front of his brother’s shirt.
Gilbert sees it now, in the hunched figure that suddenly looks small again, the relief that is washing away the worry. Letting his indignant expression fade, he places his hands over Ludwig’s; they are a bit rougher and smaller, he thinks it’s a shame that Ludwig outgrew him.
“What a troublesome brother you are,” he says, which earns him a scowl.
“I’m troublesome?!” Ludwig asked incredulously, but he was quickly ignored.
“But don’t worry, because big brother Gilbert will keep you out of trouble ♥.”
“You’re always the one in trouble!” Gilbert is clearly not listening at this point, as a matter of fact he’s saying something about how he only gets into trouble because other nations were jealous of some quality of his or other. Ludwig sighs, and wonders once again why he’d ever thought he needed to worry about his brother.
Title: Virtues
Author/Artist: sayasama
Character(s) or Pairing(s): Germany+Prussia
Rating: PG.
Warnings: Gilbert's big brother side is still showing. Some roughhousing.
Summary: He knew it was coming, but it still hurt to hear.
Gilbert finds himself at the end of his rope when Ludwig insults his Old Fritz. Now, usually Ludwig is very good at finding the place where his personal feelings end and his nation’s collective consciousness begins, then acting solely upon what he himself feels. But Germany has been under the haze of over-zealous nationalism for years, he’s lost much of his old control and is only just starting to regain it again. Despite this, the two of them have been able to live together peacefully. It is a tense peace, but their home is peaceful…
…Until Ludwig says that damning thing about his Frederick the Great. There is no excuse for bashing Gilbert’s favorite monarch.
“How dare you suggest that my Old Fritz was anything like your nut job of an ex-boss?!” The first punch is thrown and it hits its mark dead on, its mark being the very center of his younger brother’s face. Ludwig is left a bit dazed for a moment, as if he hasn’t even completely registered what he’s said, never mind the consequence of it.
“I-What?” Gilbert sighs and waits for Ludwig to add two and two together to get “Oh yeah, I just said something horrifically offensive to my awesome big brother, I should apologize before he kicks my ass to next Wednesday.”
“You were doing that thing again. You know, the thing where all those anti-Prussian sentiments floating around your place get the better of you and you shove your foot in your mouth.”
“Oh.” Ludwig has the grace to look ashamed of himself. Gilbert is not quite appeased by this, but it is enough for now. He understands how difficult it is for their kind to stop themselves from acting on their country’s views, not to let the general mood of their nation affect their own. They’ve both been having a time of that in these last few decades, it just seems worse now because of their situation.
This isn’t the first time Ludwig slips, but it’s the first time Gilbert slugs him for it. They both feel that this probably will not be the last time, either.
“I’m sorry then,” Ludwig finally apologizes after a moment of awkward silence, but even this isn’t quite good enough, because now Gilbert knows, he knows those thoughts are in his brother’s head, knows they’re in his population. Gilbert is tempted to punch him again.
The rest of the day is spent avoiding each other, Ludwig worrying over his lack of verbal self-restraint, Gilbert just trying to calm the hell down.
“Hah,” his dry laugh is more of a sigh, “And to think there used to be a time where that kid thought everything I did was awesome.”
000
“What?” Gilbert has known this was coming, he’s known for a long time, heck it might as well have already happened for all that he acted like a free state. Still, it is sort of a slap to the face to know that the Allies had gone and made the decision final without giving him any say in the matter. They are going to dissolve him, wipe his name off all the maps, turn him into an unpleasant memory, a ghost. He is just a relic from an old age, an outdated one, they are throwing him out.
“I’m sorry, but they’ll be making it official in a week.” Ludwig can’t look at his face, can’t stand to watch his once proud brother fall apart.
But he should really know better because Gilbert doesn’t fall apart, he just adapts and finds a new way to go on. He’s angry and he can’t even find the words to express himself with, but the Prussian was not about to fall to pieces over this. He’s too awesome for waterworks, anyway.
Still, that doesn’t mean he feels fine, either.
‘Remember, discipline, sacrifice, obedience to the law…’ He isn’t going to lash out, really he isn’t. He’s not going to go on a rampage, give those Allied bastards something to remember him by and wet themselves over at night. That would prove that he is as dangerous as they make him out to be, which he’s not. He’s sensible enough to know when there’s no point in fighting. Still, his old, once-blazing spirit feels smothered as he forces himself to just accept his fate.
He lets out an aggravated breath that does nothing to release the tension in his back. “Well, I guess I’ll be moving into your house permanently, huh?”
000
That week passes, and then another, and many after it. Gilbert isn’t dead or dying or disappearing, he has no uncontrollable urges to wander off and never return. Honestly, he just hasn’t been himself much since the dissolution was made final. He sits around, drinks his beer, and searches through channels on the television without really looking at anything, much like an unemployed husband moping over his lost job.
Ludwig doesn’t let him mope too much though; he drags his brother out of the house and to wherever he thinks Gilbert would like to go. Both the Allies and his own people are saying that Prussians have to be “reeducated in the ways of peace and democracy,” so Ludwig has to pretend to try and completely smother his brother’s old personality. But really, there isn’t much to do and Ludwig has no desire to do so anyway.
“Ya know, there are more important things you should be doing right now.” Gilbert has never liked it when people disregard their responsibilities; he thought he’d pushed the virtue of diligence on Ludwig well, but perhaps not.
“Right now it’s my job to take care of you, and that’s it.” Gilbert raises an eyebrow to this, before deciding enough is enough. Really, there is no need for Ludwig to make it seem like it’s unusual for countries (well, free states) to get depressed after being dissolved. There is no need to make it seem like he has some responsibility to take care of his older brother. What a brat, treating him like he needs to be pitied.
Grabbing Ludwig in a headlock, he scowls down at his brother who is scowling back at him.
“Knock it off, we’re in public, someone’s going to think you’re a mugger or something!” Ludwig never was one for roughhousing in public. Gilbert grins and seems to let go for just a moment before dragging Ludwig to the ground. There’s kicking, punching, a few attempts to throw him off, and a good deal of cursing and rolling around before Gilbert finally manages to stabilize his position over Ludwig. The younger is looking up with an expression that says his brother is immature and unruly, and the older is looking down with a smirk and a bit of a challenge in his eyes.
Ludwig wouldn’t admit it, but he’s sort of thankful to see that at least some things would never change.
“You!” Gilbert points directly at Ludwig’s face, his finger close enough to bite and Ludwig does attempt to, figures a few teeth marks would make for a better lesson than simply saying “It’s rude to point” would.
“I’m the big brother here, got that? So stop actin’ like my babysitter already!” Ludwig is unimpressed, to say the least. His eyes seem to be saying “With the way you act, you need one.” What a little snot, where’d he get this attitude?
“Yes, because good big brothers tackle people in the middle of city parks in order to prove how much more mature they are, correct?”
“Now what does that have to do with anything?” Really, such insane ideas this boy has.
Ludwig sighs and covers his face with his hands, shaking his head just a bit. “Of course, how foolish of me.”
Nodding in agreement, Gilbert decides he should get off of his brother before they draw a crowd. “So long as you know,” he says as he stands, steps to one side of Ludwig, and offers him a hand. It is taken without hesitation, and for a moment Gilbert can tell that the other is considering pulling him back down for revenge, but doesn’t.
“…But really,” Ludwig says with a bit of hesitance as they head in the general direction of home, “You are fine, right?”
“I’m right as rain, perfectly content to be East Germany. Nothing’s really changed, anyway.”
“Really?”
Rolling his eyes, the older brother can’t help but smile a bit as he takes the younger’s hand in his own; it’s a show of solidarity, from now on they’ll work together, really work together, as one. Ludwig’s face reddens a bit, but his fingers flex and tighten around the other’s hand; it’s reassuring him of this new togetherness.
Neither of them are quite sure why, but by the time they reach home, everything seems right again.
----
Notes: These go with both fics, as both of them were based off the same research. I got sort of lazy with links, so I pretty much just linked to the one thing that wasn't a wikipedia article.
1. Prussia was dissolved on February 25th, 1947, by the Allied Control Council because "Prussiadom" was considered to be synonymous to Militarism and Authoritarianism. Of the four nations on the Council, Russia was the only one who was fine with Prussia staying Prussia.
2. At the end of WW2, everything east of the Oder-Neisse Line went to Poland, and the northern third of East Prussia went to the Soviet Union. All of Germany's territorial losses in WW2 were Prussian territory.
3. The Allied Control Council was based in Berlin-Schöneberg, and operated from the Kammergericht Building, which was the old supreme court building for Prussia.
4. Prussia the kingdom had already been dissolved in 1918 after the Treaty of Versailles and was replaced with the Free State of Prussia.
5. The Prussian Virtues are perfect organization, discipline, sacrifice, rule of law, obedience to authority, reliability, tolerance, frugality, punctuality, modesty, and diligence. (Somehow, it's hard to imagine Gilbert being half of these things ^^;)
6. Germany was feeling particularly Anti-Prussian after the war, as were the Allies. People thought Prussians needed to be reeducated in the ways of peace, or else they'd start another war the minute the Allies looked away.
Done! Um, well, I tried to make them different from each other, firstly by changing the point of view some, then trying to change the tone some but that didn't really work. I did enjoy writing about this from two sort of different angles, though.