Remember ME (Chapter II: Frederick)
Series: Axis Powers Hetalia
Characters: Gilbert Beilschmidt (Prussia), mentions of other nations
Disclaimer: Himaruya Hidekaz owns Axis Powers Hetalia.
Title: Remember ME (Chapter II: Frederick)
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Angst, drama
Summary: Losing is harder when everything is at stake. Gilbert finds comprehending his downfall to be more than difficult. Why do people think deeper when they are closer to death?
He has won. The newly earned territory (which is not as new at this point, but it is nonetheless considered to be new) has greatly benefited Prussia thus far. It no longer matters that Gilbert stole it from Roderich. He has won rightful ownership over the land by holding out in the Silesian Wars. Furthermore, his people are content with this additional blessing, and he wishes them to remain so.
He feels as though some sort of terrible burden has been lifted from his shoulders.
But though Silesia is still his, the battle is not yet over. It is far from over: For Prussia -- for Gilbert -- the fight will never end. The fact that Silesia remains in his grasp changes little; it only makes him want more. He fears he might lose himself if he does not continue to engage in combat, and Gilbert does not ever want to fear. So he takes to sitting around for hours, looking out the window longingly for any signs of action.
Despite his loathing of that wretched feeling of possibly losing, he pines for it. He longs for the rush, that need to be perpetually alarmed and on guard.
It is what he was born to do.
Frederick understands this. And because he does he sits across Gilbert one day, whom is lazily sprawled out on the couch with an unfocused gaze.
"Old Fritz."
Gilbert loves Frederick. Frederick has been the spark to his ambition: He lights the dim corridor and leads Gilbert to somewhere promising, somewhere he can get a glimpse of a fine future. Frederick is everything Gilbert wants to and will be, with his own unique twists to create something original. But his king is what starts his imagination and mind going, the very being that motivates him to do more than he already has.
All seems well. Prussia is recovering and prospering, Gilbert feels enlightened, and Frederick grows stronger with each day that passes. But Gilbert knows better: There will be another war in the coming years. No land exists without bloodshed, and he is not the kind to sit still or religiously watch other feuds outside his borders. Perhaps another war will not turn its head towards them while Frederick is in reign, but he can only go for so long without a fight. Prussia will have its share of peace until then.
Yet he finds his desire for more warfare fading as the days pass by. Instead he wishes to spend more time with his king, to simply sit on stand by and enjoy what years he has left with him, because he knows Frederick will not be around forever. As with his predecessors he will grow old and breathe his last breath someday, while Gilbert remains young and energetic.
The thought disturbs him.
But he still has that lingering need to fight. He wonders if this wish will come back full force when Frederick leaves him, and subsequently ends up taking a part of Gilbert's precious drive with him along the way. Now he sits on that couch he once used to look out the window on and ponders over the possibility.
Then, one day, he decides that he likes the present far better than the future. No matter how much of a grand future Frederick shows him through that dimly lit corridor, he will always favor the present. The present has more than the future can ever offer. The present holds peace, prosperity, and Frederick. The future holds wars, political feuds, and loss.
Gilbert does not mind the first two of what the future ensures. He takes joy in participating in battles as a seasoned fighter, and he loves the thrill of conquering and winning. He often ignores political arrangements for them to have any effect on him in the next years. But it is the loss he does not want. Gilbert can take many things that are thrown at him, but he does not want to let Frederick go, along with everything else.
How does he feel about this? To constantly be alongside a non-human being who physically ages at a ludicrously slow pace, Gilbert thinks about how odd it must be for a normal person. He is sometimes thrown off by how quickly people grow and leave. The opposite is to be expected, though each nation's respective citizens appear to swallow the idea of a seemingly young man or woman being the living embodiment of their land rather well. Frederick never once questioned this, himself, though Gilbert figures that is because he has known Frederick since he was a newborn.
Gilbert remembers well the oozing skepticism in his current king's predecessors. With each generation that passed they accepted the knowledge with more ease, partly due to his never aging. Sometimes he has to think over if this abnormality, this inhuman trait, makes him something less than an average human. He at least does not believe supposed immortality equates to being a monster. He is a state.
And then he stops. Every time he arrives to this point in his thoughts he stops thinking. Frederick is still with him, none of his people have directly confronted him about his aging thus far, and nothing will change for the next few decades.
Then, one day again, he receives a lecture in the form of a poor scolding. It is at this point in time Frederick opens another door in the corridor for him. His king pulls him up from the slump he has been in, guides him out of that pit of uncertainty as he shows his state the way again.
Frederick tells him to not rely on him.
And Gilbert obeys.
He wants to fight again.
« Chapter I x
Characters: Gilbert Beilschmidt (Prussia), mentions of other nations
Disclaimer: Himaruya Hidekaz owns Axis Powers Hetalia.
Title: Remember ME (Chapter II: Frederick)
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Angst, drama
Summary: Losing is harder when everything is at stake. Gilbert finds comprehending his downfall to be more than difficult. Why do people think deeper when they are closer to death?
He has won. The newly earned territory (which is not as new at this point, but it is nonetheless considered to be new) has greatly benefited Prussia thus far. It no longer matters that Gilbert stole it from Roderich. He has won rightful ownership over the land by holding out in the Silesian Wars. Furthermore, his people are content with this additional blessing, and he wishes them to remain so.
He feels as though some sort of terrible burden has been lifted from his shoulders.
But though Silesia is still his, the battle is not yet over. It is far from over: For Prussia -- for Gilbert -- the fight will never end. The fact that Silesia remains in his grasp changes little; it only makes him want more. He fears he might lose himself if he does not continue to engage in combat, and Gilbert does not ever want to fear. So he takes to sitting around for hours, looking out the window longingly for any signs of action.
Despite his loathing of that wretched feeling of possibly losing, he pines for it. He longs for the rush, that need to be perpetually alarmed and on guard.
It is what he was born to do.
Frederick understands this. And because he does he sits across Gilbert one day, whom is lazily sprawled out on the couch with an unfocused gaze.
"Old Fritz."
Gilbert loves Frederick. Frederick has been the spark to his ambition: He lights the dim corridor and leads Gilbert to somewhere promising, somewhere he can get a glimpse of a fine future. Frederick is everything Gilbert wants to and will be, with his own unique twists to create something original. But his king is what starts his imagination and mind going, the very being that motivates him to do more than he already has.
All seems well. Prussia is recovering and prospering, Gilbert feels enlightened, and Frederick grows stronger with each day that passes. But Gilbert knows better: There will be another war in the coming years. No land exists without bloodshed, and he is not the kind to sit still or religiously watch other feuds outside his borders. Perhaps another war will not turn its head towards them while Frederick is in reign, but he can only go for so long without a fight. Prussia will have its share of peace until then.
Yet he finds his desire for more warfare fading as the days pass by. Instead he wishes to spend more time with his king, to simply sit on stand by and enjoy what years he has left with him, because he knows Frederick will not be around forever. As with his predecessors he will grow old and breathe his last breath someday, while Gilbert remains young and energetic.
The thought disturbs him.
But he still has that lingering need to fight. He wonders if this wish will come back full force when Frederick leaves him, and subsequently ends up taking a part of Gilbert's precious drive with him along the way. Now he sits on that couch he once used to look out the window on and ponders over the possibility.
Then, one day, he decides that he likes the present far better than the future. No matter how much of a grand future Frederick shows him through that dimly lit corridor, he will always favor the present. The present has more than the future can ever offer. The present holds peace, prosperity, and Frederick. The future holds wars, political feuds, and loss.
Gilbert does not mind the first two of what the future ensures. He takes joy in participating in battles as a seasoned fighter, and he loves the thrill of conquering and winning. He often ignores political arrangements for them to have any effect on him in the next years. But it is the loss he does not want. Gilbert can take many things that are thrown at him, but he does not want to let Frederick go, along with everything else.
How does he feel about this? To constantly be alongside a non-human being who physically ages at a ludicrously slow pace, Gilbert thinks about how odd it must be for a normal person. He is sometimes thrown off by how quickly people grow and leave. The opposite is to be expected, though each nation's respective citizens appear to swallow the idea of a seemingly young man or woman being the living embodiment of their land rather well. Frederick never once questioned this, himself, though Gilbert figures that is because he has known Frederick since he was a newborn.
Gilbert remembers well the oozing skepticism in his current king's predecessors. With each generation that passed they accepted the knowledge with more ease, partly due to his never aging. Sometimes he has to think over if this abnormality, this inhuman trait, makes him something less than an average human. He at least does not believe supposed immortality equates to being a monster. He is a state.
And then he stops. Every time he arrives to this point in his thoughts he stops thinking. Frederick is still with him, none of his people have directly confronted him about his aging thus far, and nothing will change for the next few decades.
Then, one day again, he receives a lecture in the form of a poor scolding. It is at this point in time Frederick opens another door in the corridor for him. His king pulls him up from the slump he has been in, guides him out of that pit of uncertainty as he shows his state the way again.
Frederick tells him to not rely on him.
And Gilbert obeys.
He wants to fight again.
« Chapter I x