M: Mittens

L: Luv

-----------

L

Wehrmacht and Germany watched Mandara leave. Germany felt bad for MA even though he had no idea what was going on. He reached out to pat MA's shoulder but hesitated. Maybe he shouldn't intrude. 

 Wehrmacht on the other hand was curious to know why this militant entity was so keen on staying with his brother. He'd never felt he needed to do the same with Third Reich so this was a new level of commitment. 

 "What happened between you two?" Wehrmacht asked. "You've been determined to stick with your brother like glue since the beginning of this meeting. He is a country, he can take care of himself."

M

MA didn't acknowledge Wehrmacht right away, he just continued to stare at the staircase, mentally scolding himself for screwing up, but he eventually spoke, still not looking at the Germans, "I know he can, he is the strongest country I have ever known, but that's not entirely why I stay close to him." 

MA hung his head and let his wings fall completely to the floor, not at all trying to keep them up, "B-back during the cold war, Trigger and I were fighting the Soviet Union, trying to keep them from taking over our territory. Well...one day I left Trigger and went to patrol the town he just liberated, and when I returned he was missing. Apparently, one of my lieutenants was a spy and told Trigger that I had been captured, so he naturally went to look for me, but was instead lured into a trap and captured." 

MA started to quietly sob as he kept telling the story, "He was a prisoner for seven months before I could save him, and during that time he was used as Ussr's personal plaything. He was clipped, tortured, and had his wings broken and his right eye blinded by that Russian bitch, broken to a point that to this day he can't sleep by himself without having a panic attack." 

 MA stopped to take in a few shaky breaths to calm himself down before continuing. "And it was all my fault. I left him alone to scout, and one of MY lieutenants caused him to get captured. I-It's all my f-fault." MA hugged onto himself and kept crying, not caring about the Germans in the room.

L

So that was why Mandara had looked horrified when Wehrmacht mentioned Soviet nations during dinner. And those bandages were the aftermath of Soviet's torture. He flinched at the cruelty, at the clipping and breaking of wings. 

And Mandara's nightmares. Oh those horrible nightmares that made Wehrmacht grimace at his own dark memories after Stalingrad. He flinched more when he heard MA start to cry and blame himself. 

Germany looked quite shocked to see a militant entity cry—he was a country and didn't understand that militants also had their emotional sides.But Wehrmacht understood. Maybe not exactly, but it was enough to make the German stride softly behind MA and wrap one large black wing around the militant. 

M

MA jumped when Wehr wrapped his wing around him and lifted his head to the German, but quickly looked away. He was embarrassed that he was acting this way in front of others, so stepped out of Wehr's wing and tried to regain his composure.

"Anyway that's why I stay close to Trigger, so I don't mess up again." he said wiping his eyes and trying to put on a stouthearted appearance to hide his feeling, even though it was to late for that.

L

Wehrmacht was quite amused at MA's embarrassment but he also found himself feeling concerned for MA. 

 "You won't mess up," Wehrmacht said simply. "Mandara wouldn't let you even if you tried. You two trust each other and work together better than I ever did with Third. It doesn't matter the distance when you're brothers because you'll always come out for each other. You rescued Mandara, think about the consequences if Mandara had been tortured for longer." 

He brushed his wing against MA's. "You won't mess up. The more you tell yourself that, the more you'll realize it's true."

After a pause, Wehrmacht muttered awkwardly to himself, "I'm really bad at pep talks."

M

MA looked at Wehrmacht surprised, he never would have expected this former Nazi general was trying to comfort him, but then again, a lot had happened tonight that he didn't expect from the German. He winced when Wehr mentioned Mandara being tortured for longer.

"I don't have to think Wehrmacht" MA said as he turned away again and pressed his wing closer to his body, "He almost died in my arms before we could even get him out of the cell, If I had just stayed with him, he never would of been put through all of that and almost die, that's all there is to it."

L

"You had your mission, your post and your people to lead," said Wehrmacht. "And he had his. It isn't your fault, MA. You did your job through and through." The German gave MA one last pat on the shoulder and turned to leave. "Rest. I'll see you tomorrow." 

Before going out the door, he added, "You won't mess up." 

Germany looked between his uncle and MA. So militants did have soft sides after all.

M

MA turned his head slightly as Wehr left, then continued to stand still for a bit, taking in what he said.

After a moment more he spoke to Germany, "Germany, please take care of Mandara tomorrow, I already lost my father, I don't want to lose him too." 

Without looking back, MA proceeded to walk up the stairs to join his brother.

L

"I will," Germany whispered as MA left. 

 He wandered to his own room and sank into the bed with his usual sigh from a long day. For the most part, things had gone smoothly and the dinner was enjoyable with all its lovely laughter. He knew a little more about his guests now, both the good and the bad. At least they were moving steadily forward with reconnecting the two nations. Yet Germany couldn't help but feel guilty once again—guilty on behalf of his ancestors and the long lasting effects of their past deeds, leaving him to make amends with the destruction they'd caused. 

 "Great-grandfather...grandfather...father..." Germany mumbled, closing his eyes as he began drifting to sleep. "Why."

M

MA opened the door to Mandara's room, just as he expected, Mandara didn't go to sleep yet, instead he was siting on the bed with his legs crossed underneath him, staring at his eye patch. MA let out a small sigh as he slowly walked over to the bed and sat down next to his brother. Mandara didn't move when he sat, so MA wrapped his wing around him and started running his hand across his brother's wing. 

 "I-I'm so sorry Trigger, I really didn't mean to saw that, it was an accident." 

Mandara didn't look at him but did respond with a 'it's ok' before going quiet again. The two sat there for a long time in silence, both wanted to talk but also didn't at the same time. Eventually Mandara lay his head on his brother's shoulder, tired from the day's events. 

"You getting tired?" MA asked, even though he knew the answer. 

 Mandara nodded slightly before saying "can you stay here tonight please?" 

 "Of course, but we will have to share the bed." 

 "I'm ok with that." 

 So MA went to his room to change, then came back to Mandara already lying in bed. With a small smile, MA turned of the lights and joined his brother, falling asleep instantly.

L

The alarm clock introduced Germany to the next morning, as it always did considering his obsession over punctuality. He rose from bed, washed his face in the adjoining bathroom, and put on his glasses and watch—two things he could not live without. Once he had on his shirt and tie, Germany dialed the number to Wehrmacht's house on his phone. 

 "Guten morgen, cousin," came a different voice. 

 "Iremacht!" Germany said in surprise. "You're up early. Where's your dad? I need to talk to him about some visitors coming over to your house today." 

 "He's sleeping in. He already told me though so you can come when you're ready." 

Germany nodded. "Okay. And Iremacht?" 

 "Ja?" 

 "Please be nice to our guests."

M

Mandara woke up first, he didn't know what time it was but he guessed it was probably morning judging from the sliver of sunlight coming from the crack in the curtains. He rubbed his eyes and slowly got out of bed, careful not to wake up MA just yet. He looked at his brother for a second and smiled, he always thought that MA was cute when he was sleeping, but he eventually turned away and headed into the bathroom to get ready for the day. When MA finally woke up, Mandara was already dressed in his uniform and was busy grooming his feathers at the foot of the bed. 

MA sat up and rubbed his eyes, and Mandara looked over his shoulder at him, "Good morning sleepy head, I was wondering when you'd wake up." 

 "Well, why didn't you wake me up?" MA groaned tiredly, to which Mandara giggled, "because you look so cute when you sleep"  

MA glared at him but he just laughed again and turned away. MA then got out of bed and went to his room where he left his stuff last night, and proceeded to also get ready.