I spent that Christmas the way I'd dreamed of all year: with East. It was the happiest I'd ever been; the sound of her voice eased my mind and her smile hadn't changed one bit. She'd grown up just as I had, but there was no mistaking that she was still the same girl who had hid up in the attic with me the last time I saw her, that she was the same girl who I had spent my whole life with...
Alas, I worried for her... She seemed pale, far paler than usual, and a lot slimmer too, but I brushed it off, delighted by her presence. After all, I hadn't seen her for years, perhaps that was just the way she was? She seemed fine enough, taking great joy in playing with my hair and rugby-tackling Berlin on numerous occasions.
"Westttttt-" she smirked at me, "Remember that game we used to play? The one where we tied our shoes together?"
"Ja!" I giggled, remiscing about the pair of us attempting to walk across our old bedroom while bound together by our feet. "You want to play?"
"Nein," she giggled, her caramel eyes sparkling with mischief, "...But the capitals should!"
"No." the woman that I didn't recognise frowned, flicking her cape of midnight-black hair over her shoulder and glaring down at us with eyes carved from onyx.
"Please?" East begged, pouting.
"No."
"Oh, why not?" Berlin chucked, smiling at her, "Please, Moscow?"
"Only if London will," Moscow answered stiffly, earning an eyeroll from everyone in the room.
"Alright, fine," London conceded, a trace of a smile forming on her lips. At those words, East sprinted towards the three capitals, knotting their shoes together and instructing them to stand out in the hallway. Some time and effort later, the three found their way out of the room and stood in the corridor as instructed.
Now, this corridor was easily twenty metres in length, if not longer. The carpet, though it appeared soft, was about as comfortable as Lego under foot without shoes and there was no railing on either wall. With a look of pure joy in her eyes, East ordered the capitals to walk to the end of the corridor, weeping with laughter and grabbing my arm as she witnessed their doomed efforts.
After several false starts, they set off... And Moscow immediately fell over. Pulling her to her feet, Berlin continued, though London apparently didn't notice he'd started again, seeing as she was instantly pulled off of her feet. More or less catching herself, she continued onwards along with the others, only for Moscow to accidentally kick Berlin in the shin somehow, causing him to lose balance and fall sideways on top of London.
Needless to say, it wasn't going well for them.
Some time later, they finally reached the halfway mark. Giving them a small round of applause, me and East ran on ahead, picking up a nonsensical chant as we did.
"Oooh..." East muttered to me, her voice hushed but brimming with excitement.
"What?" I asked, mildly amused my her seemingly random joy.
"Look!" She pointed at the three capitals, who were still stumbing around, though I couldn't understand exactly what had caught her attention. Clearly noticing my blank look, she added, "They're holding hands!"
"So?" I blinked confusedly, finally realising that she was pointing towards Berlin and London, "They always do that."
"Do you know what that means?" East gasped, squeezing my hand.
"It... Means something?"
"Maybe!" she grinned mysteriously, "Though you can never quite be sure..."
"What does it mean?" I whispered urgently, now thoroughly intrigued.
"Maybe," East announced, voice rising above our secretive volume, "They're getting married!"
"Who is?" Berlin shouted to us, having overheard only the final line of our conversation.
"Someone," East smirked.
"East, nobody is getting married-" Berlin sighed, just as confused as I had been.
"Maybe you are!" she giggled.
Now utterly lost, Berlin answered, "East... Why would you think that-?"
"YOU'RE HOLDING HANDS!" East squealed back at him, causing both him and London to turn a bright crimson and to drop each other's hands.
"That... That doesn't mean we're getting married, East Germany," London stammered, somewhat defeating her own point by exchanging glances with Berlin.
"Eugh." Moscow spat, taking the opportunity to untie her foot from Berlin's. "You can do better than that capitalist dirt, Berlin."
"Don't talk about her like that." Berlin snarled, grabbing Moscow's hand and yanking her towards him aggressively in a manner that I hadn't seen in years, "And we aren't together, so don't play into their misunderstanding."
"So... No wedding?" East sniffed sadly, jogging up to the capital and wrapping her arms forlornly around his waist.
"No wedding," Berlin cooed softly, picking East up and kissing her forehead, letting Moscow go.
"Erm..." London muttered, tapping Berlin's arm, "Where's West?"
You see, I hadn't followed East over to the capitals. I'd chosen my moment wisely and chambered up onto a shelf on the far side of the corridor and concealed myself behind the edge of a nearby curtain.
Why, you ask?
Why not!
Gazing around, Berlin called out apprehensively, "West! West, where are you?"
"Here!" I smirked, popping my head out from behind my hiding place.
"Get down!" Moscow snapped, sauntering over to the shelf. "That shelf belongs to me and I won't have you breaking it!"
Sniffing back tears of shock at the scolding, I climbed back down and scampered back over to my sister and capital. Frowning, Berlin muttered something in Russian to Moscow, before glancing at his now rusted watch.
"We need to be going home..." Berlin sighed, hugging me goodbye. Smiling mournfully, East embraced me too, slipping something into my hand as she did.
"Was ist-"
"Shh," East whispered, "It's an old photograph of us... I'm not really allowed to keep old pictures, but I saved this one from being burned..."
"Danke..." I sniffed, bursting into tears and pulling her closer to me. "I'll see you again, ja?"
"Of course..." she answered, a river of tears trickling down her face too, "I'll do anything to make sure we're together again... I love you, Bruder."
"I love you too, Schwester."
And with that, we parted ways, only pausing to exchange one last smile when London and Berlin inevitably fell over again, having forgotten to separate themselves.
"Goodbye, East..."
"I'll see you again, Bruder."
YOU ARE READING
I, Deutschland
Fanfiction(ART IS NOT MINE!) After my biological father died, I was left all alone... My sister was taken from me and I was left with the most difficult decision I had ever faced: through all of my tears, I had to choose a Westerner to take me in, and I was i...
