Locked Away (GerIta)

Chapter 31

"You're crazy." Romano emphasized his statement by flailing his hand. "Paris?! Paris!"

Feliciano rolled his eyes and packed an extra shirt into his small trunk. "Will you relax? We're only going for three days!"

"Yeah, three days!" Romano huffed. "To a city with one of the biggest Nazi headquarters in Europe! And you're staying in the hotel across the street from it."

"It was the only one with rooms on short notice." Feliciano clicked the latches closed on his case. "Listen, I'm going, you can't stop me, and I will be," He smiled and turned to his brother, placing his hands on his upper arms. "Just fine."

He kissed his brother's cheek in true Italian fashion and pinched his cheek, making Romano swat his hand away with a grunt.

"Stay out of trouble!" Romano shouted as Feliciano walked out. "I mean it or I'll find you and kick your ass!"

~

Elizabeth smiled a wide grin and bit her lower lip as she looked across the table at Feliciano.

"I don't know how to thank you for this." She laughed giddily and took his hand. "I promise I'll pay back every penny."

Feliciano shook his head and smiled back. "Nonsense. Don't you worry about the train tickets, you're already covering the accommodations."

They chatted excitedly and enjoyed the train ride, drinking all the teas and coffees they could order.

~

Feliciano groaned as he laid back on the bed as Elizabeth stretched out on the other one in their room. They'd just drank fine French wine and had an amazing dinner.

"God, I haven't had a dinner like that since..." Feliciano laughed softly. "Well, I don't even remember."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Feli." She looked over at him and grinned, turning onto her side with a giggle. "Tell me something about yourself, you're so quiet."

Feliciano blushed and ran a hand through his hair. "What do you mean? I've told you about Vash and Romano and where I used to live-"

"But you've never told me anything about you." She leaned forward. "I want to know about you, as my friend. You've told me about your travels and your family but you never take time to talk about yourself."

Feliciano sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "Well," he began, sifting through his mind. "I mean, back home, in Italy, my brother and I used to work on the farm and we just had all the space and time and the fields were all we had." He smiled weakly as he reminisced. "And then the war began and everything changed, the farm was forgotten and Grandpa got into the resistance. We said we wouldn't, but we couldn't ignore it. I didn't join but when Romano got shot I..."

Elizabeth nodded in understanding and just waited for him to continue.

"Anyway, it got bad. Really bad. I wasn't happy and people were getting hurt on my watch, or because of my 'job'. I told Romano I'd run away but he said that he promised he'd leave with me if I just let him figure out a stable place for us." The Italian closed his eyes. "We moved to Germany and found work. I kept to myself as much as I could and remained content with our tiny apartment and crappy salaries because it was better than the killing and shooting and-" he choked up slightly and rubbed at his eyes. "I made one friend. And of all people, he was a higher-up Nazi in a concentration camp. But he wasn't because he was not like them. I saw he had a good heart and a conflicted mind. That was his problem." Feliciano placed a hand over his heart, fingers clenching gently at the fabric of his shirt. "He was a great friend. I messed up but he stayed anyway. We had to say goodbye because it became dangerous to be with him."

"Just a friend?" Elizabeth smiled a knowing smile and Feliciano flinched. "It's okay." She whispered, moving to lie next to him. "Love is love."

Feliciano took a moment to collect himself and exhaled deeply, it was good to get that out, even if it was a very brief version of it.

"I forgot to ask," The Italian said after a little while, "Roderich was okay with all of this? With me taking you here? He hasn't even met me yet."

He turned to look at his friend when she didn't answer and his smile faded. "Elizabeth... You told him, right?"

Elizabeth huffed and glared at the ceiling, crossing her arms. "He's in Stockholm, he won't be home until after I'm back."

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't've called him to tell him that you left the country!" He groaned and flopped back down.

"Just drop it."

"Call h-"

"I said drop it." She interrupted.

~

Despite the small disagreement the night before, the two friends enjoyed their time in Paris and stopped at a newly-opened café for their last stop. The owners had a guestbook open at the front and asked all the first customers to sign their names.

Feliciano and Elizabeth happily obliged and congratulated the owners on their successful opening and wished them luck in the future. They were sure they'd stick around, their coffee was awesome.

Feliciano looked out of the taxi window they'd just gotten into as it passed the huge marble-front building. He dragged his eyes along the length of the crimson red Nazi flags with their swastikas staring the citizens down from their position up high.

Elizabeth patted his shoulder and told him not to pay attention to it, to look away.

But Feliciano felt something, something strong pulling him, compelling him to look at the building.  He shook his head and looked away, finally as the taxi passed the building.

He's gone. Stop it.

~

To be continued...