One and the Same (Hetalia [PruCan])

Chapter 1 - Like Me, Unlike Me

Also a short fic with around 3 chapters, like my other one: A Rainy Day. Lots of inner Prussia monologues in this chapter. Hopefully there will be more interactions later on.

Enjoy!

~*~*~

They were friends, but that's about all it was. For decades, their relationship hadn't changed. They spoke from time-to-time, and visited each other's place, but nothing had really progressed from there.

Hell, Gilbert could even go out on a whim here and call their little relationship 'close'. They were better friends than others, that's for sure. Ask anybody and they would agree. The only problem was, no one else knew.

Okay, no one else knew because they never cared to ask. Matthew wasn't exactly noticeable either, and Gilbert was . . . Well, why should anyone care about an ex-nation?

To any normal person's eyes, Gilbert was that neightbour next door from Matthew, the one that visited every Saturday. And it was fine to assume. He wasn't a nation anymore.

Maybe that was why he could see the Canadian so well.

He understood the circumstances of being invisible, of being ignored, of not having the importance to exist. But Matthew was just like that personality-wise, and nothing more. He wasn't the one fading away.

Gilbert felt himself being drawn to him more and more, little by little. It was strange, but he didn't express any discontent in the fact. Matthew made him feel here, made him more sure that he was still solid and existing.

Prussia couldn't stand the idea of disappearing. Every time he thought about it, his heart rate sped up and he found himself spiralling into a fit of panic. He couldn't stand the anxiety. Why did someone as awesome as him have to feel this way?

"You're just overthinking it," his little brother, Germany, had said. "You're not going anywhere, Gilbert. I'm making sure of that."

Gilbert trusted his brother, more than anyone in the world, even more than—dare he say it?—himself. But despite that, he went ahead and lied to Ludwig's face, hiding his doubts behind a smile that almost seemed too rigid.

"Yeah. 'Course," he'd replied, and tried to squash down that flutter of anxiety that jumped so suddenly from his gut.

Where was he now? Currently at a world meeting. What was he doing? Leaning back in his seat and reclining with his feet on the table. Did anyone care? No. They assumed that was just how he was. Technically that wasn't wrong.

Gilbert scanned the long table slowly, his red eyes brushing over each and every nation's face. Normally he'd be butting in the discussion around here, but Ludwig had specifically told him to shut up for once.

The fact was, when he wasn't saying anything, no one would even look at him.

They can still see me, though, right? If only they looked.

Maybe they were ignoring him because he'd gotten on their nerves somehow. That tended to happen a lot with Austria in their past.

Gilbert took his feet off the table and shuffled closer to Germany. He propped up his elbow and leaned into his hand.

"Hey, West," he whispered.

"What is it?" Ludwig muttered back distractedly, preoccupied by the current speaker of the meeting, the Brit with the monstrous eyebrows.

"Can I say something?"

"Bruder, you know very well that I handle the task much better." It wasn't condescending or anything. Germany was telling his brother not to waste his energy.