To make one whole

Prologue

Bright sunbeams creeped through the tiny openings between the crowns of leaves in the treetops, bathing Poland's face in warmth. It was an early June morning, and the birds had just begun to chirp their sweet summer  melodies. A small breeze rustled the meadow, adding to the symphony of sounds. The air itself smelled of sweet apples and flower fragrances; to Poland, it smelled of life itself.

The small country lay in a meadow, back up against an incipient and twisted oak tree. They had been laying there for hours, drifting away without a care in the world. Poland let out an exhale of contentedness. How much better could anything ever get?

A foreign hand suddenly brushed their hair.  The country's wings instinctively flared out, standing out and ruffled in a pseudo-defensive position. Poland turned to face whoever approached them. It turned out to be their brother, Lithuania.

Lithuania had always been a quiet child. He had a crown of golden hair, which grew to a long length and curled ever so slightly on the ends. His eyes were brilliant green and always so bright and full of wonder. His feet were always so light, it seemed as if all the grass and wildlife never broke under them, as is mother nature herself thought of Lithuania as one of her own. Poland loved him to death.

"What are you doing out here Lenkija? Father has been looking all over for you. Have you broken something again?" Lithuania asked. His face was concerned, but his eyes very clearly betrayed him. He  was curious, Poland noted,  as to why their dad was angry. To this Poland simply chuckled.

"O Litwo, you know me too well." They turned and faced the castle in which the two siblings lived. "I broke his favorite chalice if you must know." Lithuania's eyes widened.

"Not the one he received from uncle Hungary!?" When Poland didn't respond, Lithuania looked away, astonished.

"You are so dead..."

"Yup"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Modern Day

Germany liked to believe that he was perhaps the most sociable and intelligent country. He had the power and resources to push ahead of just about anyone. Heck, thanks to him, the lives of so many countries were greatly improved. So many look up to him, and he has many good friends. America, France, and Russia were perhaps the closest. He also had good relations with his cousin Austria.

To the outside eye, Germany may come off as perhaps the most arrogant and snarky country alive, and to a point, they are right. Germany is not know for his gentle nature and kind words. What they don't know however, is that there is more to this than they think.

You see, there was only ever one real problem Germany had to face; living under his family's dark legacy.

He knows it isn't really his fault. He knows many have forgiven him anyways. He knows its in the past. It just always resurfaces him, comes back to haunt him whenever he finally makes peace. It sits in his stomach like a heavy stone and does not leave, which is why he always pushes himself so far to work. Partially to forget about said feeling, partially to make it up to the others for hurting them so. Germany cannot bare to live with himself until he knows he has repaid his debt. This is why he pushes him to the brink of exhaustion every day, why he has little regard to his own self.

In truth, Germany really wasn't that selfish at all. He just had a very hard time showing kindness, and that's because for as long as he could remember, kindness was weakness.

His father had always told him so, and it would always be proven true. Help out a poor stranger by inviting him in, he runs away with important family posessions. Free a fox from a trap, it comes back and eats your chickens. But then, his father had always been the cruel and unfeeling type, one who wasn't afraid to push others down to get to the top. Germany was no exception, and he often bore the short end of the stick that was his father's harsh actions. To this day he still has nightmares of his childhood. But back to the kindness thing. At this point it was hard fact in his brain that it didn't get anyone anywhere, which is why it surprised him so much when one day, it was returned.