Just a note, this is my first and only Hetalia fanfic, which I did for a gift exchange on LiveJournal. I currently don't have plans to do anymore Hetalia fics, but I thought I would go ahead and share this here. Thanks for reading~!

"I'll be Germany and Germany, you can be me!"

A light breeze rustled the grassy patch where Ludwig and Feliciano were resting between training their troops. They had just finished lunch and would be returning to their regular regime in a short time. It wasn't uncommon for them to spend this time discussing their methods, or complaining about them in Italy's case. Slowly the conversations always seemed to drift to unrelated topics, like food or the weather or... this.

"Wait, what?" Ludwig stared at the Italian. Sure, he admired his carefree nature, but to actually be Italy...

Feliciano motioned wildly, "It'll be fun! You can be me and take it easy and I'll be you and be strong and courageous!" He stared up at the blue sky, smiling wildly. This was a perfect idea, refreshing, and challenging. "Just for one day, okay? Let's do it!"

Cocking his head, Ludwig could not ignore the eagerness in Italy's voice to follow through with this silly plan. He sighed and nodded slowly, knowing he'd probably regret it later. "Okay. Just for one day, you can me and I can be you."

"GREAT!" Feliciano jumped to his feet, "Let's get started!" Grabbing Ludwig's hand, he pulled the larger nation to his feet and dragged him back to the barracks to switch uniforms.

The next training session with the troops went a little roughly. Though Ludwig's portrayal of Italy was fairly flawless, despite his harder head, Feliciano's lectures left the soldiers a little more than confused. Nonetheless, they made it through the whole course, and finally dismissed the troops for the day. The German troops seemed to wander away a bit aimlessly, but the Italian troops were in much better spirits than usual.

Even with the role reversal, Feliciano was still very, very Italian.

He folded his arms and nodded with confidence. "That went very well, I think! Don't you, Germa-I mean, Italy? I make a very good Germany, don't I?"

Ludwig looked down at Feliciano, who seemed to be overflowing with pride. "I guess. You did use a commanding voice..." He was trying to be nice about it. He started slicking his hair back as he continued to talk, "You really managed to keep everyone's attention, including your own troo-" He stopped abruptly as Feliciano put an arm out to block his path and glared up at him. "Eh? What is it, Italy?"

"What are you doing?!" Feliciano shook his finger admonishingly. "I said for one day! We only just got through training our troops! There's a lot more to do!" He turned around, folded his arms again and huffed lightly, "We have to train ourselves as well. If we don't stay in good condition, how can we expect our troops to?" He took out one of Ludwig's hats from seemingly out of no where and put it on, letting his uniform jacket drape over his shoulders while he struck a pose. "We'll train now and we'll train hard, or there will be no pasta for your troops!" He turned back towards Ludwig and was greeted with a blank stare. "That's more like it!" He walked up to Ludwig and mussed up his partially fixed hair. "Lets get started, ok?" He continued on towards the training ground.

Ludwig stood there, staring after Feliciano. Was this really Italy? He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. No, this was Germany he was watching. The strong, determined and unbreakable Germany. He flushed slightly, and started to follow Feliciano. "I'm Italy," he reminded himself quietly. "I'm supposed to be carefree, and loving, and useless." He paused, the truth of the matter setting in. When it came down to it, he was a very bad Italy.

"Hurry up! Now's not the time to slack off!" Feliciano was already at the starting point for their daily run. "Mach schnell!"

"C-coming!"

He decided he had to work harder at playing his roll, which meant working less. That should be easy, right? Ludwig lagged behind Feliciano during their training run. He watched the smaller man keep his pace up with determination, but he could tell that Feliciano was really pushing himself to keep going. The strain showed on his face. Ludwig frowned slightly and slowed his pace, "Ita... Germany, can we take a break? I need a... a siesta." He tried to sound out of breath as best he could, and leaned over, his hands on his knees, so he could stare at the ground, lest his expression give him away.

Feliciano stopped for a moment, he breathed heavily and wiped the sweat from his brow, "We can't stop now, Italy! We have to keep ourselves strong! The enemy could appear at any time!" His breathing steadied as he stood still for a bit. "If we're taking a siesta when they strike, we'll be beaten without ever having a chance to fight." Pausing for one last breath, he spoke softly, "So let's keep going. We'll make it together."

Ludwig slowly rose up from his leaning position, his face flushing once again at Feliciano's words. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off him, and had to force himself to look away. "O-okay," he stuttered.

"Are you okay? Your face is all red?" Leave it to Feliciano to point that out.

"I-I'm fine!" Ludwig blushed harder, then forced himself to laugh, "I'm just really hungry!" His reply made no sense at all.

Feliciano nodded, "The sooner we finish the sooner you can eat. We're halfway there!"

Ludwig nodded in return, feeling his face cool down. He just wasn't used to seeing Feliciano act like this, even if it was just… an act. This was the soldier he was trying to train him to be. One who took their work seriously, who was strong willed and showed no sign of weakness. No, that was wrong, Feliciano was just hiding his weakness for this role play. As they continued their run, it was obvious the Italian couldn't keep up the charade. Though his actions and words tried to, his body betrayed him. Ludwig didn't like it at all. This wasn't how he wanted to see Feliciano. This wasn't right.

"Italy…" Ludwig spoke softly.

"I'm Germany today, remember!" He stopped for a moment, breathing heavily again and looked back and the blond man curiously while trying to hide his exhaustion. "Are you going to ask for a siesta aga-"

"Feliciano!!" Ludwig stood up tall and glared down at the Italian. "I don't like this game, it's stopping now!" The role play was broken.

"G-Germany?" Feliciano frowned at the sudden harsh tone, "But, we said…"

"I don't care what we said!" He pushed his hair back, and hoped his reddening face would pass off as anger. "You… you're a horrible Germany!"

"What?"

Those eyes. Dammit, those tearful eyes. Ludwig suddenly lost his voice, a deep feeling of guilt washing over him.

"I was trying so hard…" Feliciano trembled, despite all his efforts he had disappointed Ludwig. All he wanted was to have some fun and let Ludwig relax, but the German was so upset now. "I-I'm sorry!!" He turned on his heel and retreated back to camp.

"Wait, Italy!!" He called after the fleeing Feliciano, but soon he was out of Ludwig's sight. "…How is it that he was about to fall over, yet he can run away like that?" He frowned, feeling ashamed for yelling. "I better find him and apologize."

Ludwig was having a devil of a time finding Feliciano. He wasn't in his quarters, or Ludwig's, he wasn't bugging the cook for pasta, nor was he with the other Italian troops singing songs. He wasn't even at the usual spot where they talked after lunch. "He didn't really run away, did he?" He tried to dispel that thought, "No, Italy would never do that. Then where…"

There was one other spot he could think of. It was a bit of a walk, but it was the only other place he could think of.

Making his way through the nearby forest, Ludwig wandered back towards the small clearing where he had first met Feliciano hiding in that silly tomato box. Coming up upon the clearing he paused from behind some brush. Sure enough, there was his Italy, laying back against the soft moss in the crook of a tree, staring up at the sky and smiling to himself.

Feliciano reached up towards the sky, "One day I'll be strong like Germany. I'll train hard and not run away. I won't goof around and draw pictures or fall asleep during his lectures." He brought his arm back down and folded his hands over his chest. "Then he can really be proud of me."

"I-Italy…" his stomach knotting up, Ludwig felt his heart break a little. He really did want to see Feliciano do his best, but he really, honestly liked him just the way he was. Useless or not, his warm, playful and affectionate personality was rather endearing. He cleared his throat loudly to announce his presence and stepped into the clearing. "Italy…" He frowned, raising his voice, "Just what are you doing all the way out here?!"

Jumping to his feet, Feliciano flailed wildly, "I-I'm sorry, Germany!!" His voice wavered as his nervousness grew. He had been caught slacking off. "I'll head back right now!!" He started to head back towards the camp, but was stopped as Ludwig grabbed him...

...and pulled him into a hug.

"G-Germany…?" a puzzled voice inquired about the larger man's actions. Though they've hugged before, it wasn't normal for the German to start such a display of affection. Feliciano felt his cheeks redden from the gesture.

Ludwig didn't let go. "I'm sorry."

"Ve?" He was apologizing now? What was going on? Was he really mad or…?He pulled back to look the Italian in the eyes, "I'm sorry for saying you were a bad Germany earlier." Ludwig blushed and rubbed his head. "You did a good job trying to be me."

"Then why did you say that?"

"Because…" Ludwig glanced off to the side. Why he found being honest to Feliciano to be so awkward, he didn't know, but he knew he had to be. "Because you were pushing yourself too hard." He sighed, "While it's nice to see you work hard, I don't want to see you completely wear yourself out. I can't afford to have you exhausted!"

Feliciano smiled widely at Ludwig's expression of concern, "So that's why! Germany is very considerate!" He paused and frowned again, "You could have just said that though instead of being mean about it." He kicked a bit at the ground, still looking sad. "I worked really hard to be Germany, so when you got mad at me I felt really bad. I didn't want to disappoint you."

"I'm sorry," Ludwig hung his head shamefully, "I shouldn't have said it like that. I just didn't know how to make you take me seriously with your role playing."

"You need to work on your Italy impression!" Feliciano shook a finger at him, "You may have the methods down, but you won't pull it off if your heart isn't in it!"

He stared at Feliciano, a bit puzzled at his words, "My heart…?"

Feliciano nodded and smiled warmly, "You won't make a good Italy if you don't let yourself relax. You worry too much."

"I suppose so…"Pointing up at the sun in the sky, Feliciano proposed his idea again, "The day isn't over yet! We could continue our role play if you'd like to try again."

Ludwig blushed again at the Italian's fervor and hopeful expression. He couldn't help but give in, and sighed in defeat. "Okay. Once more. But don't push yourself so hard!" At least there was only dinner left to really worry about. He just had to let himself relax and focus on putting his heart into the act. His heart was beating pretty fast by now.

"Okay! So now I'm Germany again and you're Italy!" Feliciano smiled, then put on a serious face. "Since you worked so hard during training, I guess you can have some pasta for dinner tonight. But don't get used it! We won't always have the commodities to prepare what you want to eat!"

He couldn't help but smile at that. Ludwig wondered if he really always sounded like that. "Thank you, Ita- er… Thank you, Germany!"

"Right. Let's get back to camp before it gets dark." Feliciano started to lead the way back towards their base. "I'll protect you if anything scary jumps out at us, so don't worry!"

Ludwig nodded at the Italian's back and followed after him. His head muddled with thoughts of how to act as Italy. What would Italy do? What would Italy say? The truth was he knew, but he wasn't sure if he could pull it off. He was snapped out of his thoughts once they reached the edge of the forest.

"We're back!" shouted Feliciano with a prideful grin. "Now no more running off like that during training!" He looked back at Ludwig for a moment, then turned back towards camp, "Let's go get dinner now."

"Hey, hey, Germany!" Ludwig called out in a soft voice, causing Feliciano to turn back around and he immediately found himself in a tight embrace. "Thank you for helping me." He kissed Feliciano's cheek lightly, then pulled back and started to run for the cafeteria, smiling broadly, "I love you!"

He did it.

Feliciano blushed madly, words escaping him. "H-hey wait!!" Without pausing, he took off after the other nation.