Hello, all the people of Fanfiction, readers, writers, and otherwise, whatever that might be! I'm back with another one-shot. This one's set in WWII, on the weird island that they're on in some of the episodes. The first part of this fanfiction may be a little familiar, but trust me, it's not gonna be at all like the other times the Allies came.

Germany, Italy, and Japan were all on the island together. Italy was asleep (as usual). Germany and Japan sat around the fire, listening intently for any sudden sound. All three of them stood at the sound of rustling, Italy slower than the other two.

"They're back."

"Hai, I agree."

"Say wha?" They looked up to see the Allied Powers standing on that ledge, like every other time.

"Damn Allies," Germany muttered as he pulled out his pistol. Japan drew his sword, and Italy was waving his white flag.

"Ha ha ha! Listen to me in my total Hero voice, guys!" America shouted from the ledge, "China, I choose you!"

China jumped down from the ledge, wok in hand. Both Japan and Germany dodged China's first strike, but he got them the second time. All Germany and Japan could do was sit in a daze as the Allies crept toward Italy.

"I surrender! I surrender! Please don't hit me please! I don't want to die; I have a lot of life left to live!" When they didn't stop, Italy just waved his flag harder, "Stop! Don't you see the white flag?"

Normally, something would come along and save them, whether it's Grandpa Rome, Finland, or Britain with Busby's chair. This time, though, the white flag must've been defective, because nothing came along to stop the Allies. Before Germany could react, America took his gun from him and shot Japan with it. Italy screamed as Japan fell to the ground, dead. America turned back to Italy, and he signaled for Russia to come help him.

Germany, knowing what would happen, tried to get up so he could save Italy, but the remaining three Allies; Britain, France, and China, held him back. One of them Germany could take. Handling two of them was less likely, but he could still hold them off, at least for a little while. But three of the Allied Powers holding him with all their might? Forget it, but that didn't stop him from trying.

Germany struggled, knowing the little Italian wouldn't put up a fight. He kept trying to get free, for Italy's sake. As America and Russia started, well, to put it bluntly, beating the living daylights out of Italy, Germany only continued to struggle harder with each anguished cry for help. It was to no avail, and Germany's strength was leaving him, bit by bit. Finally, he gave up. He looked up at Italy and saw only one thing in the smaller man's eyes. That thing was pure terror.

Germany woke with a start, relieved to have left that hell inside his head. He took a look at his surroundings, taking in all the sights and sounds. Japan and Italy were asleep on the sand, by their fire that was now no more than a few glowing embers. All was well with them. Germany than took a look at the ledge that the Allies always appeared on. There was nothing. It was completely quiet.

"Good." Germany muttered as he sat back down where he had slept. He knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep now, not after the nightmare he just had. He looked back at Italy and Japan, the only two people in the world he could call his friends. He had kept the nightmares a secret for quite some time now. He was afraid that they wouldn't see him in the same way if he revealed his weakness, his fear.

"I'm scared." Germany whispered the words he only ever said to himself. And the truth is that he was terrified. The Allies were only a small contributor to his fright. He was also scared of losing the only two people he could ever trust. He was afraid that he wasn't being a good enough leader. That he would lead his team to their deaths. But most of all, Germany was afraid that when it really counted, when the other members of the Axis were really depending on him, that he would let them down.

"I can't let that happen." He spoke aloud.

"Let what happen, Germany?" Germany turned around to see the little Italian nation had woke up and was listening to him talk to himself. Germany blushed a little bit at that realization.

"Umm…" Germany tried to come up with a convincing lie.

"Something's worrying you, ve? Don't think I haven't noticed, because I have. You're not sleeping. Why?" Italy scooted over next to Germany, "Are you having nightmares?"

Germany looked up at him in surprise, "How did you know?"

"We're at war; of course you're going to have nightmares. Also, you talk in your sleep."

Germany sighed, "They've been going on for months now."

"Do you want to know what I do to stop them?" Italy asked.

"I suppose." Germany answered skeptically.

"I find you and sleep with you in your bed."

Germany tried to keep from banging his head against something; he already knew that, "How does that help me?"

"You can sleep next to me tonight!" Italy offered enthusiastically.

Germany gave him a weird look, "I think I'll pass."

"Come on, Germany, it'll make you feel better! Besides, I won't stop asking until you do."

The larger nation huffed in resignation, "Fine." He lay back down where he was, and allowed Italy to curl up against him.

Italy happily said, "Good night, Germany." And promptly fell asleep.

Germany debated scooting away from the Italian and sleeping by himself, but he decided not to and stayed where he was. He looked beside him at Italy, the ally that he always had to protect from any danger. Germany thought his efforts were a waste of time since Italy never actually did anything to help. But maybe, just maybe, Italy was doing more than Germany knew.

You see, Germany protected Italy in the physical way, making sure Italy never got hurt, and driving off anyone who dared attack him. Italy paid Germany back by protecting him in a mental/emotional way. Italy made sure that his best friend was in high spirits, tried to make him laugh, and, when the burden of leadership started to become too much for him, Italy did what he could to make the weight of the world a little bit lighter. Italy did everything for his comrades that any true friend would do.

On these happy thoughts, Germany closed his eyes and had the sweetest dreams any country ever had.

Author's Note:

Yay! Happy ending! This one-shot is sorta just a thing to get me back into the realm of writing, since I haven't spent a bunch of time writing. Sorry!

Also, this was not necessarily written to be a pairing situation. But if you want to interpret it that way, that's fine.

Yeah, not that much more for me to say. I hope you like it, and if you didn't, constructive criticism is appreciated! If you did like it, though, I'm glad, and it would be awesome to know why.

See y'all next fanfiction!