Bound by Destiny | COUNTRYHUMAN AU

Forgive

"Prince Germany?!" Singapore spluttered as we stared at each other in shock. I smiled tentatively as I waved. Singapore's eyes widened even further as he took a few steps backwards. My smile dropped and Singapore's body tensed.

"I...I...I should go," the small country stammered as he hurriedly grabbed his satchel that had fallen. As he was about to walk away, I grabbed his arm. He turned around, a flash of anger in his ruby-coloured eyes. "What do you think you're doing?!" he tugged roughly, freeing himself. He wrapped his arms around him and was about to walk away. Panic seized me. If he left I might not get another chance to say sorry. It was now or never.

"I'm sorry!" I cried, making Singapore turn around in shock, "I'm so sorry, Singapore. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. You aren't nosy at all." Singapore looked at me, his expressions going through a roulette of emotions. Confusion, anger, relief, they all made an appearance. My heart began beating faster as I nervously flicked my fingers against my thigh. I'm such an idiot. Will he really forgive me? Me, Germany, the son of the worst man ever known to roam this land. Hah, this was stupid. I bowed my head low and murmured, "I do not expect forgiveness. I understand–"

"Stop," Singapore interrupted, his voice firm. I shut my mouth immediately. He bit his lower lip and seemed to contemplate his next words. After what felt like forever, he said, "I forgive you and I'm sorry as well Germany. I...I was being too insensitive. I shouldn't have dove in and started asking you questions about your past. I apologise for the hurt I caused you to experience." I blinked, shocked. Why did he need to apologise? I was the one at fault here, not Singapore! My heart hammered wildly as Singapore looked at me with an expectant look in his eyes. Am I supposed to reply that I forgive him? But it's my fault! What should I do?! I felt my mind going into meltdown mode as more and more thoughts kept piling on me.

"Hey, don't overthink it. We...we are both at fault here and I think now that we've both apologised we are even," Singapore broke through my thoughts. I blinked as a strange, foreign emotion swelled within my heart threatening to spill over. "I...I..." the words were held back as I suddenly felt my cheeks becoming wet. I'm crying, the realisation struck me hard in the chest. Singapore looked at me shocked as he asked if I was okay.

"Why? Why forgive me Singapore? No one ever has and you're the first. Why...why....why Singapore? Just why?" I choked out as the tears continued to fall.

"You know, our family doesn't define who we are. Just because your family were horrible people, it doesn't mean you are one either. And besides...I can tell that your kingdom has changed for the better," he answered. I let out a half laugh-sob as I rubbed away the tears. "Thank you...thank you Singapore for believing in me. And I'm sorry you had to see me crying," I was glad that the centre of my flag was red for it was hiding the embarrassed blush that had spread across my cheeks. Singapore smiled warmly and he nodded.

"It's fine, I see Mal and the others cry a lot and I don't think it's embarrassing. It's not good to bottle the emotions. At least that's what Pa–I mean Prof ASEAN says to us."

His words resonated with me. For a long time, after the war ended, I found myself bottling up my emotions, afraid that others would use them to their advantage. In the beginning, it was bad as I often would burst out in anger at others or randomly break down crying. But over time, I think it just became a part of me. Like a defensive mechanism. I learned to shut off most of my emotions besides anger, okay not really but I learnt not to show them on my face. I still felt the emotions but no one would ever know. Admittedly it wasn't the best since that probably drew more people away from me but I digress. This was probably the first time in a long time I had allowed someone to see such a vulnerable side of me.

"I see...Prof ASEAN is a wise teacher and father isn't he?" I chuckled, my heart feeling a little bit lighter. A fond smile spread across the Singaporean's face as he nodded. Our sweet moment was interrupted just then by the bells chiming, a reminder that we needed to get to class. Bading a hurried goodbye, Singapore and I rushed off to our respective classrooms.

*

Stepping into class, I felt my heart sink. Not only were Japan and Italy not here, the others were whispering about me again. Russia was at the back, scowling away as per usual although today's scowl seemed deeper. America and Poland were deep into their dis–gossiping (could I really call talking about me badly a discussion?) although they stopped as I passed by them. Even then, I could feel Poland's wary gaze following me until I took a seat at the very back of the class, right in the corner of the room. A few other countries entered amongst them two of which were from the ASEAN group. The girls gave me a look before heading to their seats, discussing in low voices.

I bet they are all talking about my yelling last night. Why did I think that saying sorry to Singapore would solve it immediately? It obviously wouldn't. News travels fast for the bad stuff, not the good stuff. Russia gave me a long, hard look and I gulped as I averted my gaze. Please don't say anything, I prayed. A sigh, I looked up and saw that the Russian's scowl had softened into a bored gaze as he laid his head onto the table. Phew, crisis averted.

Click, click, click. The sound of high heels clicking against the ground caught our class's attention. All went silent as a lady walked into class. She had dark blue skin and had bright blue eyes that seemed to glow. Her hair, the same colour as her skin, was tied into a messy, yet pretty looking, bun. Placing her items on the teacher's desk, she turned to face us, grinning. "Hello everyone! I'm Ms NASA! That's N-A-S-A," she took out a piece of chalk as she proceeded to write her name onto the board before continuing, "I'll be your science and form class teacher for this year." America hooted cheerfully and Ms NASA gave him a small knowing smile.

"I don't know some of your names so let's just take the time now to introduce ourselves as I take attendance. Starting from...how about you right in front of me?" Ms NASA pointed to a boy dressed in a grey woollen hat and white clothing. The boy stood to face us, his electric blue eyes surveying us. "I'm Finland, may we get along," he said before sitting back down. One by one, my classmates introduced themselves. When it reached Russia's turn, he stood up with a loud sigh. I caught his gaze and saw his mouth tilt down. "I'm Russia," he said before falling back onto his seat. America raised his eyebrow as he asked, "Got nothing else to say?" Russia's scowl returned back in full force and many students gulped and turned away.

"Нет, теперь закрой свою ловушку!" his voice was harsh and America rolled his eyes. When Russia and I were friends, I had picked up some Russian and I was pretty sure that he had asked the American to shut up. And judging by America's reaction, I believed that he too understood what Russia said.

"Alright you two, let's not fight on the first day of school please," Ms NASA chided the two. America clicked his tongue before turning to look at me, "How about you Germany? Got anything to say?" The class's attention was now on me. Looking down at my table, I muttered, "I'm Germany if America hasn't made that clear to you." Whispers ran through the class but other than that, nothing. I let out a small sigh of relief.

"All right kids! Now that we are done with the introductions, let's head to the hall for Principal UN's speech," Ms NASA clapped her hands together. Gathering our bags, we filed out of the classroom and headed down to the hall. I sighed loudly. This was going to be boring.

Translations:

Нет, теперь закрой свою ловушку: No now shut/close your trap!