Hetalia: Cenerentola

"So~, are you, like, going to Roderich's ball on Friday?"

Feliciano looked up from the movie that he was watching to look back at Feliks, who had asked him the question that day at a slumber party.

"What?"
"Like, I asked if you were gonna go to Roderich's ball this Friday? You got an invite, didn't you?"

The truth is that Feliciano had gotten an invite in his mailbox just the other day. "Now that you mention it, I did get a letter about it on Wednesday. But I don't think I'll go," the Italian shrugged.

"WHAAT?!" the Pole exclaimed in surprise, and grabbed Feliciano's arm. "Why? Like, everyone's gonna go! Your brother's going! Toris is going! That jerk Ivan is going! Even Ludwig is going!"

The mere mention of Ludwig brought a faint blush to the Italian boy's cheeks. He had had a crush on the man for quite some time, but the only people who really knew were his brother (who resented it completely), Feliks, and his other friend Elizabeta. Sure, he was close to Roderich enough to go to the party for him, but the very thought of looking like an idiot in front of the person he liked the most made him drop the thought completely.

"I-I just…I don't have anything to wear…?" he lied, though it sounded not at all convincing. "A-and anyways, I'm gonna be busy on Friday—"

"Feli?"
"Huh?"
"You're, like, totally the suckiest liar ever," Feliks called his friend out. "It's cuz' of Ludwig, isn't it? Cuz you, like, like him and junk?"

Feliciano gave in. "Yeah…but come on! You've been that way around someone you liked, right Feliks? You wanna be with them all the time, but at the same time you don't wanna do anything stupid, so you don't wanna be with them at all?"

"Like, not really," the Pole bluntly answered. He patted his distressed friend on the shoulder and smiled comfortingly. "But, like, I get what you mean. You just gotta have more confidence, Feli!" Feliks stood on his bed for emphasis. "You gotta, like, walk up to Ludwig, look 'im straight in the eye and say 'Hey! I, like, totally love you!' and, like, give 'im a big smooch…or somethin', y'know what I mean?"

Feliciano chuckled at his friend's advice, even if it wasn't exactly helpful. "Ve~ I guess that you're right…but I really don't have anything to wear for Friday that would be sufficient for one of Mr. Roderich's fancy parties…"

"Sigh, you're, like, such a party pooper, Feli!" Feliks pouted, lying down on his bed. Suddenly he got an idea. "Hey~! I know! I could, like, totally let you borrow one of my outfits! I got like, a whole bunch of stuff in my closet that you could try on!"

"Really? You'd do that?"
"Aw, come on! We're, like, besties, right? Let me be, like, your fairy godmother, Kopciuszek!" Feliks jumped from his bed and grabbed his friend by the arm into the closet.

+++

"Like, you can come out, now!" Feliks called, sitting on his bed, again.

"I don't wanna!" Feliciano whined, still in the other boy's closet.

"C'mon, Feli, you look, like, totally fabulous!" he reassured. "If you don't come out, I'm, like, gonna take pictures and put them on Facebook!"

"Okay, okay! Golly…" Feliciano stepped out of the closet, wearing one of the gaudiest and pinkest dresses in Feliks's wardrobe. He could barely keep his balance in the six-inch heels that were on his feet, and he struggled to breathe from under the corset that Feliks had forcibly tied him to.

"You look totally awesome!"
"Ve~ I feel almost half as silly as I look!" the poor Italian cried after looking in the mirror. Still, he couldn't help but think that it had been his dumb decision to let his cross-dresser friend pick out clothes for him. He kicked off his shoes and sat down on the floor to rub his already-sore heels. "Can't I pick something out for myself?"

Feliks sat down next to his friend and helped him strip of the pink monstrosity. "Though I, like, think that you're totally crazy for questioning my amazing fashion taste, I guess we can try that." The boys went back to his overstuffed closet to take another look.  

"Hey~ here's one!" Feliks pulled out another pink dress.
"Uh…I think I'll pass on the pink," Felicano declined politely.
"Like, whatever."

Feliciano rummaged through the closet of ballgowns—at this point he had completely given up at asking Feliks if he had any suits—until he stopped by something that finally caught his eye.

"Ve, what about this one?" Feliciano asked, holding the dress up to his friend.

Feliks grimaced. "You wanna wear that ugly old thing? It's not even pink!" Sensing the disappointment in his friend's face, he added, "but I guess you could try it on if ya want."

The Italian boy's face brightened a little. "Thanks!" he smiled before running in the bathroom to change. About five minutes later he walked back out, fixing the opera gloves that Feliks had given him to go with what he was wearing.

"How do I look?" he asked sheepishly.

Feliks practically jumped out of his seat. "Ohmygawd, Feli! You look, like, totally adorable in that!" The Pole ran over to his friend and nearly suffocated him in a hug. "I, like, totally knew that hanging out with me would improve your taste!"

The corset, along with Feliks's equally-tight hug, prohibited Feliciano from thanking him verbally, and merely nodded as a response until the blonde let him go.

"Do you really think I look okay?" the Italian asked, blushing. Even all of those years of wearing a dress while he worked at Roderich's place had not prepared him for this. He really hoped that Ludwig would like it.

"Don't even dare think of using the word 'okay!' You're, like, totally smokin'! I'm totes jealous!" Feliks giggled excitedly and enveloped his friend in another tight hug.

Cinderella was ready for the ball.

+++

"…and so, I'm very happy to have you all as my guests, and I give my greatest gratitudes to you for coming to my celebration," Roderich announced to a large crowd of fancily-dressed guests. "Let us eat, drink, dance, and enjoy this time that we have together!" Several countries applauded at the end of his speech before he hastily added "…but please don't make a mess!"

Ludwig sat at one of the tables, twirling a glass of wine that he had gotten for himself to pass the time between his fingers. In truth, he had no idea what had convinced him to come. He was behind in his paperwork, and he really couldn't dance. The only reason that Gilbert had even wanted to go was to mess with Roderich and make a mess on purpose, and had dragged his poor younger brother along with him. He could easily just walk over and talk to Kiku, but he could never really tell what the hell that kid was thinking. He kind of wanted to talk to Feliciano, even if it ended up as a one-sided conversation from his constant babbling.

Meanwhile, at the front door…

"I don't know, Feliks…I'm nervous," Feliciano said, arms held across his chest in an unsure fashion.

"Aw, don't be so hard on yourself, kid!" Feliks smiled, himself dressed in one of his signature pink gowns. "You look totally gorgeous! Ludwig would have to be, like, an idiot to not like you. Now, c'mon!" He grabbed the other boy by the arm and opened one of the tall, white doors.

Ludwig got up from his chair and said to his brother, "I think I'm going to go home."

"Aww, c'mon, West!" the Prussian jeered. "The party's barely even started!"
"I'm just not interested in these kind of parties," the younger brother sighed. "I'll go ahead and walk, so you don't have to worry about the car—"

Creeeee…
          …aaaakkkk…

The world literally fell silent as Feliciano made his way into the room. The green gown that he wore was floor-length and strapless. The skirt was layered with green at the top, which split at the middle with white underneath. His bodice was decorated with a pattern of white swirls, and he wore a white choker with a single emerald on the front. A green bow held what little extra hair he had back.

The Italian could hear people whispering as he walked.

"Dude, that chick is fine!"
"Mon dieu! What a tall drink of wine…wait…doesn't she look…"
"T-that's Feliciano Vargas, aru!"

The Italian felt his cheeks turn bright red at the comments shooting from around the ballroom. He was hoping that he wouldn't be getting a lot of attention, but it was exactly what he was getting. If it hadn't been for him properly convincing Feliks to let him wear the much shorter heels that he was wearing now, he probably would have tripped and made an even bigger fool of himself.

He had only been there for less than a whole minute and he already wanted to go home. That is to say, he would have walked straight back if Ludwig hadn't been standing right in front of him, his gaze making the rest of the world seem to melt away. He was just wearing a plain black suit, with a green shirt and white tie, a white flower stuffed into his chest pocket. The sight brought a slight blush to the German's cheeks. Feliciano slowly walked to him.

"Uh…" one started.
"…hmm…" the other ended.

Feliciano blushed harder and broke the gaze. "I'm sorry, I look really silly, don't I? Feliks told me to wear it, and I really couldn't do a thing to stop him really…I understand if you find this weird, I really do!" The poor child looked like he might start to cry. The German acted fast to comfort him, "Don't worry…it doesn't look bad on you at all…" he blushed harder before adding, "…I kind of like it."

The shorter one smiled at what he wanted to hear. "Grazie."

The violins started up in the background as a new song was being played. Following Feliks's advice, he held out his hand and asked, "Do you want to dance, Ludwig?"

The German blushed again. "I can't dance very well. I don't go to balls very often, so I've never really tried to learn."
"It's okay!" Feli said, grabbing his hand, "I know how to waltz! I can teach you!" And before Ludwig could object, the Italian had him at the center of the dance floor and the two began spinning round and round in an awkward fashion.

"1, 2, 3…1, 2, 3…That's it!" The eager teacher cheered on.

"I feel like they're watching me…" The student sighed.
"They're probably just looking at me," the boy in the dress replied with an awkward chuckle. As he had said, Feliciano had danced the waltz many times, but he usually led and did not normally dance in three-inch heels. "I usually don't do this, wearing dresses…" he added.

"Speaking of which," Ludwig replied, "Why did you do this?"
"Like I said earlier, Feliks told me that he wanted to, and—"

"Yeah, I heard that. But why would you let him do that? Are you trying to impress someone here?"

Darn, this guy is good, Feli thought nervously. "I guess you could say that…" He murmured, "To be honest…I was hoping that you would like it…"

"Why? Why would you want me to like seeing you like this?" This German asked too many questions. The violins in the background built up with the tension that poor Feliciano felt in his stomach.

"Because…because…!!"

You gotta, like, walk up to Ludwig, look 'im straight in the eye and say "Hey! I, like, totally love you!" and, like, give 'im a big smooch…or somethin', y'know what I mean?

Feliciano stopped dancing, grabbed Ludwig by the collar of his jacket, and practically smooshed his lips against the German's in the most completely unromantic fashion. When they broke away, Feli immediately pulled away from his dancing partner when he saw the shocked expression that plastered his face. Feli turned bright red and slowly backed away, tears forming in his eyes.

"I-I'm so sorry! I…I didn't…I mean, I…" the boy didn't even finish his thoughts before tearfully running out, loudly slamming the manor door behind him.

Meanwhile, Ludwig was trying to recompose the pile of gush that had once been his brain. Blushing for the umpteenth time, he touched his lips and tried to recollect the past events.

He did this because he…Does he really…

He thought back to all of those times that they had been together. Feli had always been super-friendly to him all of these years. He had been there for him, even if he was generally useless. How was he too blind to see it? And when the boy finally is brave enough to confess his feelings, he had to look like he was offended for it and break the poor kid's heart? I'm an idiot… the German thought before running after his crush.

+++

Feliciano sat at the fountain in Roderich's backyard. He couldn't leave since Feliks had been his escort, so he had to wait and pass the time trying to regain his composure.

He should've expected this. He wouldn't be able to show his face at the world meetings for a long time for this. No one would treat him the same way. He was pretty sure he'd get laughed at by a few people, too. But even having the whole world laugh at him was nothing compared to being rejected by Ludwig, but he should have expected that, too. They were both boys! And with everything that's happened, why should Ludwig even still think of him as a friend? But God, that kiss felt wonderful…Why did this kind of stuff have to happen?

He held his knees to his chest and buried his face into his skirt, waiting for Feliks to find him so they could just go home.

"Feliciano?"

Feli turned around, hoping to see his pink-clad friend. His face sunk when he saw who it really was.

"Oh…ciao, Ludwig," he tried to greet cheerfully and stood up as Ludwig walked to him. "Listen…I want to apologize…What I did was really stupid, and I understand if you never want to talk to me ag—mph!"

The Italian was hushed instantly when the taller man had pulled him into another kiss. This one was a little less awkwardly placed than the last, but wasn't nearly as passionate. They parted once more, this time Feliciano being the one with the shocked expression.

"Feliciano…I'm sorry that I didn't notice sooner. And I'm really sorry if you got the wrong message back there and got your feelings hurt, it's just that…The truth is, I…ich liebe dich, Feliciano." He turned bright red at his own confession, a weak smile tugging at his lips.

Feliciano blinked hard out of disbelief. "You…you mean…?"

Ludwig held his hand tightly. "Yes. I love you, Feliciano."

I've loved you since the 900's…

For the first time that night, Feliciano smiled warmly, tears of happiness replacing those of sorrow. "Ludwig, I love you too. Ti amo, Ludwig!" He jumped up and wrapped his arms around the German's burly neck.

No matter how many years pass, I will love you more than anyone in this whole world!

Ludwig wrapped his arms around Feliciano's waist before locking lips with him for the third time. It was the most beautiful sensation, a real feeling of true love coursed through their bodies. The ride was all too enchanting, and they nearly forgot to come back for air.

Their lips parted again, and Ludwig ran his hand across Feliciano's cheek, wiping away his tears. The silence that followed this romantic moment caused another of awkwardness.

"…You…want to get out of here?" Ludwig asked, now holding one of the Italian's hands.
"Uh-huh…but, where will we go?" Feliciano asked back, as the two walked out of the front yard.
"Don't worry. My house isn't far from here."

With that, the two lovers ran off into the moonlight, fingers weaved together, smiling as they began their new fairytale…together.


+++
Roderich took a walk through his backyard. The party had been a success last night, even though Gilbert kept insisting on playing keep-away with his glasses, and he really didn't have time to enjoy it. At least everything was relatively easy to clean up.

The Austrian was lost in his thoughts when he felt his foot hit something. He knelt down and picked up the object, looking at it puzzled.

"A green slipper?"