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Vienna - Chapter 1

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Rebekka Edelstein was not beautiful, though men seldom realized it when they glanced into her eyes. Blue, but without the pigment of other girls, thus appearing as a violet colour, akin to a summer sunrise. Her eyes held the secret of her charms, but her feminine features played a backup role, for if she hadn't the fair skin of women in the paintings of the Renaissance and the long, luxurious, chocolate hair of a Greek goddess, amethyst eyes would not do much. Her delicate, slightly upturned nose was a trait inherited from her mother, a woman purely of Austrian decent, who once, had seen Mozart perform live. Rebekka owed many of her beautiful features to her mother. An attribute all her own, the delicate beauty mark underneath the left side of her full, cerise-colored lips, was a needed blemish, much like the lean of the tower of Piza, or the crack of the Liberty Bell. They just wouldn't be the same without their abnormalities. Her empire waist day gown was as pure white as freshly fallen snow, with ruffled, billowy sleeves and a belt of violet jewels just below her breasts that glittered in the little sunlight they caught.

Though she wasn't beautiful, men were often fooled by her looks, as the Vargas twins were now. Young men of short stature, though not as short as Rebekka herself, they came around quite often, as if courting the many women in town was their favourite pastime. Italian in heritage, the red-headed boys were almost identical, but their personalities couldn't be more different. The elder of the two, Lovino Vargas, was quite a fiery character, his hair a slightly darker red than that of his brother, Feliciano. He spent quite a bit of his time chasing the women of the area along with his brother, but he was quick to anger. His temper would usually scare off women, but when it didn't, he was a very smooth talker. Feliciano, on the other hand, was nothing but the sweetest boy in the world, always willing to please. Rebekka always thought he would make an amazing husband one day, that is, if he weren't such a scatterbrain. It wasn't that the boy was dumb; he just didn't always stop to think about things before saying them. He always meant well, the young Italian just lacked a certain characteristic called tact. Both Italian boys always seemed to dress the same, furthering the inability to tell them apart. Today, they both happened to be wearing tan riding pants with glossy black boots up to their knees and navy blue cotton overcoats with matching, double-breasted, white waistcoats underneath. Their clothing was, by Rebekka's standards, suitable for lounging on the front porch of her parent's property, Erde, on a late summer day; today, it seemed as if that was all they would be doing.

The two brothers had been kicked out of the University they had been attending in Madrid thanks to their failing grades. Their older, half-brother Antonio, had also left the establishment, saying that if his younger brothers weren't welcome, he didn't feel welcome either, so he had accompanied them back to Salzburg. They would often go stay in their family cabin in the mountains just outside the city, but the twins found it much more fun to stay within city limits. Their fun today included visiting their favourite Austrian fräulein.

"I'm aware that you two aren't incredibly concerned about education, but what about Antonio? I'm sure he wants to finish University sometime soon, and that may be difficult with you two pulling him out of school." She batted her lashes towards Lovino, a look of slight concern crossing her features.

The elder Italian twin brushed off the minor inconvenience. "Oh, we would have left soon anyway. We needed to come home to fight in the war!"

"I don't know about you fratello, but I'm a little scared to fight in the war!" Feliciano gripped Lovino's sleeve. "Those Nords know what they're doing!"

"No they don't!" He spat, wrenching his arm free from his sniveling younger brother. "Besides, Padre told me that we would become heroes during this war! Those Nords are gonna be oh so scared of us! Right, Rebekka?" He turned to her with an expectant smile.

She sighed, already sick of this war talk. She heard her father talk about it all the time, so she hoped some of the younger boys would have different topics in mind. "There isn't going to be any war. Those Nords are way too scared to fight us."

"See Feli, they'll be running scared of us." His brows furrowed together in realization of what the lady beside them had just said. "No war? Of course there's going to be a war. Aren't you excited, Rebekka? We're going to beat them so fast!"

Feliciano interjected. "Yeah, I hope we get to be heroes! I'm excited now!"

"Oh, must you always talk about this silly war? If I hear the dreaded word 'war' come out of either of your mouths again, I'll go inside and I won't speak to you for the rest of the day." She looked both of them in the eyes to prove she was serious.

"Don't you want us to be war heroes?" Feliciano slapped a hand over his mouth when he realized what he had said. She stood, irritated, and turned to go back into her parent's manor. The Vargas boys stood quickly and followed, Feliciano begging her to reconsider. "Please Rebekka! I'm sorry I said war! Oh darn, I said it again! Umm, just stay! Please!"

"Yeah, don't listen to him, he's just tactless! We'll talk about whatever you want!" Lovino strained his mind for a topic that might interest her. "How about the party that the Héderváry's are holding at their place? I heard it's gonna be lots of fun! I heard they're gonna have a fortune teller!"

She stopped just short of the door. She had almost forgotten about the Héderváry's party while talking with the twins. A sudden wave of excitement tore through her like a strong wind. She would be able to see Éliás Héderváry there. She turned back to the boys.

"Okay, I'll sit with you. No more war talk?" Questioningly, she glanced at them as she made her way back to her seat on the steps.

"Honest!" They replied in unison.

She sat, happy that she had gotten off the topic of war. "I don't like really like fortune tellers, one once told me that I was going to marry an arrogant man with pure-white hair. Me? Marrying and arrogant, old man? I would never marry someone like that."

Feliciano nudged her arm. "Well, are you at least going to dance with us at the ball afterwards?" Lovino nodded, as if to second his brother's question.

"You know I would." She began. The boys' faces lit up like fireflies on a summer night. "That is," she continued, "if I hadn't already promised all my dances to other gentlemen."

The twins' faces fell, as if shot through the heart. "Wait!" Feliciano perked up. "What if we tell you a secret?"

"What secret, fratello?" Confused, Lovino glanced at his brother.

"You know the one! About Fräulein Lilian Zwingli?"

"Oh, that one!" A smile graced the elder twin's face once more. "That she's visiting from Switzerland and tomorrow, at the party it's going to be announced tha-"

"Lilian Zwingli, she's so boring. Who would want to know a secret about her?" Rebekka was suddenly disappointed. Who would want to know a secret about her? Rebekka certainly didn't care.

Feliciano spoke up. "Fräulein Lilian Zwingli and her brother Vash are visiting from Switzerland. You know, Éliás Héderváry's cousins? Well, it's going to be announced at the party tomorrow that Éliás is going to marry her!"

Rebekka paled. Was this really true? She couldn't believe it. She wouldn't believe it!

Lovino's hand came to rest lightly upon her shoulder. "So, do we get those dances now?"

"Of course." She said quietly and stood, beginning to make her way down the driveway. The twins were cheering behind her, delighted that they were promised a dance with the lovely, young woman. They barely noticed as she walked off, only realizing she was gone as she began to run down the front walk to wait for her father to return from the Héderváry home.

"Rebekka! Come back!" Lovino called as they both stared off after her.

Feliciano turned to his brother. "Do you think we made her mad?"

At that moment, the Edelstein family housemaid poked her head out of one of a second story window to see Rebekka running down the driveway toward the road. The Edelstein family housemaid was a woman, about the age of thirty, by the name of Natalya. Born in western Russia, she was a very tough woman. She travelled to Austria when she was a teenager and found work with Rebekka's family. She had hard, cold eyes that could make any misbehaving child smarten up real quick and pale skin inherited from her parents. With her long blonde hair, she was quite pretty, and if made up, she had the potential to look very beautiful. She always wore her hair back with a white ribbon, to keep it out of the way of her work, and she was always very determined in her duties. It was almost as if she were the real head of the Edelstein household. She cared for Rebekka, but sometimes, Rebekka could be difficult.

"Fräulein Rebekka!" She belted out to the young woman now walking across the grass, Russian accent thick in her voice. "Where do you think you're going at such a time dressed so lightly! You get back in the house before you catch cold!"

Rebekka turned to yell at her. "No! I'm going to wait for Vater to come back from the Héderváry's place, and don't you try to stop me!" The young woman was determined to get to the bottom of this mess.

Natalya's eyes narrowed into a glare. "You get back here now! Come on!" But it was no use, Rebekka had gone, and, holding the front of her gown, she made her way down toward the driveway as fast as her blue satin slippers could carry her. The branches of ancient oak trees dangled high above her head as she reached the main dirt road. She sat down upon a stump, awaiting her father's return. She let her eyes wander up the beaten path and up the next few hills, for just beyond those hills was the Héderváry's manor.

"Oh, Éliás." She thought. The horrid gossip she had heard from the Vargas boys was stored away in the back of her mind as she thought of him fondly. She had known him for almost all her life, but it was not until recently that she had felt more than just friendship for him. She could remember the day two years ago quite vividly. Éliás had just returned from a three-year stay in the United States and had come to visit her and tell her of his journey, all the sights he had seen, and things he had learned. On that day, she fell for him. He had ridden up on a beautiful steed, in some high-quality clothes purchased in New York. His pale-green satin overcoat accented his wheat-brown hair in such a way that it seemed to shine in the light of the day, a small pink flower tucked just above his right ear, with a forest-green ribbon keeping his hair in a neat bundle on the same side, while his perfectly pressed, white shirt with a graciously ruffled cravat offset everything quite nicely. Just above the cravat, he wore a pin encrusted with a fine emerald, the same hue as his eyes. His white riding pants held not a speck of dirt, and his boots were the shiniest she could ever remember. He had dismounted his horse and approached her gallantly, and, taking her hand in his, he lay a light kiss upon her fingers.

With just a twinge of a Hungarian accent, he said to her, "So, you've grown up, Rebekka." She would never forget how her heart leapt that day, and she knew she wanted him, as simply as she knew she wanted food to eat, horses to ride, and an amazing grand piano upon which to play her favourite songs. Ever since that day, he had attended balls with her, taken her to picnics, and escorted her to parties. He did not accompany her to as many gatherings as the Vargas twins, but still, the parties to which he had gone were by far her favourite parties. His emerald eyes had never held the same fire that she had noticed in other boys who came calling, but she still knew. She still knew he loved her. She was never more sure of anything in her life. Why did he not tell her? She never did understand, but, thinking back about the matter at hand, there were many things about him that she did not understand. He always spoke of his trips and of wars and of America, things that never interested her, yet she could not help but feel entranced. She often lay awake in her bed after a day with him, finding comfort in the idea that next time they met, he would certainly propose.

But the next time came, and went, the result always the same. Nothing happened except for her lust for him growing and growing. She wanted desperately for him to marry her, but she never did understand him. She knew not why he captivated her so. His odd, aloof personality only served to entice her more. She was determined that he would propose to her, for she was too young and spoiled to believe otherwise. And now, this monstrous news had torn her heart in two, enraging her as much as a lady could be while still remaining proper in the eyes of friends. Éliás was going to marry Lilian? It really couldn't be.

Just noticing her father, perched upon his favourite horse, riding across a field in the distance at a breakneck speed, she stood with excitement. She would finally know the answer to this puzzle. Her father, Johannes Edelstein, was born in the Northwestern Holy Roman Empire, in the areas seceded by the United States of Belgium, in the Austrian Netherlands. He was a very proud man and an untouchable horseman. His blonde hair was usually wildly out of place; that was always attributed to his adventures on horseback. He loved to jump fences, but because he had broken his knee a few years earlier, Rebekka's mother had made him swear he would never jump again. Of course, that didn't stop him. He reveled in the boyish glee he got from disobeying his promise, blue eyes shining, but he was not aware of his daughter's presence. He and his horse soared over a fence and came to a stop in the middle of the front yard. Rebekka, holding the front of her dress slightly off the ground, ran over to her father, eager to ask him about his day at the Héderváry house.

He dismounted his horse as he noticed her coming towards him. "Rebekka! I guess you're going to tell your mother I've been jumping?"

She came to a halt in front of him and started straightening his overcoat, so he could look presentable for her mother. "Oh, you know I would never do that." She fixed his cravat and they started to walk towards the house.

"Aww, you're a good girl. Say, where are your glasses? You know you're supposed to wear them."

"Vater, I hate those things! They make me look so homely and undesirable. Besides, I only really need them for reading. I can see perfectly fine without them."

"Well, then what are you doing out so late wearing so little? You'll catch cold!"

She slipped her arm through his. "I was waiting for you. I didn't know you would be so late. I was wondering how everything over at the Héderváry's place went." Rebekka wondered how to bring up Éliás without sounding suspicious. She was not the best at being subtle, and with Johannes so much like her, they could each tell when the other was up to something.

"Pretty normal, they had a visitor from Vienna, talking all about the war and other such things."

Rebekka cringed, for when her father got on the subject of war it was difficult to get him off of it. "Did they say anything about the party tomorrow?"

Johannes' eyes widened. "Now that I think of it, they did! Little Fräulein Lilian Zwingli and her older brother Vash, you know, the Héderváry's cousins? They're visiting from Switzerland."

Rebekka's heart sank the slightest bit, but she didn't let it show to her father. "So, she did come?"

"She did, and she's the sweetest girl I've ever seen. Never anything bad to say about anyone." The way Johannes approved of Lilian's sweet and quiet nature irritated Rebekka.

"Was Éliás there too?" She asked, trying to sound innocent, but he saw right through her.

"He was." He let go of her arm and turned her to face him, looking questioningly into her eyes. "Is that why you came out to wait for me? Why didn't you say so?"

Rebekka stood silent, unable to think of a response, her face growing redder as each second passed.

"Well, he was there, and he asked about you. He was hoping that nothing would keep you from the party tomorrow." He said, taking her arm again. "Now, what's this about you and Éliás?"

She tugged her arm away. "It's nothing. Let's go inside." She replied, walking ahead of her father up the path to the house, but her father stayed still.

"Now that I think of it, you have been acting strange recently. Has he asked to marry you?"

"No." She answered bluntly.

Her father made his way to her. "And he won't! Éliás and Felicja's father Miklos Héderváry told me today that Éliás is to marry Fräulein Zwingli! It will be announced tomorrow at the party."

So it was true. A pain ripped at her heart as viciously as the soldiers of war.

"Have you been making a spectacle of yourself? Chasing after a man who doesn't love you, when you could have any man in town?"

"I haven't been chasing after him, I'm just surprised, that's all."

"You're lying." He could always see right through her. "I'm sorry." He added sympathetically. "But you're young and you can get any man in the area. You'll find someone."

"Mother was only fifteen when she married you, and I'm sixteen. You can't say I'm young."

"She was different. She's not flighty, like you. Come now, Rebekka. Cheer up."

"He thinks I'm a child." She thought, angry at being treated as such. She turned away from her father.

"Now, don't be upset. If you had any sense, you would have married one of the Vargas twins long ago. Think about it. If you marry one of them, our families would run together! Then Emilio Vargas and I would build you two a glorious house right in between our two properties and-"

"Would you stop treating me like a child?" Rebekka intervened. "I don't want to marry one of the twins, or have a big house, I just want-" She stopped herself before the last word could escape her lips. Unfortunately, the damage was done.

"It's only Éliás you want, but you won't have him. If he had asked to marry you, I would say yes because of my deep friendship with Miklos, but I would doubt it would be the right thing to do." Seeing the hurt in her eyes, he continued. "I want my daughter to be happy, and you wouldn't be happy with him."

She tensed her body, pleading with her father. "But I would! I would!"

Johannes rested a hand lightly upon her shoulder. "You wouldn't. He is too different from us. Only when you marry someone like yourself, can you be happy. The Héderváry folk, they're odd, and it's best that they marry their cousins and keep their oddness to themselves."

Rebekka spoke up, angry that her father could say that Éliás was weird. "But Éliás isn't-"

"Hush up! I never said anything bad about him, I do like the boy, but I just don't understand him."

"Oh Vater, if I married him I would change him!" She cried.

Her father laughed. "If you think you could change him then you know nothing about men and even less about Éliás! Their whole family is weird; they're born that way."

She stood silent.

Johannes patted her arm in consolation. "There, there. When I'm gone, I'll leave Erde to you and the Vargas twin you marry."

"I don't want to marry one of the Vargas twins, and I don't want Erde. This place doesn't matter when I can't ha-"

"Rebekka Edelstein, are you saying that this land doesn't matter?" This land, Erde, was second only to his wife, Klara Edelstein. "This land and our money are the only things that matter, because they are the only things that last!"

"Vater, you sound like Philipp Wilhelm von Hörnigk."

"He was from the Holy Roman Empire and an Austrian civil servant, and I'm glad that I am too from the Holy Roman Empire. And don't forget that you are also Austrian, and to any Austrian, land and money are what matter most in the world." He stopped, holding her hand in his. "But, you're young. You'll understand someday. You can't get away from it, if you're Austrian."

"Oh Vater." She sighed. At this point, Johannes was tired of the conversation and upset that Rebekka still looked disappointed even though she had a choice of any man in town and had just been offered his pride and joy, Erde. He preferred his gifts to be received with joy.

"Now, none of those sad faces. It doesn't matter who you marry, as long as he's Germanic and thinks like you and is prideful. Love comes after marriage."

"That's such an old country idea." She sometimes thought her father's ideas to be very outdated.

"But it's still a good idea! The best marriages are when the parents choose for the girl. How are you supposed to tell a good man from a scoundrel? Just look at the Héderváry family. They've stayed prideful and strong because they marry like-minded people! Even if those people happen to be their cousins, it's still a good idea. That's how their family lasts." His words struck her heart like a knife, for she knew that he was right.

He noticed her bowed head and took her chin in his hands. "You aren't crying, are you?"

She shook her head. "No." She sniffed.

"You're lying," He answered. "and I'm proud of it. I'm glad there's still pride in you. I want to see that pride tomorrow at the party. I don't want to have the whole town laughing at you for running after a man who doesn't love you and never gave you a thought past friendship."

"But he did give me a thought." She thought, pain deep in her soul. "I know he did. If only I had more time, I know I could get him to say he loves me."

Johannes twined their arms. "We're going in for dinner now." He ducked in close to whisper to her. "This is just between us. I don't want to worry Klara with this, and I don't want you telling her either." They started up the driveway, arm in arm, and Rebekka was going to say something more, but stopped herself when she noticed her mother getting ready to go out. She had with her the bag of instruments she used to give medical attention to the workers when they needed it.

"Johannes, Little Fräulein Anna Petersen from the house up the street is in the midst of giving birth. I'm going there with Natalya to see what I can do. Sit in at the dinner table for me, darling Rebekka." And with that, she swept by and out the door to the awaiting carriage, her dark hair, the same tone as Rebekka's, tied up in a loose bun, with a single curl dangling down the right side of her face, and her simple, cream-colored day gown flowing out behind her. Through her tears and heartache, her mother's touch never failed to soothe Rebekka. There was something about her mother with she adored and looked up to. Klara was always soft-spoken and caring, everything that Rebekka wished she could be.

"Now, we must be going. Drive carefully." Klara called lightly to the carriage driver, and they started down the driveway.

"Now, I just don't understand why your Mutter has to be bothering with those Nords, they should be living up in Norway, where they belong." Both Rebekka and Johannes climbed the steps into the house, ready to set the dinner table, when Johannes had a wry look come over his face.

"Hey, I just had a fun idea. Let's go tell Toris that I've sold him to Miklos Héderváry! Just imagine the look on his face!" He started off up the stairs to the second floor, his mind set on playing this practical joke on his most treasured house servant.

Rebekka thought it not odd that she desired a relationship with Éliás, a supposed 'odd' character, when she observed her parents, for she had never come across two people who were more different in actions, thoughts, and habits.
Welcome and thank you for clicking on my newest story! I really didn't know what to name it, so the title might change in the future. Anyway, this story is pretty much just a PruAus rewrite of one of the most famous stories ever written, Gone With The Wind. I claim no ownership over the story, and some of the lines I use are pulled directly from the book/movie. I just thought that the theme and characters of GWTW fit perfectly with the characters I have written in their places. FemAustria is a perfect Scarlett and Prussia works amazingly as Rhett. My muse wanted me to mix my two favourite things(GWTW and PruAus) in the form of this story! It will be very long, as GWTW is very long in itself. I hope this story will persuade you guys to read GWTW or watch the movie version. I particularly like the movie version better, and that's the one that this story is based off of. As you may or may not know, the story of GWTW is set during the American Civil War and the main issue of the Civil War was slavery, of which there is a lot included in the original story. I have replaced the setting of the American South with Austria, and the black slaves have been replaced with Eastern Europeans, due to a lack of black/African characters in Hetalia, and the American Northerners have been replaced with Scandinavians. I have also changed the time setting from the 1860s to the early 1800s. This is meant entirely as an alternate history AU, and I mean no disrespect to any race with this story(I love everyone!). I really hope that you guys will like it because I have been working hard to make it perfect for you!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or GWTW. They belong to Hidekaz Himaruya and Margaret Mitchell respectively.
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