PLEASE READ BEFORE PROCEEDING:

For those who do not know, the original and other Hetalia stories set in the same universe, collectively called the "Veraverse" (named after the singer Vera Lynn, from whose wartime songs the stories derive their titles from), were written by an author called George deValier. The Veraverse stories were the definitive human WWII AU fics in the fandom at the time, and continue to be considered one of the greatest Hetalia fanworks today. Unfortunately, for RL reasons unknown to us but which we can probably all imagine, George slowly stopped updating (I think the last update to his Veraverse fics happened in 2012, going by the timestamps on the notifications left in my email), and exactly one year ago on August 16, 2019, his account was deleted altogether. Bésame Mucho was one of his stories that ended up unfinished. The fandom experienced a slow heartbreak and an enduring grief that was all too familiar.

For the past five years since we last heard from him, the idea of continuing Bésame Mucho in his place occurred to me more than a few times, but I always dismissed it because a part of me always hoped that he would come back and finish it or one of his other works. However, there were two events that helped me decide to actually start my own version. One was this message from him in his Fanfiction.net profile (before it was deleted) that I found one day when I visited to just kind of gaze forlornly at the list of his stories.

"To those still waiting,

I would still like to finish these stories one day. Unfortunately, if I am going to be completely honest with myself and with you, that day may never come. Life can change a lot in a year – let alone five – and we should never make promises we can't be certain we'll keep.

I am sorry. And thank you, so much.

George."

I remember closing my eyes and just rocking back in my chair when I read this. Some part of me knew that I had perhaps been hoping for the impossible; I myself had long abandoned my old fics with little to no intention of continuing them because school and work had sapped me of my time and energy to do so. Unlike me, George was an honourable author, and cared for his readers enough to let us know, as gently as he could, that he didn't think he would be returning. I think this helped a lot of us to finally accept our loss and move on.

Still, as long as his works existed and he had the means to update them, I couldn't let go of the distant dream that he might one day be able to find his way back to complete his masterpieces. Unfortunately the second event I had already mentioned – the disappearance of his Fanfiction account and subsequently the deletion of the original versions of his stories – laid this hope to rest as well. I found out about this just one day before I wrote this foreword, and in a brief moment of panic I thought the stories were lost forever. However, a quick Google search showed me that some kind souls had reposted them on other websites, including AO3 itself (to those who disagree with the morality of this action, you can discuss that elsewhere. I was just happy to see that the stories which had given me so much respite during hard times were not gone while I was unaware, and that the original author was of course credited.)

This was the real event that incited me to give my own version of the rest of Bésame Mucho a go. Even before I started writing this I knew there will be people who would feel differently about my decision, most probably because a) I am not the original author, and b) my doing so could limit the chances of us seeing the "real" ending. Regarding the second point especially, I know how you feel; no matter how low the possibility may be that George could come back to finish his own stories, it is never an absolute zero. I want that to happen too; nothing would have made me happier to see his activities resurrected and be able to read his ideas written in his own words. But right now, with his account having disappeared without leaving a trace, along with his extraordinary works, I can't bring myself to believe that will ever happen. And this may sound like a flimsy excuse, but to me, the beauty in fanfiction is the freedom it gives us to interpret stories and write our own, unencumbered by anything except for the limitations of our own imagination and yes, copyright laws, allowing us to fill in the gaps or provide alternate scenarios. While it may be unusual for a fanfiction of another fanfiction to exist, that is exactly what I consider this "continuation" to be. It is my way of providing closure to myself and others who may want it, as well as a tribute to George deValier, who brought us to our knees with his beautiful, beautiful stories about love and loyalty and freedom.

If you have read this far and would still like to continue reading, I just have a couple more notes to make:

First, as repeated numerous times above, this is a continuation of another, unfinished fanfiction story. I will not be reposting the past chapters of the original Bésame Mucho here, but you will need to have read them yourself if you want to make sense of anything that is happening. As of the time of this writing, there are several places you can do so if you just type "Bésame Mucho Hetalia" in the search bar. If you haven't had the pleasure of experiencing them for yourself yet, go. Read them and laugh and cry at some of the best writing the Hetalia fandom can offer. Then come back if you think you can stomach someone else trying to make sense of the delusions they've been seeing about how things could have ended for the past nine to ten goddamn years.

Second, while not exactly mandatory reading, I will be referencing several characters and events from the other Veraverse fics (which, since this is Hetalia and all the stories exist in the same universe, means there will be copious amounts of crossovers and namedropping). I will in particular be relying on the events detailed in the two stories that were actually finished by George, (GerIta), and (USUK). A large amount of lines will be lifted directly from AWS especially since the same scenes were set to happen in Bésame Mucho, just from a different character perspective. Some chapters will also have heavy references on another unfinished story called (PruAus plus others) and it's tie-in, (onesided SwitzAus) though this one's not so apparent.

The original Bésame Mucho was purportedly set to conclude in fourteen chapters. There are currently six in existence, so I have planned for this story to be written over another eight (including the epilogue). The first chapter should already be uploaded along with this foreword, but since events after that occur close to each other in AWS as well, I am aiming to complete the next several chapters first before uploading in order to check for any inconsistencies. This would mean that there may be a bit of a wait till the next update; I would appreciate it if you could bear with me while I try to work everything out, as I really want to do the original story justice. However, my current plan is to finish the entire story within a year, specifically on August 1, 2021 (in my time zone), which would be the 10th anniversary of Bésame Mucho's creation. I wanted to be upfront about this because setting a public deadline, though risky, is probably my best bet for staying committed to this project. I don't want to start a story which sole purpose is to finish another story and abandoning it halfway through – especially not this one.

Finally, to George, if you're out there somewhere:

I hope I haven't offended you by writing this fic. I would be lying if I denied it came from a place of desperation as much as love – I had never before so badly wanted to keep myself immersed in the wonderful, devastating world you built in your stories. Lovino and Antonio, as well as Feliciano and Ludwig and Roma and Alfred and Arthur and everybody else – they may not be your original characters, but without question you breathed life into this version of them. We felt what they felt, despaired and cheered through their experiences, hurt and loved as they did. We lived their lives through your words. You made all that possible. I will never, ever forget what you did for us.

I will never attain the level of mastery you have in your writing, nor will I be able to incorporate the amount of details you weaved into your works through, what I imagine, years of extensive research regarding both historical events and the human condition. I am painfully aware that whatever I write will be a mere shadow of what you might have had planned – perhaps not even that. If ever you do feel like the time is right and you want to write the rest of Lovino and Antonio's story the way you imagined it, please don't let my inadequate fanfic get in your way. I, along with the rest of your loyal readers, will wait my entire life if that's what it takes, and we would be so glad to see you back.

Your works opened my eyes to what a fan-written story could achieve. They brought us together and reminded us that love is what overcomes all in the end. During these uncertain times – both on the global scale and, for some like me, at a more personal level – that is a truth we cannot afford to forget. Even if one day your legacy may fade, and people forget that a little anime called Hetalia even existed, I write this with the wish that we who are reading this now will remember that though the story is fictional, the emotions we felt are and will continue to be real and unchanging.

Thank you so, so much for the wonderful gift you gave us. I wish you all the happiness in the beautiful world, wherever you may be.