Summary: A family torn apart by the Berlin Wall reunites in an emotional embrace the night it falls, proving that love endures even the strongest barriers.
'89s!Dad!Lando x '89s!Mum!Reader
Genre: angst, fluff, historical
TW: mention of DDR, Stasi, Berlin wall, propaganda, separation, timeline is not chronological correct for the sake of the story, I know the wall has been up 28 years!
A/N: Yes I know it’s completely different from what I normally post but I really like the topic and the stories behind the families and friends that were separated back then! Let me know if you want more of historical events - btw I’m listening to Pink Floyd rn.
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Berlin, 1959
The air smelled of fresh bread and strong coffee as the bustling streets of Berlin came alive in the early morning sun. You weaved through the crowd, your fingers laced with Lando’s as your little daughter, Emma, skipped ahead, her blonde curls bouncing.
“Slow down, liebe,” (love) you called after her, but she only giggled, twirling in her little dress.
Lando laughed, pulling you closer. “She’s got your energy.”
“She’s got your stubbornness.”
“And your smile.”
Life was simple, full of love. The three of you lived in a small apartment in Mitte, not far from Alexanderplatz. Lando worked as a mechanic, saving up to open his own shop, while you worked part-time at a bakery. You didn’t have much, but you had enough.
West Berlin was only a tram ride away. You’d sometimes take Emma to see the grand department stores on Kurfürstendamm, or visit family in Charlottenburg. There were no checkpoints, no barbed wire—only a city still healing from the war, divided but still connected.
You never imagined that in just two years, everything would change.
August 12-13, 1961
The night was humid, the air heavy with something unspoken. You stood by the window, unable to sleep, watching the city lights flicker in the distance. Lando was in West Berlin, fixing a car for a client. He was supposed to come home tomorrow.
But then—
A knock at the door.
Your neighbor, Frau Keller, stood there, her face pale. “Turn on the radio.”
Confused, you hurried to the small wooden set in the corner. As the static cleared, a voice crackled through:
"Starting at midnight, the borders between East and West Berlin will be sealed off indefinitely. All crossings will be closed. A new security measure to protect the people of the DDR from imperialist threats."
Your heart stopped.
“No,” you whispered. “No, no—”
You ran outside, past confused neighbors, past uniformed officers already unrolling barbed wire. In the distance, at the Brandenburg Gate, soldiers hammered wooden posts into the ground.
The wall was already being built.
Your stomach dropped.
Lando.
Morning came, and with it, devastation.
A crude barrier of barbed wire and armed guards now split the city in two. Families screamed across the divide, reaching for loved ones they could no longer touch. Desperate people jumped from windows in border buildings, trying to land in West Berlin before they were sealed in. Some made it. Others did not.
You stood among the crowd, Emma clutching your waist, sobbing.
You spotted him—Lando.
On the other side.
“Lando!” You screamed, your voice drowned by the chaos.
His head snapped up. His blue eyes met yours, wide with horror. He tried to run forward, but soldiers blocked him, rifles raised.
“Bitte!” (please!) he shouted. “Meine Frau! Mein Kind!” (my wife! My child!)
“Step back!” a soldier barked.
Lando’s fists clenched. His face twisted in anguish as he reached toward you, separated only by meters—but it might as well have been a world away.
Emma wailed. “Papa!”
Lando pressed his hand against the barbed wire, his knuckles white. “I’ll find a way! I promise!”
Then—
A soldier raised his gun.
“MOVE BACK!”
Your scream died in your throat. Lando’s face twisted with helpless rage, but he stepped back, his hands trembling.
The last thing you saw before being forced away was his eyes, burning with a promise neither of you knew if he could keep.
And just like that, your family was torn in half.
The months that followed were a blur of despair. Overnight, the DDR had become a prison. The border was reinforced—first with more barbed wire, then concrete. Guard towers rose along its length, manned by soldiers under orders to shoot anyone who tried to escape.
Friends and family disappeared. Some fled in hidden tunnels, others were caught and sent to Stasi prisons. Fear seeped into every corner of life.
Emma stopped asking about Lando. Not because she didn’t miss him—but because it hurt too much.
One night, as you listened to a smuggled West German broadcast in secret, you heard his name.
"A man attempted to swim across the Spree River today in an effort to reunite with his family in East Berlin. He was spotted by DDR border guards and forced to retreat before he could reach land. Sources confirm his name as Lando Norris."
Your hands trembled. He was trying. He hadn’t given up.
But the wall still stood.
And so did the distance between you.
In the Night of November 9, 1989
For years, the wall had been unbreakable. But tonight, the whispers began.
You sat by the radio, Emma—now seventeen—beside you. Your hands gripped hers as the news played.
"A government official has announced that, effective immediately, citizens of the DDR will be allowed to cross freely into West Berlin."
The words hit like lightning.
Emma shot to her feet. “Mama—”
You didn’t hesitate. You grabbed her hand and ran.
The streets were chaos—thousands of people surging toward the border, tears streaming down faces, disbelief mixing with hope. Some shouted in joy, others in fear.
You reached the Bornholmer Straße checkpoint, breathless. Soldiers stood rigid, gripping their weapons, unsure whether to enforce the wall or let history decide its fate.
Then—one man stepped forward.
Then another.
And suddenly—
The guards stepped back.
The gates opened.
The crowd surged forward.
Emma yanked your hand. “Mama, we have to find him!”
You pushed through the sea of bodies, your heart hammering, your breath ragged. People embraced, wept, screamed with joy.
And then—
There.
Lando.
Standing at the barrier, his face frozen in shock.
For a moment, the world stood still.
Then you ran.
Your feet barely touched the ground before you crashed into him, your arms locking around his neck. He held you so tightly it hurt, his chest heaving with sobs against yours.
Tears blurred your vision as you pulled back, your fingers trembling against his face. “I never stopped waiting.”
Emma stood a few feet away, her lips parted, her entire body shaking.
Lando turned, his breath catching as he saw her properly for the first time in years.
“My baby,” he whispered.
Emma exhaled a broken sob before throwing herself into his arms. Lando held her, his hands buried in her hair, rocking her like she was still the little girl he’d lost.
“I missed everything,” he whispered. “I missed everything.”
She clung to him. “But you’re here now.”
The three of you held each other, shaking, crying, whole again for the first time in years.
Around you, the wall crumbled—not just in stone, but in the hearts of the people who had been divided for too long.
And after all these years, Berlin was finally one again.
Just like your family.
One Year Later
The remnants of the Berlin Wall stood in pieces, now just another relic of the past.
Lando’s hands ran over the rough surface, his fingers brushing against the graffiti left by those who had longed for freedom.
Beside him, Emma held his other hand, her eyes bright. “I think you should take a piece.”
Lando smiled, chipping off a small fragment and tucking it into his pocket.
You leaned into him, inhaling the crisp autumn air. “What will you do with it?”
He turned, pressing a kiss to your forehead. “Keep it. To remind me that no wall is strong enough to keep us apart.”
And for the first time in decades, you believed it.
June 7, 1987 - David Bowie plays a concert in West Berlin in front of the Reichstag with the speakers pointing towards the nearby Berlin Wall where thousands of East Berliners stood and listened.
Ok, so i need to brush up on my history and also my math is definitely fucked but walk with me here:
Young East German Eva Stratt at the fall of the Berlin Wall? in the crowds of people pushing for a world free from authoritarianism? full of hope watching the wall dividing her country topple? watching bravery rewarded with a better life?
Eva Stratt becoming the first World Dictator to save that same world she always loved? doing anything and everything it takes to save as many people as she can? sacrificing maybe the only person who understands her? the whole world resting on her shoulders? and knowing that when it’s over, she’ll give up the freedom she fought for so hard?
Older Eva Stratt seeing the beetles return home? seeing that Ryland Grace found the answer to save the world? seeing bravery once again rewarded with a better life?
In memory of the fall of the Berlin Wall, we created the textile object ‘Barbed Wire’ from soft material in 1990 under the label CASSINI & MARLOWE. Martin Kippenberger saw it before his exhibition ‘Tiefes Kehlchen’ (Deep Throat) as part of the 1991 Vienna Festival, was thrilled ... and so a productive collaboration ensued. -Theres Cassini
