Hetalia is owned by Hidekaz Himaruya, this fanfiction is owned by me.

The ground outside was being covered with a fresh coat of snow, small, powdery snowflakes fell from the grey sky like icing sugar, landing gently as they joined the others. Children, wrapped up in their winter coats pelted each other with the biggest snowballs they could form with their little hands, laughing gleefully as they were hit in their red faces with soft white ice.

Meanwhile, in the warmth of a house with the central heating cranked up to maximum, a woman with light olive skin hummed a familiar tune to herself as she stirred a pot of soup, the colour of which matched the deep carmine of her long, ruffled skirt.

She took a quick taste of her concoction, happily declaring, "It's done!" as she hurried to pour into a pretty china bowl, before she carried it upstairs.

What was once a nice, neatly made bed was now a rumpled mountain of wrinkled blankets, flat pillows, and a cocoon of duvets.

"Alice?" she called, to the mess laid before her.

The mess stirred just slightly, letting out a nauseating series of hacks and sniffles, before a flushed blonde head popped out of one end.

"W-what is it, Carmen?" the head enquired, her voice laced with mucus.

The woman set down the tray and chuckled dryly as she parked herself on the bed, brushing a loose chestnut curl behind her ear as she gently enquired, "How are you feeling, love?"

"Like shit, in case you haven't noticed," the blonde spat, "My head's pounding and my body feels like it's on fire!"

"Well, pardon me for asking, Alice," Carmen returned, "Just thought I'd see if my girlfriend's feeling any better than she was this morning!"

The slight girl shifted again under her cocoon, revealing some of her lacy blue nightdress as she came out of her duvets.

"I know you're feeling terrible, sweet, but"—

"Sorry."

Carmen hadn't managed to catch what her lover had just told her. "What?"

"I'm sorry I got mad, Carmen," Alice repeated, sinking into the pillow.

Carmen smiled warmly as she stared down at Alice, with her hair down, her glasses off, and her face all flushed...

"It's a good thing you're cute," the Spaniard teased, "Or else I wouldn't be able to forgive you so quickly!"

"I'm sorry," the Englishwoman repeated. "And what do you mean by cute?! I-I'm a lady, dammit!"

Carmen kicked off her heels, smiling to herself as she swivelled round and placed her slender legs on the bed, taking a moment to adjust her skirt as she did so. "And would a lady say things like 'dammit'?"

The blonde girl wrinkled her nose, sniffling as she retorted, "Way to push my buttons, poppet."

"You shouldn't get so riled up, not with the condition you're in," the brunette warned playfully.

Alice retained her scowl as she snapped, "You shouldn't make me riled up!"

With that, her lover threw her an apologetic glance and reached for the bowl of soup, presenting it to Alice as she offered, "Here. I spent all morning making this for you."

"Is it that cold stuff?" the slighter girl questioned.

"You mean gazpacho? No, it's just plain old, hot tomato soup," Carmen told her.

Alice eyed the red liquid suspiciously, cursing her inability to smell as she swished it around in the bowl a bit. Truth be told, she didn't really like tomatoes, but if Carmen had gone to all this trouble just for her...

She took a small sip, allowing it a moment to sit on her tongue so she could register the taste.

"That's...pretty good," she decided, going in for another mouthful. And then another. And pretty soon, she'd polished all of it off.

"Looked like you were enjoying that," Carmen said.

"Yeah..." Alice sighed, "Well, actually, I only ate it because you worked so hard on it and I"— and she was cut off with a cough.

Was it Carmen's imagination, or were her girlfriend's already red cheeks going darker?

"Love you," the blonde finished.

The Spaniard whispered, "Te amo," as she settled next to her girlfriend.