Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia

My third Shag Tag gift, for Goldpen, whom requested a Canako with someone different from the usual shipping, including some overprotective France, America and England; among her list was Spain, so I thought, what the hell, I'll go with Spain. A roleplay partner of mine continues to mention how there never is any, so it'll be like killing two birds with one stone, eh? /shot

After this, only more left. If that particular gift-ee is reading this, my ever apologies, but your's might come out a bit late. I'm having difficulty trying to figure out how exactly to write it, though I love the idea...gssh...I'll be needing to whip out one of my millions of journals I got for Christmas to help me.

SO I hope you all enjoy this one. Hopefully my roleplaying of SpainxCanako will help me out a bit with this. c:

Last note: Sorry my lack of skills in...non-English languages. If I happen to put anything in Spanish that is wrong, please don't hesitate to correct me.

By the beginning of 2012, Canada was finally getting noticed, finally becoming more prominent in the world as the second-largest nation, for her multicultural ways and her longing for peace to be held within our one green Earth, despite that this seemed like it would never happen.

And yet, that still didn't seem enough for her.

Not that Madeline wasn't grateful - in fact, she was absolutely ecstatic about it. That day, that one fateful day when Germany called upon her, after he asked what everyone's opinion was and Madeline raised her hand obediently like a school girl, she had felt such a sense of pride that the Canadian felt as if she were about to explode from it.

Since that most wonderful day of all days, it was if Germany flipped her invisibility cloak off from her being. Everyone had swung their gazes over to Canada, murmuring her name, some in confusion, some rolling their eyes at the fact that no one knew she was there.

Sinking back into her seat, Maddie had given her two cents, for the first time in God knows how many years.

Miraculously enough, everyone listened and took in what she had to say.

There was still something though. Other nations, those who've never seen her, were finally acknowledging, offering her small waves and nods and 'hello's. This was all excellent, but something seemed to have been missing from the new found visibility.

When she pondered about it, Madeline simply scolded herself for being selfish - she had gone so long with being ignored, and now that she wasn't, she wanted all of the attention in the world. Wanted to make up for centuries of hearing 'who' over and over.

At least, this was one of the theories that Maddie stuck to, even though it was the one she stuck so the most feverishly.

In some part of her mind she didn't believe that this was all true.

Something was missing, but she had no idea what it was.

It was in the middle of January, during a world meeting, when she was sitting silently among the squabbling nations, watching with mild amusement as those of the Northern hemisphere ridiculed those of the South for being to susceptible and weak when it came to the winter weather, when one of the said Southern nations stood in his seat and looked over the spacious table with wavering emerald eyes.

Maddie pulled her own orbs over to him, ignoring how Kumarie continually squirmed in her arms, muttering for something to eat, and noted that it was Spain. He was about six seats over to her right, seated between the Southern part of Italy and Germany.

Antonio peered over his fellow nations and spoke up in a warbling voice, "The winter's destroying my tomatoes. I've tried growing them in a greenhouse but I don't have enough hands to help me out." His voice was unnaturally small for the usually bouncy Spaniard. It was obvious to anyone who managed to hear him that he was obviously upset for his well known grown fruit.

"Spain, many of us are receiving the misfortune of ruined crops," Ludwig said mildly, being one of the few people with whom the brunette's words were audibly heard. "I'm sorry, but we have much more important things to...discuss." He said this with a cast of sarcasm and looked around. The majority of those present were busy sparring verbally with each other to discuss anything.

"He's not talking about crops," Lovino broke in with a scowl, offering the green-eyed man behind him a black expression. "He's bitching about a damn personal greenhouse of tomatoes."

"Seriously? Aha, that's a stupid thing to whine about." Maddie winced as America's sharp voice split out from beside her. That man could break glass with his inside voice.

In response, Antonio ignored Alfred's interjection and turned to his former charge with such a dramatically melodramatic flair that Madeline was reminded of France. "You speak like that's a bad thing! The tomatoes I've grown myself are just as important as any other; they feed those families who can't get it in the winter. Besides, all I need is a few extra hands, even one person would suffice. Why won't you -"

"Oh...mio Dio, stop fucking complaining. You sound like a goddamn three-year old."

"But Lovino -!"

"Will the both of you be quiet?" came the anticipated roar from Germany, loud enough to not only stop an upcoming squabble from between Italy and Spain, but causing any noise from within the room to cease to desist. An admirable feat from Germany, to be sure.

After checking over everyone present with a challenging stare, Ludwig nodded in satisfaction and relaxed somewhat in his seat, softening his expression. "Alright. Let's try to go on for the last twenty minutes of this meeting without trying to tear your neighbor's throat out, alright?"

Those around came to a mutual agreement and Spain sank back into his seat.

He looked profoundly upset over the potential of having a personal garden destroyed from lack of attention. To some it may seem like an over reaction, but Maddie had no doubt that any other nation would be devastated if they could be potentially cut off from the food source most popular in their homeland. She was certain that Alfred, one of those who spoke out again the Spaniard, would perhaps commit suicide if any fast food restaurants were, even briefly, down.

As Canada walked the down-trodden brunette, a spark of inspiration hit her.

She was known...but other than those who had known her before, she hadn't made any companionships. The few true friends she did have were wonderful, and had been there for years...but perhaps it was time to spark some new friendships through those she never really had spoken to.

Spain had come to her land when it was considered to be a new part of the world, but remained in Alfred's area for the majority of his stay. She scarcely remembered peeking through the trees and watching the up beat man trail throughout the hand of General Winter.

Both of their countries were dedicated to defending democratic values and global security from within the frame of international cooperation. The ties between their nations were extremely strong as partners within the UN, NATO, WTO, and OECD.

Madeline supposed it was about time to become further acquainted with Antonio.

And now she had a non-nation related excuse to speak to him.

The meeting ended smoothly. Antonio trailed out of the room with the crowd of representatives, still sulking from his earlier failure at trying to bring up an important subject.

Romano had, as they say, ditched him not two minutes before to go off to his twin brother and once more give him a scolding about being in Germany's company. Antonio loved Romano like mad, loved him as much as he did when the Italian was officially his to take care of.

As of late though, the years of jeering, of ignoring, of swearing frantically, of pretty much acting foully towards the Spanish nation was finally beginning to grate on his nerves, something that Antonio assumed would never had happen. This was one thing, one simple thing that he wanted help with, a task that wouldn't take Lovi more than perhaps twenty minutes to finish, and he still refused to do it.

Whether it was because the foul-mouthed Italian was stubborn, or just because he wanted to piss Antonio off for the sake of pissing him off, he didn't know. All he knew was that it was gradually wearing down the painfully bright, happy shield he held daily over his be -

"S-Spain?"

That light word, the voice delicate and soft (as if silk could form a tone) broke through his cloudy thoughts. Blinking owlishly, Spain spun around to see a petite blonde girl standing behind him. From what he could tell, he stopped moving all together in the middle of the hallway through his thoughts.

The hallway was deserted save for him and this girl...Canada, yes, that was it. She was France's daughter. If he recalled correctly, her name was...well, he couldn't remember her full human persona, but Antonio had overheard both Prussia and America calling her 'Maddie' on many occasions.

Maddie was looking up at him curiously, questioning, her eyes a strange purple hue and large from behind her up to date thickly framed glasses. Spain was momentarily stunned by just how large and full of depth those oddly-coloured eyes were. He quickly shook this off though and flashed the young girl a bright smile.

"Ah, señorita. Canada. Hola! How are you, querido?" Antonio quipped cheerfully, crossing his arms lucidly over his chest.

The cheeks of the Canadian before him rapidly coloured, an immediate reaction that Antonio had always found positively adorable in other people. She tilted her head to the side, causing her ahoge to bounce along gently with the movement; a gesture that was near deserving of a squeal, just form how adorable she was acting. It reminded him of Lovino...except without the threats to kill, the insulting, the yelling, and everything that had been annoying him lately.

"I-I'm fine, thank you for asking," Maddie squeaked out, shifting Kumarie's weight in her arms. By now the polar bear was in a dead silence, staring up at Spain with her beady black eyes. She held the sort of aura that Australia's frightening koala was bestowed with. "I...I just couldn't help but notice, today, how you said that you're in need of help with tending to your tomatoes. I-if you still want some help, I'll be more than willing to do so."

The offer struck Antonio off guard. He regarded the Northern nation's face closely, as if searching for something in her features that would give away a bluff. But there was nothing. She continued to look up at him with those painfully dewy eyes, still questioning, and Antonio nearly damn blushed himself as the two stared at each other.

Finally, he broke away from her gaze and widened his grin, reaching out to instinctively ruffle her hair. "You are most kind to offer your help! I would be more than happy to accept it, if you truly wish to help me out."

"O-oh, I do," Canada responded, her blush deepening at Antonio's touch. After he removed his hand, she absently smoothed down the mussed hair. "I...I just don't believe that it was right that no one else would offer, even if the crop is for personal purposes."

"Well, gracias, my dear." Still brandishing his twenty-four watt smile, Antonio leaned forward to press a friendly kiss to Madeline's forehead, ignoring the low growl that came from the recently quiet Kumarie. Upon separating, he was bemused to see that Maddie's face had now gone a rather pretty maroon.

"You're...you're...d-de rien."

Chuckling softly to himself, Spain ruffled her hair once more before starting off down the hallway. "I would prefer it if you could come over as soon as possible, seeing as they're already in danger, but come along to my house whenever it's good for you, Canada."

"Th-this was the last meeting, and we'll be going home this afternoon, so I'll come over tomorrow, if that's alright with you." Maddie's voice was coming out as a small, painfully cute squeak.

"That's fine with me. I'll see you later then, si?"

Another barely heard squeak came in response. "D'accord."

Turning, Antonio offered her a last wave before moving further down the hallway, heading for his room.

His stomach had an odd sensation floating throughout it.

"Oh. Wow."

The first words that exited Madeline's mouth as she entered the greenhouse was an understatement of an interjection. The glass building appeared to be twice the size of the average rather large greenhouse, and was filled entirely with rows of plants supporting the familiar red bulbs. The building was located directly behind Spain's house, which in itself was a rather extravagant piece of architecture.

At least, to Madeline it seemed to be. She was never fond of having a large Western house.

After seeing the awestruck expression on the blonde's face, a low chuckle escaped Spain's lips. "I'm delighted that you're impressed."

"How could I not be?" Canada craned her neck upwards to peer up at the ceiling, where cold rain was splattering against the roof. Just looking up through the highly slated glass was causing her to feel a sense of vertigo. She quickly averted her gaze a few seconds later, instead choosing to once more admire the plethora of growing tomatoes. "It's no wonder that you said you needed more than one person to help."

"Si...I might need more than two, actually," Antonio admitted sheepishly as he followed the younger woman's gaze. "But, I'm still extremely happy to have someone here with me. Delighted, really. With your help I'm going to save more than I initially thought I would. So, gracias, again."

For the second time, Madeline convinced him that it was no problem. They smiled faintly at each for a moment before Antonio ushered her forward to the rows of tomatoes and proceeded to instruct her on how to properly tend to each one.

All through this Maddie still felt that missing hole. It was a disappointment, but she mentally brought it down to her and the Spaniard not yet being close friends. Once they were well known to each other, she assured herself, that strange feeling would disperse.

Antonio on the other hand; throughout their session, he would sneak the occasional glance when Madeline wasn't looking and feel the tingling, butterfly-like sensation in the depth of his stomach.

This was how it started.

The second week Madeline came over, right before they started, Spain abruptly blurted out, "You're adorable, you know that?"

Maddie, who had been getting the gear needed for the watering, looked up harshly and stared at the older country, flushing instantly.

"O-oh. Um...th-thank you."

Antonio, who barely registered the fact that he had complimented her, finally got it processed through his head, and felt his own cheeks heat up. But, knowing that he must keep up his 'happy face' and not show any flusterment, he grinned and kissed her cheek. "You're very welcome."

The rest of that session went on in an awkward manner.

The feeling of a missing item had momentarily left Madeline.

The feeling of butterflies in the stomach in Antonio escalated to uncomfortable heights.

The third week rolled around, and Canada found herself more comfortable around the Spaniard, despite the fact that he would usually come out with compliments or abrupt bursts of friendly affection, usually in the form of spontaneous hugs and kisses on the cheek, forehead, and nose.

It was because of this new sense of ease the Maddie found the courage to strike up a conversation, as she was watering some still growing tomatoes.

"S-Spain...would you mind if I asked you something?"

Antonio paused, greeting this with another grin. "Of course. Go on ahead and ask me anything you like - but ah, please call me Antonio now. Calling me Spain always seems so formal and stuffy."

"Oh. Alright." Maddie's gaze wavered down to the tomatoes below her. These particular ones were still green and tiny. "Antonio, then."

"Si?"

"I...I couldn't help but notice that lately you haven't been around Italy a lot. Er, South Italy, that is. You two used to be as thick as thieves...or you seemed to be as such. Did anything happen between you two?"

To Maddie's dismay, Antonio's smile dropped like a bomb, along with his cheerful attitude. A rather unsettling sort of aura began to surround him, a thick putrid sort of invisible smog that caused Madeline to briefly panic, terribly frightened that she had caused him to be upset.

"I-I'm so sorry!" she wailed quietly, waving one hand about frantically. "Y-you really don't have to answer it - I-I'm so sorry for bringing it up. I should have known better not to."

Another moment of silence, and Spain sighed, offering Maddie a weak smile. "Do not apologize. You were merely curious, and I don't blame you for being so. I suppose it's a bit of a touchy subject with me now, si?"

"But," he started again before Maddie could protest, "I do not mind telling you. Though, really, all I can say is that we've grown apart over these last couple of years. I still love him, as I had when he was a colony. But I guess all of the...erm...way he speaks to me has gotten to me. I've grown tired of him constantly swearing at me...insulting me...I used to find it a bit endearing when he was little, but now that he's older...it's different."

It was now Madeline's turn not to speak. She brought her eyes down to the tomatoes, no bigger than large marbles, and began to worry her bottom lip with her teeth, a sign of sparse mental process. When she spoke up again, she made it short, sweet, and to the point.

"I cannot say that I blame you for not wanting to be verbally abused anymore."

They went on the rest of the session in peace.

By now Maddie could barely remember thinking that something was missing from her life.

Antonio was starting to realize what these butterflies were meant to be.

"You remember when I said that you were like Lovino? Or, eh, how you reminded me of him?"

"Oui."

"Now I realize that you're not like him at all. You're positively adorable, as he is, but...there is a difference that even I can see."

"...I-I see."

"I mean, you're sweet, you're kind, you have every good quality that one can have...but, now that I think about it, you're not adorable. You're gorgeous."

"..."

"Maddie? A-are you alright? Did I say something wrong?"

"Non, I'm fine. You said some very sweet things, and I'm just...as always, embarrassed about it. Sorry."

"You have no reason to apologize over it, se -"

"I-I'm going to tend to the ones over there now, if you don't mind. They've been slow in growing."

A quiet spread over the greenhouse after that.

That was the ending of the fourth week.

The fifth week Madeline was unable to make it in. She was sick with a nasty cold, and was rather cross about it. The Canadian was used to the freezing weather of her lands, but whenever they came late, she always found herself falling to an illness.

Her family had been kind enough to visit, though she would have preferred if they hadn't. They were great company, and she was fond of them despite their annoyances, but they seemed to increase in being annoying whenever she was sick.

This week, they maxed their tendencies to irk her up to eleven.

During their visit, something came through the mail. A bouquet of roses, with a get well card, signed with Antonio's name.

Since then she was slammed with questions, concerns, and all too babbling quirks of sentences.

"I heard that you were doing something with him, but I didn't think it was true! Say it ain't so, Mads! You know the guy's a jerk."

"I hate to say this, poppet, but for once I agree with Alfred. Not only that, but he's well known to go after nations younger than himself. You're one of the youngest, most prominent nations, and he...dear Victoria, he didn't do anything to you yet, has he?"

"Oh man, I forgot that he was a pedophile! Maddie, why do you always have a knack for surrounding yourself with people who have lolita complexes?"

"Speaking of which, what have you two been doing, mm?"

"Isn't that obvious, Arty? If anything, he's been forcing her to dress up like a little girl and taking pictures of - oh my God he didn't touch you yet, did he? Where are those pictures Maddie? Can I kick his ass for you?"

Oh sweet Trudeau...Maddie continually shook her head to their accusations, both this action and the constant noise causing her head to pound painfully. Finally, she turned to France pleadingly, who had been surprisingly quiet during all of this. "Oh Papa, you're one of his friends. Can you please tell these two that he hasn't done anything to me, and won't do anything to me?"

Chuckling, Francis turned to Arthur and Alfred, grinning cheekily. "Oh, non non. I know Antonio well, and I know he wouldn't take advantage of someone who wasn't willing."

Triumphant, Maddie also returned her gazes back to her brother and father figure. "See? I told you that -"

"But, by the way Madeline blushed and became flustered over the roses...perhaps he wouldn't be doing something to someone unwilling.~"

Maddie hid her red face in her hands as her family once more brought up their never ending demands.

All the while, Francis' words remained solid in her mind. And the more that thought stayed in her head, the more that she herself began to feel her own butterflies.

The sixth week arrived, and Canada was now in shape to be out and about, though Antonio was uncertain whether or not she should be coming over - especially since, again, it was raining in his homeland.

She humbly thanked Spain for the roses, keeping out the impending argument that it caused with her family. Antonio simply beamed at the thank you, which caused Madeline to smile in return. The Spaniard's quirk of the lips was nearly contagious

They worked about as usual, chatting here and there, mostly about economy and such, sometimes about other countries.

The butterflies came into both of their stomachs and refused to leave.

During the seventh week, as Maddie was moving through the rows, she hastily trotted over to the plant which held the tiny tomatoes, the ones that never seemed to grow.

She had taken up personally tending to those herself, giving them the most care she could.

When she arrived at her special plant, the Northern nation was dismayed to see what laid before her.

Many of the tomatoes had fallen off of the stalk. Only one still held on. The stalk itself had a many wilted flowers. Maddie lowered her eyes down to the little tomatoes on the table. Most seemed to have rotten spots. While Canada looked, she was surprised to find that her vision was beginning to blur.

Antonio found her by her soft weeping, obviously surprised to see the young nation crying.

He sat down on the cold floor, with the crying girl in his lap, and told her that not all of them were going to grow properly anyhow, even with special attention.

She continued to shed tears, curled up in lap, until the weariness of recovery and crying brought her to sleep.

The butterflies had quieted down to something much more deep, something more intense, detailed, extravagant...something much more complex than feeling strange sensations in your stomach.

In the last week to be mentioned, Antonio walked up to Madeline and said, "I love you."

Shellshocked, Maddie hastily went through things to say in return. She had to reject him politely, try her best not to hurt his feelings, assure him that even though she didn't love him back, she still loved him so much as a friend, and over these weeks he has become one of her most treasured friends -

"I love you too."

Or she could say what she really wanted to say.

That smile, that bright motion that Maddie had come to love, popped up onto Antonio's face and he drew her close into a gentle, tender kiss.

It might have been too soon for some, but the kiss morphed into something else within a matter of minutes. Antonio's hand passed through the sides of her breasts, Madeline let out a breathy moan, and neither could control themselves, as they fell on each other to the floor.

"Oh...my gosh...Antonio, have you seen this yet?"

"What? What is it?" the Spaniard hurried throughout the never ending rows of tomatoes, slightly panicked from the urgency in his recently made lover's voice. "Is something wrong?"

Upon approaching Madeline, he was relieved to see that the Canadian was quite alright. She was smiling brightly, a genuine twist of the lips that was usually saved for Spain. It was amazing to see it on Madeline's features.

Maddie was gesturing towards the plant with the wilted leaves, the one that had rid of most of its tomatoes the few weeks earlier. Antonio had wanted to throw it out, seeing as it was dead, but Madeline had insisted on keeping it. She said that she had a feeling that it would turn out for the better.

And it had. The one lone fruit that the stalk bore had fully grown. Spain was baffled at how this could have happened, but it had, all the same.

"See?" Maddie chirped, gesturing towards the tomato. "I knew I was right when I said we should keep it. I knew that that one would see it through."

"Si...si, it has..." Antonio padded over to the blonde, looping an arm gently around the girl's slender waist. In return, she rested her head contently against his shoulder. The extraordinarily shiny, grown tomato, surrounded by the wiltering, nearly decayed leaves, was almost something of symbolism, and for that they took the next few moments to appreciate it.

"I love you," Spain as last said, tightening his protective grip in the slightest.

"I love you too," Maddie replied.

It was such a cliche, but that hole in her life had been love.

And now, she stood in the arms of him who had filled it, content and at ease as one could be.

The only sound that came around them was the gentle fall of the cold rain splattering against the roof.

Looking over this, I...I honestly think that this is one of the best one-shots I've written. I know that's strange coming from me, being the sort of writer who always says that her work is crap and poorly written, but...this one...I don't know, there's just something about it that I'm proud of. And hey, I should be allowed to gloat every once in a while. c:

Sadly, I know that people are going to see the pairing, grimace, and turn away. Well, to those (who aren't Goldpen, of course) who come here and give it a try, I would really like to know your opinion on this. Anything would be appreciated. o v o

And Goldpen, I really hope you enjoyed this! Only one more gift to go, and I'm onto the sequel of Shag Tag.