AN [i do not own Hetalia or any of its characters]
Roses
They had many meanings especially when taking into account the different colors and numbers they could come in, to Erzsi though she liked it's meaning of balance. They were beautiful yes but had thorns to defend themselves even if only slightly. For years she had tried to find her own balance, after centuries of pretending to be a boy and the truth coming out left her confused of how to behave. So long she had been a warrior, knight, or solider, always fighting to defend her nation and people that when she started to dress and having to act as a woman she felt as though part of herself was lost.
Even when she did return to the battlefield after being known to be a girl it felt off again, yes it was who she had been when she was younger but now she was different. A lady and a warrior in one body especially in those times was hard to find a balance, even more so when she was helping raise younger nations thus adding a new role for her to fulfill. Erzsebet was determined however that she would not lose either side, the first had kept her alive and the second was something to strive for in times of peace.
Part of where her temper came from in those years was the struggle to be able to find herself more, to not throw away either piece. While her national flower of tulips will always hold a special place in her heart the rose too has it's own place. Beautiful and sweet to smell but still keeping a defense in place the flower also had a meaning of hope. Hope was something in her hardest times she had trouble keeping but deep in her the fighting spirit she had kept alive would always tell her to keep going and moving forward.
Others could love the flower for it's romantic meaning but she would love it for the ideas that helped build her into the woman she was now,. Not just a woman or warrior, and someone who even having been on the brink of losing everything more than once keeps fighting. Erzsebet would be a rose, at least for now.