Author's Note: Well, here's another SpainXFemRomano story. I guess you can tell what my OTP is. This time, I'm following them from the beginning, and seeing how they got where they are. This first chapter is only rated K, but the ratings will change as they grow up. It starts out when Lovina is about nine, and Antonio is maybe twelve. But human age is tough to gauge with a country, don't you think? Anyways, I would love your feedback.

Upwards Descent

"I never realized what I didn't have until I found you."

1. Frozen

"Please, Nonno." The little girl caught the edge of his red cape in a small hand as he turned. "I want to come too." He turned back around, patting her hair affectionately. Only the fly-away curl on the top of her head peaked through his fingers.

"No, piccino mio. You have to stay at the villa," he explained as she stared up at him, wide olive eyes filled with disappointment. Another little voice spoke up from behind his shoulder.

"Can I stay home too, Nonno? There're scary things in the woods with big teeth and scaly hands that eat little bambini. Francis told me so." The little girl crossed her arms over her chest, mouth set in a sideways frown, and turned to her brother.

"There's nothing in the woods, you idiot. Don't believe anything Francis says." The little boy looked up at him questioningly, obviously unconvinced. Rome grabbed him gently around the waist and balanced him against his hip with one arm.

"Of course there aren't monsters in the woods, Feliciano. And one day all of this will be yours. You need to learn about the land you will rule."

"Then why can't I go too? I don't want to just sit here all alone." Rome sighed, running his unoccupied hand through his dark curls.

"You have to stay here, Lovina. There may not be monsters in the woods, but there are still things a little girl wouldn't want to run into." In his arms, Feliciano gave a little squeak and clutched tighter at his collar.

"I have this. I'll be fine." Lovina reached into the folds of her tunic and pulled out a little hunting knife which she brandished in front of her in a fist.

"Just the other day, I ran into some barbarians up in the northern woods. And remember when those Carthaginians came riding down out of the mountains on their great big elephants?" Lovina lowered the knife to her side.

"You killed them, Nonno. They weren't scary. And all of the elephants died. I didn't even get to see one. And then after they were all gone, you sacked their home. You salted the earth." He frowned down at the little girl, who was staring down at her bare toes.

"They were coming to hurt us. I did what I had to; you'll understand that someday. Now, you're staying home, and that's final. It's too dangerous out there for you." He made to turn around.

"But it's not too dangerous for Feliciano? He trips over his own feet. Nonno please, I don't want to be left all alone."

"I said you're staying home and that's final. Feliciano will be a man someday, and he needs to know how to protect what's his." Feliciano didn't seem to know what to think about that proposal, and just sat clutching Rome's tunic with one hand and worrying at his own little curl with the other. "Now, we'll be back by nightfall. Please try not to get into trouble while we're gone." He turned on his heel and marched out of the room. Feliciano stared at her over his shoulder, eyebrows lost in his messy bangs in a look of concern.

"Are you sure the monsters aren't real, Nonno?" she heard him squeak as they rounded the corner.

Lovina threw the knife onto a table and dropped into a chair with a sigh. Wind stirred the heavy curtains at the windows, whistling through the empty corridors.

"Alone again," she sighed. She was always alone, with Rome off with his new territories and Feliciano traipsing about the city. Everyone loved Feliciano, with his easy laugh and his ridiculous ability to trust. It didn't matter that all he ever did was eat, and sleep, and mess up whatever she was trying to do. It didn't help that all she was allowed to do was sit at home and tidy things up, which she did constantly since anything was better than staring at the wall for hours. And whenever Rome was home, he would be out in the forest, chasing down wild boar and deer. She would sit at the window and watch the horses race for the tree-lined hills, capes of the soldiers fluttering out like wings behind them. How many times had she pretended she was there, racing down the skyline on a mare as bright as sunlight? But all she had was her slow little pony and a stubborn old workhorse they used to carry supplies back from town.

Outside, a pair of doves flitted past the window, headed for the shade of the forest. She pulled herself onto the sill, bare toes gripping the rough stone blocks. Her tunic whipped about her legs as she reached her fingers out to touch each edge of the window.

"Someday," she whispered. The wind played with the hem of her clothes like fingers urging her forwards. Above her the doves circled, momentarily joining with the bright sun, before diving back towards the earth. It was another warm summer day, the sun melting lazily over fields and seeping between the deep green leaves. The grass danced like the sea.

"It just isn't fair," she preached to the open sky. "Feliciano doesn't care. Horses scare him, and he jumps at every shadow. Why am I not good enough?" Nothing seemed to have an answer, so she swung down off of the sill and padded over to the table where she'd thrown down her knife. "It'll be hours before they come home. They'll never even know I was gone." She looked back out the window one more time, catching a final glimpse of white wings against blue sky, and headed towards the stables.

After a few minutes, a tall step-ladder, and a handful of oats, Lovina managed to coax a saddle onto the ornery old carthorse. It then proceeded to stand firmly in place while she kicked its flank and added encouraging words, mostly learned from Rome's colorful conversations. She flicked the reins hopefully, and was just about to start walking for the forest when she saw a riding crop hanging from a peg against the wall. She leaned forward, grabbed it in a little fist, and whispered into a huge ear, "Sorry about this but I need to get out of here." With the last word, she beat down hard on the horse's flank and they shot forward into the hills.

With a light flick of the reins, they turned round for the line of trees, leaving the villa behind. Lovina threw the crop down, twining her fingers in the horse's thick mane. She wrapped her legs tighter about its broad chest and leaned forwards in the saddle. Her bare toes curled around the stirrups. The wind was all around her now, whipping her hair in an auburn halo about her face. Her tunic streamed behind her.

"Who has wings now?" She screamed to the sky. She let out a startled laugh, which was greedily gobbled up by the wind, too heavy to race her. "Fly," she commanded, throwing her arms out to each side, head back. "Fly."

The sun was almost overhead by the time they reached the scraggly beginnings of the forest. They slowed to a walk as they passed through the trees, Lovina pushing boughs away from her head. It was cooler under the branches, the breeze raising goose prickles on her forearms. Birds twittered above their heads, chasing each other through the branches. Lovina started as a huge buck leaped past them.

"Run. Go away from here before Rome finds you. Run," she called out, waving her hands at him. He just stood there, stock still, huge black eyes trying to understand what she was. "Please, run away. You're too beautiful to die." She ripped a stick off of a nearby tree and hurled it at his head. He started back on his hind legs and bounded through the trees, the waving ferns the only sign that he'd ever been there.

She heard another crackling of leaves, and thought there must be a whole herd, but the sound was followed by a low rumbling growl. The mare snorted warily, pawing the ground with huge hooves. Lovina looked to either side, trying to find the sound.

The bushes rustled again, followed by a low whining snarl. Lovina tried to turn the reins left and right, kicking the mare in the flanks to get it to move somewhere, but the horse just turned its head back and forth, dark eyes rimmed in white, mouth dotted with froth. Huge hooves stamped at the ground, as the horse turned circles, nostrils flaring.

"Come on," Lovina screamed, trying to turn the horse towards home. But with all the spinning, and the dark cover of the trees, she couldn't tell which direction she'd come from.

Suddenly, the underbrush exploded in a flurry of leaves. A huge grey wolf lunged towards them, pink lather dripping from open jaws. The mare furiously beat at the ground, trying to stamp out the biting jaws and grasping claws. The wolf hunched low to the ground, hackles raised, and hurled itself forwards again. Lovina screamed and tried to grab for her knife, dropping the reins in her terror. She caught a glimpse of yellow eyes and dripping yellow fangs before she stamped down hard on the huge head. The horse kicked out at the beast with massive hooves, leaning back on his hind legs. Lovina grasped for reins or saddle or even a handful of mane, but she was already falling.

When she opened her eyes, she was still in the forest. The horse was gone, but the wolf was too, leaving behind only hoof prints in the dead leaves. She stood shakily to her feet and tried to reorient herself. The light was sliding in at a different angle, but she couldn't remember if that meant she had to walk towards it or away. She breathed heavily and waited for her head to stop ringing. She wiped dirt from her face with the back of a hand and turned around. If she kept walking she was bound to find someone. She would find a river and follow it. All rivers led to people eventually, and any people she found would bring her home.

"I am a child of Rome," she whispered to herself, a hand on the hilt of her knife. "And Rome is never afraid." She headed deeper into the forest.

"It's all right, Piccolino," Rome sighed as Feliciano sniffled into his shoulder. "We're going home now." They had just reached one of the larger clearings where deer often grazed, only an hour or so into the forest, before Feliciano had fallen off of his horse. It was nothing serious, just a twisted ankle, but the boy was still shaken. He'd never really gotten used to horses, and he always felt guilty about using the reins.

"It hurts them Nonno," he'd complained one day, holding a stiff riding crop in one hand like it was a nest of hornets. The boy could be so insensible about things like that, but there was no yelling at him when he flashed his smile or when his eyes were full of tears. He gave the little boy a squeeze and felt small hands wrap around his neck. Feliciano rubbed at his eyes with the back of a hand and played absentmindedly with the little curl at the nape of Rome's neck like he often did when upset. Well, the hunt had been a waste, but some things were more important.

It was only mid-afternoon by the time the party returned home. Rome set Feliciano carefully on the ground and rode his stallion into the stables, where he first noticed something was amiss. The corner stall, which had held their old carthorse, was now quite empty, the door bumping back and forth with the breeze. Rome bridled his stallion and walked out into the yard, hoping to ask one of the servants who had taken the old mare into the market. But instead he was confronted by one of his soldiers.

"Caesar, we found this outside in the grass. Is it your crop?" Rome snatched it out of his hand and stormed to the courtyard, where Feliciano was perched on the edge of a fountain examining his swollen ankle.

"Feliciano, where is your sister?" Feliciano looked up at him with wide brown eyes, his mouth open as he thought.

"I don't know Nonno. I haven't seen her since we got back."

"Lovina," Rome called to the empty house, to the darkening sky. He rushed into the house, calling in each vacant room. Inside, nothing moved except the curtains at the windows. He stormed back out of the door, throwing the crop to the ground and headed back for the stables. He vaulted back onto his stallion, wheeling him into the courtyard.

"What's wrong, Nonno?" Feliciano called, leaning forward and dangling his legs in front of him.

"Your sister's gone." He turned the stallion about the courtyard, hooves clattering on paving stoes, calling out to the guards, "Guards, to me. We have to send out a search party." He galloped off towards the woods before anyone could follow.

It was getting darker, the beams of light shining through the branches beginning to dim, and Lovina was regretting not having put on sandals. Her feet were dark with mud, and lined in thin cuts from branches and rocks. The forest seemed closer around her now, like the trees were reaching out skeletal fingers towards her. So far she hadn't caught sight of a river, or even heard the distant sound of water. She still had her knife, but after thoughts of those gaping jaws, it didn't seem to be much of a comfort.

She paused to brush off the dead leaves which were sticking to her muddy feet. Behind her she heard another sound. She gasped, then froze, listening. The first sound was followed by another rustle. She turned around, hoping to the gods to see a rabbit, or a deer, or anything but those yellow eyes. She heard a twig sap and shot around. There was more crackling of dry leaves, coming from two directions now. She started to run.

Lovina darted between trees, frantically running from any sound. Above her an owl hooted and she cried out, barely missing the tree in front of her. Branches clawed at her hair and clothes, but she twisted away from them, leaving behind red lines on her skin. She tripped over a rock, skinning her palms, but kept on running, fleeing the rustling leaves behind her. Above her crows moved between the branches, cackling down at her as she ran. She couldn't think anymore. She didn't care what direction she was going in, and when she splashed through a stream, feet skidding over slimy rocks, she didn't think to follow it. All she could hear now was the pounding blood in her ears and her own mouth gasping for breath. The blotches of light around her illuminated nothing and blurred into a kaleidoscope of green as tears ran down her cheeks. She closed her eyes to keep the world from spinning. Her head was aching now, pounding in time to the beat of her feet on the ground.

She ran until she hit something, smacking off of a thick tree trunk. Her fingers wrapped around the gnarled bark and she gasped for breath, staring through blurry eyes at the forest around her. The sunlight shone through in patches, succeeding only in throwing everything else into shadows. She blinked and waited for her heart to stop pounding. She couldn't hear any movement in the forest, but somehow that made her feel worse. At least before, she could tell in what direction it was moving. Suddenly there was a noise to her left, different than the earlier rustling.

For some reason she found herself moving towards it. What was the point in running anyways? She couldn't just keep running blindly, or she'd never find her way out. She wiped the tears away with the back of her hands and balled them into fists at her side. A sudden breeze spurred her on, till she was tripping forwards over her bruised and bloody feet. At first she couldn't see anything, just more trees with skirts of deep green ferns. But then she stopped, her breath caught in her throat.

There was a form huddled against a tall trunk, sides rising and falling gently. At first she thought it was another wolf, but the shape was all wrong. Lovina stepped forwards slowly; heel then toes, edging over the moss towards the figure. It looked human: no claws, no fangs, not covered in fur (just a dirty mop of brown hair obscuring its face). Altogether, not anything like the monsters Francis had spoken of. In fact, it looked just like a boy.

He, it had to be a he, moved in his sleep, pushing the thick hair out of his face with a quiet sigh. Lovina halted again. He was darker than she was, probably from days in the sun, and a few years older, but decidedly human. He was just like her, just a child alone in the forest. She looked around, expecting an entourage to melt out of the shadows, but she just heard the quiet twitter of birds. For some reason, she was frozen, stuck in place, watching. She wanted to go over, to shake him awake, to touch his skin and see if he was really there. But she couldn't wake him. She knew she should run, seeing him curled up among the ferns. She knew she should turn around and never let him see her. She knew Rome would be coming, and she knew what he did to smaller countries.

But, before she could turn to go, he groaned in his sleep and opened his eyes. She was met by a shocking green under the fringe of deep brown bangs. He didn't look afraid, more intrigued, squinting at her through the murky light. She knew she could still run leave him there. No one would ever find him. He would never even realize. It would be like she had just been a dream. But something kept her there, like a deer hearing the crack of a twig in the distance. Her fingers fumbled for the knife at her side. He stared back at her with his bright green eyes as she raised the knife, putting it between the two of them. A smile spread across his face. He raised a hand, not out of fear, almost as if he was asking her to just put it down, like it would all be all right. She scowled, edging closer until the knife was almost against his forehead. He was still smiling, so close to her that she could feel the brush of his breath against her skin. He lifted his hand farther outwards till his fingers brushed her cheek. The touch raised goose prickles on her skin.

"You are real," he whispered.

But he pulled his hand away suddenly as the sound of hooves thundered through the underbrush. Four mounted Legionaries burst through the bushes, horse hooves stomping down the delicate bed of ferns.

"We've finally found you," one of them called out as the others circled around them, pulling out swords. He held out his hand to pull her up. "Come now, it's getting dark." Lovina spun around watching the other Legionaries draw closer, swords flashing in the light of dusk.

"Get away from her you barbarian," they spat out, horse hooves barely missing the boy as they pranced round him. He jumped hurriedly to his feet and backed against the tree, eyes wide. The Legionary still had his hand outstretched to her, but Lovina turned around, stepping in between the boy and the circling horses. She raised her knife.

"Don't touch him," she called out. Her voice sounded pitifully small, even to her own ears. She hadn't realized how dry her throat had been. Another horse cantered into the clearing, a white stallion. Rome stared down at them, his brows knit tightly together.

"Guards seize him." He pulled his horse to a stop with a tug on the reins.

"No." Lovina cried out, surprised by herself. "No. Stay where you are." She looked over her shoulder at the boy. He didn't seem afraid, just confused, bright eyes focused only on her.

"Look what he did to you, Lovina. Anyone who hurts one of my children deserves to die. He's just a barbarian." The soldiers moved towards him. She waved her knife in a wide arc, but one of the Legionaries hopped off of his horse and pushed her gently aside. He grabbed the boy roughly by the frayed edge of his tunic and shoved him to his knees. He looked up at her, eyes lost in his long hair.

"Wait. Wait, Nonno. Don't hurt him. He's the one who saved me." They all turned to look at her. "From the wolves," she added, quieter. "I was riding through the woods and a wolf jumped out at us, and I fell off the horse, and… he saved me."

"Is that true?" Rome asked, with a hand still on his sword hilt. The boy opened his mouth to speak, but she shot him a glance. One of the soldiers spoke up.

"We did find the horse in the woods, sir, with claw marks along its legs. We tried to catch it but it ran off towards the villa, and we heard noises further on." Rome looked down at her again, and she wiped at the dirt on her clothes, suddenly self-conscious

"Fine, we'll bring him back to the villa and decide what to do with him there. Lovina, put that silly thing away." One of the Legionaries grabbed the boy and thrust his hands behind his back, wrapping them with a leather strap off of his sword belt, and threw him up over the horse's back. The boy didn't say a word; he just stared at Lovina, head cocked to the side. Suddenly Lovina felt exhausted. Even the knife in her hand was too heavy for her. Her fingers fumbled as she tried to return it to the sheath at her hip. She felt a large hand grab her around the waist and didn't even protest as Rome placed her in front of him on the horse. She buried her fingers in its grey mane.

"We will talk about this later, Lovina," he whispered down to her, eyes hard. But then they melted and he pressed her head to his shoulder. "I'm just glad we found you." She couldn't answer. She just sat there, peaking over Rome's shoulder; watching the boy watch her through a fringe of dark hair, the gait of the horse under her slowly rocking her to sleep.