Through the Looking Glass
:Holy Roman Empire x N. Italy:
"I-Italy...I want to learn how to draw from you...i-is that all right?"
"Of course it is! Although I do not know what you want to draw..."
"F-For starters, can we draw that rabbit over there?"
"A-Ah...sure!"
Chibitalia smiled happily to himself.
After hours and hours of scrubbing, dusting, and cleaning for Mr. Austria and his grandeur mansion, Chibitalia was finally allowed to leave the premises for a breath of fresh air. The day was still young and bright; the sun beamed marvelous rays of light that streamed down the gaps between the leaves, causing them to peek through the branches and reflect off the smooth surface of the rocks lying by. Although Chibitalia was exhausted from another day's work, he was glad to take the rare opportunity to himself and head out towards his favorite location: the meadow. It was the middle of spring and all of the flowers growing there were bursting with color and sweet fragrance. He knew that today was the perfect day to lounge amidst the flora and observe every aspect of nature in its very fullest detail. He could observe the blue skies, imagine the shapes of puffy clouds, or simply take a small siesta by the shady tree.
As he skipped contently towards the blooming meadow, Chibitalia noticed a familiar outline of a certain nation he once knew...with the tall cap, slicked blond hair and long flowing cloak.
He approached the nation hesitantly as if he was afraid that the personification he saw in front of his eyes was not an illusion.
"H-Holy Rome..."
The nation spun around to reveal himself, blue eyes meeting hazel while his navy cloak rustled with his movements. He let out a warm smile that seemed to radiate about him though he did not open his mouth to let out a sound; the serene expression of the now taller nation allowed Chibitalia to know of his acknowledgement. Chibitalia in turn, felt his heart pulse with excitement and bliss; after the day the young nation refused to join him to war, Chibitalia spent the years silently contemplating on whether he had made the right decision. Yes, he loved Holy Rome and never ceased to think about him even as hundreds of years went by. Chibitalia loved Holy Rome and made sure that he continued to smile whenever he did. But then he never returned from the war...and Chibitalia hated to admit that he started to forget bits and pieces of the memories he spent with the nation.
Now that he is back again, all grown up and safe, Chibitalia felt a warmness start from his heart and travel through the rest of his body. Chibitalia could take Holy Rome back to Mr. Austria's house and they could live happily again with Miss Hungary...just like they used to...
"Holy Rome..." He repeated hesitantly, still unused to calling his name after so long. "I-I..." He stopped and noticed the objects behind the aforementioned nation. There were two easels facing the beautiful scenery of the flower filled meadows. They settled in the green grass at a small distance from each other and tilted at a slight angle so that it becomes obscured from the person sitting in the opposite direction. Chibitalia understood immediately and raised his eyes towards the still nation, a wide smile spreading across his lips.
"Would you like to paint with me, Holy Rome? It'll be like the old days..."
The cloaked nation smiled in response and settled on a stool facing the closest easel. Chibitalia shuffled to the other and took his seat, noticing a paintbrush and a palette with a variety of colors placed neatly on another stool sitting beside him. He took another glance at the nation beside him-who was already working on his painting intently-before turning back to the blank easel in front of him to pick up the palette and paintbrush.
Time seemed to slow down in silence.
The young nation hummed a little tune while he resumed his painting, stroking the canvas with a plethora of yellows, greens, whites and blues.
At last, Chibitalia dipped his paintbrush into another shade of light green to apply to his canvas. He slowly overlapped the stems of the flowers in the meadow he created then set the paintbrush and palette down, letting out a satisfied sigh.
On his canvas was the beautiful meadow in front of him with a smiling Holy Rome holding a bouquet of flowers.
For Chibitalia, the painting he just created was intended to show Holy Rome how well he had improved in his art-after all, it was a result of his striving efforts in the course of over a hundred years. Mr. Austria wasn't completely a bad person as Chibitalia used to think he was; whenever Chibitalia managed to finish his daily chores and behaved well, he was allowed to take the rest of his time for leisure. As Chibitalia grew up, Austria became more lenient and allowed the young nation to dedicate his time to paint, just as he always did.
"Italy..."
At the sound of his voice, Chibitalia found himself unable to observe his painting any longer. He instantly turned his head over to see Holy Rome gazing back at him with the familiar blue irises Chibitalia knew he haven't seen for so long.
"Italy," he repeated. "Did you...miss me?"
The young nation nodded in response. "Yes, I missed you so much!"
Holy Rome let out a gentle smile as he carefully set his paintbrush and palette down. Chibitalia felt his pulse starting to quicken, to his surprise, and started to fidget. It's been way too long since he talked, he thought.
"A-Ah...I finished the painting, Holy Rome! I'll let you see it! A-after all, it has been a while and...I wanted to show you what I painted." Chibitalia jumped out of his stool and turned the easel over so that the new painting in the other's view. Holy Rome seemed to take his time in observing the magnificent piece of art in front of him and let out another smile that seemed to reflect his admiration towards the artist who created it. After another moment of silence, Holy Rome let out a small chuckle.
"Your art never ceases to amaze me, Italy. Your work indeed improved during my absence. As for me... I cannot say if I improved at all over the last hundreds of years...and I doubt that my skills would match up to yours but...I'm sure you'll be able to recognize it." Holy Rome then took the time to turn his easel around to reveal his painting.
The first thing Chibitalia noticed about Holy Rome's painting was the figure displayed in front of him. Although it was painted very clumsily in blobs of brown and blue, he was able to distinguish a human figure standing with his back turned. The figure was tall, had brown hair, and seemed to wear a blue uniform for his clothes. Despite being able to see through the artistic strokes and blots Holy Rome implemented in his painting however, Chibitalia was unable to identify who exactly the figure was. He thought of a soldier Holy Rome fought alongside with; possibly a friend or a foe.
"Italy..." Holy Rome began, catching the aforementioned nation's confused gaze. "It has been a while...hasn't it? You changed so much that I wasn't able to recognize you for a brief moment."
"I-I don't understand...w-who..." Chibitalia trailed off, unable to finish the question.
"The person that I drew is a very special person, Italy." Holy Rome replied slowly. "He is able to grow up with a lot of friends so he'll never be alone. Why don't you take a closer look at the painting?"
The young nation then approached Holy Rome's painting to observe it once again. To his surprise, he sees two other figures present on either side of the blue clad figure -one with black hair dressed in white clothes, the other with blond hair dressed in green uniform- with their backs turned as well. Chibitalia then proceeded to scrutinize the painting, drawing careful attention to the dabs of paint that shaped the preexisting figure in the center. It occurred to Chibitalia that there was a thin strand of hair painted out of the figure's head. Certainly that was something to miss at a glance if Chibitalia hadn't been paying attention-and now he understood.
"Is...Is this...me?" He turned to the nation and watched him nod his head. This confirming action led Chibitalia to tremble in anxiety."Y-You're leaving?" This time, Holy Rome shook his head and approached the young nation.
"Italy," Holy Rome gave a reassuring smile. "I will never, ever leave you. No matter where I am, I will always be right beside you. I will remain beside you forever because...I love you...as I always have. And...the friends you will meet in the future, will always love you as well. You will never be alone again, Italy. I guarantee you this."
"Holy Rome..." Chibitalia said softly, closing the gap between them to wrap his arms around him. "Please don't leave. I want you to stay here...with me, with Miss Hungary, with Mr. Austria...just like before." The other nation slowly unwound the arms around him and placed them by Italy's sides while his took hold of his shoulders, blue eyes gazing down into hazel with a mixture of sorrow and gratitude. Instead of saying another word, the nation gently turned him around to face the painting again.
In addition to the three figures, Chibitalia recognized additional figures present in the painting, all of them holding hands and looking happy.
"Big brother France...Big brother Spain..." Chibitalia murmured as his eyes traced over to every individual depiction. "Brother Romano...Miss Hungary...Mr. Austria...Big brother Prussia and-" He stopped at the group of unknown figures and glanced over to the nation watching over him. "I-I don't..."
"You know them, Italy." Holy Rome replied, removing his hands from Chibitalia's shoulders. "Try to think harder." Chibitalia turned his gaze back to the painting and resumed staring at the figures again.
"T-They're...A-Ah...America...? A-and, England...Russia...China..." The young nation paused, letting the unfamiliar names spill from his lips. He had never heard or seen them before. Yet, the depiction of his older self was holding hands with the strangers along with the ones he cared about.
'Are these the people who I will meet that I will care about as well...?' Chibitalia wondered.
"Holy Rome, I-" Chibitalia turned yet once again to consult the nation...only to find that he was nowhere to be seen. Eyes widening, Chibitalia glanced behind him and craned his neck to look at the distance amidst the never-ending meadow of flowers.
N-No...
Heart quickening in beat, Chibitalia stepped away from the painting to search for Holy Rome. He ran aimlessly in the meadow, ignoring the flowers he trampled in the process. The sun had begun to set, scattering yellow and orange hues across the great sky. Chibitalia paid no attention to the time; he knew that Holy Rome had disappeared and it was all his fault. He felt himself growing desperate, to the point to which his eyes stung from holding back his tears, and to the point to which he needed to see any image of him. He couldn't bear to call out his name...he wanted him to come back. He wanted to see Holy Rome with his very eyes; to reach out to him and grasp his hand. He watched him leave before-he didn't want him to disappear again...!
Just as Chibitalia returned back to the location where he and Holy Rome had sat down to paint, he noticed the two easels remaining where they were; untouched and undisturbed. Chibitalia immediately rushed forth, anticipating to see the painting Holy Rome left behind. To his relief, Holy Rome's remnants of his painting did not vanish; the figures stared back at him with their jubilant smiles.
"Holy Rome..." Chibitalia murmured, voice quivering. He decided to walk back to his easel to take another look at his painting of the nation. As soon as he approached his painting, his heart skipped a beat when he noticed that Holy Rome was no longer present. All he saw was the blue sky and the meadow of flowers drawn with detailed precision...but the illustration of Holy Rome and his bouquet of flowers ceased to exist.
...Just as he just had.
Holy Rome.
"Ah, you better get up or you're going to miss the meeting!"
Italy's eyes shot open and he immediately sat up, nearly hitting his brother in the face. "W-wah...where..."
"AUGH! L-Look at what you did! You could have killed me!" Romano exclaimed in shock before crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes. "You nearly overslept and then that potato bastard could have called to give me another lecture that I clearly don't deserve. I can't baby you all the time...! It's not my fault that the bastard blames on me whenever you sleep in! A-And..." Romano paused in his ramblings when he realized that his brother was trembling. He immediately sat by his side, eyes widening.
"O-Oi! I didn't mean what I said...! D-Dammit!"
To Romano's surprise, Italy reached over and wrapped his arms around his brother tightly, head burying into his shirt to let the tears stain the fabric and muffle out his wails.
"Please...don't go, Romano." Italy mumbled between sobs. "Please don't leave me..."
Despite not knowing what exactly happened to his brother that had induced him to this state, Romano let out a sigh as he comfortingly wrapped his arms around his brother and stroked the back of his hair.
"Yes, brother." He murmured. "I will never leave you."
Ever since the day I left you, I never ceased to think about you.
And now that I've seen you, I noticed how much you changed. Now I get to see the real you.
Italy, I want you to keep smiling. Share the memories with your friends and be happy...so that I can see you smile with them.
But you won't see me for the time being. I'm sorry I'm unable to stay.
Until we see each other again, I hope you get to create new ways to stay happy
So...keep living the life I never had. You're lucky to meet such wonderful friends. Don't worry about me; I will continue to watch over you.
I love you, Italy; I always have. So I will be by your side forever...no matter what.