"Dumbass... He called me his 'Little Tomato' again... what an asshole," Romano grumbled as he walked away from the Tomato Bastard's house. His heart hurt again... 'No! I can't have an attack right now...' He thought. Romano stopped walking and rested his hand against the wall. He coughed, spit and a small bit of stomach acid spilled into his palm. 'This doesn't look good... but I can't let Spain see this..."

Romano kept walking, passing restaurants and hotels and all those modern building. Romano walked outside city boundaries but he didn't notice. 'A sickly man like me shouldn't be polluting the streets should he?' Romano got his hacking under control and made a nice present for whoever cleaned up the sidewalks. Rural country was covering the ground and the sun was setting. 'I don't think I'll get back in time for dinner, Tony...' Romano thought as he walked by farmhouse after farmhouse.

Romano probably only passed about three before he reached his limit, Romano had thought the attack had ended, but apparently it had only started. 'The way things were looking, I wasn't going to survive on my own for much longer. I had better find shelter before the Tomato Bastard would be right to worry that I was dead...' Romano started walking past a sign that he didn't look at, 'probably the owner of the farmhouse... but wait. This wasn't a farmhouse! It was much too furnished... Oh well, just find a barn to sleep in, don't wake up the owne-'

Romano went down, 'Shit I'm pathetic, aren't I? The owner will probably find me randomly lying near his porch and call the police for entering his property without permission, not like I could do anything to stop him. My eyes drooped and I coughed again, not good, not good at-'

"Romano? Mon ami?" Romano raised his head up to see the French Bastard looking down at him. He wore a red rosy robe and a pair of dark slippers, 'the slippers must have cost a fortune by the looks of them... I wonder how fluffy they are?' "Romano! Are you okay?! Get inside!" Francis soon realized that Romano didn't have the strength to get up. He kneeled down and pulled Romano up under his arms and hurried to set him down by the fire.

"What happened to you?" The question came out a little more harshly than Francis wanted it to be, but he didn't apologize.

"N-Nothing... asshole... I just ran out of energy is al-" Romano started hacking again. Francis jumped to help him and rubbed Romano's back until the pain passed.

"I have a feeling this has been going on for a while, oui?" He asked Romano.

"S...Si... But I-I can't tell him. He won't ever forgive himself... It was all my fault anyway..." Romano didn't want to tell the french nation, but he knew that Francis wouldn't let this go.

"I won't ask for now, we need to get you a doctor," Francis said and put a hand up as Romano started to protest, "Free of charge, I won't let you go untreated."

Romano, for once let a grateful look slip onto his face, then it was replaced with a look of worry and pain, "D-Don't tell *cough* him-!"

"Mon ami, I'm not going to swear I won't tell him. But I will keep my mouth shut about the matter for now, alright?" Romano nodded. "Now rest or I will force you." Romano eyes drooped at the sound of the word 'rest'. 'When was the last time I had a chance like this?' Romano thought. He settled into the lounger and Francis laid a few blankets over him.

"Bonne nuit, Romano."

Francis disappeared from Romano's vision and turned the lamp on the other side of the room off. The only light in the room was the fire place. Romano closed his eyes and fell into deep sleep.

~~~~Skippy~~~~

Francis woke up bright and early, he looked over at his alarm clock and it said 10:05. Okay so maybe he didn't wake up too early. He turned the alarm off and headed downstairs, to be utterly astonished. The covers where Romano have been were empty. 'Where could he have gone? Did you run off on his own?' Francis looked down at the lounger and saw a lump in the covers. 'What could that be?' Francis slowly walked over to the covers and reached for the blanket. Francis stopped as he saw the lumps move, and he heard a little groan. Francis threw the covers off of the lounger and was startled to see a small child!

The boy looked around five to six years old, his little red chubby cheeks moved as the he yawned. He wore a light pink shirt with a white apron over tip of it, a white bandana was tied to his head. This wasn't the Romano Francis had seen last night, but it was definitely Romano. Francis wondered, 'How could Romano have gotten so young?!' The little Romano lifted his eyelids and looked up at the bewildered frenchman.

"AHHH! It's the French Bastard!" The chibi Romano squeaked and raced for somewhere to hide. 'This isn't going to turn out well...' Francis concurred.

"Mon ami? Are you Romano?"

~~~~At another time~~~~

Romano slid down the side of the wall, wondering how the fuck he had gotten here. He was staring out at the Tomato Bastard's old house, it was supposed to have been demolished! So how was he able to see it so clearly, smell the spicy taste of tomatoes, and feel the dirt underneath his legs? This was some strange dream he was having... No, the coughing and hacking started up again. Romano gasped as a sharp pain hit his chest. 'I have to get out before someone co-comes-'

"Hola? Is anyone there?" Called out a familiar voice. Romano looked up in horror as he saw a younger version of Tony, about the same age as Romano, run up to him. "Ah! Someone was here... hola? Do you live around here? Can I help yo-" Antonio then saw the barf on the ground and Romano's terrible condition, "Oh no! You look terrible! Let me help you inside!" Romano reluctantly let the younger Antonio take him into the house.

-preview-

"My Little Tomato! Where are you?!"

"I don't know how to tell you this... but, do you believe in time travel?"

"What's wrong with you?!"