Athens' Shocking Discovery!

Athens awoke to the sound of knocking on his door. "Athens! Get up!" That was Sparta's voice. He didn't sound happy but at this time of the morning, he never was.

"Alright, alright!" Athens replied crawling away from the comfy, warm, blankets of his bed. He stretched. A shadow under the door told him Sparta was waiting for him. "I'm up, I'm up. Just give me a sec." Athens had grown used to the high pitchy voice. So his voice didn't drop as fast as the others. No big deal. He walked over to his mirror to brush his hair. Athens' eyes went wide. His honey blonde hair was long and flowing. Like a... like a... like a girl. Oh well so it got long, he would just cut it but first...

Athens shut the door to the bathroom. It took precisely two minutes for him to realize something was wrong and he screamed. "Athens! What's wrong? You fall in?" Athens heard Sparta slam the bedroom door. And his footsetps were heading for the bathroom...

He had just about opened it before Athens slammed it shut and locked it. "Don't come in!"

"Athens..."

"Just go to the meeting. I'll be out in a minute!" Athens waited until he heard the door shut. Athens went to the mirror and, loathingly, pulled his nightshirt wide. A boy did not have that kind of chest. "Oh, Athena! Why have you forsaken me!" Athens screeched. Deciding quickly that Athens could not tell the other city-states that someone had turned him into a girl, he- well, she stalked out of the bathroom and dug through her closet trying on anything and everything that wouldn't provide incriminating evidence. All of the shirts she had were tight and her chest still stuck out in most of them. Tossing a baggy button-up that she hadn't worn in years to the ground Athens pulled out her last-ditch effort. A very old holiday sweater that Greece had accidentally left in her room once when they were going over political issues. Athens pulled it on. The shirt was very un-flattering. The sleeves fell far below her hands so she had to push them up. The whole thing could be worn as a dress, now that she was a girl with some accessories she might actually get away with it, but seeing as it was so baggy that it didn't betray her chest she decided on it. Athens had made the shirt when she was little for Greece and had used a tire for size. She both regretted and loved that now more than ever. The shirt was a deep mossy green. Uh, this wasn't going to match her hair and she wasn't sure if she had matching shoes or pants- whoa. She had to stop thinking like that. Athens pulled on a pair of slightly crumpled white pants. Then glancing in the mirror she noticed there was still the hair issue. She grabbed a bronze sword and swiftly cut it. It was not an easy job and when she was done it looked like a drunken monkey had cut her hair but it wasn't going to get better until she could get her hands on a pair of scissors. She grabbed a hard cover novel she had been reading. If Greece fell asleep and the others started arguing it would get boring. She headed out the door.

Everyone was gathered and arguing when Athens got there. Thebes was writing something, probably poetry, Sparta and Crete were arguing, and Greece was avidly talking to Corinth. Athens sat down in the only seat available in between Sparta and Thebes. Wonderful, if a fight broke out she would have to keep Sparta from grabbing her by the shirt collar. Sparta had his jet black hair cut military style (so in a buzz cut) with eyes that were a fiery orange. Thebes had curly blonde hair and startling green eyes. Both turned to Athens as she sat down. "So what was going on this morning? And whats up with your hair? Did Greece cut it half asleep or drunk or something?" Sparta kept asking questions but Athens tuned him out in favor of the other city-states and what they were up to. Thebes said nothing but studied her to figure out if something was somehow wrong.

"I like your hair" he said trying to make light of the situation. At least he was trying for friendly. Athens blinked a thank you at him and read her book.

"Hey I was talking to him!" Sparta announced and grabbed Thebes. When Sparta had given up trying to pick a fight with Thebes since he had started rattling off all the possible ways Sparta could die, Sparta started tapping Athens' shoulder, covering the book, anything to annoy her and focus her attention on him. She folded her page, closed the book, and glared at Sparta. He stopped. She hit him with the spine of the book, hard in the center of his forehead. Sparta crumpled on the floor. He got up and opened his mouth to yell at Athens but Greece had called the meeting to order so he climbed back into his chair and glared at Athens. She smiled with delight at having shut Sparta up.

They went over some political issues and debated on certain things. Within an hour the meeting was pretty much over. "Athens why were you late this morning?" Greece asked her. Athens blinked sleepily, all eyes were turned on her. "We already heard Sparta's portion of the story. You may as well fill us in, and what happened to your hair?" Greece asked. He was all business now. Of course he was wide awake and serious when Athens was having a problem.

"Nothing. I fell asleep in the bathroom somehow and had a nightmare" They all stared at her. None of them looked like they bought it.

"A nightmare?" asked Sparta.

"Yeah. I dreamed that I had somehow turned into you" Athens replied icily. Ouch, that had to hurt.

"That's it!" Sparta grabbed Athens but she was faster. Athens stalked out the door as everyone else stared open-mouthed at the Sparta shaped hole in the table.

"Where are you going?" Asked Greece.

"I've just remembered an important previous engagement. I have to go. See you all later" Athens said and she walked curtly out the door. Athens only knew of one other person that could help her. When Athens arrived she knocked on the door to Austria's house until someone answered the door.

"Prussia I told you to leave us alo- oh, Athens it's you. Hey, what happened to your hair? And that sweater is atrocious" said Austria.

"I need to speak to Hungary" Athens stated bluntly.

"Why?"

"Please. Is she here?" Athens asked.

"Austria I heard my name is someone at the door? Oh, Athens what a pleasant surprise" Hungary said. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Well..." Athens shifted uncomfortably.

"Oh, for heavens sakes come inside" Hungary pulled her in.

"Hungary what is going on?" Austria asked. He clearly didn't object to Athens in his home but had gotten that Athens needed to speak with Hungary privately. And he wasn't liking it.

"Athens?" Hungary asked.

"Uh... well... you see... I really can't say it in front of you Austria, sorry." Athens stuttered. Hungary leaned in closer.

"Whisper whats wrong in my ear." Athens told her. Hungary giggled and turned to Austria who was still frowning. "You don't have to worry Austria. Let us speak in private, I'll fill you in later" said Hungary. Austria wasn't intent on moving. Hungary kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Please?"

Austria smiled. "Oh, all right. But make it quick." He turned and walked down the hall into the room that had his piano in it. Athens heard him begin to play.

"Come along Athens. I'll help you out." Hungary grabbed Athens' wrist and pulled her down the hall and into another room that must have been Hungary's. Hungary sat Athens down at a table and began to explain. "Look Athens, I used to think the same way but I grew up. Now you're growing up too. There's only one thing you can do about it and that's accept the fact that you're not a boy, you never were a boy, and you never will be a boy. You're a girl, you always have been and always will be."

"But-"

"Athens has your body really changed all that much from yesterday to this morning?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Haven't you always been smaller than everyone else, Always been more feminine, always wondered why you're voice never got as deep as anyone else's?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Athens. You're a girl. Simple and plain. Now change out of that atrocious sweater and put on something more comfortable." Hungary said.

"But that's not the point! I'm a girl. Fine. But Greece and everyone else still thinks I'm a boy!" Athens shouted, now standing.

"Well then you'll just have to tell them the truth" Said Hungary "if you'd like I can call Greece for you-"

"No!" Athens could hear Sparta laughing now. The way things were Greece would make her step down from capital simply because she was a girl. "I mean it's okay. I'll tell him."

"Okay. If you need to know anything call me" said Hungary. Athens nodded and left. She went to the only other person she could possibly think of. True, they had once been bitter rivals but Athens needed help from a capital she knew could and would help her. Tokyo was a friend but if she got the wrong idea things could get... ugly.

Nonplussed Athens set out for Italy.

"There you go! Call me over if you need anything! Ve~" said Rome handing a customer his dish.

"R-Rome?"

"Huh? Oh, Athens? Is that you? I haven't seen you since the last capitols meeting. You certainly look worse for the wear. Is Turkey being mean again or is this Sparta's doing?"

"I did this to myself this morning. You see, Rome, um, I have to tell Greece that I'm... I'm a..." She whispered the last word "girl."

"What really?" Rome was so shocked she dropped the tray she was carrying. "Come in. Sit down. You've got some explaining to do." Athens explained the whole thing. Rome didn't interrupt, she sat across the table and listened for the whole time.

"... So you see my predicament." said Athens on the verge of tears "I need help."

"Well I'm not so sure if there's anything I can do in the 'staying a capital' department but moral support I can do" said Rome "I'll come with you while you explain everything. But if you're telling them anyway you should look nice. Not like you're still suffering from a hangover from some crazy party." Rome certainly helped in the looks department. First, she helped Athens change into something nice. They got rid of the sweater in exchange for a wide necked white blouse with a gold ribbon, a matching sweater and a skirt. Rome also provided Athens with some feminine undergarments. A pair of white knee socks and polished black shoes gave her a elegant and classy but also girlish and cute look. Rome also cut the split ends out of Athens' hair, which had grown back out determined to stay long. "There now you look presentable. Let's go" Rome said grabbing her pot.

"What's that for?" Athens asked.

"To knock some heads around if they laugh at you." Rome replied. The trip back to Greece took about two hours but it felt like minutes to Athens. They had sent a note to all of the city-states and Greece himself to meet.

"Wonder why Athens wants to meet?" Sparta wondered aloud.

"We'll see soon" Thebes replied.

"Shut up. Someone's coming" said Crete.

Rome entered the room wielding her pot, looking lethal.

"Rome?" said Greece.

"That's Rome? That's what the Roman Empire's become? A little girl with a pot!" Sparta laughed.

"I'd hit you but you might not wake up for several hours and you'll miss what Athens has to say. Now listen to me. If any of you laugh you'll answer to me. Got it?"

"What gives you the right to come onto our turf and start bossing us around like your-"

"Sparta sit down and shut up" Greece silenced him.

"Cool. Oh Athens~" Rome said in a sing song voice, pulling her into the room.

There was utter silence as they all looked at Athens in a skirt and blouse, blushing like an idiot. "I'm... I'm kind of... a girl" Athens stuttered. Sparta started giggling and tried to silence himself since they were both glaring daggers. He gave up though.

"You're a girl! Ha ha ha ha! Good one!" Rome moved but was too late as Athens had already broken the table in half using Sparta. She kept him pinned to the ground with her foot.

"Anyone else?" The utter silence that followed assured Athens that they were all to shocked to speak or were scared since she had pinned Sparta so fast and if they said anything they knew they'd be next. "Good."

"Well" said Thebes "seems that you've finally figured it out."

"Yes. I am glad that you realized you're a girl, Athens." said Greece.

"Wait, so you guys knew all this time and didn't say anything!" Athens screeched.

"It's news to me..." Sparta grumbled half because Athens was still pushing his face into the dirt but half because something else seemed to be on his mind.

"Well. I've known for some time now" said Thebes.

"I've known since the day you became a capitol" Greece added. With that settled and over with Rome had gone back home muttering something about Romano killing her since she had ditched work. Athens was straightening up her room when she heard a knock on her door.

"Who is it?" Athens asked folding the sweater away for safe keeping.

"Thebes."

"Come on in. I'm just cleaning up." Thebes had a bag in his hands. "Hmmm... a gift?"

"Well some clothes actually. I guess that's your only outfit that fits you right."

"Oh" Athens noticed this problem for the first time. "Yeah, thanks." That was the last night one of the other city-states came knocking on her door. Sparta avoided her completely. The others were nice enough but had stopped asking her about things. Thebes and Greece were the only ones still treating Athens like they had before. The next meeting Athens woke up on time and had proceeded to try and get Sparta up. She knew he had been training late last night and he was likely to sleep in. She knocked. "Sparta wake up! You'll be late!" She heard moans of protest from inside. Rolling her eyes she forced open the door. Sparta's room was completely opposite Athens' room. There were clothes, weapons, and various pieces of armor all over the place. Athens threw a sandwich that was green from mold in the trash and kicked a shield away to reach Sparta. She started shaking him. "Get up!" He opened one eye, closed it, and pulled the covers over himself.

"C'mon Athens, let me sleep in..." he moaned. Rolling her eyes Athens ripped the blanket off his bed casting it off somewhere in a corner of the room. Sparta curled up in a ball and pulled his pillow over his head. Athens proceeded to pull the pillow away and throw it in the opposite direction.

"Get up you lazy oaf!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him off the bed so he fell on the floor, dragging Athens with him. He picked himself up.

"Fine. I'll be there in a minute."

Athens wouldn't trust Sparta to watch her ice cream, much less get up and dress himself half asleep. She ransacked his closet pulling out a black shirt and jeans and threw it at him. "You really should clean this place sometime."

"Uh-huh, you tell me this every time you come in here..."

"I wouldn't have to if you just did what I said" Athens retorted.

"Ha ha, very funny." Athens rolled her eyes once again.

"See you there." Athens stalked out the door. She sat down in between Thebes and Greece upon her arrival.

"Is Sparta awake?" Thebes asked.

"I think. I dragged him out of bed and threw some clothes at him. Now that I think about it maybe I should have included a tub of ice water." Athens opened a book London had lent her. By the time Sparta arrived she was almost done with it. "Good now we can start" said Athens.

Sparta had put his shirt on inside out and backwards. The jeans only had a belt halfway through the loops the other half was hanging limply at his side. Athens started bringing up problems but had become apparent that none of the other city-states were going to answer her other than Thebes and if he or Greece said anything sometimes someone had another comment. Other than Sparta saying that brute force was the answer to everything.

"How is brute force going to solve global warming?" Athens asked. Sparta didn't answer her. Athens was seething with rage after the meeting. She sat in her room and tried to calm down. It wasn't working. She stood up, dropped her pen from the paperwork behind her and stalked out the door leaving it swinging on it's hinges.

Sparta was training, as usual. He made another dummy defenseless (it might have helped his case more if said dummy hadn't been wearing Athenian armor) when Athens stalked in. "Athens!" Sparta said with mock happiness. "What brings you here? Need some more fighting tips?" Sparta teased. Athens walked right up to him, then she punched him very hard in the jaw knocking him off his feet. She then proceeded to pin him against the wall.

"Hit me" she said. Sparta almost took her up on the offer. He pulled back his fist, then he lowered it.

"Let me go, Athens" The fire died in his eyes. He turned away.

"Hit me!" She screeched.

"No! It wouldn't be right to hit a girl!" Sparta replied. Athens growled.

"Sparta I brought the- hey!" Thebes walked in, dropping the box of whatever he was giving to Sparta and broke them apart. He knocked Sparta down with a quick punch to the jaw. Then he knelt next to Athens. "Are you okay? Sparta didn't hurt you did he?" She knew Thebes didn't fully understand the situation. Didn't know that Athens had started the fight not Sparta. But him butting in and saving her had made her so angry she was at a loss for words. But for saving her, she granted him a truly wonderful gesture of kindness; she slapped him as hard as possible and walked away without another word. "Did I do something wrong? C'mon at least explain!" Thebes called after her cradling the side of his face in his hand. "Sparta, have you told her yet?"

This stopped Athens in her tracks. Told her what? She knew she was going to regret it but she turned. "Told me what?"

"I'll take that as a 'no'" Thebes said, stifling a laugh. Sparta's face turned red and he suddenly became very interested in the ground beneath his feet.

"Tell me what!?" Athens screeched. She was curious, and had no intent of leaving until she found out what Sparta had neglected to tell her.

"Well,...um... I-uh...yeah" Sparta stuttered, still not making eye contact with Athens.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks Sparta that cleared up all of my confusion!" Athens said frustratingly and sarcastically.

"...Sorry..." Sparta mumbled. He still wouldn't look at Athens. She could swear that he was blushing. He peered up slightly and then back down at the ground. Oh no... this had to be a joke, a cruel, cruel joke...

"Am I correct to assume that Sparta has a crush on me?" Athens said a blush spreading across her face and turning it a dark scarlet color. Sparta nodded. "Holy Hephaestus!" Thebes would have helped but he was beside himself convulsing with laughter on the ground. The two of them beat the holy hell out of Thebes leaving him twitching on the ground and walked away to talk with each other privately. "Why didn't you just tell me earlier?" Athens asked.

"Because not too long ago we all thought you were a boy" Sparta said "Look Athens I've had a crush on you- no, that's not it- I've been so helplessly in love with you for as long as I can remember even when I thought you were a boy! But I knew it was wrong. Thebes was helping me through it all. I told him my feelings for you and he's been helping me to not look like an idiot in front of you. You don't even know how long I've been holding it in. Your laugh could keep me going for weeks. Your smile sets my heart off in the worst way. Even when we fought your face haunted me every night in my dreams. I knew I'd have to tell you one day - wrong or not, but then - then you realized you were a girl and... suddenly everything was perfect. Well, everything except me losing the ability to talk in front of you." He laughed nervously. "Athens, my point is, I love you. I want to show you another side of myself- the side that wants nothing more than to bring a smile to that beautiful face of yours. Now that you know... will you let me?" Sparta looked at her hopefully and took her hand in his.

Athens was dumbstruck. She could not believe that Sparta - Sparta - of all people had confessed his love for her. "I... I don't know how to respond to that..." She looked at his face. Then his eyes. Those flame colored eyes that she never thought she would ever see looking at her like- like, he loved her. She'd seen his eyes glow with fury, pain, sadness, and happiness but she never thought she would see Sparta look at someone with nothing but love in his eyes.

"Let's start with this" He pulled her close and cupped her chin in his hand and tilted her face upward, his other arm wrapped around her waist He leaned down and kissed her passionately. Slowly and softly at first. Athens was paralyzed. However, she didn't stay paralyzed long. His lips were warm and surprisingly soft and She found herself closing her eyes, wrapping her arms around his neck, and kissing him back. He tilted his head and deepened the kiss and Athens had fallen in love with him long before it was over.

She broke away for a minute. "You know something Sparta. If this is the other side that you were talking about, I think I'm willing to give it a shot." Athens said. Sparta 's entire face lit up. "I love you, too" Athens said, melting back into a kiss with the one person she would have never thought would love her like this.

~The End~

Well, this one-shot took me way too long and I think I'll finish the other one I'm working on before I post for my other, non-oneshot stories. Please review, It means the world to me.