It was the third time that week when Germany found herself dreaming about a little boy who looked like a girl. Not only that, but the people in her dream never called her "Germany". Instead, she was "Holy Rome", which she never understood. As a child, she was always Germany, who was protected and sheltered by her older brother, Prussia. She hardly remembered seeing Austria or Hungary. Lastly, there was never a little boy with them when she was allowed to visit.

The first dream seemed like a fairly normal day when Holy Rome was told to attempt to befriend a nation that was around her physical age. She was told that the merger of the two would create a powerful empire that could be like Rome. The only problem was that Holy Rome didn't know how to interact with others that weren't people of her empire. She had no idea how to really make friends.

So in an attempt to kindle a friendship between her and this other nation, a meeting was set up between the two. Holy Rome stood in front of a little girl wearing a pure white outfit. She had amber eyes and short auburn hair, with an odd curl sticking out. Holy Rome stood there quietly for a while, which seemed to worry the girl in front of her.

After what seemed to be an endless stare-down, Holy Rome blurted, "I want you to come and live with me!" The girl turned her down, saying her grandfather strictly said not to live with her. This upset Holy Rome, causing her to take the girl's wrists and tried to take her to her house.

"What are you doing?" the girl cried.

"I have to take you to my house!" Holy Rome stated. "That way you can be a part of my empire!" Suddenly, she was stopped by a large, handsome man. He scooped the girl in his arms and took her away from Holy Rome. She assumed it was the girl's grandfather.

Time passed, and Holy Rome suddenly started to miss the girl who turned down the offer to live together. She assumed it had to be because she skipped out on the chance to have a best friend. In an attempt to see her again, and apologize for her rash behavior, Holy Rome wandered into the territory of the Italian states, where she found the girl sitting on the lap of her grandfather. Holy Rome snuck closer. There were stories and laughter shared between the two family members. However, one thing that caught Holy Rome off guard the most was that the man called the child his "grandson."

"She's a boy?" she gasped as she started to blush. "I had been trying to get a boy to live with me?" Holy Rome shook her head in disbelief before running back home.

Germany's second dream started with Holy Rome returning home; only to find the boy she thought was a girl, in her house, cleaning up the place. He wore a green maid's outfit, which she didn't understand. Since the child was a boy, why was he wearing a dress? She shrieked, which caused the boy to panic, turn around, and see her. Holy Rome felt like her heart was about to jump right out, so she quickly ran away. Once the boy was out of sight, she tried to collect herself. She didn't understand why all of a sudden she was nervous around him. She was fine before figuring out he was a boy, yet why would that change anything?

After a little while, Holy Rome decided it was finally time to talk to this boy. She spotted him wandering around the kitchen, looking for something to eat. She saw that he passed up almost everything in there. He whined about there not being any pasta, and he walked out of the kitchen in a huff. Holy Rome quickly ran into the kitchen to make a small dish for the hungry boy, and attempted to find him. It took a while, but she found him outside still looking for some sort of food.

"Hey," she stuttered as she approached him. "If you're hungry, I have this you could eat."

The boy looked over at her. Her head hung low in an attempt to hide her blushing face. He smiled softly. "Thank you!" he cheered as he took the plate and sat down on the ground. Holy Rome waited patiently for his response. "It's nothing like what I eat at home," he mumbled, "but I can live with this for now."

Holy Rome shot a glare at the boy, which she had never done to anyone before. "Would you rather starve?" she grumbled. She examined the boy. "Also, why do you wear that dress?"

The boy looked up at her. "What do you mean?"

"You're a boy, right? So why do you wear that dress? You should wear more appropriate clothes, or people will think you're a little girl."

"Don't be silly! Nobody thinks I'm a girl!"

Holy Rome sighed heavily. "I better get going. Take the plate back to the kitchen when you're done." She turned her back on him and scurried away from him. Her face burned from embarrassment. "There's no way that I could like him," she told herself. "I've just never been around boys my age! Everyone I know is older than me!"

Days passed and Holy Rome's feelings for the boy developed unexpectedly. Just the sight of him made her heart pound like a bass drum, and she blushed to the point where her small body was completely warm. She even asked Hungary for help (without mentioning who the boy specifically was), who told her she should tell the boy how she feels. Holy Rome agreed, and she set off to find the boy.

She found the boy wandering the hallways in Austria's house. He seemed to be admiring the portraits of Austria, which suddenly had big moustaches painted on them. "Hey," she called out to him, which caused the boy to jump a little.

"Holy Rome!" he exclaimed.

"I need to talk to you," she mumbled, "and it has to be done where nobody else can hear us." The boy nodded, and Holy Rome took him outside to an open field. She stood there quietly for the longest time.

"So what is it you wanted to say?" he asked her.

Holy Rome held her hand out to the boy. "I'm offering you once again to join forces with me. We'll be the greatest empire in the world! The last time I asked you, I was unsure, but I'm positive that you and I," she paused as she her face grew warm, "we would make a great team."

The boy looked at her for a couple seconds before he shook his head. "No. I can't do that."

Holy Rome gasped and lunged herself at him. She grabbed him by the collar of his undershirt. "Why not?" she yelled. "I thought you were smarter than this! There's someone else, isn't there? Answer me!"

"You've got it all wrong!" he shouted. "If we join, the empire would be too big to manage. You'd die just like my grandfather. He's covered in scars because of how difficult it was to run his empire! I don't want anything bad to happen to you! You have to believe me!"

Holy Rome's hands shook before she shoved him down on the ground. She didn't know what to say to him. She was heartbroken. Holy Rome thought that the best way to express her feelings was to ask for a merger, yet the boy turned her down. He didn't share how she felt! She turned his back on him and ran off without a word.

Holy Rome ignored the boy for the longest time. She figured she'd get over him in time, especially when she was called to battle. She packed up all her belongings and was ready to leave with her army, when she heard someone call out for her. She turned around to find the boy running after her.

"What are you doing?" she asked him. "I'm leaving right now."

"I just wanted to give you one last goodbye."

Holy Rome sighed and rolled her eyes. "This isn't a final goodbye. I'll return after the war." She looked over at her troops. They seemed uncertain of the war's outcome, which worried her. Would she make it out of this alive? She turned back to the boy. "But just in case, maybe I should try telling you something again."

"What is it?"

Holy Rome bit her lip. "The thing is, well, I've like you for a long time!" she exclaimed. "And I didn't know how to express how I felt because I was so nervous around you! I've just never liked anyone before." She looked down. "I think I'm doing this all wrong. What would you do if you were me?" she asked. "If you liked someone, how would you express it?"

The boy had a blank expression for a while. "Oh, I know! I'd kiss them! That's what we do where I'm from!"

Holy Rome looked up at him. "A kiss?" She shuffled her feet. "I suppose that'd be the best." Without any other warning, she grabbed him by the collar again and pulled him close so their lips touched.

Germany woke up startled by her dream. She held her head and shook it in disbelief over it. "This is ridiculous," she mumbled. "Why am I the one having these dreams when I'm not in them?" She turned her head, only to find her ally and best friend, Italy, sleeping next to her. Even after having him sneak in her room for months, she would still jump at the sight of him. Germany took a good look at him. Even in the dark, she noticed that he strikingly had the same hair as the little boy in her dreams. "It's just a coincidence," she told herself.

Germany considered kicking Italy out of her bed as she usually did, but as she was about to wake him up, she stopped herself. She thought about the times they shared together, even though most of them ended up in disaster. They were practically opposites, and yet they managed to stay friends. Germany knew she was tough on him, and might have left a few bruises on him during their training sessions, but he still stood next to her.

"Why do you stay?" she muttered as she placed a hand on the top of Italy's head. "It doesn't make any sense." She sighed and moved her hand away. She turned her body so her back was turned to him. "Maybe I'll ask him in the morning."

Germany was to the point of falling asleep when she felt Italy move closer to her. Her eyes shot wide open in shock. She turned around and saw Italy's arms wrapped around her waist. Germany's face turned bright red and forced him off her. However, Italy clung onto her again. Germany sighed heavily. She swore this happened every night he stayed with her. If either didn't wake up in the middle of the night, they'd be in each other's arms by the morning.

"Maybe there's something about him that I don't know."