To kick of this Christmas season I have decided to write this. I own neither the Nutcracker or Hetalia..but I can have fun with both them! (This is a mix of the ballet and E. T. A. Hoffman's original book. I was inspired to write this because Nutcrackers are of German descent...and a little Italy as Clara? Who could resist!?)

"Hey Roma? What do you think our godfather got us this year?" A small brunette asked his brother.

It was Christmas eve in the Vargas household, and everyone was excited. All day servants had been bustling about and preparing the drawing room for the evening's festivities. Several times Romano and Feliciano had tried to sneak in. Several times they were scolded by the servants. By the fifth time they had enough sense to lock the doors to the living room keeping the children out. Shortly adults had arrived for the dinner party, one by one they entered the closed off room depositing their children to the seats outside.

"I don't know Feli," his brother said deferring to the pet names they used with each other. "I hope it's more toy soldiers!"

"Veh," pouted Feliciano. "That would be awful, I'd much rather have some new dolls to play with."

"Why don't you use your imagination a bit more?" teased a voice from behind them.

"Roderich! Can we go in now? Pleeeeaaassse," begged Feli looking up as his very tall godfather. In reality his godfather was not so much as tall as Feli was short. Even for a seven year old he was on the small side, people often mistook him for a girl..which was fine by Feli, after all he still loved wearing the soft flowy nightgown from his childhood.

"Why of course," he said with a smirk. Grandly he opened the parlor's doors and took the children's breath away.

In the corner a fire blazed merrily filling the room with a warm glow. Sitting in a semi circle were all the adults, drinking sherry and saying how they had never seen a grander tree. And it was true. The tree was about eight feet high covered in glass orbs, tinsel, popcorn and cherry strings, and candles. The ambient light glowed on the children's faces as they searched the room for their presents. Opposite from the fireplace was a large object covered with a tarp.

"Would you like to see it?" Roderich asked glancing around all the children's faces, his eyes finally resting on his two godsons.

"Oh yes!" cried all the children. With baited breath they waited to see what was under the tarp. They didn't have to wait long.

Under the tarp was a large castle, the children stared in puzzlement as Roderich pulled out a shiny brass key from his pocket. He inserted it into the back of the castle and with two sharp turns the music started up. It was an Italian Christmas carol, and with it came the whirring of gears. Suddenly the doors opened and mechanical people could be seen moving about. The children watched in wonder as the grown ups oohed and ahhed appropriately.

"Oh Roderich," said the mother of a boy napping with a stuffed cat, "you have certainly outdone yourself!"

"Thank you madam, I feel as a clock maker there really was no other choice than to bless my godsons with a castle."

"Yes she is right you certainly have outdone yourself old friend, boys say thank you to your godfather," Rome said to his two sons.

Even as they still watched the mechanical men and women both said a hasty thank you. Presently the clock work people began to wind down, and Roderich showed them how to reset it. They continued to watch until they noticed that after awhile the people just repeated their actions. As Romano became bored he wandered off to play with his other presents. Feli on the other hand just let his eyes wander from guest to guest, finally letting them rest on the mantle where something caught his eye.

"Oh papa!"he exclaimed. "What is that?"

Rome turned to see what his son was pointing at and gave a smile. "That dear Feliciano is a nutcracker."

"Oh it's lovely, whose is it?" his eyes clouded at the thought of the beautiful nutcracker belonging to one of the strange adults. He glanced back at it, it truly was a work of stellar craftsmanship. It was a stout little thing. Under its black hat was a pair of the bluest eyes. The serious glint in the eyes was broken only by the grinning that is so commonly found among nutcrackers. Its blond beard matched its hair, and the black cape and shirt matched his large hat. Like most nutcrackers his head was comically large, and the mixture of stoic eyes and a large grin was enough to make anyone laugh. But not Feli.

"It's all of ours," said Rome, but then he noticed how longingly Feliciano was looking at it. "You know what? You can be its special caretaker, how would you like that?"

Feli ran into his papa's arms and nuzzled his head against the scruffy beard. "Oh thank you! Thank you!"

Roderich went over to the high mantle and gently took down the nutcracker. "Take special care of him," he said with a wink as he handed the precious nutcracker to the small child.

Some of the children found a bowl of nuts and sat in a circle using the nutcracker for its purpose. Suddenly throughout the room a loud crack was heard.

"You did it on purpose!" shouted Feli at Romano.

"No it was an accident, I swear it was!" Romano shouted back, the other children scooted away nervously.

"What happened?" Roderich and Rome come over to see what the fuss was about.

"I was cracking a large nut, and his jaw just broke," Roma said helplessly.

"You did it on purpose!" Feli said tears filling his eyes.

"There there, I'm sure your brother meant no harm." Rome said comforting the small child.

Roderich came over and looked at the broken nutcracker. He smiled. He pulled the little red ribbon from the collar of Feli's nightgown and wrapped it around the broken jaw. "Ah there that will have to do until I can get him to my workshop to fix."

All too soon the grandfather clock rang, signaling that it was time for bed. One by one the guests collected their sleepy children and led them home, leaving only Romano, Rome, and Feliciano in the grand house. They put their toys in the cabinet and began to head up.

"Papa, can I stay in the parlor with the nutcracker for just a bit longer? Please," begged Feli.

"Alright, just for a bit. Then join your brother in your room, got it?" Rome said looking wearily down into the small hopeful face.

Feli ran back into the parlor. The candles had been extinguished, and the fire was mere embers. Feli reached for the nutcracker and took him to the doll bed he had received as a gift. As he was tucking the nutcracker into bed he spoke to him, "and tomorrow when Roderich comes he'll fix you up! Then you'll be as good as new!"

Suddenly it seemed to Feli that the nutcracker's face had come alive. It's only the dimness of the lights. I must be imagining it, Feli thought. Then the grandfather clock began to chime. It was midnight.

Pretty please leave a review! I want to see what you thought about it. So if you had any thoughts about this leave a review (good or bad)..and since you are not a vegetable or brain dead patient in a hospital I am expecting reviews!...please?