AN: Sorry, I was really craving some HRE/Chibitalia lovin'. /3 Anyone wanna hit me up with a GerIta/HRExChibitalia 1v1 on Gaia?
There's some Austria/Hungary at the end, too. Sorry this is so short, I just wanted to write something kind of cute. ;;
Holy Rome could not understand.
It wasn't as if Hungary had used words he didn't know. It wasn't like he was too young to know what she was saying.
He just simply could not understand.
"W-What...?"
Hungary had her hands on her hips, turned away from the pan on the stove as she corrected the child. "I said, Italy is a boy." As much as he ran his mind over it, Holy Rome was still having trouble understanding. His eyebrows creased together in confusion, eyes dull with thought. The woman simply groaned. "Look, go ask him yourself, he'll tell you."
The young boy nodded and ran out, the tapping of his small boots on the ground echoing away. Hungary rolled her eyes and went back to cooking casually.
However, Holy Rome's brain was tangled in a mess of thoughts as he maneuvered his way out the backdoor. A boy...? How could...what? Italy was quite obviously a girl, wasn't she? She had that soft voice, those cute eyes, and always wore those adorable outfits...clearly a girl! Obviously, Miss Hungary must have been wrong. Oh so very wrong. He'd have to complain to Austria about her later.
Hopping down the steps outside, he found himself running through the flower field. At the top of the hill was the one he was looking for. His beloved Italy.
There she was, linking daisy chains so innocently. Looking up, she saw Holy Rome approach and turned the cutest shade of pink. "O-Oh, Holy Rome...! I already cleaned the house, and Mister Austria said I could go relax, so I just..."
Holy Rome smiled, his worries coming to rest. Hungary must've just been confused. Honestly, Italy was the cutest girl ever. Like the girl she was, she was out picking flowers, blushing with honest intentions and embarrassment, wearing her adorable little bandana and her girlish...
…shorts.
She was wearing shorts.
Slowly, Holy Rome's eyebrows began to furrow once more. "Italia...why aren't you wearing your skirt or your dress?" Shorts were such a boyish thing to wear, girls shouldn't...
"Oh, this...?" Shyly, Italy looked down, tugging at the shorts with a small hand. "Miss Hungary said I should stop wearing that stuff, so she got me some of these..."
"That's absurd!" The blond child stomped over and began rudely pulling at the Italian's shorts. Italy cried out in surprise and gasped, trying to get him away and wailing, but Holy Rome did not back down. "It's not appropriate for girls to wear shorts! They should wear...feminine things! Take those off!"
Italy blinked, then frowned and pulled away from the assaulter. "I know...! That's why Miss Hungary said I should wear shorts! Only girls wear that stuff!"
"But you..." The horrible, terrible, awful truth began to rear its ugly head. Holy Rome could only sputter nonsense as the realization fully dawned on him. "B-But, y-you, I-I, y-you're s-su-supo-pose-d-d t-to..."
Italy tilted his head to the side innocently. "Holy Rome...?"
"I...I'm sorry!" He turned to leave, to run away in shame and embarrassment, to curl under a rock and wait to die, but a small, soft hand grabbed his own and stopped him.
"Holy Rome..." He couldn't face Italy. He held the boy's hand in his own, but he couldn't face him. Nevertheless, he could hear the Italian's sadness. "Y...You thought I was a girl?"
The blond gently squeezed his friend's hand. "I'm sorry, Italia...but...!"
Italy shook his head, a soft smiling gracing his face. "It's fine. I understand...everybody kept putting me in dresses all the time, so I guess everybody thought I was..." The young boy let out a small giggle. "It doesn't really matter though, right-?"
"Doesn't matter?" Indignantly, Holy Rome tore his hand away, turning to the Italian. "What do you mean it doesn't matter? You're a boy! And I'm a boy!"
"So...?"
"So? So? A...A boy can't love another boy!" Holy Rome removed his hat, smoothing his hair back with a hand and sighing, looking away. "I can't believe...this entire time...we can't be together like this...! Two boys, two boys can't...I can't believe you never told me!" He turned to the Italian, about to place the blame on him for not telling him. But he stopped when he saw the tears.
Italy pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes, trying to wipe the tears away, trying to stop the flow, but failed. Instead, he let out a sniffled, a whimper, and then a choked sob. Hesitantly, Holy Rome reached out to him, but the brunette pushed his hands away. "I can't believe you!"
"W-What? Me?" Holy Rome clutched at his hat in disbelief. "What did I do? You're the one who...you never told me! I loved you, and this whole time you-!"
"Why does it matter?" Seething through tears, Italy clenched his small fist, crushing the daisies he had picked earlier. "I knew you were a boy, and I knew I was a boy, and I still loved you anyways!" The blond paused, mouth gaping slightly, but Italy continued before he could formulate a response. "You only loved me because you thought I was a girl? I love you, Holy Rome! I don't care if we're both boys, I wouldn't care if we were both girls! I love you for who you are!"
The words were heartfelt, sweet, kind. But the Italian continued to cry, tears continued to well up and trail down his face. Holy Rome's face burned with embarrassment and shame. The Italian had known all along and loved him regardless of what his own pope would say...? It was romantic, if anything, but now he had blown it. His lover was now in a fit of tears and upset, and it was all his fault...!
Slowly, Holy Rome reached out to the Italian once more. Italy was too busy trying to dry his eyes to stop him. The blond put his hands on Italy's shoulders, pulling him into a loving embrace. He gasped out and bit his lip, struggling for a moment, but quickly forgot about it as he melted into the large hug. Holy Rome gently wiped the tears away with a thumb, kissing the corners of the Italian's eyes. "Italia..."
Italy tried to turn away, covering his face with his hands. "Holy Rome, please..." His voice was trembling.
Holy Rome squeezed him tighter. "Anything for you, Italia," he mumbled, one hand moving up to uncover Italy's face.
"Please, please," he choked out, shifting to cling desperately to his friend. "Don't be mad at me because of this, don't hate me...I...without you, I don't think I could..." The blond blinked at the sad plea. Before he could respond though, shouting caught them both off guard.
"Italy! Holy Rome!" Hungary stood at the door, hands cupped at her mouth. "Lunch is ready! Hurry back or it'll get cold!"
Any other day Italy would have been already sprinting home. Instead, he stayed in Holy Rome's arms, slowly looking his friend in the eyes, desperate for a response. Holy Rome grabbed him by the shoulders and quickly pulled him into a kiss. As Italy began to turn bright red, Holy Rome smiled gently. "I will never stop loving you, no matter what." Afraid he would tear up again, Italy looked away, embarrassed. Understanding, the blond took his hand gently. "Come on, let's go."
Nodding, Italy squeezed his friend's hand softly, before they both went racing back to the house. Hungary stood waiting for them, shaking her head. "What took you two so long? Honestly, Mister Austria almost ate all your food! If I hadn't stopped him from being such a pig-"
"E-Excuse me?" Austria sputtered out from inside, food flying from his mouth rather ungracefully. "It's not my fault! I'm starving, and you took forever making lunch!"
"Oh, so now it's my fault? I see how it is!" The two continued bickering, unaware of the children passing by. As they argued, Italy and Holy Rome hopped into their seats at the table, scooting their seats closer together. They began eating and laughing together, in a world of their own, completely oblivious to Austria and Hungary pausing from their conversation to stare. Grinning, Hungary elbowed Austria. "I told you!"
Austria coughed, wiping his mouth with his napkin. "I should have figured as much...nothing will stop that boy, huh?"
"It's awfully romantic," Hungary sighed and smiled, pretending to swoon. "If only men were so romantic these days...!"
"We can't all be hopelessly in love," the German responded. He slowly shook his head. "He can't think realistically, there's no way-" Austria stopped as he looked up and realized Hungary was reaching for the frying pan. "...I-I suppose it's cute though."
Finishing his food (that had been crudely scarfed down as if Italy hadn't eaten in days), Italy climbed down from his seat, grabbing Holy Rome's hand and beginning to drag him out. Holy Rome's cheeks turned pink as he frowned in confusion."W-Why are we going back out?"
"I was making you a daisy chain," Italy explained calmly, turning to his friend and smiling. "I want to finish it for you!"
Before Holy Rome could respond, Hungary interrupted him once more. "That sounds fun!" The three in the room turned to her in confusion. Grinning, she grabbed Austria's hand. "Well? Let's go!"
Austria stuttered and tried to argue, but Hungary dragged him out into the field with the kids, regardless. Italy flopped down with Holy Rome and began reconstructing the daisy chain, instructing Holy Rome on how to make one. Holy Rome tried to follow along and copy him, but was having a bit of trouble. Hungary sat down and began picking daisies as well, trying to urge Austria into joining in.
Much later that day, when the sun had started to set and it started to get a bit too cold to sit comfortably outside, they all proceeded home. Hungary carried a sleepy Italy in her arms, daisy chains draped all over him. Austria carried Holy Rome on his back, the boy lovingly clutching the chains given to him in his sleep.
Hungary glanced to Austria. He glanced back to her behind his glasses, trying to ignore the daisies she had strung in his hair. Hungary only smiled and chuckled, kissing Austria on the cheek.
"Maybe we could be hopelessly in love too."
An albino stood hopelessly in the field of flowers. He frowned, kicking the head off a daisy.
"I'm okay with being alone...quit mocking me, you stupid flowers!"