*A/N: The revised version of CLF! I had to make changes to the story plot since I wasn't quite satisfied with the first couple of attempts. Hopefully this will be better! Enjoy 3*

*Prologue*

It was sometime before the year 1810. Outside the home of their big brother Antonio, a.k.a. Spain, and within the city, North Mexico and her younger brother South Mexico were taking a stroll together down the streets of Madrid. They were grocery shopping and simply picking up a few things for their family, when they decided to stop by at a local café to grab a snack.

In the late summer afternoon, North Mexico wore a ruffled red dress that nearly touched the ground, while her brother wore a white long sleeve top with black pants and black shoes, with a dark coat covering most of him. His sister wondered if he felt too hot in that outfit.

When they got inside and settled down at a small table near a corner, North Mexico started digging her hand inside the top part of her dress, on the side of her right fair skinned breast.

"Katarína, qué estás haciendo? Why are you digging into her dress like that?!," South Mexico loudly whispered towards his sister, "People might be watching!"

"Oh relax, mi hermanito, I was just pulling out the list Antonio gave us for the shopping. No worries," she dismissingly waved with her free hand as she finally pulled out the folded paper from where she searched.

"You know, you could've given the list to me to keep in my coat pocket. It's very embarrassing to see my own sister pull things out from between your breasts in public…," he told her as he sighed of disappointment and placed his tan face inside the palm of his hand.

"Hmmm! Well you didn't seem to complain about it when you were with those girls at that one festi-!"

"Shh! That was different! You're my sister! And please don't mention about that event… Only you and me know about it, okay?," he interrupted with his index finger over his lips.

North Mexico nodded in agreement before scrolling her eyes on the paper in her hand.

"It seems we managed to grab everything we needed. I definitely made sure to get some tomatoes for both big brother Spain and big brother Romano," she said as she glanced and smiled at the bag filled with red plump tomatoes, sitting right next to the peppers they also bought, "Lovino really loves his tomatoes."

After briefly thinking about their other older brother back at home, North Mexico looked up to notice her brother silently staring into space, strongly stuck in deep thoughts. It began to worry her a bit when he began to develop a stern look in his eyes.

"Vicente, what's wrong?," she asked with such concern in her tone.

He remained silent for about a couple more minutes before meeting his dark amber eyes with her light chocolate orbs. He exhaled a good amount of breath before preparing to speak.

"Katarína, we need to talk," he said lowly.

Curious, she simply nodded and waited patiently for him to continue. What she heard, however, greatly shocked her.

"Qué?! En serio?!," she exclaimed in surprise.

"I mean it," he said sincerely.

"You must be joking, mi hermano, I mean that just sounds crazy! Have you gone loco? Did you bump your head against something?"

"C'mon sis, think about it. If we declare our independence from Spain, we can be our own country. We can live out on our own, make our own rules and adapt to our own kind of culture. We can be known as an independent country and not have to follow anyone else's orders any longer."

"B-But that sounds insane! How can you think about separating from big brother Antonio like that? You'd be starting a war against him," she argued.

"I understand that is what will surely happen, but I'm willing to fight for my freedom, our freedom," he said, determined in his tone.

All North Mexico felt was deep and pure shock, which made her sick to her stomach. She couldn't bare the thought of fighting against her big brother. The one who took them in and raised them as his own family. Who gave them all the unconditional love he could give them. She cared and loved him deeply, from the bottom of her heart.

When he noticed how upset his older sister began to appear, he gently placed his warm hand on hers and made eye contact with her. He never liked to see his own sister so sad and gloomy. His eyes began to soften.

"Look, I know the thought of it upsets you. Believe me, I care about big brother as much as you do, but I'm just tired of having to be pushed around and relying on him all the time. I want to be able to go and explore the world out on my own without his supervision. We're not kids anymore," he explained, "Didn't you say yourself, sometime after your Quinciñera, that you wanted to be an independent woman because you were all grown up now and the thought of seeing the outside world excited you?"

She then recalled that moment, confirming it with a short yet slow nod.

"I know mi hermano, I know what I said, but…"

"But what, mi hermana mayor?"

"I don't know about this idea. Are you sure everything will be okay, as I pictured it? Are you sure we can win this?," she wondered worryingly, her eyebrows furrowed.

He watched her as she peered down at the table, her eyes dull and gloomy. He knew what she was thinking in that mind of hers. The consequences of losing the war against Spain could be severe. She was scared that Spain wouldn't love them anymore if they tried to leave him. She feared everything would sure never be the same between them.

But she had also dreamed of the day she could be free to go and do as she pleased, without Spain's permission. She was uncertain of what to choose.

South Mexico tightened his grip of her hand.

"Trust me. Things will turn out well. I can't say whether we will win or not, but no matter what happens, I'll always be by your side. I know we can do it, together," he said strongly as he smirked at his emotional older sister.

She looked at him with a puzzling expression. Vicente…

After a minute of attempting to get her mind straight, she lightly smiled towards him, returning the tightness of his grip.

"Muy bien," she hesitated a bit.

South Mexico nodded in approval and let go of her soft hands.

After they had their cups of coffee silently with some tension between them, they gathered their things, paid for the drinks and left without another word. The rest of the walk was even more troubling for the Mexico Siblings, as all they could think about were the possibilities of the battle that would occur.

So many things could go wrong with their plan to separate, they both thought. They weren't sure if they could prepare to go up against the powerful Spain, recalling how he had caused so much bloodshed in the past, fought in a lot of battles and had plenty of experience using military tactics, while they barely could use it themselves.

They believed they could get severely hurt, or even worse.

But they had made up their minds and sucked it up once they got back to the house.

It was their final decision and so they would eventually move forth with their plan: to declare their independence from Spain.

*…July 30, 1811…*

North Mexico peeled open her eyes quickly, but once she did, she noticed how dark and opaque her vision seemed. Then she heard a faint gunshot sound from a distance and voices of men surrounding her. It freaked her out and she began to slightly panic.

"Qué pasa? What's going on?! Vicente!," she yelled as she found out her hands were tied behind her back.

She struggled to get free as she heard some laughter coming from behind.

"I'm right here Katí," she heard her little brother call out calmly to her left.

She was very relieved to know that her younger brother was near and sounded fine, as far as she knew, since she was blindfolded.

"Vicente! Where are we? Why are we tied up like this?," she questioned fearfully.

"We're at the Norias de Baján in Coahuila, awaiting our punishment," a mysterious yet familiar deep voice answered.

"Father Hidalgo? You're here as well," she asked surprised as she turned her head to the left side, where she heard her brother before.

"Unfortunately my dear," he responded deeply.

"Then, you know why we are here, verdad padre?," she stuttered.

"…we are here, for the execution," he said.

North Mexico froze in complete shock. She never imagined that her own brother, Spain, would have the guts to kill his own family members, let alone, plan to severely punish them for the small damage they've cause. She felt tears building up at the corners of her eyes from the terrible image in her mind, of her big brother shooting them in the back, as a sign of dishonor. She thought it was the worst way to die.

"Do not worry mija, you will not be meeting the same fate as me. I believe that Spain plans to spare both of your lives, out of the kindness of his heart. I did what I could for the both of you, for the sake of our people and once I am gone, you must go on and continue to fight for your freedom."

Both North and South Mexico were blown away by the meaningful words the priest gave them. They saw the bravery and his great efforts to help them guide the Mexican Rebels against Spain's Royalists in the struggle for independence. They respected him heavily. They both nodded their heads and hummed to let him know they agreed to it.

Hidalgo then smiled to himself, glad to get their approval.

"May God be with both of you, my children," were his final words.

"Ready! Aim!," they heard the Spanish soldiers shout to their men to prepare for the execution.

It was becoming more and more nerve-wracking as the soldiers paused for effect. North Mexico continued to cry heavily while South Mexico shed a few tears for the priest and his sister's sake. As the seconds went by, the weaker their legs became from the suspense.

Finally, the gunshots sounded right behind them with no warning.

The gasping female country rose up from her bed and sat up straight, panting and breathing rapidly. Frightened, she touched all over her body, lastly feeling her back for any wounds or blood. When she took a good look at her hands, she saw nothing and began to breathe regularly.

"Phew… It was just a dream…," she whispered as she moved a piece of her loose long hair behind her ear.

She was back into reality, in the year 1879, in her hometown of Mexico City.

She scanned her entire bedroom, noting how it was still dark out, but not too long before it became morning. She was barely able to see anything in detail in the room. It was very silent with the exception of the clock tower clicking at every second. Her heart was slowly returning to normal as she lied her head back down on her white pillow and wrapped herself up in her warm same color blanket.

She was afraid of falling back asleep, hoping she wouldn't have another nightmare like the one she had just awoken from, but she was physically exhausted and still had the rest of the night to sleep away. She couldn't keep her tired eyes open any longer.

She gradually closed her eyes shut and drifted into sleep mode in only a matter of seconds.

*End of the Prologue! Plz review & tell me what you think!*