Marukaite Chikyuu- Aishite Imasu
"Eh, another recording?" Little Italy looked at the woman in front of him with a confused expression. He had just finished with the recording the first time, and they said that he didn't have to do it anymore. Why the sudden announcement then?
"Oh, it's just something that we want to try out." said the woman in front of him. Italy just became even more confused. He'd have to ask his adult self about this...
"Um… can you tell me what it's about?" Italy asked her. The woman smiled and chuckled.
"You know Holy Roman Empire, right?" Italy nodded ad grinned widely at the mention of his friend.
"Si, he's scary, but he's really sweet too!" he replied.
"You're going to have a recording with him today." The woman answered his question from before. "Follow me," she offered her hand to little Italy, and he took it willingly.
"Yay! Holy Rome will be singing with me! I've heard him sing once, and he sings wonderfully! Austria called it 'wunderbar', but I don't know what that means," Italy said, with one hand trying to adjust the bow tied behind his maid dress. The woman sighed and reached down to his level.
"Okay, turn around and let me help you," she told him, reaching for the white fabric. Italy nods, but then he stares off into space as if in deep thought.
"Will he be alright singing with me? Because I've noticed sometimes that Holy Rome's face turns red when I'm with him, and I bet he's angry! That's what Austria looks like when he's mad so it kind of makes sense…" The young boy in a dress started to worry. The woman couldn't help but laugh. Italy tilted his head in question.
"Eh… What's so funny?"
'Ah, young love. Too bad Italy-chan's too oblivious to notice…' thought the woman, already formulating in her head how it would play out if Italy and Holy Roman Empire did get together in the end. It really is a shame that this woman had no limits when it came to fulfill her shipping needs…
"I'm sorry, but you're not singing with him, exactly." The woman clarified, tugging lightly on the bow.
"Eh? But you said we would be singing together!"
"I did, but it's more like you would be singing along with him. You're not going to be in the same room when you do sing." She said, standing up again and they continue to walk towards the recording room. Italy pouted. So he doesn't get to mess around the equipment with Holy Roma then…
"Does Holy Rome know about this?" Italy asked again. Without hesitation, the woman shook her head. "Why?"
"You'll find out why later Italy."
"Another one…?" A boy clad in black looked at one of the managers running the place. Without even looking at him, the managers nodded. It was kind of rude, but he was used to these kinds of bosses so he was alright.
"Yeah, but we need you to do it a little faster this time." Short, blunt, and informative answers… yep, just like how his old bosses used to run the place.
Holy Roman Empire huffed and crossed his arms. "Why? You said my first performance was enough," Yeah, sure, the lyrics were a bit too much of his private life, but he had to admit that it was good enough to only sing once. Kind of like a, um… 'one-hit-wonder', as America called it? He still doesn't know what it means though.
"We're doing this for a fan, so you might as well suck it up a bit."
Yeah, it's going to be a long day for Holy Rome.
Italy sat in one of the high stools near the microphone, and wondered what his new modernized friends were doing. America seemed like a nice guy, but he was loud so he was a bit scary. He also met this guy that kind of looked like Holy Rome… but scarier and stricter than even Austria- no wait actually he wasn't sure which one of them was scarier. There was also this weird kid- bigger than him but can't have been older than fifty years- who kept bugging England about independence, but Italy really didn't want to know what was going on.
His older-self DID warn him that the world became weirder than it should have been…
Italy sighed. When was Holy Roman Empire going to arrive…? Oh, he wished that he had his sketchpad and a few color pencils with him right now…
What did this new fan want anyway? If it was just singing then it shouldn't be a problem for him… But this boredom wasn't worth it.
Suddenly, the door opened, and Italy caught a glimpse of a black cap. His expression brightened immediately. Finally, Holy Roman Empire!
He tried raising his hand to wave at him, but then he remembered that the woman said that Holy Rome shouldn't know that he was there too. She said something about 'anxiety issues' and 'kawaii-desu relationships'… whatever those things mean. He made a mental note to ask America to look it up for him later.
With a slight pout, Italy put his hand down and tried to make himself invisible to the empire beyond the glass.
"Okay Italy, I'm going to have you pause at certain parts of Holy Rome's song." One of the staff told him while he handed Italy a small stack of papers with lyrics written on them.
"Wouldn't Holy Roman Empire hear me?" he said, worriedly looking at the walls behind him. Beyond it, Holy Rome was being taught how to lower his tempos.
"You can hear Holy Rome, but he can't hear you. It's like one of those mirrors where you can see what's happening on the other side but the guys over there can't see you."
"…How does that work?" All of this information sounded alien to him- no matter how many years he'd spend adjusting.
The staff guy scratched his head. "I'm not sure… we usually just leave it to the guys who make these things." He replied.
"Oh, okay then…"
"Staff, get out of there, we're about to start!" The manager yelled as he clapped his hands. Beside him was an intelligent-looking young woman holding a folder full of sketches and song lyrics.
'That must be the fan they were talking about…' Italy thought, and wondered if she could cook pasta. And if she wasn't American- because Italy has seen what has happened to pasta in America's place and he didn't like what he saw at all. By the looks of her folder though, it seemed like a new pasta partner was far-fetched… oh well, new buddy to help him understand Mr. Japan's art styles!
"Holy Roman Empire, are you all set?"
"Uh, ja! Ja, I'm ready,"
The manager looked at the other side and at Italy. He pointed at the small nation with a look that said 'are you ready because I sure as hell am'. Nervous, Italy held up two tiny thumbs-ups.
"Okay people let's get this show on the road!"
"Oi Oi Vati, I love that child,"
Italy wondered who Holy Rome was talking about while he sang his lines.
"Hey, hey Mama, hey, hey Mama!"
"The deck brush that child gave to me-"
"- I can't forget the taste~"
He was too blinded by the thought of Bolognese to notice the phrase deck brush, sad to say.
"Draw a circle for the world,"
"Looking closely, there's the Earth!"
"Could it be the world?"
"I am Chibitalia~"
"I'm the Holy Roman Empire!"
"Draw a circle, there's the Earth!"
"The happy world,"
"The Earth that goes 'Pon, pon'"
"I'm the Holy Roman Empire!"
"I am Chibitalia~"
"Even though you run away when I follow,"
'This sounds familiar to me,' Italy thought as he sang his own lines. He didn't really have to worry about his lines because he made an effort to memorize them for weeks.
"You follow me when I run away…"
"I've always loved that child since the 900's,"
'Is he talking about…me?'
"That's right Vati, I'm not lying,
Oi, oi Mutti, listen to this Mutti!"
Italy was curious to hear more.
"Ha~ There isn't any pasta around?"
"I-Italy…"
If they weren't in the middle of recording, Italy surely would have froze up. Was he calling him?
"I love you… I love you!"
"No matter what… I love you."
Italy almost forgot his line right then. "Ah… h-horrible…"
'He loves me… he loves me!'
He felt really guilty when he said that right after Holy Rome's confession of love.
"Draw a circle, for the Earth,"
"Draw a circle there's the Earth!"
"The 'I want to see you' world,"
'…Was that how he felt when he was fighting…?' Italy had to remind himself to keep up emotion- or else he'll be punished. "I am Chibitalia~"
"I'm the Holy Roman Empire!"
"Ah~ the beautiful world-"
"The more I think about it,"
"The memories of me and Holy Rome-"
"I'll endure,"
"Ah~ you use the deck brush I gave you,"
"Ah~ I'll never forget the warmth of that child's hand,"
"You're going far, far away-"
"No matter how many years pass, of all the world,"
"-and it'll go with you!"
"I love you the most!"
…"I'll be waiting with lots of sweets okay…?"
After Holy Roman Empire left the recording room, Italy followed. He was still very conflicted with what he had heard in there. Holy Rome… loves him? When Holy Rome told him he loved him, he thought he meant it as friends (and who said friends couldn't kiss each other on the lips?)! The song really didn't make it sound like that- almost as if Holy Rome loved-loved him.
'No, no, that can't be right… it's just the song right?'
He dearly hoped that it wasn't the case. But he wasn't sure that he wanted it to be either.
He liked Holy Rome a lot! He really did! He just wasn't sure in what way, that was the problem here. Couldn't these kinds of stuff come with instructions? The world knows he wasn't any good without instructions right?
Oh this is all just so complicated…
"Italy, are you alright?" a deep, familiar voice met the nation's ears. Italy looked up to see mister Austria standing in front of him with a weird expression etched upon his face. Was that concern?
"Ciao, mister Austria!" Italy greeted him, hiding any sort of worry that was there not too long ago. "I'm fine, no need to worry!"
Over the years, Austria and little Italy's relationship turned into less of a master-slave one and more of a father-son one- even though Austria would never admit it. Italy doesn't even try to hide it.
It also meant that Austria could understand his pseudo-son a little more. It was literally a piece of cake for him to read Italy's expressions like an open book.
Austria's expression turned serious. "Italy, what's wrong?"
"Eh? Nothing's wrong," Italy smiled a fake smile.
"I mean it Italy. That's your troubled face, now please speak up."
The young boy looked away from Austria, albeit a little too sheepishly. Austria noticed that there was a bit of blush on his cheeks.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're blushing. That definitely means that something is wrong." The noble country inquired.
A long silence followed, but Austria had not moved a bit from his spot. Something was up with Italy and he was going to find out. He'll never admit it but this little boy has wormed his way into his heart.
Finally, Italy mumbled something deaf to the older country's ears.
"…did a recording earlier…"
"I can't hear you Italy."
"Holy Roman Empire and I did a recording earlier…"
'Recording? No wonder he's so shaken up. He may be Italy but he isn't that dense…' Austria thought with a sigh. He was familiar with both of their songs' lyrics, and the thing that bothered him was if Holy Roman Empire knew that Italy heard his singing.
And unless Italy had been too distracted by the thought of pasta he'd have heard Holy Rome confess a handful of times…
He can't be too sure about though. "I see. What about it? I would assume you'd enjoy it, not be troubled by it."
"You see, Mr. Austria, he…" Italy was torn between telling him and not telling him. He wasn't sure why. But he figured that he couldn't deal with this himself. Austria helped him a lot even if he was a little scary, so it should be alright, right? Besides, he had experience with this! Mr. Austria married Ms. Hungary, after all.
Not a second after he thought that, he realized that putting it in words was the real problem.
"He um… how do you say this… uh… he said something in… uh…"
"He confessed his love for you when he was singing?" Austria said, stopping Italy's increasingly annoying stammering. When the little boy beside him stared at him in awe and disbelief, Austria merely snorted. "Really Italy, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what they'd put in Holy Roman Empire's song."
"B-but, it's hard to deal with Mr. Austria!" Italy whined, emphasizing just how much in a fix he was feeling right now.
"I know it's hard, Italy. I had a hard time telling Hungary how I felt about her, and an even harder time trying to figure out how to propose!" Looking back, he really did sound like a buffoon when he first tried confronting his feelings. Just like this boy before him and the boy he was talking about right now.
"I didn't really think he would love me in that way…" Italy said sheepishly.
"I would have thought that it'd be obvious Italy. Have you never seen the way he looks at you? Or how furious his blushes were? I've been stuck with him since he was formed so I know this." Austria replied.
"So he wasn't being angry at me when he makes a red face?" Italy put a finger under his chin.
"No. He loves you, Italy. Now, how do you feel about him?" Austria asked him.
"How I feel…"
'This is harder than I thought it would be...' Italy thought sadly as he wandered about the gardens outside the building. The gardens were his favorite place (He couldn't find the old mansion where they used to live) on Earth- the animals were friendly and sometimes the guys he was staying with would play with him there. His older self and he would make flower crowns with Liechtenstein, and her older brother Switzerland would sleep next to them. Sometimes, when they had the time, he would play with the Baltic Nations instead. He particularly liked Latvia, because he wasn't as tall as the others.
Italy bent down to pluck a daisy from its stem. He loved daisies. Holy Roman Empire would give him a bunch on sunny days, with that same red face Italy always sees him make whenever Holy Rome got close. The boy chuckled a bit, and sat down on the grass.
He remembered one day, when he saw Holy Roman Empire laugh. The blonde boy had been playing in the river with his dog- Berlitz, was it? To Italy, Holy Rome's laugh was the best thing about him. It was rare- and Italy found a special beauty in rare things. He hardly even smiled!
'It's really cute,' Italy thought, absentmindedly caressing the petals of the flower he was holding. 'I wish I'd get to make him laugh like that…'
Something clicked inside Italy's mind. Make him… laugh? Him?
'It feels weird… I want to make him laugh? I want to make him… happy. Like how I want to make Grandpa Rome and Big Brother happy!' He smiled when he arrived at that conclusion- only something in his gut tells him that it wasn't it.
"Little me~ Where are you? America wants to show you some of his weird movies!" His older-self called for him. The younger of the two turned around and nodded.
Veneziano watched his younger-self walk over. He frowned. Something's wrong…
"Ve, little me, what's wrong?" He asked little Italy. With a troubled face, Italy looked at his older self.
"What does love feel like?" He asked. Veneziano flinched. He shouldn't be telling someone as young as him the answer to something so deep- even if it was his younger-self.
"W-what made you ask that?" he asked again.
"I did a recording with Holy Roma today…" Little Italy replied. Veneziano's eyes softened. Of course…
"Ah. Alright, I see. Do you really want to know, Feli?" asked Veneziano, leaning down to his younger-self's eye level. Little Italy nodded hesitantly. "Follow me then~"
The editing room was always so noisy, filled with busy people trying to get things done. Italy really wasn't sure if he liked it here or not- the people here were nice and showed him some tips, but they were also very short-tempered because sometimes they had to stay awake all night, editing.
Little Italy was grateful when Veneziano told him that he knew someone who took proper breaks in there- Estonia. Little Italy liked Estonia as much as he did Lithuania. Sometimes Estonia would sneak in some snacks for him.
"Ciao Estonia!" Italy greeted the bespectacled nation. Estonia turned away from his laptop, and smiled at them both.
"Tere, Italy and Little Italy! What can I do for you guys?" Little Italy tried his hardest to not squint at how bright his teeth shone. Just how many times does Estonia brush his teeth?
"You know the recording from earlier, Estonia? I wanna hear it please!" said Veneziano, waving his arms about. Estonia held his hands up in halt.
"Alright alright, but would you please wait a bit- As much as I admire your energy Italy, you should learn to tone it down a bit." Estonia told him while once again facing the laptop screen.
"Ehe, mi dispacie, Estonia." Veneziano rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
"It's alright. You know, I was in charge of editing this, so don't be surprised if you find it amazing!" Estonia said, giving the thumbs-up. Little Italy always did wonder where all those head-sparkles came from. He never got his answer though. "Oh, by the way, nice singing Chibitalia!"
"Eh? Oh, thank you, Mister Estonia!" Little Italy gave him a smile which Estonia didn't seem to notice.
A short while later, Estonia's index finger finally ended on the 'Enter' button. "There we go- Holy Roman Empire and Little Italy's Marukaite. I should probably go and get the fan-girl and tell her the project's done. You guys stay and enjoy the song." The bespectacled nation said, stretching his arms and getting off his seat.
"Thank You Estonia!" said both Italies. Veneziano helped his younger-self up onto the seat. He then grabbed a pair of earphones, and gave one to Little Italy.
Sounds flowed into their ears at once. The solemn tune of a piano and happy synthesizers sound perfect together- but Veneziano focused on Holy Rome's side of the song. He noticed that Holy Rome sang a bit faster than he was supposed to, and he agreed with that. He's heard this song before, and it really did sound great with his younger-self's song.
The voices… Little Italy's high-pitched voice in contrast with Holy Rome's deep voice… Italy was then reminded of many, many memories while he listened to the two children sing.
What really struck him were the lyrics. The lines, and the music- it sounded so pure and untainted…!
Although Holy Roman Empire's confessions reminded him about that bittersweet moment where they had to say goodbye… no, that wasn't the only thing that this song reminded him of.
Beside him, Little Italy was blushing furiously. Veneziano knew that it was because of the words. A lot of things may have changed, but Italy then is still Italy up to this day.
…Should he really be telling his younger self about all this complicated stuff?
"Holy Rome…" Little Italy whispered.
"Are you okay, Feli?" Veneziano asked the smaller nation as they walked down the hallway. Little Italy nodded, and smiled at him.
"Si, I'm fine!" He replied, but frowned after. "This still didn't answer my question though. What does love feel like?" He figured, maybe if he asked again, his older self would tell him…?
Veneziano chuckled, and looked ahead. "How did you feel while you listened to Holy Roma confess his feelings?" he asked.
"Giddy… I guess? And… happy…" Little Italy- with a huge blush on his face- mumbled in reply.
"Do you want to believe what he said?" Veneziano's heart welcomed a familiar feeling of pain and guilt.
"Si… He would never lie to me!" His younger self remained unaware.
"Would you want him to leave, little me?"
"Of course not!"… "…Why would he leave?"
Veneziano ignored this and continued asking. He can't tell him- why would he want to anyway? "If he did leave, would you wait for him?"
"Yes! He's important to me, so I'll wait!"
"Even if it takes years, or decades, or even centuries?"
"Si!"
"… Even if he doesn't?"
"W-what do you mean?"
"Even if he doesn't ever come back, would you wait for him?" Veneziano avoided having eye-contact with his younger-self. Why was his vision becoming blurry though…?
There were times when Little Italy questioned his older self. And this was one of those times. "But… he'll come back, right?"
"Feli, what would you do if it starts seeming like he'll never come back?" A tiny teardrop ran down Veneziano's cheek.
"…I'd still wait for him. Because…"
Memories flowed through both of them. Veneziano wanted to switch bodies with himself right now. But wouldn't that be going through the same pain anyway? It'd hurt even more if he remembers what his younger self remembers. But what his younger self did remember, were only happy memories of simply being with Holy Rome.
Now that he thought about it… Veneziano never encountered Holy Rome since both he and Little Italy showed up. He guessed that it'd just be too painful to even see him back.
Well, he'll just have to make sure that his younger self never goes through this. He can't change what already happened, but no one was there to stop him from trying.
"Because what?"
"… Because I love Holy Roma…"
"That's exactly it, little me. That's what love feels like. Love is never giving up on someone, and it's waiting for them to come back even when it seems hopeless. I'm sure that's what Holy Rome felt like when he was singing his song, right?" Veneziano said, hugging the smaller him. Little Italy had no idea what was going on, but hugged him anyway.
"But… I never left him, have I?"
Veneziano laughs. "You see Feli, you two are tied to each other. That string came a looooooong way since you two were born. It was long enough that you couldn't tell which end belonged to which. Holy Rome found it first, and since then he's been looking for you. Remember, since the 900s?"
"I was gone for that long?"
"Yes Feli. Now, what I want you to do is to go find Holy Roma, and tell him how you feel." Veneziano said. Little Italy nodded with determination.
"I'll never leave him for that long again!" he declared, giving a salute. With a grin, Italy saluted back. Ah, good thing that Germany isn't here to scold him for saluting with the wrong hand.
Suddenly, a small force collided into him. It was his younger self hugging him. Veneziano hugged back.
"Thank you older me!" He said.
"You're welcome, Feli."
As he watched his younger-self bolt down the hallways to find a certain boy clad-in-black, Veneziano smiles.
He can't prevent what happens next, but maybe, by doing this, could hurt both of them less in the future…?
Veneziano shakes his head. No, but at least his younger self would be able to experience love at a young age. He then walks away, humming Mrukaite Chikyuu, on a quest to find Germany and Japan.
THEEEE END
Author's Note: HOLY CRAP THIS THING REACHED FOUR THOUSAND WORDS HOLY CRAAAP
As all of you know, I haven't been updating for say… er, a month? Yeah… don't kill me I still have much to live for.
I had this idea one day, so don't bash me for it if it's not to your liking. I've been listening to Marukaite Chikyuu Chibitalia x Holy Roman Empire so much and this prized plot bunny came along! By the way, please check out HetaliaFusion on Youtube, that mix was from her. Her mixes are awesome (or was it a he?)!
Expect me to be absent for another seven weeks… But till then, please enjoy some HRE/Chibitalia fluff.
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, or any of HetaliaFusion's mixes.