Looking at the world trough new eyes
Frattello… ti senti bene?
Gasping, he swiftly sat up. His chest hurt. His face sweaty and the same with the palm of his hand. His eyes were teary, and he was short of breath. He made his hands into a fist, and cursed himself in his mother language. Damn it, he thought. He wouldn't let the old memories from the countless wars he had fought get to him. Not again, he thought.
Never more.
As he looked around his room, he had to remind himself once again that he was a new self. No longer the one he was. His brother and he were no longer the same.
No more.
He looked over to his phone. No messages. No calls. Nothing. He was alone, as usual. Forgotten. All his friends were busy with being what they were, and he was the only one not like them. Not anymore.
His mind wandered, back to the man he once called his brother. He had to carry all the responsibility alone, now that they were no longer two. Now that the nation was one, there were no need for two.
He remembered his childhood. The man so much older than himself, trying to teach him Spanish. The woman he had a crush on. Her scary brother. All the fun times…
He cursed himself again and got out of bed, into the shower. His head hung low, heavy with the memories about all the centuries he had spent as one of them. The fun he had, even when the German bastard was around. When the Spaniard went out for a drink with the French pervert and the older German brother, who should have been gone many centuries ago, but still was there.
When he got out, he took on some clean pants, wrapped the towel around his shoulder, and took a tomato from the kitchen as a snack. He needed to get his head on other things. Not the past. The future. Not those he called his friends. They were no longer the same. They couldn't be together. Not like before. Everything was different now.
"Fratello! sei sveglio?" so his brother- no, the one he used to call his brother had heard him.
"Si!" he called back. He wasnt in the mood to talk.
"Ho intenzione di visitare la Germania, Franciae gli altri,vuole unirsi?"
"No!"
"Ah, va bene. Ciao!"
"Ciao!"
His brother wanted him to join visiting his friends. However, he didn't want them to see him in this state, defenceless and all. They were all strong, and powerful. They had always been twice as powerful as him, even before he became like this. After the transformation, that didn't really do much, he had started training. In addition, he had gotten a job in a pizzeria close to the house. However, that wasn't enough to make him feel better.
He took a sip of orange juice and looked out at the garden, where he kept his tomato plants, and coriander, lettuce, some grapes, and others. He was very proud of his garden. Many had told him he had the best vegetables around. He never let his brother touch them, because he didn't want him to make a mess out of them. He had spent years to grow them, and he was ready to kill if anyone dared to destroy it.
His phone rang. He fetched it, and saw it was his brother.
"Pronto."
"Fratello, ho dimenticatodi dirtila Spagnaè venuta farti visita!"
"... Che?"
"Infatti, dovrebbe essere lìpresto!" the doorbell rang, and the older Italian cursed.
"...Perché non l'haidetto prima?accidenti a te!"
"Che? Perche?"
"Non importa! ci vediamo dopo, idiota!" he hung up, and walked with hurried steps towards the door.
God damn it, why didn't he tell me I would get a visitor before? Damn him!
He swung the door open, hitting the bastard behind it in the face in the progress.
"Ay! Mi cabeza!" The one behind the door fell, and started talking to himself in Spanish.
"If you were going to visit, you could at least have called, bastardo." The younger held out a hand, helping him up to his legs.
"Sorry, Romano, I forgot" the Spanish man stood before him, and held a hand on his forehead. Seemed like he had gotten a mark from the door.
"As usual… and don't call me Romano! I'm no longer a nation, don't you remember?"
"Sorry…" he apologized again. The Italian man made him follow him into the kitchen, took some cold water on a paper towel, and held it on his head.
"Thanks, Lovi!" the Spanish man smiled at him as he took the towel from him, and held it in place himself.
"For once you actually remember I'm human…" he sighed.
"Yea… I'm not quite used to it yet…"
"I've been human for two years!" He raised his voice a bit.
"I know but…" the older got a faraway look in his eyes. "It's not long for me…"
The Italian man got silent.
It was true; he was once something other than human. He had once been one of the personifications of Italy, namely the southern part. He had gotten pretty well alone with Spain, the one who now visited him, and it was quite a shock when the boss of Italy told him that he was no longer a part of the nation. He had to choose a human name, and get a job, so that he once would hopefully make a family of his own. He chose the name Lovino Vargas, as Lovino was close to his previous name Romano, and Vargas because it was a Spanish surname, as he had strong connections to Spain. The other nations was surprised when they heard it as well, because they were used to having two Italians taking siestas and talking about food during the world meeting. Some nations visited him, like Belgium and Nederland, as he used to be close to them, and Spain had visited him several times, sometimes together with France and Prussia. Lovino was never in a good mood when he brought them along.
The Spanish man broke the silence.
"So, what have you been up to lately?"
"Nothing special, just tending to my garden and working. Trying to get used to being human. It's a pain in the ass that time goes so slowly"
"I see…" the nation got a faraway look in his eyes again. He had a sad look in his eyes, but he might not have noticed it himself. Lovino noticed it, though.
"… Spain?"
"What?"
"Don't you 'what' me, there's something you're not telling me!" he leant back on the couch, taking another sip of juice.
"W-what? No, I would never…"
"Liar. I can see right through you." The older panicked.
"Out with it." The Italian leant on his elbow and looked straight at him.
The older sighed, and his eyes darkened in something that seemed like fear and sadness all mixed, making him seem like a mess.
"It's just… now that you're a human, it means that you age way faster than us nations, right? And that means… that you'll die soon, as well…"
The Italian sat up, and placed his elbows on his knees. The Spanish nation continued.
"As you used to be a nation, all of us nations will be invited to your funeral. I'm not sure if…" he took a deep breath.
"Not sure if what?"
"I'm not sure if I can do that… going to your funeral, that is… I just… can't imagine…"
The Italian leant back again. "But you know…" he began. The older looked at him, his eyes showing tears.
"I might be like Prussia. Dead, but still here. For all we know, I can be immortal. Sure, my time might be faster than yours, but that might be because I have no actual work to do as a nation, and I don't have any meetings to attend, so it might just feel like it's different. Also…" he began, as he somehow held his curl without touching it, "… you see this? Its proof that I'm Italian. I'm not letting this nation go without me just yet!" he grinned. He knew that most of what he said was ranting to himself, trying to make it seem better, but he saw that the other was relieved.
The Spanish nation smiled in relief, and threw himself onto the other to hug him.
"W-what the hell, you idiot, let go!" the younger ended up on his back, but didn't really try to push him off.
"You're amazing, you know?" the older began.
The younger just stared at him, as he continued.
"You knew exactly what was bothering me, and your words really cheered me up, even if you actually might not have meant them. Thank you for that, Lovino."
The younger just continued to stare at him.
"Really. Thanks!"
"Ugh, you're such an idiot…" the Italian muttered, but let himself relax under the weight of the other.
The Spanish man hummed for a bit, but then sat up again.
"Hey, can I have a tomato?" he smiled.
"Sure, sure, go ahead and take one…" the Italian man got up and stretched his back. "I'll just get a shirt…" he walked upstairs.
When he came back he saw the other holding a basket with several tomatoes, and smiled.
This was the only person, or nation, he would let go into his tomato garden. He knew he could trust him.
The Spanish man noticed him, and waved at him to come over and pick some tomatoes as well. There was already another basket ready for him, so he came along.
After a while they had already taken all the good tomatoes, so they decided to weed and tend to the other plants as well, as they were already at it. When they finally were done, they were laughing and sweaty and dirty, so they both sat shirtless in the sun, drinking cold juice and eating tomatoes as they talked about past, present and future. When it was dark, the Spanish nation went home and the Italian was once again alone.
As he was about to close the door leading to the garden, he thought; I should do this more often.
translates (I used google translate on the Italian orz):
Frattello… ti senti bene? brother... are you okay?
"Fratello! sei sveglio? brother! you awake?
"Si!" does this even need to be translated?
"Ho intenzione di visitare la Germania, Franciae gli altri, vuole unirsi? I'm going to visit Germany, France and the others, wanna join?
"No!" once again, no translation needed
"Ah, va bene. Ciao!" oh, okay, see you!
"Ciao!" see ya
"Pronto." something like hello, or 'out with it'
"Fratello, ho dimenticato di dirti la Spagna È venuta farti visita!" brother, i forgot to tell you that Spain is coming to visit you!
"... Che?" what?
"Infatti, dovrebbe essere lì presto!" in fact, he should be here soon!
"...Perché non l'hai detto prima? accidenti a te!" why didnt you say so before? damn you!
"Che? Perche?" what? why?
"Non importa! ci vediamo dopo, idiota!" doesnt matter! see you later, idiot!
"Ay! Mi cabeza!" ay! my head!
bastardo! I think you can guess this one.