Rome sighed.
Why didn't Greece, Egypt, or Germania have this problem? They had children as well.
He knew the answer, of course.
The reason why Egypt and Greece did not have the same issue as him was because they each only had a single child. Egypt had Gupta, who would become Egypt when she passed on; Greece had Heracles, who would do the same for Greece as Gupta would for Egypt. And, while Germania did have two sons, his eldest, a boy named Prussia, was old enough to not need his father's care anymore, so the old warrior only cared for his younger son, Holy Roman Empire (A name he fervently denied had anything to do with his old friendship with Rome).
None of them had twins.
Rome looked down at his two sons, who everyone believed were his grandsons for a reason Rome could not comprehend. The boys were pressed up against each other, wrapped entirely in cloth with only their faces and a small amount of hair.
One of the boys whimpered softly. Rome did not even need to look to see who it was.
"Hush, Veneziano…Everything is alright" the empire murmured softly to his younger "grandson".
Veneziano sniffled softly before quieting down.
Once the boy was calm, Rome turned his attention to his older child, his namesake. Romano remained asleep, his eyes squeezed shut and his lips pursed tightly together, as though he was dreaming about something that greatly annoyed him.
"Perhaps he is dreaming that I am trying to carry him everywhere" Rome said to himself, chuckling slightly at the thought.
Both boys, while they were actually much older, appeared to be a little over a year old. They could both walk (though they stumbled often); they had both spoken their first words, "Nonno" for Romano and "Fatewwo" for Veneziano; they had both began to get their molars. However, they seemed to be maturing at very different rates.
Veneziano always wanted to be carried everywhere. He always wanted to sleep in Rome's bed when he was frightened by a terrible demon in his dreams. He played with his food until it became cold, usually getting most of it on his clothes and the floor.
Romano was almost the complete opposite. While he did hold tight to Rome's hand when they went somewhere new, he refused to be carried anywhere unless he was nearly asleep. When his dreams were haunted, he took comfort in something no one could see (Was his son becoming religious already, Rome would sometimes wonder to himself, only to dismiss the idea a second later). He ate his food quickly, and made little mess, compared to his little brother.
Rome knew that some would claim that there was something wrong with Veneziano, that the lighter-haired twin was damaged in someway. Rome knew this wasn't true. Both of the boys were just a bit naïve, like all children at that stage of development.
Veneziano was just more playful, that was all. He was more playful, and a bit more attached to his "nonno".
Romano, on the other hand, was much more serious, acted so much older than he appeared.
When the twins had been born, one of Greece's oracles had looked at Romano and said, quite clearly, that the boy was the new Rome. At the time, Rome had believed that he was merely referring to the fact that the newborn boy was an infant version of the great empire, and nothing more.
Now, he was beginning to realize what it truly meant.
All young nations felt a connection to a certain place in the world, the place where their hearts lay. Rome and Romano always seemed the happiest when they were in the same place.
Was that the reason Romano was so serious? Did he know, somehow, even as a small child, that he would one day inherit a great responsibility?
If so, and if the oracle's statement was truly a prediction, then Rome knew what his choice would have to be.
He would only be able to take one of them, he knew. He was losing strength; he would fall before the boys had the physical appearance of five-year-olds.
If he took both of them, he would be unable to teach them everything they would need to know to ensure they would become strong Nations and keep Rome's culture alive even once the empire fell.
It didn't help matters that Rome was not the best teacher. He never enjoyed learning himself, and, as a result, did not enjoying causing others to suffer the same "injustice" unless absolutely necessary. He would be able to teach them about art, as that was one thing he had learned that he had enjoyed. But, art would not be enough to make sure the country they would form together would thrive.
In order for the country to thrive, its heart had to be strong. A country's heart became strong when its representation was strong, the result of learning about the history of the nation as well as how to grow food and various other things Rome could not really remember.
Rome could not teach the country's "heart" all the things they would need to know. Romano was destined to be the heart of the future country. Rome sighed again, silently cursing his horrid luck.
Why did he have to be the father of twin sons? Why did he have to lack the ability to teach them everything they would need to know in order to thrive when he was gone? Most importantly, why did he have to leave his eldest?
He voiced the questions to himself, as he knew the only living creatures in the area would not answer him. Of course, he didn't get an answer from himself, either.
Once again, Rome looked at his sons.
Once again, he touched one of their cheeks in a comforting gesture. Only this time, he stroked Romano's cheek.
"I do love you, Romano. I want you to be strong, and if I take you, that will not happen. Just remember, I love you and I will never regret anything more than leaving you" he murmured softly to the boy.
Romano squirmed slightly in his swaddling cloth, his amber eyes opening slightly. A small hand appeared from out of the cloth, grabbing onto Rome's thumb and squeezing. Rome looked at Romano's face. The boy gave a rare smile, though his one was unlike any other grin Rome had seen on the child. This time, his smile seemed to say, "I know."
And, with that, Rome felt content.
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or any of the characters from it. They are the property of Hidekaz Himaruya. I only own this little story.
Well, Italia, here's a little late-Christmas gift to you. I'm sorry it took me so long, but as I told you before, one of my other stories took away my attention for the past few weeks and after finishing that, I wanted to take a little break. I also hope you don't mind how much this sucks. I've never written for Hetalia before.
In case anyone is wondering, my personal head-canon is that Rome is actually the father of North Italy (Veneziano) and South Italy (Romano), and that the two of them are actually twins. I also had the theory that Rome didn't leave Romano because he wanted to, but rather because he felt like he had to.