Title: Prometto (Italian for "Promise")
Summary: Italy sniffled a little, wiping away some of his tears. "Prometto?" Romano hesitated, then nodded. "Prometto." Chibitalia & Chibimano fic for their birthday. :D
Rating: K+ for Romano's swearing & overload of adorable chibiness
Relationships: Brotherly Italy/Romano, Parental!Spain and Belgium (SpaBel), Parental!Austria and Hungary (AusHun), Slight mention of ChibitaliaxHRE
Warning: The chibi scenes may cause you to lose your voice from going "awwww~" so much. ;)
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
A/N: About mid-way through, I start just using "Romano" and "Veneziano" rather than "Chibimano" and "Chibitalia". I did this because to be honest, I find it pointless to type Chibitalia/Chibimano when we all get the point that they're chibis.
"Ve~ oggi è il mio compleanno~" Chibitalia sang out, spinning with his new pushbroom happily. Austria glanced at Hungary, surprised. Italy hadn't been under his rule for very long, but he hadn't realized the little nation's birthday was already here.
Thankfully, Hungary smiled, like she'd known this was coming so fast. "Happy birthday, Italy!" she said, picking him up and hugging him. Chibitalia giggled, his little arms going around her in a hug back. A warm smile found its way onto Austria's face at the scene. However Hungary knew what to do for everything, he was grateful she did.
"Is Holy Rome back yet?" Chibitalia asked hopefully. Yesterday, Holy Roman Empire had left out of necessity to check on the other nations that were part of his empire. Austria had pointed out to him that Holy Roman Empire had more responsibility than watching Italy, but now he mentally cringed, wishing he'd thought to tell Holy Roman Empire that later.
"No…he'll be back in a couple of days, Italy." He went over and fixed Chibitalia's bandana, which had been about to slip down into the little nation's eyes.
"Oh…" Chibitalia looked down.
"We'll celebrate with him when he gets back," Hungary said soothingly, stroking Chibitalia's hair. The young nation perked up, nodding.
"Und you don't have to work today," Austria added, feeling a little bad about Chibitalia's best friend not being there for her birthday and trying to make up for it. "Why don't you go visit your home? You might see your brother, too."
"Si!" Chibitalia said happily, leaning further away from Hungary to hug Austria around the neck. Austria's eyes went wide, and he shot a panicked look at Hungary. Smiling, Hungary put Chibitalia in Austria's arms so the little nation didn't have to lean so far to hug him. After a second of unsure hesitation, Austria hugged Chibitalia back, smiling slightly when Chibitalia snuggled closer. It was just…cute. "Ringraziarla, Mr. Austria!" Chibitalia said, standing in Austria's arms. At first, Austria nearly panicked, worried Chibitalia would lose her balance and fall or something, but Chibitalia planted a kiss on his cheek and went back to snuggling. Startled, Austria blushed a little.
Hungary laughed, gently pushing the bangs out of Chibitalia's eyes. She took Chibitalia from Austria, nodding slightly at her husband's 'be careful Italy doesn't fall' look, and kissed his forehead. Chibitalia giggled and kissed her on the cheek, too. "Go on, Italy," she said gently, setting him down and giving him a little nudge.
Chibitalia smiled and nodded excitedly, waving and running off. "I'll be back soon!"
"Have fun!" Hungary called, waving.
"Und be careful!" Austria added, worried that Chibitalia might run into trouble.
"I will!" Soon enough, the little nation was out of sight. Austria sighed; somehow, things already seemed quieter, but it didn't feel right.
"That was very kind of you to give Italy today off, Mr. Austria," Hungary said, picking up the pushbroom and setting it so it leaned against the wall.
"It's Italy's birthday," Austria said with a shrug, taking her hand. He kissed her gently. Then he went inside to his piano so that it wouldn't be so quiet.
"Hey, you jerk! Get up!" Chibimano jumped up and down on top of Spain's bed, trying to wake him up. "Jerk! You can't stay in bed all day!"
Spain groaned before even opening his eyes. "Why can't you wake up at a normal time?" he mumbled, sounding like he was still asleep. Frowning, Chibimano head-butted him in the stomach. Spain coughed, finally waking up. "Romano, don't head-butt me to wake me up!" he said, sitting up and holding his hand against Chibimano's forehead to keep him from responding with another head-butt.
"I'm taking today off," Chibimano announced, hopping down to the ground.
"Wh—you can't decide that on your own!" Spain looked at him, rubbing his eyes. "Why would you decide to take today off out of any day, anyway?"
Chibimano glared at him. "What do you care, jerk?"
With a sigh, Spain got out of bed. "Romano, you can't just announce that you're taking today off and expect me not to ask," he said, not mentioning that this would probably be another chance for his boss to say that Romano was worthless. "I'm the boss, remember, so you can't take days off unless I say you can."
Bronze eyes widened a little before Chibimano settled into another glare. "Because!"
"Romano!" Spain gave up, taking Chibimano's hand and pulling him downstairs rather than argue. He doubted he would outstubborn the young nation, but he wasn't going to let him take a day off pointlessly. All that would do would be provide another fault for the queen. That being said, he could put off telling Romano flat-out that a pointless day off wasn't happening, at least until after breakfast. Hopefully, the food would put Romano in a bit of a better mood.
"I'm taking today off," Chibimano repeated stubbornly, taking a bite of the tomato in his hand and glaring up at Spain.
Spain caught a glimpse outside and became instantly curious. "Come on, Romano," he said, hoisting Chibimano into the air despite the loud protests and going outside. "Belgium, what are you doing here?" he asked, giving her a peck on the cheek.
"Put me down, you jerk!" Chibimano yelled, pushing himself free from Spain's grip. Spain quickly caught his wrist to keep him from landing on the ground hard. "Tomato b*st*rd," Chibimano muttered angrily, glaring at him.
Spain rubbed behind his head, looking apologetically at Belgium. "He's still in a bad mood from waking up so early."
"That's alright." Belgium smiled at him. "I think I have something that might cheer him up."
"Quit talking about me like I'm not right here, jerks!" Chibimano crossed his arms, glaring up at them both.
"What's gotten into you today?" Spain said incredulously, tugging Chibimano's long, curly strand of hair to annoy him for getting angry over nothing.
"LEAVE THE CURL ALONE!" Chibimano shouted, kicking Spain in the knee as hard as he could. Spain swore in Spanish, letting go of the curl to grip his knee, grimacing. Why can't he be sweet like he was when I saved him from Turkey?
Belgium stifled a laugh. "It's not funny," Spain protested in an exaggeratedly-miserable voice. In a quieter voice, he added, "He kicks hard!"
"It looks like it," Belgium laughed. She held out a Maaten tart to Chibimano, earning a curious look from Spain. "Happy birthday, Romano," she said, placing the treat in Chibimano's hand.
"What?" Spain looked at Chibimano.
The young Italian smirked at him a little. "Ringraziarla!" he said, giving Spain an obvious 'ha!' look.
"Romano—it's March seventeenth already?" Spain could've smacked himself. No wonder Chibimano had decided today to take off! How pathetic of a boss was he if he didn't even remember Romano's birthday? "Why didn't you just say so when I asked why you would want today out of any day off?" he said, crouching down and grabbing the back of Chibimano's apron to pull him into a hug that Chibimano tried to squirm free of. "¡Felic cumpleaños, Romano!"
"Lemme go, jerk!" Chibimano tried to get free, but Spain refused to let go, messing with Chibimano's hair a little and laughing.
"With what today is, of course you can have the day off!" He poked Chibimano's cheek affectionately, smiling. "As long as you promise me one thing." Spain looked him in the eye seriously. "Have a good time, and go say hola to little Ita for me, alright?"
"Who said I'm going to see him?"
"Come on, Romano," Spain said, laughing. "It's Ita's birthday, too, right? The two of you should spend time together." He gave Romano a little push. "Go on!"
"…you mean you're actually going to let me go home for today…?"
"Of course I am. It's your birthday. You should do what you want for today." Spain smiled at him. Chibimano looked surprised, but he nodded and started off.
"Be careful!" Belgium called after him, waving. "Watch out for France!"
Spain's eyes widened, and he uttered another swear word in Spanish. But he couldn't stop Chibimano now; he'd already said that the Italian could do what he wanted today. "Stay safe, Romano," he whispered, hoping the words would reach God's ears.
"Stupid Spain," Romano muttered, shooting a look over his shoulder. "Probably followed me until I was out of his country again…" He'd taken the first chance he could get as soon as he'd gotten home to change into real clothes rather than that dress that creep Spain had him wear, relieved to not be dressing like a girl on his birthday. "Wonder if Feli got today off, too," he said aloud. Despite his initial anger at Spain suggesting he spend the day with Veneziano, Romano was curious about how his little brother was doing. He sighed, flopping back on his bed. "Guess he'll show up here if he did…" he mumbled tiredly, rolling over. He'd woken up early because he was excited about his birthday, but now that he was alone, the adrenaline was running off. His eyes closed, and he nearly drifted off to sleep…
…until a certain younger Italian jumped on him and hugged him around the neck a billion times too tight. "Fratello!"
Automatically, Romano pushed him away before he even thought to realize it was Veneziano. "For G*d's sake, Feli!" he yelped. "Don't do that! Geez…" He rubbed his eyes, feeling Feli staring at him with barely-contained excitement.
"Happy birthday, fratello!" Veneziano sang, twirling and holding two bowls of pasta.
"Hey, gimme one of those!" Romano snatched one of the bowls. Veneziano laughed, still twirling. That was when Romano realized what his brother was wearing. "What the h*ll are you wearing a dress for?" he demanded, grabbing the neck of the thing to pull his brother over.
"M-Mr. Austria gave it to me…" Veneziano looked nervous.
"B*st*rd," Romano muttered sourly, releasing his grip.
"But I like it!" Veneziano twirled again, singing, "Hey hey, Papa, can I have some wine? Hey hey, Mama, hey hey, Mama! I really want to eat that same Bolognese we used to have; I can't forget the taste!" Romano cursed and grabbed his brother by the back neck of the outfit. "H-hey, Romano!"
"Seriously, Veneziano, don't you have any pride?" Romano dragged him over to the closet and sat him down. He started rummaging through the closet until he found a shirt and pants that looked like they would fit his brother. "Why on Earth would you like wearing a dress? That's a girl's outfit!"
Veneziano's lip started trembling. "B-but Miss Hungary said I looked cute in it…"
"Then she's got issues, too!" Romano pushed the new clothes into Veneziano's hands. "Get changed, you idiot! Do you really want to go around in a dress and have people think you're a girl?" He threw his hands up into the air incredulously. "No matter where I go, I'm surrounded by idiots!" he muttered, going downstairs to get himself something to drink with the pasta.
Veneziano changed out of the dress into the clothes Romano had given him. They were comfortable…but the dress made him think of Holy Roman Empire and how they were going to celebrate his birthday together once he got back. Still, for some reason, it made Romano upset that he was wearing a dress, so he went with it. He didn't really care. "Fratello," he said, going downstairs, "did Big Brother Spain give you today off?"
"Yeah." Romano absentmindedly spooned some more sauce onto his pasta. "He said something about telling you hi from him…stupid tomato b*st*rd."
Tilting his head in confusion, Veneziano said, "Why do you call Big Brother Spain that? He's really nice."
"Because he is one! He's obsessed with tomatoes, and if he's not a b*st*rd, than we're cats!" Romano said vehemently. Then he seemed to quiet down again, stirring the pasta so that all of it got covered in sauce. "You oughtta see him when he gets home and the place is a mess," he said quieter.
"Ve~why don't you clean it up as a surprise for him?" Veneziano asked in total innocence.
He knew Veneziano didn't mean to hurt him with it, but Romano snapped. "What the h*ll does it matter? I don't wanna do anything for the tomato b*st*rd!" He glared at Veneziano. "I bet you do the cleaning and all that crap, and it turns out all perfect! Don't give me any sh*t about doing it as a surprise for him! That's all I'm supposed to be there for! I'm just his worthless provincia!"
"Romano—" Veneziano reached out to him, looking concerned and slightly hurt.
"Shut up, Veneziano! I don't wanna hear any of your stupid bliss-land solutions!" Romano jerked away from him, bolting outside and slamming the door behind him.
Veneziano bit his lip anxiously. "Ve~what did I say?" he asked to no one, wondering why Romano had gotten so upset so fast. It was their birthday. It was supposed to be a good day! After staring at the door for a minute or so, Veneziano ran out after Romano, calling, "Fratello, come back!"
"B*st*rds! Both of them!" Romano muttered furiously. He could feel tears threatening to break free of his eyes, but he was trying so hard not to let them. "They don't get it! It's…it's…it's that stupid bookcase's fault! It keeps…jumping out at me! D*mn thing!" He had stopped running now; he was by the river, which was one sanctuary he could rely on. "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid thing!" he shouted, throwing a rock as hard as he could and squeezing his eyes shut. The tears were slipping free of them; he knew it, but he was trying to deny it.
"F-fratello!" Veneziano came running up, stumbling over the pebbles scattered around.
Romano's head jerked up. "Feli?" He watched his little brother run up, panting and with tears at the corners of his eyes. "W-what the h*ll are you doing?" he asked, stunned.
Veneziano tripped over the rock that Romano had thrown last and stumbled. He would've fallen on his face, but Romano caught his arm, holding him up and staring at him. "I—I was w-worried," Veneziano said, his voice shaking from losing the oxygen from running. "Fratello, mi dispiace," he said, lasping into Italian.
Romano let go of his arm, looking away at the water. "For what?" he muttered. "You didn't do anything wrong, Feli…"
"Romano?" Veneziano said. Romano glanced at him. "I don't think Big Brother Spain thinks of you as a worthless provincia," the younger Italian said, folding his hands behind his back and smiling. The wind blew past him, making the curl in his hair go back and forward. "And whatever anybody says, I don't think so, either."
The older twin stared at him. "Veneziano…" His little brother smiled happily at him. The next thing he knew, somehow—Romano would never know how—he was crying into Veneziano's shoulder. Veneziano soothed him, hugging him gently around the neck. Romano would have denied it later if anyone brought it up, but he was seriously sobbing, trembling from the tears. Veneziano cried, too, sheerly out of the belief that no one should cry alone, especially his fratello. For those long minutes as Romano slowly got a hold of himself, the two brothers were the only ones in existence.
"Everything's all right, fratello… There's nothing wrong now…" Veneziano's whispers were soft, and the river drowned out most of the sound, but Romano heard them. Romano heard every one. It wasn't until the tears had eventually stopped that Veneziano said anything else, still in a soft, soothing tone. "Ve~Romano?"
"Y-yeah?" Romano was pushing away tears with the back of his fist. He couldn't believe he'd just broken down like that in front of his little brother. But Feli had listened. Feli had listened and done everything he could to soothe him. He hadn't tried to tell Romano to stop crying or toughen up; he'd tried to help. And he actually had.
"I'm sorry for making you upset."
"…it's all right… I was already mad… Sorry, Veneziano…"
Veneziano smiled brightly at him. There were still tears at the corners of his eyes, but they didn't dim his smile at all. "You know what I think?"
"What?" Romano looked at him.
"I think we should promise each other that we'll always stay together."
Romano hit him lightly on the head. "Idiota. We're twins. Of course we will."
Veneziano sniffled a little, wiping away some of his tears. "Prometto?"
Romano hesitated, then nodded. "Prometto."
"Ti voglio bene, Romano."
"…ti voglio bene, Veneziano."
A/N: Those two are such cute brothers. *heart with hands* With Romano referring to the river as a sanctuary, I was thinking how when he runs away in the 'Boss Spain and Chibi Romano' arc, he stops by a river to think. Also, the Italy brothers are chibi throughout the entire story, but I got tired of typing "Chibitalia" and "Chibimano" all the time… Happy birthday, Ita-chan and Romano-nii-kun! Translations, as always, are originally from an online source, so I apologize if I got anything wrong. However, I also must thank outlandishAnatomy for correcting the online sources! Danke! *bows* Here's what all the other language stuff means:
Oggi è il mio compleanno~ – Today's my birthday~ (Italian)
Si – Yes (Italian and Spanish)
Ringraziarla – Thank you (Italian)
¡Felic cumpleaños, Romano! – Happy birthday, Romano! (Spanish)
Fratello – Brother (Italian)
Provincia – Province (Spanish)
Fratello, mi dispiace – Brother, I'm sorry (Italian)
Idiota – Idiot (Italian)
Prometto – Promise (Italian)
Ti voglio bene – I love you (meant for family) (Italian)
Please review! Amo reviews! ;)