The Boss Spain

"Fratello, where are we going?" Sicily asked Italy as he took her by the hand and began to lead her to who knows where.

"Ve, I'm taking you to meet a friend of mine!" said Italy as he continued to drag the small girl behind him. After dragging her a few more meters, they came to stop. Sicily looked at her brother, who was looking around the area.

"Fratello, what are you doing?"

"He said he would be here. He really wants to meet you!" Sicily tilted her head in confusion.

"Italia!" shouted a voice. Sicily jumped and hid behind Italy. A young boy ran up to both of them. He had somewhat curly brown hair, green eyes and lightly tanned skin. He had a large smile on his face.

"Ciao, Spagna!" replied Italy.

"I'm really sorry that I'm late. Someone pulled me off track," said the boy, "Qué? Who's this?" Italy gave Sicily a reassuring smile.

"This is mia sorellina!" Italy said "I wanted you to meet her!" The boy knelt down to the children's eye level. He gave Sicily a little smile and held out his hand. Slowly, Sicily reached out and took it.

"Estoy España," he said, "But you can call me Spain. What about you, pequeña?"

"I am Sicily," Sicily told him shyly, "Il mio nome è la Sicilia…" Spain smiled and ruffled his free hand through Sicily's hair.

"Well, Sicilia, I hope that you and I can be freinds, si?" Sicily nodded.

"Si, España."

Sicily couldn't find the right words to describe her mood right now. She and her older brother, Romano, had been put under control by Spain. Don't get me wrong, Sicily enjoyed Spain's company. It was just that...she didn't want to leave her brother behind.

Sure, Sicily loved Romano, very dearly in fact although he did not return the feeling. It was Italy Veneziano she was worried about. The last time Sicily had left someone behind...she didn't want to think about it. As the three continued their journey, Sicily let one, small tear roll down her cheek.

No one noticed this...no one but Spain.

Spain was happy to have Romano and Sicily in his custody. They would give him a chance to put his parenting skills to the test. It didn't seem that hard. A little kindness and a little discipline. Simple. It would be easy raising these two.

Spain hummed quietly to himself as the small trio journeyed on towards his house. He had stopped midst his song when he heard someone crying softly. Glancing back, Spain saw the small island wiping her eyes hastily. His green eyes softened at the sight of Sicily crying. It hurt his heart. Had he failed at being a parent already?

The Spaniard slowed his walking so that he was walking beside Sicily. He looked down at the small girl. Her curl bounced slightly with each step, and her auburn hair was tied with a blue ribbon at the base of her neck. Her bangs were parted straight down the middle and fell into her face. They seemingly covered her eyes. Spain thought the child looked very cute this way, in fact he thought all children were adorable, but when the Hispanic saw a crying child, it made his heart break.

"Are you alright, mi pequeña?" asked Spain, running a hand across the girl's head. The girl nodded. Spain knew she was lying. A strange man had once told him when he was far younger, that if children cried it was because they wanted attention or because they were hurt or afraid, but when they cried silently, it's because they just couldn't stop.

"I know you're lying." Sicily pulled away from him and began walking faster, so she was right behind Romano. Spain watched the girl with a surprised look on his face. Sicily reached out for her brother's hand, but Romano smacked her hand away from his. Spain walked up and walked beside the two.

The two siblings were as different as day and night, but Spain would not know how different they really were until much later.

That night, Spain went to check on both of his charges. Romano had fallen asleep like that, which was weird since he had been asleep most of the day. His youngest charge however, hadn't even looked at him when he entered the room, but the Spaniard could tell she was still crying.

"Sicilia," said Spain as he knelt down by her bed, "Tell me what's wrong."

"No," Sicily answered. Her voice was wavering and cracking. Spain put his hand on her shoulder. She shook it off and curled closer into a ball.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong." Sicily didn't say anything. Sighing, Spain sat down on the bed and looked over at Sicily. Although the dark and dim of the candlelight almost hid it, Spain could clearly see her bloodshot eyes and the tearstains on her face. Why was she crying, and why she tell him what was wrong? Spain put his hand on Sicily's arm. She didn't jerk him away like before.

"Por favor, Sicilia. I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong." Sicily didn't say anything. Instead, she crawled over to Spain and laid her head down on his shoulder. She wiped her eyes and did nothing more. "You know you can tell me…" Spain wrapped an arm around the small child.

"Non voglio fratello scomparire," Sicily muttered. Spain perked up.

"Qué?" asked Spain. Sicily buried her head deeper into his shirt, staining it with tears as the fell out of her eyes and streaked her face.

"I don't want fratello to disappear…" she said tearily. "I don't want him to leave us…" Spain looked at the crying child with wide eyes.

"Sicilia, what are you talking about? No one's going to disappear." He ran calming hand down her back as she cried.

"I didn't want to leave Veneziano...He's going to disappear like Nonno Roma did. He left and never came back! And now, I left fratello...I'm not going to see him again! He's alone! He's not going to-"

"Sicilia...Look at me," said Spain. Sicily looked up at Spain with watery eyes. Sapin felt an arrow strike his heart just by looking at the sadness she had drawn across her face.

"No one is going to disappear," he said calmly, "I understand how you feel right now, but you have to trust me when I say that Italy will not disappear. He has Hungary and Austria and Holy Rome." Sicily nodded as Spain wiped a stray tear off of her cheek.

"I miss fratello…" muttered the small girl.

"Well...one day, when you're a strong Nation and all grown up, you two will be able to be together. Until then, It's you, me, Romano, Belgium and Netherlands. Alright?" Sicily nodded.

"Promise?" Spain nodded.

"Prometo!" He said. Spain picked up the child and put her back in her bed. "Now, try and get some sleep, si?"

"Si," said Sicily with a yawn. Spain smiled, picked up the candle and left the room. As soon as the door shut, he leaned against it.

"Maybe this parenting thing would be much harder than I thought…"

The next day, Sicily was her normal self again. Only, Spain noticed that she was working harder than she should've.

"Sicilia, what are you doing?" asked Spain as the girl walked past him, carrying a bucket.

"I'm working hard, just like you said!" she replied with a large smile, "That way I can be a strong country like you!" Spain smiled and laughed as the girl continued on with her chores. He was smiling at the fact that maybe he wasn't going to be a bad parent after all.