[Conny]: Thank you my every loyal far away buddy, Do You Really Want to Know! Also, thank you Sarah Cat! I am glad people are enjoying the story. Really, I feel so self-conscious about my stories and to have so little responses to my story scared me. That's why I treasure those people who left a comment, so I will continue this story for you!

You all know that I don't know Hetalia, I'm just really paranoid about this...so I keep saying so...


1713.


That little kid I knew grew, but he was still shorter than me. Romano's seems to be sixteen, I look like I'm seventeen. There's been fights, mostly between the European counties. They're all wanting us colonies and territories. Right now, there's a meeting in Spain's home. France, England, Austria, Switzerland and so many others have joined in this meeting. Romano and I are located with the other territories, in the east wing. I am everyone's host, which isn't all that bad. Everyone is behaving, most of us are young adults, while others are still fairly young.

"Romano," I hear a male voice shout, I look to my little brother. He's being hugged, by someone that looks a lot like him.

"Veneziano!" He's hugging back! Romano only hugs me! Although, now that I look at it... it seems like a forced hug. I come up to the two, they look so alike. I know which one's which, though.

"I'm guessing this is Italy, together. North and South." They look to me, Veneziano looks really mellow. Romano's on edge.

"Ate, this is my little brother, Veneziano. He holds the title of North Italy." Figured, didn't have to state the obvious. "Veneziano, this is Philippines."

"Nice to meet my big sister!" He pulls me into a hug, I swear I'm blushing. He's sort of cute, like a kitten. I knew that Italians are very emotional and love talking with their hands...but I didn't know they were so loveable like Italy.

"She's not your sister!" Rom-Rom tries to get his brother off of me, but it isn't working. Veneziano seems like a real hugger, I'm happy someone is!

"But you get to call her sister!" He knows what Ate means? Was that something Romano told him, in those letters he sent?

"She's my sister!" I'm being fought over, this isn't supposed to happen!

"Boys, stop! You're making a scene!" They stop, noticing the others were staring at us. A blonde, blue eyed boy, slightly older than I am, comes up to us.

"You guys are related?" he asks all of us, I shake my head.

"No, these two are the Italy brothers." I am not involving myself, not yet.

"You're North and South Italy?" He got them wrong. Romano is South, Veneziano is North.

"Other way around," Rom-Rom and I say, he's kind of blushing.

"But he said you're his sister." You know, that suit this man is wearing looks really nice. I, then, notice something, he's wearing a pin. The Union Jack, England.

"I practically raised him. I assume you're England's colony." America, that's his name. I think. There's plenty of English colonies, but he's the one that could get here that fastest.

"Yup, England's my brother." Like Spain's my brother. Ha, more like master. "I'm normally never invited to these sort of things, I've always been back home." Lucky bastard. Oops, I shouldn't be thinking profanity.

"I've been trapped in Spain's home for the past two hundred years." Romano's been here longer. "I was taken away from my home." I couldn't stay there! Spain stole me, and forced me to stay with him! I miss my islands, I miss the mangoes. I miss my people!

"That's not fair. England let me stay, he never took me to his home." America looks sad, then makes a huge smile. "Maybe we could-" He's stopped, when the doors slam open. All the nations are there, this isn't good.

"Everyone, we've come to an agreement," Spain shouts, making everyone silence. Agreement? They've made a treaty? Oh, no. "Some of you will be transferred to another power." No. NO. Many of the others weren't handed over, so they returned to their sovereign's side. Then people were called. One by one, they were assigned to new homes. It's like we're animals! Not people.

"South Italy, you're with me." Romano is now part of the Austrian house.

"What? No! I'm staying!" Rom-Rom is holding my hand, he's holding it tight. He doesn't want to leave me, he doesn't want to leave his Ate behind… Luckily, the others have all left, no one saw this objection.

"No, you're coming with me." Veneziano is a part of the Austrian house, why isn't Romano going with his real family? He should…

"I am not leaving Philippines behind!" I let out a sigh, I place my free hand on his shoulder. Those amber eyes turn to look at me, this isn't going to be good.

"Romano, it's best if you go." I really don't want him to leave, but we can't break a treaty. It'll cause more conflicts.

"But, Ate…" It stings to hear him say that.

"No, it's Philippines, now. You should be Veneziano's kuya, his big brother." He throws down my hand, I can tell he's breaking down inside.

"Fine!" He stomps over to Austria, then they leave. I'm pretty much the only person left. The other territories don't live here, they're under watch at their homes. Spain comes over to me, his green eyes boring into me. I hate him. I HATE him!

"I can't believe you." Instead of hitting him-like he deserves-I run to my room. I can't believe he gave Romano away!


I've been in my room the entire week. The maids have given me food, but I barely eat it. I don't waste it, but I'm forcing myself to eat the meals. Spain hasn't come to talk to me, I'm glad. He and his nation can go to hell!

"Miss Philippines?" It's the maid, I think this one's name is Lorenza. It's an Italian and Spanish name. Italian. Italy. South Italy. Romano…

"Come in…" I groan into my pillow, the door clicks open. "What do you want?" I'm guessing she's here to see if I'm alright. If I were under normal circumstances, I would cleaning. Or cooking. Or talking to Romano.

"I wanted to make sure you were fine, Miss Philippines. Mr. Spain wants to have lunch with you." What? Now he's finally got the guts to talk to me? Alright, I want to hear what he has to say. Afterwards, I'll start planning a rude wake up call for tomorrow morning. Spain's vital regions will be under attack.

"Alright. Thank you, Lorenza." She smiles, I guess I got her name right. She bows, then leaves my room. I make a quick change of my clothes, then head to the dining room. Spain's in his usual seat, his back to me. I take the seat to his left, where Romano would be sitting.

"Hello, Philippines." I don't answer, the chef brings out the food. It's a seafood stew, wonderful. I'm not hungry. "Philippines, I'm sorry about Romano."

"If you're sorry, why did you let him go in the first place?" You know, Romano actually liked Spain. He wouldn't say it, but he did. I started to like him, but I hate him. I hate him with all my heart now.

"Austria boxed me in. I couldn't back out of it, the other nations agreed with him." I hate them. Spain, Austria, all the other powerful nations. "England proposed to take you into his house." Oh, no!

"What? No, I would have never agreed!" I'm positive that I find England more annoying than Spain. I think I'm sure.

"Exactly what I was thinking. But… France brought up a deal. It was either you or Romano." Either give Romano to Austria, or give me to England. "That deal was brought up, when everyone was trying to get me to give Romano away." He chose me… over my little brother?

"Why me?" Rom-Rom is gone… because of me. "You should have kept him! I would have put up with that Brit's annoying accent, but Romano can't handle what he's in! He and his brother can barely get along, he doesn't like being around too many people, he's suffering!" He and I talked about his brother, they don't get along. Well, he doesn't get along with him, Veneziano gets along well with him. It's so awkward. Romano is more open with fewer people, and he's hardly ever himself. He's really Romano when he's with me.

"He'll be fine. You don't need to worry about him, anymore." But I want to worry about him! We got along, even if we hated each other before. We were like actual siblings. Rom-Rom, I wish I wasn't the reason you left.

"Spain, I hope you fall." His empire will be brought down, this is just the beginning. I stand, then head to Romano's room. Most of his things are still here, his canvas, his paints. I guess Veneziano has this stuff in Austria's house, so he didn't have to bring them. Some paintings are missing, I guess he was able to bring a few. I look at the covered masterpieces-well, they weren't the best, but they were good. There's one that catches my eye. There's a messy red scribble on it's cover, as if it had to be written quickly.

"To Ate Philippines." That's what it said. Romano, he wrote it. I pulled the tarp off of it, revealing a painting that I have never seen. It was of us three, Spain, Romano, and I. Romano and I were small, this was probably painted in the first few decades I stayed here. He and I are in the front, smiling. Spain is behind us, arms wrapped around our small forms. It's like we're an actual family in this painting. I turn to look at the back, there's a long message.

To Philippines and Spain,

Spain, even though I wanted nothing to do with you, I'm glad we met. I may have been a little cruel to you, but it really meant that I cared. I'm sorry I never actually said anything like that. Its just… I don't do too well with telling people things. Thanks for putting up with me.

Ate Philippines, I'm sorry I seemed like such a brat, when we first met. I was kind of jealous that you came. Spain always talked about you, and I got really mad. Now, if I were telling you this in person, I would have gone and killed myself afterwards, so I had to write it out. Anyway, once I got to know you, I really liked you. I'm happy you let me call you my sister. Well, in Filipino. Did you know, in Italian, sister is sorella? Oh, I never got to tell you, you can call me fratello. It means brother. I'm really happy you were my sister, you actually made me feel like a better person. Remember, if I said this aloud, I would have killed myself afterwards. So… don't talk about this?

Love,

Romano - South Italy

Romano…

"Fratello. Brother. I'll remember that next time, when we meet again." I hope it's soon. Should I show this to Spain? No. I'll keep this in my room. I leave the room, going to mine. The painting is just amazing. It's much better than his usual works, like he wanted to make it perfect. I'll look through the others some time, I have to get this one hung.

"Miss Philippines?" Another maid, name… Marcella?

"Marcella, may you please get a hammer and nail? I would like to hang this painting." She nods, then rushes to wherever those supplies are stored. There's this perfect spot, by the door. It'll be hidden from Spain, and the sunlight will hit it perfectly. And speaking of the devil, he walks into my room.

"What's that?" He points at the painting in my hand, the words facing him.

"A painting." The brunet takes a step forward, holding a hand out.

"Can I see it?" I want to shake my head, but he's reading the back. I turn it around, so he sees the family picture. I really didn't want to show this to him, but… it would be against what Romano wanted. It wasn't just mine, it was also Spain's.

"Romano made it, and there's a message on the back for you. I've already read my message." I gently hand it over, he scans the back, then looks to the front.

"It's like he put a lot of effort into this one." He puts forth all his effect in his art, its just this one has all his effort then some.

"Maybe… this should be hung in the loft." Not in my room, it's not just mine. It's… ours.

"That sounds like a good idea." He hands back the painting, I didn't expect him to. We head for the loft, Marcella following behind us. She has a hammer and a box of nails with her. I sigh, she only needed to get a nail. Over the fire place, that's a good place. It's only the Spanish coat of arms there, who cares? Oh, Spain does. Stupid Spain, caring about his nation before his family. Wait. Did I say family? Am I his family? Was Romano? Whoa, whoa, whoa! I am not this guy's family! I'm forced to live here! But… I've grown. I can escape, couldn't I? But… that would leave Spain alone. He's probably just as heartbroken about Romano as I am. He's just not showing it. Maybe. Spain's pointing to a perfect spot, the sunlight shows on that spot, and whenever people enter, they'll see it. I take a chair, even though Spain thinks he should be the one putting it up. I don't care, as I step up onto it.

"Hammer, nail." Marcella gives me those things, so I place the nail against the wood. "Here, Spain?" I turn to look at him, he gives me a thumbs up. I strike the little metal stake, then again. That should be good. I give the hammer back, then Spain gives me the painting. I set it up, but stay on the chair.

"It's off," Spain says, I realized that. It's tilting to the right. I nudge it to the left. "It's still off." I take a deep breath, then shift it to the right. Again, I screw up. To the left, to the right. "Perfect!" I'm startled, then stumble off my chair. Spain catches me, bridal style. I look up to his face, he's got a goofy smile on his face.

"Um…" I have no clue what to say.

"Sorry for scaring you." He sets me down, this is just weird. I look to the painting, avoiding his green eyes and his faint blush.

"Whatever. And it's not perfect! It's tilting to the left, just a little." Who cares? It's not perfect, we're not perfect. It's fine. "But… let's just leave it to that."

"Alright." After that, Spain offered to take me out, to buy new clothes. I suppose I should get new clothes, I can't always burrow the maid's clothes.


Today was actually fun. Even though Romano was still in my mind, I did buy new clothes. A few dresses, some male clothing. I wanted to have men's clothes, just in case. I don't always want to wear those girly dresses.

"Do you really want to wear these?" He's asked me that too many times.

"Spain, for the last time, yes." He really needs to stop asking! "I can pin my hair, so it looks more like a man's." I am not cutting my hair, under any circumstances. But I can pin it, it's actually not all that hard.

"Why do you want to look like a man?" Why? Isn't it an easy answer?

"As you always say, it's the man that does all the hard work. So… this girl will show she's just as good as a man." Too many people think that, so I'm going to show them that women are equals.

"Alright…" He's not comfortable with my attitude, good.

"I'll cook, tonight."


[Conny]: This is...well, kind of sad for me. But this is just chapter three, so there's still more to it! I know I made a huge jump in time, but would you forgive me? At least I'm updating this story! I still feel odd about this story because there's so little (yet so precious) reviews. Thanks for reading!