Who can say where the road goes
Where the day flows, only time
And who can say if your love grows
As your heart chose, only time
Only time by Enya
It's been a day since Feliciano discovered that he went back to the past. He must find out the way to get back to his own time before he screws things up! But he can also find interesting things here in the past—like Mr. Austria's view on his "strength".
He helped on the household chores—cleaning, laundry, cooking. It really feels like he's working when he's still a child! Sometimes he wonders how he endured heavy works like this at such a young age. Well, when you think about it, scrubbing the floors isn't so bad—it will be bad if you'll scrub the floors of a huge kingdom with a pail of water and a deck brush only.
"You look very exhausted, dear. Are you alright? You used to be so eager to clean this area with your deck brush!" Hungary raised her eyebrow with a faint sign of amusement.
"M-mi dispiace, Hungary. It's just in the future, I'm not doing work like this anymore! I guess I should've to listened to Luddy. I should exercise a little bit more!" Feliciano pouted.
"Luddy?"
"Oh! Nevermind that, ve~"
"Okay then. Would you like to help me cook instead?" Hungary smiled at him, knowing that he can cook oh-so-well.
"Of course, I'd love to!" Feliciano said as they walk to the kitchen.
Feliciano hummed while he stirred the soup. Hungary chopped the meat on the counter. They were having a peaceful atmosphere and the room's filled with the delicious aroma of the food that they were cooking. All was well but suddenly, there's a shriek that echoed through the halls. They were startled so they went to the origin of the noise. Hungary laughed and Feliciano looked surprised. Spain has arrived and he brought Romano along with him.
"You bastardoooo! You told me that we'll only go to a fiesta, dammit!" Romano punched Spain's leg repeatedly to show his fury.
"Ay, Romanito! We'll have a fiesta here in Austria's house, you see? There's Ms. Hungary and I'm sure that she'll cook your favorite!" Spain chuckled as he allowed the cute child to punch his leg.
Feliciano looked at his brother and felt the urge to run and hug him but he didn't. He's still upset about what happened between them. Even if it's the older Romano who told him bad things, it still hurt. A ton of feelings bombarded him at that moment. He felt the nostalgia of seeing his older brother in his old apron, he felt the guilt of disappearing without notice, he felt the bitterness in Lovino's words before he left, and most of all he felt the agony of missing him.
"I didn't know that today was Big Brother Spain and fratello's visit." Feliciano told Hungary.
"I'm sorry, dear. I'm still trying to cope up with our situation and I don't know if telling you will help me sort out things or just make it worse so…" Hungary looked so sorry and confused. Feliciano reached her hand and held it.
"It's okay. I'm confused too and, honestly, I don't know if their visit will make me feel better."
Hungary removed her hands and she put it to his shoulder. She shook him a little and it made Feliciano a little bit surprised.
"A man from the future shouldn't waver because of the past, okay? No matter what happens, bear this in your mind."
Feliciano agreed and smiled.
"So, who is this lindo?" Spain asked Austria as he played with his food.
"His name is Feliciano and he is hired by Italy Veneziano to make up for his absence and, please, do not play with your food. You're a grown man and I should not expect something very childish from you, or I should?" Austria said in a monotonous tone but somehow, the irritation is a little too evident.
"Ay! Where did my little hermano go? Is he okay?" Spain said worryingly.
"Do not fear, Signore Spagna! The little Italy Veneziano is safe and sound~ In fact, he is taking care of business all by himself in Venice." Feliciano said, assuring, to calm the overreacting Spain; though he, himself, is not sure of his little self's situation.
"Oh, gracias Feliciano! You're so nice! And are you Italian too?" Spain smiled brightly at Feliciano in which he returned in the same manner.
"You stupido! Of course he's Italian! Can't you even tell by the way he said 'signore' and also his name!" Romano butt in their conversation.
"But there are people named 'Feliciano' in my pl—"
"But 'Feliciano' is of Latin origin and Latin came from my place you cretino!"
"Okay, I don't know that but—"
"Why am I even stuck with this idiota? What did I do this time? I should be the boss here! I'm much more capable of leading than this idiot."
"Romanito, perdoname! Just eat okay? Boss will try harder next time to learn Italian but promise me you'll try harder to learn Spanish too, si?"
"What in the world-?! No way!"
"Please, enough of this nonsense! Spain, come into my sitting room and we'll talk about some matters and Romano, no cursing in front of the food and the table! Why do your visits always end up like this?" Austria rubbed his temples before standing up, heading to the room. Spain followed after ruffling Romano's hair and Hungary stared at the remaining two.
"Well… I think it's better for the two of you to go to the garden outside." Hungary smiled at Feliciano, hinting that he must comply. Feliciano's eyes widened as he saw Romano pouting and glaring at Hungary.
"I think Romano wants to eat his remaining food, ve…" Feliciano smiled back at Hungary, hinting that he isn't ready to talk to the child.
"Maybe you can wait for him to eat his food then after you can play at the garden with him!" Hungary smiled bigger but her eyes are not smiling. Feliciano gulped and opened his mouth to speak but he was interrupted by Romano.
"I don't want to eat. I'll go outside." Romano ran fast towards the garden.
"Fratello! Hungary, I'll leave the dishes here with you. Mi dispiace but I need to go after him!" Feliciano also ran swiftly towards the garden to find his brother.
Hungary smiled to herself. "No problem with me, dearie! Have a great time, okay?"
Feliciano panted as he tried to catch his breath. His brother is so difficult to find in these bushes!
"Fra- Romano! Romano where are you?" He remembered that he was a servant in Romano's eyes. He shouldn't call him 'fratello'.
He called his name and searched for him everywhere. He's beginning to lose hope when an apple was thrown at his head.
"Ow!"
"Heh! You look pathetic in there." Romano said while munching on an apple, sitting on the branch of an apple tree.
"Romano!" Feliciano smiled in relief as he saw his brother.
Lovino tried to find something in his closet that could fit his little brother but to no avail. His clothes are too big for him!
"Ugh… V-Veneziano? I'm sorry to say that there's nothing in here that could fit your size. Can I leave you here? I promise I'll come back. I'll just buy a set of clothes for you, okay?" Lovino was unusually polite and careful with his words. Even he, himself, is totally estranged.
"N-no! Per favore, no! Don't leave me alone signore! Many people promised me that they will come back but they never did…" Veneziano cried as he tightly held Lovino's hands.
Lovino felt the agony in the child's heart. He never noticed that when they were kids. He always thought that Feli was a happy child, living up to his name. But now he knew that he was dying because he was trying to live up to his name. He realized that maybe, just maybe, Feliciano was trying to forget his pain by socializing to others. Maybe he was actually hoping that making new friends can make you forget your old friends that brought pain to you.
"S-signore? What's happening to you? Are you alright?" Veneziano's voice waked him from his spacing out.
"Ehi? Si, si. I'm alright. But, what about your clothes? I can't leave you here and I can't bring you to the mall with me."
"Why not, signore?"
"You see, dresses like that are not common nowadays. People will brand me! They will think that I have a fetish for children in dresses or something shitty!"
Feliciano didn't even flinch in his words this time. He just laughed at it even though he knew that this was a situation not to laugh about. Lovino felt exasperated for a second but then he also laughed with the child. Well, it's a good thing because it means that he's not scared to him anymore.
"Ve… Signore?"
"Si?"
"You still have not told me your name."
"Che? I haven't?"
Feliciano nodded and Lovino sighed. He scratched his head and mumbled a few curses to himself before speaking.
"Mi chiamo Lovino Vargas. Be careful not to change the first letter to 'R' because it will fuck up my whole name."
"Ve! I think that your name is very beautiful. A beautiful name like that can't be… Umm… Fucked up by a single change~" Veneziano said in a happy tone. He wasn't sure what that foreign word means but he used it to express his opinion.
Lovino was surprised by his brother's words. He knows that Vene still doesn't know about what that word meant but still! Well, at least he find it amusing and disturbing at the same time.
"Well, whatever and oh, don't use that word again. You pronounce it wrong." He lied to him so that he won't repeat that again. "I'll just order online or something…"
Lovino was about to open his computer when the doorbell rang. When he opened the door, a smiling Spaniard can be seen on his doorstep with a basket of tomatoes in his feet and arms that are indicating a hug. Lovino shrieked and closed his door and locked it with his key.
Shit. Shit! SHIT! Why in the world is that idiota here on my house today?! Today?! Of all fucking days?! He might see Feli in that form! Dio, what will I do?!
Lovino shouted at Veneziano. "Vene! Go upstairs! And don't go down, you understand?"
Veneziano looked confused. "B-but Signore Lovino, why all of a sudden?"
"Just go!"
Veneziano ran upstairs while Lovino made sure that the door's locked. After that, he followed Veneziano and led him to his room.
"What's wrong Signore Lovino? Are we at war? Is there an enemy that infiltrated our house?" Veneziano asked anxiously.
"We are not in a war, Vene. But it is as crucial." Lovino explained while trying to hide Veneziano with his sheets.
"Are we going to be okay?"
"We will be, if we aren't found out."
"Find out what?" Antonio asked while holding his basket of tomatoes and leaning on the doorframe of Lovino's room.
"HOWTHEFUCKDIDYOUGETINHERE?!" Lovino screamed at him, maybe because of the anger, the frustration, or the startle—no one knows.
"Feli gave me a duplicate of your house key in case of emergency like when you go home real drunk and he wasn't here to assist you or when you are in jail for randomly curse out people or when you insult turtles because that's animal cruelty or when you—" Antonio was cut off by a really annoyed Lovino.
"Shut the fuck up now, goddammit! Ugh! Just, leave the tomatoes in the fucking kitchen and then go the fuck home."
"Oh… Si… I'll go home now." Antonio felt depressed because it was so early in the morning and he only wanted to have a breakfast with Lovino but he got kicked out of the house instead.
"Maybe we can have breakfast with him, signore?" Veneziano said under the sheets. Lovino mentally cursed because it was going out so well but it's too late for Antonio heard the little voice of the child.
"Is someone in here, Lovino? I think I heard a child…" Antonio asked while looking into the room.
"No! Of course there's no one in here! Besides, why would I bring a child in my room?"Shit. That sounded so fucking wrong. Lovino thought to himself.
Antonio found the bed suspicious. He looked at it very keenly. He took a deep breath and then he took the sheets off from the bed. In there he saw a child in a dress that looks oh-so-familiar.
"L-Lovinito… I won't judge you for this but you know that this isn't legal."
"D-damn you! This is not what you think! Fuck you and your dirty mind! Go to hell, vaffanculo!" Lovino was so embarrassed and furious that he forgot that there was a child in front of them.
"Lovi, stop cursing in front of the child! Poor you, what's your name? You look so familiar~"
"M-my name is Italia Veneziano, si-signore…"
Antonio gasped and then Lovino gave him a 'fuck-you-and-now-you-know-so-fuck-off' look.
"H-how… How could this happen?" Antonio Fernandez Carriedo is so confused.
"How the hell would I know?!" Lovino Vargas is so unamused.
"I-I think we should eat breakfast first, ve…" Italia Veneziano is so awkward.
"Si, we should. But I must think of the fastest way to get you some clothes." Lovino said to Veneziano.
"Well, I could lend you some!" Antonio said cheerfully.
"You're so kind, Signore…" Veneziano said, quieting at the end because he doesn't know his name.
"Antonio." He smiled.
"Where did those clothes came from anyway? I hope that it's not something stolen or some shit."
"Ay! I was working on remaking your old clothes and its fabric are fading off so I decided to make a model of it, you know like a souvenir? Guess that I'm going to make another batch because I will give the first batch to Vene~" Antonio grinned at Lovino.
"Y-you're WHAAAT?! You kept my old clothes all this time?! You fucker!"
While the two bickered on the background, Veneziano continued to eat his breakfast, thinking about his loved ones that he left.
Fratello is supposed to visit me today. I wonder if he's worried about me… I hope that he was…