Chapter Eight: Dream on

A/n: Well, I gotta thank my buddy Jky. Malfoy for getting me past my writers block~! Jky…You get three virtual cookies for all the good ideas~! Also, I'm thinking of putting my other stories on hold until I finsih this fic. SO updates will be put on hold until this is finished. Here's chapter eight!

Italia stayed with America and Britain for a few more weeks before she finally went home, and that was only because not only did Germany keep bothering her to come home, but America also suggested that she just go home to avoid any further worry from the serious nation, and Italy. So, she reluctantly went home.

When she got home, she tried her best to be kind, and charitable, and not cause so much trouble that she had been causing for close to a year now. She helped out without complaining, and mostly kept her anger to herself, and didn't let it get the best of her, like she had been doing. Basically, she was trying to make life easier for her caretakers.

Germany and Italy, on the other hand, were very happy to have their little girl back. Whatever America and Britain did, or said to her, to make her not only come back, but come back like this, they had to remind themselves to thank them both the next time they saw the two nations.

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"Italia, you've been in a surprisingly good mood lately. Did Mr. America, or Mr. Britain tell you anything before you came back?" Germany said as they sat at the table one day, eating. Italy was taking a siesta in his room. Italia looked at Ludwig, and shrugged slightly. She felt like she was stepping on eggshells…She had to be careful with what she said.

"Well…I just thought after all the trouble I caused in the past year or so, that maybe I should try making thing easier for you, and Italy considering Italy's…Condition, and everything." She was fidgeting, Germany noticed, which made him wonder what was wrong with her that she felt so nervous. Italia, on the other hand, felt as if her skin was on fire. She was sweaty, and she could feel herself shaking like a leaf in the wind, though she tried to hide that. She looked down at her food, and bit the inside of her checks nervously.

"You don't have to act so nervous Libeling."Germany said softly, touching her hands gently. She blushed slightly, and looked at him shyly. What she didn't want was another fight. She loved her Ludwig, she really did, and she loved Italy too…She just didn't want to cause them anymore trouble than she already had.

"I'm not nervous…I just have a lot on my mind, and it's all hard to really voice." She blushed a bit darker when she realized what she had said out loud. She looked at Germany, and smiled wirily. Germany looked into her eyes, his eyes searching for something, anything, in her eyes that would give him some kind of insight into what was going on in her mind.

After a moment of searching, he sighed, and looked at his mashed potatoes, and wurst. He honestly had no idea what to say to her.

"Italia…"She looked at him as soon as she heard her caretaker speak so timidly."I want you to know that if there is something you feel is missing, something Italy and I could give you, then you don't have to afraid to ask. We both love you very much, and just want you to be happy." He looked at her, his eyes hard as he searched her calm face for something that possibly wasn't there."We just want your happiness." Italia felt her heart race as she thought about telling him what she wanted, but there was a part of her that was very reluctant to say it out loud.

"I just want you guys to relax, and not worry about me. Your focus should be on the baby…On Analise." To say the name out loud, in Italia's mind, felt like pouring acid on her tongue. It felt so wrong, so foreign..

But it worked. Germany smiled, and touched her knee gently, which made Italia stiffen up. That didn't go un-noticed by the Germanic nation. He frowned slightly, and removed his hand.

"Yes, that may be so, but we want you to be happy as well Hasi. We love you." He patted her knee, and then got up. He put his food in the microwave, and looked at her as he began to walk out of the room. "I'm going to check on Italy, and make sure he's doing ok…Do you need anything from me?" Italia shook her head, and watched as her caretaker left the room. She sighed heavily, and looked at her own food. She began picking at it with her fork, no longer feeling hungry.

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That night was peaceful. Italy and her cooked pasta together, Germany read out loud to her, and Italia told them some things she did with America and Britain. It felt like old times again…

She went to bed that night with happy thoughts, but she had weird dreams.

The first dream she had was of her. She looked at bit older, and wore a long sleeved shirt that was white. It tucked into a blue skirt. Her hair was tied back by its usual ribbon, and she climbed on top of a ladder, and searched for something. She found it, an old, leather bound book. She looked at it curiously, her head tilting slightly. She was about to walk away with the book, when she ran into something.

"Oh?" She gasped out of surprise, and looked down to see a little kid with big, green eyelashes that were surrounded by long, think eyelashes. He had olive toned skin, and his hair was curl, and the color of chocolate. He smiled a bright smile at her, flash a row of perfect, straight teeth. It was the kind of smile that made her instantly smile back.

Then something kicked in, and she suddenly felt as though she knew this child. She felt as though it was perfectly normal to be seeing this child.

"Mama, what are you doing?" It asked in the high pitched tone of a toddler. She blinked, and felt surprise go through her. She wasn't a mother. She'd never even….

"Mama is just looking through her past. Perhaps you'd like to hear some of Mama's stories?" The voice that came out of her mouth was not her own. She hardly regcoinzed it at all. The boy smiled, and she bent over, and picked up the boy. Italia walked over to an old couch, and sat down on it. She sat the boy next to her, and opened the book."Did Mama ever tell you about the time I locked Daddy outside of Mommy's room when we went to school together?" The child's emerald eyes looked at her with curiousty.

"Mama, you went to school?" Italia nodded, and opened her mouth to say something, but it changed.

Suddenly, Italia was standing on a dirt road. She was wearing black, high heeled boots that went up to her knees. Red pants met the boots, and tucked into them, some of it out. She was wearing a dark blue shirt with long, flared out sleeves. It was very comfortable, other than the boots, but it all seemed normal. It seemed like this was normal. Italia looked up, and noticed the road had split in two. On each road was people she regcoinzed, and some people she didn't.

To her left was the older version of her she had seen in the previous scene of the dream. She looked at her, smiling warmly, holding the boy, and..Was that Nicolai she saw? Behind them were other people she didn't regcoinze. Two of them looked like twins with blonde curly hair, one had them up in pigtails, and the other had her hair down, but wore a hat, and had blue eyes. They were girls. The next one she saw was a beautiful girl with jet black hair, and light red eyes set in an almond shape frame with long, dark eyelashes. She wore three, purple flowers on the left side of her hair. Behind that girl where five guys, all with different shades of blonde hair, and either green or blue eyes. She couldn't make much else of those boys. There were others she regcoinzed among that crowd, but they were further back, and she could hardly make out but one or two faces.

To her left, was a younger version of her. She wore her innocent blue dress with the white sash. She was standing in between Germany, and Italy, who held onto each of her hands, smiling widely. She also saw Prussia as she remembered him, cocky, and healthy. She saw Japan as well in his usual white uniform. She saw the usual group of allies as well. She saw America, standing proudly with a wide grin wearing his bomber coat, Britain, in his green RAF uniform, she saw China, and Russia, and France, and Romano, and Spain, and Hungary, and Austria as well.

She wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel at that moment, but she knew she felt very confused. She felt a hand touch her shoulder gently. She looked up, and felt uneasy as she saw Nicolai standing beside her. He looked at her, and winked slightly.

"No matter what you chose, Mi Amour, you will always have them." She blinked, feeling confused again, but she was also comforted by the words. She opened her mouth to say something, but the moment she did, the scene melted away, and she woke up..

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Italia opened her eyes with a groan. She felt her head pounding painfully in her skull. She hardly remembered her dream, but she remembered enough that she felt compelled to call Nicolai, something she hadn't done in a long time.

"Hmm hola?" She smiled at his voice, even though it was tired, and somewhat annoyed.

"Sorry..I didn't know you'd be asleep..You always stay up late." She smiled as she heard him chuckle through a yawn.

"Mi Amour, I went to bed an hour ago. It's four in the morning. What's going on? You ok?" Italia felt her throat swell up, and she couldn't speak. She knew it was her pride doing that to her. She didn't want to tell him she felt she had to call him because of a dream…

"Ja, I'm fine..It's just…I had a dream, and you were in it a lot, and I felt like I don't know..Like I had to call you, and talk to you." Nicolai yawned, and laughed nervously.

"Ha, funny, I was dreaming about you too. Did you dream about the little boy?" Italia felt something go bang her chest, and she froze up.

"L-Little boy?" She questioned as if she didn't queit understand.

"Si, he was a cute little boy. He had green eyes, and brown, curly hair…He looked a lot like my papa, but he called me Papa, and I was telling him about something I never done yet. It was weird. Then I dreamt about him, and you, and me. His name was…What was it? I don't remember, but he seemed to really like you. We were outside, a park I think, and we were having a picnic, and he kept asking you about something I don't remember, and he called you Mama..It was strange because then you were gone." Italia again felt herself get thick throated, and she cleared her throat before going on.

"I did..I dreamt about the boy, but I didn't dream about you until the second part. It was strange because there was a road that was cut in two…A fork road. On was me, and you, and the boy, and some other people I didn't regcoinze. Another was a younger version of me holding hands with Germany, and Italy. I saw everyone. I saw Romano, Spain, , Ms. Hungray, Mr. Austria, Mr. Russia..It was everyone I had met so far. Then you appeared, and touched my shoulder, and said something along the lines of no matter what, I'd always have them. Then I woke up, and felt that I had to call you. It was strange." There was silence between the two, and then Nicolai spoke In a serious voice that Italia didn't hear too often.

"Maybe what the second part was trying to tell you was that you need to move on, and just forget whatever it is you're feeling scared about, and go get whatever it is you want because you will always have those people in your life no matter what because they care for you, and won't leave you because of a descion you make." Something about what he said struck a chord in the teen, and she suddenly felt her mouth go dry.

"What if…What if nothing is the same anymore because I hurt them too much…" She said outloud, and blushed when she realized this. There was a short silence, and then he spoke up.

"Sometimes, you can't worry about the what if's. They're always going to be there, Mi amour. What you need to do is just evaluate what you want more. Then, just go ahead, and do it. Don't worry about anything else. That will sort itself out in time." Italia smiled slightly, and she felt some relfi being taken off of her slim shoulders.

"What if it's the wrong descion, and I can't go back?" Again there was silence, and Italia couldn't tell if it was because he was tired, or because he was thinking.

"What's this really about Mi Amour? Obviously, it's been on your mind for sometime now." Italia felt tears in her eyes began to come to her eyes, but she didn't let them fall. She sniffled, and smiled slightly.

"Well..I'll tell you about it when you come with Romano to see Italy."

"…Alright then talk to you then. Buenos Noches Mi amour."

"Ja..Guten Nauct."She said simply, and then hung up on him.

A/n: Well..This was a short chappie lol. Anyways, symbolism…I feel like I'm using that a lot in my stories lately XD. I'm serious, this story, Baby Mine, and lots of others I noticed have a lot of symbolism lately. Hmm, I wonder why that is? Anyways, SO for Baby Mine, because I'm revising it, I'm torn between making Italia a baby, and making her already a year or two old. Honestly, I'm not sure lol. Oh, and those people Italia saw on the left side of the road are people she'll meet later on. I have all those people written out in a story I'm still debating whether or not to post it up. It's about Italia's school years, a nation finishing school of sorts. So all the people there are nations kids, and trust me I know the parents to the kids, and I think my favorite is the kid of Denmark xD. Seriously, he even makes my friend laugh when she was reading it, but like I said..I'm still debating whether or not to put it up. Anyways, What's in store for the next chappie? Well, Nicolai comes over, and gives Italia some good advice about what to do about her situation. What will that be? Well, tune in next time, and find out~~! But until then, remember that no matter how many times you try to teach Italy, he will never understand the concept of grenades, and never take Italy out to dinner, and expect him to pay for anything. Hasta la Pasta~!