ROMANO


All her life, Maria disliked holding hands with anyone unless it was required. Such exceptions were hearing mass every Sunday and when she practiced dancing. For any other reason, she wouldn't allow herself holding hands with anyone. It all started when she was child under her father's, Spain, care.

"No way! There's no way I'd be holding hands with her!" a child's voice broke the silence of the chapel along with squirming gestures of escaping his father's clutches.

"W-what's wrong with Romano-kun?" his twin would remark, already holding the hand of his sister in effortlessly.

"He…doesn't want to hold hands with me again…" Maria whispered, a frown forming on her face.

"R-Romano! Stop it now this instant—!" Spain forced Romano's hand onto Maria's, trying his best to look as subtle as possible. The song, Our Father, has already started playing and the choir sang their piece, as everyone tried their best to ignore the situation Romano started. As soon as Spain successfully clasped their hands together, Maria, already used to it, gave Romano a tight grip on his hand, knowing he would try to let go of her again.

"Y-you can let go after the song is over, alright?" Spain whispered angrily, as he held onto Feliciano's and resumed to singing along as though nothing ever happened. Spain had already seen this coming but he knew he needed to teach these children to always hold hands when "Our Father" was sung in mass. Maria and Feliciano were no trouble, but Romano made up for all of it. This was going to be difficult now that he would take all three of them to mass every Sunday.

"I don't want to hold hands with you!" Romano cried out pushing her clasped hand away from his. His face grew redder every second she wouldn't let go. "T-this is so stupid! Holding hands is stupid!"

Maria said nothing and continued to grasp his hand even tighter, not wanting to make a scene and give her papa any more trouble than what Romano already gave.

"G-gah! Your hand is sweating! Let go, let go!" he cried out in pain after Maria almost crushed his hand as soon as he said that.

"That's your fault, stupid!" She thought angrily, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment, knowing that being like Romano would not solve anything. The heat between their severely tight hands emitted beads of sweat to trickle their palms.

As soon as the song was over, she immediately threw his hand away from her grasp and gently released Feliciano's. She wiped the sweat off her hands with her dress and glared at Romano who was doing the same with his pants.

"There's no way I'm ever holding hands with you again."

Many years later, she spent less and less time with her brothers as Spain raised her in the Philippines for the rest of her life. Now that she was a free country, she wasn't afraid of anything.

…except holding hands with Romano.

Even as she grew up, she held hands with the people who sat beside her during mass.

But she always felt uncomfortable. She always feared that the people holding her hands might see notice how warm and damp it was, and she always thought that was never a good sign. Thanks to Romano, she always found herself acting so nervous around the subject of holding hands.

As she walked inside the chapel one Sunday morning, she stopped short.

Was that Papa Spain, Feliciano and…

Romano?

Somehow, she could recognize them from behind, and it startled her a bit. It's been so long since she last met her father and much more her brothers.

She didn't like seeing Romano once more though. Would he be the same Romano he was in the past? Would he laugh at her hands? She was beginning to feel nervous all over again back from when she was a child. She would have wanted to skip mass for today but that would be a sin if she did. So, she did the safest possible thing.

"Papa…Spain?" she called out softly from behind, and much to her relief and anxiety, all three of them turned around and her assumptions were right.

"Maria…" Spain's expression turned sincere as he left the pew to approach her. "You've…come to hear mass, too?"

"Maria! You look so beautiful today~! I'm so happy to see you again, ve~" Feliciano smiled widely as he followed Spain and ran to embrace her tightly.

"Of course…" She smiled genuinely at Spain and returned Feliciano's embrace. "It's good to see you again, Feliciano."

Then she looked at Romano who she presumed was still standing by the pew. To her surprise, she didn't find him.

Where was he? Did he…leave them behind? Why was she suddenly so sad about it?

She shook her thoughts away and tried to forget about him and holding hands.

But a second after that, she…felt something grasp her hand. It was warm and soft and…

It was Romano's…

Why didn't she feel…nervous about it…? Maybe because she was so used to holding his hand in the past, that their hands didn't feel so damp anymore. It was just her mind that gave her that idea all these years.

"Romano…" she whispered his name, and she saw how stiff he suddenly got after she did.

He immediately released her hand, a blush forming on his face. "O-oi! Don't get any ideas, stupid! I-I was just checking if those stupid hands of yours were sweating again, okay?" He already knew they weren't but he averted his eyes and proceeded to scratch his head, looking away from his former sister.

"…but I'm…glad to see you again." He whispered so softly, that not even he could hear himself.

"…W-what did you say, Romano?" she curiously asked, after noticing his lips were mouthing something she couldn't comprehend.

"N-nothing, okay?" He blushed again, turning away from the three of them. "J-just shut up already, the mass is about to start." He balled his hands up and stood stiffly, trying to hide his pink-tinted cheeks.

She noticed he didn't change much from when they were children, but it suddenly warmed her heart a bit. "Come on…" she touched his hand and it opened reflexively. Maria took that chance and moved to hold onto him. "Let's all go together…" He gasped softly, as he looked at her almost-shyly. Why…wasn't he resisting…?

Instead, he just nodded and proceeded to follow her, his hand clasped onto hers.

...and it wasn't even the "Our Father" yet…


A/N: Wahh, thank you for your reviews! ; A ; You can suggest more pairings if you like by reviewing~ I really really love reviews, and I re-read them every time s-so yeah, I know...it's weird.. . ;; Thank you thank you~ I've always wanted to make a Romano one too, heehee...enjoy~