urg, so sorry for those of you who actually read this. we're all just really lazy and Blue and Midnas have their own fanfics to worry about. thank god we've got up to chapter 14 written ^^

Ch. 11: Two Steps Forwards and One Italian Back

Natale

Rome woke up with Barnard in her arms; the little robo sheep was snoring contently, the pasta sauce and garlic cloves tangled and stained onto his wool. She'd have to give him a bath later.

She got up and got dressed in a red shirt and black jeans. The robo sheep pawed at her feet, begging to go out with his mistress today. "Bernard, you really need a bath." Rome said, tying her hair in a pony tail. He "BAA~"ed at her, collar flashing yellow and pink. She picked him up with a sigh. "Don't do those colors too often, Bernard." she told him, opening the door. "Reminds me of Poland."

They made their way to the cafeteria. Even though it was the weekend, the cafeteria still served food; thank God, because Rome for once did not want to cook her own breakfast. She grabbed a plate of pancakes and drowned them all in syrup, giving one to Bernard, who happily ate it on the top of the European table.

Rome was able to finish one pancake in peace before "PRINCESSA!"

Just her luck: the damn Spaniard was up. "I don't want to talk to you Barce." she snapped, shoving a huge mouthful of pancake in her mouth. Bernard's collar flashed red.

The cheery Spaniard sat beside her and patted her on the head. "You're so cute when you're grumpy, Roma~" he said with his trademark smile.

"Don't touch me, asshole." Rome growled, gripping the fork tightly in her hand.

"Naaw~" Barce really had to resist taking the seriously grumpy Italian up into his arms and snuggling with her. No doubt she'd punch him in the gut and struggle and scream, but she was just too cute~

"Shut up. And don't call me cute."

"Well, you can't say that I can't call you that because 'cute' is for chicks, because that's Romano's excuse."

"If you haven't noticed, douchebag, I AM a chick."

"Oh, I have. Don't worry."

Rome rolled her eyes and took the empty plate up to the lunch ladies, storming out of the cafeteria with Bernard under her arm and the Spaniard on her heels, blabbing on about some useless topic.

Rushing outside, Roma dashed around all the buildings, through various hallways, jumping through crowds, until she had convinced herself that she'd lost the Spanish douche.

But today was obviously not Rome's day: she crashed into Germany in the middle of the hallway. "Rome!" The German nation scrambled up, picking the Italian up off the ground. "I've been looking all over for you-"

Rome pushed herself out of his arms fiercely and yelled, "And I was trying to spend the day in peace! But NOOO, I can't, CAN I? First I run into the Spanish Bastard and now I just happen to meet up with the German Asshole!"

"Roma, please," Germany began, taken aback by the harsh language she was using. He'd never thought such a cute little thing like Natale could be that aggressive.

Rome was having none of his pleading though. And apparently, neither was Barce: somehow, he had managed to find the Italian capital and was storming up to Germany. "Gringo! Stay away from my Princessa!"

"Whoever said she was YOURS?" Germany growled. "Last time I checked, Roma didn't like you either!"

Barce pushed his face into the German's, and the two stared into each others' eyes menacingly. "What are you trying to say, gringo?"

"HEEEY!"

The two looked at Roma with blank faces. Heat waves seemed to be coming up off of her head. "You two are both assholes." she stated plainly. Rome looked at Barce first. She walked up to him and pushed him in the chest harshly. "Why do you keep following me around all the damn time?"

Barce looked down on her and said with an air of command, "Because I'm the Passionate Spaniard, that's why."

"Bullshit!" Rome screamed. "Haven't I made it clear that I hate you, Barcelona?"

Germany snickered a bit. She whirled on him and shouted, "And you, the German. All YOU did was mess things up."

"But Roma-"

"Don't call me 'Roma'!" she fumed. "All I want is to be left alone, alright?"

Rome began to walk off down the hall, Bernard trailing behind her. The city and country both took a step to follow, but Rome called over her shoulder, "And don't even think about following me, or I'll send Ella after you!"

The two men were left in silence for a little while; they looked at each other, and narrowed their eyes.

"What did you do to make my Princessa hate me, gringo?" Barce growled.

"What did I do? What did YOU do?" Germany growled. "Roma's all upset because YOU won't stop stalking her."

They were nose-to-nose again. There was no way this could possibly end well.

Melinda

It was late afternoon, and the Canadian was walking back to the dorms happily. After her big ice cream bilge the day before, she figured that a work out was what she needed and luckily the other Canadians were going to the ice rink to do what they did best: play hockey. Hugging her pet beaver, she thought about the good time she had had. It had been a close game- her team had barely won, mostly since the opposing team had Alaska on their side.

No offense to any Alaskan, of course.

"Do you think we'll be able to do this every weekend Jack?" she asked, for once getting the animal's name right.

The animal appreciated this and decided to remember who his owner was. "Maybe." The girl smiled and hugged the animal harder. She took a short cut through the park, hoping to get home in time for a shower. Melinda stopped, seeing a familiar person lounging under a tree. Isn't that Prussia? she wondered.

She carefully approached, only to confirm her suspicions. The albino was lying, as if sleeping, lightly petting Gilbird on his lap. She smiled, how cute.

"What do you want," Prussia growled, not even opening his eyes.

Ottawa jumped a bit, not realizing that he was awake. "Oh nothing!" she mustered, slightly embarrassed.

His eyes suddenly flew open and he jumped to his feet. "Ottawa!" he exclaimed, trying to regain his composure. "W-what brings you to my awesome presence?"

"Oh I was just walking through." she stated plainly.

He was only able to give an "oh" before the two settled into an awkward silence. The stood there oddly, waiting for the other to speak. The blond broke the silence.

She pointed to Gilbird. "Is that your pet?" she asked. The canary chirped.

"Yeah," he suddenly gained an aura of pride. "This is Gilbird! The most awesome pet ever!" The bird flew to the Canadian. She laughed and held out a figure for it.

"Hi Gilbird," she said. She suddenly held up Jack for Prussia to see. "This is Justin, my beaver." The man started to laugh, causing the girl to blush. "I didn't mean it like that you pervert!"

He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sorry, it was just too tempting." He smiled at her cheerfully, something she thought that she'd never see from him.

"So what are you doing in the park all by yourself?" she asked, taking a seat underneath the tree.

Prussia sat next to her. "Oh, just being awesome. What were you doing with-" he motioned to her ice skates. "-those?"

"I was just playing hockey with my family." His eyes soften at the word "family", making her automatically regret her words. That's right, he's an outcast.She swallowed her guilt and asked the appending question. "Prussia, do you like being alone?"

"It's awesome being a loner!" he yelled.

"But is it awesome to be alone?" she asked again.

He scowled. "Why do you care?" he demanded, suddenly getting defensive.

"I-" she paused. Why did she care so much? "I care because I know how it feels, to be ignored." She couldn't help but to remember when England had woken up after fainting; how he had not been able to see her.

He was suddenly in her face, holding her by her shirt collar. "At least they don't do it on purpose!" he snapped.

She gently placed a hand on his cheek. Tears were starting to fall down her face silently. "Which makes it ten times more painful," she whispered. He gaped at her, unable to speak. He released her, just to pull her into a tight embrace. Melinda was shocked. What was this?

He held her tightly, as if she might disappear is he let go. "You'll never do that, right?" he asked. "You'll never ignore me, Ottawa?"

She patted his back. "Never."

Ella

Dressed in all black, Ella and Gupta snuck out of their rooms, meeting each other down the hall.

"Okay Egipto," she said, pointing to her cohort, "cue, music!" And with that, Egypt pressed a button on the boom-box he had poised on his shoulder, and the Mission Impossibletheme song began playing ever so softly; and with that, the duo snuck down the halls toward a certain German's room.

But they were stopped by footsteps coming from down the hall. They stilled at the sight of Seychelles glaring at them. Ella's eyes widened as she quickly pulled the pipe out of nowhere and without a single word being exchanged, she knocked Seychelles out.

"Crap. I gotta stop doing that . . ." she said without much remorse as she looked down at the unconscious body. And with a loud sigh, she pulled a large collapsible box out of the same seemingly bottomless pocket she kept the pipe in. Without offering any explanation to her companion, she efficiently stuffed the unconscious girl in the box, closing the lid and leaving it in the hallway for someone else to find. They continued on their journey without much conflict.

"Uh, yea about that . . . It was Natale's idea; I was just doing her a favor. She's been wanting to do that for ages." she explained.

Once there, Ella whipped her favorite weapon over her shoulder and with a vicious swing she split the door in two without even trying the handle. With a loud crunch, she stepped over the now useless door into the room without further introduction. She saw the person she was seeking on the bed, with his head in his hands.

Ella motioned with a flick of her hand for Gupta to stop the Mission Impossible. Gupta smoothly raised a finger and pressed the stop button on the boom-box. But the music didn't stop-it just switched to a loud, very catchy Egyptian song. Ella turned to Gupta, her eyebrow raised as she watched him fuss with the boom-box. He kept pressing the stop button, which only seemed to switch the songs back and forth. He finally just banged his fist on several different buttons, breaking the machine all together.

Getting back to the task at hand, Ella lunged forward and wrapped her hands around Germany's throat until he passed out due to lack of oxygen.

"I meant to do it this time. Hand me some rope Gupta . . ."

Germany awoke with a start, banging his head against a hard surface. He looked around frantically only to realize that he was tied to a stiff chair with some rope, unable to move. As he glanced up he noticed Egypt holding a light directly positioned at his face as Rome's friend, Ella, stepped into view. He held some sort of strange respect for the country; I mean, she was able to ambush and capture him right?

As soon as he thought this though, he realized something: Roma was mad at him. Ella was one of her best friends, the fierce protector to her Italian and her Canadian. Mien Gott, I'm screwed .. . Germany's thoughts trailed off as Ella held the pipe she had just used a minute ago to bust his door in to his face.

"What in Dios's name have you done to my Italian? She's depressed now and I know it was because of you . . ." She said, her voice dripping with venom. Germany now knew why her friends hid behind her in times of need. This girl was scary, and she had the strength to carry out her threats too.

"I tried to apologize! She wouldn't listen!"

"What. Did. You. Do?"

"I-I guess I yelled at her . . . That stupid Spaniard wouldn't leave her alone and I was trying to help her, I promise!"

She lowered the pipe and gave him a "What are you? Stupid?" look. She sighed and broke the ropes apart with her pipe. "You're not supposed to yell at her Alemania!She's sensitive! Me da coraje . . .Why do you not consider her feelings?"

"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I really didn't mean too . . . How I can fix it?" he asked, hopeful.

"Be nice to her. Try and win her back! She is an Italian, forgiving you won't be too hard."

Germany considered her words. She was right, he would just have to be nice to her, try and make it up to his little Roma . . . When he looked up again though, the intimidating duo was gone.

Prussia

That night, Prussia went back to his dorm feeling a new respect for Melinda. She really is something, he thought amused. He flopped onto his bed and stared at the ceiling, allowing himself a moment of peace.

Francis and Antonio slid up to his bed. "Hey Gilbert, heard you had your arms around Ottawa today," Francis teased, patting the man on the head.

"Yeah, what about it?"

Spain giggled. "You're a step closer to winning her heart." Although the Spaniard referred to the German's plan, Prussia couldn't help but to turn a shade of red.

"W-what? Are you insane?" he demanded, flustered. "There's no way I could win her heart."

"Aw, why so self doubting?"

"Cause she's kind and sweet and understanding and . . ." He trailed off, a Spain and France had started to laugh. "What's so funny?"

The blond recovered first. "Mon aim, it sounds as though you have feelings for her."

Prussia threw a pillow at his head. "Idiot. Why would I like a skinny-ass slut like her?"

Spain laughed. "You're denying it~!" he cooed. "It's so cute~!" He also got a pillow to the face.

"Shut-up Pedo!"

The two men laughed and left the ex-country alone. They had to agree, this was a most interesting turn of events.

BFTL and MW and SEK

The three girls stared at the screens of their own laptops. They all wondered one thing: Why was this chapter so bloody short?

cuz who says the authors CANT be in the actually story?