A/N: Okay, so I didn't update on Monday. T.T Hopefully a day late isn't that bad...

I don't really like this chapter... I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I procrastinated until Monday to write it. Anyway, I'd forgotten a major part of the chapter, so thankfully Melon reminded me. The chapter had killed my brain, so I waited until this afternoon to finish it so it turn out as complete crap.

So, yeah, I don't like this one, but review and let me hear what you guys think. Also, see if you can spot the reference I made to one of my favorite TV shows~ If you think you've found it, put it in your review (durrrrr). Remember that I'm giving out a oneshot to my 42nd reviewer to thank you guys for being awesome. Right now, we're at about 26 reviews, I think. THANK YOU GUYS! *hearts*

Random Crap: I just downloaded most of the character songs yesterday. (I'm so behind xD) I'm totally in love with Iggy's "Absolutely Invincible British Gentleman"~ And Spain's version of the tomato song (it's not technically a character song. Sue me.). Ohhh, and "Mein Gott" as well as both of Russia's. America's hamburger song made me laugh and got on my nerves at the same time. Oh, why must my country be so adorably... American?

Anyhow, onward!

Even though everyone expected Roderich and Elizaveta's relationship to eventually spawn some sort of mangled unified country, that didn't mean he cut her any slack concerning her work. Sometimes, though, she managed to convince him that taking a break wasn't all bad, especially when "taking a break" included extensive kissing and many noble attempts to get rid of his stupid shirt.

So, it came as a shock when Roderich informed her that she actually had a day off. The information came out of nowhere, but that wasn't to say that it was unwelcome. She had grinned and kissed him, which soon disintegrated into more hands and teeth and lips than any real words.

And then she woke up the next morning, far earlier than she should've, and pulled on a pair of pants (which had taken months of begging and pleading to Roddy to actually let her purchase them), a plain, white shirt, and her old boots. Grinning wildly, she tied her useless long hair back and set off to have an awesome day of kicking Gilbert's ass in any and everything.

Despite the fact that it was early in the morning, Roderich was awake, and surprisingly, in the kitchen. Of course, he looked flustered, stepping quickly in front of whatever he had been preparing.

"Hey, Roddy!" she said brightly, stepping over to his side and giving him a peck on his cheek. "You're up early."

He coughed, a sure sign of him feeling awkward. "Ah, yes. I could say the same for you."

"Well, I do have the day off! I figured I'd make the most of it. So, I'm headed out to Gilbert's place. I'm thinking we'll find some of the guys and go out drinking and wreaking havoc like the good old days!" She was grinning again, part maniacally, part ecstatically.

Unnoticed by Elizaveta, Roderich's face fell. "I see. Well… I, uh, hope you have fun, then. Just… be safe, promise?"

"I will." She reached up to give him another quick kiss. "You want me to add that to our list?"

"If it makes you happy," he said, almost resignedly.

"You're sweet, Roddy." She smiled again, and maybe it was almost worth it, in his opinion. With one last kiss on the cheek, she was gone, muttering something about hoping Poland was awake.

*insert ugly border here*

Now that Elizaveta had left him alone for the day, Roderich wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. He repeated over and over again that it was okay, Lizzy was happy, and that was a good thing, right? She's going to hate you if you keep her caged, you know.

Still, it was hard. What did Gilbert have that he didn't? Why, at the mere mention of a day off, did she dress up like a boy and run off to spend time with Prussia and Poland, two of the most idiotic nations he knew? Was he not good enough?

The thought terrified him. He sat down at his piano, but couldn't bring himself to even touch the keys. Ah, that was it. Of course Elizaveta preferred the warrior type, her companions from the times gone by when she had run free and wild and been on top of the world.

There was nothing in a shy, socially awkward aristocrat to attract her for very long. She was beautiful and free and wild and beautiful… the list went on and on (and on and on). He was just boring, black and white like a piece of sheet music or the very piano that mocked him.

He didn't deserve her. No one did. Was there really anyone in this world – or any world – that would ever be good enough to love a woman like Elizaveta Hédeváry?

Of course not. And the least of these was Roderich himself.

It was beyond him why she had decided to lavish her attention upon him. He had really done nothing to deserve it. Nothing. She was his lover, at least for now, and she was still forced to work like a common servant (she was anything but). Of course she would want to get away at the soonest possible moment in order to be with the people she actually liked.

"Ve~ Austria?" Almost like a little pest or an Italian boy who simply could not read the atmosphere, Feliciano stood beside him, looking up with his mysteriously closed eyes.

"Yes, Italy?"

"Where's Lizzy?"

Roderich coughed for the second time within about thirty minutes. "Ah… I gave her the day off. I believe she is with Gilbert right about now."

"Ve?" The boy sounded even more confused than usual. "But I thought you two were going to do something together."

Discarding any lewd thoughts derived from that statement, Roderich kept staring at his piano and sighed. "We were, but I was going to surprise her and I didn't think she would run off with all her friends. And then when she told me what she had planned, she looked so happy I didn't want to ruin her smile…" He sighed again. "She's so pretty when she smiles…"

"Austria is sad, ve? Maybe music will make him happy again~"

He laughed wryly. "No, I don't think so. I think Elizaveta prefers Prussia because he doesn't play music."

"That's silly, ve~ Lizzy loves Austria very much."

"Well, I had originally assumed so. But sometimes I feel that she prefers that… albino instead of me. I can see why, but…"

"But what?"

"But I'm pouring out all my sorrows to a child. That's what." He gave the piano another stare, this one absolutely defeated.

"Ve? What's wrong with that?"

Roderich actually managed a smile, albeit a slightly cynical one. "I simply feel… pathetic, Italy. I suppose I cannot understand why exactly Elizaveta is in love with me, as she claims."

"Then ask her!" The Italian said this as if it were obvious.

"I can't! She's not here!" His frustration was evident, a far cry from his typical stoic demeanor.

"Ask her when she gets back, ve~"

He bit his lip. "Alright, then. I just cannot-"

"Lizzy loves you," Feliciano cut in. "I know it."

"How?" He was sure he sounded shocked, but was past the point of caring.

"Well, she doesn't beat you with a frying pan like she does to Gilbert. And she doesn't call you mean names or try to castrate you, whatever that is." (Roderich had a feeling that he knew why she wanted his vital regions intact.) "Oh, and she kisses you a lot. See, when you kiss someone that means you love them. Holy Roman kissed me because he loved me, and Lizzy kisses you a lot more than he kissed me, so that must mean she loves you a whole lot!"
Roderich couldn't help smiling at the boy's strange logic. Too bad he didn't have as much faith as Feli did.

So, for the rest of the day he poured himself into his piano, alternating between the most difficult pieces he could think up and writing his song about Elizaveta. He couldn't help the fact that the resulting notes were sad, bittersweet, questioning, since, as usual, the song was an extension of his current feelings for her.

It wasn't her song; it was more like their song. Roderich's song and Elizaveta's song. He supposed it told the story of the two of them. How much longer that song would last was anyone's guess.

He was still playing late into the night. It was dark outside, most likely far into the early morning. He hadn't bothered to count hours after Feli had come in to give him a goodnight hug.

By the time Elizaveta came in, only slightly tipsy, he was asleep, slumped against the piano. Due to this, he didn't register her lips brushing his forehead before she stumbled back to her own room.

*border goes here*

Elizaveta woke up the next morning, completely hangover-free, unlike several unfortunate nations by the name of Gilbert, Francis, and Antonio. She sighed, since her day off was over and she now had to return to cleaning random parts of Roderich's inordinately large house.

In another effort to appease the rest of the staff, she took upon herself to clean the kitchen. It was a nice, late summer day, so she cracked open one of the several windows on the far side of the kitchen overlooking the spice garden.

It wasn't long until she heard voices coming from outside the window, most likely from the spice garden. As usual, she paused in her cleaning, standing to the side of the window in order to listen better.

"Did you hear what that traitor did yesterday?" It was clearly the voice of one of her fellow maids, not much younger than how Elizaveta appeared.

"Part of it. I know the master had planned something and then she just left."

Well, it was pretty obvious they were talking about her. All the more reason to stay, then.

"She's so ungrateful! What does he even see in her?"

The second maid giggled. "Ooh! You're jealous!"

"No! Why would I be jealous of her?"

"Because the master is in love with her."

"Stop! Don't you want to hear what happened?"

"Fine. But you know you fancy him."

"I said stop. Now, listen here. Cook told me that Master came to her the day before yesterday and told her she didn't need to make him any food the next day. She asked why, and he told her that he was taking that traitor to see some wandering minstrel show. I suppose they're good, if Master is going to see them."

"Really? What minstrels?"

"The ones that sing some song about a secret tunnel through the mountains. Oh, and he was going to take her to some restaurant, too. He spends far too much money on her, in my opinion."

"So you are jealous!"

Elizaveta didn't bother listening past then. She drifted away from the window, good mood sinking even further. No wonder he'd looked so dejected the previous morning.

She knew what she had to do. Abandoning all thought of cleaning, she nearly ran through the house to the music room. When she saw that he wasn't there, she dashed up the stairs, looking in every room until she reached Roderich's own. He had to be in there. Of course he was tired, so he would most likely be sleeping still.

She took a deep breath and grabbed the handle, wrenching the door open. She let out that deep breath when she noticed him, still asleep. He was unbearably cute like that.

Banishing any thought of maturity from her mind, she ran and jumped onto the bed, in essence tackling Roderich. As expected, this woke him up. Groggily, he looked up at the girl clinging to him. He was sure she hadn't been there when he stumbled into bed early that morning.

"Lizzy?" he managed to ask.

"Yes?" she replied, snuggling against him.

It was then that he noticed how awkward of a situation they were in. He pulled himself into something like a seated position, displacing Lizzy. "That was… improper."

"What? My jump?"

"No, the fact that you were laying on top of me in bed."

"Oh. Sorry." And then she remembered why she had come in the first place. "And I'm so sorry about that thing yesterday. So, so, sorry. Seriously, Roddy, I had no idea. I mean, if you told me I wouldn't have… ugh, please don't hate me!"

For some reason, Roderich looked confused as she deteriorated into a Lizzy-sized bundle of distress. He reached out a hand to try to calm her. "Lizzy, what's wrong?"

"Yesterday. You had all these wonderful things planned and I completely abandoned you! I didn't mean to, honest, I didn't!"

"It's alright. As long as you enjoyed yourself. You did, didn't you?" he lied, attempting to change the subject.

"Of course! Gilbert was already awake, so we went to Feliks' house and dumped water on him to wake him up. It was awesome! He kept squealing about his hair for half the day! Oh, and then Gilbert had to go get his idiot friends Francis and Antonio, but I told Francis I'd castrate him with my frying pan if he tried to grope me. He still tried though, and I knocked him out for about an hour and Gilbert and Antonio painted a moustache on him, kinda like what Feli did to your painting. Oh, and then we…"

She kept talking for a while longer, but he found it in his best interest not to listen to how much fun she had without him. He waited until the only sound was the silence and her breathing, and then he spoke.

"Lizzy, why are you in love with me?"

She looked sufficiently shocked by this. "Why do you ask? Isn't it obvious?"

"No. I wouldn't have asked if I knew."

Sarcasm. That meant he was angry, disturbed, or insecure. Most likely a combination. "Roddy, there's too many reasons. I can't list them all, since I'd have to list pretty much your entire personality. You're sweet, you're always thinking of me, you try so hard in everything you do, and even if you fail in trying I still know what you meant and that's what is important. I think I pretty much love you because you're you."

It sounded trite and impersonal, that last bit, but he knew her well enough to see the expression on her face and recognize the fact that she most likely meant what she said. "So you don't love Gilbert? Because if you did, I'd unders-"

He was cut off by a laugh. "Gil? No way. If we were attempting to be in love, he would be dead or without the ability to reproduce within a matter of hours."

Slightly reassured, Roderich chanced a small smile. "Lizzy, I-"

"I'm not God, Roddy. I'm just a country like you. I don't plan on abandoning you anytime soon. Isn't that in our promise list?"

"I'm not quite sure."

She smiled and took a rumpled piece of paper out of her apron pocket. "Here," she said, pointing to a line of sloppy writing. "It says Elizaveta Hédeváry promises never to leave Roderich Edelstein."

"That's rather implausible. Are you sure you want to… chain yourself to me in such a way?"

She laughed again, although he couldn't quite see what was so funny. "It's not chaining," she whispered, worming her way back onto his lap, "if I agree to it."

Although her lips on his didn't blot out all worries, it helped him get his mind off things far more effectively than any alcohol ever would.