Romano would be lying if he said he wasn't tired. He was and it wasn't just because of Italy coming in. Romano probably would have been up even later if it weren't for Italy, so he had his younger brother to thank for being somewhat functioning. Not that he ever would say that out loud.

The letter that he had given Spain was a mess. Romano had read it and he couldn't believe that he wrote that… well, that he wrote it and thought it would be a good idea to leave it for Spain. It was embarrassing. It was a good thing Spain never found it.

Romano rummaged around the drawers of Spain's desks for a pen to rewrite the letter. The only issue was, for some reason, Spain had no pens. He had plenty of pencils, which were better for drawing maps. 'But you couldn't get one fucking pen?' Romano thought as he slammed the drawer he was looking through closed, 'Just one.'

The door to the study opened and Greece came in. He was holding Spain's notebook that supposedly explained what Spain was doing. Supposedly, since Romano really didn't look at it or care.

"What did you want?" Romano asked, moving onto the last drawer. There was one singular pen there, an old fountain pen. Romano had a sinking feeling that the ink had already been used up. "Do you have a pen?"

Greece tilted his head slightly, "Isn't that one?"

Romano stared unconvincingly at the pen.

"In any case, I was wondering if you would help me decipher this," Greece handed Romano the notebook, "You have been with Spain the longest, it would make sense that you would be able to read his handwriting."

Romano opened up the notebook to the first page. "Not like it's that hard to read," he muttered. Spain's handwriting wasn't that bad, though it could have been from Romano being so used to reading it, trying to figure out what was going on while he was still living in Spain's house. "My boss has worse handwriting…" Romano stopped and actually read what he was looking at.

"I don't think I have ever seen Veneziano or Romano look so worn out before. At least I can say that Veneziano had a better outlook once he had reunited with Germany. But for Romano… he is very worried for his brother, and he has a point. There's only so much any of us can do without sleep, and if what he said about Veneziano is right… well, one of these days it might do some considerable damage.

Romano said that whatever Veneziano has cannot be cured. He would know better than I. But… there has to be something to help them out… Too bad sleeping pills don't work for us."

The notebook then turned into a more scientific journal, with records of tests and experiments done with various sleeping pills and their effects, followed by various substances and recipes. Romano only glanced through it to get the gist, his mind still reeling through the first page of the notebook.

"He was making sleeping pills," Romano explained slowly, getting to the last page. It wasn't a complete recipe, merely adjustments from previous ones. "Though, it doesn't say what he was working with when that explosion happened."

Greece nodded solemnly. "Sleeping pills… with ambrosia… I had a feeling this was the case. It was an idea I had when I was younger, but never followed through with."

"If you really want," Romano said, "I could probably figure out what was in the stuff he made. Would that help get him out of the coma?"

"It wouldn't hurt."

"Ok." Romano took out a piece of paper, and made an attempt to start writing. However, the only pen Spain owned was out of ink. "Um… do you have a working pen?"

Greece pulled one out from his pocket. "When you're done, just keep it in Spain's desk for the next time you need one."

"I'm not here that often," Romano pouted. A part of him wished that he was.

88888

Germany had originally thought that he could focus on his business in Spain without too much of a problem. Sure, another nation was in a coma; it was rare enough in itself let alone for there to be nothing happening in his country to warrant it. But he wasn't that close to Spain, so he could approach the whole thing unattached. That was what Germany originally thought, however his thoughts circled around the issue and onto some darker thoughts about death and dying. That was distracting enough, making Germany tense; it was even worse when he started seeing something in the corner of his eye. He couldn't get a good look, but he could have sworn he saw a boy in a black hat and cape looking at him sullenly.

It had gotten bad enough for Germany's boss to notice. After the last meeting, Germany's boss told the nation to take some time off. It made Germany uncomfortable to hear that from his boss, however he had never disobeyed a direct order yet.

Romano was the one to greet Germany first, as he was heading back inside from working in the garden. His overalls were covered in dirt and he was sweating. They stared at each other for a moment. Germany was prepared for some sort of insult to come from Romano.

"Welcome back, potato bastard," Romano said. He sounded tired.

Germany thought that was the best greeting he had ever gotten from Romano. "Guten tag. How are things?"

"Well… Spain's still unconscious. And we found out he was making sleeping pills."

"Really?"

Romano nodded, and opened the door. "Si…" He looked a bit dejected.

"…are you ok?" Germany asked.

"I'm fine," Romano said, unconvincingly. He didn't give Germany a chance to ask a follow up question before running upstairs.

Germany didn't care enough to go after him. He went into the sitting room to put his bag down, and found Japan, looking through a manga, and Italy, curled up under a blanket. Japan looked up immediately, and rushed over to Germany.

"You're back," Japan said, in a hushed voice.

Germany nodded, and looked over at Italy. "A siesta?"

Japan followed Germany's gaze, "Hai. Italy had a rough night last night. He needs to catch up on sleep. How were your meetings?"

"They… could have been better. They were a bit awkward since Spain wasn't there, but we made due. His boss was a bit on edge, however I explained things as best I could." Germany took a seat on the couch once he set his bag down quietly.

"You seem tense. Is everything ok?"

"I…" Germany looked at Japan, and something behind his friend caught his eye. A boy in a black hat and cape looking directly at him with a menacing glare. His blue eyes looked to be on fire. "Honestly, I don't know… I've been more easily distracted… and I think there may be something following me." The boy's eyes narrowed.

"You need to see a therapist, or at least talk to someone."

"Ja, I know… But I don't know who to talk to." The boy by that time had disappeared, but Germany still felt like he was being watched.

"If you want a suggestion," Japan said, "Why not a nation who you don't talk to very often? You can be honest without having to worry how to word certain things."

Germany thought about it for a moment. It was an idea… he just had to figure out who to go to. "How about you, Kiku?" Germany asked eventually, "How are you doing?"

"I can't complain. Though, I will admit that I am procrastinating with some paper work for my boss." Japan smiled sheepishly.

"So long as it gets to him in time. Any… um… new reading suggestions?" Germany fumbled through the question.

Japan grinned and pulled out a book from his bag. It wasn't in Japanese, which surprised Germany. "This I got from Romano. He has a good eye for romance novels, surprisingly. It's about a girl who lost her first love in a war and learning how to love again after that. I think you would enjoy this one too. You can borrow it after I am done."

Romance novels were Germany's guilty pleasure. Both Japan and Italy found out about it when they were planning strategies, because there was a trashy romance novel of the time in Germany's backpack. Instead of making fun of him for it (like Prussia did), the two of them really enjoyed it. "Have you started it?"

"A little." Before Japan could explain any more, Italy stirred a bit in his sleep.

Looking over to where he was, Germany could see that Italy was having a nightmare. His brow was furrowed and his right hand clutched the blanket tightly. Japan waisted no time going over to Italy and gently woke him up. Italy looked very scared at first, and immediately reached for his prayer beads lying on the coffee table, but after he readjusted to reality, he calmed down a bit. He noticed Germany and smiled a bit. "'Morning, captain."

"It's four in the afternoon," Germany said, a small smile on his face.

"Oh," Italy looked worried, "Is it really that late?"

"Hai," Japan said, "You looked tired, so I let you sleep."

Italy sat up. Germany thought that the Italian still looked tired, and wondered how bad he was before. "It didn't really help much… I'm still tired…" Italy looked highly disappointed.

"It takes a few days to get back to a normal sleep rhythm," Germany said, thinking back to a book he read, "It's best to keep to a normal sleeping pattern."

Italy didn't look all that amused. "I'm trying." He walked up to Germany and put his arms around him. "I missed you," Italy said quietly.

Germany wasn't sure what to say in reply, and so just held Italy close. "I missed you too."

"Should I shove you two into a private room?" Japan said, after waiting a while for something else to happen. Germany and Italy separated themselves very quickly, which made Japan laugh a bit. "Here's an idea, why don't we go outside? It is still light out, and the fresh air can do us all some good."

"That sounds like a great idea, Kiku," Italy said, smiling.

Germany agreed with the idea, if only to spend time with his best friends in the world. It was something normal they could all do, and normal was something they all needed at the current moment.

88888

"So… sleeping pills?" Germany said once everyone was done eating dinner. Romano and Italy were washing dishes, Greece was working on some stuff for his boss, and Japan had gone upstairs to go keep an eye on Spain.

"Si," Italy said as he was drying a cup, "We're not sure why though… it seems a bit out of character for him. He's not much of a scientist."

Romano did not look convinced, however kept whatever opinion he had to himself. Greece noticed this, and he did find it a bit odd. There was something that he saw in the notebook that he wasn't telling anyone. Greece had his theories, but he could wait until Spain woke up to confirm them. He was patient.

"If they do work, it would help a lot." Germany mused.

"Si…" Italy agreed, "But… ambrosia seems like a very dangerous substance. It got Spain landed in a coma, so…"

"They should get tested properly," Greece said, "I'm sure that Spain would have brought it up at the world meeting next week. And we can make sure it gets discussed."

"Wait," Romano stopped washing dishes, "There's a world meeting next week?"

"I forgot, honestly," Italy said, glancing at Spain's fridge calendar, "I didn't realize it was so close… what if Spain doesn't wake up by then?"

"Let's just take it one day at a time," Greece said, "We can only hope for the best. There is still some time before then."

"I fucking hate waiting around," Romano said agitatedly, splashing the water in the sink, "Isn't there anything more productive we can do?"

"Pray?" Germany suggested.

"I've done that already. Fat load of good that has done so far!"

The doorbell suddenly rang. For a moment, everyone was frozen, wondering who would be at the house so late in the day. The sun had already set. The doorbell rang again, and Italy went to go answer it. Greece turned so that he could see the door. The person there was a local young man with a basket of pears. Italy invited the local into the kitchen. The tension in the room immediately skyrocketed.

"This is José Felipe," Italy explained, "He's Antonio's neighbor."

Everyone waved awkwardly, except Romano, who was staring at José with a hard look.

"I heard Antonio was sick?" José asked, putting the basket of pears on the table. "Is he ok?"

"He's going to be fine," Germany said, "He just needs some rest."

"Kinda disappointing though. I have something that he'd been looking for." José pulled out an envelope, "Can you give it to him when he gets better?"

"What is it?"

"A family tree. My tío was recently doing some ancestry work, tracing back the family line. Antonio was interested in where my line went, and so…" José shrugged.

"Why would he care?" Romano asked harshly.

"Well, we were talking about stuff, I needed help with some history homework, and he let me talk it out. I made a mention that some great uncle of mine was in the navy, and he got interested. And I told him that I'd try to find out who it was. And I finally did. Captain Diego García."

Romano recognized the name, nodded to acknowledge the explanation, and went back to washing dishes.

"That's really cool that you were able to find him," Italy said.

"Si, it was really difficult. There wasn't much about him, just a record of the ships he served on. But then, by luck, we found his daughter's birth certificate and then we found his husband." José smiled brightly.

"Did it actually say that this captain had a husband?"

"Well, it was pretty obvious. Sure, it didn't say he was gay and living with his husband, but it did say that he was living with his best friend and they helped raise a kid together. Close enough, especially since there is a picture of the two of them and they have rings on." José quickly pulled out his phone and shared the photo he took. It was a small painting of two Hispanic men, sitting on a couch in a drawing room. They were wearing matching rings.

Greece smiled. It was rare for a story like that to make it to the present day. "That is a lucky find," he told José.

"So, yeah… if you can give it to Antonio, that would be great. Also, if you can let him know my mom is waiting for the tomatoes he promised. They look really good."

"They're ready for harvest. Here." Romano walked off and came back with a small basket of tomatoes. "Take this home."

"Really? Gracias. I really appreciate it." He looked at Romano for a moment before adding, "Oh, you must be Lovino! Antonio talks about you all the time."

"Really?" Romano raised an eyebrow.

José nodded, "Yeah, he says you're a hard ass with a good heart. I can see what he means now. I hope we meet again. Oh, and the pears are for you all to enjoy, just leave a few for Antonio, ok?" With that, José headed back home.

Greece looked at the envelope José brought over. "It's always nice to see history uncovered like this. That even though it has been lost, that it can be found again."

Romano looked at the papers in the envelope. It was mostly just the family tree that José promised, but there were a few letters as well.

"So, who was he?" Italy asked, looking over Romano's shoulder, "This captain?"

"He was one of Spain's best captains… I sailed with him once. He helped me a bit with my Spanish." Romano looked over the letters, "I know Spain was very fond of him, and was very sad when he retired from the sea." He stopped at one letter. "This one was to Spain…" He folded up the papers and put them back into the envelope. Romano then went upstairs, with the envelope and a few of the pears.

"Oooh," a light-bulb turned on for Italy, "This must be the one who knew about Spain being a nation. Spain talked about him a few times."

"I wonder why?" Germany said.

"The captain must have been really good at reading between the lines," Italy said, grinning, "That's what usually happens."


Author's Note: I'll be talking about what is going on with Germany more in depth in the next story. I figured now was a good a time as ever to introduce the idea that there is something going on with him.

That is it for this week's update. Next week: We continue to see what happens with Spain in the broken immersion dreamscape and Romano gets a chance to share some feelings. Plus, a surprise appearance! (and I use that lightly, because it's just a phone call with this particular nation). Until then.