2020
"Good morning, princesses!"
"Antonio! Hi!"
"Ready for a little trip?"
"Of course!"
Leonor would inherit the crown when the right time came. He didn't have the chance to be there when her father was born, but she...he was there from the very start, and he had learned from the mistakes of the past. They were going to spend a lot of time working together, so he'd better do a good work with this one. Sofía would stay an infante, but Spain just didn't have the heart to leave her out, and he was sure she could learn a valuable lesson too. He loved them both equally.
"Look."
Spain stopped to point at a group of children from a Special Education school walking in line, supervised by a teacher.
"What do you see?" he asked the girls. "Many centuries ago I met a boy who was treated very bad because he was different, even if he was a powerful king. We are all the same in the eyes of God. Their condition is not a punishment, and they are not animals. Nowadays, we have things that can make the lives of people like them much better. We have so many things to learn from them if we bothered to listen. When you find people like those, think they just have different capacities. Always try to be kind to them. In fact...you should always be kind to everyone. Why do people visit us? Yeah, I know cheap alcohol and good weather, but we want them to come back and tell everyone how nice we are. They bothered to come here, sometimes from very far away. So the least we could do is being good guests."
"But you said the other day that England was being an idiot, throwing chairs out of the window and jumping to the pool from the balcony" Sofía said.
"Yes, you see, Sofía, my dear, that's because England is suffering a lot of tension because he can't help being a really complicated man, so when he comes here he drinks too much to silence the voices in his head and makes a fuss, but he's not a bad guy. I used to hate him but he's actually one of our best friends" Spain replied, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"So we have to overlook everything people do here?" Leonor asked.
"Just try to understand that everyone has a story, and sometimes it is a sad one, so we have to be understanding. Not stupid, but understanding, okay?"
They kept walking, stopping in front of a fence.
"See this? That is the monument dedicated to those who died for me. It says 'May 2nd', but I like to think this monument represents all those who gave their lives for me. They are here, in my heart. Those whose names you kids study at school and those History has forgotten. Do you know why my second name is Carriedo? Because of a good man I met once and I will never forget. He, like many others I've met with the centuries, was not important, but if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be here, I would be someone else. Take that as another lesson: don't forget the little people, those who are not important, those who apparently won't make a difference. Because they are precisely the ones who change the course of history."
"And Fernández? Who is that from?" Sofía asked.
"A great man, Ferdinand. You know him as Ferdinand II. His decisions shaped me into what I am today—he made me feel like I had a family. No matter what, I will always have a family. Also, is there something more Spanish than Fernández?"
"What about Antonio? Let me guess...Saint Anthony!" Leonor said.
"Nope! It just sounded cool!" Spain chuckled.
"You're a liar! You just don't want to tell us!" Sofía exclaimed.
"So, why Leonor? Why Sofía?" Spain smirked.
"Hey, we didn't choose our own names like you!" Leonor crossed her arms, pretending to be offended.
"Hey, hey, girls!" Spain interrupted the conversation. "How about we call our good friend Romano?"
"Yaaaay!" the girls exclaimed.
So Spain took out his phone and marked the number.
"Romanitooooo!" the three of them said at the same time.
"You again?! What do you want?! I've got things to do!" the voice of Romano grunted at the other side of the line.
"What are you doing?" Spain asked.
"The hell do you care?!"
That day, everyone said it, the sun seemed to shine brighter, warmer—not really hot, just—perfectly warm.
THE END
Wow! Finishing this was kind of like an exorcism! I am glad I did this because by documenting myself to write I was able to join together the pieces of my rushed education in History of Spain and got really passionate about it. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, and it helped you understand this little piece of the world and its inhabitants.
