Rosaline didn't hesitate to call upon Yao's favor to Kiku in passing the next day. The Chinese man not happy about the exchange, but finally muttered in agreement to the terms after some convincing. He would come to pick her up the next day and drive her to Kiku's house, though he warned her that he wouldn't be able to drive her back home so she'd have to rely on Kiku for that. "I have a life. I have things already planned for the afternoon and evening. If you want a ride home you will have to speak with Kiku about that, you ask him to host one time, and now he thinks he's all high and mighty…" The man grumbled in front of her, causing a brief but apologetic smile to come across her lips. She knew he wasn't too angry about it, just minorly inconvenienced about it.
Yao wasn't a nation she got to converse with often, instead he was a nation she'd heard about from Kiku and witnessed from afar. She'd always wanted to get to know the man better, the amount of knowledge he possessed within him was extraordinary. With everything going on, however, she hardly ever got the chance to speak with any nations beyond her sphere of friends. There were plenty of nations she wished to be formally introduced to, she could imagine the stories that Egypt and some of the other older countries could tell. But then again a small tinge of nervousness always prevented her from doing so. The thought that either the country would take offense being asked such stories, or even the possibility that it was a newer form of the said nation always caused hesitation in her. These are the stories she listened to in the short time it took to get to Kiku's house, her eager gaze never leaving the man beside her as Yao recalled stories from times that had long passed.
Once they had arrived Rosaline thanked Yao profusely with a slight bow of her head, making quiet promises to herself to one day pay back the favor as she slid from the front seat of his car. She made sure she had everything, looking back to the man who just simply smiled towards her with a rather friendly wave. "If you like my stories, you must come over to my house sometime." He had called out before she closed the car door, nodding her head and giving a quick thumbs-up before both nations departed onto their normal daily lives.
Rosaline hadn't noticed it when sitting in the car, but Kiku's house was huge. It almost made her pause as she stared up at the large, beautifully manicured house before her. It seemed like a mansion compared to her own, or even Ludwig's, places. Yet, taking a step towards the house she soon realized just why the place was so large. To her right led into a large side garden that held a fairly large wooden gazebo, big enough for twelve to sit rather comfortably on respective zabutons. Sitting in six of those zabutons, quietly talking with one another, were faces she didn't recognize but knew almost immediately were nations. She, unfortunately, didn't see Kiku, the man she was mainly looking for in the crowd of nations. She was instantly drawn to the gazebo, however, the moment one of the six began to frantically wave in her direction. "Kiku is inside getting tea, please come sit." A woman dressed in pink called to Rosaline, grabbing ahold of her arm and pulling her to sit beside her once the Italian was close enough. Rosaline settled down between the two women of the group, looking out at the other four nations watching her. All she could muster was a nervous smile, giving a brief wave and a hello to the others around her. She went to introduce herself, yet was interrupted by one of the older-looking nations across from her. "We know who you are Rosaline, Kiku has actually told us quite a lot about you."
"We also saw your scuff with Franny, that was wicked cool the way you stuck up for yourself like that." Another man chirped from beside the girl in pink, leaning towards Rosaline with a rather large grin on his face. The man's brown eyes shone mischievously, the curl in his hair lightly bounced with each snicker he offered as he placed his chin on his fist. "You put him in his place!"
The woman on her right, however, lifted up a hand causing the others to get quiet. She was dressed in green, very serious looking, though when she saw Rosaline staring at her offered a brief smile. "We know you, but I doubt you know any of us."
Rosaline felt her cheeks heat up in shame, there were still so many nations she had yet to meet and these six were not an exception. She had meant to study up more on certain nations, though all of her school work and business work put that on the back burner. Now here she sat, clueless and ashamed of herself.
Seeing her slight discomfort the woman in pink to her left squeezed her arm and smiled. "No shame in that, there are hundreds of us and you're still very young. I'll go first. I am Taiwan, but my human name is Lin Xiao-Mei. You can just call me Mei." Mei looked to the woman in green, who nodded her head and turned in Rosaline's direction once more. "I am the representation of Vietnam. Feel free just to refer to me as my nationality." Vietnam had turned her head to look at the others, though Rosaline glanced between the two girls in confusion. Why did one nation go by a human name, while another just went by their nationality? It seemed odd to her but she quieted down as the others introduced themselves. The boy beside Mei was Korea, human name Im Yong Soo. Beside him, the eldest looking, was Macau though he said she could call him Wong Ho Kang. The next was Thailand, who asked to go by his country name, and finally, the youngest was Hong Kong, who simply muttered that she could call him Leon. Rosaline was a bit surprised by such an English-sounding name, though immediately saw the relation to Arthur by the look of his bushy eyebrows.
Vietnam was just offering some pastries to Rosaline, gathering a few onto a small plate for her when a hurried movement came from the house. Rosaline looked up to see Kiku hustling out of the house, balancing a large tray of tea in both hands. A brief look of surprise coming across his features when he saw Rosaline sitting amongst his siblings, the look bringing Rosaline to smile once more. "I did not hear Yao pull into the driveway. I apologize for not coming out here sooner." He apologized, sitting cups of tea down to the other nations who graciously accepted them. Kiku motioned with his hand for Rosaline to follow him, though it took her a moment to follow with all the hugs and farewells she had to give the others. Mei and Yong Soo had attempted to keep her outside, liking the company of the Italian, but was scolded by Kiku who ushered Rosaline into the house.
"I apologize if that was extremely overwhelming for you." Kiku had apologized once Rosaline had rested in the living room, the man sitting two cups of tea on the small table in front of her without hesitation. Rosaline had never been a tea drinker growing up, much to her nannies dismay, but had grown to appreciate it after joining the life of nationality. It was hard not to, especially when it was brought and offered at every meeting.
Rosaline, seeing Kiku's now concerned look, only shook her head with a smile, nodding her head in assurance towards the tense man. "It was nice, I'm sad to say I've not met them yet… Though, I'm rather curious. Taiwan uses a human name, yet Vietnam does not?" She watched Kiku settle down, a calm smile across his features as he glanced towards the back door. Rosaline looked as well, seeing that a few of the other nations were staring intensely towards the house. They couldn't see inside, but it felt like Vietnam was staring directly at her.
"It's not uncommon for some nations to stick with their nationality, many my siblings are proud of their nation names and prefer to use them," Kiku explained, Rosaline nodding her head and taking a sip of her tea as she watched Kiku settle himself underneath the heated kotatsu. Kiku looked tired, though she could understand completely why. She wasn't sure how many siblings Kiku had but guessed from her school years that it was quite a lot. She would be exhausted too if she had that many siblings, so she didn't mind the little one on one with Kiku inside the house. She could tell he was comfortable with her, a fact that made her feel a lot better about herself. She hadn't been too sure about Kiku at first, so it made her happy to see how friendly they were towards one another.
"Rosaline, may I give you some advice?" Rosaline looked up towards the Japanese man, setting her cup of tea back on the table in front of her with a brief nod. Kiku cleared his throat briefly, resting his hands in his lap and looking up towards her from beneath the blanket. " I want you to be Rosaline, not Italy."
Rosaline, not Italy? Rosaline was perplexed, her head tilting causing Kiku to quickly shake his head. "This may sound weird, just let me explain a little. A majority of the nations you see have been alive for centuries, resulting in an image being made of said nation. Germany, for example, is described as very headstrong, very aggressive… These images, rather stereotypes, are the expectation one has of these nations that continue on over centuries. Lately, many of us nations have been trying to step away from these stereotypes. It's hard, as many of these habits we've grown over centuries, but many of us have dropped them. Alfred, as another example, has become a lot tamer with his 'heroic' tendencies."
Rosaline looked confused towards Kiku, who paused for a minute to give her a reassuring smile. "Feliciano, our previous Northern Italy, never was fond of this movement. I hate speaking ill of the dead, but he was very much embracing his stereotypes. One of these habits was his fondness of Germany, though it ended up going far beyond allyship before his death…"
Rosaline could see where this was going, her nails digging into the fabric of the blanket beneath her as she stared down at the table. Could her feelings for Ludwig be residual, past thoughts that Feliciano had once felt?
She saw Kiku lean towards her as if studying her to see her reaction to his claims before clearing his throat briefly. "I'm not telling you to not like Ludwig, or to not want anything romantically with him. Many of us have noticed how close you've been getting to Matthew, but I can also sense your hesitation with it."
"I like Matthew, I really do Kiku. He makes me feel happy, but… Ludwig makes me feel the same way. I've shared many intimate moments with him- not anything sexual or anything but tender moments with him…" Rosaline blinked slightly as she felt tears begin to form in her eyes, tears of overwhelming emotion that were now beginning to surface. She was confused, extremely confused about how she felt. How much of her feelings for Ludwig were left over from previous Italy? Did his affection for her come from her or Italy?
"I'm sorry… things like this are just so complicated." Rosaline laughed softly, wiping the bottom of her eyes as she nodded her head. "Thank you for your advice Kiku, I've never thought about things like this…"
"This is all new to us as well Rosaline. You are the first nation to be completely reborn, a feat I don't think many of us ancients have ever seen before. You bring a whole new life to the role of Italy, one of confidence and dignity. I am rather excited to see how you continue to evolve, but I'm also afraid you will fall into these stereotypes." Kiku gave Rosaline a smile, offering her a tissue that she gratefully accepted. "Which is why I say, be Rosaline, not Italy. Be yourself, not what others expect of you."
Rosaline had excused herself to the restroom, staring at herself in the mirror while cleaning some of the smeared makeup from below her eyes. Be herself, do what she wanted in life. It was a concept that seemed so simple as a human, but as a nation was much harder to grasp. She had heard the comments; some commenting how they missed the old Italy, while others commenting and betting on how long she would last before falling into the same pathetic loop that Feliciano had been in. She never knew Feliciano, but it made her heartache when other nations talked so negatively about him. They had become annoyed by his lazy, cutesy demeanor, bored by his constant eating habits and his lust for women. Frankly, the only nations not to speak so ill-willed of the man were Ludwig and Kiku. The two men who knew him the most.
She promised herself she would take Kiku's words to heart, she looked at herself in the mirror and nodded her head firmly. From that day onward she would focus on being herself, not the man that formerly had this position. She would continue making Kiku proud. Italy's image was getting a complete facelift.
Rosaline took out her phone and looked at the two unread text messages she had received, one from Ludwig and one from Matthew. That was another issue she had to consider, she'd always felt such a close connection to Ludwig. She could remember the first time their eyes locked in the World Grill, the intense stare that seemed to burn down to her very soul. Were those feelings a lie? Just residual energy from the previous Italy?
A knock on the door made her hurriedly fix herself back up, shoving her phone back into her pocket and taking a few quick breaths. She was fully expecting to see Kiku asking what was taking her so long, though when she opened it was surprised to see Mei's smiling face in the hallway. "Would you like to stay for dinner? Kiku said he could drive you back afterward." She offered, the smile on her face becoming wider and eager as Rosaline nodded her head. She took Mei's hand, feeling the weight of Yong Soo against her back as Vietnam joined their side as well. Thailand, Ho Kang, and Leon soon appeared as well, though seemed happy enough to keep their distance. She felt happy as she stumbled back towards the living room with the others, worries she had previously been feeling pushed back by her new friends.
Kiku hadn't been sure if he had made the right decision telling Rosaline about all of this, sitting in the empty living room fiddling with his own thumbs. He could see how much different Rosaline was, he saw this and didn't want Feliciano's image to overshadow hers. He saw her as a fresh start, the start of something unique in the world. Now, he wasn't sure how she was going to take this concept or if she even understood it at all.
Yet, his head turned, and he watched Rosaline walk into the living room with his siblings. Warmth filled him at the sight, seeing her mix in with his own siblings made him feel good. Feliciano had never made such an attempt to mingle, hell he would have never stayed for a traditional dinner even if Kiku had offered. He was too loud for a majority of his siblings, but Rosaline was just perfect.
Kiku rose to his feet, gathering the tea set from the table and carrying it into the kitchen. He pulled out food, smiling to himself at the laughs and exciting sounds of his siblings and Rosaline chatting. Normally, he would have been bothered by how loud it was, but he didn't seem too bothered today by Yong Soo's constant yelling or Mei's continuous giggles of joy. He turned around and watched as Rosaline nestled into the kotatsu between Mei and Vietnam, the others gathering around the small table to show her a few small games they could play until dinner was ready. He couldn't help but feel proud as he turned on the stove, proud of the girl he so dearly saw as one of his own siblings.
Merry Christmas Everyone! It's me again, I meant to start the Christmas special this past week but ended up writing the bonus chapter instead. Hopefully, I'll be able to get back into the writing flow after such a long hiatus, I want to hopefully finish this story sometime in the near future.
Thank you all for reading! See you all in the New Year!
-Dais