Ever since I got here, I knew someone had it out for me up there. Whether it was Cronos being a cheeky little shit or the Allfather funishing me for whatever reason, I wasn't sure. However...This morning proved different. Because I knew exactly who this was coming from. Di always was the jealous type. Althought he and Cronos were the best of friends, in the end, Cronos got me. Dionysus once poured his heart out to me and I rejected him. Now...With my throbbing head, churning stomach, and mouth drier than a desert, I pay the price.
When I opened my eyes, I remembered quickly that I went to bed covered in men. A beautiful Spaniard, a massive German, and a pair of adorable Italian brothers. That's right. I forgot my cuddly boys crashed with me last night. Even though I felt like absolute shit, the sight in front of me warmed me inside. Feleiciano and Lovino were wrapped around my waist while Ludwig and Antonio had a hold on Feliciano and Lovino. I loved them. They're all so cute.
But then...I smelled food. After Di would go on his benders, he'd always top them off by binging on starchy food. Maybe starch was the key. Although, this smelled more like sweet than starch. Regardless, someone was cooking downstairs. It didn't smell like it was on fire, so that ruled out Arthur (Sorry, Arthur...You get your cooking skill from Britannia. And she could never cook either.) and Alfred (I love Alfred dearly, but he's a loose cannon in the kitchen. There's no way he could make it without setting something on fire). So, with that in mind and Feli and Lovi attached to my waist, who would be...? I know who...
Carefully, I slid all the bodies off me, only stirring one. Feliciano babbled something in a tongue not his own. Possessed? I doubt it. In love with a pretty German boy? Absolutely. Ich liebe dich...Aww...That's so cute. You have to remember to tell him that when you're awake, Feli. But then, he started babbling something else...
"Rome..."
My Rome? Your Grandpa Rome? I know too much about that boy's booming sex life as it is.
"Ho...ly...Rome..."
Oh...Now, I understood. You were in love with the Holy Roman Empire, weren't you, Feliciano? I remember your Grandpa Rome telling me all about him. I'm sorry to hear about him...I know you two were close. Rome and I agreed, though. After his death, you couldn't know what happened to Holy Rome. You had too much to do. Too much life to live. You needed to learn to stand on your own two feet, tesoro...And then, once we knew you were ready, we gave you your Holy Rome back. Just not in the way you thought we would. It's only a matter of time before you realize what you have.
Rest well, my loves. Rest well.
When I got out of bed, Lovino rolled into Antonio, buring his face in his beloved's chest. You can pretend to hate him all you want, Lovi, but we all know better. Deep down, in your heart of hearts, yours belongs to this loving, protective Spaniard that would do anything for you. Whether or not you can pull your head out of your ass long enough to realize that is still up to you, but that day will come.
And you...My dear, sweet, little Feliciano. I know your heart still hurts from the loss of both Rome and Holy Rome. But I promise it's alright. You're in very capable hands. Even if he doesn't believe it yet. There's a reason why you fell for Ludwig so quickly. You don't think that might have been by design? And that your grandpa is a sucker for a good love story? It's no coincidence that after the death of Holy Rome, Germania had been gifted with another son. Feliciano cuddled into Ludwig with Ludwig's arms tightening around him. Already lost him once...Never again.
Look at our boys, Cronos. They're so cute. Now, let's go see which one of them is in the middle of making me breakfast, yeah? That sounds like a good idea. I followed the sound of ear piercing whistling into the kitchen. Definitely not Arthur. Too cheery, too awake, and the kitchen stayed in one piece. But that whistling...That whistling tore through my head like a wrecking ball.
"Francis," I stopped him, "I love you, but Mommy isn't feeling well this morning. The curse of Dionysus has plagued me. And I know damn well that asshole is getting a laugh out of this."
"Good morning, Terra," Francis smiled, planting a gentle kiss on my temple, "Can I get you anything? Coffee and aspirin, perhaps?"
"Let's start with that," I took a seat on the island, "What are you doing?"
"I figured the others would likely be in rough shape when they woke up," he thought, getting me a cup, "And since I know how to pace myself, the responsibility of breafkast fell on me. Would you like some?"
"Yes, please."
"What would you like?" Francis is earning the title of possible favorite today.
"What are you making?" I asked, looking over his shoulder.
"Crepes," he poured my coffee, "Something light that can still take care of things while not making you want to explode all over this counter. I can make you something else if you'd like."
"Crepes are fine," I approved, taking my coffee from him, "Thank you, Francis."
"It's my pleasure," Francis assured, "Now, what kind would you like? Anything you want, it's yours."
"Chocolate chips and Italian sweet cream," I requested, "If it's not too much trouble."
"For you?" he shot me a wink, "Never. However, I don't think I've ever made Italian sweet cream. That'd be something I'd have to consult Lovino on."
"Lovino?" I wondered.
"Oh, oui," Francis nodded, "Under all that bratty, pain in the ass attitude of his, Lovino can cook better than Feliciano. Don't tell anyone I said that, though. It'd break poor, little Feliciano's heart, which would bring down the wrath of Ludwig on me and I'd rather not deal with that."
"Understandable."
"Although," he figured, "I could probably do it on my own. That's what the internet is for, isn't it?"
"Are you making crepes, Francis?" a gentle voice murmured from the door.
"Yes, I am," Francis boasted, "You may do them prettier, but I did them first."
"Put it away, Francis," I demanded, kicking out a barstool, "Ohayo, Kiku-chan. How are you feeling?"
"Very dehydrated," Kiku flattened out onto the island. My poor baby is hurting just like the rest of us, "I've learned quickly that you can have too much sake in one night."
"Hold on," I jumped down from the coutner, tightly gripping the cool granite, waiting for the room to stop spinning.
"Terra?" Francis offered me his hand, "Are you alright?"
"I'll be fine," I assured, regaining my balance, "Francis, where does Arthur keep his kettle? I know he has one."
"Bottom cabinet to my left," he cocked his hip to direct me.
"Thank you, sweetheart," I filled the empty kettle and found an unoccupied spot on the stove top. With Francis living here, I'm surprised Arthur didn't have a bigger stove. And as soon as that kettle whistled (much to both my and Kiku's dismay), I poured Kiku a cup of green tea, "Here, akachan. Good for the head and for the heart."
"Arigato," Kiku's gentle smile warmed me inside, "This is very good, Mama."
"You're welcome," I kissed his cheek and took the empty seat next to him.
"Kiku?" Francis offered, "While the pan is hot?"
"Yes, please," Kiku nodded, "Thank you, Frances. Do you have any matcha?"
"Not on hand," Francis told him, "I'm sorry."
"It's no problem," Kiku dug in his robe pocket, "I have some you can use. Matcha crepes with a vanilla filling with chocolate on top please. They are my favorite, so please do it right."
Jesus, Kiku. Kind of brought the heavy artillery to the knife fight, didn't you? But he's also not feeling well, so we can chalk that up to his hangover. I still couldn't believe that, out of all of my original babies, this was the one to survive the longest. But I guess being a hermit has its advantages. Go off, Kiku. Go off.
"You're all such lightweights," Francis awed, "It's so adorable."
"Hey!" I defended, "It's been a while since I last drank like that, so bite me."
"Ughhh…" a pair of sad, tired, hungover feet shuffled their way into the kitchen, only to pull up the stool next to me. And a heavy, aching, disheveled head thumped onto my shoulder. Is he sleeping again? I think he fell asleep again.
"Arthur?" I kept my voice down, "You feel ok, sweetheart?"
"No…" My heart…I draped my arm around his shoulders, kissing his forehead.
"You'll be alright, poppet," I promised, "Soon enough, this will all go away."
"Last night was a bit of a blur," Arthur murmured, "If I did anything last night to upset any of you, I apologize."
"The part where you were trying to seduce me was a little unsettling," Francis chimed from the stove, "But it had its charms."
"Oh, God…" he groaned into my shoulder, "I tried to seduce a bloody Frenchman…I had to have been drunk."
"Je t'aime," Francis blew him a kiss.
"Please tell me that was the worst of it," Arthur hoped.
"Well," I bit my lip, remembering too much about last night.
"You were crying in Terra's shoulder last night, mon amour," Francis took him off my hands for a bit. Much like last night.
"Bollocks."
"It's true, Arthur," I confirmed, "You were crying heavily on me. You have some serious mommy issues you need to talk out."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Arthur grumbled, "I'm fine. My mother was nothing but good to me."
"If you say so." We may need to get that boy a good therapist before I leave.
"Angleterre," Francis asked, leaving his love with me, "Because I know you're never one to turn down my cooking, what do you want?"
"Cherry," he ordered, "You know how I like them."
"Cherry, powdered sugar, and a kiss when I serve them," Francis smiled.
"Settle down, frog…"
"Papa," a soft, sweet, tired voice spoke. Mattie could always melt me inside without even trying. Although…The long, gray t-shirt he had on didn't look like it belonged to him, "Did you make breakfast?"
"Of course, cheri," Francis smirked, "So, that's where you snuck off to last night?"
"What do you mean?"
"That shirt does not belong to you, Matthieu."
"My…" Mattie looked down at his shirt, turning a light shade of pink, "Oops…"
"What are you oopsing about, Liebchen?" a thick, sleepy, German accent grumbled, kissing the back of Mattie's neck.
"It's nothing," Mattie tried to cover his tracks, "I'm sorry. But…we got dressed in the dark, Gil…"
"Oh," Gilbert peeled his bright red t-shirt off, handing it to him, "Here."
"Right here?" Mattie's eyes widened, "No."
"Don't be such a prude," Gilbert rolled his eyes.
"He gets that from his father," Francis chimed in, finishing the last of the batter.
"Oi!"
"Why are you all yelling?" Ludwig came stumbling into the kitchen, "And is there an aspirin bottle in here?"
"Here, Ludwig," I slid the bottle to him, "Enjoy."
"Danke," he dumped half of it in his hand and threw it down his throat. More metal than me, that's for sure, "And Gilbert, for the love of God, put a shirt on. If the light shines on you, we'll all go blind."
"Guten morgen to you, too, West," Gilbert snapped under his breath.
"Hey," I wondered, "Does anyone know if Berwald's alive?"
"He is," a voice from the fridge spoke, "I checked on him last night. He was still breathing. He passed out after second verse of Mamma Mia."
"Hold on…" I got up and opened the fridge to find a large Russian man strangely contorted inside, "Ivan, what are you doing in the fridge?"
"I was feeling homesick."
"Ivan…"
"Da, Mama?"
"You're a very strange little boy," I helped him out, "And I love you."
"I love you, too," Ivan hugged me tight, nearly cracking my back. I'm not in pain. I'm not in pain. Don't let the others see you sweat, Terra. Maybe that'll be the turning point in his relationships with the other nations.
"We should all be going home," Ludwig decided, "We've done more than overstay our welcome."
"It's alright," I allowed, "You haven't overstayed at all. It's been nice to have you all here."
"Likewise," he smiled a little. So stoic. Can't tell who you take after, can we? Germania was always pretty blank faced unless he was shitfaced. Then, it was like someone pulled his string and he was all over the place, "I'll go get Feliciano out of your bed, Terra. Thank you for letting us sleep there last night."
"No problem."
"Excuse me?" Francis perked up.
"Beg your pardon?" Arthur followed suit. No matter how much he felt like hell, Arthur's give a shit switch had been flipped.
"Yeah," I scoffed, "I went to bed with four different guys last night. Ludwig was one of them. When they're all my babies, I don't think anything weird is going down."
"Could you let us know if Berwald makes it out alive?" Ludwig asked.
"I will," I promised, throwing myself in his chest. I shut my eyes for a bit, taking in the feeling of warmth he gave off, "Mmm…Just like him."
"Like Grandpa Germania?"
"Exactly like Grandpa Germania," I nodded. Germania had grandkids…Ugh…I feel old.
"I should be going, too," Mattie sighed.
"If it's not too much trouble, Matthew," Arthur requested, "Could you take Peter back to Berwald's house? He's not in much shape to do much of anything right now."
"That's no trouble," Mattie agreed, "It was good to see everyone."
"You, too, sweetheart," I hugged my favorite Canadian peanut extra tight, "I love you, Mattie."
"I love you, too, Terra," Mattie blushed.
"What about me?" Gilbert couldn't leave well enough alone.
"I love you, too, Gilbert," I kissed his cheek, "And Mattie?"
"Yeah?" Mattie chimed.
I stood on my toes and whispered in his ear, "If you put some ice on those hickeys, they'll go away faster."
"What are you talking about?" his voice went up a couple octaves.
"That's why you didn't take your shirt off in front of us," I teased, "Sweetheart, you can't get much past me. And I can see a little one on your collarbone."
"Thanks, Terra," Mattie's cheeks turned red again. Poor baby.
"You're welcome," I sent Mattie and Gilbert off to take Peter home and possibly even go their own separate ways. Or resume what they started last night like a couple of kids after prom.
"I should go then, too," Ivan decided, kissing the top of my head, "It was pleasure pouring drinks for you last night, Terra. We really should do that again soon."
"Absolutely," I agreed, "You're welcome here anytime, Ivan."
"Hold on," Arthur stepped in, "You talk like this is your house."
"I see you at my place soon?" Ivan hoped, "That way, you can meet my Baltics!"
"That sounds wonderful," I nuzzled my face in his chest, "I love you, kotenok."
"I love you, too," Ivan melted, "Dasvidanya, everyone!"
There he goes. Back to whatever potted plant he wanted to make himself comfortable in. He's a weird one, but I'll keep him. As Kiku finished the food in front of him, mumbling something to his plate, he got up, too, "I need to go home, too. I did miss you, Mama. And I'm glad to see you again."
"I miss you, too, Kiku," I nearly started crying again, "But I love you. And this won't be the last we see of each other. I promise."
"Good to know," Kiku gave me a hug, too, "Aishiteru, Mama."
"I love you, too." Dammit, Terra. Don't you start crying on me, "Do you want me to say anything to your brothers and sisters when I see them?"
"They know," he assured, "Min'na sayonara."
"Bye, Kiku," I'm going to miss him most of all…But then, it was just the three of us left. Just Arthur, Francis, and me in the kitchen. A peaceful silence fell over the room. And Francis could cook like a dream. He said he'd need Lovino…HA. He had Italian sweet cream nailed.
"So, Terra," Francis wondered, "Now that the proverbial cat is out of the bag, how much longer will you be staying with us?"
"A little while longer," I decided, "I still have some loose ends to tie up. But one day, I will have to leave. I'm still me, Francis. I'm still that girl you found in the alley."
His gentle blue eyes hit me in my core and his soft, sweet smile showed me my heart still beating in front of my face, "Alright."
"So," Arthur wondered, "What do we do now?"
That was a good question. Because there were so many others I hadn't met yet. And there were still plenty of things for me to fix down here. All I needed was a place to start.
A/N: This would be a great spot to end the story, but I still have countries sleeping in Arthur's house and countries that I want to give their own chapter *cough*Prussia*cough*. But I already have the ending thought up. By the way, speaking of things that have been birthed from my brain, can I run something by you guys? It's about when this is over. Yeah? Ok, cool.
So, I was reading Fruits Basket the other day and I had a thought about Shigure, Ayame, and Hatori. Why in the ever loving hell has no one thought to pair them up with a certain trio of best pals we know as France, Spain, and Prussia? Because that sounds like a delightful mixture of sin and disaster and I need it yesterday. Which brings me to this question. If I write that, would any of you be interested in it? Because I'm already mildly invested in the idea and I love her. So, feel free to sound off and I'll see you next chapter! xx