*Chapter 1*

That same cool and cloudy morning, on January 23, 1879, South Mexico was at the dining table, reading a book with a thick brown cover and drinking some steaming coffee in a tall white glass cup.

He had gotten up a little earlier just to make the coffee and to practice on his acoustic guitar, since he was part of a mariachi band in Mexico City and loved to play his soothing instrument in his spare time. He was very good at it as well, compared to when the first time he attempted to play it back when he lived with Spain.

He was so terrible that it sounded like an animal was scratching and tugging at the strings or like someone was gliding their nails against a chalkboard. The neighbors would complain about the painful sounds they endured as they were nearby and even Spain himself couldn't stand the commotion any longer, no matter how encouraging he was towards his underling.

One day, just as young South Mexico was causing disturbing noises with the guitar once more, Spain decided to intervene during his musical moment.

"Vicente, mi hermano, what's going on here?," Spain winced as if he had a sudden headache.

"Hola, mi hermano mayor! I'm practicing on your guitar. It's a lot of fun," he told Antonio.

Spain scratched the side of his head with his index finger and sighed deeply.

"Vicente, I know you're enjoying it, but it's too noisy and unsettling. Some of the neighbors have complained to me too many times already. Maybe you should relax from it for a little while."

"Pero hermano mayor Antonio, yo quiero jugar! I want to play with the guitar. I just wish I could get better at it and that you could show me, but you hardly have the time for me…"

"Vicente…," Spain thought as he saw the chibi country pouting in sadness.

Vicente was desperate to improve his skills. He didn't want to give up something he began to enjoy and wanted to expand in. But the problem was that he was no good learning on his own and Antonio was usually busy with country duties. He wasn't sure what to do next.

Peering down at his disappointed little brother, Spain inhaled a large amount of breath and exhaled as much. He sat right next to the small country and took the instrument from him, holding it properly. South Mexico seemed puzzled, very curious about what Spain would do next.

"Muy bien. I shall give you some lessons on the guitar," Antonio said as he stroked the strings once.

"Pero hermano, aren't you supposed to head for the tomato garden?," Vicente wondered.

Suddenly, Spain gently patted the top of South Mexico's head while beaming down at him. I hint of light pink flushed the chibi country's cheeks.

"Don't worry, pequeño, I've got enough time to do both," the Spaniard told him with a smile from ear to ear.

For a good while, Spain demonstrated some techniques on the guitar for his little brother. Over time, he managed to spend more time with the Mexico sibling in order to help teach and improve his musical skills, which eventually paid off pretty well. Since then, South Mexico "wowed" the crowd with his amazing talent as part of the mariachi. He couldn't thank Spain enough.

"Buenos dias, mi hermanito," the weary North Mexico greeted as she slowly approached the kitchen table.

"Oh. Buenos dias Kati," he returned the greeting without making eye contact with her.

When he did look up at her and observed her actions, he noticed how her usually lively brown eyes were dull and uneasy as she faced the table. Her face expression seemed stressed with a hint of worry. He put the book down and turned his body towards her direction.

"Katarína, what's the matter? You don't look too good," he said in a concerning tone.

She didn't respond, but peered up at him as she sighed deeply.

"I had another dream again."

"About the Independence War? Otra vez?"

"Sí. I don't know why, but these dreams continue to haunt me. I can't stand it anymore…," she whined as she buried her face in her hands.

"Katarína, I think you're digging too deep into the memories of that event. You were fine earlier. What made you want to dwell on it again this time?"

She took several seconds before meeting her rich brown eyes with his amber colored orbs. From the looks of it, she knew her younger brother would be too concerned if he heard what she had to tell him. In a way, she felt like she regretted mentioning about it when she did. She was aware of how overprotective he was, even in his position as the younger sibling.

"Last night, I was searching through some of my boxes and junk and I stumbled upon our uniforms from the Independence War, then I guess it carried on from there… I didn't intentionally want to go back to reliving those horrific events. I tried to clear my mind before I went to bed, however, it did no good as I had another nightmare about it, this time it was the death of Father Hidalgo… I was so scared that day… I thought it was the end for all of us…," she began to choke back her tears, attempting to contain herself in front of her sibling.

At the moment, Vicente wasn't exactly sure what to do. His older sister was weeping before his eyes over something he believed they had finally resolved from the past, only to see that it still quite affected her greatly whenever she came across something related to it.

He had hoped everything wouldn't turn out this severe for this long, since they still made visits to Spain's house every once in a while and would see the Italy Brothers while they were around the area. The question that continued to float in his mind: Why is she still bothered by the past? It may never be answered.

He placed his firm hand on her delicate back and began to rub it in circular motions, hoping it would help comfort her.

"It's okay hermana mayor. Maybe things like this take time before you're completely healed. No se, pero, I'm for you if you need anything. Te quiero," he told her as he patted her shoulder and pulled her closer to him.

She looked up to see him give a gentle and reassuring smile towards her. It was warm and comforting for her, that she couldn't resist and returned a smile back. It was rare that he'd beam like an angel to anyone else, but since she was his sister, it would be wrong not to, and she can tell when he fake smiles. Luckily, this one was legit.

"Te quiero mucho mi hermanito," she softly said as she wrapped her arms around his waist and embraced him tightly.

Just as she was becoming more comfy against him, she felt the long strands of her long brown hair tickle against her nose and took a whiff of it, wrinkling her nose from the scent. She then released her brother and quickly grabbed a piece of her flowing mane, smelling and sniffing every part of it carefully. This left Vicente puzzled at her actions.

"Kati, what are you doing?," he questioned curiously as he cocked an eyebrow high.

She looked up at him like a deer facing headlights as she let go of her hair.

"I need a bath little brother," she answered lowly.

She had her head hanging down to the side like she was embarrassed that she mentioned it. A bit surprised, Vicente simply chuckled to himself and cleared his throat, lightly scratching the side of his cheek.

"You're so weird," he said with a half-smile, leaning in to plant a heavy kiss on her forehead.

Without a single word, she smiled back and stood up from her chair, rushing to head for the bathroom, where she would take a hot, relaxing bath in her new fancy bathtub they bought a couple of days earlier. Katarína was very excited about it, for some reason.

After several minutes had passed, Vicente was determined to give himself a personal lesson on his acoustic guitar after finishing the rest of his coffee. However, the doorbell rang and sounded from all the way inside the dining room. Usually, he was unaware of the sound whenever he was practicing on his instrument and usually relied on one of the servants to answer it, but the Mexico siblings were alone for the day, since they had given every maid a vacation. It was one of the kind things they would do for their loyal subjects.

He paused for a moment to see if it would ring again, hoping he wasn't just hearing things. When the second set of ding dongs went off, he nodded in approval, stood up and walked casually to the front door.

The huge glossy double doors were sierra brown colored, carved with exquisite details of lines and circles, with golden trims and two designed golden doorknobs that required you to pull them down like a lever. When Vicente approached them, he inhaled deeply, exhaled the next, then placed his hand on the right knob and pushed down with some force.

He pulled the door back towards him to find a tall muscular man standing and facing him with icy blue piercing eyes, slick combed back blonde hair and very fair skin. He wore a fresh black suit with a white collar shirt and a silky red tie tucked neatly. His expression appeared emotionless and this seemed strange for Vicente. He wasn't expecting a visitor that day and he wasn't sure if his sister was either.

He stared at the stranger with great caution.

"Good morning. Are you one of the Mexico Siblings?," the man asked as he stood like a statue.

Vicente noted how he had a heavy European accent, but couldn't figure out what it was about it. He tilted his head slightly to the side and kept a straight face.

"Who wants to know?," Vicente responded cautiously.

"My name is Germany. I have come to have a serious talk with the siblings of the country of Mexico. I assume you are one of them?"

Vicente remained silent. He felt a strange aura coming from the man known as Germany. In his mind, he was uncertain whether or not to allow him into his own home or to run him off and hope he would never return. However, he was curious about what he had to offer. After all, this German came all this way to their Hispanic homeland and it was consider kind of rude to abandon him without letting him have a say in anything, at least it was for Vicente.

"I am," he finally confirmed, "I am South Mexico, also known as Vicente Alejandro Carriedo González, to my allies."

Germany seemed quite pleased to have gotten his assumption correct.

"May I come in?," the handsome German asked, seeing as how he began to get tired of standing outside.

A little hesitant, South Mexico stepped to the side and watched carefully as Germany slowly took several steps into the house of the Mexico Siblings. He scanned and examined his surroundings, practically lurking in the doorway. As the German stepped further inside, the Mexican shut the door and locked it roughly.

"Is the other sibling home as well?," Germany said as he continued to look around at the scenery.

He seemed intrigued by the furniture and the design of the house, mainly from the inside. Once he was finished, he turned to face South Mexico so he could get his response.

"She's preoccupied at the moment."

"She?"

"Sí, La Mujer. My older sister is busy near her sleeping chambers, so it'll most likely take a while before you will get a chance to meet her," South Mexico established in his heavy Spanish accent.

"Hmmm, I see. I suppose I had forgotten that there was a female Mexico," Germany said as he placed his thumb and index finger against his chin.

"Ahh… This bath is so relaxing~!," North Mexico whispered to herself as she indulged in the hot, steaming, soothing bath water inside her personal bathroom.

She lightly splashed around in the tub and brushed her fingers through her wet hair. She lied back with her head against the edge of the white tub and slowly closed her eyes shut, planning to take a nice short nap, without interruptions.

As she attempted to sleep the time away, faint voices were being sounded from afar, which slightly startled her in her moment of peace. She sat up in the tub and folded her legs against her chest, remaining still so she could listen better for the voices again. As it seemed very quiet at first, she heard her brother's voice from a distance.

"Vicente?," she thought to herself.

Maybe he's talking to himself again. Pero, no se. I should probably ignore it.

Katarína wanted to block out the sounds of her brother supposedly talking amongst himself somewhere in the house. This was her bath time and she preferred to enjoy it peacefully. It's a lady thing, she figured. But then, as she nearly dozed off, something peculiar caught her attention. It was like there was an entirely different sound, voice actually, that came from the house along with Vicente.

Startled, she sat up once again and listened out as hard as she could. When she confirmed it was indeed another unfamiliar voice present, she finally decided that she would finish up her bathing and go check out the situation for herself.

With that in mind, she dunked herself underneath the water one time, rubbing her eyes and carefully hopping out of the tub, grabbing for clean soft towel and wrapping it around her body.

"So, Señor Germany, is it? What is an unknown European like you doing all the way over here, in the hot beautiful country and home of Mexico? It's seems quite unusual."

"You would like for me to explain myself now?"

"I don't see why not. Besides, my sister might take a little longer than I would expect from her and I am just curious to know already."

The German was very good at maintaining a hard, concentrated stern look towards the Mexicano. Showing no change in emotions. Vicente predicted he would be a tough egg to crack, though he also sensed that this man would willingly give in if he was truly interested in negotiating with him.

"Earlier, in the beginning of the century, my brother and I had sent a man out here to scout out this country and give us information about your way of life, your culture, the geography. He returned with such promising results from his visit. It also came to my attention that he actually enjoyed exploring the regions and meeting new people from this land. With that in mind, I had decided to come see for myself and so far, I am quite impressed," Germany explained in a semi story-telling manner.

"I see," South Mexico only said.

Germany nodded his head and turned to face the nearest window inside the huge living room. South Mexico watched his every movement carefully.

"But I'm simply not here to check out some of the sights, in fact, I came for something more important and I'm hoping you and your sister will hear me out on this one."

Vicente tilted his head to the side, hanging out of the slight mix of puzzlement and curiosity.

"What do you mean by something more?," South Mexico questioned.

Germany then met his bright and sharp blue eyes with the Mexicano's dark focused ones.

"I would prefer to wait until North Mexico arrives," the German waved his hand dismissively.

"Very well," South Mexico nodded his head in agreement before peering down at the wooden floor.

He decided to look over towards the direction of the kitchen, since he began to feel sort of thirsty, and he figured he could try and offer Germany something to drink.

"I'm going to the kitchen to get a drink, do you want something?," Vicente offered as he took a few steps away from the German.

"Water will be fine," Germany said in his smooth deep voice as he continued to face the window.

With that, South Mexico walked off into the hallway leading to the kitchen, while Germany remained still in the same spot for the next few minutes. He couldn't help but to be quite astounded by the view he had of the valley and wood areas near the house. It was remarkable and seemed quite peaceful, he thought.

He began to think about and go over in his mind how he would eventually explain his offer to the Mexico siblings, not wanting to sound too demanding or too intimidating to these new acquaintances. He desired to gain their trust by any means necessary.

"Vicente? Hermanito? Are you down here? I've been hearing an awful lot of talking going o-!," the Mexicana paused as she noticed the peculiar stranger standing by the window.

She was frightfully alarmed, wearing her nightgown that she had on earlier, since she didn't pick out her outfit for the day. She was also braiding her long damp hair until she saw the man and not her little brother.

*CHAPTER 1: COMPLETE! Please review & tell me what you think :) Thank you!*