Chapter 11
It had taken a long time to get out of the meeting... Although, Spain couldn't help but note that it was one of the few where the countries actually got anything done.
Cielo and Romano were in front of him, their hands still clasped tightly between them as Romano gently lead their son towards their hotel suite for the duration of the meetings. Spain couldn't help but smile at the sight of Romano with their child, his emerald eyes softening into liquid green when Cielo raised a shaking hand to brush tendrils of his curly dark-brown hair behind his ear. The boy was so much like both of his parents...
If only we knew how much he was like us, the nation mused, his brow furrowing slightly in apprehension and confusion.
"What did you say, bastardo?"
Antonio blinked and glanced up to meet two pairs of confused amber eyes, unaware that he had spoken aloud. The Spaniard felt his cheeks heat up and he shrugged, his brow still furrowed.
"I was just wondering... How much Cielo was like us," he explained slowly. "If he- if all of them were sort of like nations."
Lovino frowned and cocked his head to the side, his gaze flickering between Antonio and their son.
"It's not like anymore nations have suddenly popped out of nowhere," he pointed out.
"Si.." Antonio agreed slowly, still unconvinced.
"... Maybe I'm something other than a nation?" Cielo suggested hesitantly, his cheeks burning a furious red with embarrassment as both of his parents turned to stare at him. "I mean, we've all had really weird dreams a-and stuff..."
Lovino frowned and glanced over at Antonio, his teeth biting into the skin of his bottom lip.
"But then... what would you be?" he wondered.
Spain merely shook his head and reached past the other two to open the door to the hotel suite, a small smile flickering across his tanned lips when Cielo slipped in after a thoughtful Romano. The boy stopped as soon as he entered the room, his amber eyes suddenly wide and riveted on a point across the room. Antonio frowned and followed Cielo's gaze, his frown deepening when he saw that the teen was now staring at the map of Italy that the someone had placed in the room ages ago.
"What is it?" he asked quietly, immediately drawing the attention of Lovino.
Cielo shook his head and slowly moved past his parents towards the map, his slim fingers brushing hesitantly against the island of Sicily that floated in the lower corner of the map.
"Were there... any wars that were fought here?" he asked slowly. "Wars that b-both of you fought in?"
Romano nodded, his delicate brows still puckered in confusion. "Why do you ask?"
"I-I have dreams of war," Cielo admitted quietly. "Lots of wars... A-and... I-I think that this is why."
Spain just shook his head, still uncomprehending. "Wha-?"
"You think that you're Sicily," Romano interrupted, his lips parting into a small "O" of understanding.
Cielo nodded, his amber eyes still locked on the large Italian island.
"So di essere in Sicilia,(I know that I'm Sicily)" he murmured.
"Pronto?"
Germany glanced up from the table that he had been scrubbing at the sound of Italy's voice, immediately drawing the attention of one of the two teenagers that were munching on Feliciano's pasta across the table. Magnus slowly put his fork aside and pushed away from the pasta, earning himself a horrified look from his twin.
"Ve... A-aren't you going to eat that?" Francisco hissed.
"Shh," Magnus whispered sharply, his crystal blue eyes locked on Ludwig as the German straightened and moved closer to Feliciano's voice.
"Cosa? Dici sul serio?Ma abbiamo apena-" (What? Are you serious? But we just-)
There was a pause and a small sigh from Italy's end. "Si...Noi ci saremo... (Yes... We'll be there..)"
Feliciano walked slowly back into the kitchen of his New York apartment, a guilty smile twisting his lips when he met the confused and concerned gazes of the rest of his family.
"Mamma? Cosa sta succedendo? (Mama? What's going on?)" Francisco mumbled, his mouth still full of spaghetti.
Feliciano beamed at his newest nickname and hurried forward to fondly ruffle the twins' auburn hair, a small giggle breaking through his lips when he caught sight of Magnus's flustered expression.
"Ve~ Fratello just called," he explained, his hazel eyes flickering towards Ludwig as the German drew closer to the group. "He all of us to go back to the United Nations for another meeting."
"Was? (What?) Why?" he demanded.
Italy shrugged, a small flicker of worry appearing in his cheerful expression.
"He said that it was about Cielo," the Italian admitted slowly.
The twins exchanged worried glances before simultaneously getting to their feet.
"We're ready," Magnus said simply.
Canada wasn't entirely sure what he would have done after the day's meeting. Gone out to dinner, perhaps, or simply returned home with his newly-reunited family to make pancakes and borscht and sit around the table catching up with his children...
Returning to the meeting room at nine o'clock at night with two tired teenagers and a murderous Russian hadn't been a part of either of his plans.
"They had better have a good reason for dragging us back here, da~?" Russia grumbled with false cheer. "Otherwise I will have to get my lead pipe and-"
"I-Ivan, p-p-please," Canada hissed, his pale cheeks reddening when he noticed that Marc and Katerina were both watching them with interest. "Pas maintenant, je ne veux pas leur faire peur. (Not now, I don't want to scare them)"
"Y-you didn't scare us," Katerina whispered, her small hand slipping easily into Russia's large hand. "M-Marc is a lot w-worse when he hasn't had maple syrup for a long t-time..."
Marc rolled his eyes and playfully tapped his younger sister on the head.
"I'm not that bad," he argued half-heartedly.
"R-remember that one time w-with Alyson a-and the baseball bat?"
Matthew raised his eyebrows while Ivan chuckled, his murderous aura disappearing as he glanced down at his son.
"You threatened America's child with a baseball bat?" the Russian asked.
Marc shrugged and flashed his father a childishly-sweet smile. "There weren't any hockey sticks."
Ivan burst out laughing and and reached out with his free arm to pull Marc into a tight hug, his violet eyes sparkling with glee.
"Я люблю своих детей! (I love my children!)" he giggled.
Canada simply smiled and held open the meeting room door for his family, his brow furrowing the moment the door closed behind them and he caught sight of the other countries and teenagers that were assembled around the table, their expressions ranging from irriation, to confusion, to (in Achilles and Heracles's case) exhaustion.
Spain, Romano, and Cielo were nowhere to be found.
"W-where are they, eh?" Canada asked, his quiet voice carrying surprisingly well through the quiet room.
Most of the countries glanced up and frowned, their heads cocked to the side in confusion.
"Who-?"
"Canada," Russia, Katerina, and Marc interrupted at the same time, their identical violet eyes flashing with a protective fury that made the Canadian laugh.
Spain and Romano hurried into the room only seconds later, several maps clutched tightly in their hands. Cielo came in close behind them, his cheeks flushing a bright red when Achilles blinked up at him sleepily.
"...You're late," he noted quietly.
Cielo's blush deepened and he glared at the Greek boy.
"S-shut up, bastardo," he muttered. "We had to get some stuff."
"What?" Germany demanded from his place across the room, his cheeks tinged a light pink due to the two Italians that were currently hugging his arms. Magnus stood behind his father, his expression going between amusement and irritation.
"Be patient and we'll fucking explain, potato bastard," Romano snapped. The Italian promptly dumped the maps onto the table in a disorganized pile on the meeting table.
Spain sighed and bent to organize the fallen maps into neat piles, his own papers slipping effortlessly into the piles. Romano rolled his eyes at the Spaniard's attempt at organization and snatched a map of Southern Italy off of the top of one of the piles, his amber eyes flashing with a hint of nervousness as he turned to face the other countries and their children.
"Today, when we got back to the room, Cielo pointed to a map like this and told us that he was Sicily," he explained curtly. "He said that he had been having dreams for a while about wars, and that he thought that the dreams had something to do with Sicily. S-so..." The Italian trailed off and shot Spain a pleading glance.
"So, we were wondering what would happen if we showed maps to your children," Spain added happily.
The countries stared back at them blankly, their brows furrowed thoughtfully. After a moment, England spoke up, his bright green eyes flickering with curiosity.
"Which maps do you have?" he asked slowly.
Romano wordlessly grabbed a handful of maps and tossed them towards the Englishman. England caught them easily and looked them over, his large eyebrows furrowing when he saw maps of the American Southwest mixed in with images of the British Isles. Alyson craned her neck to get a better look at the maps, her green eyes suddenly widening behind her glasses. In a matter of seconds, she had snatched one of the maps out of England's hands, her free hand rising to brush several strands of her thick golden hair out of her face.
"There," she whispered, her fingertips brushing against a small dot on the map.
America glanced at the map, his lips curving into a small smile when he saw that she was looking at a map of the East Coast.
"New York City?" he read slowly. "You mean, where we are right now?"
Alyson nodded eagerly, her smile dimming when she saw the disappointment in England's expression.
"Um... Sorry, Mum," she muttered, looking slightly guilty.
England shook his head and waved away her apologies with a small smile.
"It's quite alright," he assured her.
Alyson smiled tentatively and raised her head to meet Katerina's questioning gaze, her expression suddenly mischievous.
"Your turn, Kat!" she called happily. "You and Marc!"
Katerina flushed and nodded timidly, her teeth digging into her lip when Spain passed several maps to the siblings. Marc hesitantly picked up one of the maps of Canada, his violet lingering for several seconds on the paper before he raised them to meet the anxious gazes of his parents.
"Vancouver," he announced quietly. "I... I had dreams about the Winter Olympics two years ago..."
Katerina looked up from her own maps and stared at her brother incredulously.
"You never mentioned them," she murmured.
Marc shrugged and shifted uncomfortably.
"... Je ne savais pas comment (I didn't know how to)," he mumbled.
His sister frowned but turned back to her maps, her brow furrowing as she flipped silently through the maps of Canada. After a moment, she picked up one of the maps of Russia, a timid smile rising to her lips.
"Москва," she told them, her voice unusually confident. "I am Moscow."
Russia smiled and pulled his daughter into a tight hug, while Canada smiled tremulously at both of his children.
"Je suis fier de vous deux, Vancouver et Moscou, (I am proud of you both, Vancouver and Moscow)" he told them.
"I would like a map," Magnus called before either of the siblings could reply.
Francisco nodded silently and detached himself from Germany's arm to reach for another map. After a short moment, Saichi and Achilles silently reached for maps of their own. The room descended into silence for a long moment as the four teens glanced over the maps, the other teens and countries watching them carefully.
Surprisingly, Achilles was the first to look up from his map, his lips curving upwards into a sleepy smile.
"Athens," he murmured. "...There are cats there, right?'
Greece nodded and absently patted his son's head. "...Lots of cats."
"Tokyo," Saichi whispered, her cheeks bright red.
Japan allowed himself a small smile and nodded, his hands folded neatly in his lap.
Italy grinned at his friend before turning back to his own sons, his breath catching in his throat when Francisco looked up with a wide smile.
"Milano! (Milan)" he announced proudly.
Italy clapped his hands happily and glanced expectantly at Magnus, who merely shifted uneasily and ducked his head. The German boy slowly reached out and pointed to a map of Germany, his fingertip hovering less than an inch above the small dot labeled "Berlin".
Germany nodded and smiled hesitantly.
"S-sehr gut," he muttered. "Sehr gut."
Spain laughed and clapped his hands to get the attention of the other countries.
"Well, I suppose that you guys can all go home now, if you want," he told them happily. "We'll let the other countries know what we have discovered at the next meeting."
Russia nodded and started to get to his feet, only to be held back by Canada.
"I-If you d-don't mind, I want to discuss what this will mean," the Canadian said slowly. "For all of us."
England and Japan nodded in silent agreement, while America, Greece, and Russia simply settled back into their chairs.
Germany hesitated and glanced over at his sons, his blue eyes narrowing with concern when he saw Francisco yawn.
"...Do you two want to wait outside for us?" he asked hesitantly. "We won't be long."
Francisco nodded immediately and dragged Magnus out of the room before the other boy could object. After a moment, Alyson rose as well, followed by Katerina, Cielo, and the others. Saichi paused in the doorway, allowing the others to leave the room ahead of her as she turned to look back at her parents. For a brief moment, she frowned, wondering why she suddenly had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Japan caught her eye and smiled encouragingly, his brown eyes soft.
"Just wait out in the hall for us," he urged quietly. "We will be out soon."
Saichi nodded slowly and left the room, her shoulders tensing the moment the door closed behind her.
Why does this feel like good-bye?
Magnus breathed a sigh of relief when Francisco finally released his wrist, his back pressing briefly against the wall as the others passed by him. He felt his cheeks flush when Katerina shot him a small smile and turned away, his hands clenching reflexively by his sides. Dammit, why did he get so nervous-?
What was that?
The German teen frowned and pulled away from the wall, his blue eyes locked on one of the doorways farther down the nearly-deserted hallway. For a brief moment, he had thought-
There is was again.
Magnus pushed away from the wall and crept silently towards the doorway, his fists now raised protectively in front of him. He paused in the doorway to take a deep breath before ducking into the dark room, his eyes darting warily around the silent area. It looked like another meeting room...
He moved forward hesitantly, his fingers searching the wall beside him for a light switch. Bare skin skimmed across the hard surface of the wall, brushing briefly against soft fabric and even softer skin...
Wait.
Magnus's eyes widened and he reached again, his nails catching once more on the fabric before it slipped away. His lips opened in the beginnings of a yell before something hard smashed into the back of his head, sending him into a darkness thicker than anything that he had ever known...
Sorry! I didn't mean for this update to take so long! But, I do have an excuse: It's an evil monster known only as... The TERM PAPER! dun dun dunnnnn!
But, it is mostly done now, so I'm super happy! And... Yeah! Hope you guys are doing okay! Please review and tell me what you think of this, okay?