Hi! So, major timeskip here. This is twenty years later… exactly.
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Romano woke up with an all too familiar cold feeling gripping him. Shiori… he thought, I can't even remember your face… if I saw you, I'm not even sure I'd recognize you… He forced himself out from under his covers, knowing that there was a meeting today. He slowly got dressed and walked downstairs, almost tripping at one point.
Spain knew well that Romano would be depressed that day and had argued to the best of his Spanish ability to have the date changed. He'd failed, of course, and, to a lesser extent, shared the misery of his little tomato. He, unlike Romano, was able to keep a façade of cheerfulness up. When he saw Romano, he knew that this year would be the worst yet. So, in an attempt to cheer him up, he drew out an old framed photograph and handed it to Romano.
In the photo, Romano and Shiori were sitting cross-legged in a lush field. Each had a crown of cherry blossoms on their head that Shiori had made.
Romano quickly snatched the picture and stared at it, not seeing the picture, but a flashback to a day that was only a single week before Shiori had been taken away from him by their mother.
Shiori and Lovino were sitting in a field after running around playing tag for a while. Shiori had woven two sakura crowns, one for each of them.
"Hey, Lovi?" Shiori had asked, panting slightly.
"Yea, Shi? What is it?" He had responded, calling her by the special nickname that no one other than himself could get away with. Not even Ireland or Spain. In turn, he only allowed her to call him Lovi, although Spain also got that one in on occasion.
"Wanna take a quick swim?" She'd asked.
"U-uh! Wha…? Shi, we can't do that!" He'd exclaimed, though later he wished he'd accepted. After all, she'd seemed so disappointed, and they'd never gone swimming afterwards.
"O-oh, okay…" She'd trailed off, seeming so very disappointed. "Well, how about climbing the sakura tree then?" She'd asked, sounding hopeful.
Lovino, not wanting to reject a plan of hers again, had smiled. "Sure." He'd responded, moving to help her up. She'd accepted his offered hand, and they'd played monkeys for awhile before having to leave.
"-no! LOVINO!" Spain was shouting, beginning to shake him by the shoulders a little.
Lovi gasped slightly and accidentally dropped the photo. No! He wanted to scream, then saw Spain catch it. "Whoa, Lovi! You okay?" Spain asked him, completely forgetting that Lovino would not react well.
"Don't… don't call me that…" Lovino sighed. "Let's just go…"