*I hate looking up historical info! I spent a little more than a half-hour on this, so if anything's wrong, please tell me!*

"That was nice," I commented, picking up paper cups from the floor and throwing them into a large black trash bag. "I've never had a party before."

"Never?" Italy repeated.

"Mom said they were too expensive," I muttered. "Even though we had a lot of money."

"I can't believe you two," Romano groaned, wiping off the counter. "How could you allow this?"

"It's your house," I huffed. "You should be the one to take care of it."

"Hey, Romano!" Belgium, who stayed behind to help, leaned over the banister. "I found this upstairs!" She held out a sparkly pendant.

"Ah!" I felt my collarbone. "My necklace! Did I lose it?!" I ran over and grabbed it from her, clasping it around my neck. "Thanks."

"You're welcome!" she chirped. "Take better care of it, though."

"'Kay," I sighed. "Did you find anything else?"

"I did!" Scout yelled, bolting in. "Looky here! This thing was in the bros room!"

"Scout!" I hissed, pushing her back where she came from before anyone could tell what it was. "Don't go snooping in their bedroom."

"But it's real pretty…" She held up a gold chain with a red jewel dangling from it. Compared to it, my own necklace was trash.

"What's that?" Italy leaned over my shoulder and eyed the pendant.

"Uh, n-nothing!" I stammered.

"Oh, that's…" Italy's voice faltered as he racked his brain. "Adelaide's, I think."

"I didn't know it was someone's," Scout pouted.

"Put it back, Scout," I growled.

"She can see it if she wants," Italy smiled. "But try not to break it. The jewel in the middle is delicate."

"…Who's Adelaide?" I asked slowly.

"She was the Queen of Sardinia," Italy explained. "And her husband was Victor Emmanuel II, the king of my country during the eighteen hundreds."

"Queen?" I repeated. "Scout, put it down! You're gonna break that! It's royal and stuff! It's expensive!"

Italy was a bit taken aback from my fit, but laughed. "It's okay. I have a lot more."

Scout flashed her bright green eyes. "A lot more?"

"Don't even think about it," I snapped.

"I did have a lot of rulers," Italy sighed. "They're like second bosses. Telling me what to do. They weren't bad people, just…annoying sometimes. Kind of like siblings, I guess."

"Can I keep this?" Scout suddenly asked.

"Of course not!" I spat. "It must be really old and precious and-"

"Would you like it?"

"Huh?"

"Would you like it?" Italy repeated.

"N…No," I stammered. "It must be very special to you."

"I have a lot of other historical things in my house," Italy huffed, taking the necklace from Scout and holding it out. "This little piece of jewelry is nothing. Especially compared to her gown. Yeah, her gown! You should try it on!"

"You're nuts!" I gasped. "I can't wear a queen's clothes. I never liked those sorts of things anyway."

Italy's face fell. "But you'd look so pretty…"

"Italy!" We all winced. We forgot Romano was standing right there. (And being quiet for once in his life.) "You aren't letting her wear Adelaide's dress."

"But-"

"I'm not discussing it with you," Romano growled. He walked out. "I'm cleaning upstairs."

"Weirdo," I muttered.

"How come you got all this stuff in your house?" Scout asked. "Did royalty live here?"

"Sometimes," Italy answered. "There were a lot of palaces around they could stay at, but they usually stayed here every once in a while. For, you know, battles and meetings."

"You've been in battles?" I did a face-palm. "Never mind. You're a country. Of course you have."

"I've fought Austria before," Italy remembered. "In the mountains. I didn't want to and it wasn't very fun…"

"Man, no battles are fun," Scout pointed out.

"If you're in the military, you don't always have to fight," Italy countered. "Some men just travel around and never go to the battles. Of course, I always do."

"You don't look like the fighting type," I chuckled.

Italy grinned. "I'm not. But I have to. Now…" Before I could react, he clasped Adelaide's necklace around my neck.

"Hey!" I pushed him away. "What the heck?!"

"I thought it would make you look pretty…" Italy sighed and frowned, tilting his head and pouting. I groaned. This was his ultimate power: guilt by cuteness.

"You can't wear two necklaces," Scout commented.

"Yeah, sorry, Italy," I apologized, taking off the pendant and handing it back to him. "But I'd like to wear my dad's necklace better. No offence or anything."

"None taken." But he shoved it back into my hands. "But keep it. You have to leave sometime, right? So, to remember me by."

"Huh? I'm not leaving anytime soon, though."

"Eventually." With that, Italy left in search of his brother. "Fratello, let me help!"

I ignored Romano's curses and studied Adelaide's jewelry. "Guess he isn't as oblivious as he lets on." I turned to Scout. "Hey, didn't you want to tell me something?"

"No," Scout answered quickly. "I, uh… Never mind."

*OMAGOSH! I have no time to do the footnote! *explosion* NAAAWWWWW!

Romano: YEEEEEEESSSSS! :D

…k bye! :(*