*I'm so happy! I'm doing a FanFic on HRE! Other than the Italy brothers, he's my favorite character! I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed making it! Please review! I love reading them.*

I woke up in Austria's house. Was this what happens when you die? I heard footsteps as I stood up. A preteen girl turned the corner with a duster in her hand.

"Italy!" I gasped. She'd grown so much, I barely recognized her! But she didn't seem to see me even though she was looking right at me. Right before she walked into me, she turned to a painting of Austria on the wall and began to dust it. Last time I saw her, she needed to have a ladder to reach it. Now she could dust it effortlessly. Her free hand wandered to her apron pocket and she stopped dusting.

"No…" she sighed. "I can't. I don't wanna get in trouble again." But she couldn't bear it and grabbed a paintbrush already dabbed in black paint from her pocket. I ran in between her and the canvas as she grinned cutely at the thought.

"Italy!" I said. "It's me! Holy Rome! Don't you see me?" She didn't. I wasn't seen. I wasn't heard.

I was dead, wasn't I?

I stepped to the side as Italy began to paint a mustache on the painting. I remember she pulled the same prank when I was a child. I ran my hand through my hair and noticed it was no longer slicked back. I decided to leave it that way, like it does when I wake up in the morning. Nobody could see me, so I had no one to impress.

"Causing trouble again?"

"Kya!" Italy squeaked. "Austria!" He grabbed Italy by the arm and dragged her into a cramped dark closet and locked the door.

"Stay in there until you learn your lesson!" Austria barked.

"But Austriaaaaaa," Italy's muffled voice whined. "I'm hungry!" He ignored her and walked away. But if Italy was hungry, I wanted to give her food. I hurried into the kitchen to find a premade dinner waiting for Austria: fish. I hoped Italy would like it. But before I tried to pick it up, I knocked over a salt shaker to make sure I could touch things. Sure enough, salt spilled onto the table. (I didn't need to throw it over my shoulder to sting the eyes of the devil as the superstition goes. After all, Austria wasn't here, right? Yeah, he's smart and all and I used to look up to him, but he works Italy as a slave, and that's not something to admire.)

I picked up the dish and wandered around the halls, making sure not to be seen. (Seeing a floating dish would give someone a heart attack.) Once I reached Italy's closet, I remembered the door was locked. I balanced the plate in one hand and desperately jiggled the handle.

"Who's there?" I heard Italy say. It was no use. The door wouldn't open. In desperation, I pressed my body against the door.

"I want. To go. IN-AGH!" I fell through the door. Figures – I could become solid or not at will. Luckily, my hand stayed solid, so the plate didn't drop. With half my arm still outside holding the meal, I tried to pull it in. No such luck. My hand might've been flimsy enough to go through, but the plate was to… dense.

Italy, meanwhile, was inspecting the clinking sound against the door.

"Austria?" she said. She walked right through my body. It felt like ice was passing over me. I dropped to my knees and pulled the dish through the space under the door. Italy jumped at its sudden appearance. She kneeled next to me and looked through the space.

"Hello?" she said. Once she realized no one was there, she picked up the fork on the plate and stabbed a piece of cut up fish.

"Thank you whoever you are!" she said. She put the fish into her mouth, but almost immediately spit it back onto the plate. "Disgusting…" she moaned. And went through all that effort. She was so picky.

Without much else to do to help her, I sat against the wall, secretly keeping her company. I really wanted to tell her "I love you," but she wouldn't hear me. What was the point?

When Austria finally let Italy out of the closet (I snuck the food out again so he wouldn't see it.), I learned something new about my new ghostly life.

Although I was invisible to others, my reflection still showed up in mirrors.

I found out when Italy and I were passing one in the hall. Hungary just happened to be passing by when I was right in front of it. Italy, who was in front of me, continued walking without another thought. Hungary, however, stopped dead in her tracks like I did. I stared at her reflection as she approached the mirror. Italy was out of sight when she finally spoke to me.

"Are you… a ghost?" she asked slowly. I nodded. She blinked a few times, gave a subtle nod to acknowledge my existence, and quickly walked away. I had to be careful. It could be Italy seeing me next, and I thought it was best to lie low for the time being. Once I found Italy, I found Hungary talking to her.

"Why isn't Holy Rome back yet?" Italy asked innocently. What?! How did get into that conversation?

"Wars last a very long time," Hungary replied gently, knowing this was a sensitive topic.

"Could I do anything to make him come back sooner?"

"Hm… You could pray for him."

"Pray?" Italy repeated thoughtfully. "I haven't done that in a while."

"I thought you were Catholic."

"Yeah, I am."

"But Catholics pray often don't th… Oh, never mind."

With that, Italy wandered off to her room with me following close behind. Once she closed her door, she paced back in forth, conjuring up the perfect prayer. I paced with her, thinking about something different.

It was hard to accept the fact that I was dead. But I was free of Malersha. And I could keep an eye on Italy. And I didn't have to worry about war anymore. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

Suddenly, Italy stopped walking and put her hands in a praying position.

"Dear God," she said quickly. "Please let Holy Rome be okay. I made a promise to see him again and I want to keep it. Can you also have him come back sooner? Amen." She clapped her hands and leapt into bed. Once she was asleep (which didn't take long) I gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"I promise I'll protect you," I told her. "You won't end up like me. And that's a promise I'm going to keep."

"…I love you, Italy."