I... have no excuse. I was lazy. Sorry for making y'all wait. DX This is for elizabeta H. Austria

Song: Oh, Sing Sweet Nightingale

Prussia snickered as he walked up the path to the huge house. Time to torment Austria again. Sure, he'd probably get a smack on the head from Hungary, but it would be worth it. It was always worth it. Especially since that cute little Italy was now working there. It looked like Holy Rome had gotten his wish after all. Prussia's face fell a bit; from what he'd heard, Holy Rome had….

"Nein, don't think about it," he muttered. Gilbird tweeted sadly and snuggled down in his white hair. "Don't worry, buddy. Just a quick stop here and then we'll check on our little bruder, ja?" His friend tweeted again and gave a little hop. "Ksesese! I'll take that as a yes!"

He opened the door (without bothering to knock of course) and kept a sharp eye out for Hungary. She could somehow make an entire frying pan appear out of thin air at will. One had to wonder where she hid it on her person…

"Mr. Prussia?"

Prussia looked down to find the owner of the most adorable voice in the world. Italy was dressed in a white and green maid outfit with a kerchief over her short auburn hair. He smiled and patted her head. "Hey Italy, how's it going?"

Italy smiled in return. "Okay I guess. The food's still terrible."

"Aw, I'll talk to Austria about that," Prussia laughed. Neither of them noticed that Gilbird was glaring at Italy and making angry little peeps. The older nation noticed a bucket filled with soapy water and a dustpan resting on some stairs next to a broom. "Are you cleaning?"

Italy nodded. "Si! Hungary swept for me so now I can mop the floor."

This mention of a certain female nation reminded Prussia of his original mission. He looked around again and sighed, "Well, I gotta go talk to Austria. See ya around, Italy." He patted her head one more time and sauntered off down the hallway, whistling.

"Wait!" Italy called after him. Prussia turned to look at her. "Have you heard from Holy Rome?"

"...Nein, sorry Mädchen." Prussia turned and hurried off.

Italy stared after him for a moment before grabbing the bucket and a clean rag. He dipped the rag into the water, squeezed out any excess water and started scrubbing the floor. Meanwhile, Gilbird had forsaken his perch on Prussia's head and flew to the stairs to watch Italy work. Gilbird was a possessive bird by nature, so anything that attracted his master's attention like Italy did was to be hated. Italy smiled at Gilbird, never imagining that his tweets and chirps were angry ones. He managed to get a few square feet done before his laziness kicked in and he began to complain to the yellow chick.

"Ohhh, this is so hard! And I'm still so hungry! I would rather have swept, but Miss Hungary says I'm not good enough at it yet."

He sighed and looked down at the suds on the floor. Work was no fun at all! He'd much rather be painting. Miss Hungary didn't mind working; she seemed to enjoy it in fact. He remembered asking her about that once. What has she said?

"I find chores easier if there's a song to work by."

Hmm, maybe he should sing? What songs did he know? Italy thought about it before remembering a short little tune he'd heard Hungary sing once. He cleared his throat nervously and started singing, his clear treble voice ringing in the empty hallway.

Sing sweet nightingale, sing sweet nightingale high above me
Oh sing sweet nightingale, sing sweet nightingale high above

He continued singing the simple melodies as he worked. Italy also found that working and singing was much easier, especially if he imagined that the rag was a paintbrush and that he was covering the floor with paint instead of water. A fluttering movement caught his eye and he looked up, pausing in his song. Gilbird, fueled by jealousy, had grabbed one end of the dustpan and was slowly dragging it across the room and dirt was spilling across the freshly swept tiles.

"Oh, don't do that, Mister Gilbird!" Italy scrambled to his feet and hurried to stop the pan. Gilbird let it drop, and in a final vindictive act he beat his wings hard enough to send the remaining dust flying into the air. The dust cloud made the poor Italian sneeze and gave Gilbird his chance to escape….except for one thing.

"You mean little pest!"

Gilbird squawked in alarm as Hungary and her frying pan of vengeance appeared out of nowhere. Hungary swiped at him a few times before the chick finally got the hint and flew off to find Prussia.

Hungary practically growled and placed her hands on her hips. "Ooh! He's as bad as Prussia! One day I'm going to teach that little runt a lesson!" A loud sniffle drew her attention to Italy. The poor thing was covered in dust from head to toe and tears were leaving trails on his cheeks.

"I-I'm sorry, Miss Hungary!" Italy wailed. "I didn't mean to make a mess!"

Hungary knelt down and started to dust Italy off. "It's okay, I know it wasn't your fault." Italy managed a wobbly smile and sneezed again. The older country barely managed to repress a squee and hugged him close.

A knock on the door interrupted their embrace, and Hungary reluctantly released the chibi to go open the door. When she peered out, a messenger handed her a letter before tipping his hat and turning back to his horse. Hungary looked at the letter and turned pale.

"What's wrong?" Italy asked.

Hungary whirled around and hid the letter behind her back. "Nothing Italy! I just have to give this to Mister Austria now. Stay here, I'll be right back!" She hurried down the hall. It wouldn't be hard to find him; anyone could already hear the sounds of an argument breaking out between Prussia and Austria - again - from what sounded like his study. Hopefully they would quit long enough to read the letter. She was almost positive it was news about Holy Rome… She felt guilty for not telling Italy about it, but she didn't want to risk the possibility that it might contain bad news.

It would be better to wait a bit and let him dream a little longer.

The Epic Editor's Note: AAAGH. HRE. CHIBITALIA. WHY MUST YOU DO THIS.

DX Holy Rome! Btw, I totally support the Germany-is-actually-HRE theory. Hope y'all enjoyed it!