A/N: Sorry that this took so long to put up, I've been quite busy (an upcoming story will explain more if needed). Needless to say, I watched the 2013 Doctor Who Christmas Special last night...and am still suffering, as Mr. Spock would put it, from being "emotionally compromised".

Does anyone else feel as conflicted as I do over our 11th Doctor's passing? It wasn't nearly as violent as the 10th Doctor (whose regeneration I always regarded as agonizing and anguish-filled, considering the crying, the protest against leaving, and the massive damage to the control room), but instead 11 gives us what actually can be called a somewhat soothing send-off, if you think about it. It was quieter, faster, and he even takes out a Dalek ship with it, and then...then we get the flashbacks. The 11th Doctor has actually aged, a testament to how long that body lasted, and when we see his vision of Amelia, first as a child, then as a fully grown woman who still calls him her "raggedy man"...I won't lie, I actually cried into the custard I was eating for the occasion. The Doctor was reminiscing, and in those moments when he talks during the "delay" period, we see him not only accept the ending of his 11th self, but embrace the memories of it, and still have the strength to comfort Clara and give us one last talk before he holds her hand...and then boom, new face...and new kidneys. It wasn't violent, per se, like the way that 10 went, but rather, I saw 11 go as an old, world-weary man, who finally got the chance to let everything go, and greet Death not as something to be scared of, but instead as an old friend, a chance to be reborn with dignity instead of fear. It was a very poignant thing for me.

As it is, I very much loved the final episode of the 11th Doctor, and his swan song will continue to be sung far and away from now, both by me, and by others. He had a good run, and the last stretch of it was glorious. I just hope our dear raggedy man might get to be Newt Scamander in the next part of the Harry Potter universe...and also, I hope that he gets his bowtie back, because seeing him take it off before fully regenerating hurt like a Crucio to the heart (Moffat, WHY? It's bad enough that you made the 10th Doctor repeat his ending line from when he regenerated!).

But alas, we're getting off topic. You're here for the story, not my silly rambles, so please, read on!

RANDOM CHRISTMAS FACT: According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), there are approximately 2,106 million children under age 18 in the world. If there is an average of 2.5 children per household, Santa would have to make 842 million stops on Christmas Eve, traveling 221 million miles. To reach all 842 million stops, Santa would need to travel between houses in 2/10,000 seconds, which means he would need to accelerate 12.19 million miles (20.5 billion meters) per second on each stop. The force of this acceleration would, if we go by the laws of physics, reduce Santa to "chunky salsa."-50 Interesting Facts about Christmas

Thus, we must conclude that in order to survive his very dangerous job, Santa (a.k.a. Finland) must be the most indestructible person on Earth!

There was not a single cloud in the sky.

The air was warm but not overly hot, the bees were buzzing their last rounds for the day among the flowers, and a certain crossdressing Southern Italian was having what could only be described as a fit of worry over the whereabouts of his missing little one. Spain was on the ground, nursing a fresh bump on his head caused by a punch by said worrying Southern Italian, and Hungary was standing in the background, trying as inconspicuously as she could to get a good photograph of Romano's worried expression as he paced back and forth, clutching the sides of his apron in worry as he called for Amato.

"Amato, Amato! Come on out, this isn't funny!"

There was no answer. Romano's face paled as his cries went unanswered.

"Amato, I mean it! If you don't come out right now, no tomatoes for the rest of the week!"

But silence was the only thing that replied.

Romano began running back and forth, darting about as he continued calling for his tiny charge. Hungary and Spain exchanged worried looks; while they didn't personally know the little one, Romano was obviously quite worried about his child's safety, and they owed it to the other nation to help him in his search, especially considering that he was already upset at them for breaching his privacy.

Spain went to his former henchman somewhat warily this time, the painful throbbing due to his recent blow to the head giving a helpful reminder that he had to approach the situation with a bit of caution. Gently placing a tanned hand upon the Southern Italian's left shoulder, offered a slightly tentative smile.

"Can we help?"

Romano gave his former boss an incredulous look, an eyebrow raised in confusion. "Are you serious? Why would you want to help? You helped scare him away, he doesn't like strangers!"

Spain's expression fell slightly at this unfortunately true statement, but brightened a moment later as he reached out to grasp both of Romano's pink-clad shoulders. "Let me make it up to you, two people looking instead of one is much better!"

"And I want to help, too," Hungary added, stashing her camera in an apron pocket as she came to stand beside Spain, frying pan held behind her back. "We didn't mean to freak your kid out, we just wanted to make sure everything was okay. But since we scared him off, we want to help. Antonio's right, more people searching'll make this easier!"

Romano scowled at both nations, but found himself unable to refute the sound logic. Dammit, they're right. Three people will make it easier...but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I just hope Amato isn't getting himself into any trouble...

"...Fine. But you better be right! And Tomato Bastard, if you scare him away again, I'll kill you myself, got it?"

Two nods and a handshake sealed the deal, and the three set out on their quest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MEANWHILE: AT THE KISSING-GATE...~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The nations wandered about in their search, but unfortunately for them, no one had yet realized they should have looked near the ground. But then, by this time, the two little bundles of energy were well on their way to the kissing-gate of the garden.

For his part, Amato himself was happily hopping along beneath the canopy of low-hanging tomato vines, Little Lovi shuffling a bit behind. The continuous stream of happy chattering from the little ball of golden-brown cheer was given the occasional grumpy interjection from Little Lovi, who nibbled at some of the lowest-hanging tomatoes that Amato pointed out.

"This one's a Plum tomato, and that one's a Pear, and this one's a Beefsteak!"

"Why are they all named after completely different foods if they're just tomatoes?"

Amato gave his new friend a bewildered look as the question sunk in, before smiling in easygoing acceptance. "Hmm...I dunno!"

"Ugh, you make no sense..."

The only reply was another sweet smile, and then the kissing-gate was reached.

To the two tiny life forms, the kissing-gate seemed enormous, a towering megalith of whitewashed old wood, the sides thick and composed of a criss-cross pattern. Tomato vines crept up along the sides, entangling the structure with streamers of fleshy emerald, and a small bronze lantern hung from the center of the arch crowning the kissing-gate, thin chains dangling across like the branches of a Versailles chandelier.

But it was the tomatoes that drew the real attention: thick, grape-like clusters of mouthwatering cherry tomatoes, the succulent little orbs being of so many shades of red, orange, and yellow that it was almost as if the tomatoes were little bubbles of candle flame.

Amato let out a squeak of delight, bounding forwards immediately towards the lowest-hanging cluster and opening his mouth wide to gulp down an especially juicy-looking reddish-orange tomato. Turning around to give his new friend a happy look, Amato managed to mumble through a mouthful of mashed tomato for Little Lovi to try some of the bounty.

Little Lovi slowly approached the large, tempting-looking clump of cherry tomatoes, golden-brown eyes wide with suspicion as he took a small bite. Amato looked on, finishing the last bite of his own cherry tomato as he asked, "Yummy?"

"Mmmhmm...," the somewhat slurred noise of affimation came as Little Lovi promptly took a big bite out of the next available cherry tomato, juice dripping everywhere.

Amato giggled, before moving to huddle near his new friend, delighted when Little Lovi not only moved over slightly, but didn't protest as he took a bite out of the now shared cherry tomato.