Say "hi" to Holy Rome! In my story, he will be reincarnated as Germany. So, I apologize in advance if you personally don't adhere to this theory. I think it will be better this way. :)
Hungary was glad that she had Italy as a little helper, since there was always so much work to do around the house. But boy did he talk a lot.
She would just nod and smile as he attacked her with waves upon waves of incessant chatter, during all hours of the day. But, she could never bring herself to hurt the child nor give him back to Austria. As much as she hated dealing with children, she also had a heart.
However, today was the odd day on which something interesting actually came out of Italy's mouth.
He and Hungary were dusting the bookshelves in the library.
"Miss Hungary, I have a question..."
Apparently, Italy had forgotten that Hungary gave him permission to address her by her human name.
Hungary rolled her eyes. "Yes Italy?" She said as sweetly as possible through clenched teeth.
"Well," Italy mumbled, looking down shyly and poking his fingers together, "Um, there's this one person... Whenever I see him, my heart starts beating really fast... And I start sweating... And my tummy starts to flutter..."
"Oh, Miss Hungary, does it mean I've fallen ill?" He asked, on the verge of tears.
Hungary's heart melted instantly. The sweet darling, he's so young, of course he wouldn't know how it feels to be in love!
"Well, sounds like you have a crush on this person!" She answered.
"A crush?"
"Yes, don't you feel the need to be with them all the time?"
"Sì! I do, I do!" He exclaimed, jumping in joy.
Hungary inwardly squealed. How cute!
"Well, now you tell Miss Hungary the truth, 'cause you would be a bad boy if you don't. So, Italy..." She bent down in front of him and crossed her arms, pretending to be serious, "Do you have a crush on Holy Rome?"
"Ahhhh!" Italy cried, burying his face into his palms. "Yes I do! How did you know?"
Who else could it be? Hungary would be blind to not see how taken Italy was with the other boy. How his face would turn into a bright shade of red whenever he was around, while Holy Rome's would become, if possible, even redder! It was as if the two lovebirds were locked in a contest of who would be the first one to turn into a tomato.
She walked over to him and gently placed his arms down. Italy looked up at her, blinking tears away from his eyes. "Oh dear, sweet, Miss Hungary, you have to help me!" He cried, tugging at her sleeves, "I asked big brother France about it, but all he did was say a bunch of stuff that didn't make any sense and touched me in a lot of places... So you are my only hope now, please!"
She made a mental note to punch that pervert in the gut the next time she saw him.
"Of course I will help, my little Italy!" Hungary cooed, pinching his cheek.
In the blink of an eye, Italy was giggling happily, spinning around in the dress Hungary had given him. "I look as pretty as Miss Hungary!" He squeaked.
The dress was black with colourful stripes. She had also given him a pair of matching boots, a hat, and flowers to put in his hair. Italy looked like he could easily be the belle of any Hungarian village festival, let alone win Holy Rome's heart.
"Come," Hungary said, "Let's go find him."
After venturing through miles of Austrian territory, Prussia was finally standing in front of Holy Rome's mansion. He knew very well the risks of coming here alone, but he wasn't scared. There was only one thing on his mind, which was to see his girlfriend again the first time in months.
He bore no grudge against Austria for having taken Hungary in. Instead, he actually tried to feel thankful towards him for saving her.
Well, he tried.
Prussia swore that Austria must had used some form of black magic to seduce his Liz into becoming friends with him. Now, thanks to that effeminate weirdo, he never got to see her anymore!
Though, he was truly happy that Hungary had gotten out of her horrible situation, and was back to her old self. Even if they didn't get to be together all the time, at least she was safe.
Just past the gate was a garden path that lead to the front of the mansion. Prussia picked the lock, opened the gate, and took small, careful steps onto the property, crushing loose flower petals under his boots.
"Who goes here?" A voice boomed from nowhere.
Prussia turned his head to the right, left, then front and back, but could not find the source of the voice. Perplexed, but still determined, he ventured onwards, and was suddenly stopped by a sword poking his tummy.
He looked downwards to find an angry little boy dressed in a full battle garb, his stubby legs spread apart in an attempted fighting stance.
"Foreigner! Why have you come here?" The boy barked, his bright blue eyes flashing with unimpressive menace. The kid was cute, Prussia had to admit, but he failed miserably at intimidating a full grown man who was twice his height and fought wars for a living.
"Do you wish to kidnap my Italy?" He questioned further, poking Prussia again with his weapon, "Well, you would have to defeat and kill me first!"
Prussia raised an eyebrow. "Um, I've never met Italy before, and who are you?"
The boy's eyes widened upon hearing "Italy". He quickly looked away, trying to hide the blush that was creeping upon his face. "H-he is... That is none of your business!" He growled like a lion's cub, "And I am the Holy Roman Empire!"
Prussia broke into a laughing fit, as Holy Rome stepped away reproachfully.
"You're the great Holy Rome?" Prussia managed to choke out between giggles, "That's hilarious, kid, I gotta hand it to ya!"
"How dare you laugh at me?" He wailed indignantly, jumping two feet in rage. Raising his sword again and walking back up to Prussia, he declared, "For that previous offence, I challenge you to a fight to the death!"
Prussia looked down at the boy and shrugged. "Fine with me," he said. Prussia took an index finger and pushed it lightly against Holy Rome's forehead. It wasn't much, but was more than enough strength to make him fall on his back, onto the cold, hard grounds of defeat.
Holy Rome shot up from where he laid, weapon in hand. He was ready to shed some real blood this time, but was pushed down again by that same, evil finger.
"I don't know who you are, little guy, but you sure got quite a bit of guts standing up to me like that." Prussia said, nodding impressively. "I like you."
Holy Rome grunted in frustration.
"I just told you who I am!" He bellowed, his torso shooting up from anger, but only to be shot down once more.
"I am the Holy-" Push.
"Roman-" Push.
"Empire!" Push.
"Yes, right, and I am from Africa," Prussia said sarcastically, sniggering.
The boy opened his mouth to retort, but was stopped by a voice calling from the distance, "Holy Rome!"
Some other kid was running towards them, with Hungary following behind, urging him to slow down. Prussia stood up immediately and waved at her.
Italy dropped down in front of Holy Rome and helped him up.
"Italy, you're okay!" Holy Rome said, hugging him.
"Uh, of course I'm okay," Italy squeaked, batting his eyelashes worriedly, "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Oh, uh, never mind..." Holy Rome grumbled, scratching his blond head.
Prussia and Hungary just stood there, one looking confused, and the other smiling giddily.
Italy took Holy Rome's hands, "So, do you like my new dress?" He asked, jumping up and down excitedly.
"Um... Um..." Poor Holy Rome tried to respond through his quivering lips, but could not for the life of him tell Italy how beautiful he looked.
Hungary giggled into her fist, blushing a bit herself. Prussia walked over to her and whispered, "What is this about? Is he wearing your..."
"I'll tell you about it later."
Afterwards, Italy gave Holy Rome a kiss on the cheek, and they happily skipped away into their home. Prussia turned to Hungary and asked, chuckling, "Don't you wish we were more like those two back then, and less... violent?"
Hungary punched him in the arm. "I still am!" She humphed.
"You got some nerve coming here in broad daylight, Gil. You know, Roddy could have unleashed his whole army upon you for setting foot on his turf." Hungary said, laying her head upon Prussia's shoulder. They were strolling, arm in arm, down the backyard's winding stone path.
Instead of replying, Prussia furrowed his eyebrows. "Speaking of Roddy, how has he been treating you?"
"Oh! Um, k-kindly I guess," Hungary answered quickly, shifting her gaze aside to the pink tulips, "He gave me a really fancy room, and bought me a lot of new stuff, not that I really need any of it..."
"Okay, and he hasn't forced you into doing anything in return?" He demanded, grabbing her hand that had become coarse and wrinkled, ever since she came here.
"No, nothing like that. I do the housework because I want to," she said, her voice weakening.
He walked in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders, boring his eyes into hers. Taking a deep breath, he said, "Liz, if he's ever made you uncomfortable, in any way, just tell me, and I'll kill the bastard." Prussia's tone was soft but dangerous, his words were said slowly, but clearly.
Prussia extended a hand to graze her cheek, which was beginning to feel wet under his fingertips. He frowned; it seemed that Hungary cried more in these past few years than she ever did in her life.
"Why?" she whimpered.
Hungary knew why. Prussia didn't need to repeat something to her that he had already said thousands of times, as much as he loved saying it.
Then, without warning, Prussia felt all of Hungary's body weight crash into him in the form of an embrace, as he stumbled back a few steps into a nearby tree.
"Why are you still so good to me, Gil?" She demanded, digging her face into his chest and squeezing him with all the strength she had, "Stop being so good to me!"
"I'm so sorry..." She sobbed, "It is my fault that we are like this... I'm sorry..."
Prussia scrunched his eyes shut so he wouldn't start crying too, so hard that his face became red and sore. No, he wouldn't cry, no matter how much it hurt seeing Hungary like this.
"Shh.. It's okay, love." He lulled, wiping those ugly tears away from her face. They didn't have much time together to begin with, and they shouldn't waste it like this.
They were now sitting on the ground, with Prussia's back against the tree. "Don't you sometimes wish that never grew up?" Hungary asked after a while, when her voice had finally cleared up. "Then, we wouldn't worry about anything. No wars, no pleasing our bosses, no silly manners and uncomfortable dresses..."
He chuckled. For all the years that he had been her friend, Prussia had never known Hungary to be an idealist, to waste her time talking about her dreams.
Perhaps, they really had begun to drift apart.
Prussia bent down to kiss his angel's head. "Nothing's stopping us," he said, gingerly running his dry knuckles down the side of her face, "You and I can run away right now, and never look back. My ride is just outside the gates."
"You know I can't, Gil, " she replied, smiling sadly, " I have a whole nation of people under my wing, and it is my duty to protect them..."
Of course she would say that. How foolish of him to think, even for a second, that she would ever agree? She was always the admonishing voice of reason against his crazy, childish schemes, after all.
"But Liz, I can tell that you are not happy here, with Roddy making you do all his dirty work and pretty much forcing you to be his bitch..."
"I'm not his bitch, for the last time!" Hungary snapped, glaring up at him, though still not wanting to leave his arms, "Goddamnit, Gil! Don't you understand? I love you, not him! Why do you have to be such a dolt?"
He tipped her chin up and kissed her.
"That's my answer." He shrugged.
I smell tension. o.o