"And that's where the other story starts, right?" Romano asked, skimming the start of the first chapter again. "We were only together a couple of days before we went to the presentation ceremony."
Veneziano nodded. "We couldn't go anywhere until after the ceremony."
The room was almost completely full by the time Veneziano and Romano slipped quietly through the door at the back of the room. The brothers argued quietly about whether they should stay at the back of the room or try to disappear into the middle of the large crowd.
"If we stay at the back," Romano argued, "no one will see us because it's rude to turn away during the ceremony. Plus, if we stay close to the door we can leave as soon as it's over."
"But we might look suspicious if we stay back here. And isn't it easier to disappear into a large crowd anyway?"
"Unless we disappear right next to Turkey," Romano frowned.
"Well, I just don't think..."
"Hello," England said loudly, cutting off Veneziano. "Today all of the nations of the world have gathered together to see this baby presented."
"Looks like we're not going anywhere now," Romano whispered to his brother triumphantly. "It's better this way anyway. We won't really have to listen to England and we can talk quietly..."
"May I present... Japan!"
Veneziano stood on his tip toes, trying to see the baby over the heads of the nations in front of him. "How am I supposed to see what the new nation looks like if I'm too short to see over everyone?" he complained.
"My guess is he has black hair and dark eyes," Romano answered, staring across the room and out a window. A bird was flying back and forth in front of the open window and he was wondering whether or not it would actually fly into the room. It would be an interesting distraction during the ceremony.
He almost didn't hear Veneziano when he asked, "What makes you think that?"
"Can you name one nation that isn't European that doesn't have dark hair and dark eyes? The Nations from Asia tend to have black hair."
"Romano! Don't stereotype!"
"I'm not stereotyping," he yawned. "It's just a fact."
"Isn't Taiwan's hair brown?" North Italy asked. "And..."
"Just forget it," Romano muttered.
"Romano?" Veneziano asked.
"Hmmm?"
"How are you going to bless the baby?"
The Southern Nation cursed under his breath. He hadn't really thought about it. "I'm going to..." he thought frantically for a second and craned his neck to see where England was with the baby. "I think... I... I got it!" Romano smiled at his brother.
"Well, what are you going to do?"
"It's a blessing!" Romano frowned. "Blessings are private!"
Veneziano pouted but dropped the subject, thinking about how he was going to bless the new country.
England finally approached them, smiling softly and placed Japan in Romano's arms.
"I'm not... good with children," Romano whispered to the baby. "But... I am good at being a nation. This... It's something you'll have to be good at, too. And... Sometimes you'll need help and you may not want to ask for it, because maybe you think your time is different... The truth is... The melody may have changed, but the song remains the same... Ask for help when you need it... Accept help when it comes your way." Romano smiled at the baby, but was suddenly aware of how long he had been speaking. He pushed Japan back into England's arms and turned away.
Veneziano smiled widely as he took Japan from England. He decided to go the same way as Romano and offer a proverb to the new nation. "We nations, we have to be strong and being strong is hard sometimes. You should save all your strength until you really need it, because if you use it all up everyday you'll only end up weak. Stay rested. It's better to spend one day as a lion than one hundred as a sheep. I hope you learn to tell the difference." He started to pass the baby back to England before changing his mind and whispering, "He who does nothing, makes no mistakes."
The Englishman walked back to the front of the room and the Italy brothers bowed with everyone else, welcoming the baby before England placed the baby back into Taiwan's arm. The passing over of the baby was symbolic. The baby was finally a nation and would be raised by its mentors. The passing of the baby was also everyone's cue to leave, so the nations filed out of the room quickly, the brother's running from the building before Taiwan was able to cradle the smile infant in her arms.
"Well, this is it, Romano!" Veneziano said cheerfully. "This is our new home!" The house was small with only one room. There were two small beds pushed against the back wall and a tiny refrigerator by the window near the front door.
"How long do you expect us to live here?" Romano asked.
"Well... It's a little small, but..."
"Veneziano!" Romano said, his voice full of disbelief. "We can't live here forever! We have to stay on the move! Anyone can find us if we stay in one place for too long!" He shook his head. "And we're nations! We can afford a lot more than this small room!"
"Well, we didn't take any of our money and..."
"We can't avoid our government," Romano said, rolling his eyes. "We'll have to stay in contact. We'll stay in contact secretly... if we just stop talking to them, they may decide to give up on us. We'll want to go back eventually... We'll get in touch tomorrow and tell them our location we'll have to remain a secret. Then we'll get some real money. Okay?"
Veneziano was a little surprised at how fast his brother had taken charge of the situation. Maybe their boss was wrong in only wanting to work with him and not with Romano. Romano was a good leader.
"We'll talk about it in the morning, okay?"
"Okay, Romano."
Romano frowned at the small beds, but climbed into one of them anyway. He turned to face the wall and could hear his brother moving around him. As he drifted off, he could feel Veneziano climb into the bed next to him and he rolled his eyes. He'd have to talk to him about that later.
