So... there isn't much to say about this chapter. I think the title pretty much speaks for itself.
Enjoy 8)

VI. Envy

The blonde girl scrambled up until she stood in front of the Italian boy.

"No! Don't hit him!" Her arms sprang out protectively. The boy behind her cowered and gave a little whimper.

"Step aside. I don't want to have to hurt you, too." The man facing them crossed his arms and looked down at a girl with a disapproving expression. Romano thought that could have been Austria, but his hair was too short and he seemed to be too young. Unless... this was a piece of his memory.

No, it couldn't have been. As much as Romano wanted it to be, he just knew that it wasn't.

"I- It isn't such a serious matter, master." Suddenly, Romano felt like he had hit a solid wall. That voice, that word... and the girl, they all seemed so familiar, like he had seen the girl before, heard her utter out that word before, and yet he'd never even met anybody that resembled her. He didn't even know her name.

"M-Mi dispiace. I'm so very sorry, ve. I was just..." A small voice came from behind the girl, but the apology had little impact on the taller man, who seemed to indeed be their master.

"You see?" He addressed the younger girl. "He steals food, a lot. And if he doesn't get taught a lesson, he'll never change. Of course, I'll have to do the same to his brother. He's the one that steals tomatoes. But first, I'll have to find that Romano..."

"He gets very hungry, master, and he prefers better food than the kind that you give us to eat. I know that's not right, but I doubt you can change anything. W-Without violence, I mean. A-And master, if you'll just give him one more-"

"One more chance? If that what you were going to say? No, I've given him many chances, even warned him of severe punishment, but he wouldn't listen to me. Now, step aside, please. You're usually so obedient and sensible, why stand up for him when you know he's wrong?" The man stepped forward and put out a hand to dismiss the young girl, but she kept her ground.

"M-Master, I won't let you-"

"Wait! Stop!" Romano watched as the newcomer, a long-haired brunette woman, rushed into the room and put a hand on the man's shoulder, stopping him. "Please don't punish them. They're both very young, and... I have a feeling they'll learn their lesson after this. Please don't."

Slowly, the man turned around, and in his eyes was a stern look, but also a slight dash of forgiveness. A long silence dawned on them, until he spoke again. "Alright. You're forgiven, for now, but never do that again, understand?"

"J-Ja. Danke!" The blonde girl quickly bowed her head, held out her hand for the boy, and they both ran out of the room

The man set his tired eyes on the brunette woman. "Have you found Romano? He's left his chores undone and went away somewhere again."

"I haven't." A shake of the head. "But you must try to be less strict with them. They are young, after all, and they'll always stand up for each other no matter what. Even Romano."

"Romano?" The man fiddled with his glasses. "He doesn't seem as close to the other two."

"I think... maybe they're starting to develop feelings for each other, don't you? But I guess it's Romano's personality that keeps him away from the other two. His brother is always cheerful and hardworking, but he's so... different. Maybe that's why." The woman sighed. "But it's none of our business to talk about this, as much as I'd love to find out more."

"You're right." The man turned away from her and sat down on the couch, picking up a cup of wine and a few music sheets. "We shouldn't intervene. You know, Spain came over a few days ago and again, he wanted to have one of the Italians to work for him."

"Again? Haven't you already said no? You shouldn't separate the three of them, that's what I think."

"You're right." He said again, sipping the cup daintily. "You're always right."

"I think L-"

The dream was fading away.

No! He was about to hear a name! The name that would make everything clear to him, show him if this was an alternate reality or his past. But no, everything was fading away.

The sun shone brightly into his face, and Romano woke up.

Once again, Romano offered to help Liechtenstein with the dishes after breakfast. He felt like he owed her for saving his life back in that dark alley.

But he wondered why she had done so. Any sensible nation would just leave him there and run away to save themself. Especially if it was him in danger. Who would jump in headfirst to save the nation with the sour personality who was too weak to save himself? It didn't make him feel any better that he had treated Liechtenstein so coldly before, and yet she still stood up for him. He wondered if she was still vying for his full acceptance of her.

No, no nation would want acceptance from him, save for Spain and his younger brother. But it was the only explanation he could think of. As he brought the dishes to her, he thought back to the many times that she had been so nice and understanding toward him. Could it be because she wanted him to accept her, to open up to her? No, impossible. It was probably because of obligation. The feeling that she had to be devoted, or at least act devoted to him, because it was part of her job as a maid. Yeah, that was it.

He scowled at himself in the soapy water. He had been stupid for ever thinking that it could have been anything else. Real life wasn't like in his dreams, when the pretty blonde girl with the braids had stood up for her friend because she really cared for him. And wait, even in his dreams, that hadn't been him she was standing up for. No, he had been the one that was left out. The third wheel, that was what he was feeling right then as he listened to Liechtenstein talk about his brother.

"... really nice. I really enjoy your brother's company, Master Romano. Oh, Veneziano is visiting today, too. He'll be here at about- H-Hey Romano, is there something wrong?" Liechtenstein looked up at him in concern.

Romano realized that he had been digging his nails into the sponge and scrubbing so hard that soap flung out everywhere. "I-I... I was scrubbing at this stain on the plate." He tried to cover up. "S-stupid stain, why won't you go away?" Romano sent her a shaky smile and returned to cursing at the stain and pretending like he was just being his normal self, but he suddenly wondered if it was too selfish to tell her all that he had been thinking. He could try to ask her why she hadn't run away from Turkey but had stayed to save him, but was that question too awkward? Or maybe he could just continue the facade and forget it like nothing had happened. He went with the latter.

"T-There, the stain's all gone." He set the plate out to dry, avoiding Liechtenstein's worried eyes.

"Romano, are you sure there's nothing wrong?" She said slowly. His behavior must have struck her as unusual.

"I'm fine, g-grazie." So far so good. "I was just wondering..." He suddenly blurted out, like he had no control over what he said anymore.

"Wondering what?"

I'm such a dumb bastard. "I-I was wondering about that incident with T-Turkey, you know." He said dumbly, stammering and flushing red.

"Oh, you... wonder where I got the gun?" Liechtenstein gave him a small smile. "I don't keep it with me to hurt anyone, don't worry. I don't really like keeping a gun with me, but big bruder insisted that I always need to have one in case something happened. I... I'm used to bringing it around, really, but I've never needed to use it until yesterday." She grabbed a towel and started drying the dishes, and Romano made a move to do the same. His finger grazed hers, and he felt a faint spark of electricity before snatching his hand away.

"I keep it beneath all the layers of my dress, so no one suspects me of having anything close to a gun." She laughed casually.

"Oh." Romano cursed at himself in his mind. Why wouldn't he shut up? "I was also wondering... why didn't you run away? Why did you stay to help me?" Stupid, stupid mouth.

Her expression surprised him. "Well I..." Liechtenstein's green eyes looked confused. "Why would I not? After all, it's my job, as your maid."

"I'm not your responsibility. You don't have to look after me or anything." Romano snapped. He suddenly felt mad at himself. Her answer had confirmed to him that he was crazy for thinking that it could have been anything other than an obligation. She never really cared or anything. But why was he dwelling over that so much? He'd never even paid attention to the fact that the other nations thought he was a foul-mouthed coward, but toward Liechtenstein... he suddenly felt a longing for her to understand him, understand why he was acting so strangely, and maybe... even care about him. O-Only as a friend, of course.

Liechtenstein gave him a strange look. "It's not that I have to look after you. It's that I want to be there by your side and help you when needed." Liechtenstein said this as if it were the most obvious thing on Earth. And did Romano just catch the slightest blush in her cheeks, or was it his imagination?

He decided that he had eaten one too many pizzas and was starting to become delusional.

"When is Veneziano coming?" He asked her, changing the subject so that maybe he could forget everything that had been said. Forget his dumb questions, forget her innocent answers.

Liechtenstein looked at the old clock hanging on the wall. "He'll be here in an hour."

Romano made a small "humph" sound and returned to drying his dishes in silence.

After putting away the dishes, Liechtenstein followed Romano up the stairs. She went into her room, leaving him to go to his. Taking off her apron, she wondered why Romano had offered to help her when he really didn't seem so willing to wash the dishes. Their conversation hadn't gone as well as she had wished, either. She had sensed that he would ask that question, but for all her preparation, she couldn't come up with a decent answer. Sure, she did care about him, but she sensed that he had mistaken her care for an obligation, a duty she had to fulfill. Ja, it was her job to look after him and care for him –after all, that was why Spain had hired her. But even if it hadn't been just a job, she would have done the same for anybody.

But even more so for Romano, Liechtenstein realized. Ja, maybe she had what Switzerland called a 'soft spot' for him. From the first day that she had come to the mansion, a little more than a month ago, she'd felt a longing for him to accept her. She wanted him to let her in his thoughts, to confide in her, to open up to her. She had many friends, but Romano was different. She wanted to be accepted by him, more than she had ever wanted anything before. And so she tried.

She tried to do the subtle things to let him know that she was always open to him, that she was a friend to be trusted. When he kept pushing her away, she felt the desire to work even harder, to never stop. He treated her with disdain, while she respected him as her master. She had never once stopped trying.

Sometimes, she wondered why she needed his acceptance so badly. Why she kept doing everything she could to let him know that she cared. Maybe it was because Liechtenstein had a feeling, subtly, that Romano had never really been cared for, never really knew the true meaning of friendship, and she wanted to be the one to guide him in the right direction. But why?

That didn't matter now, she decided, retying her ribbon in her hair and then coming to the first floor to get the door for Veneziano. He had just rang.

If Romano's happy, then I'm happy. Doesn't matter how he treats me. I just want him to feel... loved.

"Liechtenstein, ve!" Italy greeted her, leaving Germany's side to give her a giant bear hug.

She laughed. "Guten tag, Italy. How are you?"

"Great, ve! I brought some Bocconotti! Cream puffs! And could we make pasta again? I can teach you to paint some more, too! It was really fun last time! And-"

Germany jabbed the Italian, and Liechtenstein watched in amusement as Italy struggled to remember why he was visiting in the first place.

"Oh, where's fratello?" He asked, peering over her shoulder.

"Here."

Liechtenstein immediately recognized Romano's distinct grumbling. She moved to the side of the door to let Italy in, and then bowed her head to Germany. "Would you like to come in, too?"

Germany shook his head, looking like he wouldn't prefer anything less. "I'd rather not, thank you. The dummkopf has been bothering me to come here all morning, so I'll just leave him here, if that's alright with you. I've got plenty of paperwork to complete at home, and I don't think Romano would want me here, either. By the way, where is Spain?"

"He's gone out shopping for things to bring to Belgium." Liechtenstein suddenly noticed that Germany looked slightly more uncomfortable.

"I, erm, I'll just get going now, if you don't mind." He told her awkwardly, but his escape was made too late as Romano turned to the two of them.

"You, potato bastard, haven't I told you to get out of my sight forever?" He huffed, glaring indignantly with a wide eyed Italy by his side.

"If it makes you happier, I am just leaving." He calmly said, and then turned to Liechtenstein to bid her farewell in the same calm demeanor. But Romano wouldn't let him off the hook so easily.

"Get your big fat ass away from here." He retorted. Liechtenstein cringed at the harsh language.

"F-Fratello, if you don't mind me asking... what happened when Germany first visited you after the accident that made you so..."

"It's none of your business." Romano replied curtly, at the same time that Germany uttered "Mustache."

"It's not mustache, you bastard. It's moos-tache."

"W-Why don't we go inside, alright?" Liechtenstein stepped in between the two of them and hurriedly ushered the Italian indoors, while offending insults were thrown back and forth between Romano and Germany. Well, mostly Romano, seeing that Germany was only humoring him but mostly ignoring him.

The door shut behind her, and Liechtenstein gave a sigh of relief. She noticed that Romano was flushing bright red from irritation, but decided not to comment on that.

"Liechtenstein, ve, let's go paint!" Italy broke the silence and dumped his backpack on the ground. Out tumbled rolled-up canvases, various easels, and around a dozen paint brushes. Of course, there were many different paint colors and palettes, too.

"Ja!" She smiled and leaned down to collect all the painting equipment in her arms, and then followed Italy out to the tomato garden. He knew his way around Spain's house by heart now, and of course, Romano didn't need to be shown the directions.

Out in the garden, Romano complained about not wanting to be dragged into painting, but Liechtenstein and Italy managed to convince him to try just a bit. Italy set up the canvases so that the view of the garden and the bright scenery around it looked just right, and then they each took their position and started to paint.

Liechtenstein dipped her paintbrush in and started to the fill the canvas with strokes of paint. The garden was a very beautiful place, and it was hard to get the paint to work just right, but she had learned a lot from Italy, and it wasn't as hard as she had thought. Leaning back to admire her work about an hour later, Liechtenstein realized that it was better than she had expected. Her feet were cramped her arm hurt from swishing side to side for such a long period of time, but she was proud of the red tomatoes that peered out from the garden inside her canvas.

Stepping away from her stool, she wandered over toward Italy and leaned over beside his stool to look at the painting.

Her jaw dropped.

There was no other word to describe it other than... magnificent. Even though it was a much simpler version of the garden without many details, the coloring was perfect, the shading was just right, and it looked so... realistic. So beautiful.

"Do you like it, ve?" Italy turned to her, with a slightly worried look in his eyes.

"Ja! It's beautiful!" She exclaimed, dropping down to her knees to inspect the painting closer. "You're amazing!" She breathed, examining the drying paint and all the colors found on the canvas.

"Ve! I'm glad you like it." He sent her a cheery smile, and Liechtenstein beamed.

After chatting with Italy for about fifteen minutes about painting techniques and color mixing, Liechtenstein went back to her stool to try and fix up her own painting. She passed by Romano, who was sitting tensely, concentrating hard on the painting in front of him.

"R-Romano? Are you doing alright?"

"F-fine." He jumped, covering the canvas with his hands and stuttering profusely.

"Would you mind if I-"

"N-No! It's not as good as Veneziano's." Romano instantly stood up and held his arms over the painting. Liechtenstein thought she sensed a strange bitterness to his words. "It's not as good as Veneziano's, and I don't think you'd want to see it."

"I'm sure it's as good as Veneziano's." Liechtenstein assured him. "But if you'd rather I didn't see it, then-"

"No, w-wait! Here, you can see it." Seeming rather defeated, Romano dropped his arms and stood back to reveal his own painting to Liechtenstein.

"Romano! That's amazing!"

Looking at Romano's canvas was looking at the garden through a completely different perspective. While Italy's painting contained bright, cheery colors and a playful kind of painting technique, Romano's painting was more carefully drawn, and although he wasn't as skilled as Italy, Liechtenstein loved the painting, even more so than Veneziano's.

"Y-You really think so?"

"Ja!"

Romano's eyes lit up, and Liechtenstein could tell that he was trying hard to keep the scowl on his face. She knew that he –just like any other nation- loved being praised, and she loved to praise him, to see him look so happy.

After painting, lunch quickly rolled by, as the three of them ate right out in the tomato garden. When Liechtenstein had finished putting away the dishes, with both of the Italians' help, Veneziano insisted on a siesta. They decided to sleep in the garden, too. The grass was soft and the sun was shining, and it was perfect, after all.

But toward the afternoon, Romano seemed to be in a stormy mood. Liechtenstein noticed that as she and Veneziano baked pastries in the kitchen while he sat in a chair in the corner, watching with an unfathomable expression.

"Yummy!" Italy stuffed the cream puffs into his mouth, and held out one for Romano. "Want some, fratello?"

"No."

Liechtenstein's eyes darted over to him worriedly, but then Italy distracted her yet once again with a cupcake. "Hey Liechtenstein, we can decorate this one to look like your flag, ve!"

Her worries seemed to fade away to the back of her mind. "That's nice! Can I try?"

Italy held out the tube of frosting for her. Liechtenstein took it, and then proceeded to squeezing out the frosting on the cupcake. It didn't come out quite right, she noticed, when the frosting oozed to the side and slid down the side of the cupcake.

"Here, let me help you with that." Italy held his hands over hers and eased the tube in the right direction, and then quickly switching to a different color of frosting, and helping her finish the crown on the flag.

Liechtenstein heard a slight grumbling in the background, but she was having too much fun to notice it clearly.

"It's so pretty!" She beamed, admiring the way the flag balanced on the top of her cupcake. She turned to show it to Romano. "Would you like me to make one for you, Romano?"

"No." He turned away.

Liechtenstein wondered what she had said wrong.

The doorbell suddenly rang and Liechtenstein made a move toward the door. She opened it to see an exhausted Germany standing there.

"I need to bring Italy back, Liechtenstein. His boss wants him for something."

"Alright." She furried her brows at the short huffs of air Germany was taking; he must have been running, and called for Veneziano.

Italy bounced over with an exuberant expression. "Ciao, Germany! I had so much fun with my big brother and Liechtenstein today! We painted, and made cake, and..." His curl bounced along as he talked excitedly, eyes closed in a happy expression.

"Italy, I've got a headache, so quiet down, will ya?" Germany made a weak attempt to rub his temples.

"... and we had lots of fun! Can I visit them again soon?" Italy completely ignored what Germany had said and looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"Ja, ja. But for now, let's get back home. Your boss wants to see you."

"Addio, Liechtenstein! Oh Germany, I hope he isn't mad at me or anything..." Italy's voice trailed off as he waved to Liechtenstein and then ran to catch up to Germany.

Closing the door behind them, Liechtenstein returned to the kitchen to begin cleaning up. She halted by the door in surprise.

"Romano?"

"Si? You've got a problem? I'm helping you clean up." He said, not looking at her and continuing to wipe at the spills on the ground.

"R-Romano! I'll do that. You can just go rest and-"

"What? You think I can't help you like my brother can?" Something was obviously bothering Romano, but she couldn't figure out what. His mood had suddenly become sour.

"Y-You can help me, alright, but I thought you'd want to-"

"I may not be as good as him in many fields, like art and cooking, but at least I can clean up after myself." Romano said these words so quietly that she almost didn't catch them, but once she did... Liechtenstein wondered what had happened to bring upon such a strange and irrelevant subject.

"You're as good as your little brother, Romano." She said quietly, not knowing what else to say. Hesitantly, Liechtenstein descended on Romano and began to scrub the ground along with him.

"You really don't think that, do you? You're just saying it to make me feel better. I know that you have a lot more fun with him than you do with me." His tone was almost accusing, and Liechtenstein had to stop her scrubbing to look up at him.

"Wh-What?" What was Romano talking about? "I have fun with you, too." She protested, albeit too eagerly.

Romano didn't answer, and Liechtenstein wondered if she had been too direct. "Y-You-"

"No, screw this." Romano pushed himself off the ground and threw the cleaning rag into the sink. Liechtenstein caught the scowl on his face, and this time, he seemed genuinely upset. She made a move to put her hand on his shoulder and ask him what was wrong, but as soon as her fingers grazed his shirt, he flinched and slipped out from under her touch. Before she could comprehend his sudden movement, Romano was gone.

"R-Romano?" Liechtenstein took a step toward the door. Was it her fault? Had she done something to provoke his anger? If so...

"Romano? Please tell me what's wrong!" She rushed out the door and ascended the stairs two at time, and ran across the hallway until she arrived by his door. It slammed shut in her face.

"I-I'm sorry." She apologized, utterly confused as to what she had done. "Did I do something wrong? I'm sorry!"

The dead silence frightened Liechtenstein. She stood waiting by Romano's door for a minute, and then two, and then five, biting her lip and then eventually collapsing to the ground after ten minutes had passed. Was he mad at her? Had she been so caught away with Veneziano that she couldn't realize that Romano was... angry? But what she couldn't understand was the reason for his sudden outburst.

After 20 minutes spent outside Romano's door, Liechtenstein heard a click on the door. Spain was home. Jumping up to her feet, she flew down the stairs and into the kitchen, attempting to clean up the rest of the mess.

"Hola Liechtenstein! I'm back! How was your day with Romano and Veneziano?" Spain's cheery voice called out to her.

"Great. We had lots of fun." She answered him, her voice cracking on the last word. He didn't notice.