First, I'd like to thank those of you who alerted and reviewed. This, alone, has made my day~! This chapter is mostly a leading chapter, showing what the boys have come to know. The next chapter (3) is where the real story begins~!

Kismet

Chapter Two: Bathing and Full Tummies

"Wait!" Lovino exclaimed, sticking his head out of the carriage window, "This is our home!" he pointed out to the streets where he'd been days before with his brother. The Vargas's face darkened and he sunk back into his seat. The people had turned on him when he wanted a job to support his brother, and they laughed about their grandfather's death and didn't care that the boys would starve or end up kidnapped, as they had been. If it were up to the boy, he'd have them all locked away in those strange cages!

"Is that so?" Elizaveta smiled, running her hand over Feliciano's head.

"Yeah, only these people are mean. They refused to give me a job and I needed one." he glared, with his arms crossed over his chest. Their new caretaker frowned lightly, "You were trying to get a job?"

His hazel eyes met hers and he nodded, "Yeah, even since our grandfather died, I took responsibility for my brother. I had to get money somehow, but the jerk wouldn't give me the job and then … and then we were taken off the streets." Lovino's voice became soft and quiet.

Elizaveta leaned over, shifting the smaller child carefully, "Don't worry, Lovino, I'll be able to take care of you from now on, okay? I'll make sure both of you are taken care of, okay?"

Lovino looked at her warily, but a soft smile graced his lips and he moved to the seat beside her. She giggled softly and pulled him against her side, letting him sleep as well. Her eyes fell on the man next to her. His eyes, as well as attention, were locked on anything but the inside of the carriage.

The woman knew she'd upset him by asking him to buy the children from that man, but … it was worth it. They were safe now. Roderich didn't care for children and she knew he had been secretly happy that she couldn't bear any. It hurt her to think that he would be unhappy with them, but it hurt to know she'd never be a mother.

Ever since Elizaveta realized she was a woman, she began dreaming of having many kids and dressing them up in cute bows and ruffles and let them grow up under her wing. She smiled, running her fingers through the boys' hair. They may not be hers biologically, but she would raise them as her own and take pride in her Feliciano and Lovino.

The ride was longer than expected and Roderich remained silent the entire time, leaving Elizaveta with nothing to do, but plan the children's bathes and meals and rooms and clothes. It brought a huge smile to her face. Of course, they would have to retain their tradition, right? Or would Roderich frown on that since he wouldn't like that?

She stole another look from her husband and grinned. Well, he'd just have to deal with it!

When the carriage pulled down the long, tree lined path of their new home, just on the edge of the village, she gently woke Lovino and grabbed his hand. She carried Feliciano into the house and looked around, "Roderich, dear, look! They did put in the statue you wanted!" in the entrance, there was a small bust of some woman Lovino didn't know and didn't care to know. The house he now stood in was huge and very clean and fancy.

It reminded him of that one inn his grandfather took them to once a long time ago. Feliciano wouldn't remember, but Lovino recalled the crystal decorations and beautiful white flooring that was cold as ice.

"Come on, let's get you two cleaned up and fed." Elizaveta led Lovino into a small room, just as clean and perfect as the rest of what he'd seen. There was a huge basin in the middle of the room, already filled with steamy water, something he'd never seen before.

Of course he'd been bathed before, but usually in room temperature water or colder, never hot. "It seems the servants did well!" she muttered, dipping her hand below the surface to test the water. When she pulled it back, she darted out to grab Feliciano and yank his dress over his head, "There, now you Lovino."

Lovino shook his head and scooted away from the water. There was no way he was getting in there. He didn't know how to swim, nor did he trust hot water for anything more than cooking pasta. "It'll burn me!"

Elizaveta laughed melodically, "Silly little Lovino, this water is just hot enough to clean you, I tested it myself!" she dipped her hand again to show him.

His eyes moved to the water again and he swallowed hard reaching down to grab the hem of his outfit. Elizaveta let him go his own pace as he pulled the clothing away.

The older Vargas sat on the edge of the dug in basin and gently moved his foot to the water, aware his brother was watching him to make sure the water really was safe for them to get into. He closed his eyes and stuck his foot in.

Never had the boy felt anything so soothingly nice. It stung lightly, but it was enticing enough to make him want to duck his whole body in. Luckily, the floor of the basin wasn't too far down and he was able to stand.

"How is it, Lovino?" Elizaveta raised her eyebrow, urging Feliciano to get in as well.

"It's okay, I guess," he smiled. His brother sank into the water as well and became awake from his previous groggy state.

"Ve~! This is so warm!" he splashed the water and laughed along with their caretaker.

She reached over to a small shelf and pulled down a small white cloth, a weird bar, and a glass bottle with some petals resting at the bottom and a off white, almost light amber colored liquid inside.

"One of you come over here," the woman soaked the cloth and lathered it up with the bar. Feliciano volunteered, but Lovino wouldn't let him do anything that might harm him, so he went first.

Elizaveta laughed and began rubbing the soapy cloth over his shoulders and back. Lovino smiled lightly and let his eyes slip closed. When she finished cleansing him, she grabbed another bottle and poured the liquid onto his head and began scrubbing it into his hair.

"Hey!" he shouted, trying to pry her hands away, but to no avail, she kept gathering the foaming bubbles.

"It looks like snow!" Feliciano laughed, grabbing some of the fallen bubbles from the surface of the water, "Look!" he blew into his hands, scattering them all over the place.

Lovino grinned, secretly enjoying the way her finger nails rubbed his scalp, cleaning his hair and head nicely.

"Hold your breath, Lovino."

"Wait, wh-" she scooped up some water and poured it on his head. He sputtered and rubbed his eyes, but before he could say anything, she poured more water, "All done~! Well, one more thing, but that can wait until your brother is done."

She set to work on cleaning the second child, after handing Lovino a towel. Lovino watched as she scrubbed Feliciano, who laughed at the bubbles covering him. The older Vargas looked away and began to wander around the room. There were small shelves lining the wall, each holding bars of many shapes and bottles of different colors, each having different things littering the bottoms.

"What are these things, anyways?" he asked, turning to Elizaveta, who was dumping water on Feliciano.

"Oh, those? You'll find out in a moment." She picked the younger Vargas out of the water and wrapped him with a towel, "Dry off, okay?" Feliciano nodded and began using the towel to wipe the water away. Elizaveta motioned for Lovino to come forward and she popped the final bottle open, filled with light amber and petals.

He slowly moved toward her and she pulled his towel away and grabbed his arm before he could pull away. The bottle was turned upside down and she sprinkled drops all over his hair, chest and back. Then the woman rubbed it all in. Lovino frowned, taking a whiff of the rose scented oils she rubbed into his skin, "What is this stuff?"

"A little rose oil to make you smell fresh and sweet~! Your turn Feliciano~!" the boy smiled and ran over to be covered in the lovely scent. Lovino stuck his tongue out and rubbed away at his skin, hoping it would come off.

"Aw, Lovino? Would you prefer something else?" he shook his head violently and clutched his recovered towel close, just wanting to eat. His belly was hurting now that he could smell something from elsewhere in the house.

"Mmm, smells good, no?" She tossed Lovino a bundle, which turned out to be a pink dress and brown pants, "Put those on and we'll go to dinner."

He glared at the outfit and looked up at the smaller green one she was putting on Feliciano, "How come it's a dress and how come it's pink?"

"Because you told me it was tradition and that's the only one we had in your size." she finished dressing Feliciano, "We'll be able to buy more clothes in the morning, now please get dressed or you'll miss dinner." his stomach growled in protest and he quickly, but reluctantly, pulled on his clothes.

Roderich looked up from his empty plate at Elizaveta when she finally entered with the boys, "You're a little late, love. Dinner was ready some time ago."

"I'm sorry, Roderich, got a little side tracked," she said, sitting down. Lovino sat in one seat and Feliciano in another. The dining room was as large as expected and Lovino looked around nervously, not knowing how to act at the table with rich people. Elizaveta tucked a cloth into her lap, and Roderich did the same.

Elizaveta reached over to help Feliciano with his own, "There you go sweetheart," she looked to Lovino, who managed to do it himself, which wasn't a hard task, "Don't worry, I'll teach you two proper manners tomorrow. For now, just enjoy the meal. I'm sure you deserve it."

A man walked in with trays of food, ready to be placed before them. The tops came off and Lovino's mouth watered seeing the fresh tomato salad placed on the table. There was also some sort of roast with potatoes and carrots, something he could not care less about.

They were served and he began scarfing down as much of the food as he could, not caring about the stomach ache that would surely follow. He avoided the potatoes, something he had never liked, and downed his water quickly. Lovino thought he heard Elizaveta laugh, but he was to preoccupied with the tomato slices to care.

After the meal was finished, Lovino leaned back and smiled contentedly. Feliciano was also smiling happily, though he was still eating the food around him. No one could eat like Feliciano.

Desert came, but Lovino shook his head. He was too full to even consider the cake as an option, but Feliciano happily ate two slices before Elizaveta cut him off, "Feliciano, you'll get a belly ache if you keep eating like this." the younger Vargas nodded and let her wipe the chocolate from his face.

She led the two into the study and smiled, "I wouldn't expect it, but do either of you read?"

Feliciano shook his head but Lovino sighed, "My grandfather taught me a few letters and a few words, that's it."

"Good, then I'll teach you a few tonight while your bellies settle." She grabbed a book from the shelf, "There we go." she placed herself on the floor and had the two sit beside her, "This is 'A'" she pointed to a letter on the page, "It is said both 'ay' and 'ah'. This is 'B', it is 'buh'."

She taught them their alphabet until Feliciano and Lovino could at least recognize the first six. "Elizaveta, love, it's late. You should get them to bed …" Roderich looked in the room with a frown. He then turned a left.

"Don't worry about him, he's just upset since he couldn't play today."

"Ve~? Play? Does he like to play ball, too?" Feliciano stood up from the floor.

Elizaveta laughed and hugged him close, "No, dear, he's a musician and didn't get to play on his piano today. He has to at least a few hours else he gets a little grumpy," she stood as well, pulling Lovino up with her, "but he is right, it is late and you two must be getting to bed now." They followed her to a room with a huge fluffy bed, "now get up there! Go on!" the two hopped onto the bed, laughing lightly. "I'm sorry about having to sleep in your day clothes, but we'll get you pajamas when we go out tomorrow, okay?" the boys nodded.

Feliciano curled up under the huge blanket and clutched onto his older brother, "Ve~ miss Ellie, can you tell us a bedtime story? Please?"

Lovino glared at his brother, but held him close anyway.

"Well, I think I can tell you something …" She sat comfortably on the bed and thought for a moment, "How about the story of a young woman forced to live with her uncle. However, this young woman grew up thinking she was a young man. She-"

"Ve~? What's her name?"

"Her name … is … Em … Emma! Emma was born in a small land not far from here, but when her parents died she was forced to go live with her … uh … uncle! up north. Her uncle was nice, but he had a family of his own to take care of, two young boys. She tried her hardest to be good for them and stay out of the way, but the older of the two boys liked to get her into trouble.

"Gilb- Gil liked to fight and try and prove himself better than the new 'boy'. One day, the boys' parents decided they would be moving, but they needed to get rid of the 'boy'. She was already having a rough time getting along with her new found knowledge. She'd discovered the horrifying truth that she was really a girl.

"Gil had been the one to point that out to her and she felt embarrassed and humiliated. But things got worse before they got better. Her uncle told her about a family willing to take her off their hands once they left for the south.

"The Edelstein family had a son just older than her and was willing to prep the young woman for marriage to him so long as she learned their ways and made a proper wife. Emma didn't want that. She would have preferred pretending she was still a boy and running away to the east and go fight and travel. It was the perfect life!

"But she met with the Edelstein boy and his family and was surprised. They weren't monsters like she thought they would be, but really nice people. They were kind to her and taught her well. Soon she married the son and they decided to move south, where she met two beautiful young boys and adopted them as her own. So far, it's a happily ever after for her." Elizaveta smiled down at the two sleeping boys and pressed kisses to their foreheads.

"You two sleep well, your life will be different from now on." she blew out the lamp and slipped from the room to go to her own, where her husband sat in bed, reading over some sheet music.

"What took you so long?" he asked without looking up from his work.

Elizaveta stripped her dress and pulled on her night gown, "I was tucking the boys in and they wanted a story …" She brushed her hair and braided it to keep it from tangling in her sleep.

"I see. You sure about taking them in? It's just … we have too much on our plate. You know why we came out here in the first place. How long will we be able to support them like this? Besides, we know nothing about either of them … How can we trust what they say?"

Elizaveta rolled her eyes and slipped beneath the covers and curled up to Roderich's side, "Darling … you won't have to worry about anything. I'll take care of them and they won't get in the way. Besides, I trust them and I know they can stay out of your way. Please, don't kick them out!"

"I'm not planning anything like that, but to cut back on expenses, we're going to have to cut some of the staff. That means you and those children will have to pick up the slack and start helping to keep the house clean and running. If you can do that, then they can stay." Roderich sighed, kissing her cheek, "I need to wake early. Goodnight."

She grinned like the spoiled woman she was. A little cleaning was nothing and she got children out of it! Elizaveta rolled over and chewed her lip excitedly. Tomorrow would be a big day.

TBC

Chapter two ^_^ the story is slowly taking shape, no?

I hope you enjoyed the chapter~

~Lady Pyrien