Hetalia - Axis Powers Fan Fiction ❯ Memories of Old ❯ Chapter 7: Human Friends ( Chapter 7 )

The next memory faded in, showing the brothers and their mother to have sacks and other personal objects. Feliciano looked to be completely recovered, and Lovino seemed to be hovering around him, as if he thought his brother would shatter if he wasn't too careful.

“Vino, I'm fine!” Feliciano said, as if for the umpteenth time. Lovino didn't look convinced.

“Are you sure it isn't too heavy? You did just get over your cold, you know. Maybe I should take the pack, just in case?”

“Vino, stop mother-henning Felice. If he says he's fine, then let him handle it. He'll ask you if he needs help, right Felice?” Feliciano looked at his mother with a grateful smile.

“I promise, Vino. Please?”

“Fine… But you have to tell me if it gets too heavy, or if you get tired, okay?”

“Okay. Ve~”

“Chigi.”

“Umm….?” America asked, lost.

“We had to move often, since we didn't age at the same rate as humans. We moved every 3-4 years or so. This is roughly 2 or 3 months after the last memory, I think.” Romano explained.

“Si~ And Vino was overprotective of me, since that last memory. I swear, it took me weeks to convince him that, yes, I did know how to feed myself, and that, no, I wasn't going to get sick from playing with him and Asher outside. I swear! He actually made himself sick once by worrying over me so much!” I said, as Romano turned slightly red.

“There's nothing wrong with worrying over my own brother, is there?” He asked.

“Nope~ It's rather entertaining, though.” I chirped.

“Ah, shut up.”

“Ve.”

“Chigi.”

“Why do you do that, anyways, if you don't mind my asking?” Canada spoke up.

“Do what?” I asked, confused.

“I am thinking that I would be liking to know, too, дa? Why is it that you are calling each other by your middle names?” Russia chimed in.

“It's a thing we do… It's private, so we'd rather not explain.” I finally said. It was something that was just between Romano and I, and I didn't feel comfortable explaining it to the others. It was bad enough that they'd see our whole lives; I wanted at least one thing kept between the two of us. Besides, they'd never look at our tics the same way again.

“That's quite understandable.” England said with a nod. The others—even Russia—backed down as well, understanding the need for some form of privacy.

“So you had to move every 3-4 years? Man, what a pain!” America changed the subject. Heh, and they say he can't read the atmosphere. He just chooses not to.

“Yeah… It was a pain in the ass, but it was necessary.” Romano said, barely suppressing his shiver. I, too, had to barely suppress mine as I recalled the one time we forgot to move within the set time frame. We still had the scars.

They watched as the memory did a sort of montage thing, showing the three of us—plus Asher—trekking through the forests along the stream for a few weeks before finally coming to another town. The montage continued, showing us moving into another remote house just outside of town.

“We call this room!” Feliciano and Lovino yelled, as time seemed to resume as normal.

“Alright, set your stuff down. You can go exploring, if you want.” Emma said, as she started making the place look more like a home.

“Yay~” The twins shouted in excitement. “Come on, Asher! Let's go!” Asher barked in agreement, as he followed the twins outside.

“Those are some rambunctious kids, you go there.” One of the village men who'd come to greet them said.

“Yes, they are. They take after their father.” She said with a fond smile.

“Vino! Let's check out the village! Maybe they'll have some new books!” Feliciano said, excited at the prospect of new reading materials.

“You think? It's kinda small…”

“Come on! Please!?”

“Oh, alright. But don't run ahead!” Lovino said, grabbing his brother's hand, and keeping a hold of it. “I don't want you running off and getting lost.”

“That was one time, fratello.”

“Which is one time too many, for me!”

“Hey! Look. There're some kids over there! They look about our age! Can we go say hi?” Feliciano asked, his puppy-dog eyes turned on full-blast.

“Damnit! You know I can't resist those!” Romano mock-glared, gently thwacking my head.

“Ve~ I know~ That's why I do it! It works on Germany and Japan, too~” I whispered to him, making him chuckle.

Lovino took one fatal look at Feliciano. “Fine… But just for a little bit, okay?”

“Grazie~” Feliciano said happily, before practically skipping over to the other kids, dragging Lovino with him.

“Hello~” He said warmly, with a large grin. There were three kids, two boys and a girl. The first boy had blue eyes and short, light brown hair. The second boy had reddish-brown hair—though not quite as red as the twins'—with brown eyes, and the girl had dark brown hair with hazel eyes.

“Hi. Are you two new here? I haven't seen you before. I'm Kalin.” The blue-eyed boy said, sticking out his hand to shake. Feliciano took it cheerfully.

“I'm Feliciano~ This is my older twin brother, Lovino. We just moved here today~”

“Hi.” Lovino said with a slight smile.

“I'm Riean, and this is my cousin Hazel.” The second boy said, gesturing to the hazel-eyed girl.

“Nice to meet you~” Feliciano chirped back. The five kids then started talking about a variety of things ranging from where the twins came from and how old they were—the twins lied, of course—to things to do around the village and good ghost stories they'd heard. The five seemed to hit it off right away, and even Lovino seemed to like hanging out with the kids.

“Wow, this is a bit of a change from the last village.” America commented.

“Si~ they were good friends of ours. Our first human friends, actually.” I said sadly.

We were then treated to a montage (again) of Feliciano and Lovino playing with Kalin, Riean and Hazel. They counted about three winters in the memories, before it finally slowed down.

Once again, Feliciano was in his bed, looking rather ill.

“Again, aru?!” China asked, worried.

“I already told you; my immune system was nearly non-existent when I was little. In all honesty, it was a miracle I lived long enough to become a nation.” I said heavily, making a few of the nations wince at the thought. “Vino and Momma were used to me getting sick at least once a month. Usually it wasn't anything to worry about, and I could just sleep it off for a day and be back on my feet by the next. But then there were times like this,” I gestured to the memory, “where it took more than just a good night's rest to recoup.”

“Momma! I'm fine! I promise!” Feliciano pleaded with his mother.

“No you're not. You're sick. You're not leaving this bed for at least three days.” Emma said sternly.

“WHAT?! No! I can't! The Carnival!” Feliciano cried out, devastated. “It's tomorrow! Vino, Kalin, Riean, Hazel and I were all planning to go! We've been planning it for months!”

“I'm sorry, Felice, but you're in no condition to go outside, Carnival or otherwise. It's much too cold out there right now; General Winter's coming, and you know how much he loves to make you sick.” Emma pointed out.

“No! But! But! Vino!” Feliciano turned to his twin for support.

“Sorry, but I'm with mom on this one. You're too sick. If it makes you feel any better, I'll stay here with you.” Lovino said.

“No… No, it's okay…” Feliciano forced a smile. “Just because one of us is sick, doesn't mean we both have to miss it! Go! Have some fun for me, and bring me back a treat!” Lovino stared at his twin in slight surprise.

“No.” He said at last. “I'm not going. I swore to protect you and watch over you always. As such, I'm staying. Besides,” Lovino shot Feliciano a bright grin. “What kind of fratellone leaves his fratellino sick in bed while he goes out and has fun? Not a very good one, that's for sure. I'm staying right here! Whether you want me to, or not!”

“Are you sure, Vino? I can watch your brother for you. I know how much you two have been looking forward to this.” Emma said, replacing the wet towel on Feliciano's forehead.

“Si! Of course I am! I'm the fratellone, here, so I'm the one who's gotta look out for Felice! Besides, I'm the man of the house! I've gotta protect you, too!” Lovino said, puffing his chest out a bit.

“Oh? Then in that case, you could help me with some household chores, Mr. Man-of-the-House.” Emma stated, laughter playing in her eyes.

“Uh… well, I'm still a kid…” Lovino trailed off nervously, “And I still need to take care of Felice! But when he's better we'll both help you around the house!”

“Hey!” Feliciano cried, not sure if he liked his brother volunteering for him.

“I'll look forward to it, then.” Emma said, not expecting it either way.

There was a knock at the door as three sets of footsteps came into the room. It showed their friends, Hazel, Riean, and Kalin.

“Hey, Feli. Heard you got sick. Sorry to hear that. And right before Carnival, too! Man! What horrible timing!” Kalin complained, plopping down on Feliciano's bedside.

“I'm sorry guys, you'll just have to go without me. But bring me back something cool, okay?” Feliciano said, grinning.

“Huh?! What're you talking about, Feli?!” Riean asked, sitting in the now vacated chair, as Emma had gone to the kitchen to start lunch.

“Yeah!” Hazel spoke up, “It'd be no fun without you! Besides, you two are moving again soon, right? Searching for a better doctor to help you… So we're not going to waste a minute of our time together!”

“Besides…” Riean spoke up again, “There's no way Lovi would go without you! He's probably already talked you into letting him stay here with you, am I right?”

“Guilty…” Feliciano said, with a small smile. “But you guys really don't have to! I mean—”

“Nope~! No way! We're staying with you!” Hazel cut Feliciano off firmly. He sighed, seeing no way out.

“Fine… Grazie, you guys.” Feliciano said.

“So you missed a Carnival? That sucks!” America said, crossing his arms.

“Yeah… We'd been looking forward to it for months! You have no idea how big of a deal it was that the Carnival was coming to our little village. Everyone was stoked! I just wish I hadn't gotten sick, but we all still got to spend time together.” I said, watching as the children in the memory played with a trottola, or spinning top.

“Si… Isn't that when you invented Pick-up-sticks?” Romano asked.

“Oh yeah~! I think so!”

“You invented that?! Dude! My people still play it!” America said.

“I'm not sure if I invented it per-say… I just thought it up one day. Someone else probably already came up with the same idea elsewhere…” I deflected. It was likely true, anyways.

The memory shifted again. Ve… I'm getting so tired from all this… We're not even through my childhood yet! If anything, we're probably only halfway through my FIRST FREAKING CHILDHOOD! The crap?! I just want to fucking rest, is that really too much to ask?!

I suddenly felt a wave of sharp fatigue wash over me, and I swayed, leaning against my brother.

“Itary-kun? Daijobu?!” Japan asked, worried. The others also looked at me with concern. They had, after all, just recently learned that we have a chink in our armor of immortality. They have reason to be worried.

“Ve~ I'm fine… I'm just tired, that's all.” I said with a weary smile on my face. Romano caught the hidden meaning, though.

“Oi! Scone Bastard! Is there any way to pause this stupid thing so we can fucking rest?! I'm getting hungry and tired, damnit!” Romano complained.

“Ve~”

“Chigi.”

“Well… Let me see,” England said, just as the next memory popped up. The twins and their mother were packed up and ready to move again. It was a scene that was very familiar to Romano and I.

“I'm going to miss you, Feli…” Hazel said. She'd developed a small crush on me, but I—thankfully—never had to tell her that I didn't see her as anything other than a friend. I think she knew that, and that's why she never asked.

“We're all going to miss you two… Come visit us if you can? And get better soon okay Feli? Find a good doctor who can cure you for good!” Kalin said decisively, Riean nodding his head in response.

“Of course! We'll never forget you as long as we live!” Feliciano cried out, tears streaming down his face. “Ciao! Hazel! Riean! Kalin! It was fantastic to know you~!”

“Si! We'll miss you guys! Grazie for everything!” Lovino called, as they and their mother had already started to travel.

“IDIOTS! WE'RE THE ONES WHO SHOULD BE THANKING YOU!” Kalin called, also crying. Just as the memory was starting to fade back into the next one, England found what he was looking for.

“Ah! Found it!” England cried, before reading the spell in Latin. A deep green light shone, and we all found ourselves in a living room.

“Ve~ Where are we?” I asked, still too tired to stand up by myself.

“This is where we can rest. The memories have paused. There's food in the kitchen, and bedrooms for us all. I could only make a few bedrooms, though, so some of us will have to share…” England said, looking rather proud of himself.

“I call sharing with fratello!” I yelled, happy to share a room with him again.

“Yeah, yeah. The Potato Bastard and the Albino Bastard can share a room, too.” Romano said, before leading me to the bedrooms.

They were all relatively the same, but I didn't care. I was just so tired… I just wanted to curl up and sleep.

Once Romano closed the door to our bedroom, he sat me down on the bed before sitting beside me.

“Are you okay?” He asked seriously, worry and concern shining in his eyes.

“Si… no headaches… well, okay, I lied. I have a small headache, but it's a normal headache. Not one of those headaches. I'm just tired. It's just the fatigue, that's it. It's normal. I'm just stressed, is all” I told him. The worry and concern didn't go away, but he sighed in relief.

“Okay. Just don't get sick on me, okay? We can't get you to a hospital here, and there's no way I'm going through all that shit again.”

“Grazie, fratello. Don't make pasta tonight, okay? I don't wanna miss it.” I slurred, already half-asleep. Romano just smiled softly. The kind of smile he reserved for me.

“Alright. We'll have pasta for breakfast, so don't miss it!” He said, already helping me take off my shoes and clothes. We were brothers, and preferred sleeping in the nude anyways~

“Si… Buonanotte, fratello… Ti voglio bene… Ve~”

“Ti voglio bene, fratellino. Sogni d'oro. Chigi.”

I don't remember him taking off anything after my jacket. I fell asleep while he helped me. All I do remember, is Romano humming our mother's lullaby softly to me as I slipped into a world of snowball fights and ash-colored wolves with our mother humming softly as we spent those wonderful, perfect days together.

A/N: Hey guys! Merry Christmas! I decided to give you guys a belated present by updating this story! Hope you've enjoyed the chapter, and had a fantastic holiday! Enjoy Winter Break while it lasts, people.

The next update shouldn't be for a while, but rest assured, it'll be some time in January 2016! Woohoo~! Another year, gone! Where did it go? Geez, they just keep vanishing one right after another.

Please don't forget to review! And let me know if you want me to write some extras of Feli and Lovi with Hazel, Kalin, and Riean.

~SilvermistAnimeLover