Antonio's POV

"Antoine! Antoine, mon ami, wake up!"

I mumbled a bit under my breath, trying to cover the blinding light from my face. I consciously tried to block out the constant bickering that Franny was doing, for I was in absolutely no mood to get up. After last night's events with my sudden confession to my little Lovino, I no longer have any motivation to wake up to a new day and pretend that everything was alright.

Why?

Because nothing really was alright anymore. Not after I was rejected so harshly. I had been expecting it, really. But for it to be so blunt and downright emotionlessly cruel was not what the many scenarios of rejection that played in my head prior to the event had expected. I knew Lovino was not one to reject without some emotion of sympathy or empathy in his eyes; he was really too kind for that. Though it seemed that I might have been wrong…

I suddenly shook my head under the covers; quickly correcting my horrible thoughts. No, Lovino is caring, though he doesn't show it. He's kind, though he covers it up with his rude comments and name-calling. Not that I minded, I always thought it was cute when he called me 'tomato bastardo', with the roll of his r's. It was almost like a pet name for me instead of an insult. The way Lovino stutters when he's embarrassed of in denial always makes my heart skip a beat. When he blushes and smiles when he thinks no one's looking his way, it makes my own face grow increasingly hot at how amazingly stunning Lovino looked when he smiled. I found myself thinking on some days how to make him smile or laugh some more, so I could greedily take a mental picture of it and save it in the back of my mind. Lovino was beautiful, and no one could tell me otherwise. Because of Lovino, I found out that there's more than meets the eye in this twisted, yet wonderful world.

"Antoine! Wake up now, or I'll openly grope your nice ass and shove my hands in your pants!"

I swiftly snapped my eyes open and threw the covers up, eyes wide. Throwing my hands up in the air as if I was surrendering, I cried out, "I'm up, Franny! Have mercy!"

The last time he shoved my hands up my pants, I had to go shower and take care of the…slight problem he created. It wasn't very pleasant, and I wasn't in the mood to shower at the moment.

I heard a slightly amused chuckle, but it didn't last very long.

It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the blinding light prior to the darkness I was in, but when I could see again, Francis was standing next to my bed, an urgent expression on his face. That was quite unexpected. Usually, he'd be smiling and joking around about how afraid I was whenever I was threatened to have my ass groped.

His cerulean eyes narrowed at me, though a bit of playfulness still remained dancing around in there. I know that look from anywhere.

With both his arms crossed, he sighed. "Finally, you are awake. There's more horrible news, mon ami. Get ready and go downstairs, everyone is waiting for you." He murmured sympathetically, leaning in to pat a hand on my shoulder as he looked me in the eyes. "As much as I would rather not want you to know, it only hurts to not have the knowledge that you don't wish to have in the end. Having the knowledge of what you never wished to know in the first place will push you to your limits until those limits are broken. That's when you will be able to jump over that obstacle - you've already broken it, so it's time to move on."

I was already slightly confused, the information slowly processing in my brain. I had only just woken up, and I was visited by bad luck already. What a great way to start a day…

"Mhmm…?" I gave a groggy hum, my eyes already slipping shut to succumb to sleep again. "What's wrong, Franny? What do you mean something terrible has happened…?" I asked, suppressing a yawn. "Knowledge? Limits? What are you talking about, mi amigo?"

I heard Francis sigh dramatically. I opened my eyes and noticed that he was taking long, quick strides to my door before retreating out of my room after calling out a, "Just get ready, come downstairs as quickly as possible, and then you'll understand!"

Huh. Maybe he just knew that I was going to be confused until the news was shown to me.

Which, to be honest, he was correct about that. I was more of a hands-on learner, anyways.

Sitting up, I stretched out my arms and legs and craned my neck until it gave a satisfying pop. My mood was still quite depressing because of last night's events. The constant crying of the night made me fall asleep; I slept quite well, surprisingly. Though now, I don't really know how to approach Lovino after that episode. It would be very awkward to see him now…

Ahh, no! Act normally, Antonio! Lovi would surely be expecting awkwardness, so I just need to act like nothing had happened last night!

With that positive thought in mind, I jumped out of bed and prepared myself to go downstairs where the other nations were. A feeling of dread crept up my spine as Francis' previous words rang in my head.

Knowledge that I don't want to know, huh…?

As I sauntered down the stairs, a little bounce in my steps, I noticed all of the other nations were up already, crowding around the meeting room once again. That was rather strange, seeing how I had originally thought that most of them were heavy sleepers. After all nothing was better than a nice, long siesta! But perhaps I was the only one who thought that, at the moment, at least…

I strolled down the hall, making my way towards my destination of which was the meeting room itself. Most of the nations were practically lined up outside, as if waiting to see a museum exhibit, or something. Once again surprised, I walked up to the closest nation that I thought was friendly enough to ask what exactly was going on - Can...Canned Fish. It was Canned Fish, the country of map...maps and ho...holograms, right? Yeah, that's right!

"Hola!" I beamed brightly, greeting Canned Fish with the friendliest smile I could muster. "Would you mind telling me what's going on? Everyone seems to be up and busy looking at something in there," I pointed into the meeting room, where Arthur was bickering worriedly about something to Alfred while pointing at the map, making weird gestures with his hands and eyebrows. Oh, sí, especially the eyebrows.

Canned Fish stared at me for a while, as if he didn't believe I was talking to him for a moment. Then, he became flustered and jolted, hugging the white bear closer to him. "O-Oh, were you perhaps speaking to me?" He asked so softly, I had to strain my eyes to hear him.

I nodded enthusiastically, the smile not once wavering. "Sí!"

His violet eyes widened before he slowly lowered the bear down to his chest. "Pardon me, I'm not very accustomed to people talking to me without myself trying to get their attention," he mumbled meekly. Canned Fish gave a small sigh as he looked up at me, pity and sympathy in his eyes. "I don't believe it's best for me to tell you what happened. It's better if you see for yourself...please, go ahead and look at the map."

Confused from everyone's sudden 'oh, something big happened, but we're not going to tell you. You have to find out yourself' act, I only nodded and pat the man on the head. "Gracias for trying to help, at least. Keep up the great work with those maps and holograms, I'm sure everyone loves them!" I encouraged Canned Fish, grinning, before turning on my heels and walking into the meeting room. Well, not before I saw the utterly confused expression on Canned Fish's face, but I'm pretty sure he was flattered!

Most of the nations inside of the room were sitting down in little groups, discussing something that seemed to be very serious, judging by the heavy atmosphere around them. I didn't want in on any of that...yet. Not until I found out what exactly had happened. Arthur and Alfred, who seemed to finally be done with their argument, looked up when they saw me approaching them and the map behind them,

Alfred looked scared, frightened, even, when he saw me. For what reason, I really don't know. Even Arthur looked a bit unsettled, as if something was bothering him.

"H-Hey there, 'Tonio! Dude, we were just looking for ya!" The American laughed shakily, his smile coming out forced - it was much too obvious, even to someone like me! He shifted on his foot, leaning the other way, as if he was hiding something from me.

I raised an eyebrow, but my suspicions didn't stop me from being friendly. "Hola, Alfred. I heard that something happened. Have you seen Fran' somewhere around here?" I questioned, looking around. No such luck for a Frenchman in sight.

"Francis? Nah, dude, haven't seen him. But, uh, we gotta talk to you about that...problem you're speaking of…" Alfred trailed off, looking uncertainly at Arthur. The Brit only shot Alfred a glare and nodded. Alfred then sighed and nodded back, before stepping up in front of me and placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Que?"

"Look, dude. Before we tell, or show you what the problem is...we need you to promise you won't go or become a batshit crazy psycho dude that swings an axe around like a raged madman or something. Promise us you won't go insane." Alfred said, in the most serious tone I've ever heard him speak in.

Of course, I was a bit worried I wouldn't be able to keep this promise...it just depended on what the problem was. It it wasn't too serious, I probably won't go back to being a mindless Conquistador. That actually hasn't happened since my Conquistador days, actually, so I was pretty confident it wouldn't happen.

I gave him a hesitant nod. "I promise."

After Alfred gave a confirmation glance at Arthur, while Arthur nodded his yes, Alfred stepped the the side, revealing the map to me.

It was in that moment I realized:

Promises were easily broken. In fact, promises were meant to be broken.

Lovino's POV

It was really fucking awkward, dammit.

It was one thing to have an obnoxiously annoying little brother clinging to you while they cried their heart out, whining and sobbing about how scary the psychotic bastards were, but it was another thing to have a certain Spaniard that kind of l-looked like Antonio...stare at you intently with emotionless amber eyes.

N-Not that I cared about that stupid bastard Antonio, anyways! He fucking lied to me, dammit...All he told me were lies, right from the start. And for me to have easily trusted him was a huge mistake on my part. 'You're the only one I have eyes for!' my ass. Says the stupid bastard who tried to trade me for the idiot who was clinging on to my arm while bawling his eyes out. Tch…(The feeling of my hand after I had slapped Antonio's hand away made me tremble a bit, fucking shit).

But anyways! Enough of this stupid inner monologue; that Spaniard was creeping me out. Was he eyeing me up and down, or something?! By the movement of his eyes, I could easily answer my own question with, yes. He was eyeing me up and down like some kind of perverted bastard. If he didn't look so fucking intimidating, I'd have punched him in the face!

"Shut up, brat," I heard him speak for the first time after he found out that I wasn't actually this 'Flavio' guy. Dio, it was even more embarrassing thinking back to when I first came here.

Flashback

"Ouch!" I yelped, wincing as I fell flat on my bottom, but not after having tumbled off of the sink's counter from out of the mirror. A series of curses flew from my lips as I had stood up and took a good look at my surroundings - a bathroom. How fucking fantastic. First, the psychotic Briton, Oliver, sends me to his stupid universe - in a bathroom, no less! - and now I have to deal with an aching ass for at least a day. This was not going to turn out well…

My eyes tiredly scanned the room, but obviously, even if it was a different universe, the bathrooms would always look the same. One shower/tub, one toilet, a sink, and all of that great stuff bathrooms usually have. Nothing new.

I stood up, brushing the imaginary debris off of myself before I hesitantly stopped in front of the bathroom door, images flashing through my head as I imagined what would be beyond it. After all, I was in a different world, or, universe, persay. Feeling a bit nervous, anxious, but most of all, excited, I opened the door SLOWLY, only to see a well-furnished bedroom with a certain someone sitting on the bed. The said 'someone' turned around quickly and stared at me, and I only found myself staring back.

No way. It couldn't have been the tomato bastard, could it? It couldn't be - he had amber eyes, a few scars on his face, plus a small ponytail sticking out from behind his head...yet, why did he still somehow look so similar to Antonio?

While I was too busy standing there, frozen in shock while gaping like a fish, Mister I-Look-Like-Antonio-But-I'm-Actually-Not-Him abruptly stood up from his bed and strolled quickly up to me. By the time I had realized what was going on, I saw his amber eyes flash right in front of me with an emotion I couldn't quite read, before he simply wrapped his arms around me and buried his nose into the crook of my neck.

That action only made me freeze yet again, unsure what to do. My heartbeat was spiraling out of control, but I didn't even know this guy! Yet, why the hell am I blushing so furiously and butterflies are flying around in my stomach? And his scent…

I breathed in his scent - n-not in a creepy way, dammit! His hair just happened to be right next to my nose for me to conveniently smell. Y-Yeah, it was his fault for just burying his nose into my shoulder, dammit!

Though...he smelled like tomatoes, and the Earth itself. And everything that made up Antonio himself.

But then -

"Flavio…" He murmured so softly, so sincerely into my ear. It was a shame I pushed him away from me the moment those words left his lips.

My face was probably flushed red - from both anger and embarrassment. "Who the hell are you calling 'Flavio'? You've got the wrong person, you idiot!"

If he looked so emotionless before, his face was the complete opposite now. Clearly, he looked completely shocked, maybe even embarrassed, as he stared dumbly at me.

Antonio-Lookalike-Bastard opened his mouth to speak, "You're not...Flavio?"

I only shook my head, wanting to laugh at his stupidity, "No, I'm not. Get a fucking hint already, will you? Dumb bastard…" I murmured, hoping that he thought the red on my cheeks was just from anger, and not from smelling him…

Before he could get another answer in, however, another voice interrupted him.

"Oh, Andrés, I see you've already met Lovino~!" A sadly familiar voice, goddammit. It was Oliver.

Said nation popped his head into the bedroom, staring at us with a huge smile on his face. "Well, I see you two were getting along just fine! Aww, you even gave Lovino a big welcome hug, how cute!" The Briton giggled, making me want to gag.

'Andrés' only scowled and glared at Oliver coldly, which was enough to make him shut up. Because his looks literally looked like they could kill...n-not him, his eyes, dammit! You perverted bastards!

Then he turned to me again, amber eyes filled with another emotion I didn't understand.

"Sorry," he mumbled quietly, before turning on his heels and shoving Oliver out of the doorway, leaving the room.

To my annoyance, Oliver popped his head back into the room and grinned. "Well, aren't you two just the cutest thing? I'm sure if Flavio was here, he'd be steaming with jealousy, though. But, mind you, he's no longer here, so you don't have to worry about anything if you want to hook up with him, dear~!" He gave a knowing wink my way, which only made me flush even more. I was going to retort, but he effectively cut me off by continuing his sentence, "By the way, your brother is safe. He's downstairs as we spe-"

I wasted no time rushing out of the door and running down the stairs.

Present

Yeah, so maybe it wasn't really that long ago since I last came to this universe. But all that mattered at the moment was that Feliciano was safe, and now, I don't have to deal with being a nation in our world anymore. Good - fuck everyone there. They never really cared about me anyways, only for Feliciano. Maybe I was better off staying here.

"Shut up, brat," Andrés demanded, obviously quite annoyed with Feliciano's crying. His intimidation was enough to shut him up. Thank dio, I was starting to get annoyed, myself too.

Though, it was kinda sad, because his intimidation also shut me up as well. When we were in the room, he didn't look so...well, frightening. Now, however, was another story. He was like a completely different person, and that scared me.

After all, Antonio had been just like that, back when I was a small little nation. He'd come home, covered in wounds and blood...but when he saw me, his whole entire demeanor changed as he smiled and laughed cheerfully. To be honest, it kind of made me relieved to see Antonio wasn't entirely different - but it also saddened me that he didn't trust me enough to accept him for who he was, even with a different, darker side of him. D-Dammit, who needs his trust anyways?! Whatever relationship we had is gone, and I made sure of it before I left…

A-And, no, I'm not c-crying, I'm just sweating through my eyes! I'm a manly man, dammit…It's not like I was afraid of Andrés or anything! Or that stupid macho potato bastard, who was glaring at me since I walked into the room! Nope, not s-scared at all!

...Come save me, you s-stupid tomato bastard…

Antonio's POV

"WHERE'S MI LOVINITO?!" I screeched, rage burning within me. No one took Lovino away from me - no one. Whoever thought it would be funny to kidnap him would pay with their life. No, no, better yet - where was Maria? I'm sure I stored her somewhere in my shack...but for now, Mathias' axe would do!

I smiled wickedly, having stolen Mathias' axe and pointing it towards every nation I could corner. "Was it you?" I interrogated, whipping the axe in front of Arthur's face, the weapon just inches away from his nose.

"Bloody hell...I knew you wouldn't have kept your promise - and no, for God's sake, it wasn't me! - now put that dangerous thing away, you idiot!" Arthur bellowed, obviously trying his best not to crack. "Just calm down, and think about what could have happened to him! I doubt that any of the nations would have kidnapped him, because his territory just disappeared off of the map. That's beyond kidnapping, that's disappearing off of this world!"

The axe fell from my hands with a loud clang.

I remembered the events from yesterday night, and the disappearance of Feliciano before my precious Lovino. Lovino must have done something rash again...Lovino could have been crying right at this moment, and I'm not even there to save him! Arthur...Arthur could do something about this. If both Italies had disappeared, then maybe with his 'magic' of his, he could bring them back!

"...Lo siento. I broke my promise...but, you - Arthur - can't you do something about this?! Use your magic, or something!" I pleaded desperately. Even though we didn't like each other much, this was for the sake of Lovi and Feli, not me. Well, maybe myself, as well. But still!

The Briton looked off to the side and sighed, rubbing his temples with his fingers. "I was actually already looking for a solution through magic. It'll take a few more days' research, but I believe I can do something, or at least get a clue on what happened to them. But for now, please do not try to use violence to solve your problems. It only causes even more problems...and even poor Latvia over there is shaking!"

Latvia, sure enough, was huddled in a corner and shaking like a leaf. Though, he kind of always shook...

"Alright, then...I won't be violent anymore. But as soon as you find a lead, come to me straight away! I'm worried for my Lovi..."

"Yeah, yeah, anything for your 'little tomato', am I correct?"

I couldn't have agreed any more.

*Gets rocks thrown at*

I probably deserved that, seeing as I haven't updated this story in...uhm. six months. Half a year. I guess this is the power of writer's block. I apologize for the extremely late update, but as you can see, I have another Spamano story out, called Appassionato. I've been working on that, but I'm also working on this story at the same time. Anyways, the reason why I even bothered to update at all, was because I actually still got reviews to continue...even after five to six months. Which made me really happy to know that people still want to read this, even though it's been such a long time. ;-; Thank you so much for the support, you guys. And once again, sorry for the horrible chapter. So much writer's block, and such an abrupt ending. Le sigh. I don't know when I'll be updating again, but I'll sincerely try my best to get it out as soon as possible! So once again, reviews/criticism are welcomed! QAQ. See you next time!

~Kawaii Dream