"Hold still Arthur!" Francis insisted as he hurried to straighten the tunic that the younger nation wore. Arthur let out a small whine, shaking his head back and fourth.

"Feels itchy," He whimpered.

"It's just the material. Besides, you only have to wear it for today. Don't you want to look nice when Roman Empire and his grandsons come and visit?" The French nation asked, letting go of the boy. Arthur now looked somewhere around four years old, and it had been three years since he'd been brought here. He was adorable, not yet outgrowing his baby fat which was all too precious.

"No. I don't want them to visit," Arthur told him. He still didn't like Rome, and he certainly didn't want to have to dress up like this just because the stupid powerful nation was visiting. Apparently though he had to, because according to Francis the Roman Empire was really going to see how far he had been trained into the Roman culture.

"Arthur, I know you don't like him that much. You're going to have to deal with it though. Besides, his grandsons are around your age so you'll have some playmates. Wont that be nice?"

"No," Arthur answered with a shake of his head.

"How do you know? You haven't even met them!" Francis pointed out, smoothing down Arthur's hair and sighing when the sandy blonde locks refused to lay flat down. "Now, do you remember what we went over? Use your manners, make sure to speak properly, and don't be rude. Got it?"

"Yes," Arthur sighed. "I know."

"Good," Francis responded, patting the boy's head. "He should be here at any time."

Sure enough, not more than ten minutes later Roman Empire arrived. He stood as tall and mighty as ever, but this time two little boys stood next to him. One had both dark brown hair and eyes,and stood a little taller than the other boy. His lips were crossed into a scowl, and his arms were folded. The other boy looked almost the same except he was shorter, and his hair and eyes were a lighter brown. He smiled instead of scowling. They both had a hair curl that was just like their grandfather's.

"Francis, how good to see you!" Rome said cheerfully, patting the French nation on the shoulder. He then looked down to Arthur, who was clutching onto Francis's tunic sleeve, and smiled. "It's great to see you too little one. How have you been faring?"

After a little nudge from Francis, Arthur pouted but stepped forward slightly, lowering his head. "It is very good to see you too sir. I am well thank you, and you?"

The words that fell from Arthur's mouth had been rehearsed many times over the previous week, but Francis was pleased to see that he didn't mess up the words. Rome obviously looked pleased too, judging by the way he was beaming down at Arthur.

"What an excellent job you've done with him Francis! It's almost impossible to tell that just a few years ago he was a wild little brute. I am very pleased with your progress!"

"Thank you Rome," Francis replied, putting a hand on Arthur's head. "So these are your grandsons, yes? I remember meeting them quite awhile ago."

"Why yes, of course!" Rome said excitedly. "This here is Romano, and here is my sweet younger grandson Feliciano! They were both very excited to make the trip! I'm sure they and Arthur will get along wonderfully."

"That's great! Oh, the servants have finished with dinner. How about we all eat?" Francis suggested.

A few minutes later everyone sat down at the large table. A few other countries ruled by Rome were present was well, including Spain. As all the older countries talked about boring things, Arthur got bored and studied Feliciano, who sat to his left. The Italian child was eating some sort of noodle recipe, along with cooked rabbit meat topped with vegetables covered in vinegar.

Feliciano must have noticed that Arthur was staring, for he smiled back and giggled. "Do you want to share my pasta? It's really good!"

Arthur was a little taken aback at being spoken too. He roughly shook his head and took a bite out of his own food. Francis, who was sitting on the other side of Arthur, sharply jabbed him in the ribs. "You say no thank you!" He hissed into his ear. That was when Arthur realized everyone was staring at him.

"No thank you," Arthur said grudgingly, kicking his feet against his chair. Thankfully the attention was off him as the older nations went back to chatting. He caught Romano glaring at him from a few seats away, so he glared back. He wasn't really liking these nations at all. Maybe because they were related to Rome, or maybe just because of the way they acted.

Thankfully dinner was finished, but things got bad when Francis lifted Arthur up off his seat, setting him on the floor beside Feliciano and Romano.

"Why don't you boys go play? Arthur, how about you show them your toys?" Francis suggested.

"Why?" Arthur asked, trying not to sound rude. In reality he definitely didn't want these idiots touching his play toys. They would probably break them or something.

"Because it is a nice thing to do. Now go on," Francis said, lightly pushing Arthur in the direction of the chest in which Arthur's toys were kept. The child sighed, but decided that it wasn't in his best interest to pull a fit. If he acted rudely in front of Roman Empire then Francis would probably punish him.

He knelt down in front of the chest, slowly opening it. Many of his wooden carved animals were inside, as well as a sack of marbles, and a few balls that were normally played with outside. He gathered them all into his hands and dumped them on the ground in front of the two brothers.

"You don't have a lot of toys," Feliciano commented cheerfully. "Grandpa Rome always gets us a bunch of new toys, all the time!"

There was an awkward silence as Arthur didn't say anything back. He was a little offended by the comment, but obviously Feliciano didn't know how rude it sounded.

"This is boring!" Romano spoke up. "I want to go home!"

Again, Arthur only watched with a glare that seemingly intimidated Romano. Feliciano occupied himself by picking up Arthur's wooden horse, making it walk across the stone floor. Romano soon followed suit, choosing to play with some of the soldiers. Arthur watched them carefully to make sure that they wouldn't break them.

"How come you aren't playing?" Feliciano asked after a few minutes.

"I don't want to," Arthur finally spoke, still standing over them.

The rest of the evening was much spent like this. Arthur eventually succumbed to the childish need to play, and had joined Feliciano in playing with the toy animals. Finally, much to Arthur's relief, Rome called to his grandsons and told them that they were leaving soon.

"I am very pleased with you Francis. Arthur is practically all the way civilized. His citizens have also stopped most of their rioting, and are adapting well. I'll be back to visit in a few months." Rome said.

"Of course," Francis replied. "Arthur, say goodbye to your friends."

Friends? Arthur certainly didn't view them as his friends, but tiredly waved and said goodbye. When they were out of the home, he finally sighed with relief and rubbed at his eyes.

"You're tired aren't you?" Francis asked, amused as he picked up his little charge. Arthur responded by laying his head on Francis's shoulder.

"Alright then, time for bed. You did a fantastic job, and for a reward we are going into town tomorrow, and you can choose one new toy."