Do not own Hetalia, it belongs to Himaruya Hidekaz-sensei

In Due Time

Chapter 12: Yo ho

Music danced through the large spacious room. Crimson satin curtains adorned the large windows. They were parted, letting the moonlight in. The floor was filled with aristocrats in their best gowns, suits and of course, masks. It was a requirement of the party. Men, women all had masks; the finest masks made in the country. It had jewels embedded into them, with silver and gold threads used for the stitching. They glittered under the chandeliers.

The guests were dancing a traditional waltz with an Italian twist. Beautiful smells wafted around the room, beckoning people closer to the magnificent array of food served.

A dark brunette man twirled a woman in his arms absentmindedly, with occasional smiles out of politeness. All the dancing were giving him a headache. The rich food dripping with sauce made him nauseous. The boring old music tired his ears. The light reflecting from the diamonds and rubies blinded him. He wanted nothing more but to get out of the suit that squeezed his lungs so tight he could barely breathe. Thankfully, he didn't have to wear a mask, as his grandfather, being the host of the party, prevented him to so that guests can recognize him and such. It was ridiculous but it got him out of wearing the stuffy mask so he couldn't care less.

He continued dancing, now not even bothering to smile, until someone tapped on his dance partner. It was a man; rather tall and well-dressed. He too wore a mask, but unlike the others, his looked pleasing and rather dashing. It had a silver base and there were no holes for the eyes; but judging from his graceful flair, he could probably still see. There were red, yellow feathers on the right side, with horns on each side, and swirls all over the mask. Interesting, indeed.

"I believe it is my turn to dance with the young master, señora." spoke a deep, swarthy voice. A familiar voice. The woman giggled and stepped away. Lovino, the young master, pouted in protest, making the mysterious man smirk. Upon seeing the height difference, he realized that he should dance in the girl's position. The man put his hands on Lovino's waist and pulled him close, a little too close than what Lovino was comfortable with. They danced smoothly, as Lovino quickly adjusted to the other position. It was strange, like he had danced with this man before, but the exotic mask rang no bell. The man chuckled out of the blue, snapping Lovino's head up in surprise.

"You've become so docile over the two years," he said to Lovino's confusion but before he could rise to question, he was pulled even closer with the man's breath on his neck.

"Lovi."

The aristocrat's eyes widened. He stopped dancing to inspect the man before him. He had those same brown locks of hair, though it was now longer and tied with a red ribbon. The tan skin, the board shoulders. How familiar.

His pulse quickened. It can't be. It couldn't be. He grabbed the man's wrist and pulled them outside to the garden. Roughly slamming him up against the wall, he brought their lips together in a fiery kiss, tears dripping down his cheek as he took off the mask. The man kissed back, allowing his mask to drop on the grass with a soft 'thunk'. Lovino pulled away.

"What the hell are you doing here, bastard?" he sniffed. A pair of beaming emerald eyes greeted him. The man he thought he'd never see again was standing before him, the notorious pirate captain.

Antonio.

"Isn't it obvious? I came to see you." he answered so naturally as if it was usual, chuckling once again, at the sight of his beloved. He lifted his hands to wipe Lovino's tears away.

"At some point during my travels, I realized that I couldn't live without you so I came to find you. Is that so bad?" Lovino shook his head, still crying. He buried his face in Antonio's chest, taking in his warm and familiar smell. He loved the smell. He loved the embrace. He had missed him so much.

"I mibbed you so muuaach." He tried so say, though his words could not in any way be interpreted. Antonio laughed. He hugged Lovino tighter, and took a whiff of the younger man's hair.

"I missed you too."

Lovino didn't say it before, and he been in regret these whole two years, but now he felt like it was his only chance. He sniffed back his tears and grabbed Antonio by the collar. He looked straight into those emerald eyes he loved so much. He looked straight at the man he loved so much.

"I, I love you too!" he replied after two years, widening Antonio's eyes. A warm and happy smile grew across the pirate captain's face, as he engulfed Lovino in a bear hug.

"Idiot, you're late in replying."

The two stayed like that, seeking warmth in the chilly night until Antonio pulled away and confronted Lovino with a serious face.

"Run away with me, Lovino. There's nothing left for you here. Matthew told me all about of you hate this place."

"That's not true, I have my brother." He defended, starting to feel a little irritated.

"Just bring him along or something! I just, I can't live without you anymore, Lovino. It's painful sleeping in the cold bed, back on the ship. The two years made me realize that I need you."

Lovino bit his lips and stared at Antonio.

"I need you too." He simply stated, however Antonio already knew the 'but' coming.

"But I can't just drag Feliciano to a pirate ship, it's dangerous and unlike me, he likes it here. Plus he wants to wait for his true love or some shit. He's afraid that if he moves, the guy won't be able to find him, so that's why I was surprised that he actually came to find me."

"Why must you give up so much for him? Can't you be selfish for once?" Antonio pleaded, his hands on Lovino's waist gripped a bit tighter.

"Because, he's my little brother! It's up me to take care of hi-"

The large grandfather clock in the ballroom chimed nine times, making Antonio curse.

"Listen, Lovi, I'm not giving up. I'll come here again, on this same spot, in another three hours. So make your decision by then and regardless of which choice you made, I'll still kidnap you."

Before Lovino could say anything, he was kissed passionately. Antonio dashed back into the ballroom and made eye contact with a blonde man that Lovino quickly identified as Ludwig. His eyebrows knit in confusion at the weird combination but something else quickly caught his attention. Ludwig was dancing with Feliciano, and his brother's amber eyes were sparkling rather strangely. Lovino could see that he started to panic when Ludwig began to leave. At any rate, he had to get to Feliciano.

"Feli!" he called.

Feliciano turned his head to his name and saw his brother making his way towards him. When Lovino reached him, he gulped down his saliva.

"Fratello, I need to tell you something. Let's go up to our room."

Now, even more confused, Lovino could only nod, as his brother and he sneaked upstairs. When they reached their room, Feliciano walked to the bed and sat down, his shoulders a little hunched. Lovino became worried.

"What's wrong?"

"I think, I met Horoem." Lovino sat down, flabbergasted.

"You mean the bastard who still hasn't come back for you?"

"H-he's not a bastard!" Feliciano defended. Lovino opened his mouth as if to say something but gasped in realization instead.

"What does he look like?" he implored. Feliciano was stunned, but replied anyway.

"He's tall, with his blonde hair still slicked back like when he was a kid."

"Eyes?"

"Sky blue."

He knew it! His brother thought that Ludwig was his childhood lover! Lovino collapsed on the bed; it was too much for him to take in. Feliciano had identified Ludwig as his long lost love and Antonio came for him, telling him to run away with him to the sea.

"Fratello! Are you okay?" fussed Feliciano; it was now his turn to be worried. He was startled when his brother suddenly sat back up. Lovino placed his hands on Feliciano's shoulders and took a deep breath.

"Antonio was at the party."

Feliciano perked up.

"You mean your savior?"

Lovino nodded in embarrassment, making Feliciano giggle, but he quickly looked down, his face crestfallen.

"What, what did he want?"

Lovino gulped.

"He wanted me to run away with him."

A dim smile graced Feliciano's rosy lips.

"Fratello, I know I'm useless, a crybaby. And I'm always relying on you. You took care of me when Mama passed away and you feel like you have obligation to take care of me, but you shouldn't. I know you love him very much and you should go with him. I'm your fratellino, am not I allowed to think about your happiness?"

Tears threatened to fall from Lovino's eyes as he sniffed them back with all his might.

"You, you stupid idioooot." he wailed, not caring about his 'big brother reputation'. Feliciano laughed as he watched Lovino cry, patting his back comfortingly. To calm himself, Lovino took a deep breath before seriously looking into his younger brother's eyes. He knew he couldn't protect his little brother but he also knew that Antonio was honest. He couldn't believe he was going to ask this of his little brother, but he felt like being a little selfish after all these years of sacrificing for Feliciano.

"I think Horoem is a member of Antonio's crew," he announced, "so would you like to run away with me? You won't be asked to marry those old geezers or women and you might actually be able to see the love of your life..."

Feliciano contemplated and looked straight back into his brother's amber eyes. "And, I'll have you."

Lovino's eyes welled up with tears once again.

"Stupid shit," he insulted at first, but hugged him anyway. Feliciano found these moments rare so he indulged in them every time.

"Then we're really going." Feliciano said with a grin, after pulling away. Lovino smiled tenderly.

"Of course."

"Who's going where?" came a question from the doorway. Shit, Lovino cursed internally.

"N-no one's going anywhere, Grandpa!" he lied miserably, making Romulus sigh.

"You spent considerable months on that pirate ship, yet you still do not know how to deceive?"

"It's not, like a course!" Lovino complained, as his grandfather smirked. He approached the twins and embraced them with one hand. In the other arm, he was holding a red journal with brown stitching. He almost cried when he released them.

"Normally I should stop you from this kind of thing, but all I want is you two to take care of each other, live happily and maybe come visit any time you want. Grandpa will always welcome both of you."

Lovino was staggering from his grandfather's words. He first thought that it was all over, when he heard his Grandpa interrupting, Antonio lost beyond him.

"Thank you, Grandpa." he murmured, eyes teary. Feliciano bawled, rubbing his face to the man's chest. Romulus wiped Lovino's cheek with his sleeve and handed the journal to him.

"This was your mother's. She always wanted to be a writer but she never had to opportunity to publish her novels. This particular one is about her feelings for you and your brother." Lovino clutched the book hard in his hands, his tears descending on to the leather cover.

"Thank you, Grandpa." he wiped his tears on his own sleeve.

After a few minutes of Feliciano cuddling and almost choking his grandfather, Romulus barked at them to get back down at the party. They weren't allowed to go until after the party, and thus, the two were back downstairs dancing with whoever approached them for another two hours. But to Lovino, it seemed like a century.

When the large grandfather clock in the ballroom chimed once again, this time ringing twelve times, the guests started to leave. Lovino thought that it would be his escape but was forced to stay back to say goodbye to each individual guest. He heaved a huge sigh after the last guest left, and quickly grabbed Feliciano by the arm, dragging him upstairs.

"We need to pack!" he exclaimed in impatience, grabbing a bag and stuffing a bunch of random clothes inside. Feliciano nodded and did the same. He tried to fold his clothes but being the klutz he was, it was basically crumbled in his own bag. There were small sounds from the balcony, forcing Lovino to go check what the hell the noise was, with bag fully packed in hand. He opened the large windows and was startled when another pebble was thrown onto the stone floor. So that's where the sound came from.

When he looked down, he blushed in embarrassment, for on the grass floor was Antonio with his pirate hat. As soon as Antonio saw his beloved, he kneeled on one knee and took off his hat, and with a gallant smile, he chanted.

"Oh, Rapunzel! Let down your hair, fai-"

His romantic gesture was short lived however, when Lovino's bag smacked his face. Antonio stared at the bag, his eyes almost filling with tears, but he smiled broadly up at Lovino, knowing what the bag meant. After Feliciano packed, his bag was also thrown down. Ludwig was there and caught it, making Feliciano flush at the man's flexed muscles. They quickly trotted downstairs to the garden to meet up with the two men that came to pick them up.

After his grandchildren were out of sight, Romulus stealthily walked into their room. He peered out the balcony.

"Captain." He called, whipping Antonio's head up.

"Mr. Vargas." He recognized, and bowed. Ludwig stood still.

The man then threw something at Antonio who caught it by reflex with his right hand. It was a small velvet box. His face flushed.

"I assume you'll treat him well." He stated, though it was more of a demand. Antonio clutched the box in his hands and slipped it into his coat.

"Of course."

Romulus moved from sight when he heard Lovino and Feliciano's footsteps, but not before giving a curt nod to Antonio who smiled back. The man drew the curtains of the balcony to hide himself and with a deep sigh he sat on the large bed in the center of the room. He did not expect to hear his grandson's voice.

"Grandpa, about Mama's book, I've already read it." Romulus's eyes widened.

"I read it while she was writing it, thanks, Grandpa. I understand what you have say." Tears formed in his eyes. He smiled widely and didn't reply, instead he whispered to himself after he heard some shuffling noises.

"Watch over them, Angela. They're out of my reach now."

The quadruple made their way back to the ship that was docked a little further from port. Travelling with a small boat to the ship, they arrived around an hour after midnight.

Once Lovino boarded the ship, he noticed two things. One, there was a large decrease in crew members. Two, both Matthew and Katyusha was staring at him with tears in their eyes. Matthew reached for him first.

"Loobbinnoooo." He wailed, once again stuffing his face into Lovino's chest like he did two years ago. Katyusha latched onto his arms and wailed too. Lovino's amber eyes widened in the sudden embraces but his heart grew warm and his eyes started to sting with tears. An ecstatic smile grew across his face and used the arm that wasn't occupied by Katyusha to hug Matthew back. Gilbert and Francis came over too. The albino ruffled Lovino's hair.

"Good to have you back, squirt."

"Geez, you never stop do you." Lovino grumbled but his smile didn't fade. After the two crybabies stopped Adrian came up to dry Katyusha's tears while most of Matthew's tears were transferred to Lovino's shirt. After Katyusha was zoomed out, Lovino quickly noticed the small bump protruding from her stomach. His eyes widened in absolute horror.

"A-are are you?" He couldn't bring himself to ask her properly, but Katyusha understood. Giving him a small smile, she put her hands on the bump.

"Yup, I'm pregnant."

Lovino's jaws dropped to the wooden floor and he rudely pointed to Adrian.

"Is, is it his?" When she nodded his eyes perished into sand. It felt like his daughter just eloped without his consent. He wondered if his grandfather felt this way today. He dodged Francis' attempt to grope and had a small pistol thrown at his chest after Lilli smiled at him. There was also one man he didn't recognize or didn't remember. He was tall and brooding with styled hair so high it looked like a mountain. He didn't speak, so Lovino didn't question his presence either. Lovino felt like he was forgetting something, when he realized, he felt extremely bad.

"Ah!" he exclaimed in realization, surprising the people around him. He pushed past the circle that formed around him and found Feliciano sticking out like a sore thumb on the ship. Lovino directed his brother towards the crew mates.

"This is Feliciano, my younger twin brother." He introduced.

"Feli, this is Matthew, Katyusha, the potato bastard number one, the pervert, Lilli, Lilli's –possessive- brother and the fast mover." He finished, satisfied that he managed to insult them.

Feliciano smiled warmly, making everyone's eyes widen.

"Ve, I'll be in your care now, thank you for letting me come with fratello."

There was a large commotion on the ship and the main crew gathered around the brothers, Francis with tears in his eyes, and a rose brought out from nowhere was marveling at the cuteness and total opposite personality of Lovino. As they were cooing over Feliciano, the ship began to move and they were on their way. Lovino managed to escape the fiasco about his brother and he would normally be jealous and protective of Feliciano, but he was too happy to care less.

Lovino leaned on the railing, supervising his brother and giving Francis a death glare to stay away from him. He took another observation of the ship and wondered where all of the crew members went, his hair blowing in the wind. His mind wandered to the conversation he had with his father before he left. Feliciano not included.

Lovino and Feliciano trotted across the hallway but the elder stopped and told his younger brother to wait for him. He walked towards a room at the end of the hallway, passing paintings of his ancestors. The double door seem to loom over him and he contemplated whether to enter or knock. He went with the manners. With three sharp knocks, he waited for a response.

"Come in." he heard from the door and pushed down the brass handle. It opened to reveal a bed under dim light. The bed was king size and in laid a middle aged man, book in hand. He wore silk buttoned shirt and had a luxurious blanket pulled up to his waist line. His dark amber eyes narrowed, Lovino closed the door behind him.

"What do you want?" the man questioned, closing his book. Lovino crossed his arms.

"Are you going to die?" Lovino asked bluntly, surprising the man. He straighten his position to gain more superiority.

"Yes, not soon."

"Well it doesn't matter when you die," Lovino stated then threw something to the side of the bed. The man seemed startled. He let his eyes fall on the object that was thrown at him and saw a red journal with black stitching. There was the word 'Angela' engraved on the front.

"What matters is, that if you ever write a will, you can kiss giving your inheritance to Feli or me goodbye."

He turned to leave and the man opened his mouth to speak but only coughs came out. Lovino flinched at the dry sounds. He took a deep breath and gripped the door handle.

"Read it… father." he spoke, his back towards the bed. His back towards his father. The man wanted to speak but his fury of coughs did not cease. Lovino pulled down the brass handle and opened it, closing the door behind him, he slowly decreased the amount of light in the room before the door was shut behind him, leaving his father to be alone with his thoughts.

After he left the room, Lovino felt like someone had just raised the whole country of Italy off his shoulders. He had finally settled things between him and his old man, though unnoticed by his younger brother who came running towards him, he felt satisfied. He felt adrenaline pulsing through his veins. Grabbing a bouquet from a nearby vase, he tied one on his father's door handle and took the rest. A grin was plastered across his face.

"Let's go Feli." He instructed, walking to the stairs. I'm free, he thought. I'm finally free.

His mind was struck out of its trance by Antonio who sneaked up and hugged him from behind. A small blush scattered across his face but he did not resist. The pair watched the waves in peace before getting interrupted by a certain noisy bunch.

"Oh my captain, showing affection right off the bat? In front of your crew mates too." Gilbert teased, startling Antonio and making him release Lovino out of embarrassment. The formed a semicircle around the pair and Lovino finally asked the question that had been bugging him since he got on the ship.

"Where are the rest of the crew anyway?"

Francis sighed a fancy sigh, pointing at his captain.

"It is all his fault. After you left all he did was mope around on the ship so they obviously started to lose respect for him. Thankfully they didn't raise mutiny and just quit one after the other."

"I was kind of surprised it was potato bastard number two that came to get me with Antonio, why didn't Matt or Katyusha come?"

"Well, from seeing them react just now, do you think it wouldn't have caused a big scene?" Gilbert replied, face palming.

"You're one to talk, if Antoine brought you along you would stuff your face with the food so fast people will stare at you."

"Oh please if he had brought you would be flirting with all the women they'd kick you out!"

The pair continued to argue making Lovino chuckle a bit. It seemed to surprise them, then he realized that only Matthew and Katyusha had heard him laughing. He furrowed his eyebrows.

"I can smile too, bastards." He growled lightly, making Antonio laugh and pull him into a side hug.

The two old friends grinned and threw each other's arms on their shoulders.

"Well, it's just going to be us from now on." Gilbert commented with a sigh.

"Yea, would you be able to handle being with us for the rest of your life? Because I'm never letting you go." Antonio said with a smirk, making Lovino flush and the others grin. Lovino took a deep breath to calm his face. He leaned into Antonio's chest with a soft smile and nodded.

"It's a pirate's life for me."

A/N: Banzai! I actually finished a series, excitement :3 Thank you for reading, hopefully this last chapter wasn't a letdown. I asked my (very awesome and beautimus) friend to proof read this for me so it should be better than the rest, lol. I decided not the change the title cuz I'm mega lazy :L

Thank you very much for sticking with the series until now! I wish this can give me motivation to finish (more like get on *shot a bizilion times*) with my other ones :D