Chapter 29: Brothers Reunited

The next memory faded in, showing Feliciano sitting in an unfamiliar house, reclining on a chair.

"Where is this?" France asked, confused.

"This is our home." Romano informed them.

"I've already left Austria's house by this point. It's skipped quite a bit. I believe the date is March 17, 1861." I smiled softly, looking over at my brother.

"Our birthday." Romano smiled back. "Officially." He added in.

Feliciano got up and started pacing. He was dressed in nice clothing, and looked like a noble, minus the snobbish attitude. The house was nice. Quaint, nothing too grand, but it was larger than what the average Joe could afford.

There was a sudden knock on the door, and Feliciano practically ran to it. He hesitated in opening the door, as a look of anxiety came over his face. Wh-what if he doesn't like me anymore? The thoughts were projected for the nations to hear. There was a faint scratching sound at the door, too, and a whimper on the other end from Asher.

"You idiot." Romano gently clapped me upside the head.

"Dude, I'm confused. What's going on?" America asked.

"Well, if this is their unification... then..." Canada trailed off.

"This is the first time you two have seen each other since Rome died." China gasped in realization.

"It's been over 1,300 years since you two have seen one another." Japan realized.

"Si... I mean, we'd had some brief visits when Spain had to come to Austria's place for business, but... the centuries sort of flew by, and... err... Well, we'd never had the opportunity to spend any real time together. We'd both changed, and I'd wondered if maybe my brother wouldn't like me anymore." I chuckled. "I was being a bit dumb, really."

Before Feli could open the door, Lovino opened it from the other side. The two stood, staring at one another in shock. As they drank in each other's appearances, tears starting to leak from their eyes.

"V-Vino..." Feliciano croaked, reaching out a hand hesitantly.

"Felice..." Lovino reached back. The moment their hands touched, a powerful shockwave made the memory shake violently, causing the nations to stumble. The two collapsed into one another's arms, sobbing.

"What was that?!" Germany asked, looking around him. Nothing physically seemed to be affected.

"That was our Link reconnecting." I explained. "Though we'd seen one another, we'd never been close enough to touch... to reconnect."

"How powerful." Russia breathed.

"You're forgetting." Luciano cut in. "Feliciano and Lovino... and Flavio and I... We're all just one half of the other's soul. We're each only half of a person. Why shouldn't a soul becoming whole again have such an effect?"

Eventually, Feliciano ushered his twin inside, and the two just sat on the couch, taking comfort in being together again.

After a while, though... things became awkward. "So, uhm... how've you been? It's been so long. I'm glad you're home." Feli said.

"It has been awhile." Lovino agreed. "I've been... okay. Spain's a bit of a dick, but the bastard's all right, I suppose. You were staying with Austria, right?"

"Si. Austria was kinda stuck up and he thought I was a girl for the longest time~! Until my voice changed, that is. So I was his maid."

"He thought you were a girl, too, huh? I think the Tomato Bastard thought I was one, but I quickly corrected him on that. I still had to wear a maid dress, though."

"So that's something we both had in common." Feli sighed.

"You seem... calmer, oddly enough." Lovino pointed out.

"I... I suppose so. There was... a war going on nearby, and I saw some of it." Feli winced, a brief flicker of pain crossing his expression.

"I'm sorry, Felice. I couldn't protect you." Lovino pulled his brother into a hug.

"It's okay, fratello." Feli smiled, surprising his twin. "We're together again, and that's what counts, si?"

"Si. Now what're we going to have for dinner? I'm famished!" Lovino grinned, dragging Feli off towards the kitchen. The scene flashed before showing the two curled up in bed together.

"Fratellone?" Feliciano asked.

"What is it Fratellino?"

"I'm glad we're back together again." Feli smiled, snuggling closer.

"So am I, Felice." Lovino smiled softly, wrapping his arms around his brother.

"Happy Birthday, Romano."

"Happy Birthday, Veneziano."

The memory faded again.

"I should probably point out," I started, seeing a few confused looks from the nations. "that we used nation names because it's our Nation Birthday, not our human one. Though our Human Birthday is more taken as a turn of the season rather than any one specific date."

Brief flashes of the two re-bonding was shown. They cooked together, played music together (I explained that the piano had been a gift from Austria, despite the terms I'd left on), and even painted and sculpted together.

"I'm the sculptor; I can't paint worth shit." Romano explained.

"And I'm the painter. My sculptures always either fall apart or they turn out looking like fucked-up emojis." I chuckled. "Unless it's of food, for whatever reason..." I thought back to the pasta sandcastle I made during the World Wars.

We watched as the Attic was made into an art studio for Feliciano, while the basement became an art studio for Lovino.

Feliciano was out and about one day, when he came across a young boy who was trying to sell his paintings. They were very good, and looked almost like a photo of the flowers he'd been painting, but there was something cold about the picture. Something missing. Feli smiled a bit and walked over.

"Hi there. Did you paint these?" Feli asked, and the boy eagerly nodded.

"Si, si! I'm looking to sell them. Would you like to buy one?"

"Do you know why nobody's buying your artwork, child?" Feli ignored the question. The boy's face darkened.

"If you're not buying, then go away! You're obstructing business!" The kid glared.

"My, big vocabulary." Feli chuckled. "I'm an artist, too, you know." Feliciano pulled out a sketchbook, showing off some phenomenal charcoal drawings. They looked so realistic, that one would think they would jump off the page.

"Oh, wow!" The kid's eyes widened and gained a fierce spark before it fizzled out and they dulled again. "I mean, go on! You're not going to buy anything, are you?"

Feliciano paused, as if considering his next words carefully. "Child, listen. You feel as if your art lacks something, don't you?" The boy's head whipped up, and his eyes narrowed at Feli, silently daring him to continue. So he did. "You try as hard as you can to get every detail absolutely perfect! But still—something's missing. The colors are flawless, maybe a better canvas? Ah, but that doesn't work, either. It just looks off. Something missing, but no matter how hard you search, you cannot find it. No matter how many times you think yourself into a slump, you cannot figure out what's missing. Am I wrong?"

The boy looked down. "I don't know what it is. I've tried... so many different things..."

"What do you feel when you paint?"

"Feel? What do you mean? I just paint." Feliciano smirked.

"And therein lies your problem. Art is more than replicating something. It's more than simply copying what you see and putting it on a canvas. It's about heart, soul, emotion!" Feliciano's hands gestured wildly as his eyes gained a fierce passion. "Art is taking how you see something, and the emotions it makes you feel, and making other people feel it. When you paint something sad, make people cry. When you paint something happy, make them smile and laugh!" Feli grinned, as the boy watched him in awe. "And no matter what... you paint for you. Nobody else. If it doesn't have heart, then it's just color on a page. It may look pretty, but it lacks the most important thing that all life has. Soul."

"So... how do I... paint with soul?" The boy asked, looking up at Feliciano with respect.

"Find yourself, first. Look at the world around you, and ask yourself what you see. What can you see that other people cannot? You see the world through a unique lens. Nobody else can see these things quite the way you do. Capture that! And ask yourself, how can you transfer that onto a page? You've got the gift. You have the talent. Now you just have to use it." Feliciano smiled, pulling something out of the satchel he'd had with him. It was a small painting, depicting a beautiful sunset. As breathtaking as the reds and blues of the sky were, and the clouds that drifted across the painted background, there was an almost tangible sadness around the painting, and the boy found himself weeping at the sight of it.

"I want you to have this. A reminder that though sad times may come, look for the beauty beyond. And never forget the power of your art. You have the ability to change lives with your work, and your power can stretch far beyond your own lifespan. Make your mark upon this country, nay, this Earth, and let there be proof that you lived."

With those words said, Feliciano gently pushed the painting into the boy's hands, and walked away, an awed child staring after him. The scene faded out.

"That was... powerful." America grinned.

"What can I say? I love art~!" I returned the smile, thinking of how happy painting has always made me feel. It was a wonderful outlet for my emotions.

"Speaking of, I noticed you haven't been painting much lately. I mean, there was that stint a little while ago where you practically barricaded yourself in your studio for months! I couldn't even get you out to eat. When you finally emerged, you were thin and pale, and you wouldn't let me see what you were working on at all. In fact, I think I'm still banned from your Studio. So what's up with that?" Romano asked, concerned.

"There were... extenuating circumstances, fratello. I was... going through a lot of things at the time." I shot Luciano a look.

"Oh... it was after That Place, wasn't it?" Luciano asked me through the link. Yang stood off to the side with a slight wince on his face.

"Yeah. It was, Viva."

The memory faded away once more, and England called up the Break Room.

"What's up, man? We just started?" America asked, looking confused. England gestured over towards Hungary, who was nodding off against Austria.

"We've all had a rather long day. I thought, perhaps, it was time for some rest."

"I agree." I spoke up. "These next sets of memories shouldn't be anything too traumatic. From what I can remember, it's just my brother and I getting to know each other again." I shrugged.

"It's probably the best time to sleep right now. Especially considering everything we've seen today." Romano tacked on, glancing between myself, Luciano, Prussia, Germany, and France.

"I agree. It's been a long day, and I'm exhausted." Prussia agreed, stretching. He couldn't keep the rather large and highly contagious yawn from escaping, and soon the entire room was yawning.

"Okay, I see your point." America relented as he rubbed his eye.

"Goodnight, then." England headed up to bed, followed by several other nations.

"So... where am I sleeping?" Luciano asked as the three (technically four, but Yang was only visible to myself and Luciano) of us headed upstairs.

"Hey, look." I said as I opened the door to our room.

"There's a new bed all of a sudden. Guess that answers your question." Yang chuckled, as he went to lay down on Luciano's bed.

"Oi! The fuck do you think you're doing?! That's my bed. Get off." Luciano growled through the link.

"Where the fuck am I supposed to sleep, then?" Yang asked.

"Fuck if I know?! The floor?! Don't know, not my problem. Now get off my bed."

I sighed as I recalled Yang into my mind, his spectral form faded out. You can stay in my head for the night, and I'll re-spectralize you in the morning.

Is that even a word?

No. But it doesn't have to be.

I curled up in my bed next to Romano, and Luciano slipped in beside me, letting me sleep between the two.

A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry about that wait, I've had some stuff going on at home. I also went and saw that new movie, Aquaman. It was really good, so give it a watch. I've also started watching a TV show called Arrow, and it's pretty good, too. ^^

Beyond that, I apologize. Flavio did not show up this chapter. But he will next chapter, for sure. I tried writing this chapter in several different ways, and he just didn't come. :/

On the other hand... That splurge that Feli had about Art and the meaning behind it... That's how I feel about writing and music. Those are my artistic pursuits, and I feel that they apply to those, as well as more traditional arts like painting and sculpting. So, yeah. You got a bit of a glimpse at your Author's Soul. XD

Words: 1,864/2,062

Pages: 4/5

Posted: 01/08/2019

Edited: 03/11/2019