Chapter 32: The Box of Tomatoes

"I still think this is stupid." Lovino's voice was the first thing we heard, and I chuckled as I recognized this memory. Spain was still hovering over Romano like a worried parent.

"What were you doing?" Austria asked as the scene faded in to show Feli and Lovi arguing. Feliciano had on a military outfit, while Lovi was dressed casually.

"This was during the early part of World War One." I said.

"Wow, talk about a time-jump. Just a few days ago we were still before Jesus!" America shouted.

"Calm down, Al. Of course memories would move faster." Canada sighed. "Besides, you realize that not everyone uses B.C. and A.D. now, right? They use B.C.E. and C.E."

"I know." America huffed, crossing his arms.

"I still think I should come with you. What if you run into trouble?" Lovino's eyes shined with worry.

"I'll be fine. Besides, you still haven't fully learned how to control your new powers." Feli pointed out.

"I can too!" Lovino protested. He suddenly sneezed, spewing out flames from his mouth like a dragon. Feliciano had to quickly leap to the side to avoid being roasted. He slowly straightened up, ready for a second sneeze if necessary, while shooting his brother an irritated glare.

"You were saying?" Feli raised an eyebrow.

"Fine. Go. I'll be here! Just, I don't know, waiting!" Lovino scowled as he stalked back into the living room "And be careful, damnit!" He added, sticking his head back into the entryway before ducking back out again.

"Si, si. I'll be careful." Feli chuckled as he headed out.

"Where were you going?" England questioned.

"Well, I honestly don't even remember anymore." I admitted. "I think I was supposed to check in on some of our Italian troops and whatnot in preparation for the war, but I ended up getting sidetracked." I chuckled, glancing at Germany.

"Wait, so you mean that this is...?" His blue eyes went wide as he started to recognize the forest Feliciano was walking in.

"You tell me, Germany~" I smiled playfully as Feliciano randomly came across an abandoned box labeled tomatoes. It was large enough to fit two grown men.

"Ve? Is this some of the missing cargo that was stolen?" Feli asked aloud as he investigated the box. He found a small hole in the corner, large enough for his small frame to fit into. "I wonder if the food's all gone?" He bent down to take a look when a low gruff voice was heard.

"...forgot about feeding mein sticky friend." Germany went beet red as he heard himself talking to what he remembered was a stick.

"Oh, Gott... Bitte..." He'd never live this down if his brother found out!

Crap! Someone's coming! It could be an enemy! I've got to hide! But where?! I don't have enough time to hide in the forest!! Feliciano's panicked thoughts made a few nations chuckle as he quickly crawled into the box through the opening he'd just been investigating.

Damnit! I left my gun by the tree! Feli mentally cursed himself as he heard someone tap the box.

"How strange..."

Wait... that accent. Is that Prussia?! No... it's not the right octave.

"Hello! I am the box of tomatoes fairy! Let us be friends and play with each other!" Feliciano shouted out before he could stop himself. Why?! Stupid mouth!

"Huh?" America stared at me dumbfounded.

"When he panics, his mouth runs away from him, usually with hilarious results." Romano said through his chuckles. "Though I have to say, the 'box of tomatoes fairy' is fairly out there, even for you."

"Sh-shut up!" I went red. "I can't help it. Blame the ADHD."

"So it's a knee-jerk reaction?" England leaned forward in interest. "Fascinating."

"Embarrassing, more like." I sighed. "And since that was everyone's first impression of me, I felt I had no choice but to keep the farce going."

"Nani? Why?" Japan turned to me in concern.

"Because I thought that if I stopped... that if everyone realized I'd been lying... Nobody would want to be my friend anymore." I sighed, looking at my shoes.

"Itaria! I'm offended that you believe me to be so shallow." Japan reprimanded. "Of course I'm still your friend!"

"Ja. Und so am I." Germany agreed. Suddenly, I was bombarded with people telling me that they didn't care if it had been an act, that they were still my friends. I smiled softly, yet sadly.

"I know that now. Grazie." Because you've told me so many times... Even if you don't remember...

"Oi." Luciano elbowed me roughly in the ribs, causing me to wince. I realized that the nations were looking at me with concern.

"Are you okay? You looked so sad all of a sudden, aru." China took a step forward.

"I... Yeah. I'm sure it'll come up later, but... um... If I say something weird, or suddenly ask you not to talk about something, please don't push it. Okay?" I asked, shuffling my feet. I could feel the heat on my cheeks. I felt so awkward asking them to do this, but they wouldn't understand... even if I could explain it.

Yang put a gentle hand on my arm and I almost looked up at him.

"Hai. But... are you okay?" Japan asked.

"No." Luciano answered for me, and I gave him a halfhearted glare. "But he might be. If you all can stand with him through the worst of these memories." I leaned into my 2P as he pulled me into a sideways hug.

"It'll be okay, Vene..." He comforted me through the link. "I'll be here for you."

"But I'm so scared! What if... it shows..."

A sudden loud cracking sound snapped everyone's attention back to the memory, thank goodness. It showed Ludwig on the ground, looking up dumbfounded at a now exposed Feliciano who was crying and begging stereotypically for his life.

I watched the scene unfold. "Why did you start crying and whining like that?" Romano asked, confused.

"W-well... to be honest, when I saw Germany's face at first, I saw Holy Rome." I admitted. "It took me a second to realize that the eye and hair color was off, and that his facial structure wasn't Acel's. The differences are subtle, but there. When I realized I'd run into Germany, Ludwig, I was so happy I started to cry. I realized that I hadn't failed Acel twice, and I could still keep my promise to protect his brother. But then I realized that Germany didn't recognize me, and likely didn't have any memories, so I started spewing nonsense again to excuse the sudden tears."

"Makes sense." Prussia went to lean against a tree, only to stumble as he fell through. He crossed his arms and pretended that he meant to do it. "After all, they are twins, and you hadn't seen him for a very long time."

"I'm sorry, Italien." Germany spoke up.

"Sorry?! What for?" I blinked.

"For not recognizing you. For forgetting you."

"It's fine, Germany. We're friends now, and that's what matters. Besides... I understand what it's like. Fratello's died on me several times."

"So have you!" I ignored Romano's indignant response.

"It's only reasonable that you'd have amnesia." I finished, causing Romano to roll his eyes and stick out his tongue. "Oh, that's mature."

"Like you're any more mature than me!"

"Fair point."

The memory flashed through several scenes of Feli getting used to Ludwig's place, and the two becoming rather good friends. There were also snippets of Feliciano purposefully letting himself be captured—for fun! I'd explained—and Ludwig coming to the rescue.

"I have to ask." England interjected as we watched Feliciano run laps for Ludwig, who made him run faster by threatening that the British were coming. "Why were you so afraid of me?"

"Oh, err... you see..." How was I supposed to tell him that it was because I'd recently tried his food for the first time, and that the thought of being captured and being forced to eat that again honestly terrified me? Was there a nice way to put that?

I was luckily saved from answering when Kiku entered the picture; he and Feli shared a love of reading, though not while Ludwig was there. I sighed happily as I watched the three of us become fast friends. The Axis Powers...

"Ah~ This brings back memories." Japan smiled, coming to stand over by me.

"Si~! We had so much fun back then!" I grinned, remembering the time Japan and I had compared... ahem... assets.

Then came a scene where the three were sitting at Ludwig's house. Feli was in the kitchen making pasta, when the door opened. "Weeeeesst~! I'm hoooooooome~" Gilbert called out.

In his surprise at hearing the familiar voice Feliciano nearly knocked over the pot of pasta. He carefully set it aside to tend to later before rushing out into the living room, surprising Kiku and Ludwig.

"Italien?" Ludwig looked up, wondering why his normally cheerful friend had such a look of desperation on his face.

"Gilly..." Feli whispered, and Gilbert's head whipped up at the old nickname.

"ITA!" Gilbert broke out into a large grin, as he ran to engulf his brother-in-law in a fierce hug.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Ludwig's eyebrows knit together in confusion.

"Ja! I've known Ita since he was a tiny nation!" Gilbert laughed.

"Ve~ It's good to see you again, Gil~" Feli smiled.

"Hey, d'ya think you could just call me Prussia around West? As I'm sure you've realized, he's lost his memories..." Gilbert whispered discreetly to Feli, who nodded.

"At any rate, it's sooo good to see you~ It's been forever~!" Feliciano grinned as he 'accidentally' kicked Gilbert's shin. "I mean, you never even wrote to me like you promised~"

"AIIIIIEEE!" Gilbert started hopping around on one foot.

"Whoops~ Ve! I'm sorry, Prussia! I didn't mean to kick you!" Feli apologized. Though when he turned away from Kiku and Ludwig, he grinned. That's for not writing or visiting me, bruder! Feli thought vindictively.

"Mein Gott!! You were wearing steel-toed boots!" Prussia accused me.

"Of course I was~! What better weapon than one you don't have to draw?" I grinned. "Maybe you'll remember to stay in touch, next time, hm?" I raised an eyebrow.

"J-Ja..." Prussia rubbed the back of his neck as the memory faded back out.

The next memory started when the three of us were stranded on a beach together, showing Feliciano building an enormous pasta sand castle.

"DUDE! Physics says no!" America gawked.

"Ve? But pasta says yes!" I countered.

"Just... don't bother. He's never told us how he managed that one." Germany sighed, causing me to chuckle. Uh, General Winter? I can flash-freeze stuff, you know...

I wouldn't admit it, but my stomach churned, several distant flashbacks gnawed at the edge of my mind, and I did my absolute best to ignore them. Yang sent me a look and I felt their influence ebb. "Thank you, Yang."

"D-don't get used to it or anything!" He blushed and looked away.

I chuckled, returning my attention to the story just in time to see Roderich playing the piano in the ocean.

"HOW DID I NOT SEE HIM?!" Ludwig cried out in shock, causing the group to burst out laughing.

"You really didn't see me?" Austria blinked in surprise. "You just assumed piano music naturally occurs?"

"Sh-shut up!" Germany flushed red, and even Japan couldn't hold back his chuckles.

The three eventually found a nearby Chinatown, and we were again sent into laughter when Ludwig despaired over how close it had been the whole time.

"Perhaps you should invest in a few observational manuals, Germany-san?" Japan chuckled.

"Dude, even I could've found that Chinatown." America gave Germany a flat look.

"Only because you're a bloodhound with food!" England retorted.

"Now, now. Let's not start an argument!" South Korea stepped in. "Peacekeeping originated in me, so now you have to stop fighting."

I tried to enjoy the lighter atmosphere. But I couldn't shake the sick feeling welling up inside of me that said something terrible was about to be shown. I hadn't the slightest idea what it could be. I didn't remember anything bad necessarily happening around this time.

As the memory swirled again, shifting back to Ludwig's house, the feeling only grew. I hope I'm just overreacting...

A/N: Haha! So we begin the World Wars Arc! I actually had a writing binge the other night, and wrote over 10,000 words for this story!! :D I'm actually working on Chapter 36 right now, and I've finished writing the WWI and WWII Arc. ^^ So look forward to updates for a bit!

My updating consistency may pick up again, so expect another update tomorrow~! ^^

Also... Can anyone guess what's coming up next chapter? Anyone? ^^

And a big thanks to Senpai_is_Amazing for the Yang pic in this chapter (for Wattpad, at least). You Rock!! :D

If anyone else has drawn FanArt for this story, please send me a link or e-mail, and (if you want me to), I'll put it up at the beginning of a chapter~! ^_~

Words: 1,737/2,066

Pages: 4/5

Posted: 01/21/2019

Edited: 03/11/2019