Almost as reward for his loyalty, Feliciano started coming around a lot more. He ate dinner and lunch with Romano and he took his breaks with him. They would just talk and laugh about nothing and Romano would try to sound enthusiastic about their plans. Feliciano let Romano sleep in more and stay up later. Romano was always tired from their daily training so he was grateful when he first realized that Feliciano came to wake him up at ten in the morning.

This day was different though. Their usual schedule consisted of Feliciano coming to wake Romano up at ten. He then looked at Romano's wounds and took care of them. Romano, being a country, healed fast. Most of his shallower cuts had healed while some of the deeper ones were just faint lines. Regardless, Feliciano insisted in taking care of them until they were completely healed. He firmly believed that he should treat his allies how he would expect them to treat him.

After tending to his wounds and eating a quick breakfast, Feliciano and Romano would go out to the training area to train once again. With the extensive practice, both brothers had improved their skills significantly and could be considered experts.

Romano had practically perfected his hand to hand combat and was doing well in his sword and gun training. He practiced sword fighting with Feliciano and was an admirable opponent but still had room for improvement. He also had started shooting at long distance and moving targets and was doing well. Feliciano was very pleased with him.

However, this morning he woke Romano up at 7:00. Romano, being tired and not used to getting up at that time, groaned and turned onto his side.

"Mmm...Five more minutes." he groaned forgetting where he was at. He shut his eyes tightly willing sleep to come. He pulled the covers up over his head to block out any light. He was suddenly left to clutch thin air as Feliciano yanked the covers off of him.

"Get up. I let you sleep in as long as I could and now I've only got five minutes to check your wounds before the meeting with our allies." Feliciano said. Romano's eyes snapped open remembering where he was and his reason for being there.

He sat up in bed, hitting foreheads with Feliciano. Romano braced himself for the yelling and possible beating he constantly feared but nothing of the sorts came. Instead, Feliciano started laughing, and not the usual cruel laugh he irrupted with when he heard good news evolving something bad happening to the other countries. It was pure and innocent like the old Feliciano. Overcome with happiness and joy, Romano started laughing as well.

The two brothers laughed until tears shimmered in their eyes. Feliciano chuckled as he calmed down.

"Ok. We've got to really hurry now." he said. Romano sat up in bed and stayed still as Feliciano looked at his wounds. Judging by the smile on Feliciano's features, his wounds were almost all healed.

"Hurry up and get dressed. We'll be in the basement." Feliciano said. Romano dipped his head and started to get dressed. "Also, I ask that you don't forget to keep an open mind. Our allies might not seem worthy but I assure you they are strong."

Romano's lips cracked a smile. "Yes, fratello." he said. Feliciano smiled again. Romano hoped his fratello's heart was softening being around Romano so much. Feliciano quickly departed the room, leaving Romano to get dressed alone with himself and his thoughts.

Now he was curious about their allies. He had given up trying to guess who it was. He had simply resigned to finding out who it was at the meeting. Now that the meeting was so close his curiosity was starting to knawl at him. He quickly stumbled towards the hallway as he yanked the jeans up his legs and into place. He pulled his shirt on at the top of the staircase and hurried down.

In less than a minute, Romano was hurrying down the stairs of the basement. His chest was beating hard in anticipation and his fingers were beginning to itch with impatience. His feet ate up the distance between him and satisfying his curiosity.

He wanted to know who he was fighting with and who he would be possibly fighting against at some point. These people could make or break Feliciano even though Feliciano was confident on winning himself. As much as he didn't want Feliciano succeed he also didn't want to see him crash and burn. He hadn't ever endured the things that Ludwig did when his country failed. Romano didn't want him and his fratello to be broken up or even dissolved like Prussia. He hoped that the others might be merciful and not kill Feliciano.

He could only wonder who their allies were though. He couldn't think of any other people that would be willing to fight with Feliciano and would be as strong as Feliciano perceived them to be. He hoped they were strong enough to help Feliciano and maybe take some of the blame.

To say he was surprised to see Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Sealand (See bottom of chapter for human names.) would be an understatement.

They were always who Romano thought were the weakest of all the countries or the goofiest, in Poland's case. He wouldn't have expected either of them to join Feliciano's side let alone to earn Feliciano's trust.

Felixs was sitting beside Toris, Ravias and Eduardo were sitting nearby and Peter was sitting at the chair to one side of Feliciano. There was still one vacant chair sitting beside Feliciano, opposite of Peter.

"Welcome Romano." Feliciano smiled. Romano narrowed his eyes and frowned. All eyes were trained on him. The familiar feeling of being judged washed over him. He scowled and tried to look as unwelcoming as possible. It was his natural self defense now and even though he knew Feliciano wanted him to be with them he still felt as though the others didn't want him on their side.

"Hi." Romano greeted them stiffly.

"No need to be so sour, Romano. We like you here." Feliciano said, striking a welcoming smile. The others smiled as well; it seemed genuine enough.

"I believe you know everyone here but I think it'd be a good idea to reintroduce ourselves and tell each other why we're here." Feliciano said smiling happily, "Then we can better understand each other and can maybe trust each others strengths more."

"Like, why do we need to do that ? That's totally stupid!" Felix asked waving his hand in an exaggerated manner.

Feliciano's enthusiasm was not depleted. "We are all misjudged but you have all passed your tests, which is quite an achievement. I had others come and they didn't pass it. Rest assured they will not give us away because we have men waiting to act if they decide to give us away. However, I think it'd be a good idea to tell our stories so we can all be on the same page. We function as a team not as individuals." Feliciano said still smiling, though it was not his usual smile.

Romano took the liberty of sitting down in the empty chair. He noticed how Feliciano and Peter seemed to be sitting exceptionally close then any of the others, even Felix or Toris.

"So, who would like to go first ?" Feliciano asked. He glanced around the table hopefully.

After a while, Toris tentatively raised his hand. "I will." he volunteered in a soft spoken voice.

"Yeah! Go Toris!" Felixs said causing Toris to blush.

"Ok well...I'm Lithuania or Toris. I...I decided to join Feliciano because I'm really tired of being controlled and taken advantage of by Russia." Toris said. As he continued, his anger picked up giving him confidence. His volume increased steadily, "I want to control myself now and show Russia that I can beat him!"

"I second that!" Eduardo spoke up passionately.

"Third!" Ravias exclaimed standing up.

"Well there we go. Three birds with one stone. Felixs, how about you go next ?" Feliciano asked.

"Ok. I'm like, Poland. You can totally call me Felixs though. But you already know that." Felixs grinned. "So like, I'm tired of Russia separating me from Toris and he like totally invaded me and I want to kick his arse."

"I'd like to go next! Don't forget me!" Peter exclaimed raising his hand enthusiastically.

Feliciano chuckled, "I could never forget you." he said. He gently leaned over, taking Peters chin gently and placed a heartfelt kiss on his pink lips. Romano's eyes widened in surprise as Peter blushed and leaned into his touch like a dog.

The kiss only lasted a few moments but it was plain to see the emotions running between the two. They were in love.

"Ok," Peter leaned away and continued as if nothing had happened, "So I sick of Arthur not acknowledging me as a country! I've told him time and time again and he's such a jerk and doesn't acknowledge me as part of his family!" Peter exclaimed.

Feliciano smiled affectionately though Romano could see lust gleaming in his chocolate eyes. "Good. Romano, you're next." he said. Romano scowled again as all eyes turned to look at him.

"Well," he started, trying to remember the story he said yesterday. He decided that it was easier to just rant about his treatment as a child, "I hate that no body wanted me as a child and always gave me up just because I didn't do my work or because I swore a lot! I want to show them that I am useful and that people do want me!" Romano said.

Feliciano understood how much it took for Romano to say that so openly. He didn't realize though was that the reason why he said that was so then he could gain more of Feliciano's trust.

"I think you all know but since you all did it I suppose it's only fair if I explain as well." Feliciano said, "I hate how everyone thinks that I'm just the happy, dumb, clueless Italian. They always look on the surface and were too worried about their own problems to think about how I felt when they would look at me like I was some disgusting thing or when they threatened me or tried to hurt me,

"They will all pay for their mistakes." Feliciano vowed to them. His gaze darkened as well as everyone else in the room. Romano balled his hands into fists and tried to blend in.

"When?" Toris demanded.

"Just wait, I am getting to that," Feliciano said, "Before I tell you when I need you all to remember that we have a man amongst our enemy."

"Who ?" Romano asked before he could stop himself. Luckily, Feliciano seemed pleased at his curiosity.

"Our other ally is Matthew Williams." Feliciano said. The others didn't seem surprised but the news was hard for Romano to grasp. Mattie? The same Mattie whose brother was murdered and whose father's country was bombed ? How could he ever support in something that would cause that amount of damage to the people he loved ?

"Ok, our plan is Mattie is going to send us the address of where they're staying at and a count of persons and weaponry." Feliciano said. He paused to glance around at the others who nodded in agreement, "Ok. So once we have said information we will attack. I believe Mattie said he had something in mind with Francis that I have approved of. Baltic's, you can do whatever you like with Russia and the same goes to Romano with Spain."

"What about me?" Peter asked.

Feliciano smiled affectionately. "You can do anything you want to Arthur though you may not kill him or kidnap him. I still have plans for him and everyone but you will get your revenge soon enough." Feliciano said. When Peter pouted, Feliciano continued explaining, "Think of it this way, we will just prolong his torture."

With that statement being said, Peter grinned.

"Ok. You will all be contacted when we have the information. Anything else ?" Feliciano asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

"Alright then. I have sent each of you uniforms to wear. I expect you to wear them whenever we meet from now on. Meeting adjourned. We will meet back here before we attack." Feliciano grinned darkly.

"Remember, we strike as one. Stick to our plan and everything will work our way." Feliciano grinned deviously.

Toris-Lithuania
Ravias -Latvia
Eduardo-Estonia
Peter-Sealand
Felix-Poland
Matthew-Canada (who?)