Tomato Season

Spain cracked his back as he wearily walked down the path to his house. The meeting had been brutal and everything had come to a standstill, with tensions left between the nations. He didn't know if he could deal with any more fighting. He just wanted to live a peaceful, easy-going lifestyle.

Pushing the thoughts out of his head, he looked up at the bright blue sky. Fat puffy clouds drifted by at a lazy pace, causing the Spaniard to become slightly envious. The sun was bright as well, filling the air with a comfortable warmth, making him feel slightly sleeping.

A nice catnap in the sun would be nice, thought Spain. He chuckled to himself. I'm starting to sound like Greece.

Spain blinked, as he looked at his tomato garden. A familiar curl bounced among the red and green. A smile stretched across his face and he approached the garden.

"Hola, Lovino~!" he called.

Romano straightened up and scowled. "Don't call me that."

Completely ignoring the Italian's statement, Spain continued. "How is mi hermanito?"

"I'm not your little brother!" cried Romano.

Spain smiled. "So what are you doing?"

Romano squirmed uncomfortably as a light blush surfaced onto his cheeks. He picked up a woven basket and pushed held it out to Spain. "I was picking your tomatoes for you. You always pick them late, even though you proclaim yourself as a number one tomato lover."

Spain took the basket and gave Romano a grateful smile. "Gracias amigo." He placed the basket in the grass and picked up one from a nearby stack. "Let me 'elp you."

"No, you look tired," replied Romano taking the basket and going back to harvesting. "The meeting must have been brutal, so go take a nap in the grass or something."

Spain just grabbed another basket and began picking tomatoes as well. Romano just sighed in reply and went back to his task. Only after a few pickings Spain grabbed a tomato and took a giant chomp out of it.

"What the Hell you tomato loving bastard?" cried Romano in fury. "Don't eat them just yet!"

"¿Por qué?"

"You have to wash them first!"

Spain just smiled and patted Romano's head as he finished off the tomato. "Pero me encantan los tomates."

Romano just huffed and went back to picking the tomatoes. "Bastard."

Spain's smiled grew and he went back to picking tomatoes as well. For a long time they just worked in quiet, filling up each basket until it was overflowing with the plump red fruits. When all the tomatoes were harvested, they sat in the grass, soaking up the warm sun.

"So, why did you come here?" Spain asked, around a blade of grass he was nibbling on.

Romano shrugged. "I just thought I'd get away from my brother for a bit. Plus I knew now would be the time to harvest the tomatoes." He looked over at Spain, to see him smirking. "It had nothing to do with you!"

Spain laughed, letting the blade of grass fall from his lips. This in turn earned him a tomato in the side of the head. He brushed the tomato off his face and and ate it, enjoying the fresh juice it left on his tongue. Some of his hair stuck to the side of his face, but he was able to clean it up for the most part.

Slugging an arm around a seething Romano's shoulders, he said, "Thanks for coming I-"

"Don't touch me."

"-really do miss having you around." Romano blinked and turned to face Spain. "It was weird to 'ave you gone for the first few months. I missed you greeting me whenever I came home."

Romano blushed. "You idiot. I wasn't going to stay with you forever. I have my own country to run."

"I know, I know."

They lapsed into another silence, just watching the clouds roll by.

"'Ey, Romano?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I eat those tomatoes now?"