Chapter Text
The moonlight reflected off the water as the cruise ship sailed through the night while everyone gathered around the happy couple who had just been married in the last port they had stopped at. They had been invited to dine at the Captain's table and the evening was just magical for the newly-weds. They walked out on to the deck to gaze at the moon before retiring for their wedding night.
“I can believe this is happening, Antonio!” Roderich said as he leant against his new Spanish husband who put his arm around the shoulders of his dark-haired, violet eyed Austrian spouse.
“I know,” Antonio replied, his green eyes gazing into Roderich's eyes, their dark hair mingling as Antonio put his head against Roderich's. “I keep expecting to wake up and find that this is all a dream!”
“If it is, I don't want to wake up,” Roderich claimed and Antonio bend down and softly kissed him. Roderich put his hand around Antonio's nape to prevent him moving away. A need of air finally made them break the kiss.
“Let's go inside,” Antonio said, taking Roderich's hand and they left the deck to go to their cabin for their wedding night.
* * * * *
Two years later …..
“Aren't they the most beautiful boys you've ever seen?” Roderich said as his housekeeper, Elizaveta came hurrying over to Roderich and Antonio as they brought their newly adopted sons home. Their maid, Emma, a lovely girl with blonde hair held back with a band and green eyes, also came to coo over the infants. Roderich was holding one of the one year olds, asleep in his arms while Antonio carried the other one who was awake but a little fussy, spitting out the pacifier that Antonio kept trying to put into his mouth. He had a fuzz of reddish brown hair with what looked like a little curl, springing out to the right and the child's eyes were turning a caramel brown with an expression that looked like he would cut loose and give everybody Hell at any given moment. The child Roderich held had hair that was more auburn with a similar curl on the left of his head and Roderich had seen earlier that the little boy had eyes that were similarly coloured to his older brother by fifteen minutes. He looked so angelic as he snoozed away.
“Oh, they're absolutely gorgeous!” Elizaveta gushed as Roderich allowed her to take the sleeping infant into her arms.
“Which one is Feliciano and which is Lovino?” Emma asked as Roderich stroke the baby's cheek like a proud father.
“This is Feliciano,” he said. “Antonio's holding Lovino! He's definitely the more boisterous of the two.” Lovino demonstrated that by giving out a loud WAH!
“Shush, Lovi!” Antonio said, rocking Lovino to soothe him. “Look at how red he is, Roderich! He looks like a little tomate!” Lovino took exception and gave a louder WAH! Elizaveta carried Feliciano over to look at Lovino.
“Now, now, young man!” she scolded, softly and Lovino stopped crying to look at the pretty lady with the green eyes and long brown hair who was talking to him. Then he gave her a big smile. Elizaveta smiled at Lovino and then looked down at sleepy Feliciano and cuddled him closer.
“They're just too cute!” she squealed like a fangirl. “It's such ashamed what happened to their family! And their poor grandfather!”
The twins parents had died in a car accident, leaving the baby boys in the guardianship of their terminally-ill grandfather, Romulus Vargas, who realised that he could not cope with raising two boys he would probably never see grow up and begged his friend, Wolfgang Beilschmidt, to help and he suggested that his newly married grandson Roderich and his husband, Antonio adopt the boys and the couple eagerly agreed to the plan and Romulus signed over guardianship to the Edelstein-Carriedos.
“Romulus is happy, knowing his grandsons won't be alone when he's gone,” Roderich replied. “I think the worry was making him worse but now he can rest easy. We'll take them to see him until the end and we promised to leave them with the name Vargas but, to all intents and purposes, they're our sons now.”
“And we'll raise them to be happy,” Antonio swore. “Our precious boys. Could life get any better?” He cuddled Lovino who hit him in the nose, making everybody laugh so he did it again.
Life was indeed perfect!
* * * * *
It was a shame it could not stay that way!
Cracks in their marriage began to appear that they kept hidden from the dying Romulus when they took their boys to see him but, after the man died, the cracks got bigger. Roderich refused to talk about their problems and Antonio's solution was to laugh through them but it made things worse. A year after adopting the boys, the Edelstein-Carriedo marriage fell apart and they divorced. In order to not have to deal with each other, Roderich kept custody of Feliciano and Antonio stayed the legal guardian of Lovino. They parted, never expecting to see each other again and separated the boys, never telling them that they had a twin somewhere else in the world. After all, it was unlikely that they would ever meet so it was better that they remained ignorant of the fact.
Wasn't it?
* * * * *
Austria.... Fourteen years later.....
“I'm going to miss you, you know,” Elizaveta said as she stood by Feliciano's bed, handing him clothes that the auburn-haired boy packed in his suitcase to go to the camp in America that his father, Roderich Edelstein thought would be beneficial for Feliciano to attend, being famous for it's international program, bringing young people together from all around the world to promote cultural understanding. It was difficult to get a place and this was the first year that Roderich had managed it. “Do you have to go halfway around the world for four weeks?” Feli turned to look at his father's Hungarian housekeeper.
“Ve~ Papa's been trying to get a place for me for years,” Feli explained. “I can't say no now! It's only four weeks, Miss Elizaveta!” Feliciano stood up from the bed, went to his only mother figure and wrapped his arms around her to hug her and she hugged back.
“Four weeks too long, Feli,” she said and kissed him on the forehead. Feli ve-ed as he gave himself up to the motherly feeling that Elizaveta wrapped him up in. “We better finish packing! Your Papa wants to leave for the airport and we need to leave in good time, just in case your Papa gets lost, you know what his sense of direction is like!” Feli smiled at the woman who had essentially been his mother all his life. At one time, she and his Papa were to be married to give Feliciano a proper mother but, in the end, they decided to stay as they were. Elizaveta had still been Feli's mother figure and she had been named as Feliciano's guardian, should anything happen to Roderich. Elizaveta knew that Roderich liked her but felt it was unfair to Roderich for him to marry someone he did not really love. There had only been one he had ever loved and he was beyond Roderich's reach.
Elizaveta hugged the boy she had helped raise for the past fourteen years again as she was going to miss him as much as Roderich. He was her unofficial son and she loved him with all her heart.
“I'll miss you, my beautiful boy!” she whispered into his ear. “Finish packing! Your Papa needs to get back to the school afterwards.” Roderich had achieved world acclaim with his music and went on to open a prestigious music school that lots of rich families were eager to get their offspring into. After taking Feliciano to the airport and seeing him on to the plane, he would be returning to close the school for the summer. Elizaveta kissed Feliciano's cheek and left the room. Feliciano felt a tear trickle down his cheek at the thought of being away from home for so long but there was one piece he was taking with him. He opened the bedside cabinet and took out a photograph with a tear pattern down one side, of a happy looking, dark haired man with forest green eyes. Feli looked at it longingly and then put it into his carry-on.
Outside the room, Elizaveta wept a little tear. She was missing Feli already and he had not even left yet!
* * * * *
Spain....
“Lovi!” Antonio called up the stairs of his house which sat in the middle of his vineyard to his son who was packing to go to the camp that Antonio had finally managed to get a place in for Lovino. Antonio was going to miss his little Lovi but it was for his son. “Have you finished packing? We need to get on the road to get to the airport in time.”
“Yeah, yeah!” came the grousing down the stairs. “Keep your tomatoes on, Jerk!” Anyone would think that Lovino was being disrespectful but Antonio was used to Lovino. He found it hard to show his real feelings and hid them behind hostility but Antonio had long since learnt to read Lovino. As much as he wanted to go to this camp, Lovino was going to miss home but did not want to admit it so he settled for snarky comments.
Antonio watched as a fifteen year old with red-brown hair and a curl on the right side of his head with a carry-on bag over his shoulder, came down the stairs carrying his suitcase and dropped it to the floor when he reached his father.
“Awwh, dammit,” he swore. “Just wait a moment!” And he dove back upstairs to his room. He reached under his bed and pulled out a tin, opening it and taking out a photograph with a ripped edge. In the photo was a man with violet eyes and dark hair that had a funny curl that turned up over his head with a smile on his face, holding up a glass of wine. No way was Lovino going without that!
He slipped the picture into his carry-on and ran back down the stairs. Just as Emma hurried into the hallway.
“Oh, Thank Goodness!” she exclaimed. “I thought I wouldn't get here in time!” And she wrapped her arms around Lovino and held him tight. Like Elizaveta with Feliciano, she had watched Lovino grow up and thought of him as her own little boy and would miss him over the next six weeks.
“You write whenever you can, okay?” she requested, giving Lovino a kiss on the cheek which made him go bright red. Antonio loved it when his son blushed like a tomato.
“I will!” Lovino promised. He was always nice to Emma! Probably because he had a little crush on her. Finally they broke the hug.
“Right, I'm ready!” he huffed. “Let's get going so I can get on the damn plane!” Antonio looked into his son's caramel eyes and pulled him into a hug. Lovino's arms began flapping in panic.
“Hey, let the hell go!” he yelled but Antonio just kept hugging him.
“I'm going to miss you, Lovi!” he declared. Lovino pulled out of his hug and huffed.
“Whatever!” he groused. “Can we go please?” Antonio picked up Lovino's suitcase and they made their way to the car.
* * * * *
Elizaveta wept as she hugged Feli at the departure gate as he prepared to go and board the plane. She did not want to let go but, unfortunately, she had to.
“You write to us everyday,” she ordered, tearfully. Roderich patted her on her shoulder.
“The poor boy won't have time to do anything else if he does that,” he said, turning to Feli. “Write every week!” Feli threw his arms around his father.
“I'll miss you, Papa!” he said and Roderich patted him on the back.
“I'll miss you too,” he admitted. “Better get on the plane or we won't be missing each other! Remember to keep up your violin!” Feli promised he would and went through the departure gate, turning to wave back at Roderich and Elizaveta before disappearing from sight. Elizaveta wiped her eyes with her handkerchief.
“It's going to be quiet without him,” she said. Roderich did not say anything.
'I know it will!' he thought, instead.
* * * * *
“Chigi! Will you stop hugging me, Jerk Bastard?!” Lovino complained, struggling to get out of his Papa's grip. “Everyone's looking at us! I don't like being seen with you when you're acting stupid!” Antonio translated that into I'm going to miss you but I don't want you or any of these people to know that!
“I'm going to miss you too, Lovi!” Antonio sobbed on his son's shoulders. “Write every week! Please!”
“If it'll get you to shut the Hell up!” Lovino replied, scathingly. “Now let me go so I can get on that damn plane!” Antonio gave Lovino a kiss on the forehead and let him go. Lovino rubbed his head where the kiss had been placed, picked up his carry-on and went to the departure gate.
“Love you, Lovi!” Antonio called out. Lovino scowled as some people nearby snickered, flipped his Papa off and disappeared.
Antonio wiped a single tear from his eye. His little Lovi was growing up! It was a shame that he was doing it without his other father and his brother and he idly wondered what was happening with his ex-husband and other son!
* * * * *
Both boys arrived in America and coaches were waiting to take them and others who had arrived to the camp. Feli was on the first coach and he watched excitedly as he saw the huts and buildings come into view. Behind him, in the other coach, Lovino felt the same excitement and both boys knew they had arrived at Camp Hetalia!