“You look pretty in that dress.”
The glare Carolina sent Antonio would have made his tomate plants wither.  He sighed, saying,
“Look, I know you’re not very happy about me-”
She hmphed and turned away from him, cutting him off by saying,
“Don’t say that word.”
Antonio sighed, and hugged her from behind.  She didn’t move away from him, but she didn’t relax into the hug either.
“I love you.”
She whipped around, smacking him as she did so.  He let go of her, and took a step back, holding his cheek lightly with his hand.
“You prostituto!  I know what you do with South Italy all the time.  Don’t say stuff like that to me!  I’m not stupid!”  Carolina turned away again, and walked away quickly, slamming the door to her new room when she got there.  Antonio did, however, see the blush that she had.
Antonio sighed lightly, and walked to her door.  He knocked, saying,
“I don’t know what people have been saying about me and Lovino, but we haven’t done anything.  I swear.  And I really do love you.”
There was no response from inside Carolina’s room, and he sighed again, and walked away.
The next morning’s breakfast was eaten in silence.  Neither spoke, deciding instead to not look at each other, or acknowledge each other’s presence.  Although, when Antonio stood up, he asked if she was done.  She nodded, and he took her dishes.  She vanished deeper into the house.

Dear Francis,
Antonio is driving me crazy.  He’s been saying stuff like ‘I love you’ to me, when I know it’s not true.  And he denies that he did anything with South Italy.  But I know that he did.  Stupid liar. I wish he would let me go home.  And stop using that stupid word.  Stupid Antonio.

Your Sister,
Carolina
-----
Dear Carolina,
Antonio isn’t that bad.  He’s a good brother; he’ll take care of you.  You know just as well as I that the stuff that happened between Antonio and little Romano is just rumor.  Antonio doesn’t lie.  If he says that it didn’t happen, it didn’t.  Also, that word isn’t all that bad.  (But if Antonio is bothering you too badly, I can ask him for you!)

Your loving brother,
Francis
-----
Dear Antonio,
Carolina just wrote me.  She’s going to have a hard time adjusting.  We both know how head-strong she is.  Just continue being nice to her, and she’ll settle eventually.

Your Brother,
Francis

Antonio held the fancy green dress out towards Carolina.
“This would look wonderful on you, don’t you think?”
She gave him a look that obviously said “you have no taste”.
She reached into the chest of stuff and pulled out a dark blue one.
“This one is much better,” she said, taking the green one from Antonio and folding it neatly before returning it to the chest.  She went into her room and soon came out, wearing the dress.  She twirled, the dress flaring out.  She stopped, and Antonio grabbed her arm and spun her around again, making her new dress flare again.  He stopped her and swung her around.  The dance was a little jerky and slightly uncoordinated without any music, but still fun.  When they stopped, they were silent for a moment, Antonio’s arms holding her close to him.
Carolina started giggling, which made Antonio smile and laugh as well.
“That was fun,” she said, when the giggling finally ceased.  He smiled and nodded, agreeing with her.
------
Carolina was almost asleep, that night, when she heard something strange.  She pulled her knife from under her pillow and walked into the hallway quietly.  She heard it again, the tinkling of glass against glass from the kitchen.  She gripped her knife tighter.
She walked silently into the kitchen, but she must have made some noise, for the person there turned suddenly.  It was defiantly not someone she knew.  Carolina slashed with her knife, managing to hit the man across the chest.  He grabbed her wrist and she twisted it quickly, ripping her wrist out of his grip, but dropping the knife in the process.  The man snatched up the knife and held it out at Carolina.
It had been a long time since Carolina had been in a position like this.  She was reminded why she preferred guns to knives.
There was suddenly a bang next to her, and the man fell to the ground, dead.  She turned around to see Antonio, holding a gun in his hands.
“Are you okay?” He asked her, lowering the gun and walking over to her quickly.  She nodded and he suddenly pulled her into a hug.
“I’m glad.”
One of the other people who lived in the large house came over, asking Antonio what happened.  Antonio answered, still not letting Carolina go.  She half-listened, focusing more on trying to keep from blushing.
“… I’m going to go into town.  I would wait until morning, but-”
“Wait, you’re going into town?!” Carolina suddenly demanded.  Antonio turned his attention to her, surprised slightly by the outburst.
“Yeah-” He started, but was cut off by Carolina stating,
“I’m going with you.”
“Why do you want to go?”
She looked away from him, and said quietly,
“I don’t know anyone else who lives here and I don’t want to be by myself.”
Antonio nodded and, letting go of her, said,
“Let’s go then.”
The ride over there was silent, excepting the horse.  Carolina sat like she was in a side saddle, even though she was sitting behind Antonio on an unsaddled horse.  She had her arms wrapped around Antonio tightly, so she wouldn’t fall off.  If only she was back home, where she could wear pants if she wanted to wear pants and stupid Antonio wasn’t telling her that she should wear dresses.
When they finally got to town, they stopped outside of a small building.  Antonio got off and tied the horse to a pole.
“Stay here.” He told her, “I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
She nodded, and he vanished into the building.  She waited a moment, then followed him.  She opened the door quietly, and realized it was a church.  Antonio was sitting in a pew, praying.  She closed the door quietly.
He soon returned, and Carolina was sitting on the horse, like she had never moved.  Antonio untied the horse and got on.  She wrapped her arms around him, and they set off again.  She rested her head on his back – not just because it was a nice back, really, she was tired, – and fell asleep.
The next thing she knew, she was on the ground.  Antonio was a few paces ahead, having just stopped the horse.  He jumped off and walked over to her.  He held out his hand towards her.
“Are you okay?” he asked, concern on his features.
“I’m fine,” Carolina answered, ignoring his hand and standing on her own, “And you didn’t have to stop.  I could have walked.”
“I doubt you know which road to take when the road forks, and I don’t want you wandering around.”
“Why should you care at all?”
His face took on a questioning look, and he said,
“I already told you why; I love you.”
That blush wasn’t a blush, it was just the morning light.

Dear Francis,
You’re right; Antonio isn’t all that bad.  But that doesn’t mean that I believe him when he says he didn’t do anything with South Italy.  That word is horrible!  I hate it!  It means that Antonio’s allowed to boss me around, and I hate that!  Although, he did save me the other day. But if he hadn’t, I would have found some way out.  He was just faster.  Stupid Antonio. (And thank you for the offer, but no.)

Your Sister,
Carolina
-----
Dear Carolina,
Antonio’s a great brother.  It’s good that he saved you!  I’m glad that he did.  Let me say this again to you, however.  Antonio doesn’t lie.  Ever.  I’m sorry that word bothers you, but it’s not like you can just eradicate it from the vocabulary.  And if Antonio really bothers you that much, you can write him letters – just don’t give them to him.

Your loving brother,
Francis
-----
Dear Antonio,
Stop making me blush thinking I’m blushing.  Because I’m not.  And I don’t need you to save me, I can take care of myself.  Also, don’t even think about talking to any of my siblings.  You have your own!  Stay with Jose and Santiago.  Leave Mariana alone!  I got her fair and square from the Pope!

Your sister,
Carolina

The minute she got home, Carolina stumbled into bed.  She didn’t even close the door, although Antonio did when he walked by later.  She woke up sometime in the afternoon, and changed into some actual clothes – she hadn’t realized before that she was in her night clothes – and walked quietly through the large house.  When she finally found someone she asked them where Antonio was.  The man said that Antonio was outside in the back.  Carolina ambled to the back door, and went outside.  Antonio was weeding a small garden, full of tomate plants.  She giggled softly, so Antonio would not hear her.  It was typical Antonio, with his love of tomatoes.  She kneeled down next to him, and reached forward next to him and grabbed one he had missed.  He jumped, surprised by the sudden movement next to him.
“Need some help?” she asked, laughing lightly.  He nodded.
“Thanks.”
Every once and a while they’re hands would brush while they were weeding, and her stomach would do flips.  She started to move away from Antonio, trying not to let their hands brush.
They were silent for a while, until Antonio said,
“Are you still mad at me?”
Carolina was taken aback by the question, and hadn’t even thought about it in a long while.  She was quiet for a moment too long, apparently, because Antonio said,
“Okay, I get it-”
“No.  I’m not still mad at you.” She interrupted, standing up and walking out of the garden, careful of the plants.  She started towards the house.  He stood up too, following her.
“Carolina, wait!”
She stopped, turning towards him.  He ran up to her and hugged her.  She slowly brought her arms up from her sides and returned the hug.

Dear Francis,
I think I’m allergic to tomates.  I was helping Antonio weed out his tomate garden, and my stomach was all weird.  Thank you for your advice about writing letters.  I’ve been writing one everyday.  And maybe you’re right about Antonio.   Maybe he doesn’t lie.  I still don’t like that word though.

Your Sister,
Carolina
-----
Dear Carolina,
You’re not allergic to tomatoes.  That is called love.  You’ve fallen in love with Antonio.  You will invite me to the wedding, won’t you?  What colors will you use?  Red and yellow?  Both of your flags had those colors.

Your loving brother,
Francis
-----
Dear Antonio,
Francis says that I’m in love with you.  I am not.  I swear.  I can’t be in love with you.  I mean, other than the fact that you’re always nice to me, saved me, and say stuff like ‘I love you’ all the time, doesn’t mean
Screw it.  So maybe I am in love with you.  But there is no way in hell we’re using red and yellow as our theme for our wedding.

I love you,
Carolina

Antonio smiled as she twirled in her dark blue dress again.
“You look beautiful, as always.  Dance with me again?”  He held out his hand.
“Do we have time before this thing we have to go to?”
He nodded and Carolina took his hand.  Antonio swung her around, her dress flaring like before.  She laughed happily.  The dance somehow turned into a waltz, Antonio holding her close to him.  When they stopped, he still held her close.
“I love you,” he whispered to her.
“I… love you too.” She replied.
Antonio smiled and kissed her gently.



Dear Francis,
I’ve been here with Antonio for 99 years.  He took me in 1580.  Apparently, I’m to go back home now.  I’m my own country again.  I’m going to miss Antonio.  A lot.
I was wondering if you would send the letters I’ve sent you over these years back, please.

And no, I no longer hate the word ‘annexed’.

Your sister,
Carolina
-----
Dear Antonio,
This is going to be the last letter that I’m going to write to you at this desk you gave me with this room.  I just want to tell you that every letter that I’ve ever written to you is in this drawer.  Also, there’s the letters that Francis sent me, and the letters I’ve sent him.  You don’t have to read them, but if you want to know what I’ve been thinking over the years, they’re here.

I love you,
Carolina

Carolina looked at the large house of her own that she had just returned to.  The place was dusty and spider-infested and dark, but it looked wonderful to her.  It was home.
When she turned around, Antonio was still there, on the horse they had ridden here.  He looked depressed, but still smiled at her.  She walked closer to him, and tugged on his sleeve.
“I still love you,” Carolina said.  Antonio leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.
“I know.”