Unexpected Souvenir

Italy Mochi

When in Rome, do as the Romans do, and that's exactly how you've spent most of your time here in Italy. You've eaten enough pizza and pasta to easily last you the rest of your life, and you haven't been able to say no when offered a cannoli either.

The people have also been very friendly to you while you've been here, but not all of them speak decent English. It was difficult at first, but you think you've picked up enough Italian to get around just fine during the rest of your trip. You have over a week yet to spend in this beautiful country, and you plan on enjoying every minute of it.

Today you are visiting Juliet's Wall in Verona. There are several women there already who are writing on paper to place in or on the wall. The stone wall is covered from top to bottom in little pieces of colorful paper bearing the names of couples. Some have only names while others are letters written to Juliet. You don't have a significant other in your life, so that's why you decided to come here in the first place. If anyone can help you find someone, it would be Juliet.

You find a spot to sit by yourself to begin writing your letter. The idea that this is a little bit silly crosses your mind, but you quickly chase it away with a shake of your head. It may be silly, but that's what makes it fun. You pull out a sheet of pink paper from your bag and search for a pen in the jumbled mess inside.

"Ciao, bella ragazza (hello, pretty girl)!"

The voice startles you, and you turn to see who it belongs to. You're surprised to see a round, white object with a curl poking out of its right side smiling at you. You look around, but there's no one else nearby. Was it this thing that spoke to you?

"Stai scrivendo di Giulietta (are you writing to Juliet)?" it asks you.

You're not sure what it just said, but you recognize the name Juliet, so you choose to just nod at the round object. It smiles back at you in response.

"Veeeeeeeeeee~!" it exclaims as it hops up and down excitedly. "Sei qui per trovare l'amore (are you here to find love)?"

"I'm sorry. I don't know much Italian," you tell it. "Solo un po (just a little)."

The white object laughs, which causes it's curl to bounce. "How silly of me! I should have known you're a tourist."

"Oh, so you do speak English," you say in relief. It would have been a difficult conversation otherwise.

"Yes! I'm very good at English!" the thing says proudly. It's actually pretty cute how excited it is about this.

"What's your name, little guy?" you ask. He must be a boy since he's flirting with you. You have a pretty good sense for that kind of thing.

"I'm Italy Mochi!" he tells you. "What's your name?"

"I'm (y/n)," you tell him.

"Veeeeeee~! You're molto carina (very pretty), (y/n)," the mochi says.

You understood him this time. "Why, thank you, Italy Mochi," you say with a laugh. "You're not bad looking yourself."

"What are you going to write about?" he asks curiously.

You smile at him slightly embarrassed. "I'm writing for help finding love. Or I would be if I could find a pen."

"How about this one?" The mochi nudges a pen that is lying next to him on the ground. It must have fallen out of your bag when you were rummaging around.

"Perfect!" you exclaim. "Thanks!" You pat the top of the mochi to discover he's actually really soft. "Woah, you feel really nice!"

Italy Mochi blushes. "Sì (yes), I've been told that before."

Without thinking, you pick up the mochi and rub him against your cheek. "Mmmmmmm..." That's when you realize what you're doing. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" You quickly put the mochi down.

"I-it's alright. I'm used to it," Italy Mochi tells you. "At least you didn't try to eat me." He looks kind of traumatized as if he's recalling the afore mentioned experience.

"People do that?" you ask him with wide eyes. That seems rather extreme to you.

"Yes!" the mochi answers looking panic stricken. "This one time a very large dog tried to take a big bite out of me! It was very scary, and Germany Mochi wasn't there to help me!" He looks as if he's about to cry.

"It's okay! There's no need to be upset," you say soothingly as you pick up the mochi. "No one's going to eat you." You gently cradle Italy Mochi until the panicked look leaves his face.

"G-grazie (thank you), (y/n)," he says in a quiet voice. "It is not easy living on your own sometimes."

You furrow your brows in concern. "You live by yourself?"

"Sì. Sometimes Germany Mochi comes to visit me, but I haven't seen him in a long time..." Italy Mochi's voice trails off sadly.

You set him down on your lap and smile gently at him. "You could always come with me."

"Really? You would let me do that?" he asks. His mood immediately brightens at the idea, and his curl bounces happily.

"Sure, if you want to," you tell him. "I get a little lonely sometimes too."

"Grazie, grazie, grazie!" the mochi says excitedly. "This will be so much fun! We can eat pizza and pasta, and I can sing you songs about Germany, and we can watch silly movies and-" At that moment his stomach decides to growl very loudly.

"Looks like someone's hungry," you say with a laugh.

Italy Mochi laughs with you. "I haven't eaten in a while," he admits to you.

"Okay, first order of business. Get some food."

"Veeeeeeeee~!" the mochi says in agreement.

You pick him up carefully and start walking toward the street. "Where to, Italy Mochi?"

Several hours later you find yourself sitting in your hotel room completely stuffed. You had been surprised by how much the mochi could pack away, and somehow you managed to eat way more than you should have at the same time. Italy Mochi is currently sleeping on your bed with a warm blanket wrapped around him. He looks so peaceful in his sleep that you have to resist the urge to take a picture. It would probably wake him up.

You groan when your stomach complains about how much food you ate. You take a mental note to never eat that much food again. It still baffles you how Italy Mochi was able to eat so much and still be fine. He's like a black hole for pasta. You curl up in the armchair you're sitting on in an attempt to get more comfortable, and as you do so, a blank sheet of pink paper catches your eye.

It's the same one from Juliet's Wall that you never ended up writing on. Slowly, you reach out to pick it up off the table next to your chair. It might not be too late to write a little something and stop by the Wall before leaving for Rome in the morning. You pick up a pen and turn back to the paper. Now you just have to write something.

Your eyes wander off the page toward Italy Mochi, who is still sleeping soundly. You lower the pen and paper before deciding against writing a letter all together. A smile spreads across your face as you think about the mochi. You don't need to ask Juliet help you find someone. That'll happen in its own due time, and while you wait, you have Italy Mochi to keep you company.

"Mmmm...pasta..." he murmurs in his sleep.

You smile at the silly mochi, who is still thinking of food in his dreams. On a whim you lean down and gently place a kiss next to his curl. "Goodnight, Italy Mochi." You turn out the light and crawl under the blankets.

"Goodnight, (y/n)," Italy Mochi whispers too quietly for you to hear as his cheeks turn pink. As pink as the sheet of unused paper on the table that brought you two together.