Summary: Sealand has finally found the people who would make him great. Part of 'Colors of the World Series'. Can be read alone. One-shot. Color Blindness Soulmate prompt.

Pairings: Peter/OFC/OMC

Warnings/ Tags: A-Sexual characters and relationships, Polyamory, Growing Age Differences, Immortal/Mortal relationships, Character Death

Author's Note: I don't really have much to say. I'm sorry it took so long to UPdate the series... If this seems a little bit off it's because I had to adjust it for my sociology class... Long story short I got to write fanfiction for my final project. I hope you enjoy it!

Teal, The Color of Reflected Light

Sealand was at a park near the beach while visiting that Jerk England when they met. He was on the swings when he heard some commotion from just out of sight. He pumped his legs harder so as to swing high enough to see past the small ridge that was obscuring his view. When he was high enough to see what the trouble was he caught sight of mean looking children gathered around an impressive looking sandcastle and laughing. There was nothing out of the ordinary until he hit the peak height of his swing when he saw who it was that had initially cried out. He nearly fell out of his swing.

She was blinding. She literally blinded him for an instant as the glass from her watch reflected directly into his eyes. Peter slowed the swing to a stop as he tried to regain his vision. He blinked rapidly hoping that it would help him see sooner. When he could see once again he continued to blink. It took him a moment to process that the world had shifted around him. Rather, he had changed and could now see the beauty more clearly.

Peter then felt compelled to find the girl and so started to head over the ridge in hopes that she was still there. By the time he was able to reach her the once sandcastle had been destroyed and the bullies had left the girl to her tears. The girl didn't look up from her ruined handiwork as she tried to salvage what remained. From the sheer amount of littered shells and debris within the crushed sand Sealand figured the castle had once been quite the decorated sight.

"Uh… ummmm… Would you like some help rebuilding that?" Peter stammered. He didn't know what else to say to her so he said the first thing that popped in to his mind.

At his words the girl's head jerked up to see if those jerks from before had returned. She was prepared to fight back as she had nothing left to protect. When she looked up and locked eyes with Sealand they both froze.

Later Peter would learn that the color of her eyes were teal, like the color of the ocean. She had golden hair that almost glinted when the sun caught it just right and very dark brown skin. He thought her very pretty, for a girl that is.

"Ummm… Sure!" She replied loudly. She wasn't really sure what just happened but she knew that the world just became very different and she liked it. Nothing was the same as it was and she decided it was very nice as she continued, "My name is Emily! What's yours?"

"My official name is the Principality of Sealand b-but you can call me Peter," he replied with a faint blush.

"Why do you have two names?" Emily asked curiously. She was not yet old enough to know what principalities were and thought it a title like royalty. "Where is Sealand?"

Peter puffed out his cheeks in childish indignation at someone not knowing where his country was. Despite being over sixty years old he still had the mind and body of a child. His territory was not yet large or developed enough for him to appear to be any older. He had seen the past decades come and go, countless trends and people, he should have had the wisdom to know the world around him but at the end of the day he was just a little boy, unable to grow up and prone to the folly of youth.

"Right in front of you! But my land is about seven nautical miles off the coast of Suffolk." Sealand claimed proudly. He didn't quite grasp the gravity of the situation and its significance. Nor did he realize what secrets he just revealed to an average citizen. No one had ever warned him not to and now it was too late. The grown nations all seemed dead set on brushing him aside when he asked serious nation question. Sweden, his current guardian, would have told him the rules of revealing his nationhood status and had "The Talk" with young Sealand but he assumed that the boy's previous guardian, England, had already done his duties as an older brother and parent nation. He was wrong.

"That's so cool! I bet you're really strong!" Emily exclaimed. She somewhat grasped the concept laid before her that nations were people. She was still young yet and had an open and creative mind.

"I am… But no one will recognize me," Sealand stuttered and blushed in embarrassment.

"Why not?" Sealand blushed even harder if it were possible.

"Because they're jerks! Especially that Jerk England! They're just afraid of what would happen if I became even more powerful!" He pronounced this so passionately that it swept Emily into that passion as she jumped to her feet.

"Then I'll help you get recognized!" She stuck out her pinky finger as she continued, "I pinky swear it!"

Peter's eyes grew wide. No one had ever thought that he could actually make it as a nation let alone promised to help him. He quickly caught her pinky with his own.

"Is there anything you want in return?"

"Ummm…. Help me build?" She gestured to the pile of sand with her other hand.

"Of course!"

"Yay! I have a feeling that together we're bound to succeed and then we can rub it in all of their faces," Emily said conspiratorially.

Both laughed in agreement. They spent the rest of the day playing and building new and better sandcastles. While they were working on the castle they talked and found that had much in common. They both loved the anime that Japan created and Emily was amazed when he told her that Japan even had magic that turned him into Mecha Robot with the ability to Rocket Punch. She also knew what she was going to ask Santa, who turned out to be Peter's somewhat mother-like figure Finland, for Christmas. When it was time to leave they revealed to their guardians what had occurred. Sweden and Emily's parents exchanged contact information and they were on their way.

A month passed with only phone calls to hold the two children together. Although the subject matter was inconsequential, from the latest episodes of their favorite shows to random youtube videos they saw, they both felt more and more connected as time went on. It was the fact that they spent this time somewhat together, despite being countries apart, is what made it meaningful. Eventually, both Sweden and Emily's parents grew concerned as they saw their charges pine away without the ability to see their other half. After another month of separation it was clear that this situation could not continue and so an agreement was made. Peter would live with Emily and her family during the school year as to not disrupt her studies. The holidays would be spent with Sweden so that Sealand could continue learning about and be around other nations. During their time with Sweden they would spend time at the sea fort that was Sealand so that Peter could literally touch his home base.

They quickly became the best of friends beyond what they already were. They shared everything with one another, from food to secrets. If one was addressed it was implied the other would be included. Most nights they could be found curled up together in their bed. They had started off in separate rooms but one night, a few nights after Peter had moved in, he had a nightmare and sought refuge with Emily. A few nights later it had been Emily who was afraid. Eventually it seemed pointless to go to sleep in different beds.

Four years passed by quickly and Emily caught up to Peter in physical and mental age. Soon she started to surpass him physically, as he remained the same, but mentally he started to grow in tandem with her. Emily's parents, as well as Sweden, Finland and even England, to an extent, worried about Emily aging while Peter remained in a youthful, childlike, body. The complications were sure to be boundless but were calmed down due to the fact that they had to be soulmates for a reason even if that reason wasn't readily apparent. It never bothered Emily and Peter. Peter was aging, just at a much slower rate and by the time Emily was eighteen Peter had grown several centimeters and looked to be fourteen years old rather than the twelve years he looked before.

While their parents had fret about the mortality/immortality issue they had not. Early on the pair agreed that they would need to bring in a third member into their relationship. They were everything to one another but they knew they needed someone to keep themselves open to others and to age normally with Emily. They had enough love and trust to bring someone else in and not have it disrupt what they had. They would give this new person all the love and support they were capable of giving but also knew they had to be willing to let them go should that person find their own soulmate and wanted to pursue a romantic relationship with them. Not all soulmates were of the romantic variety despite what the majority of people tried to make them believe. If the hypothetical person did find their soulmate and it was a romantic bond then they would cross that bridge if they got there.

Upon entering the dating scene they ran into more issues than originally anticipated. It was difficult to for them to find someone who would be open to a polyamorous relationship and then look past Peter's apparent physical age. They normally told people it was a condition caused by a hormone imbalance and he really was their age, them not knowing that Peter was much older than them. Not many people would consider it anyways. After a while the two decided it would be best if Emily were to look for someone on her own when another road block arose.

Pretty quickly it became apparent that Emily wasn't interested in some of the more physical aspects a typical romantic relationship entails. She lost her first two partners that way. They were both lovely people who also enjoyed Peter's company but they didn't feel the intimacy without the sexual component. Emily fell in love with her second boyfriend, Adam, and decided to try having sex with him. She just didn't feel the arousal that she knew he felt. After the act she had told him as much and he left her like her two previous partners.

That night Peter comforted her as she cried her heart out. She cried for the man she loved besides Peter. She cried for Samuel and Elizabeth who were lovely but couldn't accept her for everything that she was. She cried because at times she didn't feel whole for not feeling what others felt. Everything she had seen, books, movies, magazines, all told her she should be feeling this sensation but she didn't. She wasn't what they said was normal and it hurt. She was abnormal, she was other, she was not a part of the group and everyone left her out because of it. As she cried Peter reminded her that she was perfect just the way she was. Who cared what the group thought? The media was biased and they were wrong.

Peter reminded her that she wasn't alone and that he knew what it was like. How the others didn't see him as a full nation just because he didn't have much territory to his principality. Just because he didn't have a lot of land didn't make him less of a country. He was there, he existed and he was fine so he couldn't be just a freak anomaly. He reminded her of the other micronations and how they were outside the nations' norms but they had formed their own community. She was just the same. Just because she didn't feel as other people thought she should didn't mean that she was incapable of a romantic relationship outside of theirs. They may not have had a Hollywood romance but as long as there was love the relationships weren't any less real. They weren't alone in this. Just because they weren't part of the dominant culture didn't mean they were nothing. They would find someone. At the end of the day if they couldn't make their duo a trio they would still have each other but they would find someone, just you wait and see.

Peter was proven correct when he was there as Best Man when she got married to a lovely man named David. David was everything the pair was looking for in a third partner. He was able to look past Peter's apparent age and despite not being asexual himself, rather he was bisexual, he did not find it to dampen his romantic relationship with the two. When asked he jokingly exclaimed that his first sexual relationship was with his right hand and he wasn't going to cheat anytime soon. What was important to him was the mental intimacy and everything else that a romantic relationship entailed. They all dated for five years and when Emily was twenty-six she was legally married to David. No one missed that David and Peter wore the same tuxedo at the wedding and all of the wedding photos were of the three of them.

Peter, Emily and David shared a happy life together. Sometimes they would pair off to spend time alone with one of the others but these times were rare as they were solidly one unit of three.

Through the years Emily kept her pinky promise to help Sealand become a recognized nation. She became a well renowned architect who specialized in aquatic based structures. As luck would have it David was from a fairly influential family in foreign affairs. He was able to pull some strings and get many different people from various nations to invest in the idea of an underwater city which could act as an independent neutral state dedicated almost solely for international relations and conferences.

The first thing the trio did was buy the surrounding sea space from England so that Sealand officially had its own territory beyond his fort and the small area surrounding it. With this new acquisition Peter shot up several more centimeters and now appeared to be around sixteen practically overnight. Over the next few years as building began he slowly started to age steadily. When Emily and David were in their late thirties the first building was finished. Peter looked to be around eighteen years old which was just shy in age of what the other, fully grown nations, appeared to be when he stopped.

Now that building had started and they were settling down they all decided to have a child. All of their friends had at least one already, Emily and David's parents had been putting pressure on them for grandchildren for a while and now they felt that they were ready. They went to the fertility clinic only to find that Emily was unable to have children. She was nearly inconsolable as she felt this was another marker against her being a normal member of society and how she should be. It took even Peter a lot of hard work to get through to her this time.

"Emily, look at me," Sealand said gently as he place his hands on her shoulders. Emily jerked her head away from her gaze at the school of fish just outside the window. She had been distant the last few days.

"What is it Peter?"

"Do you see me?" Emily looked at him uncomprehendingly. "Look at me."

"I see you Peter. I see you," Emily replied confused. Peter stomped his foot.

"No, you're not looking!" He said childishly before throwing his eyes arms wide, gesturing to their surroundings. "Look at me! Look at all of me!"

She looked around at the walls she had lovingly designed and helped create. She remembered all of all the hard work and careful planning she put into them. All of the love and childhood promises that they represented. She smiled for the first time in days as she remembered the past fondly.

"I see you Peter."

"Good, look at what you and me and David created together. You're my best friend, my partner, and my soulmate. You and David are my life but you also helped me grow up. I had been stuck as a child for over sixty years, doomed never to grow up but then I met you. I would be nothing, not the person I am, nor the nation, without the two of you.

"When we adopt some kids we'll be brilliant parents. You've already created so much and now you have all this love to keep giving. So what if they won't be ours genetically? They'll still be our creations. We'll raise them and they'll be so loved. What do you think?" Peter's face was pretty red by the end of his impromptu speech.

"Thank you Peter. You always say what I need to hear. You know I wouldn't be the person I am today without you either.

"So as Peter Kirkland you are my best friend, husband and soulmate but as Sealand you're partly my creation and country. Yeah, that's pretty weird but I guess I'm pretty weird too and I can live with that." She smiled widely. Her teal colored eyes sparkled as the light reflected mischief off of them when she added, "So should I tell David we're adopting or should you?"

The release of tension made them both laugh themselves silly and later they nearly died of laughter when David brought the idea of adoption up himself. He had a chart and leaflets and everything. It was so touching to the two and they were so relieved. It was like Christmas had come early.

Many years later, long after the political battles were fought and won, long after the children were grown and old, Sealand was declared a full nation in the eyes of the world. Granted, it was one of the smallest nations but it was official. After a small acknowledgment at the United Nations Peter made his way back home to his country. Once he was back he proceeded to a small garden dedicated to the initial founders of Sealand. This just so happened to be the final resting places of Emily and David.

Emily had been the first to die. It was an accident. She had fallen down some stairs and landed the wrong way. Peter nearly had a heart attack when most of the colors in his life suddenly vanished and were replaced by a dreadful grey. It was only with David's mutual love and support were they able to cope with her loss.

Peter spent the rest of David's days with him. The children were luckily already grown and out of the house so they didn't have to worry about taking care of them as well. Peter knew that David dreaded his own death because it would mean Peter would be alone. No amount of reassurance on Peter's part could allay that dread. Many years later Peter woke up to a world that was completely grey only to find that David died peacefully in his sleep while they were curled up like they had once done with Emily.

Peter did not break down as most people were expected to do when their soulmate and partner had died. Many thought him odd and distant for not publically, or even privately, mourn their loss. He did mourn their passing and missed them dearly but kept their memory alive by continuing their life long goal. He made sure that their plans for development and expansion were going smoothly. He also made sure that their ambassadors to other countries kept up their persistence in convincing other countries of his nationhood. When he was finally recognized by Sweden and the other countries were soon to follow until the entire world acknowledged him. Peter wished that they were able to see this day finally happen but he knew that they would have been so happy with him.

For just a moment he basked in the memory of his and Emily's promise to rub it in all of their jerk faces when they got there. It was a simpler time when he didn't have to worry about diplomacy or the responsibilities of being an actual nation. Peter did rub it in Jerk England's face though as it was just too tempting to resist. It was almost like having Emily with him again when England got that particular look of annoyance on his face he hadn't seen since they had last raided his house childishly demanding he recognize the Great Principality of Sealand. There was still a paint and glitter stain on of his antique rugs.

Sealand walked around the garden talking about his first day as an official nation. When he was done he promised to come again tomorrow to tell them of his day once more. As time went on and people began to forget they found it odd that every day without fail a young man would come and speak to the founders' garden as if he were intimately familiar with them. It was impossible as they had been gone for longer than he could have possibly been alive. However, they left him to it and if they noticed he didn't age they kept it to themselves. It just became one of those things that the group just accepts as fact and moved on.

Peter, for his part, never really noticed the others beyond the periphery while he was there. He cared for his citizens, yes, but, human life was so fleeting. Everything was constantly changing as the humans lived such short lives. The names, the faces, and especially the culture, were there one moment and replaced with a different one the next and yet it still remained somewhat the same as things repeated in cycles as human nature remained constant. It was confusing to those who lived so long and so most nations, Sealand included, ignored it when they could.

Over the years even his building had been replace with new ones that could go deeper under the water and be just as safe. The only place to remain the same, with his great effort, were the gardens which were part of the country's original design. They were close to the surface of the ocean and so everyday Peter could see the sunlight reflecting off the water. It was as blinding as the day he met her and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Author's Note: I hope you liked it and if there's something the matter, if I need to edit something or anything else, please let me know.

Published: 12 December 2014