Disclaimer: I borrowed the format and the first stanza from the original poem. Hear that? Borrowed. I'm not making any money off of this, so no suing, okay?

In other words: I own nothing but my own twisted ideas.

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The sea was wet as wet could be, the sands were dry as dry. You could not see a cloud, because no cloud was in the sky: No birds were flying overhead--
There were no birds to fly.

The Penguin and the Anglerfish were walking close at hand; they wept like anything to see that someone could understand: "If only I could see them now," they said, "it would be grand!"

"If one searched for a thousand years," the Penguin said, "Do you think she would appear?" I doubt it," said the Anglerfish, and shed a bitter tear.

"O Angler, come and walk with me!" The Penguin did beseech. "A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk, along the briny beach: We are two heartbroken souls, and may give a hand to each."

The poor young Angler shook her head, her shyness true to see, "If I did, I fear, he may yet hear my plea. But in this form, I have lost my old beauty: If he were to see me now, I'm sure that he would flee!"

But the personable Penguin would not be deterred: "For your former love to scorn you, that would be absurd! But if that's how you want it, I will not breathe a word."

And so the shy Angler took his 'hand,' and told him her sad tale: of her time with her lover, and how all their plans did fail. And on the sorry pair did walk, following the trail.

The Penguin and the Anglerfish walked on a mile or so, and then they rested on a rock conveniently low: they simply sat together, listening to the water's flow.

"The time has come," the Penguin said, "to talk of many things: Of shoes, and shacks, and carpet tacks, of princesses, and kings, of why the sea is freezing cold, and why the mermaid sings."

The Penguin and the Anglerfish whiled away the hours: they turned the talk to pleasant things, like pearls and songs and flowers. But then the topics shied away, to times of 'theirs' and 'ours.'

"I weep for you," the Penguin said: "I deeply sympathize." When with sobs and tears he sorted out his feelings of surprise, the Angler held her 'kerchief up to meet his streaming eyes.

Seeing the stained and tattered cloth, it made them realize: that once again, how foolishly, love was but before their eyes.

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"Yuuri-san!"

"Hippo-sama!"

And though it's difficult for a penguin and an anglerfish to embrace, they managed it. Because just when you least expect it, love will find a way.

---OWARI---

A/N: I saw the last couple of episodes today, and this popped into my head when I saw that Hippo wasn't the only one with a less flattering second form…