"This better not be a hallucination!" Prussia laughed, sank down to his knees and kissed the sand. He ruffled his soaking white hair and sighed from relief. Here was a miracle to end their horrible day. They were all finally out of the ocean. They had hope now. Food, water and shelter were theirs.

He clutched his throat. Even breathing hurt, it was so dry. He stood up on the burning sand, but his legs were so weak that he just sank down to his knees again. But he didn't mind that as he laid his head on the sand, he felt like his cheek was being cooked. He was just happy that he could rest.

He looked over at the others. America and France had England, who was frantically squirming, in a bear hug. But even if England seemed really uncomfortable, he was still slightly smiling. Italy was jumping up and down, tugging on Germany's sleeve and pointing at the expanse of island before them while Japan watched his two friends with a gleam in his eye. Russia was standing stiffly with that creepy grin of his, while China stared at him. And Canada was staring into the jungle, face scrunched with disgust. He was probably just starving.

"Hey," Prussia put his arm around Canada "Aren't you happy?"

Canada snapped himself out of his daze and quickly brushed off Prussia's arm. But he didn't turn to look at his friend, "Huh? Oh, yeah."

Prussia grunted, "What's your problem? Do you feel okay?"

He warily eyed his friend. They'd been stranded in the middle of the ocean for two and a half days. That long without food, but especially water, might have worn down on him. But Canada finally looked at Prussia and chuckled, "I'm fine, just thirsty."

The albino nodded, but the realization had hit him. Small islands like this one rarely had fresh water sources. They were surrounded by the salty ocean and the toxicity of it taunted him. But all islands had coconuts right? Maybe they could drink from those.

"England!" He called, "Canada and I are going to gather some coconuts!"

England pushed America and France off of him, walked over, and scoffed, "Idiot, do you see any coconuts around."

"It's an island. There has to be coconuts somewhere."

"You watch too much TV."

"Well what are we supposed to drink then?"

Prussia took a quick glance at Canada to see how he was holding up. His face was flushed and he was kind of hiding behind him. It was kind of adorable.

"Plants." England stated.

"What?"

"Sometimes vines store water inside. If you cut them open you can get the water. So we can go into the jungle area of the island and find them." Prussia nodded and England continued, "I think we're all pretty thirsty. Everyone can search together.

Prussia nudged Canada, "Sound good to you?"

His eyes bulged a bit, "We're going into the jungle?"

"Yeah, is that okay?" Canada hesitated before nodding.

England collected the rest of the group and they all started for the heart of the island. The further they went, the more humid it became. It felt like literally breathing water.

Swarms of flies were everywhere, and seemed particularly attracted to Canada's ears. At one point as he went to swat the fly away, he accidentally slapped Prussia. He was so embarrassed that he slowed his pace to walk behind everyone, so they wouldn't see his face go red.

On the way, Italy found some sharp rocks that could be used to cut vines and danced in delight at his contribution. England kept them and slashed at every vine he saw, but even after all these hours, every single vine had been dry. On top of that, no one had seen any fruits, or animals for meat.

Everyone took a rest from walking to give England time to brood. He started cursing under his breath as France rolled his eyes, scolding him for his attitude. Russia had wandered off to who-knows-where and Italy was still smiling from ear to ear, oblivious to the tense atmosphere. Germany was softly whistling as he gathered palm fronds and water-less vines, which Canada assumed was going to be the materials for shelter. But Canada just stood there, not knowing what he was should to do. He supposed he could help Germany, but he was so scary... There was no hope of trying to reconcile England and France, who were practically at each others' throats. And everyone else was talking to each other about anything other than survival-related topics, so the only thing left to do was find Russia. The sun had started to go down anyway, and his frightening friend should probably be brought back.

"Hey, guys…I'm going to look for Russia now." But no one answered. They didn't even turn to look at him. "Guys!" He tried to yell, but he supposed it might have only come out as a whisper. He wanted to tap someone to get their attention but everyone was still in conversation with each other. He decided that he would rather not interrupt anyone and instead, would make a quick run and come back before they left.

Canada disappeared from the vision of the group, and headed in the direction that Russia had gone off to. Navigating proved difficult because everything looked the same. The trees, the leaves, the ground… none of it changed as he marched on. He couldn't even remember which direction he had come from anymore. Maybe he was even going in circles. How long had it even been since he left? He decided that he would get nowhere if he didn't even know where he was supposed to be going in the first place, and turned back around in the direction he thought he had come from.

As time went on, it seemed as though the sky was pressing down on him, smothering him. He gasped for air but couldn't find it. His vision narrowed and everything became blurry. Then his legs gave out and he found himself lying of the jungle floor clutching at anything that might help him stand back up. But he found nothing… until he felt a hand. As soon as he grasped it, breath returned to him and his vision slowly restored. America must have noticed that he was gone, and came looking for him. He used his friend for leverage to stand up, but once he was off the ground and let go of the hand, he saw no one.

"America!" Canada shouted, but there was no reply. "Russia?" Again, there was no reply. "Who's there?" But he was only talking to himself. He figured it must be the effects of dehydration, and the whole thing must have been a hallucination. Of course no one noticed he was gone. They never did.

But before he started searching for Russia again, he heard a voice that he didn't recognize. "I'll see you soon." it said. Canada whirled around to look for the source, but the only thing he saw was a crow perched on the tree in front of him. For a moment, he forgot about what happened, and all he could concentrate on was the potential for food sitting on the tree branch. He slowly and quietly picked up the nearest stick, and hurled it as hard as he could, but as soon as the stick should have connected, the crow disappeared. It must have been another hallucination.

"Oh there you are." Trudging through the brush toward him was America. Canada wasn't sure if he believed that his brother was actually standing before him, or if this was just another hallucination, but he waved anyway. "Dude, I've been looking everywhere for you. What are you doing?"

Canada blushed and looked down, "I was looking for Russia."

America raised his eyebrow, "Huh? Russia's with everyone else back at the beach."

He must have come back after I left, Canada thought. The whole endeavor was a waste of time then, but at least he was doing something other than just standing around watching everyone else talk. But did they all seriously go back to the beach without him?

"Anyway," America continued, "Prussia caught a fish and we're cooking it right now. So if you want some..."

"What about water?"

America bit his lip, "We couldn't find any. But England suggested digging a hole in the ground tomorrow. Apparently it will be kind of like a well, and I guess there's a chance we might find water at the bottom or something."

Canada wondered if he would even be able to help dig the well the next day. He was already hallucinating. He might not have his head then. When he realized that America was staring at him, waiting for a response, he nodded, maybe a bit too fast.

America eyed him suspiciously, "Yeah, so, let's go back and eat before everyone else steals our share."

Canada was surprised that America knew where he was going in the dense jungle. But eventually the dirt turned into sand, and in the distance was a fire blazing with England, France, China, Russia, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Prussia sitting around it, mauling into their fish.

America sprinted toward the fire, "England, where did my fish go?" he yelled.

England jumped up and held his hands out, "I didn't take your bloody fish! It's right there!"

Canada shook his head at the two and sat down next to Prussia and Italy. Italy didn't seem to notice him, but Prussia punched his arm. "Ow…"

"Where were you?" the albino laughed, but suddenly his face went flat, "You look like you saw a ghost. You okay?"

Canada didn't feel okay. His throat felt like it was on fire, and he was worried about dehydration. But other than that, he supposed he was fine. He was still alive after all. "I'm okay."

Prussia stared at his friend a little longer, trying to tell if he was actually being truthful, but other than being pale, he looked fine. Prussia gave it up and tore into the rest of his fish, and groaned when he finished it all.

Canada realized he hadn't even started on his own portion of the fish, but didn't see where it might be. "Um…" He looked around but no one paid him any mind. "My fish…"

Russia grinned at him, "Oh I saw the extra food and thought no one had claimed it. I'm sorry, comrade."

Canada sighed, but not loud enough for anyone else to hear. He clutched his stomach, and when it started growling he whispered for it to shut up. Prussia chuckled, but he couldn't tell if it was because of what he said or not.

The warmth of the flames was soothing, and Canada found that his eyelids became heavier by the minute. His body relaxed, and he told himself that he would only close his eyes for a few seconds, but those seconds became minutes, and soon he didn't even remember how long it had been. After a while he couldn't hear the others' voices anymore, and he knew he was dreaming. In the dream he saw the crow from earlier.

"Soon." It was the same voice he heard in the jungle. Before he could ask who it was, he woke up to the break of dawn… and to France and England's bickering.