Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Alice had never been able to swim, her parents hadn't ever taught her. She didn't even think her mother knew how and her father was always away. She hadn't ever been curious enough to attempt it alone. There was no incentive to knowing how. When she was young it was her mother's stories keeping her away from the edge, when she got older it wasn't worth it. She hadn't cared enough before.

Now, Alice was perched on a rock, the one he had leaning on, staring at the water below. It had been a week. She had spent every free second waiting here. He had said he would come back, but most people didn't just disappear beneath the ocean and not come up again. He could've been a dream, but he had been so real. She didn't even know where he had come from, who he was. He was a stranger to her.

Even though, there were those strangers, the one who you said five words to and you knew. She knew. She and him were meant to be something more. He had invaded her sanctuary, but she somehow found that she didn't really mind.

So she leaned closer to the water's edge. Only her own face looked back at her, a few clouds became her background. Alice reached out her hand, because maybe if she could touch the water where he had been, he would come back. She hadn't realized her foot had slipped on the damp rock before it was too late.

All she could do above the surface was scream quickly, but no one heard her. Everyone else was in a world somewhere else. The splash was large and the cold water chilled her to her core. Alice had enough to sense to hold her breath as she tried to fight her way to top again.

The sunshine above mocked her. It smiled as she struggled. The water was too thick and she was sinking too fast. Her eyes stung from the salty water and her throat burned as the sunlight became too far away. She was going to die. She was going to die a watery death. No one would even know what happened to her.

Suddenly she felt a warm hand on her shoulder, so different than the cold, suffocating water. She jerked around and saw a pair of pretty blue eyes. Alfred.

He said something under the water but she had no idea what he said. No bubbles escaped his mouth. He hugged her close and she felt the water move around her. His body was warm, but her head hurt. They broke the surface and Alice took a deep breath of air, relief flooding her as she could breathe again. She wasn't going to die yet.

Alice breathed heavily, still wrapped around Alfred, taking his warmth. Her feet brushed against something in the water, something smooth, but she wasn't sure what it was yet. She was more focused pushing air through her lungs and his closeness.

"Are you okay?" She heard him say softly, close to her ear.

"Yes." Alice breathed, burying her face in his neck.

"What were you doing?" Alfred asked, his arms still wrapped around her waist.

"Looking for you."

"I said I was coming back. You could've died." He scoffed. Alice realized the lines on his neck weren't just lines, they were almost like flaps, or gills. "Humans can't breathe underwater, you know."

"What?" Alice looked up at him, still tangled in his arms. His eyes met hers. Her thin arms wrapped around his neck, brushing against the lines.

"Humans can't breathe underwater." Alfred repeated.

"I-I know." Alice said softly, she looked down into the water. She could see their bodies pressed close together. Below that though, Alice saw her own legs, partly kicking in the water, but Alfred didn't have legs. He had a long golden and blue scaled tail. A mermaid. He was a mermaid.

He brought her back to the surface and she sat in the sand near the waves. He lingered at the rocks, he seemed to like those.

"You're a mermaid. Why didn't you say you were a mermaid? I didn't even know mermaids were real!" Alice exclaimed, the sand stuck to her wet clothes and her pigtails fell limply at her shoulders.

"Mermen is what they call us actually." Alfred said. He rested his head on his arms on the rocks.

"Whatever you are! Why didn't you say anything?!" She retorted.

The golden blond gave her a half shrug. "It was the first time we actually met. I didn't want to scare you off."

Alice wrung out a pigtail but stopped and looked at him. "First time we actually met?"

He blushed and hid his face a little more in his arms. "I've seen you around here a couple of times. It wasn't like I was looking for humans to spy on! If I had wanted that, I'd go to the docks. But I just saw you, and I've never seen a human before, and I thought you were really beautiful so I just watched you, just for a little bit. And then I couldn't help coming back and I was going to make you a present and leave it here so I was collecting shells but you saw me and I panicked and I can't be gone from home for too long or my parents will get worried." Alfred took a deep breath as he finished rambling.

Alice couldn't help but blush and smile at his words, even if it was a little strange. He was a merman though and that was strange enough. He thought she was beautiful.

They were silent for a few more minutes, Alice was watching the ocean, but looked over at Alfred instead. He was tracing a part of the rock he was resting on.

"What are you prince of?" The blond teen asked. He looked up at her.

"Oh, down there, my kingdom. I'm prince of them. They say I'll be king someday." The merman pointed into the water. Alice couldn't see anything where he pointed though.

"They say?" She asked and the other blond smiled to himself.

"Yeah, I don't really want to though."

"And what else would you rather do?"

"Get to know you."