Shout out to OtakuFledgeling, nightmarerabbitalice, guest, asdfghjk, Amawesomeguest, Velonica 999, and Chi-Chi's Poptart!

Never fear, there will be Giripan, RoChu, and GerIta, in the next chapter. :) I do need to circle back to them, but I also feel I need to feed these two pairings a little more. I have plans for all of them. *Laughs maniacally.*

On a more serious note, I have written very little GerIta as a whole, mostly because I'm not sure I can handle them properly. The balance of Germany's awkwardness and Italy's exuberant-ness is a delicate one. Next chapter will be an experiment. They're the one ship that's universal for all Hetalia fans, I think. Usually I like to have them as a pre-established couple, so this fic is taking me out of my comfort zone.

Enjoy!

Madeline woke up before Alfred, even on the weekend. Normally, she couldn't care less. But today was one of those days where they had obligations. She let him sleep until eight thirty, then tromped up to his room, plate in hand. It held the pancakes she hadn't had room for, along with a hearty helping of scrambled eggs. A pat of butter was melting on top, thick maple syrup slowly dripping down the sides of the stack.

She set the large plate and coffee cup on his bedside table, picked up a nearby comic book, and used it to fan the scent to her still sleeping twin. Alfred was still sprawled out, tangled in his sheets, out cold. It took a few seconds, but one hazy eye cracked open a hair.

"Food?" he groaned groggily.

"Pancakes. Butter. Maple syrup. Eggs. Lots of sugar and caffeine if you can get up," she told him, setting aside the comic book.

Alfred groaned, but otherwise didn't move. Used to this, Madeline picked up plate and mug. He made a louder, more enthusiastic groan of protest as she turned to leave.

"Come back pancakes," he mumbled, starting to stir.

Madeline didn't reply. She left plate and mug on the table, and rinsed out her coffee mug. She was putting an ice block in her lunch box when Alfred stumbled into the kitchen, still just in a white t-shirt and Superman boxers.

"What is today?" he mumbled, flopping down in a kitchen chair.

"Saturday. We promised to help Uncle Tony with his boat, remember?"

Their Uncle Tony was the oddball of the family. He did a lot of things, Madeline didn't know what all he did, and frankly she didn't want to. She did know he owned a boat, and did some commercial fishing, selling what he caught to local restaurants. Every now and then their mother would loan them out to help with the upkeep of said boat, or go out with him for a day, as a means to ensure they spent time with their eccentric uncle. He might be their father's brother, but their mother was the one who insisted on spending time with family, cracked or no. He didn't like anybody, but he seemed to like the twins, for reasons unknown.

"Yeah," mumbled Alfred around a mouthful of pancake. "Forgot."

"We promised," sighed Madeline, zipping the lunchbox shut.

"Mom promised," Alfred corrected. "You leaving early?"

"I need to make a stop first. Gilbert and I still need to do that Biology assignment. I'll meet you at the docks."

"Crap. Me and Francis were going to do ours today too."

Madeline sighed. "I'll call Uncle Tony and let him know. You know how he feels about school, he won't mind."

Alfred waved absently, chugging the coffee. One of Tony's oddities was that he loathed the school system, but he insisted the twins do well and that they find high profile jobs. Something about being able to run the system instead of letting the system run them. They'd learned not to ask long ago.

BREAK*BREAK*BREAK

Madeline wasn't sure what she was expecting when she knocked on the door of Gilbert's boarding house. She knew for a fact she wasn't expecting it to be opened by a man who rivaled Ivan in size, with a head of wild blond hair and piercing eyes. Unlike Ivan, he outright glared instead of giving her a creepy smile.

Trying not to gulp, she asked softly, "Um, is Gilbert here?"

The man grunted, opening the door wider and stepping aside. Madeline hesitated, then stepped over the threshold. The man shut the door, and led her down the main hallway. The house itself was long, built across two acres with a large surrounding yard. Madeline could see a pool in the backyard before the man pointed down a long hall off to the right.

"He's still in his room. Feel free to wake him up."

With that he walked away again. Madeline shivered, and padded down the hall. She remembered where his room was, at least. She knocked lightly on the door, and waited. When nothing happened, she tried again. That time she heard a familiar squawking, but nothing else. Did he sleep as heavily as Alfred too?

Knowing full well a bomb could go off in the room and Alfred still wouldn't wake up, Madeline timidly opened the door. Seeing only a mussed bed, she pushed the door open wider. The window leading to the front yard was open, and Gilbird was on his perch, but there was no Gilbert. Scowling, Madeline pushed the door open wider. Heaving a weary sigh, she walked over to greet the bird.

Gilbird hopped onto the offered finger, chirping hoarsely at her.

Madeline cracked a smile, gently petting his head with a finger. "How are you feeling? At least you're here. Any idea where Mr. Awesome went?"

Gilbird chirped at her again.

She was about to return him to his perch, and restart the search, when she heard someone pad into the doorway. She turned, and blinked. Gilbert, barefoot and clad only in low slung jeans, was staring at her in surprise. His ears turned a little pink. There was a plate stacked with what looked like half a dozen meat and cheese sandwiches in one hand, a soda in the other. A half eaten pickle was in his mouth.

He asked what sounded like, "Birdie?", but it came out more like, "Erie?"

Madeline made a face. "Eat that thing before you choke on it."

Gilbert stepped around her, setting plate and soda on the cluttered desk. He took a bite from the pickle, setting the rest on the plate. As he chewed he said, "You're here early."

"I have to help my uncle in the shipyard today. I'll be there until late. I wanted to get this done."

Still munching his pickle, Gilbert grabbed a t-shirt from the floor, pulling it over his head. "Shipyard?"

"Yeah, down in the marina."

He paused. "The place where they keep all the boats?"

Madeline gave him a funny look. "Yeah."

"Oh."

Gently moving Gilbird to her shoulder, she asked, "You don't like boats?"

"Nein."

"Why, do you get seasick?"

"Nein."

Madeline frowned as he rummaged around, unearthing his Biology notebook. "Then why?"

"Have you ever been on the underside of those things? They're dangerous. Ready?"

Gilbert plunked himself down on the floor, apparently prepared to do the assignment on the spot. Deciding he must really hate boats if he was so eager to get started, Madeline joined him, glad they'd finally get it done. Gilbird seemed content to stay where he was, making her giggle as he started preening her air. He was as odd as his master, but she liked him. It was a shame homework and assignments would be the only excuses she'd have to see the little guy.

BREAK*BREAK*BREAK

Alfred was still not there when Madeline got to the shipyard. She put the old, faded red Jeep in park and checked her phone. She'd asked if he was done before she'd left, and by now she had a return text. Apparently it was slow going for him and Francis. Heaving a sigh, she put her phone in the glove compartment, grabbing her lunchbox and getting out of the air conditioned vehicle.

Zipping her keys into the lunchbox, Madeline made her way down the main dock, flip-flops smacking against the planks. It was just 10:30, but the sun was high in the sky, beating down on her. She was already starting to sweat by the time she reached Tony's boat, an old but reliable thing he had dubbed the Up Yours. It was included on the long list of things Madeline didn't know and didn't want to know.

"Uncle Tony?" she called, stopping next to the boat.

There was a crash inside the cabin, and a head was thrust out a nearby window. "Maddie my girl! Get that homework done?" Madeline took it as part of her luck that the only person besides her parents and twin who had no problem seeing her was her eccentric uncle.

"Yeah. Permission to come aboard?"

"Granted. I'm almost done cleaning up in here. Where's your brother?"

"Still working," she said, stepping out onto the boat. "Not sure when he'll be done."

"Fine, fine. Whatever it takes. Stow the food and get to work. There's some beer in the fridge if you get thirsty."

Madeline sighed, stepping down into the cabin. "I'm not old enough to drink yet, Uncle Tony, remember?" He'd been offering for as long as she could remember. They had actually accepted the first time, when they were much younger, before their parents found out. Both twins had thought it tasted horribly bitter, effectively removing the temptation.

"Hey, I'm not squealer. Think you can get some WD-40 up on that winch? It's been driving me crazy for a week."

"Sure, where is it?"

"On the back of the boat."

Madeline rolled her eyes as Tony laughed. "With the tools, Maddie, it's with the tools."

BREAK*BREAK*BREAK

Noon came and went. Still no sign of Alfred. Tony went into town to pick up some groceries, saying he planned to go out the upcoming week. Madeline, working on the power block, absently waved as he disembarked. There wasn't much left to do with it anyway, meaning she could prop her feet up and relax until Tony came back with new orders.

After double checking to make sure the rubber replacement pieces were set properly, Madeline climbed onto the boat's side to reattach it. She kicked off her flip-flops, wrapping a hand onto the main pole as she stepped up onto the wide edge. She was about to bring up the power block when something flickered in the corner of her eye. She turned to look, and her heart sank.

It was barely noticeable, halfway to the bottom of the harbor, but just visible enough for light skin to stand out. Madeline had seen them before, and she hated it. Dropping the power block to the floor of the boat, she fumbled around the deck for Tony's net cutter. It seemed to take far too long to before she could find it, grabbing the hilt and dashing back to the boat's side. Taking a deep breath, Madeline dove over the side, plunging downward head first.

Tony made a point to never cut his nets if they got tangled. Other fishermen weren't so careful. Dolphins usually avoided the harbor, but every now and then some wandered in. This one had been unlucky, a net tangled around its sleek body. It was thrashing, trying to free itself, but was thus far unsuccessful. Why this one was alone she had no idea, they usually stayed in their pods, but she wasn't complaining. Usually if one got caught, more followed suit.

Madeline could feel her lungs starting to burn a little by the time she reached the dolphin, but tried not to think about it. The poor thing wasn't even struggling that much anymore. Terrified it was running out of air, Madeline grabbed a handful of net near its tail and started cutting.

The knife itself was sharp, but there was a lot of net. It seemed to take forever before Madeline was able to get rid of most of it, the dolphin holding surprisingly still. She knew that they weren't all like the ones in a aquarium, they were wild and understandably uneasy around humans. Either it had been down here too long already, or...she couldn't think what else. Her lungs were on fire, her movements were getting sluggish. Madeline didn't have long herself and she knew it.

Her vision was starting to go spotty when the dolphin finally swam free, darting straight to the surface. Madeline meant to follow, to claw her way to the surface and gulp lungfuls of air. Instead, she felt the handle of her blade slip through her fingers. Jerky, uncoordinated movements were all she was able to get out of her limbs. Why weren't they working properly? She couldn't breathe, she had to get to the surface.

Madeline tried. She really did, but if anything the sunlit surface of the water only seemed to get farther away. Was she sinking, or was that her imagination? It was getting hard to tell, her vision was going dark.

Right before she passed out completely, starved for oxygen, she felt a few stray bubbles of air escaped from her previously clinched mouth. A shadow passed over her. A boat? Would they see her? If they did, it wasn't before the darkness closed in completely.

BREAK*BREAK*BREAK

Madeline choked and retched, rolling onto her side to cough up sea water. She heaved, gasping between retches, filling her lungs with sweet, sweet air. It took a minute, but when she was able to breathe properly she lifted her head, looking around blearily.

She found herself lying on one of the little-used docks near the mouth of the harbor, well out of sight of Tony's boat. How had she ended up way out here? Madeline dragged herself into a sitting position, trying to find whoever it was who had saved her, but didn't see anyone. She looked down at herself, starting to question whether or not she had survived, and noticed something clutched in one hand.

"What...

Madeline pulled herself into a cross legged sitting position, still coughing a little, to study the thing. Honestly? It looked like a scale. She'd been drafted to help clean fish enough to know one when she saw it. That said, it was thicker, and much bigger, than any fish scale she'd seen before. Did they even come this big? There were big fish, sure, but she'd never heard of one who's scales were the size of a hockey puck. It was perfectly round, almost like a sand dollar, but not so thin she could see her fingers through it. Odder still, it was creamy white. She hadn't heard of any white local fish. Tony liked to ramble sometimes, especially on his favorite topics. She would have heard if there was a rare white or albino fish here, whichever this one belonged to.

Slowly, Madeline got to her feet. Assured she had regained enough strength to walk without falling over, she made her way down the dock. The scale, after a moment's hesitation, she kept. She wasn't sure why, but she didn't want to throw it away. She also didn't want Tony to see it. He was the king of all conspiracy nuts. What's more, if there was a giant albino fish out there, he'd want to catch it, whether or not it had somehow managed to save her.

The last part she still wasn't so sure about, but then Madeline didn't know what else to think. She had been almost a quarter of a mile from here when she'd gone into the water, and she knew for a fact she'd been drowning. She hadn't even had the strength to return to the surface.

Alfred was on the boat by the time she got back, busily working away at the deadbeat engine that Tony refused to replace. For whatever reason, whenever anyone else tried to drive the Up Yours, the engine blew out within half an hour. Even then, they were constantly repairing it and making tweaks to postpone the inevitable.

Madeline stumbled over the boat's rail, and Alfred called, "Where'd ya go? Uncle Tony bail again?"

"Dolphin in a net," she said tiredly, trudging over to the cabin. "Where have you been?"

"You do not know the meaning of the word 'stall' until you've met Francis," he said wearily.

"Isn't that your specialty?" asked Madeline, pulling out her lunchbox. She slipped the scale inside, and Alfred was none the wiser.

"I think I've met my match," was his grim reply.

Raising her soda in a toast, grinning, she said, "Here's to him, then."

"Shut up. And you know 'groceries' is code for 'getting drunk', right?"

"Yeah. I was going to give him another hour before I went to get him. If he's drunk he can't give us anymore work to do."

"He left us a list, didn't he."

"Yep."

"Great. I'll look at it in a sec. Hey, do you think we can convince drunk Tony to get a new engine?"

"I doubt it, but it's worth a shot. Help me drag his butt back onto the boat and we'll give it a try."

"Deal. Oh crap."

Madeline had just enough time to ask, "What?" before the engine gave a soft boom! A cloud of black smoke rose of the engine, and Alfred fell backwards, choking. Grinning, she said, "You tried to make her faster again, didn't you?"

"Maybe," grumbled her brother, grabbing an oil rag to get some of the black grime off his face.

"You're never going to learn, are you?" mused Madeline quietly. He tried that every time, with interesting results. Despite this, Alfred was nothing if not persistent. And he hated how the Up Yours would only go fifty mph. The idea of getting Tony to buy a new engine was sounding better by the minute.

BREAK*BREAK*BREAK

Lovina was speechless. It wasn't a state she was used to finding herself in, to say the least. She could feel the delight and pride practically radiating off of Antonio, who was drifting next to her. She didn't even have the urge to punch him.

"What do you think, Lovi?"

"È bellissimo," she murmured.

Antonio had met her on the beach that morning, having convinced her to agree to a date of sorts. He didn't call it that, but she did. She'd grumbled a little, but had let him coax her out into the water. Once submerged, Lovina was surprised to find herself relaxing a little. Being around water still made her uneasy, but for whatever reason having gills seemed to make it easier to get over it without even thinking about it.

The reef itself was, as she'd said, beautiful. The colors seemed more vibrant than anything she'd seen in pictures or on TV, and the fish were almost friendly. They drifted forward, Antonio still holding her hand. For whatever reason, he'd refused to take her here until she'd agreed to do that much.

They were getting closer now, to both the reef and the sea floor, getting a better look at the coral and shells. Most of the later were actually moving about, working their way over the sand or trying to burry themselves. One disturbed a flounder, which took off across the sea bed for several yards before settling down again. Lovina was watching them, fascinated, when a small cluster of things caught her eye. They weren't fish, but they didn't look like shells either.

"What are those things?" she asked, pointing.

Antonio followed her gesture, and smiled. "They're sand dollars, live ones."

Lovina frowned. "Sand dollars are alive?"

The Mer laughed, letting go of her hand. He swam down, scooping one of the round things up and coming back up to her. "Sì, so is everything else that eventually washes up on the beach."

"Aren't they supposed to be white?" she asked, peering at the thing in Antonio's palm.

"No. They're like conch, what you see afterward is just the shell. There's a little creature inside, and it had little fibers all over that it uses to move. When the creature dies, they usually wash up on a beach. The sun bleaches them white. These are plain, but the farther out you go the prettier they get. Humans only see these brown ones, or the dead white ones. Around Atlantica they're every color you can think of, Lovi."

Lovina studied the living sand dollar, fascinated. This one was a maroon reddish-brown, and she could see it moving, shifting in Antonio's palm as it tried to crawl out. She wasn't as good as her sister, but she did like to paint. She could never seem to manage people, but she could do anything else. Not that it seemed to matter much. The idea of sand dollars that came in a rainbow of colors was fascinating.

"Want to hold it?" he offered, still smiling brightly.

"Uh, sure."

She cupped her hands, and Antonio placed it in her palms. Lovina turned it over, surprised to find it both slimy and ticklish. The feeling of a thousand tiny antennae trying to crawl over her hand wasn't as creepy as she'd thought it be. It really did tickle, and a tiny smile forced its way out.

"Do you think we could take a few of these back?" Lovina asked. "There's a bucket Feli keeps in the trunk for shells she likes. We could fill it up with water so they wouldn't die."

Antonio cocked his head. "Of course. But why?"

"I have an idea. Nonno lets you change your title for the art festival, as long as you can have something prepared in time." She dropped the sand dollar, and started paddling herself back towards shore. Her embarrassingly marginal progress was cut short when a pair of hands clamped down on either side of her waist.

"Hey!" she protested, floundering.

"I want to know what you're going to do instead," said Antonio, flicking his tail so they were upright.

Lovina huffed. "Why the hell should I tell you?" Promptly two seconds later, she was regretting the question. When he pulled away, she smacked his chest and informed him angrily that kissing wasn't an answer.

"How about I don't help you until you tell me?"

She glared at him, but for whatever reason Antonio's immunity to her personality remained.

"Fine. Shell mosaic."

Antonio considered this, then smiled. He kissed her forehead, and turned to swim them back to the beach.

È bellissimo- it's beautiful

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