It had been a long day. A long, hard, exhausting day. England had returned home from the world meeting with a sense of hopelessness hanging over him like a raincloud. Why did he even bother to attend those things? They were pointless. As soon as it looked like they might accomplish something - anything - they got bogged down in the quagmire of bureaucracy and paperwork and all progress was lost. He dragged himself into the house and, noting happily that none of his brothers seemed to be around, flopped down into his favourite armchair.

And that was when everything took a turn for the better, as it always did when his friends showed up. Uni, Captain Hook, Tinkerbell and the Flying Mint Bunny seemed to materialise out of nowhere, springing up from behind the couch and running over to brighten his day. They chatted, they laughed, they were truly happy...

Until England looked up from a conversation on the merits of peppermint versus spearmint with the Flying Mint Bunny to see Scotland standing in the doorway.

"What in God's name ae ye doin?"

His friends, always easily startled by the appearance of outsiders, disappeared. England stared his brother in the eyes. He would've made some kind of excuse on any other day, but Scotland had just interrupted his alone time with his friends. It was the only relaxation he would have all day and he had ruined it.

"I was talking to my friends," he said, defiantly.

"Pull the other one. Ye dinnae 'ave any friends."

"I do so have friends! They were right there before you scared them off!"

"I didnae see any 'friends'."

"That's because they're invisible," sighed England.

Scotland raised a thick eyebrow. "Ye mean the only people ye can get ter hang oot with ye are yer own imaginary friends?"

"They're not imaginary! And at least they want to hang out with me!" England folded his arms and glared at them. "No-one ever wants to hang out with you guys, visible or invisible!"

"That's nae true," said Scotland. "I see me best friend every day!"

"Oh really? Who is it? Your poetry books?"

"FER THE LAST TIME, I DINNAE READ POETRY!"

"Robert Burns begs to differ. But who is this friend of yours? I've never heard of them before."

"Of course ye have. It's the Loch Ness Monster, innae it?"

"What?" England spluttered. He tried hard not to laugh for politeness's sake, then remembered it was only Scotland and laughed anyway. "The Loch Ness Monster is your best friend?"

"Aye! And she's better company than ye any day!"

"But she's a sea monster! She lives in Loch Ness! And besides, I've never seen her."

Scotland sighed, as though explaining something very simple to someone very thick. "Just because you cannae see her dunnae mean she isnae real, England. She's more real than yer Flyin' Mint Bunny, anyway."

"Don't bring the Flying Mint Bunny into this, Scotland. The difference is that everyone knows that Nessie is a figment of your disturbed imagination. Seriously, who else dreams up a scaled reptile as their best friend?"

Wales, who had been walking past the door, stopped and backed up. "Are you guys talking about Merfyn?"

They stared at him. "Who's Merfyn?"

"He's my best friend."

England sighed and rubbed his temples. "I don't believe I am acquainted with anyone by the name of Merfyn, Wales."

"Oh, you wouldn't be," said the smaller nation cheerily, sitting down on the couch next to them. "He's invisible."

Oh, brilliant. Now two of his siblings were clinically insane. Why couldn't he have had a nice normal brother, like America had in... in... that guy with the bear. Whoever he was. "Let me guess, Merfyn's some kind of aquatic plesiosaurus?"

"Nope," said Wales. "He's a dragon. About this tall-" he held up a hand about four feet from the ground, "-and bright red. If you want a picture, he's on my flag."

England wasn't even surprised any more. "You put your imaginary friend on your flag."

"He's not imaginary! He's real!"

"Of course he is." I need a cup of tea.

"No, he really is! Just because you can't see him, England!"

"Ye gods, ye're booth off yer heids," said Scotland, disbelief written plainly across his face.

"Am not!" protested Wales. "Merfyn's been my friend for centuries!"

"And at least my friends aren't nonexistent sea monsters!"

"Ireland has one too!" said Wales triumphantly, as though proving that insanity ran in his family was his trump card. "IRELAND!"

A moment later, Ireland poked his head through the door. "What?"

"Tell them about Seamus!"

Ireland looked around at them all in mild confusion. "You don't know about him?"

"About who." England could not even muster the energy to turn the statement into a question. At least his invisible friends made sense.

"He's my leprechaun. He keeps me company sometimes when I'm lonely. Why?"

"Because I'm trying to get enough evidence to admit you all to a mental hospital," sighed England.

"Noo wait just one second! Who says Nessie isnae real?"

"And Merfyn! He's on my flag and everything! Just because you aren't open-minded enough to see him!"

"You have imaginary friends too, England!" said Ireland. "And so does Sou- I mean it's common in my area for people to believe in fairies."

"The difference," he said, "is that my friends actually exist."

"I'm nae too sure aboot that one, laddie," said Scotland. "I've seen ye playin' wit them, and they didnae look real to me."

"That's because they're invisible."

"So's Nessie!"

"And Merfyn!"

"And Seamus!"

"Fine!" England threw his hands up in surrender. "Fine, you can have your sea monsters and your dragons and your leprechauns. They're real. Whatever. But I'm still booking you all in to see a therapist." Sighing in defeat, he got up and headed towards the door.

Scotland followed close on his heels, still outraged. "Well then I'm confiscatin' yer Peter Pan book! It's turnin' ye into a dighted crabbit, ye ken!"

"You lay one finger on my book and I'll-"

"I," said Wales loudly, interrupting them, "am going to go and play with Merfyn. Because I don't care what you say, he's a better friend than you guys."

"Me too," said Ireland. "At least Seamus knows he's real, and he's not going to be happy when I tell him you've been doubting his existence."

And then they were gone, stomping off down the hallway with Scotland and England still arguing over the fate of the beloved, dog-eared old children's book.

"Don't be upset, Seamus," said Merfyn, coming out from where he'd been napping behind the couch and stretching himself out in front of the telly. "I'm sure they don't mean to be rude."

"Ach, I know," said the leprechaun. He was sitting on Merfyn's back, lounging in the comfortable spot where his wing met his back. "They aren't the first people who haven't believed in us."

"At least you have the good fortune and recognition to have your visage emblazoned across the banner of your nation," said Nessie, pacing casually back and forth across the rug. "One would think that I, as a national symbol, not to mention renowned tourist attraction, would at least-"

"Look on the bright side," squeaked the Flying Mint Bunny, doing loop-the-loops in the air. "People come from all round the world to see you!"

"I just hope Scotland doesn't destroy our book," said Captain Hook. He looked vaguely worried. Tinkerbell patted him reassuringly on the shoulder.

"It's okay. England would never let that happen."

"Oh, Wales is calling me," said Merfyn, standing up quickly. "See you later, guys!" And, with a chorus of goodbyes from the other imagina- I mean invisible friends, he disappeared in a puff of smoke, teleporting to wherever his master beckoned him from.

Because after all, whoever said that being invisible means that you can't be real?

Thanks for reading! I really enjoyed writing this one, actually. Merfyn's not nearly as scary as he looks on Wales's flag.

Anyway, commence shameless begging for reviews. If you liked this story, please review! They're really inspiring and I love them.