"All right, so here's what we're looking at," America said, as he stared at the diagrams he just drew in the ground. "What do you think, Romano?"

"I think…" another loud rumble interrupted the Italian mid-sentence. "I think that I'm too fucking hungry for this." Shit, he hadn't eaten since this morning, had he?

"If we put our heads together, we can figure something out faster!"

Romano groaned and relaxed himself back into the wall. "I'm sure you can handle it on your own, America. Not all of us have the energy of the fucking sun."

"Oh… do you like taking siestas? Yeah, I remember that Italy's really big on those too!"

Romano grit his teeth at the mention of his brother's name—as though he were the only Italy!—and he shut his eyes. Dammit, he wasn't going to say anything in response, and America was just going to have to figure things out on his own this time!

It took a moment before Romano heard the telltale sound of America shifting about, back to trying to make a plan. He could hear him mumbling out various ways to escape, how those ways could fail, and every now and again the blond asked a question… thankfully they seemed rhetorical.

In a way, hearing America's gentle and consistent murmurs was quite calming… eventually, Romano felt himself drifting off… and maybe a siesta wouldn't be so bad right about now, anyway…

The next thing Romano knew, he had a crick in his neck and rocks digging into his back. He eased himself forward, rubbing at his neck and slowly opening his eyes. How long had he been out for? And… where the hell was America? Romano huffed at the thought—he didn't want to chase him around anymore!

As Romano fully woke himself up and stretched and warmed up his muscles, he had a look at America's notes and drawings. The guy was more thorough than Romano had thought… but. In the end, it looked hopeless. Even if there weren't mermaids around, they were still too far deep to reach the surface before they ran out of air… dammit.

The soft padding of footsteps tore Romano away from his observations, and he saw America return. Thank fucking god. The taller man sat back down on the ground, and Romano noticed a bright blue glow coming from his pants pocket.

"Son of a bitch… you got it back?" Romano asked, waving vaguely to the light.

"Hey… yeah, I did." America rubbed a hand down his face, and for once, Romano felt a little bad for him. "I tried to see if I could talk things out with them after the Crystal came back, but I'm pretty sure they were just lying most of the time."

Romano scoffed at that, frustrated. "Won't they be in big trouble if we don't finish our job here?"

"That's what I tried telling them!" A small laugh escaped America's lips. "But they seem pretty convinced that they can think of another solution to that problem later."

The frown on Romano's face deepened. He had nothing to reply with, so he sat back, hugged his bent legs against his chest, and let the silence go on between them.

Damn did America look a bit worn out. And despite his nap, Romano wasn't feeling much better, either…

Fuck, this was such a miserable situation. Here he was, alone with an attractive person, both of them less clothed than usual… and it was for all the wrong reasons. Nothing was going to happen as it usually would in these sorts of circumstances. Fucking dammit. At least Romano wouldn't feel as bad right now if he weren't practically naked...

Romano peeked over his knees and saw America still relaxing. The blond let out a small sigh and rubbed at the back of his neck, and Romano took the opportunity to appreciate the bobbing Adam's apple and strong muscles that made up the neck and connected to the shoulders, so clearly strong and sturdy...

And then he buried his face again. Fuck these stupid feelings… America was definitely not the first attractive person Romano had ever seen, not by a long shot. Why did he have it so bad for this asshole, anyway?

"Hey, Romano, you all right there?" America asked, and the Italian looked back up to him. "I know, it looks pretty bad now. And you even said you're hungry, so that's gotta be a hundred times worse! But you're with the hero now, so trust me—everything will be okay! Okay?" America beamed then and held a thumbs-up.

Romano felt his face blaze, and he immediately buried it back in his knees. Yeah, that's right. Okay, he could remember why he probably had those stupid feelings for America now. He thought back to the time when he was stuck in bed with a broken leg, after getting kicked down by a fucking horse. And then America would visit every day, and make sure he was as comfortable as possible, and he brought along gossip and books and things to keep Romano entertained while he was stuck there…

And he always had that big smile on his face, and it was like no matter what was happening in the world, America would find some reason to be happy and thrilled about life…

It felt as though Romano's heart twisted into a knot. Romano pressed his forehead deeper into his legs and mumbled, "Stupid bastard." Dammit, he needed to do something about his feelings. Put an end to this fucking misery, somehow. "How are you so sure about this? It's fucking impossible." How could he still smile like that? How could he even sound halfway convincing when he said that?

"Come on, like I said! Just trust me! Even when it looks bad, I can always figure something out!"

Romano let out a loud grumble from the back of his throat as his only response. Damn, he could fucking hear that cheesy stupid smile in America's voice… That fucking smile that still held so much sway on his mind, somehow...

And then, a distinctly female voice rang out from down the hall, "There you are! I was wondering what happened to the two of you!" Both nations whipped their faces around to turn to the newcomer; it was the priestess, Espra.

"Hey there! I wasn't expecting to see you down here!" America greeted amicably, as he stood up and walked towards her. Romano followed behind, more grumpy-looking than his companion.

"And I wasn't expecting to find you here!" the priestess said, grinning. "Honestly, I figured you two would've been eaten by now!" Romano felt his stomach lurch, and he and America exchanged a quick, disgusted look with each other. "I could tell when the Azure Crystal was restored, and oh it was so exciting! I did some reading, and I thought about some things—and then I thought about you two! Seeing as how you were the ones who enabled me to think again. Anyway, I was wondering if you'd gotten back yet, and then I remembered the other mermaids down here, and I was thinking how lucky it was that they didn't eat you on the way in, and probably you two tried to leave and then that was when they ate you, but I decided to check just in case, and… here we are!"

Romano and America could only reply by blinking owlishly at her. She sure got talkative now…

"Anyway, I can get you two out of here, safely. How does that sound?"

Needless to say, the two of them were more than eager to take her up on her offer.

When the three of them reached water, Romano noticed that it looked brilliant—clear and bright blue. Still missing some of the other more subtle hues that made up the sea, but still, it looked much better now.

It took some convincing, but Espra finally got the mermaids to back off, and then she parted the water—literally parted the water on either side of them—and opened up a dry path along the sea floor. The priestess hummed some little tune as she led the nations along, just as though this were nothing special… but Romano could barely take notice of anything else. Damn. He couldn't believe that this was happening…

On either side of him were tall walls of water, reaching toward the appropriately blue sky, and the fish and waves cast ever-changing shadows within the sea, but the walls still stayed obediently flat. He could hear the creatures from within swishing and bubbling about, and on the top of the walls was sea foam that waved along with the water's movements… Romano stuck an arm out as he walked along, passing his fingers through the water. It felt cool and smooth and he could feel the sea's gentle forces working against him, but still, the shape of the walls never became deformed.

Even when they all returned to Espra's house and he sat at her table, waiting, he couldn't get the image out of his mind. The way the sun reflected off the water, giving the appearance of millions of little stars in the sea, shimmering on and off..

It was the gentle thud of Espra setting down some mugs and a plate that finally brought Romano back to the present time. He gratefully took one of the mugs—full of the same chocolate drink he had before—as well as a handful of the salted nuts from the dish (which were apparently a Pensa specialty). As he did so, Espra took her seat at the table as well, and gently unfolded the map before them.

"Yes, this is where we are," she said, pointing out their location. She then dragged her finger along to another place and continued, "So this will be the next closest one—the Indigo Crystal. This one controls the domain of sadness, bitter flavors, and cold weather."

Romano snuck a glance at America; currently the blond was stuffing his face with the chocolate and nuts. It was nice to taste salt again, at least. "It looks like that one is on a mountain, though," Romano replied, looking back to the priestess. "Don't tell me we're going to have to walk there again."

"You wouldn't want to walk there? Well… I suppose it is a far way to walk. And if we picked something faster, that would just be better for everyone involved…" Espra leaned back in her seat and hummed in thought for a moment. "Oh! I think I know!" She shot forward again, huge grin on her face and her finger pointed at the ceiling. "Maybe we could use horses again! You know, Pensa is the biggest trader of books, we send all kinds of them through here! And of course, we make a ton of our own! Anyway, we had to stop because our horses couldn't do it anymore, but maybe now we can start the trade up again… oh, that would be so exciting! I can't tell you how much I loved reading everything we got in!" She took a moment to daydream about it, completely unaware of the disinterest on the others' faces; she really liked to ramble, didn't she? "So yes, anyway, we could set up a wagon and send a load of books over to Melancholia—that's where the Indigo shrine is—and let you two hitch a ride along the way! You'd even have some good reading during the trip! What do you say?"

The nations held their breaths for a moment, not expecting her to stop so suddenly. America was the first to speak, though, saying, "Hey, that sounds great! It'd be way faster and easier to do that! What do you say, Romano?"

Romano leaned back and gathered his thoughts a moment before responding. "Well, horses are the best we've got anyway, right? Would we be able to leave soon?"

"I think we could arrange that!" Espra answered. "Who wouldn't be excited to start up our book trade again? If the horses will cooperate, we'll have you on your way in a few days, tops!"

They were in a room together now—Romano and America—big and wide and empty of all people besides them. They sat facing each other, and in between them was a chess table, all set up for a new game.

"So," America drawled, and he looked so smug and even a bit.. hungry. "Your go. Hit me with your best shot."

Romano gulped, and made his first move. Then America. Then Romano again, and another round passed, and then—"Checkmate!" America grinned as he pointed out his quick victory. "And you remember what was going to happen to the loser, I bet." America looked back up with a heated and intense look in his eyes, and Romano felt some strange mix of dread and exhilaration as the other nation walked around the table towards him.

"Right here, though?" Romano asked.

"Well, why not? Come on!" America yanked Romano up, and within moments, their clothes were all off and holy shit Romano was experiencing the best sex he had ever known, bent over the small table and getting pressed into it, over and over again...

There was that overwhelming, explosive rush he felt on the inside, and Romano relaxed his neck.

And when he looked up again, there was a pair of dark red eyes looking straight back into his own.

"Play time is over now, little buggy. We get what we want," Lindy said, following that up with a little giggle.

Romano jolted away from the table and reached for America, and somehow they were fully clothed again, and despite Romano's cries he saw America get swept away before him—carried off by some strange dark crimson force. Romano tried to move, but suddenly his legs felt limp and useless and he couldn't go forward. He watched as America struggled against those vague shadows holding him down, and then he caught a glimpse of Lindy's wide smile.

"Good bye," she said simply, and with a flick of her wrist, the shadows became some giant maw, snapped shut completely over America. There was a dead silence, and then the shadows came apart, slowly rolling in among them like a thick fog.

When the shadows finally cleared up, it was just Romano and America again, and oh god America was laying now in a pool of his own blood. Romano was able to move again, and he ran up to the still body, and when he got there all that America could do was roll along with Romano's shoving… no pulse or breath, just more and more blood, drowning everything now…

Cold beads of sweat stuck to his face as he jolted upwards, and, and… Romano was somewhere else now. Time slowed, the air was thin and calm, and… this was real life.

Romano took a deep breath and relaxed. He was sitting in the covered wagon now, which was currently stopped for some reason, among many stacks of books, and… America wasn't there.

A familiar and boisterous laugh from outside set Romano's nerves at ease, and he finally leaned back against some books.

Okay.

This was the third sharply emotional dream he's had, that involves having sex with America. And otherwise doesn't make much sense. Romano already had this happen two times, each one before they set off for another Crystal… as much as he wanted it to be a coincidence…

He remembered that America mentioned bringing back happiness the first time, which was exactly what they did. And then the second time had the mermaids who lied and preyed on humans, and Romano did venture underwater for that..

Shit. This one looked awful, though. Lindy coming back, and this time, she would decimate America…

Romano felt his stomach churn, and all he wanted then was to… hold? No, just see, that's right… just see that the bastard was okay, and get some fresh air…

America was standing near the wagon when Romano emerged, cooing at a horse and giving it some food. He was by himself up until then, and Romano caught a glimpse of such a serene smile—

"Hey dude!" America said, and suddenly the usual grin was back and he was waving at the other. "You sleep well?"

"... Yes," Romano answered, and the other nation seemed satisfied with that.

For a while they didn't speak, and Romano walked up to America, intently petting the calm horse by them. He wanted so badly to tell the blond about what happened, but… but how? His mind was too jumbled to put the words together... and probably, America would laugh at him and not believe him, anyway…

Romano glanced back at the other nation, and an image of that same face beaten and bloody flashed across his mind. He had to tell America about this, because there was so much at stake here.

"Hey… America," Romano started, and then he had the blond's full attention. What would be the most believable way to explain this…? "...Look, I've been thinking… this stuff we're dealing with is pretty dangerous. I mean, those mermaids almost had us last time!"

"Well, yeah."

"So… what if something really bad happened? Maybe, someone's going to attack you, and they'll leave you all limp and bloody and you can't move!"

America answered that with a ridiculously obnoxious laugh. "What's this, all of a sudden? Nobody's going to beat me!"

"But, what if they do!?"

"I dunno, guess I'd figure it out then! I've had my fair share of rough times, you know?"

"Yeah, but this isn't—I mean, what if—maybe it's much worse!"

"Pff, now you're worrying too much. I'm the hero! I always pull through!"

Some wild emotion ran up to Romano's head and flushed his cheeks, and just, dammit, would America please drop this shit for just one second?! "Come on America, you can't just keep saying that!"

"Hey, what's gotten into you? It's going to be all right, so—"

"No the fuck it isn't! Dammit America, shit won't always go your way! And then… and then what!?"

For a moment, America stared back, wide-eyed. And then he broke out into a grin again, and laughed again. "But it always goes my way! There's nothing to worry about as long as the hero is around!" He held a thumbs-up, and then walked back towards the wagon they were riding.

Fucking… asshole.

Fuck.

Author's Notes:

Hello again, everyone! I can't think of much to add here, this time. XD Anyway, another long time coming here, this time thanks to summer plans and then getting a new job with a new schedule to get used to… but hey! Everything's calming back down now, and I've got some regular time to get writing done again (provided I don't get any more writer's block). So… awesome! Also, the new job's awesome too, I just gotta put that one out there!

Anydangway, thanks again to everyone who's read this far, and I hope you all continue to enjoy what I've got planned ahead! Until next time~!