Summer Sailing (America and England)

[Silvermoonwings]

As the breeze caught his gold-colored hair, it moved, causing the sunlight to glint off of it and his glasses. America raised his hand to shield his eyes from the bright sun glare as he finished securing the ropes for the main sail on the small sailboat he was aboard.

"This one's ready!" he called out to the "captain". England glanced up at the louder country before giving a sharp nod to let the other know he had heard him. The messy-haired blonde already had his life vest securely on his person, and they were about to cast off when England noticed the other was lacking the brightly colored vest.

"Hey, America. Put on your life vest. You know the rules." he called to the other, frowning at the other for not having said vest on already.

America made an undignified noise that sounded like a laugh/snort mix. "Dude, don't worry so much! It isn't like I'm gonna fall in and drown or something stupid like that! I'm a strong swimmer." he laughed.

England frowned even more, his large eyebrows furrowing in annoyance. He picked up the spare life vest and crossed the small deck to shove it at America. The latter stared at it before glancing up at the Englishman in question and slight exasperation.

"Shut up and put it on already. Stop wasting time. We aren't leaving until you put it on," the older nation snapped, forcing the younger country to take the offered item.

"Sheesh, man. Fine, fine, I'll wear the stupid vest." America replied, slipping the ridiculous, but necessary garment on over his sleeveless red, white, and blue, t-shirt. England nodded, satisfied that the other had listened. Then, they both double checked to make sure all the ropes were properly secured. After that was done, England tripled checked them all by himself, much to America's annoyed amusement. Now that all the checks had been completed, the two finally cast off and were on their way.

It was a beautiful day in the middle of July, and as the duo sailed out of the harbor, the wind picked up to just the perfect speed for sailing. Soon, the sails were full and they were speeding quickly along the clear, blue waters. England professionally steered the boat around, showing off his past as a pirate with his sailing skills, in complete control of the rutter. As they sailed, America called out small obstacles to the other, so that they could be avoided safely.

As they sailed around a bit more, they passed other sailors whom they recognized. At one point, they passed Spain sailing a medium-sized sailboat with France, the Italian brothers, and the German brothers. America waved at the other nations who were out enjoying themselves as well on this peaceful, perfect day, and most of the others waved back, if they weren't busy with something else, or ignoring the duo (mainly only Spain ignored England).

They sailed on for a bit longer, but after a while, they stopped and brought down the sails to have lunch and rest. As previously agreed, America had brought the food, which consisted of PB&J sandwiches, potato chips, and cookies for desert. England had brought the beverages, which were iced-tea and lemonade. They chatted as they ate, content with the peaceful atmosphere the ocean and waves provided.

"So if we finish up eating within 15 or so minutes," England commented after about 20 minutes had passed, "We can head back to port and be there before dark."

"That sounds good to me." America replied cheerfully. A few more minutes passed and they were drinking the last drops of the beverages, eating the last bits of the cookies. Before pulling the sails up again, they made sure everything from their lunch-stuffs was secured and out of the way. Just about ten minutes later, everything had once again been hoisted up and secured, then triple-checked once more. Then they were off flying across the waters again, but this time back towards shore.

Speeding along, they suddenly heard clicks and whirs joining in with the sounds of the waves slapping the boat's sides. Startled, the two nations burst out into grins when the source of the noises were discovered. Dolphins began leaping out of the waters alongside the sailboat, diving and racing, seeing who could go fastest, or get closest. There were at least twelve, if not more than that, of the magnificent creatures flying alongside the sailors.

America let out a whoop of pure, unhindered joy and excitement. England let out a laugh at the other's exhilaration. The dolphins stayed with the small vessel until they began to near the docks. A few more whirs and clicks were given, which sounded very much like farewells to England, the marine mammals disappeared as quickly as they had materialized.

England expertly pulled into the port and pulled up to a dock. As soon as they had completely stopped, America hopped out of the small sailboat and jogged over to the truck that was hitched to the boat's trailer. He backed it up and, after making sure it was lined up properly, got out and splashed over to assist the other tie up the sails and grab the stuff from lunch to put into the pick-up bed. Then, they pulled down the foldable masts. England got out onto the deck as America began to easily pull the lightweight boat onto the trailer.

"Be careful with it, America." England warned, keeping a close eye on the nation and on the boat as it was put into place and secured properly.

"Yeah, I know, England." came the reply as the job was completed. Then, they got into the truck, America driving since England has steered the boat all day, and the drive back to their respective abodes commenced.

It had been a great day and both countries were fairly tired from the day's adventures. America dropped off England and his sailboat before the former bid the latter good night and drove off. England walked up to his room and took a quick shower to get all the salt water out of his messy blonde hair. When he got out and dressed in his sleepwear, he flopped into bed and almost immediately fell asleep.

His last thoughts before falling into the world of dreams were ones of peaceful content.