Perseverance (Hetalia [FrUK])

Chapter 5 - The Resolution

All the nerves in Francis' body kick-started, and he did the unthinkable.

In that situation, there was very little of thinking actually involved. His body told him to act, to save his friend-all he did was listen. He took off his shoes and dove into the water. Despite being the middle of summer, the water was unexpectedly freezing. The cold seized his lungs and nearly immobilized his limbs. He swam over to a thrashing Arthur, whose head was already going under.

"H-help . . . ! Francis!"

"Hold on, I'm almost there!"

Arthur disappeared. Francis swore and dove in. It was a good thing the sun was out because Arthur was easy to spot, the rays rippling off his skin like an abstract painting. His eyes were closed.

Francis kicked harder and propelled himself deeper. He grabbed onto Arthur's hand and yanked upward, his legs straining to support both of their weights. He counted an eternity before the both of them broke the surface, but by then Arthur wasn't breathing.

"Hang on, Arthur," Francis whispered. "Stay with me."

A crowd of spectators had gathered at the back of the boat. Someone had thrown out a life preserver which Francis quickly latched on to.

Now, the problem wasn't that Arthur had just drowned. The problem was that Arthur couldn't die. Francis could just leave him somewhere and he'd resurrect automatically, but that would undoubtedly create a lot of questions. He had to make a show of it, even if Arthur wasn't going to be happy with it.

Arthur was lifted out of the water first using the help of the other passengers. The captain had cut off the engine and Francis was just sitting in the water, holding on to the side to keep with the boat. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a pair of very familiar faces, looking on in concern. When they met his gaze, they immediately darted out of his sight.

Francis didn't have time to think about them. After being helped out of the water, he began performing CPR on Arthur. He started with the chest compressions, but when the water refused to come out, he moved on to mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Thank God Arthur wasn't conscious. Francis often thought about how a kiss with the Englishman would go, but he never imagined the circumstance being this.

"Come on, Angleterre," Francis mumbled. "Be more complacent, can't you?"

Arthur jerked and spluttered a mouthful of water out as he regained consciousness. Francis quickly moved back to let him recover. The rest of the passengers sighed in relief.

"Arthur," the Frenchman began.

Arthur wiped the fluid off his face and held up a shaky hand, showing him the hat. "Still got it."

Francis couldn't help but laugh, albeit very shakily. "You . . . You don't look so good, mon ami."

"You, too. Your hair is a mess." Arthur bent over and coughed into the deck. The water wasn't completely out of his lungs.

"Take it easy," said Francis, rubbing circles into his back. "You almost died."

"How dead was I?" Arthur asked. "Burned at the stake dead, or guillotined dead?"

"Why must you always make a joke of this?"

"We'll reach Kauai in ten minutes," said the captain. "It's good to have you still with us. What happened?"

"Just the wind, I think," Francis answered for Arthur.

"Some wind." The captain handed him a blanket. "Make sure to keep your temperatures up, the both of you. Have him sit away from the water."