The children bounced excitedly in the little wagon, large eyes looking this way and that for a glimpse of their destination, though the sand was already all around them. For once, little Prussia had lost his devious glare and looked for all the world like just another little boy on vacation, instead of the mischievous young nation he was. Hungary's arm draped over the side of the wagon, her toy sword tracing lines in the smooth sand. Switzerland examined a handful of golden sand with intense curiosity, pouring it through his fingers and picking out the tiny stones deposited by long-forgotten tides. Young Austria, however, seemed more interested in Bunny, the stuffed brown-and-white puppy dog he always carried around.

Father led the wagon to a halt on a sunny patch a bit back from the waves.

"I'm going swimming, Daddy!" Hungary squealed, leaping up.

"Not yet you're not," Father chuckled, kneeling to untie Hungary's maroon cloak, "There we go, darling, go play. Just don't go out too far!"

Hungary darted off, feet kicking up sand as she ran, waving her small wooden sword above her head.

"He's funny!" Prussia laughed, pulling off his own white cloak and climbing to the ground. He promptly tripped and fell into the sand, his little yellow chick chirping indignantly. Switzerland laughed at this, but Father's watchful eye kept Prussia from doing anything worse than glaring back at him. Pulling himself to his feet, Prussia chased after Hungary, Switzerland following behind at his own pace.

"Austria, dearie, we're here," Father said to the remaining child, who lifted his purple eyes from his doggie to Father and then to the surf. With a muffled "mmhmm" he jumped out of the wagon and followed his friends (if you could call that bully Prussia a friend) down beside the shore, dragging his toy by a fuzzy paw.

Always the quiet one, that boy was, Father mused. Always reading or playing with that dog, yet always running away in tears at Hungary's attacks or Prussia's teasing. Someday he would have to fend for himself, and Father worried if the child would ever be able be able to stand up to even Hungary. Well, best to let them be kids for a while. No need to trouble them with the real world yet, with the duties of running —no, being — a nation of the world. He smiled as he watched Prussia and Switzerland paddle about in the waves. Hungary had evidently decided the water was too cold, and was amusing herself swatting at the seagulls with her toy sword. Austria sat a little ways off from her, building a little sand fort for Bunny. The waves lapped at his feet, and the child laughed at the sand tickling his hands as he dug.

"Daaaaddy?" called Prussia, stepping onto the sand with his arms crossed grumpily, "Where are the sharks? I wanna fight a shark!"

"Sharks!" Austria yelped, jumping back.

"There are no sharks, little one," Father said kindly, ruffling Austria's hair. He turned to Prussia.

"You don't want to fight a shark. Sharks are mean!"

"Hmph. Then what is there to do here?" Prussia whined.

"You can collect seashells," Father replied. With a grumpy "Fine!", Prussia lifted a shell from the sand.

Austria returned to Bunny and the fort, just as a giant wave engulfed him and Prussia. They tumbled and spluttered, only to be plucked from the water by Father's firm hands and deposited onto dry land. Prussia coughed, and ran off to annoy Hungary. Austria rubbed sand from his face and looked around at the quickly dissolving sand fort.

"Bunny! Bunny!" he cried, looking wildly about for a trace of his beloved doggie. He ran out into the ocean, but Father held him back—the water had gotten too deep for children. Setting the boy back on the sand, Father waded out to try to find the toy, but came back with nothing.

"I'm sorry, dear, I can't find it."

"He's gone!" Austria yelled, turning to run up the beach. The child was sobbing now, horrified at the loss of his stuffed friend.

Father sighed sadly. There was nothing he could do now, he just had to let the boy calm down by himself.

Meanwhile, Switzerland had begun building a sand castle of his own, and Prussia had found armfuls of seashells in all sizes. Hungary was getting annoyed at her failure to catch any birds.

Prussia, always on the lookout for anyone weaker who he could bully, wandered over to Austria, who was sitting by the dunes, crying. Experimentally, he pulled a shell from his collection and threw it at Austria. Evidently amused by the other child's tearful protests, he grabbed and threw another shell, red eyes narrowed.

"Prussia, that's not nice," Father scolded. Hungary looked around to see the action, lowering her sword from the air. Sure, she'd torment Austria just as much, easily, but by Pangaea she wasn't going to let Prussia get the upper hand. She sneaked up behind the boy, and snatched his yellow chick from his his silver hair. She ran, and Prussia dropped his handful of shells to follow, forgetting about Austria.

"Give 'im back! Give 'im back, Hungary!"

"You gotta catch me first!" she laughed, dashing down towards the surf, the chick dangling from her grasp. Prussia followed, angrily running after his pet. Both pairs of feet went smashing through Switzerland's sand castle, to an annoyed shriek of "Hey! Guys!" from the blond boy. Distracted from his work, he looked around for more sand to build with, and his eyes settled on a small, soaked toy dog washed up by the waves.

Hungary and Prussia continued their chase, until both were unceremoniously lifted from the ground by Father. Hungary released her grip on the chick in surprise, and he fluttered back to rest on Prussia's head. This didn't stop both flailing about trying to punch or kick each other.

"You two, can we go anywhere without you fighting? Try to get along" he chastised, setting them down.

Switzerland carried the dog over to Austria, remembering his friend's attachment to the toy.

"Hey, isn't this yours?" he said to the violet heap crouching in the sand. Austria looked up, large eyes filled with tears.

"Bunny!" With a cry of joy, Austria flung himself at the dog, squeezing it in a hug, and gazed over at his friend with gratitude and happiness.

"Let's go play with the others. Come on!" Switzerland invited, grabbing Austria's hand and dragging him down to the shore, where Prussia and Hungary were already at work building the biggest sand castle Father had ever seen.