Glancing back at his sleeping friend, Sealand sucked in a breath and started up another web browser and activated his IP Address-cloaking device. Time to go to the Undernet.

For a brief second, the computer screens blanked out before the machines whirred and the screen turned back on, bringing up a primitive web page with just one search bar in the middle of the white screen. Sealand hoped that Latvia doesn't wake up now and see him conducting illegal activities – all he needs is private information from China, Poland and Prussia.

At sunrise, Latvia let out a sleepy yawn as his eyes blinked open and he wiped them. His eyes slowly focused on the sleeping figure on the floor in front of the supercomputer, which was switched off. Sealand snored a little, hands holding his mobile phone.

"Sealand?" Latvia whispered before checking the time on his own watch. It's almost 6am. Maybe he should sleep in a bit longer and wait until his host is awake…?

"Nnnnngh…"

Latvia almost jumped at the sudden groan, but picked himself off the comfortable sofa to kneel down on the floor. "Morning, Sealand," he smiled.

"Heya…" Sealand yawned, sitting up slowly. Latvia touched his shoulder. "How long have I been sleeping?"

"It's only 6 in the morning…" Latvia replied. "Sorry I woke up. You didn't look comfortable sleeping on the floor."

"It's okay, I didn't feel like finishing the movie on my own," Sealand said, standing up to stretch his sore limbs. "Want something to eat? I can get a DcMonald's delivered here!" he suggested excitedly, eyes bright.

"O-okay…" Latvia blinked at the surprising springback in his friend's personality.

A while later as they ate DcMonald's breakfast, Sealand's phone suddenly began to ring loudly, almost making him jump out of his seat and choking on his burger. He quickly thumped his chest and swallowed the buns before pulling his phone out of his pocket. Belarus is calling him.

Panic swallowed him.

"U-uh, I just gotta take this, it's England!" the boy gabbled and sprinted out the room, tripping over a remote and stumbling outside.

He shut the door quickly and checked that the corridor was empty before answering the phone.

"H-hello?" he began nervously.

"You got something new for me?" Belarus asked simply. "I did say I want the info by sunrise."

"R-righto! I got what you need!" Sealand exclaimed and moved his phone away from his ear, turning the phone onto loudspeaker and brought up files on his touchphone's screen. "I got it all typed down on a document format. What's your email address?" On loudspeaker, Belarus's voice sounds ominous and crackly.

"Too risky. Just keep a hold of the information until we meet later today. I'll come to your country – be sure to give the air marshals a forewarning of my arrival at 13:00 hours. See you then."

The call cut off and the boy groaned loudly. Putting his phone away, Sealand went back into his room to finish off his breakfast with Latvia.

What should he do about him? Belarus will obviously be suspicious of the older boy bring there! She'll think he's onto Sealand and possibly do something horrible to him. They're far out at sea too with the most relaxed security that Sealand's ever employed – she'd slaughter them all before they could issue any maydays to England or France.

"Sealand? Are you okay?" Latvia asked worriedly once they finished their breakfast.

Paling, his friend gabbled, trying to keep a confident smile; "Yeah, I'm fine! England's just making threats to cut off my internet connection but that's not right because it'd be a Human Rights violation to prevent individuals from accessing the internet!"

"Okay…" Latvia blinked. "So what should we do today then?"

"Watch Breaking Good!" Sealand's mood suddenly shot up and smiled brightly. He remembered mentioning at the past world meeting that he invited Latvia on a long sleepover with him – Belarus will believe him when he said they're having a month-long sleepover together!

"What's that about?"

"Breaking Good is about a ruthless drug dealer, but when he got diagnosed with cancer he decided to give up his job and become a chemistry teacher, utilising the skills he gained from creating crystal meth to give his students the most fun chemistry experiments ever. Because he lives in the UK, he is entitled to free healthcare with subsidised cancer treatments, so with a lot of his money saved for retirement after he gets treated, he lives a happy and fulfilling life. His only enemy are other drug dealers who want him back on the street producing the drugs for them to sell, so he takes them on using science like McGayver!"

Latvia's smile widened, matching Sealand's.

"Let's do it!"

Later that morning, they finally finished the first season of Breaking Good. Apart from eating instant noodles, they've done nothing else. Sealand was still anticipating Belarus's visit, but he wasn't as worried as he was before.

"Say, Sealand…" Latvia began and his friend interrupted him.

"Call me Peter," he grinned.

"P-Peter…" Latvia murmured before chuckling, "is it me, or are you growing taller?"

"Huh…?" The boy stared at him.

"I mean, your voice doesn't sound like how it sounded a while ago…" Latvia trailed off, eyes misting as he looked at him in a trance before standing up. "Stand up."

"Huh?" Sealand uttered and obediently stood up too. Standing close to each other, Sealand's blue eyes lowered to meet Latvia's gaze. Sealand quickly backed up in surprise, heart skipping a beat.

"Holy Bats! You're right!" He puffed his chest out proudly. "This is so cool! I'm going to be as cool and strong as Japan's super-robot anime characters!"

"Maybe…" his Latvian friend laughed. "I'm fully-grown, so there's no chance of me growing taller."

"Maybe I can get America to create a potion that can expand my country's size!" Sealand exclaimed delightedly. "And then I'll share some with you too!"

"You'd really do that?" Latvia murmured in awe and his friend nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah! And then after that—"

Knock, knock.

The sudden knocking at their door surprised them and Sealand ran over immediately without a second thought. He yanked the door open and almost passed out when he saw Belarus standing there casually.

"Hey," was all she said before walking inside the room without being invited and sat down at the table, brushing aside empty DcMonalds packets and their cardboard exteriors clattered onto the floor. The room is already a mess, but this greatly irritated Sealand. He looked over at Latvia, who began shaking nervously.

"G-greetings, Miss B-B-Belarus," he stammered, "wh-where is Mr R-Russia?"

"Not here," she replied in a bored tone and looked at Sealand. "So. Whatcha got for me? I gave you a deadline."

Here? With Latvia in front of them?"

Belarus's eyes steeled. "In private." Sealand's heart dropped. He can see the threat in her expression, the look of someone who's ready to kill without remorse.

Weakly, Sealand turned to Latvia. "Okay… Latvia? Can you wait outside, please?"

"It won't be for very long," Belarus added smoothly as the smaller male slinked away, head hanging low. As soon as the door closed, Sealand took a deep breath and dug his hand in his pocket, pulling out a USB stick.

"I got it saved on here instead. More memory storage that way," he explained and the woman just snatched it off him, pocketing it. Sealand's eyes focused and he glared at her in contempt.

"You didn't have to threaten Latvia like that!" he hissed and Belarus's lips curled into a snarl.

"Would you rather that he blabs about your illegal activities? And what will you tell him when I leave?" she growled, "besides, if he knows, I'll have to kill him, y'know. You can't stop now. You're doing excellent in your intelligence-gathering. You'll become a proper nation within months if you keep going the way you are right now. Or even weeks."

Sealand's blood froze and he glanced back at the door, but even seeing it firmly shut didn't ease his anxiety. He thought of Latvia's relaxed, worry-free smile and what he'd look like being butchered under Belarus's knives…

"Please don't…" he whispered dryly.

"I'll have to, but only IF he knows," Belarus sighed and stood up from the chair. "That's all for today. I'll talk to you later." But Sealand suddenly seized her arm.

"Who's gonna sign my petition?" he asked quickly and the woman yanked her arm away, glaring at him in disgust.

"Trust me, with the information you gathered, it'll be a third of the world," she replied before storming away, but before her hand touched the door, she dramatically paused as if she just thought of something and turned around, surveying Sealand's form and raised an eyebrow. "Is it me, are you growing taller?"

"I dunno – maybe?" Sealand grumbled, looking at her in the eyes to scare her, but she just huffed.

"Sealand…" her voice dropped to a softer tone, still looking at him with a strangely serious expression. "Your body is changing. Take care of it, don't eat too much crap, and don't let anyone touch it without your permission. Things are changing, Sealand. Don't make hasty decisions without thinking. From here on out, you're on your own. You won't always be able to run to someone for help – you have to become more independent and reliant on yourself in order to grow. That's how you prepare yourself to become a nation."

With that, she left, leaving a tense-filled silence in the room to strangle Sealand's struggling internal thoughts. He can't explain the gut-twisting feeling in his stomach, but as soon as he thought about visiting Sweden and Finland and how he cannot even hint about his grand plans, his heart missed a beat and he gasped slightly, hand flying over his chest where his heart began hammering. Black spots dotted and flashed in his line of sight as his chest began to constrict. All of a sudden, it feels like it's getting harder to breathe…

Sealand woke up lying in his hammock with Latvia holding his hand worriedly. Relief flooded his face as soon as their eyes met.

"Peter…" he murmured and hugged his hand by pressing the back of it onto his cheek. "Sorry, I was so worried… as soon as I walked in, I saw you passed out on the floor and you were barely breathing. I tried calling Miss Belarus back, but she didn't even look at me."

Air. Sealand can taste the familiar salt-tinted air and he breathed deeply, seeing that he's no longer feeling pain again in his chest. He never felt so alive, yet remembering his meeting with Belarus almost made him faint again.

"H-hey…" Sealand laughed lightly, "I'm alright now, so don't worry, I'm going to be the strongest nation ever, so don't fuss about it!"

Latvia smiled and let go of his hand. "You've been out for 10 minutes, at least. Want to get something to eat?"

The other male's stomach dropped, bringing a surging sense of unease and he shook his head quickly.

"Maybe drinks of water," he said hesitantly, gaining him a shocked look from his friend, "I mean… we're drinking and eating nothing but unhealthy food… maybe we could take a break from those and THEN we can go back to them?" Did he sound normal enough? Did he sound like he is NOT under any mental duress?

"Sure," Latvia simply nodded and left his side to leave the large bedroom to find the communal kitchens that everybody on the artificial island uses.

Sealand sat up shakily and planted his feet firmly on the ground, staring ahead of him while thinking deeply.

'I do want to be independent. I don't want to rely on anyone anymore. I want to be respected. I want everybody to look at me and think that they can ask me for anything. Belarus got me signatures already, so I guess my body is growing because… recognition?'

Latvia returned to see Sealand staring ahead and slowly approached him with the two glasses of water in his hands. "Peter?"

Sealand almost jumped out of his skin, but sharply glanced at him instead with a look of horror.

"Agh! I'm so sorry!" Latvia apologised feverously, handing a glass out to him with a quaking hand.

"N-no worries…" Sealand murmured and took the glass. He's become so nervy again that he was getting precariously closer to dropping the delicate glass onto the floor. As if to reassure him (as well as making sure he doesn't pass out again and drop the glass), Latvia sat next to him on the hammock, taking a long continuous drink from his water. It was then that Sealand's eyes travelled to his throat where his Adam's apple bobbed with every gulp of the water and felt his heart rate accelerate for some odd reason. A water droplet trickled down his neck and the English male gulped, glancing away, but found his eyes sneakily looking back again to Latvia's thin lips caress the rim of the tumbler until every drop of water disappeared into his small mouth. The Latvian gave him a confused look.

"Peter? Is everything okay?" he asked and Sealand could only nod speechlessly, thinking it strange that he'd have such an urge to see and be around his friend more than the pretty nude ladies that he often accidentally sees on the Dark Net.

"Raivis… What will you do when I become a nation?" he asked quietly.

"What do you mean?" the Latvian looked at him confusedly, "you'll still be the same guy, so I guess we'll still be friends."

"You guess?" Sealand's heart dropped. Latvia saw the anxiety in his face and he gulped.

"Not like that!" he quickly added, "we'll DEFINITELY still be friends! Height or status doesn't affect our relations! In fact, when you do become a nation…" A flash of pink tinged his cheeks and he made direct eye contact with his best friend. "If it doesn't bother you… May I be the first nation for you to establish a Treaty with? Like, if someone ever gets into a war with you, I'll join forces with you and protect you."

The Sealander's lips curved gently. A sense of pride arose in his heart.

"Really?" he uttered, "you'd do that for… me?"

"Yes," Latvia nodded, "you may not be my first, but… I want to be your first. It'll be a bit difficult to establish, but for you I'll promise to make it work out for us."

Their eyes met again and small laughs ensued.

"Y-yeah! Of course you can be my first!" Sealand exclaimed, now smiling greatly as he took his hand into his. "Oh, but after I make a treaty with you, I'll need to make one with papa too! I promised him that when I become a nation, he'll be the first but he'll understand!"

Latvia chuckled. "That's fine – I wish I had a father like you do, I just grew up with whoever was around."

"Wasn't it Estonia and Lithuania?" Sealand questioned, wondering.

"Not really, I just hid myself a lot to avoid conflict," his friend replied, "I'm… pretty good at hiding once I know my environment because I've always been a short person."

"Ah."

"But then next minute, I'm living with different people and I spent my longest time with Russia," Latvia shrugged and inhaled a breath before exhaling. "It's all good now. I feel better living on my own. Now that my country is stable and everybody's living in relative peace, for the first time in years I never had to look over my shoulder every time I'm outside."

"That's brilliant!" Sealand hummed, swinging his feet a little, "oh, and I'll give you special permission to come into my home at any time that you want if you feel sick or in danger, because I'll protect you!"

His enthusiasm made Latvia giggle. "Thank you, Peter. I'm so glad to have you around."

"I'm glad you're around too!" Sealand declared with a bright grin, "one day, I'll find a way to help you grow tall too so you'll never be bullied by anyone again!"

Latvia's expression faltered as his eyes seem to moisten, but wiped them away with his shirt sleeve before forcing himself to smile.

"Thanks, again… Or… maybe find a way to encourage everybody to be nicer to each other instead of changing themselves to be accepted?"

Sealand's mind whirred.

"You're actually right," he started hesitantly while his thoughts organised themselves. "People are only mean to others because they're not conforming to their idea of a perfect look or personality, just like villains!"

Suddenly, Latvia laughed hard and rolled back into Sealand's hammock, almost making the taller boy tumble on top of him but he stopped by putting his hands on either side of his head. The Latvian still laughed, close to tears while Sealand looked down at him, feeling the strange feeling akin to love stir within him again.

"W-was that ridiculous? I thought it's a great idea!" he stuttered and Latvia shook his head.

"No… you were so ridiculously true that it's hilarious and painful," the other male explained, still chuckling. A tear finally broke free from his eyelash and flowed down the curve of his cheek. "I can't believe I'm friends with someone like you. Do you know hard it is to find someone who doesn't want to just use you for their own goals?" His voice quavered, but his smile stayed strong, "this is too good to be true. I couldn't sleep last night because I was so worried that if I fall asleep, I'll wake up back home alone."

Sealand could only mutter an "oh" before moving to lie back in the hammock with his side pressed against Lativa's. They both stared up at the blank ceiling.

'"I couldn't sleep last night because I was so worried that if I fall asleep, I'll wake up back home alone,"' Latvia's words echoed in Sealand's mind and he shut his eyes, feeling warmer thanks to his proximity with his friend. His breathing was calm and collected, matching Latvia's who also seems to have his eyes closed.

'Last night, huh… I'd be cranky if I couldn't sleep—' he froze and his eyes shot open.

Last night.

"L-Latvia!" he exclaimed suddenly and sat up, startling the Latvian beside him, "did you really stay up all of last night?!" Latvia hesitated.

"Maybe… I saw you play on your computer, but I couldn't really pay attention to anything, like my eyes wouldn't close but my mind was numb… why?"

Sealand managed to inhale to try and relax his quickening heart rate, but it still raced. "Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure that you didn't see anything on the computer?"

"I don't remember anything apart from watching you, not the computer…" Latvia murmured.

Sealand looked at him in the eye as he said that and mentally determined that he's telling the truth.

"Alright… I was, uh… secretly shopping for future birthdays," he muttered and Latvia smiled.

"Say no more, I won't ask again," he winked, "I've been doing the same too on my phone."

"Really?"

"Yep," Latvia chuckled and took his phone out his pocket to show him, but Sealand glanced away.

"Nope, don't show me!" he laughed.

"I promise, there's nothing on-screen!" Latvia insisted and nudged his shoulder playfully. A mini-battle ensued between them as they try to conquer each other with shoulder-shoving. Neither won, but they laughed hard and fell flat back on the mattress.

The stress of Belarus's visit hit Sealand pretty hard, and he's also been getting strange sensations in his body from growing slightly taller, but he decided to shrug it all off and talk to someone another time when Latvia finishes his sleepover with him.