I was going back through my old stories and saw how this website butchered my formatting and made some of it non-existent, also some of my grammar errors made me cringe. So in order to save what is left of my sanity, I edited it for a re-upload. NOTE: None of the original content has changed, just the grammar has been fixed. Xoxo- Silver
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"So Alfred, we will be hosting the next meeting okay? That means you have to be there on time if not early okay, boy?"
Alfred nodded at his boss, trying not to smile in the process. His boss always acted so serious when other people were present, but when the two of them would talk privately he was much more lenient and even cracked jokes. Alfred liked this boss, he understood Alfred's need to relax and cut back. Though at the moment, both of them had to act serious since the rest of the Cabinet was watching them.
"Yes, Boss, I understand."
"Good, so June 2nd is the day, make sure everyone is happy or at least not fighting."
"No promises sir, but may I ask where the meeting is going to be held?"
"Oh right, I almost forgot! It will be in Charleston, South Carolina. Make sure all the other nations make it to the meeting hall in one piece. You're dismissed."
Alfred nodded and quickly left the room. As he heard the door click closed, he quickly loosened his tie before ultimately removing it.
'June 2nd, why does ring a bell….probably nothing important. Let me email everyone before I forget and get lectured by Arthur again.'
Alfred pulled his phone out of his pocket and began to write the email as he walked out of the White House and down the streets of D.C.
"Hey dudes! Just a reminder that the next world meeting is June 2nd in Charleston, South Carolina! For those of you who don't know that's below North Carolina! See ya'll then! -Alfred F. Jones"
He never wanted to write much in the email because then Ludwig would say that emails were supposed to be concise and informative, while Arthur would just complain about his "butchering" of the "Queen's language" and his excessive use of exclamation marks. After re-reading the email four times, Alfred decided that he was bored of it and hit send. Glancing around as he strolled down the busy streets of the capitol, he saw a small banner hanging on one of stair rails outside of the history museum. Alfred adjusted Texas and looked again at the banner, the fabric was torn and dirty as if it was torn down and tossed on the ground. Picking the banner up, Alfred read the message, "150th Anniversary Exhibit of the Bloodiest American Conflict: The Civil War". As his eyes kept re-reading the message he missed the sound of footsteps coming up to him.
"Oh, thank you, for picking up the banner. I've been meaning to get to it, there's just a lot of cleaning to do around here."
Alfred snapped out his minor trance and stared at the young woman holding out her hand for the banner. He carefully handed her the banner and watched as her blue eyes dimmed as they gazed upon the damage.
"It's such a shame to see history be stepped upon. Literally."
"What do you mean?" Alfred always loved to talk to his citizens, it made him feel good and he always learned something new. They all had such different views and opinions, each just as passionate about their stance as the next. It was truly an amazing experience to Alfred.
"Well, whether people like it or not, the Civil War was part of our history as a nation. The South was just as passionate about their way of life as the North was about theirs. It isn't right to ignore or disrespect part of history just because you don't agree with it." The young woman quickly turned bright red and looked at Alfred, "I'm sorry sir, I don't mean to bore you with history talk or my opinions."
Alfred couldn't help but smile. This girl was obviously passionate about history, it made him even happier that it was American history.
"No, no, don't worry you are definitely not boring. That was actually really cool of you to say and really deep. You seem to really love history."
The woman began to laugh a bit which caused to Alfred to tilt his head wondering what was so funny.
"I hope I love history, I've been studying it since I was old enough to read. I used to study European history, but it's just not as interesting as American in my opinion. I mean we are one of the youngest nations, yet we had a huge boom in the 1920's, survived the Great Depression, and participated in both World Wars that almost destroyed Europe. Plus we kinda took on Russia during the Cold War and didn't flinch." Alfred was stunned by the quick summary the girl easily produced and beamed with pride. Yeah, he had survived all of that, barely at times but he always came back stronger. The woman quickly excused herself and brought the abused banner back inside leaving Alfred on the street still beaming.
'She was cool. Anyways, I should see if Mattie is up for finishing that round of Black Ops!'
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The Night Before...
Maybe it was the mix of Coca-Cola and Pepsi, or was it the lack of actual food eaten that day? No matter how hard Alfred thought about it, he couldn't pinpoint the reason he had a headache. Nothing was going on in his country at the moment, so it couldn't be that option. Could it have been the 14 hour straight gaming session he, Matthew and Gilbert had?
"Ugh, thinking about what caused it makes it worse! Stupid headache inception..." Alfred whined to the empty room. Mattie and Gilbert left hours ago, since Mattie wanted to actually be up early and ready for the meeting the next day and well, Gilbert just followed Mattie around. Looking at the clock, Alfred sighed, deciding that a few hours sleep may help it go away. If not there was always a pill somewhere he could take to make it go away, until Arthur and Francis started arguing again, then no pill was strong enough. Running his hand through his hair, Alfred placed Texas on his bed side table and flopped down face first. Upon second thought, Alfred picked his head back up and reached for his phone to set an alarm, then flopped his head back down and passed out.
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Morning of the Meeting...
Alfred awoke not to the sound of chirping birds, but to max volume version of The Star Spangled Banner. Frantically reaching for his phone on the bedside table, Alfred yelped as he tumbled out of bed and onto the cold floor. It wasn't too unusual for him to fall out of bed, but the blinding pain that came with the contact of the floor was a surprise. He shakily reached up and silenced the alarm, before attempting to pull himself up off the floor. Leaning against his bed, Alfred glanced down at his torso and gasped. The scar across his stomach was red around the edges, as if it were recent.
"Deep breath man, deep breath. Maybe it's just because it's a big anniversary. It means nothing…"
He repeated this mantra to himself as he quickly got ready and dressed. He wasn't going to freak out over a little pain, it was just a reminder, not the real thing. Besides he had more important things to think about, like leading a meeting and being a good host country. Alfred grabbed his phone off the empty bedside table and hurried out the door to avoid being late.
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Alfred sprinted through the halls towards the meeting room. He knew he wasn't going to be the first one there like his boss hoped he'd be, but he wouldn't be late! Not this time and certainly not within his own borders! He reached for the door handle, but a voice made him freeze.
"So now y'all get what my point is? Have I made myself clear?"
A deep southern drawl made Alfred's heart freeze. It couldn't be him, there was no way. Alfred flung the door open and his eyes couldn't believe what they were seeing. Alexander Jones, the Confederacy himself, was standing at the front of the meeting room wearing Texas and a gray suit with gold buttons. Alfred felt chills as Alexander's eyes looked him over just like they did on the battlefield 150 years ago. The room went dead silent as the other nations looked between the two.
"What are you doing here?!" Alfred tried to sound angry but the slight waiver to his voice betrayed him.
"What do you mean? I'm hosting this meeting, I have no clue who you are. Are you even supposed to be here?" The fake innocence that spread across the others face pushed Alfred out of his shock. Alexander was still as smug as he was back then. Looking around the room, Alfred knew he had to get Alexander out. This would be a big problem, people would be asking questions, demanding answers from him. Alfred glanced at his brother Matthew and saw the wheels in his brother's head turning before snapping to a conclusion. Matthew stood up promptly and looked between the two again before using sign language to ask Alfred a question. It was their secret way to communicate when they didn't want anyone else to know what they were saying.
"That can't be who I think it is. Tell me I'm wrong, Alfred. Tell me this is all a big coincidence that you are wearing blue and he is wearing gray."
Alfred nodded to answer Matthew's question, but kept his eyes locked on Alexander. He quickly snuck a glance down and noticed his dark blue suit and mentally sighed.
'They always say history repeats itself. I didn't want to have to repeat this part.'
Alfred caught Arthur about to open his mouth to speak, but cut him off. It would be easier if he didn't have to tell the others.
"I am supposed to be here, you aren't. I think we should discuss this in private." Alfred narrowed his eyes at Alexander, a look he saved for when he was deadly serious. He never used this look in meetings, it would ruin his whole mask of stupidity.
"I suppose we will have to discuss this. Excuse me, gentleman. One of us will be right back." With those words the two headed out the door leaving Matthew to try to field a hundred questions without answering any of them.
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"You're supposed to be dead. The war is over, I lived, you died." At this point, Alfred didn't care about being nice. This would ruin everything, expose secrets he didn't want others to know. He spun around and spat the words out at Alexander.
"That's an interesting hello after so long. I thought you missed me, brother." The southern drawl only accented the sting with the final word. Alexander leaned up against the brick wall, looking up at the sky, as if he didn't have a care in the world.
"You're no brother of mine. Now tell me why are you here? How are you here?!"
"I just wanted to take my place, the place you took from me 150 years ago. I've been waiting. I never really died because guess what, the Confederate spirit never died!" The glares exchanged between the two could have frozen a normal man solid.
"Waiting for what exactly?"
"A chance to take the spot that rightfully belongs to me!" Alexander lunged off the wall as thunder crashed. Alfred readied himself, he wasn't going to let his past beat him. As Alexander reached out to punch him, Alfred snatched his arm and tossed him to the ground. Slamming his foot down on the other's back, Alfred pulled Alexander's arm back causing the other to curse loudly.
"I survived two World Wars and a dozen other wars, don't try me Alex!"
"It's Alexander, you son of a bitch!" He kicked his leg out and knocked Alfred back just enough to wriggle his way free and land a punch on the other's cheek. Rain poured down in sheets as the two fought for dominance.
"Enough!" Alfred yelled over the thunder causing Alexander to pause momentarily. The two stared at each other panting and dripping wet as the rain poured down over their suits.
"I see now, you're angry, but not for the reasons you say. I tried to forget about you, disregard the impact you had on my- no our history. That was wrong of me! I...I'm sorry Alexander. We both played a crucial role, but my part isn't over yet, but that doesn't mean yours should be forgotten or disrespected. Truce?" Alfred held out his hand towards Alexander. The bespectacled man slowly walked forward and took Alfred's hand. The two never broke eye contact as their hands shook. After they let go, Alexander took off his glasses and held them out to Alfred.
"Our history is intertwined, our people are still Americans regardless of their views, but you are right my part is over. I guess this is- OH SAY CAN YOU SEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
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Alfred shot up in bed panting and slammed his hand down on his phone effectively cracking his screen in the process of trying to shut off his alarm. The young nation looked around the room, then down at his stomach at the faded scar.
"Just a dream...a really realistic dream." Alfred shook his head before sliding out of bed and getting ready for the meeting. As he was just about to leave his phone rang.
"Hey Alfred, I didn't think you were up, you want to grab some breakfast before the meeting?"
"Hey, Matthew, yeah, that sounds great."
"Are you okay? You sound like you ran a marathon."
"You wouldn't believe the dream I just had, man."