AN: Guys. It's 9/11. And, as an American, I feel the need to do this tribute. Even though I fell outta routine with the Hetalia stories, I need to do this.

Enjoy.

America could remember what it felt like when the trade center was attacked. It had been during the middle of a world meeting and they had all been taking a break, standing around and chatting when it happened, and he'd doubled over and hit the ground.

It had scared everyone, since they'd never seen that happen to anyone before, especially not one like America, who was always smiling and laughing, even if he was upset.

Canada's eyes had widened and he moved to his brother's side, kneeling down so he could meet pained blue eyes. "You okay?"
America gave an uneasy smile to his brother and nodded, but it wasn't long after that that he actually cried out in pain, another first for America.

Canada looked up at the others to see France and England both watching this in shock.

Then, not a moment after, Canada looked around to see if he could find someone who'd know what was going on.

After a while, America could straighten back up, but he didn't move further than that. He kept one hand braced against the floor, the other holding his midsection, pain still lying in his eyes.

"Vat's going on?"Germany demanded.

America looked at him for a moment before he shook his head. "I have to go.."he said, pushing himself up very carefully. "I need to make sure my people are okay."

It was about an hour later that Canada's phone went off and he answered it in the middle of Germany's speech, making him fall silent.

He put it on speaker and set it down. "America?"

"Mattie."America greeted. His voice shook and cracked quite a bit. "We've had a bit of an issue here."

France looked at Canada, took in his expression before he spoke. "Has someone attacked your people, Amerique?"

"What do you think?"America responded dully. "Later,"

After that, the dialtone sounded and Canada cut his phone off the call and looked up at France, who met his eyes.

Nobody said anything for the longest. Then France spoke. "Someone needs to check up on him this evening, make sure he's alright. It had to have taken a toll on him physically for him to collapse and cry out like that."he said softly. "That's never happened."

America was back at the next meeting the following day, but he seemed a bit more off.

"What happened?"Canada asked immediately.

America gave his brother a shaky smile. "Twin towers and the world trade center were attacked."

Canada winced. "You okay?"

America nodded. "Yeah, 'm fine. My people are really shook up..but..yeah.."

The others listened in on this. It was an odd occurance, but they understood what had happened better afterwards.

America, however, could hear the sound of explosions and people screaming in his mind the entire meeting, a playback of the previous day's horrid events. He could still feel the pain, and stayed hunched in on himself. Nobody bothered him about it.

It took a while for him to get to where he was alright completely, and even then, he never forgot. Every year at that time, he would always do some tribute to the fallen. And none of the others ever questioned him doing so. It was only right that he would do that for his people.

He will always remember.

So, this is crappy, I know. But I've not seen Hetalia in a while, and I don't get to hang around with America and Canada anymore..it's kinda sad, actually..but yeah.

Remember 9/11. Especially if you're a fellow American.

*Salute*