. . .2 years before the beginning of World War III. . .
"Hey! Wait up would ya!" I turned around to see my twin brother barreling toward me at light speed. I barely had time to step out of the way before he rushed past me and skidded to a badly planned stop. I sighed.
"What is it, Matthew?" I snapped. He flinched when I called him by his birth name. No country wanted another to know their real name, names had power like you wouldn't believe.
"I-I just wanted to talk to you for a second," he mumbled, looking down at his boots. I waited until he met my eyes. When he did it was almost like looking at a mirror image of myself. He had the same sky blue eyes, the same shaggy blond hair, and the same polished glasses that I did. One of the few things that set us apart was the fact that he had a goofy-looking curl that stuck out on the right side of his head.
"Sorry, I'm just kinda mad with everything going on," I apologized. He looked at me understandingly and put an arm around my shoulders. I returned the favor by hooking my arm around his ribcage and pulling myself against him until we were as close as could be, clinging to each other like when we were children. We continued walking, holding on tightly to each other.
"So what is it you needed to talk to me about?" I asked. He turned his head to look me in the eye.
"I just wanted to let you know that whatever happens I'll be there for you and I'll always stand by you. I love you and I hate seeing you suffer." That was one of the nicest, most loving things I had ever heard in my life, and it had just come out of my brother Canada.
"Thanks. . ." I managed to choke out. Canada stopped walking and turned toward me, I did the same. It wasn't until he hugged me that I realized I was crying. When we broke apart he held my head and leaned our foreheads against each other, this was another thing we did when we were children when one of us was sad. Usually I was the one comforting Canada but today I found myself in his usual position. I made the mistake of meeting his eyes, which were full of sadness and concern. I cried harder.
I almost never show that kind of emotion around people, I don't want to be viewed as weak. But at that time I was so broken that I didn't care if Canada saw me in that state. My land had been nuked twice in the past 3 months, and as a country it hurt me both mentally and physically.
I didn't know how long I could go on before a war started. Many countries, I knew, would be on my side, but the ones who weren't were incredibly strong and had the power to kill me if they tried hard enough. The United States of America was headed for a downfall if a miracle didn't happen soon.
