"The Photo"
Series – Hetalia
Type – AUish, One-shot
OC involved – Eastern United States - Georgia Poe, Mention of Hawaii – Pele Dole
Her name was Georgia, and she was radiant.
She was a shy little rose, always clinging to her cousin, Alfred. He never seemed to let her stand on her own. Only once do I remember when she was by herself, it had been a lonely cold night on the street, and the buses had long since made their last rounds. It was Christmas in New York, and it was her city. She was stopped in front of the Rockefeller Christmas Tree, looking like an angel in her white coat and basking in the twinkling glow of the tree. After all I've done, I felt ashamed that I wanted to approach her. I'd injured her other cousin, Pele and betrayed Alfred in doing so. I wanted to just pass by her and fall asleep on dreaming what could've been, when she called out to me.
"You're the one who gave me the cherry blossoms, right?" She asked, turning away from the tree to say it.
I turned around, "Well, yes. I did give you the cherry blossoms. In return, you gave me the dogwood."
She was smiling at me, her greenish blue eyes sparkling in the Christmas lights. Her hair, a deep red, was a beautiful color against the soft light of the tree. Her hand was offered out to me. I walked up to her and grasped her right hand with my left, and we looked up at the tree together. At first, I only felt the warm grip of her soft hand in mine, and smelled the scent of the tree and the gingerbread that was adorning it. Then I felt the cold wind of winter biting at my exposed skin. My guilt would not let me have one happy moment until I earned Alfred's forgiveness. He had been too busy to see me on this trip – obviously, he was still angry with me. I was about to release Georgia's hand and go back to my hotel alone, when she grabbed something out of her coat pocket. It was a small, wrapped box, and it had a tag that read "To Kiku, From Alfred and Georgia".
"This is for you." She said, smiling.
I took the box from her, and opened it. Inside was a picture of us three – Georgia, Alfred and I – from a spring long ago, in Washington DC, when the cherry blossoms were in bloom. On the back of the photo was a note.
"Nothing will change the fact that you and I are friends, even our biggest fights. Just, don't hurt anybody in my family again, OK? – Alfred"
I was moved, to say the least. Georgia embraced me, and I could tell that tears were running down her face. I knew at that point that she had wanted Alfred to forgive me, and that she wanted to go back to the way things were. I could tell that now, she was happy. Usually, I would have shoved her away, but at that moment, I felt happy knowing that a heart as warm as hers was next to mine. Soon, she released me from her embrace, and walked back to wherever it is that she lived, leaving me and the Rockefeller Christmas Tree alone on a cold mid-December night. I looked at the tree and then I looked back at the photograph. I too, was tearing up a little. And as I stood there, a sunrise peeking a little over the horizon, I felt the warmth of the tree lights wash over me.