"Can't I just ride out to find out what's going on?" the young man pleaded.
"For the last time no," A woman sat near a window, spyglass in hand. Her curly black hair was masterfully styled despite the current state of the world around her.
"But Dolly I should be right there with my troops," the young man paced.
"Trust my husband, he will come home yet to eat dinner and tell us of our victory," she said then continued to peer out the window with her spy glass.
The young man paced faster until he came up with a rebuttal, "George let me be on the front lines!"
"And James said you need to stay here," the woman replied calmly, she finally sighed and looked at him, "America, if I could I'd have cannons out of every window in this place to fight the enemy. But you'll just have to believe in our troops, we'll have that dinner party yet."
America sat down; he never could argue much with that woman. For as long as he'd been independent, Dolly had been a kind of mother to him. Through her wonderful dinner parties and boundless determination, she cared for the still young nation and kept him from falling apart. Even now with a battle going on less than five miles away she refused to leave his capital. Two men had come earlier that day covered in dust and begged her to retreat. She had smiled and declined saying that dinner would be served soon. Yes, he'd never be able to win an argument with that woman.
"Mrs. Madison," A man had been shown in by a servant.
Dolly stood up to greet him, "Charles Carroll, what brings you here?"
"Your husband has sent me to urge you to leave," he said.
"Whoa, whoa," America piped up, "Leave? But there's no way that old coot can make it here right?"
"Sorry sir but he seems hell-bent on burning this place to the ground," Carroll said taking off his hat.
America reached for his heart, eyes wide, "Aren't we having dinner in the dining hall today Dolly?"
She smiled sadly, "The dinner will have to be postponed," she sighed and looked around the room for what she thought might be the last time. That's when she saw it and America immediately saw the fire return to her eyes, "That portrait of dear Mr. Washington can't fall into their hands."
"But it's huge, what do you suppose we do?" Carroll asked.
"Call the servants, get some tools, we aren't leaving without it," Dolly stomped her foot.
"But Mrs. Madison," Carroll tried to reason with her.
"For the last time, I'm not leaving without it," Dolly smiled wide and turned to America.
"No use arguing Charles," America smiled, "It's never going to work."
Without the proper tools, getting the frame down would've been impossible. With the help of many servants, the frame was broken and the picture pulled out. John handed it off to two trustworthy friends of theirs and instructed them to take it safely away.
"Are you satisfied Mrs. Madison?" Carroll asked, "The enemy is fast approaching, we must be far away from here. We don't want America to fall back into their hands."
"Let's go America," she called to the young boy who had his hands full of other precious documents and priceless silverware.
"Coming!" He called racing after her.
As they headed out the door Dolly spotted a copy of the Declaration of Independence, "One more thing," she muttered stuffing it into her suitcase.
They hopped into a carriage and raced off as the British advanced closer and closer. They arrived in Carroll's mansion in Georgetown. The group sat nervously in the dining hall. Dolly sat next to America watching him closely. After hours of silence waiting for news, America cried out.
"Alfred are you okay?" Dolly asked as she motherly felt his forehead.
"You never call me by that name," he laughed but was stopped short and began coughing.
"Only when I'm worried dear, you're burning up," she said softly.
"It feels like my heart is on fire," he began coughing again, "and like there's smoke in my lungs."
"They were good on their word, the whole place must be ablaze," Carroll said taking off his hat once more.
"Damn that pirate," America said through coughs.
"I will not tolerate such language, especially not at a time like this," Dolly kept her voice as commanding and calm as it usually was but she wasn't really that mad, "One day we'll be back there, just you wait Alfred, and I'll throw a grand dinner for everyone we know. We'll even have the portrait back up, just you wait," she said determined. She wrapped her arms around him and whispered softly, "Just you wait."
America couldn't believe he'd see his capital ever again with how hot he felt inside. But he knew that there was no use telling her otherwise, he knew he'd never be able to win an argument with that woman.
This was historical fiction of the war of 1812. I researched this at the Smithsonian's website so many of the events that happened in my story really did take place more or less. If I got anything wrong feel free to point it out this is my first Hetalia fic after all. Thanks for reading, maybe I'll write some more historical type things in the future.
-Macy