A/N: Hello. Before you start reading, I ask you one thing. Please, bow your head and be silent for 30 seconds in respect for those who have lost their lives on this horrid day.
September 11, 2001
There was no way to breathe.
The air was thick with smoke and the remains of the building that once stood right in front of me. I still couldn't believe what had just happened, what I had just saw.
My whole body went into total shock. I couldn't hear, I couldn't feel, I couldn't smell, I couldn't move. All I could do was sit there and watch it happen. As the black smoke rose up into the air, I could finally smell it. Burning flesh, glass, paper, and everything else that caught fire within the building entered my nose, staining me. Slowly, my sense of hearing came. The screams of people started out as low whispers but drastically changed in mere seconds, curdling my blood. As people ran pass, bumping into me as they made their way away from the buildings, I felt something liquid run down my face. It was warm as it slowly made it's way down my neck. My hand started shaking as I picked it up, putting it into the warm river. Upon lifting it to my face, my eyes were wide with fear and my chest tightened with shock. Blood. I was bleeding.
"Alfred!" I heard, calling behind me. Somehow, his voice was the only one I heard in the sea of thousands.
Slowly, I turned my numb body around. Upon looking him over, he just looked a little shaken up. But in his eyes, I saw how scared and how worried he was.
"Arthur…" I mumbled, trying to reach out to him but my body refused the action.
Instead, he ran up to me, Francis on his heels. Pulling out a napkin, he began to smear the blood away. "We need to sit you down…" He said, his voice shaking just like my body. I looked up at him as I felt tears stream down my face. I would never admit it now, but I was scared. The only time I was ever this scared was when I was small and living with Arthur, trying to sleep thinking a monster was in my closet. When he looked down at my eyes, a simple forced smile crossed his face, his hand on my cheek.
"You'll be okay. I promise, everything will be fine." He said, trying his hardest not to make his voice shake once more. But when he looked up, his eyes widening at the sight I could not see, I knew I wasn't going to be okay.
Even more screams rang in my ears and even more blood flowed out of my body. The second one was hit. I could feel it. The smell of gasoline filled the air and suffocated me even more. I could hear the screams of the people inside the buildings, calling for help, praying to God. Most of them crying. Slowly, I could feel my skin burn and chare. Looking down, I saw no flames. But when I lifted the sleeve of my sweatshirt, my flesh began to sting as fresh air hit the burning wounds. I screamed in fright as the date of the day was etched into my arm, burning right into my bones. Arthur jumped back at the sight and picked me up, like he used to do when I was a child. When he turned and started running back to my home, I looked up and saw a sight I would never forget. Small black figures jumped from the buildings, hitting the ground bellow. My eyes went wide as I screamed at them, begging them to stop. But as they kept going, it was clear my voice would never reach them. Francis ran behind us, trying to keep my focus on him.
It never worked. I kept looking up, wishing I was there to stop them, to save them.
September 11, 2012
The way the water flowed down in the fountains on each side of me soothed my nerves. The night air was crisp and chilled my insides, the leaves from the trees blowing ever so slightly. Autumn seemed to have come early this year and frankly, I didn't mind. The sounds of the busy city around the zeroed ground didn't reach my ears. Maybe because I was focusing to much on the sounds inside the grounds.
Either way, strangely, I'm glad I came.
I looked up at the pond like fountain to my right and allowed the haunting memories to flow into my vision. Looking up at the sky, I remembered the way people screamed and cried as they watched the victims jump to their deaths, not wanting to join the others that have met their fate with the flames. The tainted smell of smoke entered my nose once more, as if I was reliving that day. The haunting sight stayed as I turned my attention to the one on my left, seeing the same thing. My voice was caught in my throat, almost like I was trying to tell them to stop.
"Alfred." I heard a small whisper call out. Nobody else would have heard it unless they had been listening for it.
I smiled and chuckled, turning to my brother with the same faked smile Arthur had given me on that day. "Yes, Matthew?"
He weakly smiled, nodding back toward the cab he had called just moments before. "We should go now. We'll be late for dinner. And you know Arthur hates waiting with Francis. The restaurant will be closed soon."
Nodding, I glanced down. "I'll be done in a minute, Matt. Wait in the cab, I'll be there shortly." And with that, I turned back to where the trade centers once stood.
The sound of the cab door closing overpowered the water pouring down and I sighed deeply, lifting my sleeve to look at the date on my arm. I remember the pain from it burning into me and I'll never forget it. I'll never forget that day. Sighing yet again, I looked up at where the buildings would have been today, closing my eyes.
"You will never be forgotten."
A/N: I was very little when 9/11 happened, but I still remember how scared my family was and how scared I was. I do not own Hetalia.