As They Watched

by Mitsuki Horenake

That moment left a deep wound on America. But many people forget this: it wasn't an attack on America. It was an attack on the world. And they were watching. There will be OC nations, for this is not just Hetalia anymore.

I started writing this on September 4th, 2011 at 7:19 PM EST.

This has been finished on September 11th, 2011 at 0:00 EST. No, seriously. That's what my clock said.

This is my tribute fanfic for the victims of 9/11, and the hope that came out of Osama Bin Laden's death before the 10th anniversary of this horrific day. More than anything, this was an attack on humanity rather than America, and after I was done thinking about this I had to sit back and think on why I would write this. After all this time, I still don't have an answer. I mean, I didn't lose anyone in the attacks. I didn't even live in NYC at the time, but I live in an area where I could still see the smoke from the towers from my window. Even then, I was oblivious and thought that this was some kind of Die Hard marathon.

I guess this is my way of saying that I'm no longer that oblivious little kid anymore who thinks that every explosion is a Die Hard showing.

This story will have canon Hetalia characters and OC nations as well. All the world will be here, as much as I can squeeze in.

/=+=/

"Antonio…are you sure that we can skip the meeting like this?"

"Of course, Charice! Besides, when was the last time you ever saw a view like this from the tallest building in New York?"

She really had no idea why in the world she was doing this, but in the end she got suckered into this anyway. She was with Antonio on one of the observation decks in the Twin Towers, staring down at the beautiful view of the city and just marveling at how epic it looked. Truth of the matter was that while she liked the view, she much rather wanted to go to the mall. Not because it was a mall, but it was not on the freaking top of the world.

"Never…really…but it looks pretty." She admitted. "I'm surprised that I'm even standing up here right now."

"Why?"

"…is this observation deck even open at this time?"

"I dunno. I just told them that I wanted to show you this place and they accepted~" He laughed. "Maybe they do know who we are!"

Oh, that's great. She shook her head. "Hey, why didn't we go to the North Tower?"

"Eh?"

"The North Tower had that restaurant that you were talking about, remember*?"

"Oh…oh, really?" Antonio laughed. "Well then, I'm sorry about that! I guess we should go over there then!"

Go all the way down the South Tower just so I can go all the way back up the North Tower? I'd much rather each the food they give at the meetings here… "Just…just get an elevator."

"Aw…but the elevators are so full right now."

"…WHAT."

"We have to use the stairs, querida-"

"WWWWWWWHAAAAT?"

"You don't mind the stairs, do you?"

"…sometimes I hate you. So very very much."

Antonio could only laugh as he went to take Charice's hand. The climb down was very tedious but nonetheless Charice forced herself to go through it. What really sucked was that Antonio loved to take his sweet time going down all the damn stairs.

"Will you hurry up?" She shouted up to him.

"Why? I don't want to be all sweaty when I get down the tower! Plus we have to climb up the stairs of the North Tower too!"

"Have you ever considered using the ELEVATOR?"

"Why? Workers are using it, right?"

"He got a point there!" A man said from behind them.

The small group that was with them started laughing, making her shake her head and hurry further down. After what felt like a few hours, Charice turned her head and noticed that there was a strange sound coming from outside. She and Antonio peeked at one of the exit doors with their group and saw a scary sight.

"Um…Antonio?"

"Yeah?"

"I-is that a plane?"

/=+=/

I can't believe that Charice is skipping a meeting…with ANTONIO of all people.

Rizal was trying his best not to think too hard about the whole thing as the meeting started. It was the first time that he alone went to the huge UN building that was in the New York area, not to mention that he felt rather out of place without the rather loudmouthed young woman that was his sister.

"Are you OK, Rizal?"

"Hm?" He turned his head and saw a rather worried Feliciano looking back at him. "Yeah…I'm just a little mad that my sister is skipping this meeting today."

"Ve~~~well, I heard that they were going to go to the Twin Towers…I think they were going to the restaurant in there too…"

"Really? I doubt it." Rizal laughed. "Charice wasn't one for heights."

"Hey, what restaurant are you guys talkin' 'bout?" Alfred leaned on the desk. "The one in the North Tower?"

"I think that's the only restaurant there." Rizal answered.

"Dude, it has the best food out there in the world! It's called Windows on the World, and you can see for miles up there!" Alfred laughed. "It's freaking awesome! I eat there whenever I can!"

"Is the food there really good?" Kiku turned his head. Apparently everyone wanted to talk about the conversation.

"I've eaten there." Espen stated. "With Anri. Not that bad."

"I've tasted better." Ion sighed.

"So have I." Arthur rolled his eyes.

"You all have tasted better…that's what you all say…" Alfred whined.

"I've never eaten there, da ze!" Yong Soo flailed his arms around. "Is it good, is it good?"

"It's the best that America has to offer!" Alfred posed.

"If you're willing to get all the way up there." Arthur mumbled.

"If you guys just please…" Ludwig spat. "We have the entire world here…let's just get this meeting over with."

"I agree." Vash sighed, shaking his head. "Erika wants to go watch The Lion King after this."

"I want to watch it too…" Seyel sighed.

"I've watched it before. It's rather interesting." Eshan laughed. "Adds a bit in case you watched the movie."

"Really? That's so interesting!" Seyel laughed.

"Can we just get on with the meeting…?" Ludwig shook his head.

"We might as well, dude! I got a restaurant that I have to be in later!" Alfred laughed. "So now-"

It was then that everything just stopped. Alfred had frozen in place before a scream echoed out throughout the room. Ion, being the closest, quickly jumped to his feet and caught the falling nation as he started screaming broken phrases. His nose twitched and he lifted up one of his pant legs.

"His leg is broken." He concluded. "One of the bones, not all of them."

"Not all the bones…?" Arthur ran to his side. "What does that?"

Rizal turned his head to see a rather pale Feliciano staring out of the window. All the nations ran toward whatever they can look through and some of them even started screaming. Rizal jumped over a few of them to see what they were looking at: the North Twin Tower was on fire. He instantly turned pale.

"What the heck is going on?"

"The building's on fire!"

"Is it a bomb?"

"The fire's going over the city!"

"Look at all the people running at the street."

"Is this an attack?"

"Alfred's almost dying! This has to be an attack!"

Rizal was darting his head around trying to climb out of the mass and was heading toward the door when a hand grabbed him and held him back. He looked around and saw a rather concerned Erika staring back at him with watering eyes. She was utterly scared of what was going on.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"I have to go there."

"To the towers? What are you going to do?" Erika asked again. "You're not seriously going to try saving her?"

"I have to do something!" Rizal tried to pull his grip away. "If not me, then who?"

It was around that time that Ludwig started listening.

"Look, the tower isn't safe anymore. I have to get over there and get her out of there!" Rizal succeeded in pulling away, only to be grabbed again by someone else. "Dammit, let me go!"

"You will listen to me, Rizal." It was Ludwig. "You will stay here."

"I can't do that!" He spat. "My sister's in that building!"

"And what are you planning on doing the minute you get there? You can't fly, you don't have super speed, and your sister is on top of the building!" Ludwig pointed out. "If you go there, what will you do? You can't do anything right now without endangering yourself!"

"Then what am I supposed to do? Just wait here?"

"…it's not like we can do anything else." Ludwig turned his head. "Don't you feel it?"

Rizal blinked before realizing that he could feel it too: a strange pain in his chest, grief. He looked up to the tower and knew what it meant: it was only there when so many of his people have died. Ludwig had felt it as well. He turned his head and saw that his fellow nations were feeling it one by one, the silence in the room filled with screams of pain.

"We have to take Alfred to the hospital!" Kiku stated.

"Where's the nearest one?" Arthur panicked.

Someone was about to say something when Irunya and Alfred started screaming. Rizal looked up and realized that Alfred's other leg had snapped and that another plane had struck the tower. It was official. America was under attack. And there's nothing he could do about it.

/=+=/

For the first time in her life, Charice was very grateful that Antonio had gotten into the wrong tower.

The minute the plane had crashed into the North Tower, Antonio and Charice continued their descent down the stairs. People all around them were starting to panic as well and flood through the stairways, causing them to lose the group that was with them before. They started quite earlier than the rest with a few other people that had followed them, so they were already at the 85th floor the minute they made a break for it. Because of how crowded the place was, Charice could barely move a muscle. She clung onto Antonio's hand for her life.

"What's going on?"

"A plane crashed into the other tower!"

"It had to be an accident! There's no way that this could be something intentional!"

"I'm scared! I don't want to die here!"

"Keep going, keep going!"

"Why isn't anyone moving?"

Charice started to panic. She had been in war before, had heard the screaming before…but this time there were no guns…there were only screams and steps of panic. After a few minutes someone bumped her from behind, and she lost her grip. She could barely see Antonio getting lost in the crowd.

"Papa!"

"Keep running!"

She had no idea who said that. Maybe it was Antonio. Maybe it was one of the office workers. But she followed it and kept going. Her feet slipped every now and then, but she kept her balance and pushed herself forward. After a few minutes of running, she heard something from the loudspeakers.

"The South Tower has been deemed safe from this accident. All workers are asked that they return to their work stations and continue with what they are doing."

Are they crazy? A plane just hit one of the towers*!

To her surprise, a few of the workers in the stairway decided that it really was safe and started to head out of the crowded area on their closest floors. Of course, that didn't help the crowd whatsoever. Charice was being shoved forward, pulled back, all of that. Halfway through the mess she could've sworn that she saw Antonio pass her. Charice could only blink and push herself forward and note what level she was on: 63rd.

That's when it happened.

She heard a loud noise coming toward them, causing the crowd to start up again and scream in panic. Charice forced herself faster and faster through the crowd and sure enough, a loud crash rattled the building. She fell to her knees with the others as she looked up and saw a huge pile of smoke a few levels up.

Another plane had hit the building.

America was under attack.

The people around her started to panic from the fire and hurried faster down the staircase. Charice started screaming for Antonio but no response came back, forcing her to run down alone. Surprisingly, the crowd was starting to thin out as she descended down the stairs. She was sweating like she wouldn't believe, but the exit was still so far away…50th…43rd…god, how many staircases were there?

It was around that time that she noticed that people were starting to leave in a single-file. She did so with ease, noticing that firemen were climbing up the staircase on the other side of the stairs and yelling for all of them to hurry up. Charice did so with a shiver, wondering where Antonio was. The only thing that she was grateful about was that she and Antonio were the only nations in this building.

Before she knew it, she was on the 1st level. How, she's not really sure. But all she knew was that there were firemen pushing all of the people out of the building as calmly and as safely as they could. How no one was breaking out into screaming just yet, she'd never understand. Maybe the human race was starting to mature a little…

"Don't look up! Don't look up!"

One of the firemen was screaming this as Charice finally found herself outside of the building. She ran forward for a few minutes before she started screaming Antonio's name. The only problem was that she made the mistake of looking up while calling.

All she saw was a figure heading down toward them. No one was responding (mainly because they were screaming and getting away from the building), but all she could do was stand there and watch…watch as the figure fly closer and closer to the ground…with five other figures…

"Don't look up!"

Arms reached out from behind her and covered her eyes, almost making her scream. It was then that she realized (with relief) that it was Antonio, and he was pushing her out of the area. They were running as fast as they could, past all of the people that were running in the same direction as they were, all while Antonio was covering her eyes.

"W-where are we going?" She asked.

"I…I'm not really sure! To the bridge, I think." Antonio said through his run. "We have to get to the UN building…"

"God, I really hope everyone's there."

"I really hope so too…"

The both of them continued to run as fast as they could before their pace began to slow themselves down. Antonio finally let go of Charice's eyes as they walked forward, trying to contact anyone with his cell phone. He sighed and hung up after a few tries.

"I can't get through." He answered. "Crap…we have to go there ourselves."

"Just get me out of here."

"…as you wish."

Charice looked up in confusion as Antonio took her hand and led her further away from the building. This made her emotionally confused all the same. Wasn't he the one that tortured her people for so long? And now here he was, protecting her from whatever happened just now. Rizal would not believe that this was happening, even if he was in her shoes right now.

"Antonio? Is that you?"

A strange Irish accent echoed from behind, and they turned their heads to see a bushy browed redhead walk toward them with a cigar in his mouth and surprised green eyes looking back at him. He was on the phone when he headed over to the both of them.

"Bless the Lord, you two are alive. Everyone thought you were dead, man." Liam stated.

"Dead?" Charice was shocked.

"You said that you two were going into the North Tower, and the plane hit literally below where you would be."

"We went into the South Tower by accident. We were trekking it downstairs when we saw the plane hit the North Tower." Charice explained.

"Who are you on the phone with?" Antonio blinked.

"Arthur. We were talking just before the second tower hit." He paused. "Huh? Yeah, I'm still here…hey, you're breaking up…listen, Antonio and Charice are here…'eah, the both of 'em…'ere, talk."

"Whoa!" Charice grabbed the phone. "Iggy?"

"Charice, is that you?"

"Yeah! Listen, me and Antonio are fine! We met up with your brother here, just downtown!"

"That's…brother…"

"Y-you're breaking up! Look, the both of us are fine! We're not hurt!"

"Good…spital…hurt-"

The line died, making her look up at the both of them to confirm that. She handed the phone back to Liam just as the people around them started to bunch up into groups and openly talked about what they were seeing right now. She was so scared that she started to inch toward Antonio. He didn't bother to push her off, even going so far as to hold her close. Liam turned toward the both of them.

"They were at the hospital, right?"

"Yeah…someone was hurt…" She answered. "But it broke up, so I don't know who…"

"I think I know who it is…" Antonio looked up. "Do you know what hospital?"

"Yeah…come on, before the crowd gets-"

People started screaming in terror as a loud roar made Charice cringe. She turned her head to the towers and saw a huge cloud a smoke erupt before them just a few feet away. Despite the fact that they were so far away, the cloud looked like it could consume them any minute. She felt a huge pain in her chest, as if there were thousands of her own people that died. She turned her head and saw that Antonio and Liam felt the same thing. After a few minutes of silence, Antonio shook his head.

"We have to get to that hospital."

/=+=/

The entire UN meeting rushed Alfred to the hospital the minute that both his legs were down. While they were in the car, Rizal saw with shock that his head was starting to bleed and that a bruise was starting to form on his chest, right next to his heart. He had no idea what was going on, but then again this had never happened at this scale before.

The poor doctors had no idea what was wrong with Alfred when he was admitted. But they took him in anyway, all while hearing him scream in pain all the while. The rest of them stood outside the operating room or in the lobby, talking lightly and watching the TV on the news that was going on.

Rizal sat quietly in the observation room with Arthur, Matthew and Lukas as they watched the surgeons do an emergency operation on the dying Alfred. Everyone was silent as the observers watched the TV watching all that was occurring all while hoping for his safety.

"Wait, Charice? Antonio? They're with you?"

Rizal's head darted up, making him realize that Arthur was on the phone the entire time. The way he was talking, according to Peter, he must've been talking to Liam. He stood up as Arthur was silent.

"Charice, is that you?" Arthur blinked for a few minutes. "That's good…listen, your brother was wondering where you-"

There was a strange pause.

"Charice? Charice, you're breaking up!" Arthur shook his head and listened to something. "Good…look, we're at the hospital. Alfred's just been hurt-"

There was another pause. Arthur sighed.

"W-what's wrong?" Matthew asked, standing up from his seat.

"No, nothing's wrong. Charice and Antonio are all right. They're with my brother right now." He answered. "Somewhere downtown."

"That's good." Rizal sighed. "Do they know what hospital?"

"Yeah, they do." Arthur nodded. "Liam is going to tell them-"

The TV reporters started to erupt into a calm panic, forcing all of them to look at the screen. One of the towers had fallen from the damage and fire, leaving nothing but smoke and ash for the observers to see. Just around then, he heard Alfred scream in pain from the surgery.

Why is Alfred awake during surgery? Did the anesthesia work at all? Rizal went to the window.

Alfred's scream was starting to echo through the walls, making all of them in the room shiver with fear. But after a few seconds, he could hear another scream. He didn't have to think too hard: it was Ludwig's scream. Rizal turned his head around the room and saw that he wasn't there.

He's not in the room…?

After that, another scream overlapped those two. It was Feliciano's scream. Then Lovino's scream. Then Antonio's. Then Arthur's. Then Ivan's. Then Roderich's. He could even hear his sister. There were so many people screaming at once that it was hurting his eardrums, forcing him to hold his ears. Then he heard something else: the scream of a woman. The scream of men. The scream of children. Soon, the whole room started to echo with the screams of thousands…maybe even millions of people, all in terror or pain.

God, why does it hurt so much…?

He felt himself collapse to his knees, the endless screaming too much for himself to bear. He felt as if he was going to pass out any minute. He was barely aware of a pair of hands holding his shoulders and calmly dragging him out of the room, away from the pain. Voices started to replace the screams…concerned voices…and it slowly pulled him back to the brink.

"…ow…"

"You're awake." It was Lukas. "Good. I was getting worried."

"…the hell happened?" Rizal sat up. "Did I just pass out in the waiting room…?"

"About to. You'll be fine now." He answered. The crowd around them slowly dissipated. "So then…I'm assuming that you heard it too."

"Heard…what?"

"The screams."

Rizal's face froze, leaving Lukas to nod and sit next to him. The blank expression told him almost everything.

"You heard it too."

"So did Arthur."

"And Matthew?"

"No, he didn't hear it. Only those who can communicate with the other realm could hear them." Lukas turned toward him. "And really, that is what sets Alfred apart from all the other nations here in this room."

"How…so?"

"We are nations, Rizal. When our people suffer, we feel the pain. And as such, we express their pain the same way they do theirs. When you are spiritually aware like us, you can hear the screams of the people as well." Lukas sighed. "That's what makes Alfred so unique. He's the entire world. He has no real start other than the natives that he lived with. So when he screams…you can hear the world scream in his voice."

"You've heard it before."

"I've prepared myself. Arthur wanted to be on the phone when it happened so that he would hear anything else. You, on the other hand, heard and took in the entire thing. None of us can handle it at this point as well." Lukas turned to him. "So now you know."

"Yeah…and hopefully, I never hear that again."

Lukas could only nod in acceptance as he stood up and went to join the others, leaving Rizal alone to figure out just what was going on. The echoing screams came over again just as the second tower fell, and the whole room went into a state of suppressed panic. He turned his head to Ludwig and knew that he was feeling it too: he was scared. At least, that's what he got out of how tight he was holding a sobbing Feliciano. It was then that Matthew left the observation room and headed toward Juan, who was shaking his leg repeatedly.

"Are you nervous?" He asked.

"I'm getting there…" He answered. "I'm just having a headache…"

"Headache? From what?"

"After the planes…I asked my boss if he could allow all of the planes coming into America to come into my land instead…" Matthew shook his head*. "There are a lot of planes coming in. More than I'm used to…and maybe more than I can handle..."

"Hey. Send some of those planes over to me if you can."

"Juan?"

"We're both America's neighbors, right? Might as well try my best to help."

"…thanks."

Juan could only nod and turn back to the screen as he saw thousands of Americans sobbing or talking out of pure shock. Through that crowd, Irunya couldn't help but notice that Mika wasn't looking at the screen, mumbling to himself in shock and rubbing his fingers together. He was praying to Allah for forgiveness.

"Is something wrong, Mika?"

"…yes. Something is very wrong with me…" He stated, his voice sounding old. "I'm feeling something that I can't…describe."

"That's fear, Mika. We all feel it…" Irunya stood up. "I mean, whoever did this killed so many people-"

"No, Ukraine. This is something different."

That's when Irunya knew something was up. Mika was quite an old man, and yet he only referred to them by their actual country names if he was stating something very important. She sat down next to him.

"What are you feeling, then?"

He sat in silence for a long time, not saying a word, until he turned his head and uttered one small word.

"Pride.*"

/=+=/

It had been a while, but afterwards Alfred had regained consciousness much to the relief of the world. He had woken up to the president addressing the world on what had happened and vowing that justice will be done on those that have wronged them. He sat alone in the room, feeling the morphine run through his blood, and saw Matthew and Juan peek into the room.

"Hey, guys."

"Brother…" Matthew sat next to the bed. "Thank goodness. You had us all worried."

"Well, I'm fine now. The support coming from you guys is making me feel better." Alfred looked at his arm. "And…uh…"

"What?"

"Were these markings here when I came into the meeting?"

"No. Addidy was just painting some markings on you after you got out of the operating room." Juan stated. "She said that those letters mean peace or something like that."

"I'll have to thank her for that…" He looked around. "Where is everyone?"

"They're all outside right now. Man we're taking up the entire lobby, ese!" Juan laughed.

"Juan!"

"What? I'm just trying to lighten up the mood, holmes."

"I'm glad you are. I didn't want any of you guys to be moping around because of me." Alfred sighed. "I heard what you did, Matthew. Operation Yellow Ribbon, right?"

"Yeah, that was it. We were worried that there were more attacks, so we directed a lot of your flights for you." Matthew laughed. "Most of them landed in my military bases…there were a lot, so I got a bit of a headache."

"I can't thank you enough, Matthew. You're like a guardian angel to me."

"Um…" He blushed. "Thanks…"

"Hah! He got your name right!" Juan laughed.

"Juan, please! This is serious…"

"Well, it was either that or James. And that name sounded too British for him."

"Alfred…"

"Yeah yeah, sorry man…" Alfred looked around. "Huh…I thought Arthur would be around here."

"He's talking with his boss about aid and stuff like that." Juan answered. "Well, that was true because he almost attacked me and wanted to come in himself."

"Interesting…" Alfred laughed. "Well, he was always so protective with me…"

"Do you know what happened, Alfred?"

"I saw everything, Matthew. You don't have to tell me."

"Brother…"

"It was kind of like seeing a war, only there are no guns and yet just as much death…" Alfred looked up. "I couldn't be a hero to them…they were scared…"

"You're muy loco, ese." Juan folded his arms. "You were the victim here."

"But still…"

"Alfred. You couldn't have. You would've died in there, and your government will go into shock."

"…"

"Don't make us sic out Arthur on you, holmes."

"No, no there's no need for that." Alfred laughed. "Thanks, you two. I don't feel better, but at least I can understand."

"It's fine, brother…"

"W-wait!" Alfred gasped. "I remember now! Wasn't Charice and Antonio in the North Tower? What happened to them?"

"They were in the South Tower. Antonio was being a dumbass like he always is." Juan stated. "Then again, I'm glad he is. Those two would've been dead if not."

"…good…" Alfred shook his head. "The last thing I needed was a nation dying because of my carelessness…"

"Alfred…"

"If I was just a little stricter…this would've never happened…"

"Don't worry about it. It's in the past, man." Juan stated. "Just worry about recovering right now. You almost bled to death out there on the operating table."

"Yeah…thanks…" Alfred smiled. "Everyone's support is greatly appreciated. I think I'll be able to walk tomorrow…"

"Actually, we're going out now."

"Um…why?"

"We got a vigil to go to."

/=+=/

How in the world the nations were able to smuggle out Alfred was beyond his thinking. They found that Central Park was still open, and they all flooded into the middle with candles and matches. Alfred's wheelchair was being pushed by a rather quiet Arthur, who was apparently avoiding anything that might even make the chair bounce around. Toris found it a little funny, but no air escaped his lips.

Once they reached the center of the park, he saw that Lovino was holding the first match, lighting the candle in his hand and passing it on to Antonio. Everyone was passing the candle around until soon there was a small crowd of candles surrounding the wheelchair bound nation. And it was then that Alfred saw Arthur cry openly.

"Hey…hey man, stop it. I'm fine, see?" Alfred tried to smile. "If you keep doing that, you're only going to blow out your candle."

"…I can't help it…people died up there…none of them deserved it…" Arthur shook his head. "If this was war, this would be different…but…"

"Hey…if anyone should be crying, it should be me. Now stop it." He laughed. "Aren't you supposed to be the brave one?"

"Why can you smile at a time like this…?" Arthur knelt down to his level. "Thousands of your people died today…"

"It's hard to smile, yes…but…" He turned back to Arthur. "Look around us. When was the last time you spent an entire day without arguing with Francis?"

"Bloody git-"

"We're united. For the first time since…forever, I'm guessing…none of us are arguing or fighting…we're all here for the same reason." Alfred wiped a tear from his eye. "That alone…makes me happy."

Arthur had no idea what to say. Alfred was usually one of the many idiots of the country list, spouting off about being a hero and just annoying more people than he should be annoying. How in the world, then…how in the world was he suddenly the most mature guy out there? He should be in pain, heck he should be unconscious! What was keeping him awake?

"Look."

Alfred pointed behind Arthur, and all the nations saw thousands of New Yorkers joining the small group, holding candles of their own and praying to themselves. Gilbert offered his candle to a five year old girl and lit it up for her, and she handed it over to her mother who was still in tears. The candle illuminated a police badge on her chest, that of a fallen husband. Soon the entire park was illuminated with candlelight and singing, the spirit of the people strong and proud.

"Look at all of them…" Kiku smiled. "Their pride in their country is so strong…"

"Yeah…strong indeed."

"Al, what are you-?"

They turned to see a worried Elizabeta and Alfred pushing himself from the wheelchair. Everyone was about to say something when they saw that Alfred was standing perfectly on his own: no complains of pain or anything. As the singing continued, his smile came back as well.

"It's something that many of us nations have forgotten…our people are our strength, da?"

Alfred turned his head to see Ivan and Natalya emerge from the crowd, holding their own candles and staring him down. Natalya didn't look mad or obsessed as usual today…she looked more relaxed, expressionless. But Alfred could clearly see the same pain in her eyes.

"Yeah…without them, I would probably still be unconscious."

"Yes, indeed." Ivan smiled. "You know…the both of us had some bad times recently…what with the war and everything."

"Commies running around the US, yeah I know."

"How about we set that all aside, just for this day? Or as long as you need it?" Ivan nodded. "Russia will mourn with you as well. *"

"…thanks. That means a lot."

Ivan nodded as they heard a honking of a fire truck just outside the boarders of the park. The whole crowd turned their heads to see a few fire trucks heading their way, flashing their lights and driving at a strange haste. Alfred could hear Feliciano panic.

"Ve~~~! Wait a minute! Aren't these candles a fire hazard or something?"

"Oh great, just what we need." Lovino spat. "Arrests just when the world's in mourning."

"Nah, don't worry you guys." Alfred waved his hand. "They aren't going to do that."

The two brothers stared at him before they realized that there was a fireman on top of the ladder. He waved to the proud Americans before draping an American flag on top of the ladder. The cheers came louder than ever before, and as Arthur turned his head he saw that the bruise on Alfred's head was now near nonexistent. More firemen joined the one on the ladder, and the whole place turned into an uproar of patriotism. It made many of the nations cry.

"This is something that is truly beautiful, Alfred."

"Thanks, Francis." He turned to him. "It's nice hearing that from someone like you."

"I would take that as an insult, but now is not the time for arguments." Francis nodded. "Still…isn't it nice to see the people unite in light of a terrible tragedy?"

"Yeah…it makes me proud that at least my people can stop arguing over stupid things when something important comes around."

"Are you saying that you're the only country in mourning?"

"Hm?"

"The Twin Towers was a tourist site. We have lost people as well in these attacks…just not as many as you.*" Francis stated. "We nations aren't just mourning with you like we are now. Our people are joining us as well."

"…thanks, man." He laughed. "Man, didn't I say a long time ago that the world consisted solely of Americans?"

"In a way, I guess you were right…" Francis nodded. "This was not an attack on Americans, but an attack on humanity. No one that died today deserved to die. They were all innocent human beings. They all had their own lives, away from politics."

"Away from everything that was happening." Alfred agreed.

"If innocents are the only things connecting each nation together, then that string has been severed today…only to be rewound with thousands of other threads." Francis smiled. "Let us hold hands and mourn openly…for today, we are all Americans."

"…yes we are…" And may this unity never sever.

/= [EPILOGUE] =/

(May 2, 2011)

It was a late night for Arthur. He was spending the week in America so Alfred was more than willing to lend him a room for the visit. At least the place didn't smell of hot dogs. He shook his head and continued to flip through the channels before he suddenly heard Alfred leap for joy and cheer for no reason in the kitchen.

"WILL YOU CUT DOWN THE BLOODY RACKET? I'm trying to watch my soaps here!"

"I can't help it man! WOOOOOO!"

Arthur could only sigh as he heard the man cheer on forever before turning back to the TV and blasting the speakers so that way he could be tuned out. Just when America gets the damn cable working as well. It was around that time that the channel had been cut, instead broadcasting a "special news bulletin".

Bloody Americans.

But instead of it being something stupid or something like that, he instead saw President Barack Obama come from the inside of the White House and toward the podium that was in front of him. Arthur could only blink and wonder if this was connected to why Alfred was on a sugar high despite the fact that cut down the sugar supply (Arthur did, against Alfred's wishes). So he decided that he was going to listen in. Nothing better else to do now.

"Good evening."

Good evening to you too. He sighed. Arthur was used to showing the president respect. At least this one had better brain matter than the last one.

"Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, and a terrorist responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children."

Arthur's blood froze as a smile plastered itself onto his face. That would explain the joy going through Alfred's veins. Heck, that would explain why he was such in a good mood all of a sudden. The queen must be very proud of what America has achieved. The whole must be proud right now. For some reason, he could see Alfred drinking with Yong Soo and Charice…even though none of them drink. Ah well, might be a Pepsi or something.

"Hey, Charice! Yo, you in the America area?" He heard Alfred chirp. "You're with who? Oh, Yong Soo! Sweet, bring him over! Eh, your brother? Bring him over too! Hell, bring the entire Peanuts gallery! Cause it's a partay at MAH house tonight!"

Oh geez…

"Hey, Iggy! Charice is ordering food! You want anything?"

Arthur turned his head toward Alfred, who was on the phone and grinning at him. That smile was back. The old smile that he was so used to seeing. For ten years, the smile he had was too suppressed…too small…too unlike him. This was the old him. The scars are going to start healing now. That was exactly what he wanted. He couldn't help but smile back at him.

"How about a hamburger?"

"Damn, seriously?"

"It's a good time." Arthur stood up. "Then again, they don't have English food there."

"All right." He grinned and went to the phone. "Double decker burger there!"

"Just a simple one, bloody git!"

"We're going all the way here, man!"

Arthur could only shake his head as Alfred started ordering everything and anything that his hands could possibly touch. Almost five seconds later, fifteen other nations came pouring through the door with meat sticks and Coke bottles…and beer (of course…Gilbert). Arthur stared at everyone as they all came in, before noticing that Alfred was holding something in front of his face.

"Delivery for you."

"Thanks." Arthur sighed. "And look…fries."

"You want coke with that?"

"No, thanks."

He looked up and saw Alfred as he started out his first drink of the night with Gilbert with a chuckle and a fact that he was clearly drunk. But it was the old Alfred. The Alfred that he was used to. The one that he raised-

"GAAAH!"

He turned his head around and saw Li Xiao had started shooting up fireworks. But he didn't care now. There were people flooding the streets in happiness, and soon the party went outside. Many brought flags. They all sang the anthem of their land. And a part of Arthur knew that…maybe…somehow…he didn't have to worry about America anymore.

/=+=/

*The restaurant that Charice is talking about is known as the Windows on the World restaurant, which resided in the 106th and 107th floors of the North Twin Tower. The complex that Antonio and Charice are in is the observation deck on the 107th floor.

*I can't remember the exact words that they used, but from the stories that I have heard from the South Tower people have asked the staff to return to their work schedules because they thought that the plane hitting the North Tower was an accident. While many people ignored that, some of them have returned to their work places. That's why the deaths in the South Tower are fewer than the North Tower…but they were still there.

*Immediately after the four planes hit their targets, all airplanes were grounded. Some that were coming into America was instead redirected to Canada. I heard Mexico too, but I'm not really sure. At least for Canada, it was called Operation Yellow Ribbon.

*I'm not saying that al-Qaeda was from Saudi Arabia. I'm saying that Osama bin Laden was from Saudi Arabia, and Mika was only feeling the pride that was radiating from him because it was a strong feeling for this man that it literally radiated to him. In no way am I saying that Saudi Arabia is the bad guy. It's like saying that Hitler was actually born in Austria and hence Roderich could feel his pride during the Nazi regime.

*As a reaction to 9/11, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the White House to say that any tension and hostility between the United States and Russia should be put aside while America still mourns the loss and try to heal the scars. President Bush gladly accepted that statement.

*Apart from the thousands of American casualties, there have been some deaths from foreign nations as well. As many as 90 nations lost someone in the attacks. For the exact numbers, please go to this website: http: /en. wikipedia. org/ wiki / Casualties _ of _ the _September _11_ attacks

Charice is the Philippines…well, half of it. The outer islands at the very least.

Rizal is the other half of the Philippines, and Charice's younger brother. I write fanfics about these two most often.

Espen is the Netherlands. Sounds badass.

Anri is Belgium. I just like using this name.

Ion is Romania. I dunno…it just FIT him.

Erika is Liechtenstein.

Seyel is Seychelles. Not creative with the name, I know.

Eshan is Iraq. And yes, he's a man. A young man, at that.

Irunya is Ukraine.

Liam is Ireland. A lot of people make it a woman, but I call it that he's a man. And I didn't write him with an accent because everyone can understand him at this point, so why not the reader?

Lukas is Norway.

Juan is Mexico. For some reason, I think he's a male. Why do people think he's a woman?

Mika is Saudi Arabia. I see him as kind of an old man…maybe 50s or something. I don't know why.

Addidy is India. I see her as a woman, because Indian women are very beautiful.

Li Xiao is Hong Kong. It's one of the names Himaruya wanted, and I liked this one.

Thank you for reading. If anyone has questions, I'll try to answer them. Any anonymous reviewers with questions will be posted here. Hope I did this justice. Let us never forget.