"Britain, you know what I think the stars are?" America said, staring up at the sky.
What?" the Englishman replied, smiling at his little brother who was sprawled out across the grass.
"Souls."
"Is that so?"
"Mhmm. I think whenever you die, your soul turns into a star and it goes into outer space until it becomes another person. And depending on how good you were, like how many times you stole out of the cookie jar and stuff, your star would be even brighter."
Britain grinned at this oddly deep seven year old explanation of the universe. "And if I were a star, what would I look like?"
America stared at him for a while before finally announcing"You'd be the brightest one of all."
That had all been so long ago, but he remembered it perfectly. Even through years of fighting, love and tears, that memory remained there, as pure and fresh and innocent as he had been at that time. A fresh wave of tears came to his eyes as he remembered they'd never have a conversation like that again.
"Why did you leave me?" He whispered to no one in particular. "Why did you go?"
The grass, the same grass he had lied on all those years ago, was damp from the spring rain. He watched his tears fall off his face and into a puddle for what seemed like ages, but had to eventually close his eyes because the face he saw in the puddle looked too much like the one he'd never see again.
Britain was dead. This he knew. He had been dead for a week. This was also a fact. But there were so many questions left to answer. Why did he die? Where did he go? Was he ok? Did he miss him?
America lifted his eyes and scanned the sky. It was a clear, cloudless night, with a full moon lighting up the land. America tried to call names to the bright glowing spots he recognized.
Mercury. The big dipper. Orion. Ursa minor.
Then he stopped. There, hanging in the sky above him, was an iridescent star, softly glowing with bright light. He smiled through his tears.
There you are. He thought. The brightest star in the sky. Still watching over me.
The inspiration for this came when I was writing a science report on how I would explain the universe if I lived in ancient Rome/Greece, and I said I'd think the stars would be souls. Then, all of this just flowed into my head at once, and in fifteen minutes I was done with the fanfiction. Never finished the report, though...had to write it in the first five minutes of class the next day. It's a little bit off from what I usually write in the sense it's not very funny, so I usually wouldn't upload it, but my New Year's resolution was to be less judgemental of my own work and everyone else's and to share my creativity. So please, no flames/trolling. I'm already out of my comfort zone as it is.