One day, as he was cleaning his storage room, Arthur came across a letter from Alfred that he never bothered to open. He looked at the familiar envelope and remembered receiving it so many years ago, a few decades after the American Revolution. After a moment's hesitation, he broke the seal of the letter and read its contents. It said:
Arthur,
I know you well enough to say that
Right now, you are probably shocked to receive
Something awesome and wonderful like
This letter, probably because
After you realized you much hurt you caused
You weren't expecting to hear from me,
Because really,
After what happened between us
No one could blame me for never speaking to you again.
But I really thought I should talk to you
Because that's what heroes do. I forgive you
Even after I felt all the hurt caused by
You. What? I'm not taking the blame for
The both of us. I didn't really mean to
Make you cry, old man. I didn't know it would
Hurt you so much. But I don't regret
Freeing myself from you and
Earning a name for my country
Like all the other nations
Because I really believe that it's what's best for me. I
Also wanted to get away from you. I don't
Regret not being your brother anymore especially since it means
I don't have to eat your horrible cooking and
I won't get to spend time with you anymore.
There you go you old geezer.
Now you know how I really feel.
I don't
Miss you,
So deal with it,
Alfred.
Reading the letter made England want to strangle the American, despite the fact that they have mostly settled their issues years before. After calming himself with some Earl Grey tea, England went back to cleaning, determined to throw the letter straight into the trashcan. Finding the letter exactly where he had left it, he picked it up and started taking it to the can.
Before dumping it in, he took one more glance at the letter and he finally noticed the peculiar spacing. Remembering a note he had written to France in code just recently, England wondered if the letter had also been written in a similar code. Without thinking, England walked quickly to a desk and grabbed a pencil. After crossing out every other line of the letter, he read it again. It now said:
Arthur,
Right now, you are probably shocked to receive
This letter, probably because
You weren't expecting to hear from me,
After what happened between us
But I really thought I should talk to you
Even after all the hurt caused by
The both of us. I didn't really mean to
Hurt you so much. But I don't regret
Earning a name for my country
Because I really believe that it's what's best for me. I
Regret not being your brother anymore especially since it means
I won't get to spend time with you anymore.
Now you know how I really feel.
Miss you,
Alfred.
Arthur tried to ignore the tears stinging the corners of his eyes and the fact that he was now cursing himself for not reading the letter when he first got it. 'It would've saved me a lot of pain' he thought to himself, allowing the tears to flow as he yearned for the child he once called his colony.