Hello! So I absolutely love reading about the relationships between the countries in the world, but what about America and our states? They have very separate personalities from the country as a whole, and this fic is going to be a backstory of them. I thought it fitting to start with Delaware, the first state. I do my best to be historically accurate, but be prepared for some mistakes and time jumps in there. I'd love feedback and to hear which state I should do next! -Archie

It all started when the white men came.

He had heard of the stories spread from other parts of the coast where they had already begun to start settlements. Chief Iroquois and Lady Algonquian had been whispering about it one morning, that a Lady Pequot was helping out a newling like him as well. To the south, he knew Lady Algonquian was caring for another newling. Both had been around longer than he had, but that didn't matter. The indigenous people cared for him, and he was happy.

He had briefly peeked at the settlement that had resulted in his existence. These people looked very different from his mother, they spoke a different language (it was something strange called Dutch, yet he somehow understood it perfectly) and they were not used to their new surroundings.

He was sad when they didn't make it past a year, but he wasn't surprised either. He didn't fade, so he knew another settlement would form soon enough, but he did feel much weaker.

Then came another group. Some of them spoke this Dutch language, but other different ones came as well. Swedish and Finnish were these new languages he learned. He found it all to be quite exciting, but Lady Algonquian was worried. No matter how hard she tried to hide it, he knew this.

Nevertheless, he took it upon himself to venture to the new settlement, racing through the woods happily. He wanted to speak to his people himself.

They weren't expecting a child to be there, and neither were the three others among them that he knew instinctively to be like him. They were the first he spoke to.

"You're just like me and mama!" he said in excitement, using Dutch as it was the first he knew. "Are you settlements too?"

The three blonde men shared a look. He knew they hadn't been expecting him. The one with spiky hair answered him hesitantly. "We are nations, not settlements. How do you speak my language?"

He tipped his head to one side. "Because my people speak it."

The tall one with glasses rumbled out the next question. "Y'r p'ple?" This nation reminded him of a mama bear, especially for the way he was ever so slightly standing in front of the third and smallest blonde.

"Well, yes!" He bounced in excitement. "This settlement here is what made me, and these are my people. There was a settlement before as well..." he trailed off sadly. "But I can feel the others growing as well! 'The Realm of New Sweden?' I don't think that is going to be my name..."

"I did not know you were colonizing, Sweden!" the smaller one said happily.

The first one glared at the 'mama bear.' "Ja, Sveden. I did not know this either." Sweden returned his stare without a flinch.

"Come on you guys! Do not fight!"

He quite agreed with the smallest nation. Fighting would not be good.

But fighting is what happened. He saw Sweden forced to leave his colonies- leave him- because of Netherlands (this was the spiky-haired nation's name). Then right as he was getting used to being called "New Netherland," the Duke of York and the English fleet conquered the Dutch. He had known the English were coming; his mother and her people had been attacked many times, and word from the north was that several more newlings like him had formed. He had only seen Virginia in passing when with his mother, but she was very nice. New Jersey was... well, he was dealing with his own issues. New York was undergoing an identity crisis as well. Areas north of that were still unknown to him.

The only friend he really had was Penny. He had only just been named as the English King gave the land to a William Penn, who dubbed his friend "Pennsylvania." This William Penn wanted the sea too, which Penny didn't have. So William leased him from the Duke, and he finally received a name as well.

"Mother!" he cried as he raced into the Native American camp with Penny in hand, both of them stumbling over their trousers. Lady Algonquian turned and gave them a small smile as the jumped into her arms for a hug.

"What is it, young ones?"

"I got a name!" he cried joyfully. "My name is Delaware!" Penny nodded in confirmation.

They didn't realize that this was the moment where they could no longer be considered the Lady's sons by the rest of the world. As their cultures grew, the great Native nations began to fade away. And with it, their mother.

They saw her less and less as William Penn and their new "governors" began to teach them to act "civilized," that this land was theirs because God said so. They were told to forget the old spirits and were introduced to Christianity. Trading still existed, but there was also money to deal with now. There was a social class system to understand, slaves that were bought and sold to work their lands and make their towns grow.

With this growth came the new classification as "colonies of the British Empire." And with this classification came a growing dissent among the people for the British Empire. This didn't happen so much with Delaware and Penny, the latter of which was dealing with the French and Indian War. Delaware knew it hurt his brother to fight their mother and her siblings and all of their people, but now their own people came first. Delaware did not envy Penny.

After this conflict however, their faraway ruler raised taxes. Penny and Delaware had tried to remain out of the minor skirmishes against their mother country, but after what happened in Massachusetts, there was no more ignoring change.

When their bosses met in Philadelphia for the First Continental Congress, the brothers couldn't very well ignore the summons as well. Besides, this would be the first time all of the colonies would be together!

Well, everyone except Georgia.

"It's probably best the girl ain't here right now," South Carolina supplied in her thick southern accent from she sat next to her twin. "She started off as a prison colony, and she's still trying to accept the fact that she's been colonized." She twisted one of her cascading curls nervously.

"I thought it's because she wanted British troops to help her fight the Natives..." North Carolina murmured.

"That was a mistake," Delaware whispered to Penny, who groaned and dropped his head in his hands as Massachusetts' eyes glinted dangerously. His head was wrapped in bandages from the Boston Massacre, and they knew he had an ongoing headache from all of the constant fights between his people and the Redcoats.

"Excuse me, but did you just say she wants help from that bloody wanker?" Mass growled.

Penny stood up suddenly. "Can we wait to start arguing until after the meeting starts? We're still waiting on a few more."

The doors opened as he spoke, and in walked New York with the rest of New England and an unknown straggler. "Sorry Penny, our bosses were a bit late. They wanted to introduce us to our big brother," Rhode Island proclaimed from where she was practically hanging off of the newcomer's hand. Her small stature was adorable next to the tall blonde. Everyone looked towards New York for an actual explanation.

The brunette ran his fingers through his hair and shrugged. "Our people are starting to for the idea that we should be our own nation, and that's him. His name's America."

The mentioned being looked up from where Rhodie had dragged him to sit. "Hey," he said uncertainly, raising his hand in greeting.

Jersey sighed in relief. "Thank god. Now we don't have to elect a leader." Delaware hadn't even thought of the possibility, but now he too was thankful of their new brother.

Maryland quietly raised her hand when they were all seated. "What exactly are we supposed to be talking about today?"

Penny shot her a grateful look. Delaware knew hosting this was freaking him out, especially when none of them had ever been in a room together. "Well, our bosses and a majority of our people are wary of Britain at the moment, so we've been urged to each start training militias and to consider boycotting British goods." Massachusetts was the quickest to agree with that.

"Mass and I have got militia covered. I mean, it might not be a normal army, but neither is our terrain." New Hampshire piped up. "And New York and I got the northern border covered."

Virginia sighed. "Thank god there's only one of y'all."

"What do we do if the English fleet blockades us when we boycott them?" New York asked Penny and Mass. "That's how my people get everything."

Connecticut finally spoke up from the other side of New York. "Yorkie, that's how most of us get goods. Have you ever even seen Boston?"

"No, because I'm kinda busy with the largest city in the colonies!"

Maryland sighed from her seat next to Delaware. "At least they waited to start fighting."

Delaware laughed. "It is the first time we've all been together, Mary. I didn't expect anything else."

"At least you're not between those two idiots," Connecticut muttered.

Delaware and Mary had to agree with her statement. "We're just gonna end up having another one of these," he said.

He was right, but by that time it was too late. He had heard the news while out in Philadelphia with Mary, Penny and Ginny. It had been one of their monthly meetups and they were working through several agreements that if one colony's cities were blockaded, the others would help. A horse courier had run through the streets frantically, dropping newspapers as he shouted out "War has begun! The Tories have attacked in the north!"

Delaware had slowly picked up one of the papers and read the headline, and when he turned to face his friends he had no good news. He knew they could tell by his expression, because Ginny's eyes widened and she covered her mouth in shock while Mary buried her head in Pennsylvania's shoulder.

"How bad is it?" Penny asked while holding Mary.

Delaware kept his eyes on the paper. "Fighting broke out in Lexington and Concord. The minutemen were able to keep the stockpile safe from the Brits, but 73 were killed, around 170 wounded and there's still many just missing."

"Poor Mass..." Ginny whispered.

"We need another meeting," Penny said.

And that's how they found themselves back in Pennsylvania's State House, this time with the presence of Georgia. She was curious to meet America as well and to be part of the growing revolution.

"So you're our new hermano, si?" she asked after greeting him and Rhode Island, who seemed to enjoy being the small one of the bunch and was back to holding America's hand. He seemed much more comfortable among them this time, even with his arm wrapped in ripped rags. Delaware assumed he had been fighting alongside Massachusetts and the minutemen there. The two of them looked bruised and tired, and while the rest of the colonies felt awful for the two, they were glad that the conflict hadn't spread to them yet.

"Yes, and I'm going to get us all through this because all of your people are my people too," he grinned. "I just hate that it had to come to this point... England raised me."

Penny and Ginny both looked at him sadly, because they knew what he was going through. Both of them had fought back against Lady Algonquian, and Del was certain similar things had occurred in the north too.

Ginny wasn't one to dwell though. She stood up regally and called for quiet. "I am calling for us to officially declare independence from Britain. And, though it is out of our control, my colonist George Washington is going to be leading the Continental Army."

Mass looked up from where his head rested on New York's shoulder. "You aren't going to hear any complaint from me."

After they published the Declaration of Independence, they never expected any visit from England since they had heard nothing from him. Every colony threw themselves into the war for their freedom.

They certainly never expected a battle-worn England to burst into their meeting about a year later. His eyes burned with fury regardless of his heavy limp, split lip or rumpled uniform. No one moved as his gaze traveled around the room, but when it landed on America and the Brit rushed towards him angrily, all hell broke lose. Mass and South Carolina lunged at him with guns out, both of them screaming back at his shouted threats. North Carolina and Delaware just barely held Virginia back by the forearm, as she too was screaming at him. Maryland and the rest of New England hardly looked up from where they were writing the Articles of Confederation, but everyone shut up as America raised his voice, ordering them all to "shut the hell up."

He walked up to England, gently moving his siblings aside to stand in front of him. "What do you want, Iggy." His voice was steely and held no room for argument.

"You are losing! Stop this pointless thing and give up alre-" He was cut off as Rhode Island slapped him. The colonies stood in shock.

"We will not give up! Especially not after what you've done to our brethren!"

Mass stood beside her and cocked his gun. "You need to leave. Now."

The redcoat stormed out without another word.

Delaware himself had never experienced much of the war on his land until then. September 1777 held the only true engagement in his territory. He felt each of the 20 colonist deaths. He felt each wound on the 20 injured.

He also met another one of them, but this blonde wasn't a colony. Wearing a black cloak and officer hat, Delaware knew this wasn't England. This nation spoke German, and after the battle he was informed that it had been the Holy Roman Empire. The important thing was that Delaware had lost, and now the soldiers were marching on to his friend's lands. He didn't think he'd be able to handle what some of the other colonies were going through.

And then the British occupied Wilmington.

Delaware felt as if he was being torn in half for the rest of the war. Some days he would be in complete control and continue working on the Articles of Confederation, other days the British him tried to take over and he'd be locked in a mental battle that left him exhausted. He had seen Penny and New York when they were in a similar state. He had seen their shouts of pain as they fought back, and he had heard their creepy, double voiced laughs of victory on the occasions their British side won. He knew that happened to him sometimes, and it made him sick.

When his bosses finally ratified the Articles of Confederation, the division in his mind finally began to ease up. His American side grew stronger, and as the British side weakened he knew how the war would end.

The bliss of independence was sweet. He was finally the state of Delaware in the United States of America.

The first meeting after the war (although it was several years later) was joyful, even with all of the new scars the states bore. Delaware had the breath hugged out of him almost immediately by Mary and Penny, who had also overcome his dual personality. New Jersey was unsure of how to escape the Carolinas and their advice on how to update his wardrobe. Virginia and New Hampshire were speaking of the differences between their two states. For once, America was the one being told war stories by Rhode Island; she made sure her storytelling included many hand gestures and exaggerations. The ultimate highlight however was Massachusetts and New York being reunited after Yorkie's bipolar ordeal. The two promptly forgot about their audience and carried out a whispered conversation while their arms were wrapped around each other.

They eventually got down to the business they were supposed to accomplish. The Articles of Confederation was highly flawed, and America needed set laws and a permanent government. The majority of what the states decided on was based on things that caused the war and happened during it. No taxation without representation, no quartering soldiers, the right to own weapons to support the United States Army. They wanted their people to have a voice, and this was their solution.

"Wait a minute," Georgia whined. "Do we have to ratify this again, because last time took forever."

Jersey shrugged, bored. "Mary's fault."

"Hey! It only took me so long because of York and Ginny!"

"Not my fault we both wanted the Ohio territory. If York had been a gentleman sooner..."

"Oh, so it's my fault now, is it?"

Delaware and Pennsylvania sized each other up, before both blurting "I call first!" Del let out a victorious shout as he beat Penny to it.

Penny laughed. "Fine, well I'm second."

America sighed. "And to think, there's going to potentially be more of you."