Disclaimer: I do not own hetalia. I do own two cats, though! XD
Ok, so this is a short snippit for something very important that happened 150 years ago! Wanna know what it is? Well, read on!
Warning: This took me about 40 min. to write and I'm very sleep deprived.
One hundred and fifty years…has it really been that long? America thought to himself, flicking a piece of paper that he was supposed to be reading over.
After he realized what day it was and what anniversary it was, he couldn't stop thinking about it.
One hundred and fifty years…am I really that old? The obviously young nation stretched a bit, making sure his joints didn't crack or hurt from the movement, like he heard would happen once you got older. He had heard Greece complain about turning old for quite a long time, so America knew about what would happen when he got old.
Once he knew that he was still young-albeit a little fat. He swears, he will work on that soon. And besides, he can't be considered obese quite yet- he grabbed his phone and dialed the first number that came to mind.
One hundred and fifty years…The phone rang three times in a monotonous, slow ring that America had though described Greece quite well. He didn't know why he was calling Greece, but he had just been thinking about how old he was, so maybe that had something to do with it.
"Yes? Who is this?" Greece asked from the other side of the phone. America could hear cats meowing in the background, and America guessed that he had probably disturbed them from their feeding.
One hundred and fifty years… "This is the heroic America! Greece, guess what today is an anniversary of?" America shouting into the phone, waving his arms in excitement even though he knew Greece couldn't see him.
"You beating up England again…America, I must feed my cats, if this doesn't pertain to me, then can I call you later?" Greece asked, the sound of his cats getting louder and louder from the other side of the phone.
One hundred and fifty years… "Fine, then. See ya later," America muttered, not wanting for Greece to get behind in his work. He was having enough issues anyway, he might as well not start another one. He then snapped the phone shut, feeling an urge to go on a walk and think about his memories.
He then quickly got up from where he was sitting and then bolted over to where the doors to the outside were. Putting his fraying WWII bomber jacket on, he walked out and shut the door.
One hundred and fifty years…It was only slightly cold outside, and compared to the bitter temperatures that he had been through earlier this year, this 54◦ degrees seemed almost like a blessing.
America turned a corner, and his home, the capital building of his country, disappeared from his sight.
One hundred and fifty years…He decided to call someone else that he knew, and he was sure that this person would know about what day it was and why it was so important.
"Yes, America, why are you calling? It's bloody 2:30 in the morning over here!" England growled through the phone. He sounds as if he went drinking last night, America thought glumly to himself.
One hundred and fifty years… "Guess what day it is in my country," America told him, letting his feet take him somewhere. Right now he really didn't care; he only wanted to talk to someone about what had happened one hundred-fifty years ago.
"National Eat Hamburgers Day?" England guessed half-heartily, "America, I seriously do not care right now. Please, give me a day or two. I went drinking today and I just woke up because of your phone bloody ringing!"
One hundred and fifty years… "No, I don't have a day or two. Try again. It happened one hundred-fifty years ago. Please, just guess something," America told him, the phone in his hand shaking. Was this event really not that important everywhere else? It tore me in two and killed so many of my people…but then again, it wasn't international, so no one must care about what I'm talking about.
"Umm…how about you beating up someone? Please, I do not have time to worry about your silly little political issues. I have to worry about Libya," England said, shuffling around in his bed, "I am going to bed, America, now hang up the phone."
One hundred and fifty years…"No, England, this is as important to me as my revolution from you. It tore me apart. It put me back together. It gave the world cameras, submarines, air balloons, a military telegraph system, machine guns, painkillers, and so many other things. It killed 620,000 of my citizens. It was the first modern war that the world had ever seen. It tore me in two, and I had to go and shoot someone- the southern half of me- to make sure I kept the Union together. It destroyed most of the South. It freed the slaves. It brought a new era for the US. It brought a new way of thinking for me," America started, tears starting to form on his face. He rubbed his eyes, trying to pretend that he wasn't really crying.
"Now America, please don't get riled up about this. I know what it is, now. You tore down the Spanish Empire, correct?" England guessed.
One hundred and fifty years …To that, America sighed, "Maybe you can figure it out from what came from it. The KKK, the Emancipation Proclamation, the rebirth of the cotton industry…they all came from that time period. The Jim Crow Laws came after that. Germany's laws to segregate Jews were based off of those laws. Do you understand now what I'm talking about?" This time America's voice sounded almost pained; he couldn't believe England could forget about this. "T-the Confederacy tried to get you on their side…they used cotton as their bargaining chip…but you didn't send troops to help them…do you remember now?"
"Of course I do. Do you think I am an idiot?" England asked, sounding slightly offended, "But, America, it has not been one hundred fifty years since World War One."
One hundred and fifty years…"Forget it," America muttered, snapping his cell phone shut. He looked around at where his feet had taken him. "Arlington Cemetery…" he said.
The rosy-red and vibrant-orange sunset glimmered off of the tombstones that lined the fields. A bird sang a mourning song off in the distance, as if it was calling out to those who lost their lives in the wars that had been fought for him.
One hundred and fifty years …"T-thank you," he called out to the fields of white tombstones and names inscribed on the plaques. He didn't know if anyone was hearing him, but he hoped that maybe the spirits could hear him, wherever they were. "Without all of you, I would have broken apart. And then, where would the world-where would I- be now? Without you, I would be nothing. T-thank you, all of those who served, and especially those who served in the Civil War. One hundred-fifty years ago, I was torn apart, and you helped me build myself up back again. One hundred-fifty years ago, you walked onto the battlefields, ready to fight for what you thought was right. One hundred-fifty years ago, you were alive, young, and full of hope. One hundred-fifty years ago, you lost your lives to keep me safe. T-thank you, all of you…"
In the distance, a bird sang. One had to wonder what the bird was singing about. Did it know about what happened one hundred-fifty years ago? Or was it just singing because it was happy that it could live in a country, not divided by racial or political views, but put together in hope that something good might come from it? Perhaps that might not be thought of by birds, but it is thought about by humans and countries. After all, you can't change anything about the past, but as long as you keep the past's teachings in mind and keep an open heart in the future, perhaps then…history won't be repeated.
So, 150 years since the Civil War started! Man, doesn't time fly? Appearently in the South, about 1/4 of the population still are in favor of the Confederacy. I'm a Yankee girl, but my dad is a Southerner, so we had a strange arguement on this today. The official date for the start of the Civil War was April 12, 1661. Wouldn't it just be ironic/terrible if a Civil War started this year in the US?
Everything about this fanfic is true, so if there are any questions, feel free to review this story or PM me about it. I'll get back to you, don't worry! Oh, an England and Greece are clueless on what has happened because appearently foreigners really don't care about the American Civil War, so they don't focus on it as much. And then England is drunk...so yeah...
Please review!