PhoenixShadow101: Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated my stories in practically forever but I'm working on it! This is a little inspiration story that popped into my head today when I was watching the news. I hope you guys like it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia: Axis Powers or anything else.
A man stood in the middle of a bustling city, staring at the ground before him. Many people were gathering here today. Wives, husbands, sisters, brothers, and many children. They were all paying reverence to a place where many had fallen, ten years before. 'Whether they had been rescuing others or been innocent people with not a thought about what had been going on, they had died brave deaths' thought the blonde haired man that stood there.
Two hours later found the blonde on a path in a park nearby. The man sat down on a bench looking like he had not slept for several days. It was true though, that he hadn't slept the previous night because he knew he was going to dread waking up the next day and facing the world.
Alfred F. Jones sighed. He hated today so much. When he would have to remember the hundreds of people that died on September 11, 2001. There had been so many people that hadn't got to live their lives. Especially the young ones that had had their whole life in front of them.
Alfred sighed again. He knew he couldn't have saved all those people, but the least he could do was save some. The American had gotten to New York as quick as he could in time to help some of the people that were stuck in there.
After a while, the firefighters told him to get out. As much as he protested, they had ordered and practically pushed him out of the building. After that, all he could do was help comfort families who still had relatives in the building.
He had also found a lost girl that day; she had told him that her dad was in there. He had spent the best of two hours trying to find the girls father or see if at least he was alright.
When he had finally, with luck, found the father of the girl, with her family, he had been so relieved. To see that this girl still had her father alive and living had made him so happy. To see that some families would still be united.
It also made him sad to see that many of the people had lost family members and others that were important to them. After the attack, he had comforted a young boy who had lost his older brother. He comforted the boy even though he had no clue how he would feel if his brother died.
The next time he had seen Canada, he had hugged him, realizing that he would never want to lose his brother to anybody.
Brought out of his thoughts when a bird trilled a high and long note, America stood up and started walking towards the small shops on one side of the road. He opened the door and found the shop he had been looking for: the flower shop.
Alfred had done this every year for the past ten years. He would come to this flower shop and buy as many flowers as he could. Then, he would walk to Ground Zero and place them periodically around. He didn't know why he had first started it but it had seemed to become some sort of tradition to him.
The American walked the walk back to the grounds and started placing flowers around the place. He stopped when he found an old woman standing and staring straight ahead. He tapped her shoulder. "Um, excuse me? Hello? Are you okay" he asked.
The woman turned to look at him and smiled a tired, wary smile. "Yes, I am fine, young man. Just lost in my own thoughts." she replied. "My son died in the attack ten years ago." she said as her smile started to fade.
Alfred reached into his bag as he smiled at her. "I am really sorry for your loss. I am sure he was really nice." was his answer.
She smiled warmly. "He was usually so sweet!" she exclaimed dreamily. Alfred smiled again. He pulled his hand out of his bag and handed her a lily. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "I really can't take this if it was for someone else!"
The blue eyed man only grinned. "It's okay! I have plenty more." The woman's eyes watered. "Thank you!" she whispered as she walked away.
Alfred thought to himself. 'She must be very lonely with her son gone.' he thought. He continued distributing the flowers around the grounds while humming to himself.
When almost all the flowers were gone, he turned around ran straight into someone. "Oh! Hey man, are you okay? I didn't look where I was going!" The other man stood up and looked up at the American.
Alfred's eyes widened. "England! What are you doing here?" he asked, surprised. England smiled softly. "I'm here to visit Ground Zero, of course! Others countries do come here to pay there respects, right?"
America's smile started to fade. "Yeah," he muttered "They all died like heroes. True heroes. But there is nothing we can do to change what happened though."
Arthur looked unsure of himself as he put his arm around his ex-brother. "It will be fine." He whispered softly to the blonde. "After all, you said it yourself, they are heroes. Brave people who we will never forget!" he reassured.
America looked up to the blue sky and Arthur glanced up as well. The sun shone brightly in the cloudless sky.
America grinned. "Yeah," he whispered back. "True heroes!"