Visit One

Alfred walked up to the docks right as the Canadian supply ship arrived. The sky was bright blue, there was a nice breeze coming from the sea, small, fluffy, white clouds floated overhead, the sea was calm, the day was beautiful.

Canadians left the ship and began carrying supplies up and down the boarding ramp, and American works aided. Alfred stood with his hands on his hips, supervising the situation. He was arguing with himself whether or not he should help his men, or if he should continue supervising.

"Alfred!"

Alfred turned to the sound of his name, to see Matthew walking up to him. He was wearing his formal uniform, and he had dark circles under his eyes, but besides that, he seemed fine.

"Hey," Alfred began now standing with his brother only about two feet away from him, "I didn't know you'd be here."

"Ah, I decided to come." Matthew said, shrugging. "Besides, I could use the break, and I could spare the time."

"Well, how is everything." Alfred asked, adjusting his black glove on his hand.

"Uh, wow," Matthew started, rubbing the back of his neck, "everything is screwed up, to say the least."

"How so?"

"The Germans are putting up a damn good fight over there, and according to China, Japan is being very brutal."

Alfred tilted his head. "Brutal? How so?"

Matthew shook his head, waving his right hand in dismissal. "I'm not going to get too far into detail. Let's just leave it at brutal, okay?"

Alfred narrowed his eyes. "Fine, don't tell me." He mumbled, crossing his arms and pretending to be mad.

Matthew gave Alfred a warm smile.

"What?" Alfred asked.

"It's quiet here, you know that?" Matthew said turning and staring into the sea.

"No, I think it's pretty loud, unless you don't hear that racket over there." Alfred replied, pointing over to the men who were loading supplies onto Matthew's ship.

"I hear it," Matthew began, not turning away from the sea, "but it's still quiet."

"I don't see how."

Matthew shook his head. "You're not over there. Across that big ocean, the only barrier between total war and peace."

Alfred blinked at Matthew. "Yeah, I just really wish I could help you guys over there."

Matthew continued to stare forward, at the light, blue-green water. "You shouldn't be over there, you should stay out of this one. You tried so hard last war, and you're really trying hard now. You should stay out of it."

"I should be helping." Alfred asserted.

"You are."

Confusion washed over Alfred. "I am?"

"Yes," Matthew looked away from the water, and to the men working. "you're giving us supplies that we don't have."

Alfred threw his arms in the air. "I can't even give you guns!" He yelled.

"Guns?" Matthew looked over to Alfred, "Please, Al, we have plenty of those. It's the food, blankets, tents, and everything else you give us. That's what we don't have."

"You'll run out of guns!" Alfred exclaimed, "You'll run out of ammo, planes, tanks, missiles, bombs! You'll run out of that!"

"And?"

"And I can't even give that to you!"

"Al, calm down." Matthew smiled at him again, "Hopefully the war doesn't last that long."

"What if it becomes the modern Hundred Years War?" Alfred asked, "What'll you do then?"

"Well, we'll recede back to riding horses and wielding swords." Matthew joked.

"Mattie, I'm serious." Alfred grumbled.

"Al," Matthew said quickly, "I really try not to think about the 'what if's'"

"But, what if-"

"Al. Stop." Matthew ordered, turning his head back to the ocean. He took his glasses off and cleaned them with his shirt. He placed them back over his lavender eyes.

Alfred stared at his twin. There was something off in his eye, something distant, something Alfred couldn't describe, but it made him worry about his brother even more. "Are you okay?"

Matthew didn't reply for a long time, so long Alfred began to think that Matthew ignored him or didn't hear his question. Alfred opened his mouth to restate his question when Matthew finally spoke. "No, Al. I'm not."

Alfred ran his fingers through his dirty blonde hair. "What?"

"Well…" Matthew trailed off.

"Well what?"

"Somewhat. Right now, I'm okay, better than. It's peaceful here, and I get to see people whose faces aren't twisted with the horrid memories of war…" Matthew paused. "But also, I'm not. Because the memories of that war, that I haven't even been in for very long, are already… Scarring, and there's worse to come… I just know it…"

"Oh." Alfred said. "For some reason, I didn't expect that."

"I thought about lying and telling you that I was fine, but I knew you'd catch on. But, like I said, everything is screwed up over there, and it's probably going to get worse before it gets any better."

"Sir Williams! We have to get going!" A Canadian soldier called.

"Coming, Captain." Matthew called back. "Goodbye, Alfred." He said.

"Bye." Alfred responded. "Love ya, bro. And Mattie, be careful out there."

"Love you too, bro. And I'll do my best." Matthew gave Alfred a quick hug. "Thank you, Al."

Alfred tilted his head to the side. "For what?"

"Everything." Matthew replied, walking away.

"Hey, keep sending letters when you can, it..." Alfred trailed off. It keeps me from worrying, He finished in his mind.

"Yeah, yeah, I will." Matthew said over his shoulder.