I know, it's short, I'm sorry. ;_;
Nothin' much to say for this one other than blab about my love for Robert E. Lee, but that would end up taking too long, so…let's just get right to business.
Reviews are very much appreciated! Definitely let me know if I got facts wrong/messed up grammar/misspelled something/did something else stupid.
(1)
The young blonde, dressed in a mud-stained uniform that was so worn it was impossible to tell its original color, entered the house with the gait of one who is walking painfully and trying not to show it.
"Mr. Jones?"
America started. Lost in his own thoughts, he had somehow missed the dark-haired man standing in the front hall. "McLean? That you?" America was having a sudden fit of déjà vu. Although his head was clearing, the war had yet to lose its nightmarish quality, and he dazedly wondered if he was hallucinating.
McLean laughed nervously. "The very same. This war just won't leave me alone – I moved out here to get away from it, and it followed me anyway."
"Imagine," the young nation murmured, his hand briefly covering his eyes. "I've been running from it nonstop these past few years. I can only hope it will leave both of us behind once it passes."
"I pray that wish comes true."
America inclined his head respectfully and moved on.
He stopped in front of the partially-open door, taking a deep breath. He couldn't see anyone through the doorway, but the two quiet voices told him that he was in the right place.
Before he could waver and lose his resolve, the nation steeled himself and pushed the door all the way open, not allowing himself to consider what awaited him on the other side.
Grant was seated at a marble-topped table in the center of the sitting-room, his blue uniform simple and mud-stained, not unlike America's own. Lee, by contrast, was seated at a smaller ovular table, facing Grant, his gray uniform impeccably clean and elegant, although it displayed the three stars of a colonel instead of a general's insignia. Both men looked up from their conversation when America entered.
"Shall we do this, then?" Lee asked quietly.
"I would like to speak with General Grant briefly first," America replied, his voice just as soft as the Virginian's. Lee nodded his consent and turned his head slightly to gaze out of the window as the other two withdrew outside.
(2)
McLean had disappeared.
Outside of the sitting-room, America leaned against the wall, no longer bothering to hide his pain. Grant gripped his arm without saying anything; the nation concentrated on the strong grasp rather than the pain, willing it to go away.
"Hold on," the general murmured. "We're almost out of this. It's almost over."
America nodded, gently withdrawing his arm from the other and wrapping it around his midsection instead. He stood up a little straighter, although he did not shift his weight from the wall. "I want this to end peacefully," he whispered. "I…don't want any more conflict."
"None of us do," Grant replied, a touch of sadness in his voice.
(3)
When the two confidants reentered the room about ten minutes later, they found Lee still contemplating the view from the window, although he had risen from his chair. He turned to face them, his face revealing much of the same sadness that Grant had shown earlier.
America stopped just in front of the defeated general while Grant lingered behind, near the doorway. Nation and general stood in silence for a moment, observing one another and making note of the anguish the war had caused each of them.
America made a motion as if to clasp Lee's arm, but stopped and drew back awkwardly when Grant made a small cough in the background. Embarrassed, he spoke quickly to fill the uncomfortable silence.
"General Lee, you and your men…" America paused, rubbing his eyes, suddenly overcome with exhaustion. "Just…go home," he finished, his voice never rising beyond his low undertone. "Tell your men to leave their firearms here and remain at their homes until they can be exchanged. General Grant has provisions for those who need them.
"It's time we ended this war."
The King of Spades: Lee's nickname early in the Civil War. He was ridiculed for his insistence on having his men "dig in" (build trenches), although after this tactic led to several successes people let him alone about it.
Wilmer McLean: The First Battle of Bull Run was fought at least partially on McLean's farm; he moved to Appomattox, hoping to escape the war. Unluckily for him, it was his very house that was selected by Lee for his surrender. He later said that "the war started in my front yard and ended in my front parlor."
Three stars of a colonel: Lee never wore the trappings of a general; instead, he was outwardly designated as a colonel, his rank in the Union army before he resigned. His plan was to wait until after the war had been won, and wear a general's uniform for the first time in peacetime. Obviously that didn't work out as planned.
It's almost over: Technically the war did not end with Lee's surrender, but most considered it to be the final major blow against the Confederacy. The rest of the Confederate armies surrendered within the next three months (not including the CSS Shenandoah, but that's a long story). Andrew Johnson officially ended the war in August.