We the World
It was a cloudless, moonless night over Mt. Fuji. The year was 2067. The stars danced in slow harmony overhead. Japan rested on the step of his porch with his cat long-asleep beside him. He had a warm cup of tea in hand. The island nation was dressed in one of his traditional yukata.
With a sigh, he set the teacup down to his side. Expression flat and unreadable, he tilted his head up to the sky.
Orion. Gemini. Ursa Major.
Brown eyes softened and grew bright.
Sirius. Polaris. Alpha Centuri.
A rare, quiet and true smile graced his lips.
The Big Dipper.
Shoulders fell slack and lost the tension that hadn't even been noticed previously.
Blink. Blink. Blink.
A small, white, moving point of light drifted lazily across the dark heavens. The Milky Way spun to a constant and distant universal waltz. This rebellious star danced to a different song. One much closer to home.
Japan shook his head with a wry, incredulous expression. He said to himself and his sleeping cat, "The second month… and I still do not understand how they did it..."
The next night, just east of the Himalayas, two men stood side-by-side in the hallway of a remote, Chinese, government office. Work had been wrapped up not too long ago. But they were still rivals. Nations. One a bit friendlier than the other.
Outside the window, stars could be seen. It was as good a topic as any.
"The stars are beautiful tonight." India commented pleasantly.
Robotically, China nodded in brittle agreement. "Yes, they are."
The conversation might've died right there and then, if not for one thing. A little dot of light, entering the view of the window. That drew the attention of both nations.
"Aiyah!" The elder exclaimed, his formal persona forgotten. "India, look! Kàn Xīngxīng!"
Likewise surprised by the appearance of the drifting star, India rushed to the window. "China, it's the spacecraft! The one they made!"
China's amazed, and for once childish, expression of wonder told more than a thousand words could ever have. But then, for both of them, the strange moment of being young and looking at the stars was over too quickly.
Ding!
Two elevators arrived simultaneously.
Two nations glanced at each other once, and in wordless agreement, let go of their moment.
Berlin was an extremely busy place nowadays. Some parts of it more so than others. In one office building, there was hardly anyone.
"Germany?" A high-pitched voice called out down the hall.
"Italy, I'm over here." A more gravelly voice answered, coming from the open door of an office.
"Germany!" The Italian strode into the office. Where once there would've been a wide smile, there was a thin line of a mouth, weighed down by the burden of open eyes.
A buff blond man hidden behind stacks of paperwork waved Italy over to his desk. "Nice to see you again, Italy."
Italy nodded briefly. "Mm." He murmured.
Germany looked up from the document under his hand. So silent. Where did Italy go? But to his surprise, he found Northern Italy exactly where he'd always been. Standing straight-backed and professionally in front of the desk.
"I-Italy?"
"Si, Germany?"
The German nation swallowed his shock. "I- it's nothing…" Something suddenly struck his memory. "How long has it been since we last met face-to-face?"
"Thirty years, Germany."
He stared blankly at the strangely adult young man in his office. How time had flown. And how times had changed.
Italy spoke again. "Should we start our discussion, Germany?"
"O-oh, yes, of course." Germany stammered. "I'm sorry." He couldn't tell what it was that he was sorry for.
For the next three hours, an Italian diplomat and a German official went back and forth over the issues of 2067. No breaks, no complaining from either party. It was growing dark outside the window. All throughout the discussion, Germany felt rubbed the wrong way. It was only as Italy packed up to leave that he finally placed the reason.
He stared down at the ashwood desk. He mumbled, "Italy…"
"Si, Germany?"
He looked up. Blue met golden-brown. And that felt so wrong. Before he knew what he was saying, Germany blurted out, "Italy… won't you smile for me please?"
The Italian only gazed back sadly. Thirty years had changed him more than three hundred.
Germany turned his eyes back to the desk.
Then, suddenly, Italy was surprised. He raised his arm and pointed out the window. "Germany, look… there it is."
He turned around, and the German nation blinked twice when he noticed what was in the sky. A little, moving white light. A star.
"I wish Italy would stop being a crybaby. I wish he would kick his bad habit of wanting to eat pasta everywhere. I wish he would stop getting a stomachache every time he ate gelato. I wish he would learn to throw a grenade properly. I wish his older brother would stop trying to punch me. I wish-"
Germany thought to himself, and to that star in the sky. I wish Italy would smile again.
Though Germany didn't see it, behind him, Italy did smile. Just like he used to. He smiled at the star in the sky and what it had the potential to be. He smiled at Germany. He smiled at nothing in particular, and he didn't even know why he was smiling anymore. So he stopped.
"Happy birthday, America." Canada said quietly, a wrapped gift box in hand.
His brother was leaning on a windowsill, eyes turned up to the sky.
"America?"
"Hmm? Oh, hey Canada!" The louder of the two shouted back in greeting. He motioned to come closer. "Happy birthday, bro!"
To avoid confusion, Canada's birthday was on July 1st. America's was July 4th. That night it was July 2nd, soon to be July 3rd. They'd chosen that date to celebrate both their birthdays on. Because neither of them could actually get two days off that close together. The world wasn't in the best shape.
"I got you a present." Canada said, offering the box out.
America took it and tore off the wrapping without a second thought. "Thanks, bro! What is-" He cut off.
Inside the box was a baseball. A very old one. If he had to guess, he'd say that it was the one they used to play catch with together.
"Wow… This old thing."
Canada nodded, a sad smile on his face. "Yeah."
"We never get to do anything together anymore, do we? I mean, outside of work." America made a face at the thought of all the papers piling up on their desks.
Canada shook his head. "No… we don't. But that's why I got you this. It was a real pain in the neck to find, but it's something from the golden days, eh?"
"Yeah." Snapping himself out of his reverie, America remembered his own present for his brother. "Oh, before it's too late, get over here and look out the window!"
Very confused, Canada did as told and stepped closer. America grabbed his collar and turned his face to look out at the sky. He pointed.
Canada's eyes widened. "Oh, wow… Is that…?"
"Yup, that's it!" America nodded cheerfully. "The very first antimatter spaceship!"
"Ahaha…" Canada laughed. "It's a spacecraft, America. You've been talking to Tony too much."
"Yeah, well it's your present!"
He made a double-take. "Eh?!"
America, dropping the loud and showy pretense, began to quietly speak. "I convinced the captain to charter course over us on the last day. So we could see them before they go."
"Oh…" Canada came to a realization. "This is the end of the six months, isn't it…" Not a question, but a statement.
"Mm-hmm."
With an ironic laugh, Canada pointed something out. "Y'know, it's funny. I got you something from way back when, and you show me that star up there. Past and future presents."
"Huh?" America didn't get it.
"...Never mind." Canada shrugged.
[ Time: July 3rd, 2067. 12:01 AM. ]
Mission Log: The orbiting mission of our new home has been completed as of today. Six months have passed since first launch. We will now begin our Saturn mission. End.
Final Transmission: It's been six months. Time's really flown by! The mission log really doesn't capture the crew's thoughts though. That's why I'm leaving this last message to Earth.
My name is -, from the good ol' US of A. I'm the captain of this spacecraft.
Our crew are:
-, from Germany. He's our head engineer and mechanic for the antimatter-powered engines. Kinda stiff, but he's nice.
-, from Japan. He's an expert in all the tech we have onboard. Keeps us all alive, that man. Real modest.
-, from Italy. Cheerful guy, always smiling. He's the "Home environment director". That's a fancy way of saying mother.
-, from India. Smart, funny. We get along well, except for his Bollywood thing. He's the software guy.
-, from China. He's trans, but still looks like a girl. I suppose if I'm captain then he's first mate. Acts really old when he's the same age as the rest of us.
And last but not least, -, my bro. Of Canadian nationality. Don't ask how that happened, it confuses both of us. He's the lead researcher/scientist guy.
Working with him are a few others. -, grumpy British dude extraordinaire. His arch-nemesis, -, of France. Those two can't get along, but they're really important. They know the sciency gizmos like the back of their hands. Or maybe the back of each other's heads.
We've got a TON of other researchers on this ship. From all over the world. Dozens and dozens of 'em, somewhere around a hundred total. You can see a complete bio of everyone in the eBook that's already out.
But what I find really ironic about all this is that we're a private organization. No governments involved. Funny, since all the space stuff before us was always countries trying to outdo the other. It only makes our name, er, the name of our spaceship, even more ironic. But anyways, from all of us to Earth, thank you and good luck. If all turns out well, then this is goodbye… forever. We'll always miss our first home.
This is "We the World", over and out.
AN: I'm really sorry that I haven't published anything for a while. But here is a fic that resulted from a prompt by my friend Quillinx. It was fun to write. She thought I should publish it, so here it is! Please review.