A/N: Yeah, I know I should be typing up another chapter for Stars and Stripes. But I'm not. Why? I was suddenly struck with inspiration for this, and I didn't want to lose it. Anyways... enjoy!

Disclaimer: I DO NOT NOR WILL I EVER OWN HETALIA. just saying.

He was being driven mad. There was no other explanation for what was happening to him. America had been struggling with himself for years now, ever since 1763 with the end of the French and Indian war. That's when England, his own elder brother, had started chaining him down…

Each time a new 'proclamation' or 'act' came about, his people were forced into paying more and more taxes. And every night, America could feel the chains pulling tighter and tighter around his body. With each new 'act' the chains grew longer and heavier.

And no matter how much he cared for his brother, there was no way he could live in these chains any longer. He had heard what about what had happened from some militiaman that had been sent to inform him. He couldn't help but feel relieved as he heard that England had declared him to be in a state of rebellion.

At least for now he could be free of those chains. But something else tugged at him, a feeling that if he had just tried to reason a bit more with England, this whole thing could have been averted.

"No! He would have just chained you up, more and more, until you no longer had the strength to be called anything other than a land of poor emigrants, with nothing left to give," hissed a voice next to him. He looked over, only to see himself. Well, more of a shade than a real person.

"You," breathed America, glaring at the shade.

"Yes, me. Why so surprised? This all would have happened eventually anyways," replied the shade America.

"No! You're wrong," snapped a new voice, to America's other side.

When America looked to his other side, he saw yet another shade of himself, though this one seemed lighter than the other.

"What? You think England would have just let us off saying 'Oh, I'm sorry, let me stop taxing you!' Yeah right! He would have just kept adding to the ties keeping us locked to the earth!" yelled the dark shade.

"Argh! Just stop! I can't take this!" yelled America, clutching his head, shaking it from side to side.

"You have to. You're a nation, so you have to deal with this. Aren't you the one that wants independence?" asked the dark shade.

"Yes! I mean no. I don't even know anymore!" yelled America, still clutching his head. Being around these two shades at the same time was driving him mad. He was speaking to himself, but different people completely. "I don't even know who you are…"

"We are you," replied both shades at the same time.

"Wha-?"

"But I represent you as a rebelling nation," said the dark shade.

"And I am you as a peaceful colony," said the lighter shade.

"I don't understand! Both of you are me, but you hate each other," said America, squeezing his head tightly, as it was pounding and throbbing harshly.

"We are but the shades of you, reflecting your subconscious feelings," explained the colony shade.

"And eventually, one of us will die, and the other will merge once again with you. But for now, we'll only appear every now and then, but only you can see us," said the nation shade.

"No. No, no, no… NO! I can't stand this! Get away! Leave me alone," screamed America, collapsing onto the floor of his room, writhing in inner pain.

"He's at war with his own nature…" murmured the light shade.

"No. He's at war with us… with England," said the darker shade as they both faded away, leaving America alone, trapped in his own mind, unable to find himself.

America sat in a room with fifty-six other men, frowning at the ground. The Declaration of Independence had just been read out loud to the whole Congress, and now it was being signed. He had loved the document, especially how it had pointed out the rights of man. Finally, it was John Hancock's turn to sign.

He signed his name extremely large, stating, "There, I guess King George will be able to read that."

"So, war with England. It feels good, doesn't it?" asked the dark shade, smirking.

America just slowly shook his head; whether in answer to the shade or just in thought was unanswerable.

"We'll never have to bear those chains again America. They were strangling us! Now you have your independence," said the shade, watching America.

"No. Not yet. I still have to fight for my freedom. But those chains… I'll make sure they come right back up and drag him down to hell!" said America, his eyes blazing.

"Now that's what I expect to hear from you! But you won't be fighting alone; I'll be right beside you the whole time. Though… the other one… he'll be fighting. On the other side," replied the shade, his smirk fading.

"I have to… fight myself…?" asked America, horrified.

"That's right. And I'm leaving right now," snapped the light shade, walking out of the room.

The double doors opened with a bang and a cold gust of wind, and he disappeared. A young man from outside hurriedly closed the doors again.

"What strange weather for July," said one of the Congressmen.

The other men nodded in agreement but then went back to talking politics. America just sat there, with a horrified look still on his face.

"America? What is it, is something wrong?" asked a concerned voice from in front of him.

America looked up to see none other than George Washington looking at him with concerned eyes.

"N-no, I'm fine General Washington," replied America weakly.

Washington gave him an odd look before replying, "I don't believe you… but I'll leave you alone. And don't call me General! You can just call me Washington, or George, Mr. America."

"Alright then George, and you can just call me America," replied America with a weak smile as he rose to leave the room.

"Tch. You could've done better," said the shade as they walked out of the doors.

"I know…" whispered America, looking at the ground.

"What's eating you?" asked the shade.

"… I'll have to kill myself," said America, staring straight at the shade.

"What, you mean the other shade? He's not you!"

"Of course he's me! He represents the part of my people that want to stay with England! Can't you see? No one else can see you two, so I'll have to kill myself!" yelled America, anger blazing in his cerulean eyes.

"…"

"Leave me alone, at least for a while!" snapped America, storming off into the streets of Philadelphia.

"I suppose that's the least I could do, seeing as I'm the reason you'll be forced to kill part of yourself…"

The shade just stood in the middle of the street, looking somewhat wistfully in the direction America had gone in. Occasionally someone or something would pass through him, but he didn't care. As he stood there he could feel some of the emotions that were plaguing America.

He felt blazing hot anger, some sort of bitter remorse, and a biting cold hatred. The only thing that troubled him was that he didn't know to whom each feeling was directed at. Was America going to change his mind and stop the rebellion?

Slightly troubled, the shade decided that now it was time to just wait and watch what happened.

A/N: So? Was it good, bad or just meh? I apologize for wasting precious minutes of your life if you thought this was utter crap! I hope it wasn't. Seriously. I spent time typing this. That takes time too! Anyways... thanks for reading!