Disclaimer: I don't own Axis Powers Hetalia.
January 1783
Northern Atlantic Ocean off the shores of Nova Scotia
America blew into his hands to warm them. Good Lord, Canada was freezing. He didn't mind much though. The cold made him forget…
"I won't allow it!"
"Mister? When will we be there?"
America shook himself out of his thoughts and looked down at the little girl asking the question. She had curly brown hair and big eyes just a shade lighter than England's.
Don't think of England, America said to himself. To the girl he said, "Soon, sweetie. We've been on this boat for a while, huh?"
"Yes!" the girl agreed enthusiastically. "Is it going to be this cold at our new home?" She stuck her fingers in her mouth.
"Sarah, please," a woman who must have been the girl's mother admonished. "Do not suck on your fingers. I am sorry," she said to America.
"It's not a problem," he replied.
"But they're cold," Sarah whined.
"So put them in your pockets," the mother said testily, before glancing over her shoulder, shouting, "Thomas!" and racing off.
"Thomas is my little brother," Sarah explained as America took her hands and rubbed them between his. "Thank you, Mister."
"It's just like this in the winter," America said in response to Sarah's earlier question. "It's beautiful in the summer. It will be cooler than it is in America, but Canada is very pretty. You will be very happy."
Sarah stared down at the wood of the deck of the boat. "Why did we have to leave?" she whispered.
"All I want…is my freedom!"
America knelt down so his face was leveled with Sarah's. "Do you understand that there was a war? That some people didn't want America to be a colony of Britain anymore?"
Sarah nodded. "I used to have a friend named Eleanor, but our parents didn't want us to play together anymore because her parents wanted that and mine didn't."
"It's sad when these things happen," America agreed. "I too have someone I care very much about loyal to the king and crown. But you know that the Patriots did eventually win their freedom from Great Britain, right?"
"Oh," Sarah said.
"And the Patriots are worried that the Loyalists–that what people who want America to be a colony of England are called–will help England make America a colony again."
"But my parents are…loyalists," she tried out the word, lisping her "s"es slightly so it sounded like "loyalisth", "and we don't know anybody in England."
"The Patriots are just worried," America said. "Some Loyalists are going to England, even though many of them have never been before. And the people on this boat are going to Canada, which is still England's colony."
"Oh," Sarah said again. "But I want to go home."
"I know," America said softly.
"Sarah!" the mother called. Sarah hastily said goodbye and scurried off. America breathed deeply and stood up. Oh God, what have I done?
Canada was waiting for his brother when the ship docked, just as America told him to be. British officials escorted America off the boat before everyone else. He didn't miss the hard looks they gave him.
"America!" Canada said, speaking much more warmly than the officials had. "How are you?"
"All right," America said, though he was certain Canada could tell he was lying. He wasn't all right. He was frightened. Of everything.
Of the past… "Let's go home."
Of the present… "Why did we have to leave?"
Of the future… "Articles of Confederation must be formed for these United States."
Canada, though, just gave America a smile and said nothing.
The two watched the other passengers come off the ship, huddling in their coats and close to their families to keep warm.
"Take care of them, Mattie," America said quietly when he saw Sarah and her family step onto the dock.
"Of course, Alfred."
The ending seems a little abrupt to me, but I can deal. Anyway, some historical notes:
After the American Revolution, most colonists still loyal to Britain went to Canada, though some went back to England, as America said. Most of the loyalists who went to Canada went to Nova Scotia. The migration hugely increased the population there.
The Articles of Confederation were what the Founding Fathers came up with before the Constitution. It was crap.
I'm anticipating tons of angsty Revolutionary War-era fanfics to be posted tomorrow, so I'm posting this one today before everyone's tired of them! *evil laugh*
Review please, even if it's to correct history. I love learning new things!