Why Me?
Why me? How could they do this? How dare they attack me! Why did this happen? I won't accept this!
"Why you? America your my brother I love you I support you but why not you?" Canada asked his eyes completely serious, "You've seen the scars on Britain, there are worse on France, do you really think yourself so special that you deserve no scars? That you can do whatever you like and have no consequences?"
He sat once again in the church that science says shouldn't exist, wondering to himself at the response from his people to the disaster that had befallen them ten years ago. The service held here had long ago concluded, but people came in and out to pay respects for the fallen, over two-thousand, men and women who had simply gone to work excepting nothing more than an ordinary day had never come home again. This in response to an overbearing attitude in the East, and the foolish decision made years ago to supply criminals with weapons if only they'd attack Russia. America looked at his hands the burn marks that remained reminding him of those he could not save.
"The hardest part of today is remembering those we couldn't save." A soft voice whispered beside him, he didn't turn to look knowing who it was even if he didn't remember him getting there. He dropped sideways to fall on the shoulder of his brother tears flowing from his eyes as time fell away and he smelled the smoke once again.
"Will it ever stop hurting?" he whispered a question he asked many times before.
"When did the harbour?" was the soft response, a hand being run through his hair in calming fashion. "Eventually it won't be fresh, ten years isn't a long time brother."
America didn't respond, and Canada fell silent, the tears slowed and quietly stopped eventually bring America to pull away from his brother's embrace. "They wanted to say thank you," he started only to be interrupted.
"It's what brothers do," responded the northern nation, "We did it to care for our brothers not for thanks." He smiled at America's bemused expression, "Have you found the answers to your questions yet?"
Shaking his head America stood up, "No, and you know what? I don't think I will, nor am I going to search anymore. I haven't been acting much like the Hero recently it's time I started again."
As the twins walked out of the church disaster had left untouched, it was with the resolve that truly the Heart of America could not be destroyed.
In respectful memory of all the fallen.
~Pen