Hey guys! This is my second Hetalia fanfic, and I plan on actually completing this one. Yay!
I love Spamano very much. In fact, I think Spamano is my favorite yaoi Hetalia pairing. Yay!
So, I'm currently taking U.S. History in summer school so I won't have to take it during the school year. Of course, I'm making Hetalia references to almost every lesson. XD Well, we are currently discussing immigration to Ellis Island, and just that time period in general. We are about to start talking about World War 1, and I felt inspired to write this.
This is extremely AU, so if certain events don't match up, that's why. Also, I know Spain had nothing to do with WWI since they were neutral, but he's not going to get involved... much.
However, I did my research before starting, so if I make a mistake on a historical event, please let me know.
Flames are NOT accepted. Especially flames under an anonymous name. Those kinds of flamers are cowards, and they will be removed. There has been an anonymous flamer using my name, and it's so childish and stupid.
I hope everyone enjoys my portrayal of Ellis Island and part of World War 1 using the wonderful countries from Hetalia. Just to warn you, this chapter is a little sad, so brace yourself.
Title: Two Souls, One Heart
Rating: T
Pairing: Spain X Romano
Summary: AU. It is the year 1917, and after being stricken with poverty, Antonio needs to find a way out before he perishes completely. After saving up the little money he had to sail to New York on a small ship, Antonio gets more than he bargains for when he meets a man whose brother is in World War 1.
Chapter 1 The American Dream...?
"¡Ay, no! ¡Voy a perder el barco!" Antonio cried as he ran through the streets in La Coruña, Galicia.
The twenty-five year old country is heading for La Coruña's harbor to set sail for America. Antonio, known in Europe as the great country Spain, is currently having economic problems. He is thrown into poverty, and he feels that the only way to regain his power is by starting off fresh in the country that represents freedom; America. So Spain packed the few belongings he had left in a suitcase and commenced his journey to the free country.
It was big news around the world that in a small place called Ellis Island is a gateway for immigrants to start a new life, so of course Antonio wants to go. He plans on staying in New York for a while to work, and then head down south to Florida, and then when his economy is back to normal, he will return to his home in Europe.
Of course, the Spaniard can't follow through with that plan if he misses the boat that takes him there!
Antonio ran by several stands that are up in the street, one of them a cart with tomatoes...
Five Minutes Later...
Antonio happily munched on his breakfast tomato as he neared the harbor. He saw a small line of other Spaniards getting on the ship after getting their ticket and visa checked. Antonio hurried up to the man checking the needed documents, panting slightly.
"Hola, señor." Antonio greeted, smiling brightly.
The man was a bit shocked by Antonio's cheerful mood. All of the immigrants he checked before were gloomy. Did he know what's going on in America right now?
"Are you sure you want to make this journey?" The man asked
Antonio nodded like a bubbly child. "¡Sí! I have waited for several years to start over in America. When I am out of poverty, I will be back. But I can't restore this country until I go."
"Let me see your ticket and visa, please."
Antonio handed him the necessary documents and waited as the man checked him.
"Alright Mr. Antonio Fernández Carriedo, you're set." The man told him, handing his visa and ticket back. "When you enter Ellis Island, your visa and ticket need to be out. They will do some examinations on you before you head off."
"Okay! Gracias, señor."
With a smile, Antonio walked onto the small ship, excited to start his life over again.
As the ship sailed on the Atlantic Ocean, Antonio looked around in wonder. The immigrants were told to go to the lower deck of the ship to avoid mixing with passengers who are in a higher class. Antonio didn't understand that, since he before was very rich and powerful, but he dismissed it.
To his surprise, there were only about 200 immigrants on the ship, much less than he expected.
Oh well, it makes this a lighter journey. Antonio smiled to himself.
It took about six days for the boat to reach New York. In the meantime, Antonio spent most of his time looking out at the beautiful ocean. Suddenly, he could see a silvery object in the water.
"¿Qué es eso?" Antonio muttered to himself, squinting through the window. Suddenly, the silver object revealed itself as a dolphin as it jumped out of the water to refill it's blowhole with air before returning to the sea.
"Wow! It's a delfín!" Antonio cries, excited.
Then, two hundred pairs of eyes glared at the Spaniard.
"Keep it quiet! Some of us are trying to take a siesta here!" A gruff looking man shouted.
"Eh... sorry..." Antonio sweat dropped, sinking low into his seat.
On the sixth day, it was early in the morning when the ship docked at Ellis Island at the New York Harbor. A loud bell woke Antonio up.
"Huh...?" He muttered sleepily, wiping the drool that was on the corner of his mouth.
The Spanish man looked out the window again and was greeted by a view of the Statue of Liberty. Even though he was kind of far away from it, just the sight of the green symbol of freedom made his heart leap in joy.
"Ay, there she is!" Antonio said happily. "Lady Liberty! I never thought I would see her in person!"
Then, after a few more minutes if waiting, passengers started to exit the ship. Antonio quickly got up and followed everyone else at. He grinned as the fresh air hit his face like a tomato on a windy day. Yes, Antonio got pelted by a tomato before on a windy day.
Antonio was amazed by the tall buildings that surrounded the area as he stepped off the dock. He didn't have much time to sight see, since the ferry that goes to lower Manhattan was already boarding. Antonio walked over to the ferry and paid to get on.
The ferry ride was somewhat pleasant. Before anyone got on, there was an officer standing on the ferry. He counted how many immigrants were there, and examined them quickly to see if anyone showed any sign of obvious sickness. Then they were given numbers one through thirty, and were split up into groups of 30. Antonio was number fifteen.
Only 150 of the 200 immigrants fit on one ferry, so the rest waited for the next one.
The immigrants that were on board were quiet, and the only sounds that could be heard were the New Yorkers above them. Antonio then felt a little uneasy, as if something awful was about to happen after he got off the ferry. And he was right.
Antonio's next stop was at the Castle Garden Immigration Depot. After the ferry is anchored, another officer relived the one on the ferry, and he led the immigrants to a landing agent and the Inspector of Customs. Their job was to check everyone's luggage before they went on the barges and tugs, a really flat looking boat. Antonio felt extremely offended when the landing agent opened his suitcase and went through the few belongings he had after being in poverty.
"Perdóneme señor, but isn't it rather disrespectful to look through someone's stuff like that?" Antonio asked, his tone firm.
The agent looked up at the Spaniard, an amused smile on his face.
"This is just for safety measures." He told him.
The American man sounded so strange to Antonio, never hearing an American accent before. Antonio nodded at the agent as he continued searching through his stuff.
However, not all of the agents were that nice. The Inspector of Customs began shouting at a Spanish woman for trying to pick up the clothes he tossed out of her luggage.
Antonio winced in slight intimidation as the agent concluded his search.
"Don't mind him." The agent sighed. "America is going through a tough time right now which may end badly."
Antonio tilted his head in confusion. America going through a bad time?
Antonio didn't question it though as he picked up his luggage and headed towards the barges and tugs. When the barges and tugs sailed for the Castle Garden pier. Upon docking, they were met by several officers as they led them inside the Castle Garden Immigration Depot by groups of thirty. There was a steep staircase inside the building. Antonio climbed it without a problem, though a few were staggering and limping. At the top, a few doctors were watching the immigrants climb the steps and silently took note of the ones who were staggering and limping.
After reaching the top stairway, the immigrants entered a large room, Registry Hall. The room was already full with thousands of people speaking different languages. Antonio was a bit overwhelmed by the large room and the amount of people inside all speaking languages that are not native to him.
The new immigrants were led through a maze of passageways separated by wooden benches. After they reached their destination, the group of thirty immigrants had to leave their luggage behind for now as they walked up to several medical doctors. They went at several numbers at a time, and when number fifteen was called, Antonio walked over to a doctor. The doctor was a female, the only female doctor there. There was a translator next to her in case the immigrants couldn't speak very good English.
"Hello, do you speak English?" The doctor asked.
The translator spoke to Antonio in Spanish, "Hola, ¿habla usted inglés?"
Antonio laughed nervously. "Why yes, I do."
The doctor smiled slightly before waving the translator away. She stepped up to Antonio and began checking his face, hair, neck, and hands. Antonio felt extremely uncomfortable and was a little violated.
"You're clear. Go on to Dr. Murphy right over there." She said, pointing to a brown haired man.
Antonio walked over to him looking for diseases like tuberculosis, leprosy, cholera, and more. In order to do that, Antonio had to remove his shirt... and even his pants and underwear.
"U-Um, excuse me, why do you want me to be pantless in front of everyone?" Antonio asked, freaked out.
"Just to take a sample to check for cholera." Dr. Murphy said plainly.
Antonio had no idea what cholera is, and he had no idea that Dr. Murphy was holding a rectal swab in his hand. After Antonio put his shirt back on but reluctantly took off everything else below off, Dr. Murphy aimed the swab at Antonio's rear end.
"Hey, what are you doing back there...?" Antonio asked, his face growing pale. "¡DIOS MIO!" he shouted a few seconds later.
After that horrifying experience, Antonio had one final exam left... an eye exam. Antonio was already scared to death, and a frazzled looking eye doctor holding a buttonhook in front of him didn't calm his nerves.
"This'll only take a second." The eye doctor told him.
He quickly snapped back the eyelids of the Spaniard, looking for trachoma. Antonio was clear.
Not everyone was as lucky to make it through as Antonio was. The ones who had trouble climbing the stairs, who were elderly, were detained for further questioning. One child was deaf, so she was separated from her family and will be deported back to Spain by herself. A young Spaniard had a mental disability, and was also going to be sent back. Antonio looked on in horror as five of the thirty immigrants were being escorted out of the building.
The twenty-five who made it through the medical exams were then were sent back to Registry Hall to be questioned further by federal immigration inspectors.
"Who paid for your passage here?" An inspector asked Antonio.
"I did!" He replied proudly. "I worked hard to have a chance to come here, and-"
"Can you read and write?" The inspector interrupted him, slightly annoyed.
Spain was taken aback. "Yes, I do."
Federal inspectors questioned 400-500 immigrants a day, so they don't feel like having small talk.
Antonio successfully cleared the questioning. Many immigrants practiced answering the questions. Antonio just answered truthfully and without thinking.
The inspector handed Antonio a landing card, the ticket to a new life in America. He was free to collect his luggage and go do other things like exchange his pesetas for American dollars, buy a train ticket, and head to his destination in Manhattan where his journey will begin.
There you have it for chapter 1. As I learned about immigration in my class, I was appalled by the way they were treated when they went through the examinations and everything actually. I did thorough research to add as much detail to the journey of an immigrant as I could. It's almost unreal to think about how so many people of different nationalities were treated when coming to America.
Did anyone else go "Oh no..." when Dr, Murphy held up the rectal swab? I did, and I was the one who wrote it. I looked high and low for the ways doctors checked immigrants for cholera, and my search came up empty, so finally I had to see how doctors do it now, and there were only two ways' a stool sample or a rectal swab. I know those doctors checking immigrants had no time to waste, so I went with the swab. Okay, I'm going to stop talking now because I have probably freaked most of you out. Heh heh... ^^'
I would love it if you reviewed. It would help me out a lot, especially since this is historical fiction.
Ja ne! :3
PRK