The trenches fell silent; the ANZAC soldiers were burying their dead brethren awaiting the ship to take them home, all except William. He was trudging through the muddy corridors with a searching intent in his fern green eyes. "JACK!" ,he shouted his older brother's name as he walked in the trenches for what seemed like hours until he saw movement in the corner of his eye. He looked towards it source and saw Jack laying in his tattered, bloody uniform surrounded by other Diggers that had been unlucky enough to run into Johnny Turkey. William ran over to Jack and kneeled down beside him, placing his hand under Jack's head. Bleeding lacerations covered all of Jack's exposed skin other than his face and hands, his breathing was stagger and sounded like that of an old man on his death bed.
"Jack! Can you hear me! Jack Please!", William pleaded with a worrying sound in his voice, Jack's khaki green eyes wearily open, their usual luster now dull. "Ey, Kiwi …. What are you doing?... shouldn't you be fighting?" ,the Australian asked with a hoarse, damaged voice. "No the battle is over, I came looking for you so we can go back home", William said, trying to sound cheerful.
"Nah mate you're going home…I-I'm…too weak to move….", Jack said, choking out the words.
"W-What?! No your coming home!" William said, his voice a little shaken by Jack's words.
"William…", William's face turned into a multitude of emotions as Jack had never called him by his human name, it's always been his nickname. "Let me die here William… I'm not worth your trouble...", a tinge of sadness in his ever dying voice. Tears began to form in William's eyes at the very thought of what Jack said, "No…NO! We've made it this far, I'm not letting you go now! You're my best mate and I won't let you die like this!", immediately after saying this the small New Zealander struggled to get the larger country on his back, but eventually succeeded in doing so. William trudged back off into the direction of the soldiers, Jack's eyes slowly slid shut.
William's eyes flashed open as he sees the white ceiling of the hospital room, sitting next in the chair next to his bed was Jack himself. "Oi, I see you've returned back to the Land of the Living mate!" his accent as thick as ever. William gave a slight smile and tried to get off the hospital bed until he was stopped by a shark pain in his leg and ribs. Jack repositioned William back in his original position,
"Ey now, you should rest. You were in an earthquake so I brought you to the finest hospital in Melbourne.", "Thank you, but I would have been fine Jack." William said with a sense of humbleness.
Before Jack could say another word, a doctor came in, "I'm sorry Mr. Australia, but visiting hours are over." With this Jack got up and made his way to the door, he hadn't even touched the doorknob before William spoke to him, "Wait... Why did you help me?". Jack looked at William with a sad, nostalgic smile and said, "Lest We Forget", with this he walked out the door, and William stared in shock as a wave of remembrance overtook the island nation's mind. "Lest we forget on that beach, where our bond was formed", he whispered to himself as a tear ran down his cheek, "Welcome home…brother.